- William L. Dill
William Leslie Dill (
March 15 ,1874 –January 14 ,1952 ) was an Americanjurist andpolitician who was the Democratic nominee forGovernor of New Jersey in 1928 and 1934.Dill was born in 1874 in
Freeburg, Pennsylvania to William H. and Margaret C. Dill. [http://books.google.com/books?id=vdgDAAAAYAAJ "Scannell's New Jersey First Citizens, 1919-1920"] . J.J. Scannell, 1919.] Forced to leave school after the death of his father, he came toPaterson, New Jersey at the age of 12 and began work as an office boy. He later worked in the fire insurance business and for Paterson newspapers. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30916F83858107A93C4A8178AD85F468585F9 "William L. Dill, Former Jurist, 77"] , "The New York Times ",January 16 ,1952 . AccessedJune 15 ,2008 .]From 1901 to 1903 he served as secretary to the Mayor of Paterson. He served six years as president of the Paterson Finance Board. In 1913 he was named secretary to the
New Jersey Senate , and in 1915 was named Assistant Secretary of State. Also in 1915, he was appointed State Motor Vehicle Commissioner.Dill stepped down from his position as Motor Vehicle Commissioner in 1928 to seek the Democratic nomination for
Governor of New Jersey , opposing the Republican candidateMorgan Foster Larson . In his campaign speeches Larson tied Dill to the machine of Democratic party bossFrank Hague . Dill received 671,728 votes to Larson's 824,005. [ [http://www.njstatelib.org/NJ_Information/Digital_Collections/Governors_of_New_Jersey/GLARS.pdf Biography of Morgan F. Larson] ,New Jersey State Library .]In 1933 Dill was appointed as a lay member of the
New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals by GovernorA. Harry Moore . He resigned from that office in 1934 to campaign for Governor of New Jersey a second time. His Republican opponent this time wasHarold G. Hoffman , who had succeeded Dill as Motor Vehicle Commissioner. During the campaign Dill was again linked to Hague's bossism. Hoffman was victorious in the general election, marking the first time in 27 years that the Democrats lost the governorship in a non-presidential election year. [ [http://www.njstatelib.org/NJ_Information/Digital_Collections/Governors_of_New_Jersey/GHOFF.pdf Biography of Harold G. Hoffman] ,New Jersey State Library .]Dill was reappointed to the Court of Errors and Appeals in 1943 by Governor
Charles Edison , remaining on the bench until 1948 when the court was abolished under the new State Constitution. He died in 1950 at his home in Paterson at the age of 77.References
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