This is a list of sheriffs of Worcester County, Massachusetts. The sheriff originally was an appointed office, it has been an elected position since 1856.[1] The sheriff is elected to serve a six-year term.
The current Worcester County Sheriff is Lewis Evangelidis
No. | Sheriff | Picture | Term | Party | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Daniel Gookin | June 30, 1731 – June 1743 | |||
2 | Benjamin Flagg | 1743–1751 | |||
3 | John Chandler | 1751 – August 7, 1762 | |||
4 | Gardner Chandler | 1762–1775 | Last Worcester County sheriff of the royal Province of Massachusetts Bay. | ||
5 | Simon Dwight | 1775–1778 | |||
6 | William Greenleaf | 1778–1788 | Impeached and removed for misconduct. | ||
7 | John Sprague | 1788–1792 | |||
8 | Dwight Foster | 1792–1793 | Federalist | ||
9 | William Caldwell | 1793–1805 | |||
10 | Thomas Walker Ward | 1805–1824 | |||
11 | Calvin Willard | 1824–1844 | Resigned rather than hang a condemned prisoner. | ||
12 | John W. Lincoln | 1844–1851 | |||
13 | James Estabrook | 1851–1853 | Democratic | ||
14 | George W. Richardson | 1854–1856 | Know Nothing | ||
15 | John S.C. Knowlton | 1857–June 11, 1871 | Democratic | First sheriff elected by popular vote. Died in office on June 11, 1871. | |
16 | Augustus B. R. Sprague | July 5, 1871[2] – January 1890 | Appointed to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of sheriff John S.C. Knowlton who died in office. | ||
17 | Samuel D. Nye | 1890–1892 | Democratic | ||
18 | Robert H. Chamberlain | 1892 – January 14, 1910 | Republican | Resigned on January 14, 1910. | |
19 | Benjamin D. Dwinnell | 1910 – December 15, 1916 | Republican | Died on December 15, 1916. | |
20 | Albert F. Richardson | December 1916 – March 13, 1932 | Republican | Died on March 13, 1932. | |
21 | Henri Oscar Rocheleau | March 23, 1932 – January 1945 | Democratic | Appointed to the office by Joseph B. Ely to fill the vacancy caused by the death of sheriff Albert F. Richardson. | |
22 | William A. Bennett | January 1945 – January 1963 | Republican | ||
23 | Joseph A. Smith | January 1963 – 1977 | Democratic | ||
24 | Francis J."Bud" Deignan, Jr. | January 1977 – 1983 | Democratic | ||
25 | Theodore M. Herman | January 4, 1983 – 1987 | Democratic | Appointed Worcester County Sheriff, to fill vacancy; on January 4, 1983, by Governor Edward J. King. Herman won the 1984 Democratic primary and the subsequent November 1984 election to fill the unexpired term. | |
26 | John M. Flynn | 1987–2005 | Democratic | ||
27 | Guy Glodis | 2005 – January 5, 2011 | Democratic | ||
28 | Lewis Evangelidis | January 5, 2011 – present | Republican |
- ^ Hurd, Duane Hamilton (1888), History of Essex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Volume I., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. W. Lewis & Company, p. xi.
- ^ a b Herndon, Richard (1896), Bacon, Edwin M. (ed.), Men of Progress: One Thousand Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston: New England Magazine, p. 347