Michael Glenn Cunniff (1875-1914) was a politician from Arizona who served in the 1st Arizona State Legislature.[1] He was the first president of the Arizona senate, a journalist, and an English professor at Harvard and the University of Wisconsin.

M. G. Cunniff
Cunniff in 1912
Member of the Arizona Senate
from the Yavapai County district
In office
March 1912 – January 1915
Preceded byFirst Senator from Yavapai County
Succeeded byMorris Goldwater
Frances Munds
Personal details
BornFebruary 7, 1875
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedDecember 23, 1914
Crown King, Arizona
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseEversta
ChildrenHilda
Bernard
Residence(s)Crown King, Arizona
Alma materHarvard University
ProfessionPolitician

Early life

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M. G. Cunniff was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 7, 1875.[2] He graduated from Harvard, and received his master's degree from the same institution the following year. He taught English at the university for two years.[2][3][4] Then he moved to the University of Wisconsin, where he taught for another two years. In 1901 he moved to New York City and became an associate editor of The World's Work, where he was promoted to managing editor in 1903.[5] In 1903 he married Eversta Spink, and the couple had two children, Hilda and Bernard.[6] At one point he served as the personal secretary to Alton B. Parker, who was the Democrat's nominee for president in 1914.[7] Cunniff was also a friend of the American explorer, F. A. Cook.[8]

Cuniff was the long-time managing editor of The World's Work during the early 1900s. In 1905, he travelled to Arizona to write research the territory, as a prelude to writing an article about it for the magazine. He arrived first in Prescott where his brother, Bernard, worked the Apache-Panther mine.[3] The article, titled "The Last of the Territories", appeared in the January 1906 edition of the magazine, and was an in-depth look at Arizona and New Mexico. It went in-depth into the question of whether or not the two territories should be given individual, or joint statehood. His summation was that those in New Mexico would prefer individual statehood, but were lukewarm about joint statehood, while the vast majority of those in Arizona were adamantly against joint statehood.[9] Cuniff resigned from the paper and moved to Arizona in 1907. He initially settled in Prescott, where the year before he had visited and was instrumental in helping the town select his friend, Solon Borglum, to sculpt the Bucky O'Neill Monument. He also assisted the artist in his New York studio in the statue's design.[10] In 1908 he was living in Crown King, and was the supervisor of the Savoy Mine in the Bradshaw Mountains, where his brother also worked as the general manager.[11][12]

Cunniff died suddenly of acute pneumonia at his Crown King mining camp on December 23, 1914.[2] Upon his death, Governor Hunt ordered state offices closed, and all flags to be flown at half-mast for 30 days.[13]

Political career

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He was a member of the Yavapai contingent to the Territorial convention in 1908.[12] At the Democrat convention in 1910, Cunniff was selected as one of the six delegates from Yavapai County to the state's constitutional convention.[14][15] He was one of the signers of the Constitution of Arizona.[16]

He received the Democrat's nomination to be one of two state senators from Yavapai County in October 1911, and almost immediately there was talk of his being the president of the senate, should the Democrats win a majority.[17] In December he was elected, along with fellow Democrat H. R. Wood, to be the first state senators from Yavapai County.[18] Even before the legislature convened, it was decided by the Democrats that Cunniff would serve as president in the senate,[19] and he was named president as soon as the legislature was sworn in in March 1912, becoming Arizona's first president of the senate.[20] He did not run for re-election in 1914.

References

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  1. ^ "History of the Arizona State Legislature 1912–1966". State of Arizona. pp. 7–8. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "M. G. Cunniff Dies Suddenly Of Pneumonia". The Arizona Republican. December 24, 1914. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ a b "World's Work's Editor". The Arizona Republican. October 12, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ "The Harvard Club's Annual Dinner". The Arizona Republican. November 20, 1910. p. 9. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ "M. G. Cunniff Dies Of Pneumonia". The Holbrook News. January 1, 1915. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ "Senator Cunniff Dies Of Pneumonia". Arizona Daily Star. December 24, 1914. p. 3. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ "Mike Cunniff Dead". Graham Guardian. December 25, 1914. p. 11. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ "Cunniff Confident Cook Found North Pole". Weekly Journal-Miner. September 8, 1909. p. 6. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  9. ^ ""The Worlds Work" Arizona Story". The Arizona Republican. January 5, 1906. p. 8. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  10. ^ "The Adopted Home Of Editor Cuniff". The Arizona Republican. January 27, 1907. p. 10. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  11. ^ "Savoy Developing Into Great Mine". Bisbee Daily Review. September 16, 1908. p. 6. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  12. ^ a b "Mark Smith Easy Winner. Not A Cog Slipping". Weekly Journal-Miner. August 12, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  13. ^ "State Mourns M. G. Cunniff". The Arizona Republican. December 25, 1914. p. 6. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  14. ^ "Radicals Control Democratic Convention". Weekly Journal-Miner. August 24, 1910. p. 3. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  15. ^ "Republican Wins In Official Count". The Arizona Republican. September 29, 1910. p. 8. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  16. ^ "Sign Constitution". Graham Guardian. December 16, 1910. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  17. ^ "M. G. Cuniff Has Been Suggested As A Candidate For President Of The Senate". The Arizona Republican. October 31, 1911. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  18. ^ "Members Of The First Legislature". The Coconino Sun. December 22, 1911. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  19. ^ "Editorial Notes". Tombstone Weekly Epitaph. February 25, 1912. p. 3. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  20. ^ "Steam Roller Methods Were In Evidence". The Arizona Republican. March 18, 1912. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.