William P. Frye

William Pierce Frye (born September 2, 1830 in Lewiston, Maine; † August 8, 1911 there) was a U.S. politician (Republican Party) who represented the state of Maine in both houses of Congress.

A native of Androscoggin County, William Frye first attended the public schools there and then graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick in 1850. He subsequently studied law, was admitted to the bar, and first began practicing in Rockland in 1853; however, he later returned to Lewiston. Frye was instrumental in the founding of Bates College in his hometown and was subsequently a trustee of that institution for many years, from which he earned a juris doctor degree in 1881.

His political career began in the Maine House of Representatives, where he served from 1861 to 1862 and again in 1867. From 1866 to 1867 he was mayor of Lewiston; subsequently he became Attorney General of Maine. This post he resigned in 1869. The following year he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, whereupon he held office in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1871. He remained there after several re-elections until March 17, 1881, on which day he resigned as a congressman to take the seat in the U.S. Senate of James G. Blaine, who had in turn resigned.

For Frye followed a career of more than 30 years in the Senate. He was confirmed by the voters in 1883, 1889, 1895, 1901 and 1907 respectively and rose to the position of Senate president pro tempore on February 7, 1896. He held this post until April 27, 1911. His resignation as president pro tempore for health reasons was followed by a vacancy that dragged on for weeks as the conservative and progressive Republican and Democratic candidates blocked each other. It was not until August 14 that agreement was reached on a principle of rotation among the three factions, whereupon the office was continually filled until March 1913.

Six days before the agreement William Frye had died in his birthplace Lewiston. In the Senate, in addition to serving as president pro tempore, he had also chaired the Rules Committee for a time. He also served on the commission that negotiated the peace treaty with Spain after the Spanish-American War in Paris in September 1898. At the time of his death, he held the honorary title of "Dean of the United States Senate" as the Senate member with the longest continuous tenure.

William Frye's grandson Wallace H. White also sat for Maine in the U.S. Senate from 1931 to 1949.