View source for Rolland H. Spaulding

{{short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name        = Rolland Harty Spaulding
|image       =GovernorSpaulding (cropped).jpg
|order       = 55th
|office      = Governor of New Hampshire
|term_start  = January 1, 1915
|term_end    = January 2, 1917
|lieutenant  =
|predecessor = [[Samuel D. Felker]]
|successor   = [[Henry W. Keyes]]
|birth_date  = March 15, 1873
|birth_place = [[Townsend, Massachusetts]]
|death_date  = March 14, 1942 (aged 68)
|death_place = [[Rochester, New Hampshire]]
|party       = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse      = Vera Going
|profession  =
|religion    =
}}
'''Rolland Harty Spaulding''' (March 15, 1873 – March 14, 1942) was an American manufacturer and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[politician]]. He was the 55th [[governor of New Hampshire]] from 1915 to 1917.

==Early life and education==
Rolland Harty Spaulding was the third son of Jonas Spaulding and Emeline Cummings. He was born in 1873 in [[Townsend Harbor, Massachusetts]], where his father and uncle had a fiberboard mill.  His father founded a mill at [[Rochester, New Hampshire]] and moved his family there.  The young Spaulding was educated at [[Phillips Academy]], class of 1893.

==Career==
With his two older brothers, Rolland Spaulding joined their father in the family business, renamed  J. Spaulding and Sons, which ran mills to produce leatherboard (typically produced by pulping and compressing scrap leather and wood pulp).  In addition to mills in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, that his father had founded, Rolland and his brothers Leon C. and [[Huntley N. Spaulding]], built one in [[Tonawanda, New York]], which became the largest.

Rolland Spaulding became a prominent businessman, working with his father and brothers in the family industry.  Their family-owned company manufactured fiberboard, later adding a type of resin laminate named Spauldite® (to compete with [[Bakelite]]) and [[fiberglass]] tubing to their product lines.

Spaulding became active in [[Republican Party (US)|Republican Party]] state politics.  He was elected Governor in [[1914 New Hampshire gubernatorial election|1914]], but declined to run for a second term. Spaulding sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in [[1918 United States Senate election in New Hampshire|1918]], but narrowly lost the primary to his successor as Governor, [[Henry W. Keyes]].

Like his brothers and sister Marion, Rolland became a [[philanthropist]].  He died the day before his 69th birthday, in Rochester, New Hampshire.

== Honors ==
* [[Spaulding Turnpike]] was named for Rolland and his brother [[Huntley N. Spaulding]].  It connects their hometown of Rochester to [[Interstate 95 in New Hampshire|I-95]].
* The Spaulding brothers are featured on [[List of New Hampshire historical markers (26–50)#42|New Hampshire historical marker no. 42]]

==External links==
*[http://www.state.nh.us/nhdhr/glikeness/spauroll.html Spaulding at New Hampshire's Division of Historic Resources]

{{S-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Franklin Worcester}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of New Hampshire]]|years=[[1914 New Hampshire gubernatorial election|1914]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry W. Keyes]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box |title=[[List of Governors of New Hampshire|Governor of New Hampshire]] | before=[[Samuel D. Felker]] | after=[[Henry W. Keyes]] | years=1915&ndash;1917}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors of New Hampshire}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaulding, Rolland H.}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:Republican Party governors of New Hampshire]]
[[Category:People from Townsend, Massachusetts]]


{{NewHampshire-politician-stub}}