William P. Frye

William Pierce Frye (September 2, 1830—August 8, 1911) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. Frye spent most of his political career as a legislator, serving in the Maine House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served for 30 years and died in office. Fyre was a member of the Frye political family, and was the grandfather of Wallace Humphrey White, Jr. and the son of John March Frye.

Fyre was born in Lewiston, Maine, in Androscoggin County. He attended public schools there and graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick in 1850. Fyre studied law and was later admitted to the bar. He began practicing in Rockland in 1853 but later returned to Lewiston, and practiced law there.

Fyre served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1861 to 1862 and again in 1867. He was later elected as the mayor of Lewiston, holding that position from 1866 to 1867, when he became the state attorney genera. Fyre left the attorney general post in 1869. He was elected as a Republican in 1870 to the U.S. House of Representatives. Fyre served in the 42nd Congress and the five succeeding Congresses from March 4, 1871, to March 17, 1881, when he resigned after being elected Senator to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James G. Blaine. He served over 30 years in the Senate (March 18, 1881–August 8, 1911), and was reelected in 1883, 1889, 1895, 1901, and 1907,

During his tenure in the Senate, Fyre served as president pro tempore (54th–62nd Congress) and chairman of the Rules Committee (47th–49th Congress). Fyre also was a member of the

Commerce Committee (Fiftieth through Sixty-second Congresses, except for the Fifty-third Congress); member of the commission which met in Paris in September 1898 to adjust terms of peace between the United States and Spain; died in Lewiston, Maine, August 8, 1911; interment in Riverside Cemetery.