Maslen Meade was one of the more mysterious and strange Ungovernors, leaving us with just enough information about his life to make us want to know more-- including why he ran for Governor and what he stood for. At various times his occupation was listed as druggist, logger, civil engineer, real estate broker, and salesman. He has the distinction of being the only person in Washington State history to be listed as an "Independent" on the general ballot in the gubernatorial election.

Joseph Maslen Meade was born somewhere in the State of New York, probably Feb. 13, 1876. His father, also a native of New York, was Lockwood Meade. His mother, Nora (Maslen) Meade was a native of California. She was not quite 17 was Joseph was born and would list herself as a divorced dressmaker in the 1880 New Haven, Connecticut census. In the midst of this murky history, at some point, Joseph had a sibling that did not survive.

By 1900 Joseph was working as a druggist in Springfield, Massachusetts under the supervision of his stepfather, Eugene Webster. He married Elizabeth Banks Rice on Jan. 7, 1903. She might have been related to Dr. Rice, a physician who was a neighbor. But something unfortunate must have happened. In 1910 Joseph is living way the Hell out in Hood River, Oregon, working as a "Timberman," apparently in a camp. He listed himself as widowed. Funny thing is, Elizabeth lived on until Apr. 30, 1947. I've seen this before in documents of that era. People did that kind of thing in attempting to shape their personal histories.

We first find Joseph in Seattle in 1917, newly married to Elise Zerbel, the daughter of German immigrants. He initially worked as a salesman for the Aero Alarm Company peddling automatic fire alarms. But within two years he identified his occupation in the Seattle directories as a mining engineer. It was after his move to Seattle that he started using his middle name and called himself Maslen Meade.

Although not listed in the Washington State directory of certified real estate brokers, Meade was calling himself a real estate broker when he filed for Governor in 1932. If he had a platform, a policy plan, a vision for Washington State government, it was not communicated to the point of being widely covered by the media of the day. In fact I have yet to locate an article where it was covered at all. One day I might find one.

Meade was creamed in the election. He placed seventh out of seven with a mere 378 votes statewide, almost half of them (155) from King County. He gained double digit votes in only five counties: Pierce (28), Snohomish (22), Spokane (10), Whatcom (91), and Yakima (12). In nine counties he didn't get any votes.

Meade vanishes from the radar in the late 1930s, the Meade "lost years" as us Ungovernor buffs who meet in secret with esoteric rituals like to call it, but he resurfaces by 1940. His wife Elise died at age 58 in Burlingame, California on Dec. 14, 1941, one week after Pearl Harbor. Although the death took place in California, services were still held in Seattle, suggesting she died during a visit.

The only other election I can find with Maslen Meade's name on the ballot is for the Seattle School Board in March, 1943. He placed a very distant third out of three.

Meade died May 24, 1953 in Seattle. He left no survivors or anyone to tell his story, even in the form of an obituary.