William F. Packer

William Fisher Packer (April 2, 1807 – September 27, 1870) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as the 14th governor of Pennsylvania from 1858 to 1861.

Packer was born in Howard, Pennsylvania to James and Charity Packer. When William was seven years old, his father died, leaving him and his four siblings to help run the house.

At the age of 13 he began work as a printer's apprentice at the Sunbury Public Inquirer and later at the Bellefonte Patriot. He also worked as a journeyman at Simon Cameron's newspaper the Pennsylvania Intelligencer in Harrisburg.

Packer studied law in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, under future member of Congress Joseph Biles Anthony but did not practice, choosing instead to stay in the newspaper business. In 1829 he purchased a controlling share and became the editor of the Lycoming Gazette which he published until 1836. While working at the Lycoming Gazette, he began an early foray into politics as a major supporter of the construction of the West Branch of the Pennsylvania Canal. The state legislators in Philadelphia had opposed funding the construction and Packer penned an address to Philadelphia to raise public support for the project. The campaign worked and the Philadelphia delegation reversed their position to support the canal.

Packer married Mary W. Vanderbilt on December 24, 1829. The couple had ten children.

Packer's support for the canal did not go unnoticed and in 1832, he was appointed by the Canal Commission to serve as Superintendent of the canals. The position was abolished in 1835 and Packer spent most of that year working for the re-election of Governor George Wolf and running for the Pennsylvania State Senate. A schism in the Democratic Party cost Wolf re-election and Packer a Senate seat.

In 1836, Packer co-founded The Keystone, a Democratic newspaper published in Harrisburg. Packer, through the Keystone, was a supporter of David R. Porter for Governor against Joseph Ritner in the election of 1838. His support of Porter's successful bid helped him earn an appointment to the Board of Canal Commissioners, a powerful post at the time. After he was re-elected, Porter appointed Packer to the post of Pennsylvania Auditor General in 1842.

After an unsuccessful bid for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1845, Packer won a seat in Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1847 and served as Speaker of the House in 1848 and 1849. Packer won re-election in 1848 and then served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 12th district from 1851 to 1852.