Augustus Gardner Means

Augustus Gardner Means (June 8, 1925 – April 18, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Governor’s Council. He was also the Republican nominee for Massachusetts State Treasurer in 1954 and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1960.

. . . Augustus Gardner Means . . .

Means was born on June 8, 1925 in Beverly, Massachusetts to W. Gordon and Constance (Gardner) Means.[1][2] He was the great-grandson of Henry Cabot Lodge and the grandson of Augustus Peabody Gardner.[2] Means attended the Groton School and in 1944 he graduated from the Culver Military Academy.[3]

After graduating, Means enlisted in the United States Army. He served with the 80th Infantry Division in France during World War II. He was shot in the chest outside of Bastogne when a platoon he was leading was pinned down by a concealed German machine gun. A deck of playing cards partially deflected the bullet and Means was able to crawl behind the gun and jump the soldiers manning it – killing three of them. His citations included the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart.[3]

After his discharge in January 1946, Means worked as a veterinary assistant in Wakefield, Massachusetts.[3] He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and graduated from Cornell University, where he studied veterinary medicine and agriculture.[4]

In July 1946 he married Mary Callan. The couple first met at a dance in Boston when he was 13 and she was 11.[3] The couple moved to Turf Meadow Farm in Essex, Massachusetts, which had been purchased by Means’ father years before. Together had five children – three daughters and two sons.[2] The couple later divorced and in May 1961 he married Jean Draper Ham, granddaughter of George A. Draper.[5] They had two sons and one daughter.[4]

. . . Augustus Gardner Means . . .

. . . Augustus Gardner Means . . .