Role in Gubernatorial Succession
Originally, the Massachusetts Constitution placed the Governor's Council in the line of executive succession. If the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor were both vacant, the Council would act as chief executive. During the colonial period this occurred three times. Following statehood, it occurred only once. After the death of Governor Increase Sumner in 1799, Lieutenant Governor Moses Gill became Acting Governor, and following his death in 1800 the council chaired by Thomas Dawes succeeded to the governorship.
The constitutional line of succession was amended in 1918 to remove the Council and insert the "secretary, attorney-general, treasurer and receiver-general, and auditor," in that order.
Read more about this topic: Massachusetts Governor's Council
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