William A. Shea

William A. Shea was an American politician who served as mayor of Peabody, Massachusetts from 1921 to 1925.

Early life and business career Shea was born in Salem, Massachusetts to John and Mary (Foley) O'Shea. He followed his father into the leather industry and started his own hand-finished leather manufacturing business. After the business failed, Shea worked for the Salem Electric Railway Company. He eventually moved to Peabody, where he worked in a restaurant and fruit store until 1893, when he purchased his own restaurant. The restaurant also housed a tobacco stand in 1915 he opened a new tobacco store. That same year, Shea became treasurer and general manager of the American Degreasing Company. Shea was also a director of the A. B. Clark Co., a sheepskin tannery.

Politics Shea held various offices in Peabody, including overseer of the poor, sewer commissioner, and selectman. In 1916, Shea was elected to Peabody's first city council and was chosen to serve as the body's first president. In 1920, Shea was elected mayor of Peabody by 872 votes. In 1922 he was reelected over Rev. Robert A. Bakeman by 126 votes.

Personal life In 1903, Shea's sister, Mary J. O'Shea, went missing and was presumed dead until she reappeared in 1924. While the reason for her disappearance was not given, it was known that she had married a businessman from the Midwestern United States and had settled with him in Los Angeles in the years since she had left Salem.

Shea married Alice Crouse, a concert singer from Salem. They had two children. Shea left his entire estate to his wife and his two children contested his will on the grounds of undue influence and mental incapacity. On January 8, 1931, Judge Alden P. White sustained Shea's will.