William McMasters

William Henry McMasters (June 9, 1874 – February 28, 1968) was an American journalist and publicist who exposed Charles Ponzi as a fraudster.

Early life McMasters was born on June 9, 1874, in Franklin, Massachusetts. His parents, William and Jane McMasters immigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1868. He attended the Dean Academy and Boston University School of Law. In 1898 he volunteered for the United States Army Signal Corps and served in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. In late July, McMasters found several highly incriminating documents that indicated Ponzi was merely robbing Peter to pay Paul. He went to his former employer, Boston Post publisher Richard Grozier, with this information. Grozier offered him $5,000 for his story, which was printed in the Post on August 2, 1920. McMaster's article declared Ponzi "hopelessly insolvent", reporting that he was at least $2 million in debt. McMasters later sued Ponzi for failure to pay for services rendered. In a directed verdict, Judge Michael Keating ruled that McMasters was not entitled to the money because he was serving two masters and ordered the jury to find in favor of Ponzi. McMasters was ordered to pay Ponzi back $907.50.

Curley administration In 1922, Curley appointed McMasters co-director of the newly-created Commercial and Industrial Bureau. McMasters tenure in the Curley administration was short-lived, as in June 1923 Curley disbanded the bureau.

Writing McMasters was the author of Originality and Other Essays, and Somewhere in Eternity. He also wrote three plays, The Undercurrent, Opportunity Knox and Triangle. McMasters' first novel, Revolt, was published in 1935. In the 1938 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, McMasters lost the Republican primary to Leverett Saltonstall and received 7,206 votes in the general election as an independent on the Townsend Recovery Act line. In the 1940 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, McMasters attempted to run as the nominee of the National Pensions Party, however the Massachusetts Ballot Law Commission ruled that he did not file the required amount of "legally-good signatures". Four of his campaign workers were convicted of conspiracy to violate the state election laws for forging names on McMasters' nomination papers. McMasters was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in the 1944 election.

Later life and death McMasters taught journalism at Mount Ida College from 1947 to 1957. He died on February 28, 1968, at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was 93 years old. He was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery.