{{short description|American politician}} {{other people}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William Amos Bancroft | image = William Bancroft.png | image_size = | caption = | office = Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts | term_start = January 1893 | term_end = January 1897 | predecessor = Alpheus B. Alger | successor = Alvin F. Sortwell | office2 = President of the<br>Cambridge, Massachusetts<br>Board of Aldermen | term_start2 = 1891 | term_end2 = 1892 | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | office3 = Member of the<br>Cambridge, Massachusetts<br>Board of Aldermen | term_start3 = 1891 | term_end3 = 1892 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | office4 = Member of <br>the Massachusetts House of Representatives | term_start4 = 1883 | term_end4 = 1885 | predecessor4 = | successor4 = | office5 = Member of <br>the Cambridge, Massachusetts<br> Common Council | term_start5 = 1882 | term_end5 = 1882 | predecessor5 = | successor5 = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1855|04|26}} | birth_place = Groton, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1922|03|11|1855|04|26}} | death_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. | alma_mater = Harvard College, Harvard Law School<ref name="Toomey 1892 297"/> | occupation = Attorney | spouse = Mary Shaw | children = Hugh Bancroft, Guy Bancroft, Catherine (Bancroft) De Haviland | allegiance = United States of America | branch = | service_years = | rank = Private to colonel (Massachusetts Militia),<br>Brigadier general (United States Volunteers) | commands = Company B,<br>Fifth Massachusetts Militia Regiment,<br>Fifth Massachusetts Militia Regiment | unit = Massachusetts Militia<br>United States Volunteers | battles = Spanish–American War | awards = }}
'''William Amos Bancroft''' (April 26, 1855 – March 11, 1922) was a Massachusetts businessman, soldier and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and on the Common Council, Board of Aldermen, and as the Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1893–1897). During the Spanish–American War, Bancroft was a brigadier general of United States Volunteers.<ref name="The New York Times 27"/> From 1899 to 1916, he was the president of the Boston Elevated Railway.<ref name="The New York Times 27">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123581337/general-william-a-bancroft-dies/ | title = General William A. Bancroft Dies|page =30 | newspaper = The New York Times | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts |date=1922-03-12 | publication-date =March 12, 1922 |access-date=2023-04-26 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123581678/brush-to-lead-elevated/ |title=Brush To Lead Elevated |newspaper=The Boston Daily Globe |page=3 |date=September 16, 1919 |access-date=2023-04-26 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Early life == Bancroft was born on April 26, 1855, in Groton, Massachusetts, to Charles Bancroft and Lydia Emeline (Spaulding) Bancroft.<ref name="Toomey 1892 297">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/massachusettsoft00toom/page/297/mode/1up |last= Toomey|first=Daniel P.| year = 1892 | title = Massachusetts of Today: a Memorial of the State, Historical and Biographical | page = 297 | publisher = Columbia Publishing Company | location = Boston, MA |access-date=2023-04-26 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=May |first=Virginia A. |title=Groton Houses: Some Notes on the History of Old Homesteads in Groton, Massachusetts |year=1978 |pages=53 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vollmar |first=Joshua |date=October 2022 |title=Who Was General Bancroft? |url=https://www.grotonhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/Bancroft.pdf |access-date=17 June 2022}}</ref> He attended Lawrence Academy in his hometown and Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. After graduating from Phillips Exeter, he attended Harvard College, where he enlisted in the fifth regiment of the state militia in his Freshman year.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Electric Railway Review: Volume 8 |year=1898 |pages=107 |language=en}}</ref> He eventually rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was a member of the Harvard crew in 1877, 1878, and 1879.<ref name="Brush" />
==Legal career== Bancroft attended Harvard Law School and studied law in the office of William Burnham Stevens. He was admitted to the Suffolk County bar in 1881. In 1885, he opened a law office with Edward Francis Johnson, later mayor of Woburn, Massachusetts.<ref name="Brush" />
==Railway career== In 1885, Bancroft became the superintendent of the Cambridge Railroad. When it merged with the Charles River Street Railway, he was named president. When the company was absorbed by the West End Street Railway, he was appointed roadmaster of the system. He left in 1890 to focus on law and politics. In 1896, he became legal counsel to the Boston Elevated Railway. He became the company's vice president and chairman of the board the following year. From 1899 to 1916, he was company president.<ref name="Brush" />
==Politics== In 1890, Bancroft was elected to the Cambridge board of aldermen. In 1892, he was elected to his first of five consecutive terms as mayor.<ref name="Brush">{{cite news |title=Brush to Lead Elevated |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 16, 1916}}</ref>
==Death== Bancroft died on March 11, 1922, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was buried in Groton Cemetery alongside his parents.<ref name="The New York Times 27"/><ref name=":0" />
==Notes== <references/> *{{Commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title=Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts | before= Alpheus B. Alger | years= January 1893 – January 1897 |after= Alvin F. Sortwell}} {{s-bus}} {{s-bef|before=William A. Gaston}} {{s-ttl|title=President of the Boston Elevated Railway|years=1899–1916}} {{s-aft|after=Matthew C. Brush}} |- {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bancroft, William}} Category:1855 births Category:1922 deaths Category:Mayors of Cambridge, Massachusetts Category:Cambridge, Massachusetts City Council members Category:Harvard College alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Category:Boston Elevated Railway Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court
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