William Cogswell

{{short description|American politician}} {{other people}} {{Infobox officeholder | name =William Cogswell | image =William Cogswell2.jpg | image_size =200px | caption =William Cogswell while a U.S. Representative

| office1 = Member of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from [[Massachusetts]] | term_start1 = March 4, 1887 | term_end1 = May 22, 1895 | predecessor1 = [[Eben F. Stone]] | successor1 = [[William Henry Moody]] | constituency1 = {{ushr|MA|7|C}} (1887–93) {{ushr|MA|6|C}} (1893–95)

| office5 = 16th and 19th [[List of mayors of Salem, Massachusetts|Mayor of]] [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] | term_start5 = September 26, 1867<ref name="Hist_Essex_Cty1888_pg226">{{Citation|last=Hurd|first=Duane Hamilton| title =History of Essex County, Massachusetts: with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Volume 1, Issue 1| page = 226 | publisher = J.W. Lewis & Co.| location = Philadelphia, PA | year = 1888}}</ref> | term_end5 = 1869 | preceded5 = David Roberts | succeeded5 = Nathanial Brown | term_start6 = 1873 | term_end6 = 1874 | preceded6 = [[Samuel Calley]] | succeeded6 = Henry Laurens Williams

| birth_date = August 23, 1838 | birth_place =[[Bradford, Massachusetts]], U.S. | death_date ={{Death date and age|1895|5|22|1838|8|23}} | death_place =[[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. | party =[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = Emma Thorndike Proctor (m. 1865, d. 1877) Eva M. Davis (m. 1881) | relations = | children = William Emma Silsby | education = [[Atkinson Academy]] [[Kimball Union Academy]] [[Phillips Academy]] | alma_mater = [[Dartmouth College]] [[Harvard Law School]] | occupation = | profession =Attorney |rank= [[File:Union Army colonel rank insignia.png|35px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] |allegiance= {{flagicon|USA|1865}} [[United States]] [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] |branch= [[United States Army]] [[Union Army]] |service_years=1861 - 1865 |commands= [[2nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry]], 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, [[XX Corps (Union Army)|XX Corps]] |battles=[[American Civil War]] |awards= | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''William Cogswell''' (August 23, 1838 – May 22, 1895) was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representative]] from [[Massachusetts]] and a [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]] who was appointed to the grade of [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]], [[U.S. Volunteers]].

==Biography== Cogswell was born in [[Bradford, Massachusetts]], to George Cogswell and Abigail (Parker) Cogswell. Cogswell's father was a well-respected surgeon and one of the founders of the Massachusetts Republican Party. His grandfather, [[William Cogswell (New Hampshire physician)|William Cogswell]], was a [[surgeon's mate]] in the Revolutionary War who practiced medicine in [[Atkinson, New Hampshire]], and gave land for the [[Atkinson Academy]]. Abigail's{{clarify|date=June 2014}} mother died when he was about 7 years old.

Cogswell attended [[Atkinson Academy]], [[Kimball Union Academy]] in [[Meriden, New Hampshire]], [[Phillips Academy]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts]], and [[Dartmouth College]] in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]].

Cogswell entered Dartmouth in 1855, leaving it soon after. From 1856 to 1857 he went on a voyage around the world, spending two years as a sailor. When Cogswell returned from his voyage he entered [[Harvard Law School]].

==Law practice== On September 8, 1860, Cogswell was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in [[Essex County, Massachusetts]]. He worked for a while in the office of Attorney William D. Northend, and in April 1861 Cogswell opened his own office in [[Salem, Massachusetts]].

==Military service== [[File:William Cogswell.jpg|left|thumb|200px|William Cogswell, circa 1861.]] Cogswell was a private in the Second Corps of Cadets, a militia organization of the [[Commonwealth of Massachusetts]]. Cogswell served in the Second Corps of Cadets during the winter of 1860–1861.

On April 19, 1861, word reached Salem that the Sixth Massachusetts had been attacked in [[Baltimore]] while on its way to defend [[Washington, D.C.]] Cogswell turned his office into a recruiting station and in 24 hours raised a full company, the first company in the country recruited for the war. This became Company C of the Second Massachusetts Volunteers, with Cogswell as captain in command. Cogswell was commissioned a captain in the Second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, May 11, 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on October 23, 1862, and to colonel on June 25, 1863.

Colonel Cogswell was appointed [[Brevet (Military)|brevet]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] of volunteers by appointment of President [[Abraham Lincoln]] on December 12, 1864, to rank from December 15, 1864, and the appointment was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on February 14, 1865.<ref>Eicher, John H. and Eicher, David J. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}, p. 742.</ref> Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Cogswell was mustered out of the U.S. Volunteers on July 24, 1865.<ref>Eicher and Eicher, 2001, p. 179</ref>

After the Civil War Cogswell resumed the practice of his profession.

==Political activities== He served as mayor of [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] 1867–1869, 1873, and 1874. He served as member of the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] 1870, 1871, and 1881–1883. He served in the [[Massachusetts State Senate]] in 1885 and 1886. He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892.

==Congressional service== Cogswell was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[50th United States Congress]] and to the four succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1887, until his death in [[Washington, D.C.]], May 22, 1895. He was interred in [[Harmony Grove Cemetery]], [[Salem, Massachusetts]].

==Personal life== Cogswell married Emma Thorndike Proctor on June 20, 1865. They had two children, William and Emma Silsby Cogswell. Emma died on April 1, 1877. Cogswell remarried to Eva M. Davis on December 12, 1881 and they remained married until his death, having no children.

==See also== {{Portal|American Civil War}} *[[List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)]] *[[List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War]] *[[Massachusetts in the American Civil War]] *[[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)]]

==Notes== <references/>

==References== * Eicher, John H. and [[David J. Eicher|Eicher, David J.]] ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}. * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Av0UAAAAYAAJ Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William Cogswell (late a Representative from Massachusetts)]: Delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate, [[54th United States Congress|Fifty-fourth Congress]], First and Second Sessions'' (1897).

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}} {{CongBio|C000595}} Retrieved on 2008-02-12 * [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:3:./temp/~pp_VdTD::@@@mdb=fsaall,app,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,bbcards,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tgmi,lamb William Cogswell] as a member of the 50th Congress Massachusetts Delegation.

{{Bioguide}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before=[[David Roberts (Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts)|David Roberts]] | title=[[List of mayors of Salem, Massachusetts|Mayor of]] [[Salem, Massachusetts]] | years=September 26, 1867 – 1869 | after=[[Nathanial Brown]] }} {{succession box | before=[[Samuel Calley]] | title=[[List of mayors of Salem, Massachusetts|Mayor of]] [[Salem, Massachusetts]] | years=1872 – 1872 | after=[[Henry Laurens Williams]] }} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=7 | before=[[Eben F. Stone]] | after= [[William Everett]] | years=March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1893 }} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=6 | before=[[Henry Cabot Lodge]] | after= [[William Henry Moody|William H. Moody]] | years=March 4, 1893 – May 22, 1895 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cogswell, William}} [[Category:1838 births]] [[Category:1895 deaths]] [[Category:Phillips Academy alumni]] [[Category:Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:Union army generals]] [[Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Union army officers]] [[Category:Veterans of the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry]] [[Category:Dartmouth College alumni]] [[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]] [[Category:Mayors of Salem, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:People from Bradford, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Burials at Harmony Grove Cemetery]] [[Category:People from Atkinson, New Hampshire]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]