{{Short description|American politician and lawyer (1818–1890)}} {{Other people|William Boyce}} {{Use American English|date=March 2017}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = WilliamWatersBoyce.jpg | caption = Boyce, {{circa|1860}} | office = Member of the [[Confederate Congress|C.S. House of Representatives]] from [[South Carolina]]'s [[South Carolina's 6th Congressional District|6th district]] | term = February 18, 1862 – March 18, 1865 | predecessor = ''Position established'' | successor = ''Position abolished'' | office1 = Member of the [[Provisional Confederate States Congress|C.S. Congress]]<br />from [[South Carolina]] | term1 = February 8, 1861 – February 17, 1862 | predecessor1 = ''Position established'' | successor1 = ''Position abolished'' | state2 = [[South Carolina]] | district2 = 6th | term2 = March 4, 1853 – December 21, 1860 | predecessor2 = [[William Aiken, Jr.|William Aiken]] | successor2 = ''Position abolished''<br />[[George W. Dargan|George Dargan]] (1883) | state_house3 = South Carolina | term3 = 1846–1847 | birth_name = William Waters Boyce | birth_date = {{Birth date|1818|10|24}} | birth_place = {{nobreak|[[Charleston, South Carolina]], US}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1890|02|03|1818|10|24}} | death_place = [[Fairfax County, Virginia]], US | relations = [[Ker Boyce]] (uncle) | occupation = Politician, lawyer | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] }} '''William Waters Boyce''' (October 24, 1818 – February 3, 1890) was an American politician and lawyer. A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], he was a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[South Carolina]], later a member of the [[Provisional Congress of the Confederate States]] and the [[Confederate States Congress|Confederate States House of Representatives]].
== Early life == Boyce was born on October 24, 1818, in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], the son of Robert Boyce and Lydia ([[née]] Waters) Boyce.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Bowmar to Boyce |url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bowne-boyce.html |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=politicalgraveyard.com}}</ref> He was the nephew of industrialist [[Ker Boyce]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=12 February 1890 |title=Funeral of W. W. Boyce |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/839809311/?match=1&terms=William%20W.%20Boyce |access-date=2026-05-26 |work=The Fairfield News and Herald |pages=3}}</ref>
Boyce studied at the [[University of South Carolina]] and the [[University of Virginia]]. He read law, and in 1839, was admitted to the bar, after which he began practicing law in [[Winnsboro, South Carolina|Winnsboro]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Boyce, William Waters |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000713 |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=bioguide.congress.gov}}</ref> He owned slaves.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=More than 1,800 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/ |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en}}</ref> John D. Smart<ref name=":1" /> (1842–1908), an [[African Americans|African American]] carpenter and builder of the Winnsboro clock tower,<ref>{{Cite web |title=MYSTERY PHOTO: Is it a church? – Statehouse Report |url=https://www.statehousereport.com/2023/08/11/mystery-photo-is-it-a-church/ |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=www.statehousereport.com}}</ref> said that Boyce was kind to his slaves.<ref name=":1" />
== Politics == Boyce was a Democrat. In 1846 and 1847, he was a member of the [[North Carolina House of Representatives]]. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing [[South Carolina's 6th congressional district|South Carolina's 6th district]]. He served from March 4, 1853, to December 21, 1860, resigning due to [[Secession in the United States|Southern secession]];<ref name=":2" /> he originally opposed secession.<ref name=":1" /> During the [[35th United States Congress|35th Congress]], he was chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Elections|Committee on Elections]].<ref name=":2" /> Politically, he was [[Liberalism|liberal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=BOYCE, William Waters (1818-1890) |url=https://voteview.com/person/926/william-waters-boyce |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=voteview.com}}</ref>
At the onset of the [[American Civil War]], Boyce volunteered to the [[Confederate States Army]], though was selected for Confederate politics.<ref name=":1" /> He was a delegate to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from South Carolina February 8, 1861, to February 17, 1862, and served as a member of the Confederate States House of Representatives, from February 17, 1862, to March 18, 1865.<ref name=":2" /> While serving, he was a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Military Necessity: Civil-Military Relations in the Confedeacy|last=Escott|first=Paul D.|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=2006|pages=19}}</ref>
Boyce opposed President [[Jefferson Davis]].<ref name=":3" /> In late 1864, he and other Confederate politicians authored a letter calling for Confederate surrender; the letter was received negatively for the most part. It is believed to have greatly contributed to the death of Confederate war morale.<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life and death == In 1866, Boyrce moved to [[Washington, D.C.]], practicing law there.<ref name=":2" /> He was married to Mary Elizabeth Pearson,<ref name=":0" /> with whom he had two daughters.<ref name=":1" /> He died on February 3, 1890, aged 71, at "Ashland", in [[Fairfax County, Virginia]].<ref name=":2" /> He was buried on February 6,<ref name=":1" /> at St. John's Episcopal Cemetery, in Winnsboro.<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{reflist}} == External links == * {{commons category-inline|William Boyce (representative)}}
{{Navboxes |title=Offices and distinctions |list1= {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=South Carolina | district=6 | years= 1853–1860 | before= [[William Aiken, Jr.]] | after= ''District abolished''<br /> [[George W. Dargan]] (1883)}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title = Deputy in the [[Provisional Confederate States Congress|C.S. Congress]]<br />from [[South Carolina]] | years = February 8, 1861 – February 17, 1862 | before = Position established | after = Position abolished}} {{s-end}} }} {{Navboxes |title=Articles related to William Waters Boyce |list1= {{CSProvisionalConstitutionSig}} {{Confederate States Constitution signatories}} }} {{Portal bar|American Civil War|Biography|Politics|United States}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyce, William Waters}} [[Category:1818 births]] [[Category:1890 deaths]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from South Carolina]] [[Category:Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States]] [[Category:Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina]] [[Category:Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from South Carolina]] [[Category:Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina]] [[Category:Signatories of the Constitution of the Confederate States]] [[Category:Signatories of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States]] [[Category:People of South Carolina in the American Civil War]] [[Category:University of South Carolina alumni]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:19th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly]]