William Cogswell was born on August 23, 1838, in Bradford, Massachusetts, to George and Abigail Cogswell. His father was a surgeon who helped establish the Republican Party in Massachusetts. The family lived in Bradford, and he attended school at Kimball Union Academy and Phillips Academy. He enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1855, but he left soon afterward and spent a year at sea.

 

He enrolled at Harvard Law School in the late 1850s, and he was admitted to the bar in September 1860. In early 1861, he began working as a lawyer in Salem, Massachusetts. When the Civil War began, he helped raise a company of soldiers.

 

In May 1861, he received a commission as captain of Company C of the 2^nd Massachusetts Infantry. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea, and the Carolinas campaign.  He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in October 1862 and to colonel in June 1863. He mustered out on July 24, 1865.

 

He returned to Salem after the war and resumed his work as a lawyer. He married Emma Proctor on June 20, 1865, and they had at least two children: William, born around 1867; and Emma, born around 1869. He supported the Republican Party, and he served as mayor of Salem from 1867 to 1869 and again from 1873 to 1874. He also served in the Massachusetts house of representatives from 1870 to 1871.

 

His wife died on April 1, 1877, and he married Eva Davis on December 12, 1881. The couple had no children. He served in the state house of representatives again from 1881 to 1883 and the state senate from 1885 to 1886. He was elected to Congress in 1886, and he was reelected four times. He died in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 1895.

 

Image: William Cogswell (courtesy Wikicommons)

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