Sempronius H. Boyd

Sempronius H. Boyd

Sempronius Hamilton Boyd (born May 28, 1828 in Nashville , Tennessee , †  June 22, 1894 in Springfield , Missouri ) was an American politician . Between 1863 and 1871 he represented the state of Missouri twice in the US House of Representatives .

Life

In 1840, Sempronius Boyd came to Missouri with his parents, where the family settled on a farm near Springfield. There he enjoyed a private school education. In 1849 he joined the gold rush and moved to California , where he worked as a gold prospector and teacher. In 1854 he returned to Missouri. Between 1854 and 1856 he was a clerk at the Greene County District Court . After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1856, he began working in this profession in Springfield. In the same year he was elected Mayor of Springfield. At the beginning of the Civil War , Boyd raised an infantry unit and became a colonel in the Union Army . Boyd remained in the military until he was elected to Congress.

In the congressional election of 1862 Boyd was elected as a Unionist in the fourth constituency of Missouri to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded Elijah Hise Norton on March 4, 1863 . Up to March 3, 1865 he was able to complete a legislative period in Congress , during which he was chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business . This time was marked by the events of the civil war. At that time, Boyd joined the Republican Party , whose federal board he was a member between 1864 and 1868. In 1864 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention , at which President Abraham Lincoln was nominated for re-election.

In 1865, Sempronius Boyd became a judge in the 14th Judicial District of Missouri. Between 1867 and 1874 he was also involved in building and running the Southwest Pacific Railroad . In the elections of 1868 he was re-elected as a Republican in the fourth district of his state to the Congress, where he replaced Joseph J. Gravely on March 4, 1869 and spent another term until March 3, 1871. During this time, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. Boyd was then chairman of the committee that dealt with claims from the American Revolution.

Between 1874 and 1876 Boyd ran a wagon factory. He then practiced as a lawyer. From January 1891 to June 1892 he was the successor to Jacob T. Child, US envoy and consul general in Siam . He died in Springfield on June 22, 1894.

Web links

• Sempronius H. Boyd in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Sempronius H. Boyd in the database of Find a Grave (English)