William Sprague (politician, 1809)

William Sprague (born February 23, 1809 in Providence , Rhode Island , † September 19, 1868 in Kalamazoo , Michigan ) was a pastor and politician in the US state of Michigan. He was a distant cousin of William Sprague (1830-1915), the governor of Rhode Island.

Sprague attended public schools in Rhode Island and then moved to Michigan, where he settled in Kalamazoo. He studied theology and was subsequently ordained a pastor. From 1844 to 1848, as an elder, he presided over the Methodist Episcopal Church in Kalamazoo District. He later served as a United States Indian Agent in Michigan from 1852 to 1853 .

In the early 1830s, Sprague served as the county pastor of many wards in central and southwest Michigan. He became the first evangelical preacher in Van Buren County . He also set up the first Methodist class in Niles in 1832 and was a pastor there in 1862, when the construction of the historic church building in the Italian style began. In the fall of 1832 he became a pastor at Coldwater .

Sprague also pursued a political career by acting as a Whig to the Democrats Charles E. Stuart in his re-election attempt in the 31 US Congress suggested. He remained only for a term from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1851 in the US House of Representatives , since he was subject to the re-running Stuart in his second candidacy. He then returned to his farm in Oshtemo Township , Kalamazoo County . He died in Kalamazoo in 1868 and was buried in Mountain Home Cemetery .

Individual evidence

1. ^ The History of Van Buren County, Michigan: The Southwest Michigan Directory . Retrieved February 20, 2008.
2. ↑ Michigan Historical Markers . Retrieved February 20, 2008.
3. ^ History of Branch County Churches . Archived from the original on February 28, 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2008.

Web links

• William Sprague in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• The Political Graveyard