William Cogswell Papers, 1861-1894
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Not requestable
Scope and Content Note
The William Cogswell papers document Cogswell's career as a politician and military officer. The collection is divided into two series.
Papers in Series I. Military and Political Papers describe his daily work as quartermaster of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The papers include accounts of battles, military maps, and letters from other military officers recommending Cogswell's promotion to brigadier general. The political papers draw from his activities as Salem mayor, Massachusetts senator, and United States congressman. Box 1 Folder 10 contains some letters and news clippings about Cogswell’s refusal to accept the Salem postmastership.
Series II. Speeches contains the bulk of Cogswell's papers. It consists of his speeches made before political, civic, and military groups during his terms as United States congressman. Cogswell spoke on a variety of topics including military campaigns, fisheries, agriculture, and the political arena.
Dates
- Creation: 1861-1894
Creator
- Cogswell, William, 1838-1895 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research use.
Biographical Sketch
William Cogswell (1838-1895) was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, educated at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard Law School in 1860, and practiced law in Salem, Massachusetts. He served in the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as a captain in 1861, rising to brigadier general in 1864. Cogswell's political positions included mayor of Salem (1867-1869, 1873-1874), member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1870-1871, 1881-1883), member of the Massachusetts Senate (1885-1886), and member of the United States House of Representatives (1887-1895). He died in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 1895, and was buried at Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem.
Extent
2 linear feet (4 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The William Cogswell papers document Cogswell's career as a politician and military officer.
Series List
SERIES I. Military and Political Papers
SERIES II. Speeches
Physical Location
Phillips Library Stacks
Provenance
The Cogswell papers are a reorganization and integration of one scrapbook and two boxes. A folder of orrespondence, speeches, clippings, 1866-1871 (B1 F10), was donated by William B. Welch on February 21, 1968. The rest of the collection is from an unknown source.
Processing Information
Collection processed by John Henderson, May 1986. Updated by Lee Jacoby, December 2015.
Subject
- Cogswell, William, 1838-1895 (Person)
- Massachusetts. Militia (Organization)
- Title
- WILLIAM COGSWELL (1838-1895) PAPERS, 1861-1894
- Author
- Processed by: John Henderson; Updated by: Lee Jacoby; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Phillips Library Repository