William Sprague III
| William Sprague | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Senator from Rhode Island |
|
| In office February 18, 1842 – January 17, 1844 |
|
| Preceded by | Nathan F. Dixon |
| Succeeded by | John B. Francis |
| 14th Governor of Rhode Island | |
| In office May 2, 1838 – May 2, 1839 |
|
| Lieutenant | Joseph Childs |
| Preceded by | John B. Francis |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Ward King |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's At-large district |
|
| In office March 4, 1835 – March 4, 1837 |
|
| Preceded by | Tristam Burges |
| Succeeded by | Robert B. Cranston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 3, 1799 Cranston, Rhode Island |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Providence, Rhode Island |
| Political party | Whig |
William Sprague, also known as William III or William Sprague III (November 3, 1799 – October 19, 1856), was a politician and industrialist from the U.S. state of Rhode Island, serving as the 14th Governor, a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator. He was the uncle of William Sprague IV, also a Governor and Senator from Rhode Island.
Biography
William Sprague was the son of William Sprague [1773-1836] and Anna Potter [1763-1828]. He was born in the Gov. William Sprague Mansion in Cranston, Rhode Island, and pursued classical studies as a student. He engaged in mercantile pursuits and was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, serving as speaker from 1832 to 1835 and leading a coalition of Anti-Masonic and Democratic Party members.[1]
He was elected as an at-large candidate from the Whig Party to the Twenty-fourth Congress and served from March 4, 1835, to March 4, 1837. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1836. He was elected Governor of Rhode Island in 1838. He subsequently was elected as a Whig to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Nathan F. Dixon and served from February 18, 1842, to January 17, 1844, when he resigned. He served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Enrolled Bills in the Twenty-seventh Congress. He was a U.S. presidential elector on the Whig ticket in 1848.
His family fortune came from the cotton and paint manufacturing, and he assumed active control of the family business following the murder of his brother Amasa on December 31, 1843. The Senator took an active interest in the trial of the Gordon brothers for the murder. The trial resulted in one of the defendants being sent to the gallows, and remains highly controversial for the amount of anti-Irish bigotry involved. In 2011, the condemned man was posthumously pardoned by the Rhode Island governor.[2]
In addition to the family business, he was president of the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad, and of two banks. The extended Sprague family has descendants who live in the Utica, New York area.[3] Sprague died in Providence, Rhode Island, and is interred in Swan Point Cemetery there.[4]
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Erika Niedowski, "RI governor pardons Irish man hanged in 1845", Associated Press, 2011-06-29.
- ↑
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Further reading
- Hoffman, Charles, and Hoffman, Tess. Brotherliy Love: Murder and the Politics of Prejudice in Nineteenth-Century Rhode Island. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1993.
- Knight, Benjamin. History of the Sprague Families, of Rhode Island. Santa Cruz: H. Coffin, 1881.
- Warwick Beacon 29 May 2003 Lifebeats section, "Historic Homes" by Don D'Amato on Sprague's anti-masonic politics
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- William Sprague entry at the National Governors Association
- William Sprague (1799–1856) entry at The Political Graveyard
- William Sprague III at Find a Grave
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.- William Sprague III at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's at-large congressional district March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837 |
Succeeded by Robert B. Cranston |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Rhode Island May 2, 1838 – May 2, 1839 |
Succeeded by Samuel Ward King |
| United States Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Rhode Island February 18, 1842 – January 17, 1844 Served alongside: James F. Simmons |
Succeeded by John B. Francis |
- This is a redirect from a page that has been moved (renamed). This page was kept as a redirect to avoid breaking links, both internal and external, that may have been made to the old page name. For more information follow the bold category link.
- Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from Appleton's Cyclopedia
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- 1799 births
- 1856 deaths
- Governors of Rhode Island
- Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island
- Speakers of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
- United States Senators from Rhode Island
- People from Cranston, Rhode Island
- Rhode Island Whigs
- Rhode Island Democrats
- Anti-Masonic Party politicians from Rhode Island
- Whig Party United States Senators
- Burials at Swan Point Cemetery
- Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- Whig Party state governors of the United States
