William Amos Bancroft (April 26, 1855 – March 11, 1922) was a Massachusetts businessman, soldier and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and on the Common Council, Board of Aldermen, and as the Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1893–1897).
William Amos Bancroft | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts | |
| In office January 1893 – January 1897 | |
| Preceded by | Alpheus B. Alger |
| Succeeded by | Alvin F. Sortwell |
| President of the Cambridge, Massachusetts Board of Aldermen | |
| In office 1891–1892 | |
| Member of the Cambridge, Massachusetts Board of Aldermen | |
| In office 1891–1892 | |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office 1883–1885 | |
| Member of the Cambridge, Massachusetts Common Council | |
| In office 1882–1882 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 26, 1855 Groton, Massachusetts |
| Died | March 11, 1922 (aged 66) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Spouse | Mary Shaw |
| Children | Hugh Bancroft, Guy Bancroft, Catherine (Bancroft) De Haviland |
| Alma mater | Harvard College, Harvard Law School[1] |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Rank | Private to colonel (Massachusetts Militia), Brigadier general (United States Volunteers) |
| Unit | Massachusetts Militia United States Volunteers |
| Commands | Company B, Fifth Massachusetts Militia Regiment, Fifth Massachusetts Militia Regiment |
| Battles/wars | Spanish–American War |
Bancroft was the president of the Boston Elevated Railway Company from 1899 to 1916.[2][3]
During the Spanish–American War, Bancroft was a brigadier general of United States Volunteers.[2]
Life and career
editWilliam was born on April 26, 1855, in Groton, Massachusetts, to Charles Bancroft and Lydia Emeline (Spaulding) Bancroft.[1][4][5] He attended Lawrence Academy in his hometown and Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. After graduating from Phillips Exeter, he attended Harvard Law School, where he enlisted in the fifth regiment of the state militia in his Freshman year.[6]
Bancroft died on March 11, 1922, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was buried in Groton Cemetery alongside his parents.[2][5]
Notes
edit- ^ a b Toomey, Daniel P. (1892). Massachusetts of Today: a Memorial of the State, Historical and Biographical. Boston, MA: Columbia Publishing Company. p. 297. Retrieved April 26, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c "General William A. Bancroft Dies". The New York Times. Cambridge, Massachusetts (published March 12, 1922). March 12, 1922. p. 30. Retrieved April 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Brush To Lead Elevated". The Boston Daily Globe. September 16, 1919. p. 3. Retrieved April 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ May, Virginia A. (1978). Groton Houses: Some Notes on the History of Old Homesteads in Groton, Massachusetts. p. 53.
- ^ a b Vollmar, Joshua (October 2022). "Who Was General Bancroft?" (PDF). Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ Electric Railway Review: Volume 8. 1898. p. 107.
Media related to William Amos Bancroft at Wikimedia Commons
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