William Gaston (Massachusetts)

William Gaston
29th Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 7, 1875 – January 6, 1876
Lieutenant	Horatio G. Knight
Preceded by	Thomas Talbot (acting)
Succeeded by	Alexander H. Rice
21st Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
In office 1871–1872
Preceded by	Nathaniel B. Shurtleff
Succeeded by	Henry L. Pierce
8th Mayor of Roxbury, Massachusetts
In office 1861–1862
Preceded by	Theodore Otis
Succeeded by	George Lewis
Member of the Massachusetts State Senate
In office 1868–1868
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1856–1856
In office 1853–1854
Personal details
Born	(1820-10-03)October 3, 1820 Killingly, Connecticut
Died	Boston, Massachusetts
Political party	Whig Democratic
Alma mater	Brown University
Profession	Lawyer
Signature	William Gaston (Massachusetts)'s signature

William Gaston (October 3, 1820 – January 19, 1894) was the 29th Governor of Massachusetts in 1875–1876.

Early years

William Gaston was born on October 3, 1820 in Killingly, Connecticut. His father, Alexander Gaston, was a merchant of French Huguenot descent, and his mother, Kezia Arnold Gaston, was from an old Rhode Island family. He received his primary education at Brooklyn, Connecticut, and was prepared for college in the academy at Plainfield. He entered Brown University at the age of fifteen, and graduated in 1840 with high honors.

Gaston then moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts, where his parents had taken up residence, to pursue the study of law. He first studied with Francis Hillard of Roxbury, and then with Benjamin Curtis, later a justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1844, and opened his own practice in Roxbury in 1846. The practice flourished, and he soon became a leading lawyer in Norfolk and Suffolk Counties.

Political career

Gaston became involved in Roxbury city politics not long after settling there. He was elected to its common council from 1849 to 1853, serving as council president the last two years. He represented the city in the state legislature (1853–54) as a Whig, and was swept out of office in the 1854 Know Nothing landslide that destroyed the Whig Party. His opposition to the Know Nothing cause gained him support in the city's Irish American community, and he was once again elected to the legislature as a Democrat in 1856. He was also appointed Roxbury's solicitor in 1856, a post he held until 1860.

In 1860 Gaston ran successfully for mayor of Roxbury, and won election again the following year. His moderate and fiscal conservative policies were popular, drawing Republican voters to his camp. He supported the Union cause during the American Civil War, raising troops at home and visiting them in the field. He resumed the private practice of law after his second term.

During the 1860s the annexation of Roxbury to Boston was discussed, and Gaston, who supported the idea, was appointed to the Roxbury commission that evaluated the idea in 1867. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States Congress in 1870. The next year he was elected Mayor of Boston, serving two one-year terms. The most notable event of his tenure as mayor, the Great Boston Fire of 1872, occurred late in the second term. The fire destroyed a large swath of the commercial district of the city, and Gaston was criticized for failing to show decisive leadership during attempts to bring the fire under control. This weak showing contributed to his loss in a bid for a third term.

In 1873 Gaston ran for Governor of Massachusetts. The dominant Republican Party had been split in 1872 by the formation of the Liberal Republicans, and the state's Democrats sensed an opportunity. Gaston narrowly lost the election to incumbent William B. Washburn. Washburn resigned in 1874 after winning election to the United States Senate, and Gaston ran in 1874 against Acting Governor Thomas Talbot. Talbot had supported the continuance of statewide prohibition, vetoing popular legislation for loosening restrictions on alcohol, and this had made him unpopular. Gaston was also helped by discontent with the corrupt endemic in the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant and the disunity among the Republicans, and won an easy victory. He promoted a law repealing the state's prohibition law, leaving restrictions and licensing of alcohol sales to the cities and towns.

Portrait of Gaston

Gaston's quest for a second term was ended by public outrage over his failure to sign the death warrant of convicted juvenile murderer Jesse Pomeroy. Pomeroy, then fourteen years old, had been convicted in December 1874 of first degree murder for killing a girl earlier that year, and been sentenced to death. There was public clamor favoring his execution, especially after he attempted to escape from prison. Gaston, despite two rulings by the Governor's Council that clemency be denied, refused to sign the execution order. It was an unpopular move that probably cost him the 1875 election. (Republican Alexander H. Rice, who won the election, also refused to sign the execution order, but his Council eventually recommended commutation of Pomeroy's sentence to life in solitary confinement.)

Later years

After his term as governor ended, Gaston retired from politics and returned to his law practice. He served as President of the Boston Bar Association from 1880 to 1881.

In 1852 Gaston married Louisa Augusta Beecher. They were the parents of three children, including William Alexander Gaston (1859–1927), who ran for governor of Massachusetts in 1902 and 1903 but lost.

See also

• Timeline of Boston, 1870s

Bibliography

• A Catalogue of the City Councils of Boston, 1822–1908, Roxbury, 1846–1867, Charlestown 1847-1873 and of The Selectmen of Boston, 1634-1822 also of Various Other Town and Municipal officers, Boston, MA: City of Boston Printing Department, (1909) pp. 329–331.
• City of Boston. A Memorial of William Gaston

External links

• Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography

Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Talbot as Acting Governor	Governor of Massachusetts January 7, 1875 – January 6, 1876	Succeeded by Alexander H. Rice
Preceded by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff	Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts 1871–1872	Succeeded by Henry L. Pierce
Preceded by Theodore Otis	Mayor of Roxbury, Massachusetts 1861–1862	Succeeded by George Lewis