George Sewall Boutwell (1818 - 1905)

Born 28 Jan 1818 in Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Died 27 Feb 1905 at age 87 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chase Minor [send private message]

Preceded by 27th Secretary Hugh McCulloch Preceded by 19th Governor George N. Briggs Preceded by Henry Wilson

George S. Boutwell 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury 1869—1873 20th Governor of Massachusetts 1851—1853 US Senator (Class 2) from Massachusetts 1873—1877

Succeeded by 29th Secretary William Adams Richardson Succeeded by 21st Governor John H. Clifford Succeeded by George Frisbie Hoar

Biography

George Boutwell is Notable.

George Sewel Boutwell

Representative and a Senator from Massachusetts
Timeline:^[1]

• 1818: born in Brookline, Mass., January 28, 1818; attended the public schools; taught school in Shirley, Mass.;
• 1841: engaged in mercantile pursuits in Groton, Mass., 1841; appointed postmaster of Groton 1841; studied law;
• 1842: member, State house of representatives 1842-1844, 1847-1850; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election to both Congress and the governorship on several occasions between 1844 and 1850;
• 1849: State bank commissioner 1849-1851;
• 1851-1852: Governor of Massachusetts 1851-1852;
• 1853: member of the State constitutional convention in 1853;
• 1855: secretary of the State board of education 1855-1861; member of the board of overseers of Harvard University 1850-1860;
• 1861: member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war;
• 1862: served on the military commission under the War Department in 1862;
• 1862-1863: first Commissioner of Internal Revenue in 1862 and 1863;
• 1863-1869: elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1863, to March 12, 1869, when he resigned;
• 1868: one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1868 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson;
• 1869-1873: appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Ulysses Grant 1869-1873, when he resigned;
• 1873-1877: elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry Wilson and served from March 17, 1873, until March 3, 1877; chairman, Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the United States (Forty-fourth Congress);
• 1877: appointed by President Rutherford Hayes as commissioner to codify and edit the Statutes at Large in 1877;
• 1880: United States counsel before the French and American Claims Commission 1880;
• 1884: declined appointment as Secretary of the Treasury in 1884; practiced law in Washington, D.C.;
• 1886-1894: counsel for Haiti in 1885, for Hawaii in 1886, and for Chile in 1893 and 1894;
• 1898-1905: president of the Anti-Imperialist League 1898-1905;
• 1905: died in Groton, Middlesex County, Mass., February 27, 1905; interment in Groton Cemetery

George, son of Sewall Boutell & Rebeccah, was born on 28 January 1818 in Lunenburg, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.^[2]

George married Sarah A Thayer on 8 July 1841 in Groton, Massachusetts, United States.^[3][4]

In the 1880 census Geo (age 62), Farmer & Lawyer, was the married head of household in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.^[5]

Name	Sex	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
Geo. S. Boutwell	M	62	Married	Head	Farmer & Lawyer	Massachusetts, United States
Sarah A. Boutwell	F	65	Married	Wife	Keeping House	New Hampshire, United States
Georganna A. Boutwell	F	37	Single	Daughter	At Home	Massachusetts, United States
Francis M. Boutwell	M	30	Single	Son	Patent Lawyer	Massachusetts, United States
Katy Donahy	F	20	Single	Other	Housework	Ireland

In the 1900 census George (age 82) was the married head of household in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.^[6]

Name	Sex	Age	Status	Relation	Occupation	Birth Place
George S Boutwell	M	82	Married	Head		Massachusetts
Sarah A Boutwell	F	87	Married	Wife		New Hampshire
Georgianna A Boutwell	F	57	Single	Daughter		Massachusetts
Delia G Coughlin	F	27	Single	Servant		Massachusetts
Sadie E Coughlin	F	21	Single	Servant		Massachusetts
Frances Rokes	F	45	Widowed	Servant		Maine
Elizabeth Saunders	F	59	Widowed	Servant		Maine

George, son of Sewell Boutwell & Rebecca Marshall, died (age 87) on 27 February 1905 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.^[7] George was mentioned on a memorial in Groton Cemetery, Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States with a death date of 27 February 1905.^[8]

OBITUARY^[9]

GEORGE S. BOUTWELL DIED THIS MORNING

Was Grant's Secretary of the Treasury and Held Many Offices.

Groton, Mass., Feb. 27. Ex-Governor George S. Boutwell, who has been ill with pneumonia for the last few days, died at 7.22 o'clock this morning. He was conscious until very near the last and bade farewell cheerfully and tranquilly to his weeping relatives. Gathered around his bedside when the end came were his son, Francis Mason Boutwell, and his wife, and Miss Georgiana Boutwell, the devoted daughter of the dead man, who has lived with him all her life.

George Sewell Boutwell was one of the most distinguished men of the country for fifty years. He was Governor, Congressman, Senator, Secretary of the Treasurer and a leader in political matters. He was a Democrat, Abolitionist, Republican and anti-Imperialist, and through it all he was known as a man of sincerity– too independent in thought to be swayed by partnership. He was born in 1818 in Brookline.

When twenty-four years old he was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, serving there several years. In 1855 and 1858 he was elected Governor of Massachusets by the Massachusetts Democrats. In 1852 he voted for Franklin Pierce for President, and he did not cast another Democratic vote until he supported Bryan in 1904.

He became an Abolitionist and later joined the Republican party. He was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress and was returned to the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses.

He became especially famous as one of the foremost In the effort to impeach President Johnson. When Grant became President Mr. Boutwell was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. In 1873 he was elected to the Unlted States Senate. In 1877 he was named commissioner to revise the Federal statutes. In 1880 he went before the International Commission on the famous French claims, as counsel for the United States.

After that he retired from public life and pursued his practice of law in Boston until he was 85 years old. But his anti-imperialistic views and his constant utterance of them kept him prominently before the nation until he died. He was married in 1841 to Miss Sarah Adelaide Thayer, daughter of Nathan Thayer, of Hollls, N. H. They had two children.

Sources

1. ↑ "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005"
   United States. Congress. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2005
   Ancestry Record 1064 #1054 (accessed 16 January 2023)
   Name: George Sewel Boutwell; Birth Date: 28 Jan 1818;
2. ↑ Birth: "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001"
   citing Birth, Lunenburg, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009535.
   FamilySearch Record: F4X9-VQJ (accessed 16 January 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-9979-4HTN Image number 00115
   George S Boutell born on 28 Jan 1818, son of Sewall Boutell & Rebeccah, in Lunenburg, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.
3. ↑ Marriage: "Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988"
   Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook)
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2495 #28199718 (accessed 16 January 2023)
   George S Boutwell marriage to Sarah A Thayer on 8 Jul 1841 in Groton, Massachusetts, USA.
4. ↑ History and genealogy of the Jewetts of America; a record of Edward Jewett, of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and of his two emigrant sons, Deacon Maximilian and Joseph Jewett, settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1639; also of Abraham and John Jewett, early settlers of Rowley, and of the Jewetts who have settled in the United States since the year 1800 by Jewett, Frederic Clarke', 1908, Volume 1, pp 274, archive.org & Page 456 archive.org (accessed 16 January 2023)
5. ↑ 1880 Census: "United States Census, 1880"
   citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm .
   FamilySearch Record: MH6R-3J9 (accessed 16 January 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: 33S7-9YBX-CL6 Image number 00785
   Geo S Boutwell (62), married, Farmer & Lawyer, head of household in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Born in Massachusetts, United States.
6. ↑ 1900 Census: "United States Census, 1900"
   citing Affiliate Publication Number: T623; Line: 89; FHL microfilm: 1240659; Record number: 19899;
   FamilySearch Record: M9TS-T9G (accessed 16 January 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: S3HT-DTYB-47 Image number 00407
   George S Boutwell (82), married head of household in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Born in Massachusetts.
7. ↑ Death: "Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920"
   citing FHL microfilm: 2070773; Record number: 57;
   FamilySearch Record: NWNQ-CHT (accessed 16 January 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: S3HY-68JW-JML Image number 929
   George Sewell Boutwell death 27 Feb 1905 (age 87), son of Sewell Boutwell & Rebecca Marshall, in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
8. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #7087408 (accessed 16 January 2023)
   Memorial page for George Sewall Boutwell Famous memorial (28 Jan 1818-27 Feb 1905), citing Groton Cemetery, Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
9. ↑ Obituary"Clipped From Courier-Post", Courier-Post, Camden, New Jersey, (Mon) 27 February 1905, Page 6, Newspapers Clip: 116587927

• George S. Boutwell on Wikipedia
• Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. United States: Gale Research Company, 1968. Vol 1, Page 331 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Appleton_s_Cyclopaedia_of_American_Biogr/1h4MAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA331&printsec=frontcover&dq=boutwell
• Boutwell, George Sewall. Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs: Governor of Massachusetts, 1851-1852 .... United States: McClure, Phillips, 1902. Volume 1 Volume 2
• Boutwell, George Sewall. The Lawyer: The Statesman and the Soldier. United States: D. Appleton, 1887. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Lawyer/lcdEAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=George%20Sewall%20Boutwell&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover
• Memorial Meeting. George Sewall Boutwell,  United States: n.p., 1905. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Memorial_Meeting/isrvIbyMghYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=george%20sewall%20boutwell&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover

• Massachusetts State Census, 1855, database with images, FamilySearch (2 April 2016), George S Boutwell, Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 953,949.
• United States Census, 1860, database with images, FamilySearch (14 December 2017), George S Boutwell, 1860.