Sempronius Hamilton Boyd | |||||||||||||||||
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| 3rdUnited States Minister to Siam | |||||||||||||||||
| In office October 1, 1890 – June 13, 1892 | |||||||||||||||||
| President | Benjamin Harrison | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jacob T. Child | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Barrett | ||||||||||||||||
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's4th district | |||||||||||||||||
| In office March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Joseph J. Gravely | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Harrison E. Havens | ||||||||||||||||
| In office March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Elijah Hise Norton | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John R. Kelso | ||||||||||||||||
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| District Judge ofMissouri 14th District | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 1865 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mayor ofSpringfield, Missouri | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 1858–1860 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | J. S. Kimbrough | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | J. W. Mack | ||||||||||||||||
| Clerk of the Court ofGreene County | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 1854–1856 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1828-05-28)May 28, 1828 | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | June 22, 1894(1894-06-22) (aged 66) Springfield, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Immediate Emancipation(1862–63) Radical Union Party(1863–70) Republican(after 1870) | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Politician,Lawyer,Judge,Teacher,Diplomat | ||||||||||||||||
Sempronius Hamilton Boyd (May 28, 1828 – June 22, 1894) was a nineteenth-century politician, lawyer, judge and teacher fromMissouri. He served as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives from Missouri and as aUnited States minister to Siam.
Born inWilliamson County, Tennessee, nearNashville, Boyd moved to a farm nearSpringfield, Missouri, with his parents in 1840, where he was educated by private tutors. He moved toCalifornia in 1849 where he prospected for gold and taught school. He moved back to Missouri in 1854, where he wasclerk of the court ofGreene County, Missouri, from 1854 to 1856. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1856, commencing practice inSpringfield, Missouri.
Boyd served as mayor of Springfield in 1856 and at the outbreak of theCivil War, raised the24th Missouri Infantry for theUnion Army, serving as itscolonel from 1861 to 1863. He was elected aImmediate Emancipationist to theUnited States House of Representatives in 1862, serving from 1863 to 1865.[1] There, he served as chairman of theCommittee on Revisal and Unfinished Business from 1863 to 1865. Boyd was a member of theRepublican National Committee from 1864 to 1868, was a delegate to theRepublican National Convention in 1864, and was appointed judge of the court of the fourteenth judicial district in 1865. The same year, he presided over the trial ofWild Bill Hickok over thedeath of Davis Tutt, during which he famously suggested to the jury the possibility ofnullification, which they proceeded to do.
Boyd was involved in building and operating theSouthwest Pacific Railroad from 1867 to 1874. He was elected back to the House of Representatives as aRepublican in 1868, serving again from 1869 to 1871. There, he served as chairman of theCommittee on Revolutionary Claims from 1869 to 1871.
Afterward, Boyd operated a wagon factory from 1874 to 1876, resumed practicing law, and was appointedU.S. Minister and Consul General to Siam byPresidentBenjamin Harrison in 1890, serving until 1892, when he became too ill to continue in the position and returned to the United States.
He died inSpringfield, Missouri, on June 22, 1894, and was interred in Hazelwood Cemetery in Springfield. Following his death, both Boyd's estate and Boyd's own appointed successor as Consul General to Siam sued to recover the salary of the office for the period between Boyd's departure and the qualification of a presidentially appointed successor. Boyd's estate lost the case, and theSupreme Court of the United States upheld this outcome in the 1898 case ofUnited States v. Eaton.[2]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 4th congressional district March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 4th congressional district March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Minister to Siam October 1, 1890 – June 13, 1892 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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