William Appleton (politician)

Infobox Congressman
name=William Appleton
small

state=Massachusetts
district=1st & 5th
party=Whig, Constitutional Union
term=March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855
March 4, 1861 – September 27, 1861
preceded=Samuel A. Eliot
Charles Allen
Anson Burlingame
succeeded=Zeno Scudder
Anson Burlingame
Samuel Hooper
date of birth=birth date|1786|11|16|mf=y
place of birth=Brookfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
date of death=death date and age|1862|2|15|1786|11|16|mf=y
place of death=Longwood, Massachusetts, U.S.
spouse=Mary Ann Appleton
profession=Politician, Banker, Merchant
religion=
current occupation=
footnotes=

William Appleton (November 16, 1786 – February 15, 1862) was a congressman from Massachusetts from 1851 to 1855 and briefly during the Civil War.

Born in Brookfield, Massachusetts, the son of the Reverend Joseph Appleton, he attended schools in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Francestown, New Hampshire and Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. At fifteen years of age he started work at a country store in Temple, New Hampshire and later moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1807 to engaged in mercantile pursuits. He became President of the Boston Branch of the United States Bank in 1832 and served until 1836. He was also at one time president of Massachusetts General Hospital.

In 1850, Appleton was elected a Whig to the 32nd Congress to represent Massachusetts's first district. He won reelection to the 33rd Congress, this time representing Massachusetts's fifth district, however lost the elections to the two following congresses in 1854 and 1856. He was later re-elected to the congress in 1860 as a Constitutional Unionist and started in 1861, but resigned later the same year due to failing health.

Appleton died the year after his resignation on February 15, 1862 in Longwood, Massachusetts. He was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

His diaries were published in 1922 entitled "Selections from the diaries of William Appleton, 1786-1862". Appleton was the first cousin of congressman Nathan Appleton and first cousin, once removed of writer and artist Thomas Gold Appleton.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmpid=40539541&GRid=7499814& William Appleton] at Find A Grave