Sempronius Hamilton BOYD, Congress, MO (1828-1894)

BOYD, Sempronius Hamilton, a Representative from Missouri; born near Nashville, Williamson County, Tenn., May 28, 1828; moved to Missouri in 1840 with his parents, who settled on a farm near Springfield, Greene County; educated by private tutors; moved to California in 1849, where he prospected for gold and taught school; returned to Missouri in 1854; clerk of the court of Greene County 1854-1856; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1856 and commenced practice in Springfield, Mo.; mayor of Springfield in 1856; during the Civil War raised the Twenty-fourth Missouri Infantry and served as colonel until his election to Congress; elected as an Unconditional Unionist to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1865); chairman, Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Thirty-eighth Congress); appointed judge of the court of the fourteenth judicial district in 1865; member of the Republican National Committee 1864-1868; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1864; interested in building and operating the Southwest Pacific Railroad 1867-1874; elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1871); chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Forty-first Congress); operated a wagon factory 1874-1876; resumed the practice of law; appointed Minister Resident and consul general to Siam by President Harrison on October 1, 1890, and served until October 26, 1892; died in Springfield, Greene County, Mo., June 22, 1894; interment in the Hazelwood Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present