William Paul DILLINGHAM, Congress, VT (1843-1923)

DILLINGHAM, William Paul, (son of Paul Dillingham, Jr.), a Senator from Vermont; born in Waterbury, Washington County, Vt., December 12, 1843; attended the public schools of Waterbury, Newbury Seminary, and Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N.H.; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced practice in Waterbury; prosecuting attorney of Washington County 1872-1876; secretary of civil and military affairs 1874-1876; member, State house of representatives 1876, 1884; member, State senate 1878, 1880; State tax commissioner 1882-1888; Governor of Vermont 1888-1890; president of the Waterbury National Bank 1890-1923; trustee of the University of Vermont at Burlington; president of the board of trustees of Montpelier Seminary; elected in 1900 as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justin S. Morrill; reelected in 1903, 1909, 1914, and 1920, and served from October 18, 1900, until his death in Montpelier, Vt., July 12, 1923; chairman, Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Fifty-seventh Congress), Committee on Immigration (Fifty-eighth through Sixty-first Congresses), Committee on Privileges and Elections (Sixty-second, Sixty-sixth, and Sixty-seventh Congresses), Committee to Establish the University of the United States (Sixty-third through Sixty-fifth Congresses); chairman of the United States Immigration Commission 1907-1910; interment in the Village Cemetery, Waterbury, Vt.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Schlup, Leonard. “William Paul Dillingham: A Vermont Republican in National Politics.” Vermont History 54 (Winter 1986): 20-36.

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