William H. Boyce - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

William Henry Boyce, was an American lawyer and politician from Georgetown, in Sussex County, Delaware, and later from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Associate Justice of the Delaware Superior Court and U. S. Representative from Delaware.

Early life and family

Boyce was born at Peppers Mills in Broad Creek Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware, near Laurel. He was the son of James H. and Sarah J. Otwell Boyce. James Boyce was in the lumber and merchandise business, and later farmed. He had been county Treasurer and the state Auditor of Accounts from 1887 until 1891. William Boyce attended the Laurel Academy, and in 1882 he married Emma E. Valliant. They had two children, Valliant and James and were members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Georgetown.

Delaware lawyer

Beginning his career as an educator, Boyce was principal of the public schools at Laurel from 1875 until 1880, and at Oxford, Maryland, in 1880/1881. He was then appointed Recorder of Deeds

Recorder of deeds

Recorder of deeds is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over that property.-Background:...

for Sussex County, Delaware and served in that office from 1881 until 1886. During this time he studied the law under Alfred P. Robinson, was admitted to the Bar in 1887, and began a practice in Georgetown, Delaware. During these years he served variously as president of the Board of Education from 1883 until 1886; captain of Company G, Delaware National Guard from 1887 until 1890; and president of the Georgetown Town Council from 1895 until 1897.

Boyce was also chairman of the Sussex County Democratic Committee from 1893 until 1897 and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

s in 1896 and 1924. He was appointed Delaware Secretary of State Secretary of State, and served from January 19, 1897 until June 17, 1897, when he was appointed Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court

Delaware Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Delaware is the sole appellate court in the United States' state of Delaware. Because Delaware is a popular haven for corporations, the Court has developed a worldwide reputation as a respected source of corporate law decisions, particularly in the area of mergers and...

. Boyce served there for 24 years, from June 17, 1897 until June 15, 1921.

United States House of Representatives

Following his retirement, Boyce was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, and served one term from March 4, 1923 until March 3, 1925. He defeated incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Caleb R. Layton. Layton claimed he was beaten by blacks, angered by his refusal to support an anti-lynching law in the Congress. Seeking re-election in 1924, Boyce lost to Republican Robert G. Houston, a journalist, also from Georgetown. Boyce was not “flashy,” but was highly respected throughout the state. However, Houston had led the fight against J. Edward Addicks

J. Edward Addicks

John Edward Charles O'Sullivan Addicks was an industrialist and capitalist who used his wealth from financing and building gas works to wage four unsuccessful campaigns for a United States Senate seat in Delaware. His struggle with Henry A...

in Sussex County, had worked to clean up corruption in elections, and had been state Chairman of the Progressive Party

Progressive Party (United States, 1912)

The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt....

. After his loss, Boyce resumed the practice of law in Dover, until his retirement from active practice in 1936.

Death and legacy

Boyce died at Dover and is buried there in the Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery.

Almanac

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1st. U.S. Representatives took office March 4th and have a two-year term.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Public Offices
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! Office
! Type
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! Began office
! Ended office
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|Secretary of State

Secretary of State (U.S. state government)

Secretary of State is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. possessions. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the Secretary of the Commonwealth...

|Executive

Executive (government)

Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

|January 19, 1897
|June 17, 1897
|Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

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|Associate Justice

Associate Justice

Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...

|Judiciary

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

|June 17, 1897
|June 15, 1921
|Superior Court

Delaware Superior Court

The Delaware Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction in the state of Delaware. It has original jurisdiction over most criminal and civil cases...

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|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

|Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

|Washington

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

|March 4, 1923
|March 3, 1925
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{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |United States Congressional service
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|1923–1925
|68th

68th United States Congress

The Sixty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923 to March 4, 1925, during the last months of...

|U.S. House

United States House of Representatives

|Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

|Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...

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|at-large

Delaware's At-large congressional district

Delaware's At-large congressional district is a congressional district that includes the entire U.S. state of Delaware.It is currently represented by Democrat John C. Carney, Jr., the former Lieutenant Governor of Delaware.-Voting:-History:...

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
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| Year
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| Subject
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| Votes
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|1922

United States House election, 1922

The U.S. House election, 1922 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1922 which occurred in the middle of President Warren G. Harding's term....

|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

| |39,126
| |54%
|
| |Caleb R. Layton

Caleb R. Layton

Dr. Caleb Rodney Layton was an American physician and politician, from Georgetown, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party, who served two terms as U. S. Representative from Delaware....

| |Republican

Republican Party (United States)

| |32,577
| |45%
|-
|1924

United States House election, 1924

The U.S. House election, 1924 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1924 which coincided with the election of President Calvin Coolidge, who had replaced Warren Harding following his death....

|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Democratic Party (United States)

| |35,943
| |41%
|
| |Robert G. Houston

Robert G. Houston

Robert Griffith Houston was an American lawyer, publisher and politician from Georgetown, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party, who served four terms as U.S. Representative from Delaware...

| |Republican

Republican Party (United States)

| |51,536
| |59%

External links

Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society
Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a state-wide historical institution with several venues and a major museum in Wilmington and the historic Read House & Gardens in New Castle.The society...

; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

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