John B. D. Cogswell

John B. D. Cogswell
50th President of the Massachusetts Senate
In office January 3, 1877 – January 7, 1880
Preceded by	George B. Loring
Succeeded by	Robert R. Bishop
Member of the Massachusetts Senate from the Cape district
In office January 3, 1877 – January 7, 1880
Preceded by	Jonathan Higgins
Succeeded by	Samuel Snow
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the Barnstable 1st district
In office January 4, 1871 – January 7, 1874 Serving with Henry Goodspeed (1871), Ezra Howard (1871 & 1872), Nathaniel Sears (1872 & 1873), and Philip H. Robinson (1873)
Preceded by	Francis A. Nye, Henry Goodspeed, and Warren Marchant
Succeeded by	Levi L. Goodspeed, Philip H. Robinson, and Joshua C. Robinson
United States Attorney for the District of Wisconsin
In office 1861–1866
Appointed by	Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	Don A. J. Upham
Succeeded by	Charles M. Webb (Western Dist. of Wisconsin) Levi Hubbell (Eastern Dist. of Wisconsin)
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the Worcester district
In office January 7, 1857 – January 6, 1858 Serving with William T. Merrifield, Dexter F. Parker, George F. Thompson, and Stephen P. Twiss
Preceded by	Harrison Bliss, Elijah B. Stoddard, Putnam W. Taft, George W. Russell, and John H. Brooks
Succeeded by	Albert L. Benchley, Dexter F. Parker, Alexander Thayer, and James S. Woolworth
Personal details
Born	John Bear Doane Cogswell (1829-06-06)June 6, 1829[1] Yarmouth, Massachusetts[1]
Died	June 11, 1889(1889-06-11) (aged 60)[1] Haverhill, Massachusetts[1]
Resting place	Ancient Cemetery Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Abbot Trumbull ​ ​ (m. 1858⁠–⁠1889)​
Children	Mary Louisa Trumbull (Roberts) (b. 1861; died 1955)
Alma mater	Phillips Academy[1] Dartmouth College, A.B., 1850 Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1852
Profession	Lawyer, author[1]

John Bear Doane Cogswell (June 6, 1829 – June 11, 1889) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. He was President of the Massachusetts Senate for the 1877, 1878, and 1879 sessions, and was United States Attorney for the District of Wisconsin during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

Biography

Cogswell prepared for college at Phillips Academy and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1850.^[2] While at Dartmouth, he became a member of Zeta chapter of Psi Upsilon fraternity.^[3] After graduating, he read law in the office of Emory Washburn.^[2] In 1852, he was awarded the LL B. from Harvard Law School.^[4] He was admitted to the Worcester County in 1853 and opened a law office in Worcester, Massachusetts soon thereafter.

Cogswell represented Worcester in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1857.^[2] He moved to Milwaukee later that year and was admitted to the Wisconsin bar that December. From 1862 to 1867, he was the United States District attorney for Wisconsin.^[5] He was the last U.S. Attorney for Wisconsin before its division into Western and Eastern districts.^[1][6]

In 1870, Cogswell moved to Yarmouth, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1871 to 1873 and was chairman of the judiciary committee during his final two years. He was a delegate to the 1872 Republican National Convention. Cogswell was a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1877 to 1879 and was Senate president all three years.^[2]

Cogswell retired from public life in 1880 and moved to Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he focused on writing. He was a frequent contributor to newspapers and wrote a biographical sketch of Rufus Choate that was published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Cogswell died in Haverhill on June 11, 1899.^[2]

See also

• 1872 Massachusetts legislature
• 1873 Massachusetts legislature
• 1877 Massachusetts legislature
• 1878 Massachusetts legislature
• 1879 Massachusetts legislature

References

1. Nutt, Charles (1919), History of Worcester and Its People, Vol. III, New York, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, p. 206
2. "Recent Deaths: Hon. J. B. D. Cogswell". Boston Evening Transcript. June 12, 1889. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
3. Psi Upsilon Fraternity. New York, Baker & Godwin. 1864. p. 74.
4. Harvard Law School. (1888). Catalogue of the officers and students, 1817-1887. OCLC 246849182.
5. Watrous, Jerome (2021). Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 1. Jazzybee Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8496-6105-2. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
6. Nutt, Charles (1919), History of Worcester and Its People, Vol. III, New York, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, p. 207

External links

• Biography of Cogswell at the American Antiquarian Society Manuscript Collection
• Massachusetts State Representatives George Washington Clark, John Bear Doane Cogswell, Robert Couch, Benjamin Franklin Hayes, Barney Hull, Liberty Dodge Packard, Henry Splaine, Francis Dana Stedman, Eliphalet Loring Thayer, Hugh James Toland, Tisdale Sanford White, Ezra Dyer Winslow.

Massachusetts Senate
Preceded by Jonathan Higgins	Member of the Massachusetts Senate from the Cape district January 3, 1877 – January 7, 1880	Succeeded by Samuel Snow
Preceded by George B. Loring	President of the Massachusetts Senate January 3, 1877 – January 7, 1880	Succeeded by Robert R. Bishop
Legal offices
Preceded by Don A. J. Upham	United States Attorney for the District of Wisconsin 1861–1866	Succeeded by Charles M. Webb (W.D. Wis.) and Levi Hubbell (E.D. Wis.)