Julius Rockwell (April 26, 1805May 19, 1888) was a United States politician from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and the father of Francis Williams Rockwell. Rockwell was born in Colebrook, Connecticut, and educated at private schools and then

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, where he studied law, graduating in 1826. He was admitted to the bar and in 1830 commenced practice in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

. He was elected a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

in 1834 and served four years, three of them as Speaker. Rockwell was appointed commissioner of the Bank of Massachusetts from 1838 to 1840. In 1842 he successfully ran as a Whig candidate for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and was re-elected three times, serving from 1843 to 1851. He did not seek renomination in 1850. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1853, and was appointed to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1854 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Edward Everett Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mas ...

, serving from June 3, 1854, to January 31, 1855, when his successor

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States, serving from 1873 until his death in 1875, and a United States Senate, senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...

was elected. Rockwell voted in the

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

for the Republican candidate

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

in the presidential election of 1856. Rockwell returned to his old post of

Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives This is a list of speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The Speaker (politics), Speaker of the House presides over the Massachusetts House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority par ...

in 1858, until his appointment to the

Massachusetts Superior Court The Massachusetts Superior Court (also known as the Superior Court Department of the Trial Court) is a trial court department in Massachusetts. The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in civil actions over $50,000, and in matters where equ ...

in 1859. He retired as a judge in 1886 and died May 19, 1888, in

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 United States census ...

, where he is buried.

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Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives United States senators from Massachusetts Yale University alumni 1805 births 1888 deaths Politicians from Pittsfield, Massachusetts Whig Party United States senators Massachusetts state senators Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 1856 United States presidential electors Massachusetts Superior Court justices 19th-century Massachusetts state court judges 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century United States senators {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub

See also

References

External links