Otis Norcross

Who was Otis Norcross?

Otis C. Norcross served as the nineteenth Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, from January 7, 1867 to January 6, 1868 during the Reconstruction era of the United States. Norcross was a candidate for the Massachusetts State House of Representatives; served as a member of Boston's Board of Aldermen from January 6, 1862 to January 2, 1865; Chairmen of the Board of Aldermen from January 4, 1864 to January 2, 1865; and served as a Trustee of the City Hospital, 1865 & 1866; and a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council, under Gov. William Claflin.

As a politician, he was "very pronounced" in his views; a [Webster] Whig Party member, with a "most consistent temperance." At the onset of the American Civil War his political views were aligned with the Republican Party.

The sentiment of Norcross' spirit was reflectively shared upon his death:

"He brought to our service the sterling qualities which marked his whole character and career. He was a man of great intelligence, of remarkable firmness, and of the highest integrity, never weary in well-doing, and one whose counsel and co-operative, in all the concerns of this Association and of the community in which he lived, were as highly valued as they were cheerfully and generously afforded." Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, President, Annual Address, 18 June 1883, Annual Meeting Bunker Hill Monument Association