Washington W. Boynton

Who was Washington W. Boynton?

Washington Wallace Boynton was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was in the Ohio House of Representatives and was a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court 1877–1881.

Washington Wallace Boynton was born on a farm in Russia Township, Lorain County, Ohio. His parents, General Lewis D. and Ruth Wellman Boynton, were natives of Maine. From age sixteen he taught school, and was in charge of a select school in South Amherst, and was county school examiner.

Boynton studied law with his uncle, Elbridge Gerry Boynton, of Elyria, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1856. In 1858, he was chosen Prosecuting Attorney of Lorain County. In the fall of 1863, he discontinued his practice due to ill health, and traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota. He returned to Ohio the next year, and in 1865 he was elected to a single term in the Ohio House of Representatives. He authored a resolution to strike the word "white" from the provisions of the Ohio Constitution regarding suffrage. It failed at the ballot box, but was adopted when the Federal Constitution was amended.

In 1869, Boynton was appointed by Governor Hayes as Common Pleas Judge, and was elected by the people to that position in 1871, serving until he resigned to take a seat on the Supreme Court.