William Paul Dillingham (December 12, 1843July 12, 1923) was an American attorney and politician from Vermont. A Republican and the son of congressman and governor Paul Dillingham, William P. Dillingham served as governor from 1888 to 1890 and a United States senator from 1900 until his death.
Dillingham was born in Waterbury, Vermont in 1843, and attended schools in Vermont and New Hampshire. He studied law with his brother in law, Matthew Hale Carpenter, attained admission to the bar, and practiced in Waterbury and Montpelier.
Groomed for a political career from an early age, Dillingham was the Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant to the governor) during his father's term and also for Asahel Peck, State's Attorney of Washington County. Dillingham was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives and Vermont State Senate. He was elected governor in 1888 and served a two-year term.
In 1900, Dillingham won election to the United States Senate, replacing Jonathan Ross, who had been appointed as a temporary replacement following the death of incumbent Justin Smith Morrill. Dillingham served in the Senate until his death, and was chairman of several committees during his tenure. As head of a commission that studied immigration, he argued that Eastern and Southern European immigrants posed a threat to the country's stability and growth, and that immigration from those areas should be curbed in the future.
Early life The son of Governor Paul Dillingham and Julia Partridge (Carpenter) Dillingham, William P. Dillingham was born on December 12, 1843 in Waterbury, Vermont.William Arba Ellis, Norwich University, 1819-1911: Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor, Volume 3, 1911, page 527 He attended public schools, Newbury Seminary in Montpelier, Vermont and Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire. In 1866 he served as Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) during his father's governorship. He also studied law with his brother in law Matthew H. Carpenter and was admitted to the bar in 1867.Vermont Historical Society, Annual Meeting Proceedings: Necrology, 1923, page 280
Public service Dillingham practiced law in Waterbury. A Republican, he served as Washington County State's Attorney from 1872 to 1876. From 1874 to 1876, he was Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) for Governor Asahel Peck.The Vermonter magazine, Vermont Men of Today: William P. Dillingham, January 1902, pages 34-26 In 1876, Dillingham was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. From 1878 to 1882, he served in the Vermont State Senate. Dillingham served as Vermont's Commissioner of Taxes from 1882 to 1888, and was a member of the Vermont House again beginning in 1884.The Vermonter magazine, Choice for a United States Senatorship, January 1900, page 106
In 1888, Dillingham was elected the 42nd governor of Vermont. He served one two-year term available under the Mountain Rule, afterwards returning to the practice of law.Jacob G. Ullery, Men of Vermont Illustrated, 1894, page 106 He practiced in Montpelier with Hiram A. Huse and Fred A. Howland. Howland was Dillingham's nephew and studied law with Dillingham to qualify for admission to the bar.
Dillingham was elected to the United States Senate in 1900, replacing temporary appointee Jonathan Ross and completing the term of Justin Smith Morrill, who had died in office. Dillingham was reelected in 1903, 1909, 1914, and in 1920, serving until his death. His 1914 election was Vermont's first after the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.Courier-Journal Almanac, Men of the Year 1900, 1901, page 306
During his Senate career Dillingham was Chairman of these committees: Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Fifty-seventh Congress); Immigration (Fifty-eighth through Sixty-first Congresses); Privileges and Elections (Sixty-second, Sixty-sixth, and Sixty-seventh Congresses); and Establishing the University of the United States (Sixty-third through Sixty-fifth Congresses).
Dillingham achieved prominence as the leading legislative spokesperson for restricting immigration during the Progressive Era. From 1907 to 1911, he chaired (concurrently with Senate duties) the United States Immigration Commission, also called the Dillingham Commission, which concluded that immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe posed a serious threat to American society and culture and should be greatly reduced in the future.John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand, Ralph H. Orth, editors, The Vermont Encyclopedia, 2003, page 106 In 1903, Dillingham chaired a Senate subcommittee which investigated conditions in Alaska after the Klondike Gold Rush. During the trip, a new courthouse established near Kanakanak, a village on the Nushagak River, was named in honor of the chairman and the surrounding community later adopted the name Dillingham, Alaska. While the subcommittee traveled extensively throughout Alaska, Dillingham never set foot in the Bristol Bay salmon fishing community which still bears his name.Joseph Nathan Kane, Charles Curry Aiken, The American Counties, 2005, page 84
Business and civic endeavors Dillingham's business interests included serving as president of the Waterbury Savings Bank and a member of the National Life Insurance Company board of directors.Vermont Department of Finance, Annual Report, 1912, page 147Poor's Publishing Company, Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities, 1921, page 197
He was active in the Methodist Church and the President of the Board of Trustees of the Montpelier Seminary (originally the Vermont Methodist Seminary). He was a member of the University of Vermont Board of Trustees as well.Methodist Episcopal Church, Vermont Conference, Official Minutes of the Vermont Annual Conference, Volumes 58-65, 1902, page 16Prentiss Cutler Dodge, Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography, 1912, page 48 Dillingham joined the Sons of the American Revolution, and served as the president of the Vermont SAR organization.Sons of the American Revolution, California Society, Register of the California Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1901, page xxxiii
Death and burial Dillingham died in Montpelier on July 12, 1923.Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008, entry for Willam Paul Dillingham, retrieved December 15, 2013 He was buried in Waterbury's Hope Cemetery.Vermont Old Cemetery Association
Awards and honors Dillingham received these honorary degrees, Master of Arts from the University of Vermont in Burlington (1886); LL.D., Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont (1893); LL.D. Middlebury College (1906).William Arba Ellis, Norwich University, 1819-1911: Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor, Volume 3, 1911, page 528 A street (Dillingham Avenue) is named after the senator in Manchester, Vermont. It was named after him by Charles F. Orvis (1856-1915), owner of the Orvis Company.
Family Dillingham lived at 7 West Street in Montpelier, Vermont while serving in the Senate. His home was owned by Vermont College for more than 50 years and served as a dormitory in addition to office space. Known as Dillingham Hall when it was part of the college, the building is again a private residence.National Education Goals Panel, Promising Practices: Progress Toward the Goals, 2000, 2000, page 27Dan Clar, Montpelier Bridge newspaper, Montpelier’s Architectural Heritage, Updating a Historic Home, October 15, 2009, page 2
On December 24, 1874, William P. Dillingham married Mary Ellen Shipman (November 7, 1846—April 25, 1893).Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908, marriage entry for Wm. P. Dillingham, retrieved December 15, 2013 They had a son, Paul Shipman Dillingham (October 24, 1878—March, 1972).Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, birth entry for Paul Shipman Dillingham, retrieved December 15, 2013U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2013, entry for Paul S. Dillingham, retrieved December 15, 2013
See also List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1900–1949)
References
External links
Dillingham Commission page including a digitized version of the complete set of Dilligham Commission reports. From the Immigration to the United States from 1789 to 1930 collection, Harvard University Library Open Collections Program