Representative Linus Bacon Comins

Linus Bacon Comins (November 29, 1817 – October 14, 1892) was a Massachusetts politician who served as mayor of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1855 to 1859. He was born in Charlton, Massachusetts, the son of Barnabus C. Comins and Mary (Bacon) Comins, into a New England family whose life and work were rooted in the developing industrial and civic culture of nineteenth-century Massachusetts.

Comins attended the common schools in Brookfield, Massachusetts, receiving the basic education typical of rural New England in the early nineteenth century. He later pursued further instruction and was graduated from Worcester County Manual Training High School, an institution that emphasized practical and technical education suited to the growing demands of manufacturing and commerce. This training prepared him for a career in industry and public affairs at a time when Massachusetts was rapidly industrializing and expanding its urban centers.

After completing his education, Comins engaged in manufacturing in Roxbury, Massachusetts, then an independent municipality adjacent to Boston. His involvement in manufacturing placed him among the emerging class of industrial entrepreneurs and business leaders who were helping to shape the economic character of the region. Through these pursuits he became increasingly involved in local civic matters, which provided a natural pathway into municipal politics.

Comins’s formal political career began in Roxbury, where he was elected to the city council and served from 1846 to 1848. During this period he held the presidency of the council in 1847 and 1848, a role that gave him significant influence over municipal legislation and administration. Building on this experience, he was elected mayor of Roxbury in 1854, overseeing the city’s affairs during a period of growth and urban development. His service in these offices established his reputation as a capable local leader and positioned him for higher office.

In national politics, Comins was first elected to the United States House of Representatives as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress, serving from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857. He was then reelected as a member of the Republican Party to the Thirty-fifth Congress, serving from March 4, 1857, to March 3, 1859. Representing Massachusetts during a critical pre–Civil War era marked by sectional tensions and debates over slavery and national expansion, he contributed to the legislative process over two consecutive terms. As a member of the Republican Party representing Massachusetts, Linus Bacon Comins participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents at a time of significant political realignment and rising antislavery sentiment in the North.

After leaving Congress in 1859, Comins returned to private life and resumed his manufacturing pursuits in Massachusetts. He remained active in Republican Party affairs and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860, a pivotal gathering at which the party nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. His role as a delegate reflected his continued engagement with national politics and his alignment with the emerging Republican coalition that would guide the Union through the Civil War.

Linus Bacon Comins spent his later years in the Boston area, maintaining his connections to the civic and economic life of the region. He died in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, on October 14, 1892. He was interred at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, a prominent burial ground for many of Boston’s political, cultural, and business leaders, marking his final place among the notable figures of nineteenth-century Massachusetts public life.