Representative Oliver Lyman Spaulding

Oliver Lyman Spaulding (August 2, 1833 – July 30, 1922) was a soldier, lawyer, and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Michigan who served one term in the United States House of Representatives. He was born in Jaffrey, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, on August 2, 1833. After completing preparatory studies, he attended Oberlin College in Ohio, where he graduated in 1855. Shortly after his graduation, he moved west to Michigan, part of a broader mid‑nineteenth‑century migration into the Great Lakes region, and settled in St. Johns. There he taught school while preparing for a legal career.

Spaulding studied law in Michigan and was admitted to the bar in 1858, commencing practice in St. Johns. That same year he entered public service in the field of higher education when he was elected a regent of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, a position he held from 1858 to 1864. His work as a regent coincided with a period of institutional growth and the early development of the university as a leading public institution. During these pre–Civil War years, he established himself as a respected attorney and civic figure in Clinton County.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Spaulding entered the Union Army, reflecting the commitment of many Michigan professionals to the preservation of the Union. He was commissioned a captain in the 23rd Michigan Infantry Regiment and saw active service in the conflict. Over the course of the war he rose in rank, eventually being promoted to colonel. In recognition of his service, he was later brevetted brigadier general of volunteers. After the war ended, he returned to St. Johns and resumed the practice of law, reestablishing his civilian career while maintaining the stature conferred by his military record.

Spaulding soon moved into state-level politics. He served as Michigan Secretary of State from 1866 to 1870, a period during which he oversaw elections and the administration of state records during Reconstruction. Following his tenure in that office, he became a member of the Republican State Committee from 1871 to 1878, helping to shape party strategy and organization in Michigan. In 1871 he declined an appointment as United States district judge for the Utah Territory, choosing instead to remain in Michigan and in federal administrative work. From 1875 to 1881 he served as a special agent of the United States Treasury Department, beginning a long association with the federal government’s revenue and customs administration.

As a member of the Republican Party representing Michigan, Spaulding contributed to the legislative process during one term in office. He was elected as a Republican from Michigan’s 6th Congressional District to the Forty-sixth Congress and served from March 4, 1881, to March 3, 1883. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history marked by post-Reconstruction adjustment, industrial expansion, and debates over tariff and fiscal policy. In this context he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents in mid-Michigan. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882. In 1883, he was appointed chairman of a commission sent to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) to investigate alleged violations of the Hawaiian reciprocity treaty, reflecting his growing specialization in customs and international trade matters.

After leaving Congress, Spaulding continued his long career in federal financial administration. He again served as a special agent of the United States Treasury in 1885, 1889, and 1890. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, serving from 1890 to 1893, where he dealt with issues of customs enforcement, revenue collection, and tariff administration. He returned to the same post under President William McKinley, serving from 1897 to 1903, a period that included the Spanish–American War and the expansion of American overseas trade. In January 1903 he presided as president of the first International American Customs Congress, held in New York City, which brought together customs officials from across the Western Hemisphere to discuss harmonization of procedures and policies. Afterward, he again served as a special agent of the Treasury from 1903 to 1909 and then as a customs agent from 1909 to 1916, extending his federal service well into the early twentieth century.

Spaulding’s personal life was closely intertwined with public service and the military tradition. On August 12, 1862, during the Civil War, he married Mary Cecilia Swegles, the daughter of John Swegles Jr., a prominent Michigan figure. They had several children, including a son, Oliver Lyman Spaulding Jr., who served as a brigadier general during World War I, and another son, Thomas Marshall Spaulding (May 18, 1882 – April 10, 1973), who served as a colonel in both World War I and World War II. Thomas Marshall Spaulding also became a noted non-fiction author, writing on subjects such as biography and Hawaiian history, thereby extending the family’s connection to both public service and the Pacific region that had figured in his father’s customs work.

Oliver L. Spaulding spent his later years in Washington, D.C., where his long experience in law, politics, and treasury administration kept him in close proximity to the federal government he had served for decades. He died in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 1922. In recognition of his Civil War service and his long federal career, he was buried with honor at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.