William Henry Cogswell

William Henry Cogswell (December 3, 1798 – November 22, 1876) was an American physician.

Early life
Cogswell was the eldest child of Col. William and Mercy Cogswell. (His father was a member of the Electoral College in the 1820 presidential election, voting for James Monroe.) He was born on December 3, 1798, in Preston, Connecticut. He was employed on his father's farm until he entered on the study of medicine at Yale Medical School, where he graduated in 1823.

Career
Immediately upon receiving his degree he settled in Plainfield, Connecticut, at first in partnership with Dr. Josiah Fuller. After two or three years he established a separate office and continued to practice his profession there until his death.

In 1830 he represented Plainfield in the Connecticut Legislature, and in 1860 was a member of the Connecticut State Senate. For nearly three years during the American Civil War, he was a special agent, appointed by the Governor, to care for the sick and wounded soldiers of Connecticut regiments on the field or in the hospitals.

Personal life
He married at about the time he began practice, to Mary L., daughter of Dr. Josiah Fuller. After her death he married again married in 1829, to Lucretia A. Payne, of Canterbury, Connecticut, who survived him with five children.

He died on November 22, 1876, aged 78.