WILLIAM CROWNINSHIELD ENDICOTT was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on 19 November 1826;

• was educated at Salem Latin School;
• graduated from Harvard University, 1847;
• studied law in the office of Nathaniel J. Lord, 1847-1849;
• attended Harvard Law School, 1849-1850;
• was admitted to the bar, 1850;
• with Jairus W. Perry formed the law firm of Perry and Endicott;
• was a member of the Salem Common Council, 1852, 1853, and 1857, and its president in the latter term;
• was city solicitor, 1858-1863;
• married Ellen Peabody, 1859;
• was defeated for Congress by Benjamin F. Butler in 1879;
• served as a judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, 1873-1882;
• was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Massachusetts, 1884;
• served as Secretary of War, 5 March 1885-5 March 1889;
• was a key member of the Board on Fortification;
• proposed that Congress enact legislation requiring that Army officers pass an examination as a condition for promotion;
• suggested that Congress enact a statute permitting police officers or private citizens to arrest and surrender deserters to military authorities;
• requested that Congress authorize the publication of the War Department's records by the Public Printer;
• recommended that the powers of the War and Treasury Departments be clearly defined by legislative act to prevent problems over disbursements;
• retired from public life to settle in Salem;
• moved to Boston; was overseer of Harvard College, 1875-1885, president of the Harvard Alumni Association, 1888-1890, and a fellow of the corporation, 1884-1895; was president of the Peabody Academy of Science and the Peabody Education Fund; was a resident member of the Massachusetts Historical Society;
• died in Boston on 6 May 1900

SECRETARIES OF WAR AND SECRETARIES OF THE ARMY