570 SPRAGUE. SPRAGUE. April 20th ; was mustered out of service August 5th, and again September 9, 186 1, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 25th regiment, Massachusetts volun- teers, participating in its battles and skirm- ishes, and was officially reported for " brav- ery and efficiency " in the engagements at Roanoke Island and Newbern. November 11, 1S62, he was promoted to colonel of the 51st Massachusetts regiment, and served in the department of North Caro- lina, and in Virginia and Maryland. After the expiration of its term of service, in June, 1863, Colonel Sprague offered his regiment for further service, General Lee's army being north of the Potomac. It was accepted by the secretary of war, and he was ordered to Baltimore, thence to Mary- land Heights, joining the army of the Po- tomac near Williamsport, Mel. July 27, 1863, he was mustered out with his regiment. February 1, 1S64, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Massachusetts heavy artillery, and served in southern Virginia and North Carolina, commanding the regiment in its field ser- vice, moving with General Schofield's com- mand to open communications with General Sherman at Goldsborough, N. C. Septem- ber 20, 1865, he was discharged at Gallup's Island, previous to which he was commis- sioned colonel of the regiment. He served more than three years and nine months, and was breveted brigadier-general of vol- unteers, to date from March 13, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious service during the war." General Sprague was commander of the department of Massachusetts, G. A. R., in 1868 ; was junior vice-commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States the same year, and was quar- termaster-general of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1874. He is vice-president of the Merchants' Savings Bank, Worcester, and has been a director in the Worcester Electric Light Company from its organiza- tion. General Sprague was married in Worces- ter, December 23, 1846, to Elizabeth Janes, daughter of Samuel and Eliza M. (Shep- ard) Rice. Of this union were five chil- dren : Samuel Augustus, Willie Augustus, Josephine Elizabeth, Carrie Lee, and Fred Foster Sprague. SPRAGUE, Henry Harrison, son of George and Nancy (Knight) Sprague, was bom in Athol, Worcester county, August 1, 1 84 1. He received his early education in the schools of his native town, and studied also for a short time previous to admission to college, at the Chauncy Hall school in Boston. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1864. After graduation he went to Champlain, N. Y., as a private tutor, and remained there until the summer of 1S65. In the fall of that year he entered the Har- vard law school, and was at the same time a proctor of the college. In the fall of 1S66 he became a law stu- dent in the office of Henry W. Paine and Robert D. Smith, in Boston, and February 25, 1868, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar. He thereupon began the practice of his profession in Boston, where he has since practiced and resided. He was elected in 1873 to the common council of the city of Boston, and served on important committees in that body for the municipal years of 1874, '75, and '76. During the two latter years he also served as one of the trustees of the Boston city hospital on the part of the city council. In 1878 he was elected one of the trustees- at-large, and continued as such until the incorporation of the city hospital in 1880, when he was appointed as a trustee by the mayor. He has since held this position by successive re-appointments, and since 1878 has also acted as secretary of the board. In 18S0 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives from Boston, and served in that capacity for the years 1881, '82, and 'S3. In 18S1 he was a mem- ber of the committee on the revision of the statutes, and of the committees on probate and chancery, and library. In 18S2 he was chairman of the committee on bills in the third reading, and during that and the sub- sequent year he was also a member of the committee on the judiciary. He was elected a member of the Senate for the 5th Suffolk district for the year 1888, and in that body acted as a member of the committee on the judiciary, on rules, and on cities, and, as chairman of the committee on election laws, he drafted and introduced the new ballot act. Being re-elected to the Senate of 1889, he acted as chairman of the committee on the judi- ciary, on election laws, and on rules. In 1SS4 he was a member of the execu- tive committee of the Municipal Reform Association, and was senior counsel of the association for the purpose of securing the passage by the Legislature of 1885, of the important amendments to the charter of the city of Boston, by which the executive authority of the city was vested in the mayor.
