George Hinckley Lyman (December 13, 1850 – May 17, 1945) was an American political figure who served as chairman of the Massachusetts Republican state committee and collector of customs for the port of Boston.
Lyman was an active member of the Republican Party in Boston. He served as treasurer of the Ward 11 Republican committee, treasurer of the Boston Republican city committee, a member of the finance committee of the Massachusetts Republican Club, and represented the Fifth Suffolk district on the Republican state committee. From 1893 to 1895 he was chairman of the Massachusetts Republican state committee's finance committee. On January 3, 1895, Lyman was unanimously elected chairman of the Republican state committee.[2] In 1896 he was elected to the Republican National Committee.[4][page needed]
Collector of customs
On February 17, 1898, Lyman was nominated by President William McKinley for the position of collector of customs for the district of Boston.[5] His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate five days later.[6] On March 4 he resigned from the Republican National Committee, as he did not want his duties as collector and committeeman to conflict with each other.[4][page needed] He took office on April 1.[7] Lyman's administration as collector was described by A. Maurice Low of The Boston Daily Globe as having been "managed in the interest of both the government and the merchants doing business with the customhouse, and that there has been practically no friction."[8] He was nominated for reappointment by President Theodore Roosevelt on January 8, 1902.[9] In February 1902, The Boston Daily Globe reported that Massachusetts Governor Winthrop M. Crane and others suggested to President Roosevelt that Lyman would be an able successor to United States Secretary of the NavyJohn Davis Long. Roosevelt and Lyman were friends and Roosevelt respected Lyman's abilities as a business and his record as collector.[8] U.S. Representative William Henry Moody was nominated instead. On October 17, 1903, United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Robert B. Armstrong commenced an investigation into frauds and irregularities at the Boston customhouse. Lyman was not blamed for the irregularities.[10] On April 2, 1906, Lyman was sworn in for an unprecedented third term as collector.[11] He was promised reappointment to a fourth term but chose to retire instead, citing "personal reasons".[3]
Later life and death
In 1918, director of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety Henry Bradford Endicott appointed Lyman to chair a subcommittee of the Public Safety Committee to supervise groups that made public appeals for funds for patriotic purposes. The committee was formed to root out duplication of services, inefficiency, wastefulness, and dishonesty in patriotic societies. It was created soon after an organization known as "The Chain" began soliciting funds in Boston. The Chain's purported treasurer denied any involvement with organization's and Endicott believed its list of patrons was suspect as well.[12] Lyman later wrote a book about the history of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety.[13]
In 1927, Lyman was appointed to Boston's Municipal Sinking Funds Commission by Mayor Malcolm Nichols.[14]
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