William Samuel Booze (January 9, 1862 – December 6, 1933) was an American politician and medical doctor from Maryland. He served as U.S. Representative from the third district of Maryland from 1897 to 1899. He practiced medicine in South Baltimore. In later life, he engaged in banking and brokerage businesses.
Early life
William Samuel Booze was born on January 9, 1862, in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the public schools in Baltimore and graduated from Baltimore City College in 1879. Afterwards attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine and graduated with a Doctor of Medicine from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, in 1882.
Career
Following graduation, Booze practiced medicine in South Baltimore on South Sharp Street until 1896. He was a partner of the firm A. F. Booze & Co, which operated steam sawmills and coal and wood yards.
Booze was elected to Congress, Booze ran as a for the United States Congress in 1894, but lost to Harry Welles Rusk. He unsuccessfully contested the election. With an initial majority of 518 votes in favor of Rusk, the election committee found 332 votes were in error: 131 additional votes were found for Booze upon recount, 40 legal voters had been refused their vote for Booze because others voted under their names, and 161 illegal or fraudulent votes had been cast for Rusk. This reduced Rusk's majority to 186 votes. In 1896, he ran again for Congress and on the campaign trail, his opponent Thomas C. Weeks challenged Booze to a debate. Booze didn't accept the challenge and during his speeches, Weeks would remark "Where is Booze?" in reaction to his debate refusal. Booze was subsequently elected to the Fifty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1897 - March 3, 1899). After this term, Booze was not a candidate for renomination in 1898.
Booze engaged in banking and in the brokerage business in Baltimore until 1908 or 1915, sources differ. The William S. Booze Company, a stock brokerage business was incorporated in December 1906. The company dissolved in 1908. He later engaged in the practice of medicine. In 1894, he lived on South Sharp Street in Baltimore. He is interred in Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore.