William H. Sinclair

{{Short description|American Union Army officer, businessman, and state legislator (1838–1897)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = William Henry Sinclair

| image = The street railway review (1891) (14574201887).jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1838|10|31}}

| birth_place = Akron, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1897|1|11|1838|10|31}}

| death_place = Rochester, New York, U.S.

| nationality = American

| occupation = Businessman; State Representative; Union Officer

| party = Republican

| office = Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives

| term_start = May 10, 1871

| term_end = January 14, 1873

| predecessor = Ira Hobart Evans

| successor = M. D. K. Taylor

| state_house2 = Texas

| district2 = 12th

| termstart2 = February 8, 1870

| termend2 = January 14, 1873

| predecessor2 = Thomas Reuben Bonner

| resting_place = Lakeview Cemetery

}}

File:Beach hotel galveston.jpg, on Galveston Beach between Tremont St. and Twenty-fourth St., Galveston.]]

Col. William H. Sinclair (October 31, 1838 – January 11, 1897) was an American Union Army officer, Freedmen's Bureau official, businessman, state legislator, and union officer. Sinclair founded the Beach Hotel in Galveston in 1882, in an effort to increase tourism in the city. The project cost $260,000 USD{{Cite web| title=Galveston in 1885 | publisher=Amon Carter Museum | url=http://www.birdseyeviews.org/zoom.php?city=Galveston&year=1885&extra_info | accessdate=9 Oct 2009}} ($6,279,000 in 2018).

Sinclair was born in Akron, Ohio.

Sinclair was an avid baseball enthusiast, convincing stockholders to invest in a Texas League baseball franchise in Galveston.{{cite web |title=Sinclair, William Henry |work= The Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsi57 |language=en}} He also served as president of the Galveston City Railroad Company.{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/streetrailwayrev02amer/page/372/mode/1up?view=theater | title=The street railway review | date=1891 }}

Sinclair served in the Texas House of Representatives as a Republican representing the 12th district from February 8, 1870 to January 14, 1873.{{Cite web |title=Legislative Reference Library {{!}} Legislators and Leaders {{!}} Member profile |url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeLeaders/members/memberdisplay.cfm?memberID=4397 |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=lrl.texas.gov}} He served as Speaker of the Texas House from May 10, 1871 to January 14, 1873.

Sinclair's wife died in 1895, and in early 1897 Sinclair died in Rochester, New York at the age of 58. On January 17, 1897 he was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Galveston.