Lawrence William Boynton (August 12, 1877 – June 19, 1937) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player, coach, collegiate

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete, and lawyer. He served as the head coach at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1900, at Sewanee: The University of the South in 1902, and at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

from 1903 to 1904, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 17–18–4.

Early life and college career

Boynton was born in

Whitney Point, New York Whitney Point is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 964 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name comes from Thomas and William Whitney, early developers. The vil ...

on August 12, 1877 to George G. and Eliza Ann (née Boatman) Boynton where he also grew up. He attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

from 1897 to 1900, graduating with a degree in law. While at Cornell he played on the varsity football team as well as the varsity track & field team. Boynton lettered in track & field in 1899 and 1900 primarily competing in the

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

. He had the seventh best throw in the nation in 1900 with a distance of 44.9m in a meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Coaching career

Kansas

Boynton became the head football coach at the

the fall after he graduated from Cornell. He coached the

1900 Kansas Jayhawks football team The 1900 Kansas Jayhawks football team was an American football team that represented the University of Kansas as an independent during the 1900 college football season. In August 1900, Lawrence W. Boynton, a recent graduate of Cornell, accepted ...

to a record of 2–5–2 with wins over

Ottawa University Ottawa University (OU) is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas, a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City, Phoenix and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. It was founded in ...

and the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship univ ...

and ties against

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. Em ...

and the

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Later life and death

After he finished coaching at Kansas in 1900 he returned to New York state where Boynton married Grace G. Stanton on September 6, 1902, just 2 months before he would head off to coach at Sewanee. He later worked as a lawyer first in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state starting in 1905 even though he had already passed the New York

Bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...

in 1900, then in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

for four years starting in 1926, and finally in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

starting in 1929. Boynton died on June 19, 1937, at the home of his parents in Whitney Point, New York. He was buried back in his hometown of

in Riverside Cemetery.

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boynton, L. W. 1877 births 1937 deaths 19th-century players of American football Cornell Big Red football players Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Sewanee Tigers football coaches Washington University Bears football coaches Washington University Bears men's basketball coaches Cornell Law School alumni People from Broome County, New York Florida lawyers New York (state) lawyers North Carolina lawyers