William Gaston was born on October 3, 1820, in Killingly, Connecticut. He was the son of Alexander and Kesia (Arnold) Gaston.
Through his great-grandfather, an emigrant to America in the eighteenth century, he was descended from Jean Gaston, a French Huguenot who fled from France to Scotland about 1640.
Through his mother, he was descended from Thomas Arnold, who settled in New England in 1636.
Alexander Gaston, a well-to-do merchant and a member of the Connecticut legislature, sent his son to academies at Brooklyn and Plainfield, both in Connecticut, and from there to Brown University, where he graduated with honors in 1840.
He began the study of law with Judge Francis Hilliard, of Roxbury, Massachusets, completing his preparation under Charles P. and Benjamin R. Curtis of Boston.
In 1844, Gaston opened an office in Roxbury. Although he was almost immediately successful in his profession, he also interested himself in politics, first as a Whig and later as a Democrat.
Gaston was a member of the legislature in 1853, 1854, and 1856; city solicitor from 1856 to 1860; mayor of Roxbury in 1861 and 1862; state senator in 1868; an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1870; and mayor of Boston in 187172.
In 1873, he was defeated for the mayoralty by Henry L. Pierce and was then nominated for governor, only to be beaten by the Republican nominee, William B. Washburn.
In the autumn of 1874, Gaston was once more the Democratic standard-bearer and was victorious over the Republican candidate, Thomas Talbot, by a majority of nearly 8, 000. He was the first Democrat to occupy the governor’s chair after it had been vacated by George S. Boutwell in 1852.
Gaston's popularity was not sufficient to overcome the normal Republican majority in the state, and he was defeated in the autumn of 1875, for a second term, by Alexander H. Rice, the Republican candidate.
As soon as the year closed, he returned to the practise of his profession and never again ran for office. In 1865, Gaston had formed the law partnership of Jewell, Gaston & Field, in which he remained, with some changes in his associates, for the remainder of his life.
He died in Boston and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery.
Although Gaston had little taste for criminal practise, he became one of the leading trial lawyers of the state and is said to have had more cases during his career than any lawyer'in New England. He was president of the Boston Bar Association and head of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and was rigid in support of the ethical principles of his profession.
As governor, Gaston conducted a conservative administration, showing himself to be “more of a patriot than a partisan”. He also made excellent appointments.
Even his opponents spoke of him with respect, referring to him as a “moderate Democrat. ”
Though Gaston was reserved and rather shy in manner, he was the embodiment of dignity and grace. Uniformly kind and courteous, he was a most companionable man, and in spite of the firmness with which he maintained his opinions, made very few enemies.
Gaston was married on May 27, 1852, to Louisa Augusta Beecher, daughter of Laban S. Beecher, a lumber merchant.
He had one daughter and two sons, one of whom, William Alexander, became his father’s law partner.
