Josiah Quincy III

For other people named Josiah Quincy, see Josiah Quincy (disambiguation).

Josiah Quincy III
File:Josiah Quincy.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st district
In office March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1813
Preceded by	William Eustis
Succeeded by	Artemas Ward, Jr.
2nd Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
In office May 1, 1823 – January 5, 1829
Preceded by	John Phillips
Succeeded by	Harrison Gray Otis
Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office January 10, 1821 – 1822
Preceded by	Elijah H. Mills
Succeeded by	Luther Lawrence
16th President of Harvard University
In office 1829–1845
Preceded by	John Thornton Kirkland
Succeeded by	Edward Everett
Personal details
Born	(1772-02-04)February 4, 1772 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	Quincy, Massachusetts
Resting place	Mount Auburn Cemetery
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Eliza Susan Morton
Children	Eliza Susan Quincy, Josiah Quincy, Jr., Abigail Phillips Quincy, Maria Sophia Quincy, Margaret Morton Quincy, Edmund Quincy, Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy
Alma mater	Harvard
Profession	Politician, university president
Religion	Unitarian

Josiah Quincy III (/ˈkwɪnzi/; February 4, 1772 – July 1, 1864) was a U.S. educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1805–1813), Mayor of Boston (1823–1828), and President of Harvard University (1829–1845). The historic Quincy Market in downtown Boston is named in his honor.

Life and politics

File:HarvardUniversityPresidents1829-1862.jpg

Five Harvard University Presidents sitting in order of when they served. L-R: Josiah Quincy III, Edward Everett, Jared Sparks, James Walker and Cornelius Conway Felton.

Early life and education

Quincy, the son of Josiah Quincy II and Abigail Phillips, was born in Boston, on that part of Washington Street that was then known as Marlborough Street. His father had traveled to England in 1774, partly for his health but mainly as an agent of the patriot cause to with the friends of the colonists in London. Josiah Quincy II died off the coast of Gloucester on April 26, 1775. His son, young Josiah, was not yet three years old.

He entered Phillips Academy, Andover, when it opened in 1778, and graduated from Harvard in 1790. After his graduation from Harvard he studied law for three years under the tutorship of William Tudor. Quincy was admitted to the bar in 1793, but was never a prominent advocate.

In 1797 Quincy married Eliza Susan Morton of New York, younger sister of Jacob Morton. They had seven children: Eliza Susan Quincy, Josiah Quincy, Jr., Abigail Phillips Quincy, Maria Sophia Quincy, Margaret Morton Quincy, Edmund Quincy, and Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy.

Career

In 1798 Quincy was appointed Boston Town Orator by the Board of Selectmen, and in 1800 he was elected to the School Committee. Quincy became a leader of the Federalist party in Massachusetts, was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1800, and served in the Massachusetts Senate in 1804–5.

From 1805 to 1813, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives where he was one of the small Federalist minority. He attempted to secure the exemption of fishing vessels from the Embargo Act, urged the strengthening of the United States Navy, and vigorously opposed the admittance of Louisiana as a state in 1811. In this last matter he stated as his "deliberate opinion, that if this bill passes, the bonds of this Union are virtually dissolved; that the States that compose it are free from their moral obligations; and that, as it will be the right of all, so it will be the duty of some, to prepare definitely for a separation, amicably if they can, violently if they must." This was probably the first assertion of the right of secession on the floor of Congress. Quincy left Congress because he saw that the Federalist opposition was useless.

In 1812, Quincy was a founding member of the American Antiquarian Society.

Josiah Quincy, oil on canvas, Gilbert Stuart, 1824–1825. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

After leaving Congress, Quincy was a member of the Massachusetts Senate until 1820. In 1821–22 he was a member and speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Quincy resigned from the legislature to become judge of the municipal court of Boston. On April 8, 1822 Quincy was a candidate for Mayor in Boston's first election under a city charter. After the first ballot the votes of this first election were split between Quincy and Harrison Gray Otis. Because neither had a majority of the electorate neither was elected. After the first vote resulted in neither man receiving a majority of the votes they both withdrew their candidacies and John Phillips was elected Boston's first mayor. In 1823 Quincy was elected as the second mayor of Boston, he would serve six one year terms from 1823 to 1828. During his terms as mayor Quincy Market was built, the fire and police departments were reorganized, and the city's care of the poor was systematized.

From 1829 to 1845, he was President of Harvard University, of which he had been an overseer since 1810, when the board was reorganized. He has been called "the great organizer of the university." He gave an elective (or "voluntary") system an elaborate trial; introduced a system of marking (on the scale of 8) on which college rank and honors, formerly rather carelessly assigned, were based; first used courts of law to punish students who destroyed or damaged college property; and helped to reform the finances of the university. During his term Dane Hall (for law) was dedicated, Gore Hall was built, and the Astronomical Observatory was equipped. Quincy House, one of the university's twelve upperclass residential houses, is named for him.

His last years were spent principally on his farm in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he died on July 1, 1864.

Works

• A Municipal History of the Town and City of Boston During Two Centuries from September 17, 1630 to September 17, 1830, Boston : Charles C. Little & James Brown, 1852.
• History of Harvard University. Cambridge, MA., 1840.
• The History of the Boston Athenæum, with Biographical Notices of its Deceased Founders. Cambridge, MA., Metcalf and Company, 1851.
• Essay on the Soiling of Cattle". 1852.

See also

• Timeline of Boston, 1820s

Notes and references

Attribution

 

External links

• Josiah Quincy III at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Works by Josiah Quincy at Project Gutenberg
• Biography, part of a series of Harvard's Unitarian Presidents
• Josiah Quincy III at NNDB
• Josiah Quincy III at Find a Grave
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by William Eustis	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1813	Succeeded by Artemas Ward, Jr.
Political offices
Preceded by Elijah H. Mills	Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 1821–1822	Succeeded by Luther Lawrence
Preceded by John Phillips	2nd Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts May 1, 1823 – January 5, 1829	Succeeded by Harrison Gray Otis
Preceded by John Thornton Kirkland	16th President of Harvard University 1829–1846	Succeeded by Edward Everett

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