Josiah Quincy (1772-1864)

III, U.S. Congressman, Mayor of Boston & 15th President of Harvard University

He was born at Boston and entered Phillips Academy, Andover, when it first opened in 1778 and then graduated from Harvard (1790). Becoming a lawyer, he was elected to the State Senate in 1804. He represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives (1805-1813) and was then Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1821-1822) and Mayor of Boston (1823-1828) before becoming the 15th President of Harvard University (1829-1845). He authored: "History of Harvard University" (1836), "A Municipal History of Boston" (1852); and, "A History of the Boston Athenaeum" (1851). The historic Quincy Market in downtown Boston is named in his honor. In 1797, he married Eliza Susan Morton of New York, daughter of the "Rebel Banker" aka "Handsome Johnny" Morton and sister of Major-General Jacob Morton. They had eleven children of whom seven (listed) lived to adulthood. Their four daughters were dubbed "The Articulate Sisters," by their biographer, M. A. DeWolfe Howe.
Contributed by Mark Meredith on 27/08/2019 and last updated on 03/01/2024.