Harrison Gray Otis, was a businessman, lawyer, and politician, becoming one of the most important leaders of the United States" first political party, the Federalists.
Background
Otis was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 8, 1765 to Elizabeth (Gray) and Samuel Allyne Otis. His uncle was Revolutionary War leader James Otis, and his father was active in early American politics as a member of Massachusetts state house of representatives, delegate to Massachusetts state constitutional convention, and Continental Congress delegate from Massachusetts.
Education
Otis himself graduated from Boston Latin School in 1773 and Harvard University in 1783, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1786, when he commenced practice in Boston, and married Sally Foster on May 31, 1790.
Career
One of the wealthiest men of Boston during his time, Otis was reportedly worth at least United States$800,000 in 1846, which in 2014 would be equivalent to $6.5 Billion. A descendant was Montgomery Harrison Ritchie, who died in the American Civil War and was the first husband of Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair. In 1794 he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature, and in 1796 was appointed by President George Washington to be United States. Attorney for Massachusetts.
In 1797, he was elected United States. Representative from Massachusetts as a Federalist and a strong advocate for centralized government, in which office he served until 1801.
He was appointed United States United States. Attorney for Massachusetts by President John Adams (1801–1802), and again served in the state legislature from 1802 to 1817, serving several terms as President of the state senate (1805–1806, 1808–1811). In subsequent years, Otis was elected United States. Senator from Massachusetts (1817–1822), and then Mayor of Boston (1829–1831).
In 1814, in the midst of his political career, he was also named a judge of the court of common pleas (1814–1818), and played a leading role as delegate to the controversial Hartford Convention in which New England"s secession from the United States was discussed. Otis was involved in a major financial scandal during the site selection for the Massachusetts State House.
Boston was determined to remain the state capitol, and appointed Otis to a town committee to purchase land and donate it to the state.
He did so, and also quietly arranged his own private purchase of 18.5 acres (75,000 m2) adjoining from the agent of John Singleton Copley, then living in England. After a decade of legal arguments, the sale was upheld, and Otis and the Mount Vernon Proprietors developed a large part of Beacon Hill. Otis was an overseer of Harvard University from 1810 to 1823, and a fellow of the university from 1823 to 1825, as well as one of the original incorporators of the Boston Bank.
During the course of his career, he built not one but three grand houses in quick succession (see Harrison Gray Otis House), all designed by noted architect Charles Bulfinch.
He died in Boston on October 28, 1848, and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Achievements
Politics
Overall, it led to the demise of the Federalists, and Otis"s political ambitions suffered. Otis subsequently defended the convention in his Letters Developing the Character and Views of the Hartford Convention (1820) and his Letters in Defence of the Hartford Convention (1824).
Membership
Member Massachusetts General Court from Boston, 1795-1796. Member United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, 6th-7th congresses, 1797-1801, supported President John Adams. Member Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1802-1805, 13-14, speaker, 1803-1805.
Member Massachusetts Senate, 1805-1813, 14-17, president, 1805-1806, 08-11.
Member United States Senate from Massachusetts, 1817-1822 (resigned).