Levi Lincoln Sr. was an American lawyer and politician. He was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district from 1800 to 1801. He served as the 4th United States Attorney General from 1801 to 1805 and the Governor of Massachusetts from 1808 to 1809.
Background
Levi Lincoln Sr. was born on May 15, 1749 at Hingham, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Enoch and Rachel (Fearing) Lincoln. His father was the great-grandson of Samuel Lincoln who emigrated from England to the Colonies in 1637 and settled at Hingham.
Education
Levi was apprenticed to a blacksmith in his youth, but when friends discovered the boy's ability and fondness for study, they persuaded his father to permit him to continue his education. He graduated from Harvard College in 1772. Upon graduation Lincoln studied law under Joseph Hawley in Northamptonhe.
Career
At the outbreak of the Revolution Lincoln performed a brief tour of duty with the militia. He began the practice of law in Worcester, and maintained a residence there throughout the remainder of his life. He immediately became prominent in local affairs, holding various civil offices during the remainder of the war and serving as judge of probate from 1777 to 1781.
In 1779 he was elected to the convention which drew up the first state constitution and two years later declined an election to the Continental Congress. His services during these years gave him a share in the important work of establishing the civil institutions of the new state. In the meantime his legal practice had been growing rapidly and he had become widely known as a successful trial lawyer. In 1781, together with several eminent members of the Massachusetts bar, he shared in one of the most famous litigations in the history of the state, although its importance was not fully realized until later years. Three cases came before the courts, Quork (spelling varies) Walker vs. Nathaniel Jenison, Nathaniel Jenison vs. John Caldwell and Seth Caldwell, and The Commonwealth vs. Nathaniel Jenison, which involved the question of the right to hold a negro in slavery in view of the Bill of Rights in the constitution of 1780. Lincoln, and Caleb Strong, who afterwards was one of his bitter political opponents, appeared as counsel for the Caldwells, and argued against the legality of slavery in Massachusetts. The decision of the supreme court, upholding their contentions, was afterwards regarded as a landmark in the long struggle against slavery.
He served a term in the state House of Representatives and another in the Senate, 1796-1797, and in 1800, after a bitter campaign involving, under the existing law which required a majority, three special elections, he was chosen, December 19, to serve the remainder of the unexpired term of Dwight Foster, resigned, in the Sixth Congress. In the meantime, November 3, he had also been elected a member of the Seventh Congress; but before he could take his seat in the latter he was appointed attorney-general of the United States by President Jefferson.
For some months he also acted as secretary of state, pending James Madison's arrival in Washington. He served creditably as attorney-general from March 5, 1801, to December 31, 1804, but the office at this time offered no particular opportunities for distinction. Lincoln gave up his federal post, greatly to President Jefferson's regret and soon resumed his political activity in Massachusetts, being elected to the Governor's Council in 1806, and lieutenant-governor in 1807 and 1808, when the Republicans succeeded in getting control of the governorship for the first time. He served as governor following the death in office of James Sullivan, but was an unsuccessful candidate in 1809, when the reaction caused by the Embargo gave the state to the Federalists. He served two terms on the Governor's Council, 1810-1812, and in the latter year was offered a place on the United States Supreme Court by President Madison.
Justice Cushing, a stalwart Federalist, had recently died, an event described by Jefferson as "another circumstance of congratulation, " inasmuch as it offered opportunity to establish a Republican majority in that tribunal. Jefferson's letters to Madison describe Lincoln as an eminently desirable appointee because of his legal attainments, equal to those of any other New England Republican, his integrity, political firmness, and unimpeachable character. Lincoln declined, however, for his eyesight was failing rapidly. He spent his remaining years on his farm in Worcester. A life-long friend of one of his sons many years later described "this home, so like an English manor in its dignity and hospitality and the variety and extent of its occupations, so like a New England farm in the homeliness of its daily employments".
Achievements
Politics
In the gradual development of the Republican-Federalist alignment, Lincoln became a leader of the former party in Massachusetts, despite the fact that members of his profession and social class were generally Federalists.
During his tenure as attorney-general, Lincoln was the object of a vast amount of abuse by Federalist newspapers, clergymen, and campaign orators. He did not tamely submit and in his Letters to the People, by a Farmer (Salem, 1802) he assailed the political activity of the clergy. "The blow, " records Reverend William Bentley, "is serious, & the more the Clergy & their friends attempt to defend themselves, the more severe are the strokes upon them. This subject never was so freely handled in New England & never did the Clergy suffer a more serious diminution of their influence & of their power". Jefferson's letters show that Lincoln was firmly established in the President's confidence and entrusted with important responsibilities in the Republican "regeneration" of New England, including distribution of the patronage by which that process was expedited.
Connections
Lincoln married, November 23, 1781, at Lancaster, Massachusetts, Martha, daughter of Daniel and Rebecca (Salisbury) Waldo, by whom he had nine children. Two of his sons, Levi and Enoch, had distinguished political careers.