Gershom Bradford Weston | |
---|---|
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from Duxbury | |
In office 1828–1840 | |
Member of the Judiciary of Massachusetts | |
In office 1840–1857 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Duxbury,Massachusetts,U.S. | August 27,1799
Died | August 14,1869 69) Duxbury,Massachusetts,U.S. | (aged
Spouse(s) | Judith Sprague,Deborarh Brownell |
Parent(s) | Ezra Weston II,Jerusha Bradford |
Occupation | Shipbuilder,politician and justice |
Gershom Bradford Weston,(27 Aug 1799 - 14 Sep 1869) son of shipbuilding tycoon Ezra Weston II (1772-1842) (AKA:King Caesar II) and his wife Jerusha Bradford (1770-1833),who were both direct descendants of six Mayflower pilgrims. Gershom was a large man with reddish hair,weighing about 250 pounds. [1]
At an age 17 he began sailing on his father's ships to Denmark,England and India,before taking on a managerial role in the family business. From 1842 to 1857 he and his brothers ran the family firm until it closed down. [2]
At age 28 he entered politics as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and served there for 12 years before becoming a state justice. In 1848 Gershom joined the newly formed Free-Soil Political Party and strongly advocated it's Temperance and Abolitionist platform - "Free Soil,Free Speech,Free Labor and Free Men". [3]
He stood as the Free-Soil candidate for the U.S. Congress and lost by fewer than 150 votes.
Gershom was married twice and had 14 children,several of whom served with honor in the US Civil War. [4]
Late in life,Gershom experienced a series significant financial reverses. In 1850 his 30-acre mansion burned to the ground. By 1857 his shipping business had folded. In 1868,friends from the Massachusetts Senate purchased for him the small house he was then renting. [5]
Myles Standish was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on the ship Mayflower and played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its foundation in 1620. On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served at various times as an agent of Plymouth Colony on a return trip to England, as assistant governor of the colony, and as its treasurer.
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