Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1800, Jan. 17 | Born, Salisbury, Essex County, Mass. |
| 1817 | Graduated, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1820-1821 | Tutored mathematics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1821 | Admitted to bar and commenced practice of law, Newburyport, Mass. Edited local newspaper Began contributing to North American Review |
| 1824 | Elected representative to Massachusetts general court Married Caroline Elizabeth Wilde (died 1832) |
| 1825 | Elected Massachusetts state senator |
| 1829-1830 | Traveled to England, France, and Spain |
| 1834-1842 | U.S. representative from Massachusetts, Whig party |
| 1843 | Nominated three times as secretary of the treasury but rejected by the Senate |
| 1843-1844 | Commissioner to China; negotiated Treaty of Wang Hiya |
| 1846 | Traveled to Great Lakes region and along St. Croix River Reelected representative to Massachusetts general court |
| 1847-1848 | Brigadier general, Mexican War |
| 1850 | Reelected representative to Massachusetts general court |
| 1851 | Elected first mayor of Newburyport, Mass. |
| 1852 | Appointed associate justice, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts |
| 1853-1857 | Attorney general of the United States |
| 1857 | Reelected representative to Massachusetts general court |
| 1860 | Named permanent president of the National Democratic Convention, Charleston, S.C. |
| 1860 | Sent as President James Buchanan's personal representative to Charleston, S.C., to delay passing of ordnance of secession |
| 1865-1870 | Counsel for the United States before the British and American Joint Commission to settle claims by the Hudson's Bay and Puget's Sound companies |
| 1868 | Special Minister to Colombia to negotiate a treaty regarding a canal across Isthmus of Panama Appointed agent and counsel by the Mexican government to present claims before the Mexican-American Claims Commission |
| 1871 | Appointed counsel for the United States, Geneva Tribunal of Arbitration |
| 1873-1877 | Minister to Spain |
| 1879, Jan. 2 | Died, Newburyport, Mass. |