Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1782, Jan. 18 | Born, Salisbury, N.H. |
| 1796 | Pupil, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H. |
| 1797 | College preparatory study with Samuel Wood, Boscawen, N.H. |
| 1800 | Delivered Independence Day address, Hanover, N.H. |
| 1801 | Graduated, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. |
| 1802 | Teacher, Fryeburg Academy, Fryeburg, Maine |
| 1804 | Read law with attorney Christopher Gore, Boston, Mass. |
| 1805 | Published anonymously An Appeal to the Old Whigs of New Hampshire Admitted to practice law, Court of Common Pleas, Boston, Mass. Established private law office, Boscawen, N.H. |
| 1807 | Admitted as counselor, Superior Court, N.H. Established private law office, Portsmouth, N.H. |
| 1808 | Married Grace Fletcher (died 1828) |
| 1813-1817 | Member U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire |
| 1814 | Admitted to practice law, Supreme Court of the United States |
| 1816 | Moved to Boston, Mass. Resumed law practice |
| 1818 | Argued Dartmouth College case before Supreme Court of the United States |
| 1821 | Delegate, Massachusetts Constitutional Convention |
| 1823-1827 | Member U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts |
| 1827-1841 | Member U.S. Senate from Massachusetts; elected initially as a Federalist, then as a Whig |
| 1829 | Married Caroline Bayard Le Roy |
| 1830 | Webster-Hayne debate |
| 1832 | Led National Republican effort to recharter the Second Bank of the United States Purchased Marshfield, Mass., estate |
| 1835 | Nominated for president by Massachusetts legislature |
| 1841-1843 | Secretary of state |
| 1842 | Negotiated Treaty of Washington with Great Britain (Webster-Ashburton Treaty) |
| 1843 | Instructed U.S. minister to China, Caleb Cushing, on Treaty of Wanghia Resigned from cabinet over Texas annexation issue |
| 1845-1850 | Member U.S. Senate from Massachusetts |
| 1846 | Denounced war with Mexico in Philadelphia, Pa., speech |
| 1850, Mar. 7 | Speech in support of Henry Clay's Compromise resolution |
| 1850-1852 | Secretary of state |
| 1851 | Negotiated treaties of friendship, commerce, and navigation with Costa Rica and Peru |
| 1852 | Unsuccessful candidate, Whig party presidential nomination Died, Marshfield, Mass. |