John Gorham PALFREY, Congress, MA (1796-1881)

PALFREY John Gorham , a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Boston, Mass., May 2, 1796; completed preparatory studies in Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H., and was graduated from Harvard University in 1815; studied theology and was ordained minister of Brattle Square Unitarian Church, Boston, June 17, 1818; editor of the North American Review 1835-1843; member of the State house of representatives in 1842 and 1843; secretary of state of Massachusetts 1844-1848; elected as a Whig to the Thirtieth Congress (March 4, 1847-March 3, 1849); unsuccessful candidate on the Free-Soil ticket for reelection in 1848 to the Thirty-first Congress; postmaster of Boston 1861-1867; devoted himself to literary pursuits; died in Cambridge, Mass., April 26, 1881; interment in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Bibliography

Gattell, Frank Otto. John Gorham Palfrey and the New England Conscience. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1963; Gattell, Frank Otto. ``Palfrey's Vote, the Conscience Whigs, and the Election of Speaker Winthrop.'' New England Quarterly 31 (June 1958): 218-31.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present