LINCOLN, Levi, Congress, MA (1749-1820)

LINCOLN Levi , a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Hingham, Mass., May 15, 1749; attended the common schools; was graduated from Harvard College in 1772; studied law in Newburyport and Northampton, Mass.; joined the Minutemen in Cambridge at the outbreak of the Revolution; moved to Worcester, Mass.; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in 1775; member of the committee of public safety; clerk of the court and judge of probate for Worcester County 1775-1781; was specially designated to prosecute the claims of the Commonwealth to the numerous estates of loyalists in 1779; delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1779; elected a Member of the Continental Congress in 1781, but declined to serve; member of the state house of representatives in 1796; served in the state senate in 1797 and 1798; elected as a Republican to the Seventh Congress; subsequently elected to the Sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dwight Foster and served from December 15, 1800, to March 5, 1801, when he resigned; appointed Attorney General of the United States in the cabinet of President Jefferson and served from March 5, 1801, to December 31, 1804, and as Acting Secretary of State from March 5 to May 2, 1801; member of the governor's council of Massachusetts in 1806; lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1807 and 1808; became governor upon the death of Governor Sullivan and served in this capacity from December 10, 1808, to May 1, 1809; appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by President Madison, but declined to accept by reason of failing eyesight; again a member of the governor's council in 1810 and 1811; died in Worcester, Worcester County, Mass., April 14, 1820; interment in the Rural Cemetery.

Bibliography

Petroelje, Marvin J. ``Levi Lincoln, Sr.: Jeffersonian Republican of Massachusetts.'' Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 1969.

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