Levi Lincoln Sr.
Levi Lincoln | |
---|---|
David Cobb | |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district | |
In office December 15, 1800 – March 5, 1801 | |
Preceded by | Dwight Foster |
Succeeded by | Seth Hastings |
Personal details | |
Born | Levi Lincoln May 15, 1749 Hingham, Massachusetts Bay, British America |
Died | April 14, 1820 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 70)
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Spouse | Martha Waldo |
Children | 10, including Levi and Enoch |
Education | Harvard University (BA) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | Massachusetts militia |
Battles/wars | Siege of Boston |
Levi Lincoln Sr. (May 15, 1749 – April 14, 1820) was an American revolutionary, lawyer, and statesman from
Born in
He returned to Massachusetts, where he remained politically active in the state. He established Republican dominance in Worcester, even though the state was dominated by
Early years
Lincoln was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, on May 15, 1749, to Enoch and Rachel (Fearing) Lincoln. His father first apprenticed him to a local blacksmith, but the boy's lack of interest in that business and clear interest in reading led to his eventual enrollment in Harvard College. He graduated in 1772, and studied law under Joseph Hawley in Northampton. When news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord reached Northampton, he volunteered for military service, but only served for a short time, marching with the local militia to Cambridge, where militia were besieging British-occupied Boston.[1]
Lincoln did not stay long, and soon returned to Northampton, where he passed the bar. He established a practice in
Is not a law of nature that all men are equal and free. Is not the law of nature the law of God? Is not the law of God against slavery.
—Levi Lincoln in the Quock Walker case[6]
In 1781, Lincoln was one of the lawyers (another was Northampton lawyer and future governor
United States Attorney General
At first a weak Federalist, Lincoln became more closely associated with the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party. He repeatedly ran for election to the United States House of Representatives in the 1790s, losing each time to Federalist Dwight Foster.[9] Foster was elected to the Senate in a special election in early 1800, opening his House seat; after a series of special elections (in most of which Lincoln won a plurality but not the required majority of votes), Lincoln was finally elected to the seat in December 1800.[10] His service was brief: on March 5, 1801, President Jefferson appointed him attorney general, an office he held until March 1805. Jefferson's choice of Lincoln was supported by his close advisor and eventual Treasury Secretary, Albert Gallatin, who described Lincoln as "a good lawyer, a fine scholar, a man of great discretion and sound judgment" and a "sound and decided Republican".[11]
Since the post of Attorney General was then part-time, Lincoln spent most of his time in that office in Worcester, advancing the Democratic-Republican cause. In addition to distributing federal patronage dollars, he frequently reported to Jefferson on political sentiment in New England, and advocated for Republican positions in the newspapers. In 1801, he founded the National Aegis, a newspaper dedicated to advancing Republican arguments and countering Federalist positions printed in other Massachusetts publications. During his years as Attorney General, the Democratic-Republicans successfully gained control of most of Worcester's political establishment, even while much of Massachusetts (including Worcester County) remained generally Federalist.[12] Lincoln was regularly the subject of unflattering partisan newspaper reporting, as well as sermons delivered by influential Congregational ministers. The negative sermonizing prompted Lincoln to publish a pamphlet entitled Letters to the People, by a Farmer in 1802, in which he lambasted the Federalists for politicizing the clergy. Reverend William Bentley observed that Lincoln's criticism was a serious blow: "[N]ever did the Clergy suffer a more serious diminution of their influence and of their power."[13]
Participation in Marbury v. Madison
When Jefferson took office, he moved as quickly as possible to fill his cabinet positions. Although he had asked James Madison to be his secretary state, Madison did not arrive in Washington until May 1, 1801 because of illness. In the interim, Jefferson asked Lincoln to act temporarily as Secretary of State, which he did from March 5, 1801, until Madison assumed his duties on May 2.[14] During this time, Lincoln was involved in actions that led to the celebrated Marbury v. Madison case concerning judicial review. In the later days of the John Adams administration, the President issued a large number of commissions, some of which had not been delivered by John Marshall, his Secretary of State, at the time Jefferson assumed office. Jefferson ordered Lincoln (in his capacity as acting Secretary of State) and then Madison (after his assumption of the position) not to deliver these commissions.
Some intended recipients of the commissions,
Georgia land scandal
During the 1790s, politicians and land speculators in Georgia perpetrated fraudulent and corrupt land sales in an area that is now a large portion of Alabama and Mississippi. When the fraud was exposed in 1795, there was significant public outcry, and the Georgia legislation authorizing the sales was repealed.[17] This led to a host of claims and litigation, since in a number of cases, land was afterward resold to unsuspecting third parties. President Jefferson eventually established a three-person commission to resolve conflicting claims arising from the fraud. Lincoln was appointed to this commission, which developed legislation to resolve the issue. Eventually approved by Congress, Georgia's claims to the area were extinguished and some land was reserved to resolve other outstanding claims. The commission was also responsible for documenting and reporting on the nature and extent of the fraud, activities in which Lincoln was heavily involved.[18]
Foreign policy
Prior to Jefferson's presidency, the United States had paid tribute to a number of Arab states in the Mediterranean to prevent attacks on its shipping. By the time Jefferson assumed office, the United States Navy had been developed to the point where it might adequately defend American shipping interests. Jefferson consequently refused to pay tribute in 1801 to Yusuf Karamanli, the ruler of Tripoli, after which the Tripolitans began attacking and seizing American merchant vessels. In a cabinet discussion held in early 1801 to formulate a response, it was suggested that the President declare war on Tripoli. Lincoln pointed out that only Congress had the authority to declare war, but the rest of the cabinet was intent on taking some sort of action.[19] The matter was tabled until May 1801, when the cabinet voted to send a naval squadron to the area to defend the country's merchant interests. Jefferson never asked for or received from Congress a formal war declaration against the Barbary states.[20]
When Napoleon sought to sell the French territory of Louisiana to the United States in 1802, Jefferson was concerned over the political consequences of acquiring a large tract of what was perceived then as predominantly Southern territory, as well as a possible lack of constitutional authority to make the purchase.[21] To circumvent these concerns, Lincoln made a novel proposal that the territory could be acquired by expanding an existing state's borders, effecting a purchase that would not require a constitutional amendment. This proposal was rejected by Jefferson and his other advisors, and the purchase was ultimately made in spite of the standing constitutional question.[22]
Massachusetts political offices
In 1804, Lincoln informed Jefferson that, for personal reasons, he would leave the post of Attorney General.[23] His resignation became official on March 3, 1805.[24]
In Massachusetts, Lincoln once again became active in state politics. He was a member of the
Lincoln ran for election as governor in his own right in 1809, but he was perceived by moderate Federalists as overly partisan and lacked the charisma of Sullivan.[27] His support for Jefferson's economic policy, particularly that of embargoing trade with Great Britain and France (who were then embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars) was costly. Federalists, who had regained control of the Massachusetts legislature in 1808, attacked his statements in support of Jefferson, and he lost the election to Christopher Gore, amid a complete Federalist takeover of the Massachusetts government (the outgoing Jefferson administration's repeal of the embargo before the election notwithstanding).[28]
Lincoln was again chosen to serve on the Governor's Council in 1810 and 1811. In 1811, President James Madison offered him a position as an
Lincoln was additionally a founding member of the American Antiquarian Society along with one of his sons Levi Lincoln Jr. in 1812.[31]
Lincoln died in Worcester on April 14, 1820. His original burial site is not documented in the family genealogy, but he was eventually reinterred at Worcester Rural Cemetery after its establishment in 1838.[32][33]
Family and legacy
Lincoln married Martha Waldo (1761–1828) of Worcester in 1781, with whom he had ten children (three of whom died young).[34] His eldest child, Levi Jr., and a younger son Enoch both followed their father into politics: Levi Jr. became one of the longest-serving governors of Massachusetts, and Enoch was Governor of Maine.[35]
When Lincoln moved to Worcester, he acquired a large tract of land near what is now the downtown area of the city. This land was mostly developed by his heirs, and is part of the
Lincoln was distantly related to Abraham Lincoln, sharing a common ancestor with the sixteenth U.S. President in Samuel Lincoln, who had settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, in the 17th century.[39]
Notes
- ^ Lincoln, p. 157
- ^ Moynihan, p. 82
- ^ a b Lincoln, p. 158
- ^ Moynihan, p. 94
- ^ "Charter of Incorporation of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
- ^ Higginbotham, p. 93
- ^ Higginbotham, pp. 90–95
- ^ Lincoln, pp. 158–159
- ^ Moynihan, pp. 111–113
- ^ Lincoln, p. 159
- ^ Malone, p. 57
- ^ Moynihan, p. 113
- ^ "Levi Lincoln", Dictionary of American Biography
- ^ Smith, pp. 286, 612
- ^ Sloan, pp. 179–182
- ^ Sloan, p. 183
- ^ Malone, p. 448
- ^ Malone, pp. 449–456
- ^ Sloan, pp. 104–105
- ^ Whipple, pp. 65, 280
- ^ Malone, pp. 283, 312
- ^ Malone, pp. 312ff
- ^ Malone, p. 455
- ^ "USDOJ: Levi Lincoln". United States Department of Justice. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
- ^ a b Ellis, p. 220
- ^ Buel, pp. 73–79
- ^ Buel, p. 73
- ^ Buel, pp. 74–82, 103–104
- ^ Lincoln, p. 160
- ^ Wright, p. 190
- ^ "MemberListL | American Antiquarian Society". www.americanantiquarian.org. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ Lincoln, pp. 157, 162
- ^ Marvin, p. 639
- ^ Lincoln, pp. 162–164
- ^ Amory, p. 194
- ^ "NRHP nomination form for Lincoln Estate-Elm Park Historic District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
- ^ "NRHP nomination form for Gov. Levi Lincoln House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved September 10, 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ See e.g. Rice, pp. 46, 55, and others
- ^ Lea et al, p. 136
References
- Amory, Thomas (1859). Life of James Sullivan. Boston, MA: Phillips, Sampson. OCLC 60714175.
- Buel, Richard (2005). America on the Brink. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. OCLC 55510543.
- Ellis, Richard (1971). The Jeffersonian Crisis: Courts and Politics in the Young Republic. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 135055.
- Higginbotham, A. Leon (1980). In the Matter of Color: Race and the American Legal Process : the Colonial Period. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 219923586.
- Lea, James Henry; Hutchinson, J. R (1909). The Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 136. OCLC 166623008.
- "Levi Lincoln". Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1936.
- Lincoln, Waldo (1923). History of the Lincoln Family: an Account of the Descendants of Samuel Lincoln, of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1637–1920. Worcester, MA: Commonwealth Press. OCLC 3354313.
- Malone, Dumas (1970). Jefferson the President: First Term 1801–1805. Boston, MA: Little, Brown. OCLC 4314946.
- Marvin, Abijah (1879). History of Worcester, Volume 2. Boston, MA: C. F. Jewett. p. 639. OCLC 1804192.
- Moynihan, Kenneth (2007). A History of Worcester. Charleston, SC: History Press. OCLC 167764114.
- Rice, Frank (1893). Dictionary of Worcester (Massachusetts) and its Vicinity. Worcester, MA: F.S. Blanchard. p. 55. OCLC 1163769.
- Sloan, Cliff; McKean, David (2009). The Great Decision: Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court. New York: PublicAffairs. OCLC 191926340.
- Smith, Jean (1998). John Marshall: Definer of a Nation. New York: Holt. OCLC 248101402.
- Whipple, Addison (1991). To the Shores of Tripoli: The Birth of the U. S. Navy and Marines. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 247909340.
- Wright, Conrad (2005). Revolutionary Generation: Harvard Men And The Consequences Of Independence. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. OCLC 208735332.
Further reading
- Petroelje, Marvin J (1969). Levi Lincoln Sr.: Jeffersonian Republican of Massachusetts (PhD dissertation). Michigan State University. OCLC 24608614.
External links
Media related to Levi Lincoln, Sr. at Wikimedia Commons
- United States Congress. "Levi Lincoln Sr. (id: L000316)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.