James Bowdoin
James Bowdoin II (/ˈboʊdɪn/; August 7, 1726 – November 6, 1790) was an American politician and educator. He was an important person during the American Revolution.
James Bowdoin | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Robert Feke, 1748 | |
| 2nd Governor of Massachusetts | |
| In office May 27, 1785 – May 30, 1787 | |
| Lieutenant | Thomas Cushing |
| Preceded by | Thomas Cushing (as acting governor) |
| Succeeded by | John Hancock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 7, 1726 Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America |
| Died | November 6, 1790 (aged 64) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | None |
| Spouse(s) | Isabella |
| Children | James (1750) & died-young Christian (1752) |
| Signature |  |
From 1775 to 1777, he was president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress' executive council, the de facto head of the Massachusetts government. He was elected president of the constitutional convention that drafted the state's constitution in 1779.
He ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Massachusetts in 1780, losing to John Hancock. In 1785, after Hancock's resignation, he was elected governor. He lost his re-election in the 1787 election to Hancock.
Bowdoin worked with Benjamin Franklin in his research on electricity. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and was a founder and first president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Bowdoin College in Maine was named in his honor.
He died from problems caused by dysentery.[1] Bowdoin's funeral was one of the largest of the time in Boston, with people lining the streets to view the funeral procession.[2]
James Bowdoin Media
Portrait of Bowdoin as a child by John Smibert
Portrait of Elizabeth Erving by Robert Feke
Coat of Arms of James Bowdoin
Governor Francis Bernard
John Hancock (British mezzotint, 1775) was a perennial opponent of Bowdoin in matters political and personal.
This contemporary woodcut depicts two of the rebel leaders, Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck.
Bowdoin's tomb in the Granary Burying Ground
References
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