Thomas Coffin Amory

Thomas Coffin Amory
Born	October 6, 1812  Boston
Died	August 20, 1889  (aged 76)
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupation	Lawyer politician biographer poet

Thomas Coffin Amory Jr. (October 6, 1812 – August 20, 1889) was an American lawyer, historian, politician, biographer, and poet. He served as chairman of the Boston Board of Aldermen. He published on the American Revolution and his own ancestors.

Biography

Amory was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest son of Jonathan Amory and his wife Mehitable (Sullivan) Culter.[1] He graduated from Harvard University in 1830. He became a member of the bar of Suffolk County, Boston in 1834. He served in the legislature of Massachusetts and in the municipal government of Boston.[2]

In 1858 he published "Life of James Sullivan" about the former governor of Massachusetts and his grandfather. He later published extensively on the American Revolution as well as on various others of his ancestors, including Major-General John Sullivan and Sir Isaac Coffin. He also wrote numerous poems, the best known of which, "William Blaxton, Sole Inhabitant of Boston" was written at a time when the Old South Church of Boston was threatened with demolition.[2] The poem is said to have contributed to saving the church.[3] In 1858, Amory was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.[4] In 1863, Armory served as the chairman of the Boston Board of Aldermen.[5]

Amory declined to run as the Whig nominee in the second vote of the 1853–54 Boston mayoral election, despite being offered the party's nomination.[6] He ran as the Democratic nominee in the 1864 Boston mayoral election,[7] losing by a large margin.[5]

Amory died August 20, 1889.[2]

See also

Amory-Ticknor House

Works

Biographies

• The Life of James Sullivan: With Selections from his Writings. 1859
• The Military Services and Public Life of Major-General John Sullivan of the American Revolutionary Army. 1868
• Old Cambridge and New. 1871
• Our English Ancestors. 1872
• General Sullivan not a pensioner of Luzerne. 1875
• Transfer of Erin: or The Acquisition of Ireland by England. 1877
• Memoir of John Wingate Thornton. 1879
• Memoir of Hon. Richard Sullivan. 1885
• The Life of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, baronet, his English and American ancestors. 1886
• Class Memoir of George Washington Warren, with English and American Ancestry. 1886
• William Blaxton.1886

Poetry

• William Blackstone, Boston's First Inhabitant 1877
• Charles River: A Poem 1888
• Siege of Newport. 1888

References

1. "Amory Family Papers,1697-1894". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
2.  "Amory, Thomas Coffin". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. p. 107.
3. Perkins, Augustus T. (1890). Memoir of Thomas Coffin Amory, M.A. Massachusetts Historical Society. p. 841.
4. American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
5. A Catalogue of the City Councils of Boston, 1822-1908, Roxbury, 1846-1867, Charlestown, 1847-1873 and of the Selectmen of Boston, 1634-1822: Also of Various Other Town and Municipal Officers. City of Boston Printing Department. 1909. pp. 45, 52, and 53. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
6. "The City Election". Newspapers.com. New England Farmer. December 24, 1853. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
7. "Meeting of the Democratic Ward and City Committee". Newspapers.com. December 3, 1864. Retrieved 14 November 2023 – via Boston Evening Transcript.

• Elkins, James R. Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry Thomas Coffin Amory College of Law, West Virginia University 2001 Retrieved June 22, 2019
• Warner, Charles Dudley, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle, George Henry Warner, and E. C. Towne. Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern. Vol. XXIX New York: R.S. Peale and J.A. Hill, 1896. (p. 17) googlebooks Retrieved September 7, 2009
• William Richard Cutter; William Frederick Adams Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts. Vol. 1 (pp. 210–11) New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1910. googlebooks Retrieved September 7, 2009