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Harrison Gray Otis (lawyer)

Harrison Gray Otis
Harrisongrayotis.jpg
United States Senator
from Massachusetts
In office
March 4, 1817 – May 30, 1822
Preceded by Joseph Bradley Varnum
Succeeded by James Lloyd
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 8th district
In office
March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1801
Preceded by Fisher Ames
Succeeded by William Eustis
3rd Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
In office
January 5, 1829 – January 2, 1832
Preceded by Josiah Quincy III
Succeeded by Charles Wells
Delegate from Massachusetts to the Hartford Convention
In office
1814–1815
President of the Massachusetts Senate
In office
1805 – 1806
1808–1811
United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
In office
1796–1796
Preceded by Christopher Gore
Succeeded by John Davis
Personal details
Born (1765-10-08)October 8, 1765
Boston, Massachusetts
Died October 28, 1848(1848-10-28) (aged 83)
Boston, Massachusetts
Political party Federalist
Alma mater Harvard University
Profession Law

Harrison Gray Otis (October 8, 1765 – October 28, 1848), was a businessman, lawyer, and politician, becoming one of the most important leaders of the United States' first political party, the Federalists. He was a member of the Otis family.

One of the wealthiest men of Boston during his time, Otis was reportedly worth at least US$800,000 in 1846, which in 2014 would be equivalent to $6.5 Billion.

Otis was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 8, 1765 to Elizabeth (Gray) and Samuel Allyne Otis. His uncle was Revolutionary War leader James Otis, and his father was active in early American politics as a member of Massachusetts state house of representatives, delegate to Massachusetts state constitutional convention, and Continental Congress delegate from Massachusetts. His aunt was Mercy Otis Warren, a well-known poet. A descendant was Montgomery Harrison Ritchie, who died in the American Civil War and was the first husband of Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair.

Otis himself graduated from Boston Latin School in 1773 and Harvard University in 1783, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1786, when he commenced practice in Boston, and married Sally Foster on May 31, 1790. In 1794 he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature, and in 1796 was appointed by President George Washington to be U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. In 1797, he was elected U.S. Representative from Massachusetts as a Federalist and a strong advocate for centralized government, in which office he served until 1801. He was appointed United States U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts by President John Adams (1801–1802), and again served in the state legislature from 1802 to 1817, serving several terms as President of the state senate (1805–1806, 1808–1811). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1804. In subsequent years, Otis was elected U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1817–1822), and then Mayor of Boston (1829–1831).


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