Richard Waldron (Secretary)
| Richard Waldron | |
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Portrait by John Greenwood, 1751
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| Born |
February 21, 1694 Dover, New Hampshire |
| Died | August 23, 1753 (aged 59) Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| Occupation | Secretary of colonial New Hampshire and merchant, magistrate, councilor, mill owner, Major of the New Hampshire militia and speaker of the colonial New Hampshire assembly |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Westbrook |
| Children | Richard Waldron IV, Thomas Westbrook Waldron, William, Elizabeth, George, Elizabeth, Elinor, William |
| Parent(s) | Richard Waldron (Colonel) and Elinor Vaughan |
| Signature | |
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Richard Waldron (1694-1753) was a major opponent of the Wentworth oligarchy in colonial New Hampshire. He supported a continued political subordination of New Hampshire to Massachusetts and opposed moves to separation from this traditional senior partner. Through his friendship with Massachusetts governor and kinsman Jonathan Belcher and his positions of Secretary, Councillor, and New Hampshire assembly speaker, for a time he was "the central authority" in colonial New Hampshire politics.
A son of Colonel Richard Waldron, grandson of Major Richard Waldron, and nephew of New Hampshire Lieutenant-Governor George Vaughan, he married Elizabeth, only child of Colonel Thomas Westbrook, on 31 Dec 1718, and by this marriage further enhanced the position of the Waldron family in New Hampshire.
Most of their six children died early, including Harvard-educated Richard, the eldest, who was lost at sea in 1745, aged 25; this left only sons Thomas and George to live long into adulthood.
In the summer of 1694 the young Waldron and his parents narrowly escaped the massacre of his great aunt Cutt and household at the Pulpitt Farm.
At about age 15 he entered Harvard College, graduating in 1712 and continuing another three years in a master's program that prepared him for law. On the eve of commencement for 1711 he and another student "conducted themselves in such a manner that the scandalized authorities the next morning denied John Wainwright [who was a year older and ready to graduate] his degree. Richard had conveniently gone home but in October he had to face the music:"
While still a graduate student he, together with some other graduates, signed the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1713.
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Wikipedia