James Otis Sr. (1702–1778) was a prominent lawyer in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

. His sons

James Otis Jr. James Otis Jr. (February 5, 1725 – May 23, 1783) was an American lawyer, political activist, colonial legislator, and early supporter of patriotic causes in Massachusetts at the beginning of the Revolutionary Era. Otis was a fervent opponent ...

and

Samuel Allyne Otis Samuel Allyne Otis (November 24, 1740 – April 22, 1814) was the first Secretary of the United States Senate, serving for its first 25 years. He also served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was a delegate to the Confederation C ...

also rose to prominence, as did his daughter

Mercy Otis Warren Mercy Otis Warren (September 14, eptember 25, New Style1728 – October 19, 1814) was an American activist poet, playwright, and pamphleteer during the American Revolution. During the years before the Revolution, she had published poems and pla ...

. He was often called "Colonel James" because of his military rank and also to distinguish between him and his famous son. He was a stalwart member of the Popular Party, as was his son, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Biography

Born in

Barnstable, Massachusetts The Town of Barnstable ( ) is a town in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod, and is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipaliti ...

, Otis became the undisputed head of the bar in the colony. As a result of his distinguished service, in 1748 Colonel James was appointed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of the province. Later, in 1762, like his father John (a judge, representative to the Massachusetts Bay General Court, and member of the Council of Massachusetts), he was elected to the Council. Otis expected to be appointed Chief Justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

, but the position instead went to Thomas Hutchinson appointed in 1761 by Governor

Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet (bapt. 12 July 1712 – 16 June 1779) was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of the provinces of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay. His uncompromising policies and harsh tactics in Massachus ...

; creating enmity between the Otis and Hutchinson families. Otis was the presiding justice of the Barnstable County Court of Common Pleas during the Sept. 27, 1774, protest against the British "Intolerable Acts." In meeting the protesters demands, he agreed to ignore the requirements of the Parliament's new legislation and so preserved for Barnstable the large measure of self-government that Massachusetts had enjoyed under its 1691 charter. His son James Otis Jr. played a key role in opposing the British

writs of assistance In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, an ...

in 1761, serving to inspire the idea of revolution in the colonies. File:JamesOtisJr by Blackburn.jpg,

File:Gilbert Stuart, Samuel Alleyne Otis, 1811-1813, NGA 57542.jpg,

File:Mrs James Warren (Mercy Otis), by John Singleton Copley.jpg,

References

Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and ta ...

, ''Harrison Gray Otis, 1765–1848: The Urbane Federalist'', 1913. Rev. ed. (2 vols in 1), Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1969. *Wroth, L. Kinvin and Hiller B. Zobel, eds. ''Legal Papers of John Adams''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1965. {{DEFAULTSORT:Otis, James Sr. 1702 births 1778 deaths Massachusetts lawyers Members of the colonial Massachusetts Governor's Council Members of the colonial Massachusetts House of Representatives Otis family American male journalists 18th-century American politicians