James Trecothick Austin (January 7, 1784 – May 8, 1870) was the 22nd
Massachusetts Attorney General
The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected Constitution of Massachusetts, constitutionally defined executive officer of the Government of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement offic ...
.
Austin was the son of
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the government of the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
The Secretary of the Commonwealth oversees the Corporations Division, the Elections Division, the ...
, and Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts
Jonathan L. Austin.
He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1824.
He graduated from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1802.
In 1837, he spoke at
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...
in praise of anti-abolitionists who had killed
Elijah P. Lovejoy
Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Minister (Christianity), minister, journalist, Editing, newspaper editor, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. Followin ...
. He compared the mob to American patriots rising against the British and declared that Lovejoy "died as the fool dieth!"
Family
Austin married Catharine Gerry,
the eldest daughter
of
Elbridge Gerry
Elbridge Gerry (; July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat who served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 18 ...
,
they had a son, Ivers James Austin, born February 14, 1808,
and a daughter, Marie Cornelia Ritchie Austin, born on March 8, 1821.
Notes
References
Further reading
* Dwight, Benjamin Woodbridge (1871), The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass., Volume II., Albany, N.Y.: Joel Munsell, p. 1206.
* Linzee, John William (1917), The Linzee families of Great Britain and the United States of America and The Allied Families, Volume II., Boston, Massachusetts: John William Linzee, p. 768.
* Wilson, James Grant (1888), Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. I., Aaron-Crandall, New York, N.Y.: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, p. 120.
Bibliography
*The Life of Elbridge Gerry, with Contemporary Letters to the Close of the American Revolution. 2 Volumes, (1827–1829).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, James T.
1784 births
1870 deaths
Massachusetts Attorneys General
District attorneys in Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Lawyers from Boston
Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts National Republicans
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American lawyers
Harvard College alumni