Benjamin Gorham (February 13, 1775 – September 27, 1855) was a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He was the son of

Nathaniel Gorham Nathaniel Gorham (May 27, 1738 – June 11, 1796; sometimes spelled ''Nathanial'') was an American Founding Father, merchant, and politician from Massachusetts. He was a delegate from the Bay Colony to the Continental Congress and for six months ...

, who served as one of the

Presidents of the Continental Congress The president of the United States in Congress Assembled, known unofficially as the president of the Continental Congress and later as the president of the Congress of the Confederation, was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the ...

. Benjamin was born in Charlestown in the

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

. He pursued preparatory studies, graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1795, and studied law. When he was admitted to the bar he commenced practice in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. From 1814 to 1818 he served as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

and then turned to the

Massachusetts State Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

, where he served from May 26, 1819 until he resigned on January 10, 1821. He was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the Sixteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Jonathan Mason; he was re-elected when the term expired, and served until March 3, 1823. Afterwards he returned to the State senate for one term beginning May 28, 1823, before being elected as an Adams candidate to the Twentieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

and then reelected as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

to the Twenty-first Congress and served from July 23, 1827, to March 3, 1831. After a term filled by Nathan Appleton, he was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress (March 4, 1833 - March 3, 1835). Afterward he served again a member of the State house of representatives in 1841 and resumed the practice of law. He died in Boston in 1855, aged 80, and was interred in the

Phipps Street Burying Ground The Phipps Street Burying Ground is a historic cemetery on Phipps Street in Charlestown, now a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. With History The burial ground was created in 1630, when Charlestown was a separate community from Boston; ...

in Charlestown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorham, Benjamin 1775 births 1855 deaths Harvard University alumni Massachusetts lawyers Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Boston Massachusetts National Republicans American people of English descent 19th-century American politicians Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Burials in Boston 19th-century American lawyers