Walter Folger Jr. (June 12, 1765 – September 8, 1849) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Biography

Born in

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

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 ...

, Folger was a member of a large family that included his sister, diarist Phebe ''Folger'' Coleman. Notably he was the great-great-great grandson of

Peter Folger Peter Folger (December 26, 1905 – August 27, 1980) was an American coffee heir, socialite, and member of the prominent United States Folger family. He was also the longtime chairman of the board and president of the Folgers Coffee Company. He ...

and Mary Morrell Folger and first cousin three times removed of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. Through his mother he is also a member or the Starbuck whaling family of Nantucket. He attended public schools before studying law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced before serving as member of the Massachusetts State Senate. Folger 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 Fifteenth Congress and reelected to the

Sixteenth The 16th century begins with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (Roman numerals, MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (Roman numerals, MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar ...

Congress (March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821). He resumed the practice of law, and died in

on September 8, 1849. He was interred in Friends Burying Ground.

References

1765 births 1849 deaths Massachusetts state senators Massachusetts lawyers People from Nantucket, Massachusetts Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century American lawyers {{Massachusetts-Representative-stub