Josiah Quincy IV (; January 17, 1802 – November 2, 1882) was an American lawyer, historian, and politician. He served as

mayor of Boston The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a m ...

from December 11, 1845, to January 1, 1849, following in the footsteps of his father,

Josiah Quincy III Josiah Quincy III (; February 4, 1772 – July 1, 1864) was an American educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1805–1813), mayor of Boston (1823–1828), and President of Harvard University (182 ...

(mayor from 1823 to 1828). His grandson Josiah Quincy VI, was also a mayor of Boston from 1895 to 1899.

Early life

Josiah Quincy IV was born on Pearl Street in the

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

neighborhood of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

on January 17, 1802. He was the second child, and eldest son, of

and his wife Eliza Susan Morton. He was patrilineally a member of the

Quincy family The Quincy family was a prominent political family in Massachusetts from the mid-17th century through to the early 20th century. It is connected to the Adams political family through Abigail Adams. The family estate was in Mount Wollaston, fir ...

and his matrilineal uncle was Jacob Morton. His father was a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for

, and

President of Harvard University The president of Harvard University is the chief academic administration, administrator of Harvard University and the ''Ex officio member, ex officio'' president of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Corporation. Each is appoin ...

. He attended Philips Academy in

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

and graduated from Harvard College in 1821.

Career

He was elected a member of the

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. A volunteer militia of the Commonwealth of Massachusett ...

in 1823 and became its captain in 1829 at the age of 27. He was elected to the Boston Common Council in 1833 and served as its president from 1834 to 1837. As a member of the

Massachusetts State Legislature The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days of ...

in 1837, he played a crucial role in establishing the

Massachusetts Board of Education The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is the state education agency responsible for interpreting and implementing laws relevant to public education in the Commonwealth of Massachusettsbr>https://www.sec.state.ma.us ...

. He built the

Josiah Quincy Mansion The Quincy Mansion , also known as the Josiah Quincy Mansion, was a summer home built by Josiah Quincy Jr. in 1848. The mansion itself was situated where Angell Hall now stands on the campus of the Eastern Nazarene College. The mansion, once a ...

in 1848. Quincy served as treasurer of the

Boston Athenaeum Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

from 1837 to 1852.

Quincy Homestead Association

In the 1850s, German speakers were the next large group of immigrants to arrive in Dedham after the Irish, also largely to work in the mills along

Mother Brook Mother Brook is an artificial waterway in Dedham, and Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and the first man-made canal in the present-day United States. Constructed in 1639 by settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, it diverts water from the Charles R ...

. In 1865, 25% of immigrants in Dedham were German. The Germantown they established was north of the mills, on the East Dedham-West Roxbury border. There, the streets still have names including Bismark, Berlin, Schiller, and Goethe. In the neighborhood were German organizations such as the Germania Singing Society on Rockland Street. This was a planned community, created by the German Quincy Homestead Association, a

building and loan association A savings and loan association (S&L), or thrift institution, is a financial institution that specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans. While the terms "S&L" and "thrift" are mainly used in the United States, ...

promoted by Quincy and

Edward Everett Hale Edward Everett Hale (April 3, 1822 – June 10, 1909) was an American author, historian, and Unitarian minister, best known for his writings such as " The Man Without a Country", published in ''Atlantic Monthly'', in support of the Union ...

. Quincy suggested a plan, and 27 Germans formed the association. They bought 60 acres from the Whiting family at $125 an acre and made Quincy the trustee. He laid out half acre lots and built 10 houses which were rented for $6 a week. The houses were designed by Quincy's brother,

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

and the firm of firm of

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

and Van Brunt. Two acres were set aside as a park. The Town of Dedham purchased a lot for $750 on July 6, 1872 from the Association and built the

Quincy School Quincy School is a historic school building at 94 Newbury Avenue in Quincy, Massachusetts. The two-story brick building was built in 1906 and enlarged in 1932; its original design was by Hurd & Gore, and the addition was by Hutchins & French. ...

on it.

Mayor of Boston

After being elected

in the December 1845 Boston mayoral election, Quincy succeeded Benson Leavitt, who had become acting mayor after the death of Mayor Thomas Aspinwall Davis, in his position as acting mayor on December 11, 1845. He officially became mayor on January 1, 1845. He served until January 1, 1849. He authored ''Figures of the Past'' in 1883. Quincy died on November 2, 1882, aged 80, in Boston.

Travels

In 1844, while traveling with Charles Francis Adams, Josiah Quincy met

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in Nauvoo, Illinois. During the visit, Adams received a copy of the Book of Mormon which had previously belonged to Smith's wife,

Emma Smith Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a prominent member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) as well as the first wife of Josep ...

. The book is now in the archive collections of

Adams National Historical Park Adams National Historical Park, formerly Adams National Historic Site, in Quincy, Massachusetts, preserves the home of United States presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, of U.S. envoy to Great Britain, Charles Francis Adams, and of wri ...

. At the visit, Smith showed Adams and Quincy four Egyptian mummies and ancient papyri. Adams was unimpressed by Smith, and wrote in his diary entry that day, "Such a man is a study not for himself, but as serving to show what turns the human mind will sometimes take. And herafter if I should live, I may compare the results of this delusion with the condition in which I saw it and its mountebank apostle."

Family

His brother

(1808–1877) was a prominent abolitionist, and author of the biography of his father and of a romance, ''Wensley'' (1854). A sister, Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy Waterston, was a writer; and another sister, Eliza Susan (1798–1884) served as her father's secretary and wrote the biography of their mother. Quincy had two sons — Josiah Phillips (1829–1910), a lawyer, who wrote, besides some verse, ''The Protection of Majorities'' (1876) and ''Double Taxation in Massachusetts'' (1889); and Samuel Miller (1833–1887), who practiced law, wrote on legal subjects, served in the Union army during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, and was breveted brigadier-general of volunteers in 1865. A descendant of his, through her mother, was

Helen Howe Helen Howe (January 11, 1905 – February 1, 1975) was an American novelist, biographer and monologist. Early life and education Helen Huntington Howe was born to Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe and Fanny Huntington (Quincy) Howe on January 11, 1905. ...

, a novelist.

Notes

Sources

* William Guild, ''Description of the Boston and Worcester and Western Railroads: In which is Noted the Towns, Villages, Station, Bridges, Viaducts, Tunnels, Cuttings, Embankments, Gradients, &c., the Scenery and Its Natural History, and Other Objects Passed by this Line of Railway. With Numerous Illustrations'', Boston?: Bradbury & Guild, 1847, p. 13.

References

;Attribution

External links

, contains Quincy's speech of welcome to Boston for

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

.
Figures of the Past
by Quincy published in 1883 contains reminiscences of meeting historic figures. 1802 births 1882 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Massachusetts Phillips Academy alumni Mayors of Boston Politicians from Quincy, Massachusetts Presidents of the Massachusetts Senate Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Phillips family (New England) Quincy family Massachusetts Whigs Harvard University alumni Presidents of the Boston Common Council 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Boston-stub