Elbridge Gerry (1744 - 1814)

Born 17 Jul 1744 in Marblehead, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Thompson) Gerry — married 12 Feb 1786 (to 23 Nov 1814) in Trinity Church, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

Descendants

Died 23 Nov 1814 at age 70 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Preceded by 4th Vice President George Clinton Preceded by 8th Governor Christopher Gore

Elbridge Gerry 5th Vice President of the United States 1813—1814 9th Governor of Massachusetts 1810—1812

Succeeded by Vacant 1814-1817 Succeeded by 10th Governor Caleb Strong

Biography

Elbridge Gerry was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

Elbridge Gerry is Notable.

Elbridge Gerry was born in Massachusetts.

Elbridge Gerry is best remembered for the creation of oddly shaped and highly partisan electoral districts, known as gerrymandering, his refusal to sign the United States Constitution, and for his role in the XYZ Affair.

One of Gerry’s own statements was “I hold it to be the duty of every citizen, though he may have but one day to live, to devote the day to the good of his country.”^[1]

The name of Elbridge Gerry was obtained from a relative. His great-grand mother Elizabeth Elbridge (born June 19, 1653), married Samuel Russell (born in 1645). Their daughter Rebecca Russell married Enoch Greenleaf, and their daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Gerry. The Elbridge family belonged in Bristol, England, where an uncle John Elbridge, a merchant of that place, died and left them a large property, and in memory of this family, Elbridge Gerry derived his name.^[2]

Elbridge Gerry was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts,^[3] on July 17, 1744,^[4] the third son of Thomas Gerry and Elizabeth Greenleaf. Elbridge’s father, Captain Thomas Gerry, was born in 1702 and came to America in 1730 from Newton Abbott, Devonshire, England. His father was a merchant in extensive business, and he resolved to give his son an excellent education. Elbridge entered Harvard College, and graduated with the title of A.B. in 1762. Little is known about the childhood of Elbridge Gerry.

After leaving congress, Elbridge Gerry married Ann Thompson on January 12, 1786 at Trinity Church in New York. He was almost twice Ann's age.^[5][6]They had nine children. Ann (Thompson) Gerry was the daughter of a wealthy New York merchant James Thompson and Catherine Walton, daughter of Jacob Walton and Maria Beekman, whose descendant, Franklin Delano Roosevelt would become the 32nd President of the United States. Ann Thompson lived until 1849, becoming the oldest surviving widow of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. She is buried in the Old cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut.^[7]

Occupations

Elbridge was on the US Envoy to France, was a Delegate to the Constitution Convention and also a Delegate to the Continental Convention. He was a Governor of Massachusetts, the Fifth Vice President of the United States, and a Signer of the Declaration of Independence^[8]

Education

He attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating artium magister (M.A.) in 1762, and legum doctor (LL. D) in 1810

Marriage

Husband: Elbridge Gerry^[9] Wife: Ann Thompson^[3][9] Marriage Date: 12 Feb 1786 ^[9] Marriage Place: Trinity Church Parish, New York City, New York^[9]

Children

1. Catherine Gerry (b. 1 Mar 1787; d. 9 Jun 1850, Boston, MA),^[10] m. in 1806, the Hon James Trecothick Austin (1784-1870), Attorney General of Massachusetts
2. Eliza Gerry (b. 4 Jul 1790; d. 1 May 1882, Boston, MA),^[11] m. 1816, Major David S. Townsend (1790-1853)
3. Ann Gerry (b. 22 Dec 1791; d. 16 Feb 1883, New Haven, CT) m. Thomas Russell (some say died unmarried)
4. Elbridge Thomas Gerry (b. 12 Jun 1793; d. 18 May 1867, New Haven, CT), m. 1815, Nancy Blodgett (1794-1855)
5. Thomas Russell Gerry (b. 8 Dec 1794; d. 8 Oct 1844, Manhattan, NY) , m. 1830, Hannah Green Goulet (1806-1895)
6. Helen Maria Gerry (b. 19 Jul 1796; d. 7 Apr 1864, New Haven, CT) m. Captain James Thompson
7. Cdr. James Thompson Gerry (b. 21 Aug 1797; d. 28 Sep 1854, at sea)
8. Eleanor Stanford Gerry (b. 28 Jun 1800; d. 21 Dec 1871, New Haven, CT)
9. Emily Louisa Gerry (b. 13 Apr 1802; d. 29 Dec 1894, North Haven, CT), a Real Daughter of the American Revolution

Three sons and six daughters survived Mr. Gerry, as follows: Catharine, Eliza, Ann, Elbridge, Helen Maria, James Thompson, Eleanor Stanford, and Emily Louise, who was the last surviving daughter of a signer of the Declaration of Independence.^[12]

Timeline

1773:Elected member of the General Court of the province

1776: Elected a delegate to the Continental Congress.

1777: Appointed one of the committee to visit Washington at his headquarters at Valley Forge.

1780:He retired from congress to look after his private affairs, but was re-elected in 1783.

1785:Again retired and resided in Cambridge, MA

1786: Married Ann Thompson

?:Nominated for Governor of MA; failed the first time, but was elected the next.

1811: ’Elected Vice President of the United States

1814: while in the performance of his duties at the seat of government, he was suddenly seized with illness, and died on November 23, 1814, at the age of 70 years. He was entombed in the Congressional Cemetery.^[13]

Gerrymandering

Marbleheaders today will tell you it’s too bad Elbridge Gerry is best remembered for the creation of oddly shaped and highly partisan electoral districts, known as gerrymandering.

When he was governor of Massachusetts in 1812, the General Court sent him a plan to redraw political districts. Gerry thought the plan unfairly favored politicians who were already elected, but he signed it anyway. He didn’t know that single act would seal his reputation for political chicanery. Elbridge Gerry didn’t deserve to have his name forever linked with political chicanery. During his lifetime he had a reputation for integrity. He stood on principle even if it cost him. His shrewd business sense and logistical acumen was indispensable to the Revolutionary cause. He was a master at figuring out how to keep New Englanders and the military supplied – an oft-overlooked key to American victory.

One district in Essex County was shaped like a salamander. The editor of an opposition newspaper hung the map over his desk. The story goes that the artist Gilbert Stuart came into the editor’s office one day and saw the map. Stuart grabbed his pencil and drew a head, claws and wings onto the map and said, “That will do for a salamander.” The editor retorted, “Better say a gerrymander.”^[14]

Elmwood Residence

Elbridge Gerry resided in his Georgian style Cambridge home from 1786 to his death in 1814. It stands today at the end of a newly-created dead-end road, a half mile from the Harvard campus.

The house was built in 1767 by Andrew Oliver, Harvard class of 1753, a former stamp-collector then serving as royal secretary of Massachusetts. It was in this very home that Oliver was surrounded by an angry crowd in 1774. Oliver resigned his office and soon after left for England. Oliver’s home was confiscated during the revolution and served as a field hospital for Washington’s troops and then the command post of Benedict Arnold.

Elmwood, Family Residence of Eldridge Gerry.

Gerry purchased the house in 1787 and moved his family there from Marblehead. Not long after Gerry’s death in 1814, Harvard graduate James Russell Lowell, who would become a distinguished man of letters and an accomplished diplomat, was born in the house and it became his lifelong home. He named it Elmwood and it became a National Historic Landmark. Harvard University acquired Elmwood in 1962. Since 1971 the house has been the home of Harvard graduates, professors and presidents^[15].

Memorials

There is a memorial park to the signers near the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., and the name of Elbridge Gerry is engraved on one of the 56 granite blocks. In the famous painting by John Trumbull in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, “The Declaration of Independence”, Gerry is seated at a table with 10 delegates, the seventh figure to the left of the figure of John Adams. In 1892 a bust of Elbridge Gerry was placed in the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol.

Death

Death Date: Nov. 23, 1814^[4][3]

Death Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District Of Columbia^[3]

Burial: Congressional Cemetery ^[3][16]

Cemetery Location: Washington, District of Columbia, District Of Columbia, USA

Plot: Range 29, Site 10

While on his way to his seat in Congress, he died suddenly. Although Congress paid for his burial expenses, they refused to pay a salary to his widow. They feared it would set a precedence.

Gerry’s monument in the Congressional Cemetery at Washington, D.C. bears this inscription:

The Tomb of
ELBRIDGE GERRY
Vice President of the United States
Who died suddenly in this city on his
way to the Capitol, as President of the Senate
November 23, 1814,
Aged 70^[1]

^{[1][2][13][8][4][3][9]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Elbridge Gerry Last accessed Feb 13, 2106
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} N.E.H & G. Register, vol 12, p112
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} FIndAGrave: Elbridge Gerry:Find A Grave Memorial# 388Maintained by: Find A Grave. Record added: Jan 01, 2001
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Notable Kin, Volume One by Gary Boyd Roberts. Publication: Carl Boyer, 3rd; Location: Santa Clarita, California; Date: 1998. Repository: #R1 Fitzpatrick Home Library

   NOTE: Published in cooperation with the New England Historic genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts

5. ↑ "New York Marriages, 1686-1980", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK1V-BF4 : 21 January 2020), Ann Thompson in entry for Elbridge Gerry, 1786.
6. ↑ Essex Genealogist, Elbridge Gerry, 159:6, 1986. Pages 159-160. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.)
7. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 18 September 2020), memorial page for Ann Thompson Gerry (12 Aug 1763–17 Mar 1849), Find a Grave Memorial no. 13378837, citing Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, USA ; Maintained by Jan Franco (contributor 46625834).
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=e53af0cb-d232-40b6-88cc-67aa61aed8a3&tid=18149249&pid=681207174
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4} New York, United States. New York Marriages, 1686-1980. (FamilySearch Record Search).
10. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHQH-CLZ : 17 January 2020), Ann in entry for Catharine Gerry Austin, 1850.
11. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH7F-2VG : 17 January 2020), Ann in entry for Eliza G. Townsend, 1882.
12. ↑ Essex Genealogist, Elbridge Gerry, 159:6, 1986. Page 159. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.)
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Lossing, Benson John. Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence: The Declaration Historically Considered; and a Sketch of the Leading Events Connected with the Adoption of the Articles of Confederation and of the Federal Constitution. Derby & Jackson, 1857 - 384 pages. p. 41-43
14. ↑ New England Historical Society: Gerrymandering Last accessed Feb 14, 2016
15. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmwood_(Cambridge,_Massachusetts)
16. ↑ Wilson, Tracy V. and Holly Frey. "Elbridge Gerry’s Monstrous Salamander." Stuff You Missed in History Class (podcast). 11 April 2018. How Stuff Works.com.

See Also

• U.S. History.org
• Wikipedia
• Senate.gov
• Chapter Sketches, Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution, Patriots' Daughters (Connecticut Chapters, Daughters of the American Revolution, New Haven, 1904) Page 3

Acknowledgements

• Biography updated with additional in-line sources and photo added by Carol M. Baldwin on 18 September 2020.