James Sullivan
Privacy Level: Open (White)

James Sullivan (1744 - 1808)

Gov James Sullivan
Born in Berwick, Province of Massachusetts Baymap
Husband of — married 22 Feb 1768 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 64 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United Statesmap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kelly Rishor private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 28 Oct 2014
This page has been accessed 2,206 times.
Preceded by
6th Governor
Caleb Strong
James Sullivan
7th Governor
of Massachusetts
Mass. Governor
1807—1808
Succeeded by
Acting Governor
Levi Lincoln, Sr.

Biography

Notables Project
James Sullivan is Notable.
1776 Project
Colonel James Sullivan served with Massachusetts Militia during the American Revolution.
Daughters of the American Revolution
James Sullivan is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A110832.

Sullivan was born and raised in Berwick, Maine (then part of Massachusetts), and studied law with his brother John Sullivan. After establishing a successful law practice, he became actively involved in the Massachusetts state government during the American Revolutionary War, and was appointed to the state's highest court in March 1776. He was involved in drafting the state constitution and the state's ratifying convention for the United States Constitution. After resigning from the bench in 1782 he returned to private practice, and was appointed Attorney General in 1790. During his years as judge and attorney general he was responsible for drafting and revising much of the state's legislation as part of the transition from British rule to independence. While attorney general he worked with the commission that established the border between Maine and New Brunswick, and prosecuted several high-profile murder cases.

Sullivan was a political partisan, supporting the Democratic-Republican Party and subscribing to Jeffersonian republican ideals. He supported John Hancock and Samuel Adams in their political careers, and was a frequent contributor, often under one of many pseudonyms, to political dialogue in the state's newspapers. He ran unsuccessfully for governor several times before finally winning the office in 1807. He died in office during his second term in Boston, Mass., December 10, 1808; interment in Granary Burying Ground. [1][2]

In addition to his political pursuits Sullivan engaged in charitable and business endeavors. He was a leading proponent of the Middlesex Canal and the first bridge between Boston and Cambridge, and was instrumental in the development of Boston's first public water supply. He was the founding president of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and held membership in a variety of other charitable organizations. He wrote one of the first histories of his native Maine, and a legal text on land titles. Legal historian Charles Warren calls him one of the most important legal figures of the time in Massachusetts. [3]

Family and legacy

Sullivan's brothers were active participants in the Revolutionary War. John, Daniel, and Eben, all served in the Continental Army. John Sullivan served with some distinction until he retired from the army to enter New Hampshire politics in 1779; Eben was captured in the Battle of The Cedars in 1776, and spent some time as a captive among the Mohawk, where he was subjected to torture. Daniel was also captured in action and died aboard a British prison ship. Sullivan, Maine is named for his brother Daniel, one of the early settlers of that area, and several places in New Hampshire are named for John. In 1808, while Sullivan was governor, a small fortification now known as Fort Sullivan was constructed in Calais, Maine. Who it is named for is uncertain: one early Eastport historian states that John and James are both likely candidates, preferring John for his association with General Henry Dearborn, who ordered the fort's construction.

________________________________

Timeline for James Sullivan -

APR 22, 1744 - James Sullivan born in Berwick, York County, Maine

JUN 26, 1748 - Mehetable Odiorne, future wife of James Sullivan, born in Durham county, New Hampshire

About 1768 - James Sullivan (age 24) married Mehetable Odiorne (age 20)

Governor of Massachusetts.

6 Jan 1769 - Son James Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 25) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 21) in Biddeford now Saco

1770 - James Sullivan (age 26) was King's Attorney for York

8 Oct 1771 - Avis Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 27) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 23) in Saco, Maine

OCT 16 1771 - Avis Sullivan dies

29 Jul 1772 - Daughter Mehetable Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 28) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 24)

3 Nov 1774 - Son William Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 30) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 26)

1774 - James Sullivan (age 30) in Provincial Congress

1775 - James was unable to give military services on account of a fractured limb. He was a member of the Provisional Congress when in 1775 he received a vote of thanks for his successful mission to Ticonderoga.

1776 - James Sullivan (age 32) was a Judge Supreme Court

1776 - James Sullivan (age 32) was Judge of the Superior Court from 1776-82. Information from DAR Record 42962, 7195 and 9343.

9 Apr 1777 - Son John Langdon Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 33) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 29) in York, Saco, Maine

17 Jun 1779 - Son Richard Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 35) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 31) in Middlesex, Groton, Massachusetts

16 May 1781 - Son William Bant Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 37) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 33) in Groton, Massachusetts

21 Feb 1783 - Son George Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 39) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 35)

1784 and 1785 - James Sullivan is Delegate to Continental Congress, member Mass. Legislature

24 Apr 1784 - Daughter Nancy Sullivan born to James Sullivan (age 40) and Mehetable Odiorne (age 36) Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

22 Jul 1785 - Daughter Nancy Sullivan dies

26 Jun 1786 - Mehetable Odiorne dies (age 38)

1787 - James Sullivan serves in Governor's Council

James Sullivan married Martha Langdon in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

1796 - Son John Sullivan on commission for determining Eastern Boundary

1804 - Son John Sullivan Elector of President

10 Dec 1808 - James Sullivan (age 64) dies in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

AUG 26 1812 - Martha Langdon dies in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts ______________________________________

Materials for a History of the Family of John Sullivan of Berwick, New England and of the O'Sullivans of Ardea, Ireland Chiefly Collected by the Late Thomas Coffin Amory with a Pedigree of O'Sullivan Beare by Sir J Bernard Burke, C.B., LL.D., Ulster Printed for Private Distribution 3/906 Cambridge: John Wilson and Son University Press 1893

Sources

  1. Find A Grave: Memorial #7504576
  2. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S001053
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Sullivan_(governor)
  • http://johnlisle.us/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I52971&tree=stedman_main
  • James Sullivan on Wikipedia
  • Amory, Thomas (1859). Life of James Sullivan. Boston: Phillips, Sampson. OCLC 60714175. Amory was Sullivan's grandson. http://www.mocavo.co.uk/Materials-for-a-History-of-the-Family-of-John-Sullivan-of-Berwick-New-England-and-of-the-Osullivans-of-Ardea-Ireland/406192/119
  • Materials for a History of the Family of John Sullivan of Berwick, New England, and of the OSullivans of Ardea, Ireland.
  • Banks, Ronald (1973) [1970]. Maine Becomes a State. Portland, ME: Maine Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-8195-4028-7. OCLC 98910.
  • Brown, Irene; Brown, Richard (2003). The Hanging of Ephraim Wheeler: A Story of Rape, Incest, and Justice in Early America. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01020-8. OCLC 493118158.
  • Browning, Charles (1891). Americans of Royal Descent. Philadelphia: Porter and Costes. OCLC 1723326.
  • Buel, Richard (2005). America on the Brink. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6238-6. OCLC 55510543.
  • Clark, Charles (1990) [1977]. Maine: A History. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. ISBN 978-0-87451-520-6. OCLC 21336521.
  • Cushing, Henry Alonzo (1896). History of the Transition From Provincial to Commonwealth Government in Massachusetts. New York: Columbia University Press. OCLC 12568979.
  • Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Washington, DC: United States Government. OCLC 1156805.
  • Hart, Albert Bushnell (ed) (1927). Commonwealth History of Massachusetts. New York: The States History Company. OCLC 1543273. (five volume history of Massachusetts until the early 20th century)
  • Hatch, Louis (1919). Maine: A History, Volume 4. New York: The American Historical Society. OCLC 1101997.
  • Kerber, Linda (1999) [1998]. No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship. New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0-8090-7384-9. OCLC 42448626.
  • Kilby, William (ed). Eastport and Passamaquoddy: A Collection of Historical and Biographical Sketches. Eastport, ME: Edward E. Shead and Co. OCLC 5575221.
  • Kingsford, William (1893). The History of Canada, Volume 6. Toronto: Roswell & Hutchinson. OCLC 3676642. Of the sources included here, Kingsford provides a lengthy and somewhat detailed account of the British view of the action.
  • Maier, Pauline (2011). Ratification: The People Debate The Constitution, 1787–1788. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-86855-4. OCLC 730998688.
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (1913). Harrison Gray Otis, 1765–1848: The Urbane Federalist, Volume 1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 823677.
  • Robinson, William (1916). Jeffersonian Democracy in New England. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. OCLC 1550209.
  • Sammarco, Anthony (1999). Medford. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3854-9. OCLC 62728934.
  • Taylor, Alan (1990). Liberty Men and Great Proprietors. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-4282-9. OCLC 233271601.
  • Warren, Charles (1999) [1908]. History of the Harvard Law School and of Early Legal Conditions in America, Volume 1. Union, NJ: The Lawbook Exchange Ltd. OCLC 313504372.
  • Willis, William (2006) [1863]. A History of the Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine. Clark, NJ: Lawbook Exchange. ISBN 978-1-58477-628-4. OCLC 61864508.
  • Winsor, Justin (1880). The Memorial History of Boston. Boston: J.R. Osgood. OCLC 978152.
  • Historical Sketch and Matters Appertaining to the Granary Burial-Ground. Boston: City of Boston. 1902. OCLC 43481214.
  • Adams Family Correspondence: January 1790-December 1793




Is James your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon contact private message the profile manager, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with James by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with James:

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 4

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
You may wish to attach his son William - Sullivan-6716 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sullivan-6716
posted by Beryl Meehan
Sullivan-9625 and Sullivan-5308 appear to represent the same person because: These two duplicates came to my attention as the result of another member's suggested merge. I own neither. Thanks for looking, though.
posted by LS Lawrence
Brother John was a signer of Continental Association.
posted by Michael Stills
Sullivan-6278 and Sullivan-5308 appear to represent the same person because: Kelly Sullivan asked me to set these for a merge. I am trying to complete the merge for her.
posted by Kitty (Cooper) Smith