Timothy Pickering (July 17, 1745January 29, 1829) was the third

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

, serving under Presidents

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

. He also represented

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 ...

in both houses of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

as a member of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

. In 1795, he was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. Born in Salem in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England 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 Eng ...

, Pickering began a legal career after graduating from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

. He won election to the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

and served as a county judge. He also became an officer in the colonial militia and served in the

siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. In the siege, Patriot (American Revolution), American patriot militia led by newly-installed Continental Army commander George Wash ...

during the early stages of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Later in the war, he was Adjutant General and Quartermaster General of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

. After the war, Pickering moved to the

Wyoming Valley The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal mines. As a metropolitan ar ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and took part in the then colony's 1787 ratifying convention for the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. President Washington appointed Pickering to the position of

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

in 1791. After briefly serving as

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

, Pickering became the Secretary of State in 1795, and remained in that office after President Adams was inaugurated. As Secretary of State, Pickering favored close relations with

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. President Adams dismissed him in 1800 due to Pickering's opposition to peace with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the

Quasi-War The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in ...

. Pickering won election to represent Massachusetts in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in 1803, becoming an ardent opponent of the

Embargo Act of 1807 The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general trade embargo on all foreign nations that was enacted by the United States Congress. Much broader than the ineffectual 1806 Non-importation Act, it represented an escalation of attempts to persuade Br ...

. He continued to support Britain in the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, famously describing the country as "The World's last hope – Britain's Fast-anchored Isle." He left the Senate in 1811 but served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

from 1813 to 1817. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, he became a leader of the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

secession movement and helped organize the

Hartford Convention The Hartford Convention was a series of meetings from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, in which New England leaders of the Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War ...

. The fallout from the convention ended Pickering's political career. He lived as a farmer in Salem until his death in 1829.

Early life

Pickering was born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

to Deacon Timothy and Mary Wingate Pickering. He was one of nine children and the younger brother of John Pickering (not to be confused with the New Hampshire judge) who would eventually serve as Speaker of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

. He attended grammar school in Salem and graduated from

in 1763. Salem minister William Bentley noted on Pickering: "From his youth his townsmen proclaim him assuming, turbulent, & headstrong." After graduating from Harvard, Pickering returned to Salem where he began working for John Higginson, the town clerk and Essex County register of deeds. Pickering was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1768 and, in 1774, he succeeded Higginson as register of deeds. Soon after, he was elected to represent Salem in the

and served as a justice in the Essex County Court of Common Pleas. On April 8, 1766, he married Rebecca White of Salem. In January 1766, Pickering was commissioned a lieutenant in the Essex County militia. He was promoted to captain three years later. In 1769, he published his ideas on drilling soldiers in the ''Essex Gazette''. These were published in 1775 as "An Easy Plan for a Militia." The manual was used as the Continental Army drill book until replaced by

Baron von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Steuben ( , ; born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis Freiherr von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben, was a German-b ...

's Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States

American Revolutionary War

Salem incident

On February 26, 1775, men under Pickering's command were involved in one of the earliest military engagements in the American Revolution, a confrontation locally referred to as "Leslie's Retreat." A detachment of British regulars under British Army Lt. Colonel Alexander Leslie was dispatched from

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 ...

to search North Salem for contraband artillery. Leslie's men were thwarted from crossing the North River bridge and searching the outlying farms by Pickering's militia and citizens of Salem. Many of these "citizens" were members of Salem's North Church, which was just a short distance from the North Bridge. Col. Leslie chose a Sunday morning to raid Salem knowing that the citizens would be attending church. They were, of course, but the Rev. Thomas Barnard Jr. of th
North Church
famously left his pulpit that morning to meet the British troops at the bridge. A fast rider from Marblehead had ridden ahead of the British to warn Mr. Barnard. Barnard is credited with convincing Col. Leslie to retreat in peace. If he had not, Pickering's troops would have fired the "shot heard 'round the world" and started the war. Two months later, Pickering's troops marched to take part in the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

but arrived too late to play a major role. They then became part of the New England army assembling outside Boston to lay siege to the city.

Adjutant general

In December 1776, he led a well-drilled regiment of the Essex County militia to New York, where General

took notice and offered Pickering the position of adjutant general of the

in 1777 with the rank of colonel. In this capacity he oversaw the building of the

Great chain The Hudson River Chains were a series of boom (navigational barrier), chain booms constructed across the Hudson River at West Point, New York, West Point by Continental Army forces from 1776 to 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. These s ...

which was forged at the Stirling Iron Works. The chain blocked the Royal Navy from proceeding up the Hudson River past West Point and protected that important fort from attack for the duration of the conflict. He was widely praised for his work in supplying the troops during the remainder of the conflict. In August 1780, the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

elected Pickering Quartermaster General.

Rise to power

After the end of the American Revolution, Pickering made several failed attempts at financial success. In 1783, he embarked on a mercantile partnership with Samuel Hodgdon that failed two years later. In 1786, he moved to the

in Pennsylvania where he assumed a series of offices at the head of

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

. When he attempted to settle a controversy generated by John Armstrong who was antagonizing

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

settlers living in the area, Pickering was captured and held hostage for nineteen days. In 1787, he was part of the Pennsylvania convention held to consider ratification of the

. After the first of Pickering's two successful attempts to make money speculating in

frontier land, President Washington appointed him commissioner to the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

; and Pickering represented the United States in the negotiation of the

Treaty of Canandaigua The Treaty of Canandaigua (or Konondaigua, as spelled in the treaty itself), also known as the Pickering Treaty and the Calico Treaty, is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and Presi ...

with the Iroquois in 1794.

Cabinet member

Washington brought Pickering into the government as

in 1791. He remained in Washington's cabinet and then that of John Adams for nine years, serving as postmaster general until 1795,

for a brief time in 1795, then Secretary of State from 1795 to 1800. As Secretary of State he is most remembered for his strong

attachments to British causes, even willingness to wage war with France in service of these causes during the Adams administration. In 1799 Pickering hired

Joseph Dennie Joseph Dennie (August 30, 1768January 7, 1812) was an American author and journalist who was one of the foremost Intellectual#Man of Letters, men of letters of the Federalist Era. A Federalist Party, Federalist, Dennie is best remembered for hi ...

as his private secretary. In 1799 Pickering sailed to England on the merchantman ''Washington''. On October 24 the French privateer ''Bellona'' attacked ''Washington'', even though she was flying American colours. Despite the French vessel being better armed and much more heavily manned, ''Washington'' succeeded in repelling the attack.

Middle years

After a quarrel with President

over Adams's plan to make peace with

, Pickering was dismissed from office in May 1800. After an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1802, he was named to the

as a senator from

in 1803 as a member of the

. In 1804, Pickering and a band of Federalists, agitated at the lack of support for Federalists, attempted to gain support for the secession of New England and New York from the Jeffersonian United States. The plan was abandoned following Aaron Burr's defeat in the 1804 New York gubernatorial election. The irony of a Federalist moving against the national government was not lost among his dissenters. Pickering opposed the American seizure and annexation of Spanish

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

in 1810, which he believed was both

unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

and an act of aggression against a friendly power.

Attacking Embargo policy

Near the end of his only term as a senator, Pickering challenged Jefferson's Embargo Act, reviving his plan for a convention of the New England states to oppose the act and potentially secede from the union. He held several conferences with the special British envoy George Rose and proposed the creation of a pro-British party in New England and urged Rose to persuade British Foreign Secretary

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

to maintain his hard line against America with the hopes that Jefferson would resort to even more extreme measures, which would ultimately effect a political suicide for the Republicans. Pickering also published his open letter to the Massachusetts Republican governor, which he refused even to read; it contained harsh criticism of the Embargo Act, claimed that Jefferson had presented no real arguments for its enactment, and called for its nullification by the state legislators. Pickering was charged with reading confidential documents in an open Senate session before an injunction of secrecy had been removed. In response to that charge, the Senate censured Pickering by a vote of 20–7 on January 2, 1811.

Member of Congress

Pickering was later elected to the

in the 1812 election, where he remained until 1817. His congressional career is best remembered for his leadership of the

secession movement (see Essex Junto and the

). He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1815.

Later years

After Pickering was denied re-election in 1816, he retired to Salem, where he lived as a farmer until his death in 1829, aged 83.

Legacy

In 1799 Fort Pickering in Salem, Massachusetts was named for him. In 1942, a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

named the SS ''Timothy Pickering'' was launched. She was lost off

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

in 1943. Until the 1990s, Pickering's ancestral home, the circa 1651 Pickering House, was the oldest house in the United States to be owned by the same family continually.

References

External links

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