John Phillips (November 26, 1770 – May 29, 1823) was an American politician, serving as the first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

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 ...

, from 1822 to 1823. He was the father of

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, labor reformer, temperance activist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney. According to George Lewis Ruffin, a black attorney, Phillip ...

Early life

John Phillips was born in

, on November 26, 1770, to William and Margaret Phillips. His father was a descendant of the Rev. George Phillips of Watertown, the progenitor 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 ...

Phillips family in America. He enrolled in

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

, founded by Samuel Phillips Jr., a distant relative, where he eventually graduated. Phillips then went on to

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 ...

, graduating in 1788.

Career

In 1794, Phillips was invited to deliver the annual Fourth of July oration before the people of Boston. In 1800, he was made public prosecutor, and in 1803 was chosen representative 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 ...

. He was sent to the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

in 1804, serving as presiding officer from 1813 to 1823. 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 1810, and in 1812, he was chosen a member of the corporation of Harvard. Phillips was also elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1813. In 1820, he was a member of the convention that met to consider the revision of the state constitution, and he took an active part in the proceedings of that body. Phillips was also active in the agitation for the adoption of a city government in Boston and was chairman of the committee of twelve that drew up and reported on a city charter for the town in 1822. In the choice for mayor that followed, Harrison Gray Otis and

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 ...

were the chief candidates for the office, but, as neither was able to secure an election, their friends agreed on Phillips, who was elected on April 16, 1822. At the close of his term of office the precarious condition of his health led him to decline a re-election. He died twenty-eight days later, aged 52.

Personal life

In 1794, Phillips married Sally Walley, with whom he had eight children, one of whom was the

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...

Honors

Phillips Street and the Phillips School (later Northeast Institute of Industrial Technology) in

Boston's 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 ...

Beacon Hill neighborhood were named after John Phillips.

Gallery

Image:JohnPhillips house BeaconSt WalnutSt Boston.png, Phillips lived on

Beacon Street Beacon Street is a major east–west street in Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs of Brookline, Massachusetts, Brookline and Newton, Massachusetts, Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, includ ...

, Boston (corner of Walnut Street), 1804-1823State Street Trust Company. Forty of Boston's historic houses. 1912. Image:1825 JohnPhillips BostonMonthlyMag v1 no4 Nov.png, Portrait of Phillips, from '' Boston Monthly Magazine'', 1825

Notes

References

* ''Mayors of Boston: An Illustrated Epitome of who the Mayors Have Been and What they Have Done,'' Boston, MA: State Street Trust Company, (1914) * ''The Boston Directory'' Published by Published by George Adams, (1851). p. 6.

External links

Political graveyard information on John Phillips
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, John 1770 births 1823 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Massachusetts Harvard University alumni Massachusetts lawyers Mayors of Boston Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Presidents of the Massachusetts Senate Massachusetts state senators Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Phillips family (New England) Burials at Granary Burying Ground 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court