Richard Frothingham Jr. (January 31, 1812 – January 29, 1880) was a
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 ...
historian, journalist,
[ and politician. Frothingham was a proprietor and managing editor of '']The Boston Post
''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before its final shutdown in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals.
Edwin Groz ...
''.[ He also served in 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 ...
,[ and as the second ]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 ...
of Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is the oldest Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Also called Mishawum by the Massachusett, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Bost ...
, in the United States.
Early life
Frothingham was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts to Richard and Mary (Thompson) Frothingham. He attended school in Charlestown.[
]
Journalistic career
Frothingham was a proprietor, and from 1852 to 1865, a managing editor of, ''The Boston Post
''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before its final shutdown in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals.
Edwin Groz ...
''.[
]
Politics
He was a member of the Massachusetts state legislature in 1839, 1840, 1842, 1849, and 1850, and mayor of Charlestown from 1851 to 1853. Frothingham was a delegate to the 1852 Democratic National Convention. During the 1852 election, Frothingham was an energetic supporter of Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...
for President.[ He was also a delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention.]
Writings
He devoted much of his time to historical study, and published, in addition to many pamphlets, magazine articles and addresses:
* ''History of Charlestown'' (1848)
* ''History of the Siege of Boston, and the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill'' (1849)
* ''The Command in the Battle of Bunker Hill'' (1850)
* ''Life and Times of Joseph Warren
Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot movement in Boston, Massachusetts, Bos ...
'' (1865)
* ''Tribute to Thomas Starr King'' (1865)
* ''The Rise of the Republic of the United States'', his most important work by some estimates (1871)
* ''The Centennial: Battle of Bunker Hill'' (1875)
For several years, he was treasurer of the Massachusetts Historical Society
The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street ...
. In 1858, Frothingham was 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 ...
.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref>
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frothingham Jr., Richard
1812 births
Mayors of Charlestown, Massachusetts
1852 United States presidential election
1876 United States presidential election
Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
1880 deaths
19th-century American journalists
American male journalists
Historians of the American Revolution
19th-century American biographers
19th-century American male writers
The Boston Post people
19th-century mayors of places in Massachusetts
19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court