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Richard Waldron (1694–1753) was a major opponent of the Wentworth oligarchy in colonial
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
. He supported a continued political subordination of New Hampshire to
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
and opposed moves to separation from this traditional senior partner. Through his friendship with Massachusetts
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and kinsman
Jonathan Belcher Jonathan Belcher (8 January 1681/8231 August 1757) was a merchant, politician, and slave trader from colonial Massachusetts who served as both governor of Massachusetts Bay and governor of New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741 and governor of New ...
and his positions of
Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
, Councillor, and New Hampshire assembly
speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
, for a time he was "the central authority" in colonial New Hampshire politics.


Family

A son of Colonel
Richard Waldron Major Richard Waldron (or Richard Waldern, Richard Walderne; 1615–1689) was an English-born merchant, soldier, and government official who rose to prominence in early colonial Dover, New Hampshire. His presence spread to greater New Hampshire ...
, grandson of Major
Richard Waldron Major Richard Waldron (or Richard Waldern, Richard Walderne; 1615–1689) was an English-born merchant, soldier, and government official who rose to prominence in early colonial Dover, New Hampshire. His presence spread to greater New Hampshire ...
, and nephew of New Hampshire
Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
George Vaughan, he married Elizabeth, only child of
Colonel Thomas Westbrook Colonel Thomas Westbrook (1675–1743/44) was a senior New England militia officer in Maine during Father Rale's War. In addition to this senior militia role he was a scout, a colonial councillor, an innkeeper, a mill owner, a land specul ...
, on 31 Dec 1718, and by this marriage further enhanced the position of the Waldron family in New Hampshire. Most of their six children died early, including Harvard-educated Richard, the eldest, who was lost at sea in 1745, aged 25; this left only sons
Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...
and George to live long into adulthood.


Youth

In the summer of 1694 the young Waldron and his parents narrowly escaped the massacre of his great aunt Cutt and household at the Pulpitt Farm. At about age 15 he entered
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
, graduating in 1712 and continuing another three years in a master's program that prepared him for law. On the eve of commencement for 1711 he and another student "conducted themselves in such a manner that the scandalized authorities the next morning denied John Wainwright ho was a year older and ready to graduatehis degree. Richard had conveniently gone home but in October he had to face the music:"


Career

While still a graduate student he, together with some other graduates, signed the
Treaty of Portsmouth A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal p ...
in 1713. He "was graduated from
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...
in 1712. ... He was a member of the Royal Council for New Hampshire in 1728;
Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
of the
Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was na ...
for a long period (1730–1741) during the administration of Governor Belcher; judge of the Probate from 1737 to 1742, and representative in the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
in 1749, of which body he was unanimously chosen speaker."


Opposition to the Wentworths

"... major opponent of the Wentworth oligarchy until his death in 1753," reads a caption to his portrait printed in ''Colonial New Hampshire - A History''. By contrast, his
son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...
was considered a "friend" of the last of the three Governors Wentworth. He "witnessed, during 1716–1717, the political coup, wangled by
Samuel Penhallow Samuel Penhallow (July 2, 1665 – December 2, 1726) was a Cornish colonist and historian and militia leader in present-day Maine during Queen Anne's War and Father Rale's War. He was the commander at Fort Menaskoux and was attacked during the N ...
and John Wentworth, which removed all his relatives, including his
father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
and
uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal re ...
, from positions of political authority in the colony. Emerging from this coup with the council clerk office intact, he was frustrated and vengeful. For the next thirty-five years he sought both to restore and to maintain himself, his family, and his friends in positions of leadership in New Hampshire during an era of economic and social change."


Alliance with Governor Belcher

Waldron became a fast friend of new governor
Jonathan Belcher Jonathan Belcher (8 January 1681/8231 August 1757) was a merchant, politician, and slave trader from colonial Massachusetts who served as both governor of Massachusetts Bay and governor of New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741 and governor of New ...
and "was the right hand with which Governor Belcher pounded Colonel David Dunbar, Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire." "During the 1730s Waldron, described by ... Dunbar as a "pert, little attorney," was the central figure in New Hampshire politics, acquiring more offices (judge of probate and naval officer), writing all the council and "party" documents, and executing the policies of Belcher's administration. The Belcher-Waldron faction controlled the executive and the council, while the Wentworth clan gained control of the assembly after 1731 as the inland town leaders, having achieved their goals, became complacent." After some years during which Waldron "practically ruled New Hampshire in the name of the absent Governor and in defiance of the Lieutenant-Governor" Dunbar, Belcher and Waldron were replaced in their respective roles. "In 1741 Shirley succeeded Belcher in Massachusetts and
Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. While serving as governor, Wentworth is best known for issuing several ...
... became Governor of New Hampshire. The new executive's first act was to consolidate his position and avenge his and his father's sufferings at the hands of Belcher and Waldron. He suspended the secretary from the Council...." Waldron wrote bitterly:


Representative and Speaker

"Intensely ambitious, however, Waldron schemed, maneuvered, and conspired ineffectually, from 1742 until his death, to regain his lost authority. As he put it in 1742, "I sing but low notes at present, perhaps they may hear a tune heretofor which will grate in their ears." Just as Waldron had decided to move away, he was unexpectedly elected a Representative from
Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Ham ...
, and was almost unanimously elected
speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
. "The Governor negatived the choice, but the House stood by it, and for three years there was a deadlock. In twenty sessions the legislature passed only one bill." ' e World acknowledges aldronto be a Master of Eloquence." However, after three years the House tired of holding up business for a family quarrel, and he was not reelected as speaker, and he soon resigned as Representative.


Analysis

Sibley's states that Waldron was hampered in his aim to go to England to make his case by a lack of contributed money from supporters. But Van Deventer states that Waldron should have absorbed the cost personally: "If Waldron had been willing to travel to England (as his old friend Belcher advised), to spend money there freely, and to attack the Wentworth clan and John Thomlinson for their profiteering through violations of the White Pine
mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...
] laws, he might have succeeded. But he was not and did not--his ambitions stopped at the water's edge--and Benning Wentworth, Wentworth ... emerg[ed] from the conflict in 1752 with a complete victory. ..."


Portrait

A portrait by
John Greenwood John Greenwood may refer to: Sportspeople * John Greenwood (cricketer, born 1851) (1851–1935), English cricketer * John Eric Greenwood (1891–1975), rugby union international who represented England * John Greenwood (footballer) (1921–1994), E ...
now hangs in the Governor John Langdon House in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with that of his wife. Copies previously hung in the "Council Chamber" of the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion. These copies suffered at the hands of the children of later residents of the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, who admitted they "mischievously touched up the ortraitswith fence paint!"."A grandchild of the house says: "No one valued ancestral possessions in those days and we rummaged in the garret to our heart's content. We were allowed to dress our dolls and ourselves from the contents of the hair-trunks: cobweb laces, exquisite brocades, high-heeled satin slippers, ivory and sandal-wood fans, and to play 'house' in the lofty council chamber. Some one of us would impersonate the stately Lady Wentworth Waldron, wife of the Secretary of State, and play with haughty air on the fine, old spinet, and - it must be confessed - we mischievously touched up the Copleys with fence paint!" pp.260-1 at Helloboston.com http://www.helloboston.com/BookFiles/35%20Portsmouth%20(Strawberry%20Bank),%201623-16331.pdf accessed 7 November 2010. Copley was mistakenly believed by some to have painted the portraits of Secretary Waldron, his wife Elizabeth Westbrook (not Wentworth) Waldron, and their son, Thomas.


References


External links


Portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth Westbrook Waldron
at Historic New England *Michael C. Batinski,
Jonathan Belcher, Colonial Governor
', pp. 108–124 contains an analysis of his political partnership with Governor Belcher. {{DEFAULTSORT:Waldron, Richard 1694 births 1753 deaths People from Dover, New Hampshire Politicians from Portsmouth, New Hampshire Harvard College alumni