Elbridge Gerry

Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born on July 17, 1744, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. His father was a merchant who resolved to give his son an excellent education. Elbridge completed his preparatory studies, entered Harvard College, and graduated in 1762. He entered the business world and became both rich and esteemed by fellow citizens. He was intelligent and of good character.

Elbridge watched as the oppressions by Great Britain rapidly grew and expressed his thoughts about it fearlessly. He was elected to be a member of the General Court of the province in 1773. He showed bold, energetic, and ingenious leadership while planning operations and executed them with zeal and judiciousness. He joined John Adams and others as they worked at removing Governor Hutchinson from office because he was so obnoxious. Some letters from Governor Hutchinson to the English Ministers were instead delivered to Benjamin Franklin while he was the Colonial Agent in England. Franklin sent the letters to the General Court of Massachusetts, and the Court adopted a petition to the Ministers asking that Hutchinson be removed from office.

Gerry was active in the leading political movements leading up to the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Provincial Congress when the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought. In fact, the night before the battle, he slept in the same bed as General Warren. The next morning they parted ways – Gerry went to Congress and Warren was killed on the battle field.

Elbridge was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in January 1776 and served on several committees needing his expertise in commercial business. He supported the idea of declaring the colonials as free and independent of England, and he signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

While Elbridge was serving in the Continental Congress he met and married Ann Thompson, a young woman from New York. The couple was blessed with three sons and six daughters.

Gerry was on a committee assigned to visit General George Washington at his Valley Forge headquarters. The report from the committee brought about more efficient ways to bring relief and support to the army. He retired from Congress in 1780, was re-elected in 1783, and retired again in 1785.

President John Adams appointed Gerry to be an envoy to the Court of France to smooth the relationship between the two countries. Upon his return from France he was nominated for the office of governor of Massachusetts. He lost the first time, but was elected the next time around. He served as governor of Massachusetts from 1810-1812.

While he was governor, Gerry's political opponents accused his party of creating unfair voting districts. The Massachusetts legislature passed a bill in 1812 that divided the state into districts for the election of state senators. This division grouped certain counties together in such a way that the Federalist Party won only a few seats while the Republican Party won many more seats. One of the districts was shaped like a mythical animal that some people thought looked like a salamander. Someone suggested that it was a gerrymander. The word became popular with the Federalist Party and later became part of the American language. The word is still used today to describe redistricting.

Gerry served as Vice President of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until he became ill and died on November 23, 1814 at age 70. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery and has a nice monument erected by Congress.
Gerry inherited a large fortune from his father, but he sacrificed most of it in the cause of liberty. Mrs. Gerry disposed of the beautiful home in Cambridge after his death.