 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(July 2018) |
Theophilus Parsons | |
|---|---|
 portrait bySarah Goodridge | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1750-02-24)February 24, 1750 |
| Died | October 30, 1813(1813-10-30) (aged 63) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Party | Federalist |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Greenleaf |
| Children | Theophilus Parsons |
| Education | Harvard College |
| Relatives | Emily Elizabeth Parsons (granddaughter) |
Theophilus Parsons (February 24, 1750 – October 30, 1813) was an Americanjurist based inMassachusetts.
Born inNewbury, Massachusetts, to a clergyman father, Parsons was one of the early students at the Dummer Academy (nowThe Governor's Academy) before matriculating toHarvard College. He graduated in 1769, was a schoolmaster in Falmouth (nowPortland, Maine) from 1770 to 1773; he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. From 1787 to 1789, he tutoredJohn Quincy Adams in law. In 1800, he moved toBoston.[1]
Parsons served as chief justice of theSupreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts from 1806 until his death in Boston in 1813. In politics, he was active as one of theFederalist leaders in the state. He was a member of theEssex County convention of 1778—called to protest against the proposed state constitution—and as a member of the "Essex Junto" was probably the author ofThe Essex Result, which helped to secure the constitution's rejection at the polls.[2] He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1781.[3] He was also elected a member of theAmerican Antiquarian Society in 1813.[4]
Parsons was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1779–1780 and one of the committee of 26 who drafted the constitution. He was also a delegate to the state convention of 1788 which ratified theFederal Constitution. In 1792, he was a candidate for theU.S. House of Representatives.[5] According to tradition, he was the author of the famousConciliatory Resolutions, or proposed amendments to the constitution, which did much to win overSamuel Adams andJohn Hancock to ratification. HisCommentaries on the Laws of the United States (1836) contains some of his more important legal opinions.[6]
Parsons died inBoston in 1813. His son, also namedTheophilus Parsons (1797–1882), was an author and a professor at Harvard.[6]
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Parsons, Theophilus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 868–869.| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of theMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 1806–1813 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
