Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn | |
|---|---|
 portrait byGilbert Stuart | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's10th district | |
| In office March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833 | |
| Preceded by | John Bailey |
| Succeeded by | William Baylies |
| 2nd Mayor of Roxbury, Massachusetts | |
| In office 1847 – July 29, 1851[1] | |
| Preceded by | John Jones Clarke |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Walker |
| 9th Adjutant General of Massachusetts | |
| In office February 5, 1835 – March 6, 1843 | |
| Preceded by | William H. Sumner |
| Succeeded by | Joseph E. Boyd |
| Member of theMassachusetts Senate | |
| In office 1830 | |
| Member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office 1829 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1783-03-03)March 3, 1783 |
| Died | June 29, 1851(1851-06-29) (aged 68) |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | National Republican |
| Spouse | Hannah Swett Lee |
| Relations | A nephew was Civil War US GeneralWilliam Raymond Lee (1807-1891) |
| Children | Julia Maragretta Dearborn, William Dearborn, Henry George Raleigh |
| Alma mater | College of William and Mary |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Signature |  |
Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn (March 3, 1783 – July 29, 1851) was an American soldier, lawyer, author, andstatesman. Dearborn was the first President of theMassachusetts Horticultural Society, a member of theSociety of the Cincinnati, and the author of many books.
Dearborn was the son ofSecretary of War and Major GeneralHenry Dearborn by his second wife and named for his father's friend,Alexander Scammell.
Dearborn was married to Hannah Swett Lee, daughter of Colonel William Raymond Lee (1745–1824) of Massachusetts.
Dearborn attended the common schools; attendedWilliams College for two years; and graduated from theCollege of William and Mary in 1803.
Dearborn studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced inSalem, Massachusetts, andPortland (then part of Massachusetts'sDistrict of Maine).
In 1808 he oversaw the construction ofFort Preble andFort Scammel in the harbor defenses of Portland. During theWar of 1812 he commanded volunteers manning the defenses of Boston harbor. He replaced his father as the Collector of the Port ofBoston and served from 1813 to 1829. He was promoted to brigadier general in the Massachusetts Militia in 1814.
After the war, he was elected captain of theAncient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts in 1816. Dearborn was also elected a member of theAmerican Antiquarian Society in 1815,[2] and a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1823.[3]
Dearborn was a delegate to theMassachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1820–1821. He was a member of theMassachusetts state house of representatives in 1829 and a member of theMassachusetts Senate in 1830. He was elected as anAnti-JacksonianRepresentative from Massachusetts 10th District to theTwenty-second Congress (1831–1833). He was defeated running for reelection in 1832.
He served asadjutant general of the Massachusetts Militia with the rank of major general from 1834 to 1843.
He was elected Mayor ofRoxbury, Massachusetts, in 1846 and served from 1847 to 1851. In 1848, while he was Mayor of Roxbury, Dearborn designed and founded theForest Hills Cemetery. He also designedMount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the firstrural cemetery in the nation.
In 1832, following the decease of his father, he was admitted to the MassachusettsSociety of the Cincinnati. In 1848, following the death of President General William Popham in September 1847, he was elected as President General of the Society. He was the first President General to be a hereditary member rather than a veteran of the Revolution.
As President General he proposed changes in the Society's membership rules to allow for descendants of other than original members to join. This provision is known as the Rule of 1854.
He died in office in 1851, having served a single three-year term.
The Native American Party, a precursor to theKnow Nothings, which had split from the Whig Party in 1845, met in September 1847 in Philadelphia, where they nominatedZachary Taylor for president while Dearborn was selected as his running mate. However, when theWhig Party nominated Taylor for the presidency withMillard Fillmore as his running mate the following year, this rendered his previous nomination moot and the Native American Party failed to make an alternate nomination.
Dearborn died on July 29, 1851, at the age of 68 inPortland, Maine, and is interred in Forest Hills Cemetery inJamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
Thedearborn, a light four-wheeledcarriage with curtained sides, was named after him (he maintained such a carriage).[4]
Dearborn's nephew was William R. Lee (1807–1891), who was colonel of the20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the Civil War and was breveted to brigadier general after the war.
Three successive grade schools in Roxbury have been named after General Dearborn: The first was built in 1852; the second, still standing at 25 Ambrose Street, was built in 1905; and after that closed, the old Roxbury High School was renamed the Dearborn Middle School in 1981. A fourth school, the Dearborn STEM School, is now in the planning stages.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's 10th congressional district March 4, 1831–March 3, 1833 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Mayor of Roxbury, Massachusetts 1847 - 1851 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Adjutant General of Massachusetts 1834 - 1843 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| Artists | |
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| Other | |
