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ABBOTT, Josiah Gardner

ABBOTT, Josiah Gardner
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
About this object
ABBOTT, Josiah Gardner
1814–1891

Office

Representative

State/Territory

Massachusetts

Party

Democrat

Congress(es)

44th (1875–1877)

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Concise Biography

ABBOTT, Josiah Gardner, a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Mass., November 1, 1814; attended the Chelmsford Academy, Concord, Mass.; graduated from Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1832; LL.D., Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., 1862, teacher; lawyer, private practice; member of the Massachusetts state house of representatives, 1836; member of the Massachusetts state senate, 1841-1842; aide to Massachusetts Governor Marcus Morton, 1843; master in chancery, 1850-1855; member of the Massachusetts state constitutional convention, 1853; justice of the superior court, Suffolk County, Mass., 1855-1858; overseer of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1859-1865; several times was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for United States Senator; declined an appointment to the supreme court bench in 1860; declined the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 1861; successfully contested as a Democrat the election of Rufus S. Frost to the Forty-fourth Congress (July 28, 1876-March 3, 1877); was not a candidate for renomination in 1876; member of the Electoral Commission created by the act of Congress approved January 29, 1877, to decide the presidential election of 1876; died on June 2, 1891, in Wellesley Hills, near Boston, Mass.; interment in St. Mary's Cemetery, Newton Lower Falls, Mass.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

Massachusetts Historical Society

Boston, MA
Papers: 1803-1883, 1 box. Correspondence between Josiah Gardner Abott and his wife, Caroline Livermore Abbott before and after their marriage, 1830-1877, and correspondence between Josiah and Caroline Abbott and their children, including a series of letters sent by Sarah Abbott Fay, 1875-1883, discussing her life in Newport, R.I. Also includes a manuscript of a lecture delivered by Josiah Gardner Abbott, 1831.

University of Chicago Library
Manuscripts, Special Collections

Chicago, IL
Papers: 1803-1883, 1 box. A letter from Josiah Gardner Abbott to William H. Seward, January 9. 1868. The letter recommends supporting the appointment of Joseph Warren Mansur of Massachusetts as judge in the new territory of Alaska.
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Bibliography / Further Reading

Abbott, Josiah Gardner. Argument of Hon. Josiah G. Abbott, in Behalf of the Petitioners Before the Joint Special Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the Petition of C.P. Talbot and others, Praying for the Repeal of the Act of 1860 for the Removal of the Dam across Concord River, at Billerica, March 13, 1862. Phonographic report by Messrs. Yerrinton and Bacheler. Boston: Wright & Potter, printers, 1862.

----. Argument of Josiah G. Abbott, Esq., Counsel for the Petitioners on the Petition of J.W.F. Hobbs, et al., Before the Joint Standing Committee on Railways and Canals. Boston: Press of Geo. C. Rand & Avery, 1860.

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov