Thomas Coffin Amory Jr. (October 6, 1812 – August 20, 1889) was an American lawyer, historian, politician, biographer, and poet. He served as chairman of the Boston Board of Aldermen. He published on the American Revolution and his own ancestors.
Early life Amory was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest son of Jonathan Amory and his wife Mehitable (Sullivan) Cutler. He graduated from Harvard College in 1830. He became a member of the bar of Suffolk County, Boston in 1834. He served in the legislature of Massachusetts and in the municipal government of Boston.
Career In 1858 he published "Life of James Sullivan" about the former governor of Massachusetts and his grandfather. He later published extensively on the American Revolution as well as on various others of his ancestors, including Major-General John Sullivan and Sir Isaac Coffin. He also wrote numerous poems, the best known of which, "William Blaxton, Sole Inhabitant of Boston" was written at a time when the Old South Church of Boston was threatened with demolition. The poem is said to have contributed to saving the church. In 1858, Amory was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory In 1863, Armory served as the chairman of the Boston Board of Aldermen.
Amory declined to run as the Whig nominee in the second vote of the 1853–54 Boston mayoral election, despite being offered the party's nomination. He ran as the Democratic nominee in the 1864 Boston mayoral election, losing by a large margin.
Death Amory died August 20, 1889.
See also Amory-Ticknor House
Works Biographies The Life of James Sullivan: With Selections from his Writings. 1859 The Military Services and Public Life of Major-General John Sullivan of the American Revolutionary Army. 1868 Old Cambridge and New. 1871 Our English Ancestors. 1872 General Sullivan not a pensioner of Luzerne. 1875 Transfer of Erin: or The Acquisition of Ireland by England. 1877 Memoir of John Wingate Thornton. 1879 Memoir of Hon. Richard Sullivan. 1885 The Life of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, baronet, his English and American ancestors. 1886 Class Memoir of George Washington Warren, with English and American Ancestry. 1886 William Blaxton.1886
Poetry William Blackstone, Boston's First Inhabitant 1877 Charles River: A Poem 1888 Siege of Newport. 1888
References
Elkins, James R. Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry Thomas Coffin Amory College of Law, West Virginia University 2001 Retrieved June 22, 2019 Warner, Charles Dudley, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle, George Henry Warner, and E. C. Towne. Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern. Vol. XXIX New York: R.S. Peale and J.A. Hill, 1896. (p. 17) googlebooks Retrieved September 7, 2009 William Richard Cutter; William Frederick Adams Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts. Vol. 1 (pp. 210–11) New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1910. googlebooks Retrieved September 7, 2009