Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/467

 WINTHROP

WINTHROP

liament's ship tried the same experiment, and was, by order of the deputy governor, fired upon from a shore battery, not that Massachusetts in- tended to take sides with the King's merchant- men, but because it was necessary that Parlia- ment's vessels should learn to respect the port. In 1645, Dudley succeeded Endicott and AVinthi'op remained deputy. Winthrop was getting old, much older tlian his years demanded. He had lost, through the faithlessness of an agent in Eng- land, most of his property ; had buried two wives and four children, and had seen many of his ideals in regard to the new colony shattered. But when in 1646 many of the former members and neighbors of the colony who had been disci- plined, formed a cabal and complained to Parlia- ment of the government of Massachusetts, "Win- throp again became chief magistrate, serving by re-election until 1649. It was proposed to send Winthrop to England to explain matters to Par- liament, but as it later seemed inexpedient to spare him from Massachusetts, Edward Winslow, former governor of Plymouth colonj^, was sent with a letter from Winthrop, and all that was desired was accomplished. On June 14, 1647, Margaret, Winthrop's wife, died, and for the third time he was left a widower ; but in 1648, he was married to Martha (Norwell) Coytmore, widow of Thomas Coytmore, by whom he had one son. In the fall of 1648, he was stricken with a fever from which he never recovered. His Journal is one of the most authentic histories of early Massa- chusetts, and he is also the author of : Arbitrary Government Described ; and the Oovernment of Massacliusetts vindicated from that Aspersion, an essay written in 1644 ; published in 1869 ; and J/odeZ of Christian Charity. He died in Boston, M:iss.. March 26, 1649.

WINTHROP, Robert Charles, statesman, was born in Boston, J\Iass., May 13, 1809 ; son of Thomas Lindall (1760-1841) and Elizabeth (Tem- ple) Winthrop; grandson of John Still (1720- 1776) and Jane (Borland) Winthrop and of Sir John Temple ; sixth in descent from Governor Winthrop, tlie immigrant, and fourth in descent from Gov. James Bowdoin of Massachusetts. He attended the Boston Latin school and was grad- uated from Harvard, A.B., 1828, A.M., 1831; studied law in the office of Daniel Webster, 1828- 31, and practised in Boston. He was a repre- sentative in the Massachusetts legislature, 1834- 40, serving as speaker, 1837-40 ; representative from Massachusetts in the 26th-31st congresses, 1840-50, having been elected in place of Abbott Lawrence, resigned, and took his seat, Dec. 7, 1840. He resigned. May 25, 1842 ; was succeeded by Nathan Appleton, and in the same year elected to fill the vacancy caused by the latter's resigna- tion, resuming his seat, Dec. 5, 1843. He was

elected, Dec. 6. 1847, speaker of the house in the 30th congress, 1847-49 ; defeated for re-election as speaker of the 31st congress by a plurality of two votes after a three weeks' contest, Howell Cobb of Georgia, being liis contestant, and served as pro tempore speaker of the house from Dec. 3, 1849, until his resignation to take his seat in the U.S. senate. He was appointed to the latter ^)fiice by Governor Briggs to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Daniel Webster, July 33, 1850, to become secretary of state in the cabinet of President Fillmore. Winthrop took his seat in the U.S. senate, July 30, 1850 ; retired, Feb. 7, 1851, and was succeeded, Feb. 23, 1851, by Robert Rantoul, Jr., elected to complete the term through a coalition of the Democrats and Free Sellers in the legislature, Senator Winthrop being the unsuccessful AVhig candidate for the ofiice after six weeks' balloting. He was defeat- ed for governor of Massachusetts in 1853 by the same coalition, the election having devolved on the legislature, and thereafter he refused public office. He supported Scott for President in 1853; Millard Fillmore in 1856 : John Bell in 1860, and George B. McClellan in 1864. His devotion to lit- erary, historical and philanthropic interests re- sulted in his holding offices in several important organizations, including the pi-esidencj- of the Massachusetts Historical society for thirty years, that of the Boston Provident Association for twenty-five years, and of the Peabody Education Fund, 1867-94. He was also an overseer of Har- vard university, 1852-56 ; president of the Har- vard Alumni association eight years ; member of the American Philosophical society ; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ; honorary member of the London Society of Anti- quaries ; of the Royal society of Northern Anti- quaries of Copenhagen ; of the Royal Historical society of London, and of the Brazilian Institute of History, Geography and Ethnography. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Bowdoin in 1849, from Kenyon in 1851, from Harvard in 1855, and from Cambridge, England, in 1874. His most notable orations were at the laying of tlie cornerstone of the Washington monument, Washington, D.C., in 1848. and on the completion of the work in 1885 : the 250th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims, 1870 ; the Centennial of the Declaration of Indepen- dence, 1876, and that of the surrender of Corn- wallis at Yorktown. 1881. He bequeathed $5000 each to the Massachusetts Historical society and the Boston Provident association ; $1000 to the Boston Children's hospital. He is the author of : Life and Letters of John Winthrop (1864); Wash- ington, Bou-doin and Franklin (1876); Memoir of Henry Clay (1880): Addresses and Speeches (1853). He died in Boston, Mass., Nov. 16, 1894.