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Josiah Quincy (1859–1919)

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Josiah Quincy VI
Mayor of Boston
In office
January 6, 1896[1] – January 1, 1900[2]
Preceded byEdwin Upton Curtis
Succeeded byThomas N. Hart
United States Assistant Secretary of State
In office
March 20, 1893 – September 22, 1893
PresidentGrover Cleveland
Preceded byWilliam F. Wharton
Succeeded byEdwin F. Uhl
Chairperson of the Massachusetts Democratic Party
In office
1905–1906
Preceded byJohn Flaherty
Succeeded byJohn P. Feeney
In office
1891–1894
Preceded byJohn W. Corcoran
Succeeded byJohn W. Corcoran
Personal details
Born(1859-10-15)October 15, 1859
Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedSeptember 8, 1919(1919-09-08) (aged 59)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Ellen Frances Tyler
(m. 1900; died 1904)
Mary D. Honey
(m. 1905)
RelationsQuincy family
Children1
Alma materHarvard College[3]
Occupation
  • Politician
  • lawyer

Josiah Quincy VI (/ˈkwɪnzi/; October 15, 1859 – September 8, 1919) was an American politician from Massachusetts who served as mayor of Boston from 1896 to 1900. A member of the Quincy political family, his grandfather Josiah Quincy IV (also known as Josiah Quincy Jr.) and great-grandfather Josiah Quincy III also had served as mayors of Boston.

Early life and career

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Quincy was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on October 15, 1859, the son of Josiah Phillips Quincy (1829-1910), and Helen Frances "Fanny" (Huntington) Quincy (1831-1903).[4][5] Josiah Phillips Quincy was a Harvard graduate and was a lawyer and poet who also wrote several books related to politics.[6] Josiah Quincy VI's grandfather and great-grandfather had both been mayors of Boston.[4]

Quincy pursued a career in law and graduated from Harvard College in 1880, enrolled in Harvard Law School, and in 1884 was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.

A life-long supporter of historical preservation and organizations, Quincy addressed the first meeting of the Bostonian Society inside the Old State House in 1882, wherein he advocated for the retelling and commemoration of American history as a relevant subject.[7]

A Democrat, Quincy was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1887 to 1888 and from 1890 to 1891.

Quincy was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2nd District of Massachusetts' congressional election in 1888 and served as the chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party from 1891 to 1894 and in 1905 to 1906. He was appointed as the United States Assistant Secretary of State by President Grover Cleveland in 1893 but resigned after six months. As Assistant Secretary of State, he filled all jobs under him with Bay Staters.[8]

Mayoralty

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Quincy served two terms as mayor of Boston, being elected in December 1895, re-elected in December 1897, and holding office from January 1896 to January 1900.

Quincy appointed a board of advisors, made up of Boston's leading businessmen, to guide him in the matters of taxes, business, and finance. In 1899, he united the city's various railroad terminals by building the South Station union station, which cost the city $3.6 million.[9] It soon became the busiest station in New England.[10] He saw to it that many playgrounds, public baths, and gymnasia were created during his mayoralty.[11]

He was contemporaneously both applauded and criticized for his "socialist" reforms.[12]

Later life and death

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Quincy was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 1901.

In 1906 Quincy served on the Boston Transit Commission.[8][11]

Quincy was a delegate to the Massachusetts constitutional convention in 1917 and an unsuccessful candidate for Massachusetts attorney general in 1917. He was a member of the Massachusetts Society of Colonial Wars.

Quincy died in his home in Boston on September 8, 1919,[10] at the age of 59.

Personal life

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Soon after leaving the mayoral office, on February 17, 1900, Quincy married Ellen Frances Krebs Tyler, a Christian Scientist, in London. She was the widow of William Royall Tyler (1852-1897) and mother of Royall Tyler, as well as the inheritor to a sizable shipbuilding fortune, which saw her receive $10,000 annually. They lived in Biarritz, France together and had one child, a son, named Edmund Quincy (1903-1997), who became a painter, author, and poet.[13] Ellen died from cancer on February 16, 1904, one day short of their fourth anniversary.[14]

Quincy remarried a year later, marrying Mary D. Honey (1873-1941), who later adopted Edmund as her son. She was the daughter of Samuel Robinson Honey (1842-1927),[8] who was mayor of Newport, Rhode Island in 1892.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "MAYOR QUINCY'S INAUGURAL". The Boston Globe. January 7, 1896. p. 6. Retrieved March 22, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Mayor Hart's Inaugural". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. January 4, 1900. p. 8. Retrieved March 21, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Taylor, Sara. "Josiah Huntington Quincy (1859–1919) — Dumbarton Oaks". www.doaks.org.
  4. ^ a b "Quincy, Josiah" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1911. see last sentence "Josiah Quincy (b. 1859), a son of.....
  5. ^ "Helen Frances (Fanny) Quincy". geni_family_tree. 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  6. ^ "Quincy, Josiah Phillips". lawlit.net. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  7. ^ "THE BOSTONIAN SOCIETY.: OPENING MEETING OF THE SOCIETY IN ITS NEW ROOMS IN THE OLD STATE HOUSE--MANY INTERSTING SPEECHES." Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), 1882 Oct 11 1882/10/11/, p. 4. ProQuest. Web. 8 July 2024". 1919-09-09.
  8. ^ a b c "Josiah Quincy Dies; Boston Man was Good to Home Folks". Chicago Tribune. 1919-09-09. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  9. ^ Jacobs, Warren (1928). "Dates of Some of the Principal Events in the History of 100 Years of the Railroad in New England. 1826-1926". The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin (17): 15–28. ISSN 0033-8842.
  10. ^ a b "Josiah Quincy Dies; Boston Man was Good to Home Folks". Chicago Tribune. September 9, 1919. p. 5. Retrieved March 22, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "Quincy, Josiah, 1859-1919 | ArchivesSpace Public Interface". archives.boston.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  12. ^ Taylor, Sara. "Josiah Huntington Quincy (1859–1919)". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  13. ^ Taylor, Sara. "Edmund Quincy (1903–1997)". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  14. ^ Taylor, Sara. "Ellen Frances Krebs Tyler (1858 or 1862–1904)". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  15. ^ "Mayors of Newport". stacyhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-07-20.

Further reading

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Party political offices
Preceded by
Joseph Joyce Donahue
Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Massachusetts
1917
Succeeded by
Joseph L. P. St. Coeur
Political offices
Preceded by United States Assistant Secretary of State
March 20, 1893 – September 22, 1893
Succeeded by
Preceded by Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
1896–1900
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts
1901
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party
1905–1906
Succeeded by