QUINCY, JOSIAH.
Counting back for five generations, we find in the Quincy family a
Josiah. The great-great-grandfather of the present Josiah Quincy was a
merchant, and we are told that he was a zealous patriot in Revolutionary
times, and you all know that meant a great deal.
His son, who was called Josiah Junior, became a celebrated lawyer, and
was prominent as an advocate of liberty. It was he who with Samuel Adams
addressed the people when the British ships anchored in Boston Harbor
with the cargo of tea. But notwithstanding his reputation for
patriotism, his action in defending the soldiers who fired upon the mob
in what is known as the Boston Massacre, brought him into unpopularity.
Yet I think that if you study the facts carefully, and weigh them well,
you will see that although the presence of the British soldiers was an
outrage, and justly obnoxious to the people, yet upon that occasion
there was some excuse for their action. And John Adams and Josiah Quincy
should not be condemned for undertaking their defence.
Afterwards both did good service in the interest of Colonial
Independence. Quincy went to England doing much to promote the good of
his country.
He died upon the homeward voyage in 1775, in sight of American shores.
His son Josiah, three years old at the time of his father's death, was
educated at Harvard University, became a lawyer, a member of Congress,
and having filled acceptably various other offices, was at length
elected President of Harvard, which position he held for fifteen years.
He had a son Josiah, also a graduate of Harvard, and again the fifth
Josiah in the line is a graduate of the same institution.
There are other Quincys of this family who have attained celebrity;
among these are Edmund Quincy, who was prominent in antislavery
circles.