Caleb Strong
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| Caleb Strong | |
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6th and 10th Governor of Massachusetts
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| In office May 30, 1800 – May 29, 1807 June 1812 – May 30, 1816 |
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| Lieutenant | Samuel Phillips, Jr. (1801-1802) Edward H. Robbins (1802-1806) William Phillips, Jr. (1812-1816) |
| Preceded by | Governor's Council (1800) Elbridge Gerry (1812) |
| Succeeded by | James Sullivan (1807) John Brooks (1816) |
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| In office March 4, 1789 – June 1, 1796 |
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| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Theodore Sedgwick |
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| Born | January 9, 1745 Northampton, Massachusetts |
| Died | November 7, 1819 (aged 74) Northampton, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Federalist/Pro-Administration |
Caleb Strong (January 9, 1745 - November 7, 1819) was Massachusetts lawyer and politician who served as the governor of Massachusetts between 1800 and 1807, and again from 1812 until 1816.
He was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. During the American Revolution he served on the Northampton Committee of Safety. He was a delegate to the 1779 Massachusetts Constitutional Convention and helped write the 1780 state constitution. He was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780 but did not serve. He sat on the first Massachusetts Governor's Council, and was a state senator from 1780 to 1789.[1]
Strong was elected as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution. Illness of his wife forced him to return to Massachusetts before the work was completed, so he did not sign the document. However, he supported its adoption by the state's ratifying convention.
Governor Strong opposed the War of 1812 to the point of refusing to call out the state militia to support the war. A strong Federalist, he nonetheless adhered to the states' rights view that only the governor had to power to call out the state militia, not the U.S. President. This stance, combined with a shortage of volunteer soldiers, forced Andrew Jackson and commander Oliver Hazard Perry to allow colored men into the ranks of the Federal army.
Strong died in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is buried at the Bridge Street Cemetery in Northampton, Massachusetts.
In World War II the United States liberty ship SS Caleb Strong was named in his honor.
The town of Strong, Maine is named after Governor Strong.[2] Windham, Ohio was also originally named in Strong's honor; the original name of this village was Strongsburg.
[edit] References
- ^ Source for this paragraph: David L. Sterling. "Strong, Caleb"; American National Biography Online, Feb. 2000.
- ^ STRONG COMMUNITY PROFILE. www.epodunk.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
[edit] External links
- Caleb Strong at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Caleb Strong at Find A Grave
- Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
| Preceded by (none) |
United States Senator (Class 2) from Massachusetts March 4, 1789 – June 1, 1796 Served alongside: Tristram Dalton, George Cabot |
Succeeded by Theodore Sedgwick |
| Preceded by Governor's Council (as Acting Governor) |
Governor of Massachusetts May 30, 1800 — May 29, 1807 |
Succeeded by James Sullivan |
| Preceded by Elbridge Gerry |
Governor of Massachusetts June, 1812–May 30, 1816 |
Succeeded by John Brooks |
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