Nathaniel Gorham

Attended the public schools; engaged in mercantile pursuits; member of the provincial legislature of Massachusetts (1771-1775); delegate to the Provincial Congress in 1774 and 1775; member of the board of war (1778-1781); delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1779; served in the State senate in 1780 and 1781; member of the Continental Congress (1782-1783, 1786-1787, 1789); elected its chairman on 15 May 1786, "to serve until the first Monday in June next" (5 Jun 1786); acted for the incapacitated President John Hancock, whose formal resignation was followed by the election (6 Jun 1786) of Gorham as president to complete Hancock's term; during his presidency Congress adopted a monetary system based on the Spanish dollar and established the U.S. Mint; faced Shays's Rebellion (1786-1787), an uprising in western Massachusetts in opposition to high taxes and stringent economic conditions; delegate to the Federal Convention at Philadelphia in 1787; delegate to the State constitutional convention which ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788; judge of the court of common pleas (1 Jul 1785 - 31 May 1796); interested in the purchase and settlement of lands in the Genesee Valley, New York. [1; 2]