Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts, September 22, 1722. He graduated at Harvard College in 1740, and studied theology. He afterward engaged in mercantile pursuits, but without success. His talents were better suited to public affairs, and he soon became a leader in the popular movement against British oppression.

He was a member of the Legislature of Massachusetts, and was one of the earliest and most active opponents of the Stamp Act. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence, and was instrumental in organizing resistance to British authority. He was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774, and continued in that body until 1781. He was present at the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and affixed his signature to that instrument.

He was afterward a member of the Convention which framed the Constitution of Massachusetts, and was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1789. In 1794 he became Governor of the State, and held that office until 1797. He was a man of incorruptible integrity, and his services in behalf of liberty were of the highest value.

He died October 2, 1803, in the eighty-second year of his age.

Source:
Lossing, Benson J. The Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. New York: A.S. Barnes & Co., 1855. Patriot Echoes Archive