History of West Barnstable, (Barnstable County) Massachusetts United States of America

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James Otis, orator and patriot, was born in West Barnstable, Mass., Feb. 5, 1725; son of James (1702-1778) and Mary (Allyne) Otis; grandson of Judge John Otis (1657-1725) and of Joseph Allyne of Plymouth, Mass., and great2-grandson of John Otis, who came from Hingham, England, in 1636 with his family and founded the town of Hingham, Mass. James Otis was tutored by the Rev. Jonathan Russell of Barnstable and was graduated from Harvard college, A.B., 1743, A.M., 1746. He studied law in the office of Jeremiah Gridley, 1745-48; was admitted to the bar in 1748, and began practice in Plymouth, Mass. He removed to Boston in 1750, soon attaining a high rank in his profession, and was appointed advocate-general under the crown. He was married in 1755 to Ruth, daughter of Nathaniel Cunningham, a Boston merchant. He was closely identified with the pro-Revolutionary movements and upon being asked to furnish the revenue officers with writs of assistance, refused and resigned his office, acting as counsel for the merchants in their protests against issuing writs, and accepting no fee. The case was argued before Chief-Justice Hutchinson in 1761, Otis's opponent being Jeremiah Gridley, his legal preceptor. He spoke for five hours in answer to Mr. Gridley's defence of the measure, and in his speech, which has been characterized as one of the greatest of modern times, embodied all the relations between the colonies and Great Britain. John Adams declared that on that day "the child of Independence was born," that "the oration breathed into the Nation the breath of life." The court reserved its decision until the next term when it granted the writs. In May, 1761, Mr. Otis was elected a representative in the Massachusetts legislature, where he served, 1761-70; opposed the stamp act in 1765; was the mover for the Boston. stamp act congress and a delegate to the same in New York city in October, 1765, and was a member of the committee that prepared an address to parliament. He was elected speaker of the house in 1767, but his election was not confirmed by Governor Bernard, his political enemy. On Sept. 5, 1769, he was badly beaten by one Robinson, a customs officer, supported by officers of the British army and navy, for having attacked the customs department in the columns of the Boston Gazette. He received a severe sword-cut on the head, and for the rest of his life was mildly insane. When he had received from Robinson a judgment for damages of ?2,000, he refused to take the money awarded because Robinson had written an apology. In June, 1775, while residing at Watertown, Mass., on hearing of the assembly of troops at Breeds Hill, he borrowed a musket from one of his neighbors, joined the recruits and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. He removed to Andover, Mass., and in 1778 argued a case in Boston, but his mental powers were inadequate for the exertion and he returned to Andover. Shortly after his return, while standing in his doorway, he was struck by lightning and instantly killed. He is the author of: Rudiments of Latin Prosody (1760); Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives (1762); Rights of the Colonies Asserted (1765); Consideration in behalf of the Colonists (1765), and Power of Harmony in Prosaic Composition. The Massachusetts society, Sons of the Revolution, placed a granite boulder holding a bronze inscription to his memory over his grave in the Old Granary Burying-Ground in Boston in 1898. He was named as eligible for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in 1900 in Class M, Rulers and Statesmen, and at the election in October received four votes. His daughter Elizabeth, on Oct. 4, 1776, married without his consent Lieut. Leonard Brown of the British army, who was wounded at Bunker Hill, and subsequently settled in Steaford, Lincolnshire, England. Her father, in his will, bequeathed to her "five shillings"; to his other daughter, Mary, and to her mother, Ruth Otis (who died in 1789), he bequeathed the residue of his estate and made them the executrices of his will. His only son, James, died when eighteen years of age, and his daughter Mary married Benjamin Lincoln, Jr, (1756-1784), eldest son of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. James Otis died at the Osgood House, Andover, Mass., May 23, 1783.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of West Barnstable, (Barnstable County) Massachusetts

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