George Leonard (politician)

George Leonard

George Leonard (born July 4, 1729 in Norton , Bristol County , Province of Massachusetts Bay , †  July 26, 1819 in Raynham , Massachusetts ) was an American lawyer and politician . Between 1789 and 1797 he represented the state of Massachusetts twice in the US House of Representatives .

Career

George Leonard grew up during the British colonial era. He studied at Harvard College until 1748 and then worked at the probate authority as a notary ( Register of Probate ). After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1750, he began to work in this profession in Norton. From 1764 to 1766 he was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Assembly. From 1770 to 1775 he acted as a government advisor ( Executive Councilor ). Nothing is known about Leonard's role during the American Revolution . He was later a probate judge between 1784 and 1790 and an appeal judge until 1798. From 1798 to 1804 he was Chief Justice in Massachusetts. Politically, he was a supporter of the federal government under President George Washington ( Pro-Administration Group ). In the late 1790s he joined the Federalist Party founded by Alexander Hamilton .

In the congressional election of 1789 Leonard was elected to the US House of Representatives in the seventh constituency of Massachusetts, where he took up his new mandate on March 4, 1789. After re-election in the sixth district, he was able to complete two terms in Congress until March 3, 1793 . During this time, the first ten amendments to the constitution, the Bill of Rights, were ratified .

Leonard served in the Massachusetts Senate in 1792 and 1793 . In the elections of 1794 Leonard was re-elected to Congress in the seventh district of his state, where he succeeded Theodore Sedgwick on March 4, 1795 . Until March 3, 1797, he completed another legislative period there. In 1801 and 1802 George Leonard was an MP in the Massachusetts House of Representatives . He died on July 26, 1819 in Raynham at the age of 90.

Web links

• George Leonard in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• George Leonard in the database of Find a Grave (English)