Frederick S. Coolidge

Frederick Spaulding Coolidge (December 7, 1841 – June 8, 1906) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and the father of United States Senator Marcus Aurelius Coolidge.

Frederick Spaulding Coolidge
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 11th district
In office March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893
Preceded by	Rodney Wallace
Succeeded by	William F. Draper
Member of the Board of Selectmen Westminster, Massachusetts[1]
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1875–1875
Personal details
Born	December 7, 1841 Westminster, Massachusetts
Died	June 8, 1906 (aged 64) Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Resting place	Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Westminster, Massachusetts
Political party	Democrat[2]
Spouse(s)	Ellen Drusilla Allen[1]
Children	Marcus Aurelius Coolidge, Cora Helen Coolidge, Jerome Frederick Coolidge.[2]
Profession	Businessman, Chair Manufacturer

Biography

Born to Charles and Nancy (Spaulding) Coolidge in Westminster, Massachusetts, he was a descendant on his father's side of Thomas Hastings (colonist) who came from the East Anglia region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. Coolidge attended the common schools. He began his career working at his father's chair factory, however in 1876 his father's factory burned down.[3] After the destruction of his father's factory Coolidge became manager of the Boston Chair Manufacturing Co. in Ashburnham, Massachusetts[2] and later of the Leominster Rattan Works.[2] Coolidge was a member of the Board of Selectmen of his native town for three years. He served as member of the Democratic State Central Committee.

Coolidge served as member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1875.

Coolidge was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893).

While in Congress Coolidge served on the Committee on Pacific Railroads and on the Select Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands in the United States.[2] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1892 to the Fifty-third Congress. He retired from active business pursuits.

His daughter, Cora Helen Coolidge, went on to be president of Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University).[4][5]

Death and burial

Coolidge died in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, on June 8, 1906. He was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Westminster, Massachusetts.

Footnotes

1. Toomey, Daniel P. (1892), Massachusetts of Today: a Memorial of the State, Historical and Biographical, Boston, MA: Columbia Publishing Company, p. 56.
2. Fulham, Volney Sewall (1909), The Fulham Genealogy: With Index of Names and Blanks for Records, Burlington, VT: Free Press Printing Co., p. 133
3. Fulham, Volney Sewall (1909), The Fulham Genealogy: With Index of Names and Blanks for Records, Burlington, VT: Free Press Printing Co., pp. 132–133
4. Lear, Linda (1997). Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-547-238234. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
5. "Pennsylvania College for Women". The Independent. Jul 13, 1914. Retrieved August 21, 2012.

Bibliography

• Buckminster, Lydia N. H.: The Hastings Memorial, A Genealogical Account of the Descendants of Thomas Hastings of Watertown, Mass. from 1634 to 1864, Boston: Samuel G. Drake Publisher (an undated NEHGS photoduplicate of the 1866 edition).
• Fulham, Volney Sewall (1909), The Fulham Genealogy: With Index of Names and Blanks for Records, Burlington, VT: Free Press Printing Co., pp. 132–133

External links

• United States Congress. "Frederick S. Coolidge (id: C000739)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• Descendants of Thomas Hastings website
• Descendants of Thomas Hastings on Facebook

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.