Gershom Bradford Weston

Gershom Bradford Weston, (27 Aug 1799 - 14 Sep 1869) son of shipbuilding tycoon Ezra Weston II (1772-1842) (AKA: King Caesar II) and his wife Jerusha Bradford (1770-1833), who were both direct descendants of six Mayflower pilgrims. Gershom was a large man with reddish hair, weighing about 250 pounds.[1]

Gershom Bradford Weston
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from Duxbury
In office
1828–1840
Member of the Judiciary of Massachusetts
In office
1840–1857
Personal details
Born(1779-08-27)August 27, 1779
Duxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedAugust 14, 1869(1869-08-14) (aged 89)
Duxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
Spouse(s)Judith Sprague, Deborarh Brownell
ParentsEzra Weston II, Jerusha Bradford
OccupationShipbuilder, politician and justice

At an age 17 he began sailing on his father's ships to Denmark, England and India, before taking on a managerial role in the family business. From 1842 to 1857 he and his brothers ran the family firm until it closed down.[2]

At age 28 he entered politics as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and served there for 12 years before becoming a state justice. In 1848 Gershom joined the newly formed Free-Soil Political Party and strongly advocated it's Temperance and Abolitionist platform - "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Men".[3]

He stood as the Free-Soil candidate for the U.S. Congress and lost by fewer than 150 votes.

Gershom was married twice and had 14 children, several of whom served with honor in the US Civil War.[4]

Late in life, Gershom experienced a series significant financial reverses. In 1850 his 30-acre mansion burned to the ground. By 1857 his shipping business had folded. In 1868, friends from the Massachusetts Senate purchased for him the small house he was then renting.[5]

Notes
  1. MainTour Duxbury
  2. Duxbury Historical Society
  3. Bradford, In With the Sea Wind, 30.
  4. MainTour Duxbury
  5. Fire that burned the Weston Library

References
  • Bradford, Gershom (1962). In With the Sea Wind: The Trials and Triumphs of Some Yankee Sailors. Barre Gazette. OCLC 2163035.
  • Bradford, Gershom (1920). Historic Duxbury in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. OCLC 7994783. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  • Browne, Patrick T.J. (2006). King Caesar of Duxbury: Exploring the World of Ezra Weston, Shipbuilder and Merchant. Duxbury, Massachusetts: The Duxbury Rural and Historical Society, Inc. ISBN 094185910X.
  • Weston, Edmund B. (1916). In Memoriam: Hon. Gershom Bradford Weston and Deborah Brownell Weston. OCLC 1816959. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  • FindAGrave #102165835
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