COLONEL TIMOTHY PICKERING

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Colonel Timothy Pickering was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on July 17, 1745. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1763. He died on January 29, 1829, and was buried in the Broad Street Cemetery in Salem, across from his home.

Some key events of his life are:

  • He headed the First Regiment of the Essex County militia

  • He joined George Washington's staff as Adjutant General

  • He fought at the Battle of Brandywine and served at Valley Forge

  • Pickering was appointed Postmaster General under George Washington

  • He served as Secretary of State for President Washington's Administration

  • He was elected Massachusetts State Representative and Senator during the 1800s

  • He was a justice in the Massachusetts state court system

  • He became the first president of the Essex Agricultural Society, sponsor of today's famous "Topsfield Fair"

George Washington said, "If there is a genuine patriot in the country, and I believe there are many, Timothy Pickering is preeminent."

Until the 1990s, Pickering's ancestral home, the circa 1651 "Pickering House" in Salem, was the oldest house in the United States to be continuously owned by the same family.

 

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