 | BIOGRAPHY
Timothy Pickering
Secretary of State,
Term of Appointment:
12/10/1795 to
05/12/1800
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- Born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 17, 1745;
- Graduated from Harvard College in 1763;
- Admitted to the bar in 1768 and commenced practice in Salem;
- Held various local public offices; entered the Revolutionary Army as a colonel in 1775;
- Elected to the State Legislature in 1776;
- Married Rebecca White the same year;
- Appointed Adjutant General and was elected by the Continental Congress as a member of the Board of War in 1777;
- Quartermaster General of the Army 1780-1785;
- Entered mercantile business in Philadelphia in 1785;
- Organized Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and represented it in the convention of 1787 that ratified the Federal Constitution and in the State constitutional convention of 1789-1790;
- Postmaster General 1791-1795;
- Secretary of War in President Washington's Cabinet in 1795;
- Secretary of State ad interim August 20-December 9, 1795;
- Commissioned Secretary of State December 10, 1795, entered upon his duties the same day, and served until May 12, 1800, when he was dismissed from office;
- As Secretary of State, opposed the French in the "X Y Z Affair" of 1797-1798 and entered into preparations for war;
- Became Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas in 1802;
- Senator from Massachusetts 1803-1811;
- Member of the State Executive Council 1812-1813;
- Representative from Massachusetts 1813-1817;
- Died in Salem January 29, 1829.
Released on July 15, 2003
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