666 WINTHROP. WINTIIKOP. John Winthrop, Jr., who was scarcely less conspicuous in the history of Connecticut, and who in 1662 obtained from Charles II. the grant of a charter for that colony. His mother was the daughter of Sir John Temple, Bart., and grand-daughter of James Bowdoin, governor of Massachu- setts, 1 785 and '86. Robert C. Winthrop was prepared for college in the Boston public Latin school, and entered Harvard College at the age of fifteen. He was graduated one of the first three in the class of 1828. ROBERT C. WINTHROP. On leaving college he studied law three years in the office of Daniel Webster, and was admitted to the bar of Suffolk county 111 [831. In 1834 he was chosen one of the representatives of Boston in the Legis- lature, and after three years of distin- guished service on the lloor, he was elect- ed speaker of the House, lie retained the speakership for three years, acquiring a reputation as a graceful and dignified presiding officer. In [840 he was elected the representative of boston in the Congress of the United States, and was re-elected for four succes- sive terms. In 1S47 he was speaker of the national House of Representatives, and occupied that eminent position until March 4, 1849. In July, 1850, Mr. Winthrop was transferred to the United States Senate, to fill the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Web- ster's acceptance of the office of secretary of state under President Fillmore. In 1S51 Mr. Winthrop was the Whig candidate for irovernor of Massachusetts. He received 64,000 votes, while the two opposing candidates had 43,000 and 28,000 respectively. The constitution of Massa- chusetts then required a majority to ele< t The election was therefore thrown into the Legislature, where one of the minority candidates was chosen by the coalition of Democrats and Free Soilers, In 1852 Mr. Winthrop was placed at the head of the Whig electoral ticket in Massachusetts, and was made president of the electoral college which gave the vote of the State for General Winfield Scott. Since that time he has declined all nominations and appointments to political offices, both in the State and nation, and has withdrawn from political life. But he has not been unmindful of the duties which every citizen owes to the community, and has been largely interested in historical, literary, and philanthropic pursuits. In [855 he was made president of the Massachusetts Historical Society, which office he held for thirty years, and to its collections and proceedings he has made numerous and important contribu- tions. He has also been an efficient mem ber of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; for twenty-five years he was president of the boston Provident A.ssoci ation, and was three years chairman of the overseers of the poor of Boston, taking a prominent part in the re-organizing of the system of public charities. From its or- ganization he has been president of the board of trustees of the l'eabodv Southern Education bund. He has also been presi dent of the trustees of the Episcopal The- ological School at Cambridge. These are only a few of the many positions of honor and trust to which Mr. Winthrop has been called by his appreciative countrymen. He is a ripe scholar and eloquent publii speaker. On the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the landing ol the Pilgrims at Plymouth, he delivered in that town an address which must always hold a foremost place in American oratorical efforts. <'n the centennial celebration ol the Declar ation of American Independence he deliv- ered in boston an address equally worthy of preservation. He delivered the centennial oration at Yorktown, Virginia, in [881, by appoint- ment of Congress, after which a portrait of
