Quincy

a prominent name in American biography. Edmund Quincy, a lawyer of note, was born at Braintree, now Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1681. His grandson, John Quincy, lived 1744-1775. He was born at Boston and undertook the profession of law. He took a prominent part in the agitation which preceded the American Revolution and died while absent on a political mission to England. His son, Josiah Quincy, lived 1772-1864. He represented Massachusetts in Congress 1805-13. He opposed the War of 1812 and was against the admission of Louisiana. He was mayor of Boston, and from 1829 to 1845 was president of Harvard. He wrote a History of Harvard University and a Municipal History of Boston. His son, Edmund Quincy, lived 1808-1877. He is known chiefly as his father's biographer and the editor of his writings. Josiah Quincy, a brother of the preceding, was mayor of Boston in 1845-9; another Josiah Quincy has been prominent in the politics of Massachusetts. Other Quincys are still prominent in the politics of Boston and of the state. Quincy, Massachusetts, was named after John Quincy of this family in 1792. It is a suburb of Boston, noted as the birthplace of John Quincy Adams and John Hancock. It has enormous stone quarries and is noted for its system of public schools.