10 Facts About Nathaniel Gorham

Nathaniel Gorham was an American Founding Father, merchant, and politician from Massachusetts.

Nathaniel Gorham was a delegate from the Bay Colony to the Continental Congress and for six months served as the presiding officer of that body under the Articles of Confederation.

Nathaniel Gorham attended the Constitutional Convention, served on its Committee of Detail, and signed the United States Constitution.

Nathaniel Gorham took part in public affairs at the beginning of the American Revolution: he was a member of the Massachusetts General Court from 1771 until 1775, a delegate to the Provincial congress from 1774 until 1775, and a member of the Board of War from 1778 until its dissolution in 1781.

Nathaniel Gorham served a term as judge of the Middlesex County Court of Common Pleas.

Nathaniel Gorham married Rebecca Call, who was descended from Anglican vicar and the first minister of Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Maverick, and his royally descended wife, Mary Gye Maverick.

In 1786, it might have been Nathaniel Gorham who suggested to Alexander Hamilton that Prince Henry of Prussia would become president or king of the United States.

For several months in 1787, Nathaniel Gorham served as one of the Massachusetts delegates to the United States Constitutional Convention.

Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham were unable to fulfill their contract in full to Massachusetts, so in 1790, they surrendered back to Massachusetts that portion of the lands which remained under the Native American title, namely, the land west of the Genesee.

Nathaniel Gorham is buried in the Phipps Street Cemetery in Charlestown.