Timothy Pickering was the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams.
19 Facts About Timothy Pickering
2.
Timothy Pickering represented Massachusetts in both houses of Congress as a member of the Federalist Party.
3.
Timothy Pickering won election to the Massachusetts General Court and served as a county judge.
4.
Timothy Pickering became an officer in the colonial militia and served in the siege of Boston during the early stages of the American Revolutionary War.
5.
Timothy Pickering won election to represent Massachusetts in the United States Senate in 1803, becoming an ardent opponent of the Embargo Act of 1807.
6.
Timothy Pickering lived as a farmer in Salem until his death in 1829.
7.
Timothy Pickering was one of nine children and the younger brother of John Pickering who would eventually serve as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
8.
Timothy Pickering was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1768 and, in 1774, he succeeded Higginson as register of deeds.
9.
Timothy Pickering was widely praised for his work in supplying the troops during the remainder of the conflict.
10.
When he attempted to settle a controversy generated by John Armstrong with Connecticut settlers living in the area, Timothy Pickering was captured and held hostage for nineteen days.
11.
Timothy Pickering remained in Washington's cabinet and then that of John Adams for nine years, serving as postmaster general until 1795, Secretary of War for a brief time in 1795, then Secretary of State from 1795 to 1800.
12.
In 1799 Timothy Pickering hired Joseph Dennie as his private secretary.
13.
In 1799 Timothy Pickering sailed to England on the merchantman Washington.
14.
Timothy Pickering was named to the United States Senate as a senator from Massachusetts in 1803 as a member of the Federalist Party.
15.
Timothy Pickering opposed the American seizure and annexation of Spanish West Florida in 1810, which he believed was both unconstitutional and an act of aggression against a friendly power.
16.
Timothy Pickering published his open letter to the Massachusetts Republican governor, which he refused even to read; it contained harsh criticism of the Embargo Act, claimed that Jefferson had presented no real arguments for its enactment, and called for its nullification by the state legislators.
17.
Timothy Pickering was charged with reading confidential documents in an open Senate session before an injunction of secrecy had been removed.
18.
Timothy Pickering was later elected to the United States House of Representatives in the 1812 election, where he remained until 1817.
19.
Timothy Pickering was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1815.