George Wallingford [1776-1824] Son of American Naval Hero

Description

[MAINE] George Washington Wallingford [1776-1824] the son of the American naval hero, Samuel Washingford [1755-1778]. During the Revolutionary War Samuel served as a Lieutenant of Marines under John Paul Jones and was killed in the engagement between the Drake and the Ranger. Autograph Document Signed, Berwick [Maine - then part of Mass.], 1798, 1p, approx. 5-5/8 x 3-1/2 in. Written and signed by Geo. W. Wallingford [1776-1824] for Jno. Moulton. Receipt for James Rollins. VG. George W. Wallingford graduated from Harvard College in 1795 at the tender age of seventeen, then studied law with Dudley Hubbard, of South Berwick. He passed the bar in 1798 and opened up his practice in 1800 in that part of the town of Wells which became Kennebunk in 1820. He was a Federalist, and active in politics. In 1813 he was elected one of the representatives of Wells, Maine to the General Court of Massachusetts, and was successively re-elected until Maine was admitted as a separate state in 1820. He was a member of the famous Brunswick Convention of 1816, though had no sympathy with its doings and voted with the minority. He was also a member of the Convention at Portland for the formation of the State Constitution in October 1819. He was opposed to some of the provisions of the new constitution, however, and did not sign it, and was also opposed to the separation of Maine from Massachusetts until such time as Maine could acquire greater wealth and importance. He represented Wells in the new Maine state legislature in 1823, but died soon after while still relatively young. He built Wallingford Hall in Kennebunk, which still stands today.