12 THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY 



to the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783 ; served as 

 lieutenant colonel in suppressing Shay's rebellion and was 

 an active adviser of Gov. Bowdoin in that crisis. 



HENRY HILL was a Boston merchant ; died in 1828 ; 

 lived in a fine mansion on Summer street ; was representa- 

 tive in the General Court in 1776 and 1789 and one of the 

 overseers of the poor of the town of Boston. He had a 

 store at some central situation where in 1798 certain seed 

 wheat received from foreign ports was distributed to the 

 trustees of the society. 



SAMUEL HOLTEN (1738-1816) whose name is also 

 spelled " Holton, " was of Danvers ; an eminent physician 

 and zealous patriot ; member of the provincial congress, 

 1774-5 ; delegate to organize the Confederation ; member 

 of Congress, six years ; of the governor's council, 27 years, 

 and of the constitutional convention of 1789 ; also judge of 

 probate and common pleas. 



JOHN LOWELL (1743-1802) was born in Newburyport 

 and represented that town in the provincial congress ; rep- 

 resented Boston in the Legislature in 1778 ; was in the 

 convention of 1780 and secured the insertion in the bill of 

 rights of the declaration that all men are born free and 

 equal, expressing opinion that it would abolish slavery in 

 the State. His legal foresight was vindicated, for when a 

 test case arose it was so adjudicated by the highest State 

 court. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 

 1782 and 1783, and became successively, judge of the 

 United States District and Admiralty Court for the district of 

 Massachusetts, and circuit-court judge for the New England 

 states. He owned and lived on a large farm in Roxbury, 

 lying between the present Centre and Old Heath streets. 



JONATHAN MASON, SEN. was a merchant in Boston, a 

 selectman of the town of Boston, member of both branches 

 of the Legislature and of the governor's council. He was 

 a deacon of the Old South church ; deceased in 1798. 



JONATHAN MASON, JR. (1752-1831) was a lawyer; 

 graduate of Princeton College ; member of both branches 



