Nathaniel Silsbee Jr.
Nathaniel Silsbee Jr. was a Massachusetts businessman and politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and twice as the Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, and was for many years the treasurer of Harvard.
Early life
Silsbee was born on December 28, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He was the son of former U.S. Senator Nathaniel Silsbee and Mary Silsbee. His sister, Mary Crowninshield Silsbee, was the wife of Jared Sparks, the 17th Harvard College">Harvard University">Harvard College, and another sister, Georgiana Crowninshield Silsbee, was the wife of Francis Henry Appleton and Henry Saltonstall.His paternal grandparents were Sarah Silsbee and Capt. Nathaniel Silsbee, and his maternal grandparents were Mary Crowninshield and Capt. George Crowninshield, one of Salem's wealthiest merchants. Among his extended family were maternal uncles, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, U.S. Representative Jacob Crowninshield, and George Crowninshield Jr., who owned Cleopatra's Barge, the first yacht to cross the Atlantic.
Silsbee graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. degree in 1824 and an A.M. degree in 1862.
Career
Silsbee served as the 5th Mayor of Salem, Massachusetts, from 1849 to 1850, and, again, as the 11th Mayor of Salem from 1858 to 1859. From 1851 to 1852, he was also a member of the Salem, Massachusetts Board of Aldermen.He was also a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the Essex district in 1833, 1846 and in the extra special session called in 1848 to choose presidential electors. He also served as treasurer of Harvard College from 1862 to 1876 during the presidency of Thomas Hill and Charles William Eliot.
Personal life
On November 9, 1829, Silsbee married Mary Ann Cabot Devereux, a daughter of Humphrey Devereux and Eliza Devereux, in Salem. Her brother was Adj. Gen. George Humphrey Devereux. Together, they were the parents of:- Nathaniel Devereaux Silsbee, who married Mary Stone Hodges, a daughter of George Hodges, in 1856.
- Mary Crowninshield Silsbee, who married Frederick Augustus Whitwell, a son of Samuel Whitwell, in 1861.
- William Edward Silsbee, who never married.
Silsbee died in Milton, Massachusetts on July 9, 1881.