Richard Frothingham Jr.

Richard Frothingham Jr. was a Massachusetts historian, journalist, and politician. Frothingham was a proprietor and managing editor of The Boston Post. He also served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and as the second mayor of Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the United States.

Early life

Frothingham was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts to Richard and Mary Frothingham. He attended school in Charlestown.

Frothingham was a proprietor, and from 1852 to 1865, a managing editor of, The Boston Post.

He was a member of the Massachusetts state legislature in 1839, 1840, 1842, 1849, and 1850, and mayor of Charlestown from 1851 to 1853. Frothingham was a delegate to the 1852 Democratic National Convention. During the 1852 election, Frothingham was an energetic supporter of Franklin Pierce for President. He was also a delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention.

He devoted much of his time to historical study, and published, in addition to many pamphlets, magazine articles and addresses:

History of Charlestown
History of the Siege of Boston, and the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill
The Command in the Battle of Bunker Hill
Life and Times of Joseph Warren
Tribute to Thomas Starr King
The Rise of the Republic of the United States, his most important work by some estimates
The Centennial: Battle of Bunker Hill

For several years, he was treasurer of the Massachusetts Historical Society. In 1858, Frothingham was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.