38 - Elbridge Gerry (MA)

#38 - Elbridge Gerry (MA)
Birthplace: Marblehead, MA
Age at Convention: 43
Note: Delegate to the Congress, but did not sign the Constitution

1) Religion
-- Episcopalian
-- Called on the state of Massachusetts to pray that "with one heart and voice we may prostrate ourselves at the throne of heavenly grace and present to our Great Benefactor sincere and unfeigned thanks for His infinite goodness and mercy towards us from our birth to the present moment for having above all things illuminated us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, presenting to our view the happy prospect of a blessed immortality"
-- As governor, issued a proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving, Praise, and Prayer

2) Slavery
-- Favored the abolishment of slavery
-- Sarcastically quoted "Blacks are property, and are used to the southward as horses and cattle to the northward; and why should their representation be increased to the southward on account of the number of slaves, than horses or oxen to the north?"

3) Upbringing
-- 3rd of 12 children
-- Mother was daughter of a Boston merchant
-- Father was a wealthy & politically active merchant-shipper
-- Graduated from Harvard

References:
1) http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/gerry.html
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbridge_Gerry
3) http://www.adherents.com/people/pg/Elbridge_Gerry.html
4) http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=8755
5) http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=18292

Running tabulation:
1) Religiously Active (13) or Primarily Secular (5)
2) Abolitionist (9), Partial Abolitionist (6) or Non-Abolitionist (3)
3) Wealthy (6) or Middle-Class/Poor (12)