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Full name

Edward Everett

Vital Statistics

• Sex : Male
• Born: April 11, 1794 at Boston, Massachusetts
• Died: January 15, 1865 at Boston, Massachusetts at age 70
• Interment: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Paternal Pedigree

• Edward Everett was the son of the Rev. Oliver Everett (1752-1802) and Lucy Hill (1768-1824)
• the son of Ebenezer Everett (?-?)
• the son of John Everett (?-?)
• the son of John Everett (?-?)
• the son of Richard Everett (?-?)

Siblings

• Ann (Everett) Gardner (1784-1840)
• Lucretia Orne Everett (1786-1862)
• Oliver Everett, Jr. (1788-1864)
• Lucy (Everett) Durivage (1791-ca1864)
• Edward Everett (1794-1865)
• Alexander Hill Everett (1792-1847)
• Sarah Preston (Everett) Hale (1796-1866) Mother of Rev. Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909)
• Charlotte (Everett) Brooks (1800-1859)
• John Everett (1801-1826)
• Thomas Everett (?)

Biography

Early Life and Education

In 1814, Edward Everett became a Unitarian minister in Boston, Massachusetts, but, appointed (1815) professor of Greek literature at Harvard, he went abroad to study at the Univ. of Göttingen (Ph.D., 1817) and to travel. During his professorship (1819–25) he also edited (1820–23) the North American Review. Everett was a professor of Greek literature at Harvard University.

Political service

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives and served from 4 March, 1825-3 March, 1835. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1834. He was governor of Massachusetts from 1836–1839.

Everett served as United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Britain from 1841-1845, declining a commission to China in 1843. He was president of Harvard University from 1846–49

In 1852 he was appointed United States Secretary of State by President Millard Fillmore to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Daniel Webster, and served to 3 March, 1853. He was elected to the United States Senate and served from 4 March, 1853, until his resignation, effective 1 June, 1854. It is said that he was embarrassed by his old-line Whig attitude of compromise on slavery.

Everett was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1860 on the Constitutional Union ticket. During the American Civil War, he traveled extensively throughout the North speaking for the Union cause and drawing immense audiences.

Gettysburg Oration

Widely considered the nation's greatest orator of his time, He was invited to give the main speech at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg on 19 November, 1863.

The stirring address has been eclipsed in history by President Lincoln's two-minute Gettysburg Address.

Its main focus was nothing short of an outline of the history of warfare, and it began:

"Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the mighty Alleghanies dimly towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and Nature. But the duty to which you have called me must be performed; — grant me, I pray you, your indulgence and your sympathy."

The town of Everett, Massachusetts, which was incorporated in 1870, was named after him.

External links

• Full text of Everett's Gettysburg Oration

Gallery

Edward Everett Library of Congress photo.

Contributors

Nhprman

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