Bowdoin (James) is born in Boston.

(ca.) Born in Boston on August 7, 1726, James Bowdoin is the son of James and Hannah (Pordage) Bowdoin, graduated from Harvard College, became a merchant, and married Elizabeth Erving in 1748. Bowdoin purchased his father-in-law’s estate at today’s 21 Beacon Street in 1756,* and maintained a summer home in Dorchester. First elected in 1752, he serves in the Massachusetts General Court and Provincial Council for 35 years. The author of an influential report on the Boston Massacre in 1770,* Bowdoin serves as chairman of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention (1779-80) and governor (1785-58). He becomes the first president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780,* and serves in that position until his death in Boston on November 6, 1790.