Palfrey (John Gorham) begins his various careers.

Born in Boston on May 2, 1796, John Gorham Palfrey is the son of a ship chandler and his wife, a descendant of one of the “Four Old Planters,” graduated from Harvard College, and studied theology. Palfrey is named minister of the Brattle Square Church in 1818 and serves as a professor at Harvard (1831-39). He builds a home at 5 Louisburg Square in 1842,* and subsequently becomes editor of the Massachusetts Review. Palfrey serves in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1842-43) and the U.S. House of Representatives (1847-49). He dies in Cambridge on April 26, 1881, and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.