Massachusetts Career
Belknap accepted a new position in 1787, when he moved back to Boston to become pastor of the Federal Street Church. He would serve there until his death. He remained active in research, writing, and promoting American history as a field.
He continued his quest into history, seeking ways to report and preserve historic sources. On January 24, 1791, he invited nine friends with similar interests to meet at his home. They agreed to help build a repository for these records. The meeting resulted in the Massachusetts Historical Society, which was the first historical society and served as a prototype for many later ones. They also pledged to contribute family papers. John Eliot, a fourth-generation descendent of the 17th c. "Apostle to the Indians" and himself a minister, added Governor Thomas Hutchinson's manuscript for the History of Massachusetts Bay, which his father Andrew Eliot had saved during the Revolution when a mob looted the governor's home.
In 1792 Belknap published his An Historical Account of those persons who have been distinguished in America, which was the first of a distinguished line of dictionaries of American biography. That same year, he became one of the overseers of Harvard University.
Belknap died in Boston and was buried at the Granary Burial Ground. His remains were later re-interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He is credited with coining the phrase "Old habits die hard."
Read more about this topic: Jeremy Belknap
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“I began my editorial career with the presidency of Mr. Adams, and my principal object was to render his administration all the assistance in my power. I flattered myself with the hope of accompanying him through [his] voyage, and of partaking in a trifling degree, of the glory of the enterprise; but he suddenly tacked about, and I could follow him no longer. I therefore waited for the first opportunity to haul down my sails.”
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