Otis, Samuel Allyne, 1740-1814

<p>Samuel Allyne Otis (November 24, 1740 – April 22, 1814) was the first Secretary of the United States Senate, serving for its first 25 years. He also served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was a delegate to the Confederation Congress in 1787 and 1788.</p>

<p>Early in 1789, as plans went forward for establishing the new Congress under the recently ratified Constitution, a heated contest developed for the job of Senate Secretary. The obvious candidate was dapper sixty-year-old Charles Thomson, secretary of the soon-to-expire Continental Congress during its entire fifteen-year existence. But Thomson weakened his candidacy by telling friends that he had a different secretarial post in mind—one in George Washington's cabinet. As the March 1789 convening date of the Senate neared, however, Thomson realized that he had no chance of landing a cabinet appointment. Consequently, he decided he would indeed like to become the first Secretary of the Senate—as well as Secretary of the House and Secretary of the entire government. This would not be too taxing, he thought, because he expected to have an assistant who would "do the ordinary business of the [Senate], so that I ma not be under the necessity of attending except on special occasions and when the great business of the Nation is under deliberation." This expression of Thomson's lofty self-importance helps explain why he had attracted a more-than-usual number of enemies during his public career.</p>

<p>A group of those foes devised a scheme—disguised as an honor—to get him out of town during the crucial last-minute maneuvering leading to the Secretary's election. Congressional leaders asked Thomson to travel from the nation's temporary New York City capital to Virginia to "notify" George Washington of his election and accompany the president-elect back to New York. Washington needed no notification, but he accepted Thomson's companionship in good humor. With Thomson safely away from the Senate, Vice President-elect John Adams maneuvered for the election of his own candidate—Samuel Allyne Otis.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>04/08/1789 Secretary of the U.S. Senate Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1788 MA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/18/1788 MA District 1 Lost 4.34% (-46.37%)</li>
<li>12/31/1787 MA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1786 MA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

OTIS, Samuel Allyne, (Father of Harrison Gray Otis), a Delegate from Massachusetts; born in Barnstable, Barnstable County, Mass., November 24, 1740; was graduated from Harvard College in 1759; engaged in mercantile pursuits in Boston; member of the state house of representatives in 1776; member of the Board of War in 1776; collector of clothing for the Continental Army in 1777; member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention; again a member of the state house of representatives 1784-1787 and elected speaker of the house in 1784; Member of the Continental Congress in 1787 and 1788; elected Secretary of the United States Senate on April 8, 1789, and served until his death in Washington, D.C., April 22, 1814; interment in Congressional Cemetery.