Solomon Lincoln

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Solomon Lincoln, Jr. is best known for his great interest in the history of Hingham.  At the age of twenty-three, he wrote the first complete history of the town, titled History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.  Writing the book involved years of complex research, including corresponding with important people, researching family genealogies, and poring over the town's historical records.  The book was extremely valuable in detailing the town's early history and was used extensively by George Lincoln in writing his 1893 multi-volume history of Hingham. 

Solomon was born on February 28, 1804 to Solomon and Lydia (Bates) Lincoln and grew up in Hingham. He attended Derby Academy from 1813-1819 and left the Academy to study classics under Rev. Joseph Richardson. At the age of fifteen he began attending Brown University and graduated in 1822. 

After teaching for one year in Falmouth, Mass., Solomon began his legal education under the tutalege of Hingham resident Ebenezer Gay.  He became an attorney at the Court of Common Pleas in Plymouth, Mass in 1826.  In subsequent years he worked as a counsellor in Plymouth's Supreme Judicial Court, and he established a private law practice in Hingham.

The above-mentioned book gave Solomon Lincoln recognition as a prominent historian, and he continued to pursue his love of local history throughout his life.  This included writing histories of Nantasket, the Lincoln family, and Hingham's involvement in military matters. 

Solomon was sought after as a speaker by many organizations and for important local events, including the Dedication of the Soldiers Monument. He also joined several organizations, such as the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Bunker Hill Monument Association.

Solomon also served in the State of Massachusetts House of Representatives and the state senate in the late 1820s and early 1830s. In addition to these responsibilites and his burgeoning career as a historian, Solomon was able to maintain his private law practice until 1853. 

In 1841 President Harrison appointed Lincoln to the office of the marshall for the state of Massachusetts, a position he held until 1844.  Throughout the 1840s and 1850s he held a number of other offices, including Master in Chancery for the County of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Bank Commissioner, and Cashier of the Webster Bank in Boston.  He continued to work for the Webster Bank in the 1860s and 1870s and became its president in 1869. Lincoln remained in that position until he retired from business in 1876.

Solomon Lincoln lived in Hingham his entire life. He married Mehitable Lincoln in 1837, and they had three children together:  Solomon, Arthur, and Francis Henry.  The family lived on Main Street, near the intersection of Water Street.  Solomon died in December of 1881 at the age of 78.