tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post1956100591461187452..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Capt. William Palfrey: “What think you of my turning parson?”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-71739831554821045672019-08-02T10:33:50.536-05:002019-08-02T10:33:50.536-05:00William Palfrey is my 7th Great Grandfather. I wou...William Palfrey is my 7th Great Grandfather. I would love to learn more. Thank you for your hard work.<br />Pamela Fasserohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06371243113802900248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-40936928382765140862018-04-14T02:07:01.948-05:002018-04-14T02:07:01.948-05:00And Im related to this man?! Whaaaaat #excitedAnd Im related to this man?! Whaaaaat #excitedHonest Hotel (and other) Reviews by Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16329036610509580806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-23349718020722268642011-10-19T15:04:03.288-05:002011-10-19T15:04:03.288-05:00Thanks! I enjoyed reading all the detailed informa...Thanks! I enjoyed reading all the detailed information you provided on William Palfrey.Ben Edwardshttp://walkingboston.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-83200875461402474102011-10-14T11:49:57.604-05:002011-10-14T11:49:57.604-05:00Yes, it’s the same William Palfrey. He started in ...Yes, it’s the same William Palfrey. He started in business as a protégé of Nathaniel Wheelwright, the subject of my “A Bankruptcy in Boston” article. Hancock rescued Palfrey from that debacle by hiring him as head clerk, and in the process got a talented administrator for his business. (Hancock’s real passions and talents lay in politics, I believe.) <br /><br />As Hancock’s right-hand man, Palfrey also helped to organize the Boston Whigs’ outreach to political activists elsewhere, including John Wilkes in London. He shows up on a lot of Whig documents from the late 1760s and early 1770s, though always in a somewhat subordinate role. By the time of the war, Palfrey had an independent business, as I recall.<br /><br />During the first months of the war Gen. Charles Lee took Palfrey on as an aide-de-camp. Washington borrowed him to administer the unloading of the British ordnance ship <i>Nancy</i> in Beverly, and then as a permanent aide-de-camp. In April 1776 Palfrey replaced James Warren as paymaster-general for the Continental Army, and worked capably in that role.<br /><br />In November 1780, the Congress made Palfrey its consul-general in Paris. But his ship to France went down at sea. Thus, Palfrey never attained a top-level position in the Revolution or a role in the U.S. government as we know it today, so he’s not widely remembered. <br /><br />However, Palfrey did have the luck of leaving successful descendants, who preserved many of his papers and kept his name moderately well known. There are Palfrey Streets and buildings scattered around greater Boston because of that family.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-20890989083732654232011-10-13T22:37:04.143-05:002011-10-13T22:37:04.143-05:00Wondered if this might be the same William Palfrey...Wondered if this might be the same William Palfrey who was a member of the Sons of Liberty in Boston? He was John Hancock's clerk. His name appears on a list of 355 members who Dined at Liberty Tree (Robinson's Tavern) in Dorchester on Aug 14, 1769. That list was donated by his grandson John G. Palfrey to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1869.Ben Edwardshttp://walkingboston.comnoreply@blogger.com