Life on the Lower East Side

Major-general James Warren (September 28, 1726 – November 28, 1808) was an American merchant, politician and military officer who served as the speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1787 to 1788. An advocate of colonial resistance to British parliamentary acts in the American Revolution, Warren served as the Continental Army's Paymaster-General during the Revolutionary War before pursuing a political career. Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts to an affluent New England family, Warren studied at Harvard College from 1745 to 1747 before settling down in his hometown to a career as a businessman and gentleman farmer. In 1754, Warren married Mercy Otis, who shared his republican beliefs and together they had five sons during their marriage. In 1766, Warren was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, continuing to sit in the house until 1778.