Thomas Aspinwall (consul)

Thomas was born to Dr. William Aspinwall and Susanna Gardner in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 23, 1786.^[1][2]

He matriculated at Harvard College in 1804 and graduated three years later, delivering the Latin valedictory address.^[3]

In the War of 1812, Aspinwall was appointed major of the Ninth Regiment, U.S. Infantry. In 1813 he was made a lieutenant-colonel and eventually a colonel on account of his valor in the battle of Sackett Harbor. In September 1814, during the Siege of Fort Erie, he sustained an injury to his left arm that required an amputation. In recognition of his service, President Madison appointed him consul to London during a recess, and he was confirmed at the beginning of the subsequent legislative session.^[4]

While in London, Aspinwall acted as a literary agent and a liaison between American authors and British publishers.^[5] The American historian and Hispanist William Prescott, for instance, engaged with him in this capacity, as did Washington Irving, who was a close friend. He also procured books for Americans unable to do so, as for instance in the case of the abolitionist Lewis Tappan, who was his brother-in-law.^[6]

He married Louise Elizabeth Poignand on February 13, 1814, and they had seven children.^[7]

Aspinwall died August 11, 1876, at his home in Boston.^[2] He was buried at Walnut Street Cemetery.^[8][9]

• Barnes, James J.; Barnes, Patience P. (1984). "Thomas Aspinwall: First Transatlantic Literary Agent". The Paper of the Bibliographic Society of America. 78 (3): 321–331. doi:10.1086/pbsa.78.3.24302830. JSTOR 24302830. S2CID 155358975. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
• Campaniolo, Jennifer, Legendary Locals of Brookline. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. 65.
• Georgetown University Archives notes.
• Smith, Charles C. (November 1891). "Memoir of Col. Thomas Aspinwall". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. XXII: 32–38. Retrieved March 18, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
• Winthrop, Robert C., Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions, from 1869–1879. Boston: Little, Brown, 1879. 432–435.
• "A Well-Connected Dictionary". Pryor-Johnson Rare Books. April 28, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
• "Colonel Thomas Aspinwall". The Boston Globe. August 14, 1876. p. 4. Retrieved March 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
• "Funeral of the Late Colonel Aspinwall". The Boston Globe. August 15, 1876. p. 4. Retrieved March 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.