birth_place birth_date spouse article_title name
beverly , massachusetts 30 april 1755 mercy trask , anna dodge , sarah dana israel thorndike
 israel thorndike
israel thorndike

israel thorndike -lrb- 1755 -- 1832 -rrb- was a sailor and merchant , born in beverly , massachusetts .
he went to sea at an early age , commanded a privateer during the american revolution , and became active in the early china trade .
he was elected to the massachusetts legislature 13 times .
in 1810 he moved to boston , and his mansion became a center for political and social discourse .
the term `` gerrymander '' is attributed to the outcome of a dinner party at thorndike 's boston home in february 1812 , `` where elkanah tisdale , a miniature painter , drew wings on the salamander shaped map of the new republican-leaning election district in essex county . ''
a member of the federalist party , he belonged to its essex junto .
in 1814 he sailed the 14 gun vessel `` hyder ally '' from portland , maine on a privateering voyage to the east indies .
she had a crew of 30 and carried sixteen guns : 10 18-pounder carronades , two long 18-pounders , and two long 9 pounders .
apparently some of her armament may have come from hms boxer .
in may , hms `` owen glendower '' captured the `` hyder ally '' off the nicobars .
the american had already taken two prizes , and sent them back to the us , but the royal navy later intercepted both and retook them , one at cape elizabeth , maine and the other at mount desert island .
thorndike is considered to have been the fiftieth wealthiest american of all time -lrb- adjusted for inflation -rrb- , having left an enormous fortune .
