The Origin of the Names Sam & Otis

Samuel Otis

Among many honors:

Harvard Grad, 1759
Collector of Clothing for the Continental Army, 1777
First Secretary of the Senate, 1789 - 1814

Some highlights from Wikipedia.

The blowhard secretary of the Continental Congress Charles Thomson, wanted the Senate gig for himself.

But ...

"A group of those foes devised a scheme -- disguised as an honor -- to get him out of town during the crucial last-minute maneuvering leading to the Secretary's election. Congressional leaders asked Thomson to travel from the nation's temporary New York City capital to Virginia to "notify" George Washington of his election and accompany the president-elect back to New York. Washington needed no notification, but he accepted Thomson's companionship in good humor. With Thomson safely away from the Senate, Vice President-elect John Adams maneuvered for the election of his own candidate -- Samuel Allyne Otis."

Otis held the bible during Washington's first inauguration.

He survived the electoral "Revolution of 1800" by some fast maneuvering to get all the Senate's printing done by an anti Adams leader. I'm a little unclear about how this went down but I'm too lazy to do further research.

"Through the considerable political turbulence between 1800 and 1814, Samuel Otis held on as Secretary. But with the passing years, Otis appeared to some as less vigorous in attending to his duties. Senators complained that the Senate Journal was not being kept up to date, official communications not recorded in a timely way, and records kept in a "blind confused manner" -- but no one actively moved to replace him."

He died in office having not missed a single day of his 25 year tenure.

Hooray for Samuel Otis!

You are the reason SHR and I named our boys Sam and Otis. Never mind Sam Cooke and Otis Redding - you were the inspiration!

Thanks to Jamie for letting me know about this guy. I don't know if I had ever heard of him until after the birth of Double Trouble. But now I love the guy.