Christopher Gore - Early Years

Early Years

Christopher Gore was born in Boston on September 21, 1758, one of many children of Frances and John Gore, a successful merchant and artisan. He was the youngest of their three sons to survive to adulthood. He attended Boston Latin School, and entered Harvard College at the young (even for the time) age of thirteen. At the outset of the American Revolutionary War and the Siege of Boston in 1775, Harvard's buildings were occupied by the Continental Army, and Gore temporarily continued his studies in Bradford until Harvard could resume operations in Concord. Gore graduated the following year, and promptly enlisted in the Continental artillery regiment of his brother-in-law Thomas Crafts, where he served until 1778. The Gore family was divided by the war: Gore's father was a Loyalist who left Boston when the British Army evacuated the city in March 1776. Gore was consequently called upon to support his mother and three sisters, who remained in Boston. He studied law with John Lowell, but very quickly established his own practice.

Gore's law practice flourished, in part because many Loyalist lawyers had fled Massachusetts. Gore multiplied his fortune by investing carefully in revolutionary currency and bonds, and in later years he also successfully invested in toll roads and canals. In 1785 married Rebecca Amory Payne, daughter of a wealthy merchant and maritime insurer as well as a director of the Bank of Massachusetts. The couple were known for their social graces and became prominent members of Boston society.