Tobias Lear - Biography

Biography

Lear was born on Hunking Street in the seaport town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on September 19, 1762, a fifth-generation American and the fifth generation of his family named Tobias His father, also Tobias Lear (born August 1, 1737) (cousin of John Langdon) and his mother was Mary Stillson Lear (born May 25, 1739). His parents were married on December 29, 1757. The family home on Hunking Street had been built in 1742 by the Stillson family. Lear had an older sister named Mary (Polly).

Before going to college, Lear attended Dummer Charity School (now known as The Governor's Academy) where Samuel Moody helped prepare Lear for college. Instead of joining the Continental Army, as many of his contemporaries did, Lear attended Harvard College, beginning in 1779, during the American Revolutionary War. He graduated with 30 classmates in 1783.

He began his career by being an apprentice until his uncle, Benjamin Lincoln, recommended him for the job of tutoring Martha Washington's grandchildren and to the post of George Washington's personal secretary, both to which he was hired in 1784. He was integrated into Washington's house and his post quickly evolved beyond clerk to being Washington's right hand man, doing whatever Washington needed (i.e. tutoring, filling out expense reports, and writing letters.) He performed all his duties well.

Lear moved with Washington to New York City in 1789, when Washington became president and they often dined alone together during his presidency. Lear was responsible for filling out Washington's expense reports as president, which Washington had wisely chosen instead of a $25,000 salary, as the expenses turned out to be much more.

In 1793, at the start of Washington's second term, Lear decided to leave Washington and start out on his own (albeit with help from Washington). He started a company, T. Lear & Company, which focused on two things: working with Washington's Potomac Company to promote river traffic to the soon-to-be nation's capitol and participating in Washington, D.C., land speculation. Lear traveled to Europe to sell parcels of land in Washington, D.C., but was unsuccessful. His engineering work related to the Potomac Company also failed to enable navigation around two waterfalls on the Potomac River. He lost money in this failed venture despite his wealthy partners.