Researching Christopher Gore

Gore entered politics in 1788, serving briefly in the Massachusetts legislature before being appointed U.S. District Attorney for Massachusetts. He was then appointed by President George Washington to a diplomatic commission dealing with maritime claims in Great Britain. He returned to Massachusetts in 1804 and reentered state politics, running unsuccessfully for governor several times before winning in 1809. He served one term, losing to Democratic-Republican Elbridge Gerry in 1810. He was appointed to the US Senate by Governor Caleb Strong in 1813, where he led opposition to the War of 1812.

Gore invested his fortune in a variety of businesses, including important infrastructure projects such as the Middlesex Canal and a bridge across the Charles River. He was a major investor in the early textile industry, funding the Boston Manufacturing Company and the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, whose business established the city of Lowell, Massachusetts. Gore was involved in a variety of charitable causes, and was a major benefactor of Harvard College, where the first library was named in his honor. His palatial mansion in Waltham, Massachusetts, now known as Gore Place, is one of the finest extant examples of Federalist architecture, and has been declared a National Historic Landmark.

Gore was born on August 10, 1944, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Shortly after graduating from Northwestern University, Gore began writing plays and musicals. One of his early works, Mary, was a musical about Mary, Queen of Scots that was produced in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1967. His first Broadway show, Via Galactica, which he wrote with Judith Ross and Galt MacDermot, premiered in 1972. In 1977, he also wrote the book and lyrics for a musical about the Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

Although his obituary in The New York Times (citing his mother) stated that Gore died of cancer, subsequent reports now accurately state that he died of AIDS on May 18, 1988 at age 43 in Santa Monica, California.