Elbridge Gerry
Massachusetts signer of the Declaration who served in the First Congress and lent his name to the gerrymander.
Overview
Gerry signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, then attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention but refused to sign the finished document because it lacked a bill of rights. He nonetheless won election to the first House of Representatives in 1789 and served two terms, taking part in the debates that produced the Bill of Rights. As governor of Massachusetts he signed the 1812 redistricting plan whose salamander-shaped district inspired the word gerrymander. Elected vice president with James Madison in 1812, he died in office in 1814.
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