Ebenezer Storer Collection

Ebenezer Storer was a prominent Boston philanthropist and served as Treasurer of Harvard College for thirty years. He took office on July 14, 1777, charged with the task of restoring financial order after former treasurer John Hancock’s neglect of his duties. Storer served until his death on January 5, 1807.

Ebenezer Storer was born on January 27, 1729/30 to Captain Ebenezer and Mary (Edwards) Storer in Boston. He received his Harvard AB in 1747 and his AM in 1750; that same year, he received an ad eundem AM degree from Yale University. He married Elizabeth Green in 1751; they had six children. Following his wife’s death in 1774, he married Hannah Quincy, widow of Dr. Bela Lincoln, in 1777; they had at least one child.

After his graduation from Harvard, Storer entered his father’s warehouse as an apprentice. By 1754, the firm was known as Ebenezer Storer & Son. Throughout his life, Storer maintained active engagement with the City of Boston, serving at various times as warden, selectman, and Overseer of the Poor, and with the Church in Brattle Square, joining in 1751 and resigning as Deacon in 1773. He was a founder of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and its first treasurer, and a charter member of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in North America and its treasurer for 17 years. Additionally, Storer was a member of organizations including the Trustees of the Hopkins Foundation, the Massachusetts Society for Propagation of Christian Knowledge among the Indians of North America, the New England Company, Company for Promoting Good Order, Society for Encouraging Trade and Commerce.