Editing Elbridge Gerry (section)

==Legacy==
Gerry is generally remembered for the use of his name in the word ''[[Gerrymandering|gerrymander]]'', for his refusal to sign the United States Constitution, and for his role in the [[XYZ Affair]] and for his time as [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]].  His path through the politics of the age has been difficult to characterize. Early biographers, including his son-in-law [[James T. Austin]] and [[Samuel Eliot Morison]], struggled to explain his apparent changes in position.  Biographer [[George Athan Billias]] posits that Gerry was a consistent advocate and practitioner of republicanism as it was originally envisioned,<ref>Billias, p. 2</ref> and that his role in the Constitutional Convention had a significant impact on the document it eventually produced.<ref>Billias, p. 204</ref>

Gerry had ten children, nine of whom survived into adulthood:

# Catharine Gerry (1787–1850)
# Eliza Gerry (1791–1882)
# Ann Gerry (1791–1883)
# Elbridge Gerry, Jr. (1793–1867)<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 21, 1867 |title=DIED. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1867/05/21/79358423.html?pageNumber=5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827193004/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1867/05/21/79358423.html?pageNumber=5 |archive-date=August 27, 2018 |access-date=April 24, 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
# [[Thomas Russell Gerry]] (1794–1848), who married Hannah Green Goelet (1804–1845)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kestenbaum |first=Lawrence |title=The Political Graveyard: Gerry family |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10001-166.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827193004/http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/10001-166.html |archive-date=August 27, 2018 |access-date=September 14, 2016 |website=politicalgraveyard.com |publisher=The Political Graveyard}}</ref>
# Helen Maria Gerry (1796–1864)
# James Thompson Gerry (1797–1854), who left [[West Point]] upon his father's death and was commander of the war-sloop [[USS Albany (1846)|USS ''Albany'']]; the sloop disappeared with all hands September 28 or 29, 1854 near the West Indies.<ref>See U.S. Military and Naval Academies, Cadet Records and Applications, 1805–1908, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; U.S. Military Academy Cadet Application Papers, 1805–1866; Microfilm Serial: M688; Microfilm Roll: 3, File #1–108 and Unnumbered; 1814: [http://interactive.ancestry.com/1299/31638_218001-00529/100927?backurl=http://person.ancestry.com/tree/85114865/person/40514803775/facts/citation/263447212672/edit/record James T. Gerry, 1814]. Retrieved November 4, 2015. {{Subscription required}}. See also Charles R. Hale Collection. Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions. Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut State Library. Connecticut Headstone Inscriptions Vol 32, [http://interactive.ancestry.com/2900/32971_301924-00089?pid=680270&backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-g%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gsfn%3dJames%2bT.%26gsfn_x%3d0%26gsln%3dGerry%26gsln_x%3d0%26MSAV%3d1%26msddy%3d1854%26cpxt%3d1%26cp%3d12%26catbucket%3drstp%26uidh%3d5vf%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d680270%26recoff%3d5%2b7%26db%3dHaleCemeteryInscriptions%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d11&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true Transcription here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305143112/http://interactive.ancestry.com/2900/32971_301924-00089?pid=680270&backurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ancestry.com%2F%2Fcgi-bin%2Fsse.dll%3Fgss%3Dangs-g%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26msT%3D1%26gsfn%3DJames%2BT.%26gsfn_x%3D0%26gsln%3DGerry%26gsln_x%3D0%26MSAV%3D1%26msddy%3D1854%26cpxt%3D1%26cp%3D12%26catbucket%3Drstp%26uidh%3D5vf%26pcat%3DROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3D680270%26recoff%3D5%2B7%26db%3DHaleCemeteryInscriptions%26indiv%3D1%26ml_rpos%3D11&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true |date=March 5, 2016}}. Retrieved November 4, 2015.</ref>
# Eleanor Stanford Gerry (1800–1871)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eleanor Stanford Gerry 1800-1871 - Ancestry® |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/eleanor-stanford-gerry-24-4f0wb3?geo_a=r&geo_s=uk&geo_t=uk&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=41012&o_lid=41012&o_sch=Web+Property |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924032207/https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/eleanor-stanford-gerry-24-4f0wb3?geo_a=r&geo_s=uk&geo_t=uk&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=41012&o_lid=41012&o_sch=Web+Property |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |access-date=August 9, 2020}}</ref>
# Emily Louisa Gerry (1802–1894)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Emily Louisa Gerry 1802-1894 - Ancestry® |url=https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/emily-louisa-gerry-24-4nn8kb |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924030707/https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/emily-louisa-gerry-24-4nn8kb |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |access-date=August 9, 2020 |website=[[Ancestry.com]]}}</ref>

Gerry's grandson [[Elbridge Thomas Gerry]] became a distinguished lawyer and philanthropist in New York. His great-grandson, [[Peter G. Gerry]], was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biographical Abstract of Peter G. Gerry |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000141 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805003833/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000141 |archive-date=August 5, 2011 |access-date=December 8, 2012 |publisher=United States Congress}}</ref>

Gerry is depicted in two of [[John Trumbull]]'s paintings, the ''[[Declaration of Independence (Trumbull)|Declaration of Independence]]'' and ''[[General George Washington Resigning His Commission]]''.<ref>Weir, pp. 66–67</ref> Both are on view in the [[United States Capitol rotunda|rotunda]] of the [[United States Capitol]].<ref name=aoc/>

The upstate New York town of [[Elbridge, New York|Elbridge]] is believed to have been named in his honor, as is the western New York town of [[Gerry, New York|Gerry]].<ref>Beauchamp, p. 361</ref><ref>Downs and Hedley, p. 187</ref> The town of [[Phillipston, Massachusetts]] was originally incorporated in 1786 under the name Gerry in his honor but was changed to its present name after the town submitted a petition in 1812, citing Democratic-Republican support for the War of 1812.<ref>Marvin, pp. 220–21</ref>

Gerry's Landing Road in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], is located near the [[Eliot Bridge]] not far from Elmwood.  During the 19th century, the area was known as Gerry's Landing (formerly known as Sir Richard's Landing) and was used by a Gerry relative for a short time as a landing and storehouse.<ref>''Publications of the Cambridge Historical Society'', p. 85</ref><ref>Bethell et al., p. 62</ref> The supposed house of his birth, the [[Elbridge Gerry House]] (it is uncertain whether he was born in the house currently standing on the site or an earlier structure) stands in Marblehead, and Marblehead's Elbridge Gerry School is named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MACRIS Inventory: Elbridge Gerry House |url=https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=mar.654 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130222060902/http://mhc-macris.net/Details.aspx?MhcId=MAR.654 |archive-date=February 22, 2013 |access-date=December 8, 2012 |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=MACRIS Inventory: Eldridge<nowiki>[sic]</nowiki> Gerry School |url=https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=mar.544 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221223644/http://mhc-macris.net/Details.aspx?MhcId=MAR.544 |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |access-date=December 8, 2012 |publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Elbridge Gerry House.jpg|The [[Elbridge Gerry House]] in [[Marblehead, Massachusetts]]
File:General George Washington Resigning his Commission.jpg|''[[General George Washington Resigning His Commission]]'', a portrait by [[John Trumbull]] depicting Gerry standing on the left<ref name="aoc">{{Cite web |title=General George Washington Resigning His Commission |url=https://www.aoc.gov/art/historic-rotunda-paintings/general-george-washington-resigning-his-commission |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731163935/https://www.aoc.gov/art/historic-rotunda-paintings/general-george-washington-resigning-his-commission |archive-date=July 31, 2017 |access-date=January 23, 2018 |publisher=[[Architect of the Capitol]]}}</ref>
</gallery>