James Lloyd III (1769–1831)

James Lloyd III (1769–1831)

James Lloyd III was the son of Sarah Corwin Lloyd and Dr. James Lloyd (1728–1810), a prominent Boston physician. He was just a baby when his uncle, Joseph Lloyd (1716–1780), visited his family from Lloyd Neck in the summer of 1770. James went on to serve in both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the State Senate, and for two non-consecutive terms, represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate.

James also invested in and became the president of the Boston Manufacturing Company, which produced cotton textiles. The company was one of the first factories in the United States and established the first integrated spinning and weaving factory in the world. Although slavery was effectively abolished in Massachusetts in 1783, businesses like the Boston Manufacturing Company continued to benefit from the enslavement of thousands of people of African descent on cotton plantations in the South.