By Amy Sullivan

When Edmund Quincy traded three loaves of bread for his plot of land in what would eventually be Massachusetts in the early 1600s, he had no idea his descendants would someday bring running water to the citizens of Boston, introduce female teachers into the Boston Public School System, help to save Harvard University from financial ruin and even hold the office of President of the United States.

John Quincy, Jr., an eleventh generation descendent of Edmund Quincy, spoke of his family’s rich history in Boston at the Old South Meeting House last week. Quincy recently published his book, “Quincy’s Market, A Boston Landmark,” about the history of the downtown marketplace that bears the name of the historic family. Quincy’s lecture was part of a series of lectures about prominent Boston families.

Members of the Quincy family have served as Boston mayors, judges, colonels and John Quincy Adams, whose mother Abigail was the granddaughter of Colonel John Quincy, even served as President of the United States.

“Standing before you this evening, I am honored to relate that there was a time when a Quincy family male served the town, city or state for three straight centuries,” Quincy said.

While in office, the Quincy’s made a significant impact on the city. Boston’s second mayor, Josiah Quincy, was the first to implement street cleaning. Judge Edmund Quincy IV was an acting judge at the time of the Boston Massacre, Mayor Josiah Quincy, Jr. [IV] organized the Boston Police force into their current union and Mayor Josiah Quincy [VI] created 22 playgrounds around the city of Boston.

Many of the Quincy men were also graduates of Harvard University, and Mayor Josiah Quincy [III] would serve as president of the university. The Quincy’s were proud of their history with Harvard, as Edmund Quincy [V] put it simply, “A Harvard man knows who he is. If he isn’t a Harvard man, who is he?”

Quincy also credits his ancestors for helping to pull Harvard through its financial depressions.

“President [Josiah] Quincy [III] wrote the first history of Harvard, at about the time when Harvard was close to closing because of the lack of financial resources. The year afterwards, the Harvard Alumni Association came together because of the importance and effect the book had,” Quincy said. “That is what saved Harvard from closing.”

Quincy said he has been interested in his family’s history since his childhood, and that his interest stems from a trip to Quincy Market with his father when he was 12 years old.

“He told me how Quincy Market was named for a family member who built the marketplace. At the time, there was talk the city was going to tear it down. My father said to me, ‘Take a good look at this building that bears your family name, because they are going to tear it down,'” Quincy said. “And I reached up and put my hand to the building, and the ghost of Josiah Quincy crawled under my skin and convinced me to write this book [Quincy’s Market].”