Levi Lincoln served as U.S. attorney general from 1801 to 1805 under President Thomas Jefferson. Lincoln served in many public positions during his life and as a lawyer helped outlaw slavery in Massachusetts.

Lincoln was born on May 15, 1749, in Hingham, Massachusetts. Although as a young boy he apprenticed as a blacksmith, his love of learning led to higher education. He graduated from Harvard in 1772 and then "read the law" as an apprentice at a law firm in Northhampton. Lincoln fought briefly in the Revolutionary War but he soon moved to Worcester and established a law practice. During the revolutionary period Lincoln served as judge but he concentrated most of his efforts on his law practice. However, when Massachusetts prepared a state constitution in 1789, Lincoln was elected as a delegate and help draft certain provisions of the document.

As a young man Lincoln expressed political opposition to slavery, which was...