grain shortage. When the legislature met in November, it rejected a proposal by Sullivan that popular elections determine the state's electoral slate, and instead chose a Federalist slate supporting Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for president in a vote boycotted by many Republicans. Based on widespread opinion that the Federalists were likely to lose the presidential election, Sullivan, his health failing, forwarded the electoral votes on to Congress. He died in office on December 10, 1808, aged 64, and was interred in Boston's Granary Burying Ground in a tomb shared by colonial governor Richard Bellingham. Business, economic development, and charity In addition to his political and legal activities, Sullivan engaged in a wide variety of civic and charitable work. He was a founding member and the first president of the Massachusetts Historical Society, was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was involved with the Massachusetts Humane Society, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith among the Indians, and a charitable society that supported Congregationalist ministers. Sullivan was a major moving force and leading director of the company that oversaw the Middlesex Canal (construction of which began in 1793). The canal connected the Merrimack River at present-day Lowell (then still East Chelmsford) to the port of Boston, ending roughly at Sullivan Square, which is named in his honor. He was deeply involved in the canal, purchasing the necessary land and supervising the construction. At the same time he was also involved in the company formed to build the first bridge across the Charles River connecting Boston to Cambridge, and was instrumental in the development of Boston's first public water supply, a wooden aqueduct from Jamaica Pond. Family and legacy Sullivan's brothers were active participants in the Revolutionary War. John, Daniel, and Ebenezer, all served in the Continental Army. John served with some distinction until he retired from the army to enter New Hampshire politics in 1779; Ebenezer was captured in the Battle of The Cedars in 1776, and spent some time as a captive among the Mohawk, where he was subjected to torture; Daniel was also captured in action and died aboard a British prison ship. Sullivan, Maine is named for his brother Daniel, one of the early settlers of that area, and several places in New Hampshire are named for John. In 1808, while Sullivan was governor, a small fortification now known as Fort Sullivan