[1][2] His positions included membership and chairmanship of the Massachusetts Governor's Council and representative in both the House and Senate.
He ardently supported the Whigs, gaining infamy among Royalists; his house was plundered by the British when they withdrew from Boston in 1776.
Later, he became active in politics, lived in a roomy house on Purchase Street beside John Adams, and worked as an architect and builder designing many notable buildings in Boston, including the Brattle Street Church and repairs and/or modifications on the Old State House in about 1772.
[11] He attended Old South Church from 1786 until his death in 1809, and was a good friend of John Hancock.
Their son Thomas Dawes (July 8, 1757 – July 21, 1825) was a jurist and an alumnus of Harvard University, graduating in 1777, served in the Massachusetts ratifying convention for the United States Constitution in 1787-1788, and served in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1792 to 1802; he married Margaret Greenleaf.