![Unidentified Artist - Daniel Leonard - NPG](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Unidentified_Artist_-_Daniel_Leonard_-_NPG.2008.1_-_National_Portrait_Gallery.jpg)
Daniel Leonard (May 18, 1740 – June 27, 1829) was a lawyer from
colonial Massachusetts
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 ...
and a
Loyalist in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.
Biography
Born in
Norton, Massachusetts
Norton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, and contains the villages of Norton Center and Chartley. The population was 19,202 at the 2020 census. Home of Wheaton College, Norton hosts the Dell Technologies Championship ...
, Leonard was a member of a prominent family who made their fortune from their iron works in
Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. At the 2020 cen ...
. After graduating from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, Leonard began to practice law in Taunton.
During the Revolutionary crisis, the
British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
passed the
Massachusetts Government Act
The Massachusetts Government Act (14 Geo. 3 c. 45) was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, receiving royal assent on 20 May 1774. The act effectively abrogated the 1691 charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and gave its royally-appo ...
, which, among other things, abolished elections for the
Massachusetts Governor's Council
The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Counc ...
and instead called for the councilors to be appointed by the royal governor. Leonard accepted an appointment by Governor
Thomas Hutchinson to this new royal-controlled Council. Massachusetts
Patriots were outraged, and attacked Leonard's house. He fled to British-occupied
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
for safety.
In 1774 and 1775, Leonard, writing under the name "Massachusettensis," wrote a series of letters
in support of royal government that were published in a Loyalist Boston newspaper, the ''Massachusetts Gazette''.
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
, writing as "Novanglus," answered the letters in the ''
Boston Gazette
The ''Boston Gazette'' (1719–1798) was a newspaper published in Boston, in the British North American colonies. It was a weekly newspaper established by William Brooker, who was just appointed Postmaster of Boston, with its first issue release ...
''. The exchange ceased with the
Battles of Lexington and Concord. Many, including Adams, erroneously believed that
Jonathan Sewall
Jonathan Sewall (August 24, 1729 – September 27, 1796) was the last Colonial attorney general of Massachusetts.
He was born in Boston on August 24, 1729 to Jonathan Sewall Sr. and Mary (Payne) Sewall. Sewall's father was an unsuccessf ...
had written the Massachusettensis letters.
During the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List o ...
, Leonard left with the British when they
evacuated Boston in 1776. His property, like that of other Loyalists, was confiscated.
Exiled from Massachusetts, he served as
Chief Justice of Bermuda from 1782 to 1806, and later retired to London. In 1821, he revealed himself to be "Massachusettensis."
References
External links
*
*
*Berkin, Carol. "Leonard, Daniel". ''
American National Biography Online'', February 2000.
*Massachusetts Historical Society, ''The Adams Papers''
The Letters of Novanglus accessed on March 2, 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Daniel
1740 births
1829 deaths
Customs officers
American Loyalists from Massachusetts
Harvard College alumni
Harvard College Loyalists in the American Revolution
Members of the colonial Massachusetts Governor's Council
Politicians from Taunton, Massachusetts
Chief justices of Bermuda