James Lovell (October 31, 1737 – July 14, 1814) was a Founding Father of the United States and an educator and statesman from

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 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

from 1777 to 1782. He was a signatory to the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...

Early life

Lovell was born in Boston and had his preparatory education at the

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...

. His father John Lovell (1710–1778) was the school's headmaster from 1738 until 1775. James attended

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and graduated in 1756. He then joined his father and taught at the Latin School, while continuing his own studies. He received a Master of Arts degree from Harvard in 1759. Father and son continued their work in the Latin School until it was closed in April 1775, during the

Siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular town ...

in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. While the school produced a number of revolutionary leaders, including

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the ...

and

Samuel Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and ...

, the approaching revolution split father and son. John wrote and endorsed

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

positions, while James became aligned with the Whigs and associated growing rebel sentiment. He was chosen to give an oration to the town the first year after the Boston Massacre, which he delivered at the

Old South Church Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, (also known as New Old South Church or Third Church) is a historic United Church of Christ congregation first organized in 1669. Its present building was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles ...

Following the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

on June 17, 1775, the new military Governor William Howe, ordered the arrest of likely dissidents in Boston. James Lovell was picked up in the sweep and spent nine months in the Boston Stone Jail. General Howe evacuated Boston in March 1776, taking all British troops and Loyalists. James was transported with the British fleet as a prisoner and taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he spent nine months in the jail. His father also sailed with the British fleet to Halifax in March 1776, as part of the general exodus of Loyalists when British forces abandoned the city. In November 1776, James was exchanged for Colonel

Philip Skene Philip Wharton Skene (5 February 1725 in London, England – 10 June 1810 near Stoke Goldington, Buckinghamshire) was a Scottish officer in the British army, New York state "patroon", and a figure in the Saratoga campaign of the American Re ...

. When he got back to Boston in December, he was elected to be a delegate to the Continental Congress, to which he served until 1782.

Congressional career

Lovell served effectively in the Congress during the six years that were critical to 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 Revolut ...

. He was particularly important as a long-term member of the Committee of Foreign Correspondence and that of Secret Correspondence. He signed the Articles of Confederation, endorsing them for Massachusetts on July 9, 1778. During his appointment to the Committee for Foreign Affairs, he created and implemented ciphers for the country. The ciphers he created were somewhat difficult and complex to use as described and referenced by

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

"I have letters from the president and from Lovell, the last unintelligible, in ciphers, but inexplicable by his own cipher." and

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

"If you can find the key & decypher it, I shall be glad, having myself try'd in vain." as expressed in their letters to

Francis Dana Francis Dana (June 13, 1743 – April 25, 1811) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777–1778 and 1784. A signer of the Articles of Confederat ...

of March 1781. In one area his performance was controversial. In 1776 and 1777, there was a growing struggle for influence and command in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

. Lovell became a supporter of

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles ...

in his lobbying quest for command. He encouraged Gates in reporting directly to Congress, in effect going over General Washington's head. This reached its peak when Gates was given command of the

Northern Department The Northern Department was a department of the government of the Kingdom of England from 1660 to 1707 and later the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 until 1782 when its functions were reorganised into the new Home Office and Foreign Office ...

, replacing Philip Schuyler in the summer of 1777. The controversy also extended into his family along political lines as he was a fervent Whig as opposed to his father who was a Loyalist. Lovell was also a frequent correspondent with both John and

Abigail Adams Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; November 22, [ O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She was a founder of the United States, an ...

. In his correspondence to Abigail, he flirted wondering what John was doing with his private time in France. He also used Abigail's pet name of Portia in his correspondence.

Later events

After his term in Congress, Lovell returned to teaching but continued to hold various political offices. He was collector of taxes in Massachusetts from 1784 to 1788 and Customs Officer of Boston in 1778 and 1789. He was appointed as a naval officer of the port of Boston and Charlestown from 1789 and held that position until his death. He died in

Windham, Maine Windham is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 18,434 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It includes the villages of South Windham, Maine, South Windham and ...

(then part of Massachusetts) on July 14, 1814.

Family

His son, James Lovell (1758–1850) served in the Continental Army from 1776 to 1782. After graduating from Harvard in 1776, he joined the 16th Massachusetts regiment as a lieutenant and saw action at

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, co ...

and in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. In 1779, he was assigned as adjutant and major to Light Horse Harry Lee's Southern Legion and fought in the southern campaigns. He is reported to have fought valiantly and was wounded several times. Lovell's grandson was Joseph Lovell, who served as the first Surgeon General of the Army from 1818 until 1836.

References

External links

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Research on James Lovell's Revolutionary War Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovell, James 1737 births 1814 deaths Continental Congressmen from Massachusetts 18th-century American politicians Politicians from Boston People from Windham, Maine Harvard University alumni Collectors of the Port of Boston