Re: James Lovell 1737-1814
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In reply to:
James Lovell 1737-1814
Jo Lorant 9/05/99
My ancestor James Lovell was born 31 Oct 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts, son of John and Abigail (Green) Lovell, and died 14 Jul 1814 in Windham, Maine. He was a 1756 graduate of Harvard, and married 7 Nov 1760 to Mary Middleton.
It was John Lovell who on 14 Mar 1742 delivered the first puslished address at Boston's famed Faneuil Hall. In that speech he spoke of "truth, of justice, of loyalty, of honor, of liberty," but when the Revolution came, he was a Tory, and evacuated to Halifax with the British when they abandoned Boston.
He was head for many years of Boston Latin School, and although he was a Tory, he trained many of Boston's leading patriots, including Sam Adams, John Hancock, and his own son James.
The story is told that during the occupation of Boston, a British ordinance officer, one Col. Cleveland, was taken with one of John Lovell's daughters, and in order to win her favor, had given her younger brother a position. At Bunker Hill, when the time came for the British to use their cannon, whether through incompetence or design, the balls on hand proved to be too large, from which circumstance the Patriots gained much.
On 2 Apr 1771, James Lovell, having been chosen by a committee of the citizens of Boston, gave the first of a series of annual speeches at Faneuil Hall in memory of the Boston Massacre.
Following the battle of Bunker Hill, James Lovell was accused of spying for the patriots and was jailed by the British. Correspondence took place between James Lovell, George Washington, and John Hancock regarding a possible exchange of prisoners, but it failed to be accomplished, and when the British left Boston, James Lovell was taken to continue his confinement in Halifax. Finally, in Nov 1776, Lovell was exchanged for Governor Skene of Ticonderoga. The next month, he was elected to represent Massachusetts at the Continental Congress.
In Congress, he developed a partiality for General Gates, and became a most outspoken opponent of General Washington, until it was clear that Washington would come out on top, at which time Lovell came around to his side. While he was wholly devoted to Congress during his five years there, never once returning to Boston to visit his family, his love of intrigue and tendency to partisanship continued strong and hindered his personal advancement.
He was one of the signers of the Articles of Cenfederation which preceded the Consititution of the United States.
He was an active member of the committee on foreign affairs. Being one of its few members who spoke French, he was much in demand to translate for the many French officers who clamored for comissions in the Continental Army. Other members of the committee came and went, and often he was the only member.
In 1784, he was appointed receiver of Continental taxes, and in 1778 and 1789 was collector for the Boston port. From 1790 until his death he was the naval officer of Boston.
His son Joseph was an officer in the Revolution. A grandson, Joseph Lovell, became surgeon-general of the United States, and a great-grandson, Mansfield Lovell, was a Confederate general.
Further particulars can be found in _Dictionary of American Biography,_ 1933, edited by Dumas Malone, and in J S Loring's 1852 work, _The Hundred Boston Orators._
Can anyone tell me about James Lovell's siblings, in particlar the one who ensnared Col. Cleveland?