Jonathan Russell (February 27, 1771 – February 17, 1832) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and diplomat. He served the 11th congressional district from 1821 to 1823 and was the first chair of the

House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affair ...

Early life

Jonathan Russell was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

on February 27, 1771, the son of Jonathan and Abigail (Russell) Russell. He attended the local schools and graduated from Rhode Island College (now

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

) with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1791 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1794. He studied law and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

, but did not practice. He engaged in the mercantile business in partnership with Otis Ammidon, importing goods from Europe for sale in America. In 1801 he was appointed U.S. Collector of Customs for the Port of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Diplomatic career

In 1811, Russell was appointed by President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

Chargé d'Affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

and in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and he acted as Minister to France following the departure of John Armstrong Jr. and prior to the arrival of Armstrong's successor,

Joel Barlow Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator William ...

. He soon transferred to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he was

and acting Minister when war was declared by the United States in 1812. He was Minister to Sweden and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

from January 18, 1814 to October 16, 1818. Russell was one of the five commissioners who negotiated the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

with Great Britain in 1814, which ended the War of 1812. In 1817, Russell received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from Brown University. He returned to the United States in 1818 and settled in

Mendon, Massachusetts Mendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,228 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mendon is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, ...

. He became a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

in 1820, and also served as a delegate to that year's state constitutional convention.

Member of Congress

In November 1820, Russell was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. He served in the Seventeenth Congress (March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823), and was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the first individual to hold this position.

Feud with John Quincy Adams

In 1822, Russell authored a pamphlet accusing

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

, one of Russell's fellow negotiators at Ghent in 1814, of having favored British interests in those treaty talks. Russell intended the pamphlet to further Henry Clay's presidential candidacy against Adams in the 1824 election. Adams's responsive pamphlets were so devastating in impugning Russell's veracity that they engendered the phrase "to Jonathan Russell" someone, meaning to refute an attacker's falsehoods so effectively that it destroys the attacker's reputation. When the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

visited the United States in 1824 and 1825, his itinerary while in Massachusetts included an August 23, 1824 visit to Russell's home in Mendon. Russell had known Lafayette since 1811, and decorated his home for a lavish celebration with the anticipation of renewing their friendship. As

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

and a longtime friend of Lafayette, Adams was part of Lafayette's traveling party. On the day of the planned visit, Adams humiliated Russell again by having the schedule changed without informing Russell, so that Lafayette bypassed Mendon and traveled directly to Providence.

Later life

Russell died in

Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Milton is an immediate southern suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Milton is located in the relatively hilly ...

on February 17, 1832. He was interred in the family plot on his estate in Milton.

Family

In 1796, Russell married Sylvia Ammidon (1773–1811) of Mendon. In 1817, he married Lydia Smith (1786–1859). He was the father of eight children, four with each wife: *Amelia * George Robert RussellJacques Downs, ''The Golden Ghetto'' (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1997), 190. *Caroline *Anna *Ida *Geraldine *Rosalie *Jonathan

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Jonathan 1771 births 1832 deaths Brown University alumni Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden Politicians from Milton, Massachusetts 19th-century American diplomats Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century Massachusetts politicians 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court