Jonathan Loring Austin
2nd Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth[1]
In office
1806–1808
GovernorCaleb Strong
Preceded byJohn Avery, Jr.
Succeeded byWilliam Tudor
10th Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts[2]
In office
1811–1812
Preceded byThomas Harris
Succeeded byJohn T. Apthorp
Member of the
Massachusetts Senate[2]
Personal details
BornJanuary 2, 1748[1][2]
Boston, Massachusetts[1][2]
DiedMay 10, 1826 (1826-05-11) (aged 78)[1][3]
Boston, Massachusetts[1]
Political partyDemocratic-Republican Party
Spouse(s)Hannah Ivers,[4] (March 20, 1756[4] −1818) m. Boston April 4, 1782.[5]
ChildrenJames Treacothie Austin[1]
Alma materHarvard College; 1766.[2]
Military service
AllegianceUnited States of America
[1][2]
Branch/serviceContinental Army
RankMajor[1][2]
Battles/warsAmerican Revolution[1][2]

Jonathan Loring Austin (January 2, 1748 – May 10, 1826) was an American revolutionary, diplomat and politician who served as the second Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and the tenth Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts. He was the father of Massachusetts Attorney General James Treacothie Austin.[1]

Early life

Austin was born on January 2, 1748, in Boston, Massachusetts.[2] He graduated from Harvard College in 1766.[1] After he graduated, Austin moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and became a merchant there.[1]

American Revolutionary War

When the war started Austin became a Major in Langdon's Regiment, and later an aid to General John Sullivan.[1]

Massachusetts Board of War

Austin was the secretary to the Massachusetts Board of War until October 1777,[1] when he was sent to Paris by Massachusetts to announce to Benjamin Franklin and his associates the news of John Burgoyne's surrender at the Battle of Saratoga.[6]

Diplomatic mission

Franklin soon afterwards sent him on a secret mission to England, where he met many members of the opposition and furnished them with much information concerning American affairs. The trip was full of incident, and, says one of Franklin's biographers (Morse), "brings to mind some of the Jacobite tales of Sir Walter Scott's novels." He carried dispatches to Congress from the United States Commissioners in Paris early in 1779, and in January 1780, was dispatched to Europe to secure loans for Massachusetts in Spain and Holland.[6]

Capture and release

That same month Austin was captured by the British while on this mission.[1] He was later released. He failed to secure the loan and he returned in the autumn of 1781.[1]

Marriage

Austin married Hannah Ivers,[4] the daughter of James[4] and Hannah (Trecothick) Ivers,[4] in Boston, on April 4, 1782.[5]

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth

Austin served as Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth for two years, from 1806 to 1808.[7]

Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts

Austin served as Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts from 1811 to 1812.[7]

References

  • Julie Helen Ott, "Lydia and Her Daughters: A Boston Matrilineal Case Study," NEHGS Nexus, Vol. IX, No. 1, pg. 25 (1992).
  • Cutter, William Richard, ed., Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume IV (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1908), 1717.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 public domain Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1888). "Austin, Jonathan Loring". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. I. New York: D. Appleton. p. 120.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wharton, Francis (1889), The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Volume I, Washington, DC: United States. Dept. of State: GPO, p. 620
  3. ↑ Wharton, Francis (1889), "The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Volume I", United States. Dept. of State: GPO, Washington, DC, p. 621
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Cutter, William Richard (1908), "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume IV", Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York City, p. 1717
  5. 1 2 Otto, Julie Helen (February–March 1992), "Lydia and Her Daughters: A Boston Matrilineal Case Study", NEHGS Nexus, vol. IX, Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, p. 25, archived from the original on June 28, 2009, retrieved June 29, 2010
  6. 1 2 "Austin, Jonathan Loring" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
  7. 1 2 Who Was Who in American History - the Military. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1975. p. 20. ISBN 0837932017.
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