Jonathan Russell

Jonathan Russell (February 27, 1771 – February 17, 1832) was a United States Representative from Massachusetts and diplomat.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island on February 27, 1771, Russell graduated from Brown University (then Rhode Island College) in 1791. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but did not practice. He engaged in mercantile pursuits for a number of years. In 1808 he was appointed Collector of the Port of Bristol.

He was appointed by President James Madison to the Diplomatic Service in France in 1811. He transferred to England, where he was Chargé d'Affaires when war was declared by the United States in 1812. He was Minister to Sweden and Norway from January 18, 1814 to October 16, 1818.

"Jonathan Russell and the Capture of the Guerriere," by Lawrence S. Kaplan in The William and Mary Quarterly,Third Series, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr., 1967), published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, discusses the circumstances of Russell's authorship of a patriotic poem about the famous sea battle found in Russell's private papers (now mainly at Brown University's Library). The article quotes the entirety of the poem, dates it to approximately 1812, and speculates that Russell was motivated to write this anti-British work by the humiliation he had suffered while at the Court of St. James.

Russell was one of the five commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent with Great Britain in 1814, ending the War of 1812. He returned to the United States in 1818 and settled in Mendon, Massachusetts.

He became a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1820 and was elected to the Seventeenth Congress (March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823). He was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Seventeenth Congress).

In 1822, Russell authored a pamphlet accusing John Quincy Adams, one of Russell's former 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' responsive pamphlets were so devastating in impugning Russell's veracity that they engendered the phrase "to Jonathan Russell" someone, meaning to use facts and truth to refute an attacker's falsehoods so effectively that it destroys the attacker's reputation and political career.

Russell died in Milton, Massachusetts on February 17, 1832, and was interred in the family plot on his estate in Milton.

Sources

• Jonathan Russell at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts 1st district Ames Dexter Goodhue Holten Sedgwick Skinner Sedgwick J Bacon Eustis Quincy Ward, Jr. Mason Gorham Webster Gorham Appleton Gorham Lawrence Fletcher Lawrence Winthrop Appleton Winthrop S Eliot Appleton Scudder T Eliot Hall T Eliot Buffinton Crapo Davis Randall Wright Lawrence Treadway Heselton Conte Olver Neal 2nd district Goodhue Foster W Lyman Sedgwick Ward W Lyman Shepard J Crowninshield Story Pickman Reed Pickering Silsbee Barstow B Crowninshield Choate Phillips Saltonstall King Rantoul Fay Crocker Buffinton Ames Harris Long Morse Gillett Churchill Bowles Kaynor Granfield Clason Furcolo Boland Neal McGovern 3rd district Gerry Bourne Coffin Lyman Mattoon Cutler Nelson Livermore White Pickering Nelson Varnum Nelson Osgood Cushing Abbott Duncan Edmands Damrell C Adams Thomas Rice Twichell Whiting Pierce Field Dean Field Ranney L Morse Andrew Walker Thayer R Hoar Washburn Thayer Wilder Paige Foss Casey Philbin Drinan Donohue Early Blute McGovern N Tsongas 4th district Sedgwick Dearborn Thatcher Wadsworth Foster Lincoln Hastings Varnum Richardson Dana Stearns Fuller Everett Hoar Parmenter Thompson Palfrey Thompson Sabine Walley Comins Rice Hooper Frost Abbott L Morse Collins J O'Neil Apsley Weymouth Tirrell Mitchell Wilder Winslow Stobbs Holmes Donohue Drinan Frank Kennedy III 5th district Partridge Bourne Freeman L Williams Dwight Ely Mills Lathrop Sibley Davis Lincoln Hudson Allen Appleton Burlingame Appleton Hooper Alley Butler Gooch Banks Bowman L Morse Hayden Banks Hoar Stevens Knox Ames J Rogers E Rogers B Morse Cronin P Tsongas Shannon Atkins Meehan N Tsongas Markey Clark 6th district Thatcher Leonard Reed Sr. J Smith Taggart Allen Locke Kendall Grennell Alvord Baker Ashmun G Davis Upham T Davis Alley Gooch Banks Butler Thompson Loring Stone Lovering Lodge Cogswell Moody Gardner Lufkin Andrew G Bates W Bates Harrington Mavroules Torkildsen Tierney Moulton 7th district Leonard Ward Leonard Bullock Bishop Mitchell Barker Baylies Turner Baylies Hulbert Henry Shaw Dwight Allen Grennell Briggs Rockwell Goodrich Banks Gooch Boutwell Brooks Esty Hoar Tarbox Butler Russell Stone Cogswell Everett Barrett Roberts Phelan Maloney W Connery L Connery Lane Macdonald Markey Capuano 8th district Grout Thatcher Ames Otis Eustis L Williams Green Gardner Green Reed Baylies Sampson Hobart Lathrop Bates Calhoun Adams Mann Wentworth Knapp Train Baldwin Hoar JMS Williams Warren Claflin Candler Russell Allen Greenhalge Stevens McCall Deitrick Dallinger Thayer Dallinger Healey Goodwin Macdonald O'Neill Kennedy II Capuano Lynch 9th district Varnum Bishop Dean Wheaton Reed Folger Reed Dwight Briggs Jackson Hastings H Williams Hale Fowler Little Dewitt Thayer Bailey Walker Washburn Crocker Hoar Rice T Lyman Ely Burnett Candler G Williams O'Neil Fitzgerald Conry Keliher Murray Roberts Fuller Underhill Luce Russell Luce Eliot Gifford Nicholson Keith McCormack Hicks Moakley Lynch Keating 10th district Goodhue Sewall Read Hastings Upham J Allen Brigham Wheaton Morton F Baylies Bailey HAS Dearborn W Baylies Borden H Williams Borden Burnell Grinnell Scudder Dickinson Chaffee Delano Dawes Crocker Stevens Seelye Norcross Rice Russell J Walker McEttrick Atwood Barrows Naphen McNary O'Connell Curley Murray Tague Fitzgerald Tague Douglass Tinkham Herter Curtis Martin Heckler Studds Delahunt Keating 11th district Bradbury Bartlett Cutler Stedman A Bigelow Brigham B Adams Russell Hobart Richardson J Adams Reed Burnell Goodrich Trafton Dawes Chapin  Robinson Whiting Wallace Coolidge Draper Sprague Powers Sullivan Peters Tinkham Douglass Higgins Flaherty Curley Kennedy O'Neill Burke Donnelly 12th district Dearborn Parker Lee S Thatcher Skinner Larned Bidwell Bacon Dewey Hulbert Strong Kendall L Bigelow Baylies Hodges J Adams Robinson Rockwell Crosby Morse Lovering Powers Weeks Curley Gallivan McCormack Keith Studds 13th district Wadsworth Seaver Ruggles Dowse Eustis Reed Randall Simpkins Greene Weeks Mitchell Carter Luce Wigglesworth Burke 14th district G Thatcher Cutts King Holmes Lovering Foss Harris Gilmore Olney Frothingham Wigglesworth Martin 15th district Wadsworth Ilsley Whitman Widgery Bradbury Whitman Greene Leach Martin Gifford 16th district S Thatcher Cook Tallman Davis Brown Orr Hill T Thacher Walsh Gifford 17th district Bruce Chandler Gannett F Carr Wood J Carr Wilson Kinsley 18th district Wilson Rice Parker 19th district Parker Conner Gage Cushman 20th district Hubbard  Parris Lincoln At-large Cobb