Jonathan Russell

Jonathan Russell (February 27, 1771 – February 17, 1832) was a United States representative from Massachusetts and a diplomat who played a notable role in American foreign affairs during the early nineteenth century. He represented Massachusetts’s 11th congressional district in the Seventeenth Congress from March 4, 1821, to March 3, 1823, and was the first chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. A member of the Republican Party, he contributed to the legislative process during one term in office, participating in the democratic governance of a nation still defining its place in the world after the War of 1812.

Russell was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on February 27, 1771, the son of Jonathan Russell and Abigail (Russell) Russell. He attended local schools in Providence and pursued higher education at Rhode Island College, now Brown University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1791 and a Master of Arts degree in 1794. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but chose not to practice, instead turning to commerce at a time when New England’s maritime trade was expanding rapidly.

Entering mercantile pursuits, Russell engaged in business in partnership with Otis Ammidon, importing goods from Europe for sale in the United States. His commercial activities connected him closely with Atlantic trade networks and helped prepare him for later diplomatic service. In 1801 he was appointed United States Collector of Customs for the Port of Bristol, Rhode Island, a federal post that placed him at the intersection of trade regulation, revenue collection, and national policy during the early years of the Jefferson administration.

Russell’s diplomatic career began in earnest under President James Madison. In 1811 he was appointed Chargé d’Affaires in Paris, where he acted as Minister to France following the departure of John Armstrong Jr. and before the arrival of Armstrong’s successor, Joel Barlow. He was soon transferred to Great Britain, serving as Chargé d’Affaires and acting Minister in London when the United States declared war on Britain in 1812. On January 18, 1814, he was appointed Minister to Sweden and Norway, a post he held until October 16, 1818, during which time he managed American interests in northern Europe at a moment of shifting alliances in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1814 he was named one of the five American commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent with Great Britain, bringing the War of 1812 to a close. In recognition of his diplomatic service and public standing, Brown University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree in 1817. After concluding his mission in Scandinavia, he returned to the United States in 1818 and settled in Mendon, Massachusetts.

Upon his return, Russell entered state politics in Massachusetts. He became a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1820 and served as a delegate to the Massachusetts constitutional convention held that same year, participating in debates over the structure and authority of state government in the post-war period. His growing prominence in public affairs led to his election in November 1820 to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from Massachusetts.

In Congress, Russell served in the Seventeenth Congress from March 4, 1821, to March 3, 1823, representing Massachusetts’s 11th congressional district. During this single term, he was appointed chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, becoming the first individual to hold that position. His prior diplomatic experience in France, Great Britain, and Sweden and Norway informed his work on foreign policy questions before the House, and he participated in representing the interests of his Massachusetts constituents during a formative period in the nation’s political development.

Russell remained engaged in national political controversies after leaving Congress. In 1822 he authored a pamphlet attacking John Quincy Adams, his former colleague on the Ghent peace commission, accusing Adams of having favored British interests during the treaty negotiations of 1814. Russell intended this publication to damage Adams’s standing and thereby assist Henry Clay’s prospects in the presidential contest that culminated in the 1824 election. Adams responded with a series of pamphlets that forcefully rebutted Russell’s charges and called his veracity into question. These replies were widely regarded as so thorough and damaging to Russell’s reputation that they gave rise to the expression “to Jonathan Russell” someone—meaning to refute an opponent’s false accusations so decisively as to destroy the accuser’s credibility. Russell also suffered a personal slight in this period: when the Marquis de Lafayette visited the United States in 1824–1825, Russell, who had known Lafayette since 1811, prepared an elaborate reception for him at his Mendon home, scheduled for August 23, 1824. John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State and a close friend of Lafayette, was part of the visiting party and arranged a change in the itinerary without notifying Russell, causing Lafayette to bypass Mendon and travel directly to Providence, an episode that further embarrassed Russell.

In his private life, Russell married twice and was the father of eight children. In 1796 he married Sylvia Ammidon (1773–1811) of Mendon, Massachusetts, with whom he had four children: Amelia, George Robert Russell, Caroline, and Anna. Following Sylvia’s death, he married Lydia Smith (1786–1859) in 1817; they also had four children: Ida, Geraldine, Rosalie, and Jonathan. Russell spent his later years in Massachusetts, maintaining his estate and family connections after his active public career had ended. He died in Milton, Massachusetts, on February 17, 1832, and was interred in the family plot on his estate there.