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Page 1 James Lovell 1737-1814 James Lovell was an instance of a patriotic son in conflict with a Tory refugee father. John Lovell, his father, was a schoolmaster in Boston, Massachusetts. he was a good scholar, and a man of considerable force of character. Many of the principal men of the Revolution had been under his tuition. He was a decided loyalist, and in 1777 he accompanied the British troops to Halifax, where he died in 1778, at the age of seventy years, his son, James Lovell, was born in 1737, and graduated at Harvard College in 1756. For many years afterward he was a distinguished teacher of the Latin school, being associated with his father. From the commencement of the colonial troubles, James Lovell was a firm Whig. In consequence of his patriotic zeal, General Gage put him in prison, and he was carried by the British troops to Halifax, where he was for a long time kept in close confinement. The father was there a Tory refugee; the son a prisoner, suffering for his devotion to his country's cause.    At length, Mr. Lovell was exchanged, and he returned to Boston to receive the congratulations of his fellow-citizens on his fidelity. He was immediately elected to a seat in the Continental Congress in which station his services were manifold and exceedingly valuable. He was a member of the committee of foreign correspondence, and unwearying in attention to his duties. Before the establishment of the constitution of Massachusetts, in 1786, Mr. Lovell was collector of customs for the port of Boston, and afterward was naval officer for Boston and Charleston until his death, in 1814, at the age of seventy-six years. Mr. Lovell was truly a devoted patriot, and an example of the sacrifice of domestic peace for the general good. Source: Marshall, James V.. The United States Manual of Biography and History. Philadelphia: James B. Smith & Co., 1856. Pages 133-134.     Designed and Edited by John Vinci Last modified January 2, 2004