John Leverett

Sir John Leverett was a significant figure in the politics of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Great Britain during the latter half of the 17th century. He was a resident of lands in Boston’s old West End neighborhood (now Beacon Hill) on the North Slope.

John Leverett was born in Great Britain in 1616, and lived there until his family emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony (MBC) in 1633. His father became an alderman in Boston, and was closely involved in acquiring land currently composing the state of Maine for the colony. As Leverett entered adulthood he became involved in trade and political issues surrounding religion in the MBC and joined the colony’s Artillery Company. 

By the 1640s Leverett was negotiating on trade issues with French Acadian Governor Charles de la Tour and assisting the MBC in diplomacy with Native American tribes. After a few years back in England campaigning in the English Civil War, Leverett returned to the MBC all the more convinced of the need for religious tolerance, and became ever more involved in colony politics. He became a representative to the colony’s general court in 1651, and briefly served as Speaker of the House before serving five terms in the general court and leading the colonial militia. 

In 1652 Leverett became involved in land surveys that led him to become highly interested in developing Maine, and he invested in the area heavily. Soon afterwards, he was part of the diplomatic delegation sent to New Amastradam by the MBC to discuss the relations between English and Dutch colonies during the First Anglo-Dutch War. While there he took careful records of the colonies’ defenses, and later traveled to the Commonwealth of England (a short-lived byproduct of the English Civil War) where he advocated for military action against the Dutch colony, in part to strengthen British trade in the Americas. Between 1655 and 1662 he also served as the MBC’s agent to the Commonwealth of England and Great Britain in turn, and was able to secure an unusual degree of autonomy due to his close relationship with the (now infamous) Oliver Cromwell during his government. During this period he also spent a few years as governor of occupied Nova Scotia during colonial conflicts with the French Empire, covering much of the occupation’s costs himself. 

By 1663 Leverett had risen to prominence in Boston. He was a major-general in the Massachusetts militia, and a frequent deputy to the general court. He improved Boston’s fortifications, kept the peace as unruly settlers of modern-day Maine and New Hampshire resisted Massachusetts rule, and contributed to some letters harshly rebuking increased royal oversight by King Charles II (Charles held the title King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. Note: Though the English crown no held virtually no French lands, they continued their claim on France up to the commencement of the Napoleonic Wars.). In 1671 he became deputy governor of the MBC, and became governor the following year. During his tenure he fought to maintain the colony’s independence and led it through King Philip’s War. He continued to advocate for religious tolerance; leaving a mixed record that included some anti-Quaker laws and the pro-Baptist ones that allowed them to worship openly, though they were removed from the colony shortly after his death. He did not live to see the colony’s charter revoked less than five years after his death in 1679.

Leverett’s remains are interred at Boston’s King’s Chapel Burial Ground in Tomb 30.