James Logan (statesman)
| James Logan | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
October 20, 1674 Lurgan, County Armagh, Ireland |
| Died | October 31, 1751 (aged 77) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | statesman, scholar |
| Known for | Founder and Trustee of University of Pennsylvania |
James Logan (October 20, 1674 – October 31, 1751) was an Irish-born colonial American statesman and scholar who served as the fourteenth Mayor of Philadelphia and held a number of other public offices.
Logan was born in Lurgan, County Armagh, Ireland, to an Irish father and Scottish mother of Quaker persuasion. He served as colonial secretary to William Penn. He was a founding trustee of the College of Philadelphia, the predecessor of the University of Pennsylvania.
James Logan was born at Lurgan on October 20, 1674. His parents were Patrick Hogan (1640-1700) and Isabella, Lady Hume (1647-1722), who married in early 1671, in Midlothia, Scotland. His father had a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh, and originally was an Anglican clergyman before converting to Quakerism, or the Society of Friends. Although apprenticed to a Dublin linen-draper, he appears to have received a good classical and mathematical education, and to have acquired a knowledge of modern languages not common at the period. The War of 1689–91 obliged him to follow his parents, first to Edinburgh, and then to London and Bristol, England where, in 1693, James replaced his father as schoolmaster. In 1699, he came to the colony of Pennsylvania aboard the Canterbury as William Penn's secretary.
Logan is described as "tall and well-proportioned, with a graceful yet grave demeanour. He had a good complexion, and was quite florid, even in old age; nor did his hair, which was brown, turn grey in the decline of life, nor his eyes require spectacles."
Later, he supported proprietary rights in Pennsylvania. After advancing through several political offices, including commissioner of property (1701), receiver general (1703), clerk (1701), and member (1703) of the provincial council, he was elected mayor of Philadelphia in 1722. During his tenure as mayor, Logan allowed Irish Catholic immigrants to participate in the city's first public Mass. He later served as the colony's chief justice from 1731 to 1739, and in the absence of a governor of Pennsylvania, became acting governor from 1736 to 1738.
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