Lesley, Jr., James

Flourished: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

James Lesley Jr., was a newspaper correspondent, government clerk, and diplomat. Little is known about Lesley's early life and education. He was a newspaper correspondent of the North American and United States Gazette. In July 1860, Lesley made a tour of the Midwest, stopping in Springfield, Illinois, where he met Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln became president, Simon Cameron, another acquaintance of Lesley's, made Lesley chief clerk of the U.S. War Department. In March and again in August 1861, Lincoln appointed Lesley U.S. Consul for Lyon, France. In November 1861, Lesley became U.S. Consul for Nice, France. He remained consul at Nice until at least January 1865.

Michael Burlingame, With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860-1865 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000), 209, n140; James Lesley Jr. to Abraham Lincoln; Simon Cameron to Abraham Lincoln; Appointment of James Lesley Jr. as Consul at Lyons, France; Appointment of James Lesley Jr. as Consul at Lyons, France; Appointment of James Lesley Jr. as Consul at Nice, France; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1861 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1862), 4, 101; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1865 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1866), 4; James Lesley to Abraham Lincoln.