{{Infobox officeholder |honorific-prefix = |name =Jonathan Loring Austin |honorific-suffix = |image = |imagesize = |smallimage = |caption = |order = |office = 2nd Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth |governor = Caleb Strong |predecessor = John Avery, Jr. |successor = William Tudor |term_start = 1806 |term_end = 1808 |office2 = 10th Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts |predecessor2 = Thomas Harris |successor2 = John T. Apthorp |term_start2 = 1811 |term_end2 = 1812 |office3 =Member of theMassachusetts Senate |predecessor3 = |successor3 = |term_start3 = |term_end3 = |birth_date =January 2, 1748 |birth_place =Boston, Massachusetts |death_date = |death_place =Boston, Massachusetts |alma_mater =Harvard College; 1766. |party = Democratic-Republican Party |profession = |spouse =Hannah Ivers, (March 20, 1756 −1818) m. Boston April 4, 1782.<ref name="OttoNEXUSVIXNo1p25">{{Citation | last = Otto | first = Julie Helen | chapter-url = http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/services/articles_7732.asp | chapter = Lydia and Her Daughters: A Boston Matrilineal Case Study | title = NEHGS Nexus | volume = IX | issue = 1 | page = 25 | publisher = New England Historic Genealogical Society | location = Boston, Massachusetts | date = February–March 1992 | access-date = June 29, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090628144910/http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/services/articles_7732.asp | archive-date = June 28, 2009 | url-status = dead }}</ref> |children=James Treacothie Austin |residence = |allegiance= United States of America |branch=Continental Army |serviceyears= |rank=Major |commands= |unit= |battles= American Revolution |awards= }} Jonathan Loring Austin (January 2, 1748 – May 10, 1826) was an American revolutionary, diplomat and politician who served as the second Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and the tenth Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts. Austin was the father of Massachusetts Attorney General James Treacothie Austin. Early life Austin was born on January 2, 1748, in Boston, Massachusetts. Austin graduated from Harvard College in 1766. After he graduated from Harvard, Austin moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and became a merchant there. American Revolutionary War When the war started Austin became a Major in Langdon's Regiment, and later an aid to General John Sullivan. Massachusetts Board of War Austin was the secretary to the Massachusetts Board of War until October 1777, when he was sent to Paris by Massachusetts to announce to Benjamin Franklin and his associates the news of John Burgoyne's surrender at the Battle of Saratoga. Diplomatic mission Franklin soon afterwards sent him on a secret mission to England, where he met many members of the opposition and furnished them with much information concerning American affairs. The trip was