John Jeffries was born in Boston, Massachusetts back in 1745. I have no information about his parents or his upbringing that is until he graduated from Harvard College getting his medical degree from the University of Aberdeen. He was a key witness for the defense for the trial that ensued after the Boston Massacre.
He is credited with being among America’s first weather observers, taking daily weather measurement in 1774. In fact, National Weatherperson’s Day is celebrated in his honor. Amherst College has a collection of his papers if you are ever close you need to stop by and take a look at them.
He lived in England from 1776 to 1790 returning to Boston to open a private practice staying there until his death in 1819. During his lifetime, he served the British Army in Nova Scotia and New York during the American Revolution. However, let me tell you what he’ll be known for other than being a Loyalist to the British. Well he accompanied Jean-Pierre Blanchard in 1785 in the first ever balloon flight across the English Channel. During the flight he dropped a letter from the balloon also making it the first and oldest piece of airmail in existence.
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