John Gorham Palfrey (1796-1881) graduated from Harvard University in 1815. He studied theology at Harvard, and then accepted the pastorate of Boston's Brattle Street Congregational-Unitarian Church in 1818. He resigned in 1830 to accept the chair of sacred literature at Harvard and remained there through 1839 as dean of faculty and as one of the three preachers at University Chapel. From 1835 to 1843 he served as editor of the North American Review and early allied himself with the anti-slavery movement. In 1842 he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature and served until 1843. From 1844 to 1848 he was secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and also served in Congress, 1847-1849. He served as Boston's postmaster, 1861-1867, and attended the anti-slavery congress in Paris as an American delegate.

Source:

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/p333m.html