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See Also in
Notorious Lives

Benedict Arnold

Charles Lee.

Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives

Benjamin Church

by Jack H. Westbrook

American colonist and spy

Major offense: Criminal correspondence with the enemy British

Active: 1774-1775

Locale: Massachusetts

Sentence: Life in prison, later commuted to voluntary exile

Early Life

Benjamin Church was the son of Benjamin Church, Sr., a merchant of Boston, and was the grandson of another Benjamin Church, who was a colonel in the colonial forces during King Philip’s (Metacom’s) War in 1675. The young Church attended Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard College in 1754. He studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Pynchon and continued his studies in London. While there, he married Hannah Hill. Upon his return to Boston, he soon built a fine reputation as a physician and surgeon.

Treasonous Career

In addition to his medical practice, Church was a published poet, philosopher, orator, and newspaper editor. He was a member of both the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts and of the Sons of Liberty, together with John and Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and others. Church was rather extravagant in his personal life, having built an elegant country house in Raynham near Boston in 1768 and also maintaining a mistress. Apparently this lifestyle was supported with periodic payments by the British for his spying activities. On the other hand, Church was the first physician on the scene following the Boston Massacre and was also a participant in the Boston Tea Party.

Apparently, it was upon Church’s information that the British marched to seize colonial supplies at Concord, which resulted in the Battle of Lexington and Concord (1775). Later Church was named the first surgeon general of the Continental Army. During a trip to occupied Philadelphia, supposedly to obtain needed medicines for the army, Church met with British general Thomas Gage. A communication in cipher from Church to Gage—forwarded by Church’s mistress to Major Kane of the British army in Boston—was intercepted, was deciphered, and led to Church’s arrest and court-martial. It was later deduced that Church had begun spying for and communicating with the British perhaps as early as 1774.

Curiously, Church also had connections with two other notorious individuals. When Benedict Arnold offered in 1775 to capture Ticonderoga, it was Church who endorsed the plan and secured for Arnold a commission as colonel to carry it out. Also, Charles Lee was one of those serving on the examining board for Church’s court-martial.

Legal Action and Outcome

At his 1775 court-martial, Church was sentenced to life imprisonment “and debarred from the use of pen, ink, and paper.” He was subsequently confined to jail at Norwich, Connecticut. While there, he became seriously ill and as a consequence was allowed on May 13, 1776, to return on parole to Massachusetts. His subsequent petition for voluntary exile to the West Indies was approved, but the vessel on which he departed in 1778 was lost at sea and never heard from again.

Impact

Benjamin Church goes down in history along with those, such as Benedict Arnold and Charles Lee, who will be remembered by Americans as traitors to the revolutionary cause. Had Church’s treachery not been discovered early, he might have had a substantial impact on the outcome of the War for Independence, because of his outstanding reputation and involvement with leading American politicians. As a result of the disclosure of his treachery and his subsequent early demise, however, he had little contemporary impact and has virtually disappeared from popular history.

Further Reading

1 

French, Allen. General Gage’s Informers. 1932. Reprint. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1968. The primary study that shaped twentieth century assessments of Church, based on Paul Revere’s reminiscences of Church’s treasonous activities, Church’s performance as director of the Continental Army hospital, and the patriots’ response to the captured letter. French concludes, after having discovered several letters from Church to Gage, that Church was truly a traitor.

2 

Kiracofe, David. “Dr. Benjamin Church and the Dilemma of Treason in Revolutionary Massachusetts.” New England Quarterly 70, no. 3 (1997): 443-462. Analyzes Church’s behavior in light of the lack of treason laws in his day, his background (he was from a prominent Massachusetts family), his status as a Whig, and the pained reactions of his colleagues. Concludes nevertheless that he was guilty of treason.

3 

Norwood, William Frederick. “The Enigma of Dr. Benjamin Church: A High-Level Scandal in the American Colonial Army Medical Service.” Medical Arts and Sciences 10, no. 2 (1956): 71-93. A substantial analysis of why Church undertook his treasonous activities.

4 

Walker, Jeffrey B. Devil Undone: The Life and Poetry of Benjamin Church, 1734-1778. New York: Arno Press, 1982. Looks beyond the treason to assess Church’s entire career and varied talents.

Citation Types

MLA 9th
Westbrook, Jack H. "Benjamin Church." Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives, edited by Carl L. Bankston III, Salem Press, 2007. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLN_1120.
APA 7th
Westbrook, J. H. (2007). Benjamin Church. In C. L. Bankston III (Ed.), Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Westbrook, Jack H. "Benjamin Church." Edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2007. Accessed March 21, 2026. online.salempress.com.