Lester was born in Griswold, Connecticut, a descendant of Jonathan Edwards. He was of a roving disposition and traveled widely in the United States and Europe. He was admitted to the bar in Mississippi and later was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian church. In 1840, he addressed antislavery meetings in Massachusetts and was elected a delegate to the London antislavery conference of that year. 1] He did not return to the United States after the close of the conference but remained in England. His The Glory and Shame of England, published in New York in 1841, criticized England's antislavery professions. In 1842, President Tyler appointed Lester United States Consul at Genoa.