Patriot; born in
Goshen, N. Y., about 1725; was an assistant justice of the court of common pleas in 1768; representative from
Orange county in the New York General Assembly in 1759-69; member of the Continental Congress in 1774, and of the
Congress which adopted the
Declaration of Independence.
He studied powder-making and erected three powder-mills in
Orange county, from which a great part of the powder used in the
Revolutionary War was supplied.
He also aided the patriot cause at the time of the war by having spears and gun-flints made, by repairing the roads in
Orange county; and by erecting works and mounting cannon on the
Hudson River.
He was one of the committee that framed the first constitution of New York in 1777; was State
Senator in 1777-82; and a member of the State convention of 1788, which ratified the national Constitution.
He died in
Goshen, N. Y., in 1790.
