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Lieutenant Colonel David Humphreys


Propositus

Lieutenant Colonel Dav. Humphreys

Represented Propositus, considered Connecticut service. Represented in the New Jersey Society. Began his service in the Revolutionary War in the Connecticut Militia in 1776. Captain of the 6th Regiment CT Line on 1 Jan 1777. Fought at the burning of Danbury, CT and the Raid on Sag Harbor. Brigade Major to General Parsons 29 Mar 1777. Major and Aide de Camp to General Putnam on 18 Dec 1778. Aide de Camp to General Greene on 18 May 1780. Transferred to the 4th Regiment CT Line 1 Jan 1781. Transferred to the 2nd Regiment CT Line 1 Jan 1783. Lt. Colonel and Aide-de-Camp to General Washington 23 Jun 1780. Resigned from service on 1 Apr 1783. To his care the standards taken under the capitulation at Yorktown were consigned. Presented a sword by the US Congress for his service in the war. In 1784 was sent to Paris as Secretary of the Negotiating Committee for Peace, and remained for two years. Born in Derby (present Ansonia), CT on 10 Jul 1752 and died in New Haven, CT on 21 Feb 1818. Yale graduate 1774. Doctor of Law. Member of the Connecticut General Assembly 1786-1789. In 1786 was in Command of the CT State Militia during Shay’s Rebellion. In 1790 was sent abroad as a secret agent. America’s first Ambassador to a foreign country as Minister to Lisbon, Portugal 1791-1797 and Minister to Madrid, Spain 1797 to 1802. Commissioner for Algerian Affairs 1793. Member of the Connecticut State House of Representatives 1812-1814. During the War of 1812 served as Captain-General of the Veteran Volunteers. The founder of one of America’s first “factory villages”, a paternalistic community for his orphan boy laborers in modern day Seymour, CT. Principal of the public school in Wethersfield , CT from 1772-1773. Member of the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. A fellow of the Royal Society. Author of twelve sonnets which were published in his “Miscellaneous Works”, 1804. Author of “Life of General Israel Putnam”. One of the “Hartford Wits”. Brought the first 100 Merino sheep to America from Spain on his return in 1802. The founder and first President of the Agriculture Society of Connecticut. Married Anne Frances Bulkeley in 1797. [Sources: M; H; (98); Find A Grave Memorial; “American Authors- 1660-1900”, by Kunitz. Pic: Find A Grave Memorial; Derby Historical Society; Wikipedia.]

Successors

The Reverend Canon Frank Landon Humphreys STD, MusD, Ld'H
Great-great-grandnephew
(1858 — 1937)
Admitted 1897