American patriot and soldier, born in Northampton, MA, on the 20th of May 1706. He was lieutenant-colonel in 1755, and succeeded Ephraim Williams in command of his regiment after the death of the latter in the Lake George campaign; was delegate to the provincial congress of Massachusetts in 1774–75; fought as a private at Bunker Hill; declined an appointment as senior brigadier-general by the Continental Congress; and headed a large force for the relief of General Washington in 1776; died in Peekskill in the following year.
