DeWitt, Charles, 1727-1787

Dates:

Birth 1727-04-27

Death 1787-08-27

Gender:

Male

Nationality: Britons, Americans

Language: English

Biographical notes:

Charles DeWitt (April 27, 1727 – August 27, 1787) was an American statesman and miller from the U.S. state of New York. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress.

Born in Kingston in the Province of New York, DeWitt attended school there and pursued classical studies. He helped his family operate a flour mill in Greenkill (in what is now Rosendale, New York). He was first elected to the New York General Assembly to represent Ulster County in 1768. He was returned to that seat in every election until the Assembly was replaced in the American Revolution by a Provisional Congress for the colony in 1775. That year he was one of the members who voted to approve the work of the Continental Congress. As the revolution drew near, and the Ulster militia was expanded, he was named Colonel of the 2nd Ulster Militia regiment on December 21, 1775.

DeWitt served in the New York Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1777 while continuing his militia duties. In the New York Provincial Congress he served on the committee that drafted the state's first constitution. He also served on the Committee of Safety. After active warfare slowed, he was elected to the New York Assembly under the new government. He served in the assembly from 1781 to 1785 and from 1785 to 1787. The assembly sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1781 and 1784. Clinton died in Kingston and is interred in the Dutch Reformed Cemetery in Hurley, New York.