Deane, Silas, 1738-1789

DEANE, Silas, a Delegate from Connecticut; born in Groton, Conn., December 24, 1737; received a classical training, and was graduated from Yale College, New Haven, Conn., in 1758; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1761 and commenced practice in Wethersfield, Conn., afterward engaged in mercantile pursuits in the same town; deputy of the general assembly 1768-1775; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1776; ordered to France in March 1776 as a secret political and financial agent, and in September was commissioned as Ambassador with Franklin and Lee; negotiated and signed the treaty between France and the United States in Paris on February 6, 1778; personally secured the services of Lafayette, De Kalb, and other foreign officers; recalled in 1778 and investigated by Congress for financial misconduct; returned to Europe to secure documents for his defense; died on board ship sailing from Gravesend to Boston, September 23, 1789; interment in St. Leonard's Churchyard in Deal, on the Kentish coast, England; in 1842 Congress voted to pay his heirs a restitution.

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/31/1775 CT Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1774 CT Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>09/01/1774 CT Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<p>Silas Deane (January 4, 1738 [O.S. December 24, 1737] – September 23, 1789) was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association,and then became the first foreign diplomat from the United States to France.</p>

<p>Near the end of the American Revolutionary War, Congress charged Deane with financial impropriety, and the British intercepted and published some letters in which he had implied that the American cause was hopeless. After the war, Deane lived in Ghent and London and died under mysterious circumstances while attempting to return to America</p>

<p>Deane was born on January 4, 1738 [O.S. December 24, 1737] in Groton, Connecticut, to blacksmith Silas Deane and his wife Hannah Barker. The younger Silas was able to obtain a full scholarship to Yale and graduated in 1758. In April 1759, he was hired to tutor a young Edward Bancroft in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1761, Deane was admitted to the bar and practiced law for a short time outside of Hartford before moving to Wethersfield, Connecticut, and establishing a thriving business as a merchant.</p>