John PATERSON, Congress, NY (1744-1808)
PATERSON, John, a Representative from New York; born in New Britain, Hartford County, Conn., in 1744; attended the common schools; completed preparatory studies and was graduated from Yale College in 1762; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced in New Britain and Lenox, Mass.; member of the Berkshire convention of 1774 and of the general court that became the first Provincial Congress in 1774; raised a regiment and participated in the Revolutionary War; colonel of the regiment from April to December 1775; colonel of the Fifteenth Continental Infantry January 1, 1776; brigadier general February 21, 1777, and served until the close of the war; brevetted major general September 30, 1783; after the war returned to Lenox, Mass., and was commander of the Massachusetts troops in putting down Shaysâ Rebellion; moved to Lisle, Broome County, N.Y., in 1790; member of the State assembly in 1792 and 1793; county judge of Broome County in 1798 and 1806; member of the committee to revise the constitution of the State of New York in 1801; elected as a Republican to the Eighth Congress (March 4, 1803-March 3, 1805); from 1805 until his death he devoted himself to farming; died in Lisle, N.Y. (now Whitneys Point), July 19, 1808; interment in Lenox Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
