MY DEAR SIR:-Miss Ogden has the goodness to be the bearer SILAS DEANE. 2 Folio 39 Софий In the writing fo S.B.W. time SIR: Silas Deane to Samuel Adams. Ebenezer sillerian (Circular) and Bishop. WETHERSFIELD, 13th June, 1776. Folio 2 You have seen the Resolutions of our Brethren West- Towns are holding warning Meetings,Resolutions are forming, сориа 22nd instant, at Wethersfield or Middletown, as shall be most agree- I am with great Esteem, Gentlemen, SILAS DEANE. PHILADELPHIA, April 17, 1778. 779] DEAR COL.:—I hope to see you in a few days; I shall therefore Repeated in say only that I propose to set out for Camp next Tuesday at the 9.341 farthest, but if you arrive there, pay no regard to this, but come on Wishing you success, I am, my Dear Col., Yours, S. DEANE. From Mrs. Lamb's History of the City of New York, p. 70. "A secret Congressional Committee, of whom John Jay and Franklin were conspicuous members, despatched Silas Deane, of Connecticut, to France, on a mission of the utmost delicacy,-that of learning how far assistance might be expected from that Nation, in case the Colonies should form themselves into an independent State. "Deane was an accomplished, college-bred man, of elegant manners and striking appearance, accustomed to a showy style of living, equipage and appointment, and a natural diplomat. He was [Chairman of the Committee of Safety in Connecticut, and his residence was the rendezvous of nearly all the public characters of the period. William Livingston speaks of it as Hospitality Hall,' and Lossing describes it as the Webb House.' "Silas Deane married the widowed mother of Samuel B. Webb, in 1764. The Webb House,' in Wethersfield, was where Washington and Rochambeau met in 1881, and arranged the campaign against Cornwallis in Virginia. The suites of the two commanders, consisting of forty-five persons each, were distributed among the people of Wethersfield. Only Washington and Rochambeau slept in the great double house, with its hall in the centre, and rooms on each side, with wall decorations of rich, crimson velvet paper. "Samuel B. Webb, afterwards General, was descended in the direct line from Richard Webb, who came to Boston from Gloucestershire, England, in 1632, and in connection with Hooker, Hopkins and Willys, settled Hartford in 1635. He was wounded in the battle of Bunker Hill, immediately after which, at the age of twenty-one, he was appointed Aid-de-Camp to Putnam; and in June, 1776, was made private Secretary and Aid-de-Camp to Washington, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was the father of General J.. Watson Webb, and the grandfather of General Alexander S. Webb, President of the New York City College." The Historical Magazine for June, 1880, published by Barnes & Co., 111 William Street, and edited by John Austin Stevens, Esq., contained the following biographical sketch by Mr. Stevens, well known as one of the most accomplished historians of our country, in everything relating to Revolutionary affairs. I should have mentioned sooner that while Washington would not consent to my father's exchange out of turn, he appointed him Commissary General for the exchange of prisoners, the duties of which station he performed until he himself was exchanged. [From the Historical Magazine of June, 1880.] GENERAL SAMUEL BLATCHLEY WEBB, COLONEL IN THE CONNECTICUT LINE AND BREVET BRIGADIER GENERAL IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY. The family of Webb, of Connecticut, of whom Colonel Samuel Blatchley Webb, of the Connecticut line of the Continental Army was one, was a branch of that of the Webbs of Molcomb, County Dorset, England, to which arms were granted on the 17th June, 1577. Richard, the first emigrant, appears in the old New England records as one of the settlers of Cambridge in 1632. This body of men composed the Braintree Company, known as Mr. Hooker's company, which in 1634 sent out messengers "to discover Connecticut river, intending to remove their town thither; and in the summer of 1630 one hundred strong men, women and children traveled over a hundred miles through a hideous and trackless wilderness and sat down at Hartford. Richard Webb was no doubt one of this adventurous party. His name appears as one of the original proprietors of Hartford in 1639, and in many positions of trust. A few years later he removed to Stamford, of which he was also one of the first settlers. Here he died in 1676, a gentleman of standing in the colony."" With regard to his descendants, genealogists differ; but superior credence must be given to the record of Hinman in his catalogue of names of the first Puritan settlers of Connecticut, which agrees in the main with the traditions and records of the family. Samuel Blatchley Webb, the subject of the present memoir, the sixth in descent (all of his immediate ancestors being of the name of Joseph), from Richard, the first settler, was born at Wethersfield December 3d, 1753. He was the son of Joseph + Griepan 4 Webb and Mehetabel Nott his wife, who, after her husband's death in 1762, was married on the 2d November, 1763, to Silas Deane of Wethersfield. Although young Webb was never graduated from any college, his correspondence shows that he received a thorough education and a literary training uncommon to the period. This no doubt he owed to the care of his step-father, Mr. Deane, who was himself graduated from Yale in 1758. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Silas Deane was a leading spirit in the Connecticut Colony. He represented it in the first Continental Congress in 1774, of which he was one of the early promoters. Later he was entrusted with many important commissions. Part of his extensive correspondence is preserved in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society. His letters to his wife are full of minute detail, relating to persons and events, charming in their natural and picturesque style. Young Samuel Webb appears to have been high in the favor of Mr. Deane, and to have visited him in Philadelphia while Congress was in session. In a letter to his brother Joseph, 7th April, 1774, he speaks of dining with the Congress to the number of 400 the day preceding. On his return home he was requested by Mr. Deane to address him on all matters of importance. One of his letters presents an interesting picture of the spirit of the youth of the day, and shows the consequence in which the writer was already held among them. It is dated October 10, 1774. The sisters of young Webb were then in Boston, which he describes as the "present seat of noise and confusion." General Gage, the military governor, had already commenced to treat the town as under martial law, and was erecting fortifications and mounting cannon to command the harbor and enforce the Port Act. Webb was alarmed for the safety of his sisters, and was about setting off to bring them to a place of safety. The spirit of Connecticut was thoroughly aroused. "On the first hostility, such as bloodshed by the troops in Boston, this colony (writes Webb) will most undoubtedly be immediately under arms and march for Boston." The same letter supplies some interesting details of his own connection with military affairs. "The Light Sarah Gräterk.) bott. |