Remembered as a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, this early American political figure also served in the Continental Congress and fought in the American Revolution as a member of the New Hampshire Militia. After the war, he served in the New Hampshire Superior Court.
Before entering political life as a New Hampshire provincial congressman, he worked as a merchant.
As the New Hampshire Militia's Brigadier General, he participated in the successful Saratoga and Stillwater battles against British General John Burgoyne.
Born in Kittery, Maine, he later settled in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with his wife (and cousin), Catherine Moffat.
He and Welsh-born New Yorker Francis Lewis were both signers of the Declaration of Independence.