Jonathan Blanchard (September 18, 1738 – July 16, 1788) was an American lawyer, farm owner, and statesman from Dunstable, New Hampshire. He was a delegate for New Hampshire to the Continental Congress in 1784. Jonathan was the son of Colonel

Joseph Blanchard Joseph Blanchard (1704–1758) was born in Dunstable, New Hampshire (now Nashua) on February 11, 1704 to Capt. Joseph Blanchard and his wife Abiah Hassell. In 1724 he joined the New Hampshire Militia as a lieutenant and served in Capt. Eleazer ...

(1704–1758) and Rebecca (Hubbard) Blanchard (1710–1774) of Dunstable. He was the sixth of eleven children who lived to adulthood. His father, the Colonel, was also an active leader in New Hampshire as a judge in the Superior Court and member of the Governor's Council. Jonathan was active in the New Hampshire Militia, rising to the rank of major by 1765. That year he married Rebecca Farwell (1739–1811) and they made their home in Dunstable for the rest of their lives. They would have six children: Rebecca (1766), Grace (1768), Sophia (1769), Abigail (1770), Charles (1776), and Elizabeth (1777). As New Hampshire moved toward a revolutionary government, Blanchard was elected first to the Provincial Congress in 1775 and then to the state's House of Representatives in 1776. He served on New Hampshire's Committee of Safety from 1776 to 1778. When a new government was established Blanchard served as the Attorney General for New Hampshire from 1777 until 1782. In 1783 he was named as a delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

but wasn't able to attend. He was re-appointed the following year, and took his seat in the Congress. In 1784 Blanchard was elected to the New Hampshire State Senate. He was also named as Brigadier General of the state's militia, a position he held until his death. He died at home in Dunstable and was buried in the town's burying ground. Dunstable is now named

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...

, and the cemetery is called the Old South Cemetery, located on the Daniel Webster Highway.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Jonathan 1738 births 1788 deaths Continental Congressmen from New Hampshire 18th-century American politicians New Hampshire militiamen in the American Revolution People of colonial New Hampshire People of New Hampshire in the American Revolution People from Hillsborough County, New Hampshire New Hampshire Attorneys General