Joshua Babcock (1707–1783) was a physician,

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

general,

Rhode Island Supreme Court The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by the Judicial N ...

justice, and postmaster from Westerly, Rhode Island.

Biography

Early life

Babcock was born in Westerly in 1707 to James Babcock and Elizabeth Saunders, who were amongst Westerly's earliest settlers. Babcock became a Seventh Day Baptist as a young man. In 1724 he graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

as Yale's first Rhode Island graduate. He then studied medicine in Boston and London and returned to Westerly to practice medicine in 1734. Around this time he married and purchased the Babcock-Smith House. Babcock later served as a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, serving as an associate justice from May 1747 to May 1749 and chief justice from May 1749 to May 1751 and from August 1763 to May 1764. In May 1758 he was elected a deputy from Westerly to the Rhode Island

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. In May 1759 he was elected speaker of the House of Deputies and served for one year. He left office in May 1761. Babcock joined John Brown, Nicholas Brown, William Ellery, Stephen Hopkins, the Reverend James Manning, the Reverend

Ezra Stiles Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...

and several others as an original fellow or trustee for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the original name for

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Babcock became Westerly's first Postmaster in the 1770s, operating a post office from his home.

Revolutionary War service

Babcock returned as a deputy to the General Assembly in May 1773 and served until May 1777. During the American Revolution, Babcock served as the major general in command of the state militia, beginning in October 1775, and hosted General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

while serving in that capacity in 1776. He was relieved as militia commander in December 1776 by Major General

Joseph Nightingale Joseph Nightingale (26 October 1775 – 9 August 1824) was a prolific English writer and preacher. He was particularly noted for his topographic writing and his interest in shorthand. Life He was born at Chowbent in Atherton, Lancashire and beca ...

. Babcock also served on the War Council, procured equipment for the town's troops, and served as a paymaster. As a legislator, he signed Rhode Island's state declaration of independence on May 4, 1776 before the national Declaration of Independence on July 4. Joshua Babcock was also a friend of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...

and often hosted Franklin when he passed through Rhode Island to Boston on postmaster duties. In May 1779, he was elected one the state's ten assistants which were, effectively, the state's senators in the state General Assembly. He served a single one-year term. Babcock died in 1783 at the age of 76.

Family

Joshua Babcock married Hannah Stanton in 1735 and they had several children: Henry Babcock, Luke Babcock, Adam Babcock, Hannah Babcock, Frances Babcock, Paul Babcock, Amelia Babcock, Sally Babcock, and Harriet Babcock. Babcock married Anna Maxson Babcock after Hannah's death in 1778. Anna died in 1812. He was the great-great-grandfather of John B. Babcock.

Legacy

Babcock's home in Westerly, the Babcock-Smith House, has been preserved and restored and is open to the public.

References

External links

Babcock-Smith House Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Joshua 1707 births 1783 deaths Chief Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Yale College alumni Brown University people University and college founders People from Westerly, Rhode Island Militia generals in the American Revolution Rhode Island militiamen in the American Revolution People of colonial Rhode Island Continental Army officers from Rhode Island Patriots in the American Revolution