Nathaniel Scudder (May 10, 1733 – October 17, 1781) was an American

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

, physician, and officer during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He served as a delegate for

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

to the Continental Congress, where he was one of two delegates from New Jersey to sign the Articles of Confederation.

Biography

Scudder was born in Monmouth Court House,

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after t ...

, which later became Freehold Borough, New Jersey. He attended the College Of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

) and graduated in 1751. He then studied medicine before setting up a practice in

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population wa ...

. Dr. Scudder was active in civic and militia affairs. When the revolution split the colonies, he supported the rebel cause. He was a member of the county's committee of safety and represented it in the Provincial Congress held in 1774. That same year he was named lieutenant colonel in the county's first regiment of militia. In 1776 he was elected to a one-year term as Monmouth County's first member of the newly constituted

New Jersey Legislative Council The New Jersey Legislative Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776 until it was replaced by the New Jersey Senate under the Constitution of 1844. History The Legislative Council replaced ...

, and in 1780 he was elected to the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

.''Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1914''; Thomas F. Fitzgerald In 1777, Scudder became the colonel of his militia regiment and was sent as a delegate to the Continental Congress. During the summer of 1778, he was particularly busy and abandoned his medical practice. He split his time between the Congress and militia activities. He led his regiment in the Battle of Monmouth in June. He wrote a series of impassioned letters to local and state leaders urging the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, and when New Jersey's legislature approved them in November, he endorsed them for the state at the Congress. Scudder continued both forms of service for several years. On October 17, 1781, he led a part of his regiment to offer resistance to a British Army foraging party and was killed in a skirmish near

Shrewsbury, New Jersey Shrewsbury is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Centrally located in the Jersey Shore region in the New York Metropolitan area, the borough is an historic bedroom community of New York City. As of the 2010 United States ...

. He is buried in the Tennent Church Graveyard in

Manalapan Township Manalapan Township (, ) is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located within the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the t ...

. Dr. Scudder was the only member of the Continental Congress to die in battle during the Revolutionary War and the last colonel to die in battle.

References

External links

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Nathaniel Scudder
at

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scudder, Nathaniel 1733 births 1781 deaths Continental Congressmen from New Jersey 18th-century American politicians Signers of the Articles of Confederation Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council Members of the New Jersey General Assembly United States military personnel killed in the American Revolutionary War New Jersey militiamen in the American Revolution People from Freehold Borough, New Jersey People from Suffolk County, New York People of New Jersey in the American Revolution Physicians in the American Revolution American Presbyterians Burials in New Jersey People of colonial New Jersey Politicians from Monmouth County, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Physicians from New Jersey Presidents of the Medical Society of New Jersey