Melancton Smith

Melancton Smith ( born May 7, 1744 Jamaica, Queens, New York, † July 29, 1798 in New York City ) was an American officer, merchant and politician.

Life

Melancton Smith was taught at home by his parents. Later he was in Poughkeepsie (New York) do business and pursued a political and military career. He participated as a delegate to the first Provincial Congress of New York on May 22, 1775. After the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, he enlisted in the army. He served in the Continental Line Regiment, which was established on 30 June 1775. He also set up the Dutchess County Minutemen, of which he was the captain. In addition, he was active in the years 1777 to 1778 as an intelligence officer and sheriff of Dutchess County. After the war he moved in 1785 to New York City, where he worked as a trader. In the same year he was elected to the Continental Congress, where he worked until 1787. He then part of the delegation, which was ratified in 1788, the American Declaration of Independence in Poughkeepsie. Smith served 1791/1792 in the New York State Assembly. During this time he was a member of a committee which had to decide on several formal defects in the gubernatorial election of 1792. The decision was in favor of George Clinton. Smith died in 1798 and was on the Jamaica Cemetery ( New York City) is buried.