DWIGHT, Joseph [1703-1765] -- American soldier and jurist, Brigadier General

DWIGHT, Joseph, soldier, born in Dedham, Massachusetts, 16 October 1703; died in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, 19 June 1765. His father, Captain Henry Dwight, of Hatfield, Massachusetts, was grandson to John Dwight, of Dedham, Massachusetts, from whom all of the [Dwight] name in this country are descended. Joseph was graduated at Harvard in 1722, and was a merchant in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1723-31, but removed to Brookfield, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar in 1733. He was eleven times a member of the colonial council between 1731 and 1751, and its speaker in 1748-9. In 1739 he was judge of the court of common pleas of Worcester County. He had become a colonel of militia, and on 20 February 1745, was made brigadier general, and was second in command at the attack on Louisburg in that year, where he led in person the "Ancient and honorable company of artillery of Boston", and was commended for his courage and skill by General Pepperell.

In 1756 he commanded a brigade of Massachusetts militia, at Lake Champlain, in the second French war. He had removed in 1752 to Stockbridge, where he was for several years trustee of Indian schools, and in 1753-61 was chief justice of the Hampshire County court of common pleas. He went to Great Barrington in 1758, and on the formation of the County of Berkshire in 1761 became judge of its court, and also judge of probate, holding these offices till his death. General Dwight was a man of fine personal appearance, dignified in bearing, and much esteemed throughout the colony. APPLE  
 

1723-1731

1731-1751

1733

1739

1745

1745

1745/02/20

1748-1729

1752

1753-1761

1756

1758

1761

• Grandson: ¤DWIGHT, Henry Williams