Noah Phelps Maj . Gen . Noah Phelps ( Simsbury , Connecticut , 22 Jan 1740 - Simsbury , Connecticut , 4 Nov 1809 ) , was the son of Lt . David Phelps and Abigail Pettibone Phelps , and was descended from the English immigrant William Phelps ) . The family settled in Simsbury , Connecticut before 1750 , and General Phelps became an active and influential man . He was a Yale University graduate , a justice of the Peace , judge of Probate for twenty years , and was a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to ratify the Federal Constitution . Biography . Noah Phelps was the fourth of nine children born to David Phelps and Abigail Pettibone . David Phelps was the son of Joseph Phelps and his third wife , Mary Case . David married Abigail Pettibone on April 25 , 1731 and died of smallpox on December 9 , 1760 . Noah married Lydia Griswold of Windsor , Connecticut on 10 June 1761 in Simsbury , Connecticut . They had six children : Noah Amherst ( 3 May 1762 ) , Lydia Griswold ( 25 Feb 1764 ) , Chandler Conway ( 22 Oct 1766 ) , George P . ( 18 Aug 1773 ) , Elisha Phelps ( 16 Nov 1779 ) , and a son ( 18 Nov 1783 , died at birth ) . He held a variety of essential positions , including Surveyor of Lands in the greater Simsbury area in 1772 and 1783 , Justice of the Peace for Hartford County in 1782 , Judge of Probate in 1787 , and Major - General of the Militia , 1796 - 1799 . Noah Phelps was a leader within the Simsbury community . He chaired the town meeting that passed the Articles of Confederation in January 1778 , and in November 1787 , the meeting picked him and Daniel Humphrey Esq . , as delegates for the Convention of the State of Connecticut , set to convene in Hartford in January and vote on whether or not to adopt the federal constitution . They were directed to oppose it , but " one of the delegates though voting as instructed by the town , took occasion to state that his personal convictions led him to favor the proposed constitution . " This might or might not have been Phelps . Phelps died in Simsbury 4 November 1809 , honored and respected . On his tombstone is inscribed : " A Patriot of 1776 . To such we are indebted for our Independence . " Revolutionary War . Early in the American Revolutionary War , Phelps was chosen as a member of " Committee of War for the expedition to capture Ft . Ticonderoga and Crown Point . " The committee considered the advisability of taking Fort Ticonderoga , then occupied by the British , and in which there was stored a large amount of heavy artillery and other war implements . Capt . Phelps , Barnard Romance , Ephraim Buell , and Capt . Edward Mott , with others , composed this committee , Capt . Mott acting as chairman . They raised £300 ( in today ' s value , € or US $ ( / 1 . 7896 ) round 2 ) from the Public Treasury , though guaranteed by several patriotic gentlemen . This fund was placed in the hands of Capt . Phelps and Barnard Romance , with the request that they should go north and press forward this project . This resulted in the great and bloodless victory — the capture of Fort Ticonderoga . Captain Phelps gathered key intelligence in preparation for the taking of the Fort . Sent out to reconnoiter the southern part of Lake Champlain , he stopped overnight at a farm house some little distance from Fort Ticonderoga . Some British soldiers occupied rooms adjoining Phelps , where they were having a dinner party . Phelps heard them discuss the condition of the fort , and the position taken by the rebels , as they styled the people . Early the next morning , Phelps gained entrance to the fort disguised as a peddler seeking a shave . " Pretending that his object was to get shaved , he avoided suspicion , and had an opportunity to ascertain the construction , strength , and force of the garrison . And he had the good fortune to elude detection , though as it afterwards appeared , his presence had to excite mistrust before he left the garrison . " While returning through the fort , the commander accompanied him talking with him about the rebels , their object and movements . Phelps , upon seeing a portion of the exterior wall in a dilapidated condition , remarked that it would afford a feeble defense against the rebels , if they should attack in that quarter . The commander replied , " Yes , but that is not our greatest misfortune . All our powder is damaged , and before we can use it , we are obliged to dry and sift it . " Phelps soon after left the fort , hiring a boatman to take him down the lake in a small boat . He entered the boat in full view and under the guns of the fort . He requested the boatman to row hard that he might terminate the journey as soon as possible . The boatman then requested him to take an oar and assist . This Phelps declined to do , being in full sight of the fort , by saying he was no boatman , because as a peddler he would not usually know how to handle an oar . After rounding a point that blocked their view from the fort , Phelps quickly took up an oar , and being a strong active man as well as a good oarsman , he excited the suspicion of the oarsman by his efficient work . The boatman remarked with an oath , ' You have seen an oar before now , sir . ' This excited the suspicion of the boatman at the time that he was not a good and loyal citizen , but a rebel , however his fear of Phelps ' superior strength prevented any attempt to carry him back to the fort . This the boatman confessed to Capt . Phelps after the surrender of the fort . Capt . Phelps returned safely to his command , and reported the intelligence he had gained to General Ethan Allen . The information he gathered enabled the attacking force to plan a surprise dawn raid that resulted in the bloodless taking of the fort . Trenton and Princeton . At about this time Phelps raised a militia company mostly at his own expense , and was appointed captain . He served under Col . Ward , was at Fort Lee , joined General George Washington ' s army , and was at the battles of Trenton and Princeton . Later he acted as commissary , and after the war was chosen Maj . Gen . of militia . As commissary , he supplied troops with all manner of supplies , including guns and bayonets , clothing , " victualing and liquor , " and lodgings for his troops and horses .