Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons ( May 14 , 1737 – November 17 , 1789 ) was an American lawyer , jurist , general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War , and a pioneer to the Ohio Country . Parsons was described as " Soldier , scholar , judge , one of the strongest arms on which Washington leaned , who first suggested the Continental Congress , from the story of whose life could almost be written the history of the Northern War " by Senator George F . Hoar of Massachusetts Parsons was born in Lyme , Connecticut , the son of Jonathan Parsons and Phoebe ( Griswold ) Parsons . At the age of nine , his family moved to Newburyport , Massachusetts , where his father , an ardent supporter of the First Great Awakening , took charge of the town ' s new Presbyterian congregation . Parsons graduated from Harvard College in 1756 and returned to Lyme to study law in the office of his uncle , Connecticut governor Matthew Griswold ( governor ) . He was admitted to the bar in 1759 , and started his law practice in Lyme . In 1761 , he married Mehitabel Mather ( 1743 – 1802 ) , a great - great - great - granddaughter of Rev . Richard Mather . Well - connected politically , he was elected to the General Assembly in 1762 , where he remained a representative until his removal to New London . Revolutionary activist . Actively involved in the resistance against British forces on the eve of the Revolution , he was a member of New London ' s Committee of Correspondence . In March 1772 , he wrote to Massachusetts leader Samuel Adams , suggesting a congress of the colonies : " I take the liberty to propose for your consideration " , he wrote , " whether it would not be advisable in the present critical situation to revive an institution which formerly had a very salutary effect – I mean an annual meeting of commissioners from the colonies to consult on their general welfare . " Parsons went on to suggest that the time for discussing colonial independence from Britain was at hand : " The idea of inalienable allegiance to any prince or state , is an idea to me inadmissible ; and I cannot but see that our ancestors , when they first landed in America , were as independent of the crown or king of Great Britain , as if they hade never been his subjects ; and the only rightful authority derived to him over this people , was by explicit covenant contained in the first charters . " Military career . In April 1775 , immediately after the battles of Lexington and Concord , Parsons , along with colleagues in the Connecticut legislature , began promoting a project to take Fort Ticonderoga from the British , securing commitments of both public and private funds to underwrite the expedition . Like most active politicians of the period , Parsons served as a militia leader . He was appointed Major of the 14th Connecticut , Militia Regiment in 1770 . In 1775 , he was commissioned Colonel of the 6th Connecticut Regiment , a new regiment raised " for the special defence and safety of the Colony " . In June he was ordered to lead his regiment to Boston , where he fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill . He remained in Boston until the British evacuated the city in March 1776 . In August 1776 Congress appointed Parsons Brigadier General in the Continental Army . He was ordered to New York with his brigade of about 2 , 500 men . Stationed in Brooklyn , Parsons was in the thick of the fighting with British troops under Lord Sterling at Battle Hill on August 17 , 1776 . He took part in the Council of War on August 29 , at which it was decided to retreat from New York . Parsons successfully transported his men from Long Island , joining the main body of the army as it withdrew from the city . While in New York , Parsons played a central role in the American efforts to destroy the British fleet . David Bushnell , an inventor from Connecticut , had devised a submarine called the " Turtle " which he planned to use to place torpedo es on British ships . Parsons selected his brother - in - law , Captain Ezra Lee , to undertake this risky mission . Lee succeeded in reaching the British flagship Eagle undetected , but was unable to attach the torpedo to its hull . The bomb exploded , much to the consternation of the British , but without causing any harm to the ship . After the retreat from New York , Parsons ' brigade was assigned to General Israel Putnam ' s division north of the city . He fought in the battle of White Plains . In January 1777 , he returned to Connecticut to help recruit the Connecticut Line to bolster depleted Continental forces . He led raids on Loyalist enclaves on Long Island , and took part in efforts to defend Connecticut towns against raids by British forces under General William Tryon . He organized the raid led by Return Jonathan Meigs against Sag Harbor in retaliation for Tryon ' s raid on Danbury , and led a failed assault on Setauket , New York in August 1777 . In the winter of 1777 – 78 , Parsons took command of West Point , and began building its fortifications . At the end of 1778 , he joined Connecticut troops at winter quarters in Redding . In December 1779 , Parsons took command of Putnam ' s Division , and spent the following months recruiting , training , and trying to engage British General Sir Henry Clinton in battle . The high point of this period was the discovery , in September 1780 , of Benedict Arnold ' s treacherous scheme to surrender West Point to the British . Parsons served on the board of officers which tried Arnold ' s accomplice , Major John André , and ultimately sentenced him to death . On October 23 , 1780 Parsons was promoted to Major General . In the winter of 1781 he helped suppress the mutinies of soldiers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey , and took part in efforts to clear out Tory militias in Westchester , north of New York . After months of containing the British troops in New York , American forces , now bolstered by French reinforcements , departed for Virginia . Parsons and his troops were left behind to keep the British contained . In July 1782 , following the British surrender at Yorktown , Virginia , Parsons – broken physically and financially – tendered his resignation to Congress . Forty - five years old , he had served continuously since the Lexington Alarm of 1775 . Civilian life . On the eve of the war , Parsons had moved his family to Middletown , Connecticut , which was then a prosperous port on the Connecticut River . He returned there during the summer of 1782 , hoping to revive his law practice , his political career , and his depleted finances . Something of a celebrity , Parsons was elected to the legislature , became involved in organizing the Connecticut branch of the Society of the Cincinnati , and was appointed by Congress to help with Indian diplomacy on the western frontier . In March 1787 , Parsons became a director of the Ohio Land Company , a scheme that enabled ex - Revolutionary officers to trade their pay certificates for Ohio lands . Parsons played a leading role in persuading Congress to sell land to the company , and then jockeyed for appointment to a leading position in the territory . Though aspiring to the governorship — which was later awarded to General Arthur St . Clair — Parsons was appointed Chief Justice . In the midst of this , Parsons was also an active member of the Connecticut Convention for adopting the U . S . Constitution . Frontier jurist . In March 1788 , Parsons and his son Enoch , who had been appointed Registrar and Clerk of Probate , set out for the Northwest Territory . They arrived at Marietta , Ohio — a settlement of some fifty houses — in May 1788 . Parsons was one of the early pioneers to the Northwest Territory . Lacking a clergyman , Parsons filled in as leader of sabbath services . During the following months , Parsons busied himself with surveying the Ohio Company ' s lands and purchasing choice parcels for himself and his family . On November 1 , 1789 , Parsons wrote to his wife in Connecticut from Pittsburgh , stating that he was about to " set out for Lake Erie to survey the Connecticut lands ( Connecticut Western Reserve ) . " A letter written by Richard Butler , dated November 25 , 1789 , relates the circumstances of Parsons ' death : Parsons ' body was found the following May and was buried with the expectation that it would be more suitably interred . Because of the series of mishaps , the location of his burial was lost . The General now lies in an unmarked grave on the banks of the Beaver River in Pennsylvania . Parsons ' children . Parsons ' surviving children included :