Philemon Dickinson Philemon Dickinson ( April 5 , 1739February 4 , 1809 ) was an American lawyer and politician from Trenton , New Jersey . As a brigadier general of the New Jersey militia , he was one of the most effective militia officers of the American Revolutionary War . He was also a Continental Congressman from Delaware and a United States Senator from New Jersey . Dickinson was born in Maryland . When he was one , his family moved to Delaware . He was educated by a private tutor until he went to the University of Pennsylvania , from where he graduated in 1759 . He then studied law , and was admitted to the bar , but never practiced . In 1767 , Dickinson moved to Trenton , New Jersey . On 14 July 1767 , he married his first cousin , Mary Cadwalader ( 1746 – 1781 ) . They had two children ; Samuel ( 1770 – 1837 ) and Mary ( 1768 – 1822 ) . He served as an officer during the American Revolutionary War , rising to the rank of Major General in the New Jersey Militia . In 1782 and 1783 , he represented Delaware at the Continental Congress . In 1783 - 84 he was elected to the New Jersey Legislative Council from Hunterdon County where he served as Vice - President of Council both years . He was a member of the commission that selected the site for the national capital in Washington , D . C . in 1784 . When William Paterson resigned from the United States Senate , Dickinson was chosen by New Jersey to finish Paterson ' s term . He served in the senate from November 13 , 1790 to March 4 , 1793 . After his service in Congress , he returned to look after his estates until he died in 1809 , and was buried at Friends Burying Ground in Trenton . Commanding general of the New Jersey militia during the Revolutionary War , a delegate to the Continental Congress , and a U . S . Senator , Philemon Dickinson was born at " Crosiadore , " near Trappe , Maryland on April 5 , 1739 , a younger brother of John Dickinson . After graduation in the first class from the college of Philadelphia in 1757 , he studied law , but never practiced . In 1767 he moved to an estate , " The Hermitage , " near Trenton , New Jersey . At the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775 he was commissioned a colonel of the Hunterdon County militia . In 1776 he was elected as a delegate to New Jersey ' s Revolutionary provincial congress . In January 1777 Dickinson led 400 of his militia in a raid on a British foraging party near Somerset Court House , New Jersey , capturing about forty wagons of supplies and several prisoners . In June 1777 he was appointed major general in command of all New Jersey militia , a post he held throughout the rest of the war . Dickinson ' s militia took part in the battle of Monmouth in 1778 , helping obstruct the retreat of the British to New York . When his cousin John Cadwalader dueled General Thomas Conway on July 4 , 1778 , Dickinson was Cadwalader ' s second . Dickinson represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress in 1782 - 83 , and the following year served on the commission to choose the site for a national capital . He was elected by the New Jersey legislature as a U . S . Senator in 1790 - 93 , and after that retired to his estate , " The Hermitage , " where he died on February 4 , 1809 . Revolutionary Generals By S . Maner