William West ( Rhode Island politician ) William West ( c . 1733 – 1814 ) was an American militia general in the American Revolutionary War , Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court , Deputy Governor of Rhode Island , and anti - federalist leader . West also was a party in the first U . S . Supreme Court decision in 1791 , " West v . Barnes " . Early life . West was born in North Kingstown , Rhode Island , in about 1733 to Alice Sweet and John West , a great - grandson of Pilgrim , George Soule . West ' s father was a large landowner and his mother sold " jonnycakes " during the American Revolution . West had been thought to be a descendant of Francis West of Duxbury , but modern DNA testing has proven he is descended from Francis West who married Susannah Soule , a completely unrelated West Family line . In about 1755 West married Eleanor Brown and served in the French and Indian War around this time . He eventually moved from North Kingstown to Scituate , Rhode Island , and purchased a farm which Governor Stephen Hopkins had previously owned . West set up a prosperous tavern in 1758 and was an active farmer and molasses trader . Soon after moving to Scituate , West became a deputy ( representative ) and was also elected as a representative of the town in a general convention held at East Greenwich , September 26 , 1786 . Between 1760 and 1785 , West was elected 12 times as a representative . Service during the American Revolution . At the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775 , Colonel West was placed second in command of the Rhode Island Militia under Esek Hopkins , and West served as a brigadier general from 1775 to 1777 . From January to March 1776 , West assumed command at Rhode Island ( Aquidneck Island ) which was then under siege from the British warships in Narragansett Bay . As general , his main task was to root out Tories who were supplying the British . In March , he resigned the command at Newport in disgust after the Rhode Island legislature freed several imprisoned Newport Tory leaders , such as Joseph Wanton , Jr . . When the British army finally occupied Newport in December 1776 , West retreated to Bristol with the militia . During the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778 , General West led the Rhode Island militia in the unsuccessful invasion of Aquidneck Island . His troops served as reserves for the regular Continental troops and provided cover during the retreat . West played an active role in the affairs of his town throughout the Revolution . On May 4 , 1776 , as a Scituate representative , West signed Rhode Island ' s declaration of independence , which preceded the American Declaration of Independence by two months . He was put in charge of raising troops in the Scituate in 1777 and served on various committees concerning the British blockade , army blankets , salt rationing and firearms . West was made again made brigadier general of the Providence County brigade in 1779 . General West was also purported to have invested in privateers during the war . Two cargoes were lost , which supposedly damaged his finances . West was also several times chosen as the moderator of the town , as he was allegedly a man of " intelligence , and a marked degree of enterprise . " During the war , West was elected Deputy Governor of Rhode Island and served from May 1780 to May 1781 . As Deputy Governor , West served on a committee which was integral to the formation of the state of Vermont . Westfield , Vermont , was named after Governor West in 1780 because of his support for Vermont statehood as a legislator . West was also granted land in Vermont for his political services , which he sold in 1785 because of his financial concerns . Judge of Supreme Court and Anti - federalist leader . West served as a Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court ( then called the Superior Court of Assize , and General Gaol Delivery ) from 1787 to 1789 . While a judge , West was also a leader in the rural opposition to the adoption of the Constitution , known as the " Country Party ( Rhode Island ) " . The party supported honoring paper money as legal tender , and the party was in power from 1786 through 1790 . West led nearly 1 , 000 armed , rural citizens to Providence to protest an ox roast celebration and reading the Constitution on the 4th of July in 1788 ( shortly after the ninth state had ratified it ) . Fortunately , a compromise between the federalists and anti - federalists was reached , and civil war was averted ( the federalists agreed to celebrate only independence , not the adoption of the Constitution ) . Resistance to the Constitution , however , remained strong , and Rhode Island was the last of the 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution in 1790 . Financial troubles . Although West had been a prosperous farmer before the war , the depreciation in value of continental currency ruined him financially . In its first decision , the U . S . Supreme Court ruled in " West v . Barnes " ( 1791 ) that William West could not use continental currency to pay off his mortgage because of a procedural problem . West was forced to sell his farm to his sons - in - law , Gideon Smith , Jeremy Phillips , Job Randall , and Joseph Battey resulting in further litigation after his death in " West v . Randall . " West was forced into debtor ' s prison for a period and died in relative poverty in 1814 . West was buried on his farm in Scituate near the Danielson Highway . No depictions of West are known to exist , but he was described as " a man rather above the middle height , a bony , sinewy man , long favored , with a prominent nose . "