DWIGHT, Joseph

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 names 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.


________________________________________