Jesse Root (December 28, 1736 – March 29, 1822) was an American minister and lawyer from

Coventry, Connecticut Coventry ( ) is a New England town, town in Tolland County and in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,235 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The birthpla ...

. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

he served on the Connecticut

Council of Safety A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

and in the Connecticut militia. Originally appointed as a lieutenant colonel in Peekskill in 1777, he rose to the rank of Adjutant-General of the Connecticut Line. He was a delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

for

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

from 1778 until 1782, and sat as chief justice of the

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...

from 1796 to 1807 as well as a state court judge. He served in the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each ...

and served in the Connecticut Constitutional Convention. He was also a member of the First Company, Governor's Foot Guard, serving as its commandant between May 1798 and October 1802. His grandson was Austin Cornelius Dunham.

References

External links

A short text on the origin of Connecticut's laws by Root (1798)
1736 births 1822 deaths People from Coventry, Connecticut Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Connecticut state court judges Chief justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Continental Congressmen from Connecticut Connecticut militiamen in the American Revolution People from colonial Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Candidates in the 1788–1789 United States elections {{Connecticut-state-judge-stub