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WISNER, Henry, a Delegate from New York; born near Florida, Orange County, N.Y., in 1720;
completed academic studies; invested in real estate and built a gristmill near Goshen, N.Y.; assistant
justice of the court of common pleas; member of the colonial assembly 1759-1769; delegate to the
New York provincial convention in 1775; Member of the Continental Congress 1775-1776; voted
for the Declaration of Independence, but was absent at the time it was signed, attending the Provincial
Congress in New York, to which he had just been elected; member of the Provincial Congress in
1776 and 1777; erected three powder mills in the vicinity of Goshen, Orange County, N.Y., and
supplied powder to the Continental Army during the Revolution; one of the committee that framed the
first constitution of New York in 1777; member of the commission to provide for fortifying the Hudson
River in 1777 and 1778; served in the State senate 1777-1782; established an academy at Goshen in
1784; member of the first board of regents of the University of the State of New York 1784-1787;
served as a member of the State ratification convention in 1788; died in Goshen, N.Y., on March 4,
1790; interment in the Old Wallkill Cemetery, Phillipsburg, N.Y.
BibliographyBurdge, Franklin. A Memorial of Henry Wisner:
The Only New Yorker Who Voted for the Declaration of Independence. [New York?:
N.p., 1878?].
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