JAMES MITCHELL VARNUM

Varnum, James Mitchell (1748-1789), (brother of Joseph Bradley Varnum), a Delegate from Rhode Island; born in Dracut, Middlesex County, Mass., December 17, 1748; was graduated from the College of Rhode Island, Warren, R.I. (later Brown University, Providence, R.I.), in 1769; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1771 and commenced practice in East Greenwich, R.I.; served in the Revolutionary Army, and was colonel of the “Kentish Guards” in 1774 and of Varnum’s Rhode Island Regiment in 1775; commissioned colonel of the Ninth Continental Infantry in 1776; brigadier general of State troops December 12, 1776; brigadier general in the Continental Army February 21, 1777, and was honorably discharged March 5, 1779; appointed major general of State militia in May 1779; resumed the practice of law in East Greenwich, R.I.; Member of the Continental Congress 1780-1781, and 1787; appointed a judge of the United States Court in the Northwest Territory in 1787; moved to Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, in 1788, and died there January 10, 1789; interment in Mound Cemetery.
Parents: Samuel Varnum, Hannah Mitchell
Spouse: Martha Chile
Born: 5 Dec 1748 in Warren, Bristol, Massachusetts
Died: 10 Oct 1837 in Bristol, Newport, Rhode Island
Marriage: 8 Feb 1770 in Warren, Bristol, Massachusetts

Sources:
United States Federal Census
Vital Records
The Political Graveyard
Submitted by Deborah Crowell