Moses Dunbar | |
---|---|
Born | 3 June 1746
[1] Wallingford, Connecticut, Great Britain |
Died | 19 March 1777 Hartford, Connecticut, United States | (aged 30)
Cause of death | Hanging |
Buried | |
Allegiance | Great Britain |
Years of service | 1776 |
Children | 7 |
Moses Dunbar (3 June 1746 – March 19, 1777) was a Connecticut land-owner and officer in a Loyalist regiment during the American Revolutionary War. He was one of the few men in the state of Connecticut to be convicted of high treason and executed. [note 1]
Moses Dunbar was born in Wallingford, Connecticut on June 3, 1746 to John and Temperance Dunbar, [2] the second of sixteen children. In 1764, Moses married Phebe Jerome of Farmington, Connecticut, [3] with whom he had seven children. Soon after marriage, Moses and Phebe joined the Church of England, [4] causing a rift with Moses' Congregationalist father.
On May 26, 1776, Dunbar's wife Phebe died after months of illness. [5] Dunbar subsequently married Esther Adams. [6] In September, Dunbar traveled to Long Island and in October, he accepted a commission as a Captain in the King's American Regiment, a British provincial regiment which was raised for Loyalist service. [7] He then went back to Farmington, Connecticut, and was trying to persuade some other young men to enlist in the British army when he was arrested, and his royal commission and a list of Loyalist recruits was found in his pocket. [8]
He was indicted for high treason, tried in the superior court in Hartford, Connecticut, and on January 23, 1777, found guilty. [9] on March 19, he was executed on the gallows which stood near the present site of Trinity College. [10] Dunbar is buried in the Ancient Burying ground, in Hartford. [11]