Joshua Babcock
| Joshua Babcock | |
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| 2nd and 10th Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court | |
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In office January 1749 – May 1751 |
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| Preceded by | Gideon Cornell |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Hopkins |
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In office August 1763 – October 1763 |
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| Preceded by | Joseph Russell |
| Succeeded by | John Banister |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1707 Westerly, Rhode Island |
| Died | 1783 |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Hannah Stanton (2) Anna Maxson |
| Children | Henry, Luke, Adam, Hannah, Frances, Paul, Amelia, Sally, Harriet |
| Parents | James Babcock and Elizabeth Saunders |
| Alma mater | Yale College, 1724 |
| Occupation | Physician, postmaster, chief justice |
| Religion | Seventh Day Baptist |
Joshua Babcock (1707–1783) was a physician, American Revolution general, Rhode Island Supreme Court justice, and postmaster from Westerly, Rhode Island.
Babcock was born in Westerly in 1707 to James Babcock and Elizabeth Saunders, who were amongst Westerly's earliest settlers. Babcock became a Seventh Day Baptist as a young man. In 1724 he graduated from Yale College as Yale's first Rhode Island graduate. He then studied medicine in Boston and London and returned to Westerly to practice medicine in 1734. Around this time he married and purchased the Babcock-Smith House. Babcock later served as a justice on the Rhode Island Supreme Court, serving as an associate justice from 1747 to 1748 and chief justice from 1749 to 1751 and 1763 to 1764.
Babcock joined John Brown, Nicholas Brown, William Ellery, Stephen Hopkins, the Reverend James Manning, the Reverend Ezra Stiles and several others as an original fellow or trustee for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the original name for Brown University).[2]
Babcock became Westerly's first Postmaster in the 1770s, operating a post office from his home. During the American Revolution Babcock served as the major general in command of the state militia, beginning in October 1775, and hosted General George Washington while serving in that capacity in 1776. He was relived as militia commander in December 1776 by Major General Joseph Nightingale. Babcock also served on the War Council, procured equipment for the town's troops, and served as a paymaster.
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