Silas Deane
| Silas Deane | |
|---|---|
Silas Deane, c. 1781
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| United States Envoy to France | |
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In office March 2, 1776 – March 4, 1778 Serving with Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee |
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| Appointed by | Continental Congress |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | John Adams |
| Delegate to the Second Continental Congress from Connecticut | |
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In office May 10, 1775 – January 15, 1776 |
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| Delegate to the First Continental Congress from Connecticut | |
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In office September 5, 1774 – October 26, 1774 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | January 4, 1738 Groton, Connecticut |
| Died |
September 23, 1789 (aged 51) on a ship near Kent, Great Britain |
| Resting place | St. Leonard's, Deal, Kent, United Kingdom |
| Spouse(s) |
Mehitable Nott Webb (m. 1763; d. 1767) Elizabeth Saltonstall Evards (m. 1770; d. 1777) |
| Children | Jesse Deane |
| Alma mater | Yale |
Silas Deane (January 4, 1738 [O.S. December 24, 1737] – September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, then as the first foreign diplomat from the United States to France. Near the end of the war, Congress charged Deane with financial impropriety, and the British intercepted and published some letters in which he had implied that the American cause was hopeless. After the war, Deane lived in Ghent and London and died under mysterious circumstances while attempting to return to America.
Silas Deane was born on January 4, 1738 [O.S. December 24, 1737] in Groton, Connecticut to blacksmith Silas Deane and his wife Hannah Barker. The younger Silas was able to obtain a full scholarship to Yale and graduated in 1758. In April 1759, he was hired to tutor a young Edward Bancroft in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1761, Deane was admitted to the bar and practiced law for a short time outside of Hartford before moving to Wethersfield, Connecticut and establishing a thriving business as a merchant.
Deane married twice, both times to wealthy widows from Wethersfield. In 1763, he married Mehitable (Nott) Webb after assisting her with the settlement of her first husband's estate. They had one son, Jesse, born in 1764. Mehitable died in 1767. In 1770, Deane married Elizabeth (Saltonstall) Evards, granddaughter of Connecticut Governor Gurdon Saltonstall of the Massachusetts Saltonstall family. Elizabeth died in 1777 while Silas was in France. (One of Deane's stepsons was Continental Army Brigadier General Samuel Blatchley Webb.)
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