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Adam Stephen

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Adam Stephen
Member of theVirginia House of Delegates
from the Berkeley County, Virginia district
In office
May 1, 1780 – October 16, 1785
Serving withMoses Hunter
Dolphin Drew
Preceded byThomas Hite
Succeeded byPhilip Pendleton
Personal details
Borncirca 1718
Scotland
DiedJuly 16, 1791
Martinsburg,Virginia
Alma materKing's College, Aberdeen
Professiondoctor
The Adam Stephen monument in Martinsburg, West Virginia

Adam Stephen(c. 1718– 16 July 1791) was aScottish-born American doctor and military officer who helped found what becameMartinsburg, West Virginia.He emigrated toNorth America,where he served in theProvince of Virginia's militia underGeorge Washingtonduring theFrench and Indian War.He served under Washington again in theAmerican Revolutionary War,rising to lead a division of theContinental Army.After afriendly fireincident during theBattle of Germantown,Stephen wascashieredout of the army but continued as a prominent citizen of western Virginia, including terms in theVirginia General AssemblyrepresentingBerkeley County.[1]

Early and family life

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Stephen was born inScotland.[2]He earned a degree at King's College inAberdeen,and studied medicine inEdinburgh.Stephen later married and had one child, Ann.

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Stephen enteredRoyal Navyservice on a hospital ship before emigrating to the Britishcolony of Virginiain the late 1730s or early 1740s. There he established a medical practice inFredericksburg.

Soldier and pioneer

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Stephen joined theprovincial troopsin 1754 and became lieutenant colonel of theVirginia RegimentunderGeorge Washington.The unit was based atWinchester(east of theAppalachian Mountains), then explored westward across the Appalachians. The unit was involved in battles atJumonville GlenandFort Necessity(both in 1754 and which some consider the opening engagements of theFrench and Indian War). The following year, Washington, Stephen and the Virginia militia participated in the disastrousBraddock Expedition.[3]In 1756, Stephen led Virginia militiamen against theCreeksto relieve colonists from South Carolina.[4]By 1759, Stephen was in command at Fort Bedford (on the west side of the Appalachian range near theSouth Branchof thePotomac River) and begged for cattle to be delivered to Fort Pitt (the futurePittsburgh).[5]

In 1761, Stephen had received cattle and other goods necessary to organize and fund theTimberlake Expedition,which attempted to reconcile British andCherokeeinterests following theAnglo-Cherokee War(part of the much broader French and Indian War).[6]In the summer of 1763, settlers complained of raids byDelawareandShawneeson South Branch settlements so that many inhabitants of Hampshire County had abandoned their homes, so in August the governor authorized Stephen to draft 500 men from the militias of Hampshire, Culpeper, Fauquier, Loudoun and Frederick counties and the next month told them to continue guarding the posts on the South Branch and Patterson Creek, lest the Native Americans retaliate for their loss that summer atBushy Run.[7]While Captain Charles Lewis escorted 60 former settler prisoners back to Fort Pitt in 1764, Stephen had assumed command of the Virginia Regiment from Washington and traveled westward to assist in putting downPontiac's Rebellion.

When theAmerican Revolutionary Warbroke out, Stephen offered his services to theContinental Army,again serving under Washington. He was with the army during theNew York and New Jersey campaignsof 1776 and early 1777, and as a major general he was given command of a division in Washington's army during thedefense of Philadelphia.In the October 1777Battle of Germantown,Stephen's men fought in the fog with troops led by GeneralAnthony Wayne.[8]Stephen was accused of being drunk during the battle, and after being convicted in acourt martial,he was stripped of his command andcashieredout of the army, making him the only Continental Army general court-martialed and immediately dismissed from the service during the war.[9]

Politician

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Stephen had lived in western Virginia before the war broke out, and voters fromBerkeley County(created in 1772) had elected him as one of their two delegates (alongsideRobert Rutherford) to the Second Virginia Revolutionary Convention, which was held atSt. John's Episcopal Churchin Richmond between March 20 and March 27, 1775. When the war ended, he returned to Berkeley County. In 1778 Stephen laid out the plan forMartinsburgand named the town after his friend, ColonelThomas Bryan Martin.Stephen became sheriff of Berkeley County, with Martinsburg as the county seat. GeneralsHoratio GatesandCharles Leeboth purchased property in the county and lived nearby. In 1780, Berkeley County voters elected Stephen as one of their (part-time) representatives in theVirginia House of Delegates.[10]In 1788, he was elected to theVirginia Ratifying Convention,where he spoke (and voted) in favor of ratification of theConstitution of the United States.Despite opposition by political heavyweights such asPatrick HenryandGeorge Mason,Virginia ratified the Constitution 89 to 79, in large part because western Virginia delegates (including Stephen) supported it 15 to 1.[11]

Legacy

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Stephen died in Martinsburg in 1791 and is buried beneath a monument erected in his honor. TheAdam Stephen Housein Martinsburg andThe BowernearShepherdstownsurvive today and are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[12]

References

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  1. ^Tyler, Lyon Gardiner (1915).Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography.New York. p. 136.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^Although the Encyclopedia of Virginia biography gives his birth year as 1730 and a Virginia birthplace.
  3. ^Lengel, Edward G.;General George Washington: A Military Life;pp. xxxiii–xxxiv;?;?
  4. ^Virginia Biography
  5. ^MacMaster, Richard (1986).The History of Hardy County: 1786-1986.Hardy Company Public Library. p. 49.ISBN978-0-317-54414-5.
  6. ^Timberlake, Henry;Memoirs, 1756–1765;Williams, Samuel (ed.); Marietta, Georgia: Continental Book Co.; (1948); pp.38–39.
  7. ^MacMaster pp. 52-54
  8. ^Virginia biography
  9. ^Taaffe, Stephen R. (2019).Washington's Revolutionary War Generals.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
  10. ^Leonard, Cynthia Miller (1978).Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978.Richmond: Virginia State Library. pp. 112, 137, 141, 145, 149, 153, 172.
  11. ^Surkamp, Jim."2 Virginias: The Awaited Comet – Pt. 1 | Civil War Scholars: The Powerful Experience of the War-Torn, Northern Shenandoah Valley".Archived fromthe originalon 10 July 2019.Retrieved12 August2020.
  12. ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.13 March 2009.
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