Benjamin Church was born in Newport, Colony of Rhode Island back in 1734. He attended the Boston Latin School and then Harvard College in 1754. He studied medicine continuing his studies in London where he married Hannah. When he returned to the Colonies he was known as a talented physician and a skillful surgeon.
In 1774, he was elected to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and later a member of the Committee of Safety. In 1775, he was a member of the examining board for surgeons for the army. In May, he was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to consult the Continental Congress for the defense of Massachusetts.
What you may not know about Benjamin is that he was the first Surgeon General of the United States Army, serving from July 1775 to October 1775. He was active in Boston’s Sons of Liberty; however, it was discovered he had been sending secret information to General Thomas Gage about the whereabouts and the amount of forces of the arm. He was tried and convicted of “communicating with the enemy”. He left to go to England aboard the Martinique. The ship never made it to England, what happened to the ship is still a mystery.
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