History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

596 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [1776-1787.
dated with the Committee of Inspection, the name of Ca-
leb Strong Jr. appears upon the list of members of the joint
committee. In this office, whose duties were to secure
ammunition and clothing for the soldiers, he continued to
serve as long as it lasted. ^
In 1776 Mr. Strong represented Northampton in the General
Court of Massachusetts. In the State Convention
called in 1779 to adopt a constitution, as delegate from this
town, he took a prominent part, being one of the four
members upon the committee that drew up the instrument
which remained for forty years the fundamental law of the
State,
-
Larger Public ser- 111 1780 lie was appointed a member of the
^''^^- Governor's Council and was also chosen del-
egate to the Continental Congress, but declined
the latter office. After the adoption of the State
Constitution in 1780, he was elected State Senator for that
and the following nine consecutive years. In 1 787 he was
sent as a delegate to the national convention at Philadel-
phia, held for the purpose of framing the Constitution of
the United States. Of his connection with that conven-
tion, Mrs. M. J. Lamb, in an article on "The Framers of
the Constitution," says —
:
" The (iuartet from Massachusetts were strong mentally, morally and
politically. Caleb Strong * * * wasadmirably fitted for the important
constructive work before the august body. He was a statesman
of inflexible adherence to principle, and a man of spotless private char-
acter."
Though he was one of the younger members of tlie convention,
his part in it was by no means unimportant. The
lirm patriotism and the democratic principles with which
1 How effectively these duties were discharged, as well as the persuasive wit of
the man, are illustrated by the following anecdote, related by Rev. Edward S. Dwight
in an article entitled " Caleb Strong," which appeared in the Congregational Quarterly
for 1860 : One day he called with two other members of the committee upon a
wealthy widow of the town to ask for a contribution of blankets for the soldiers.
She was not in sympathy with the patriots, and she informed them she had no blank-
ets. Nothing further was said upon that subject and the conversation passed to
other topics. The afternoon wore away and still the visitors stayed. At last the
housewife put on the tea-kettle and began her preparations for tea, expecting her
guests to take the hint and depart. But instead they merely expressed pleasure la
the anticipation of a cup of tea for supper, which was then not very plenty. Finally
in desperation she brought out her blankets, saying: " Here, take them, I would
rather you should have them than to stay any longer."
3 Magazine of American History, vol. 13, p. 334.