McDougall Alexander

McDougall was born in Scotland, and his family moved to New York in 1738. His father worked as a milkman in New York City, and McDougall became a small merchant. He joined the Sons of Liberty, and wrote a pamphlet entitled To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York in 1769, for which he was imprisoned by the provincial assembly. He was nicknamed the "Wilkes of America," after John Wilkes, the British politician who was imprisoned for having defied the authority of the government. McDougall became a major figure in the patriot efforts in New York City, leading mass meetings and serving on committees and provincial congresses. He was appointed a colonel and, later, a major general in the Continental Army, taking over Benedict Arnold's command of West Point. McDougall led the group of representatives sent to Congress by officers upset that they had not been paid what they were owed. He represented New York at the Continental Congress for two terms, and represented New York City in the State Senate for one term. McDougall later became president of the Bank of New York, and the New York Society of the Cincinnati.