Burnet, William

Related Category: U.S. History: Biographies

1730–91, political leader in the American Revolution, b. near the present Elizabeth, N.J.; father of David G. Burnet. A physician practicing in Newark, Burnet was chairman of the Revolutionary committee of safety there. He set up (1775) a military hospital and helped to furnish troops and supplies for the Continental army. He became surgeon general of the army for the eastern district and was also a member of the Continental Congress in 1776 and in 1780.