Captain Phineas Meigs

Phineas Meigs, son of Deacon John Meigs III and Rebecca Hand Meigs, was born in East Guilford (now Madison), Connecticut on 21 September 1708. On 31 January 1739, he married Abigail Dudley, and they had one child, Abigail (b. 1742), who married her cousin Jehiel Meigs (d. 1776). Abigail's only son would also be named Phineas Meigs.

Phineas Meigs rose to the rank of Captain in the Militia during the colonial wars, but remained a Private during his career in the Revolutionary War. Enlisting on 3 February 1777 in Colonel William Douglas' 6th Regiment of the Connecticut Line, he was assigned to Captain Samuel Barker's Company. Phineas Meigs was discharged on 3 February 1780. On 3 April 1781, he reenlisted, this time in General David Waterbury's State Brigade under Captain Nathaniel Edwards.

On 19 May 1782, while attempting to repulse a British landing party on the shore at Guilford, Phineas Meigs was instantly killed by a musket ball through the head; he was buried in West Cemetery, Madison. Captain Phineas Meigs was 74 years old when he died at the Battle for Madison, and he was the last Connecticut man killed during the Revolutionary War.