Heath, William (1737-1814)

Massachusetts legislator and general.

Farmer and militia captain; published articles in Boston Gazette urging military preparedness. Member of Massachusetts General Court (1771-74). Brigadier-general in Massachusetts militia (1775), later major- general in Continental Army (1776). Poor tactician; specialized in staff work. Member of Massachusetts convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution (1788). State senator (1791-92).

Son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Payson) Heath of Roxbury, Massachusetts. Married Sarah Lockwood (1759).