Boudinot, Elias [key], 1740–1821, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Philadelphia. A lawyer of Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N.J., he took an active part in anti-British activities and was a member of the Continental Congress both before and after the adoption of the Articles of Confederation (1777–78, 1781–84), serving as its president from 1782 to 1783. He ardently supported the U.S. Constitution and helped secure its ratification by New Jersey. He served in Congress (1789–95) and was director of the U.S. mint (1795–1805). He was an ardent philanthropist, notably for the Native Americans, and he was first president (1816–21) of the American Bible Society.
See his Journal of Events in the Revolution (1894, repr. 1968); biography by G. A. Boyd (1956).
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