Background
Burnet, William was born on December 13, 1730 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. Son of Doctor Ichabod and Hannah Burnet.
Burnet, William was born on December 13, 1730 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. Son of Doctor Ichabod and Hannah Burnet.
Burnet graduated from Princeton University in 1749, studied medicine under Doctor Staats in White Plains, New York, and started his practice in Newark.
He served in the Continental Army and the Continental Congress. He opened a hospital in Newark for wounded soldiers, and ran it throughout the Revolution. He was appointed Surgeon General for the Eastern Region in 1776, and also held that position until the war ended in 1783.
Burnet was elected to the Continental Congress in 1780 and served from December 11, 1780 until his resignation on April 1, 1781, when he was forced to leave this service by the press of other duties and his wife"s illness.
Later that year he began serving as a judge in Essex County. He also led the New Jersey Medical Society in 1787.
He was a member of Newark"s Committee of Safety in 1775 before he joined the Continental Army as a surgeon.
Married Mary Camp; married second, Gertrude Gouverneur.