Hutchins, Thomas, 1730–89, American frontiersman, surveyor, and
geographer, b. Monmouth co., N.J. He took part in the French and
Indian War and gained a reputation for his engineering ability
through planning Fort Pitt and other works. His journals of
military expeditions in the Western country are valuable
historical sources. A captain in the British army and in London
at the opening of the American Revolution, Hutchins refused to
bear arms against the Revolutionaries and was imprisoned and
charged with high treason. Released in 1780, he escaped to
France and ultimately to Charleston, S.C., where he joined the
Revolutionary forces. In July, 1781, he became geographer to the
United States. In 1785 he took charge of the survey of the
Northwest Territory. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th
ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights
reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History:
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