POMEROY, Benjamin, clergyman, born in Suffield, Connecticut, 19 November, 1704; died in Hebron, Connecticut, 22 December, 1784. He was graduated at the head of his class at Yale in 1733, and he and his classmate, Eleazer Wheelock, who became his brother-in-law, were the first to remain there after graduation as recipients of the scholarships that had been founded by Bishop Berkeley for superior attainments in the classics. In the mean time he studied theology, and in 1734 began to preach in Hebron, where he was ordained pastor on 16 December, 1735. He identified himself with the great revival of 1740, and labored earnestly to promote it. In June, 1742, he was accused before the general assembly of disorderly conduct, and with James Davenport (q. v.) was tried in Hartford; but he was dismissed as "comparatively blameless." He was again called to answer charges of violating the law that had been passed to correct disorders in preaching, was found guilty, and compelled to bear the costs of the prosecution. About this time he preached in the parish of Colchester without the permission of the resident minister, and was in consequence deprived of his salary for seven years. During the French and Indian war he was chaplain to the American army, and he filled a like office during the Revolutionary war. He was active in the movement that led to the founding of Dartmouth college, becoming one of its first trustees, and in 1774 he received the degree of D. D. from that college.