rank of Lieutenant Colonel, retroactive to his appointment as an aide to Washington.
    Following the signing of the Treaty of Peace in Paris, Humphreys went to Mount Vernon with General and Mrs. Washington. He offered his services to the Congress and was appointed Secretary of a commission to negotiate treaties of commerce with European countries.
    In 1786 Humphreys was elected to attend the October session of the state legislature as Derby's representative. Following that time, he was re-elected to that position regularly.
    The General Assembly voted to form a militia to combat Indian warfare on the western frontier. Humphreys was elected commander. The unit was pressed into service at the time of Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts. Humphreys marched his men to West Springfield, only to find that the state government and the militia had put down the rebellion.
    The year 1787 marked the end of his stay at the parsonage in Derby as both his parents died in that year. At Washington's invitation he then made Mount Vernon his home, acting as Washington's secretary.
    Following the acceptance of the new Federal Constitution, Washington was elected president. He appointed Humphreys as his personal representative in Europe. Humphreys was the first minister to a foreign government appointed under the new Constitution.
    Humphreys served as a diplomat in Madrid and returned to Connecticut in 1802. He and his new wife (the English lady, Ann Frances Bulkely) bought a magnificent home on Beacon Hill, Boston, and began making plans for a manufacturing village in Derby.
    On December 13, 1803 he purchased from Bradley Steele Jr. and George Steele land located at Rimmons Falls in what is now the Town of Seymour.
    Humphreys imported Merino sheep and began what was to become the first large and successful woolen mill in the country. The story of the Merino sheep and the industrial developments it brought is found in another chapter in this book.
    In addition to his business interests, Humphreys was a gifted writer. He carried on a regular correspondence with George Washington which is now in the Library of Congress.