Jesse Root was an American minister and lawyer from Coventry, Connecticut. During the American Revolution he served on the Connecticut Council of Safety and in the Connecticut militia. Originally appointed as a Lt. Colonel in Peekskill in 1777, he rose to the rank of Adjustant-General of the Connecticut Line. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Connecticut from 1778 until 1782, and sat as chief justice of the state's Supreme Court from 1796 to 1807 as well as a state court judge. He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives and served in the Connecticut Constitutional Convention. He was also a member of the First Company, Governor's Foot Guard, serving as its commandant between May 1798-October 1802. An obituary from the Connecticut Courant of April 9, 1822, reads: "DIED--At his seat in Coventry, on the 29th ult. the Hon. JESSE ROOT, at the age of eighty-five. His life was actively employed for the benefit of his country, and his death is an era in the history of the land he lived in. In 1777, he joined the continental army in Peekskill, as a Colonel. At the recommendation of its illustrious commander, he was appointed Adjutant-General to the Conn. Line.