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THE HEROES
OF THE 4
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
AND THEIR
DESCENDANTS
Battle of Long I
ILLUSTRATED
BY
HENRY WHITTEMORE
AUTHOR OF
THE REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY, N. Y.,
HISTORY OF THE SEVENTY-FIRST REGIMENT N. G. S. N. Y.,
THE FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS OF THE ORANGES,
ILLUSTRATED, AND OTHER WORKS,
The Heroes of the Revolution Publishing Co. 1897.
Copyright 1897, by
HENRY WIIITTEMOKK.
four men ai s a prisonei
on b<
v. This statement in] the Asia ai the
shot, one of which, hulled the Asia, killini is made on the authority of a man who w time.
The journal of a British officer refers to the Denise house as follows: "The Admiral directed Sir George Collier to place the Rainbow, at dawn of day, in the Narrows abreast of a large stone building called Denise's, where he understood the rebels had cannon and a strong post, in which situation she would be able to enfilade the road leading from New York, and prevent reinforcements being sent to the rebel outposts, as well as to their troops who were stationed to oppose the landing."
Lord Howe's letter, describing the landing, says: "Gen. Howe giving me notice of his intention to make a descent on Gravesend Bay, on bong Island, on the morning of the 22d, the necessary disposition was made, and 75 flalboats, with 11
'HE KRITISH FI.KKT.
batteaux and 2 galleys built for the occasion, were prepared for that service. The command of the whole remained with Com. Hotham. The Capts. Parker, Wallace and Dickson, in the Phenix, Rose and Greyhound, with the Thunder, and Carcass bombs, under the direction of Col. James, were appointed to cover the landing. The tlatboats, galleys and three batteaux, manned from the ships of war, were formed into three divisions, commanded respectively by the Capts. Vander- put, Mason, Curtis, Caldwell, Phipps, Caulfield, Uppleby and Duncan, and Lt. Reeve, of the Eagle. The rest of the batteaux, making a 10th division, manned from the transports, were under the conduct of Lt. Bristow, an assistant agent. Early in the morning of the 22d the covering ships took their station in Gravesend Bay. The light infantry, with the reserve to be first landed, forming a corps to- gether of 4,000 men, entered the boats at Staten Island the same time. The transports in which the several brigades composing the second debarkation (about 5,000 men) had been before embarked, were moved down and suitably arranged without the covering ship by 8 o'clock. The first debarkation not meeting with any opposition, the second succeeded immediately after; and the other transports, carrying the rest of the troops, following the former in proper succession. The
whole force then destined for the service, consisting of about 15,000 men, was landed before noon. On the 25th an additional corps of Hessian troops, under Gen. Heister, with their field artillery and baggage, were conveyed to Gravesend Bav. Being informed next day by Gen. Howe of his intentions to advance with the army that night to the enemy's lines, and of his wishes that some diversion might be attempted by the ships on this side, I gave directions to Sir Peter Parker for proceeding higher up in the channel toward the town of New York next morning with the Asia, Renown, Preston, (Com. Hotham embarked in the Phenix, having been left to carry on the service in Gravesend Bay,) Roebuck and Repulse, and to keep those ships in readiness for being employed as occasion might require ; but the wind veering to the northward soon after the break of day, the ships could not be moved up to the distance proposed ; therefore, when the troops under Gen. Grant, forming the left column of the army, were seen to be engaged with the enemy in the morning, the Roebuck, Capt. Hammond, leading the detached squadron, was the only ship that could fetch high enough 10 the northward to exchange a few random shots with the battery on Red Hook ; and the ebb making strongly down the river soon after, I ordered the signal to be shown for the squadron to anchor."
RED LION TAVERN.
The advance guard of the British troops struck the American pickets in the vicinity of the Red Lion Tavern on the early morning of August 27.
An officer in Col. Atlee's battalion, referring to this, says : " Yesterday about 120 of our men went as guard to a place on L. I. called Red Lion ; about 1 1 at night the sentries saw 2 men coming up a water-melon patch, upon which our men fired on them. The enemy then retreated, and about 1 o'clock advanced with 200 or 300 men and endeavored to surround our guard, but they being watch- ful gave them 2 or 3 fires and retreated to alarm the remainder of the bat., except one Lt. and about 1 5 men, who have not been heard of as yet. About 4 o'clock this morning the alarm was given by beating to arms, when the remainder of our bat- talion, accompanied by the Delaware and Maryland battalions, went to the place our men retreated from. About a quarter of a mile on this side we saw the enemy, when we got into the woods (our battalion being the advance guard) amidst the incessant fire of their field pieces, loaded with grape shot, which con- tinued till 10 o'clock. The Marylanders on the left, and we on the right, kept up a constant fire amid all their cannon, and saw several of them fall ; but they being too many we retreated a little and then made a stand. Our Lt. Col. Parry was shot through the head, and I retreated with him to secure his effects, since which 1 hear the enemy are within 60 yards of our lines."
The " Red Lion" was located near the corner of the present Fourth Avenue and Thirty-sixth Street. It was kept as a public house for nearly a hundred years, and was the principal place of resort for the farmers of Gowanus and the sur- rounding country. Their hatred of the British was very strong, and for some time after the close of the war they refused to patronize it until the sign of the " Red Lion " was taken down. A bull's head was painted on the sign, and it retained the name of Bull's Head Tavern until its final destruction, some twenty-five or thirty years ago. It was a story-and-a-half frame building, resting on a high
foundation, which formed the basement. It had a wide piazza extending along the entire front, entrance to which was by high wooden steps. It was about one hundred feet from the Gowanus school-house. The Fourth Avenue car stables were subsequently erected on or near the site of the old building. Its historic associations had little or no interest for the people of this locality, and not a stone or shingle remains to identify the material of which it was composed.
The description given by the officer in Atlee's battalion, of the skirmish at the Red Lion, includes the subsequent engagement further on, at a place called
BLOKJE'S BERG.
This was called by the Dutch, Bluckie's Barracks. It was at this point that the British column, advancing by the Gowanus Road, received its first check from the American pickets, and was the first blood shed in the battle. This was near the intersection of Third Avenue and Twenty-third Street. Field, in his history of the Battle of Long Island, says: "The position of Wynant Bennet's house, in
conjunction with the adjacent knoll and creek, gave it the character of a formida- ble redoubt, as the sand-banks and thickets could not be battered down by can- non shot, and the house was below the range of the batteries. It stood about fifty yards from the bay, in one of those sheltered nooks at the foot of the hills, in which our Dutch fanners loved so well to nestle their dwellings. Half that dis- tance from its door, toward the south, the tide flowed through a narrow creek to a bog, which extended in a southeasterly direction for a hundred yards beyond the house. On a slight bridge, the road to the Narrows crossed this little bayou, and wound in a sharp curve over a sand-hill or bluff called Bluckie's Barracks. Hid- den between the sides of a deep cut in the hill, the road, winding along its eastern face, was completely obscured from the view of the enemy, advancing from the south, and enabled the American riflemen, under Col. Atlee, to occupy it with great annoyance to the British, and almost perfect security to themselves. Added
to these favorable features for a defensive position, the bluff gutted out so far into the bi\ as to be well protected by its waters, and was covered with a tangled forest, which aided in the concealment and protection of its defenders."
BATTLE HILL AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.
In Lord Sterling's letter to Washington, dated "Eagle, Aug. 29, 1776," he says : " I have now an opportunity of informing you of what has happened to me since I had the pleasure of seeing you. About 3 o'clock in the morning of the 27th I was called up and informed by Gen. Putnam that the enemy were advanc- ing by the road from Flatbush to the Red Lion, and ordered me to march with the two regiments nearest at hand to meet them; these happened to be Haslet's and Smallwood's, with which I accordingly marched, and was on the road to the Nar- rows just as the daylight began to appear. We proceeded to within about half a mile of the Red Lion, and there met Col. Atlee with his regiment, who informed me the enemy were in sight ; indeed, I then saw their front between me and the Red Lion. I desired Col. Atlee to place his regiment on the left of the road, and to wait their coming up, while I went to form the two regiments I had brought with me along a ridge from a road up to a piece of wood on the top of the hill ; this was done instantly on very advantageous ground. Our opponents advanced and were fired upon in the road by Atlee's regiment, who, after two or three rounds, retreated to the wood on my left and there formed. By this time Kich- line's riflemen arrived ; part of them I placed along a hedge under the front of the hill, and the rest in front of the wood. The troops opposed to me were two brigades of four regiments each, under the command of Gen. Grant, who advanced their light troops to within one hundred and fifty yards of our right front, and took possession of an orchard there and some hedges which extended towards our left ; this brought on an exchange of fire between those troops and our rifle- men, which continued for about two hours and then ceased, by those light troops retiring to their main body. In the meantime Capt. Carpenter brought up two field pieces, which were placed on the side of the hill, so as to command the road and the only approach for some hundred yards. On the part of Gen. Grant there were two field pieces; one howitzer advanced to within 300 yards of the front of our right, and a like detachment of artillery to the front of our left on a rising ground, at about 600 yards distance. One of their brigades formed in two lines opposite to our right, and the others extended in one line to the top of the hills in front of our left ; in this position we stood cannonading each other till near 11 o'clock, when I found that Gen. Howe, with the main body of the army, was be- tween me and our lines, and saw that the only chance of escaping being made all prisoners, was to pass the creek near the Yellow Mills; and in order to render this the more practicable, I found it absolutely necessary to attack a body of troops commanded by Lord Cornwallis, posted at the house near the Upper Mills. This I instantly did with about half of Smallwood's regiment, first ordering all the oilier troops to make the best of their way through the creek. We continued to attack a considerable time, the men having been rallied and the attack renewed five or six times, and were on the point of driving Lord Cornwallis from his sta-
5EVERAL histories have been written and papers prepared on the Battle of Long Island during the past half century by our ablest historians, the object of most of whom has been to demonstrate the causes of a defeat which was inevitable from the beginning. This opinion is shared by the best military critics who have given the subject any attention. As one has truly said : " The American forces might have retreated in good order with comparatively small loss, but they must have retreated. Five thousand raw recruits — few of whom had ever been in battle and most of whom must have fought without cover — could not long have resisted twenty thousand well-appointed veterans."
The compiler of the present work has no hope or expectation of being able to present any new facts pertaining to the subject in controversy. His aim, first, is to give the reader a clear and comprehensive view of the facts, compiled from the most authentic sources, by locating and illustrating the several points of interest ; second, to collect and preserve in permanent form the names and personal record of those who participated in this important event. Says a well known writer on this subject : "It is due to the brave combatants of that day, that their names and deeds should be remembered and commemorated, in common with many others more distinguished only because they were more fortunate.'' Every man, from the commander-in-chief down to the humblest private, was a HERO on that day, and deserves to be remembered by his descendants, many of whom are repre- sented in the various societies of the Revolution at the present day, and who will no doubt gladly avail themselves of this opportunity to preserve the record and thus perpetuate the memory of their distinguished ancestors.
" Remember," said Washington, on the eve of the battle, " that you are free- men fighting for the blessings of liberty ; that slavery will be your portion and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men. Remember how your courage and spirit have been despised and traduced by your cruel invaders, though they have found by dear experience at Boston, Charlestown and other places what a few brave men, contending in their own land and in the best of causes, can do against base hirelings and mercenaries." The words of their commander were remembered by these brave patriots on the following day, all of whom did, indeed, "acquit themselves like men."
GUIDE TO THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND.
ILLUSTRATED.
iNE after another of the old Revolutionary landmarks — those monu- ments of American patriotism — have disappeared, swept away by the ravages of time and the march of improvement. A few years hence all traces will be lost and there will not he left a single spot on which to place a tablet to record the interesting events with which they are associated. On the corner of Fifth Avenue and Third Street, in a vacant lot enclosed by a high board fence, stands a long, low, dilapidated stone building, completely hidden by the surroundings. This is all that remains of the Nicholas Vechte, or what is more recently known as the Cortelyou house, near which, on the 27th of August, 1776, two hundred and fifty of Maryland's noblest sons laid down their lives in defense of their country.
Wkrr\
" Cornwallis hail taken possession of the Cortelyou house, in the rear of Stirling's line, and the latter saw that if he could not drive him back, or, at least, hold him where he was, his whole command would suffer death or capture. He resolved upon a costly sacrifice to save his retreating columns, which were now toiling through the salt marshes and across the deep tide-water creek in the rear. Changing his front and taking with him less than four hundred of the Maryland regiment under Major Gist, Stirling ordered the rest of his force to retreat across the Gowanus marsh and creek, which the rising tide was making every moment less and less passable. Smallwood's regiment, composed in a large part of the
sons of the best families of Maryland— nicknamed the Macaroni by the Tories of New York— was now to have its courage, self-devotion and discipline proved. Stirling placed himself at the head of these Marylanders, and the little band, now hardly numbering four hundred men. prepared for an assault upon five times their number of the troops of the invading army, who were inflamed with all the arro- gance of successful combat. Forming hurriedly on ground in the vicinity of Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street, the column advanced with unwavering front along the Gowanus Road into the jaws of battle. Artillery plowed their fast-thinning ranks with the awful bolts of war; infantry poured volleys of musket balls in almost solid sheets of lead, and from the adjacent hills the deadly Hessian Jagers sent swift messengers of death into many a manly form. Still, above the roar of cannon, musketry and rilles. was heard the shout of their brave leaders, "Close up ! Close up !" and again the staggering yet unflinching files, grown fearfully thin, drew together and turned their stern young faces to their country's foe.
" At the head of this devoted band marched their General, to whom every victory had now become less important than an honorable death, which might purchase the safe retreat of his army. Amid all the terrible carnage of the hour there was no hurry, no confusion, only a grim despair which their courage and self-devotion dignified into martyrdom. The advance bodies of the enemy were driven back upon the Cortelyou house, now become a formidable redoubt, from the windows of which the leaden hail thinned the patriot ranks as they approached. Cornwallis hurriedly brought two guns into position near one corner of the house and added their cannister and grape to the tempest of death. At last the little column halted, powerless to advance in the face of this murderous fire, yet dis- daining to retreat with the disgrace of a flight. Again and again these heroes closed their ranks over the bodies of their dead comrades, and still turned their faces to the foe. But the limit of human endurance had for the time been reached, and the shattered column was driven back. Their task was not, however, yet fully performed, As Stirling looked across the salt meadows, away to the scene of the late struggle at Bluckie's Barracks, and saw the confused masses of his countrymen crowding the narrow causeway over Freeke's mill pond or struggling through the muddy tide stream, he felt how precious to their country's liberty were the lives of his retreating soldiers, and he again nerved himself for a combat which he knew could only prove a sacrifice. Once more he called upon the sur- vivors of the previous deadly assault, and again the noble young men gathered around their general. How sadly he must have looked upon them, scarcely more than boys, so young, so brave, and to meet again the pitiless iron hail. The impetus and spirit of this charge carried the battalion over every obstacle quite to their house. The gunners were driven from their battery and Cornwallis seemed about to abandon the position. But the galling fire from the interior of the house and from the adjacent high ground, with the overwhelming numbers of the enemy who were now approaching, again compelled retreat. Three times more the survivors rallied, flinging themselves upon the constantly reinforced ranks of the enemy, but the combat, so long and so unequally sustained, was now hastening to its close. A few minutes more of this destroying fire and 256 of the noble youth of Maryland were either prisoners in the hands of the enemy or lay side by side in the awful mass of the dead and dying. The sacrifice had been accom- plished and the Hying army had been saved from complete destruction."
*
MONUMENT.
IN HONOR OF MARYLAND'S FOUR HUNDRED, WHO ON THIS BATTLE-FIELD, AUGUST 27,
I776, SAVED THE AMERICAN ARMY."
MONUMENT TO THE BRAVE MARYLANDERS.
On Tuesday, August 27, 1895, a monument was unveiled and presented to the city of Brooklyn by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, erected by this society in honor of the gallant Four Hundred, whose courage, self-devotion and discipline, saved the American army from total destruction or capture on that eventful day, one hundred and nineteen years ago. The site selected on Lookout Hill, the highest point in the park, is also the most central one from which to obtain a view of almost every part of the battle-field.
The monument is a Corinthian column, thirty-nine feet in height. The shaft proper is of Tennessee marble, highly polished, thirty feet high, surmounted by a bronzed cannon ball, resting on ornamental bronzed supports. The die block on which this shaft rests is of rough granite suitably dressed, the whole resting on a mound several feet in height. The inscriptions are in raised letters, that on the front tablet being :
In Honor of
Maryland's Four Hundred
Who on this Battlefield on
August 27, 1776, Saved the American Army.
On the rear tablet are the words Washington is said to have uttered when he
saw the the gallant Marylanders make one of their desperate charges upon the
enemy :
" Good God, What Brave Fellows
Must I This Day Lose."
On the third tablet is the coat of arms of the State of Maryland in bronze, and on the fourth is inscribed :
In Memory of
Smallwood's Regiment
of the Rear Guard of the
American Army
In lis Retreat from Long Island
August 27, 1776.
On the front face of the foundation block is the inscription : Erected Through the Efforts
of THE Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
LOOKOUT HILL— PROSPECT PARK.
From this point nearly all the places of interest connected with the Battle of Long Island may still be seen, although the growth of trees and other improve- ments have somewhat obstructed the view since the original drawing (of which the accompanying engraving is .1 copy), was made. To the right, near the Flatbush entrance of the park, is the famous Battle Pass, where Sullivan and his brave
Xll
troops made such a gallant tight, and were finally overcome by superior numbers. Aboutja mile to the northwest is Fort Greene and the site of Fort Putnam. Follow- ing the Third Street exit of the park to Fifth Avenue, is the site of the old Cortleyou house. Below Fourth Avenue there are several vacant lots, partly filled in, which indicate the site of Denton's mill-pond and Gowanus. Creek.
DENISE'S FERRY; NOW FORT HAMILTON.
South of the monument, about six miles distant, is Fort Hamilton, the site of Denise's Ferry, where the British made their first landing on the morning of August 22, 1776. It is a remarkable coincidence that the first resistance made to the British forces in the colony of New York was on the Fourth of July, 1776, and was the first celebration of the Declaration of Independence, while that important instrument was receiving the signatures of the immortal representatives who framed it.
A battery mounting, it is said, some two or three twelve pounders, was con- structed at the Narrows, near Denise's ferry landing, by a party of Americans. During the clay they opened fire upon the Asia, which was sailing close to shore
OENISK S FEKRV,
in the rear of the lleet. The ship swung around and returned the fire, sending a broadside of twenty-four pound shot at the point where the battery was located. An account published in a Philadelphia newspaper at the time. sa)S : " One of the balls lodged in the wall of Mr. Bennett's house without penetrating it. The house of Denise narrowly escaped demolition from the storm of cannon shot which swept around it. One passed close to the kitchen in which the family were assembled, another struck the barn at a short distance, and a third carried away a large portion of the garden fence, close to the back door of the house."
The men in charge of the battery continued their fire, giving them shot for
XV111
tion, but large succors arriving rendered it impossible to do more than provide for safety. I endeavored to get in between that house [Vechte or Cortelyou house], and Fort Box, but on attempting it I found a considerable body of troops In my front and several in pursuit of me on the right and left, and a constant firing on me. I immediately turned the point of the hill, which covered me from their fire, and was soon out of reach of my pursuers. I soon found it would be in vain to attempt to make my escape, and therefore went to surrender myself to Gen. De Heister, Commander-in-Chief of the Hessians."
The engraved map or sketch of the battle-ground shown on opposite page is said to be the most accurate of any ever published. The plan was drawn by Major A. B. Douglass, formerly of the U. S. Army, from personal inspection.
The position occupied by Lord Sterling, referred to at the beginning of his letter, was in close proximity to what is now known as Battle Hill, in Greenwood Cemetery. Mr. Nehemiah Cleveland, who wrote the history of Greenwood Ceme- tery, says : " In the Battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, the conflict raged for a spell on or near these very grounds. * * * On one occasion I went over the ground with Major Douglas. The excavations and gradings which have so trans- formed the aspect of Gowanus, had then scarcely begun. We stood upon the hillside where Lord Stirling posted a part of his force, and traced the old wall and hedge which formed their temporary and frail barricade. From this spot that accomplished officer and engineer pointed out to me what he believed to have been the position and movements of the contending forces, and the probable localities of the conflict. Of the scene on which we then looked, the swells and slopes of Green Wood, and the bright waters of the bay, are almost the only features that remain unchanged."
Lossing says : " The militia guard at Martense's Lane were driven back by Grant to the hills of Greenwood Cemetery, a little north of Sylvan Water, where they were rallied by Parsons, and maintained a conflict until the arrival of Stirling at day-break with fifteen hundred men. Stirling took a position upon the slopes a little northwest of "Battle Hill," in Greenwood, and Atlee ambuscaded in the woods on the left of Martense's Lane, near the Firemen's Monument, to attack Grant on his approach."
In his description of the battle, Mr. Cleveland says : " Independently of their present and prospective claims to regard, Greenwood and its vianage must ever possess a strong interest derived from die past. In that vicinity — upon ground traversed in part by every visitor to the cemetery, and lying immediately below and around it — occurred the first serious conflict between the British and Ameri- can troops, on the memorable 27th of August, 1776.
" It is due to the brave combatants of that day that their names and deeds should be remembered and commemorated in common with many others — more distinguished only because they were more fortunate. To this end we contribute our mite. We would induce some of the countless visitors of Green Wood to turn aside and stand upon the spot where their fathers once stood, 'shoulder to shoulder in the strife for their country.' At least we would have them know, as they ride along, that the very earth beneath them was reddened in the conflit t which secured to them their great and fair inheritance.
"The unsparing hand of improvement is fast sweeping away not only the vestiges of all the old defences, but the very hills on which they were raised, at
PLAN OF THE BATTLE-GROUND ON LONG ISLAND.
such expense of treasure and toil. Even the more distant grounds, beyond the lines of circumvallation, upon which the fight occurred, have in some instances been materially changed."
" Once this soft turf, this rivulet's sands,
Were trampled by a hurrying crowd, And fiery hearts and armed hands Encountered in the battle-cloud.
Ah ! never shall the land forget
How gushed the life-blood of her brave —
Gushed, warm with hope and courage yet, Upon the soil they fought to save."
WEYNANT BENNETT HOUSE.
Referring to " Bluckie's Barracks," Stiles says : " It is mainly memorable as the place where the British column, advancing by the Gowanus road, on the morning of August 27, 1776, received its first check from an American picket- guard, on which occasion several lives were lost, being the first blood shed in that battle. Near it, on the northeast corner of Twenty-third street and Third avenue, was the old Weynant Bennett house, which yet stands (1867), retaining its ancient appearance and yet bearing upon its venerable walls the marks of shot and ball received on that disastrous day."
While preparations were making for departure, under cover of the darkness, a number of soldiers, with the recklessness of their class, occupied their time in playing a game of cards in a room of Weynant Bennett's house. The rays streaming through the narrow window attracted the attention of some British artillerymen upon the hill, and in a short time the card party were startled by the heavy roar of a field piece at no great distance, but as no result followed that indicated their group to be the target, the game was continued. The gun was fired again and again until the proper range was obtained, when the crash of a shot against the side of the house, close to the window, suddenly terminated the game. Several shots struck the house, marks of whose passage are still visible, the light which the party left burning in the haste of their departure, indicating its position so well as to render the aim of the gunners tolerably accurate. * * * Bennett's house was abandoned by the family, who accompanied the retreating troops, from the apprehension that the repulse which the enemy had suffered in its neighborhood might have so exasperated them that little distinction would be made by them between soldiers and non-combatants. — Field.
RED HOOK.
The same night a regiment went over to Red Hook and fortified that place likewise. — New York Packet, April 11, 1776.
The wood next to Red Hook should be well attended to. Put some of the most disorderly riflemen into it. The militia are the most indifferent troops and will do for the interior work, whilst your best men should, at all hazards, prevent the enemy's passing the wood and approaching the works. The woods should be secured by abates ; traps and ambuscades should be laid for their parties sent after cattle, — Washington s Instructions to Putnam, August 25, 1776.
In a letter to his family, dated June r I, 1776, Major Shaw says : " I am now stationed at Red Hook, about four miles from New York. It is an island, situated in such a manner as to command the entrance to the harbor entirely, where we have a fort with four 18-pounders to fire en barbette— \.\\z\ is, over the top of the works — which is vastly better than tiring through embrasures, as we can now bring all our guns to bear on the same object at once. The fort is named Defiance. It is thought to be one of the most important posts we have."
At certain seasons and in certain conditions of the tide, Red Hook became in fact an island, and was no doubt just as he described it. ^
" The ' Roode Hock,' or Red Hook," says Stiles, " so called from the color of its soil, has almost entirely lost its identity in consequence of the construction of the Atlantic Docks and other extensive and important improvements in that part of the modern city of Brooklyn. Its original form and topographical appearance, however, has been faithfully preserved and delineated in Rutzer's map; and it may be described in general terms as extending from Luqueer's mill creek (about Hicks and Huntington streets), following the indentations of the shore around the cape and headland, to about the western boundary of the Atlantic Docks on the East River; or in general terms, as having comprised all the land west of the present Sullivan street. Its history commences with the year 1638, when Director Van Twiller petitioned for its use, which was granted to him on condition that he should relinquish it whenever the Company wanted it. This and other lands sub- sequently reverted to the Company. The title of Red Hook being thus vested in the government, was conveyed to the town of Breuckelen in 1657, by Governor Stuyvesant, and was subsequently confirmed by Governors Nicolls and Dongan. It was sold on the 10th of August, 1695, by the patentees and freeholders of the town to Col. Stephanus Van Cortlandt."
WILLIAM HOWARD'S HALF-WAY HOUSE.
Referring to the advance of the British army from Flatlands across the country to New Lotts, on the evening of the 26th of August, 1776, Stiles says: " Crossing the fields from the New Lotts road, in a direct course to this point, the army halted at two o'clock on the morning of the 27th at William Howard's Half- way House, which yet stands at the cornel of the present Broadway and the Jamaica and Brooklyn road."
William Howard says the British army was guided by N. W. along a narrow road across Schoonmaker's Bridge (where a small force might easily have brought the whole British army to a stand). Thence they turned off east of Daniel Rapalje's (threw open the fence) and crossed the fields to the south of Howard's Half-way House, where they halted in front of his house. About two o'clock in the morning, after the market wagons had passed, Howe (?), with a citizen's hat on and a camlet cloak over his uniform, entered William Howard's tavern attended by Clinton and two aids and asked for something to drink, conversed with him and asked him if he had joined the association. Howard said that he had. " That's all very well ; stick to your integrity. But now you are my prisoner and must lead me across these hills out of the way of the enemy, the nearest way to Gowanus." Howard accordingly conducted the army by a passage-way between his house and horse shed, over the hills and woods east of his house till they
came to the cleared land north of the woods. The horses drew the artillery up the hill in a slanting direction and halted on the brow to breathe a little. The army then proceeded west and came out at Baker's Tavern, by the Gowanus road. The British took Adj. Jeronimus Hoagland (Lieut. Troop) and Lieut. Dunscomb, American patrols, at the big white oak (since struck by lightning), in the middle of the road by the mile-post, a little east of Howard's. — Onderdonk.
CLOVE ROAD.
" Meanwhile a heavy force from Clinton and Cornwallis' left, near Bedford, had cut the American lines at the Clove Road, and Col. Miles' panic-stricken troops were flying for their lives." Two roads met at the old highway to Jamaica (Fulton street), one, the "Clove road," running thence south to Flatbush, and the other, the "Cripplebush road," running north to Newtown, both nearly parallell to the present Nostrand avenue.
THE BEDFORD SETTLEMENT
was located at the intersection of the old highway to Jamaica, with the Clove road to Flatbush, on the south, and with the Cripplebush road to Newtown, on the north, and extending about a quarter of a mile each way from that point. The main highway, or Jamaica road— that which led up from Brooklyn Ferry — after passing through Bedford, kept on still north of the hills, and crossed them at the "Jamaica Pass," about four miles from the fortified line. From this branched three roads leading to the village in the plain. The most direct was that to Flat- bush, which cut through the ridge a mile and a half from the works.
When the British columns reached Bedford Corners, the profound silence and secrecy which had previously characterized their movements gave way to a feeling of exultant joy. It was then half-past eight o'clock, and the Americans were as yet unaware that they bad left Flatlands.
THE PORT OR MILL ROAD.
Stiles says : "The impetuous Hessian yagers eagerly pressed forward into the woods south of the Port road, driving the American riflemen before them, and taking possession of the coverts and lurking places from which they dis- lodged them."
The Port road was a lane diverging from the Flatbush turnpike, near the present city line, and extending to the East river across Frecke's mill-dam. It followed the general line of the present First street. In the original deed from the Indians, 1670, mention is made of it as follows : "All that parcel of land and tract of land in and about Bedford, within the jurisdiction of Breuckelen, begin- ning at Hendrick Van Aarnheim's land by a swamp of water, and stretching to the hills, then going along the hills to the port, or entrance thereof, and so to the Rockaway footh — the path."
This " port," or " entrance," as it is called, is situate in the valley, on the Flat- bush turnpike, near the " Brush," or Valley Tavern, and a short distance beyond the three-mile post from Breuckelen ferry. A freestone monument was placed
here to designate the patent line between Breuckelen and Flatbush. The Flat- bush Pass and road, at the junction of the Brooklyn and Flatbush turnpike with the Coney Island plank road, and now within the limits of Prospect park. The defenses of this Pass were, first, a sort of crescent-shaped intrenchment, just within the village of Flatbush, and lying diagonally across the main street, a little south of Judge Martense's house, with a ditch of considerable depth on its northerly side ; and, secondly, a small redoubt, mounting a few small pieces of artillery at the Valley Grove, to guard the passage through the Port road and by direct route to Brooklyn.
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Furman, in his notes on Brooklyn, says : "In this battle, part of the British army marched down a lane or road (Port road) leading from the Brush tavern (at Valley Grove) to Gowanus, pursuing the Americans. Several of the American riflemen, in order to be more secure, and at the same time-more effectually to suc- ceed in their designs, had posted themselves in the high trees near the road. One of them shot the English Major, Grant ; in this he passed unobserved. Again he loaded his deadly rifle and tired ; another English officer fell. He was then marked, and a platoon ordered to advance and fire into the tree, which order was immediately carried into execution, and the rifleman fell to the ground, dead. After the battle was over the two British officers were buried in a field near where they fell, and their graves fenced in with some posts and rails, where the remains still rest."
Stiles says: " Sterling, finding that he was fast being surrounded, saw that his only chance of escape was to drive Cornwallis, who was then occupying the Cortelyou house as a redoubt, up the Port road towards Flatbush, and by getting between him and Fort Box, on the opposite side of the creek, to escape, under cover of its guns, across Brower's mill-dam. He knew that his attack upon Sterling would, at all events, give him time for his escape to his countrymen, whom he saw struggling through the salt morasses and across the narrow causeway at Frecke's mill pond."
Bout received a confirmatory patent of the premises, which covered the neck of land on which a few years ago were located Frecke*s and Denton's flour mills
and also a considerable tract east of Frecke's mill pond, extending to the road in the Village of Brooklyn. Upon Bout's patent was located Frecke's mill, or the "Old Gowanus Mill," probably the oldest in the Town of Breukelen * * * This mill pond was formed by damming off the head of Gowanus Kil, and the old mill was located just north of the present Union, west of Nevin street, and be- tween that street and Bond.
DENTON'S MILL,
or the "Yellow Mill," in Gowanus, was also built upon Bout's patent, by Adam and Nicholas, the sons of Adam Brower, in 1709. The mill pond was formed by the damming off a branch of the Gowanus Kil, and the mill was located on the north- east side of the present First street, about midway between Second and Third avenues. The dwelling-house, which was burned down about 1852, was in Car- roll, midway between Nevins street and Third avenue.
The accompanying illustration, showing the several places described, is from an old painting in the possession of Mr. Teunis Bergen. The Gowanus road and the old Schoonmaker house is shown in the foreground ; beyond this, the Cortleyou house (a part of which is still standing in the rear of the brick block, corner of Fifth avenue and Third street), showing a small section of the Port road. The mill pond and Denton's mill and house are shown in the distance.
ALARM-POST.
FIRST REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH.
Brooklyn Church was to be the alarm-post where the covering party was to concentrate in case the enemy attacked during the night.— Johnston.
He (Major-General Mifflin) then assigned us our several stations which we •were to occupy as soon as it was dark, and pointed out Brooklyn Church as an alarm-post, to which the whole were to repair and unitedly oppose the enemy, in case they discovered our movement and made an attack in consequence. My regiment was posted in a redoubt on the left, and in the lines of the great road below Brooklyn Church. * * * Having arrived at the left of the church, 1 halted to take up my camp equipage, which, in the course of the night, I had carried there by a small party. — Colonel Hand's Account of the Retreat,
This church was the second one which had occupied the same site. It was built in 1766, and stood in the middle of the Jamaica road (now Fulton street), and immediately opposite to a burying ground on the west side of Fulton street, be- tween Bridge and Lawrence streets. It was unprotected by fence or enclosure. The road was spacious, and a carriage and wagon track passed around each end, forming an oblong circle, remitting at either end. There was a door at each end of the building.
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, BROOKLYN,
WHERE THE COUNCIL OF WAR WAS HELD.
The question has often been raised as to whether Washington had a " head- quarters" in Brooklyn, either previous to or during the battle of Long Island, and if so, where located. Tradition, the most unreliable of all sources of information, locates it at the old Reformed Dutch Church, on Fulton street, and at the Pierre-
pont mansion, on Montague street. Other places have been named on the authority of old veterans who " remembered all about it." With the exception of the time spent in the " Council of War," to determine the advisability of a retreat or further defensive operations, Washington spent but very little time at any one place. He was too anxious and too busy watching the movements of the enemy and examining the lines of defense to remain long at any one point. His "head- quarters " were really in the saddle.
Stiles, Vol. I., page 57, says: "The fact is, that Washington's headquarters were in New York ; and although he went over to Brooklyn after the commence- ment of the unfortunate battle of Long Island, on the 27th of August, 1776, there is no evidence or probability that he went outside of the American lines, which extended from the Wallabout to the Gowanus mill creek."
In a foot note, Vol. I., page 284, Stiles says: "The old Cornell house, after- wards known as the Pierrepont mansion, which formerly stood on the line of the present Montague street, near the little iron foot-bridge which spans the carriage- way, was the headquarters of Washington during this important contest. * * * It was here (and not at the old Dutch Church in Fulton street, as has been erroneously stated by Lossing and Onderdonk, which was merely the alarm-post of the American army) that the council of war was held which determimed upon the retreat and where the orders for that movement were promulgated. This is on the authority of Col. Fish, the father of Governor Hamilton Fish, and one of Washington's military family who, in 1824, during Lafayette's visit to Brooklyn, called the attention of the distinguished visitor to the fact, and designated the very positions in the room occupied by the council."
This array of facts is very formidable, but contemporaneous authority — the evidence of one who was a member of that council — is stronger.
Document No. 6, " Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society," Vol. III., is a letter from Gen. John Morin Scott to John Jay, dated September 6, 1776, in which he says: "I was summoned to a Council of War at Mr. Philip Living- ston's house, on Thursday, 29th ult., never having had reason to expect a propo- sition for a retreat till it was mentioned."
Stiles says : " The Livingston mansion-house stood on the east side of the present Hicks street, about four hundred feet south of Joralemon street, and during the Revolutionary War, in consequence of Mr. Livingston's adherence to the American cause, was appropriated by the British, who then occupied Brooklyn, to the purposes of a naval hospital. After Mr. Livingston's death the trustees appointed by legislative act of February 25, 1784, to sell his estate, disposed of that portion known as "the distilling property" to Daniel McCormick in July, 1785, and on the 29th of April, 1803, they conveyed to Teunis Joralemon the property south of the distillery, and the Livingston mansion thenceforward became known as the Joralemon house. It was taken down at the opening of Hicks street.
" It was a large, double frame house, the more modern portion of which was built by Mr. Livingston just previously to the war for his only son, who was then making the tour of Europe and was to be married on his return, which, however, was prevented by his death abroad. The house was constructed in the very best manner, having costly carved mantels imported from Italy and other furniture at that day unusual to American houses. During the occupation of the island it was used as an hospital for the British navy, probably as a justifiable retaliation upon
its owner, who was a prominent member of the Continental Congress. Attached to the house was an extensive garden, which the well-known taste and abundant means of Mr. Livingston had made the finest in this part of America. * * * When the British left Brooklyn little remained of it but the name."
The property was purchased in 1803 by Teunis Joraleman from the executors of Philip Livingston, Esq. It continued in the possession of Mr. Joralemon up to the time of his death in 1840. The house was destroyed by fire the following year.
Referring to the Livingston place, the New York Mercury, under date of February 21, 1774, says: "A ferry is now established from the Coenties Market, New York, to the landing place of P. Livingston, Esq., and Henry Remsen, on Long Island, and another from Fly Market, and a third from Peck Slip to the present ferry house at Brooklyn."
Stiles says : " The ' landing place of P. Livingston, Esq., and Henry Remsen ' was near the foot of the present Joralemon street. This ferry was called ' St. George's Ferry,' but did not exist long, being discontinued in 1776, and the ferry- house, together with Livingston's distillery, was burned after the war."
FORT GREENE, OR WASHINGTON PARK.
Old Fort Greene was acquired by the city in 1847 and converted into a pleasure ground. It contains about thirty acres and has, in places, an altitude sufficient to overlook the highest buildings in the city. Previous to the battle of Long Island it was a thickly wooded hill belonging to John Cowenhoven, Sr., his son, Rem Cowenhoven, and Carter Wooster. It was known as Cowenhoven's boschje or woods. In the spring of 1776, when the British forces began to move toward New York, the hill became one of the redoubts along the American line of defence through Brooklyn. It was partly cleared of its timber, mounted with guns and became known as Fort Putnam.
After the Revolution, a road connecting Fulton street with the Newtown turnpike was cut through the Fort Greene hills. In 18 14, when a descent upon New York by the English fleet was apprehended, students, societies and all classes of citizens of Brooklyn and New York, also New Jersey, assisted in fashioning it into a stronghold of defence again, and it was garrisoned by troops until peace was declared, in February, 181 5. It was during this time that it was called Fort Greene. The name of Fort Greene had been applied to a redoubt situated about where Atlantic and Pacific avenues and Bond street now form a square. After the War of 1812 the fort was used as a storage place for ammunition until the people had the practice abolished because of menace to life and property. For two decades before its conversion to park purposes the hill was a tract of unused land.
BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND.
PRECEDING EVENTS.
The first movement which led to the planting of an independent nation in America occurred on the 5th of September, 1774, when delegates from twelve British- American provinces met in the hall of the Carpenters' Association in Phila- delphia and organized themselves into a Continental Congress, having for their object the consideration of the political state of the colonies ; also the devising of measures for obtaining relief from oppression, and to unite in efforts to secure for themselves and their posterity the free enjoyment of natural and chartered rights and liberties in a perfect union with Great Britain. Very few of them had aspira- tions vet fur political independence.
Unexpected events followed in rapid succession. The news which came from Boston from time to time of the petty tyranny of Gage and his troops endured by the patriotic citizens, and the marvellous fortitude of the afflicted, led Washington to exclaim before the Virginia Convention, " I will raise a thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march with them at the head for the relief of Boston."
The battle of Lexington, fought on the 19th of April, 1775, was the opening act in the great drama of the War for Independence. The bells that were rung on that warm April morning — the mercury marking 850 in the shade at noon — tolled the knell of British domination in the old thirteen colonies.
On the Green at Lexington stands a monument erected to the memory of the first patriots who fell in defense of American independence ; on this is in- scribed the following :
" Sacred to the Liberty and Rights of Mankind ! ! ! The Freedom and Inde- pendence of America. — Sealed with the Blood of Her Sons. — This Monument is erected by the inhabitants of Lexington under the patronage and at the expense of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." * * * *
The war begun at Lexington that morning, was seconded at Concord at the middle of the forenoon, and at meridian the same day British power began to wane, when British regulars made a hasty retreat before an inferior number of provincial militia.
The Massachusetts Committee of Safety sent a circular to all the towns of the province calling on the people to " hasten and arrange by all possible means the enlistment of men to form the army, and send them forward to headquarters at Cambridge."
The patriots determined on aggressive movements to weaken the British power on the continent. It was believed that the ministry intended a scheme for separating New Fngland from the rest of the colonies by a military occupation of the Hudson Valley and Lake Champlain, the latter, the " Indian door of the country," opening between the Hudson and the St. Lawrence.
v
GEN. GEOPxGE WASHINGTON
Fort Ticonderoga was captured by the American troops under Col. Ethan Allen, the ioth of May, 1775.
The Battle of Bunker Hill, fought on the 17th of January following, compelled the withdrawal of the British troops, and they passed over the water to Boston, never again to appear on the mainland of Massachusets.
Washington arrived at Cambridge on the morning of July 2d and took com- mand of the army on the following morning. He arranged his army in three grand divisions, and at once began the erection of fortifications, and ere many months passed he was master of the situation.
" If they retain possession of the Heights," said Admiral Shuldam, "I cannot keep a ship in the harbor." It was therefore determined to drive the Americans from their redoubts.
Twenty- four hundred veterans were placed under the command of Lord Percy and ordered to drive the Americans from their intrenched hills. A night was selected for the attack, but that afternoon a violent storm of wind and rain came up from the south, which increased to a gale. Some of the British vessels were driven ashore, and the storm prevented any further movements by the enemy. A council of war was called, and it was determined to evacuate Boston. This was delayed until Sunday, the 17th. On Saturday, the 16th, Washington seized and fortified Nook Hill, by which he held the British completely at his mercy, and on the following morning the British sailed out of Boston harbor. For some ten days the fleet lay at anchor in Nantucket Roads and then sailed away. " Neither hell, Hull nor Halifax," wrote a British officer, " can offer a worse shelter than Boston." Of the three, Halifax proved to be the point of destination, although Boston was to them no doubt, figurative of the first. Washington had ordered five regiments of infantry and a part of the artillery to New York the day after the evacuation. When the fleet sailed, the remainder of the army followed with the exception of five regiments. Washington left Boston for New York on April 4, fully impressed with the idea that the objective point of the British was New York.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE DEFENSE OF NEW YORK HARBOR. Early in January, 1776, General Charles Lee, whose rank in the American army was next to that of Washington, urged a plan of his own to secure New York, which was believed at that time to be threatened. Lee's instructions were to endeavor to enlist troops in Connecticut and New Jersey, " such volunteers as are willing to join you, and can be expeditiously raised, repair to the city of New York, etc." On his way from Cambridge, General Lee stopped long enough in Connecti- cut to enlist twelve hundred men, and reached New York with his recruits on February 4. On reaching the provincial boundary he was met by delegates from the Provincial Congress begging him to go no further. The captain of the Asia man-of-war, at anchor off the city, with Tryon the royal Governor on board, had threatened to destroy the city if he should enter. Lee paid no attention to their hostile threats, and on his arrival in New York dispossessed the local Committee of Safety of all authority, Congress appointing in its place, at his suggestion, three of their own number to confer with him in regard to the best means of defense. Notwithstanding the obstacles which confronted him, Lee believed it possible to defend the entrance to New York harbor by fortifying all the approaches. Washington did not deem it expedient, but the Continental Congress had resolved
that it must be held, and he, desiring to obey the order of Congress with scrupu- lous exactness, promised his utmost exertions under every disadvantage. The disadvantages were, indeed, very great, and owing to the limited time for preparation, seemed almost insurmountable. It was necessary to be on the defensive at so many points, so many fortifications were necessary, and so many men to garrison them properly. Lee projected the fortifications on the comprehen- sive scale demanded by the situation. The most important of these were to be on Long Island, stretching across from Wallabout Bay to Gowanus Creek. There were to be others on Long Island opposite Hell Gate, to guard against a movement through Long Island Sound ; at King's Bridge, where Manhattan Island almost touched the mainland, and at various places along the shores of the East River and the Hudson. Hardly had Lee projected these works before he was ordered to South Carolina to defend Fort Moultrie. He was suc- ceeded by Gen. Greene who continued with the same activity and determination, the defensive operations, being in daily expectation of the appearance of the British in the harbor Immediately on the arrival of Washington a thousand men were sent to Governor's Island, where extensive fortifications were erected. Every- thing possible was done to obstruct the two channels by which East River com- municates with the inner bay.
From Governor's island to the New York side, vessels were firmly anchored with sharpened timbers projecting from them. There, too, hulks were sunk to increase the difficulty of forcing a passage. This precaution had also been taken on the Brooklyn side of Governor's Island, and the channel was defended by batteries on Brooklyn Heights and Red Hook, as well as by the batteries upon Governor's Island.
The present area of Brooklyn had at that time a population numbering between three and four thousand, and these were scattered over the entire territory, cluster- ing a little thicker around the ferry and the tavern near it, around the old Dutch church which stood in the middle of the Jamaica Road (now Fulton Street) ; another church in Bushwick, later known as Williamsburg, and around Bedford Four Corners, not far from where the present Bedford Avenue intersects Fulton Avenue. These settlements included but a small portion of the population. The rest were scattered about on the farms around Flatbush, the village of Brooklyn, and the Gowanus neighborhood.
Field says:" The lines which defended the peninsular upon which the two villages of Brooklyn church and Brooklyn ferry were erected, were more imposing in appearance than formidable for resistance."
In consequence of the deep indenture of the land by Gowanus creek and the mill-ponds connected with it on the south, and by Wallabout Bay and Remsen's mill-pond, then covering the site of City Park on the north, a water front of more than three miles was guarded by a line of entrenchments less than a mile and a half in extent. The low ground on the Wallabout was defended by a wide ditch, filled by the tide, the channel having been excavated from the head of Wallabout Creek, near the junction of Raymond and Tillery Streets, to the foot ot the heights near Boliver Street. Its course followed by the low ground between Raymond and Navy Streets, through which the water falling on the adjacent hills was drained. The earth from the ditch was formed into a breastwork, /raised with sharp stakes set firmly into the bank, crossing each other and projecting
forward at an angle which would bring their points to the level of the breast of the assailant. From the east end of the ditch, a breastwork similarly defended, led up the face of the hill to Fort Putnam, on the site of Washington Park.
Fort Putnam — The strong redoubt known by this name, was an earthwork defended by a ditch and a broad area of abatis in front, formed of the tall forest trees which, until that time, had covered the site. The woods had extended down the slope as far as the present junction of Clinton and Flatbush Avenues on the west, and almost to the Jamaica road on the south, but they were now felled, over many acres, with their tops pointing outwards, and presented a tangled mass of sharpened branches interwoven with the brushwood, that rendered the passage of a body of troops nearly impossible.
Fort Putnam mounted five heavy guns, and occupied a height extending south of De Kalb Avenue, commanding the Wallabaut Bridge Road, Fort Green Lane and most of the low ground in front, as far as Grand Avenue. It was, how- ever, unfortunately overlooked by an eminence, distant about six hundred yards to the south-east, near the crossing of Clinton and De Kalb Avenues.
Johnston says: "To defend the approach between the bay and the marsh, the engineers laid out three principal forts and two redoubts, with breastworks connecting them. * * * On the left rose the high ground now known as Fort Green Place or Washington Park, one hundred feet above the sea level, and on the right, between the main road and the marsh, were lower elevations on lands then owned by Rutgert Van Brunt and Johannes De Bevoise. * * * Two of the works were erected on the right of the road and received the names of Fort Green and Fort Box ; three were on the left, and were known as the Oblong Redoubt, Fort Putman, and the redoubt on its left."
Fort Box — Field says : " South of Freeke's mill-pond, on a low sand hill overlooking the passage between Freeke's and Denton's mill-ponds — where the Port Road, after crossing the dam of the former to the west side of the pond, formed a curve of nearly half the circumference of the knoll — a redoubt mounting four guns had been constructed to command the crossing. This hill, after the destruction of the redoubt by the British had rendered the site of the fortification doubtful, was known as Fort Boerum ; but at this period it was called Fort Box, in honor, probably, of Major Box, the officer who commanded at that part of the lines."
Johnston says : " That it stood on the right of the line, is beyond question. Thus, the letter of a spectator of the battle says : ' Our lines fronted the east. On the left, near the lowest part of the above described bay (Wallabout) was Fort Put- nam, near the middle of Fort Green, and towards the creek, Fort Box.' In his order of June I, General Green directs five companies to ' take post upon the right in Fort Box.' * * * The work appears to have been of a diamond shape, and was situated on or near the line of Pacific Street, a short distance above Bond."
Fort Green — "About three hundred yards to the left of Fort Box," says Johnston, " a short distance above Bond street, between State and Schermerhorn, stood Fort Green, star shaped, mounting six guns, and provided with well and magazines. Colonel Little, its commander, describes it as the largest of the works on Long Island, and this statement is corroborated by the fact that its garrison consisted of an entire regiment, which was not the case with the other forts, and that it was provided with nearly double the number of pikes. It occupied an im-
5
portant position on one of the small hills, near the centre of that part of the line lying southwest of Washington Park, and its guns commanded the approach by the Jamaica highway. Being the principal work on the line, the engineers, or possibly Little's regiment, named it after their brigade commander."
Oblong Redoubt— Still further to the left, and on the other side of the road, a small circular redoubt called ' Oblong Redoubt,' was thrown up on what was then a piece of rising ground, at the corner of I)e Kalb and Hudson Avenues. This redoubt had very nearly direct command of the road, and in connection with Fort Green, was depended upon to defend the centre of the line. From the Oblong Redoubt the line ascended northeastly to the top of the hill included in Washington Park, where the fourth in the chain of works was erected. This was Fort Putnam.
Redoubt on the Left — At the eastern termination of the hill, a short distance from Fort Putnam, and on a lower grade, stood the last of the works, which is identified in the orders and letters of the day as the "redoubt on the left." It was a small affair and occupied a point at about the middle of the present Cumberland Street, nearly midway between Willoughby and Myrtle Avenues, but in 1776 the site was twenty feet higher and appeared as a well-defined spur extend- ing out from Fort Putnam.
Corkscrew Fort and Cobble Hill— " Within the lines of the entrench- ments" says Field, "two other fortifications had been constructed to command important points. One of these was erected upon a conical hill called Ponkiesberg, which rose in such prominent and well-defined outline from the nearby plane surface, as to excite the query if it was not the work of human hands. It occupied the western half of the block bounded by Atlantic, Pacific, Court and Clinton Streets, and its elevation above the present grade was from sixty to eighty feet."
"During the War of 181 2 another redoubt was erected upon this hill and called Fort Swift, but at the period of the Revolution it was known as Corkscrew Fort and Cobble Hill." — American Archives, I, 418.
" The work mounted four guns, and from its central interior position could have prevented the enemy from securing a foothold on the peninsular in the rear or flank of the main line in case they effected a landing back of Red Hook or crossed Gowanus Creek above." — Johnston.
Redoubt at the Mill — Near the corner of the present De Graw and Bond Streets, a small battery or breastwork in the form of a right angle, mounting one gun, was thrown up to cover the narrow passage over a mill dam which here crossed Gowanus Creek. It stood at the extremity of a long, low sand hill and the dam connected this point with a tongue of land on the opposite side, on which two mills were built, known as the upper or yellow and lower mills. The upper mill was immediately opposite, the redoubt, and it was here that the Port Road came down to the edge of the creek.
Red Hook — Fort Defiance — This work was originally a single water battery, mounting four eighteen-pounders, en barbette, to prevent the passage of ships east of Governor's Island, as well as to keep the enemy from landing at the southern extremity of the peninsular. Washington speaks of it as being " a small but exceedingly strong fort." It was located near the intersection of present Con- over and Van Dyke Streets, south of Atlantic Docks.
FORT Stirling— " The largest fortification built on Long Island," says
Field, " was erected upon the heights overlooking the East River, its guns sweeping the channel between Governors Island and Brooklyn, as well as the whole width of the river. It was star-shaped and covered an area of two acres, near the junction of Pierrepont and Hicks Streets. Remains of a fortification, supposed to occupy its site, were visible within the memory of many persons now living. Eight heavy guns were mounted upon its breastwork and covered the approach by land along the low ground from Atlantic to Hamilton Avenue/'
THE ARMY OF DEFENSE.
Continuing, Field says: "To defend these interior lines in front of the village of Brooklyn church, a force of eight thousand men was the smallest to which they could have been entrusted with any hope of success. In addition to this, the exterior lines would require as large a number of troops to hold them for a day against only an equal number of the enemy. All the force which Washington had at his disposal on August 8, to meet these demands and to provide for the exigencies of his position in New York, amounted to only seventeen thousand two hundred and twenty-five men, of whom three thousand six hundred and sixty- eight were sick, and unfit for duty. These raw undisciplined troops were extended over a line of defense reaching from King's Bridge on Manhattan Island, to Bedford on Long Island, or more than seventeen miles in length. The urgent representa- tions of Washington to the governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland and the New England States, that he was in reality defending the gate to each of their capitals, brought nearly ten thousand additional militia to his camp during the succeeding fortnight. But of the twenty-seven thousand men now in camps on Long and Manhattan Islands, seven thousand were in the hospitals or unfit for service from illness.
Up to within a few days of the battle, General Greene and his men continued work upon the defenses at Long Island. Greene had been promoted to the rank of major general on the 9th, and his old brigade on Long Island given to Brigadier- General John Nixon, of Massachusetts. For some time before the battle, Colonel Edward Hand's Pennsylvania regiment of riflemen, then enrolling five hundred and fifty men, was the only force occupying the broad area of territory between the Brooklyn lines and the New York Bay. Brigadier-General Heard's brigade of five New Jersey regiments was ordered to Long Island to reinforce Greene. His division now consisting of these two brigades — Nixon's and Heard's — numbered, August 15, two thousand nine hundred men fit for duty. Parts of two Long Island regiments under Col. Josiah Smith and Col. Jeronimus Remsen, joined him about this date, and Col. Gay's Connecticut levies, who had been stationed on the east side of the river since August 1 , increased this number to something over thirty- five hundred. The total number engaged in the defense of Long Island on the day of the battle, was not far from ten thousand, according to the most authentic reports. Among those mentioned who held commands on that day were, Col. Samuel Miles, Col. Samuel J. Atlee, Lieut. Col. Nicholas Lutz, Lieut. Col. Peter Kachlein (some- times spelt Kichline) of Pennsylvania; Col. William Smallwood, of Maryland, with Mordecai Gist as first major, and Col. John Haslet of Delaware. Of the Connecti- cut troops were Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons, Col. Jedediah Huntington, Col. Samuel Wyllys, and Col. Lasher of the New York militia.
In the midst of his duties Gen Greene was taken sick and obliged to relinquish
his command. " I am very sorry " he wrote Washington on the i 5th, " that I am under the necessity of acquainting you that I am confined to my bed with a raging fever." On the 20th, Washington issued the following order to GeneraJ Sullivan to take command on Long Island during the absence of Gen. Greene: " General Sullivan is to take command upon Long Island till General Greene's state of health will permit him to resume it, and Brigadier Lord Stirling is to take charge of General Sullivan's division till he returns to it again."
General Sullivan, who had recently returned from Canada, at once assumed command, but was superceded four days later by General Israel Putnam. Such was the condition of affairs on the American side on the eve of the great battle.
LANDING OF THE BRITISH TROOPS ON LONG ISLAND.
In June, 1776, General Howe sailed with his recruited army from Halifax for New York, and arrived at Sandy Hook near the close of that month. On the 8th of July, he landed nine thousand men on Staten Island, and there awaited the arrival of his brother, Admiral Howe, with his fleet bearing British regulars and German hirelings. These and the broken forces of Clinton and Parker, from the Carolinas, soon joined General Howe, and by the middle of August the com- bined land and naval force of the British, numbering almost thirty thousand men, prepared to crush the American army and bring the rebellion to an end. At Hali- fax, Lord Howe declared : " Peace will be made within ten days after my arrival."
"The morning of the twenty-second of August '' says Field, " dawned with tropical brilliancy, upon a scene of unequaled interest to the spectators of both armies. Long before the sun had risen, the British army had been under arms, and from the various camps the entire force was marching, with the loud strains of martial music, to the place of embarkation. The men-of-war had quit their anchorage and were standing up the bay under easy sail, with open ports and guns ready for action. At the landing on Staten Island, seventy-five fleet boats, attended by three bateaux and two galleys, received four thousand of the Hessian troops on board. Another corps of five thousand men was embarked upon the transports, which now took up their position under the guns of the men-of-war, attended by ten bateaux to aid in their landing.
" The scene was not less magnificent than appalling. The greatest naval and millitary force which had ever left the shores of England, was now assembled in the harbor of New York; for the mightest power upon the globe had put forth its greatest strength to crush its rebellious colonies. Thirty-seven men-of-war guarded a transport fleet of four hundred vessels, freighted with enormous trains of artillery and every conceivable munition of war, with troops of artillery and cavalry horses, and provisions for the sustenance of the thirty-five thousand soldiers and sailors who had been borne across the ocean in their hulls."
Lord Howe had matured his plans and was fully informed of the strength of the American army and the condition of the lines at every point. In a letter of July 7, to Germaine, he says : " I met with Governor Tryon on board of ship at the Hook, and many other gentlemen fast friends to the government, attending him, from whom I have had the fullest information of the state of the rebels, who are
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numerous and very advantageously posted, with strong intrenchments, both upon Long Island and New York, with more than one hundred pieces of cannon for the defense of the town toward the sea,"
The landing of the British troops was successfully effected on the morning of August 22. About nine o'clock A. M., four thousand light infantry, with forty pieces of cannon crossed over from Staten Island in flat boats, under the guns of the Rainbow, which was anchored within the Narrows, near the present site of Fort Lafayette, while the frigates Phcenix, Greyhound and Rose, with the bomb ketches Thunder and Carcass took their stations close into the bay to cover the landing, which took place at Denise's ferry (now Fort Hamilton) in the town of New Utrecht An hour after the landing of this first division, a second, com- prising English and Hessian troops, left the British ships and transports, and in regular rows of boats under the command of Commodore Hotham, passed over and landed in the bend of Gravesend Bay at what is now known as Bath Beach, on the farms of Isaac Cortleyou and Adrean Van Brunt, between the Cortleyou Road and the Bath Road, anciently called De Bruyn Road. The troops were landed without opposition, and before noon, fifteen thousand, with guns and baggage, had been safely transferred to Long Island.
" Cornwallis," says Johnston, " was immediately detached with the reserves. Donop's corps of chasseurs and grenadiers, and six field-pieces, to occupy the village of Flatbush, but with orders not to attempt to pass beyond if he found it held by the rebels, and the main force encamped nearer the coast, from the Narrows to Flatlands. As Cornwallis advanced, Col. Hand and his two hundred riflemen hurried down from their outpost camp above Utrecht, and keeping close to the enemy's front, marched part of the way, alongside of them in the edge of the woods, but avoided an open fight in the field with superior numbers."
Lieut. -Col. Chambers, of Hand's riflemen, says : " On the morning of August 23, there were nine thousand British troops on New Utrecht Plains. The guard alarmed our small camp, and we assembled at flagstaff. We marched our forces, about two hundred in number, to New Utrecht, to watch the movements of the enemy. When we came on the hill we discovered a party of them advancing toward us. We prepared to give them a warm reception, when an imprudent fellow fired and they immediately halted and turned toward Flatbush. The main body also moved along the great road toward the same place. Capt. Hamilton and twenty men of the battalion fell back on the road in advance, burning grain and stacks of hay and killing cattle, which he did very cleverly."
DESCRIPTION OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY.
Johnston continues: "The section of Long Island which the enemy now occupied was a broad, low plain stretching northward from the coast from four to six miles, and eastward a still further distance. Scattered over its level surface were four villages, surrounded with farms. Nearest to the Narrows, and nearly a mile from the coast, stood New Utrechl ; another mile southeast of this was Gravesend; northeast from Gravesend, nearly three miles, the road led through Flatlands, and directly north from Flatlands, and about half way to Brooklyn Church, lay Flatbush. Between the plain and the Brooklyn lines ran a ridge of
hills which extended from New York bay midway through the island to its eastern extremity. The ridge varied in height from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the sea, and from the plain it rose somewhat abruptly from forty to eighty feet, but fell off more gradually in its descent on the other side. Its entire sur- face was covered with a dense growth of woods and thickets, and to an enemy advancing below it presented a continuous barrier, a huge, natural abattis, impassible to artillery, where, with proportionate numbers, a successful defense could be sustained.
" The roads across the ridge passed through its natural depressions, of which there were four within a distance of six miles from the harbor. The main high- way, or Jamaica road -that which led up from Brooklyn ferry, now Fulton street- after passing through Bedford, kept on still north of the hills, and crossed them at the 'Jamaica Pass,' about four miles from the fortified line. From this branched three roads leading to the villages in the plain. The most direct was that to Flat- bush, which cut through the ridge a mile and a half from the works. Three- quarters of a mile to the left, towards the Jamaica Pass, a road from Bedford led also to Flatbush, and near the coast ran the Gowanus road to the Narrows. Where the Red Lion Tavern stood on this road, about three miles from Brooklyn Church, a narrow lane, known as the Martense lane, now marking the southern boundary of Greenwood cemetery, diverged to the left through a hollow in the ridge and connected with roads on the plain."
OPERATIONS OF THE ENEMY PRECEDING THE BATTLE OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH.
When word of the enemy's landing reached Sullivan and Washington the troops were immediately put under arms. The commander-in-chief had already been prepared for the intelligence by a dispatch from Governor Livingston of New Jersey, the night before, to the effect that he had certain information from the British camp that they were then embarking troops and would move to the attack on the following day.
Livingston sent a spy to Staten Island on the night of the 20th, who brought word that the British were embarking, and would attack on Long Island and up the North river. Washington received the information during the storm on the following evening, and immediately sent word to Heath at King's Bridge, that the enemy were upon " the point of striking the long expected stroke." The next morning, the 22d, he wrote again instructing Heath to pick out "eight hundred or a thousand light, active men, and good marksmen," ready to move rapidly whenever they were most needed ; and he promised to send him some artillery, " if," he continues, " we have not other employment upon hand, which General Putnam, who is this instant come in, seems to think we assuredly shall, this day, as there is considerable embarkation on board of the enemy's boats. — Mass. I fist. Sac. Coll., volume for 1878. — The Heath Correspondence.
As the report came in that the enemy intended to march at once upon Sulli- van, Washington promptly sent him a reinforcement of six regiments, which included Miles' and Atlee's from Stirling's brigade, Chester's and Silliman's from Wadsworth's, and probably Lasher's and Drake's from Scott's, numbering
together some eighteen hundred men. They crossed with light spirits and were marched to alarm-posts; Miles' two battalions went on to the Bedford Pass; Silli- man's was ordered down into " a woody hill near Red Hook, to prevent any more troops from landing thereabout." Hand's riflemen, supported by one or two of the Eastern regiments, watched and annoyed the Hessians under Donop at Flat- bush, and detachments were sent to guard the lower roads near the Red Lion.
Howe established his quarters at New Utrecht and dispatched Lord Corn- wallis with the reserves, Col. Donop's corps of Hessian yagers and grenadiers, with six field pieces, to Flatbush, and with instructions not to attack the place if he should find it occupied by the enemy. Taking his position at Gravesend, Cornwallis pushed forward Donop s corps to Flatbush, which the latter reached towards evening, the three hundred American riflemen who had occupied it retir- ing before him, " a few cannon balls being sent after them " to accelerate their steps.
General Sullivan, in his account of the enemy's movements, says: "On Friday, 23d, a party of British took possession of Flatbush, which brought on a hot fire from our troops, who are advantageously posted in the woods and on every eminence. An advanced party are encamped a little to the N. W. of Flatbush Church, and have a battery somewhat west of Jer'h Vanderbilt's, whence they fire briskly on our people, who often approach and discharge their rifles within two hundred yards of their works. One of our gunners threw a shell into Mr. Axtell's house where a number of officers were at dinner, but we have not heard what damage it did.
"August 23. This afternoon the enemy formed and attempted to pass the wood by Bedford (Flatbush) and a smart fire between them and the riflemen ensued. A number of musketry came up to the assistance of the riflemen, whose fire, with that of the field pieces, caused a retreat of the enemy. Our men followed to the house of Judge Lefferts (where a number of them had taken lodgings), drove them out and burned the contiguous buildings. We have driven them half a mile from their former station."
Lieut.-Col. Chambers says : " Strong guards were maintained all day on the flanks of the enemy, and our regiment and the Hessian yagers kept up a severe firing, with a loss of but two wounded on our side. We laid a few Hessions low and made them retreat out of Flatbush. Our people went into the town and brought the goods out of the burning houses. The enemy liked to have lost their field pieces. Capt. Steele acted bravely. We would certainly have had the cannon had it not been for some foolish person calling a retreat. The main body of the foe returned to town, and when our lads came back they told us of their exploits."
In recognition of their splendid behavior in their first engagement with the enemy, Gen. Sullivan issued the following congratulatory order : " The General returns his thanks to the brave officers and soldiers who, with so much spirit and intrepidity, repulsed the enemy and defeated their designs of taking possession of the woods near our lines. He is now convinced that the troops he has the honor to command will not, in point of bravery, yield to any troops in the universe. The cheerfulness with which they do their duty and the patience with which they undergo fatigue, evince exalted sentiments of freedom and love of country and gives him most satisfactory evidence that when called upon they will prove them- selves worthy of that freedom for which they are now contending."
Washington visited Sullivan on the morning of the 23d and made a thorough inspection of the troops and of the condition of affairs. In his orders to the army he formally announced the landing of the British, and reminded his troops that the moment was approaching on which their honor and success and the safety of the country depended.
On the 24th, as has been previously stated, a change was made in the chief command on Long Island. Sedgwick, in his Life of Livingston, says : " On General Greene's being sick, Sullivan took the command, who was wholly un- acquainted with the ground or country. Some movements being made which the General did not approve entirely, and finding a great force going to Long Island, he sent over Putnam, who had been over occasionally ; this gave some disgust, so that Putnam was directed to soothe and soften as much as possible."
Major Abner Benedict says: "The General was received with loud cheers, and his presence inspired universal confidence."
Sullivan continued as second in command. In a letter written at a subsequent date, containing a report of his operations, he vaguely hints that the disaster which finally overtook the army might have been averted had his suggestions been carried out.
On the 25th of August, the day on which Gen. Putnam took command within the American lines, Von Heister, in command of the British auxiliaries, with Gen. Knyphausen and two full brigades of Hessians, landed at New Utrecht and advanced on the middle road towards Flatbush. The invading army on Long Island now numbered about twenty-one thousand well disciplined and experienced troops, supported by a large Meet in the bay."
A British officer, in a letter of August 4, 1776, says: "We are now in expectation of attacking the fellows very soon, and if I may be allowed to judge, there never was an army in better spirits nor in better health."
Putnam received instructions from Washington the same day, to form a proper line of defense around his encampment and works on the most advantageous ground, to guard the passes through the wooded hills ; to have a brigadier of the day constantly upon the lines that he might be on the spot to command. Explicit directions to guard against surprise by compelling all the men on duty to remain at their camps or quarters, and be ready to turn out at a moment's warning. In accordance with the instructions to Putnam, General Lord Stirling was assigned to duty as brigadier.
Washington again crossed to Long Island on the 26th, and made sure that everything was in readiness for the expected attack. A writer in the South Carolina Gazette, says: " The evening preceding the action, General Washington, with a number of general officers, went down to view the motions of the enemy, who were encamped at Flatbush." On the same day additional regiments were sent over from New York. Among these were Haslet's Delaware battalion, Smallwood's Marylanders, two or three independent companies from Maryland, and one hundred picked men from Durkee's Connecticut Continentals, under the command of Lieut. -Colonel Thomas Knowlton. Johnston gives the entire available force on Long Island on the eve of battle as seven thousand. Lossing says : "The number of the effective American troops on Long Island did not exceed eight thousand."
The various commands consisted of Cols. Moses Little and Jonathan Ward,
^%^
\
GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM
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of Massachusetts ; Cols. James Mitchell Varnum and Daniel Hitchcock, of Rhode Island; Cols. Jedediah Huntington, Samuel Wyllys, John Tyler, John Chester, G. S. Silliman, Fisher Gay and Knowlton's " Rangers," from Connecticut ; Cols. John Lasher and Samuel Drake, of New York ; Cols. Josiah Smith and Jeronemus Remsen, of Long Island ; Cols. Ephraim Martin, David Forman, Philip Johnston, Silas Newcomb and Phillip Van Cortlandts, of New Jersey ; Cols. Edward Hand, Samuel Miles, Samuel John Atlee ; Lieut. -Cols. Nicholas Lutz, Peter Kachelin, and Major Hay, of Pennsylvania; Col. John Haslet, of Delaware, and Col. William Smallwood, of Maryland. Among the artillery officers were Cap- tains Newell and Treadwell ; Captain-Lieutenants, John Johnston and Benajah Carpenter; Lieutenant Lillie, and " Cadet " John Callender.
On the night of the 26th, the various regiments and detachments on guard at the American outposts numbered only about twenty-eight hundred men. This was the force assigned to guard the several passes or openings through the range of hills in the rear of Brooklyn. The first of these was " Martense lane, already- described, extending along the southern border of the present Greenwood Cem- etery, from the old Flatbush and New Utrecht road to the coast road, which ran along the Gowanus bay, nearly on a line of the present Third avenue. The second and most important was the Flatbush Pass and road, at the junction of the Brooklyn and Flatbush turnpike with the Coney Island road, within the limits of Prospect Park. The defenses of this pass were, first, a sort of crescent- shaped intrenchment, just within the village of Flatbush, and lying diagonally across the main street, a little south of Judge Martense's house, with a ditch of considerable depth on its northerly side ; and secondly, a small redoubt mounting a few small pieces of artillery at the " Valley Grove," to guard the passage through the Port road and by the direct route to Brooklyn. A big white oak tree which formed one of the boundary marks between Brooklyn and Flatbush, was felled across the road as an obstacle to the enemy's advance.
The third, or Bedford Pass, was at the instersection of the old Clove road with the Flatbush and Brooklyn boundary line, half a mile south of the hamlet of Bedford. Three miles east of Bedford, on the old Jamaica turnpike, and just at the entrance of the Cemetery of the Evergreens, was a road through the hills, known as the Jamaica Pass.
The natural line of defense afforded by this range of heavily wooded hills could not, with the small force at the disposal of the American generals, be properly occupied by any continuous line of troops. Hitchcock's and Little's Continental regiments, and Johnston's New Jersey battalion were posted at the Flatbush Pass. The two former were commanded by Lieut. -Cols. Cornell and Henshaw ; Knowlton and his rangers were also sent to this point. The Coast road in the vicinity of the Red Lion Tavern was guarded by Hand's riflemen, half of Atlee's musketry, detachments of New York troops and part of Lutz's Penn- sylvanians, under Major Burd. At the Bedford Pass were stationed Col. Samuel Wylly's Connecticut Continentals and Col. Chester's Connecticut regiment, under the command of Lient.-Col Solomon Wills. To the left, a short distance beyond, Colonel Miles was encamped, with perhaps five hundred men on duty. Sullivan's orders of August 25 give the detail which was to mount for picket on the follow- ing morning. This detail, therefore, was the one on duty on the night of the 26th. The order was : "Eight hundred (men), properly officered, to relieve the
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troops on Bedford road tomorrow morning, six field officers to attend with this party. The same number to relieve those on Bush (Flatbush) road, and an equal number, those stationed towards the Narrows. A picket of three hundred men under the command of a field officer, six captains, twelve subalterns to be posted at the wood on the west side of the creek every night till further orders." There were no horsemen in Washington's army here except a few Long Island troopers from Kings and Queens counties, and these were now engaged in driving off stock out of reach of the enemy.
The difficulty of maintaining an extensive line of defense with an entirely inadequate force is clearly set forth in Gen. Sullivan's letter to Congress, under date of October 25, 1777. He says; "I know it has been generally reported that I commanded on Long Island when the action happened there. This is by no means true. Gen. Putnam had taken the command from me four days before the action. Lord Stirling commanded the main body without the lines. I was to have commanded the main body within the lines. I was uneasy about a road through which I had often foretold that the enemy would come, but could not persuade others to be of my opinion. I went to the hill near Flat- bush to reconnoitre, and with a picket of 400 men was surrounded by the enemy, who had advanced by the very road I had foretold and which I paid horsemen $50 for patrolling by night while I had the command, as I had no foot for the purpose. What resistance I made with these four hundred men against the British army I leave for the officers who were with me to declare. Let it suffice for me to say that the opposition of this small party lasted from half past nine to twelve o'clock. The reason of so few troops being on Long Island was because it was generally supposed that the enemy's landing there was a feint to draw our troops thither, that they might the more easily possess themselves of New York. I often urged, both by word and writing, that as the enemy had doubtless both these objects in view, they would first try for Long Island, which commanded the other; and then New York, which was completely commanded by it, would fall of course. But in this I was unhappy enough to differ from almost every officer in the army, till the event proved my conjectures were just."
THE SEVERAL ENGAGEMENTS AT FLATBUSH, GOWANUS AND BROOKLYN.
On the evening of the 26th of August, in the impenetrable shadow of the woods which crowned the summit and slopes of the Flatbush hills, these few regi- ments of raw, undisciplined troops awaited the coming of their foe, whose tents and camp fires stretched along the plain beneath them in an unbroken line, from Gravesend to Flatlands.
Stiles, in his description of the battle, says : " The left wing of the British army, under Gen. Grant, rested on New York Bay ; the Hessians, under De Heister, formed the centre, opposite to Sullivan's position at Flatbush Pass; while the right wing, which was designed to bear the brunt of the coming battle, and was composed of the choice battalions under Gen. Clinton and Earls Cornwallis and Percy, stretched along the eastern foot of the range of hills, from New Utrecht to Flatlands, idly skirmishing and occupying the attention of the
Americans. Gen. Howe, meanwhile, had been informed of the unguarded state of the road at Bedford, ' and that it would not be a difficult matter to turn the Americans' left flank, obliging them either to risk an engagement or to retire under manifest disadvantage.' In view of this fact he adopted the following plan of attack, viz.: I. Gen. Grant, with two brigades, one Highland regiment and two companies of New York Provincials, was to move forward upon the coast road towards Gowanus, while some of the ships of war were to menace New York and to operate against the right of the American fortified lines. While the attention of the Americans was thus diverted by the threatened danger to the city and to their rear, 2. The German troops under De Heister were to force the Flatbush Pass and the direct road to Brooklyn, by assault, and 3. At evening gun fire, the right wing, under Clinton, Cornwallis and Percy, accompanied by Howe himself, was to move in light marching order from Flatbush across the country to New Lotts, in order to secure the passes between that place and Jamaica and to turn, if possible, the American left.
" Accordingly, late on the afternoon of the 26th, De Heister and his Hessians took post at Flatbush and relieved Lord Cornwallis, who withdrew his division (leaving only the Forty-second Regiment) to Flatlands, about two miles southeast of Flatbush. At about nine o'clock of the same evening the vanguard of the right army, consisting of a brigade of light infantry and the light dragoons, under command of Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, moved eastward on the road to New Lotts. He was followed by Lord Percy with the artillery and grenadiers, and Lord Corn- wallis with a reserve, the Seventy-first Regiment and fourteen field pieces, accompanied by the commander-in-chief, Lord Howe. The troops were with- drawn under cover of the darkness, and with great caution, from their respective encampments, in which the tents were left standing, the fires burning and every appearance of actual occupation maintained. The intended route of march was known only to a few of the principal officers and, guided by a resident tory, the army moved over the country, through fields and by-ways, so silently that their footfalls could scarcely be heard at ten rods distance, moving slowly in order to give time for the light troops in the advance to secure and occupy all the points of the anticipated attack.
" Passing thus noiselessly along, irresistably sweeping into its grasp every human being that it met who might give information to the enemy, the head of the column reached the vicinity of Schoonmaker's Bridge, which spans the head of a little creek near the village of New Lotts and a short distance southeast of the present East New York. (The exact route taken by the British army on this eventful morning is a matter of much dispute among those who have most care- fully examined the subject, some maintaining that they did not cross Schoon- maker's Bridge.) Here was a point of defense of which the British commander expected the Americans would avail themselves, and he made his dispositions accordingly, throwing out skirmishers and taking such other precautions as seemed necessary. To his surprise, the place was found to be entirely unoccupied and the country open to the base of the Bushwick hills, where the Jamaica road enters upon the plains. Crossing the fields from the New Lotts road in a direct course to this point, the army halted at two o'clock on the morning of the 27th, at William Howard's Half-way House, which yet stands at the corner of the present Broadway and the Jamaica and Brooklyn road. In front of them on this road
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was the Jamaica Pass, a winding defile admirably calculated for defense, and where the British expected, as a matter of course, that their passage would be hotly contested.
"The perfect success of the flank movement which Howe was now performing demanded that this pass should be turned without risking an engagement or even attracting the attention of those who, as it was supposed, defended it. Here his tory guides seem to have been at fault and at their recommendation, perhaps, he pressed into his service William Howard, the innkeeper, and his son, then a lad of fourteen years. Father and son were compelled, at the point of the sword, to lead a detachment of the troops around the pass, through a bridle path known as the " Rockaway Path," which traversed the present Evergreen Cemetery. Much to the surprise of the British generals, the pass which they had so carefully flanked was found to be entirely unguarded, and the fact was immediately com- municated to the main body then halted on the (East New York) plains. Clinton promptly pushed forward a battalion of light infantry to secure the pass, and at daybreak he followed with his own command along the Jamaica road and soon completely possessed himself of the heights as virtually to decide the fortunes of the day. He was followed by Lord Percy with the main body, consisting of the Guards, the Second, Third and Fifth Brigades, with ten field pieces, who halted in his rear at an hour before daylight. They in turn were followed by the Forty-ninth Regiment with four medium twelve-pounders and the baggage, under its own escort.
"Being now in position on the Bushwick hills, where they breakfasted, the troops resumed their march along the Jamaica turnpike to Bedford, which they reached about half-past eight o'clock, while the Americans were yet unaware that they had left Flatlands. Pressing forward now with renewed energy, the head of the column by nine o'clock had reached and occupied the junction of the Flatbush road and the Jamaica turnpike. The British line now extended from that point to Bedford, and at the distance of half a mile from the rear of the Americans, who were contesting the possession of the Flatbush hills with De Heister, all uncon- scious that the trap had sprung upon them and that they were hemmed in on all sides. Thus the battle was lost to the defenders before it was really begun.
" Almost simultaneously with the march of the right wing, the left, under Gen. Grant, had advanced toward Brooklyn, partly by the Coast road and partly by way of Martense's lane. (The Coast road referred to was not the present road along the verge of the high bank from Yellow Hook to Gowanus, but a road which ran along the slopes further inland, nearly on a line with the present Third Avenue.) Grant's advance guard struck the American pickets in the vicinity of the Red Lion on the morning of the 27th. There was hardly more than an exchange of fire with Major Burd's detachment, according to his own report, and he with others probably was taken prisoner.
" Hardly more than a general statement can be made in regard to the attack at the pickets on the lower road. A part of them watched Martense's lane where, it would appear from Ewing's sketch, Hand's riflemen were posted before being relieved. Major Burd's detachment, on the same authority, was probably on the direct road to the Narrows, both parties communicating with each other at the Red Lion Tavern, which stood near the fork of the roads. Grant's main column advanced by the Narrows road, and possibly a part of the enemy came through
the Martense Lane at about the same time. The skirmish Major Rurd speaks of occurred in the vicinity of Thirty-eighth and Fortieth streets, on the Narrows road, where former residents used to say the Americans had a picket guard stationed. When the enemy came up, firing took place and some men were killed, and the firing ' was the first in the neighborhood.'
*' Word was immediately sent to Gen. Parsons and to Gen. Putnam. On his arrival, Parsons found that the guards had fled and that the enemy were through the woods on this side of the main hills. Stirling, who was occupying the junction of the Gowanus and Port roads, was informed by Putnam in person of the enemy's advance, and requested to check them with the two regiments. He immediately ordered out Haslet's and Smallwood's battalions, and hurried to the scene of action, closely followed by Gen. Parsons, with Col. Huntington's Con- necticut Continentals, under Lieut. -Col. Clark ; and Kachlein's Pennsylvania rifle- men were soon after started in the same direction. Within half a mile of the Red Lion Tavern they came up with Col. Atlee's regiment, slowly retiring before the advancing British column, whose front was then just coming into sight through the gray dawn of the morning, a little in advance of the present entrance to Greenwood Cemetery. The American line of battle was promptly formed across the Coast road, reaching from the bay to the crest of the hills which form the western boundary of Greenwood Cemetery. Placing Atlee's force in ambush as skirmishers in an orchard (Wynant Bennett's orchard), on the south side of the Coast or Gowanus road, near its intersection with the present iSth street, Stirling at the head of Haslet's and Smallwood's battalions, took his position on the slopes of the hills, between 1 8th and 20th streets, a little to the north-west of 'Battle Hill,' in Greenwood. Where the present 23d street intersects the avenue there was a small bridge on the old road which crossed a ditch or creek, setting up from the bay to a low and marshy piece of ground, on the left, looking south ; and just the other side of the bridge, the land rose to quite a bluff at the water's edge. This was known as • Blockje's Berg ' or ' Bluckie's Barracks." From the bluff the low hill fell gradually to the marsh or morass just mentioned, the road continuing along between tbem. Right here the approach by the road was narrow, and at the corner of 23d street was confined to crossing of the bridge."
Col. Atlee, in his report, says: "About half after seven the enemy, consisting of the fourth and sixth brigades of the British army, composed of the Seven- teenth, Fortieth, Forty-sixth, Fifty-fifth, Twenty-third, Forty-fourth, Fifty-Seventh, Sixty-fourth and Forty-second regiments, were observed advancing about two and a half miles from our lines at Brookline, in regular order, their field artillery in front. I then received orders from Lord Stirling to advance with my battalion and oppose the enemy's passing a morass or swamp at the foot of a fine rising ground, upon which they were first discovered, and thereby give time to our brig- age to form upon the heights. This order I immediately obeyed, notwithstanding we must be exposed, without any kind of cover, to the great fire of the enemy's musketry and field pieces, charged with round and grape shot, and finally situated upon the eminence above mentioned, having the entire command of the ground I was ordered to occupy. My battalion, although new and never before having the opportunity of facing an enemy, sustained their fire until the brigade had formed ; but finding we could not possibly prevent their crossing the swamp, I ordered my detachment to file off to the left and take post in a wood upon the left of the
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brigade. Here I looked upon myself advantageously situated, and might be enabled, upon the advance of the enemy, to give him a warm reception. In this affair 1 lost but one soldier, shot with a grapeshot through his throat.
" I had not taken post in the above mentioned wood but a few minutes when I received a reinforcement of two companies of the Delawares, under Captain Stedman, with orders from Lord Stirling to file off further to the left and prevent, if possible, a body of the enemy observed advancing to flank the brigade. The enemy's troops by this time had passed the swamp and formed in line of battle opposite ours. A heavy fire, as well from small arms as artillery, ensued with very little damage on our side ; what the enemy sustained we could not judge. Upon filing off to the left, according to the orders I had received, I espied at the distance of about three hundred yards a hill of clear ground, which I judged to be a proper situation to oppose the troops ordered to flank us and which I determined, if possible, to gain before them. At the foot of this hill a few of Huntington's Connecticut regiment that had been upon the picket joined me.
" In order to gain and secure the hill I ordered the troops to wheel to the right and march up the hill abreast. When within about forty yards of the summit, we very unexpectedly met a heavy fire from the enemy taken post there before us, notwithstanding the forced march I made. The enemy's situation was so very advantageous — the back of the hill where they had taken post being formed by nature into a breastwork — that had they directed their fire properly or been marksmen, they must have cut off the greatest part of my detachment. I having, before I advanced the hill, posted a part of my small number along the skirt of a wood upon my right, and left a guard at the foot of the hill to prevent my being surrounded and my retreat to the brigade, in case of necessity, being cut off, the enemy being vastly superior in numbers, their detachment consisting of the Twenty-third and Forty-fourth regiments and part of the Seventeenth.
" Upon receiving the above heavy fire, which continued very warm and they secure behind a hill, a small halt was made and the detachment fell back a few paces. Here Captain Stedman, with all the Delawares, except Lieutenants Stewart and Harney with about sixteen privates, left me, and drew after them some of my own. The remainder, after recovering a little from this, their first shock, I ordered to advance, at the same time desiring them to reserve their fire and aim aright. They immediately, with the resolution of veteran soldiers, obeyed the order. The enemy, finding their opponents fast advancing and determined to dispute the ground with them, fled with precipitation, leaving behind them twelve killed upon the spot and a lieutenant and four privates wounded. In this engagement I lost my worthy friend and lieutenant-colonel (Parry), shot through the head, who fell without a groan, lighting in defense of his much injured country. In the midst of the action I ordered four soldiers to carry him as speedily as possible within the lines at Brookline.
" My brave fellows, flushed with this advantage, were for pushing forward after the flying enemy ; but perceiving at about sixty yards from the hill we had gained, across a hollow way, a stone fence lined with wood, from behind which we might be greatly annoyed, and fearing an ambuscade might be there placed, I ordered not to advance further but to maintain the possession of the hill, where kind nature had formed a breastwork nearly semi-circular. They halted and found, by a heavy fire from the fence, it was lined as I suspected. The fire was
i8
as briskly returned, but the enemy, finding it too hot and losing a number of their men, retreated to and joined the right wing of their army."
General Parsons says : " We took possession of a hill about two miles from camp and detached Col. Atlee to meet them further on the road. In about sixty rods he drew up and received the enemy's fire and gave them a well directed fire from his regiment which did great execution, and then retreated to the hill."
This advantageous site where Stirling had now drawn up his brigade to dispute Grant's progress, was the crest of the slope which rose northerly from the marsh and low ground around Bluckie's Barracks. Major Douglas, who laid out Greenwood Cemetery, located Stirling's position on what was known as Wykoff's hill, between Eighteenth and Twentieth streets, and tradition and all the original documents confirm this selection. This was a lower elevation in the general slope from the main ridge towards the bay. Stirling drew his men up in a straight line from the road towards the hill tops, and beyond this on the same line or more in advance was Parsons. In Col. Reed's account of the battle, he says : " My lord, who loved discipline, made a mistake which probably affected us a great deal. He would not suffer his regiments to break, but kept them in lines and on open ground. The enemy, on the other hand, possessed themselves of the woods, fences, etc., and having the advantage of numbers — perhaps ten to one — our troops lost everything but honor. His personal bravery was very conspicuous."
Here was an elevation or ridge favorable for defense and here Stirling pro- posed to make a stand. On the right, next to the road, he posted Smallwood's battalion, under Major Gist; further along up the hillside were the Delawares, under Major McDonough, and on the left, in the woods above, Atlee's men formed after falling back from their attempt to stop the enemy. A part of Kachlein's riflemen were stationed along hedges near the foot of the hill, in front of the Marylanders, and a part in front of the woods near Atlee. It was soon discovered that it was the enemy's intention to overlap it on the left ; accordingly, Parsons was ordered to take Atlee's and Huntington's regiments and move still further into the woods to defeat the designs on that flank.
Finding Stirling thus thrown across their path the British also drew up in line and disposed their forces as if intending to attack him at once. Nearly opposite to the Marylanders Grant posted the Sixth brigade in two lines, while the Fourth brigade was extended in a single line from the low ground to the top of the hills in Greenwood Cemetery. This was a regular battle formation — Grant and Stirling opposing each other— and is said to have been the first instance in the Revolution where we met the British in the open field. The first move of the British was to send forward a small body of light troops from their left, which advanced to within one hundred and fifty yards of Stirling's right. This would bring them not far from the little bridge on the road where, from behind hedges and apple trees, they opened fire on our advanced riflemen who replied with spirit. In the meantime, Stirling was reinforced by a two-gun battery from Knox's artillery, under Capt. -Lieut. Benajah Carpenter, of Providence, R. I., which was at once placed on the hillside to command the road and, says Stirling, " the only approach for some hundred yards," which must have been that part of the road running over the bridge. The skirmishing was kept up for about two hours, our entire line occasionally being engaged in the fire.
" The enemy," says one of the Marylanders, " advanced toward us, upon
19
which Lord Stirling, who commanded, drew up in a line and offered them battle in true English taste. The British then advanced within about two hundred yards of us and began a heavy fire from their cannon and mortars, for both the balls and shells flew very fast, now and then taking off a head. Our men stood it amazingly well ; not even one of them showed a disposition to shrink. Our orders were not to fire untill the enemy came within fifty yards of us, but when they perceived we stood their fire so cooly and resolutely they declined coming any nearer, although treble our number."
Col. Haslet reported that " the Delawares drew up on the side of a hill and stood upwards of four hours with a firm, determined countenance in close array, their colors flying, the enemy's artillery playing on them," while the standard held by Ensign Stephens " was torn with shot." Under the fire of Carpenter's battery the British light troops retired to their main line and the firing was continued chiefly by the artillery. On their left they advanced one howitzer to within three hundred yards of Stirling's right, and in front of his left they opened with another piece at a distance of six hundred yards. During this engagement Stirling's men were encouraged with the belief that they were holding back the invaders. That long, thin line of Stirling's command stood strained and nerved for the mad rush of combat until the very waiting had fatally exhausted the energies of his men. For two long hours succeeding the retirement of the enemy's light troops, nothing but the exchange of cannon shot at long range had occupied the atten- tion of the belligerents, except when the distant roar of musketry and field guns told that Gen. Sullivan's troops had work in hand.
The battle at this time was rather spiritless, as Stirling's object was mainly to keep Grant in check for a time, while Grant's instructions were not to force an attack until warned by guns from the British right wing that Clinton had succeeded in gaining the rear of the American lines. Says Field : "Thus stood affairs in this part of the battle-field at nine o'clock a. m., when the thunder of great guns on the bay gave notice that a new enemy had arrived upon the scene of action and was adding another element of dread to the fast accumulating horrors of the dav. The Roebuck, man-of-war, had with great difficulty and labor at length crept within range of the redoubt on Red Hook, and a combat at once opened between them. Admiral Lord Howe had early in the day attempted to bring his vessels up the bay into supporting distance, but a strong north wind combining with the ebb tide prevented them from passing more than a mile or two above the Narrows. From the masthead of the ships the engagement of Grant's column was plainly visible to their crews, and their eagerness to participate in the contest was doubt- less but little less than that of their admiral, while his anxiety for the success of his brother's movements, rendered doubly hazardous by the uncertainty of a night attack, was very great. Every effort was therefore made to bring the fleet into a position for taking part in the engagement, but Lord Howe, convinced at last of the futility of further trial, reluctantly gave the signal to come to anchor.
" Had the attempt succeeded and the terrible broadsides of five men-of-war been opened upon the wavering line of militia, the contest, which was soon to terminate in slaughter and defeat, would have had a quicker and still bloodier close. Anchored at less than three-fourths of a mile from the scene of conflict, two hundred guns would have added their terror to a battle-field around which so dense and fiery a gloom was even now gathering. As the morning advanced the
20
guns of the Roebuck, which had led the fleet four or five miles, opened upon the redoubt at Red Hook, the artillerymen of which had made several efforts to reach her with their long range cannon. What was the effect of their tire upon the Roebuck is not positively known, but she could have been only slightly injured, as a few days after she took part in the attack upon the American lines on Manhattan Island. The redoubt, however, did not escape uninjured from the fire of the Roebuck, as Colonels Mifflin and Grayson, who visited it on the next day, found it greatly damaged. The roar of ordnance from the little redoubt on Red Hook, answered by the thunder of the great guns from the decks of the Roebuck far on the right ; the crash of Grant's well-served artillery in front, gallantly but feebly returned by the two-gun battery on Greenwood heights ; the persistent duel between Sullivan's and De Heister's cannon and rifles which, during four hours of combat had not changed position on the left, all combined to convince Stirling that he was well maintaining his post, and that the advance of the enemy was everywhere checked.
" The Delaware battalion, under Col. Haslet, had remained in reserve on the left of Stirling's line, near the Port road. At eleven o'clock they were ordered to the front to reinforce the centre and left, now becoming weak and thin under the fire of five times their number for nearly six hours. At this time Admiral Howe was reinforcing Grant with two thousand men, landed from boats in Bennet's Cove, and it was to resist their attack that the Delaware reserve was ordered up. Detachments from De Heister's column, which had been pushed forward through the wood from the hills near the Port road with the intention of forming a junction with Grant, whose position was readily ascertained by the firing, encountered the left of the Delaware battalion near Tenth street and Fourth avenue, at about the same time that the British were landing from the boats. One of these detachments commanded by Captain Wragg, mistaking the Delaware soldiers for Hessian troops and approaching so near as to be incapable of retreat, surrendered.
" Lieut. Popham was detached with a guard to convey the prisoners to the lines. They narrowly escaped from drowning in the deep mud and water, and to heighten the danger the enemy, discovering the movement, opened upon them a fire from a two-gun battery on the hills. The British captain, hoping from this circumstance that a rescue would be effected, paused in the middle of the morass, but he relinguished his hopes on being informed by Popham that he would be instantly put to death should he make an attempt to escape."
While Stirling and Parsons seemed to be effectually blocking the advance of the British by the lower road and the Greenwood hills, important movements had already begun on another portion of the field where Sullivan, on the Flatbush hills, calmly awaited the attack of the British force in front. De Heister, at day- break, opened a cannonade from his position at Flatbush upon the redoubt on the neighboring hill, where Hand's rifle corps were posted, supported by the troops of Cols. Wyllys and Miles, on the Bedford road. Hearing this, General Sullivan hastened forward with four hundred riflemen on a reconnoissance along the slope of the hills in part of his lines and to the eastward of his centre, being all this time in ignorance of the fact that Clinton had gained his rear. General Howe, in his report, says : " General Clinton being arrived within half a mile of the pass (Jamaica Pass) about two hours before daybreak, halted and settled his disposi-
tion for the attack. One of his patrols, falling in with a patrol of the enemy's officers, took them, and the general, learning from their information that the rebels had not occupied the pass, detached a battalion of light infantry to secure it."
Howe withdrew Cornvvallis from Flatbush to Flatlands towards evening on the 26th, and at nine o'clock at night set this flanking corps in motion. Sir Henry Clinton commanded the van which consisted of the light dragoons and the brigade of light infantry. Cornwallis and the reserve immediately followed, and after him marched the First brigade and the Seventy-first regiment, with fourteen pieces of field artillery. These troops formed the advance corps, and were followed at a proper interval by Lord Percy and Howe himself, with the Second, Third and Fifth brigades, the guards and ten guns. The Forty-ninth regiment, with four 12-pounders and the baggage with a separate guardfferought up the rear. The whole force was about ten thousand strong. With three tories as guides it took up the march and headed, as Howe reports, " across the country through the new lots " towards the Jamaica Pass, moving slowly and cautiously along the road from Flatlands until it reached Schoonmaker's bridge, which crossed a creek emptying into Jamaica Bay, when the column struck over the fields to the Jamaica road, where it came to a halt in the open lots a short distance southeast of the pass and directly in front of Howard's Halfway House.— Johnston.
De Heister, in the meanwhile, continued his attack on the redoubt in order to keep the attention of the Americans in that direction until late in the forenoon, when signal guns from the northward assured him that Clinton had gained the American rear. Col. Donop, at the head of the Hessian riflemen and grenadiers, now dashed forward to the south of the Port road and, followed by De Heister with the remainder of the latter's division, the redoubt was quickly carried and the impetuous Hessian yagers eagerly pressed forward into the woods south of the Port road, driving the American riflemen before them and taking possession of the coverts and lurking places from which they had dislodged them. These slight covers were immediately occupied by the yagers who had been instructed to imitate the American tactics of irregular skirmishers, and accordingly, after delivering their fire from such points as offered concealment or protection these active troops sprang rapidly forward to similar covers in advance. The grenadiers followed close behind in well-dressed lines which they were as solicitous to preserve, and slowly but surely pressing back the Americans at the point of the bayonet upon the main body, now fatally weakened by the withdrawal of the four hundred men which formed Sullivan's reconnoissance. That general, alarmed by Clinton's cannon, which revealed to him the fact that his flank had been turned, and fully alive to the danger of his position, was now in full retreat for the Amer- ican lines. <
Sir Henry Clinton's and Cornwallis' massive columns had marched from Bedford to the junction of the Flatbush and Jamaica roads, across which they had pushed their advanced guards. The British line, therefore, now stretched for nearly two miles between these points, at the distance of half a mile from the rear of the Americans, who, by this silent and masterly movement, had been fatally inclosed within the encompassing folds. The advance guard, thoroughly informed by the loyalists (who had escaped to Staten Island and now accompanied the column) of every wood-road, by-path and farm-lane, advanced with almost the rapidity and secrecy of Indian warriors, enclosing the outposts with a force which rendered resistance useless, even where it continued to be possible.
As Sullivan's imperilled troops hurried down the rough and densely wooded slope of Mount Prospect, they were met on the open plain of Bedford by the British light infantry and dragoons, and hurled back against the Hessian bayonets, which bristled along the woods. Meanwhile, a heavy force from Clinton and Cornwallis' left, near Bedford, had cut the American lines at the " Clove road,'' and Col. Miles' troops were flying in the wildest panic and dismay. Parties of Americans, also retreating from the onset of the Hessians towards the Bedford road, found themselves face to face with the dense columns of British troops from the extreme left of Sullivan's line, who were hurrying forward to escape by the same road. On all sides the enemy was closing around the feeble bands. Vast masses of fresh troops stretched far beyond their flanks on front and rear. The whole line of De Heister's army was advancing, in three divisions, with the utmost precision and exactness ; while the whole force of American riflemen was engaged, the Hessian line was regularly halted at short distances and reformed, before it was permitted to advance. The steady, determined onset was not without its effect upon the Americans. Overwhelmed by the numbers and the discipline of the foe, their redoubt was entered, and the weak line of fortifications was carried at the point of the bayonet. Many of the brave fellows fell in the intrenchments, the Hessians, in several instances, pinning them to the trees. No mercy was shown; the hireling mercenaries of Britain glutted themselves with blood. An officer in Gen. Frazer's battalion, Seventy-first regiment, stated that " The Hes- sians and our brave Highlanders gave no quarters ; and it was a fine sight to see with what alacrity they despatched the rebels with their bayonets afte. we had surrounded them so that they could not resist. We took care to tell the Hessians that the rebels had resolved to give no quarters — to them in particular — which made them fight desperately, and put to death all that came into their hands."
As an offset to this account of fiendish brutality, another British officer, with a finer sense of honor and humanity, writes : " The Americans fought bravely, and (to do them justice) could not be broken until they were greatly outnumbered, and taken in flank, front and rear. We were greatly shocked at the massacre made by the Hessians and Highlanders, after victory was decided."
Driven out from the woods upon the open plain, in groups of fifty or sixty men, and in full view of the troops which garrisoned the forts, the flying Amer- icans were met with squadrons of British dragoons, followed by columns of infantry, which completely blocked their line of retreat. Hurled back again upon the Hessian line by the dragoon charges which smote and crushed them, without discipline, or officers who could restore it, exposed to equal lines in front and rear, many of these detached squads attempted to surrender, flinging down their arms, or reversing them, to indicate submission ; but they were enclosed by an infuriated enemy, indifferent to these tokens of surrender, and were inhumanly cut to pieces. The cry for quarter, General De Heister says, was, in many instances, entirely unheeded by either German or English soldiers. Indeed, he says, the British soldier was quite as sanguinary and inhuman as his Saxon or Hessian comrade, and constantly incited these to grant no quarter.
It was a desperate conflict on both sides, and groops of militia fought here and there amid the woods, surrounded by overwhelming masses of the enemy, whom they madly struggled to reach with sword and bayonet, until one by one they fell beneath the weight of the terrible odds. The unequal conflict was main-
D
23
tained by the heroic band of Americans from nine o'clock until twelve, when the survivors surrendered. The few who, nerved by their horrible situation, succeeded in cutting their way through the gleaming wall of bayonets and sabres which encircled them, were pursued within musket shot of the American lines by the grenadiers, who were with the utmost difficulty restrained by their officers from storming Fort Putnam. Other fugitives, less fortunate, were skulking along the hills and seeking, amid the swamps and thickets, a temporary respite from capture. Some in larger bodies had succeeded in getting through the Hessian skirmish line, which now occupied the strip of woods between the Port road and salt meadows, and were pouring across the dam of Frecke's Mill. But, upon this confused and panic-stricken crowd, the Hessians opened a destructive fire from some guns posted on the hills near Ninth avenue, and to escape this new horror, many diverged to the south, struggling through the mud and water of the creeks which abound in that vicinity. General Sullivan was captured by three Fusileers of the Regiment von Knyphausen, concealed in a cornfield about three hundred feet from the position of Colonel von Heeringen.
The most sanguinary conflict occurred after the Americans had left the Flat- bush Pass, and attempted to retreat to the lines at Brooklyn. The place of severest contest, and where Sullivan and his men were made piisoners, was upon the slope between the Flatbush avenue and the Long Island railway (Atlantic street), between Bedford and Brooklyn, near " Baker's Tavern," at a little east of the junction of these avenues. Fired with a common emulation of slaughter, Hessian and British troops were now pressing forward to inclose Sterling's div- ision between them and Grant, in the same fatal embrace which had crushed out the life of Sullivan's corps.
" Washington, after watching for hours the movements of the British fleet in the harbor," says Stiles, "satisfied that New York for the time was safe, hastened over to the lines of Brooklyn, where, from the eminence upon which Fort Putnam stood, he witnessed the rout and slaughter of Sullivan's command, to whom he could send no succor without weakening the lines and endangering other positions. As with anxious and troubled spirit he watched the movements of the struggling troops, he observed, emerging from the woods on his left, a heavy British column, which descended the hills in the direction of Stirling's division. This was Earl Cornwallis, who had been detached with the larger part of the right wing of the British army, to co-operate with General Grant in his movements on Gowanus bay, by occupying the junction of the Port and Gowanus roads. Cornwallis pro- ceeded as far as the Cortleyou house, which he at once occupied as a redoubt. Stirling, meanwhile, doubtless wondering at Grant's forbearance, was totally un- conscious of Cornwallis' movement upon his rear, until startled by the signal guns with which the earl announced his approach to Grant. Then, as the truth burst upon him, he found that his retreat towards the lines at Brooklyn was intercepted, and that he was fairly trapped between two superior forces of the enemy. At the same time came tidings of the defeat of Sullivan upon his left. Grant, largely re-enforced (with the 2,000 troops which landed at Bennet's cove in the morning), was now in full motion, and pressing fiercely on his front. Stirling, finding that he was fast being surrounded, saw that his only chance of escape was to drive Corn- wallis from the Cortleyou house up the Port road towards Flatbush, and by get- ting between him and Fort Box on the opposite side of the creek, to escape under cover of its guns across Brower's mill-dam.
GEN. LORD STIRLING
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" He knew that his attack upon the Earl would, at all events, give time for escape to his countrymen, whom he saw struggling through the salt morasses and across the narrow causeway of Frecke's mill-pond. The generous thought was followed by heroic action. Quickly changing his front and leaving the main body in conflict with Gen. Grant, Stirling placed himself at the head of Smallwood's regiment (Major Gist being in command in the absence of Smallwood, who was unavoidably detained in New York) and forming hurriedly (in the vicinity of the present Fifth avenue and Tenth street), the column moved along the Gowanus road in face of a storm of fire from cannon, musketry and rifles. Driving the enemy's advance back upon the stone house, from the windows of which a storm of bullets were poured mercilessly into their ranks, they pushed unfalteringly forward until checked by a fire of grape and cannister from a couple of guns which the British hurriedly wheeled into position near the building. Even then they closed up their decimated ranks and endeavored to face the storm, and again were repulsed. Thrice again these brave young Marylanders (who on that day for the first time saw the flash of an enemy's guns) charged upon the house, once driving the gunners from their pieces within its shadow, but numbers overwhelmed them and for twenty minutes the fight was terrible. Washington, Putnam and the other general officers who witnessed it from the ramparts of Ponkiesbergh Fort, saw the overwhelming force with which their brave compatriots were con- tending, and held their breath in suspense and fear. As they saw the gallant Marylanders attempt to cut their way through the surrounding host, Washington wrung his hands in the intensity of his emotion and exclaimed, ' Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose !'
"Colonel Smallwood, of the Marylanders, who had rejoined his regiment, petitioned for a force to march out and assist Stirling, but the general declined on account of the risks involved. Douglass' Connecticut levies, just coming up from the ferry, were sent to the extreme right opposite the mouth of Gowanus creek, where with Capt. Thomas' Maryland Independent Company and two pieces of artillery, they stood ready to prevent the pursuit of the retreating party by the enemy. While Stirling was thus keeping Cornwallis in check, a large portion of those whom he had left fighting with Grant had found safety by wading or swimming across Gowanus creek, which they did with difficulty, it is true ; but they finally reached the lines, carrying with them the tattered colors of Small- wood's regiment and over twenty prisoners. For some unexplained reason, when Stirling fell back he failed to inform Parsons of the fact. Both Parsons and Atlee state that no word reached them to join the general and that it was greatly to their surprise when they found the line whose flank they had been protecting no longer there.
" Left to shift for themselves, they did the best they could under the circum- stances. They found it impossible to reach the marsh as Cornwallis. after chiving the Marylanders back, had complete command of the road. A few escaped, but the greater part of them turned into the woods and were all made prisoners. Atlee, with twenty-three men, avoided capture until five o'clock in the afternoon ; while Parsons, more fortunate, hid in a swamp, having escaped from the action and pursuit ' as by a miracle,' and with seven men made his way into our lines at daylight next morning. Deprived of nearly all his men — more than 250 of whom belonged to Smallwood's gallant Maryland regiment, the flower of the American army— he
-?
fled over the hills until he found it impossible to elude pursuit ; but disdaining to yield to a British subject he sought out and surrendered himself to De Heister, and was immediately sent on board the British flagship Eagle, where he found Sullivan and other fellow-prisoners of war."
Thus ended the first great battle in the open field in the War for Independ- ence. For our troops it was a total defeat, but in reality a "blessing in disguise." By falling, the infant learns to walk ; by losses, the merchant learns to gain ; by defeat — and all history tends to prove it — an army is taught to conquer. Not in vain, then, was even the defeat of the American army ; not in vain the anguish with which the usually calm spirit of Washington was that day torn ; not in vain were those two anxious days and nights which he passed on horseback, and which saved from death or captivity nine thousand men. In the immortal letters and dispatches of the great commander and in the painful annals of the time we read the cost and value of what we are now enjoying. Without this we had not fully known how inherent, how enduring and elastic is the power of an earnest and virtuous patriotism Without them, even the transcendant name of Washing- ton could not have filled the mighty measure of its fame.
The British troops, flushed with victory, were with difficulty restrained from carrying the rebel lines by storm. They might possibly have succeeded, but it would have been a dear bought victory, for behind those redoubts were three thousand determined troops animated by the presence of Washington and Putnam and rendered desperate by the misfortunes of their brave compatriots under Sullivan and Stirling, to which they had just been witnesses. Ignorant of their real force and profiting by his experience at Bunker Hill, Howe wisely determined not to make the attempt. His artillery was not up and they "had no fascines to fill ditches, no axes to cut abatis, and no scaling ladders to assault so respectable a work." Preferring, therefore, to save the further loss of blood and to secure his already certain victory by regular approaches, he withdrew his troops to a hollow way in front of the American lines, out of range of their musketry, and encamped for the night.
Von Elkin's account states that "General Von Heister learned from the troops who pursued the retreating Americans to their lines, that the left part of the camp of the enemy near the river was open for a distance of several hundred paces. Accordingly, when the wings had again united with the centre, he reported the fact to Gen. Howe and made a proposition to profit by the confusion of the enemy and the valor of the troops, to attack the camp forthwith at this weak point, but Howe manifested a number of scruples and so missed the golden opportunity of completing his victory." The losses in this battle have been variously estimated, and the differences seem almost unreconcilable. Marshall places the American loss at 1,000; Lossing, 1,650; Irving and Field, 2,000; Sparks, 1,100; Bancroft, 800; while Howe, the British commander, states our loss to have been 3.000.
On the 8th of October Washington issued the following order : " The General desires that commanding officers of each regiment or corps will give in a list of the names and of officers and men who were killed, taken or missing in the action of the 27th of August, on Long Island and since that period. He desires the returns may be correct," etc. A part of these lists have been pre- served and may be found in the American Archives {Force), 5th series, vol. hi., as
26
follows : Hitchcock's total loss, one officer and nine men ; Little's, three men ; Huntington's, twenty-one officers and one hundred and eighty-six men ; Wylly's, one officer and nine men; Tyler, three men ; Ward, three men; Chester, twelve men; Gay, four men; Lasher, three officers. Smallwood's loss, according to Gist, was twelve officers and two hundred and forty-seven men ; Haslet, two officers and twenty-five men ; Johnston's New Jersey, two officers and less than twenty-five men, the rolls before and after the battle showing no greater difference in the strength of the regiment ; Miles' two battalions, sixteen officers and about one hundred and sixty men ; Atlee, eleven officers and seventy-seven men. No official report of the losses in Lutz's, Kachlein's and Hay's detachments or the artillery can be found, but to give their total casualities at one hundred and fifty officers and men is probably a liberal estimate. Lutz lost six officers, all prisoners; Kachlein, not more ; Hays, one; the artillery, three.
Onderdonk's '-Suffolk County," (N. Y.) contains the following: " New York, Sept, 5, 1776. A list of the American officers prisoners with the enemy, who sent by flag for their baggage and cash. Their friends were desired to send next door to Gen. Putnam's their trunks, etc., properly directed, and leave their cash at the General's, that they might be sent by the first flag. (The names included in brackets are inserted by the editor.)
"First Pennsylvania Battalion. Cols. Miles, Piper; Capts. Brown, Peebles, Crawl: Lieuts. Scott, Gray, Spear, Drasbach, McPherson, Lee, Brodhead, Davis, Wert, Tepham ; Drs. John and Joseph Uavies ; Col. Lutz, Mr. David Duncan, Mr. Young, Major Bird, Capt. Herden. [2d Lieuts. Jacquet and Carnahan, missing ; 2d Lieuts. Sloan and Brownlee, Charles Taylor, 3d Lieut., killed.]
" Col. Kachlein's Regiment. Capt. Graff; Lieuts. Lewis, Middah, Shoemaker.
" Col. Lasher 's N. Y. Battalion. Adj. Hoagland ; Lieuts. Troup and Duns- comb ; Mr. Van Wagenen and Gilliland, volunteers. [Major Abeel, killed.]
" Col. Smallwood's Battalion. Capt. Daniel Bowie, wounded; Lieuts. William Steret, William Ridgeley, Hatch Dent, Walter Muse, Samuel Wright, Jos. Butler, wounded, Edward Praul, Edward De Courcey ; Ensigns James Fernandes, William Courts.
" Col. Huntington's Regiment. Lieut. Makepiece ; Capt. Brewster ; Ensigns Lyman, Chapman, Hinman, Bradford; Lieut. Orcutt, Ensign Higging, Capt. Bissell, Lieuts. Gillet and Gay, Adj. Hopkins, Dr. Holmes, Col. Clark. [Missing, 6 captains, 6 lieutenants, 21 sergeants, 2 drummers, 126 rank and file.]
" Col. Alice's Regiment. Col. Atlee; Capts. Howell, Nice, Herbert, Murray; Lieuts. Houston, Finney, Henderson ; Dr. Young, volunteer.
"John Toms, of Col. Johnston's regiment; Mr. Callender, of artillery; Mr. Kearnes, Del. Battery ; Major Wells, of Col. Wylly's regiment ; Ensign Davies, Capt. Hurst. [Lieut. -Col. Parry, killed ; Lieut. Moore, killed ; Ensign App, mis- sing. Killed and missing, 13 sergeants and 235 privates.]
" American account of prisoners in the three Pennsylvania battalions:
'• First Battalion. Col. Samuel Miles ; Lieut. -Col. James Piper ; Capt. Richard Brown; 1st Lieuts. William Grey, John Spear, John Davies, George Wert; 2d Lieuts. Jos. Friesback, William McPherson, Luke Brodhead; Dr. John and Joseph Davis. [2d Lieut. Jos. Jaquet, missing. Missing of Farmer's, Brown's, Longs' Allbright's, Shale's, Weitzell's, 9 sergeants, 4 drummers, 107 privates.]
" Second Battalion of Rifle Regiment. Capt. William Peebles; 1st Lieuts.
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Mat. Scott, Daniel Topham ; 2d Lieut. David Sloan ; 3d Lieut. Joseph Brownlee. [2d Lieut. James Carnagan. missing ; 3d Lieut. Charles Taylor, killed. Missing of Murray's, Peeble's, Marshall's, Erwin's, Grubb's, Christ's, 6 sergeants, 1 drum- mer, 40 privates.]
"Battery of Musketry. Col. Samuel J. Atlee; [Lieut. -Col. Caleb Parry, killed]; Capts. Francis Murray, Thomas Herbert, John Nice, Joseph Howell ; Lieut. Walter Finney; Ensigns William Henderson, Alex. Huston, Septimus Davis, Michael App, missing; Lieut. Joseph Moore, killed. Missing of Ander- son's, Murray's, Herbert's, Derhoff's, Nice's, Howell's, McClelland's (late Lloyd's), 1 sergeant, 1 drummer, 75 privates.
" Howe's return of prisoners taken August 27 : 3 generals, 3 colonels — Penn. Rifle Regt., 1 ; Musketeers, 1 ; N. J. Militia, 1. 4 lieutenant-colonels— Penn. Rifle Regt., 1; Penn. Militia, 2; 17th Cont. Regt., 1. 3 majors — Penn. Militia, I; 17th Cont. Militia, 1 ; 22d Cont. Militia, 1. 18 captains— Penn. Rifle Regt., 2; Penn. Musketeers, 4; Penn. Militia, 5; Cont. Regt., 4; Train of Artillery, 1 ; Mary- land Provincials, 2. 43 lieutenants — Penn. Rifle Regt., 1 1 ; Penn. Musketeers, 1 ; Penn. Militia, 6; 17th Cont. Regt., 6; Del. Bat., 2; 1st Bat. N. Y. Cont., 5; nth Bat. Cont., 1 ; N.J. Militia, 1 ; 1st Bat. Maryland Independents, 2 ; L. I. Militia, 2 ; Train of Artillery, 1 ; Maryland Provincials, 5. 11 ensigns — Penn. Musketeers, 4; 17th Cont. Regt., 5; Maryland Provincials, 2. Staff — Adjutant, 1; surgeons, 3; volunteers, 1 ; privates, 1,006; total, 1,097. N B.— 9 officers and 58 privates of the above wounded "
Howe, in his official dispatches, places the British loss at 367. Of this num- ber, 5 officers and 56 subaltern officers and privates were killed, 12 officers and 245 subalterns and privates wounded, and 1 officer and 20 marines taken prisoners. The Hessian loss consisted of two privates killed, three officers, one of whom was Capt. Donop, and twenty-three men wounded.
CONDITION OF THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE EVEN- ING OF THE 27TH AND THE MORNING OF THE 28TH OF AUGUST.
The battle of the 27th of August was a series of unconnected skirmishes in which detachments of the American army, cut off from the main body, fought here and there amid the dense woods or narrow passes, as accident or skill afforded them an opportunity for successful resistance. Says Field; 'In the camp within the Brooklyn lines the night wore slowly away to the weary and anxious soldier who there found security but not repose. The usual camp alarms, which spread anxious thrills through a body of broken and dispirited men in the pre- sence of a powerful and victorious enemy, were not infrequent during the long night ; but when the dawn arose upon the dull leaden sky, the sounds of conflict or of angry watchfulness grew more frequent. Here and there along the lines the dis- charges of musketry or the sharp ring of a rifle gave token of the proximity of the enemy. But as the morning light increased other sounds evinced his energy and determination, for the dull thuds of the pick announced that the enemy was himself intrenching. At the distance of six hundred yards from Fort Putnam, on the high ground near the present junction of DeKalb and Clinton avenues, just
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out of rifle range, the breastworks of a redoubt began to appear. Gen. Howe had prudently declined the tempting opportunity which the ardor of his men presented him, of assaulting the feeble entrenchments so thinly manned by the dispirited troops he had lately defeated, and he was now securely making his advances by a regular seige. How little effective resistance could have been made we at this day probably know much better than did either of the contending parties.
The American guards slept at their posts, although frequently aroused by their officers and threatened with instant death on the repetition of the offense. So great were the weariness and stupor which fell on these worn survivors of the battle, that although the rain fell in torrents during the evening, until the camp was flooded with water, they slept upon the soaked earth and in the pools of water, unconscious of the peals of thunder and the vivid lightning. The decision of Gen. Howe, now so apparent, while it relieved the Americans from the immedi- ate apprehensions of an assault, only delayed the approach of a danger but little less threatening. In a few hours the cannon shot and shell from the redoubt now being constructed would be crashing through the lines from a distance which made its position unassailable.
PREPARATIONS FOR ANOTHER ATTACK.
" The night (27th) which followed the battle," says Stiles, " was one of great anxiety to Washington. His fatigued, wounded and dispirited soldiers were but poorly sheltered against the heavy storm which seemed to be gathering. The enemy was encamped before the lines ; the morrow would probably bring a renewal of the conflict. But his energy again triumphed over his fears. The long hours of night — yet all too short for the work in hand — were occupied with efforts to strengthen his position. Troops were ordered from New York, from Fort Washington and Kingsbridge ; nothing was left undone that human effort and foresight could accomplish. The morning of the 28th was lowering and heavy, with masses of vapor which hung like a funeral pall over sea and land. At four o'clock, and in the midst of a thick falling mist, Washington visited every part of the works, encouraging his suffering soldiers with words of hope and carefully inspecting the state of the defences. By the gradually increasing light of the morning was revealed the encampment of over 15,000 troops of Britain. It is no wonder that there was gloom everywhere — in the sky, on the land, on the water and over the spirits of the Republicans. They almost despaired, for the heavy rains had injured their arms and almost destroyed their ammunition, But when, at five o'clock, Mifflin crossed the East River with the choice regiments of Magaw and Shee and Glover's battalion of Marblehead fishermen and sailors, in all more than a thousand strong, all fresh and cheerful, there was an outburst of joy, for they seemed like sunshine as they passed the lines of sufferers and took post on the extreme left, near the Wallabout. Their arrival increased the American force to nine thousand. The British cannonade opened at ten o'clock upon the American lines, and was followed through the day by frequent skir- mishes. The rain fell copiously, much to the discomfort of the Americans who, in some parts of the trenches, stood up to their waists in water and mud. It served, however, to keep the British within their tents until near evening, when
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they broke ground within five hundred yards of the American lines and com- menced regular approaches by trenches. This night, also, they threw up a redoubt east of Fort Putnam (now Fort Greene), on the land of George Powers, from which they opened a fire upon the fort.
" At midnight a dense fog arose, which remained motionless and impenetrable over the island during nearly the whole of the next day. In the afternoon of the 29th, General Mifflin, Adjutant-General Reed and Colonel Grayson, reconnoitered at the outposts on the western extemity of the American lines, near the Red Hook. While there, a gentle shift of wind lifted the fog from Staten Island and revealed to them the British fleet in the Narrows and boats passing to and fro from the admiral's ship and other vessels. These signs of activity, together with a know- ledge of the fact that a portion of the fleet had passed round the island and were anchored in Flushing Bay, betokened a movement upon the city, and the three officers lost no time in hastening back to camp. The news which they brought was probably not unexpected to Washington, for unknown to his aids, he had already made provision earlier in the day for the concentration in the East River, at New York, of every kind of sail or row boats, which were to be ready by dark ; but he immediately convened a council of war at five o'clock the same evening, for the danger was indeed imminent. If the British should occupy the Hudson and the East River — as any moment, on change of mind, they might do — they would, by securing the position of Kingsbridge, be able to cut off all communication between Manhattan Island and the Westchester main, thus imprisoning that portion of the American army in New York and separating it from that on Long Island."
" At last," says Field, " the slow hours of that twenty-eighth of August wore away. Even the drizzling rain, the pangs of hunger and the dreary wretchedness of the muddy bivouac, were at times unfelt when tokens of an immediate general assault upon the intrenchments became more threatening. Along nearly the whole extent of the lines a skirmishing fire was maintained during the day, which increased at times, at different points, to such a degree and was returned by such heavy volleys from the enemy, that the regiments were formed and preparations made for repelling an attack by the enemy's whole line. Indeed, so constant were the discharges from the American intrenchments, and so frequent the heavy crash of concentrating firing, that from Wallabout Bay, across the entire neck of the peninsula, and along the mill-ponds and the creek to Gowanus Bay, there seemed to be a line of battle heavily engaged. This skirmishing engagement was encouraged by the officers, in accordance with Washington's orders, as it served, in some degree, to inspire confidence in his beaten and dispirited troops, and also warned the enemy of the maintenance of our lines by a heavy force. Washington still retained his intention of risking the battle which he deemed inevitable, behind the Brooklyn intrenchments ; for all his movements indicate that, up to this time, the idea of a retreat from Long Island had not been enter- tained. In fact, the almost blind confidence of the General in his insubordinate, ill-disciplined and poorly armed forces, is quite inexplicable, for he manceuvered them in positions which would have tried the nerves of veteran soldiers, and raw recruits were thrust forward into battle with the most thoroughly disciplined army of Europe.
" The constantly recurring showers had caused the supension of work upon the British redoubt, but the enemy seized the occasion of a heavy thunder storm to
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make a demonstration upon the American lines. They doubtless expected to find the Americans unprepared, in consequence of the damage to their ammunition and fire-arms, which would not equally affect the efficiency of the assaulting force, relying solely upon their bayonets. Three strong columns, said by the current accounts to have consisted of their entire force, were thrown forward at different points between Fort Putnam and Fort Box, but were met by such heavy volleys along the whole line that they were not pushed to the assault, but were recalled as soon as the firm resistance of the heavy force manning the works was demon- strated by the attempt. The British officers stormed with rage at the restraint upon their courage imposed by the excessive caution of their commander, and expressed the utmost scorn of the paltry works before them and of the contemp- tible mob of farmers and tradesmen which defended them."
Gorden, in his account of the operations says : " The victorious army encamped in the front of the American works in the evening, and on the 28th, at night, broke ground, in from about four or five hundred yards distant from a redoubt which covered the left of the Americans. The same day Gen. Mifflin crossed over from New York with 1,000 men. At night he made an offer to Gen. Washington of going the rounds, which was accepted. He observed the approaches of the enemy and the forwardness of their batteries and was convinced that no time was to be lost. The next morning he conversed with the General upon the subject and said : ' You must either fight or retreat immediately. What is your strength ? ' The General answered, 'nine thousand.' The other replied, ' it is not sufficient, we must there- fore retreat.' They were both agreed as to the calling of a council of war, and General Mifflin was to propose a retreat. But as he was to make that proposal, lest his own character should suffer, he stipulated that if a retreat should be agreed upon, he would command the rear, and if an action, the van."
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY FROM LONG ISLAND.
PROCEEDINGS OF A COUNCIL OF GENERAL OFFICERS.
At a council of war held on Long Island, August 29, 1776. Present — His Excellency Gen. Washington, Maj.-Gens. Putman, Spencer, Brig.-Gens. Mifflin, McDougal, Parsons, Scott, Wadsworth, Fellows.
It was submitted to the consideration of the Council, whether, under all cir- cumstances, it would not be eligible to leave Long Island and its dependencies, and to remove to New York. Unanimously agreed in the affirmative for the following reasons:
1st. Because our advanced party has met with a defeat, and the wood was lost where we expected to make a principal stand.
2d. The great loss sustained in the death or captivity of several valuable officers and their battalions, or a large portion of them, had occasioned great confusion and discouragement among the troops.
3d. The heavy rain which fell two days and nights without intermission, had injured the arms and spoiled a great part of the ammunition; and the soldiery, being without cover and obliged to lay in the lines, were worn out, and it was to be feared would not be retained in them by any order.
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4th. From the time the enemy moved from Flatbush, several large ships had endeavored to get up, as supposed, into the East River, to cut off our commuta- tions (by which the whole army would have been destroyed), but the wind being northeast, could not effect it.
5th. Upon consulting with persons of knowledge of the harbor, they were of opinion that small ships might come between Long Island and Governor's Island, where there are no obstructions, and which would cut off the communica- tion effectually; and who were also of opinion the hulks sunk between Governor's Island and the city of New York were no sufficient security for obstructing that passage.
6th. Though our lines were fortified by some strong redoubts, yet a great part of them were weak, being abattied with brush, and affording no strong cover, — so that there was reason to apprehend they might be forced, which would put our troops in confusion, and, having no retreat, they must have been cut to pieces or made prisoners.
7th. The divided state of the troops rendered our defense very precarious, and the duty of defending long and extensive lines in so many different places, without proper conveniences and cover, so very fatiguing, that the troops had become dis- pirited by their incessant duty and watching.
8th. Because the enemy had sent several ships of war into the Sound to a place called Flushing Bay; and from the information received that a part of their troops was moving across Long Island that way, there was reason to apprehend they meant to pass over land, and form an encampment above Kingsbridge, in order to cut off and prevent all communication between our army and the country beyond them, or to get in our rear.
The deliberations of this council were brief and their decision unanimous in favor of an evacuation of Long Island and a retreat to New York that very night. The meeting of this council was held in the old Philip Livingston mansion, subse- quently known as the Joralemon House, which stood on the east side of the present Hicks street, about four hundred feet south of Joralemon street. To effect the withdrawal of some nine thousand men with their arms and munitions of war, and that too, in face of an enemy at work in their trenches — so near that the sound of their pick axes and spades could be distinctly heard — to march them a considerable distance to the river and to transport them across its strong, broad current, necessitated the greatest skill and secrecy. Orders were immediately issued to Colonel Glover to collect and man, with his regiment of hardy marines, all the boats of every kind which could be found, and to be in readiness by mid- night for the embarkation, which was to be superintended by General McDougal. In order to have the army in proper marching condition without divulging the plan of retreat, the officers were directed to hold their men in readiness for an attack upon the enemy's lines that night. The order excited general surprise, but by eight o'clock the army was ready for movement. That the enemy's suspicions might not be excited, General Mifflin was to remain within the lines, and within 250 yards of the British advanced works, with Col. Hand's rifle corps and the battered remnants of the Delaware and Maryland regiments, who, with hardly a respite from the terrible battle of the 27th, had now cheerfully consented to cover the retreat of their fresher but less experienced companions-in-arms. By nine o'clock the ebb tide, with heavy rain and an adverse wind, rendered the sailboats
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of little use, but by eleven the northeast wind which had prevailed for three days died away, the surface of the water became smooth, and with a southwest breeze favoring, both the sail and rowboats were able to cross the river full laden.
By ten o'clock the troops began to move from the lines, and as each regiment left its position the remaining troops moved to the right and left and filled up the vacancies. Said one of the Connecticut troops : " We were strictly enjoined not to speak, or even cough while on the march. All orders were given from officer to officer and communicated to the men in whispers. What such secrecy could mean we could not divine. We marched off in the same way we had come on the island, forming various conjectures among ourselves as to our destination." Another says : " We went over with boats about seven o'clock. The brigades were ordered to be in readiness with bag and baggage to march, but knew not when or for what ; the second did not know where the first had gone, nor the second the third. The last marched off at the firing of the three o'clock (British) gun on Friday morning. The night was remarkably still, the water smooth as glass, so that all our boats went over safe, though many were but about three inches out of water." Washington, taking his position at the ferry stairs, at the foot of Fulton street, Brooklyn, superintended the embarkation, and the whole movement was conducted with such order and quiet that it failed to attract the British sentinels. The intense darkness of the night and the thick fog which had settled down over everything, favored the patriot boats. At a little past midnight they were suddenly startled by the deep roar of a cannon — whether from the British or American lines no one could tell. " The effect," says one who heard it, " was at once alarming and sublime," but the deepest silence ensued and the retreat went bravely on. As the night wore away the tide was turning and a northeast wind began to rise, yet a large portion of the troops had not been trans- ported over the river. Fearful of delay, Washington sent his aide-de-camp, Colonel Alexander Scammell, to hasten the troops who were on the march. Scammel, by mistake, communicated the order to General Mifflin, who, althongh somewhat surprised, obeyed, and vacated the lines with his whole force.
Col. Hand in his account of the retreat says : " In the evening of the 29th of August, 1776, with several other commanding officers of the corps, I received orders to attend Major-General Mifflin. When assembled. General Mifflin informed us that, in consequence of the determination of a board of general officers, the evacuation of Long Island, where we then were, was to be attempted that night ; that the commander-in-chief had honored him with the command of the covering party and that our corps were to be employed in that service. He then assigned us our several stations, which we were to occupy as soon as it was dark, and pointed out Brooklyn church as an alarm post, to which the whole were to repair and unitedly oppose the enemy in case they discovered our movement and made an attack in consequence. My regiment was posted in a redoubt on the left and in the lines on the right of the great road below Brooklyn church. Captain Henry Miller commanded in the redoubt. Part of a regiment of the Flying Camp of the State of New York were, in the beginning of the night, posted by me. They showed so much uneasiness at their station that I petitioned General Mifflin to suffer them to march off, lest they might communicate the panic with which they were seized, to my people. The General granted my request and they marched off accordingly. After that nothing remarkable happened at my post till about two
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o'clock in the morning, when Alexander Scammell, since Adjutant-General, who acted as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, came from the left, inquiring for General Mifflin, who happened to be with me at the time. Scammell told him that the boats were waiting and the commander-in-chief anxious for the arrival of the troops at the ferry. General Mifflin said he thought he must be mistaken ; that he did not imagine the General could mean the troops he immediately com- manded. Scammell replied that he was not mistaken, adding, that he came from the extreme left and had ordered all the troops he had met to march ; that in con- sequence they were then in motion, and that he would go to give the same orders. General Mifflin then ordered me to call in my advanced pickets and sentinels, to collect and form my regiment, and to march as soon as possible, and quitted me.
" Having marched into the great road leading to the church, I fell in with the troops returning from the left of the line. Having arrived at the left of the church I halted to take up my camp equipage, which, in the course of the night, I had carried there by a small party. General Mifflin came up at that instant and asked the reason of the halt. I told him and he seemed very much displeased and exclaimed: 'Damn your pots and kettles, I wish the devil had them ; march on.' I obeyed, but had not gone far before I perceived the front had halted and hasten- ing to inquire the cause, I met the commander-in-chief, who perceived me and said : ' Is not this Col. Hand? ' I replied in the affirmative. His Excellency said he was surprised at me in particular ; that he did not suppose I would have abandoned my post. I answered that I had not abandoned it ; that I had marched by order of my immediate commanding officer. He said it was impossible. I told him I hoped if 1 could satisfy him I had the orders of General Mifflin, he would not think me particularly to blame. He said he undoubtedly would not. General Mifflin then coming up and asking what the matter was, his Excellency said : ' Good God! General Mifflin, I am afraid you have ruined us by so unseasonably with- drawing the troops from the lines.' General Mifflin replied, with some warmth : 'I did it by your order.' His Excellency declared it could not be. Gen. Mifflin asked: 'Did Scammell act as aide-de-camp for the day, or did he not?' His Excellency acknowledged that he did. ' Then,' said Mifflin, ' I had orders through him.' The General replied it was a dreadful mistake, and informed him that matters were in much confusion at the ferry, and unless we could resume our posts before the enemy discovered we had left them, in all probability the most disagreeable consequences would follow. We immediately returned and had the good fortune to recover our former stations and keep them for some hours longer, without the enemy perceiving what was going forward."
Washington, who since the morning of the 27th, had scarcely left the lines on Long Island, and for forty-eight hours preceding that had hardly been off his horse or closed his eyes, embarked with the last company. The first intimation the British had of the movements of the American army was through a slave. A woman, whose husband had been sent into the interior of New Jersey on suspicion of disloyalty to the American cause, on discovering the preparations which were being made along the river bank, apparently for a retreat, determined to have her revenge. She therefore sent her slave on the evening previous to inform the British commander of the fact. Unfortunately for her, however, the negro fell into the hands of the Hessians, who could not understand a word he said, and believing him to be a spy, held him until morning, when he was handed over to a
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British officer, who was making his round of inspection at daylight. Howe, on heing informed of the facts, through the negro, was greatly astonished and at once took the measures to ascertain the truth. A company, under Captain Montressor, was detached to reconnoitre the American works, which they found deserted. Detachments hurried off in hot pursuit, but they only reached the ferry in time to see the heavily-laden rear boats of the retreating army disappear in the im- penetrable fog which yet hung over the river.
" Nobly had the fisherman-soldiers of Marblehead and Salem," says Lossing, " labored at their muffled oars during the long hours of that perilous night ; naught save a few heavy cannon was left behind ; none save a few lagging marauders were captured, and when the fog at last rolled away the American army was joyously moving towards the upper portions of Manhattan Island. That retreat, in all its circumstances, was truly wonderful. Surely, that fog was the shield of God's providence over those men engaged in a holy cause. If ' the stars in their courses fought against Sisera,' in the time of Deborah, the prophetess, these mists were the wings of the cherubim of mercy and hope over the Americans on that occasion."
Another writer adds: "This splendid retreat won civic crowns for the American hero, and its parallel is only to be found in the Spanish campaign of the conqueror of Gaul. But the favorable breeze, the calm water, and the thick fog, which, toward two in the morning, veiled the Americans from the British and yet left the river clear, seem direct interpositions of that gracious Providence, which in after days guided our revolution to victory."
REPORT OF COL.TALLMADGE, AS QUOTED BY SIMMS.
"By ten o'clock the troops began to retire from the lines, so that no chasm was made; but as one regiment left their station or guard, the remaining troops moved to the right and left and filled up the vacancies, while Washington took his station at the ferry and superintended the embarkation. As the dawn approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became very anxious for our safety, at which time there were several regiments still on duty, and a dense fog began to rise and seemed to settle over both encampments; so dense was the atmosphere that a man could not be discerned six yards off. When the sun rose we had orders to leave the lines, but before we reached the ferry the regiment was orderd back again. Col. Chester faced about and returned to the lines, where the regiment tarried till the sun had risen, but the fog remained as dense as ever. Finally a second order came, and we joyfully bid those trenches a long adieu. When we reached Brooklyn ferry the boats had not yet returned from their last trip, but they soon appeared. I think I saw Gen. Washington on the ferry stairs when I stepped into one of the last boats. I left my horse at the ferry tied to a post. The troops having all safely reached New York, and the fog continuing thick as ever, I got leave to return with a crew of volunteers for my favorite horse. I had got off with him some distance into the river before the enemy appeared in Brooklyn. As soon as they reached the ferry we were saluted merrily from their musketry, and finally by their field pieces. When the enemy had taken possession of the heights opposite the city of New York, they commenced firing from the artillery, and the fleet pretty soon were in motion to take possession of those waters."
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"The guns of Fort Sterling were unspiked and turned on the boats of the retreating Americans. Three persons who left the Island last in a batteau fell into the enemy's hands." — New England Chronicle.
BRITISH ACCOUNTS OF THE RETREAT.
The lines could not be taken by assault, but by approaches. We had no fascines to fill the ditches, no axes to cut abatis, and no scaling ladders to assault so respectable a work. The lines were a mile and a half in extent, including angles, cannon-proof, with a chain of five redoubts, or rather fortresses with ditches, as had the lines that formed the intervals; the whole surmounted with a most formidable abatis, finished in every part. A corporal and six men had a diffi- culty in getting through the abatis. They were reconnoitering before daybreak, and at 4 o'clock discovered the lines were evacuated. The pickets marched 25 minutes after Gen. Robinson heard of the retreat at 7 o'clock, and his brigade was ordered to march at 8, but while marching to the ferry he was ordered toward Hellgate to meet Lee, reported to be landing there with an army. We were on the rear of the enemy; some where killed or taken prisoners in Brooklyn. We saw three or four boats afloat — some boats not off. The debris of their rear guard embarked about 8 or 9 o'clock. The Americans fired grape from their 32 pounders in the city and at the ship yards, 850 yards off. Their retreat was secured by forts on Brooklyn heights and floating batteries in the river. No boat could be stationed so as to see the passing at Brooklyn ferry without exposure to the American batteries. — Parliamentary Register, Vol. 13.
GENERAL WOODHULL'S OPERATIONS BEYOND THE LINES.
During the battle of the 27th, and for some days previous, military operations were being conducted beyond the American lines, which, it was believed, would have an important bearing on the final result. A hostile army of twenty thousand men could not long remain in possession of a country without local means of subsis- tence. Aware of the increasing want of provisions among the enemy and the American army being confined to the lines, the whole stock and produce of Long Island would be in the power of the hostile troops, unless means were promptly used to prevent it. The New York Convention, then in session, adopted a policy, since successfully pursued by the Russians on a larger scale. This was, to deprive the invading foe of supplies and thus compel their abandonment of the island, by removing the stock and other provisions in the vicinity, and if that could not he effected, by destroying them. General Nathaniel Woodhull, a native of Long Island, and a man of large experience in both civil and military affairs, was believed to be the best man for this undertaking. He had distinguished himself as a military leader during the French war. At an early period in the formation of a military force he had been appointed Brigadier-General of the State levies, and he commanded the district, including the counties of Long Island. He had been chosen President of the Provincial Congress of New York, and at this time held that position. It was considered important, however, by the Congress, that General Woodhull, from his intimate knowledge of the Island, should take personal command of the militia drafted from its towns, and accordingly, soon after the landing of the British forces, he left the presidential chair for the open field.
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" From Yellow Hook to Jamaica," says Field, "all the horses, cattle and swine were swept out in great droves upon the plains of Hempstead or gathered within the Brooklyn lines. Columns of smoke over every farm, indicated the work of destruction in the burning stacks of grain and provender. The inhabitants were permitted, by the orders of the Provincial Congress, to retain only that portion of their crops which was absolutely necessary for the sustenance of life. One cow and one horse was left in each neighborhood of three or four families. The Provincial Congress had most unaccountably delayed the execution of one import- ant military measure until the 24th of August, two days after the landing of the enemy. This was the levy en masse of the militia of the island. The inhabitants of Kings county, thus hurriedly armed, together with the Suffolk and Queens county regiments, commanded by Cols. Smith and Remsen, were placed under the command of Gen. Woodhull. Notwithstanding the Provincial Congress of New York had fully provided for retaining its authority over the militia of the colony, by the appointment of its president to the command, that body, jealous of its own authority, or distrustful of the ability of its officers, still dictated the movements of the forces under their command."
When General Woodhull reached Jamaica it was found that the militia there assembled consisted of only about one hundred men, led by Colonel Potter, of Suffolk, about forty militia from Queens and fifty horsemen belonging to the troop of Kings and Queens counties. With this handful of men, General Woodhull advanced to the westward of Queens county, agreeably to his orders. Owing, probably, to receipt of information that increased numbers of British had disem- barked on the preceding day at New Utrecht, the commanding officer at Brooklyn did not detach the Second Long Island Regiment to join General Woodhull, and by some fatality, the omission was neither communicated to the convention nor to the expecting General. He had written to the convention of the critical condition of affairs and of the importance of sending additional troops. A part of the correspon- dence seems to have miscarried, and the hasty adjournment of the convention, to whom General Woodhull looked for his orders, left him in a very helpless condi- tion. Disappointed at not meeting the additional troops, without whom he could not post any force on the heights to repel depredations of the enemy, he nevertheless commenced with vigor the execution of the rest of his orders. He placed guards and sentries to prevent communication between the tories and the enemy, and on this and the succeeding days he scoured the country southwest of the hills in Kings and a considerable part of Newtown and Jamaica, and sent off an immense quantity of stock, collected them toward the great plains and ordered off a further quantity from Hempstead. In the meantime his numbers had dwindled (by the anxiety of the militia to reach their homes and protect or remove their families) to less than a hundred men, who, as well as their horses, were worn down.
During the battle of the 27th, numbers of the British troops posted themselves on the hills between New York and Jamaica, and detached parties made incursions into the country within a short distance of the General's force. As a matter of precaution he retired to Jamaica, sending, at different times, two messages to the convention, apprising that body of his situation ; of the absolute necessity of reinforcements, and of his conviction that the two Long Island regiments could not join him in consequence of the interruption of the communication. Unfortu- nately, the convention did not sit on that day and the General, receiving no
37
answer, despatched his brigade-major, who was also a member of that body, to repeat his representation and obtain their orders. The convention, at their meeting on the 26th, still adhered to their former project, believing that by cross- ing the East River to York Island and making a detour to Flushing, the two regiments might still reach Jamaica. They accordingly sent Major Lawrence to Gen. Washington with a letter expressing that opinion, and referring him to the brigade-major for explanations as to the means ; at the same time they directed the necessary preparations for the transportation and landing of the troops, and receiving soon after a reiteration of the call for an immediate reinforcement, they deputed two of their body, John Sloss Hobart and James Townsend, to repair to General Woodhull with instructions and advice. Owing, probably, to the inter- mediate roads being in possession of the enemy, these gentlemen, it is believed, never reached him. On the same morning the convention forwarded a circular to the committees of the different towns of Connecticut lying upon the Sound, request- ing their cooperation in removing the stock from Long Island to that State, and an application to the Governor for such force as could be speedily obtained. In the afternoon Maj. Lawrence returned from the American camp bringing a letter from the commander-in-chief declining the request of the convention for the desired reinforcement, because, in the opinion of himself and his general officers, these troops were needed to the defense of their lines. In the meantime, Gen. Wood- hull, whose notions of military obedience had been formed in the strictest school, was awaiting the expected orders and reinforcements. His situation was peculiarly embarrassing. He had been led to believe that he should receive support. Every communication from the convention, from whom he received his orders, contained or implied instructions that he should remain in the western part of Queens county and encouraged him to expect a reinforcement.
Field says : " Under all the uncertainties of his position, a brave man might have retired without shame, but a noble and conscientious one always decides on the side of self-sacrifice. He adopted the course which his own delicate sense of honor and of duty dictated, and resolved not to retreat until he was relieved from his perilous service by absolute orders from the convention. Unwilling that his command should share his peril, the General ordered his troops, on the morning of the 28th, to take a position about four miles beyond Jamaica, while he returned thither, accompanied only by an orderly or two, to receive the expected message from the convention. There he awaited its arrival until late in the afternoon, and then returned slowly to his headquarters of the day before only on receipt of the intelligence that the British outposts were being pushed rapidly toward the village."
The enemy had been informed the day before by disaffected persons in the neighborhood, that a rebel general was holding a position at Jamaica and a squadron of the Seventeenth Regiment of British Dragoons, accompanied by a detachment of the Seventy-first Infantry was sent in pursuit, guided by loyalists who hoped to be avenged for the loss of their horses and cattle. General Wood- hull, in the meantime, unconscious of the approach of his pursuers, had reached his quarters of the day before, at the inn of Increase Carpenter. He had scarcely seated himself when the dragoons appeared almost at the door, the roar of thunder and the beating of the torrents of rain having deadened the sound of their horses' hoofs. Under ordinary circumstances he might have made his escape, as his horse was secured nearby ready for just such an emergency. Immediately on reaching the tavern he ordered Col. Robinson forward, remaining by himself without
39
attendance, still expecting some message from the Congress. On hearing the shouts of the dragoons as they dashed up to the door, the General sprang to the rear hall door, which he had difficulty in opening, and he lost several moments. He escaped from the house and was in the act of clearing the fence to which his horse was secured, when he was overtaken and captured by the dismounted dragoons. One of the ruffians approached him with the exclamation : " Surrender, you damned rebel ! " General Woodhull, without any attempt at resistance, tendered him his sword. The officer, with uplifted sword, demanded that he say : " God save the King." " God save us all," said the General. The demand was repeated, and on his refusal, the General was struck several times by the sword of the officer and would doubtless have been killed had he not instinctively raised his arms to ward off the blows. The brutal officer continued the attack until the General fell to the ground without uttering other words than of regret that he had surrendered. The ruffian was prevented from completing his murderous design by the interference of another officer possessing more honor and humanity.
William Howard, in his account of the affair, says: "The next morning Woodhull and other prisoners were brought to Howard's. His wife went out to Woodhull under the shed and asked him if he would have some refreshments. She then gave him some bread and butter, and smoked beef, and wine sangaree. His head was tied up and he had other wounds. She also treated the American prisoners. Woodhull was first taken to Brooklyn church (that stood in the middle of the street) then to New Utrecht."
Onderdonk is of the opinion that the General and the other prisoners were first taken to Howe's headquarters in Brooklyn, for registration, and adds : " We knew nothing of the place and manner of his confinement until about a fortnight after, when he was brought on board a prison-ship at New Utrecht."
Thompson says : " The General was badly wounded in the head and one of his arms was mangled from the shoulder to the wrist. He was taken to Jamaica, where his wounds were dressed, and, with other prisoners, was detained there until the next day. He was then conveyed to Gravesend and with about eighty other prisoners (of whom Col. Troup, of New York, was one) was confined on board a vessel which had been employed to transport live stock for the use of the army and was without accommodations for health or comfort. The General was released from the vessel on remonstrance of an officer who had more humanity than his superiors, and removed first to the Dutch Church in New Utrecht, and thence to the dwelling-house nearby adjoining, where he was permitted to receive proper attendance and medical assistance. The General sent for his wife, with a request that she should bring with her all the money she had in her possession, and this he distributed among his fellow-prisoners. A cut in the joint of the elbow necessitated the amputation of the arm. Mortification set in and he died September 20, 1776. His wife was permitted to remove the body seventy miles distance, to his home in Mastie, where his remains still rest, marked by a simple monument. A movement was started by the leading citizens of Brooklyn, headed by General Jeremiah Johnson, to erect a suitable monument to his memory. An acre plot was donated by the trustees of Cypress Hills Cemetery and the plans prepared fora monument to cost one hundred thousand dollars. Public meetings were held and quite an interest aroused. The total subscriptions, however, amounted to only about seven thousand dollars, and this was subsequently returned to the subscribers.
40
MAJOR MORDECAI GIST AND THE GALLANT MARYLANDERS.
Johnston, referring to Major Mordecai Gist and his Marylanders, says : " Mordecai Gist, Esq., of Baltimore town, was among the first to sniff the coming storm and the first to act, for he tells that as early as December, 1774, at the expense of his time and the hazard of his business, he organized a ' company composed of men of honor, family and fortune,' to be ready for any emergency. The Lexington News, four months later, found the best part of Maryland ready to arm. In Baltimore, William Buchanan, lieutenant of the county, collected a body of the older citizens for home defence, while their unmarried sons and others organized themselves into two more companies, donned ' an excellent scarlet uni- form and chose Gist for their leader.' When the State called for troops at large, many of these young men responded, and in the spring of 1776, made up three companies which, with six other companies that gathered at Annapolis from the surrounding country, formed the first Maryland battalion of ' State regulars.' William Smallwood, living on the banks of the Potomac, in Charles County, was chosen colonel ; Francis Ware, lieutenant-colonel, and Mordecai Gist, first major. The State sent no better material into the service."
EXTRACT FROM SCHARF'S "HISTORY OF BALTIMORE CITY AND COUNTY," PAGES 70 AND 71.
On April 29, 1775, the Maryland Convention recommended that six hundred pounds be raised in the counties by subscription, and fifty-six pounds was the pro- portion assigned to Baltimore County. On the third of December, 1774, as we learn from a letter of Mordecai Gist, himself, the first military company in the province was organized for the Revolution. It was formed in Baltimore Town, under the name of the "Baltimore Independent Cadets," and the articles of organ- ization were as follows :
" We, the Baltimore Independent Cadets, being impressed with the sense of the unhappy situation of our suffering brethren in Boston, through the alarming conduct of General Gage, and the oppressive unconstitutional acts of parliament to deprive us of liberty and enforce slavery upon his majesty's loyal liege subjects of America in general.
" For the better security of our lives, liberties and properties under such alarming circumstances, we think it highly advisable and necessary that we form ourselves into a body or company in order to acquire military discipline, to act in defense of our country, agreeable to the resolves of the Continental Congress. And first, as dutiful subjects to King George the Third, our royal sovereign, we acknowledge all due allegiance, under whose banner we wish to support the dignity of his crown and the freedom and liberty of this constitution.
" Secondly, we resolve, after a company of sixty men have voluntarily sub- scribed their names to this paper, that public notice thereof shall be given and a meeting called to elect officers of said company, under whose command we desire to be led, and will strictly adhere to, by all the sacred ties of honor and the love and justice clue to ourselves and country ; and in case of any emergency we will be ready to march to the assistance of our sister colonies, at the discretion and direction of our commanding officer so elected, and that in the space of forty- eight hours notice from said officer.
4i
" Thirdly and lastly, we firmly resolve to procure at our own expense a uni- form suit of clothes, viz.: Coat, turned up with buff and trimmed with yellow metal or gold buttons, white stockings and black cloth half boots ; likewise a good gun with cartouch pouch, a pair of pistols, belt and cutlass, with four pounds of powder and sixteen pounds of lead, which shall be ready to equip ourselves with on the shortest notice ; and if default shall be found in either of us contrary to the true intent and meaning of this engagement, we desire and submit ourselves to trial by courtmartial, whom we hereby fully authorize and empower to deter- mine punishments adequate to the crimes that may be committed, but not to extend to corporal punishment.
" Given under our hands this third day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four. A. McLure, James Clarke, Barnet Eichelberger, Richard Cary, Jr., Christopher Hughes, W. Beard, Henry Sheaff, Matthew Scott, John Spear, Mordecai Gist. John McLure, Samuel Smith, John Smith. Jr., J. Kennedy, Hugh Young, YVm. Hammond, Wm. Stone, Abraham Risteau, Moses Darley, Robert Buchanan, George Lux, N. Ruxton Moore, David Plunkitt, J. Riddle, Brian Philpot, Chas. McConnell, Christopher Johnston, Thomas Jones, Philip Graybell, Thomas Russell, David Hopkins, John Lahavan, A. McKim, Robert McKim, Alexander Donaldson, Walter Roe, Wm. Sterrett, G. McCall, Jonathan Hudson, Thomas Lansdale, James Govane, Wm. McCreery, Thomas Ewing, Robert Porttens, Christopher Leon, Caleb Shields, David Evans, Simon Vashon, David McMechen, George Peter Keeports, John Weatherburn, Matthew Patton, H. Waters, Wm. Yeaton, John Deitch, James Sowervell, J. Magoffin, George Matthews, Robert Brown."
This company was organized by the election of Mordecai Gist as captain.
On January 16, 1775, the inhabitants of Baltimore Town "qualified to vote for representatives," met at the court house for the purpose of selecting delegates to represent the county in the " provincial meeting of deputies," to be held at Annapolis on April 24, and to carry out the resolutions of the last convention, Capt. Charles Ridgely, Thomas Cockey Deye, Walter Tolley, Jr., Charles Ridgely (son of John), Robert Alexander, Samuel Purviance, Benj imin Nicholson, Darby Lux, Jeremiah Townley Chase, George Risteau, Thomas Harrison, John Moale, Andrew Buchanan. William Lux and Samuel Worthington were chosen delegates to the convention, and the following persons were added to the Committee of Observation appointed at the meeting in November:
Patapsco Lower Hundred — Charles Rogers, John Gorsuch, William McCubbin and William Williamson. Patapsco Upper— Jas. Croxall, John Elliott and Edward Norwood. Black River Upper— John Cockey, Edward Talbot, Joshua Stevenson, Edward Cockey, Ezekiel Tovvson. Middle River Upper— Benjamin Rogers, Robert Cummings Benjamin Buck, Joshua Hall, Gist Vaughan and Benjamin Merryman. Black River Lower — Moses Galloway. George Goldsmith Presbury, Abraham Britton and Nicholas Britton. Soldier's Delight— Thomas Cradock, Charles Walker, Samuel Ovvings, Jr., Christopher Randall, Jr., and Benjamin Wells. Middlesex -Jacob Myers, Richard Cromwell and Thomas Rutter. Dela- ware—Christopher Owings, Benjamin Lawrence and Nicholas Dorsey, Jr. North- John Hall and Stephen Gill, Jr. Pipe Creek— John Showers and George Ever- hart. Gunpowder Upper— Samuel Young, Jessey Bassey, Thomas Gassaway Howard, James Bosley, Wm. Cromwell and Zaccheus Barrett Onion. Mine Run —
MAJOR MORDECAI GIST
42
Edward Stansbury, John Stevenson, Daniel Shaw, Wm. Slade, Jr., Joseph Sutton and John Stewart. Baltimore Town— James Sterrett, Charles Ridgely, William Goodwin, Dr. Charles Wiesenthal and Thomas Ewing.
Mordecai Gist, son of Capt. Thomas Gist and Susannah Cockey, was born in Baltimore Town in 1743. He was educated at St. Paul's parish school, and at the breaking out of the Revolution was a merchant doing business on Gay street. His ancestors were early immigrants to Maryland and took an active part in the affairs of the province. Christopher Gist was of English descent, and died in Baltimore County, in 1691. His wife was Edith Cromwell, who died in 1694. They had one child, Richard, who was surveyor of the western shore, and was one of the commissioners, in 1729, for laying off Baltimore Town, and was presid- ing magistrate in 1736. In 1705 he married Zipporah Murray. Christoper Gist, one of his sons, because of his knowledge of the country on the Ohio and his skill in dealing with the Indians, was chosen to accompany Washington on his mission in 1753, and it was from his journal that all subsequent historians derive their account of that expedition.
Christopher Gist, the son of Richard, married Sarah Howard, ihe second daughter of Joshua and Joanna O'Carroll Howard, and had four children — Nancy, who died unmarried, and Thomas, Nathaniel and Richard. Christopher, with his sons Nathaniel and Richard, was with Braddock on the fatal field of the Monon- gahela, and for his services received a grant of twelve thousand acres of land from the King of England. It is said that Thomas was taken prisoner at Braddock's defeat and lived fifteen or sixteen years with the Indians in Canada. Richard married and settled in South Carolina, and was killed at the battle of King's Mountain. He has descendants living in that State. Thomas, after his release from captivity, lived with his father on the grant in Kentucky and became a man of note, presiding in the courts till his death, about 1786. Gen. Nathaniel Gist married Judith Carey Bell, of Buckingham County, Va., a grandniece of Archibald Carey, the mover of the Bill of Rights in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Nathaniel was a colonel in the Virginia line during the Revolution, and died early in the present century at an old age. He left two sons, Henry Carey and Thomas Cecil Gist. His eldest daughter, Sarah Howard, married the Hon. Jesse Bledsoe, a United States Senator from Kentucky and a distinguished jurist ; his grandson, B. Gratz Brown, was the Democratic candidate for Vice-President in 1872. The second daughter of Gen. Gist, Anne (Nancy), married Col. Nathaniel Hart, a brother of Mrs. Henry Clay. The third daughter married Dr. Boswell, of Lexing- ton, Ky. The fourth daughter, Eliza Violetta Howard Gist, married Francis P. Blair, and they were the parents of Hon. Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, ex- Postmaster-General, and Gen. Francis P. Blair, Jr. The fifth daughter married Benjamin Gratz, of Lexington, Ky.
Mordecai Gist was a member of the Baltimore non-importation committee in 1774 and, besides being captain of the "Independent Cadets," in January, 1776, was made major of Smallwood's First Maryland Regiment, and commanded it at the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, in the absence of its colonel and lieutenant-colonel, who were attending a court-martial in New York. In 1777 he was promoted to colonel, and made brigadier-general January 9, 1779. He was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and after the war settled near Charleston, S. C. He married three times. His first wife was a Mrs. Carnan, of
43
Baltimore County, who died shortly after marriage. His second wife was Miss Sterrett, of Baltimore, who died in giving birth to a son. His third wife was Mrs. Cattell, of South Carolina. She also bore him a son. One of the boys was named Independent, the other States. Gen. Gist died at Charleston, August 2, 1792.
Johnston, referring to the important part borne by Major Gist at the battle of Long Island, says: "Stirling, realizing his danger, at once determined upon the only manoeuvre that promised escape for any of his command. Upon his left lay the Gowanus marsh and creek where both were at their broadest and where a crossing had never been attempted. * * * He therefore ordered his men to make their way as they could, while, to protect them as they forded or swam, he himself took Gist and half the Maryland battalion and proceeded to attack Corn- wallis. The Marylanders followed their general without flinching and were soon warmly engaged with the enemy who had posted themselves at the Vechte — later known as the Cortelyou house - above the upper mills, near the intersection of the Port and Gowanus roads. Stirling's example was inspiring. ' He encouraged and animated our young soldiers,' writes Gist, 'with almost invincible resolution.' "
SUPPLEMENT
SECTION I
The Heroes of the Revolution and their Descendant
HISTORY
Society Sons of the Revolution,
INCLUDING THE
ANCESTRAL LINE
FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS.
1899.
SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE REVOLUTION, IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
"On that night could not ihe King sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the King."
A well known writer in one of our religious journals says : " It is a good thing that there are growing up in our country patriotic societies composed of those who can trace descent from men and women who lived and died as patriots. It gives a man something to live up to - to remember that in his veins runs the Dlood of heroes. He is more likely to be a hero for remembering it. Let every man who has been born into a Christian home rejoice in his privilege."
Gov. Seymour, in a letter to the writer, some years ago, said : "The ignor- ance of the America people regarding the history of their own country is disrep- utable." Thanks to the efforts of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution and kindred societies, this can no longer be said. From Maine to California, ancestral and historical investigation has been going on for the past twenty years, which gives bright promise for the near future, and so far as our Republic is concerned, the charge can no longer be made that " republics are ungrateful."
Washington's Birthday has been annually observed and still continues to be by the Society, and other recurring anniversaries of the Revolution receive due recognition. The placing of tablets in various parts of New York City, to mark important places and events, the erection of a bronze statue in the City Hall Park in memory of Nathan Hale, the " Martyr Spy of the American Revolution," constitute but a small portion of the work done by this Society. These notable events, and others of equal importance, will be fully described in Section II. of The HEROES OF the American Revolution and their Descendants, entitled, "New York and its Environs in the Revolution." The SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE Revolution in the State of New York, was incorporated May 3, 1884, under the laws of the State of New York.
The preliminary movement leading to the organization of a patriotic society which would render eligible to membership, the descendants of the soldiers of the Revolution, originated with Mr. John Austin Stevens, in the autumn of 1875. In a letter to F. S. Tallmadge, Esq , President of the Society, Mi». Stevens says : "In the month of January, 1S76, a plan of organization of a Society, under the name of 'Sons of the Revolution,' was drawn up by me, to which some gentlemen set their names. Its purpose was dual. First, to revere and maintain the American spirit of our forefathers. Second, to promote the codection and preservation of historical papers of the Revolutionary period.
" The plan of the Society provided for the admission of any and all male applicants of good standing, who could show descent from a person in public service — civil, military or naval — of the General or State Governments during the period of hostilities.
" Thus the Society was inaugurated* but a lack of public interest held it dormant for several years. In the progression of centennial anniversaries which ensued, the American spirit was gradually aroused, and that sentiment of pride in a Revolutionary descent, which was before modestly conceded, was openly avowed.
4 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
" This honorable pride led to the magnificent entertainment by the State of New York to the French delegation to the Yorktown celebration in 1881, and to the extraordinary display of public interest and patriotic spirit by this community, under the most untoward circumstances, on the anniversary of the Evacuation of the City of New York by the British in 1783, the final act of the American Revolution. This anniversary, which fell on the 25th of November, 1S83, was the last of the Revolutionary commemorations.
" Among the events of that memorable celebration, was the dinner at Fraunces's Tavern, on the evening of the 4th of December, the anniversary of Washington's farewell to his officers. Here in the very long room where occurred that touching historic scene, the plan of the proposed Society was sub- mitted, and the gentlemen adjourned to meet on the same spot on the following New Year's eve, when it was agreed to, signed, and the organization effected, under the name of SONS OF THE REVOLUTION."
The purpose for which it was organized, the character of its members, and the careful scrutiny given as to the qualifications for membership, speedily brought to it the respect of the community. The accounts of its patriotic celebrations and acts in the way of erecting memorials and statues, were read with interest, and when the great Centennial of the inauguration of the Government of the United States under the Constitution was held, in New York, in April and May, 1889, the "Sons of the Revolution" bore a principal part, both in its inception and in membership, and chairmanship of the necessary committees.
The Constitution of the General Society of the Sons of the Revolution clearly sets forth the causes that necessitated, and which finally culminated in, the organ- ization of this patriotic and thoroughly American society. It is as follows :
" It being evident, from a steady decline of a proper celebration of the National holidays of the United States of A^°rica, that popular concern in the events and men of the War of the Revolution, is gradually declining, and that such lack of interest is attributable, not so much to the lapse of time and the rapidly increasing flood of immigration from foreign countries, as to the neglect on the part of descendants of Revolutionary heroes to perform their duty in keeping before the public mind the memory of the services of their ancestors and of the times in which they lived ; therefore, the Society of the Sons of the Revolu- tion has been instituted to perpetuate the memory of the men who, in the military, naval and civil service of the Colonies and of the Continental Congress, by their acts or counsel, achieved the independence of the country, and to further the proper celebration of the anniversaries of the birthday of Washington and of the prominent events connected with the War of the Revolution ; to collect and secure for preservation the rolls, records and other documents relating to that period ; to inspire the members of the Society with the patriotic spirit of their forefathers, and to promote the feeling of friendship among them."
The objects of the Society are further stated in the Preamble of the revised Constitution adopted at the time of its incorporation, as follows : "To promote and assist in the proper celebration of the anniversaries of Washington's Birthday, the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, the Fourth of July, the Capitulation of
'Washington was actually born O. S. Feb. 11, 1776, as the method of reckoning time under the old style was then in vogue.
SONS CF THE REVOLUTION. - 5
Saratoga and Yorktown, the formal evacuation of New York by the British Army, on the 3d of December, 1783, as a relinquishment of territorial sovereignty, and other prominent events relating to or connected with the War of the Revolution."
INCORPORATORS.
John Austin Stevens, John Cochrane, Austin Huntington, George H. Potts, Frederick Samuel Tallmadge, George Washington Wright Houghton, Asa Bird Gardiner, Thomas Henry Edsall, Joseph W. Drexel, James Mortimer Montgomery, James Duane Livingston, Alexander R. Thompson, Jr.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP.
The qualifications for membership are, that the applicant " shall be above the age of twenty-one years, who is descended from an ancestor, as the propositus who, either as a military, naval or marine, or official in the service of any one of the thirteen original Colonies or States, or of the National Government represent- ing or composed of these Colonies or States, assisted in establishing American Independence during the War of the Revolution, between the 19th day of April, 1775, when hostilities commenced, and the 19th day of April, 1783, when they were ordered to cease.
" Provided, That when the claim of eligibility is based on the service of an ancestor in the ' minute men ' or ' militia,' it must be satisfactorily shown that such ancestor was actually called into the service of the State or United States and performed garrison or field duty ; and
" Provided further, That when the claim of eligibility is based on the service of an ancestor as a 'sailor' or ' marine,' it must in like manner be shown that such service was other than shore duty and regularly performed in the Continental Navy, or the navy of one of the original thirteen States, or on an armed vessel, other than a merchant ship which sailed under letters of marque and reprisal, and that such ancestor of the applicant was duly enrolled in the ship's company, either as an officer, seaman or otherwise than a passenger ; and
" Provided further, That when the claim of eligibility is based on the service of an ancestor as an ' official,' such service must have been performed in the civil service of the United States or of one of the thirteen original States, and must have been sufficiently important in character to have rendered the official specially liable to arrest and imprisonment, the same as a complainant, if captured by the enemy, as well as liable to conviction of treason against the Government of Great Britain.
"Service in the ordinary duties of a civil office, the performance of which did not particularly and effectively aid the American cause, shall not constitute eligibility.
" In the construction of this article, the Volunteers Aides-de-Camp of General Officers in Continental service, who were duly announced as such and who actually served in the field during a campaign, shall be comprehended as having performed qualifying service.
" The civil officials and military forces of the State of Vermont during the War of the Revolution, shall also be comprehended in the same manner as if they had belonged to one of the thirteen original States.
5 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
" No service of an ancestor shall be deemed as qualifying service for member- ship in the Sons of the Revolution, where such ancestor, after assisting in the cause of American Independence, shall have subsequently either adhered to the enemy or failed to maintain an honorable record throughout the War of the Revolution.
" No person shall be admitted unless he is eligible under one of the provisions of this Article, nor unless he be of good moral character and be judged worthy of becoming a member."
THE SEAL AND INSIGNIA OF THE SOCIETY.
The Seal of the Society consists of a " Minute-man " in Continental uniform standing on a ladder leading to a belfry, and holding in his left hand a musket ar an olive branch, and grasping in his right hand a bell-rope. Above, the cracked "Liberty Bell"; issuing therefrom, a ribbon bearing the motto of the SONS OF the Revolution — " Exegi monumentum cere perenntus." Across the top of the ladder, on a ribbon, the figures, "1776," and at the left of the Minute-man, and also on a ribbon, the figures," 1883," — the year of the centennial commemoration of the permanent evacuation by the British army of American territory, — the whole encircled by a band three-eighths of a inch wide ; thereon, at the top, thirteen stars of five points each, and at the bottom, the legend, " SONS OF THE REVOLU- TION."
SEAL OF THE SOCIETY.
The insignia of the Society consists of a badge, elliptical in form, with escal- loped edges, one and one-quarter inches in length and one and one-eighth inches in width, the whole surmounted by a gold eagle with wings displayed, inverted. On the obverse side, a medallion of gold in the centre, elliptical in form, bearing on its face the figure of a soldier in Continental uniform, with musket slung. Be- neath, the figures, " 1775." The medallion is surrounded by thirteen raised gold stars of five points each, upon a border of dark blue enamel. On the reverse side, in the centre, a medallion corresponding in form to that on the obverse, and also, in gold, bearing on its face Houdon's portrait of Washington in bas-relief, encircled
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 7
by the legend, "Sons of the Revolution." Beneath, the figures, " 1883," and upon the reverse side of the eagle, the number of the particular lodge engraved ; the medallion surrounded by a plain gold border conforming in dimensions to the obverse, upon which members may have their names engraved in script.
The badge is pendant from a ribbon by a ring of gold, and is to be worn by the members conspicuously, and only on the left breast, on all occasions when they shall assemble as such for any stated purpose or celebration. It is forbidden to wear the badge as an article of jewelry.
INSIGNIA OF THE SOCIETY.
OFFICERS OF THE NEW YORK SOCIETY, FROM ITS RE-ORGANIZ- ATION, DEC. 4, 1883.
Presidents. — 1883-4, John Austin Stevens ; 1884, Frederick Samuel Tallmadge, still in office.
Vice-Presidents. — 1883-4, John Cochrane; 1884-6, Thomas Henry Edsall; 1886-8, Elbridge T. Gerry; 18S8-94, Floyd Clarkson ; 1894, James Mortimer Mont- gomery; 1894-5, William Gaston Hamilton; 1895-6, Robert Olyphant ; 1897, James William Beckman.
Secretaries. — 1883, John Bleecker Miller, pro tern.; 1883-4, Austin Huntington; 1884-6, George Washington Wright Houghton; 1886-93, James Mortimer Mont- gomery; 1893-6, Thomas Edward Vermilye Smith; 1896, Charles Isham, still in office.
Assistant Secretary. — 1891-5, Edward Trenchard.
Treasurers.— 1883-5, George H. Potts; 1885, F. J. Huntington; 1885-6, Austin Huntington; 1886-7, Asa Coolidge Warren; 1887, Arthur Melvin Hatch, still in office.
g SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. ^
Registrars.— 1885-6, Thomas Henry Edsall; 1887-9, Asa Coolidge Warren; 1889-91, Henry Thayer Drowne ; 1891-6, Charles Isham ; 1897, Henry P. Johnston.
Historians. - 1888-9, Austin Huntington; 1889-91, John Canfield Tomlinson; 1 89 1 -3, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy; 1893-4. James Mortimer Montgomery; 1894-5. Talbot Olyphant; 1895-6, John Lawrence.
Chaplains.— 1889, Rev. Daniel Cary Weston, D.D.; 1889, Rev. Brockholst Morgan, still in office.
BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE NEW YORK SOCIETY FROM ITS INCORPORATION.
1883-4.— Frederick Samuel Tallmadge, Joseph W. Drexel, Thomas Henry Edsall, George W. W. Houghton, Asa Bird Gardiner, James Mortimer Montgom- ery, James Duane Livingston, John Bleecker Miller, Alexander R. Thompson, Jr.
1884-5. — Asa Bird Gardiner, James Mortimer Montgomery, James Duane Livingston, John Bleecker" Miller, Alexander R. Thompson, Jr., John B. Ireland, Ethan Allen, Ingersoll Lockwood, Asa Coolidge Warren.
1885-6. — James Mortimer Montgomery, Alexander R. Thompson, Jr., John B. Ireland, Ethan Allen, Asa Coolidge Warren, Floyd Clarkson, Edward L. Hedden, George Clinton Genet, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy.
1886-7. — John B. Ireland, Floyd Clarkson, George Clinton Genet, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, Horace Barnard, George Parsons Lathrop, Edward Rathbone Satterlee, John Clarkson Jay, Jr., James Duane Livingston.
1887-8. — John B. Ireland, Floyd Clarkson, George Clinton Genet, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, John Clarkson Jay, Jr., Rev. Brockholst Morgan, David B. St. John Roosa.
1888-9. — John B. Ireland, George Clinton Genet, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, James Duane Livingston, George Parsons Lathrop, John Clarkson Jay, Jr., Rev. Brockholst Morgan, William Gaston Hamilton, Robert F. Bixby, John Jackson Riker, pro tem., Asa Bird Gardiner, pro tern., Francis Lathrop, pro tern.
1889-90.- John B. Ireland, George Clinton Genet, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, John Clarkson Jay, Jr., Rev. Brockholst Morgan, William Gaston Hamilton, Asa Bird Gardiner, John Jackson Riker, Francis Lathrop, William Gordon Ver Planck, Bradish Johnson, Jr.
1890-91. — George B. Ireland, George Clinton Genet, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, John Clarkson Jay, Jr., William Gaston Hamilton, Asa Bird Gardiner, Bradish Johnson, Jr., Charles Hornblower Woodruff, William Carpender, Robert Lenox Belknap, Robert Olyphant.
1891-2. — Asa Bird Gardiner, Bradish Johnson, Jr., Charles Hornblower Wood- ruff, William Carpender, Robert Lenox Belknap, Robert Olyphant, John Canfield Tomlinson, Governeur Mather Smith, William Gaston Hamilton.
1892-3. -William Carpender, Robert Lenox Belknap, Robert Olyphant, John Canfield Tomlinson, Governeur Mather Smith, William Gaston Hamilton, John Lawrence, Benjamin Douglass Silliman, Charles Augustus Schermerhorn, William Alexander Duer, Charles Augustus Peabody, Jr.
1893-4. — John Canfield Tomlinson, Governeur Mather Smith, William Gaston Hamilton, John Lawrence, Benjamin Douglass Silliman, Charles Augustus Scher- merhorn, Asa Bird Gardiner, Charles Augustus Peadody, Jr., Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, John Hone, Charles Hornblower Woodruff.
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1894-5. — John Lawrence, Benjamin Douglass Silliman, Charles Augustus Schermerhorn, Asa Bird Gardiner, Charles Augustus Peabody, Jr., Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, John Hone, Charles Hornblower Woodruff, William Gayer Dominick, Frederick Clarkson, John Taylor Terry, Jr., Robert Olyphant, pro tern., William Carpender, pro tern.
1895-6.— Asa Bird Gardiner, Bradish Johnson, Henry Wyckoff Le Roy, John Hone, Charles Hornblower Woodruff, Chester Griswold, Frederick Clarkson, John Taylor Terry, Jr., William Carpender, James Betts Metcalf, William Gaston Hamilton.
1896-7. — John Hone, Charles Hornblower Woodruff, Chester Griswold, Fred- erick Clarkson, John Taylor Terry, Jr., William Carpender, William Gaston Hamilton, Thomas E. V. Smith, Robert Olyphant, Fellowes Davis, Henry Deni- son Babcock.
GENERAL SOCIETY SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
The General Society of the Sons of the Revolution was organized in the city of Washington, D. C, April 19, 1S90, by delegates from the local societies in New York, Philadelphia and Washington. The following gentlemen were present :
New York. — Frederick S. Tallmadge, Wm. Gaston Hamilton, J. Alsop King, Timothy Matlack Cheesman, Arthur Milburn Hatch.
District of Columbia. — Gov. John Lee Carroll, Admiral Samuel R. Franklin, Gen. Wm. B. Rochester, Capt. Daniel M. Taylor, Col. Charles Worthington, Lieut. T. M. B. Mason and Arthur II. Dutton.
Pennsylvania. — Richard McCall Cadwalader, Major James Edward Carpen- ter, Col. Josiah Granville Leach, Col. Clifford Stanley Sims, Dr. Herman Burgen and Frederick Meade Bissell.
Discussions took place concerning the general interests of the Sons of the Revolution.
The only business of importance, other than the adoption of the Constitution, was the election of national officers. The following were chosen :
General President. — Ex-Governor John Lee Carroll, of Maryland.
General Vice-President. — Major William Wayne, of Pennsylvania.
General Secretary.— James Mortimer Montgomery, of New York.
Assistant General Secy. — Timothy Matlack Cheesman, M.D., of New York.
General Treasurer. — Arthur II. Dutton, of the District of Columbia.
General Chaplain. — The Rev. Daniel Cony Weston, D.D., of New York.
The present officers, elected April, 1897, air :
General President. — Hon. John Lee Carroll, Maryland.
General Vice-Presidents. — G. D. W. AToom, New Jersey ; Colonel John Screven, Georgia.
General Secretary. — James Mortimer Montgomery, New York.
General Assistant Secy. — W. Hall Harris, Maryland.
General Treastirer. — Richard McCall Cadwalader, Pennsylvania.
General Assistant Treas. — Henry Cadle, Missouri.
General Chaplain. — Bishop H. B. Whipple, Minnesota.
General Registrar.— ¥. E. Abbott, Massachusetts.
General Historian. — G. Hunt, District of Columbia.
STEVENS ANCESTRY.
John Austin Stevens, the founder and first President of the Society, comes of a line of distinguished New England ancestors, who have been prominent in Church and State affairs for two hundred years.
Erasmus Stevens, the first of the family mentioned in this line appears in 1 7 14 as one of the founders of the New North Church, in Boston. He had a son, Ebenezer (1).
Ebenezer Stevens (i), son of Erasmus Stevens, was probably born in Boston. He lived in Roxbury, where he married Elizabeth Wild. They had a son, Ebenezer (2).
MAJ.-GEN. EBENEZER STEVENS, of the War of the Revolution, son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Wild) Stevens, was born in Boston, Mass., Aug. 22, 1 75 1. He was an ardent patriot, and led the famous "Tea Party," 1773, indisposing of the obnoxious cargo by " committing it to the deep." He made little effort at disguise, being recognized by the officers of one of the ships. He soon after- ward removed to Rhode Island, where he raised two companies of artillery, and one of artificers, and was commissioned Lieutenant, May, 8, 1775, and took part in the expedition against Quebec. He joined Henry Knox's regiment of artillery, was made a Captain on Jan. u, 1776, and on Nov. 9, following, was brevetted Major. He commanded the artillery at Ticonderoga and Stillwater. As senior officer of this arm of defense in the northern department, he directed the artillery operations in the encounters which led to the defeat and surrender of Burgoyne, and soon after received a brevet commission as Lieut.-Colonel, with a special resolution of thanks from the Continental Congress, for merit as commandant of the artillery of the northern department in the campaigns of 1776-7. He was at this time in the Massachusetts line. On April 30, 1778, he was commissioned Lieut.-Colonel and transferred to Col. John Lamb's regiment of the New York line, in which he served to the end of the war. He was entrusted with the defences of the Hudson River and had chains and other obstructions placed across the river to prevent the ships of the enemy from ascending. In 1781 he prepared a train of artillery for the southern service and was selected by Gen. Lafayette to accom- pany him on his expedition to Virginia.
Owing to impaired health he returned home for a time, but after a brief respite, he was commissioned by Gen. Knox to prepare the artillery force which was to operate against Cornwallis. This was collected and transported from West Point, Philadelphia and Baltimore and played an important part in the final siege which led to the surrender of Cornwallis. This completed his active service, though he continued his command till the army was finally disbanded. It is be- lieved that no officer of his grade in the army rendered more arduous, various and important services than Col. Stevens, and his characteristic energy, courage and perseverance gave assurance that, had the opportunity occurred, he would have signalized himself in a manner worthy of his patriotism and ambition.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. II
After the Revolution he started in business in New York, and without any previous experience, but relying on his own prudence and foresight, he met with extraordinary success and became one of the leading merchants of New York City. As agent of the war department he constructed the fortifications upon Governor's Island in 1S00. In 1812 he was commissioned Major-General of the State Militia, and with Morgan Lewis, mustered for active service against the British, in Sep., 1 8 14, at the time of an anticipated attack upon the city. He resigned his command in 1815 and withdrew from all public employment. He married, first, in 1775. Rebecca Hodgson, of Boston. In 1784 he married Lucretia, widow of Richardson Sands, a daughter of John Ledyard and sister of Col. William Ledyard, the hero of Fort Groton. By his first wife, Rebecca Hodgson, he had issue three children, viz.: Horatio Gates, George, Rebecca (married John P. Schermerhorn). By his second wife he had Byam, William, Henry K., Samuel, Dr. Alexander H., John Austin, and Mary, wife of Frederick W. Rhinelander, Esq.
John Austin Stevens, Sr., was born in New York City, Jan. 22, 1795, (''e(' Oct. 19, 1874. He was graduated at Yale, in 1843; entered mercantile life and became a partner in his father's business in 1818. He was for many years Secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce, and was one of the organizers and first President of the Merchants' Exchange. From its first establishment, in 1839, till i860, he was President of the Bank of Commerce. He was chairman of the Committee of Bankers of New York, Boston and Philadelphia, which first met in August, 1861, and decided to take $50,000,000 of the government 7-30 loan. They subsequently advanced $100,000,000 more, and the terms of the transaction were arranged chiefly by Mr. Stevens, as the head of the treasury note committee. His advice was frequently sought by the officers of the Treasury Department during the Civil War.
JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS, Jr., First President and one of the In- corporators of the Society Sons of the Revolution, son of John Austin Stevens, Sr., was born in New York City, Jan. 23, 1827 ; was graduated at Harvard in 1846, engaged in mercantile business in New York, and in 1862, was elected Secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce, continuing in office six years. He was librarian of the New York Historical Society, and devoted himself to the investigation of top.cs of American History. He founded and for many years edited the Magazine of American History. He was the author of numerous works, among which were "The Valley of the Rio Grande; its Topography and Resources," (New York, 1864) ; "Memorial of the Chamber of Commerce on Steam Navigation," (1864); "Colonial R( cords of the New York Chamber of Commerce," (1867), containing illustrations and biographical and historical sketches; "The Progress of New York in a Century," (1876); "The Expe- dition of Lafayette against Arnold," published by the Maryland Historical Society, (Baltimore, 1878), and other works.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
TALLMADGE ANCESTRY.
Line of Frederick Samuel, and Brevet Lieut.-Col Benjamin Tallmadge.
Frederick Samuel Tallmadge, President of the Society since 1884, traces his line of descent through one of the best known families of New England, and the revolutionary service of his grandfather, Lieut.-Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, forms one of the most interesting records of this period of our nation's history.
Robert Tallmadge, the emigrant ancestor of this branch of the Tallmadge family, came to this country from England about 1640, and was one of the original planters who settled the New Haven Colony in 1643, ms name appearing on the list. He took the oath of fidelity July 1, 1644. He married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Nash, who was also a proprietor. He had issue Abigail, Thomas, Sarah, John, Enoch, Mary. Robert the ancestor died in 1662.
John Tallmadge fourth child and second son of Robert and Sarah (Nash) Tallmadge, was born in New Haven, Conn., Sep. 17, 1654. He married in 1686, Abigail Bishop. He died in 1770, and left, among other children, a son James.
Capt. James Tallmadge, son of John and Abigail (Bishop) Tallmadge, was born in New Haven in 1689. From his title he probably served in the early colonial wars. He married in 1713, Hannah Harrison, of Branford, Conn. He had issue a son Benjamin, born Dec, 31, 1725.
Rev. Benjamin Tallmadge, son of Capt. James and Hannah (Harrison) Tallmadge, was born in New Haven, Conn., Dec. 31, 1725. He was graduated at Yale in 1747, and soon after obtained a position as teacher in the Hopkins Grammar School. He was the fourth installed pastor at Brookhaven (Setauket village), L. I., in 1753, continuing for over thirty years, until June 15, 1785, when he was formally dismissed. Being a ripe scholar and fond of teaching, he devoted considerable time to the instruction of young men preparing for college. He married Susannah, daughter of Rev. John Smith (who was a brother of Hon. William Smith, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Colony). He had issue William, born June 9, 1752, captured by the British at the battle of Long Island, died in prison from starvation ; Benjatnin, born Feb. 25, 1754; Samuel, born 1755 ; John, born 1757 ; Isaac, born 1762. Mr. Tallmadge's first wife died April 4, 1768, and on June 5, 1770, he married Zipporah, daughter of Thomas Strong, of Brook- haven, by whom he had no issue.
LTEUT.-COL. BENJAMIN TALLMADGE, of the War of the Revolu- tion, second son of Rev. Benjamin and Susannah (Smith) Tallmadge, was born at Setauket, L. I. (in the town of Brookhaven), Feb. 25, 1754. He very early exhibited a fondness for learning, and under the tuition of his father, made such progress, that at twelve years of age he was examined by President Daggett, then on a visit to Brookhaven, and found well qualified to enter that institution. He did not enter, however, until some years later, and was graduated in 1773. He
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soon after took charge of the high school at Wethersfield, Conn., where he remained until the affair at Lexington called him from his studies into the service of his country.
On June 20, 1776, he was appointed Lieutenant and Adjutant of Colonel Chester's Connecticut regiment and continued in active service to the close of the war. He was engaged in the battle of Long Island on the 27th of August, 1776, and was one of the rear guard when the army retired from Brooklyn to New York. On Dec. 15, 1776, he was appointed by Gen. Washington, Captain of the 2d regiment light dragoons, and on April 17, of the following year, he was promoted Major. A separate detachment for special service was committed to him several times during the war and he received his orders directly from the commander-in-
'^c^iS .
chief. He participated in the battles of White Plains, Short Hills, Brandywine, Monmouth ; and at Germantown his detachment was at the head of Gen. John Sullivan's division. By order of Gen. Washington, Major Tallmadge repeatedly threw his dragoons across the principal thoroughfare to check the retreat of the infantry. He opened, in 1777, a secret correspondence (for Gen. Washington) with some persons in New York, and particularly with the late Abraham Wood- hull, of Setauket, which lasted through the war. He kept one or more boats constantly employed in crossing the Sound on this business. On Lloyd's Neck, an elevated promontory between Huntington and Oyster Bay, the enemy had estab- lished or.gly fortified post, with a garrison of about five hundred men. In the
I4 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
rear of this fort a band of marauders had encamped themselves, who having boats at command, were constantly plundering the inhabitants along the main shore and robbing the small vessels in the sound. This horde of banditti Major Tallmadge had a great desire to break up, and on the 5th of September, 1777, he embarked with one hundred and thirty men of his detachment, at Shippen Point, near Stam- ford, at eight o'clock in the evening. In about two hours they landed on Lloyd's Neck and proceeded to the attack, which was so sudden and unexpected, that nearly the whole party of five hundred Tory marauders were captured and landed in Connecticut before morning. Not a man was lost in the enterprise.
For the purpose of breaking up the whole system of intercourse between the enemy and the disaffected on the main, he was appointed to a separate command, consisting of the dismounted dragoons of the regiment and a body of horse. On Sept., 1783, he was made Brevet Lieut. -Col. While stationed at North Castle, Westchester County, N. Y., in the autumn of 1780, the attempt of Arnold to betray the post at West Point into the hands of the British, was frustrated by the capture of Major Andr6 the British spy, who was delivered to Maj. Tallmadge, and remained in his custody until the day of execution, October 2, 1780; Major Tallmadge accompanying the unfortunate prisoner to the gallows, and witnessed the execution. Years afterwards Maj. Tallmadge wrote : " I became so deeply attached to Major Andre that I can remember no instance where my affections where so fully absorbed in any man. When I saw him swinging under the gallows it seemed for a time as if I could not support it."
In November of the same year, having obtained information of Fort St. George, which stood on a point projecting into the South Bay at Mastic, L. I., he communicated his project to the commander-in-chief, who, considering the attempt too hazardous, desired him to abandon it. He finally obtained Washington's con- sent, who in a letter dated Nov. 11, 1780, says: " The destruction of the forage collected for the use of the British army at Corum,.upon Long Island, is of so much consequence that I should advise the attempt to be made."
In pursuance of this communication Maj. Tallmadge organized a force of about eighty men, and on November 21, at four o'clock, P. M., the party embarked in eight whale boats. They crossed the sound in five hours and landed at Old Mans at nine o'clock. After leaving their boats the body of troops marched about five miles, when, on account of the rain, they returned and took shelter under their boats, and lay concealed in the bushes all that night and the next day. At evening they started again, and at three o'clock the next morning were within two miles of the fort. Here he divided his men into three parties, ordering each to attack the fort at the same time, at different points. The order was so well executed that the three divisions arrived at nearly the same moment. It was a triangular enclosure of several acres, strongly stockaded, well barricaded houses at two of the angles, and at the third a fort, with a deep ditch and wall, encircled by an abattis of sharpened pickets, projecting at an angle of forty-five degrees. The stockade was cut down, the column led through the grand parade, and in ten minutes the main fort was carried by the bayonet. The vessels near the fort, laden with stores, attempted to escape, but the guns of the fort being brought to bear upon them, they were secured and burnt, as were the works and stores. The number of prisoners was fifty-four, of whom seven were wounded. They were marched to the boats under an escort while Maj. Tallmadge proceeded with
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
the remainder of his detachment, destroyed about three hundred tons of hay collected at Corum and returned with his whole force to Fairfield the same evening, without the loss of a man. Washington, in a letter dated Morristown, Nov. 28, says: " I beg you to accept my thanks for your judicious planning and spirited execution of this business, and that you will offer them to the officers and men who shared the honor of the enterprise with you." For this service, Maj. Tallmadge also received the thanks of Congress. He performed a similar feat on the night of Oct. 9, 1781. With a small detachment under the command of Major Prescott, he captured Fort Slongo, at Treadwell's Neck, near Smithtown. He burned the block-house and other combustible material, captured a piece of brass artillery and returned safely without the loss of a man. Maj. Tallmadge planned other attacks on Long Island ; he and his daring band of veterans were a source of constant annoyance to the enemy.
Maj. Tallmadge was one of the original members of the Cincinnati Society, was several years treasurer and afterwards president. After the war he returned to Litchfield and engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to Congress Dec. 7, 1800, and continued to represent his district in that body till 1817. After sixteen years of service in the national legislature he declined a reelection and retired with dignity and honor to the shades of private life. He was, however, by no means an indifferent spectator of passing events, but felt truly anxious for the future glory and welfare of his country. To public objects of charity and benevolence he always gave largely and freely and was much esteemed for his social qualities. In 1782 he bought the property in Litchfield that is still known as the Tallmadge place and is now the summer resort of his granddaughter, Mrs. William Curtis Noyes. Yale gave him the degree of A.M. in 1778. He prepared his " Memoirs at the Request of his Children," which was privately printed by his son.
On March 16, 1784, he married Mary, eldest daughter of General William Floyd, of Long Island (one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence), a lady of great amiability and worth, by whom he had issue, William Smith, Henry Floyd, Maria Jones, Frederick Augustus, Benjamin, Harriet Wardsworth and George Washington ; Henry F. married Maria Canfield, daughter of Hon. Andrew Adams, of Litchfield, Conn. ; Maria J. married the Hon. John 1'. Cushman, of Troy, N. Y., one of the circuit judges of the State ; Benjamin was an officer in the U. S. Navy, and died at Gibraltar, unmarried; Harriet W. married John Delafield, Esq., of New York ; George W. married Pacera M.. daughter of the Hon. Calvin Pease, of Warren, Ohio. Maj. Tallmadge's first wife died June 3, 1805, and on May 3, 1808, he married Maria, daughter of Joseph Hallett, Esq., of New York. He died at Litchfield, March 7, 1835.
. Frederick Augustus Tallmadge, fourth child and third son of Maj. Benjamin and Mary (Floyd) Tallmadge, was born in Litchfield Conn., Aug. 29, 1792; died there Sept. 17, i860. He was graduated at Yale in 181 1 ; studied law at the Litch- field law school ; was admitted to the bar and began practice in New York. During the closing months of the war with Great Britian, he commanded a troop of volunteer cavalry at Long Island. He was made an Alderman of New York in 1834, Councilman in 1836, and was a State Senator from 1837 till 1840, serving as President of that body, and at the same time as ex-officio judge of the Supreme Court of Errors. In 1 841 -6 he was Recorder of New York, and held this office
SONS OF THE RKVOI.T'TION.
from 1848 to 1851. He was elected to Congress as a Whig, and served from Dec. 6, 1847, till March 3, 1849. From 1857 to 1862, he was General Superintendent of the Metropolitan Board of Police, and in 1862-5 he was Chief Clerk of the Court of Appeals. He afterwards engaged in the practice of law in New York City. During the time he was Recorder of the city the Astor Place riot occurred, and he was highly commended for the firm and determined stand he t ok in suppressing the riot and in the trial of the ringleaders.
Mr. Tallmadge married Eliza, daughter of Hon. Judson Canfield, of Sharon, Conn., a descendant of Thomas Canfield, of Milford, Conn, 1646. The issue of this marriage was Eliza, married John T. White of Philadelphia ; Julia, married William Curtis Noyes, of New York ; William Floyd died unmarried ; Frederick Samuel, Mary Floyd, married Hon. Edward W. Seymour, Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut.
FREDERICK SAMUEL TALLMADGE. President of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, State of New York, fourth child of Fred- erick Augustus and Eliza (Canfield) Tallmadge, and grandson of Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge, was born in New York City, Jan. 24, 1824. He was graduated at Columbia College and studied law in the office of William Curtis Noyes, Esq., with whom he subsequently formed a copartnership. He has enjoyed for many years a successful practice and is ranked among the leading men in his profession in New York. Mr. Tallmadge was one of the founders of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, and from the date of its organization, has been steadfast and earnest in his efforts to build up and enlarge its sphere of influence. He was elected President in 1884, soon after the Society was incorporated, and still holds that position. He is an honorary member of the Connecticut State Society of the Cincinnati; member of the Military Society of the War of 181 2, constituting the Veteran Corps of Artillery, and of other organizations. Mr. Tallmadge married in 1857, Julia Louisa, daughter of George Belden, Esq., of New York City. Mrs. Tallmadge died in 1894, leaving no issue, her surviving.
GARDINER ANCESTRY.
Colonel Asa Bird Gardiner was not only one of the original founders of the Society, but was associated with John Austin Stevens in the construction of the framework and in superintending its erection. His insistence that the most careful scrutiny should be exercised in the selection of material for member- ship, has evoked criticism on the part of some whose qualifications were not fully up to the standard, but the maintenance of this high standard has held the Society together and given it a prestige that it could not otherwise have obtained, and the results have shown the wisdom of Col. Gardiner's course.
Colonel Gardiner is eighth in descent from Ensign George Gardiner, one of the earlier inhabitants of the Rhode Island Colony in 1638 and a Commissioner to the Court of Commissioners, October 28, 1662.
He was the fifth son of Rev. Michael Gardiner, Rector of Greenford-Magna, Middlesex and Littlebury, Essex, and Margaret, daughter of Thomas Brown, Gent., Alderman of London.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 1/
Col. Gardiner is a great-grandson of Lieut. Reuben Willard.
Great-great-grandson of Lieut. Othaniel Gardiner.
Great-Grandson of Sergeant. Jacob Van Rosenbergh.
Reuben Willard was a volunteer in Capt. Jonatban Davis' Company of Min- ute men, "Lexington Alarm," enlisted in 24th Regiment Continental Infantry, Col. Ephraim Doolittle, April 28, 177K, promoted Ensign in same Nov. 27, 1775; honorably retired on reorganization of the main Continental Army, Jan- uary 1, 1776; 2d Lieutenant 2d Regiment Mass. Vol. Infantry, Col. Jonathan Holman; Brig-Gen. John Fellows' Brigade June 25, Dec. 1, 1776; volunteered in Capt. Jonathan Davis' Company, Col. Samuel Denny's Regiment Mass. Vol. Infantry June 25, 1779; appointed Sergeant-Major, promoted Lieutenant in same Aug. 12, 1779; honorably discharged March 25, 1780.
Jacob Von Rosenbergh, above mentioned, was Sergeant, Capt. John Tater's Company; Col. Cornelius Dota's Regiment Vermont Militia; served at battle of Bennington; honorably discharged Oct. 23. 1781.
Lieut. Othaniel Gardiner, above mentioned, was an Associator 1775 ; Lieut. 14th Regiment Albany County, N. Y.. Militia. Col. John Knickerbocker, Oct. 20, 1775; at Bennington; died in service Dec, 1775.
Col. Asa Bird Gardiner is one of the most active members of the Society of the Cincinnati, and is Secretary General of the National Society. He served with distinction in the war between the States. After the war practiced law, and was appointed Professor of Law at West Point Military Academy with the rank of Colonel; later Judge Advocate U. S. A., and for some years had practiced law in the City of New York. He was elected District Attorney on the Demo- cratic ticket in the autumn of 1897.
JAMES MORTIMER MONTGOMERY.— The continue, 1 success and enthu- siasm of the Sons of the Revolution is probably due more to the efforts of Mr. Montgomery than to any other one man. He has filled the various positions in the local society and has long been Secretary General of the National Society.
His line of Revolutionary and family descent is through some of the most distinguished families in this country. He is a
Great-great-grandson of Colonel William Malcolm.
Great-great-great-grandson of Colonel William Henry.
Great-great-grandson of Commissary George Henry.
Colonel William Malcolm began his military service as Major of 2d Bat- talion New York City Militia 1776: Colonel 2d Regiment New York Volun- teer Infantry 1776; Colonel Additional Regimental Continental Infantry April 30, 1777 — April 22, 1779, when regiment was consolidated with Colonel Olivet- Spencer's Additional Regiment Continental Infantry; retired May 9, 1779; Con- tinental Adjutant General of the Northern Department, June 2d— October, 1778; Colonel 1st Regiment New York Levies 1780-1; Member of New York Provin- cial Congress 1776.
Colonel William Henry. The year book record shows that he was County Lieutenant Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1777— September 10, 1790.
IS SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Commissary George Henry was: Private Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse, Capt. Samuel Morris, March, 1777-81, at Germantown; County Lieuten- ant Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; resigned June, 1777; Commissary of Naval Stores, Continental Navy, Pennsylvania, 1778.
RIKER— JACKSON— LAWRENCE.
It is said that the Rikers were originally a German family, located at a very remote period in Lower Saxony, where they enjoyed a state of allodial inde- pendence at that day regarded as constituting nobility. They possessed the es- tate or manor of Rycken farm, from which they took their name, subsequently changed to Riker. Hans von Rycken, lord of the manor of Rycken, and a valiant Knight, with his cousin, Melchior von Rycken, who lived in Holland, took part in the first crusade to the Holy Land, in 1096, heading 800 crusaders in the army of Walter the Penniless.
Abraham Rycken, or de Rycke, as his name appears on the early records, was the progenitor of the present Riker families in New York, New Jersey and other parts of the Union. He is supposed to have emigrated in 1638, as he re- ceived in that year an allotment of land from Gov. Kieft, for which he after- wards took out a patent dated Aug. 8. 1640. His land was located in Breuckelin at the Wallabout, and was near or possibly within the lines of the Battle of Long Island. Abraham Richer resided in 1642 in New Amsterdam on the Heeren Gracht, now Broad St., and was one of the early land owners of that locality. In 1654 he obtained a grant of land at the Poor Bowery, to which he subse- quently removed, afterwards adding to his domain the island known as Riker's Island in New York Harbor. He married Grietie, daughter of Hendrick Har- mensen. His children were Ryck Abramsen (who adopted the name of Lent), Jacob, Hendrick. Mary, John, Aleita, Abraham, born 1655; and Hendrick Abra- ham (1) died in 1689, leaving his farm by will to his son Abraham (2).
Abraham Riker (2), son of Abraham and Grietie (Harmensen) Riker, was in New Amsterdam in 1655. He inherited the paternal estate and added con- siderably to it. He was for a number of years totally blind, but suddenly recov- ered his sight and almost immediately expired Aug. 20, 1746, in his 91st year. His remains were interred in the family cemetery at the Poor Bowery. He married Grietie, daughter of Jan Gerrits Van Buytenhuysen, of New York. They had issue: Catharine, Margaret, Mary, Abraham (3), John, Hendrick, Andrew and Jacob.
Andrew Riker, seventh child of Abraham (2) and Grietie (Van Buytenhuy- sen) Riker, was born in 1700 in New Amsterdam. He inherited the homestead at the Bowery Bay. He married Nov. 13, 1733, Jane, widow of Capt. Dennis Lawrence, and daughter of John Berrien. He died Feb. 12, 1763, in his 64th year. He had issue: Margaret, John Berrien. Abraham. Samuel and Ruth.
Samuel Riker, soldier of the Revolution, son of Andrew and Jane (Lawrence, nee Berrien) Riker. was born in 1743. After serving a clerkship in the mercantile business he returned to the family estate, which he ultimately
SONS OK TIIK REVOLUTION. 1Q
purchased. He was among the first to take part against the usurpation of the crown. In 1774 he was chosen as one of the Newtown committee of correspond- ence, in which capacity he was actively engaged when the British army invaded Long Island. He was First Lieutenant in Captain Daniel Lawrence's Troop of Light Horse, Queen's County, New York Militia, May 10, 1776, which rendered important service in guarding the outposts of the American army preceding the battle of Long Island. He escaped with others after the battle, and on return- ing, with the intention of rejoining the army, was captured and for some time held as prisoner. After the war he was much engaged in public life, and for several years held the position as Supervisor. He was a member of the State Assembly in 1784, and represented his district in Congress in 1808-9, having filled the same position on a previous occasion. He possessed a well-informed and vigorous mind, and a remarkably retentive memory. He was a man of liberal disposition, and was noted for his kindness to the poor. He died May 19, 1823, aged 80. He married Jan. 17, 1769, Anna, born Nov. 27, 1749, daugh- ter of Joseph Lawrence, whose wife was Miss Moore, and aunt of Bishop Moore of New York. Joseph was the son of John Lawrence, born March 21, 1723, son of John Lawrence, for many years Magistrate of Newtown, son of Capt. John Lawrence, who was Captain of the Newtown troop of horse in Gov. Leisler's time, and High Sheriff of the County in 1698. He was the son of Major John Lawrence, who was appointed Alderman of New York when the English government was first established in that city in 1665. He was after- wards Mayor, and for a long term of years a member of the Council. In 1692 he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court, which office he held till his death in 1699. He was one of the six persons to whom the patent of Hempstead was granted in 1644. He and his two brothers emigrated to this country from Great St. Albans, in Hertfordshire, during the political troubles that led to the de- thronement and death of Charles I. These brothers were said to be direct descendants of Sir Robert Lawrens, of Ashton Hall, Lancastershire, Eng., who accompanied Richard Cceur de Lion in his famous expedition to Palestine, and who signalized himself in the memorable siege of St. Jean d'Acre, in 1191, being the first to plant the banner of the cross on the battlements of that town, for which he received the honors of knighthood from King Richard.
The children of Samuel and Anna (Lawrence) Riker were Joseph Law- rence, Andrew, Richard, Abraham, Patience, John Lawrence, Samuel, Jane Margaret, Ann Elvira and John L.
John Lawrence Riker, youngest child of Samuel and Anna (Lawrence) Riker, was born April 9, 1787. He was educated at Erasmus Hall, in Flatbush, and at the age of sixteen entered the office of his brother Richard, with whom he studied law five years, and then began the practice of his profession in New York, where he resided until 1825, when he purchased the homestead at Bow- ery Bay, and continued his residence there until his death in 1861. He was commissioned Captain of the 97th Regiment of Infantry, Aug. 11, 1812, and took part in the War of 1812-15. He married 1st Maria, 2d Lavina, daughters of Silvanus Smith, Esq., of North Hempstead, L. I., a descendant of James Smith,
20 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
one of the original patentees of Hempstead. By his first wife he had Henry Laurens, a lawyer of prominence in New York, died in 1861; Silvanus S., died in 1897; Mary Anna, died in 1865; Lavina. His children by his second wife were John Lawrence, Samuel, Richard, Daniel S., Jane, William James, and Julia Lawrence.
JOHN LAWRENCE RIKER, member of the Sons of the Revolution, son of John Lawrence and Lavinia (Smith) Riker, was born at Bowery Bay. L. I., Nov. 23, 1830. Pursuing studies especially fitting to commercial life, he, at the age of seventeen, entered the counting rooms of Lawrence & Hicks, Com- mission Merchants in drugs, dyes, chemicals, etc. As this firm was dissolved shortly after, he accepted a proposition from Benj. H. Field, then the first house in the city, in this line of business. Inheriting the integrity of his ancestors, faithfulness to trust and duty, combined with activity, industry and caution, he won he complete confidence and esteem of his employer, and rapid promotion to the charge of the business. He was admitted to partnership in 1854, which continued until i860, when he withdrew to establish with his brother, D. S. Riker — a man of unusual probity, integrity and judgment — the commission firm of J. L. & D. S. Riker, who, adopting the " golden rule " as their business motto, soon won the confidence and patronage of the prominent firms of many Nations, and the establishment of a great and prosperous business, which still continues, passing unscathed through the various panics and changes of nearly four decades, enjoying the fullest confidence and friendship of its numerous constituency. Although Mr. Riker remains the senior partner, he has relin- quished to his son, John J., the active management of the house, devoting most of his time in the care and attention to personal interests in numerous cor- porations and institutions with which he is identified. His uprightness and in- dependence, through knowledge of finance and affairs, sound judgement and close attention to duties, have caused him to be sought after as dirctor and trus- tee in various corporations. He is Vice President of several banks, of the Atlan- tic Trust Company, the Chamber of Commerce and several manufacturing com- panies, and director in a score of others. While a trustee of the Holland So- ciety, a member of the St. Nicholas Society, Sons of the Revolution, Society of Colonial wars, and also a member of the Metropolitan, Union League, St. Nicholas and other social clubs, — the New York Sewanaka, and other Yacht Clubs, in all of which he is much interested, he is unable to take any active part, owing to the pressure of business affairs. In religion Air. Riker is a broad Episcopalian, and has served as vestryman of the Church of the Incarnation for some twenty-five years, and is now Junior Warden.
Mr. Riker married Mary, daughter of John C. Jackson, a descendant of an old and well-known English family. They have issue: John Jackson, Henry Laurens, Margaret Moore, married J. Armory Haskell; Lavina, married James R. Strong; Samuel, Jr., Sylvanus, twin brother of Samuel, died in infancy; Martha J. married J. H. Proctor; Charles L. and Mary J.
JOPIN JACKSON RIKER, of the Board of Managers, Society of the Sons of the Revolution, 1889-90, has been active in the affairs of the Society
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 21
for many years. He is the oldest son of John Lawrence and Mary (Jackson) Riker, great-grandson of Lieutenant Samuel Riker, of the Revolution; born at Newtown 6th April, 1858. At the age of seventeen, after completing his educa- tion, he entered his father's employ as clerk, advancing steadily as circumstances and qualifications would permit until he became, in 1888, a member of the firm fully capable of filling his father's place when required. He has an honorable record as a member of the National Guard, State of New York. Beginning on May 26, 1878, as private in the Seventh Regiment, he was appointed in August. 1879. aid-de-camp, with rank of Lieutenant, on the start of General Wm. G. Ward, commanding First Brigade. On April 1, 1880, he was made senior aid with rank of Captain, and May 19, 1880, was appointed Brigade Inspector of Rifle practice, with rank of Major; and on Oct. 27, 1882, Brigade Inspector, same rank. He resigned Oct. 25, 1883, after five and a half years' faithful serv- ice, having at all times enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his superiors, and the love and respect of his subordinates. He was elected Major of the Twelfth Regiment June 9, 1884. resigning June 14, 1889, having contributed in no small degree to the efficiency for which his regiment was noted. During the Washing- ton Centennial, April 2$, 1889, Mr. Riker represented the Sons of the Revolu- tion as one of the Marshals. He is a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, of New Jersey, through collateral descent from John Berrien Riker of the New Jersey line. He is a member of and former Secretary of the St. Nicholas Club, also a member rof the Society of Colonial Wrars. He was a school trustee of the 21st Ward for some years. He married Edith, daughter of Samuel Blackwell Bartow, of New York City, a grandson of Col. Jacob Blackwell of the Revo- lution.
Henrv Laurens Rikek. member of the Sons of the Revolution, second child of John Lawrence and Mary (Jackson) Riker. was born at Newtown. L. I., June 20, i860; was graduated at Columbia College at the age of eighteen, one of the youngest students ever graduated from this institution. He has been associated with his father and brother in business for some years.
SAMUEL RIKER, JR.. Society Sons of the Revolution, fifth child of John Lawrence and Mary (Jackson) Riker, was born at Paris, France. May 17, 1868. He, no doubt, inherited his fondness for the profession of law from his immedi- ate ancestors, who were among the most distinguished lawyers <>f the New York Bar.
He was graduated from Columbia Law School in 1888, and began the study of law in the office of his uncle Samuel, who for many years has stood at the head of his profession in the special line which he chose, viz.. that branch per- taining to real property, the investigation o titles to lands, and the drawing of wills, marriage settlements and trust deeds. Samuel Riker, Jr.. has already achieved a reputation in this line, and has become the successor of his uncle.
The firm of De Grove & Riker, of which Mr. Riker is the junior member, has a number of well-known families as clients, also numerous corporations, among others being the Sailors' Snug Harbor. He recently married Frances
22 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
M., daughter of Frederic R. Townsend, of this City. They have one daughter, Frances J.
DOM1NICK— DELAVAN.
The family of Dominick or Domenique, as it was originally spelt, belonged to that class of French fugitives who fled to Holland for safety after the revoca- tion of the Edict of Nantes.
GEORGE DOMENIQUE, Patriot of the Revolution, was born on He du Re, France, March 8, 1730, died in New York, 1826, aged 96. He, with others. fled to Holland, and, about 1742, came to America accompanied by his brothers, Francois and Jean, and Francois Blanchard and settled in New York. George early espoused the cause of the patriots, and took a determined stand in favor of the independence of the colonies. He fled to this country that he might be able to enjoy liberty of conscience, and gladly availed himself of the opportunity to fight for civil liberty. In November 1775 an attempt was made to raise three regiments of militia in New York City; the second one of these was commanded by John Jay, who was commissioned colonel for this purpose. George Dom- inick, then in the prime of life, was commissioned captain. While the facts re- garding his services are not recorded, it is highly probable that he took part in the stirring events of the year following which ended in the evacuation of New York after the hard fought battles of Long Island and later Harlem Heights. Mr. Dominick became a prominant merchant in the city, he and his brother succeeding to the firm of Francois Blanchard & Sons, who had extensive lumber yards on Cherry Street. He was a vestryman of Trinity Church and a faithful and consistent member, and a regular attendant at divine service. He married Aug. 3, 1761, Elizabeth Blanchard (died 1827 aged 94) daughter of Francois Blanchard, one of the leaders of the French Huguenot Church in New York. They had issue lames William,
J*\mes William Dominick, son of George and Elizabeth (Blanchard) Dom- inick was born in New York City Sep. 4, 1775, died there May 17, 1852. He be- came a leading merchant of the city, an upright Christian gentleman, deeply in- terested in benevolent and charitable work, and held many positions of trust and usefulness. He was a director of the Tradesman Bank; a founder of the Eastern Dispensary, and its president in 1837; he was a member for twelve years of the executive committee of the American Bible Society; a trustee of the American Tract Society: Senior Warden of St. Stephens Protestant Episcopal Church and a vestryman of St. George's P. E. Church in Beekman Street. He married 1st, Dec. 24, 1798, Phoebe, daughter of Major James Cock and Hannah Howe.
He married 2d Margaret Eliza Delavan, daughter of Capt. Daniel Delavan.
CAPT. DANIEL DELAVAN, Patriot of the Revolution, was the eighth child of Timothy Delavan, one of the numerous Huguenot refugees who fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and sought an asylum in this country and settled in North Salem, Westchester County. N. Y. He had a son Timothy who was the father of ten sons viz. Timothy, Abraham,
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
23
Matthew, John, Nathaniel, Samuel, Nathan, Daniel, Stephen and Cornelius.
The records of the Comptrollers office at Albany show the names of nine of these sons who served the country in the War of the Revolution The tenth brother, who was too young for active service, was equally patriotic, and it is re- lated of him that he paraded with his brothers on occasions of celebration, and joined Wayne's expedition against the Indians in Ohio, 1790-2, participating in several engagements.
Furnow, page 538, states that Capt. Daniel Delavan was in Colonel Albert Pawling's Levies in 1775, Ensign in 1776, Lieut, in Col Graham's regiment, 1778-9, and Captain in Colonel Malcolm's regiment, July, 1780, and attached to the second New York regiment of Westchester County until the close of the
war. During the evacuation of New York by the British, Nov. 25. 1783, Capt. Delavan, at the head of his company, the Westchester Light Horse, escorted the civic procession to meet General Washington, Governor Clinton, and Gen- eral Knox, at the Bulls Head Tavern, which then took up the line of march ending at Fraunce's Tavern, corner of Broad and Pearl streets, where General Washington had provided a generous entertainment. Capt. Delavan's portrait in continental uniform, painted by Trumbull, is in possession of the New York Historical Society.
By his marriage with Margaret Eliza Delavan, James W. Dominick had issue: Robert Johnston, Mary Byron, Margaretta, Margaret Eliza, and Mar- inns Willet.
MARINUS WILLET DOMINICK. Society Sons of the Revolution. second son of James William and Margaret Eliza (Delavan) Dominick, was born in New York City, April 25, 1842. He enjoyed the very best opportunities for acquiring an education. He attended school in New York, White Plains, Rye, Bedford, and Brooklyn. At the age of nineteen he entered the Park Bank, where he remained for twenty one years, and filled similar positions in banking
24 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
houses. He joined the present firm of Dominick & Deckerman in 1883 of which he was for many years managing clerk, and in 1897 became a partner in the house, secretary and treasurer of the No. & So. R. R. Co.
He seems to have inherited the military ardor from both his paternal and maternal grandfathers. He joined Company I Seventh Regiment N. G. S. N. Y. in 1865, and was in active service for nine years, during which period the reg- iment passed through some trying scenes, notably the Orange Riots in which the Seventh was the most active participant, displaying the splendid fighting qualities and thorough discipline for which it had long been noted. Mr.Domin- ick married Mary Augusta Baldwin, daughter of Edward A. Baldwin of New- ark, son of Jedediah Johnson, son of Moses, son of Jonas, son of John(2), son of John (1), son of Nathaniel, the ancestor.
Nathaniel Baldwin probably came to America in 1638 or 1639 with his two brothers. He was a cooper and moved to Fairfield, Conn., 1641. He married Abagail Camp, who joined the church at Milford, Conn., June 9th, 1644, and died there March 22, 1648. Nathaniel was without doubt the second son of Richard, of Parish Cholesbury, Buckinghamshire. England. Richard was the son, or grandson, probably, of Richard Baldwin of Denrigge in the Parish of Ashton Clinton, County of Bucks, England, yeoman, who made his will 16th January, 6th year of Edward VI., that is, 1552 to 1553. His name was spelled Bauldwyn.
Nathaniel's eldest child was John, baptized in Milford, 1644. He received by will a double portion of his father's estate, and moved to Newark, New Jer- sey. He married Hannah, daughter of Richard Osborne.
John Baldwin, his son, born 1675, lived in Newark. He married Lydia Harrison. He died in 1732. His son was John (2).
John Baldwin (2) , born -1675, married Lydia Harrison and had a son,
Jonas Baldwin, born in 1725, married November 26th, 1749. Elizabeth Thompson, died in 1800. They had a son Moses.
MOSES BALDWIN, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jonas and Eliza- beth (Thompson) Baldwin, was born in Newark, N. J., Feb. 21, 1757. His name is mentioned in the Records of Essex County as having served in the militia during the Revolution. He married Sarah Johnson. March 23, 1785, and had a son, Jedediah.
Jedediah Johnson Baldwin, born Nevember 9th, 1787, married Abby John- son, daughter of John Johnson, miller, who at the time of the Revolutionary War had to stay at home to grind for the families of American soldiers. At one time the British soldiers visited their old home (the old stone house on the Elizabeth Road, nearly opposite the Poor House), inquired of the miller's wife for the "damned Rebel.'.' who was hidden behind the chimney in the mill, and, not finding him, proceeded to carry out all the large cheeses. The officer who had the soldiers in charge apologized for their rudeness to Mrs. Johnson, who was sitting with an infant in her arms and another child at her side, while on the chair beneath her were her silver spoons. He asked her if she would give them one of the cheeses if they would bring the others back. Of course she
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 25
gladly assented, and after doing what they could to straighten matters, they passed on. Jedediah Johnson Baldwin had a son Edward Augustus.
Edward Augustus Baldwin son of Jedediah Johnson Baldwin, was born March 26, 1817. He married Mary A. Beach, granddaughter of Elias Beach.
Elias Beach was a hatter by trade, and lived in Market Street, (Newark) opposite the old market, west of Broad, at the time of the revolution. He was taken wih others during a foray of the British in the winter in the night and obliged to walk barefooted on the ice to New York, where he was kept a pris- oner for some little time. He returned to Newark and lived ten or twelve years after peace was proclaimed, and was buried in the old burying ground opposite the First Presbyterian Church on Broad Street. He was not a soldier, though a patriot. His wife was very highly esteemed and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church at the time of the Revolution.
Edward Augustus Baldwin, by his wife Mary A. (Beach) Baldwin, had Mary Augusta, who married Marinus W'illet Dominick, and Edward Johnson, at present assistant cashier of the National Bank of New York.
CLINTON. HAMILTON, AND ALLIED FAMILIES
No two families are more closely identified with the history of the Em- pire State than those of Clinton and Hamilton, and that of the latter is traced back in an unbroken line through nine centuries, embracing among the no- bility of England, the Earls of Warwick and Leicester.
William Clinton, an early ancestor of the American family of this name, was a grandson of Henry, second Earl of Lincoln; he was an adherent to the cause of royalty in the civil wars of England, and an officer in the army of Charles I. He was born about 1620-25. After the death of Charles I., William Clinton, for political reasons, went to the Continent, where he remained a long time in exile in France and Spain.
Some years later he passed over to Scotland, it is supposed, to aid in the restoration of Charles II. where he married a Miss Kennedy connected with the Scotch peerage family of Cassilis. After the defeat of the royalists in the bat- tle of Worcester, he fled to the north of Ireland, where he died, leaving a son James, then about two years old.
James Clinton, son of William and - (Kennedy) Clinton, was
born in Ireland, and died at Longford, Ireland, Jan. 24, 1728. He was an officer in the Inniskillin troop of horse; was in all the wars of Ireland, under King Wil- liam; he was badly wounded but recovered, and on coming of age, he went to England to try and recover the patrimonial estates, but the time limited by act of Parliament (1642) had expired, and he was unsuccessful. He married Eliza- beth, daughter of Capt. William Smith, about 1678, and soon after returned t<> Ireland, and settled in County Langford. where, for his military services, Queen Anne granted him a valuable estate. They had four children, viz. Mary. Chris- tian. Charles and Oliver.
Charles Clinton, son of James and Elizabeth (Smith) Clinton, was
26
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
born at Longford, Ireland, Sep. 1690, died at Little Britain, Orange County, N. Y., Nov. 19, 1773. At the Revolution and on the accession of the house of Hanover, Ireland was treated as a vanquished country, and Charles resolved to emigrate to America with a number of his friends and neighbors. For this purpose he chartered a vessel entirely at his own expense. They em- barked from Dublin May 20, 1729, for Philadelphia. The captain formed a plan to starve the passengers, either with a view of obtaining their property, or to deter emigration. After the death of many, among whom was a son and daugh- ter of Mr. Clinton, they finally landed at Cape Cod, Oct. 4, Mr. Clinton having assumed command of the ship after deposing the captain. They remained until another settlement was formed in the town of New Windsor, N. Y., and re- moved there in the spring of 1731, and formed the nucleus of that industrious
CLINTON HOMESTEAD.
body of Presbyterians in and about Little Britain. It was a frontier post at this time, and Clinton's house was fortified as a security for himself and neigh- bors. Being a man of capacity, he was appointed Judge of the Common Pleas, then in Ulster. He married in Ireland, 1722, Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Denniston, of Longford. They bad seven children, three born in Ireland, and four born in America. Catharine, the third child, married Col. James Mc- Cloughry of the Revolutionary army. The four children born in America were Alexander, James (2), Charles ( 1) and George.
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES CLINTON, Patriot of the Revolution son of Charles and Elizabeth (Denniston) Clinton, was born Aug. 9. 1736; died at Little Britain, Orange County. N. V. Dec. 22, 1812. He had a thorough edu
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
27
cation, but early imbibed a fondness for military life. He was appointed Ensign of the 2d Regiment of Ulster County Militia, and became the Lieutenant Colonel previous to the Revolutionary War. During the French and English War he served as Captain in the regiment of which his father was Colonel, and which was called into service in 1758 for the reduction of Fort Frontenac. He served under Col. John Bradstreet, who commanded the English forces on that occa-
sion. Captain Clinton particularly distinguished himself by capturing a French sloop-of-war on Lake Ontario. In recognition of his services he was appointed Captain-commandant of four regiments levied for the protection of the western frontiers of Ulster and Orange Counties. He was appointed Colonel of the Third N. Y. Regiment June 30, 1775, and was subsequently given command of two regiments. He accompanied Gen. Montgomery to Quebec the same year. On June 14, 1776, he was ordered to Fort Montgomery on the Hudson, and directed "to use every possible diligence in forwarding the works." He was made Brigadier-General August 9, 1776, and commanded Fort Clinton when it was attacked October, 1777, by Sir Henry Clinton. After a gallant
28 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
defense by about 600 militia against 3,000 Britisb troops, Fort Clinton as well as Fort Montgomery, of which his brother, Gen. George Clinton, was commander-in-chief, was carried by storm. Gen. James Clinton was the last man to leave the works, and received a severe bayonet wound, but escaped from the enemy by riding a short distance and then sliding down a precipice one hundred feet to the creek, where he made his way to the mountain. In 1779 he joined with 1,600 men, the expedition of Gen. Sullivan against the Indians, proceeding up the Mohawk to the head of Otsego Lake, where he succeeded in floating a bateaux on the shallow inlet by damming up the lake and then letting out the water suddenly. After an engagement in which the Indians were de- feated with great loss at Newton (now Elmira), all resistance upon their part ceased; their settlements were destroyed, and they fled to the British fortress of Niagara. Gen. Clinton commanded at Albany during a great part of the war, first with the rank of Brig.-General, and later was commissioned Major-General. Dr. Hosack said of him that " in the several stations that he filled during the war he distinguished himself as a brave and efficient soldier, performing several acts of the greatest heroism, and displaying the most perfect self-possession in the midst of the greatest dangers." He was present at the siege of Yorktown and at the evacuation of New York by the British. After the war he was com- missioned to adjust the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania; he was a member of the Legislature and of the Convention that adopted the Constitution of the United States.
On Feb. 18, 1765, he married Mary, only daughter of Egbert De Witt, of Napaneck. Ulster County, and Mary (Nottingham) De Witt. By her he had i^sue: Alexander, Charles, De Witt, George, Mary, Elizabeth and Catharine. Alexander served as Lieutenant in Col. Lamb's regiment of artillery during the Revolutionary War. He was drowned in the Hudson River in his 22d year. He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. On May 1, 1797, Gen. Clinton married Mary, daughter of Graham Little, and widow of Alexander Gray. She was born in the County of Longford, Ireland, Aug. 22, 1768; died at Newburgh, N. Y.. June 23, 1835. By her he had issue: James (died young), Caroline H., Emma L., James Graham, Letitia. Anna.
Charles Clinton, second son of Gen. James and Mary (De Witt) Clinton and elder brother of Governor De Witt Clinton, was born in Little Britain, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1767; died in New York City April 20, 1829. He studied law and was admitted to practice. He became also an excellent surveyor, and spent more of his time in that profession, which he preferred, than at the bar. He settled at Newburgh, and held various positions of trust in the village and town. He was elected to the Legislature in 1802. On the death of Alexander, his eldest brother, he became the successor to membership in the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1790 he married Elizabeth, only daughter of William Mulliner, of Little Britain, and Mary (Denniston), his wife. She was born April 27, 1770; died August 15, 1865, in New York City, and was buried in Greenwood cem- etery, Brooklyn. Her mother was a daughter of Alexander Denniston, whose sister Elizabeth married the first Charles Clinton, the American ancestor. The
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 2g
name Mulliner was originally Norman— French, and probably Molinieux. They had issue: Maria (married Robert Gourlay, Jr.), Alexander, Ann Eliza, who married James Foster, Jr.
Alexander Clinton, M.D., only son and second child of Charles and Eliza beth (Mulliner) Clinton, was born at Little Britain, Orange Co., N. Y., April 7, 1793. He served as Lieutenant in the regular army 111 the War of 1812. He was educated at Columbia College, where he was a classmate of Hon. Hamil- ton Fish, and was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1819. He practiced for some years in his native county and returned to New York in 1832, where he continued in the exercise of his profession until ad- vanced age obliged him to abandon it. He was a very successful practitioner, and notwithstanding the great danger of sensibility and diffidence that char- acterized him, his skill and talents were well known, and were justly held in high esteem by his brother physicians, some of the most noted of whom were among his intimate friends. His moral and religious character was unusually pure and elevated. He was just and upright, compassionate and benevolent. giving a very large portion of his time and services to the poor. Amiable, atiectionate and remarkably unselfish, his relations as husband, father and friend were in every respect irreproachable. A true gentleman of the old school, he was unostentatious, and was courteous alike to inferior and equal. As the eldest son of his father, he inherited the membership in the Society of the Cincinnati. He died Feb. 16, 1878. He married Adeline Arden, daughter of Alexander James Hamilton, son of James, eldest son of Alexander, son of Alexander, son of Alexander, son of Andrew H., second son of Sir Alexander, son of Sir Alexander, son of Sir Alexander, son of Sir James, son of Sir Alex- ander, son of Sir Alexander, son of Sir Alexander, son of James, son of Hugh, son of Sir Alexander, son of Sir Archibald, son of Sir Archibald, son of John, who was the son of Sir Walter de Hamilton, upon whom King Robert I (the Bruce) conferred the lands and castle of Cadyow (now Hamilton) Lancashire, and other estates. He married Mary, daughter of Adam, Lord Gordon. Sir Walter de Hamilton was the common ancestor of the Dukes de Hamilton, Dukes of Abercom, and other noble families. He was the son of William de Hamilton, who took his name from the manor of Hambledon in Buckshire, where he was born; he was the son of Robert De Blauchemans, Earl of Leices- ter, A. D., 1 190; son of Robert de Bellemont, surnamed Bossu, son of Robert, Earl of Mellent, created by Henry I Earl of Leicester; he commanded the right wing of the infantry at the battle of Hastings, A. D. 11 18. He married Eliza- beth Isabella, daughter of Hugh Magnus, Earl of Vermandois, youngest son of King Henry I, of France: he was the son of Roger, surnamed De Bellemont, created Earl of Warwick by William the Conqueror, A. D. 1096; he was the son of Humphrey, surnamed De Vetulis, son of Turolphe, Lord of Pontaudemar, Normandy; son of Turf us or Turlofus, who gave the name to the town of Tour- ville, in Normandy, 955, son of Rollo or Rolfganger, the first Duke of Nor- mandy.
Archibald Hamilton, a brother of Adeline Arden Hamilton (wife of Dr.
30 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Alexander Clinton) was a major in the British army under Gen. Packenham at the battle of New Orleans. He positively refused to fight against his country- men, and would no doubt have been courtmartialed and shot had the British been victorious.
By his wife Adeline Arden Hamilton, Dr. Alexander Clinton had issue May Elizabeth, Adeline Hamilton, Alexander James, Ann Eliza, Charles Wil- liam, Kate Spencer (died young) and Dell'itt.
ALEXANDER JAMES CLINTON, Member of the Sons of the Revo- lution, third child and eldest son of Dr. Alexander, and Adeline Arden (Hamil- ton) Clinton, was born at Canterbury (now Cornwall), Orange County, N. Y., Sep. 23. 1825. He was educated at the New York University, and gave special attention to the study of mathematics, his fondness for that branch, as well as that of surveying and civil engineering, which he took up immediately after leaving school, being an hereditary trait. He was one of the pioneers in the construction of the Hudson River Railroad (now the N. Y. Centra! and Hud- son River R. R.), having assisted in making the original survey. He entered the employ of the Eagle Insurance Company — the oldest insurance company in the State of New York, and the only one working under a perpetual charter, — in 185 1, beginning at the lowest position, and advancing through the several grades, until he reached that of Secretary in 185S. and in May, 1876, the centennial year of our Independence, he became its President. Under his conservative management the company has pursued a steady onward and up- ward course, promptly meeting all its losses, and is to-day one of the strongest companies in the country. It has faithfully followed the old maxim, "Never put too many eggs in one basket," and has thus been saved from heavy losses.
Like his illustrious ancestors, Mr. Clinton has a fondness for military affairs, and in 1855, joined Company C of the famous Seventh Regiment, re- tiring after eight years service, but still keeping up his connection as a mem- ber of the Veteran Corps. He is also a member of the Order of Bolivar the Liberator, an order conferred many years ago on a number of members of the Veteran Corps of the Seventh Regiment by the government of Venezuela. He was a member of Merchants' Lodge No. 709, F. A. M., but demitted to Bunting Lodge No. 655. He was a member of the General Committee at the Centennial celebration (1889) of Washington's inauguration as President of the United States. Mr. Clinton has quite a reputation as an amateur photographer, and some of his views in the Adirondacks will com- pare favorably with the work of the best professionals, and indicate the true artist.
As the oldest son Mr. Clinton succeeded to membership in the Society of the Cincinnati, and was for fourteen years treasurer of the New York State Society.
Old Father Time has dealt kindly with Mr Clinton; the "snows of many winters" have not whitened his locks, nor have the three score and ten years
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 31
furrowed his cheeks. He is well preserved for a man of his age, due in a great measure to the kindly nature which he inherits from his ancestors.
Mr. Clinton married Elizabeth, daughter of James H. Vose and Sophia Elizabeth (Newby) Vose, and sister of the late Colonel Richard Vose, 71st Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. The issue of this marriage is Anna Elizabeth, Sophie Emily, Kate DeWitt (died young), and Charles Alexander. Mr. Clin- ton's first wife deceased January 2, 1875, and he married second Annie J. Nestell, daughter of John J. Nestell and Jane A. (Schultz) Nestell.
Charles Alexander Clinton, the youngest child and only son of Mr. Clinton is a successful physician in New York City, and a member of the Board of Health.
GREENWOOD FAMILY.
The Greenwoods have filled an important place in American history from the colonial period to the Revolution, and thence to the present time. This family, which came from Norwich, England, though doubtless descended from the same stock as the Greenwoods of Greenwood- Lee, Yorkshire, there located since 1154, was probably more immediately connected with a branch which had settled at an early period in Kendal Ward, County Westmoreland. The first of the family name admitted to the freedom of Norwich, was Geoffrey Greenwood, in 1429; and Richard Greenwood, the herald of Henry, Earl of Richmond while in Brittany, became Rouge Croix pursuivant when the Earl ascended the English throne in 1485, as King Henry VII.; he was also "Baliff of Richmond Fee, in the County of Noffolk," at Swaffham.
Nathaniel Greenwood, shipbuilder, was the American ancestor of the family. His father and grandfather, both named Miles Greenwood, were of Norwich, England. The latter traded to New England in 1637, and was, by tradition, a Lieutenant and Chaplain under Cromwell. Nathaniel came to America about 1654, and settled in Boston; died July 31, 1684, aged 53, and was buried on Copp's Hill, where his gravestone still stands. He married Mary Allen, daughter of Samuel Allen, and had Samuel and other children.
Samuel Greenwood, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Allen) Green- wood, was born in Boston, Mass., Sept. 24, 1662, and died July 16, 1721. He was one of the committee appointed March 11, 1711-12 to select the ground and oversee the building of a schoolhouse at the North End. He held other pos- itions of trust in the town, and was a prominent member of the old North Church. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Bronsden, and had several children, among whom was Isaac.
Isaac Greenwood, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Bronsden) Green- wood, was baptised in the old North Church. May 17. 1702. and was admitted a member Dec. 22, 1722. He was graduated at Harvard in 1721; studied for the ministry, visited England and preached in London with some approbation. On his return he was chosen to fill the chair of Mathematics and Natural Phi- losophy, founded by Thomas Hollis of London, thus being the first man in this
32
SONS OK THE REVOLUTION.
country to hold such a professorship. He continued in office for over ten years, and was a candidate for the Presidency, dividing the votes with Holyoke, who was subsequently elected. Mr. Greenwood afterwards opened a private school of mathematics in Boston. He published an arithmetic in 1729, and was the author of other works. During "King George's War," 1 744 -6, he became Chaplain, at Boston, of the Rose frigate, Capt. Thomas Frankland, and while serving in this capacity, died of fever in Charleston, S. C, Oct. 12, 1745. He married Sarah, daughter of Hon. (Dr.) John Clarke. Speaker of the House of Representatives, and grandson of Dr. John Clarke, of Colchester (Essex) and London, who married Martha, sister of Sir Richard Salstonstall, and became the first practitioner of Boston, Mass. Mrs. Greenwood was named for her aunt, the wife of the Rev. Cotton Mather. Professor Greenwood's eldest son was Isaac (2).
ISAAC GKKl'NWOOD.
Isaac Greenwood (2), son of Isaac (1) and Sarah (Clarke) Green- wood, was born at Cambridge. Mass., March 9, 1730. He was a manufacturer of mathematical instruments. His apprentice, Samuel Maverick, was one of those who were killed during the "Boston Massacre," March 5, 1770. Isaac Greenwood married Mary Pans, who came out of Boston just before the battle of Bunker Hill in search of her young son John, and was the only person per- mitted to reenter the townjuly II, 1775, after Gen. Washington had taken com- mand of the American forces. Questioned by Gen. Gage as to the condition of the "rebels" she boldly answered that they were ready for him. Her sister Martha was wife of the patriotic Col. Thomas Walker, of Montreal, whose sufferings and misfortunes form an interesting episode in Canadian history un-
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
33
der English rule. The issue of the marriage of Isaac Greenwood to Mary 1'ans was, with other children, a son John.
CAPTAIN (or Dr.) JOHN GREENWOOD, Patriot ok the Revolution, son of Isaac (2) and Mary (Fans) Greenwood, was born May 17, 1760. He had been a fifer in Capt. Martin Gay's company of the Boston Artillery, and at the outbreak of the Revolution was fifer in a military company commanded by his uncle, John Greenwood, at Falmouth, now Portland, Me. On the "Lexington Alarm" he ran away, expecting to reach his home in Boston, but, unable to cross the river at Charleston, he returned to Cambridge, and enlisted May 17, 1775, as fifer in Capt. Theodore T. Bliss's Company, Col. John Paterson's Mass. Regiment. In this regiment, afterward the 15th Regiment, (Mass.) Conti- nental Infantry, he served as Fife Major to close of 1776; a fifer in Capt. John Hinkley's Company, Lieut-Col. Symond's Detachment of Guards in Boston, Feb. 13, — May, 1778; Midshipman on privateer "Cumberland," Capt. John Man-
CAPTAIN JOHN GREENWOOD.
ly, Jan., 1779; captured and confined some months a prisoner at Barbadoes; Master-at-Arms on privateer "Tartar," Capt. David Porter. Nov., 1779: served on letter-of-marque "General Lincoln," Capt. John Carnes, captured and carried prisoner to New York, 1780, and escaped; served as an officer on letter-of- marque "Aurora," Capt. David Porter, on a voyage to France, Oct.. 1780 — May, 1781; 2d mate on letter-of-marque "Race Horse," Capt Nathaniel Thayer, and carried a prize brig to Tobago, 1781; owner of trading schooner on the Ches- peake, captured by the notorious Whaland, but retook his vessel and brought her and her prize crew to Baltimore; Mate 6— gun schooner "Resolution," of
34 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Baltimore, 1782; Captain of same on trip to St. Eustatia; captured and carried to Kingston, Jamaica, and remained a prisoner to the close of the war.
After this he made several trading voyages from Boston along the coast, but soon settled at his father's business in New York, where he subsequently be- came interested in mechanical dentistry, and is believed to have been the first native practitioner. The employment of his services by President Washing- ton, in 1789, led speedily to his enjoyment of a large and fashionable clientel. He died Nov. 16, 1819. By his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Weaver, he had three sons, Isaac John, Clark and John William, and one daughter, Jane \\\, who married Thomas W. Langdon, of Boston and New York.
Isaac John Greenwood, son of Captain (or Dr.) John and Eliza- beth (Weaver) Greenwood, was born in New York city, July 17, 1795. He was brought up as a merchant under Benjamin L. Swan, and was in business in New York and Savannah, Ga. Succeeded to his father and continued in active practice until 1839, having received the degrees of M. D. and D. D. S. He was a scholarly gentleman, a linguist, and a deep reader in several languages, as well as a skilful amateur artist, both with pencil and brush. In 1856 he became a member of the American Geographical Society. In early life he had been a member of the Independent Battalion, known in New York as the "Governor's Guard," Major Daniel E. Dunscomb. Vet. Brigade, N. Y. State Artillery, and for services in the last war with Great Britain received a grant of land in Iowa. He was elected, in 1820, a member of the N. Y. State Artillery Company. He died in NewYork City May 14, 1865, having lived to witness the close of the Civil War. which established on a firmer basis than ever the principles of civil and religious liberty, for which his father and compatriots fought and bled. By his second wife, Mary, daughter of John McKay, merchant, of New York, he had sons Isaac John and Langdon.
ISAAC JOHN GREENWOOD (2) , Society Sons of the Revolution, son of Dr. Isaac John and Mary (McKay) Greenwood, was born in New York City, Nov. 15, 1833. He graduated from Columbia College in 1853. A man of scientific and literary tastes, his life has been mainly devoted to this character of work. While possessing ample means to enable him to enjoy life and indulge his literary tastes he has by no means been idle. He has been for many years a contributor to our various historical magazines, evincing deep research and much labor. He was one of the founders, and for a term Vice President of the American Numismatic and Archadogical Society, and has a large and rare collection of coins. He is a member of the New York Historical Society, England Historic Genealog. Society of Boston and other organizations. His extensive library includes many rare historical and other works. Mr. Green- wood married Mary A. Rudd, a descendant of an old English family. They have i<<ue Isaac John, Jr., Joseph Rudd Eliza Rudd. and Mary MacKaye.
sons of the revolution. 35
DAYTON— TOMLINSON .
RALPH DAYTON was the first mentioned, and probably the only ances- tor of this name in America. He was probably from Bedfordshire, Eng., as this is the only English family of the name mentioned by Burke. They had Arms — "Or, on a fesse between three amulets gules as many standing cups of the field." Ralph Dayton was for a time a resident of Boston, but removed to New Haven in 1639, and was one of the original settlers. He removed thence to Southhampton, L. I., and later became one of the founders of East Hampton. The records show that "At a General Court holden at East Hampton, March 7, 1650, It is ordered that Ralph Dayton is to go to Keniticut for to procure the evidence of our lands and for an acquittance for the payment of our lands and for a boddie of laws." The descendants of Ralph Dayton settled mostly in New York and New Jersey.
BREWSTER DAYTON, Soldier of the Revolution, was a grandson or great grandson of Ralph. The Stratford records state that he came from Long Island and settled in Stratford. He was a private in Capt. John Yeates' Company, Col. Roger Enos' Regiment Connecticut Militia, May 28th, to Aug. 27, 1778, served on the Hudson, also served in the Stratford Coast Guard, Connecticut Militia, 1778. He married 1st Ruth Judson, Aug. 1777; died June 15, 1788. He married Betsey Willoughby, daughter of John Willoughby of Stratford. "The Willoughbys now in the United States" says Hon. James Savage, "I have reason to believe are the heirs of the dormant Barony of Willoughby of Parham." Capt. Francis Willoughby, the American ancestor, was a prominent merchant, was Deputy Governor of Massachusetts in 1650, and was almost constantly engaged in public service. His son Jonathan preached both in Wethersfield and Haddam, Conn. The youngest son of Brewster Dayton and Betsey Willoughby was Charles Willoughby.
CHARLES WILLOUGHBY DAYTON, youngest child of Brewster and Betsey (Willoughby) Dayton, was born in Stratford in 1795. He came to New York early in life, and obtained employment in a large woolen house. He afterwards established business on his own account and became one of the most successful woolen merchants of that period. He resided on Washing- ton Square. He married Jane Child, daughter of Francis Child; born Aug. 11. 1774, a descendant of Benjamin Child, born in Suffolk Co., England, died in Roxbury, Mass. in affluent circumstances, having contributed generously to the fund for building the first church of Roxbury. He was nephew and sole heir of Ephraim Child, born in Berry, St. Edmund's. England. Aug.. 1593. mar- ried Elizabeth Bond Palmer; came to America with his neighbor and friend John Winthrop, in 1630, and settled with his relative William Bond, at Water- town, where he was selectman, justice and representative for many year-. He died July 13, 1663, leaving a large estate, and liberal bequests.
By his marriage with Jane Child, Mr. Dayton had a son Abram Child.
ABRAM CHILD DAYTON, son of Charles Willoughby and Jane (Child) Davton was born on Dev Street, New York. i8tS. He 'enjoyed the best
36 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
educational advantages to be had in the city, and completed his studies abroad. While he engaged for a time in mercantile affairs, he was a man of decided literary tastes and inclinations. He contributed to the periodicals of the day, and was greatly interested in the early history of New York. He wrote "Last Days of Knickerbocker Life" in which he gave a graphic description of the times and customs of the old New Yorkers, much of which was drawn from personal experience, he having lived through the changing scenes of the old to the new order of things, and witnessed the introduction of steam, electricity and the various modern improvements. His death occurred in 1877.
He married Maria A. Tomlinson, daughter of David Tomlinson and Cor- nelia Adams. David Tomlinson was the son of
JOSEPH TOMLINSON, Soldier of the Revolution, born in 1741, private in Captain Humphrey's Company, of Derby, Conn., enlisted Nov. 26, 1776, and served to the close of the war, (see record of John Canfield Tom- linson). David Tomlinson, above mentioned, married Cornelia Adams, grand- daughter of Andrew Adams.
HON. ANDREW ADAMS, Soldier of the Revolution, was Major of the 17th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, 1777. Lieut. Colonel, 1779. Colonel of same regiment Jan.. 1780. member Continental Congress, and held various important civil positions after the war, and was Cheif Justice of the State of Connecticut. He married Annis Canfield, , daughter of John Canfield.
JOHN CANFIELD, Soldier of the Revolution, was the son of Jeremiah Canfield, and was born in 1740. He was Adjutant Continental Dra- goons, commanded by Col: Elisha Sheldon, 1776; Brigade Major in Brigadier- General Oliver Wolcott's Detachment, Connecticut Militia, 1777, at Saratoga. Abram Child Dayton, before mentioned, had issue by his marriage with Maria A. Tomlinson; Charles Willougby, Laura Canfield Spencer (married Benjamin F. Fessenden), William Adams and Harold Child.
CHARLES WILLOUGHBY DAYTON, member of the sons of the revolution 1889, eldest son of Abram Child Dayton and Maria A. Tomlinson, was born in Brooklyn, Oct. 3, 1846. He entered the College of the City of New Y'ork, was graduated at the Law School of Columbia College in 1868, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He achieved a reputation that soon placed him among the leading men in the profession and increased his practice accordingly. His decisions as a Referee not only evince a know- ledge of he law. but a judicial mind. He does not encourage litigation when it is possible to effect settlement on an equitable basis. His public life has been one of marked success. He has the happy faculty of making and keeping friends. Frank, open and generous to his opponents, he is steadfast and reliable in his friendship to those who are admitted into the inner circle of his life. During his political career of more than twenty years, his private life has been without spot or blemish, while his public acts challenge the admiration of his strongest opponents. His entrance into public life began in, 1864 as the earnest advocate of General George B. McClellan for the Presidency. It was almost a forlorn hope from the beginning, owing to the tremendous power and influence of the
V
a.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 37
Republican party at that time, but Mr. Dayton made a gallant fight for the man whom he believed had earned the gratitude of the nation. Mr. Dayton identi- fied himself with the Democratic party and adhered to it even when it consti- tuted a minority. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1881 and achieved a reputation for his earnest advocacy of reform measures introduced at that time. The adoption by the Legislature of the primary election law of 1881 was due largely to his efforrts. Owing to the pressure of professional duties he declined a renomination. fie organized the Harlem Democratic Club in 1882, which has been formost in its advocacy of reform in municiple affairs and a no- table democratic ally in National contests. The same year Mr. Dayton was elect- ed Secretary of the Citizens' Movement and threw himself earnestly into its work. He adhered to the reform element of the Democratic party, and when Grover Cleveland was nominated for President in 1884. Mr. Dayton entered the campaign with bis accustomed zeal and energy for the success of his party, be- coming himself one of the Presidential electors from his own State, and secre- tary of its electoral college. He was recognized by the National committee as one of the ablest speakers and most nergetic workers in his party, and when the campaign of 1888 opened, his services were in constant demand. His speeches bad the ring of true democracy and were clear, logical and convinceing. A speech he delivered at Burlington, Iowa, was received with such favor that it was adopted by the National Democratic Committee as a valuable campaign doc- ument, and was extensively circulated throughout the United States.
Mr. Dayton continued to advocate the policy of Mr. Cleveland and took the stump for him again in 1892.
In 1889 Mr. Dayton was a member of the Centennial Committee, which had charge of the celebration of Washington's inauguration as first President of the United States, and in 1893 he was elected a member of the New York State Constitutional Convention. In 1894 Mr. Dayton presided at the Memorial Day services, G. A. R.. at Carnegie Hall, and in 1897 was chosen chairman of the Citizens' Auxiliary Committee. G. A R.. to provide funds for the Memorial services of that year.
In recognition of his long and distinguished services to his party, President Cleveland, without solicitation, on the 3d of June. 1893. nominated Mr. Dayton for Postmaster at New York City. The nomination was promptly and unani- mously confirmed by the Senate, and received the hearty approval of the people of his native city and State.
During Mr. Dayton's administration as Postmaster there has been a marked improvement in the postal service. The discipline of four thousand em- ployees has never been equalled, and although, in the natural order of things, the expenses have been increased, the revenues from the service have been aug- mented. In the matter of electric lighting alone, Mr. Dayton, as custodian of the Post Office building, has saved to the government $30,000 per annum, and the total amount saved during his administration in various departments exceeds $160,000. Mr. Dayton's government bank account has aggregated $600,000,000, and yet there has not been a discrepancy. As custodian of the Post
38 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Office building Mr. Dayton has obtained from the Treasury Department and from Congress some $300,000 for improvements, and the building has never been kept in such perfect order, while the improvements necessitated by the constantly increasing business have been pushed vigorously forward. In the management of the large army of employees Mr. Dayton has displayed the knowledge and skill together with the sagacity, judgment and forethought required in the conduct of our largest business houses. So perfect is the ma- chinery for handling the mail matter that out of the millions of letters that pass through this office it is seldom that one goes astray, and when such a thing does occur it is followed with rapidity until it reaches its proper destination or is accounted for. It is the universal expression of the business men of New York that the whole service of the New York post office has been better managed, and with less friction than ever before. This is explained when it is known that the most perfect confidence existed between employer and employee, and the respect entertained by the latter for the former constitutes an important element in the motive power which keeps the machinery in such perfect running order. As a proof of the love and loyalty of his employees a public banquet was ten- dered to Mr. Dayton June 19, 1897, after his resignation, by fifteen hundred letter carriers of New York, at which he was presented with an album signed by all the letter carriers in that city. It was commented upon by the public press as the largest and most significant banquet ever given in this country. As a further proof of the esteem in which he is held, and as a continued reminder of the delightful associations of his nearly four years' administration, there stands in the main room of the Post Office building a bronze bust of Mr. Day- ton, paid for by the employees in subscriptions not exceeding fifty cents each. Tfiis statue contains the following inscription:
CHARLES WILLOUGHBY DAYTON,
Postmaster
At New York, N. Y.
Appointed by President Cleveland
June 3, 1893.
Erected February, 1897,
By the Employees of the
New York Post Office,
who desire to perpetuate
Mr. Dayton's record for Efficiency. Discipline, Justice.
Courtesy and Kindness. As an evidence of Mr. Dayton's personal popularity and of his strong hold on the business men of all political parties, he was urged by President Mc- Kinley to continue in office under a Republican administration. Mr. Dayton, however, declined the honor, as his professional duties required his undivided attention, and. on April 14. tendered his resignation, which was accepted May 22, 1897. I fe immediately resumed his law practice. His reputation as lawyer and his integrity as a man are well known.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 39
The following letter from President Cleveland evinces personal regard for and hearty appreciation and endorsement of Mr. Dayton's public services :
Westland, Princeton, New Jersey. May 24, 1897. Hon. Charles W. Dayton:
My Dear Sir: In reply to your letter written upon your retirement from the Postmastership of the City of New York, and expressing your appreciation of the honor conferred by your appointment, I beg to assure you that the faitthful and efficient service you have rendered the Government and your fellow citizens during your term of office, entitles you to an acknowledgement of my personal obligation for the credit thus reflected upon the appointing power.
Hoping that prosperity and contentment await you in all your future under- takings, I am,
Very truly yours,
GROVER CLEVELAND.
One incident in connection with Mr. Dayton's administration of the affairs of the New York Post Office deserves mention. For nearly three years, involving much time, labor and expense, he was engaged in collecting the pho- tographs of the several postmasters of New York from 1804 to 1897. At the request of the New York Historical Society, Mr. Dayton supplied duplicates of these to be placed among the interesting collections of this Society, which form a notable part of the business history of the metropolis. In recognition of his courtesy Mr. Dayton was elected a member of the Society.
Mr. Dayton's name has been prominently mentioned as a candidate for tht mayoralty of the Greater New York and also for Justice of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Dayton has been actively identified with metropolitan affairs for many years. He was President of the Board fur the Improvement of Park Ave- nue above One Hundred and Sixth Street, a work which involved the expendi- ture of several million dollars, much to the public benefit. He organized and is a Director of the Twelfth Ward Bank and Empire City Savings Bank; also a director in the Seventh National Bank, being the legal counsel of each. He is a director in the United States Life Insurance Company: a trustee of the Harlem Library, trustee of the Church of the Puritans, member of the Harlem Democratic Club, the Sagamore and Players' Clubs: the Xew York Geograph- ical Society; the New York Historical Society: Down Town Association; The New England Society. He was member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of the State of New York, and has served upon important committees of the Bar Association of the City of New York: is a Governor of the Manhattan Club, and was one of the incorporators of the Post Graduate Medical School.
Mr. Dayton, in 1874, married Laura A. Newman, daughter of the late John B. Newman. M. D., and Rebecca Sanford. and has issue: Charles Willoughbv Dayton, John Newman Dayton and Laura Adams Dayton.
Mrs. Dayton is one of the charter members of the Daughters of the Revolu- tion, being a descendant of Richard Webb, of Hartford, Connecticut. Ts also member of the National Society of New England Women.
40 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
GILLIS.— STARK.— CODMAN, ETC.
Referring to Rome in her ancient grandeur, when from her " Seven Hills she ruled the world," the poet truly said:
" In that day to be a Roman was greater than a King." The descendants of the ancient Romans pointed with pride to their ancestors, but the American citizen of to-day who can boast of such an ancestor as Gen. John Stark, has far greater reason for " pride of ancestry " which many of the present time are seeking to establish.
Both the Gillis and Stark families come of a long line of Scotch ancestry.
HUGH GILLIS, the American ancestor, was a native of Argyleshire, Scot- land. He came to New England and settled first in Londonderry, N. H., now Merrimack, in 1746. He was an industrious, thrifty, prosperous farmer, who contributed in his own humble way to the development of the new town where he located. He married Sarah Arbuckle, an incident of whose life forms an interesting chapter in American history, which has been preserved and described in a little brochure by Charles J. Gillis of the New York State Society, S. R.
Sarah Arbuckle (also of Scotch descent) came to this country, at the age of sixteen, with her father and brothers, the mother having died in the old country, and settled in what is now the town of Merrimac, N. H., in 1740, then an unin- habited wilderness, the nearest neighbor being some miles distant. To this child of tender years was committed all the cares of the household. From early morn- ing until evening her father and brothers were absent at their daily toil. It was so very lonely that many times a day she would step outside of the house to listen to the sound of their axes, and if it ceased for any length of time she would tremble with fear lest they had been attacked by Indians or wild beasts.
As she was stooping over the fireplace one morning, making the usual pot of " stir about " (Indian hasty pudding), she was startled by a shadow falling across the floor, and turning suddenly to the open door she came face to face with a large, powerful looking Indian, who stood at the threshold with blood streaming down over one side of his face. She stood for a moment terror stricken, while he tried to make known to her his trouble. Recovering by degrees from her fright, she saw that an arrow was sticking in his eye, which he desired her to remove. She plucked up courage, drew the arrow out, dressed the wound, fed and cared for the Indian for some days until he was sufficiently recovered to depart, when he disappeared in the woods. Some years after this word came to the settlers that the Indians were on the war path, and everyone hurried to the garrison to protect themselves and their families. Just as the Arbuckles were getting ready to leave for a place of safety the yell of the savage was heard in the distance, and, almost immediately after, their house was sur- rounded. The savages burst in the door, and the tomahawk of one was just about to descend on Sarah's head, when at a word spoken by the Chief, who rushed in after them, every warrior dropped his hand and silently, one after another, filed out into the darkness, leaving their Chief with the family. He had learned enough of English to remind them of his visit some years previous, and
SONS GF THE DEVOLUTION. 41
to express his gratitude for the kindness shown him on that occasion. He assured the family that they need have no fears, that their home would not be molested. They had no further trouble with the Indians, and the one to whom they had shown such kindness, proved their life-long friend, visiting them annu- ally for some years and always bringing some small token of remembrance. This woman became the mother of a large family, and her children and child- ren's children have told the simple tale to each generation. The issue of the marriage of Hugh Gillis to Sarah /Yrbuckle was: Jotham, Jonathan. Thomas, Josiah, Richard, Sarah, Betsey.
Jotham Gillis, eldest child of H;;gh and Sarah ( Arbuckle.) Gillis, was born at the homestead of his parents, June 4, 1758; died June 28. 1853. He became a leading man in the town, an 1 entered heartily into every enterprise for its improvement. The first cotton mill in the State of New Hampshire was built at Manchester in 1803, and in 1809 a stock company was formed which was incorporated in June of that year under the name of the Amoskeag Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company. At the first meeting of the directors there were present James Parker. Samuel P. Kidder. John Stark, Jr., Daniel Mc- Queston and Benjamin Prichard. James Parker was chosen President, and Jotham Gillis, clerk. Mr. Gillis became the first agent of the company, and doubtless to his efforts and enterprise, as much a-- to any other man, the com- pany started on its prosperous career.
Jotham Gillis married Abigail Codman, daughter of Dr. Henry Codman of Amherst, N. H., April 19th, 1787.
DR. HENRY CODMAN, Patriot of the Revolution, was horn at Middleton, Mass., Jan. 25, 1744. He studied medicine and practiced at Amherst. He was one of the earliest and boldest of the patriots at the begin- ning of the War of the Revolution, and was a signer, March 14, 1776, of the fol- lowing:
"We the subscribers do hereby engage and promise that we will do the utmost of our power at the risque of our Lives and Fortunes with arms, oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the United Colonies."
Dr. Codman served as a volunteer surgeon at the battle of Bunker Hill.
The History of Amherst, page 395, states that "A regiment under the com- mand of Col. Moses Nichols served three months in the autumn of 1780. Dr. Henry Codman was surgeon."
As a physician Dr. Codman was greatly beloved by the people. He prac- ticed nearly forty years in Amherst; he died in March, 1812.
Jotham Gillis, by his wife Abigail (Codman) Gillis, daughter of Dr. Henry Codman had issue: Josiah, born June 7, 1789; Nancy, born Oct. 29, 1790; Bet- sey, born Oct. 23, 1792; George, born April 15. 1801; Rheny Clagget, born April 6, 1806.
Josiah Gillis, eldest son of Jotham and Abigail (Codman') Gillis. was born June 7, 1789. He was a well-to-do farmer, and lived for many years at Merrimac at the old homestead. He removed to Wilmington, Mass., in 1818,
._
where he kept a he:- i'so in the lumber _ .aining
.an. a gooc devoted
4 - - ughter
of Johr - eral John Stark, son of Archibald -
- v- :
S
ting 51 ;entury.
The na- g stiff,
ragged. The appearance Scotland
ot Burgundy rles 1 E
large body of Gerr. 5 to S .land under the command of Gen. Martin
Sward, to join the invas gland in support of 1
Pretenders to the throne Feated, and
- Among this nurr
Scotlai
age he ; parents to Lond le married Eleanor
:::an. The Tom a Cor - siderable an-
tz-Nig -nan warrior who accom-
panied the Conque- 1066. and to wh -- gned 1
three manors ford. Ess rthamptoT. -
I with a co:
:.'.. and ther Londonderry. X. H. He erected for he remorec portion of land on the Merrir
-. of the " _ : 1 which
in complimer- _
-
m. John. Samuel and Archibald, all held commissions in during the S - od conduct Stark died June 25.
5TARK. Patriot of Archi-
bald Stai as born at Londonderry. X. H.. Aug. :•
died a: _ _ ther owned
land about Amosk- g Falls g proprietor of I -.barton (then
called Sfarld gi idvantages jok edu-
t training ting and all athletic employments.
Forest, and on one of the*
pari Indians.
;he revolution. 43
One of the young men was killed: his brother William made his escape, and John and a young man named Eastman were carried [ t A custom prevailed among the North American Indians requiring cap- pass between the young ■ ;eir tribe, ranged between two lines furnished with a rod and prepared to strike their pr
Eastman, his companion y whipped as he passed through: Stark,
more athletic and adroit, snatched a club from the nearest Indian, and - right and left scattered the Indians before him. greatly to the delight of the old men. who sat some distance away and viewed the discomfiture of the young warriors. Young Stark refused to work in the field, saying " it was the business not of warriors but of squaws to hoe corn." This spirited deportment gained him the title of '* young chief " and the honor of adoption into the tribe. The knowledge he thus obtained of forest life and the topogr , border
was of great service in subsequent conflicts ree months of captivhy
he was ransomed by the colony of Mass ~::
of the Seven Years' War. he was appointed a Lieutenant in Major Robert Rogers' famous corps of rangers and served w I - - :ig to the r
Captain, through all the campaigns around Lake George and Lake Champlain. where traditions still ex .^acity and bravery. In the attack upon
Ticonderoga in June. 1758. he behaved with great gallantry. In this action fell the young and gallant Lord Howe, between whom an<: Si - r ndship
existed. At the capture of Ticonderoga and -irk rendered
efficient service to Lord Amherst. At the army and engaged in farming at Derryficld (now Manchester). X. H.
When the report of the batt* - reached him he was engaged at
work in his saw-mill. Within ten minute- after the new- had been received he mounted his horse and was on his - ring left dii
for such of his neighbors as des r eet him at Medford. The
morning after his arrival he rec . and in th
of a few hours had enlisted 800 men.
On June 17. 1775. he was stationed about thr n in a
position from which he had a front view of Bunker and Breed's Hill, a battle was inevitable, he waited :' 5. but s "'or the
ground, which he reachc I began. He took up a •
behind a fence extending down Breed's Hill to the wal
-ition he had his men pile up hay behind the fence. As marched up he opened fire. sa;. ing
This suggestion became proverbial thror.-. - ~ved in
every engagement. The aim of the British in this attack was to march around this point of land and capture the whole army. time they received another volley, and after the third_ attempt tl General Stark held his position until his ammunit in perfect order ac- --
Boston he marched with his regiment to New York. H ordered to Canada, and then : g Washingl :h him at Trenton.
44
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Princeton, and was also at the battle of Springfield N. J. The term of service of his regiment having expired, and feeling that he had been slighted in the promotions, he resigned his commission, and replied to his friends who tried to dissuade him, "that an officer who could not maintain his rank was unworthy
to serve his country." He retired to his farm, where he remained until the urgent demand and the threatened dangers to his own State compelled him again to take the field. When information arrived that Gen. Arthur St. Clair had retreated and Ticonderoga had been taken, New Hampshire flew to arms
SONS OK THK REVOLUTION. 45
and called for Stark to command her troops. He consented on condition that he should not be subject to any order but his own; and this the Council of State agreed to, because the nun would not march without him. Setting out with a small force for Bennington, he then learned that Burgoyne had dis- patched Col. Frederick Baum with fiv'e hundred men to seize the stores collected at that place. Sending out express to call in the militia of the neighborhood, Stark marched out to meet him, hearing of which Baum intrenched himself in a strong position about six miles from Bennington, and sent to Burgoyne for reinforcements. Before they could arrive Stark attacked him on the 16th of August 1777. Tradition says that he called to his men as he led them to the assault: "There they are, boys! We beat them to-day or Molly Stark's a widow!" another of his sentences that has gone into history. The second British force of five hundred men under Col. Breyman presently arriving was likewise totally defeated. Of the one thousand British, not more than a hundred escaped, all the rest being killed or captured; a result of great importance as it led ultimately to the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. Col. Baum, who was mortally wounded, said of the provincials: "They fought more like hell-hounds than soldiers." The American loss was only about seventy. It is noteworthy that this was the anniversary month of the Battle of Long Island, fought one year previous in which five thousand raw militia were defeated by twenty thousand British regulars. Stark retrieved the fortunes of the American army, the moral effect of which can never be estimated. Molly Stark was not left a "widow," but lived to share the honors of her noble husband for many years. Washing- ton spoke of it immediately as "the great stroke struck by Gen. Stark at Bennington," and Baroness Reisdel, then in the British camp, wrote: "This unfortunate event paralyzed our operations." For this victory Stark was made a Brigadier-General, Oct. 4, 1777, and received the thanks of Congress. He was made a Major General by act of Congress in 1786. He continued in active service during the remainder of the war, displaying everywhere distinguished ability. In 1778-9 he served in Rhode Island and in 1780 in New Jersey and in 1781 commanding the northern department of Saratoga. In 1781 he retired to his farm where he lived in republican simplicity till his death at the age of 94. When he was 89 years old Congress allowed him a pension of sixty dollars per month; but with his simple tastes and habits this was not essential to his comfort. He was a good type of the class of men who gave success to the American Revolution. With the exception of Gen. Thomas Sumpter, he was the last surviving general of the Revolutionary army. He was buried on his own grounds, on the east bank of the Merrimac river, at Manchester, N. H., where a simple granite obelisk was placed in 1829 by the members of his family to mark his resting place. The citizens of Manchester planted memorial trees around it in 1876. These grounds came into possession -of Elizabeth Stark, daughter of John Stark (3), and great grand-daughter of Gen. Stark, who donated it, with additional grounds, to the city of Manchester to be used as a public park. The State of New Hampshire has caused to be erected in front of the State House at Concord, a fine bronze statue of the General, and another
46 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
one in the rotunda 01 the capitol at Washington. In August, 1887, the corner- stone was laid in Bennington of another monument. It is an obelisk of lime- stone 301 feet high from foundation to apex.
Gen. Stark married Elizabeth Page (born Feb. 16, 1737, died June 29, 1814), daughter of Capt. Caleb Page.
CAPT. CALEB PAGE, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in 1705- He was one of the grantees of Starkstown (which retained the name for four- teen years and then became Dunbarton), and was in the charter of incorporation in 1765. He was a large proprietor in the new township, and the locality still bears the name of "Page Corner." He was one of the most efficient cooperators in advancing the progress of the settlement. His and the house of Israel Clif- ford were the first frame buildings erected in that vicinity. In 1758 he was appointed by Governor Wentworth Captain of Provincials. He was a firm patriot, and in 1775 he was chosen a delegate to the Provincial Congress. He possessed a noble and benevolent spirit with ample means to carry out his generous intentions. His bank, which contained his treasure of golden guineas, silver crowns and dollars, was a half bushel measure constantly kept under his bed. His house was the abode of hospitality and the scene of many a joyous festival in the olden time. He was the son of Caleb, born 1685, son of Benjamin Page, the ancestor, born in Dedham, Eng., in 1640. Came to Haverhill, Mass., in 1660; married Sept. 21, 1666, Alary Whittier, daughter of Thomas Whittier, of Newbury, Mass., the progenitor of the poet Whittier.
Gen. John Stark, by his wife Elizabeth Page (daughter of Capt. Caleb Page) had eleven children, of whom John, Jr., was the third.
John Stark, Jr., son of General John and Elizabeth (Page) Stark, was born in Dunbarton, N. H., April 17, 1763. He married Mary Huse of Methuen, Mass., and had among his twelve children a daughter Mary.
Mary Stark, daughter of John Stark, Jr., was born Jan. 18, 1795; married Josiah Gillis, Sept. 14, 1813.
Josiah Gillis, by his wife Mary (Stark) Gillis, had six children, of whom Charles Josiah Gillis was the fifth.
CHARLES JOSIAH GILLIS, New York State Society Sons of the Revolution, son of Josiah and Mary (Stark) Gillis, was born at Wilmington, Mass., April 15, 1822. As a child he was studious and fond of books. He graduated at the high school of Lowell, and in 1846 left his native town and went to Philadelphia, where for four years he was engaged as a oook- seller and publisher. In 1853 he came to New York and established his present business of steam heating and ventilating apparatus under the firm name of Morse & Gillis, which was changed in 1869 to that of Gillis & Geoghegan. For nearly half a century Mr. Gillis has been one of the leaders in this line of trade, and the business of this firm is now probably one of the largest in the world. Mr. Gillis enjoys the unique position of popularity among his competi- tors. He was for some years President of the Master Steam and Hot Water Fitters' Association, and in 1896 his associates, desiring to give expression to their high appreciation of his worth and of his efforts in behalf of the associa-
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 47
tion, presented him with an elegant silver Loving Cup, made by Tiffany & Co., on which was inscribed:
"' Charles J. Gillis, from his Competitors for Services freely given to their ultimate advantage, January, 1896."
Mr. Gillis has traveled the world-wide over, and is a great observer of men and things. He has written and published several accounts of his travels, beautifully illustrated from photographs taken of the several places where he visited. One of these, "A Summer Vacation in Norway, Sweden and Russia," is beautiful as a work of art and highly creditable as a literary production. Another, entitled "Around the World," contains a graphic description of the various places visited by Mr. Gillis in his travels. He has not, like many American travelers, overlooked the beauties and places of interest in his own country in their anxiety to " take in " the world. His description of Yellow- stone Park and Alaska is an interesting work of 75 pages written in the simple style of a diary, which renders it of far greater interest than the usual style adopted by travelers. All of Mr. Gillis's work in this direction has been for " private circulation," and his numerous friends are thus enabled to enjoy the benefit of his extensive travels. He has a large and interesting collection of curios, which he has gathered in the various countries where he has visited The most interesting of all, however, are the relics associated with the life and Revolutionary services of his distinguished ancestor, General Stark, among them being a lock of the General's hair, a piece of a silk flag captured at the battle of Bennington, and a piece of Mollie Stark's wedding dress.
Mr. Gillis is a member of the New York Historical Society, Geographical Society, Museum of Art and other organizations, and during its existence was a director in the Empire State Bank. He married in Montreal, Canada, Oct. 19th, the Ascension. He married in Montreal, Canada, Oct. 19th, 1847, Francis Ellen 1847, Francis Ellen Goodenough, (laughter of Asa Goodenough, one of the best known and popular hotel keepers in the Dominion, but a native of New England and a descendant of an old Maine family of this name. They have one son, Frederic Stark Gillis, born Dec. 29, 1857. He was graduated at Columbia Col- lege Law School and completed his studies abroad, and was admitted to the bar of New York in 1880. He has since been associated with his father in business.
WARNER.— MILLER.— FISHER.
" The mills of the gods grind slow," but sure, is a trite saying, and applies with peculiar force to the Miller family, the name of which indicates its origin. The " grinding " began in this country as early as 1680, and for more than two hundred years the " hopper " has never been empty. Patriots, statesmen, inventors, etc., have continued the grinding process, and the nation has been liberally supplied with wholesome food from the brains of the " Millers," while the wealth of the country through their efforts has been largely increased. The name carries with it the patent of nobility, and while no " blazoned arms " are to be found as relics of the feudal ages, the impress of noble deeds is
48 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
" blazoned " on each generation. The military career of the first patriot in this line in the War of the Revolution was brought to a sudden close by death, and that of the last (in the Civil War; through circumstances beyond his control. The ceaseless and untiring energy of the " mills " has been without friction, and the machinery stills runs smoothly as of yore. The predominating virtues of the family embrace the entire decalogue, and may be summmed up in the one sentence, " Love to God and love to man." The allied families have doubtless given force and energy to the original stock, but the " Miller " traits stand out in bold relief.
John Miller, the American ancestor of this line of the Miller family, is said to have emigrated from Germany to America about 1680. He settled on " the White Plains," in Westchester County, where his possessions covered a large tract of country amounting to some six hundred acres along the line of the Bronx River, being about two miles in length by half a mile in breadth, located partly in the town of White Plains and partly in North Castle. His family consisted of himself, wife Mary and four sons, James, Abram, Elijah and Anthony.
LIEUT, and ADjUTAiNT ELIJAH MILLER, Patriot of the Revo- lution, son or grandson of John Miller, the ancestor was born in Westchester County, N. Y., about 1732. His military and social standing is shown by the two commissions, one issued by Governor Tryon, of the Province of New York, in 1772; the other issued by General Nathaniel Woodhull, as President of the Provincial Congress for the colony of New York in 1775.
The following is a fac simile of the commission issued to him by Governor Tryon previous to the Revolution:
At the beginning of hostilities Elijah Miller, although living in a nest of Tories, immediately threw up his old commission and entered the ranks of the patriots. He was at once commissioned Lieutenant by General Woodhull, Fres-
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 49
ident of the Provincial Congress, as appears by the following fac simile, the original of which is still in the hands of his descendants.
b;;
Lieut. Miller was made Adjutant of Col. Samuel Drake's Regiment of Min- ute Men. The following brief record of the service of the regiment is found in the New York State Archives, vol. i, page 75:
"Feb. 26. 1776. Col. Samuel Drake, of the Minute regiment, from the County of Westchester, attending at the door, was admitted.
He informed the Congress that four months, the time for which many of his men had enlisted, was fully expired, and that they demanded their pay. That if he is enabled to pay them many may probably enlist anew. As Col. Drake has not a muster roll of his regiment with him, the Congress agreed to advance him £300."
The regiment was reorganized soon after this and was among the first to take part in the erection of the defenses of New York. Johnston says: " Waterbury's Connecticut regiment was the first on the ground * * * and from Westchester County, New York, came two hundred minute men under Col. Samuel Drake. * * * * Drake's minute men were posted at Horn's Hook, opposite Hell Gate, where they begun work on the first battery marked out for the defense of New York City during the Revolution." This regiment was attached to the brigade of Gen. Johnh Morin Scott, which formed a part of the reinforcements sent to Brooklyn on the morning of the 27th of August, 1776, and took an active part in the battle of Long Island. The sufferings of his men the day after the battle are described in a letter from Gen. Scott, in which he says: "You may judge of our situation, subject to almost incessant rains. without baggage or tents, and almost without victuals or drink, and in some parts of the lines the men were standing up to their middles in water." The retreat from Brooklyn began two days after this, and the next that is heard of
50 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Col. Drake's regiment is at the "Kip's Bay" affair, on the 15th of September, when the British landed in New York City.
"During these scenes, Wadsworth's and Scott's brigades, which were be- low Douglass on the river lines, saw that their only safety lay, also, in imme- diate retreat, and, falling back, they joined the other brigades above, though not without suffering and some loss.''
It is probable that in this affair, or in the battle of Harlem Heights, which followed, that Adjutant Elijah Miller and his two sons were killed, as Col. Drake's regiment, to which they belonged, participated in all the events which followed the battle of Long Island. This is all that is known of them, and Ann Fisher Miller, his widow, and her two daughters are next brought into prom- inence as patriots of the Revolution.
After the battle of Harlem Plains, in October, 1776, Washington formed in- trenched camps from the heights of Fordham to White Plains, in Westchester County, and on the 21st of October made his headquarters near the village of White Plains; this was at the house of Ann Fisher Miller, the widow of Adju- tant Elijah Miller. She was honored with the presence of the Comimander-in- Chief, while the buildings surrounding the house were used for hospital pur- poses. Her land was covered with tents. On an eminence, the highest in all White Plains, a prominent fortification was made which overlooked her home.
Bolten says: "The headquarters of Washington, which started here, were at a small farm-house to the north of the village, situated amid a deep solitude of woods, surrounded by woods and romantic scenery."
A party from New York, who visited the place in 1845, wrote: "When we entered the little room of Mr. Miller's farm-house, where that great and good man [Washington] had resided, and where he resolved to try the hazard of battle with a flushed and successful foe, we could not repress the enthusiasm which the place, and the moment, and the memory inspired. We looked around with eagerness at each portion of the room on which his eye must have rested; we gazed through the small window frames through which he must have so often and so anxiously looked toward the enemy; and at the old-fashioned buf- fets, where his table service was deposited for his accommodation. But little change has taken place in the building, and its amiable and patriotic inmates have shown their respect for the hero by placing on the walls his portrait, and several representations of his last moments at Mount Vernon."
The battle of White Plains took place on the 28th of October, seven days after Washington's arrival at Mrs. Miller's house. During this trying ordeal the widow sat in her little home with her five children, amid the incessant rattle of musketry and the roar of artillery, and as the wounded and dying were brought to her place she tenderly nursed and cared for, and provided every comfort for them. It was not until the 31st of October that Howe, failing to dislodge Washington from his cornstalk breastworks, withdrew his forces and fell back to Fordham.
In the summer of 1778 Washington was again for several weeks at White Plains. The British, after the battle of Monmouth, had retreated to New York,
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Si
and the Americans from their former post on the hills of Westchester awaited further movements on the enemy's part. Washington also attempted to co-op- erate with the French fleet, which had just arrived, in an attempt to capture New York. Anna Miller, then but fourteen years of age, and her sister, a little older, volunteered to deliver a message to a point desired by the Commander- in-Chief; he, knowing their courage and discretion, entrusted them with this important mission. They delivered the message and returned home unharmed.
MRS. MILLER S HOUSE.
This little home of the widow Miller became, soon after the Revolution, the home of Methodism in Westchester County, and the first meetings of the society were held in her house, she joining heartily in the worship and helping to spread "the glad tidings of salvation."
Martha Miller, the young heroine of fourteen, daughter of Elijah and Ann (Fisher) Miller, became the wife of William, son of Anthony Miller, who mar- ried Hesther, daughter of William Davis.
William Miller, son of Anthony Miller, moved to Rensselaer County, N. Y., and founded the present village of North Pittstown, which for many years was was known as Millertown.
The younger children were born after their removal there. . They had among others a son Hiram.
Hiram Miller, son of William and Martha Miller, was born at Mil- lertown, now North Pitstown, Rensselaer Co. N. Y., July 18, 1800. He was a thrifty, industrious farmer and made the most of his opportunities. His high- est ambition was to be good and do good. After residing for thirty-seven years in his native town, he removed to Hannibal, Oswego County, where he took
52 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
a large farm, but only remained about a year and then returned to his native town, where he remained until an advanced age and then went to live with his son Hon. Warner Miller at Herkimer, in Herkimer County, N. Y., where he died suddenly in January, 1882. A local paper in giving an account of his death says:
"His mother was a woman of marked ability and devotion and their fireside was one of those precious homes of the early itinerant. He early became identified with the church. His devotion to his mother was an intense passion. His convictions were positive, his integrity white, and his heart generous. His excellent, godly wife went from him quietly and quickly in Oct. 1880, and earth lost its beauty and heaven grew upon him. On January 31st, 1882, at one of our best prayer meetings he sang and prayed as though on the top of Pisgah, and going out from that meeting, and crossing the railroad track, he was struck by an engine, and without mutilation of body or pain of dying, he was ushered into the presence of the King."
He married Mary Ann Warner of Salisbury, Conn., daughter of William Warner, son, probably, of Harvey DeFprest Warner, born in Danbury, Aug. 1, 1769, died in Salisbury Conn. March 30, 1859, son of Rev. Noadiah Warner, missionary to the Indians, pastor of First Congregational church of Danbury, son of John Warner or Sunderland, Mass., and Haddam, Conn., son of John of Ipswich, born 1616, Norwalk, Eng., son of William Warner of Ipswich, Mass., who embarked at London in ship Increase in 1635, from Norfolk, Eng.
They had issue Warner.
HON. WARNER MILLER, New York State Society Sons of the Revolution, son of Hiram and Mary Ann (Warner) Miller, was born at Han- nibal, Oswego County N. Y., Aug. 12, 1838. His early childhood was spent in Millertown, Rensselaer County, to which place his father returned after a brief residence in Oswego County. The early life of Warner Miller was one of constant struggle and hard work. He attended a select school near the home of his childhood, afterward taught school for a time, earning sufficient to enter college. He was graduated at Union College in i860, and immediately began teaching Latin and Greek at Fort Edward Institute, where he remained until the breaking out of the Civil War. Early in 1861 he joined Company I Fifth N. Y. Cavalry, and went with it to the front. He began the study of military tactics and qualified himself for a higher position. He was made Sergeant Major and drill master of the regiment and later commissioned First Lieutenant. He was with "Banks in the. Shenandoah Valley, and while lying sick with fever in the hospital at Winchester, was captured by the enemy, but paroled on the field. As no terms of exchange had .been arranged between the two armies at that time, he remained on parole until June 7, 1862, when he was honorably dis- charged. His first experience did not deter him from further efforts to serve his country. Six months later he made a second attempt to join the army, but was not successful. Never idle for a moment, he sought and obtained employ- ment in a paper mill at Fort Edward. The knowledge acquired of this business was soon put to practical use and formed the nucleus of his subsequent success.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. S3
He was sent to Belgium to supervise the construction and operation of a paper mill. On his return he began experimenting with wood pulp in the manufact- ure of paper, by which means the cost was materially reduced, and he was recog- nized as the inventor and promoter of an enterprise, the most extensive and far- reaching of any manufacturing enterprise attempted in this country. He invented the machine and triumphed over every difficulty in the face of strong opposi- tion. By his process the cost of ordinary printing paper was reduced from fif- teen to three and a half cents a pound, which was the means of largely increas- ing the production, and reducing the price of all publications where cheaper materials could be utilized. In 1865 he purchased a large mill property at Herkimer, in Herkimer County, N. Y., and organized the firm of Warner Mil- ler & Co., and in 1875 this became the Herkimer Paper Company, limited, with Warner Miller as President. The plant has since been largely increased with new manufactories at different points.
Mr. Miller's political career began soon after he became a resident of Her- kimer County. He was made chairman of the Republican County Committee, in which he displayed marked ability as an organizer. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1872, which nominated Gen. Grant for President. As a representative of Herkimer County in the State Legislature in 1872-3-4 he introduced and seconded the enactment of many important meas- ures, among which was that providing for compulsory education. In 1878 he was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress, as a representative to the Forty-second Congressional District, which embraced the counties of Herkimer, Jefferson and Lewis, and was re-elected in 1880. While serving his second term, soon after the election of President Garfield, political difficulties arose which led to the resignations of Senators Conklin and Piatt, and the struggle in the State Legislature for their re-election continued for more than two months, resulting finally in the election of Mr. Miller for the long term in place of Senator Piatt, and later in that of Elbridge G. Laphamin place of Senator Roscoe Conklin.
Mr. Miller's success in the new field to which he was suddenly called is best described in the words of Senator Sherman, one of the keenest observers of modern times, and one of the ablest statesmen of the present century. He says of Mr. Miller: "He is one of our ablest senators. Judging by that crucial test, the power to produce results, he is one of the strongest men we have. You notice that when he undertakes a thing it is very apt to be carried. He has represented New York right along with courage and great ability, as questions "have come up in which he had a stake. Both in the committee room and in the Senate he presents a subject with force and clearness. In his relations with senators he shows good judgment, and good feeling, and does not weaken his influence by the friction of unnecessary personal antagonism. Senator John A. Logan, his trusted friend, said that during the great debate on the tariff in 1882, that he had learned not only to let Mr. Miller alone, but to follow his vote on any question that concerned the tariff."
Mr. Miller used common sense business methods, and while he worked faithfully and earnestly for the interests of his own State, it was with an honest,
54 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
conscientious purpose, and not for political ends. He early in life adopted the sentiment expressed by one of our most distinguished statesmen — "I would rather be right than to be president," and during his entire public life political ambition has never tempted him to swerve from a course which he believed to be right, and for the best interests of the country, even if opposed by his own constituency. Few, if any, representatives of the great State of New York have ever accom- plished as much in the same period of time. He secured the enactment of important legislation affecting the business and commerce of New York, the results of which can hardly be estimated. He introduced and carried to a suc- cessful issue the bill regulating immigration, known as the "head money," which relieved the State of New York from an annual burden of tax amounting to upwards of $250,000. In 1885 he reported from the committee and caused to be passed in the Senate the "alien contract labor" bill. American sailors owe him a lasting debt of gratitude for his efforts to protect them from the extortions of sailor boarding-house keepers and sailor "runners." Entrance to New York harbor was greatly facilitated through Mr. Miller's efforts in securing appropria- tions for dredging and deepening the passage through Sandy Hook bar. He secured other much needed appropriations for internal improvements. He was a member of the special committee which investigated and secured the necessary legislation for the regulation of railroads. His efforts in behalf of the laboring classes are well known, he having promoted the passage of the eight-hour law. Though a capitalist himself, he has always been the friend of labor. A firm advocate of protection, his efforts have always been in this direction. After a hard fight, he succeeded in having the tariff on iron ore raised from fifty to seventy-five cents a ton.
At the beginning of his second term, he from choice was made chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, and placed the farmers of the country under lasting obligations to him for his fight against the manufacturers of oleomar- gerine. Through his efforts, the bill creating a new cabinet office, known as the Department of Agriculture, was secured. Ben Perley Moore said of him, that "Warner Miller was the first man to give agriculture a national prominence in the Senate." His efforts have never been in the direction of party legislation as such, but always for the public good. No man ever entered the United States Senate who left it with a brighter, cleaner record.
Mr. Miller presided over the first Republican State Convention held in his own State after his election as Senator in 1881. He was made permanent presi- dent of the State Convention held at Richfield Springs in 1883, and was elected a delegate to the Chicago Convention in 1884, which favored the nomination of Blaine for President. He was a delegate to the National Convention in 1888, which nominated Benjamin Harrison for President. His loyalty to his friends — characteristic of the man — was shown on this occasion, under circumstances which would have tempted many men to serve their own interests. While work- ing to secure the vote of his own State for Harrison, several of the New York delegates approached him. and offered him their votes if the New York delegation
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 55
would present his (Miller's) name to the convention. This, however, he would not permit, and continued his efforts in behalf of his friend, which resulted in his nomination, and no one worked harder than Mr. Miller to secure his elec- tion. When the Republican State Convention met in the following September, Mr. Miller's name was the only one presented for the nomination for Governor. He made a thorough canvass in every part of the State, and, though he had a strong personal following, he was defeated on the national issue, viz: that of a high protective tariff, which he adhered strictly to throughout the campaign, and which, owing to peculiar circumstances, was not popular with the masses at that time. No higher compliment could be paid to any individual than was con- tained in the remark of President Harrison in referring to the splendid campaign work of Mr. Miller, viz : that he "fell outside the breastworks" — a characteristic of the man, familiar to all who know his methods. Unselfish, open and frank by nature, he is incapable of any of "the tricks of trade" so often resorted to by politicians to gain their ends.
Mr. Miller became greatly interested in the Nicaragua Canal project, and in 1889 was elected president of the Nicaragua Canal Construction Company, and in company with others made an extensive tour of observation in Nicaragua for the purpose of obtaining information as to its practicability, and probable success of the enterprise. He and his entire party were shipwrecked on Roncador Island in the Carribean Sea, but all were saved.
Mr. Miller is still extensively engaged in the manufacture of wood pulp and paper, with plants at Lyon Falls, Herkimer and Palmer Falls. Much of his time is spent on his farm at Herkimer, said to be one of the most delightful residences in the Mowhawk Valley.
He married in 1865 Caroline Churchill, daughter of Henry Churchill, a descendant of John Churchill, one of the early settlers of Plymouth, Mass.
They have one daughter, Augusta, and three sons, Max, Burr and Guy.
KENNEDY. ROBINSON AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
Including that of William Bradford of the Mayflower.
Like many other New England names, that of Kennedy was probably entered on the records according to the phonetic, rather than the correct spelling, and the name continued through three or four generations to be spelled Canada or Canady. In the list of Revolutionary soldiers from Massachusetts the name is recorded under the various forms of Canado. Canedy, Canida. Caneday, Can- nedy. Conada. Cannada and Kennedy.
The name of Canada, or any construction of the name spelled with a "C." is not found in Marshall's Genealogical Guide (London, 1879,), nor in any of Burke's heraldry or other works. Savage gives the names of only two settlers of this family, one as Kennedy and another James Canada of Rowley, Mass., 1671. There is hut little doubt that all of the above named are descendants of the old family of Kennedy of England and Ireland. Burke says :
"The accounts which are afforded of the family of De Carrick or Kennedy
56 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
and its origin are various and contradictory. It has been affirmed by some that it sprung from the Irish house of Thomond, and by others the first of the name who appeared in the shire of Ayr was a second son of MacLean of the Isles, the reason being assigned that the MacLeans and Kennedys carry the three cross- lets in their armorial bearings.
"The best Scottish historian, Buchanan, has told us in his Latin work that the district of Galloway, which then included Carrick, was made over, for their services in war, to the Irish Scots in 750. Much about the same time, while Mallachy had the sovereignty of Ireland, we read that Kennedy, father of Brian Boru, was Prince of Connaught. In 850 Kennethe was Thane of Carrick; and to this day the name of Kennedy is pronounced by the country people in Carrick, 'Kennetie.' Another reference to the family states that 'From the title deeds in possession of the family, beginning with the precept by Kennedy of Bargeny for infefting Thomas Kennedy in the lands of Knocknalling and Knockreoch, dated 20 July, 147 1, it appears that the Kennedys have been proprietors of Knocknalling for upwards of four hundred years."
"The name we thus find," says Burke, "has been known in Ireland and Scot- and at a very remote period; and it matters not much from whom the Kennedys have sprung — whether from Thomond, MacLean. Kilconath, the Prince of Con- naught, or from Kennethe, Thane of Carrick. It is, at all events, certain that they were the ancient and chief inhabitants of the country where, although decreased in number, they still continue to have the most extensive possesions."
The first of the family mentioned in any charter, Nisbet informs us, is Dun- can de Carrick, and from the document it appears that he lived in the reign of Malcolm IV., which began about 1150. The grandson of Duncan, Roland, of Carrick, had a grant of land of Carrick from Neil, Earl of Carrick, and was declared chief of his name. This grant was confirmed by Alexander III.
The arms of Kennedy, of Bargany, emblazoned in 1549, by Sir David Lind- say, were quartered with the Royal arms of France.
Arms — Quarterly: 1st and 4th Kennedy, argent, a chevron, gules, between three crosslets, fitchee, sable; 2nd and 3rd, France, azure, three fleur-de-lis, or. The shield supported on the dexter side by a female, and on the sinister by a wyvern. Crest — A fleur-de-lis, or, issuing out of two oak-leaves ppr. Motto — Frimus.
Three persons named Canada are found in the early records of Massachu- setts, viz : Daniel, John, James. They were probably brothers, although the relationship has never been established.
Daniel Canada, the progenitor of the Windham. Ct., branch of the family, was born about 1654 or 1656. His name first appears on the Muster Roll of Capt. Mosely's company, which served during King Philip's war, 1675-6. His name also appears among those who did garrison duty at Groton, Mass., June 20, 1675. He died June 11, 1695. He married Sept. 10th, 1681 Hannah Cooke, born 1656, probably daughter of Henry Cooke and Judith Burdsall. Their children were Daniel, born Aug. 10, 1682; David, July 7, 1683; Josiah, July 14, 1687; Isaac (1), July 21, 1689; Eliza, March 21, 1682.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 57
Isaac Canada, son of Daniel and Hannah (Cooke) Canada, was born prob- ably in Salem, Mass., July 21, 1689. He removed to Windham County, Conn., and settled in that part of the town of Windham formerly known as Hampton. Barbour, in his Historical Collections of Connecticut, page 42, says : Hampton was incorporated a town in 1786. "It was mostly formed from the second society of Windham, which was formed as a society in 1720, and was called Kennedy, or Windham village. The place appears to have been named from a Mr. Ken- nedy, who, with his family, were the first settlers in the society." His children, especially David, were conspicuous in public affairs during the early settlement of the county. The latter appears as a petitioner to the General Court in 1765 for the sale of the common and undivided lands in Windham. Isaac Canada mar- ried Jan. 21, 1729, Phebe Leonard, daughter probably of Samuel Leonard, of Duxbury, Mass., and Preston, Conn., son of Solomon Leonard, of Duxbury, Mass.
Solomon Leonard, of Duxbury and Bridgewater, Mass., was horn at Mon- mouthshire, England, about 1610, died at Bridgewater, Mass.. 1675. The family is one of considerable antiquity in England, and is represented by Lords Dacre and Earls of Sussex. Solomon Leonard came to America from Leyden, Holland, (whither he had probably gone to escape persecution) about 1630. He was first in Plymouth, Mass., and was one of the incorporators of the town of Duxbury, Mass., 1637. He had land at "Blue Fish," in what is now the northerly part of the village of Duxbury, near the bay; and it is said of him that he "escaped the ravages of fire and flood." With Capt. Miles Standish, Gov. William Brad- ford, John Alden, Constant Southworth and others, Solomon Leonard became one of the original proprietors of Bridgewater, and one of its earliest settlers. Ele
married Mary and had Samuel, John, Jacob, Isaac, Soloman,
Mary.
Samuel Leonard son of Solomon and Mary ( ) Leonard, was born in
Duxbury about 1645. He married Abigail Wood, of Plymouth, before 1676, daughter of John and Sarah Wood, of Plymouth. He lived at Bridgewater at the time, but became an early proprietor of Worcester, Mass., before 1690, where his son Samuel was captured by the Indians. About 1695 he removed to Preston, Conn., and was an original member of the first church there. Nov. 16. 1698. He had six children, of whom Phebe, born Oct. 17, 1703. was the youngest.
Isaac Kennedy or Canada by his wife Phebe (Leonard) Canada had a son Isaac (2).
Isaac Kennedy (2), son of Isaac (1) and Phebe (Leonard) Kennedy. was born in Windham, Conn., Dec. 23, 1732. Referring to the patriotism of the people of Windham, Miss Earned, in her history of Windham (vol. I, p. 566), says: In the war with France, declared 1756, Windham bore her part with unshaken courage and fidelity. "Among those who enlisted from Windham are found the names of Isaac and Jonathan Canada. Although little mention is made of Isaac Kennedy, it is known that he was a man of considerable education and refinement for those days, and a man of property. His life-size portrait re- presents him with a book in his hand, which clearly indicates his tastes and in- clinations. While his name does not appear in the list of "Connecticut Men of
S§ SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
the Revolution," he may have rendered service, as it is known that this list is in- complete. His patriotism was shown in the fact that he had already rendered service in the French war. and at the breaking out of the War of the Revolution, he was well advanced in years. He married Miriam Fitch, daughter of John Fitch. Jr., son of Capt. John Fitch, son of Rev. James Fitch, son of Thomas.
Thomas Fitch, of Bocking, England, born 1590, died 1645, married Aug. 8, [611, Anna Pew, who survived him and came to America with her three younger sons, two elder ones having came some years before, and all settled in Connecti- cut. Several daughters and perhaps other sons remained in England. The five sons who came to America were: Thomas, who came in 1638, and Rev. James, both of whom settled in Norwich. Joseph, who settled at Windsor, and Samuel, who settled at Hartford, and John, who settled at Windsor.
Rev. Jaine^ Fitch, of Norwich and Lebanon. Conn., was the son of Thomas and Anna (Pew) Fitch. The monumental tablet that marks his grave in Lebanon has an elaborate Latin inscription, said to have been written by his son, Rev. Jabez Fitch, of which the following is a translation:
"In this tomb are deposited the remains of the truly Reverend Mr. James Fitch, born at Bocking in the county of Essex. England, December 24, 1622, who, after he had been instructed in the learned languages, came to New England at the age of 16. and passed seven years under the instruction of those eminent divines. Mr. Hooker and Air. Stone. Afterward he discharged the pastoral office at Saybrook for 14 years, from whence, with the greater part of his church, he removed to Norwich, and there spent the succeeding years of his life, engaged in the work of the Gospel, until age and infirmity obliged him to withdraw from public labor. At length he retired to his children at Lebanon, where scarcely half a year had passed when he fell asleep in Jesus Nov. 18. 1702. in the 80th year of his age. He was a man. for penetration of mind, solidity of judgment, devotion to the sacred duties of his office, and entire holiness of life, as also for skill and energy in preaching, inferior to none."
In May. 1656. while Mr Fitch was living at Saybrook. the General Court granted him a "compitent farme containing bet : 2 & 300 Acres at Manun- keteseck."
A majority of the inhabitants of Saybrook joined Mr. Fitch in the applica- tion to the General Court in May, 1659. to establish a plantation in the Mohegan country, as follows :
"Hartford, May 20. '50. This Court haveing considered the petition pre- sented by the inhabitants of Seabrook doe declare yt they approve and consent to what is desired by ye petitioners, respecting Mohegin. proided yt within ye space of three years they doe effect a Plantation in ye place pr' pounded."
Mr. Fitch was eminently successful in his new field of labor, and was greatly beloved throughout the State.
The oldest Election Sermon in Connecticut of which any record has been discovered was preached by Mr. Fitch in 1674 from the text: "For I saith the
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 59
Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of them."
As a pastor, Mr. Fitch was zealous and indefatigable. In addition to other labors he trained several young men for the ministry as he himself had been trained by Mr. Hooker.
He was a man of true philanthropy, and of enlarged missionary zeal. He made early efforts to instruct the natives in the truth of the gospel. He took pains to acquire their tongue and was a frequent visitor at their wigwams. H» impressed them with his own sincerity and benevolence, so that others, who, like Uncas himself, remained obstinate in their unbelief, accorded him their entire confidence and regarded him with affectionate respect.
hn addition to a tract of land of 120 acres, granted him by the General Assembly of Conn., Oweneco. son and successor of Uncas, gave to Mr. Fitch for favors received, a tract of land five miles long and one mile wide along the Franklin line to near the Williamantic river. Mr. Fitch gave the beautiful town of Lebanon, Conn, its name, suggested by the ancient "Cedars of Lebanon."
Mr. Fitch was twice married and had fourteen children, whose births are all recorded at Norwich, though the first son was born in Saybrook. His first wife was Abagail, daughter of Rev. Henry Whitfield, whom he married Oct. 1648; she died at Saybrook, Sept. 9, 1659. and in Oct.. 1664. he married Priscilla. daughter of Major (known as Captain) John Mason.
Major John Mason was noted as a military and civil leader among the col- onists of Connecticut. In both of these capacities he rendered important ser- vice to his fellow-colonists, first by the destruction of the Pequot fort near Groton, Conn., freeing the colony from these inveterate enemies, and later ser- ving for years as magistrate and Deputy Governor of the colony of Connect- icut. He was a prominent member of Mr. Fitche's church in Saybrook, and it was chiefly through his influence that the members were induced to Mohigan (Norwich), of which town they were the founders. Miss Caulkins. in her his- tory of Norwich, says of him : "He is one of the prominent figures -n oi:r early history. He shines forth as a valiant soldier and wise counselor. He was pru- dent, and yet enterprising, fertile in resources ; prompt and heroic in the field of action. The natural ardor of his mind, fostered by early military adventures, and continually called into exercise by great emergencies made him a fearless leader in war. Sturdy in frame and hardy in constitution ; regardless of danger, fatigue or exposure, he was invaluable as a pioneer in difficult enterprises, and a founder of new plantations. He was also a religious man and a patriot of virtuous habits and moderate ambition."
His wife Anne (Peck) Mason was a woman of eminent piety, and gifted with a measure of knowledge above what is usual in her sex. Of the seven children of Major Mason. Priscilla. born Oct. 1641. was the eldest.
Among the children born to Rev. James Fitch by Priscilla ("Mason) Fitch. was John.
Captain John Fitch, eighth child of Rev. James and Priscilla (Mason) Fitch, was born January, 1667. He settled in Windsor, Conn. ; had a superior
60 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
education for that day. He was chosen in 1704, Town Clerk, and held the office by successive re-elections until his decease in 1743, a period of thirty-eight years. He was also Judge of Probate, Captain of militia, and represented the town in General Assembly twenty different sessions, owned the covenant in Norwich church. 1700. He was a man of wealth, superior social position and extensive influence. He married July 10. 1605. Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Thomas and Miriam (Tracy) Waterman.
Thomas Waterman was a nephew of the wife of John Bradford, and the son of Robert Waterman and Elizabeth Bourne of Marshfield, who were married Dec. 9. 16.38. Thomas, their eldest son. was born in 1644. and probably came to Norwich with his uncle Bradford in Nov., 1668. He was joined in wedlock with Miriam, only daughter and youngest child of Thomas Tracy.
Thomas Tracy was born at Tewksbury, Gloucestershire. Eng., in 1610. His descent is traced in a direct line through the several generations to Woden, the first ancestor of the Tracys. who lived in the third century. The line includes Alfred the Great; Aethelbred II. A. D.. 978; John de Sudeley, Lord of Sudeley and Torrington. who married Grace de Tracie. daughter and heiress of Henri de Tracie, Lord of Barnstaple; and Sir William de Tracie, one of the four Knights, who in 1770, at the instigation of King Henry II, assasinated Thomas Becket. Archbishop of Canterbury.
Thomas Tracy, the American ancestor, came to America and settled first at Salem. Mass.. remaining until Feb. 23, 1637. when he removed to Wethersfield, Conn. In 1652 and 1653 he was at Saybrook. In 1645 he and Thomas Leffing- well, with others, relieved Uncas. the Sachem of the Mohigans. with provisions when he was besieged at Shattuck's Point by Pessachus, Sachem of the Narra- gansetts, which led to the subcequcnt grant of the town of Norwich in 1659. He removed there with his family in 1660. and became one of the proprietors. In 1662 he was chosen by the people one of the court of commission ; in 1666 he was appointed "ensign at Norridge." He was deputy to the General Court from Norwich in 1667 to 1676. and in 1678, and in 1682, '83 and '85, he represented Preston. He was a member of the Colonial Assembly for more than twenty sessions. In 1673 he was appointed Lieutenant of the forces raised in New Lon- don county to wage war against the Dutch and Indians. In 1674 he was com- missary or quartermaster to the dragoons, and in 1678 was appointed justice. He was a gentleman of consequence in the community, a thorough business man and of the very best personal character. He left an estate of 5,000 acres of land, valued at £680. He married 1st at Wethersfield, 1641, Mary, widow of Edward Mason. She was the mother of his seven children, and died at Saybrook. He married 2d at Norwich, before 1679. Martha, widow of Gov. Bradford's son John, and a daughter of Thomas Bourne of Marshfield, Mass. He married 3d at Nor- wich. Mary, born 1623 in England, widow first of John Stoddard, who died in 1664 ; second of John Goodrich, who died in 1680. a daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Deming) Foote, of Wethersfield. Seven children were the issue of this marriage, the youngest of whom, Miriam, became the wife of Thomas Waterman, whose daughter Miriam was married to Capt. John Fitch.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 6l
Capt. John Fitch, by his wife Miriam (Tracy-Waterman) Fitch, had four children, of whom John (2) was the youngest.
John Fitch (2) son of Capt. John and Miriam (Tracy-Waterman) Fitch, was born March 18, 1705. He married Jan. 25, 1730, Alice (born Jan. 30, 1713,), daughter of Ebenezer Fitch, son of Major James Fitch. The latter was an influ- ential man, a brave and experienced soldier in the Indian wars, a noted friend of the Indians, with whom (after the death of Major John Mason) he possessed more influence than any one else in the colony. He was active in politics, one of the Assistants, 1681 ; also an early patron of Yale College, to which he gave the glass and nails for its first edifice, and an endowment of 630 acres of land which insured its permanent establishment. He died at Canterbury, Conn., Nov. 10, 1727. His wife Elizabeth was the youngest daughter of Major John Mason (sister to his father's second wife) ; his second wife, to whom he was married May 8, 1687, was Mrs. Alice (daughter of Major William Bradford, son of Gov. Wi'liam Bradford of the Mayflower,), and widow of Rev. William Adams of Dedham, Mass. She was the mother of Alice, wife of John Fitch (2).
John Fitch, by his wife Alice Fitch, had a daughter Miriam, born June 3, 1 741, who married Isaac Kennedy.
Isaac Kennedy, by his wife Miriam (Fitch) Kennedy, had issue Clarinda, born Oct. 19, 1761 ; Jerusha, Feb. 25, 1763; Rachael, March 20, 1765 ;Leonard, March 3, 1767; Harriet, Sep. 16, 1769; Thomas, Nov. 11, 1721 ; Algernon Sidney, Dec. 19. 177S; Lucy Fitch, Sep. 20, 1779; Eunice, June 10, 1783.
LEONARD KENNEDY (1). Leonard Kennedy, eldest son and fourth child of Isaac and Miriam (Fitch)
62 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Kennedy, was born in Windham, Conn., March 3, 1767; died Sept. 19, 1842. He was the first of his family to engage in mechanical and mercantile affairs. He had a fairly good education for the times, and early in life removed to Hartford, Conn., where le established himself in the manufacture an! sale of joiners' tools. With the limited facilities of those days he did an extensive business and achieved quite a reputation in this line, his goods being of the highest stand- ard and quality, and comparing favorably with the best imported goods in the market. He was the Hartford pioneer in this branch of hardware manufactures and was one of the enterprising business men who gave this old town its start as a great manufacturing centre.
Like his father, he was a devout adherent of the old Congregational church and a firm believer in the Calvanist doctrine, but on listening to a sermon from a Universalist minister, he at once became a convert to that faith, and was one of the founders of the First Universalist Church in Hartford. He was a firm believer in the universal brotherhood of man, and was among the first of the old Puritan descendants to put his faith in practice. His love for his fellow-men was strong, and his "faith and works" went together, and in all the affairs of life he exemplified the teachings of the Master and was known in the community as a man of broad and liberal views, both in religion and politics.
Mr. Kennedy married Fanny Parmela Lewis, born in Colchester, April 24, 1781, daughter of Ephraim Lewis and Lois Ransom, son of Ephraim, son of Benjamin, son of Thomas, son of George Lewis, the ancestor.
George Lewis, the ancestor of this branch of the Lewis family, came from East Greenwich, in Kent, Eng. He married Sarah Jenkins, sister of Edward Jenkins, who afterwards emigrated to Plymouth. He joined the church at Scituate, Mass., where he had lands. He was made freeman March 7, 1636; removed to Barnstable 1640, where he resided till his death.
Referring to the origin of this family, Burke says: "This family derives in a direct male line from Cadivor, prince or chieftain of Divet, a portion of country which comprised Pembrokeshire, and part of Carmarthenshire. Cad- ivor flourished about the period of the Norman Conquest, and was buried in the priory of Carmarthen. The family bore Arms— Or, a lion rampant, guardant, sable. Crest— A griffin sejeant, sable. Motto— Ha persa la fide, ha, perso l'honore. Seat — St. Pierre, near Chepstow.
The will of George Lewis, above mentioned, was exhibited at Court, March 3, 1683. It mentions sons Ephraim, George, Thomas, James, Edward, John and daughter Sarah.
Thomas Lewis, sen of George Lewis, was born probably in England. He married June 15, 1653. Mary Davis, daughter of Dola Davis of Cambridge. He removed to Swanzey, Mass., of which he was one of the first settlers; was select- man there; he remove.! thence to Falmouth, of which he was the first town clerk. He had a son Benjamin.
married June 15, 1653, Mary Davis, daughter of Dollard Davis of Cambridge. He daughter of John and Hannah Crowell, and had a son Ephraim.
Ephraim Lewis, son of Benjamin, was born in Colchester, Conn., about 1746.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
63
Ephraim Lewis, son of Benjamin, was born in Colchester, Conn., about 1746. He married Lois Ransom, born Aug. 16, 1748, daughter of James Ransom and Sarah Treadway.
Lieut. James Ransom, Patriot of the Revolution, was Lieutenant of 8th Company, 2nd Regiment (Spencer's). He served during the siege of Boston, took part in the battle of Bunker Hill and later in the battle of Long Island. His name is on the list of New London pensioners in 1832.
Leonard Kennedy (1), by his wife Fanny Parmela (Lewis) Kennedy, had
issue: Daniel Lewis,
>5, 1772; Leonard, Nov. 4, 1794; died April 9, 1796;
Fanny Lewis, Jan. 18, 1797: Leonard again, March 30, 1799; Algernon Sidney, Jan. 2, 1802; Miriam Fiich, March 18, 1804; Jeremiah, April 6, 1806; died Dec. 30, 1807.
LEONARD KENNEDY (2).
Leonard Kennedy (2), son of Leonard (1) and Fanny Parmela (Lewis), was born in Hartford. Conn.. March 30, 1799- His educational advantages were superior to those of his predecessors, as Hartford had at that time, as the result of the sale of the "Western Reserve" lands, probably the best free school system in the country. He succeeded his father in the manufacturing and mercantile business in Hartford, which he carried on for several years. In 1847 he went to Milwaukee, Wis., as the representative of the Aetna and other Hartford in- surance companies, and was the pioneer there in this line of business. He was favorably known from one end of the State to the other. In the very prime of life at that time, he had all the Yankee push, energy and daring, the most important requisites for the development of the new country. He became spe-
64 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
cially interested in the political affairs of the State, being identified with the old Whig party. His influence was felt all the more because he worked for the beneht of others rather than himself. He became the Warwick of his party, and dictated many of the most important appointments 111 the btate. He worked for the success of his party, but wnen any great principle was involved, he placed patriotism above partisanship.
During this period lie was intrusted with a most important and delicate mis- sion by the U. S. Government, viz: that of special agent for the northwest to in- vestigate and correct the abti.-es whicn had gradually crept nno the several land offices throughout that part ul the country, it uas a most hazardous and difficult undertaking, requiring courage, tact, shrewdness and energy. He made long journeys through the wilderness, sail inhabited by Indians, provided with a proper guard, and lull} equipped for "emergencies." He made every agent and dealer in western lands feel that the eye of the Government was upon them, and would exact he most rigid accounting from them in their dealings with settlers. He recommended a system for the correction of the abuses, which was adopted by the Government, removing all friction between real estate operators and set- tlers, restoring confidence and thus encouraging immigration. About 1681 he went to Marysville, Cal., where he remained for a few years, and then returned to his native city of Hartford, where he spent his remaining days amid the scenes of his childhood.
Air. Kenneuy married July 14, 1825, Parthenia Robinson (born at More- town, Vt., Nov. 19, 1802; died at Hartford, Conn., April 11, 1874), daughter of Capt. Elijah Robinson (2), son of Col. Elijah Robinson, son of Benjamin, son of Lieut. Peter, son of Isaac, son of Rev. John Robinson, of Scrooby, England.
Rev. John Robinson, of Scrooby, England, and Leyden, Holland, was born in Lincolnshire, England, 1575; died in Leyden, Holland, March 11, 1625. He took his Master's degree at Cambridge, 1600. He was an eminent divine and was the founder of Congregationalism, which became the creed of the Pilgrim fathers. He married Bridget White, and had Isaac.
Isaac Robinson, son of Rev. John and Bridget (White) Robinson, was born in Leyden, Holland, came to Plymouth, Mass., 1631, moved to Duxbury 1634, and to Scituate 1636, and married Margaret, daughter of Rev. Thomas Hanford, of Norwich, Conn. She died in 1649, and he married 2d, Elizabeth Farence, of Plymouth. They had Peter.
Lieut. Peter Robinson, son of Isaac, was born after 1653; died in 1740. He settled in Norwich and Preston, Conn. ; married Experience, daughter of John Manton.
They had issue Benjamin.
Benjamin Robinson, son of Lieutenant Peter and Experience (Manton) Robinson, born about 1700, settled in Windham and Lebanon, Conn., married Jerusha Bingham, daughter of Capt. Samuel, son of Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2), son of Thomas (1).
The family of Bingham, of Saxon origin, was originally seated at Sutton- Bingham, in the county of Somerset, and thence removed to Melcombe in
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 65
Dorsetshire. Sir John de Bingham, Knight, living in the reign of Henry I, was direct ancestor of Ralph de Bingham, who had two sons, Ralph, his heir. and Robert, a man of eminent piety and learning, consecrated in 1229. Bishop of Salisbury, the building of which Cathedral, commenced by his predecessor, he carried on. This family bore .Inns — Azure, a bend, cottised between six crosses-patee, or. Crest — On a rock ppr. an eagle rising, or. Motto — Spes mea Christus (Christ my hope).
Thomas Bingham (1), the progenitor of the American family of this name, may have been a son or grandson of Thomas, son of Robert Bingham, thir- teenth in descent from Sir John de Bingham. Knight, the first of the name mentioned. Thomas Bingham ( 1 ) was of Sheffield, Eng., master cutler in Cutler's Company, Dec. 21, 1614. He had Thomas (2).
Thomas Bingham (2), son of Thomas (1), was of Sheffield. Eng. He mar- ried July 6, 1631. Anna Stenton. and had Thomos (3).
Thomas Bingham (3), son of Thomas (2). and Anna (Stenton) Bingham, was born in Sheffield, Eng.. 1642, died in Windham. Conn.. Jan. 16. 1730. He was an original settler of Norwich, Conn.. 1660. freeman [661. He moved to Windham. Conn., where he was sergeant, selectman, deacon, etc. He married Mary Rudd, daughter of Lieut. Jonathan Rudd.
Lieut. Jonathan Rudd came to New Haven, Conn., about 1640, and settled first in Saybrook, and later was one of the petitioners for the erection of the town of Preston, Conn., opposite Norwich. He is best known in history as the chief actor in the most romantic marriage that ever took place in the colony. His bride was Faith Ripley. It is known as the "Bride Brook marriage."
The bans were published according to law. the wedding day fixed, the magistrate notified, but alas.
"There's many a slip between the cup and the lip.'*
There came a heavy fall of snow which blocked the roads, and the magistrate, who resided at one of the up-river towns, could not possibly reach there in time. In this dilemma, they applied to Gov. Winthrop to perform the cere- mony, but he, deriving his authority from Massachusetts, could not legally officiate in Connecticut. In his account of the affair he says : "I told them that for an expedient, for their accommodation, if they come to the plantation it might be done. But that bing too difficult for them, it was agreed that they should come to that place which is now called Bride Brook, as being a place within the bonds of that authority whereby I then acted, otherwise I had ex- ceeded the limitation of my commission."
The proposition was accepted. The couple crossed the rue;- to what is now New London county, and on the :>r'mk 01 the little stream, the boundary between the two colonies, the parties met; Winthrop and In- friends from Pequot (New London) and the bridal train from Saybrook. Here the cere- mony was performed under the shelter of no roof by no hospitable fireside. without anv accommodations but those furnished by the snow-covered earth.
66 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
the overarching heavens and perchance the sheltering side of a forest of pines or cedars.
"Firm as the rocky coast they stood
And earnest as the rushing flood
Disdaining fear, yet fearing God,
Each man was both a lamb and lion, With heart of flesh, but nerves of iron.
"She stood like summer on the snow.
No morning dawn around could throw
Such rosy light, so warm a glow —
And hovering clouds with seraphs laden Showered heavenly blessings on the maiden.
"Then hands were clasped and Winthrop prayed ; The life-long covenant was made; High heaven a mute attention paid;
Winds, groves and hills with reverence lowly
Trembled around a scene so holy."
[Bride Brook, issuing from a beautiful sheet of water, known as Bride Lake or Pond, and runs into the Sound about a mile from Grant's Cove. J
Faith Ripley, the bride, was the daughter of Joshua Ripley, son of John, son of William Ripley, the American ancestor.
William Ripley, with his wife, two sons and two daughters, came from Hingham, Norfolk county, England, on ship Diligence, and settled in Hing- ham, Ma>\, 1638. He married for his second wife, Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Thaxter, Sept. 29, 1654. He died July 20, 1656. They had issue John, Abraham, Sarah.
John Ripley, son of William and Elizabeth (Thaxter) Ripley, was born in Hingham, Eng. ; died in Hingham, Mass.. Feb. 3, 1683. He married Eliza- beth, daughter of Rev. Peter Hobart, educated at Magdalen College, Eng., one of the founders of Hingham, Mass., first pastor of the church at Hingham, who died in 1692 in the 60th year of his age. John Ripley and his wife had seven children, of whom Joshua was the third.
[Jael, a daughter of Rev. Peter Hobart, married Joseph, youngest son of Gov. William Bradford.]
Joshua Ripley, third son of John and Elizabeth (Hobart) Ripley, was born May 9, 1658; died May 18, 1739. He settled in Windham, Conn. He married. Nov. 28, 1682, Hannah, sixth child of Gov. William Bradford, and Alice South- worth (widow of Constant Southworth).
Lieut. Jonathan Rudd, by his wife. Faith Ripley, had daughter Mary, who was married to Thomas Bingham (3) of Windham, Conn., father of Capt. Samuel, whose daughter, Jerusha, became the wife of Benjamin Robinson.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 67
Benjamin Robinson, by his wife, Jerusha (Bingham) Robinson, had issue: Elijah and other children.
COL ELIJAH ROBINSON, Patriot of the Revolution. The follow- ing obituary, published after his death, gives a brief record of his services:
Died at Wethersfield, Vt, on the 25th ult., universally lamented, the Hon. Elijah Robinson, aged 73, an officer of the late Revolutionary Army of the U. S. Col. Robinson sustained a share in the service of his country in the war of 1755, and was one of the number who in 1759 traversed the then wilderness from Charleston, N H., to Crown Point. At the commencement of the contest, which terminated in the emancipation of the states he repaired again to the " tented field " and contributed several years' personal service to our freedom and independence. At the close of the Revolution he returned to the wilderness to repair a fortune exhausted in the service of his country. Since his residence in this State he has sustained and discharged several important civil offices with honor and integrity. He was, moreover, a virtuous, exemplary and religious man. His remains were committed to the silent tomb on the Saturday following, accompanied by the greatest concourse of people ever witnessed in this county on a similar occasion.
Another account states:
Col. Elijah Robinson first appears in the Vermont records as represent- ative from Wethersfield, Vt., 1782, when he was appointed councillor. To this office he was elected annually until 1802. In 1783 he was a member of the Board of War, and 1786 he served as Lieut. Colonel in suppressing the at- tempted insurrection in Windsor County. Vt. He was Judge of Windsor County Court from 1782 until 1787; again from 1788 till 1801, and Chief Judge in 1802, making nineteen years of judicial service. He was also a member of the Council of Censors 1785 to 1793. He was elected Brigadier General, but declined to accept the office.
Col. Robinson married, Jan. 22, 1761, in Stafford, Conn., Lydia Scripture, born April 25, 1744. He had issue: Elijah (2).
Capt. Elijah Robinson (2), son of Col. Elijah and Lydia (Scripture) Robinson, was born in Stafford, Conn., in 1762. Like his father he availed himself of the first opportunity to serve his country. The records of the War Department at Washington show that he served as Ensign in Capt. Oliver Lowry's Fourth Company (Williams') Vermont Militia, War of 1812. His name appears on the rolls for the period from August to December, 1812, which bear the remarks: "Commencement of service, July 13, 1812; expe- dition of service, Dec. 8, 1812; term of service, 5 months; engaged for six months."
The record also shows that Elijah Robinson was a Lieut, in Capt. Nehe- miah Perkin's Company, Coming's Detachment, Vermont Militia. His name appears on the rolls for the period from April 22 to 25, 1814, with remarks: "Expedition of service, April 25, 1814; term of service charged, 3 days."
The records further show that Elijah Robinson served as Captain in the 4th (Peck's) Regiment, Vermont Militia, in the War of 1812. His name
68 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
appears on the rolls of the period from Sep. 7 to Oct. 6, 1814, which bear the remarks: "Time charged, one month." Capt. Robinson married, May 30th, 1797, Lydia Bragg, born Nov. 19, 1778; died at Moretown, Vt, March 28. 1864-
Leonard Kennedy (2), by his wife, Parthenia Robinson (daughter of Capt Elijah Robinson), had issue: Miriam Parthenia, born at Utica, N. Y., May 29, 1826; Leonard White, born at Utica, May 25, 1829: died in Brooklyn, July 21, 1898; Fanny Lewis, born at Hartford, Conn., Dec. 4, 1831; Algernon Sidney, born at Hartford, Aug. 20, 1834; died April 2, 1868; Samuel Lewis, born at Hartford, Feb. 9, 1837; Susan Skinner, born at Hartford, Nov. 21, 1839; died Feb. 20, 1840; Elijah. Robinson.
ELIJAH ROBINSON KENNEDY, youngest child of Leonard (2) and Parthenia (Robinson) Kennedy, was born in Hartford, Conn. He went with his parents in early childhood to Milwaukee, Wis., and was educated at public schools and Milwaukee University. While this institution has ceased to exist, its pleasant memories are not permitted to die out. but are kept alive by an association made up principally of his old classmates, of which he is President. Mr. Kennedy laid the foundation for a professional life, and soon after his parents moved to Marysville, Cal.. in 1861 he began the study of law, and while circumstances prevented the continuance of his legal studies, the knowledge thus acquired proved of great advantage to him in after life, and contributed not a little to his business success. Having finally decided to adopt a business career, he obtained a position in a large New York wholesale dry goods house, where his devotion to duty and indus- trious habits soon brought him into closer relations with his employers, which resulted in a subsequent partnership. He contiued in this line until a better opportunity presented itself which he was quick to avail himself of. About 1873 he formed a partnership with Samuel R. Weed in a general insurance busi- ness under the firm name of Weed & Kennedy. His knowledge of law and large business experience proved of great advantage to him, and with a thor- oughly equipped partner the business developed rapidly, and possesses business facilities equal if not larger than any private concern of the kind in the world. It embraces marine, casualty, liability and other departments, and represents in this country six leading European fire insurance companies. With a well- balanced mind, mature judgment and prompt in action, he does the right thing at the right time and at the right place. He has frequently been repre- sented in the most important committees of the Board of Fire Underwriters, and was twice elected President of that body. While chairman of the Board he prepared the standard fire insurance policy, which has proved the best system of any yet devised, and which has been generally adopted throughout the country. Like most successful business men his services have been sought for directorships in various financial and other institutions, but these he has been compelled to decline, as his own affairs required the concentration of all his energies. He is a member of th New York Chamber of Commerce, and frequently participates in its deliberations. He is well known among all classes of business men among whom he has extensive dealings.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 6g
Since Mr. Kennedy became a resident of Brooklyn in the year 1872 he has been conspicuous as one of its most public spirited citizens, and has been identified with many of the most important enterprises for general improvement. He has accepted great responsibilities, the duties of which he has discharged with a singleness of purpose which does credit alike to his heart and his head. As a member of the Board of Park Commissioners he has rendered valuable service. His knowledge obtained by extensive travel abroad was here utilized to good purpose. It was chiefly through his efforts that the beautiful soldiers' memorial arch, at the Flatbush entrance to Prospect Park, was erected in place of the extravagant and costly affair projected in City Hall Park. All the measures which he has advocated for public improvement have proved successful, and there are none which have proved so great a benefit to the city as the Shore Road, of which he was the chief promoter. It extends along Bay Ridge Avenue to Fort Hamilton and includes a part of the old Gowanus Road, opening up a vast tract of land which is being covered by beautiful suburban residences, adding immensely to the city revenues in taxation far exceeding the cost of construction and other expenses. Mr. Kennedy was President of the commission that perfected the plans and made their execution possible.
His patriotism and benevolence go hand in hand. As President of the National Prison-ship Martyrs Association, organized for the purpose of honor- ing the Revolutionary martyrs by a suitable monument in Fort Greene Park, he has given new impetus to the movement which promises successful results. He entered into it with all the ardor and enthusiasm of his nature, which has kindled a like enthusiasm among his associates.
He is a trustee in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, a trustee of the Long Island College Hospital, a member of and director in the New England Society of Brooklyn. Society of Mayflower Descendants, Society of Colonial Wars, New York Society Sons of the Revolution. He is too domestic in his habits to give time to club life, with a happy home and delightful sur- roundings. One of the most beautiful residences fronting on Prospect Park, the interior of which is a model of taste and refinement, while his library of nearly five thousand volumes, covering every variety of subjects, is wholly for use and not for ornament, as his well-stored mind indicates.
Mr. Kennedy has travelled much abroad, and has taken in every point of interest in his own country. He is a keen observer of men and things, and blessed with a retentive memory. Equipped at all times with his favorite camera, in the use of which he is an expert, he has gathered rich treasures abroad which he has used to good advantage as a means of entertainment for his friends at home by the use of stereopticon views. Unselfish in this as in everything else, he has added to the exchequer of churches and societies by public entertainments. Easy and fluent as a speaker, gifted in the power of description, with ready wit and unlimited resources, he knows just how to say the right thing at the righ time. A man of fine literary tastes, he wields a graceful pen, but has never exercised his gifts to any great extent, for lack of
70 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
time. He wrote a pleasing and greatly admired volume of biography on his friend, General John B. Woodward.
In politics, as an active member of the Republican party, he has influenced appointments for others and contributed greatly to the party's success; but with a single exception he has neither asked nor received personal favors. During President Hays' administration his name was prominently mentioned for the position of Consul General to Great Britain, and but for the strongly expressed wish of General Grant to retain in that position his friend, General Badeau, there is no doubt but that Mr. Kennedy would have received the appointment, for which he was eminently qualified.
Having inherited so many characteristics from his distinguised ancestors. it would be difficult to single out any one or more which have contributed so materially to his success in life. His is a composite character which includes the best elements of all, and as it is sometimes pardonable to scatter a few flowers along one's pathway of life even before the grave opens to receive him, it may be said of him without exaggeration:
"A combination and a form indeed Where every god did seem to set his seal To give the world assurance of a man."
Mr. Kennedy married Lucy Brace Pratt, daughter of Henry Zachariah Pratt VIII., son of Harry VII., son of Capt. James VI., son of Zachariah V., son of William IV., son of John III., son of John II., son of John I., the ancestor.
I. John Pratt, 1620-1655, patentee of land at Cambridge, Mass. One of the original members of the Rev. Thomas Hooker's church. Was an original pro- prietor of Hartford, Conn. Representative to First General Cour':, 1639; and several terms afterward. Died at Hartford, July 15, 1655. He married Elizabeth, probably in England.
II. John Pratt (2), son of John (1), freeman, 1657; constable, 1670; died in Hartford, November 23, 1687 ; married Hannah, daughter of Lieut. James Boosey, of Wethhersfield. Conn. Hannah Boosey was born in 1641. His second wife, Hepzibah, survived him. John Pratt (2) had eight children, probably most of them by his first wife.
Lieut. James Boosey of Wethersfield, father of Hannah (Boosey) Pratt. was clerk of the train band. He was a gentleman of large estate. He was depu- ty to General Court for 1639, '40, '41, '42, '43, '44, '45. '46. '47, '48. '49. He, with Hon. Edward Hopkins, Gen. John Mason and John Steel, were appointed Com- missioners on the part of Connecticut to Articles of Agreement with Gov. Fen- wick of Sea Brook Fort, for the purchase of the fort, and of his lands and such as were not disposed of on the River. He had five children.
III. John Pratt (3), born in Hartford, May 17, 1661 ; died about 1747;. married Hannah, daughter of Robert Sandford, Jr., of Hartford.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. "]\
Robert Sandford, Jr., was the son of Robert Sandford and Anne Adam-;, daughter of Jeremy Adams, one of the original proprietors of Hartford.
IV. William Pratt, son of John Pratt (3), was born in Hartford, 169 1 ; died in Hartford, January 19, 1753; married Amy Pinncy, born Oct. 6, 1704; she died June 10, 1772. She descended from Humphrey Pinncy of Brcadway, Som- erset County, England, who came early to Windsor, Conn., and was one of its founders. She was also descended from Wm. Thrall of Windsor, who was a soldier in the Pequot War. Edward Griswold, one of the founders of Windsor, was also her ancestor.
V. Zachariah Pratt, son of William, was born in Hartford, March 25, 1727; died in Hartford, October 5, 1805; married Abigail Cooke, Jan. 23, 1750-1. She was born June 29, 1727; she died April 10, 1818.
Abigail Cooke was the fourth generation from Capt. Aaron Cooke of Dor- chester, Mass., and later at Windsor and Northampton, where she died Sept. 5, 1690, aged 80. She was also a descendant in third generation from Lieut. John Allyn, and fourth generation from Hon. Matthew Allyn, one of the original settlers of Hartford and Windsor.
VI. Captain James Pratt, Revolutionary officer, son of Zachariah, was born in Hartford, October 14, 1753; died in Hartford, January 3, 1820; married Mary Burr, born January 20, 1754; she died March 23, 1822. She was a descendant of Benjamin Burr, original settler of Hartford, in the line of Thomas, and Thomas Burr, Jr. The line of Burrs have Wadsworth and Webster ancestry. Benjamin Burr served in the Pequot War.
VII. Harry Pratt, son of Capt. James, was born in Hartford, June 9, 1778; died in Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 31, 1853; married Susan Cleveland. She was born in Norwich, Conn., Sept. 26, 1784: died in Geneva, N. Y., Aug. 19, 1883. ( See Cleveland Family.)
Henry Zachariah Pratt, ,son of Harry, born in Hartford, Conn. March 6, 1813; died in Hartford, Conn., August 31, 1863; married Aug. 19, 1835. Lucy E. Brace, born July 5, 1814, in Hartford. She died in New York Feb. 1, 1866.
IX. Lucy Brace Pratt, born Feb. 2j, 1846, in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; married Dec. 2, 1874, Elijah Robinson Kennedy, who was born in Hartford, May 6, 1844. Their children are Sidney Robinson Kennedy, born in Brooklyn. Nov. 19, 1875 ; Susan Pratt Kennedy, born in Brooklyn, Feb. 26. 1880; Leonard Kennedy, born in Brooklyn, May 20, 1886.
I. Moses Cleveland, 1624-1701-2, was born in Ipswich, England, about 1624. Came to America about 1635 ; of Woburn, Mass., prior tc 1642. Militia, 1663. Soldier in King Philip's War. Died Jan. g. 1701-2. Married Ann Winn, daugh- ter of Edward and Joanna Winn.
II. Mr. Aaron Cleveland, born in Woburn, Jan. 10, 1654-5 ; died at Wo- burn, Sept. 24, 1716; married Sept. 26, 1675, Dorcas Wilson, daughter of John and Hannah (James) Wilson. She died in 1714.
III. Captain Aaron Cleveland (2), born in Woburn, July 9, 1680; died at Medford, Mass., about Dec. 1, 1755; married at Woburn, Jan. 1, 1701-2. Abigail
7 J SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Waters, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Hudson) Waters. She was born Nov. 29, 1683, in Woburn, Mass.
IV. Rev. Aaron Cleveland (3). born in Medford, Mass., Oct. 19 or 29, 1715. Graduated from Harvard College, 1735. Died at the home of his friend. Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Second Street, Philadelphia. Aug. II, 1757, and is buried in Christ church-yard there. Dr. Franklin wrote his obituary, which was published in "The Pennsylvania Gazette" of August 18, 1757, as follows:
"On Thursday last, after a lingering illness, died here, the Res-. Mr. Cleve- land, lately appointed to the mission at New Castle, by the "society for propo- gating the Gospel.'' He was a gentleman of a humane and pious disposition, indefatigable in his ministry, easy and affable in his conversation, open and sin- cere to his friends, and above every species of meanness and dissimulation. His death is greatly lamented by all who knew him. as a loss to the public, a loss to the Church of Christ in general, and in particular to that congregation who had proposed to themselves so much satisfaction from his late appointment among them, agreeable to their own request."
The Rev. Aaron Cleveland (3). married Aug. 4, 1739, Susannah Porter, daughter of Susannah ( Sewall ) Porter and the Rev. Aaron Porter of Salem. Susannah Porter was born in 1716; died 1788. She was the granddaughter of Major Stephen Sewall of Salem, and Margaret Mitchell, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Mitchell, who in 1662. with Daniel Gookin, was made first licensers of the press of Massachusetts.
V. Rev. Aaron Cleveland (4 I, born Feb. 3, 1744, in Haddam, Conn.; died Sept. 21, 1815. in New Haven. He was a Congregational minister, a man of in- telligence, great wit and humor: also of much poetical talent. In 1775 he pub- lished a poem against slavery, and in 1779. while a representative in the Legis- lature, "introduced a bill for its abolition." Married. April 12. 1768. at Nor- wich, Conn.. Abiah Hyde, only daughter of Capt. James Hyde and Sarah Mar- shall. Abiah Hyde was fourth in descent from Win. Hyde, one of the original proprietors of Hartford and Norwich. Abiah Hyde was born at Norwich, Dec. 27, 1749: died Aug. 2.^, 1788.
VI. Susan Cleveland, born in Norwich, Sept. 26, 1784; died in Geneva, N. Y., Aug. 19. 1883; married May 11, 1804, Harry Pratt, born in Hartford, June 9. 1778; died in Rochester, N. Y., Dec. 31, 1853.
VII. Henry Zachariah Pratt. Lucy E. Brace.
VIII. Lucy Brace Pratt. Elijah Robinson Kennedy.
I. Stephen Brace. — — 1692. Came from London. England, and settled in Hartford. Conn., about 1660. He was of good standing and estate. He owned land in Rocky Hill, Great Meadow and other places, including his Podaquanck lands. The Brace family took its name from Brecy. a place near Caen, Nor- mandy, France. Rudolphus de Braccio occurs in a Norman charter of 1082. His son William held as a fee, Wisterton, Cheshire, and William's son, Robert de Bracey. held three Knights' fees in the same country. From this Cheshire fam- ily have descended many branches. Our New England ancestor pronounced hi*
SON'S OF THE REVOLUTION. 73
name still as Bracey. The c was undoubtedly pronounced as s in Norman times.
II. John Brace, born in Hartford, Conn., 1677; married Feby. 22, 1705-6, Mary Webster, daughter of Jonathan Webster and Dorcas (Bronson) Hopkins. Mary Webster was the third generation from Hon. Richard Treat, named in the Royal Charter, one of the Patentees for Connecticut, 1662. Jonathan Webster was son of Lieut. Robert Webster, son of Governor John Webster, fifth Colonial Governor of Connecticut. Mary Webster was born Sept. 29, 1688; died May 3, 1741-
III. Jonathan Brace, bapt. Second Church. Hartford. Nov. 30. 1707: died about 1788 in Harwinton, Conn.; married Nov. 9, 1738, Mary Messenger. " After Jonathan Brace, the father of Judge Brace, was engaged to be married to Miss Messenger of Hartford, he passed over the bridge between Hartford and West Hartford to make her a visit, and, while he was crossing the bridge, she was drowning in the river under it, having upset in a boat ; and he soon after married Mary Messenger, who became the mother of his children." (Hinman's Con- necticut Settlers, p. 308.)
IV. Judge Jonathan Brace. Yale. 1779: born Nov. 12. 1754; died Aug. 26. 1837: married April 15. 1778. Mrs. Ann White Kimberly, born Oct. 23. 1753. Mid- dletown. Conn. ; died Dec. 7. 1837. in Hartford. Ann White was fourth in de- scent from Elder John White of Hartford; third in descent from Lieut. Daniel White of Hatfield. Mass.. and granddaughter of Capt. Daniel White. In 1799 Judge Brace was chosen Representative to Congress, and remained in office until May, 1801, which was the last meeting of Congress held in Philadelphia. He held many important offices in Vermont and Connecticut.
V. The Hon. Thomas Kimberly Brace, born in Hartford, Oct. if., 1770: died in Hartford, June 14, i860; married Aug. 25. 1807, Lucy Mather Lee. daugh- ter of John Lee and Lucy Mather, daughter of Dr. Samuel Mather, fifth in de- scent from Rev. Richard Mather. Lucy Mather Lee was born in Westfield. Mass., Jan. 20, 1767: died Oct. T2. T7S5. "The Hon. Thomas K. Brace graduated at Yale College in 1801 ; read law at Litchfield with Judges Reeve and Gould, and was admitted to the Bar." (Hinman's Conn. Settlers, p. 308.)
"The first president of the Aetna Ins. Co. was Thomas K. Brace, who served from i8i9to 1857. Mr. Brace was born in Hartford in 1770, and died June 14.1860. He was graduated at Yale College in 1801. In 1831 and 1832 he represented Hartford in the Legislature, as his father had done in 1798. He was elected Mayor of Hartford three successive years, beginning with 1840, and was a can- didate for Congress in 1843 and 18.15. He was identified with the Aetna Insur- ance Company from its organization, and its great prosperity has been attributed in no small degree to his wise management." — J. Hammond Trumbull.
VI. Lucy Elizabeth Brace, born in Hartford. July 5. 1814; died in New York. Feb. t. t866: married in Hartford. Aug. 19. 1835; Henry Zachariah Pratt, born in Hartford. March 6. 1813: died in Hartford. Aug. 31, 1863.
The following obituary was taken from the "Hartford Courant." Sept.. 1863:
74 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
"Our obituary record for the past week announces the decease of Mr. Henry Z. Pratt, who has long been known among us as a high-minded and honorable busi- ness man and a valued member of society. Mr. Pratt was born in this city in the year 1813, and at the age of fifteen became a clerk in tbe bookstore of Messrs. George Goodwin & Sons, then publisbers of the Connecticut Courant. He com- menced business in 1834 as a member of the publishing house of Robinson and Pratt ; the firm was removed to New York in the following year, and after en- joying several years of great prosperity, subseque ntly became Pratt, Woodford & Co., and finally in 1858, Pratt, Oakley and Co. In these various connections, a large number of standard educational works were published, such as Olney's Geography, Comstock's Philosophy and Chemistry, Bullion's series of Grammars and other valuable school books. In his business career Mr. Pratt displayed great energy, industry and sagacity, and the highest sense of mercantile honor. Having safely weathered the financial storms of '37 and '57. his prosperity received its first reverse in the unlooked for and unavoidable crisis caused by the Southern rebellion. The large sums due to his house by repudiating Southern merchants crippled its resources materially and it was finally obliged to succumb to the tide of adverse circumstances. The care and anxiety consequent upon this calamity, seriously affected Mr. Pratt's health, and he never recovered from the blow. A year since, he was elected vice-president of the Aetna Insurance Co., with which he had long been connected as a director, and continued to hold the office until his decease. The large concourse of friends and neighbors assembled to pay the last sad offices to this esteemed citizen and valued friend, attest how highly Mr. Pratt was honored in life, and lamented in death; but who may es- timate the loss to his bereaved family? Singularly happy in his domestic rela- tions, the removal of this most tender, devoted husband and indulgent parent, leaves his fireside utterly desolate. "The places that once knew him shall know him no more forever," but the memory of this noble Christian gentleman will long be cherished by the community in which he lived, and in the heart of hearts of those who knew and loved him best.
VII. Lucy Brace Pratt, born in Brooklyn. N. Y.. Feb. 27, 1846; married in New York. Dec. 2, 1874; Elijah Robinson Kennedy, born in Hartford, May 6, 1844-
The children of Elijah Robinson Kennedy and Lucy Brace Pratt were:
Susan Pratt Kennedy, born in Brooklyn, N. Y.. Feb. 26. t88o.
Leonard Kennedy, born in Brooklyn, May 20, 1886.
WELLES AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
In none of the old New England families has the law of heredity been more clearly exemplified than in that of the Welles family. Men in each generation, from the ancestor to the latest representative of the family, have borne a prominent part in the great events of their period, and have rendered important service to their country. The allied families have also been repre-
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 75
sented by men of strong character and marked influence in their day and generation.
The derivation of the name of Welles is said to be traced to the year 794. from which period they held the highest rank personally and by royal inter- marriages. It was founded in England after the Conquest by Harrold de Vaux (a near connection of William the Conquror) and his three sons. Baron" Hubert, Ranulph and Robert. The descent is through the younger son. Robert, whose grandson. William, had four sons. William, A. D. 1194, one of these, became the founder of that long line of noblemen of Lincolnshire, whose history is given in full by Dugdale in his standard work on the Baronage of England.
Governor Thomas Welles the New England ancestor, was born in Essex. England, in 1598: died in Wethersfield. Conn.. Jan. 14. 1660. He came to America and settled in Hartford, Conn. He was elected one of the six magis- trates first chosen at the organization of the government at Hartford, and annually re-elected until his death, a period of more than twenty years. In 1639 he became first Treasurer of the colony, and held that office till 165 1. He was Secretary of Conn., 1640-8, and was Commissioner of the united colonies in 1649 and again in 1654. During the absence of Gov. Edward Hopkins in England, in 1654, he was elected Moderator of the General Court, and in the same year he was chosen Deputy Governor. In 1655 he was elected governor, but after two years he returned to the offiice of Deputy Governor. He was chosen Governor for the second time in 1658, and in 1659 again held the office of Deputy Governor.
He had the full confidence of the people, and many of the most important of the early laws and papers pertaining to the founding of the colony were drafted by him. The successful issue of Connecticut from her difficulty con- cerning the fort erected at Saybrook on one side, and the Dutch encroach- ments on the other, was largely due to his skill and wisdom. He brought with him from England three sons, John, Thomas and Samuel, and three daughters. Mary, Ann and Sarah. He took for his second wife Elizabeth, widow of Nathaniel Foote of Wethersfield.
Capt. Samuel Welles (i), fifth child of Gov. Thomas Welles, was born in Essex. Eng.. 1630. and in the autumn of that year he moved to Hartford, where he lived until 1649. when he removed to Wethersfield and remained there until his death, July 15. 1675. He commanded a company in the Great Swamp Fight. He was elected Deputy Magistrate at Hartford, 1657 to 1661, inclusive. He married 1st Elizabeth, daughter of John Hollister, of Wethersfield. who was made a freeman at Weymouth, Mass., 1643. was a representative of the General Court of Mass., 1644, and in November of the same year in Conn. He removed to Wethersfield, and was a representative 1645 and often until 1656. He was Lieutenant of the train band. He, with others, was engaged in the contro- versy with Rev. John Russell which caused the plantation of Hadley, Mass., 1659. He married Joanna, daughter of Richard Treat, who was the father of
y6 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Gov. Robert Treat. Samuel Welles married for his second wife Hannah Lam- bertson, daughter of George Lambertson, of New Haven. Conn. By his first wife he had six children, of whom Samuel (2) was the eldest.
Capt. Samuel Welles (2). son of Samuel (1) and Joanna (Hollister) Welles, was born in Wethersfield April 5, 1660. He removed about 1685 to Glastonbury, where he remained until his death, August 28, 1731. He was Captain of the train band in that town and was conspicuous in public affairs. He married Ruth Rice, daughter of Edward and Mercie Rice, of Sudbury and Marlborough. Mass.. son of Samuel, son of Edmund Rice, born at Bark- hams'tead, Eng., 1594; died at Sudbury. Mass.. 1663; came to New England 1638-9; settled at Sudbury, where he was prominent in town affairs. The family is of Welsh origin, the name being Ap Rhys. Capt. Samuel Welles. by his wife. Ruth (Rice) Welles, had eight children, of whom Thaddeus was sixth.
Thaddeus Welles, sixth child of Captain Samuel and Ruth (Rice) Welles, was born at Glastonbury, Conn., May 27, 1695; died there Dec. 22, 1780. He was a successful farmer and raised high-bred, speedy horses. He refused all offers of public office . He married, about 1725. Elizabeth, daughter of Deacon Timothy (Pitkin) Cowles. of East Hartford, son of Samuel, of Farmington, Conn., son of John Cowles, one of the first settlers of Hartford, and one of the original proprietors of Farmington. one of the seven pillars of the church established 1652, deputy to the General Court, six sessions, beginning 1653. Hannah Pitkin, the mother of Deacon Timothy Cowles. was the daughter of William Pitkin, of Hartford, a lawyer, Att'y for the Colony of Conn., repre- sentative at the General Court 1675. Treasurer 1676; married Hannah, only daughter o1: Ozias Goodwin. Thaddeus Welles, by his wife. Elizabeth (Cowles) Welles, had a son Samuel (3).
CAPT. SAMUEL WELLES (3). Patriot of the Revolution, son of Thaddeus and Elizabeth (Cowles) Welles, was born in Glastonbury, Conn., about 1727. When the call for troops was made by Gov. Trumbull, in June, 1776, to reinforce Washington at New York. Capt. Samuel Welles was placed in command of Seventh company, Col. Gay's Battalion of Wadsworth's Brigade, and remained in the defences at New York until shortly before the battle of Long Island. His company was in the thickest of the fight on May 27, and in all the succeeding events which included the Kips Bay affair in New York on Sep. 15. Referring to this. Johnson says: " During these scenes Wadsworth's and Scott's Brigades, which were below Douglass on the river lines, saw that their only safety lay, also, in immediate retreat, and falling back, they joined the other brigades above, though not without suffering some loss." A soldier of Gay's regiment, in writing of the affair, says: "We soon reached the main road which our troops were traveling, and the first conspicuous person I met was Gen. Putnam. He was making his way toward New York when all were going from it."
It was during this affair of Sep. 15 that Capt. Welles was captured and
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 77
held as prisoner for nearly two years; exchanged June. 1778. He was after- ward attached to the State Militia, and commanded a company during Tryon's Invasion, known as the " New Haven Alarm." July 5, 1779.
Capt. Welles married, in Aug., 1752, Lucy, daughter of Abraham Kilbourn and Mary Tudor, his wife, son of John (2), son of John (1), of Wethersfield. 1647, son of Thomas Kilbourn, from Wood Ditton, Cambridge, who came to Boston in the Increase, in 1635, with wife Francis and children. They had issue Samuel (4) and others
SAMUEL WELLES. Patriot ok the Revolution son of Capt. Samuel and Lucy (Kilbourn) Welles, was born in Glastonbury. Conn., Oct. 6, 1754; died Nov. 12, 1834. His name is found among the list of troops from the town of Glastonbury as "Samuel Welles Jun. who Marched from the Connecticut Towns for the relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm," April, 1775. He enlisted Feb. 27, 1777, in Fourth Troop, Connecticut Dragoons, and continued in service until the close of the war. He was a representative in the StaV^ Legislature, a member of the Convention which framed the present State Constitution of Conn., presidential elector in the second election of James Monroe. He was a prominent ship builder and ship owner. He married. May 1, 1782, Anna (born 1763), daughter of Gideon Hale, son of Benjamin, son of Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1), the ancestor.
Samuel Hale came to the Colony of Connecticut at a very early period, was at Hartford, 1637, a soldier in the Pequot war, for which he received a lot in the soldiers' field. In 1639 he owned land in Hartford on the east side of the river, but in 1643 he was a resident of Wethersfield. In 1655 he resided in Norwalk. but returned to Wethersfield in 1660, though he did not sell his property there before 1669. While residing in Norwalk he represented that town in the General Court in 1656-7-60. After his return to Wethersfield he hired the Governor Welles estate of the " Overseers." By his wife,
Mary . he had eight children, of whom Samuel (2) was the second
child and eldest son.
Samuel Hale (2) son of Samuel (1) and Mary ( ) Hale, was born
in 1645. He married 1st Ruth, daughter of Thomas Edwards, and had three children. He married 2d Dec. 26, 1682. Mary, daughter of Capt. SamvW Welles, and had five children, of whom Benjamin was the fourth.
Benjamin Hale, son of Samuel (2) and Mary (Welles) Hale, was born July 22, 1707. He married. June 30. 1729. Hannah Talcott, daughter of Lieut. Benjamin Talcott, born March 1. 1674; died Nov. 27. 1727. The latter married Sarah Hollister. daughter of John Hollister. Jr. (born 1642; died 171 1), and Sarah Goodrich. John Hollister. Jr., was the son of Lieut. John Hollister. who married Joan Treat, daughter of Richard Treat, born 1590, died 1669; Deputy to the General Court of Mass.. 1644, and to that of Conn, 1645-6; Lieut, of the Train Band. &c. Lieut. Benjamin Talcott. father of Hannah Talcott, born 1674, died 1727; Lieut, of Glastonbury Train Band, Deputy to General Court, &c. ; son of Capt. Samuel Talcott, born 1635, was with the Hartford Troop of Dragoons at Deerfield in King William's war; Lieut.
78 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
1677, Captain 1681, Deputy to the General Court 1669-84, Assistant 1685-91; son of " The Worshipful " JohnTalcott, born 1600, died 1660; Deputy to the General Court of Mass. 1634-36. Deputy to the General Court of Conn. 1637-53, Assistant (member of Governor's Council) 1654-60. Treasurer 1652-60, Com- missioner for United Colonies 1656-58; son of John Talcott, of Braintree, Eng.. son of John, of Colchester, Eng., son of John Talcott. of Warwickshire, Eng.
Benjamin Hale, before mentioned, by his wife, Hannah (Talcott) Hale, had a son Gideon.
Gideon Hale, son of Benjamin and Hannah (Talcott) Hale, born July 22, 1707; died July 22, 1784. He married Mary White, daughter of Ebenezer White (born May 12, 1707; died March 27, 1756), and Ann Hollister, born Jan. 6, 1707; died June 16, 1787), son of Joseph White (born 1629; died Aug. 27, 1711), and Elizabeth — — (born 1625, died 1690); son of Elder John White (born 1600, died 1683). Gideon Hale, by his wife, Mary White, had, among other children, Anna and Hannah.
Anna Hale, daughter of Gideon Hale, was born 1763, died June II, 1816; married May 1, 1782, to Samuel Welles; after her death Hannah, her youngest sister, was married to him.
Samuel Welles (4), by his firfist wife, Anna (Hale) Welles, had Gideon and other children.
Hon. Gideon Welles, son of Samuel (4) and Anna (Hale) Welles, was born in Glastonbury, Conn., July 1, 1802; died at Hartford, Conn., Feb. 11, 1878. He was educated at the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire, and entered the University of Vermont ; but without completing his collegiate course he began the study of law in the office of Thomas S. Williams, afterwards Chief Justice of Connecti- cut. In 1826 he became editor and one of the proprietors of the Hartford Times, continuing till 1854, although he retired from the responsible editorship in 1836. He made his paper the chief organ of the Democratic party in the State and New England. This was the first paper to advocate the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency, and earnestly upheld his administration. Mr. Welles was a member of the Legislature, 1827-^^- and both in that body and in his journal attacked with severity the proposed measures to exclude from the courts wit- nesses that did not believe in the future state of rewards and punishment. He also labored for years to secure the abolition of imprisonment for debt, opposed special and private legislation, and secured the passage of general laws for the organization of financial corporations. He was the first to advocate low postage. Ions before it began to attract general attention. He was chosen Comptroller of the State by the Legislature in 1835, and elected to that office by popular vote in 1842 and 1843, being also in the intervening years postmaster of Hartford. From 1846 till 1849 he was chief of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing in the Navy Department at Washington.
Mr. Welles had always opposed the extension of slavery, and early identified himself with the Republican party. He began his work for the Republicans in the columns of the Evening Press, a Republican journal which was started in 1856. A contemporary writer says:"In building up the Connecticut Republicans no
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
70
one voice was so powerful through the press as that of Gideon Welles."' He was Republican candidate for governor of Connecticut in 1856, and in i860 was chairman of the Connecticut delegation to the convention at Chicago which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency, and labored earnestly for his election. In the formation of his cabinet the first name selected by President Lincoln was that of Hon. Gideon Welles, who entered the cabinet as Secretary of the Navy. His executive ability compensated for his previous lack of special knowledge, and though many of his acts were severely criticised, his administration was popular with the Navy and with the country at large. His
So SONS OF THE REVOLUTION'.
facility as a writer made his state papers more interesting than such documents usually are.
In his first report, dated July 4, 1861. he announced the increase of his effective naval force from forty-two to eighty-two vessels. This and the sub- sequent increase in a few months to more than 500 vessels was largely due to his energy. In the same report he also recommended investigation to secure the best iron-clads, and this class of vessels was introduced under his administration. In the Cabinet, Mr. Welles opposed all arbitrary measures, and objected to the declaration of a blockade of Southern ports, holding that this was a virtual ac- knowledgement of belligerent rights, and that the preferable course would be to close our ports to foreign commerce by proclamation. By request of the President he presented his ideas in writing, but the Cabinet finally yielded to the views of Secretary Seward. Early in the war, on Sept. 25, 1861, he ordered that the negro refugees that found their way to U. S. vessels should be enlisted in the navy. Referring to his administration, a writer says: "More than the country yet knows it was the firmness and wisdom of Gideon Welles that at certain junctures, served unseen, to turn the tide of fortune in favor of the Government. He held his post to the close of President Johnson's administration in 1869. A brief summary of the work of the Navy Department under Mr. Welles adminis- tration shows that during the war 208 vessels were commenced and nearly all of them completed; 418 vessels were purchased; the number of men in the service was increased from 7,600 to 51,500; the number of artisans and laborers in various navy yards was increased from 3,844 to J 6,880; not to mention almost as many more engaged in private shipyards and establishments under contracts. The total sum expended by the navy during the war was $314,170,960.68, or an annual average expenditure of $72,500,990.93.
In 1872 Mr. Welles acted with the Liberal Republicans, and in 1876 he advo- cated the election of Samuel J. Tilden, afterwards taking strong grounds against the Electoral Commission and its decision. After his retirement fro-n office he contributed freely to current literature on the political and other events of the Civil War, and provoked hostile criticism by what many thought his harsh stric- tures on official conduct. In 1872 he published an elaborate paper to show that the capture of New Orleans in 1862 was due entirely to the Navy, and in 1873 a volume entitled "Lincoln and Seward."
Mr. Welles married Mary Jane, daughter of Elias W. Hale, of Lewistown. Pa., and had issue: Annie J., Samuel, Edward G., Edgar Thaddcus. Thomas G., John A., Herbert, Mary J., and Hubert.
EDGAR THADDEUS WELLES, Sooetv Sons of the Revolution, fourth child of Hon. Gideon and Alary Jane (Hale) Welles, was born Aug. 29, 1843, at Hartford, Conn. His preparatory course of education was received at the High School of his native city (one of the best schools in the country). He entered Yale in i860, graduating in 1864. He was admitted to the bar. but did not prac- tice. In 1866 he was appointed chief clerk of the U. S. Navy Department. He resigned this position in 1869. He became treasurer and manager of the Gatling Gun Company, of Hartford, which prospered greatly under his supervision.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 8l
Later, Mr. Welles became interested in the Granby Mining and Smelting Company (lead and zinc), and was made its president. He was appointed re- ceiver of the National Bank of the State of Missouri ; president of the Interna- tional Company of Mexico, and of the Mexican Steamship Company and their subsidiary organizations; vice-president of the Wabash Railroad Company; vice- president of the National Heating Company, director in the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Company, the Wabash Railroad Company, the Peoria and Union R. R. Co., the United States Trust Company of Hartford, the B. and O. S. W. R. R. Co., and president of the Consolidated Coal Company. He is a member of the various clubs and societies of New York City, among which are the Union, Uni- versity, Lawyers' and Down Town clubs, the Yale Alumni Association, etc.
While long separated from the home of his early childhood, he still clings fondly to these old associations. He owns the original estate on which his Hart- ford ancestors settled in 1635, and also that of the Hale family at Glastonbury. Both are well preserved and many of the old landmarks still remain.
EIMiAR TIIADDHUS WKLLES.
Married Alice, daughter of Charles H. Brainard, of Hartford, and has one child, a daughter Alice, born in 1880.
Thomas G., died February, 1892, left two sons, Samuel and Thomas.
M SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
TERRY—TAYLOR, AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
The anci^try of John Taylor Terry, No. 906, Sons of the Revolution, includes one distinguished hero of the American Revolution and four others who ren- dered important service in "the days that tried men's souls." These were Colonel Nathaniel Terry, Eliphalet Terry, and Eldad Taylor.
The direct line of Mr. Terry, including the marriages with the Terry and Taylor family, is traceable in a direct line to some of the most distinguished of the early New England colonists, and through Mabel Harlakenden to King Ed- ward I of England, and from him to William the Conqueror. Among his New England forefathers were George Wyllys, Governor of Connecticut, in 1642 (the ancestor of Col. Samuel Wyllys, a distinguished officer, who rendered important service at the battle of Long Island); John Haynes (husband of Mabel Harla- kenden), the colonial Governor of Massachusetts (1635); the first Governor of Connecticut (1639), and re-elected to the office successively until his death, in 1656, with an exception of an interim of five years, when he declined re-election: William Bradford, the famous Governor of Plymouth colony, and Alice, his wife, n£e Carpenter; William Partridge, treasurer of Connecticut; Samuel Terry, patentee of Enfield, Conn. ; Rev. Nathaniel Collins, Rev. W. Adams, John White. Elder W. Goodwin, Rev. Henry Flynt, whose wife was Margery Hoar, a sister of President Hoar, of Cambridge; Samuel Wyllys, and Rev. Edward Taylor. Both paternally and maternally Mr. Terry is descended from Samuel Terry, the American ancestor.
Samuel Terry (1) was born at Barnet, near London, Eng., 1632. He came to America on the Pynchon, and settled in Springfield, Mass., 1650. He married Jan. 3, 1660, Ann Lobdell, supposed to be a sister of Simon, one of the founders of Hartford, Conn. He had nine children, of whom Samuel (2) was the eldest.
Samuel Terry (2), eldest child of Samuel (1) and Ann (Lobdell) Terry, was born in Springfield, Mass., July 18, 1661 ; died in Enfield, Conn., Jan. 2, 1730. He was one of the original proprietors or patentees of the town, and held many important positions. In the public records he is mentioned as "gentleman." He was constable, selectman, captain in the militia, etc. He married, 1st, May 17, 1682, Hannah, daughter of Miles Morgan. They had issue Ephraim.
Ephraim Terry, son of Samuel and Hannah (Morgan) Terry, was born in Enfield, Oct. 24, 1701 ; died there Oct. 14, 1783. He was a lawyer by profession and a man of some prominence. He married Sep. 13, 1728, Ann, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel and Alice (Adams) Collins, the latter the daughter of Rev. W. Adams, who married Alice, granddaughter of Gov. William Bradford, of the Mayflower. They had issue Eliphalet.
Eliphalet Terry, son of Ephraim and Ann (Collins) Terry, was born in Enfield, Conn., Dec. 24, 1742. He was also a lawyer, Probate Judge, Judge of the County Court, deacon-in the Congregational church, and a man much respected. He was from 1778 to 1812 (the time of his death) a member of the Connecticut Legislature, and most of the time Speaker of the House. He married Mary Dwight Hall, of Middletown, and had issue Roderick.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. &3
Roderick Terry son of Eliphalet and Mary Dwight (Hall) Terry, was born in Enfield, March 12, 1788; died Feb. 9, 1849. He was a successful merchant; was president of the Exchange Bank of Hartford, member of the Common Coun- cil, Alderman, etc. He married Harriet, daughter of Rev. John Taylor, whose wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Terry.
COLONEL NATHANIEL TERRY of the Revolution was a descendant in the fourth generation of Samuel, the ancestor. He was born in Enfield. June 3, 1730; died Feb. 20, 1792. He was Major, in command of the Enfield troops, who "marched for the relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm." April, 1775. He left Enfield immediately with 72 men, and was joined shortly afterwards by 35, forming a battalion of 107 men, with two captains, two lieutenants and sub- ordinate officers. Jacob Terry, Jr., Shadrach Terry and Daniel Terry were also members of this battalion. He was probably in continuous service from that time until his promotion to Lieut. Colonel, and was no doubt sent forward with other Continental troops after the battle of Bunker Hill to the defences on Long Island. It is said that he bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Long Island, but owing to the demoralization of the American army, incident to the defeat, the records are imperfect. He was promoted Lieut. Colonel of the Nineteenth Conn. Regi- ment in Dec, 1776 (Lieut. Col. George Pitkin having resigned on account of ill- health), and in May of the following year was commissioned Colonel. His was one of the fourteen Connecticut regiments engaged in the campaign in and around New York in 1776, some of which participated in the battles of Long Island, Har- lem Heights, White Plains and other engagements. He was a prominent mer- chant, and a zealous patriot, both civil and military, during the War of the Revo- lution, in which he sacrificed a large property, depending in his old age on his pension received from the government. He married Abiah. daughter of Samuel and Mary (Lyman) Dwight (born in Middletown April 9, 1732; died June 14, 1816). His daughter Elizabeth, as has been already stated, became the wife of Rev. John Taylor.
Rev. Edward Taylor, the grandfather of Rev. John Taylor, was born at Sketchley, near Coventry, Leicestershire, Eng. He studied four years at Cam- bridge University, graduated at Harvard University. Massachusetts, 1671, settled in Westfield as pastor of the First Church in 1674. He married, first, Elizabeth Fitch of Norwich, Conn. ; second, Ruth Wyllys, daughter of Hon. Samuel and Ruth ( Haynes) Wyllys, of Hartford, daughter of Governor John and Mabel (Harlakenden) Haynes, born in England, 1714. and whose ancestry is traced through the line of English kings, and through all the prominent families in England to William the Conqueror, and also through Malcomb Canmore and the Scottish kings as far as they can be traced. Edward had a son. The wife of Rev. Edward Taylor was Ruth Wyllys, daughter of Hon. Samuel Wyllys, who was Senator for thirty years and Member of Congress of New England colonies four years. He owned the famous Charter Oak, and was its custodian during his life. His wife was Ruth Haynes, daughter of Roger Haynes, the first colonial governor of Massachusetts. Rev. Edward Taylor and his wife Ruth Wyllys had issue a son Eldad.
84 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
HON. ELDAD TAYLOR, of the Revolutionary Period, son of Rev. Ed- ward and Ruth (Wyllysj Taylor, was born in 1708. He lived in Westfield, Mass. He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate, and of the Governor's Council during the Revolutionary War, and died at his post in Boston while still in the performance of his official duties. He married Thankful Day, daughter of Major John Day and Mary (Smith) Day, and descended paternally from Robert Day and Editha (Stebbing) Day, who came from Braintree in 1633. They had issue John.
Rev. John Taylor, son of Hon. Eldad and Thankful (.Day) Taylor, was born at Westfield, Mass., Dec. 23, 1762, died at Bruce, Mich., Dec. 20, 1840. He married Elizabeth Terry, and their daughter, Harriet Taylor, through her mar- riage with Roderick Terry, became the mother of John Taylor Terry.
JOHN TAYLOR TERRY, third son of Roderick and Harriet (Taylor) Terry, was born in Hartford, Conn., Sept. 9, 1822. He received a thorough aca- demic education, and at the age of fifteen entered his father's employ, and under his tuition he became fully equipped for the successful business career which followed, and has continued without interruption during his long and useful life. He remained in his father's employ until 1841, and then went abroad for a time, using his powers of observation to acquire a more thorough knowledge of this world, and thus add to his store of useful information. On his return he en- entered the New York house of E. D. Morgan, and two years later became a member of the firm, E. D. Morgan & Co. The partnership continued without interruption until the death of Governor Morgan, the senior partner, in 1883. The firm, one of the oldest and most substantial mercantile houses in the country, still retains the same name.
Without neglecting the affairs of his own firm, Mr. Terry has successfully engaged in other business operations, and has been associated in various capaci- ties with the leading business men of his day. He is a director in the American Exchange National Bank, the Bank of New Amsterdam, and the Metropolitan Trust Company, and is Vice-President of the Mercantile Trust Company. He is also a director in the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the various connecting telegraph enterprises. He is also identified with railroad, gas and other business companies. While Mr. Terry's success in life is due to his own exertions, good judgment and wise forethought, he is not unmindful of the fact that his equipment is due in no small degree to certain characteristics inherited through a long line of ancestors who have left their impress upon each generation, and have been prominent factors in moulding and shaping the destinies of our nation. Industry, unswerving integrity and unfaltering courage to meet any emergency and overcome apparently insurmountable obstacles, are among the qualities noted in the lives of these great men. To cherish the memory and exemplify the teachings of these great men has been the aim of Mr. Terry's life, and in this bequeaths a legacy to his children of greater value than the accumulated wealth of a life-time.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
85
JOHN TAYLOR TERKY.
86 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Mr. Terry belongs to the old school of merchants — men who were more interested in the development of the country and the good of mankind than the mere accumulation of wealth.
Mr. Terry's religious connections have always been with the church of his forefathers — that of the Congregationalists, or the one near akin to it, the Pres- byterian. In his "union for life" Mr. Terry became identified with another Rev- olutionary family. He married in 1846 Miss Elizabeth Roe Peet, of Brooklyn, a great-grand-daughter of Rev. Azel Roe of New Jersey, who in the Revolution- ary War was captured by the British, confined in one of the old sugar houses, and during his imprisonment was supplied with food by the father of Washing- ton Irving. Mr. Terry's beautiful home on the Hudson is not far from that of ''Sunnyside," the old home of Irving. The children of Mr. Terry are:
Frederick Peet Terry. Born May 14, 1847; died May 12, 1874; married Ellen Battell of Norfolk. Conn.
Rev. Roderick Terry, D. D., born April 1st, 1849; married Linda Mar- quand, of New York, daughter of Henry G. Marquand.
Harriet Taylor Terry, born Oct. 9, 1851; died April 1857.
John Taylor Terry, born Aug. 17. 1857, married Bertha Halsted of New York, daughter of Wm. M. Halsted.
Elizabeth Peet Terry, born Sept. 17, 1855; died Dec. 24, 1855.
CHIPMAN.— GRAY.— FOSTER.— HARRISON.
The history of the above named families forms an interesting contribution to the annals of the Revolution, while the war record of Richard Harrison Chipman adds new lustre to the name, and completes the list of patriots which each generation has given to the country.
The name of Chipman or Chippenham is found in the English records as early as the eleventh century. William de Chippenham was chairman of the commisioners (jurors) in the " Hundred of Staplehou " Co. Cambridge. Eng., who, by order of William the Conqueror. A. D. 1085, took the inventory of the extensive estates possessed by the opulent Monastery of Ely. in that County. The family bore Arms — Argent, a bend between six estoiles gules. Crest — A leopard sejent argent murally crowned. Motto — Unity and loyalty. A mural crown was conferred upon him who first, at an assault, mounted the wall of a besieged town, and there set up a standard. 1
Thomas Chipman, father of the American ancestor, lived in or near Dor- chester, Dorsetshire, Eng. He was born about 1567, and died about 1625. He was possessed of land and tenements, with a mill and other edifices, in or near the vicinage of Bridgeport, same shire. He had a son John.
Elder John Chipman, son of Thomas, arrived at Boston, Mass., 1631. After residing in Plymouth and in Dartmouth, Mass.. he removed to Barn- stable and lived there 1649-1679, and at Sandwich thereafter until his death. about 1708. He was, in Barnstable, 1670-1684, one of the Ruling Elders. ordained as co-pastor with the Teacher of the Congregational Church of Barn-
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stable. He was his father's only son and heir. He was magistrate in the Plymouth Colony and representative to the General Court. He married Hope daughter of John Howland, one of the " Blessed Company" of the Mayflower. They had issue : A son Samuel.
Dea. Samuel Chipman, son of Elder John and Hope (Howland) Chip- man, was born at Barnstable, April 15, 1661; died there 1723. He was an innholder and deacon of the church. He married, 12 Dec. 1649. Sarah, sister of Thomas Hinkley, Governor of the Plymouth Colony. They had a son John.
Rev. John Chipman, third son of Dea. Samuel and Sarah ( Hinkley ) Chipman, was born in Barnstable 16th Feb., 1691; was graduated at Harvard 1711; was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in the Precinct or Salem and Beverly 23 Dec, 1715, sustaining that position till his decease. March 22. 1775. He married, Feb. 12, 1718, Rebecca Hale, and had a son Samuel.
Capt. Samuel Chipman second son of Rev. John and Rebecca (Hale) Chipman, was born in North Beverly, Mass., nth Dec, 1726; died at St. Martin's Island, West Indies, Sep. 19, 1761. After the birth of his eldest child he lived at Salem, Mass., and followed the sea as master of a vessel. He married Austice, eldest child of Capt. Richard Manning. They had, among other children, a son John.
JOHN CHIPMAN, Patriot of the Revolution eldest son of Captain Samuel and Austice (Manning) Chipman, was born at Ipswich, Mass., Aug. 9, 1746; died there Dec. 25, 1819. He was employed directly by the Colonial Government, stimulated by its offer of a bounty, in the preparation of sulphur. He was one of the crew of the letter-of-marque ship "Julius Caesar," carrying 14 guns and 40 men. He was Armorer on the armed brig " Massachusetts," Feb. 17-Oct. 16, 1777; also of the brig " Tyrannicide," Jonathan Haraden, Commander, Oct. 18, 1777-May 8, 1778. He married, 22 May. 1768, Hannah, daughter of Capt. Eleazer Moses, a descendant, probably, of John, who prior to 1640, owned a shipyard in Duxbury. They had a son, Richard Manning.
Dea. Richard Manning Chipman, son of John and Hannah (Moses) Chipman, was born in Salem, Mass., 23 Oct., 1786; he resided there until his decease, 17th Oct., 1863. He was for many years a deacon of the Fourth (or South Congregational) Church in that city. He married Elizabeth Gray, daughter of James Gray and Elizabeth Foster.
JAMES GRAY, Patriot 0 the Revolution, was a private in Captain Addison Richardson's company, Col. John Mansfield's Regiment. Mass. Militia May 16- August, 1775; Private in Capt. Addison Richardson's Company. 19th Mass. Reg. of Foot, Col. Hutchinson, Oct. 16. 1775. June, ^77^: ^t siege of Boston; Private in Capt. Nathan Brown's Company, 27th Reg. Mass. Conti- nental Infantry, Col. Israel Hutchinson, 1776; taken prisoner at Fort Wash- ington, on the Hudson, Nov. 16, 1776; Private Colonel's Company 5 Reg. Massachusetts Line, Col. Rufus Putnam, April 1, 1777-Dec 31, 1779: Private Capt. Moses McFarland's Corps of Invalids, January-December. T780.
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Elizabeth Foster, the mother of Elizabeth (Gray) Chipman, was the daughter of Robert Foster.
ROBERT FOSTER, Patriot of the Revolution father of Elizabeth Foster, was Captain in 7th Company, 1st Reg. local militia, June 6, 1776. He later enlisted as 2d Lieutenant Volunteer Company from Salem, Mass., com- manded by Capt. Samuel Flagg. From July 4, 1777, to June 1, 1779, he was Quartermaster under Col. John Allen at Machias, for the defense of the East- ern County.
By this marriage to Elizabeth Gray, daughter of James Gray and Elizabeth Foster, Dea. Richard Manning Chipman had issue : a son. Rev. Ricliard Manning.
Rev. Richard Manning Chipman (2), eldest child of Richard Manning and Elizabeth (Gray) Chipman, was born in Salem, Mass., Jan. 12, 1806. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1832; pursued his theological studies in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., and in the Theological De- partment of New York University in 1833-4. He was the first Corresponding Secretary of the American Peace Society, whose office was then in New York. He was pastor of the Congregational Church in Harwinton 1835-39; of Evan- gelical Church at Athol, Mass., 1839-51, and of the Third Congregational Church in Guilford, Conn., 1852-58. He was afterward at Wolcoltville, Conn., Hyde Park, Mass., and East Granby. He was a noted linguist — speaking fourteen different languages; a man of fine literary attainments, but was spec- ially given to genealogical research. He prepared genealogical records of several early settlers of Salem with their descendants. He prepared the Chip- man family; a " History of the Chipman Lineage in America." This last named work embraced the arranged result of research and correspondence covering a period of twenty-five years. He was a ripe scholar and an eloquent speaker, a man of independent thought and indifferent to public opinion. During his later years his whole mind was absorbed in genealogical work. He contributed to the Century Dictionary and other publications.
He married Mary Ann Harrison, eldest daughter of Rev. Fosdick Har- rison, pastor of Congregational Church at Roxbury, Conn. They had issue: Richard Harrison.
RICHARD HARRISON CHIPMAN, Member of the Sons of the Rev olution son of Rev. Richard Manning and Mary Ann (Harrison) Chip- man, was born in Harwinton. Litchfield County, Conn.. Jan. 19. 1837. He was educated at private schools and at Williston Seminary. His first business experience was in a country store, and after that in a large manufacturing establishment in Litchfield Co., Conn. Soon after the breaking out of the war Mr. Chipman made application for an appointment in the paymaster's depart- ment in the navy, a position which he was peculiarly fitted for, as subsequent events proved. If the old maxim, that " poets are born and not made," is true, it applies with even greater force to the position of paymasters and their assistants. Mr. Chipman wisely began at the bottom of the ladder and worked his way up. He was appointed paymaster's clerk in the U. S. Navy, June 15.
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1862, and assigned to the barque Roebuck, commanded by John Sherrell, en- gaged in the blockade service in the Gulf of Mexico. The paymaster was a nephew of Gideon Welles. Mr. Chipman continued in this position for about sixteen months, until Oct. 16, 1863. He then returned home and was for some time on duty on the gunboat Hendrick Hudson, stationed at the Charlestown Navy Yard. In June, 1864, he was commissioned A. A. Paymaster, U. S. N., and served in the capacity of Paymaster until the close of the war. He was first assigned to the U. S. ship " Isonomia," under Lieut.-Commander Edward Simpson; as Paymaster in the North Atlantic Squadron, off Fort Fisher, N. C. He was ordered thence to the East Gulf Squadron, with headquarters at Key West, Fla., under the command of Admiral Theodoras Bailey, and was soon after transferred to the Admiral's headquarters, relieving two other paymasters. While in this position he discharged the duties of paymaster on the sloop-of- war Dale, the steamer Nita, the Marigold and the schooner Beaureguard (captured from the enemy), once the famous old captured yacht and slaver Wanderer, used as a guard ship.
RICHARD HARRISON CHIPMAN.
All this additional service was performed without extra pay. When it is considered that the government never accepts any statement with the usual
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qualification of "errors excepted," but that every error either of judgment or in calculation is charged against the officer, the responsibility of the position can be appreciated. No accounting officer can receive his honorable discharge until every dollar is accounted for. Such duties require a man of extraordinary ability as well as other qualifications with which comparatively few persons are gifted. On October 20, 1865, Paymaster Chipman closed his accounts with the Government, which, after a careful examination by the Auditor U. S. Treasury, it was found that the Government was indebted to him in the sum of $11.81, and he was then honorably discharged with ''thanks of the Government." It is doubtful if a cleaner or better record can be found of any individual in the service of the Government. The qualifications for "honesty and integrity" are hereditary traits; the others were acquired by long experience.
After the war Mr. Ghipman engaged in the railroad business. He was five years with the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore R. R. as chief clerk of transportation; he was next terminal freight agent of the New York, Ontario and Western R .R. and later, General Freight Agent, Passenger Agent and Purchasing Agent of the N. J. Aaidland R. R. Co. until January 1st. 1878. He then engaged in the wholesale coal business which he carried on successfully until 1887, when he became General Manager of the Coaldale Mining Co., as successor of his private firm, the business of which has largely increased under his management.
Mr. Chipman is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, U. S., is Past Master of Lodge of the Temple F. & A. M. of Jersey City, Pass District Deputy Grand Master of Seventh Masonic District of New Jersey; was R. and S. C. of Enterprise Chapter No. 1 R. A. M., of Jersey City, Captain General of Hugh de Payen's commandery, and has advanced to the 16th degree in the Scottish rite. On retiring from the East, Worshipful Brother Chip- man was presented with an elegant silver service in recognition of his faith- ful and exemplary work and long continued service. In his first advancement he was taken from the floor and placed in the West, and thence to the East. Brooks, of Guilford, Connecticut. They have three children, Mary Harrison, Richard Brooks and Laura Elliott.
GRAHAM— CHAUNCEY— CLASON.
The Grahams have been equally distinguished for their courage, loyalty and patriotism in this country as well as in England and Scotland. The line of descent established by Scottish historians from the renowned Graeme, whose reign began in the early part of the fifth century. Sir David Graeme held a grant of land of King William the Lion, who reigned from 1163 to 1214. His descendant, Sir Patrick Graham, was made Lord of Parliament about 1445, whose grandson William Lord Graham was by Tames IV created Earl of Montrose in 1504 in consideration of the gallantry he displayed at the battle of Sanchyburn in 1488, wherein his royal master, James IV, lost his life. William was succeeded by his son William, the latter by John, the third earl, who died in 1608, leaving John, fourth earl, died in 1626, and was succeeded by James, the fifth earl, born in
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1612, and originally joined with the Covenanters against Charles I, but soon came over to the King, who, in 1O44, created him Marquis of Montrose. His son James, 2nd Marquis, called "The Good," was restored to his estates and made Privy Concillor of Charles II. He married Isabel, daughter of William, 2nd Earl of Merton. They had son James, 3d Marquis, whose son James, the 4th Marquis, was in 1705 made Lord High Admiral of Scotland, and in 1707 was created Duke of Montrose.
The Rev. John Graham, A. M., the second son of one of the Marquises men- tioned, was born in Edinburg in 1694, in the year that Queen Mary died. He was a graduate of the University of Glasgow ; studied theology at Edinburg, where he received orders for the ministry. He came to New England in 1718, and soon after became pastor of the church at Exeter, N. H., where he remained till Dec, 1722, when he removed and settled over the church in Stafford, Conn. He became the first minister in Southbury society, Woodbury, Conn., in 1732, and remained there until his death in 1774. During his ministry he made two visits to London and Scotland, upon each occasion on a mission from Yale Col- lege, to procure aid in books, etc. for that institution, in the success of which he always felt a deep interest. He married Abigail, daughter of Rev. Charles Chauncey, D.D. ; born Jan. 1, 1705, great-grandson of President Chas. Chauncey of Harvard College. They had issue : John, Robert, Chauncey, Andrew, Love, Sarah, Abigail, died young; Richard Crouch, Abigail.
ANDREW GRAHAM, M. D., Patriot of the Revolution, fourth child of Rev. John and Abigail (Chauncey) Graham, was born in Southbury society. Woodbury, Conn., in 1728; died June. 1785. He early espoused the cause of in- dependence, and was a most ardent patriot. By his generous hospitality and means, he encouraged and aided the friends of the Revolution. His devotion to the cause impoverished his family, for he would never allow Continental money to be discredited in his presence; and, after his death, a large chest, filled with this worthless paper, issued by authority of an American Congress, was found among his possessions. He enlisted as private in Capt. John Hinman's Company, Thirteenth Regiment, Conn. Militia, stationed at New York, 1776. He was one of the Committee of Safety in 1775. He performed temporarily the duty of surgeon in the American army, probably during, or immediately after, the battle of Long Island, as he was taken prisoner by the British, sent to New York and confined several months in the old Dutch church in Nassau Street, where he con- tracted disease from tainted provisions (said to have been poisoned), of which he died a few years after his release. He settled in Southbury, Conn., where he prac- ticed as a physician until his death. His popularity arose equally from his active benevolence and his admitted skill. Wherever he went he was hailed as the "Good Samaritan." He was a devoted adherent of Gen. Washington, and the only time that illustrious man passed through Southbury he spent the night under the roof of his friend. He married June, 1753, Martha Curtiss, born June 30, 1735, daughter of Deacon Peter Curtiss,. son of Josiah (2) and Abigal (Judson) Curtiss, son of Josiah (1), son of William, the ancestor, one of the original
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settlers of Stratford. There were nine children by this marriage, of whom John A. was the sixth. ,
John A. Graham, sixth child of Dr. Andrew and Mary (Curtiss) Graham, was born in Southbury, Conn., June 10, 1764. He was educated under the tuition of Rev. John Minor, and studied law with Edward Hinman, Es., an eminent lawyer of that day. He removed to Rutand, Vt., then a wilderness, where he began practice. In 1794 he was appointed by the Episcopal Church in Vermont special agent to the ecclesiastical courts in Canterbury and York at London, and to the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the prominent object of the mission being to obtain the recognition and confirmation of the Rev. Samuel Peters, Bishop-elect for the State of Vermont. The correspondence between him and the Archbishop of Canterbury, together with the reports from the records of the mission, were extensively published and favorably noticed at the time. He rreturned to Vermont in 1795, and shortly afterward revisited England, and while there received the honorary degree of doctor of laws from the ancient and Royal College of Aberdeen, Scotland. He published "A Descriptive Sketch of the Pres- ent State of Vermont" (London, 1797), which he dedicated to the Duke of Mon- trose, the head of the Graham family, which was kindly received by his grace. Mr. Graham returned to the United States in 1800, and settled in New York, City, where he resumed the practice of his profession, devoting a large share of his time and talents to the defense of those accused of crime. His warmth of heart, quick perception, and ready talents peculiarly fitted him for this depart- ment of jurisprudence. He was one of the most popular, as well as one of the most succesful, advocates of the New York courts. The argument which obtained for him the most celebrity was delivered in a case involving the right of a magis- trate to examine in private, without the aid of a counsel, a person brought before him charged with crime, and then making use of that examination as evidence against him on his trial. Upon the appearance of the argument, it produced a great sensation, and for the first time directing the public attention to alarming abuses, then in practice; and the doctrines he advanced in favor of human life and liberty were responded to by the ablest jurists in every part of the country. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, Chief Justice Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Chief Justice Spencer, Cadwalader. D. Colden, De Witt Clinton. Thomas Addis Emmett, Pierre C. Van Wyck, Chancellor Kent, and many others in and out of the profession wrote to Dr. Graham, on perusing the argument, in the most approving terms, commending its doctrine, ability anl eloquence. This effort was followed by a legislative enactment, securing for the first time to every one ac- cused the right of consulting counsel before examination by the committing mag- istrate. In 1828 Dr. Graham wrote and published an elaborate essay on the sub- ject of the letters of Junius, claiming for his friend, John Horn Tooke, the au- thorship of those celebrated productions (New York, 1828). He also published a volume of speeches (1812). Dr. Graham's first wife was the daughter of Dr. Hodges, of Clarendon, Vt., by whom he had one son, John Hodges. He married 2d, Margaret, daughter of James Lorimer, of London, by whom he had one son, John Lorimer.
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Col. John Lorimer Graham, son of John A. and Margaret (Lorimer) Gra- ham, was born in London, Eng., March 20, 1797, but was brought by his parents to New York on their return in 1800, where he continued to reside until his death. After receiving a preparatory education, he studied law with Judge Tapping Reeve at Litchfield, Conn., and later with John Anthon, Esq., in New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1821, and soon achieved a reputation in his profession, and had a large and constantly increasing practice. The hereditary military spirit was strong in him, and in 1817 he accepted an appointment on the staff of Governor Tompkins. In 1819 he was appointed aid-de-camp to Gov. De Witt Clinton, with the rank of Colonel, and continued in that position for several years. He declined a commission as brigadier-general and other military honors tendered him, He was a member of the New York Historical, the New England, the St. George's and the St. Andrew's societies; a life director in the American Bible Society, and an efficient member of the council of the University of the City of New York, in which he founded a free scholarship. In 1834 he was appointed Regent of the State University. In 1840 he was appointed by President Tyler, Postmaster of New York. His administration of the office was marked with intelligence, industry and system. He reformed every department of that ex- tensive and complicated establishment, and brought order out of chaos. He ac- complished many important reforms which were greatly appreciated by the mer- cantile community. The fitting up of the new post office — the Middle Dutch Church on Nassau Street (where the New York Mutual Life Ins. building now stands) was performed with order and adaptation which received not only universal appro- bation in New York and throughout the country, but obtained very liberal praise from the European press. It is noteworthy that in this same building his grand- father, Dr. Andrew Graham, sixty-five years previous, was confined a prisoner by the British, and died subsequently from the effects of his ill-treatment at that time. Upon his retirement from office, in 1843, Mr. Graham resumed the prac- tice of his profession. He married the daughter of Isaac Clason, Esq., one of New York's oldest merchants, a descendant of Stephen Clason, of Stamford, Conn., born in Scotland about 1825, and had issue : John Lorimer, De Witt Clinton, Ambrose Spencer, Augustus Clason, James Varnum, Malcolm, Emily Matilda, and Margaret.
MALCOLM GRAHAM, New York Society Sons of the Revolution, sixth child of Col. John Lorimer and Emily (Clason) Graham, was born in Jersey City, N. J., July, 1832, at the house of Mr. Van Vorst, during the temporary sojourn of his parents, who had removed thence on account of the cholera epidemic which prevailed that year. His whole life has been spent in New York City. He was educated at private schools, and was the first man in his line of descent of the present generation to adopt a business career, but. like his ancestors in other callings, he has been equally successful. He is a member of the firm of Hartley & Graham, well-known merchants of New York. He has been twice married, and has one daughter and three sons.
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HILL AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
While the ancestral line of this branch of the Hill family is imperfect and somewhat obscure, the military record of Sergeant Nicholas Hill presents one of the most remarkable narratives contained in the annals of the Revolution. A drummer boy at ten, braving the hardships of a seven years' campaign, and what is still more remarkable, living up to a late period in the present century, and giving his "recollections of the war" to the present living representative of the family, thus forming a direct connection between the Revolutionary period and the present — a condition of affairs almost unparalleled.
Referring to the antiquity of the Hill or Hyll family, Burke says : "It derives from the Montes of Castle Morton, in the Parish of Langdon and Co. Worcester. John De Marti, 20th Edward II, anno. 1346, held lands in Castle Morton, which Odo de Monte lately held, and the heir of John De Marti, 7th Henry VI, held the same lands. His heirs, the Hylls, lived in this Morton. The Hylls before this were in Hill-Cromb 27th Edward I (1299)."
Referring to the Irish branch of the family, Burke says: "The family of Hill of Doneraile have been settled in Ireland for upwards of two centuries; at firs:, tiny fixed themselves at Kilmallock, in the Co. Limerick (in the eld abbey of which many monuments of the house may be found), and thence removed to Doneraile, in the Co. Cork, where they have since continued. The family were granted in 1560: Arms — Azure, a chevron, between three fleurs-de-lis, or, a canton, of the last. Crest — A lion rampant, argent, pierced through the breast by a broken spear, in bond, ppr., the head guttea de sang. Motto — Ne tenta, vel perfice (Do not attempt or else achieve).
Adam Hill, the immediate ancestor of Sergeant Nicholas Hill, came from Londonderry, Ireland, and settled in Schenectady, N. Y., where he died, Dec. 10, 1764. Nothing is known of whom he married. He left a son Henry.
Henry Hill, son of Adam Hill was born in Co. Londonderry, Ireland, about 1730, came with his parents to this country and settled in Schenectady, N. Y., where he died in 1776. That he was an ardent and fearless patriot is shown in the narrative of his son, and, had he lived, he would no doubt have given a good account of himself. He married Martha Forsen or Forse, who may have been a descendant of the old Huguenot family of America, represented by Col. Peter Force, formerly Mayor of Washington, and compiler of American Archives and other works.
Henry Hill left two sons, Nicholas and Henry, and a daughter Martha.
SERGEANT AND REV. NICHOLAS HILL, Patriot of the Revolution, eldest son of Henry and Martha (Forse) Hill, was born in Schenectady, N. Y.. Dec. 22, 1766; died in Florida, Montgomery Co., N. Y., June 14, 1857. The inci- dent which led to his and his brother's enlistment in the Continental army oc- curred in 1774, when Nicholas was but eight years of age. His father had made a remark in the presence of British military officers, which was construed by them as disrespectful to their sovereign. For this alleged offence he was overpowered and unmercifully whipped in the presence of his wife and the two children, they
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being helpless to interfere. The indignities and insults heaped on their father rankled in the hearts of his two children, and they determined to avenge this outrageous treatment of their father the first opportunity. In the winter of 1776-7, Nicholas, then but ten years of age, together with his brother, joined Capt. Hick's Company, 2d New York Regiment, as drummer boys, and continued until the close of the war, being in active service during the entire period. He was not regularly mustered in for the first two years on account of his extreme youth. His discharge, dated 8th of June, 1783, signed by Gen. Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the army, states that "Nicholas Hill, Sergeant, in the 1st New York Regiment, having faithfully served the United States five years, and being enlisted for the war only, is hereby discharged from the American army." At the foot of this discharge is a memorandum, signed by Cornelius Van Dyck, Lieut. Colonel, as follows: "The above Sergeant, Nicholas Hill, has been honored v\ ith the badge of merit for five years faithful service." On the discharge is indorsed the following, in the handwriting of Mr. Hill: "My Cap- tain's name was Benjamin Hicks." The descrepancies which appear between the first and second statement are probably accounted for by the changes which occurred in the reorganization and consolidation of the regiments and re-enlist- ment of men and officers.
The first important service of young Hill was rendered soon after he enlisted. He was sent by General (then Colonel) Ganzevoort tc convey a message to head- quarters at Albany of an anticipated attack by the Indians on Fort Stanwix (Rome, N. Y.j in the winter of 1777. After traveling half the distance, his com- panion, a young man named Snook, who started with him, met with an accident, and dropped out. and young Hill, rinding he was being pursued by hostile Indians which infected the Mohawk Valley, ran all night over the crusted snow and safely delivered his message at headquarters. His description of the scene as he ap- proached Albany, and the impression it made on him at the time, was very graphic. He said, "the smoke from the forts and houses stood up through the still 1111 uning air like a forest of ghostly white tree tops."
He accompanied Sullivan's expedition against the Indians, was with the army at Morristown in 1779-80, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He lived to tell the story of his sufferings at Morristown ; and stated that on one occasion, when the army was on the verge of starvation, rations of a gill of whiskey to a man were distributed among the troops. A big Irishman named Valentine kindly offered to share with him his own allowance, and gave him about a teaspoonful, but in his exhausted condition it overpowered him, and he laid down apparently lifeless. The Irishman took him on his back and carried him for miles before he reached a place where he could receive proper treatment. Subsequently his hardships and sufferings were considerably lessened through the kindness of Baron Steuben, who became interested in him, and took him to his own tent, and finally offered to adopt him and his younger brother. Nicholas declined the generous offer, little thinking then what the Baron knew through masonic information that he was an orphan, both of his parents having died soon after he entered the army.
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In the summer of 1779 his regiment, under Col. Van Schaick, was sent to co- operate with Gen. Sullivan in his expedition against the Indians along the Che- mung Valley, and he participated in the exciting scenes of that campaign. He was present at the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis, and re- membered to his dying day every detail connected with that event. I he facts so often narrated were so deeply impressed upon the mind of his surviving wife (his fourth wife, to whom he was married in 1834), that on her visiting York- town at the Centennial anniversary of the battle, in Oct., 1881, in company with several friends from Brooklyn, she was enabled to correct the location of several points of interest on the battlefield, and show the position occupied by some of the New York troops, and other divisions of the American army, by landmarks as described years before by her husband. This incident greatly interested Gen. Hancock, who took pains to investigate, and found that the old lady was right.
After the close of the war, this child patriot returned to his home in Sche- nectady, there to receive the first information that his father and mother had died soon after he left them. She whom he especially expected to find and for whom he had declined a relation and patrimony which would have tempted almost any adventurous boy of fifteen was gone forever.
His sister Martha and brother Henry were all that remained of the family of which he was the eldest surviving. The cruelty which had inspired his patri- otism and converted the lad into a soldier had first broken his father's health and led to his untimely death, and the dangers and excitement of the war sur- rounded as she was at that place, by hostile and barbarous Indians, finally broke her spirit, so that, wearied of waiting for the return of her darling boys, who had gone forth to avenge the brutal treatment of their father, she laid herself down to die, buoyed up only with the hope of that "final reunion on the other side." The two were laid side by side in the old Schenectady cemetery since removed upon the beautiful plateau where the city of Schenectady now stands, but in unmarked graves.
He soon after removed to Florida, Montgomery County, to a small hamlet which he called Shalletsbush (probably Scotch Bush, where one of the most noted sulphur springs are located). The lad grew up with the country, and soon forgot his early privations and sufferings in his efforts to minister to the happi- ness and comfort of others. He was one of the most unselfish of men, and gen- erous to that degree that neglects duty to self. He was never idle, and by his industry accumulated a fair competence. He was a man of advanced thought in his religous views and utterly free from that cant and outward demonstration of piety so common in his day. After careful study and preparation, he decided to enter the ministry of the Methodist denomination, and in 1803, being then thirty- five years of age, he was regularly ordained at a Methodist Conference held at a place called Ash Grove, near the Vermont line. As was the custom of all minis- ters of that denomination, he was an itinerant, and his "circuit" often embraced a wide extent of country. He was not dependent on the meagre support of volun- tary contributions, as were most Methodist preachers of that day. The products of his farm not only yielded him a fair support, but enabled him ofttimes to
SoXS OF T11K REVOLUTION. 07
minister to the necessities and sufferings of others. He was a man of deep piety, and as a preacher he was simple, earnest and direct, yet fearless in proclaiming the truth as he believed it. He was forceful and often eloquent as he warmed up to his subject. He lived to be ninety years of age, and was strong, vigorous and healthy up to the time of his final sickness, the result of a fall and a broken limb. He died in June, 1857. Mr. Hill was married four times. He married 1st, May 30, 1785, Anna Newkirk; died July 6, 1810; 2d, Catharine Rowe, March 12, 1811; born Sept. 21, 1784; died March 9, 1815; 3d, Feb. 23, 1816, Sarah Mosier, born March 19, 1792; 4th, Sarah Hegeman. By his first wife, Anna Newkirk, he had issue: Martha, born May 6, 1786; Petreshe, born June 3, 1783; Henry, born Aug. 13, 1791; Eleanor, born March 17, 1794; Nancy, born April 19, 1800; Will- iam M., born Sept. 21, 1802; Nicholas, Jr., born 1805. By his second wife, Cath- arine Rowe, he had Catharine Anne; born Nov. 29. 1813. By the third wife, Sarah Mosier, he had Stephen M., born Nov. 20, 1816 and Francis Asbury, born Jan. 27, 1820; and by the fourth wife, Sarah Hegeman, he had Adrrian Hegeman, born April 4, 1835. and John Lindsay, born Oct. 31, 1840. Of the latter only John L. survives.
Nicholas Hill (2), son of Nicolas (1) and Anne (Newkirk.) Hill, was born in Florida, Montgomery Co.. N. Y., Oct. 16, 1806. He died May, 1859. He left his home at an early age to carve his own fortune. He maintained himself by teaching school, surveying farms and similar labors, while he studied law, tir-t in Montgomery, and afterwards in Schoharie County, until in August, 1829, he was admitted to the liar, and entered into partnership with Deodatus Wright, then of Amsterdam. N. Y.. afterwards of Albany, and for a time Justice of the New York Supreme Court. Shortly afterwards. Judge Esek Cowen, of Saratoga, who was engaged in the preparation of notes to Philips on Evidence, associated Mr. Hill with him. This work, commomnly cited as Cowen & Hill's Notes, is one of great erudition. Mr. O'Connor, in his remarks at a meeting of the bar, at Mr. Hill's death, refers to it as a "gigantic task," of which he says Mr. Hill performed a large part. He also says that "whole libraries were taken up and their contents reproduced in a form the most useful to the bench and the practitioner that could have been devised." The work had been commenced and considerable progress made therein by Judg'J Cowen before Mr. Hill became associated with him. Stephen P. Nash. Esq., of New York, wo was a student in Judge Cowen' s office at the time, testifies that this period of his life was "one of incessant, laborious and faithful industry." The work itself, although for many years very frequently cited and much used, especially in the State of New York, in the accumulation of modern books, has gone to a great extent out of general use, but it is even yet of great practical value, fully and thoroughly discussing many branches of the law coming properly under the head of evidence, and digesting with great faithfulness and accuracy the cases both in England and this country, bearing upon the questions involved. This work was published in 1839. The completion of it was interrupted by Mr. Hill's professional labors, as he had some years previously opened an office at Saratoga, in association with the late William A. Beach, which at that time was
g8 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
quite a centre of legal activity, being the home of Judge Cowen, Chancellor Walworth and Judge Willard.
From his first appearance Mr. Hill created a favorable impression on the minds of the members of the court. In the case of Tilden vs. Gardner, which was one of the earliest argued by him before the General Term, his argument was listened to with profound attention by both the bench and bar. "We shall hear from that man very often hereafter," said Chief Judge Nelson to Judge Bronson, as he was folding his papers in this case after Mr. Hill's remarks.
In the summer of 1837 Mr. Hill was retained in the then celebrated case of People ex. rel. Barry vs. Mercein (8Paige, 48, 3 Hill, 15 Wend. 64, 83). The case involved the custody of an infant child as between the claims of a father and mother who had separated. Mr. James W. Gerard, who was Mr. Hill's opponent in this case, said at a bar meeting that ''the zeal, intelligence and legal knowledge which he evinced on that occasion first brought him into public notice, and laid the foundation of his future fame.'' He says that "Mr. Hill, represent- ing the father, had thoroughly stored his mind with all the book-learning of the common law of England, and piled his authorities one upon the other, mountain high, in favor of the father's paramount claim to the custody of his child." The decision of Chancellor Walworth was in favor of the mother. A decision was afterwards rendered, however, by the Supreme Court, awarding the custody of the child to the father.
The Bench and Bar said of him : "Mr. Hill concentrated all his powers upon his profession; this gave him a mastery at the Bar, which few men are capable of attaining; * * * his knowledge of the law, his power of applying it to practical use, of wielding its subtleties with facility, and separating truth from error, in a manner which rendered him unequalled at the Bar of the State, and we may say of him, the nation."
While Mr. Hill resided in Saratoga Springs, he was, in September,. 1836, appointed by the Court of General Sessions District Attorney of Saratoga County, which office he held, however, but a few months, resigning it in April, 1837. While still in Saratoga, he was appointed State Reporter, and after the preparation at Saratoga of one or two volumes of his reports, removed to Albany with Sidney J. Cowen, the son of Judge Cowen. He held the office of State Reporter from 1840 until 1845, when he resigned this office. He issued seven volumes of reports of the decisions of the Court of Errors and the Supreme Court. Referring to these reports, Mr. Nash said of him:
"In preparing the cases for the press, he labored to compress the statements of facts into the smallest space, and removed from the opinions of the judges such details as his own narrative rendered superfluous. He spent hours in con- densing and remodeling the syllabus or headnote, till it should succinctly, clearly and accurately express the very point of the decision, and frequently added valu- able discussions on kindred topics suggested by the reported case.
"His reports have been very generally considered as models in every respect. No copyright price per volume could tempt him to swell their number, to heap
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. QO,
into them masses of mere print, or to do his work hurriedly or negligently. They will bear the must rigid scrutiny as specimens of honest, faithful book-making."
Judge Cowen's law library was considered, during his life, one of the largest and best in the country. It was designed to be complete in English and American reports, and also contained a full line of valuable text-books. Mr. Sidney J. Cowen brought this library with him to Albany, and Mr. Hill had the use and enjoyment of it during Air. Cowen's life; but not long after their removal to Albany, Mr. Cowen died. His father, Judge Esek Cowen. died in 1844. After the death of the son, it became necessary in the settlement of the estate to sell the library. It was bought by Peter Cagger, Esq., who had just then dissolved a long connection with the distinguished lawyer, Samuel Stephens. That library constituted one of the inducements that led to Mr. Hill's partnership with Mr. Cowen. Prior to this time, and after Mr. Cowen's death, he had been associated with Deodatus Wright and with Stephen P. Nash; but that association was dis- solved, and on the termination of his office as State Reporter he entered into partnership with Peter Cagger; and soon afterwards Hon. John K. Porter be- came a member of the firm which for many years commanded a large and ex- tensive practice in Albany, under the name of Hill, Cagger & Porter. By this arrangement Mr. Hill was enabled to continue in the enjoyment of the books which had so long been his companions, and that library, until the end of his life, was, in one sense, Mr. Hill's home. There he spent a great portion of his time, both by day and by night, and it was doubtless owing to overwork among these books that his life was cut short at an age when he ought to have had many years remaining for work in his profession.
Mr. Hill never held any public offices except the two already referred to, namely, that of District Attorney of Saratoga County and New York State Re- porter. He was never an aspirant for office, and was only interested in politics so far as questions of principle were involved. He was always a man of great public spirit, having inherited from his father a strong sentiment of patriotism which nothing ever diminshed.
Mr. Hill's manner at the bar was calm, dignified, natural and unassuming. He was noted for the keenness of his analysis, the clearness and conciseness of. his statements both of fact and law, and the excellence of his judgment, which enabled him to discuss fully the natural points in a case without wasting his time or his energy upon minor and unimportant considerations. Perhaps no lawyer in the State of New York has ever had so happy a faculty of condensation with- out sacrificing any point. This was. to a great extent, owing to the possession of a keen, discriminating intellect, but it could never have been accomplished unless such intellect had been united with indomitable industry. He loved his profession as few men in this country have ever loved it : but it is the testimony of his con- temporaries who knew him well that, while his life was devoted to his profess- ion, to the detriment of his health and the shortening of his life, he had many tastes outside the law. Mr. Nash said of him : "he was familiar with the best English literature, and a lover of good books ; and when he could throw off the thoughts of his work, he was a most delightful and congenial companion. His
IOO SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
tastes were refined, his sensibilities lively and delicate, his nature frank and without guile, his heart warm and true." "For myself," says Mr. Nash, "I can never forget how much I am indebted to him for example, guidance, encourage- ment, nor the unfailing kindness which in boyhood and ever afterwards I always received from him."
Mr. Hill was not an orator in the ordinary sense of the word. His manner was cool and unimpassioned. His arguments were not an appeal to the sym- pathies or prejudices of the court, but were based upon reason and authority. His clearness and force of argument were so great as often to produce the effect of eloquence, although he did not seek a reputation for eloquence.
Hon. William D. Veeder of Brooklyn, formerly Surrogate of King's County, said of him: "My first recollections of Mr. Nicholas Hill was early in 1857, when he was regarded as one of the leading lawyers in the country.* * * * There was that about him which almost immediately won your confidence and respect without any demonstration on his part. A few, simple concise express- ions would direct your mind and your friendship towards him. And while he was absorbed in his cases, he always had room in bis great mind to be instruct- ive and considerate ."
Mr. Hill married June 9, 1835, Jane Arnold, daughter of Gen. Benedict Ar- nold of Amsterdam, N. Y., a descendant of Gov. Benedict Arnold of Rhode Island, and had two children : Edward Bayard and Mary Arnold, now the wife of Samuel A. Noyes, Esq., a prominent member of the New York bar.
Edward Bayard Hill, his only surviving son, was admitted to the Bar in Albany. Just as he was entering upon his professional career the war of the Rebellion broke out, and he immediately went to Washington through Baltimore, a journey which at that time was attended with serious difficulty and danger, and carried important military intelligence to the Government. He was ap- pointed a Lieutenant in the regular army, and commanded a battery in the first battle of Bull Run. He obtained the credit of saving his battery and bringing it back to the Union lines uncaptured and unsurrendered. Early in the autumn of 1862, at one of the battles on the Chickahominy, he was wounded by a minnie ball which entered his wrist and came out near the shoulder. The wound, al- though serious, was not deemed mortal, but he was brought to the Brevoort House in New York, where he died on the 13th of June, 1862.
Sarah Hegeman, the fourth wife of Rev. Nicholas Hill, born Jan 1, 1800, was the daughter by his second wife of Adrian Hegeman, born Jan. 10, 1747, married 1st, Catherine Johnson, 2nd, Bethsheba Palmer, daughter of Peter Pal- mer. Adrian Hegeman was the son of John Hegeman, born in Holland, married Sarah Woolsey, of Horse Neck, L. I. daughter of Capt. George Woolsey.
Capt. George Woolsey, the settler was born at Yarmouth, England, Oct. 27, 1610. He was the son of Benjamin, grandson of Thomas, a near relative of Thomas, better known in history as Cardinal Woolsey, who to the liberality of his royal master, Henry VIII, was indebted for his extraordinary elevation. Capt. George Woolsey resided as is supposed for some time in Holland. He
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. ]()1
came to this country while yet a mere boy, with Dutch emmigrants in 1623. He was afterwards engaged in trade for several years in New Amsterdam with Isaac Allerton, who came as a passenger in the Mayflower. In 1647 he pur- chased a plantation at Flushing, L. I., but subsequently removed to Jamaica, and was among its original settlers. He died there Aug. 17, 1698 or 97. His will, Nov. 2, 1691, names wife Rebecca, and daughters Sarah (Hallet) Mary, and Rebecca Wiggins.
Rev. Nicholas Hill by his wife Sarah (Hegeman) Hill had Adrian Hege- man, Phcebe King and John Lindsay.
JOHN LINDSAY HILL, n. y. state society sons of the revolution-, son of Rev. Nicholas and Sarah (Hegeman) Hill, was born in Florida, Mum gomery County, N. Y., Oct. 31, 1840. He was graduated at Union College in the class of '61. He pursued his legal studies with Cornelius A. Waldron of Saratoga and later with Judge Stephen H. Johnson of Schenectady. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1862 and soon after entered into partnership with Judge Johnson of Schenectady. He held a leading posit'on as a iawyer and in 1864 was elected District Attorney, continuing until 1868. He was also counsel for the State Commissioner of canals for the Eastern District. After a successful prac- tice of several years he came to New York City in 1868 and formed a law co- partnership with Guy R. and T. D. Pelton, and in 1873 he made another connect- ion under the firm name of Barrett, Redfield & Hill, later Redfield & Hill, and in 1883, Redfield, Hill & Lydecker, which remained until 1884. In 1887 the present firm of Lockwood & Hill was organized.
During the famous Beecher case Mr. Hill was associate counsel for the de- fence, with Gen. Tracy. William M. Evarts, Judge Porter, Austin Abbott and Thomas G. Sharman. He occupies a leading position at the New York bar and has successfully engaged in the trial of many notable cases. He was earnest in his support of the Government during the Civil War, and though formerly a dem- ocrat he naturally drifted through the Union party of those days into the repub- lican party. He supported Horace Greely for President, and since has been inde- pendent in politics. He is a member of the New York Law Institute, a life mem- ber of the State Bar Association, a member of the Brooklyn Bar Association, the Lawyer's Club. New York, the Brooklyn, Oxford, Montauk and Carlton Clubs, N. Y. Medico Legal Society and has for several years been President of the Wyandanch Club of Long Island.
He married in 1863 Adelaide Eddy, daughter of Gen. W. Eddy, of Water- ford, N. Y., and had issue Grace Adelaide, born May 1. 1875, died Sept. 24, 1893; Christine Eddy, born Oct. 25, 1877, died Aug. 24, 1896. Both children were bap- tised by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
WOODHULL AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
The Woodhull family is one of the earliest mentioned in English history. being traced by well authenticated proofs to a certain soldier of fortune, one Walter of Flanders, who came from Normandy into England, with William the Conqueror in 1066. After the conquest he was created Lord of Wahull
102 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
(now Wodhull or Odhull), County of Bedfordshire, and at the time of the General Survey, he held as feudal lord considerable estates in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire Counties, as shown in the " Domesday Book." To this Walter succeeded Walter de Wahull, whose descendant in the ninth generation was Thomas de Wahull, summoned to Parliament as Baron on the 28th of Jan., 1297, 25th Edward I. He died in 1304 seized of the Barony of Wahull, as also of the manor of Wahull in the County of Bedford and Pateshill, in Northamptonshire, leaving by his wife Hawise, daughter of Henry Praers, an infant son and heir, John de Wahull, who although possessing the honors of Wahull, had no similar summons to Parliament, nor had any of his descend- ants. He died in the 10th Edward III., leaving two sons, whose line termi- nated in heiresses, and Nicholas, whose descendant in the sixth generation was Sir Nicholas Woodhull, Knight, who, by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir William Parr, Lord Parr of Horton, had Fulk Woodhull. ancestor of the Woodhulls of Thenford. He was Lord of the manor of Then- ford in the reign of James I. and Elizabeth, and died in 1613. By his wife Alice, daughter of William Coles of Leigh, he had, with other issue, Lawrence Wood- hull, whose son, Richard, was born at Thenford.
Richard Woodhull (i), the common ancestor of the Woodhull family in America, was the son of Lawrence Woodhull, and was born in Thenford, Eng., Sep. 13, 1620. He came to this country in 1659, with a company of fifty-five gentlemen, and settled at Saugus — now known as Lynn, Mass. He removed thence to Jamaica. Long tsland, where his name appears associated with the early settlers of that place; but disliking the measures of the Dutch government, he left the western part of the Island, and seated himself perma- nently at Setauket, then called Cromwell Bay, or Ashford, and became one of the most useful and valuable citizens of that place. His particular knowledge in surveying and drawing conveyances, rendered his services invaluable at that early period of the settlement, and his name is found associated with most of the transactions of the town during his life. He died Oct. 17, 1690. He married Deborah , and left three children, Richard, Nathaniel and Deborah.
Richard Woodhull (2), son of Richard (1) and Deborah ( )
Woodhull, was born at Setauket, Oct. 9. 1649; died there Nov. 24, 1767. Like his father he was an intelligent and useful man. He was chosen Justice of the Court of Assize in 1678, and retained the office till his death. His knowledge and integrity endeared him to the people, and he died much lamented. He married, Aug. 19, 1680, Temperance, daughter of Rev. John Fordham, of Southampton, L. I. His sons were : Richard, Nathaniel, John and Josiah.
By an original letter, now in possession of his descendants, it appears that a relationship existed with Thomas Crew, second Baron Crew of Stene, in the County of Northampton, and also the Rt. Rev. Nathaniel Crew, Lord Bishop of Durham.
Richard Woodhull (3), eldest son of Richard (2) and Temperance (Fordham) Woodhull, was born in Setauket, Nov. 2, 1691. He inherited his father's estate at Setauket. He was magistrate for many years, and was in
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. K>j
all respects a useful and highly exemplary man. He married Mary, daughter of John Homan, and had issue: Richard, Mary, Nathan, Stephen, Henry and Phebe.
Nathaniel Woodhull, second son of Richard (2) and Temperance (Fordham) Woodhull. was born at Setauket, L. I., in 1682. He settled on land devised to him at Mastic, L. I., where he died March 9, 1760. lie married Sarah, daughter of Richard Smith of Smithtown, L. I. He had issue: Hannah, born Feb. 25, 1718; Temperance, born March 15. 1720; General Nathaniel, born Dec. 30, 1722: Dorothy, born Nov. 29, 1724: Sarah, born Feby. 9. 1726; Richard, born May 22, 1729; Colonel Jesse Smith, born Feb. 10, 1732; Juliana, born April 6, 1736; Deborah, born March 5, 1738; Ruth, born Dec. 5, 1740; Ebenezer, born Feb. 2, 1742. Of these, Jesse Smith and Ebenezer settled in Orange County, N. Y., and left issue.
GENERAL NATHANIEL WOODHULL, Soldier of the Revo- lution, third child and eldest son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Smith) Woodhull, was born at George manor. Mastic, L. I.. Dec. 30, 1732. His early life was spent in assisting his father to cultivate the possession he inherited. His first public employment was in a military capacity in the war between Great Britain and France — 1754-1760. He was appointed Major in the provincial forces of New York, and served in that capacity in the army under General Abercrom- bie, intended for the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and distin- guished himself by his daring and bravery in the assault on Ticonderoga. He afterwards accompanied Bradstreet against Fort Frontenac, which capitulated under the assault. In 1760 he served as Colonel of the Third Regiment, New York Provincials, under Gen. Amherst, which marched against Montreal and effected the final reduction of Canada. Colonel Woodhull was a representative from Suffolk County, N. Y.. in the Colonial Assembly in 1769; he was ap- pointed by the Provincial Congress, Aug. 22. 1775, Brigadier-General of the militia of Suffolk and Queens Counties, L. I. On the 28th of August, 1775. General Woodhull was elected President of the Provincial Congress, which office he held in the body that succeeded it in 1776. under the new form of government, which assembled on the 9th of July, Gen. Woodhull was chosen President, and continued in office until the 25th of August, when, in accordance with the resolution of the Convention, adopted the day previous, he took com- mand of the militia at Jamaica. A detailed account of his operations after this date is given in the history of the Battle of Long Island.
The talents of General Woodhull were peculiarly adapted to a military station. With personal courage he possessed judgment, decision and firmness of character, tempered with conciliatory manners, which commanded the respect and obedience of his troops, and at the same time secured their confidence and esteem.
Field says of him: "The high station which he had held in the councils of the revolutionists, the grand moderation of his character, combined with the firmness, patriotism and self-devotion for which he was remarkable, would under any circumstances have given him an honorable reputation. But when
104 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
the acts of his pure life were crowned with the final sacrifice of martyrdom, Gen. Woodhull's name was enrolled among his country's noblest heroes."
Gen. Woodhull died at New Utrecht, L. I., Sep. 10, 1776, from wounds received by the attack of British soldiers on Aug. 28. [For full account see History of the Battle of Long Island.] He married Ruth, daughter of Henry Nicoll, and had issue: one daughter, Elizabeth, born Nov. 30, 1762.
They had one son, Nathaniel, who died in infancy.
COLONEL JESSE SMITH WOODHULL, Soldier of the Revo- lution, seventh child and third son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Smith) Woodhull; and a brother of Gen. Nathaniel, was born at Mastic, L. I., Feb. 10, 1732; he died in Orange County, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1795. He removed to Orange County, N. Y.. about 1753, and purchased a tract of 500 acres at Blagg's Clove, in the town of Blooming Grove (formerly a part of Cornwall). He was a leading man in the county before the Revolution, and was conspicuous in all the public events that led up to it. He was a delegate to the first Provincial Convention, April 20, 1775. He raised the first regiment in Cornwall, and bore a prominent part in the exciting events which took place along the banks of the Hudson, especially in the autumn of 1777. The account states that "About the 20th of September, while Howe was marching into Philadelphia, and Burgoyne had reached Saratoga, over three thousand British soldiers arrived in New York, and there joined the armament of Sir Henry Clinton, then in waiting, and in a few days started to force their way up the Hudson. Misleading Gen. Putnam by feigning an attack on Peekskill, the force of the enemy crossed the river to Stony Point, marched around the western base of the Dunderburg (Oct. 7), appeared before the forts. The militia of the district, about 600 in number, that had hastily been called in the day previous, united with the garrison, and made a most heroic defense, fighting against superior numbers until twilight, when they gave way and made a scattered retreat, leaving about 300 of their number in killed, wounded and prisoners. "Col. Woodhull's regiment lost heavily in this engagement. He was conspicuous in the succeeding events, and was con- stantly on the alert to guard against surprise. After the massacre of the inhabitants at Minisink by the Indians. July 22, 1779, "detachments from Wood- hull's, Allison's and Hathorn's regiments were immediately sent to guard the frontier from further incursion." Col. Hathorn, in his report to Gov. Clinton, ■-ays: "I have acquiesced with Col. Woodhull in ordering one-eighth of our Regiments to Minisink as a temporary guard until your Excellency's pleasure is known on the subject."
Col. Woodhull continued in active service until the close of the war, and afterwards became prominent in the political affairs of the County. He was a graduate of Yale College and well qualified for the various public positions he was called upon to fill. He was a member of the State Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution. June 17, 1788. He was a member of the first Senate, being associated with Philip Livingston,' John Morin Scott, William Floyd, Abraham Yates, Jr., Pierre Van Cortlant, Jonathan Lawrence and other dis- tinguished men of that period.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 105
Col. Woodhull married Hester, daughter of Capt. Louis Du Bois, and had issue : Nathaniel, Richard, Sarah, Renilihe, Hannah, Jesse and Ebenezer.
Ebenezer, youngest son of Col. Jesse Woodhull, settled at Herkimer, Herkimer Co., N. Y., in the Mohawk Valley, about the year 1804, upon a tract of land bought of Peter Gansvoort and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer. He served with honor through the war of 1812.
He married Sarah, daughter of Hezekiah Tallcott, first Judge of Herkimer Co., and had issue: Richard, Eunice, Sarah, Hester, Calvin, Mary, Hezekiah,
Calvin, son of Ebenezer, was born at Herkimer April 4, 1813; moved to Schuyler County, N. Y., 1853; married Gertrude, daughter of Waterman Wat- kins, and had issue : Sarah, Jesse, Charles.
JESSE CALVIN WOODHULL. New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, son of Calvin, born at Oriskany, Oneida Co., Sept. 11. 1^47. He attended the district school and academy at Havana. Schuyler Co.. N. Y. — now Montour Falls — and began his business career in early youth. He moved to Brooklyn in 1878, and has been identified with many business enterprises in that city and in New York, principal among which was the Yellow Pine lumber business, of which he was among the first to engage in it extensively. He has been for some years connected with the First Reformed Church, and is at present an elder. He is also President of the P. M. M. Fraternity, which has its rooms in the Dutch Arms: member of the Montauk Club, and has been active in the Republican party. He married Sept. 3d, 1873. Ann Maria Bergen, daughter of Gilbert S. Bergen, a descendant of Hans Hansen Bergen, who settled on Manhattan Island.
Their children are: Gertrude, deceased; Gilbert, Caroline, Anna, Jesse.
JACKSON.— CONOVER.— CONROW.
Two or more distinct lines of the Jackson family are represented among the early settlers of this country; one as a descendant of the English, another, of the Irish branch — both, however, having a common origin, as the family has been prominent in England for more than three hundred years. The name of Francis appears in both branches, as a founder of churches and schools: Bak- er in his history of Northamptonshire, speaking of Dreddington, says: "Francis Jackson had a good stone house there, and the church contains many memorials of the family." His ancestor founded the school referred to more than a hundred years previous.
Burke mentions a Francis Jackson of the Devonshire family, who passed over into Kent, Ireland, as captain of dragoons in Cromwell's army, purchasing extensive landed property in the barony of Trawley, County of Mayo. He built a large fortified house at Enniscoe on the banks of the Lough Conn, and at his own expense erected the church of Crossmoline. within which he was buried.
Edward Jackson, of London, an early settler of Boston, Mass., gave Har- vard College "two acres of land, books, manuscripts, etc.," Robert Jackson, one of the original settlers of Hempstead, L. I., was magistrate under the
106 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Dutch government, 1659, and one of the delegates to the Convention held in 1665, after the English occupation, which adopted the code of laws for the Colony, known as the " Duke's Laws."
The first mention of the name of Jackson in West Jersey is that of Francis Jackson, who, in 1675, bought Hugh Dykeman's share of land. In 1686 a warrant for land was granted by Proprietors to Francis Jackson; also January, 1687, for 179 acres and March 16, 1687, for 100 acres. He died about 1698. His connection with Hugh Dykman may account for the frequent name of Hugh in later generations. The same year of Francis Jackson's death, a Jackson came into Court and, chose George Curlies his guardian; his first name is not clearly written in court records, but it is probably Hugh and the date being the same year that Francis Jackson died, leads to the inference that he was the eldest son of the said Francis.
Hugh Jackson (i) was no doubt the son of Francis Jackson. In 1719 he bought lands from Nicholas Brown, of Burlington County, his " loving brother-in-law," land in Monmouth then occupied by said Jackson. It appears by this that he married a Miss Brown and had a son Hugh, and probably other children.
Hugh Jackson (2), son of Hugh and (Brown) Jackson, was
born probably in Monmouth County, N. J., about 1725 or 30. He married
Mary , and had a son Hugh-, also William, Peter, Isaac, Joseph, Mary,
and Mercy.
Hugh Jackson (3), son of Hugh (2) and Mary ( ) Jackson, was
born in Monmouth County, N. J., March 25, 1754; died Sept. 10, 1834. He lived in Lower Squankum, where he carried on a fulling mill for many years; also an iron furnace, where he began the manufacture of iron grates, among the first made in this country. He was a prominent member of the Society of Friends, and gave the land at Lower Squankum to build a " Meeting House," the first in this locality. He married Rebecca Morris, daughter of Job Morris and Mary Ainsley. She died April 8, 1806, and he subsequently married Lafetra, daughter of James Lafetra, who died Jan. 20. 1842. Hugh Jackson died Sep. 10, 1834, and was buried in the Friends' burying ground at Lower Squankum. They had issue: Deborah, born Nov. 27, 1782; Morris, born
April 1, 1786; a son unnamed, born 1787; Rebecca, born Aug. 31, 1788; Hugh born Oct. 9, 1790; Peter, born April 2^, 1792; William, born March 26, 1794; Isaac, born October 9, 1795; Rebecca, died young; James M., born Sep. II, 1797; Mary, born March 19, [799; Anne, born Feb. 25, 180 1 ; Benjamin, born Nov. 11, 1803; died soon. Nathan H., born August 15, 1805.
Deborah married William H. Clayton, and had Rebecca, David, Jackson, Peter. Rebecca, Mary Ann. Lydia. James and Gifford. Morris married Merebie Smith and had Thomas, Rebecca, Sarah, Mary, Amos, Joseph and Morris. Hugh married Ann Furman, and had Jane. Mary, Furman, Thomas and Hugh. Peter married Deborah Johnson, and had Charles, James L., William, Edward. John and Peter. William married Ann Conover, and had Morris, Rachel, Asa, Peter, Rebecca. Susan and William Lewis. William's first wife died, and he
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. lu/
married 2d Martha Waldron, and had James L.. George H. and Elwood. James M. married, Jan. 31, 1827, Mary Ann King, and had Sarah Fisher, Samuel King, Elizabeth Jones, James Elwood, Edwin Atles and William Mor- ris. Mary married Barnes Throckmorton, and had Austin. Mary, Jackson, Job and William Nathan. Ann married Adam Hampton, and had Emeline, Mary D., Adam H., Elwood, Elizabeth and John.
Nathan H. Jackson, youngest child of Hugh (3) and Rebecca (Morris) Jackson, was born at Lower Squankum, N. J., Aug. 15, 1805; died Feb. 3, 1854. He went to New York City at the age of sixteen and learned the trade of grate making with his brother Peter, and afterwards entered into partnership with him and his brother William, under the firm name of W. & N. Jackson Co. in 1827. The eldest brother, Peter, was the pioneer, being the first to establish the business in New York City. The grates at this time were made of wrought iron, by hand, and the brass fixtures imported from Germany. This means of heating gradually took the place of the wood stove, and was principally used for heating houses until the introduction of coal stoves and the substitution of anthracite for bituminous coal. Peter carried on the business in the Bowery. while Nathan and his brother William were located at the corner of Front street and Peck slip, where they did a successful business for many years, and. in 1851, their sons, Peter and William H. Jackson, joined them under the firm name of W. & N. Jackson & Sons.
Nathan H. Jackson married Sarah, daughter of Ebenezer Conover. son ot Lewis Covenhoven, the Revolutionary ancestor, son of Peter, son of William. aoii of Peter, son of William, son of Garret Wolferson, son of Wolfert Gar- retson Van Cowenhoven.
Wolfert Gerretson Van Cowenhoven. the common ancestor of the Cowen- hoven, Kovvenhoven, or Covenhoven, or Conover family in this country, emi- grated from Amersfoort, in the Province of Utrecht, in Holland, Anno 1630, with the colonists who settled Rensselacrwick. near Albany, where he was employed by the Patroon as superintendent of farms. He afterwards resided on Manhattan Island, where he cultivated the Company "Bouwery." or "farm No. 6," and in 1657 was enrolled among the Burghers of New Amsterdam. On the 16th of June, 1636, he, together with Andrew Hudden. bought of the Indians and obtained from Governor Van Twiller, on the 16th of June. 1037. a Patent for the " Westermost of the three flats on Long Island commonly known as the little flats." This patent was ratified Aug. 22. 1658, and they removed thence in 1662. Wolfert Gerretson's children who came with him were: Genet Wolferson, Jacob Wolfnson and Peter Wolferson..
Gerret Wolferson Couwenhoven. eldest son of Wolfert Garretson Van Couwenhoven, was born in Holland in 1610; came with his parents to America in 1630, and settled at Flatlands, Long Island in 1636. In 1653 he, with others, signed a petition to Governor Kieft of New Amsterdam for leave to attack the Marick Kawick or Brooklyn Indians, a branch of the Canarisie tribe. The Director, however, in consequence of these. Indians having become peaceable.
108 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
wisely refused to grant the request, but gave permission " in case they were a hostile disposition any man must do his best to defend himself."
Gerrett Wolferson Couwenhoven was a Magistrate in 1644. In 1635 he married, at Flatlands, Altie Cornelis, daughter of Cornelis Lambertse Cool, of Gowanus. They had four children, of whom William Gerretse was the eldest.
Willem Gerretse Couwenhoven, eldest son of Gerret Wolferson and Altie Cornelis (Cool) Couwenhoven, was born at Flatlands in 1636. He resided first in Brooklyn, and was one of the founders and a Deacon of the First Reformed Church of that town. In July. 1727. he conveyed his farm at Flatlands to his son William, when it is supposed he removed -to Monmouth County, N. J. He married, in 1660, Altie, daughter of Jovis Dercksen Brinkerhoff; she died June, 1663; he married 2d, Feb. 12, 1665, Jannetie or Jonica Monford, daughter ol Peter Monfoort. By his second wife he had issue : Peter.
Peter Couwenhoven, son of William Gerretse and Altie (Brinkerhoff) Couwenhoven, was born in Brooklyn, Feb. 12, 1671 ; he married, about 1700, Patience, daughter of Elias Daws. He removed with his parents to Monmouth County, N. J., in 1727, and settled on a farm near Freehold; he died in 1755. He had issue William.
William Couwenhoven, or Covenhoven, son of Peter and Patience (Daws) Couwenhoven, was born May 3, 1706. He married May 1, 1724, Maryake Colyer (born 1706). He resided at Englishtown, N. J. He died in 1777; his wife died Jan. 30, 1777. They had issue Peter and other childrren.
Peter Conover, son of William and Maryake (Colyer) Couwenhoven, was born May, 1726. He married July 5, 1749, Anna, daughter of Thomas Davis, and had a son Lewis.
LEWIS CONOVER, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Peter and Anna (Davis) Conover, was born Sept. 9, 1752. He resided near Freehold or at Rumson, N. J. He served in the War of the Revolution and was Sergeant of Infantry, New Jersey troops, in Capt. William Remsen's Troop of Light Horse; was bearer of dispatches to Gen. Washington at the battle of Monmouth; he served two years with the Connecticut troops as Sergeant; a part of the tune being under the command of Col. Nicholas Van Brunt and Col. George Taylor. He was granted a pension on application made July 31. 1832, being at that time a resident of Freehold, 79 years of age. Pension was also allowed for two years' service as Sergeant with the Connecticut troops. He married about 1780. He died May 27, 1843; she died April 5. 1813. They had issue: Ebenezer, Joseph, Ann, Lena.
Ebenezer Conover. son of Lewis and Rachel (Scott) Conover, was born Oct. 5, 1783. He resided near Freehold, N. J. He married, Dec. 7, 1807, Mary Lefferson, daughter of Ouke Lefferson and Sarah Schenck (born Nov. 19. 1784)- He died Nov. 18, 1857; his wife died March 16, 1861. They had issue: Sarah, married Nathan H. Jackson, father of W. H. Jaekson, and Rachel, who married Adam Conrow, father of James Woolley, William Edward and Theodore Conrow. William E.. Mary Ann. J. Scott. Anthon L., and John B.
Nathan II. Jackson, by his wife, Sarah Conover. daughter of Ebenezer
WILLIAM Ho JACKS
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. . 10y
Conover, had issue: William H. Edward, Alary Ann, E. Conover, Rebecca, Nathan and Edwin Augustus.
WILLIAM H. JACKSON, Member Sons of the Revolution, eldest son of Nathan H. and Sarah (Conover) Jackson, was born on Cherry Street, near Franklin Square, New York, Feb. 21, 1829. [Cherry Street was at that time a fashionable locality for residences.] He was educated at the Mechanics' and Traders' School, a well-known educational institution in its day. On arriving at the proper age he entered his father's employ, where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the manufacture of grates. A branch store had been opened in the meantime at 891 Broadway, and after his father's death the business was divided, he taking charge of the up-town store, while his cousins — sons of William Jackson — continued the down-town store. William H. evinced great business capacity, and when left to himself his trade largely increased from year to year. He kept well abreast of the times, changing the styles and making various improvements as the demand required, employing at all times the most skilful artisans, and achieving a reputation far exceeding the highest expecta- tions or dreams of his predecessors. From the simple, plain wrought iron grate, costing but a few dollars, has grown the most elaborate and artistic work of house ornamentation of which the mind can conceive, and limited in cost only to the means of the purchaser.
Mr. Jackson organized the Jackson Iron Works, one of the largest manu- factories of the kind in the country, as well as one of the most successful industries in the city, which has added largely to its wealth as well as to its beauty in various works of utility and ornamentation. As President of the company everything is under the personal supervision of Mr. Jackson, and both body and brain are just as active now as in the days of his youth, it can be said truly of him as of Sir Christopher Wren:
" Si queris momentum Circumspice."
Although one of the busiest of men, Mr. Jackson has found time to devote to religious, charitable and benevolent works. He is President of the General Synod of the Reformed Church, a member of the Reformed Church, trustee of the Presbyterian Hospital, member of the Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Union League Club, New York Historical Society, Chamber of Commerce, Republican and Adelphi Clubs.
Mr. Jackson married 1st Mary V. Applegate, daughter of O. Higby Apple- gate; 2d Sarah A. Job. By his first wife he had William F., Edward Augustus. Sarah L., Mary Anna, Laura, married Dr. Samuel K. Bremer; by his second wife he had a daughter, Ada.
CONROW.— CONOVER.
Rachel Conover (daughter of Ebenezer Conover), the wife of Adam Con- row, was sister to Sarah Conover, wife of Nathan H. Jackson, father of William H. Jackson.
110 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Three brothers of the name of Conrow came to this country in the latter part of the seventeenth century, one of whom, Isaac, settled in Gloucester County, N. J. He had a son, Isaac (2).
Isaac Conrow (2), son of Isaac (1), probably came with his father to this country, and settled in Gloucester County, N. J. He married Elinor Wright in 1730, and had three sons, Darling, Andrew and Thomas. It is highly probable that one of these brothers was the father of Levi Conrow but which of these does not appear on the records. He had three brothers, William, Luke and Darling. From the latter name it would appear that they were sons of Darling (1), son of Isaac (2), son of Isaac (1).
Levi Conrow, grandson of Isaac (2) and Elinor (Wright) Conrow, and son, probably of Darling Conrow, was born March 29, 1781; died Sep. 17, 1831; he married, 1806, Deborah Wooley, widow of William Conrow. They had issue: Adam.
Adam Conrow, son of Levi and Deborah (Wooley) Conrow, was born at Squankum, Monmouth Co., N. J., in 1809. He attended the country school and learned something of the grate business, which was then being carried on in his native town. He came to New York in 1835, and was for some years associated with the Jacksons in the manufacture of grates, etc. He subse- quently carried on business for a time under the firm name of Hampden & Conrow, but for some years previous to his death he was associated with the firm of W. & N. Jackson. He led a quiet, uneventful life, but lived up to his convictions of right, and aimed to do good to his fellowmen. He married Rachel Conover, daughter of Ebenezer Conover (see Jackson — Conover family), and had issue: James W., Mary, married James Hanford, William E., Theodore, Sarah, married John H., Francis and Louisa, married Theodore D. Anderson.
THEODORE CONROW, New York Society Sons of the Revolution, son of Adam and Rachel (Conover) Conrow, was born in New York City Dec. 14, 1844. After completing his education at the public school, he went with the firm of Thompson, White & Co. in the hat business, and remained there until i860. In 1861-3 he was with the old and well-known firm of Demas Barnes & Co. During the latter year he entered the employ of J. B. Ayres & Co., paper dealers, and subsequently became a partner in the firm, and on the death of Mr. Ayres the firm was reorganized under its present name. Conrow Bros., Theodore Conrow being the senior member.
During the Civil War Mr. Conrow joined Company A., Twelfth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., which was called into active service in 1863, when Lee's army invaded Pennsylvania, and remained as a part of the reserves until after the battle of Gettysburg, being recalled soon after to protect New York City in the great draft riots of that year. He was afterwards transferred to Company A, Twenty-third Regiment of Brooklyn, being then a resident of that city, where he has since resided. He is a member of Lafayette Post, G. A. R., of New York City; of Montauk Club, Brooklyn, and of the New York Chamber of Commerce.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. Ill
Mr. Conrow married, in 1873, Hettie Jeanette Stilwell, daughter of Samuel Stilwell, of Brooklyn, a descendant of an old Long Island family. Their children are: Erne Clarke and Helen Claire.
WISNER.— ARMSTRONG.— WHEELER, etc.
Little is known of the history of the Wisner family previous to their set- tlement in this country, but the character of the men is clearly indicated by the important service rendered during the French and Indian War and in the War of the Revolution. Every one who was of fighting age was a patriot, not one being found in the ranks of the enemy or even classed as a neutral. They were men of decided convictions, with the courage to maintain them.
Johannes Wiesner, or Weesner, the American ancestor, a native of Switzerland, was a soldier in the allied army under the Prince of Orange and afterwards under the Duke of Marlborough in the war against Louis XIV. of France. When the war closed Queen Anne undertook to provide some of the foreign troops a home in the colony of New York. Among the emigrants were Johannes Wiesner, his wife, Elizabeth, his sons, Hendrick and Adam, the latter being born on the passage. These emigrants encamped for some time on Governor's Island. Johannes Wiesner availed himself of the first opportunity to provide for his family, and accepted a position on the farm of Christian Snedeker, at Hempstead, L. I. Snedeker owned land on the Wawayanda Patent, in Orange County, N. Y., and sent Wiesner there to bring part of it into cultivation. Wiesner's first purchase was the backwoods farm, June 23, 1715, which was on the borders of the " Drowned Lands." In 1732 he bought a farm of 150 acres of Barent Bloom. His farm of 100 acres at Mount Eve went to his son Adam. Johannes was 38 years old when he arrived in America in 1714. By his wife Elizabeth he had issue: Hendrick, Adam, Katharine, Ann and Mary. Adam learned the Indian language and served as interpreter. He inherited from his father the 100 acres at Mount Eve.
Hendrick Wisner, eldest son of Johannes and Elizabeth ( ) Wiesner,
was born in England about 1698; died 1767. He came with his parents to America and settled in Orange County, N. Y. He made two purchases of land in Goshen township, one in 1726, the other in 1723. He married Miss Shaw, a New England woman, and had two sons, Henry and John.
Henry Wisner, the second son, was especially distinguished for the active part he took in behalf of the colonies both before and during the Revolution. He was one of the most earnest advocates for the independence of the colonies, and it is claimed that he signed in his individual capacity the original draft of the Declaration of Independence.
CAPT. JOHN WISNER. Patriot of the Revolution, son of Hendrick
and (Shaw) Wisner, was born in Orange County, N. Y., about 1718.
He is mentioned in the history of the county at a very early period as the enrolling oifficer. He was a comissioned officer during the French and Indian war, and during the Revolution he was Captain in trie Florida and Warwick
112 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Regiment, Orange County, N. Y., Militia, commanded by Col. Isaac Nicoll. He saw much active service in the early part of the war. He was the proprietor of a tract of land embracing 2,000 acres, conferred by royal patent, embracing what was formerly known as the Wisner homestead. He removed the old log house and erected in its place a more pretentious house of stone. He married and had issue : John, Henry William, Asa, Anna, Charity, Hannah.
LIEUT.-COLONEL HENRY WISNER, 3d Patriot of the Revolu- tion, son of Captain John and Wisner, was born in Orange County, in 1742. He was a most pronounced patriot and an active worker in the cause of independence long before the separation of the colonies from the mother country. He was commissioned Captain in the Florida and Warwick Regiment, Orange County, N. Y., Militia, Colonel John Hathorn, Sep. 22, 1775 He was promoted Major Feb. 28, 1776. During this period he was frequently engaged in scouting expeditions. In April, 1777, while in command of a scout- ing expedition, he captured a party of thirteen Tories in the passes of Monroe Mountains while on their way to join the British. He was promoted Lieut.- Colonel of the same regiment Feb. 19, 1778, and was in constant service of some kind until the close of the war. He represented Dutchess and Ulster Counties in the State Legislature in 1782. He died Aug. 29, 181 1. He married Susan- nah Goldsmith, born 1745, daughter of Richard Goldsmith. They had issue: Gabriel, William, Mary, Abagail, Henry, Anna, John, Jeffrey, Susannah, Richard.
Jeffrey Wisner, son of Henry and Susanna (Goldsmith) Wisner, was born April 20, 1769; died April 11, 1855. His educational advantages were limited to the village school, but withal he was a man of marked influence in the community. He was supervisor 1812-13, 1819-23, and for several successive years was justice of the peace. He rilled the several public positions with great ability, and was noted for his firmness of character and his even sense of justice, which he meted out to rich and poor alike without fear or favor. He was one of the pillars and deacon of the Baptist church at Warwick, and led an exemplary Christian life. He married Elizabeth Armstrong, daughter of William, son of William, son of Francis.
The Armstrongs from a very early date have been noted for their military prowess. The family was in ancient times settled on the Scottish border, and springing from the parent stock, several branches at an early era became located in the northern counties of England, and later in Ireland. Tradition states that the original surname was Fairbairn, and that it was changed to Armstrong on the following occasion: An ancient King of Scotland, having his horse killed under him in battle, was immediately remounted by Fairbairn, his armor- bearer, on his own horse. For this timely assistance the King amply rewarded him with lands on the Borders, and to perpetuate the memory of so important a service, as well as the manner in which it was performed (for Fairbairn took the king by the thigh, and set him on the saddle), his royal master gave him the appellation of Armstrong (strong of arm), and assigned him for crest '" an armed hand and arm, in the hand a leg and foot in armour, couped at the thigh all ppr."
*JT. A. WINNER*
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 113
Another tradition states that one Armstrong, a Highland Chief, accepted the challenge of the champion of the opposite clan to single combat which had been given to any man in his clan — he killed his antagonist. The next day a similar challenge was given by another champion and again accepted by Armstrong, who killed his antagonist. The next day another challenge was given and accepted in the same manner. After the combat had been hotly maintained for a short time, Armstrong's horse was observed to turn back and come up to the ranks with his rider dead, but sitting upright in his saddle. Scott, in his " Lay of the Last Minstrel," says:
"Ye need not go to Leddesdale,
For when they see the blazing bale Elliotts and Armstrongs never fail."
Francis Armstrong, the ancestor, came from Ulster County, Ireland, and landed in New York Dec. 10, 1728. He settled in Florida, N. Y., and became an elder of the Presbyterian church at that place. He had a son William, who also had a son William, who was the father of Elizabeth, wife of Jeffrey Wisner.
Jeffrey Wisner, by his wife, Elizabeth (Armstrong) Wisner, had issue: Gabriel, born Oct. 16, 1818; Rensselaer J., born March 2, 1820; James, March 17, 1822; Richard, Feb. 4, 1824; Jeffrey Amherst, Oct. 18, 1827; Mary E., June 3, 1830; Vanness, Aug. 13, 1832.
JEFFREY AMHERST WISNER was born in the old Wisner homestead at Warwick, New York, on October 18th, 1827, and was the youngest of five sons, the issue of Jeffrey Wisner and Elizabeth Armstrong.
His father Jeffrey (son of Lieut.-Col. Henry Wisner (3) of Revolutianary fame) was not only one of the largest farmers about Warwick, but owned large tracts of land in Chemung County, much of it being where now stands the City of Elmira, N. Y. This tract of land was originally called Wisnerburg, and is now embraced by the blocks bounded by Baldwin, Water, West and Gray Streets in the City of Elmira, and Wisner Park receives its name from the donor — Jeffrey Wisner
Jeffrey Amherst Wisner, N. Y. State Society Sons of the Revolution, the subject of this sketch, received his education at the District and High schools of Warwick. In 185 1 he married Mary Wheeler, the only daughter of Major James Wheeler of Wheelerville, then a stirring little hamlet some two miles west of the Village of Warwick. Lacking a robust constitution, and having no taste for farming, he joined his brother — Rensselaer Jay — and located in Pittston, Luzerne County, Pa., at about the time of the discovery of anthracite coal in that locality. They were the pioneers of West Pittston. and at once established a large foundry and engine works. Later on Jeffrey Amherst entered the milling business in East Pittston. He was the first Burgess of West Pittston, and one of the early attendants of the East Side Presbyterian Church.
Three children were the issue of Jeffrey Amherst Wisner and Mary
1X4 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Wheeler— Grace Aguilla, born at Warwick, and Clinton Wheeler and Mary, born in Pittson, the latter dying in infancy.
After losing his wife, in i860, he moved to New York City and entered into the wholesale grocery business with Bonnell & Adams of Front Street, but soon retired to become one of the firm of Robert Seaman & Company in the same business. Their increasing business carried them into new quarters on the west side, and at the retirement of Mr. Seaman, the firm became Berry, Wisner, Lohman & Company. For many years this has been, and is to-day, a familiar sign at the corner of Murray and Greenwich Streets, although Mr. Wisner retired from active business some ten years ago.
In 1864 Mr. Wisner married Sophronia Pierce, the only daughter of H. S. Pierce, a prominent banker of the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania. The surviving children of this issue are: Mrs. Kate W. Kingsbury, Horatio Sher- man and Sophie.
Mr. Wisner has for many years lived in Brooklyn, and was one of the organizers of the Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church, and is still one of its Elders. He has always been an ardent Republican, and is an enthusiast in all things pertaining to Revolutionary days. As he grows ripe in years it is pleasant to note that his beautiful summer home is in the old town of his birth, in the beautiful Warwick Valley ,once the home of the Algonquins.
CLINTON W. WISNER. New York State Society Sons of the Rev olution, son of Jeffrey A., and Mary (Wheeler) Wisner, was born at West Pittston, Pa., July 30, 1856. After the death of his mother he lived for eight years with his uncle. After his father established a home in Brooklyn he joined him there, where he enjoyed good educational advantages. His first business experience was with the well known New York dry goods firm of Bartlett Beery Reed & Co., and later with George C. Chase & Co., importers of tea. At the end of three years he severed his connection with this firm and joined his father in the wholesale grocery business, representing the house in Penn- sylvania and Michigan for the succeeding twelve years. He seems to have inherited the qualities of the Armstrongs as well as the Wisners, for he has enjoyed uninterrupted success during his entire business career and acquired a competence by his own exertions early in life.
In 1888 he became the executor of the estate of H. S. Pearce. a million- aire banker of Scranton, Pa. The care of this estate, which has been success- fully managed, has since occupied most of the time of Air. Wisner. He is interested, however, in other business enterprises, all of which have profited by his wisdom and good judgment as well as by his marked executive ability and business sagacity. He has interests in two large coal mines in Pennsylvania, is a director of the First National Bank of Carbondale, Pa., and of the Scranton, Pa., Electric-light Works, and President of the Warwick Valley Light & Power Company.
Veneration for the ancestral home led him in 1884 to make this his perma- nent place of residence, and that year he built for himself a handsome home, which is one of the attractions of the old Town of Warwick. Amid these
SONS OF THK REVOLUTION.
"5
surroundings he can point with pride to the home of his ancestors, who per- formed a noble part as founders and defenders of civil and religious liberty. The allied families of Mr. Wisner include some of the leading families of the State, and these connections render him eligible to membership in the various colonial and patriotic societies of the country, some of which he has availed himself of. His fellow citizens have shown their appreciation of his efforts to promote the growth and prosperity of the town by electing him Mayor for five consecutive terms. He received the Republican nomination for Assembly in 1892, but was defeated by a small majority. He is President of the Republican Club of Warwick, and has represented his town as a Delegate to the State Conventions for several years. His religious connections are with the Reformed Dutch Church, of which he is a deacon.
CLINTON W. WISNER.
110 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Mr. Wisner married Martha Willing of Warwick, daughter of Thomas, son of Thomas (3J, son of Thomas UJ» son of Thomas (ij.
The Yv Mings are of Welch descent, and were among the early settlers of Long Island.
Thomas Welling, the ancestor, purchased lands there in 1704, and subse- quently moved to Orange County, N. Y., where he acquired land embracing a portion of the village of Warwick. His children were: Thomas, Richard and John.
Thomas Welling (2), son of Thomas (1), married Sibyl Beardsley, of Sussex County, N. J., and had issue: Thomas, Edward L., John, Hannah, Charles, Anna, Elizabeth, Lois.
Thomas Welling (3), son of Thomas (2) and Sibyl (Beardsley) Welling, was born July 8, 1786. He married Ann Coleman, and had John L., William R., Thomas, Elizabeth, Harriet, Hannah, Ephilia and Samuel.
Thomas Welling (4), son of Thomas (3) and Ann (Coleman) Welling, was born April 27, 1830. He is a successful and progressive farmer and a prominent citizen of the town, an elder in the Dutch Reformed Church and active in mission and other benevolent work. He married Caroline, daughter of Aaron Van Duzer, of Goshen, and had issue: William R., Thomas, Jr., Edward L. {Martha, married to Clinton W. Wisner), Mariana, Elizabeth, Carrie H., Sarah Mc C.
Clinton YV. Wisner and his wife, Martha Welling had issue: Grace Ethel, John Welling, Jeffrey Amherst, Thomas Welling — the last two named being twins — Clinton, Jr., and Gladys.
Thomas Welling (5), son of Thomas (4), was born on the old Welling homestead at Warwick, April 26, 1864, and married Marie Louise Van Duzer, daughter of J. Harvey Van Duzer and Sarah Taylor, both of Warwick.
Thomas Welling (6), son of Thomas (5), was born on April 3, 1896.
It is quite remarkable that five of the six generations of Thomas Wellings were born in the same house that the present Thomas, a baby of scarce three years, has its home.
TYLER.— MASON.— WHITING.
As far back as the record extends this name is found to be of English origin. One Watt Tyler led a rebellion against Richard II., June, 1381, sacked Lambeth Palace and seized the Tower. The name is mentioned among the Royal Families of England.
Job Tyler, the American ancestor, was born in Shropshire, Eng., in 1619, and was one of the founders of Andover, Mass., in 1640. He was a leading man in the town, and frequent mention is made of him in the early records. He was in Rhode Island two years before he went to Andover, and married there Maria . He had a son Samuel.
Samuel Tyler, son of Job and Marie ( ) Tyler, was born in 1655,
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. H7
and died in Mendon, Mass., 1695. He married Hannah — — , and had a son Ebenezer.
Ebenezer Tyler, son of Samuel and Hannah ( ) Tyler, was born
at Mendon, Mass., 1685; died at Attleboro, Mass., 1736. He married Catherine Bragg, and had issue: Capt. John and others.
CAPT. JOHN TYLER, Soldier of the Revolution, son of Ebenezer and Catherine (Bragg) Tyler, was born at Attleboro, Mass., Jan 18, 724; died there Jan. 11, 1794. He is mentioned as " Captain John " two years before the Revolution, and probably received his title in the French and Indian War. Dec. 6, 1774, the town " established a Superior and Inferior Court to hear and determine controversies." Capt. John Tyler was appointed one of the " seven Inferior Judges." Captain John Tyler marched to the " Lexington Alarm," also to the "Bunker Hill Alarm." Ten persons by the name of Tyler went from Attleboro to serve in the War of the Revolution. He married Anna Black- ington, and had issue : ■ "Deacon" John and others.
DEACON JOHN TYLER. Soldier of the Revolution, known as John Tyler, Jr., son of John and Anna (Blackington) Tyler, was born at Attle- boro, Mass., April 26, 1746; died at Mount Ararat, Pa., May 22. 1822. He marched with his father to the " Lexington Alarm," and his name again appears on the muster roll of the Attleboro troops as a member of Capt. Ebenezer May's Company. Aug. 22, 1778, to Sep. 24. In the fall of 1794 John Tyler, wife and children, Job, Joab, Achsah, and others, came from the Delaware to the Susquehanna at the rate of ten miles per day. He was chosen deacon of the Harford Church in 1803. He removed to Mt. Ararat and served in the same capacity. He was the agent of Henry Dinker in the disposal of lands on the headquarters of the Tunkhannock and Lackawanna. This gave him influ- ence in the community, which his wife Mercy, by her untiring and unselfish efforts in behalf of the sick, gained much more in the sphere allotted to him. His wife (to whom he was married June, 1768) was Mercy Thacher. a descend- ant of Rev. Peter Thacher, pastor of the old South Church in Boston. The second son of this marriage was Joab.
Joab Tyler, second son of John and Mercy (Thacher) Tyler, was born in Attleboro, Mass., June 23, 1784. He removed with his father to Harford. and when his father removed to Mount Ararat, he took his place in civil and religious affairs. He was a man of great liberality and contributed freely to the erection of church and schoolhouses; he built miles of turnpike and plank road at his own expense. To his public spirit Harford owed much of its growth and prosperity. At great pecuniary sacrifice early in the temperance reformation he bought out his partner's interest in the distilling busines-. and stopped the sale of spirituous products. He died at Amherst, Mass.. Jan. 13. 1869. He married Nabby, daughter of Dea. Jonathan and Abigail (Hart) Seymour of Otsego, N. Y. She was a descendant of Richard Seymour, one of the founders of Hartford, 1639. Her grandfather, Eleakim Seymour, born in Connecticut, Oct. 1757, was with Arnold at the storming of Quebec in December, T775. and assisted in carrying Arnold from the field after he was wounded. He
Il8 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
also served with the Connecticut militia at the battle of Bemas Heights, and other engagements around Saratoga, which resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne.
John Tyler, by his wife, Nabby (Seymour) Tyler, had a son, William Sey- mour.
Prof. William Seymour Tyler, eldest son of Job and Nabby (Sey- mour) Tyler, was born in Harford. Pa., Sep. 2, 1810. He was graduated at Amherst, in 1830, was tutor there till 1834; studied in Andover Theological Seminary. He was licensed to preach in 1836, and from that date till 1847 was Professor of Latin and Greek at Amherst, and later of Greek only. He was ordained without charge by a Congregational Council at Amherst, and although he never was a pastor, he frequently preached as a supply for other churches. He twice visited Europe and the East. Harvard gave him the degree of D. D. in 1857, and Amherst that of LL. .D. in 1871. He is the author of a number of works, notably: " History of Amherst College," " Prayer for Colleges," "Theology of Greek Poets," etc.; he has edited editions of several Greek authors. He was for many years President of the Board of Trustees of. Mount Holyoke Seminary and College and Williston Seminary, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Smith College, Northampton. He died at Amherst at the age of eighty-eight, Nov. 19, 1898.
Prof. Tyler married Amelia Ogden Whiting, daughter of Mason and Mary (Edwards) Whiting. The Whiting family was one of the most distinguished in the State of Connecticut.
The Honorable William Whiting, the ancestor of this branch of the Whiting family, is called one of the fathers of Connecticut. He and Major General John Mason (the hero of the Pequot War), are named among the principal characters who undertook, in the year 1636, the great work of settling Conecticut, and were the civil and religious fathers of the colony. Mr. Whiting came to America from England and settled at Newtown (now Cambridge), Mass. He was a devoted friend and disciple of Rev. Thos. Hooker, called "The Light of the Western Churches." When Mr. Hooker, after his arrival (1633) in America, having for three years resided at Newtown, removed (in 1636) to Connecticut with about a hundred of his company, Mr. Whiting was one of his co-operators in founding the colony at Hartford. Frequent mention is made of him as " one of the fathers of the colony." He and his friend, Capt. Mason (afterwards Gen. Mason), were for many years distinguished leaders of the colonies. Both were members of the General Court for many years. Mr. Whiting was also a magistrate, and in 1643 was made Treasurer of the colony.
Rev. Samuel Whiting, second son of Rev. John and Sibyl (Collins) Whiting, was born in Hartford in 1670: died at Enfield, Conn., 1725. His wife was Elizabeth Adams, daughter of Rev. William Adams, of Dedham, Mass. Her mother was Alice Bradford, daughter of Deputy-Governor William Brad- ford, son of Governor William Bradford, of the Mayflower, and his wife. Alice Southworth. The fourth son of this marriage was William Whiting.
Col. William Whiting, fourth son of Rev. Samuel Whiting, served with distinction in the French war. He " gained much applause " for his gal-
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 1 19
lant conduct at Louisburg, and was made Captain in the regular British service. In the battle of Sept. 8, 1755. under Sir William Johnson. Lieut.-Col. Whiting added to his fame. When Col. Ephraim Williams was sent to meet the French at Glens Falls, Lieut.-Col. Whiting brought up the rear. The American troops were defeated by superior numbers, and Col. Whiting " con- ducted the retreat with great judgment to the admiration of the French general."
DR. WILLIAM WHITING, Patriot of the Revolution, second son of Colonel William and Anna (Raymond) Whiting, was born at Bozrah, Conn.. April 8, 1730. He resided in Hartford for a time and removed thence to Great Barrington, Mass., where he was " considered the first physician in the country as to medical knowledge." He was a man of genius, and proved of great assistance to the colonists in their early struggle for independence by his successful experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder. Hon. Robert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, says: " I have lately caused your methods to be reported and have sent it to all the colonies." Dr. Whiting represented the Towns of Egremont and Alford in the Massa- chusetts Provincial Congress of Deputies, held at Cambridge in February. 1775. He was " empowered and directed to collect all Province arms which are in the County of Berkshire." In May, 1775, when the Provincial Congress met at Watertown, he represented the four towns of Sheffield, Great Barrington, Egremont and Alford; and was charged with the furnishing medicines for the army. The House of Representatives of Massachusetts, Aug. 23. 1775, resolved "That Dr. Whiting, Deacon Baker, of Boston, and Capt. John Peck, be a committee, whose business it shall be, faithfully and diligently to apply them- selves to the manufacture of saltpetre, etc., and that Dr. Whiting procure the reprinting the several methods recommended by the Hon. Continental Con- gress, for making saltpetre, etc." On the 6th of October, 1775, the Doctor, as Chairman of this Committee, reported in writing that he had attended to the matter with the happiest results. Dr. Whiting married Anna, daughter of Jeremiah (3) and Mary (Clark) Mason, son of Jeremiah (2), son of Jere- miah (1), who was the son of Major General John Mason, the hero of the Pequot war. They had, among other children, a son Mason.
Mason Whiting, son of Dr. William and Anna (Mason) Whiting, married Mary, daughter of Timothy Edwards; was a lawyer and one of the founders of Binghamton, N. Y.
TIMOTHY EDWARDS, of the Revolution, was a member of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety and Commissary of Supplies for Massachu- setts.
«
Rhoda Ogden, wife of Timothy Edwards, was the third daughter of Robert Ogden 2d. He was Chairman of the Elizabethtown Committee of Safety in 1776; his son Matthias, was Colonel of the First New Jersey Regiment ; his sons-in- law, Col. Oliver Spencer and Major Francis Barber, also his son, Aaron Ogden, were officers in other New Jersey regiments. Aaron Ogden was afterward Gov- ernor of New Jersey. He, Robert Ogden 2d, was speaker of the New Jersey
j20 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Assembly when the Stamp Act was passed, and on the outbreak of the war he was compelled to leave Elizabethtown, removing thence to Ogdensburg, for fear of capture by the British on account of the prominent part taken by himself and family in the Revolutionary War.
Timothy Edwards was the son of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, President of Princeton College (who married Sarah, the daughter of James Pierrepont, of New Haven), son of Timothy (married Esther Stoddard), son of Richard (mar- ried ist Elizabeth Tuttle, 2d Mary Talcott), son of William, who came to Amer- ica with his mother and settled in Hartford, Conn, (married Agnes Spencer), son of Rev. Richard Edwards, of London, Eng.
Sarah Pierrepont Edwards (wife of President Edwards), was great grand- daughter of Rev. Thomas Hooker of Hartford, spoken of above as "the light of the Western cburches."
The children of Prof. William S. Tyler's marriage with Amelia Ogden Whit- ing were Col. Mason Whiting and William Wellington and Henry Mather Tyler, Professor of Greek in Smith College, and John Mason Tyler, Professor of Bi- ology at Amherst College.
COLONEL MASON WHITING TYLER. New York Society Sons of the Revolution, eldest son of Professor William and Amelia Ogden (Whit-
C01 1 \SON WHITING fYLER
ing) Tyler, was bom in Amherst, Mass., June 17, 1840. He was prepared for college at Amherst Academy and Willeston Seminary, graduating from Am- herst in the class of '6_\ receiving from his alma mater in 1865 the degree of
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. I2I
A. M. Immediately after graduating he decided to enter the service of his country which was then engaged in the great Civil War. He joined the 37th Reg. Mass. Vol. Infantry, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Com- pany F, which he assisted in organizing. His regiment was attached to the Sixth Army Corps, which was then connected with the Army of the Potomac, and afterwards served under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley.
He took part in the following engagements: Fredericksburg, Dec. nth to 14th, 1862; Burnside's Expedition. Jan. 20th to 23rd., 1863; second Fredericks- burg and Marye's Heights, May 2nd and 3rd, 1863; Salem Church, May 3rd and 4th, 1863; Gettysburg, July 2nd and 3rd; Funkstown, July nth; Rappahannock Station, Nov. 8th; Mine Run, Nov. 29th; Wilderness, May 5th to 9th, 1864; Spotsylvania, May 12th. 13th, 18th, 1864; North Anna. May 24th and 25th; Cold Harbor, June 1st to 12th; Petersburg, June 16th, 17th, and 18th; Weldon Rail- road, June 21st; Ream's Station, June 29th; Fort Stevens, July nth and 12th ; Charleston, Aug. 21st; Opequon, Sept. 19th; Cedar Creek, Oct. 19th; Hatcher's Run, Feb. 6, 1865; Dabney's Mills, Feb. 7th; Forts Steadman and Wadsworth, March 25th, 1865. He was breveted Major for distinguished gallantry at the battle of Winchester on Sept. 19th, 1864; commissioned Major. March 4th. 1865; Lieut. Col., May 19th, 1865; Colonel in command of 37th Regiment. June 26th. 1865. His regiment went into the war with a total enrollment of 1,324 men; lost 588 men killed and wounded, and 169 men who were killed or died of their wounds. The regiment was noted as one of the leading fighting regiments of the war.
Colonel Tyler was several times wounded, but continued uninterruptedly in active service until the latter part of March, when he was temporarily dis- abled by wounds. He was honorably discharged and mustered out of service on July 1st, 1865.
At the battle of Winchester he was struck on the chin by a fragment of shell which caused a painful wound. The last wound he received was in front of Petersburg in March, 1865. He was struck in the knee by a minnie ball which disabled him and caused his first absence from his regiment in a cam- paign.
At the close of the war Col. Tyler resumed his studies and spent .me year in Columbia College Law School, and three years in the office of Evarts, South- mayd & Choate. and was admitted to the bar of New York in Oct.. 1866. He formed a partnership in 1869 under the name of Tremain and Tyler, which continued until 1893, when the present firm of Tyler & Durand was formed.
Col. Tyler has personally conducted many important cases; notably the suit of Marie vs. Garrison, resulting in the recovery of a million dollars. His firm were attorneys for the importers in the famous "hat trimmings" cases — Hartrauft vs. Langfield (125 U. S. R. 128). and Robertson vs. EdelhofT (132 U. S. R. 614). They were counsel in the treaty cases in which the importers sued to recover duties paid upon sugar imported from countries with which the United States had treaties of commercial alliance containing the equalities of duties clause, which, it was claimed by the importers, operated to make sugar imported from these countries free after the United States had made a treaty
122 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
admitting free sugar imported from the Sandwich Islands (Whitney vs. Robert- son, 124 U. S. R. 190). Col. Tyler acted as counsel for the appellants and argued in the Supreme Court of the United States the removal cases, which determined the jurisdiction of the United States Circuit Court under the act of Congress of March 3, 1875 (100 U. S. R. 457). He was also counsel in the case of the Pacific Railroad vs. Ketchum (101 U. S. R. 289) and other important cases argued in the United States Supreme Court.
He is connected with various business enterprises both in official and ad- visory capacities. He was for a time President of the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company, and is at the present time a director in the Columbus and Hock- ing Coal and Iron Company. He is recognized as one of the most public spirited citizens in the town of Plainfieid, N. J., where he now resides. He was one of the early trustees of the Muhlenberg Hospital, was President of the Music Hall Association, President of the Organized Aid Association, and a member of the New Jersey Historical Society. He is President of the Board of Directors of the Plainfieid Public Library and Art Gallery.
He has been a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution since 1885, being eligible through six of his ancestors who bore a conspicuous part in the early movements which lead to a separation of the colonists from the mother country. While his success in life is due wholly to his own exertions, he lias just reason to be proud of the fact that the best blood of New England courses through his veins, and the record shows that the family escutcheons have continued untarnished through the several generations, and his ancestors have nearly all been founders or builders in the various localities where they have resided.
Col. Tyler married, Dec, 1869. Miss Eliza M. Schroeder, daughter of Rev. John F. Schroeder, D. D., formerly rector of Trinity Church, New York City. Her mother was a daughter of Hon. Elijah Boardman, U. S. Senator from Connecticut, a descendant of Rev. Daniel Boardman. the first minister of New Milford, in 1712. The issue of this marriage is two sons: William Seymour, law student, and Cornelius Boardman, a member of the junior class at Amherst.
CONOVER— DENISE— DEAN.
The history of the Conover or Couwenhoven family in this country is one of steady growth and prosperity, and they have developed almost every branch of industry, and have become prominent in the various professions as well. They were the most ardent patriots in the Revolution — men of unflinching courage, de- voted to the cause of liberty, few. if any, have been found among the enemies of this country.
Wolfert Gerretson Van Couwenhoven, the common ancestor of the Cou- wenhoven, Kouwenhoven or Conover Family in this country, emigrated from Amersfoort in the Province of Utrecht, in Holland, Anno 1630, with the col- lonists who settled Rensselaerwick, near Albany, where he was employed by the Patroon as superintendant of farms. He afterwards resided on Manhattan
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 123
Island, where he cultivated the Company's "Bouwery," or farm No. 6, and in 1657 was enrolled among the Burghers of New Amsterdam. On the 16th of June, 1636, he, together with Andries Hudden, bought of the Indians, and ob- tained from Governor Van Twiller, on the 16th of June, 1637, a Patent for the "Westernmost of the three flats on Long Island, commonly known as the little flats." This Patent was ratified Aug. 22, 1658. and they removed thence in 1662. His children who came with him were Gerret Wolferson, Jacob Wolfer- son, and Peter Wolferson.
June 20th, 1699, John Bowne, of Monmouth County, N. J., conveyed to Gerret Sloothofif, Peter Couwenhoven, and others, of King's County, Long Island for £550 one thousand acres of land in Monmouth County, New Jersey, bounded southwestwardly by "Burlington Road," and by Spottswood, Middle- brook, etc.
Gerret Wolferson Couwenhoven, eldest son of Wolfert Gerretson Cou- wenhoven, was born in Holland in 1610. He removed to America with his father in 1630 and settled at Flatlands, Long Island, in 1636. In the year 1643. he, with others, signed a petition to Governor Keift. of New Amsterdam, for leave to attack the Marikkawich, or Brooklyn Indians, a branch of the Can- arisie tribe. The Director, however, in consequence of these Indians having become peaceable, wisely refused to grant the request, but gave permission " in case they evinced a hostile disposition every man must do his best to defend himself."
Gerret Wolferson Couwenhoven was a Magistrate in 1644. He was married in 1635 at Flatlands to Alti Cornells, daughter of Cornells Lambertse Cool, of Gowanus. They had four children, of whom Willem Gerretse was the eldest.
Willem Gerretse Couwenhoven, eldest son of Gerret Wolferson and Alti Cornelis (Cool) Couwenhoven, was born at Flatlands in 1636. He resided first in Brooklyn and was one of the founders and a deacon of the First Re- formed Dutch Church of that town. His farm at Flatlands he conveyed in July. 1727. to his son William, when, it is supposed he removed to Monmouth County, N. J. He married in 1660. Altie. daughter of Joris Dercksen Brincker- hoff, daughter of Maltys; she died June, 1663; he married 2nd, Feb. 12, 1665, Jannetie, or Jonica Monford, daughter of Pieter Monford. They had twelve children, among whom was Peter and Albert Willemse.
Albert William Couwenhoven, seventh child of William and Jannetie (Mon- ford) Couwenhoven. was born in Flatlands, Dec. 7. 1676. He removed to Mon- mouth County, N. J., where he died Sept., 1748. He married Neltje Schenck, daughter of Roelf Martense Schenck, 1682.
Isaac Conover, probably grandson of Albert Willemse Kouwenhoven, was
born in Monmouth County, N. J., about 1750. He married and had a
son Lewis.
Lewis Conover, son of Isaac, was born in Monmouth County in 1775. He married Catherine Denise and had a son John Thompson.
John Thompson Conover, son of Lewis and Catherine (Denise) Con- over, was born in Warren County, N. J. in 1819. His opportunities for acquir-
1_>4 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
ing an education were limited to the district school, but, by using his powers of observation he acquired later in life a practical knowledge of affairs that en- abled him to meet all its requirements. He came to New York at an early age and was associated with his brother who was already established as a builder, and the firm soon distanced many of their competitors and were awarded large contracts for public and private buildings, amounting to millions of dollars. Among these are the Masonic Temple, the old New York Life Building which stood on the corner of Broadway and Leonard street; the block of buildings between eighteenth and nineteenth streets; the Church of the Messiah, thirty- fourth street and Park avenue; the Manhattan Market, together with a number of elegant private residences in different parts of the city. He constructed large sections of the foundation work of the Metropolitan Elevated Railway, etc.
Mr. Conover was a man of large and liberal ideas and capable of great undertakings. He grappled with and overcame difficulties with a firm, unyield- ing hand, and during his long business career he met promptly all his financial obligations, leaving a rich legacy for probity and honor to his children. He was well and favorably known in Masonic circles. Beginning with "Blue Lodge" Masonry a member of Holland Lodge No. 8, New York City, he passed through the degrees of Capitular Masonry and the Chivalric Orders, reaching the 32d degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite as Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret. He was High Priest of the chapter R. A. M., and was Eminent Commander of Coeur de Leon Commandery of Knight's Templars. He took an active interest in the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, the oldest organization of the kind in New York, and served one term as Pres- ident. He was also President of the Mechanics' and Traders' Exchange for some years. He was a member of the Union League club, and other societies. He married Mary D. Archer, daughter of John Archer and Elizabeth Dean. the latter was the daughter of John Dean of Philipsburg, Westchester County. N. Y., the Revolutionary patriot.
JOHN DEAN, Patriot of the Revolution, was horn in Philipsburg Westchester County, N. Y„ Sept. 15. 1775; died in Tarrytown, April 14, 1817. He enlisted in May, 1775, in Capt. Ambrose Horton's Company, 4th Reg. New York Line, Col. James Holmes. May to October, 1775. accompanied Arnold's Expedition to Canada, participating in the several engagements. He was Ser- geant and Quartermaster in Captain Gilbert Dean's Company of Rangers. He served several periods during the war from 1776 to 1780. In 1780 he was Ser- geant in Capt. Gabriel Requa's Company, and had charge of the men who de- livered Mai or Andre, the British spy. to Col. Jameson. Lossing. vol. I., p. 755- Field Book of the Revolution says : "On the morning when Andre crossed Pine's Ridge, a little band of seven volunteers went out near Tarrytown to pre- vent cattle being driven to New York and to arrest any suspicious characters who might travel that way. John Yorks proposed the expedition the day before and first enlisted John Paulding, John Dean, James Romer and Abraham Williams. They were at North Salem, and Paulding procured a permit from the officer commanding there, and at tin- same time persuading his friend Isaac
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. Il>5
Van Wart to accompany them. Four of the party agreed to watch the road trom a hill above, while Paulding. Van Wart and David Williams were to lie concealed in the bushes by the stream near the post road. Of the party above were John Dean." In a footnote Lossing says: "While strolling among the an- cient graves in the Sleepy Hollow churchyard * * * I was joined by an elderly gentleman, a son of Mr. Dean. He pointed out a brown freestone at the head of his father's grave, on which is the following inscription: "In mem- ory of John Dean. He was born Sept. 15, A. D. 1755; died April 4, 1807, aged 61 years 6 mos. 20 days.
A tender father, a friend sincere, A tender husband slumbers here; Then let us hope his soul is given A blest and sure reward in Heaven."
John Dean is supposed to have been a descendant of James Dean of Ston- ington, and was in the same line of Hon. Silas Dean, who was chosen by Con- gress Sept. 26, 1776 to be one of the ambassadors in connection with Franklin and Jefferson to transact the business of the United States at the Court of France.
John T. Conover, by his wife Mary D. Archer (whose mother was Elizabeth Dean, daughter of John Dean) had issue Warren Archer, Elizabeth C. and Frank Edgar.
FRANK EDGAR CONOVER, Member of Sons of the Revolution, youngest son of John T. and Mary D. (Archer) Conover, was born in New York City in 1855. He received a thorough education at the well-known private school of Dr. Quackenboss. His business training was acquired under his father, and on the death of the latter in 1879, he and his brother became the successors. Under their supervision the reputation of the old firm has not only been fully maintained, but the business has largely increased, and the new firm has erected a large number of well-known business and public buildings. Among these may be noted: Postal Telegraph building; Gerken building, corner West Broadway and Chambers street; Commercial Cable building, 22 Broad street; Queen Insurance building, 43 Cedar street; Dun building, corner Broadway and Read street; the large building corner 23rd street and Sixth avenue; Myster Apartment House, 39th street Broadway and Sixth avenue; St. John's Apart- ment; the Thiele mansion on Riverside drive and 103d street, besides a number of elegant private residences. Both Mr. Conovers are among the most enter- prising and successful builders in the city.
Mr. Conover inherits all the patriotic ardor and interest of his paternal and maternal ancestors, for which both sides are noted. He is a member of the Union League club, Hardware club. Building Trades club, Sullivan County club, the Holland Society, Mechanics' and Traders' Exchange, and General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen. He married Anna C, daughter of Edward Grid- ley, of New York. They have one child, Marie Louise.
126 so.xs of the revolution.
WELD— WHITING— BAKER.
Among the early settlers of New England greater prominence is given by Savage to the Weld family than to almost any other of the noted Puritans, sev- eral pages being devoted to their history where only a few lines are given to others. They were bold, fearless and uncompromising in their defense of their religious principles, and at a later period were equally zealous in asserting the rights of the colonists to govern themselves and throw off the yoke of Great Britain.
Rev. Thomas Wilde, one of the boldest of the Puritan leaders, was born in England about 1590. He was the son of Edmund Wilde and Amye, his wife. Rev. Thomas and his brother Joseph came to this country on the ship William and Francis, June 5, 1632, at which time they landed in Boston and were among the founders of Roxbury. Thomas was graduated at Cam- bridge in 1613, became a minister of the established church, and had charge for some years of a parish in Terling, Essex, but his Puritan opinions caused him to leave his native country and cast his fortunes with those who had preceded him to New England. In July, 1632, he became minister of the first church in Roxbury, Mass., where, after the following November, John Elliott, the "apos- tle" was associated with him. He was active in opposition to Anne Hutchin- son and her doctrines, took a conspicuous part in her trial, and wrote "A Short Story of the Rise, Reign and Ruin of the Antinomian Familists and Libertines that infested the churches of New England" (London, 1644). The book was answered by Rev. John Wheelwright in his "Mercurius Americanus." Wilde was also associated with John Eliot and Richard Mather in preparing by re- quest of the authorities the translation of the Psalms into metre that is usually called the "Bay Psalm Book," entitled "The Whole Book of Psalms Faithfully Translated into English Metre" (Cambridge, 1640). Wilde was sent with Hugh Peters and William Hebbins to England in 1641 as an agent of the colony but was dismissed in 1646 and requested to return. He did not comply but remained in England and was minister of a church at Gatshead near Newcastle-upon-thc- Tyne. He accompanied Lord Forbes to Ireland, and after remaining there for some time returned to England where he was ejected from his living for non- conformity in 1662. Tradition says that he was beheaded March 2},, 1662. He married in England Margaret, and had Thomas, Jr.
Thomas Weld Jr., son of Rev. Thomas and Margaret ( ) Welde was
born in his father's parish in England, in 1626, and came with his father to Boston, where he was much esteemed. He was made freeman in 1654, was a representative to the General Court 1676-;, and died of lever Jan. 17, 1683. He married, June 4, 1650. Dorothy, daughter of Rev. Samuel Whiting, of Lynn. The latter was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Eng., Nov. 20, 1597; died in Lynn, Mass., Dec. 11. 1679. His lather. John, was Mayor of his native city. The son, Rev. Samuel, graduated at Cambridge in 1610, entered the ministry and officiated at Lynn, in Norfolk, Eng., and in Skirback, near his native place, but after two prosecutions for non-conformity he emigrated to this country, where he was first minister of Lynn, Mass.. serving from 8th Nov., 1636, till
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 127
his death. He was a close student and an accomplished Hebrew and Latin Scholar. "In his preaching," says Cotton Mather, " his design was not to please but to profit; to bring forth not high things but fit things." His wife's name is unknown.
Thomas Weld, Jr., by his wife, Dorothy (Whiting) Weld, had issue: Edmund.
Edmund Weld, son of Thomas, Jr., and Dorothy (Whiting) Weld, was born in Roxbury, Mass., June 25, 1695. Referring to the old Weld homestead, the History of Roxbury says: " One of the finest farms in Roxbury is that of Mr. Aaron D. Weld, lying on both sides of Weld street, a part of it in Brookline, and containing nearly 300 acres. Edmund, grandson of Rev. Thomas Weld, in 1642, bequeathed to his son Edmund his part of the homestead and training field, and the land adjoining.'* He married Elizabeth White. daughter of Lieut. John White, who was freeman, 1677, lived seven years at Muddy River, now Brookline, was lieutenant of the train band, etc. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Elder John Bowles. Edmund Weld, by wife Elizabeth (White) Weld, had Edmund (2).
Edmund Weld (2), son of Edmund (1) and Elizabeth (White) Weld, was born in Roxbury, Mass., June 23, 1695. He married Clemence Dorr, daughter of Edward Dorr, of Roxbury, who came from Pemaquod, and had there sworn fidelity 1674. He lived a year or two in Boston, about 1680. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Hawley. who was killed by the Indians, April, 8(676, with Capt. Wadsworth and many of his company. Edmund Weld (2), 1>\ his wife, Clemence (Dorr) Weld, had a son Joseph.
Joseph Weld, son of Edmund (2) and Clemence (Dorr) Weld, was born in Roxbury, Mas>.. Oct. 30. 1733. He married Mary Ruggles. daughter of Capt. John Ruggles, who commanded a company from Roxbury in the Louis- burg expedition in 1745. He was a descendant of the first Lieut. John Ruggles, who came in the Hopewell in 1635. The wife of Capt. John Ruggles was Elizabeth Weld, daughter of Joseph, sou of Joseph, son of John, son of Capt. Joseph Weld, brother of Rev. Thomas Weld, the ancestor.
[Capt. Joseph Weld, brother of Rev. Thomas Weld, was a prominent man. and kept a store in Roxbury. He represented the town at the General Court from 1636 to 1641. In military matters he was quite prominent, having been the first ensign of the Artillery Company in 1(138. and also the first Captain of the Roxbury Military Company. He had the custody of Mrs. Ann Hutchinson. "a woman of ready wit and bold spirit." whose unorthodox opinions gave a world of trouble to our Puritan ancestor-!
Joseph Weld (son of Edmund) by his wife Mary (Ruggles), had Joseph (2). JOSEPH WELD (2), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Joseph (1) and Mary (Ruggles) Weld, was born in Roxbury July 26, 1760. He was fearless and outspoken in his sentiments regarding British oppression, and when hos tilities commenced he was among the first in his native town to enlist. He was Corporal in Capt. Lemuel Child's Company, Col. William Heath's Regiment Mas-,. Militia, responded to the " Lexington Alarm; " private in Capt. Hopestill
128
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Hall's Company, Col. Samuel Robinson's Regiment, Mass. Militia, Jan. 31, Feb. 20, 1776, and rendered important service in Rhode Island.
He resided in Roxbury for some time after the close of the war, his name appearing on the list of the first Roxbury Fire Company, " Enterprise," in 1784. After his first marriage he removed to Troy. His wife was Lois Baker, daughter of Capt. John Baker, son of John, son of John, son of John, son of Thomas.
Thomas Baker, the ancestor of this branch of the Baker family, was born in Kent, England; came to America before 1635, died at Roxbury, Mass., Jan. 28, 1683. He was supposed to be a son of Sir Thomas Baker, of Whilting- ham, Suffolk, Eng., by Constance, daughter of Sir William Kingsmill. They had a son John.
In the history of Roxbury, Mass., appears the following: " On July 6, 1675, a body of 52 praying Indians, Elliot's converts, marched from Boston for Mount Hope under the intrepid Capt. Isaac Johnson, of Roxbury, who after- wards certified that the most of them acquitted themselves courageously and faithfully. He, with five other captains, was killed while storming the Narra- gansett stronghold when that fierce tribe was destroyed at the famous Fort Fight, Dec. 19, 1675. On the roll of this company appears the name of Thomas Baker.
John Baker, son of Thomas, was born in Roxbury, Mass., 1644; died 1722. He had a son Thomas.
Thomas Baker, son of John, was born May 26, 1676; died May 10, 1761. He married 1st Sarah Pike, daughter of Moses, son of Robert, son of John Pike, the ancestor.
John Pike, of Newbury, Mass., came in the James in 1635 from South- ampton. The clearance papers represented him to be from Langsford. He was at Ipswich first in 1640; removed early to Salesbury. In his will he provides for grandsons John, son of John, and grandson John, son of Robert. Robert Pike, of Salesbury, son of John, was brought from England, and was first at Newbury, admitted freeman May 17, 1637; married, 3d April 1631, Sarah Saunders, and had issue: Sarah, Mary, Dorothy, Mary again, Elizabeth, John, Robert, 1655, Moses, March 15, i659- A Robert Pike was Commissioner to Maine 1668, and afterwards of the Council.
Moses Pike, son of Robert and Sarah (Saunders) Pike, was born March
15. 1659. He was a resident of Salesbury. By his wife, Susan , he had
Moses', Elias, Mary, 1675 ; Sarah, born Oct. 27, 1698 ; maried to Thomas Baker. Thomas Baker, by his wife, Sarah (Pike) Baker, had a son John. Capt. John Baker, son of Thomas and Sarah (Pike) Baker, was born in Roxbury, Mass., Dec. 17, 1705; died Aug. 10, 1781. He was Ensign and Cap- tain of Artillery in Roxbury. He married Abigail Draper, born May 18, 1738. daughter of Nathaniel, born Oct. 10, 1706, son of Nathaniel, born April 12, 1684, son of James of Roxbury, born there 1654; died there April 30, 1698, manufac- turer of cloth and a soldier in King Philip's war (married, Feb. 18, 1681, Abigail Whiting, granddaughter of John Dwight. from whom President Dwight, of Yale College, descends); son of James, born in Hepstonstall, England, 1618;
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died in Roxbury, Mass., July, 1094; came to America aboul 1O50, and became a manufacturer of cloth, owning a number of looms; son of Thomas Draper, of Hepstonstall, England, cloth manufacturer.
Capt. John Baker, by his wife, Abigail (Draper) Baker, had a daughter Lois, who married Joseph Weld.
Joseph Weld, by his wife, Lois (Baker) Weld, had a son Luke Baker.
Luke Baker Weld, son of Joseph {2) and Lois (Baker) Weld, was born in Roxbury, Mass., 1789; died July 11, 1821. He was a resident of Troy, N. Y. He married Mary Cumming, daughter of Gilbert dimming, a native of Sooiand. They had issue: Gilbert Cumming.
Gilbert Gumming Weld, son of Luke Baker and Mary Cumming Weld, was born in Albany. X. V., Dec. 6, 1817. He received a preparatory course at the Albany Free Academy and graduated at the Troy Polytechnic Institute. He came to New York about 1837, and engaged in the dry goods business on Cedar Street under the firm name of Weld & Chapin. He resided
r.TT.r.F.RT CUM XII XG WELD.
at the time in Brooklyn, and while there united with the Centenary M. E. Church and became greatly interested in the subject of religion. He after- wards removed to Tarrytown on the Hudson, gave up his business and was licensed to preach. Soon after the discovery of gold in California he decided to go there as a missionary. On his arrival he went first to the mines. He soon after received an offer from a Mr. Fitch (whose acquaintance he made on the voyage out) to assume the editorial charge of a paper which Mr. Fitch proposed to start in Sacramento. The result was the founding of the Sacramento Daily
130 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
1 nuiscnpl, the first paper published on the Pacific coast, and printed on the first press ever used there, taken out by Mr. Fitch, a practical printer. This proved a success from the beginning, due largely to the efforts of Mr. Weld, who lived only long enough to see it fairly started. He died after two years' residence there of typhoid fever, being then but thirty-three years of age. He was a young man of bright promise, and during his short residence there had greatly endeared himself to the people. He exercised great tact and judgment in dealing with the lawless crowds that collected in Sacramento during the first years of its existence. He was fearless in the discharge of his duties to condemn crime and lawlessness, so frequent in those early days. He was a regular correspondent of the New York Journal of Commerce, his articles appearing periodically in that paper up to the time of his death. He married Josephine Pelerin, of New York City, daughter of Hilaire Pelerin, originally from Normandy, France, whose wife was a Miss Le Gros, a French Huguenot. They had issue : Mary, De Witt Clinton (named from Governor De Witt Clinton), Elizabeth, Mathelde, Julia, Louise, and Harriet Corning, died in in- fancy.
De Witt Clinton Weld, son of Gilbert Cumming and Josephine (Pelerin) Weld, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 16th, 1842. He moved with his parents to Tarrytown, where he received instruction in the rudimentary branches and was then sent to the famous Coudert school at St. Mark's Place, New York, kept by the father of the present Frederick Coudert, Esq., who was one of his preceptors. He afterwards went to Europe and made a special study of languages and mathematics in France and Switzerland, intending to adopt a profession, but on his return home he decided to go into business and obtained a position with R. A. & G. H. Witthaus & Co., where, with the exception of two years, he remained from 1857 to 1869. At the beginning of the war, 1861-3, owing to the interruption of business, his employers consented to his accepting a position as Secretary to Senor De Yrisari, minister for Guatemala and San Salvador, his knowledge of the Spanish language proving of great value to him at that time. In 1869 he began business for himself under the firm name of Topham, Rutherford & Weld, importers and manufacturers of men's furnish- ing goods. This continued until 1872, when the title was Topham, Weld & Co., and on the death of Mr. Topham, in 1881, the firm became Weld, Colburn & Wilckens, as it now remains.
Mr. Weld has been for some years a resident of Brooklyn, where he is identified with the leading social organizations. He is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Hamilton Club, the Church Club, etc.
He married Elizabeth Anne Wilckens, daughter of Dr. J. Frederick Wilc- kens, who for many years stood at the head of his profession in New York, Two sons were the issue of this marriage: De Witt C. Weld, Jr., and Frederick Cumming. The latter died in 1877.
DE WITT CLINTON WELD, JR., New York State Society, Sons of the Revolution, only surviving son of De Witt Clinton Weld and his
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 131
wife, Elizabeth Wilckens Weld, was borrn in Brooklyn July 18, 1868. He graduated at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in the class of '86. After filling a position as clerk for General John B. Woodward, he established., in Feb., 1896, the present firm of Weld & Sturtevant, dealers in printers and bookbinders' machinery. With the energy and perseverance characteristic of the family a good and growing trade has been established. Mr. Weld has given some attention to military affairs and served more than the usual term as a member of Company A, Twenty-third Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., enlisting in 1887, rising the several grades to that of First Lieutenant. During his con- nection with the regiment it was frequently called out to quell disturbances in different parts of the State, all more or less serious.
Mr. Weld, after his marriage, lived for a time in Brooklyn, and later settled in Sing Sing, N. Y., and is a member of the Mount Pleasant Field Club that place, also of the Society of Colonial Wars, Crescent Athletic and Ark- wright clubs and the Military Service Institution.
He married, in 1896, Bertha Brandreth, daughter of William Brandreth, then President of the Village and a son of the well-known Dr. Benjamin Brandreth.
DEWEY.— TODD.
Both the Deweys and the Todds appear to have had a fondness for music as well as for military affairs, the Revolutionary ancestors of both families being represented in the dual capacity.
Thomas Dewey, the American ancestor of this name, was born about 1608. He came from Sandwich, Kent, England, near the ancient town of Dover, and settled in Dorchester, Alas-., in 1633, and was enrolled there as a freeman May 14, 1634. He married there, March 22, 1638-9, Widow Frances Clarke. He was cornet of the mounted light infantry. He was frequently juror and deputy to the General Court. He removed to Windsor, Conn., where he- died April 27, 1648. They had issue : Thomas, Jr., Josiah, Anna, Israel and Jedediah. The widow married again, and removed to Westfield, Mass., with her children, except Israel, who remained in Windsor.
Josiah Dewey, son of Thomas and Francis (Clarke) Dewey, was
born Oct. 10. He married 1st Hepzibah Lyman, and 2d, Experience .
He removed in 1696 to Lebanon, Conn., where he died. His children by his second wife were Ebenezer and Nathaniel, twins ; Joseph, Elizabeth, Experi- ence and Benjamin.
Nathanial Dewey, son of Josiah and Experience ( ) Dewey,
was born at Lebanon, Conn., 1672, and was a prosperous farmer. He married Margaret Boroughs, and had issue : Nathaniel, Margaret, Samuel, Noah, Sarah, Thomas, Hepzibah, Tamar.
Samuel Dewey, son of Nathaniel and Margaret (Boroughs) Dewey, was born at Lebanon, Conn.. July 5, 1704. He was also a farmer. He married
132 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Elizabeth Allen, a descendant, probably, of Samuel Allen. They had issue: Samuel, Desire, Elijah, Jeremiah, Elizabeth, Nathan.
Jeremiah Dewey (i), son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Allen) Dewey, was born in Lebanon, Conn., Jan. 20, 1737. He moved thenee to Coventry, Conn. He married and had a son Jeremiah.
JEREMIAH DEWEY (2), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jere- miah (1), was born in Coventry, Conn., March 13, 1763. He removed to Corinth, Essex County, Vt., at the beginning of the Revolution. He was about seven- teen years of age when he joined the army as fifer in Capt. Samuel Allen's Com- pany, Vermont Volunteers, Oct. 13, 1780; he also served as fifer in Capt. James Brookin's Company, Col. Fletcher's Battalion, Vermont Militia, 1781. He married Cynthia Claghoone, born in Salisbuiy, Conn., 1767; died at Corinth, Vt., Feb. 9, 1844. They had issue: Jeremiah, Cynthia, born August 29, 1786; Harvey, born Dec. 8, 1790; Orin, born Aug. 6, 1793; Almira, born Aug. 27, 1795; Charles, born Sep. 11, 1797; Royal, born May 6, 1799.
Jeremiah Dewey (3), son of Jeremiah (2) and Cynthia (Claghoon) Dewey, was born at Rutland, Vt., Jan. 3, 1788. He was engaged principally in the manufacture and repairing of jewelry. He removed to Middlebury, Vt., later to Randolph, thence to Chelsea, Essex Co.. Vt, and finally left his native State in 1828, and went to Elizabethtown, N. J., thence to Buffalo, and finally to Detroit, Mich., where he finally located and began the manufacture of clocks. He was quite an inventive genius and made many improvements in the works, which have since been adopted by other makers. He died of cholera, during the great epidemic, July 29, 1849. He was an active member ot the Methodist Church, and delighted to entertain his Methodist friends. He married Orinda Todd, daughter of Thomas Todd, of Rowley, Mass.
THOMAS TODD, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Rowley, Mass., Nov. 17. 1760. He was not quite seventeen years of age when he enlisted as private in Capt. Bartholomew Bloodgood's Company, Col. Job Cushing's Reg. Mass. Militia. Aug. 20, 1777; he was fifer in Capt. John Put- nam's Company, Col. Wade's Reg., Worcester Co., Mass., Militia, June 20, 1778; he served in the several engagements in Rhode Island; he was fifer in Capt. Woodbury's Company, Col. Jacob Davis' Reg. Mass Militia, June 30, 1780; fifer in Capt. Reuben Davis' Company, Col. Luke Drury's Reg. Levies, July 17, 1781; private in Capt. Crowell's Company, Col. Denny's Reg., Mass. Militia, 1781; served until the close of the war. He erected the first woolen mill in the State of Vermont, and also erected a forge at South Poultney, Vt. He was a man of large means and one of the most prominent men in that part of the State.
By his marriage with Orinda Todd, Jeremiah Dewey had children: Mary Ann, Harvey and Hiram Todd.
HIRAM TODD DEWEY, Member of the Sons of the Revo- lution, son of Jeremiah and Orinda (Todd) Dewey, was born in Poultney, Vt.. July 13, 1816. He enjoyed nothing beyond a common school education,
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but made the most of his opportunities. He began to work for his father when he was but thirteen years of age, and after acquiring a thorough knowledge of the details of the business, he left home in 1836, before reaching his majority, and started in the jewelry business at Perrysburg, Ohio. In 1834 he removed to Fort Wayne, where he continued to carry on the jewelry business. He returned to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1843. and began the manufacture of town clocks, for which there was at the time a great demand. He made many improvements, and was successful in this line. He resumed his old business, later, and con- tinued at Tiffin and Sandusky, Ohio, until 1857, when he decided on a new venture, which proved the most successful of anything he had ever undertaken. He purchased a farm of twenty acres at Sandusky, Ohio, which, from a personal examination was peculiarly adapted to the growth of grapes. He purchased a large number of vines from a party who had tried and made a failure of grape culture. He planted every vine with his own hands, and his succe-s from the beginning was phenomenal. His first vintage was sold only for table use. He soon after began the manufacture of wine, and his first effort in this direction proved that an American wine could be produced fully equal to the best impor- ted article. At the end of three or four years he sold his Tarm at a large advance.
HIRAM TODD DEWEY.
134 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
and devoted all his time and energies to the production of American wines. His successful efforts at grape culture in Ohio stimulated others to undertake it, and land that was previously worth only $50 to $100 an acre for farming pur- poses brought five and six times the amount and yielded a much larger percent- age on the investment. This enterprise established by Mr. Dewey, some forty years ago, has enriched the State of Ohio by millions of dollars, and he uncon- sciously became one of the great benefactors of the nineteenth century. After selling his farm Mr. Dewey came to New York, where he continued the pro- duction of the highest grade of American wines which have achieved an almost world-wide reputation. He has confined himself strictly to the production of wines for family use and has avoided all connection with the trade, knowing that he could not control it in bulk after it left his own cellars. His trade has in- creased annually, but visions of wealth have never tempted him to swerve in the least from the high standard he adopted at the beginning. Mr. Dewey has never sought public office. The only position he ever held was that of Alderman of Fort Wayne, Ind. He has been for many years an honored member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic fraternities. He has contributed freely of his means to ameliorate the sufferings and add to the happiness of his fellowmen. He married Susan L., daughter of William Stapleford of Newcastle, Del. and had issue: Henry Ruthven. Jeremiah Todd. George Eugene, Mary Elizabeth, Susan Arabella, Cora D., Hiram Stapleford, and William Henry.
FRANK TIEFORD, New York Society Sons of the Revolution, born in New Yory City, July 22. 1852, son of John M. Tilford and Jane White, son of James Tilford and Hannah McDougall of Argyle, N. Y. She was the daughter of Alexander and Jane McDougall of Argyle, N. Y.. son of John Mc- Dougall and Jennie McEashron his wife, son of Alexander McDougall and Anna Gilchrist, his wife, both of Scotland.
ALEXANDER McDOUGALL. Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Scotland, Sept. 20, 1754. He was a citizen of Argyle. Washington County. N. Y., where he died Sept. 15, 1847. His first military service in the War of the Rev- olution was as private in Capt. Alexander Webster's Company, Charlotte (now Washington) County, \\ Y. Militia, commanded by Capt. John Williams, 1776; Sergeant in Capt. Cornelius Jenning's Company, Third Regiment, New York Line, Col. Peter Gansevoort, Feb. 26, ^777, Feb. 26, 1780; Sergeant Major, Thos. Armstrong's Regiment, Charlotte County, N. Y. Militia, and Capt. Henry Brewster's Company; Lieut. Colonel Frederick Weissenfel's Regiment, New York Levies.
Taillefer, the old Normans called the family name, and you will find it often in the early annals of that masterful race. The Ancient Counts of Angouleme were the founders of the family, as is witnessed by the illustration of the surname in their heraldic devices for many generations. One of the first known members of the family received great possessions from the hand of Charles the Bald of France, in return for his services in uniting Normandy with France, and his son, Guilluame de Taillefer, was the first to bear his name, which came to him because of an act of valor and extraordinary strength performed by him in war,
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 135
in the year 916. From him the family line and the name may be traced without a break down to the present day.
Tilford, the name became in Scotland, when some of the family settled in that country, and Tilford it has remained in this country ever since it was brought hither by James Tilford, who settled at Argyle, near Albany. New York, a hundred and fifty years ago. That pioneer was a soldier in the American army throughout the Revolutionary war, and his son, James Tilford. was a captain in the war of 1812.
The latter's son, John M. Tilford, came to New York in 1835, at the age of twenty years, and served five years as a clerk in the grocery store of Benjamin Alboro. Then, with his fellow clerk, Joseph Park, he organized the now world- famous house of Park & Tilford.
FRANK TILFORD, youngest son and business successor of John M. Tilford, was born in New York on July 22nd. 1852. and was educated in the well-known Mount Washington Collegiate Institute. Then he entered his father's store at Sixth avenue and Ninth street, and worked faithfully in one department after another until he had acquired a practical mastery of all the details of the busi- ness. In 1890 the company was transformed into a joint stock corporation and the senior Mr. Tilford became its Vice-President. At his death in January, 1891, Mr. Frank Tilford succeeded him in that office and has continued to hold it ever since. Important as that office is, it does not monopolize Mr. Tilford's business attention. He has been a member of the Real Estate Exchange since 1873 and has made some extensive dealings in real estate, chiefly of an investment char- acter, in the upper west side of the city. He became a director of the Sixth National Bank in 1874, and a trustee of the North River Savings Bank, in 1885. In 1889 he was one of the organizers of the Bank of New Amsterdam, of which he is now President and he is also one of the organizers and a trustee of the Fifth Avenue Trust Company; Vice-President of the Standard Gaslight Com- pany and a director in many of the powerful corporations of New York City and in many of the gas companies throughout the country.
He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce. President of the New- Amsterdam Eye & Ear Hospital, a trustee of the Babies' Hospital and a member of the Executive Committee of the Grant Monument Association.
Mr. Tilford was married in 1891 to Miss Julia Greer, daughter of James A. Greer and grand-daughter of George Greer, a famous sugar refiner of the past generation. They have two daughters. Julia and Elsie Tilford. Mr. Tilford has long been a member of the Union League Club and is also a member of the Republican, Colonial. Lotos, Press. New York Athletic and other clubs, and of the Sons of the Revolution. His city home is on West Seventy-second street. It was chiefly designed by Mr. Tilford himself, and ranks as one of the handsom- est edifices in that particularly handsome part of the city.
136 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
ELMENDORF AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
Independence and love of liberty have always been marked characteristics of the Hollanders, and Sir Henry Clinton told the truth when he said that he "could neither buy nor conquer the Dutch."
The Elmendorfs, though originally of German stock, were among the early settlers on the Hudson, and intermarried with many of the old Holland fam- ilies. Their loyalty and patriotism is a matter of history, and not one of them was ever found among the enemies of his country.
Jacobus (Conradt) Van Elmendorf. the ancestor, was born in Rynborch, near Leyden, in the Rysistract, in the Gilded Cable, and came to this country about 1660 or earlier. He settled at Kingston and was active in the public affairs of the town. He took a prominent place in the Esopus meeting, and was one of the Burgher's Guard, who were arrayed against Captain Brodhead of the English garrison. He married April 25, 1667, Grietje Aertsen, by order of the Court, and with the consent of her parents, she being under age. After his death his wife was given a grant of land by the corporation of Kingston. They had issue sev- eral children, among whom was Conradt.
Conrad Elmendorf, son of Jacobus (Conradt) and Greitje (Aersten) Elmen- dorf, was baptized March 12, 1669. He married Anaatje Gerretse Van den Berg, June 28, 1693. They had Cornelius and other children.
Cornelius Elmendorf, son of Conradt and Araatje Gerretse (Van den Berg) Elmendorf, was baptized Oct. 31, 1697. He married Engeltje Heermans, Dec. 16, 1720. They had among other children a son John.
CAPTAIN JOHN ELMENDORF, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Cornelius and Engeltje (Heermans) Elmendorf, was born in Kingston, N. Y., April 27, 1725. He was among the first to volunteer after hostilities commenced, and while not on active duty during the whole period of the Revolution, he held himself in readiness for every emergency. He was Captain of a Company, First Regiment, Ulster County, N. Y., Militia, commanded by Col. Johannes Snyder, July 15, 1777. When Governor George Clinton was inaugurated in 1777 Captains Elmendorf and Bogardus were ordered to appear at the Court House (with their companies) and took part in the ceremonies. He married Margaret Delamater, probably a grand-daugter of Jacobus Le Maitre, or De La Maitre, of Kingston, 1680, son of Claude, who settled in New Amsterdam, 1652. They had a son Martinus.
Martinus Elmendorf, son of John and Margaret (Delamater) Elmendorf, was born August 24, 1769. He married Feb. 19, 1792, Rachel Roosa, and had issue a son Levi.
Levi Elmendorf, son of Martinus and Rachel (Roosa) Elmendorf, was born August 7, 1806. He attended the public schools and received a fair education, and spent his early years in his native town, where he was much respected by his fellow-citizens and enjoyed their confidence and esteem. He caught the
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"Western fever," and went as far as Seneca County, where he was for some time engaged as a contractor. He came to New York in 1854, and from that time until his death, in 1864, he was engaged with the varnish house of Edward Smith. In politics he was an old-time Whig, and remained true to the party until it went out of existence. He married Oct. 12, 1825, Salitje Meir De Puy, daughter of Lieut. Ephraim De Puy, son of Ephraim (1), son of Jacobus, son of Moses, son of Nicholas.
Nicholas De Puy, the ancestor, married Catharine de Vaux, and had a son Moses.
Moses De Puy, son of Nicholas, was born in 1658. He was one of the nine petitioners in 1703 for grants of land for which patent was issued, June 25, 1703, in that part of Ulster County, N. Y., now known as Marbletown. He married in 1680, Maria Wyncoop and had a son Jacobus.
Jacobus De Puy, son of Moses, was baptized Sept. 19, 1703; married August 25, 1725, Sara Schoonmaker. He died Dec. 18, 1757. They had issue Ephraim.
Ephraim De Puy (1), son of Jacobus, was baptized Feb. 8, 1730. He mar- ried March 3, 1750, Antje Schoonmaker. They had issue Ephraim (2).
LIEUTENANT EPHRAIM DE PUY, Patriot of the Revolution. He served as First Lieutenant, Captain Peter Schoonmaker's Company, Ulster Co., N. Y., Associated Exempts, October 19. 1779. Whether he rendered additional service to this is not known. He was probably a son or grandson of John De Puy, a Huguenot refugee, an eminent professor of surgery and medicine for over thirty years, who educated many eminent physicians of New York. The wife of Lieut. De Puy was Cornelia Snyder, daughter of Col. Johannes Snyder.
COLONEL JOHANNES SNYDER, Patriot of the Revolution, was a native of Ulster County, N. Y. He was active in all the early movements which led to the separation of the Colonies from Great Britain. He was Major of First Regiment, Ulster County, N. Y., Militia, Oct. 25, 1775 ;Lieutenant-Colonel, Feb. 20, 1776; Colonel, May 1, 1776. to the close of the war. He was a member of the Provincial Congress, 177(1: Member of New York Council of Safety. May 3, 1777; Member of New York Assembly, 1777-9. He was prominent in the county and a man of great personal popularity. He was probably the son of Henry Martin Snyder, who came from German)- in March. 1726. and settled in the town of Saugerties. Ulster County. N. Y. Soon after he arrived he suc- ceeded, with the help of some of his coutrymen and the Dutch settlers, in organ- izing a church society, called the Kaatsban church, which is still in existence He had eleven sons, all of whom served in the War of the Revolution, except the eldest, who remained faithful to the King, and in consequence was obliged to flee the country.
The children of Levi and Saltje Mier (De Puy) Elmendorf were Joachim, now the Rev. J. Elmendorf. D. D., of the Harlem Collegiate Church, John Augustus, the subject of this sketch, Elsie Ann, wife of Gen. William B. Barton
138
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Martin Ephraim, D. D. S. ; William Sinclair, assayer in Colorado, and An- thony, who was a captain in the late war of the Rebellion, serving to the close, being mustered out among the very last of the volunteers.
JOHN AUGUSTUS ELMENDORF, Member of the Sons of the Revo- lution, son of Levi and Saletje Meier (De Puy) Elmendorf, was born at Kings- ton, N. Y., Sept. ii, 1828. His boyhood was spent in Waterloo, N. Y., attending the academy there, and in 1847 came to New York City, entering his mercantile life in a wholesale dry goods house at 14 Wall street in 1853, he connected him- self with the house of Smith & Stratton, and has continued in the same through the different changes of firm names to the present house of Edward Smith & Co., of which he is Vice-President. Soon after he came to New York he made
JOHN AL"<;rSTl'S ELMENDORF.
his residence in Brooklyn and was a member of the old First Reformed Dutch Church for many years. He was a Lieutenant in the Thirteenth Regiment. N. G. S. N. Y. In 1855 he married Frances Catharine (Richards) Lathrop, niece and adopted daughter of Dwight Lathrop. She was the daughter of Catharine (Stebbins) Richards, a grand-daughter of Gov. Richard Howley, the war Gov- ernor of Georgia during the Revolutionary War.
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139
GOVERNOR RICHARD HOWLEY, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Liberty County, Georgia, about 1740. He was liberally educated and attained great eminence in the profession of the law. He represented bis native county in the State Legislature, and was a delegate from Georgia to the Continental Con- gress. In 1780 he was elected Governor of his native State. When the State was overrun by the British a council was held near Augusta at which Governor How- ley, bis Secretary of State and several Continental officers were present. After the consideration of various plans they determined to retreat to North Carolina, and narrowly escaped capture on the way. During this trying period the gay and joyous temperament of Governor Howley sustained the spirits of the fugitive Council from sinking into gloom and despondency. Mrs. Stebbins, his daughter, was well known as one of the most intelligent and amiable ladies in Georgia.
The issue of the marriage of John Augustus Elmendorf and Frances Cath- arine Richards was: Dwight Lathrop, Grace and John Barker.
WEED.— CLOCK AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
The name of Weed is a contraction of Weedon, and this name appears in the English records of a very early date.
Ralph de Weedon, or Ralph of Weed-on-Bes, settled in Buckinghamshire, Eng., A. D. 1307. He bore Anns — Argent two bars gules; in chief three man- tlets sable. Crest — A martlet sable. The Nottingham branch of the family bore Arms — Gules on a chief or, three quatrefoils vert. Crest — Out of a ducal coronet or, a flame issuant ppr.
The record of the Weeds family in the Revolution is almost without a par- allel, no less than fifty-five having served with the Connecticut troops, all being descendants of the Stamford ancestor.
Jonas Weed one of the founders of the town of Stamford, Conn., is said to have come from Stamford, England. He was first at Watertown, Mass., in 1631. and removed thence to Withersfield, Conn., and became one of the founders of the Congregational Church in that town.
The History of Fairfield County, page 692, states that "The first movement toward the settlement of the town (Stamford) was made in the early part of the year 1640 by a number of sturdy pioneers from Wethersfield, who having become dissatisfied with certain rules and regulations governing that parish, desired to seek a peaceful retreat elsewhere, and under the leadership of Rev. Mr. Daven- port of honored memory, who had been their champion in their dissensions at Wethersfield, resolved to locate further inland, and in the following year, leaving their homes, pursued their course westward and settled where now is the city of Stamford, then in the New Haven jurisdiction."
Huntington's History of Stamford states that "The first church of Stamford had already been organized in Wethersfield. Of seven men who constituted the
MO SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Wethersfield church four came to Stamford, viz. : Rev. Richard Denton, Jonas Weed, Robert Coe and Andrew Ward.
It thus appears that Jonas Weed was one of the four who planted the standard of the Cross in the town of Stamford. He died there in 1676, after a residence of thirty-five years. His will, dated Fairfield, Nov. 26, 1672, refers to his wife Mary, and his children, John, Daniel, Jonas, Mary, wife of George Ab- bott, Dorcas, wife of James Wright, Samuel, Sarah, Hannah. Jonas (1) was propounded for freeman Oct. 14, 1669.
Lieut. Daniel Weed, second son of Jonas Weed, was born Feb. if, 1669. He held many public positions in the town and was much respected. He was deputy to the General Court from Stamford Oct. 11, 1694, Oct. 10, 1695, and May 14, 1696. On Oct. 11, 1731, he was commissioned by the General Court. En- sign of the First Company or train band in the town of Stamford, and com- missioned Lieutenant of the same Oct. 17, 1737. He was one of the committee of three appointed to treat with Rev. John Davenport with a view of securing his services as pastor of the church at Stamford. The name of his wife is not known. He had a son Nathaniel.
CAPTAIN NATHANIEL WEED, son of Lieut. Daniel Weed, was born in Stamford, Conn., Oct. 22, 1696. In military affairs he was the most prominent man in the town. There is no record of his holding any subordinate position previous to his appointment as Captain. At a regular session, Oct. 13, 1743, "This Assembly do establish and confirm Mr. Nathaniel Weed to be Captain of the first company or trainband in Stamford and order that he be commissioned accordingly." He represented the town of Stamford at the General Court, Oct. 8, 1747. He married and had a son Nathan.
NATHAN WEED, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Captain Nathaniel Weed, died Dec. 19, 1802, was born in Stamford, Conn., Jan. 11, 1726. He re- ceived either by gift or inheritance the large property of his father, and erected what in these days was a very pretentious house, in 1750. This is still in a good state of preservation and owned by his descendants. He was an uncompromising patriot and a bitter enemy of the secret enemies of his country, who were among his neighbors and former friends. Owing to feeble health he was unable to take the field for active service in the Revolution, but he held himself always in read- iness to defend his native town against the frequent incursions of the British and Tories. His name is found in the roll of Minute Men commanded by Captain Eli Reed, and there is no doubt but that he gave a good account of himself whenever an opportunity occurred. Owing to the exposed position of himself and family, he was compelled to abandon his home, and remove farther inland, where he was still liable to be plundered by British marauders, or carried off prisoner, his sentiments being so well known as to make him a marked man.
He married Deborah Clock, born 1728, daughter of John Clock, the first of the name appearing on the Stamford records. [See record of Clock family, fol- lowing that of Henry L. Weed.] They had a son Nathan (2).
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 141
NATHAN WEED (2), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Nathan (1) and Deborah (Clock) Weed, was born in Stamford, Conn., Sept. 17, 1760. Owing to the ill health of the father he was compelled at a very early age to become the principal stay of the family, consisting of father, mother and elder sister. When he reached the age of fifteen the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill had been fought, and he was eager to take his place in the ranks of the patriots, but duty to his parents compelled him to stay at home; but he was ever alert and ever ready to act when necessity required, and the old flint lock was kept in read- iness for immediate use. He was incapacitated for active service by reason of disease brought on through hardship and suffering, and while never regularly en- rolled, he enlisted as a member of the "Coast Guard," winch frequently met the small bands of British and Tories who on dark nights crossed the sound from Long Island to rob and plunder their old neighbors and companions. On one occasion he, in company with another member of the Guard, narrowly escaped capture, and was saved only by the extreme darkness, which enabled them to evade their pursuers. By wading through a creek with water up to their necks, they reached the quarters of the Guard, already aroused by the firing, and with them gave chase to the plunderers, and nearly overtaking them compelled them to abandon the spoil only too glad to escape to their boats. On another occasion, while attending divine worship, the church (now in Darien) was surrounded by the British and all the inmates — including the pastor, Rev. Moses Mather— ex- cept himself ami two others were captured and sent as prisoners to Xew York. Young Weed succeeded in making his escape through a window with his two companions. They were met outside by a noted Tory who fired on them, wound- ing one of the party. At the close of the war he returned to the old home- stead farm, which he worked with profit and acquired a fair competence. He subsequently took part in the War of 1812-15. He was honored by his fellow- citizens with important public trusts, being several times elected to the Legis- lature from his native town, and served as magistrate for a long series of years. He was a deacon in the church, an exemplary Christian, dignified, courteous and kind in his demeanor, beloved by all who knew him. He married Mary Scho- field (born Oct. 28, 1764, died Aug. 1, 1842), daughter of Joseph Schofield, one of the early settlers and prominent citizens of Stamford.
JOSEPH SCOFIELD, Patriot of the Revolution, father of Mary (Weed) Scofield, was private in Captain Joseph Hoit's Company from Stam- ford, who marched "for the Relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm," April, 1775. He re-enlisted July 10, 1776, in Fourth Connecticut Company, Captain Joseph Hart, and was made Corporal. This formed a part of the Seventh Con- necticut Regiment, commanded by Col. Chas. Webb of Stamford and at the bat- tle of Long Island, in which it participated, it was attached to McDougall's Brigade. The latter commanded the retreat from Long Island. This regiment took part in the subsequent operations at Kip's Bay and the retreat to Harlem. Referring to Col. Webb's regiment at the battle of White Plains. Johnston says. "The troops formed along the brow of the hill, and stood waiting for the enemy."
142 SONS OP THE REVOLUTION.
The regiment also took part in the battle of Trenton. Young Scofield afterwards enlisted in the "Connecticut Line" of the Continental Army from August 20, 1779, serving till Jan. 25, 1780.
Nathan Weed, by his wife Mary (Scofield; Weed (daughter of Joseph Sco- field), had issue:
Debe, born March 27, 1788, died Nov. 1865; married John Bell.
Mary, born May 13, 1790, died Oct. io, 1798.
Anne, born Dec. 8, 1791, died April, 1833; married Samuel Richards; no issue.
Nathaniel, born July 23, 1794, died Oct. 12, 1798.
Eveline, born Feb. 29, 1796, died Aug. 13, 1817.
Joseph, born Nov. 5, 1798, died Nov. 14, 1798.
Mary, born Nov. 21, 1799, died Dec. 7, 1866; married, first, Alvah Weed, son of Benjamin Weed; married, second, Hezekiah Weed; no issue.
Joseph, born Dec. 20, 1801, died March 9, 1888; married, first, Louisa, daughter of Benjamin Weed, died 1834; married, second, Jane, daughter of Wil- liam Tweedy, died Dec, 1895.
William Franklin, born June 3, 181 1, died in 1889; he married Sarah Claflin, and had issue: Dexter Clailin, Nathan Henry and Mary Adelaide.
Joseph Weed son of Nathan and Mary (Scofield) Weed, was born in Stam- ford, Conn., Dec. 14, 1801 ; died March 9, 1888. He came to New York City in 1820 and engaged in the hardware business, which he carried on successfully for a number of years. He was a prominent figure in New York politics, where he was identified with the Whig party and a firm adherent and supporter of Henry Clay for the Presidency. He served as Alderman and Deputy Sheriff of New York. He went with the forty-niners to California, and in 1850 was appointed Collector of Assessments for San Francisco, and afterwards elected magistrate, a position which he held for two terms. He was an ardent advocate of temper- ance, being among the lirst to adopt the old Washingtonian system. He held a leading position in the Sons of Temperance, and was instrumental in building up and extending the influence of this Order, which formed the nucleus of the various temperance societies which have since been organized. He was a true patriot and took a special pride in his Revolutionary ancestors. He wrote a brief history of his immediate branch of the Weed family of Stamford, entitled, "Recollections of a Good Man, Nathan Weed," containing many interesting facts and reminiscences of his father's life. He died in San Francisco March 9, 1888, respected and honored by his old companions and friends of "49." He married, first, Louisa, daughter of Benjamin Weed. She died 1834. Theyhad issue:
Joseph Henry, born Sept. 11, 1826, died Sept., 1888; married Belinda Web- ster and had four daughters and one son.
Nathan, born July 30, 1828, married Elizabeth L. Dorian 1850 and had three sons and one daughter.
Louisa, born Sept. 21, 1830, married William H. Love. 1856; had two daught- ers and three sons.
SUNS OF 1"HK REVOLUTION. 143
Alvah, born Feb. 18, 1830, died Dec. 27, 1838.. Joseph Weed, by his second wife, Jane Tweedy, had issue: Samuel Richards, born Feb. 9, 1837, married Ellen S. Jones, Oct. n, 1859. Arthur {1), born August 23, 1838, died June ij, 1839.
Beatrice, born June 5, 1840, died August, 1804; married Woodbury Kmgin (who died 1888J ; had one son, Charles Knight, died 1894. Arthur (2), born Jan. 11, 1842, died Feb. 6, 1842. Mary (1;, born Feb. 25, 1843, died June 24, 1848. Fdgar, born March 29, 1845, died Oct. 18, 1845. Edwin, born April 4, 1847, died June 18, 1848. Mary Jane, born March 30, 1849, died June 3, 1858. Jesse Gordon, born March 9, 1852; married Jacob Wheeler. Annie Tweedy, born Feb. 1, 1858, died Dec. 17, 1891.
SAMUEL RICHARDS WEED, New York Society Sons of the Revolu- tion, son of Joseph and Jane (Tweedy) Weed, was born in New York City Feb. 9, 1837. He was educated in his native city, where he afterwards began the study of law. He joined his father in San Francisco in 1851, where he continued his legal studies, and held the office of Sergeant-at-Arms in the City Council. He went to St. Louis in 1859 and there organized the news bureaus for overland mail service for a syndicate of San Francisco journals. He was interested in Sanitary Commission work during the war, and also served as City and County Bounty Commissioner.
He engaged in the fire insurance business in 1864 and was general and special agent in the West for some years, doing a large and profitable business. He re- turned to New York in 1875, and continued for a time as local agent and man- ager, and became Vice President of the late Liberty Insurance Company of New York in 1887. In 1877 he became associated with Elijah R. Kennedy, under the firm name of Weed & Kennedy, who are now United States managers for the Alliance, Helvetia, Baloise, Netherlands and Svea insurance companies, and Eastern managers for the Aachen and Munich insurance companies.
Mr. Weed has been for some years a resident of Norwalk, Conn., near the home of his ancestors, where he is well known in social circles. He is a member of several organizations, and in his religious associations is identified with the Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn.
He married Oct. 11, 1859, Ellen S. Jones of New York City, daughter of David W. Jones and Mary Cabot Newell of Boston. He was the son of Charles Henry, son of David Jones and Eunice Davis. She was the daughter of James Davis and Thankful Hinckley, daughter of Joseph Hinckley and Mary Gorham; the latter was the daughter of Col. John Gorham, son of Capt John Gorham, who married Desire Howland, daughter of John Howland, thirteenth signer of the Mayflower Compact, of whom Bradford, in his journel, says:
"In a mighty storm John Howland, a passenger, a stout young man by a keel of ye ship was thrown overboard into ye sea. But it pleased God. He caught hold of ye Topsail Halliards we hung overboard and run out ye length.
T44
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
yet He kept his hold several fathoms under water, till He was drawn up by ye Rope to ye surface, and by a Boat Hook and other means got into ye ship ; and tho' somew't ill upon it, lived many years, and became a useful member both in church and Commonwealth." Pie was one of the leading men in the colony,
SAMUEL RICHARDS WEED.
both in civil and religious matters. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Tilley, sixteenth signer of the Mayflower Compact.
Samuel R. Weed by his first wife, Ellen (Jones) Weed, had issue; Walter Harvey, born May i, 1862, married 1896, Helena C. Hill, daughter of Hon E. J. Hill, M. C, Norwalk, Conn.; Nathan Herbert, born Aug. 1, 1868, married, 1891, Frances Walker, daughter of Joseph Walker, a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, U. S. ; Edward Franklin, born June 20, 1870, married Louisa C. Collier, 1894; all living.
WEED.— WATERBURY.— CLOCK.
The early history of the Weed family, given under the head of "Weed and Allied Families," refers to the line of Daniel and Jonas (2), sons of the first Jonas.
Jonas Weed (2) was the third son of the first Jonas. He was born probably in Stamford, Conn., about 1646 or '48. Of his early life no record appears. He
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. I45
no doubt shared a portion of his father's estate, and cultivated the land for a living. He married, Nov. 6, 1670, Bethia Holly, daughter of John Holly, a fellow- townsman.
John Holly, of Stamford, was an early settler of the town and was employed almost constantly in the affairs of the town or colony. In 1647 he was appointed marshal of the settlement, an office requiring great intelligence and business tact. Later he was made collector of customs and excise, which office he dis- charged with great satisfaction to the General Court from which he received the appointment. He represented the town at the General Court, and was frequently one of the selectmen of the town. He was often appointed on important commis- sions, both by the town and by the General Court. He came of a distinguished family in England, one of whom, Dr. Luther Holly, was born in St. Leonard's parish, Shordith, London, Oct. 29, 1556.
Jonas Weed (2), by his wife Bethia (Holly) Weed, had a son Jonas (3).
Jonas Weed (3), son of Jonas (2) and Bethia (Holly) Weed, was born July 26, 1678. He lived at Noroton Corners. He married Jan. 20, 1703, Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Waterbury, son of John, the ancestor. They had issue : Elanthan, born 1705; died 1706; David, 1707; Charles, born 1710; Epenetus born Sept. 20, 1712; Silvanus, 1713; Gideon, 1716; Sarah, 1718; Thankful, 1719; Hezekiah, 1722. Sarah, his wife, died Feb. 5, 1726.
Epenetus Weed, son of Jonas (3) and Sarah (Waterbury) Weed, was born Sept. 20, 1712. He married Dec. 25. 1735, Abigail Waterbury, who died Dec. 30, 1736; her child died in infancy. He married 2d, Mary Belding, June I, 1738, and had Epenetus, 1739; Benjamin, June 18, 1741, died in the army at Lake George, Sept. 6, 175S; Justus, 1743; Mary, born Feb. 19, 1745, died soon; Mary, again March 14, 1748; Abigail, Aug. 16, 1749, died soon; Abigail, again Nov. 20, 1757; Sarah, 1754. Mary, wife of Epenetus. died April 18, 1756, and he married 3d, Sarah, daughter of David and Eunice (Scofield) Slauson, Feb. 22, 1758, and had Benjamin, born Dec. 18. 1758; John, born Aug. 26, 1760; Prudence, horn March 4. I7.63-
BENJAMIN WEED (3), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Epenetus (2) and Sarah (Slauson) Weed, was born Dec. 18, 1758. There were three Benjamin Weeds enlisted from Stamford in the War of the Revolution. This one is known as "Benjamin 3d." He enlisted in Capt. Whitney's Company, Ninth Regiment, Conn. Militia. The elder Benjamin Weed, known as "Sergeant," was sergeant 01 this company. "Connecticut Men in the Revolution" states that: "After the battle of White Plains. Oct. 28, '76, the Assembly ordered the 9th, 10th, 13th and 1 6th militia regiments to march to the Westchester border and place themselves under Gen. Wooster's command. Later the State Regiments under Col. Enos Whiting relieved them. The 9th regiment had but lately returned from New York."
Although this is the only official record given, there is no doubt but that Benjamin 3d served through the war and took part in the affair at Ridgelield, Sergeant Benjamin being wounded on that occasion. Huntington's Stamford, oage 256, refers to a "petition signed June 3, 1782, which states that 'since the
1 4fJ SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
capture of Cornwallis and his army, many unprincipled wretches from us who had with arms joined the common enemy' had returned home, and thai, a number of them belonged to the most infamous banditte called Delanccy's corps.'" Among the signers cf this petition was Benjamui Weed 3d.
He married Dec. 19, 1784, Mary Waterbury, daughter of John Water-bury, Jr., son of John, Sr., son of John (1).
John Waterbury (1), the ancestor, settled in Stamford soon after the settle- ment began, and had land recorded to him in 1650. He was a representative to the General Court in 1657 and died in 1658. His inventory amounted to £ 185, 12s. His sons were John (2), Jonathan, David, and perhaps others.
John Waterbury (2), son of John (1), was born about 1685. He married Dec. 4, 1710, Susanna Newkirk, and had issue: Ann, born April 1, 1712; Sarah, 1720; Susanna, 1714; John born Dec. 21, 1718; David (Genl. Waterbury), born Feb. 12, 1722; Peter, Nov. 8, 1726; Epenetus, Sept. 24, 1735.
JOHN WATERBURY (3), Patriot of the Revolution, son of John (2) and Susanna (Newkirk) Waterbury, brother of Gen. David Waterbury, was born Dec. 21, 1718, died Nov. 28, 1788. He was the elder brother of Gen. David Water- bury, all of the younger brothers, David, Peter and Epenetus, having enlisted in the patriot army. There were four John Waterburys in the army, known as John, John, Jr., John (2) and John (5). This one is designated in the family record, and was generally 'known as "John, Jr." He was 58 years of age at the beginning of hostilities, but during the Danbury raid, April 25-28, l777, he shouldered his musket and marched by the side of the younger men. He lived to witness the deliverance of his country from the yoke of Great Britain. He married, Feb. 1, 1750, Mary Slason, born Aug. 12, 1724, daughter of John Slason, Jr, and Rebecca, his wife, son of John Slason, Sr., who died Oct. 16, 1706. John and Mary (Slason) Waterbury had issue: Rachel, born 1750; John, 1752; David, 1755; Mary, born June 6, 1758, married Benjamin Weed; Peter, 1760; Epenetus, 1762; Isaac, 1764; Elizabeth, 1768. (Epenetus and David both died in Canada during the war.)
Mary Waterbury, daughter of John 3d and Mary (Slason) Waterbury, and niece of General David Waterbury, was born June 6, 1758.
Benjamin Weed 3d, by his wife Alary (Waterbury) Weed, had Isaac and Rebecca (twins) born 1797; Alvah, born 1799; Louisa, 1804; Mary, born Oct. 7, 1785; Sarah, born 1787; Nancy, born 1790; John, born 1792: James Harvey, born \jgj\Rufus, born March 7, 1802.
The old homestead at Noroton, built by Epenetus, the father of Benjamin, in 1740, is still standing, one of the oldest houses in the town of Stamford.
Rufus Weed, youngest son of Benjamin and Mary (Waterbury) Weed, was born in Stamford, Conn.. March 7. 1802. Imbued with the same spirit of patri- otism that animated his father and grandfather, but with no opportunities for exercise, he led a quiet, uneventful life, working and improving the homestead farm, but with no ambition or inclination to participate in its local affairs. He was enabled to give his children better advantages than he had enjoyed and was proud of their success in life. He inherited the strong predominating virtues of
SONS Of THE REVOLUTION. I47
his ancestors, and these have been further developed in his descendants, lie lived to a ripe old age in the community where he was so well and favorably known. He married Phebe, daughter of John Clock, son of John, son of John Clock, the ancestor.
The earliest record of the Clock family in this country is that of Peter Clock, who bought of Sellout Classen, Aug. 16, 1649, "a lot on the highway near the garden of John Damen on the island of Manhattan." This is an old Holland name, the original spelling of which was Klock. The)' belonged to a distinguished family of Holland.
Abraham Martensen Clock, probably a brother or son of Peter, was one of the early proprietors of Xew Amsterdam. Vol VI, page 72, of the Dutch Manu- scripts at Albany show that on Aug. 11. 1655, there was issued an "Order grant- ing Abraham Martensen Clock, miller, a building lot on Manhattan Island." He soon acquired further property, as there appears in vol. VIII, pp. 310, of the records a "Petition of Abraham Martense Clock for the grant of a piece of land in front of his house across the Here weigh (highway). New Amsterdam."
The name of Abraham Clock appears on an old map of New Amsterdam, the location being Hanover Scpiare, the tradition being that this name \vas given to it by the family.
Cornells Clock was one of the early surgeons of New Amsterdam. There is recorded on the Council of Minutes, Oct. 24, 1656, a ''Bill of Cornelis Clock for bleeding, purging, etc.. divers sick soldiers on board the Gilded Otter with request for payment."
Pilgrim Clock, Oct. 31, 1656, was one of the notaries of New Amsterdam. Mis name appears among the list of "Great and Small Burghers" of New Am- sterdam, April 18, 1657; also that of Abraham Clock.
The records of the old Dutch Church, New York— May 6, 1682— contain a notice of the marriage of Martin Ahrahamszen Clock to Lysbeth Abrahams Van- derheul, and on page 57, that of Albert Clock to Tryntje Abrahms, 1685.
The tradition is that two or three of the brothers returned to Holland and the others remained here.
John Clock, the first of whose name appears on the Stamford records, was probably a son of Albert Clock and Tryntje Abrahams. This conjecture is sup- ported by the fact that his oldest son was named Albert. John Clock was ad- mitted an inhabitant of Stamford, Conn., by vote, 1725. He died May 15. 1746. He married March 21, 1725. Deborah Scofield, and had issue: Catharine, born 1725; Deborah (married Nathan Weed). Albert, John. Martin. Abraham. Sarah. Jacob, Peter. Jonathan.
Albert Clock, son of John and Deborah (Scofield) Clock, was born May 19. 1729. He married Aug. 29. 1750. Comfort Clark, and had Nathaniel, born April T3. I75i: John, Nov. 22, 1753; Phebe, born March 24. 1750.
JOHN CLOCK, Patriot of the Revolution, son of John and Comfort (Clark) Clock, was born Nov. 22, 1753. During the War of the Revolution he was a private in Capt. Bell's company, Ninth Regiment, Conn. Militia, which "marched to the Westchester border, and were there placed under Gen. Wooster's
i48
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Command." He married Sarah Fancher, born Sept. 24, 1767, daughter of David Fancher and Mary Holmes, son of John Fancher and Emma Bouton. Their children were: Martha, born 1790; Abram, 1793; Hannah, 1797; Debby, 1799; David, Oct. 24, 1801 ; Phebe, born about 1803 ; was married to Rufus Weed.
Rufus Weed, by his wife, Phebe (Clock) Weed, had issue: Henry Frank Weed.
HENRY FRANK WEED, New York State Society, Sons of the Revo- lution, son of Rufus and Phebe (Clock) Weed, was born at Darien, Conn. He enjoyed good educational advantages to fit him for a business life, and came to New York City in 1859, at a time the dry goods business was conducted largely by New England men, this being the centre of trade for the whole United States. Mr. Weed obtained a position in one of the dry goods houses, continuing until 1864, when he joined his brother John in the present firm of Weed & Brother. Through the several financial crises and the division of the dry goods trade with the great West, he has continued to do a successful business, and is among the
HENRY F. WEED.
very few left of the old New York merchants. He married Adeline W., daughter of James W. Stanton, seventh in descent from Thomas Stanton, who came from England in 1635, and settled in Hartford, Conn. In 1650 he established a trading house at the present location of Stonington. He was an extensive landholder ;
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. I41J
was commissioner to try civil and criminal cases ; deputy to the General Court, 1666-75 5 special Indian interpreter for Connecticut Colony, and appointed Indian interpreter general of New England. By his wife Ann, daughter of Dr. Thomas Lord, he had two children.
Henry Frank Weed and Adeline W. Stanton, his wife, had issue : Walton F., Florence L. and Louise S.
ROBBINS.— WOLCOTT.— AMES.— GOODSPEED.
John Robbins, the progenitor of the Connecticut branch of the family, was an original settler of Wethersfield, Conn., in 1638. He was a representative to the General Court in i656-'57-'5Q. He died June 27, 1660. By his wife Mercy he had Mary, Hannah, Comfort, John (2).
Capt. John Robbins (2), son of John and Mercy Robbins, was born April 29, 1649. He resided at Lyme, Conn., for a time, where he was made freeman, 1671. He married Mary Dennison, of Roxbury, Mass., daughter of Edward Den- nison, whose brother Daniel married Patience, daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley, of Mass. Edward Dennison married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Weld, who was made a freeman. 1636, representative to General Court, 1637, and was for some years Captain of militia or Train Band, the highest military office in the colony at the time. He was of good estate and high repute.
John Robbins (2), by his wife, Mary Dennison, had a son Richard.
Richard Robbins, son of John (2) and Mary (Dennison) Robbins, was born June 8, 1687. He married June 11, 17 11. Martha Curtis (born Jan 17, 1691), daughter of John (2), son of Sergeant John, son of Thomas Curtis, one of the early settlers of Wethersfield. Richard Robbins, by his wife Mary (Curtis) Rob- bins, had issue: John (3).
John Robbins (3), son of Richard and Martha (Curtis) Robbins, was bom Jan. 1, 1716. He was a magistrate, and represented Wethersfield in the General Assembly. He married 1st, Martha, daughter of Capt. Jacob Williams, born 7th March, 1665, son of Thomas Williams, an early settler of Wethersfield. He mar- ried 2d, Sarah Wright, a widow, whose maiden name was Boardman. By his first wife he had eleven children, of whom Frederick was the ninfh.
SERGT. FREDERICK ROBBINS, Patriot of the Revolution, son of John (2) and Martha (Williams) Robbins, was born at Wethersfield, Conn., Sept. 12, 1756. He enlisted in Capt. (afterward Colonel) John Chester's Ninth Company, jd Reg., Conn. Line, and was appointed Orderly Sergeant. He was stationed at Roxbury, and served during the siege until the close of his term of service in 1775. Hollister's History of Connecticut refers to this (Ninth) Company as the "elite of the American Army," being selected as escort to Gens. Putnam and Warner, to meet the British officers for the exchange of prisoners after the battle of Bunker Hill, in which young Robbins took part.
He re-enlisted in June, 1776, and took part in the battles of Long Island and White Plains. Sergt. Robbins continued with the army in the retreat through New Jersey, and remained until the expiration of his term of enlistment,
15° SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Dec. 25, 1776. He afterward assisted in fitting out a privateer, which he placed in command of Capt. Jabez Riley, with the intention of preying on the commerce of Great Britain. They started from New London, but being caught in a heavy fog, were captured by a British frigate, and sent on board the Jersey Prison Ship. He was permitted to take with him his chest of clothing, which contained a good supply of bread, and this kept him in food for some days. He describes the stench and filth as almost unbearable, and the sufferings of him and his comrades were very great. He remained in confinement for some months, and was finally ex- changed. He returned home a mere wreck of his former self. After recovering his health, he resumed work on his farm. He had a large estate which he re- ceived from his father. He married Mehetable Wolcott, daughter of Elisha Wol- cott, son of Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1), son of Henry Wolcott, the ancestor.
Henry Wolcott. the first of the family in this country, was the son of John Wolcott. of Tolland, in Somersetshire, Eng. He settled first in Boston, where he was made a freeman, April 1, 1634. He moved to Windsor, Conn., in 1636, where he married, Nov. 18. 1641. Sarah, daughter of Thomas Newbury, of Dorchester. Ik- was one of the nineteen persons named in the Charter of Connecticut. He was a member of the House of Deputies. 1660, and of the House of Magistrates, 1662. Henry Wolcott, by his wife Sarah (Newbury) Wolcott, had among other children a son Samuel.
Samuel Wolcott. seventh child of Henry and Sarah (Newbury) Wolcott, was born April 16. 1656. He was a merchant of Windsor, Conn., was a deputy to the General Court in 1685. He died June 14, 1695. He married Judith, daughter of Samuel Appleton (2), son of Samuel Appleton (1).
Samuel Appleton ( 1 ) was born at Little Waldenfield, Co. Suffolk. Eng., 1586. He was a friend and neighbor of Gov. Winthrop. He came to this country in 1635, and was made a freeman, May 25. 1(136: was a representative at the General Court for some years. By his wife, Mary Everard, he had Samuel (2).
Samuel Appleton (2), son of Samuel (1) and Mary (Everard) Appleton, was born in England, and came with his parents to this country. He was a representative to the General Court and most Worshipful Judge. He was in command of 500 men in the great battle against the Narragansetts, Dec. 9, 1675. By his skill and bravery he contributed much to the victory. His daughter Judith became the wife of Samuel Wolcott.
Samuel Wolcott, by his wife Judith (Appleton) Wolcott, had a son Samuel.
Samuel Wolcott (2), son of Samuel (1) and Judith (Appleton) Wolcott. was born April 11. 1679; he married Dec. 27, 1705, Abigail, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Collins and Mary Whiting, son of Dea. Edward Collins, of Cambridge. 1638: deacon, representative to the General Court, 1654 to 1670, except '6r. He lived many years on a plantation of Gov. Cradock at Medford, and at last pur- chased it. and sold to Richard Russell 1.600 acres, and additional acres to other parties. Samuel Wolcott (2). by his wife Abigail (Collins) Wolcott, had a son Elisha.
Elisha Wolcott, son of Samuel (2) and Abigail (Collins) Wolcott, was born Sept. 26. t/{-. He married June 28, 1746, Sarah, daughter of Gersham Nolt. who
SUNS OF THE REVOLUTION. 151
married Sarah Waterhouse, of Saybrook, daughter of Isaac Waterhouse, of Lynn. whose wife Sarah was the daughter of Lieut. William Pratt, one of the most prominent men in the. Connecticut colony. Elisha Wolcott, by his wife Sarah (Nolt) Wolcott, had a daughter Mehitable, born June 12, 1759, who was married April 12, 1781, to Frederick Robbins (1).
Sergeant Frederick Robbins (1), by his wife Mehitable (Wolcott) Robbins, had a son Frederick (2).
Frederick Robbins (2), son of Sergeant Frederick and Mehitable (Wolcott) Robbins, was born April 9, 1784. He married Sept. 19, 1805, Eunice Ames, only child of Philemon, son of John (2), son of John (1), son of Robert, son of John, son of John, son of William, son of Richard Ames.
Richard Ames, of Somersetshire, England, had two sons, William and John; the latter settled at Bridgwater, Mass.
William Ames, born Oct. 6, 1605, in England, came to this country and settled at Braintree, Mass., 1640. By his wife Hannah he had six children, of whom John (1) was the fourth.
John Ames, son of William and Hannah Ames, married Sarah, daughter of Dea. John and Elizabeth Willis, who settled in Bridgewater, Mass., and was the first representative to the General Court ever sent from that town, and repre- sented it several times afterward. By his wife Sarah (Willis) Ames, John Ames had a son, John (2).
John Ames (2), son of John (1) and Sarah (Willis) Ames, was born April 14, 1672; died June 1, 1705. He moved to New London, Conn. He had John, Robert and Samuel.
Robert Ames, son of John (2). moved to Wethersfield, Conn., and died there 1 77 1. He had a son John (3).
JOHN AMES (3), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Robert Ames, was born 1733; died 1790. He enlisted 1775, 2d Company, Sixth Conn. Regiment, commanded by Col. (afterward General) Samuel Holden Parsons; took post at Roxbury in Spencer's brigade. Later he was attached to the Fourth Regiment. Conn. Line, Col. Durkee; was in the battles of Germantown, Monmouth and other engagements. In 1779 his name appears as a member of the crew of the Conti- nental Frigate "Confederacy," which sailed from Philadelphia for France, having on board the French Minister, Gerard, and the newly appointed Minister to Spain, the Hon. John Jay, as passengers. She encountered a heavy gale and put into Martinico for repairs. She was subsequently captured off the Cape of Vir- ginia by a British Seventy-four, and taken to Charlestown. then in possession of the British.
John Ames (3) married Abigail Butler, born July 30, 1739; died Feb. 23, 1800. They had a son Philemon.
Philemon Ames, son of John (3) and Abigail (Butler) Ames, was born Oct. 8, 1758; married Ruth Hurlbut (born 1759; died March II, 1842), daughter of David (2) , son of David ( 1 ) , son of John, son of Thomas.
Thomas Hurlbut came from England in 1635. and was a soldier under Lion Gardner, who hail command of the fort at Saybrook. He engaged in the war
152 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
with the Pequots and was severely wounded by an arrow. He was Clerk of the Train Band in 1640, deputy to the General Court, Grand Juror and Constable. For his services in the Indian war he was allowed by the General Court 120 acres of land. By his wife Sarah he had a son John.
John Hurlbut, son of Thomas Hurlbut, was born in Wethersfield and moved thence to Middletown. He married, Dec. 15, 1670, Mary, daughter of John Deming, whose wife was Honour Treat, daughter of Richard Treat, whose name appears in the charter of 1662. Deputy to the General Court 1644 to 1658. Assistant 1658 to 1665; owned 900 acres in what is now Glastonbury, Conn. John Hurlbut. by his wife Mary (Deming) Hurlbut. had a son David (1).
David Hurlbut, son of John and Mary (Deming) Hurlbut, was born in Mid- dletown, Conn., Aug. 11, 1688. In 1744 he moved to Groton. He had a son David (2).
David Hurlbut (2), son of David (1), was born in Middletown, Upper Houses. Later he moved to Portland, on the east side of the river. He married Ruth Belden and had nine children anmong whom was Ruth, who became the wife of Philemon Ames.
Philemon Ames, by his wife Ruth (Hurlbut) Ames, bad a daughter Eunice, who was married to Frederick Robbins (2).
Frederick Robbins (2), by his wife Eunice (Ames) Robbins, had five chil- dren, of whom Rowland Ames was third.
Rowland Ames Robbins, second child of Frederick (2) and Ruth Hurlbut (Ames) Robbins, was born in Hartford, Conn.. March 18, 1812. He was not en- dowed with a strong constitution, but he combined the graces of mind, the force of character, and gentleness of disposition that made him one of the most lovable as well as one of the most useful of men, and it is to the thoughtfulness of a loving brother and a devoted son that the sweet memories of such a life hav? been pre- served for future generations.
He united with the Central Congregational Church of Hartford at an early age, and laid the foundation of a Chiistian character, wfrch broadened and strengthened with advancing jears.
He received a fair education, and at the age of eighteen he entered the em- ploy of Adrian Janes, then engaged in the paper hanging business in Hartford, Conn. That he won the confidence of his employer goes without saying, for his whole life was spent in one unselfish desire to please and to contribute to the happiness of others. After three years of service he received an advantageous offer from a New York firm to enter their employ, but his employer was loth to part with him, and proposed a co-partnership which the young man readily accepted, and this was continued to their mutual advantage for some years, and during this period they were induced to purchase the patent for a hot air furnace, and this necessitated their removal to New York City, where the foundation of their fortune was laid. This patent was subsequently combined with that of the Beebe Range, and a new co-partnership organized under the firm name of Janes Beebe & Co. The business increased far beyond the expectation of its founders, and a branch house was established in Baltimore. Md., under the firm name of
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 153
Heywood, Robbins & Co., which was carried on successfully for some years, but the great increase in the New York business necessitated the combined energies of its founders, who parted with their Baltimore interests, and Mr. Robbins returned to New York.
In addition to the manufacture of furnaces, cooking ranges, etc., the firm concluded to combine that of manufacturing heavy architectural castings, and soon after this, the United States Government having invited proposals for building the dome of the Capitol at Washington, the firm entered their bid and obtained the contract. The business assumed greater proportions each year, and
ROWLAND A. ROBBINS, SEN.
the heavy strain proved too much for the already overtasked energies of Mr. Rob- bins, and in the midst of his prosperous career his life was brought to an early end in his thirty-eighth year on the 14th of September, 1850; but in this brief period was combined more than most men who reach their three-score-and-ten years. His capacity for business was marvelous, and extensive operations, in- volving immense expenditures of money were conducted with that ease and pre- cision of a commander-in-chief in moving his armies. Cool, calm, self-possessed, he met every emergency with skill and rare good judgment. He had a mind well balanced and allowed nothing to ruffle his temper. With all of his gentleness of disposition there was no lack of firmness. No one ever presumed to take ad- vantage of his kindness of heart, for there was a grace and dignity of manner that checked any undue familiarity. As a husband and father his life was fault- less. With his children he was not only fatherly, but companionable, and he enjoyed their closest confidence and friendship, guiding them by his wise coun-
154 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
sel, cheering and comforting them in trouble, and entering into all their little affairs of life with the deepest interest. As a Christian he said little, but did much. After coming to New York he united with Dr. Cheever's church in Union Square.
Mr. Robbins married Oct. 13, 1836, Mary Ann Goodspeed, daughter of Joseph Goodspeed, of East Haddam. Conn., son of Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1), son of Nathan, son of Moses, son of Ebenezer. son of Roger Goodspeed.
Roger Goodspeed. a political refugee from England, came to Massachusetts from England in 1639, settled at Barn table, married Alice Dayton in 164 1 and had a son Ebenezer.
Ebenezer Goodspeed. sixth child of Roger Goodspeed, was born Dec, 1655, married Feb. 15. 1677, Lydia Crowell of Yarmouth. They had a son Moses.
Moses Goodspeed, thirteenth and youngest child of Ebenezer and Lydia (Crowell) Goodspeed, was born Nov. 24, 1704. He married March 30, 1726, Han- nah Allen. He inherited the house of his ancestor, which passed to his son Seth, and still remains in the family. They had six children, of whom Nathan was the fifth.
Nathan Goodspeed, fifth child of Moses and Hannah (Allen) Goodspeed, was born March 7, 1735. He, in company with Capt. Elijah Atwood and James Green, moved to East Haddam, Conn., about 1757. He married Jan. 2, 1772, Mary Kellogg of Colchester, probably grand-daughter of Jonathan Kellogg. They had eight children, of whom Joseph, was the youngest.
Joseph Goodspeed. eighth child of Nathan and Mary (Kellogg) Goodspeed, was born April 23, 1787. He married Laura Tyler (sister of W. S. and Chaun- cey Tyler), Sept. 21, 1811. She died July 3, 1833; he married 2d Rosa Bigelow of East Haddam, widow of Dr. Bigelow. and daughter of Frederick Robbins (2) of Wethersfield. They had issue: George Edward. William Henry, born Dec. 29, 1814, married Louisa M. Robbins, daughter of Frederick Robbins of Hartford ; Frederick, Mary Ann, who was married to Rowland Ames Robbins; Nathan Ty- ler, Laura, Sophia.
Rowland Ames Robbins, by his wife, Mary Ann (Goodspeed) Robbins. had issue: Laura, born July 23, 1837; Russell Hurlbut. born July I, 1841 ; Adelaide, born Jan. 18, 1843; Rowland Ames (2), born June 28, 1848; George, born Sept. 7. 1850.
Russei.t. II. Robbins, second child and eldest son of Rowland Ames and Mary Ann (Goodspeed) Robbins, was born in Hartford. Conn., where he received his education. In 1861 he accepted a position in the firm of Lord & Robinson, Baltimore. Md., of which his brother-in-law, Charles W. Lord, was partner. Sub- sequently he became a member of the branch house of this firm, Robinson, Lord & Company, in 1869. Upon the dissolution of this firm in 1880 he accepted the position of purchasing agent in the American Rapid Telegraph Company, and re- tained the same position in the Postal Telegraph Company, its successor, with which he remained until the time of his death, July 26, 1896.
He enlisted in Company E of the 22d Regiment. N. G. S. N. Y., with his brother. Dec. 27, 1867. and soon after was appointed and commissioned Captain,
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 1 55
A. D. C, of the staff of Brig. Gen. J. M. Varian, commanding 3d Brigade. N. G. S. N. Y. He was afterwards promoted and commissioned Major and Engineer in the same brigade. He held this position for several years, when he resigned and was honorably discharged.
He became a member of the Players' Club, being one of the earliest to join after its organization by the late Edwin Booth. He inherited many of the at- tractive and lovable traits of his father. Rowland, and his genial nature and generous disposition endeared him to all who knew him.
Rowland Ames Robbins enlisted in E Company. 22d Regiment, X. G. S, N. Y., Dec. 27, 1867; appointed and commissioned First Lieutenant and Quar- termaster upon the staff of Gen. Josiah Porter, Commandant of that regiment. Oct. 22, 1871. Resigned and honorably discharged June 25, 1875. Appointed and commisioned First Lieutenant, A. D. C. on staff of Brig. Gen. J. M. Varian. commanding Third Brigade, N. G. S. N. Y.. May id. 1877. Promoted and com- missioned Captain, A. D. C, August 7, 1877. (Later given brevet rank of Major for continued service under the State law. ) Promoted and commissioned Major and Engineer, June 27, 1882, 2d Brigade, N. G. S. N. Y., commanded by Gen. J. M. Varian. Resigned upon death of Brigade Commandant in 1882. and honor- ably discharged from said service April 15th of that year.
MAJOR ROWLAND AMES ROBBINS, (2) New York State Society Sons of the Revolution, fourth child and second son of Rowland Ames and Mary Ann (Goodspeed) Robbins, was born in New York City, June 28, 1848. He attended the village school and later the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, completing his studies at a private school in Baltimore, Md. His first business experience was with the firm of Lord and Robinson, Baltimore, Md., and in 1869 a branch firm was organized under the name of Robinson, Lord & Co., Mr. Rob- bins and his brother Russell being the "Co.," located in New York City. This continued until 1880, when Mr. Robbins started in business in his own name, dealing principally in Government and railroad supplies, and in 1891 he organ- ized the present company known as the Manhattan Supply Company, of which he is president.
Notwithstanding the pressure of business be has devoted much time and en- ergy to militarv affairs. He joined Company E. 22cl Regiment, N. G S. N. Y.. in 1869 as private and later was appointed Quartermaster on the staff of Col. Porter, with the rank of First Lieutenant, and was subsequently appointed on the staff of Gen. J. M. Varian. commanding Third Brigade, as Junior Aide, with rank of First Lieutenant; was promoted Senior Aide and Captain with rank of Major, and mi Jan. 2-j, 1882. he was appointed Engineer on brigade staff with full rank of Major.
Major Robbins is a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, the Union League. Players and other clubs. Society of Colonial Wars. Geographical Society of New York. etc. He married March 4. 1884. Elizabeth Stewart. Their children are Russell Hurlbut. born Jan. 28. T885 ; Gladys, born Aug. 30. 1889; Rowland Ames. Jr., born March t.". t8q6.
150 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
WEBB.— SAFFORD.— AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
The various members of the Webb, Safford and allied families were dis- tinguished for their courage, loyalty and patriotism in the colonial wars and the War of the Revolution, and were conspicuous in the development of the several towns where they located.
Referring to the origin of the Webbs, Burke says: "This family migrated to the county of Limerick at the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century, from Gloucestershire, in which county as well as in Wiltshi.e. it had been settled from the reign of Edward I., when its ancestor, a Fleming by birth, brought over some improvements in the loom, and received a surname from his occupation."
The great web and woof of human life through the instrumentality of this family have formed beautiful and varied mosaic patterns, and the life work still goes on, and faithful hands still ply the shuttle to and fro, keeping ever in mind the motto inscribed on the family arms — Principia non homines.
The earliest branch of the Webb family was granted June 15, 1577. Arms — Gules a cross humettee engrailed between four falcons or. Crest — Out of a ducal coronet a demi-eagle displayed or. Motto — Principia non homines.
From the fact that four families of the name of Webb were among the early settlers of Massachusetts, it would indicate that they may have been related. Wil- liam Webb of Weymouth, John Webb of Braintree are mentioned as early as 1648, and Richard Webb, the founder of the Stamford, Conn., branch was admitted a freeman of the town of Boston in April 1632, and in 1635 accompanied Rev. Mr. Hooker and others to Hartford and Windsor.
Christopher Webb, of Braintree, Mass., came from England with his fam- ily and settled in that town before 1645, at which time he was made freeman. Savage says : "Christopher Webb, of Braintree, freeman 1645, was one of the petitioners that year for leave to go and possess the land from which our Govern- ment had unrighteously driven Gorton, Holden and other misbelieving planters, but the right of the sufferers was vindicated in England."
Christopher Webb remained in Braintree during his life. By his wife Humil- ity he had Christopher, Sarah, and Thomas.
Christopher Webb, Jr., son of Christopher (1) and Humility Webb, was born in England about 1630. He removed to Billerica, and was granted a six acre privilege Sept. 29. 1659. His home lot w\as thirty-five acres of land lying on the "East side of the country road that goeth from Woburn to Chelmsford." He returned to Braintree as early as 1665. He married June 18, 1654, Hannah, daughter of Benjamin Scott. The marriage was performed by Captain Torrey, of Weymouth. The Braintree records give the following list of his children and the dates thereof, which differ from those given in "Giles Memorial:" John, born Oct. 23, 1653, married Betbia Adams; Peter, born Dec. I, 1655, married Amy Heyden ; Samuel, born Aug. 6, 1660, married Mary Adams ; Christopher, born March 25, 1663, married Mary Bass; Hannah, born July 5, 1665, married Captain John Adams. Benjamin, born Dec. 2, 1667, married Susanna Balentine; Mary,
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born July 6, 1669, married Captain Peter Adams; Joseph, born Jan. 15, 1672, mar- ried Deborah Bass. Abigail, born Aug. 13, 1075. Christopher Webb, Jr., died May 30, 1694. Hannah, his wife, died 1718. Three of Christopher Webb's chil- dren married children of Joseph Adams, the grandfather of President John Adams.
Benjamin Webb, sixth child of Christopher, Jr., and Hannah (Scott) Webb, was born Dec. 2, 1667. He lived for three or four years in Boston, but returned to Braintree, where he carried on an extensive business as tanner and currier. He was a man of great intelligence and owned a fine library for that period. Two of his sons were sent to college and entered the ministry. After the Narragansett war, to relieve the province of the heavy indebtedness, Bills of Credit were issued in 1720, and Benjamin Webb was appointed one of the trustees for disposing of them.
In 1734 a petition was sent to the General Court to grant the town something as a "consideration, and in lieu of 4,000 acres of land taken from us and added to the town of Milton," and "Likewise to Grant us something Gratis for our having Kept a Free Latin School for about 90 years."
Benjamin Webb was appointed to manage this office.
The history of the town states that "The first tanner and currier that we have any account of was Benjamin Webb, who in 1700 bought of Benjamin Thompson, the old schoolmaster, one and a half acres of land for £82, 10 s., as a place to erect a building for his business." He married Feb. 2, 1667, Susanna Ballentine, daughter of William Ballentine and Hannah Hollord of Boston. The children were Hannah, born May 15, 1694, died 1702; Benjamin, born Dec. 13, 1695, mar- ried Mehitable Williams; Jonathan, born Dec. 27, 1697, married Bathshelea ;
ried Mehitable Williams; Jonathan, born Dec. 27, 1697, married Bathsheba ;
Daisy, born Dec. 11, 1699, died Jan. 15, 1800; Jerusha, born Feb. 21, 1701, mar- ried Samuel Bass ; Eunice, born May 6, 1703, married Joseph Allen, June 30, 1725 ; Nathan, born April 9, 1705, married Ruth Adams; Timothy, born June 30, 1706. married Sarah Howard; Susanna, born May 20, 1710; Esthei. born April 1, 1713. married Ebenezer Reade of Weybridge; Benjamin Webb, Sen. died 1739.
Timothy Webb, son of Benjamin and Susanna (Ballantine) Webb, was born June 30, 1706, in Braintree. He removed to Windham, Conn., where his uncle, Samuel Webb, had preceded him. He died in Windham, Feb. 22, 1792. He mar- ried Sarah Howard and had issue: Nathaniel, born August 9. 1726, died Feb. 25. 1749; Stephen, born Dec. 27. 1730; Eunice, born Jan. 25, 1752, married Samuel Adams; Abigail, born Dec. 25, 1734, married Jacob Fuller; Mary, born March 18, 1739, married Barnabas Arnable ; Stephen, born Oct. 4, 1742, married Con- tent Hewett; Jerusha, born Feb. 7. 1745, married Enos Palmer; Benjamin, born Nov. 14, 1747, married Sarah Holmes; Esther, born Oct. 13, 1750, married Ben- jamin Holt; Jonathan, born June 10, 1752, married Nancy Nash.
BENJAMIN WEBB, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Timothy and Sarah { Howard) Webb, was born Nov. 14, 1749, died at Bennington, Vt, Feb. 9, 1812. He served in the Revolution as Sergeant in Captain Smith's Company, Ninth
158 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Connecticut Regiment, and later as Ensign in Captain Schofield's Company of Coast Guards. He married Sarah Holmes, Jan. 31, 1775, at Nine Partners (now America), N. Y., and had issue: Sarah, born Oct. 21, 1778; Philomela, August 25, 1780; Benjamin, May 14, 1782; Celinda, Aug. 7, 1784, married Alson Squires; Stephen, born June 17, 1786; Laura, Nov. 27, 1788, married Lorenzo Fassett; Fanny, born Nov. 7, 1790; Patty, Oct. 22, 1792.
Benjamin Webb, Jr. son of Benjamin and Sarah (Holmes) Webb, was born May 4, 1782; married Electa Safford, daughter of Samuel Safford (2), son of Joseph (3), son of Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1).
Joseph Safford with his family were born in England, where he died. He had a son Joseph (2).
Joseph Safford (2), son of Joseph (1), came from England to Plymouth. Mass. He removed thence with his family to Norwich, Conn., in 1723. Miss Caulkins' History of Norwich, page 344, refers to an "Account of the Surprizing Events of Providence which happened at the Raising of a Bridge in Norwich, June 28, 1728," in which the name of Joseph Safford is mentioned among the wounded. By his wife Abigail he had issue Joseph (2), born 1705; Abigail. John, Sarah, who died at Norwich ; Solomon.
Deacon Joseph Safford (3), son of Joseph (2) and Abigail ( )
Safford, was born in 1705, moved to Norwich with his parents, where he married Anna Bottom, and had Anna, born Dec. 31, 1730; Elizabeth, 1735 ; Samuel, April 14, 1737; Abigail. 1740; Joseph, 1742; David, 1744; Hannah, 1746; Lucy. June 1748; Esther, Sept. 22, 1750; Jacob. Nov. 22, 1752; Solomon, Feb. 19, 1755.
GENERAL SAMUEL SAFFORD, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Dea. Joseph and Anna (Bottom) Safford, was born at Norwich. Conn., April 14, 1737. He removed to Bennington, Vt. and took an active part in the land title controversy with New York, and on several occasions represented the town in conventions of the settlers for defense against the Yorkers, and also for forming the territory into a separate state. When the committee of the several towns met at Dorset in July, 1775 to nominate officers for the battalion of Green Moun- tain Boys, recommended by Congress, he was named as its Major, the command being held by Lieut. Col. Seth Warner. Among the important services rendered by the regiment was the decisive defeat of Gen. Carleton at Longuiel, which pre- vented his furnishing relief to St. John, and caused the immediate surrender, and also the abandonment of Montreal to the American forces under Gen. Mont- gomery.
When Seth Warner's Continental regiment was raised by act of Congress in July, 1776, Major Safford was commissioned Lieut. Colonel. In Stark's cam- paign, which included the battle of Bennington, he was the latter's "right arm."
Hon. Highland Hall, in bis account of the battle, says: "To Gen. Stark should be assigned the highest meed of praise for the victory * * * Of his officers, Col. Safford is undoubtedly entitled to special credit. Safford was a Colonel in the Continental army and bad acquired a high reputation as a military leader by his services in Canada and at Hubbardton, and he had long been a resident of Bennington and was familiarly acquainted with the ground occupied
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by the posts of the enemy and their approaches. He was Stark's chief adviser in planning the attack of the enemy; he went into the action by his side, and was his active associate in the first engagement as well as in the attack of Brayman's reinforcements."
Dr. Thatcher, in his contemporary Military Journal, says: "Stark, assisted by Safford, matured his plans for battle.''
In 1781 Col. Safford was made General of State Militia. He represented his town in the State Legislature in 1781-2, and in 1783 was elected State Counselor and served as such for nineteen successive years; and for twenty-six successive years, ending in 1807 he was Chief Judge of the County Court for Bennington County. He was an upright, intelligent man of sound judgement, and univer- sally respected. He died at Bennington, March 3, 1813. He married Mary Lawrence (born in Norwich, April 8, 1741), daughter of Jonathan Lawrence, who removed with his family to Bennington, 1772. Gen. Samuel, by his wife, had issue: Samuel, born June 24, 1761 ; Mary, June 16, 1763; John, Aug. 16, 1765; Ruth, Dec. 3, 1768; Anna, Sept. 1, 1771 ; Clara, Feb. 3, 1774; Electa, March 24. 1776; Amelia, April 1, 1780; Jonas.
Electa Safford, daughter of Gen. Samuel and Mary (Lawrence) Safford, was born March 24, 1776; married Benjamin Webb.
Benjamin Webb, by his wife Electa (Safford) Webb), had issue: Samuel S., born Dec. 15, 1806; died 1807; Myron S., born Feb. 26, 1810; William S., born April 15, 1816, married Mrs. Laura Stark.
Myron S. Webb, son of Benjamin and Electa (Safford) Webb, was born Feb. 26, 1810. He was a prosperous farmer, also a civil engineer and sur- veyor, and a man of considerable prominence and influence in the town. He removed to Windsor Locks, Ct., where he married Mary C. Denslow, Oct., 1840, daughter of Carlos Denslow, son of Martin, son of Joseph, son of Samuel, son of Henry, son of Nicholas Denslow, the ancestor.
Nicholas Denslow, the ancestor, came to New England in the Mary and John," and was at Dorchester, Mass., in 1630; admitted freeman, 1635, and re- moved to Windsor, Conn., in 1635, being then fifty years old, probably the oldest man of the early settlers. He died March 8, 1666, aged ninety. He had children, Henry and John.
Henry Denslow, son of Nicholas, was one of the first settlers of Pine Meadow (present Windsor Locks). Conn., and was killed there by the Indians in 1676. Fie had eight children, of whom Samuel was the sixth.
Samuel Denslow, son of Henry, was born Dec. 19. 1659. He married, Dec. 3. 1686, Patience Gibbs, and had six children, of whom Joseph was the youngest.
Joseph Denslow, son of Samuel and Patience (Gibbs) Denslow, was born March 24. 1703; died Oct. 2, 1749. He married Ann Holcomb, Oct. 10, 1733, and bad seven children, of whom Martin was the sixth.
MARTIN DENSLOW. Patriot of the Revolution, son of Joseph and Ann (Holcomb) Denslow, was baptised April 28, 1745. He eidisted with the troops from the town of Windsor who marched "for the Relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm," April, 1775. He was Corporal of 4th Company, Seventh
l60 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Conn. Regiment — Col. Charles Webb— which was stationed along the Sound until Sept. 14, 1775, when on requisition from Washington, it was ordered to the Boston Camps and took part in the several engagements of that campaign. He was promoted Sergeant April I, 1777; Sergeant Major, May 15, '79; Ensign, Aug. 16, '79, and continued in service until 1781. He was attached to the Fifth Regiment, "Connecticut line," which was engaged at the battle of Germantown, Oct .4, '77; assigned to Huntington's Brigade, and wintered at Valley Forge, '77-' 7&1 present at the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. In the operations of '79 it served in Heath's wing, east side of the Hudson, and was afterwards de- tached to Meig's Light Regiment and engaged in the storming of Stony Point, July 15, 1779. Denslow was not long after promoted Lieut., and his name appears among the early members of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati.
He married Lois Wizard of Farmington, April n, 1770, and had Huldah in 1771; Martin in 1773; Thaddeus in 1775; Lois in 1777; Anne in 1782; Carlos, May 4, 1786; Almanza.
Carlos Denslow, son of Martin and Lois (Wizard) Denslow, was born May 4, 1786; married Pauline Hathaway and had a daughter Mary C, who was married to Myron S. Webb, Oct. 1840.
Myron S. Webb, by his wife Mary C. (Denslow) Webb, had issue: Charles Hathaway, born Oct. 24, 1842; William E., born Oct. 29, 1844; Mary L., born Dec. 14, 1846; Anna D., born April 25, 1857.
CHARLES HATHAWAY WEBB, New York State Society, Sons of the Revolution, son of Myron S. and Mary (Denslow) Webb, was born at Windsor Locks, Conn., Oct. 24, 1842. He attended the district school in his native village and completed his education in a three years' course of study at Bennington Seminary, Vermont. His business training began with the old and well established dry-goods house of Phelps Bliss & Co. in 1859. Of the many employees of this house and its successors, he is one of the few who, on his merits alone, rose from the humble position of a boy of seventeen to a partner- ship in 1875. The firm of Phelps Bliss & Co., with whom he commenced was succeeded by that of Eldridge Dunham & Co., which continued until the death of Mr. Eldridge in December, 1874, and in June 1876, the firm became Dunham Buckley & Co., and finally James H. Dunham & Co., the present firm. That Mr. Webb has proved an important factor in the almost unprecedented success of this firm goes without saying. As an employee, his uniform courtesy, kindness and honest upright dealings with the patrons of the house won their friendship as well as the hearty approval of his employers which resulted in the still closer relations which now exist. In January, 1889. he gave up the department over which he had immediate supervision to give more particular attention to the general details of the business which had so largely increased as to demand his personal superintendancy and care.
Of the personal traits of Mr. Webb, much can be said without fulsomeness or undue praise. No man ever enjoyed a larger share of friendship with those around him than Mr. Webb. This is due to his kindly and sympathetic nature and his recognition of the rights of others.
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While in no sense a politician, Mr. Webb's affiliations have always been with the Republican party, and during the presidential campaign of 1896 he was con- nected with the Dry Goods Republican club and worked faithfully for the success of his party.
Mr. Webb has long been connected with the National Accident Society of New York, and latterly as its President, and under his supervision the society has enjoyed continued success and prosperity.
The beautiful fabric of human life woven by his ancestors who first took the name of Webb has served as a pattern for him, and as the shuttle moved to and fro, gathering new material from the web and of wool each succeeding gener- ation a brighter and more perfect pattern has been developed.
Mr. Webb is a member of the following clubs and societies of New York City: Union League; Colonial; Merchants; Republican and Atlantic Yacht clubs; the New England Society, Society of the Sons of the Revolution and of The Patriots and Founders of America.
He married the daughter of Freeman M. Brown of Hartford, Conn., whose first husband was Charles M. Fairbanks. She had two children; a son and a daughter. The son, Harry Burnside Fairbanks, Major of the Second Mass. Regiment, distinguished himself in the late Cuban war by his courage and gallantry in action. A Worcester paper referred to him in the following terms:
"The Worcester soldiers of the second regiment all praise Major H. B. Fair- banks and say that he was unquestionably one of the best officers on the battle- field. Corp. Scott of H. Co. says he was at the Major's side at San Juan and El Caney and that the major's conduct was superb and that he did not mind the bullets half as much as he did the night breezes that were quite strong in Cuba after sundown.
"The men of the 2nd say that at the battle of San Juan Maj. Fairbanks stood directing his men in a perfect fusilade of bullets. They fairly rained about him and some of them cut the leaves of the trees within an inch of his head. He continued to give his orders as calmly as if he was in Worcester armory.
"During the San Juan battle Maj. Fairbanks went down the line cheering his men and telling them to keep cool. 'By all means, my men, don't lose your heads. When the bullets go by you don't mind them. Keep up your hearts and we shall surely win,' said the major.
"Corp. Scott says the men were all lying flat on the ground. Every man was on the ground but the major. Men were killed and wounded by the major's side, but he seemed to bear a charmed life. The major, he says, took no end of interest in the welfare of his men and tried to cheer up the sick and brightened up the last moments of many a poor fellow who took a journey across the great river.
"Several members of the 2d regiment say that they will not be satisfied until the Major gets a colonel's berth. They all want to see him promoted. Every man in the company says that too much cannot be said in praise of Maj. Fair- banks and that he won the heart of every man under him."
WILLIAM EDWARD WEBB, second child of Myron S. and Mary (Den
l62 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
slow) Webb, was born at Windsor Locks, Conn., Oct. 29, 1844. He was ed- ucated at the Suffield Literary Institution of Conn. His business knowledge and experience was acquired at some of the leading New York houses. Beginning with the old house of George Bliss & Co. in 1863, where he remained for sev- eral years, he then went with W. S. Peak & Co., and after one or two other changes he returned to the old house, where he has since remained and has been for some years a member of what is now the firm of James H. Dunham & Co. He is a member of the Union League, Colonial, Merchants and Lotus clubs, New England Society, Founders and Patriots, Sons of the Revolution, Altair Lodge F. & A. M., of Brooklyn, and Republican Chapter R. A. M. He married Juliette Seymour Bell, daughter of William J. Bell, of New York. Their chil- dren are Kenneth Seymour, Royden, and Denslow.
ROGERS.— FITCH.— PENDLETON.— WOOLSEY, ETC.
Although there are several branches of the Rogers family in this country and in Europe, they doubtless all had a common origin. Burke says : "The Rogers of Home derive originally from the family of Norbury, County Salop. In the 7th Edward II., Roger de Norbury, by the name of Roger, son of Philip, son of Roger de Norbury, had a grant of the estate of Home (County Salop, England), where he appears to have resided. His son John took the surname of Rogers. From that time to the present day the descendants have held the estate of Home and resided there. This family bore Arms — Argent on a chevron, vert, between three bucks, current, sable, five ermine spots gold. Crest — A buck's head sable, charged with three ermine spots, or, erased, gules, attired of the second. Motto — Nos nostraque Deo. (Ourselves and what we possess to God.)
John Rogers, the martyr, was probably a descendant of one of the several branches of this family. He was born in Lancashire, England ; educated at Cambridge. While a young man, for conscience's sake, he went to Antwerp in Brabauh, serving many years as chaplain to the English merchant adventurers. He assisted in the translation of the Bible into the English language, which led to the introduction into England in 1537, of the folio Bible, being the first complete edition of both Old and New Testa- ments, revised and published by him alone, under the assumed name of Thomas Matthew. On the occasion of Queen Mary's entrance into London, he preached a bold and zealous sermon at St. Paul's cross; was soon after thrown into prison, and on Feb. 4, 1555, he was taken out and burned at the stake in presence of Rochester, comptroller of the Queen's household, and a great concourse of people. He left issue Richard and other children.
John Rogffs, grandson of John, the martyr, was born in 1551 ; dk(d fib Dedham, England, Oct. 8, 1636; educated at Cambridge University at the ex- pense of his uncle, Rev. Richard Rogers, of Wethersfield. He was vicar of Huntington, 1502, then priest at Havershill, being afterwards transferred to Dedham. The name of his father has not been ascertained. The name of his
SONS OF THK REVOLUTION. 163
first wife is unknown. He married 2d, Elizabeth Gould ; 3d, Dorothy Stanton. By his second .wife he had three sons, among whom was James and onej daughter.
James Rogers, the American ancestor, son of John, was born in 1615; died Feb. 1687-8. He came from Smithneld, England, to Rhode Island, in the ship Increase, in 1635 ; and later was engaged in business in New London, Conn., and by invitation of Gov. John Winthrop settled on the plantation of Great Neck, in New London County, Conn., before 1660. He was engaged in public business from 1660 to 1670; owned much land, both at Great Neck, and on the east side of the river, and house lots in New London. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Rowland, of Milford, Conn. They had five sons and two daughters. Among the sons was James (2).
James Rogers (2), son of James (1), and Elizabeth Rowland Rogers, was born in New London, Conn., Feb. 15, 1652; died Nov. 8, 1713. He was a ship- master, and one of his voyages to Europe brought over a company of Redemp- tionists, among whom was Mary Jordan, who afterwards (Nov. 5, 1674) became his wife; she was the daughter of Jeffrey Jordan. They had issue: James (3), Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Samuel, Jonathan, Richard, William,
Capt. James Rogers (3), son of James Rogers (2), the navigator, was born in New London, Conn., 1675. He removed to Norwalk, Conn., about 1726. He had fourteen children, and bought six acres in the lower part of the town, in- cluding dwelling house and other buildings. He was a citizen of Norwalk about seven years, and until his decease in 1733. He instructed his executors, in 1732, to make provision for the education of his four younger children (all of whom at that time were under fourteen), and mentioned a certain amount which should be expended upon their "bringing up." The children named in the will were: James, Mary, Esther, Uriah, Jedediah, Nehemiah, (Aaron, who removed to Weth- ersfield.), Lemuel, Elizabeth, Claron, Samuel. Dr. Uriah Rogers, the brother of Nehemiah, was the grandfather of the renowned Chancellor Kent.
Nehemiah Rogers, son of Capt. James Rogers (3), was born about 1706-8. He was a man of considerable note in his time and a large landholder. He was part owner of the Norwalk Islands, and had a hundred acres in one piece on Chestnut Hill. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Fitch, brother of Gov. Thomas Fitch, and son of Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2), son of Thomas (1), son of Sir Thomas Fitch, of England, and Anna Pew, his wife.
The original spelling of the name was Fytche of Ffytche, and the family probably came originally from Wales. The family, from which Sir Thomas Fitch descended, resided at Thorp Hall, County Lincoln, England, and was a branch of the family of Ffytches of Danbury Place, and Woodham Walter, County Essex.
This family bore Arms — Vert, a chevron between three leopards' heads, or. Crest — A leopard's face, or, pierced with a sword, in bend sinister ppr., hilt and panel of the first. Motto — Spes juvat.
Sir Thomas Fitch, the immediate progenitor of the American family of this name, was a judge of much distinction, and was created a baronet by Charles
1 64 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
I. He was born in 1590 at Booking, England, and died in 1645. He married, Aug. 8, 161 1, Anna Pew, who survived him, and came to America with her three younger sons, two older ones having emigrated some years before. They, per- haps, had married daughters and other sons, who remained in England. The five sons who came to America were : Thomas, Rev. James, of Saybrook and Norwich, Conn.; Joseph, who settled in Windsor; Samuel, who settled in Hart- ford; and John, who settled at Windsor, dying without issue.
Thomas Fitch was an early settler at Norwalk, Conn. He died in 1704. The land known as "the Fitch Estate," which formed the family homestead for more than a hundred years, was purchased of the Indians by a deed dated Feb. 15, 1651. Thomas Fitch was the wealthiest citizen of Norwalk and a man of distinction. He represented the town of Norwalk at the General Court on several occasions. He married Miss Piatt and had Thomas (2), John, Mary Ann, Samuel.
Thomas Fitch (2), of Norwalk, son of Thomas (1), was Sergeant of Train Band in 1672. He married Ruth, daughter of George Clark, and had Samuel, 1663; Thomas (3), 1665; Mary, 1668; Samuel, 1681.
Thomas Fitch (3), son of Thomas (2) and Ruth (Clark) Fitch, was born about 1662. He had three wives : Sarah — Rhoda — Rachel. His children were : Thomas (4), who became Governor of the colony; Samuel, James, Elizabeth.
Samuel Fitch, son of Thomas (3) and brother of Governor Thomas Fitch, was born in Norwalk, Conn., about 1701. He held office under the King, and was a large landed proprietor. He inherited by will the bay view tract which skirts the harbor to the east of Gregory Point. He had an only daughter, Elizabeth, who was married to Nehemiah Rogers.
Nehemiah Rogers died in 1760. Two of his sons, Fitch and Nehemiah, were founders of the city of St. Johns, New Brunswick. Samuel, Moses and Henry are also mentioned, and all became distinguished as New York merchants after the War of the Revolution. These names have been frequently published as the sons of Samuel Rogers, who was reputed to have married the daughter of Gov. Thomas Fitch, but Rev. Charles M. Sellick, in his Centenary Address and foot- notes of St. Paul's Church, Norwalk, Conn., shows conclusively by documentary evidence that Nehemiah Rogers and not Samuel was the father of these children, and that his wife, Elizabeth Fitch, was the daughter of Samuel, the brother of Governor Fitch.
Moses Rogers, son of Nehemiah and Elizabeth (Fitch) Rogers, was born in 1750; died Nov. 30, 1825. He started in business in New York City in 1785, under the firm name of Moses Rogers, which continued until 1795, when he became asso- ciated with his brother-in-law, William Walter Woolsey, under the firm name of Rogers & Woolsey. Their place of business was at 206 Queen (235 Pearl Street). They carried on an extensive iron business and had a large trade with the West Indies. In 1795 Moses withdrew from the firm, and was succeeded by his son, under the firm name of Woolsey & Rogers. Moses Rogers then started in the sugar refining business at the old house adjoining the Dutch Church at 42 Liberty Street, in a building which had been used as a prison house during
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 165
the Revolution. The firm was then Moses Rogers & Co. This continued until 1806, when he retired from business. He was one of the princely merchants of his day, and in 1806 was one of the fifteen persons in New York who kept a carriage. During the first years of his business life he lived near the corner of the present Beekman and Pearl Streets. Later, he built at No. 7 State Street, what was known as the grand old house with pillars. He spent his remaining years in this house, which was occupied as late as 1826 by his son.
Mr. Rogers was connected with many benevolent enterprises in his day. He was a member of the Marine Society in 1780. In 1793 he was a member of the Society to Relieve Distressed Prisoners, a society that numbered among its members the leading merchants of New York. In 1793 he was one of the most active members of the Society for the Manumission of Slaves. He was also a director in the United States Bank; Governor of the New York Hospital, 1792 to 1799; and in 1797 was one of the principal managers of the City Dispensary. The same year he was elected a director of the Mutual Insurance Co., continuing until 1807. He was a vestryman of Trinity Church from 1787 to 181 1. He was one of the founders of Grace Church, and continued as vestryman and active member of that church up to the time of his death. His memory has been hon- ored by a tabl.et with a suitable inscription, which is still to be seen within the inclosure of Grace Church. He died Nov. 30, 1825, aged 78 years. He married Sarah Woolsey, daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, of Dosoris, L. I., son of Benja- min, son of Rev. Benjamin, son of George (2), son of George (1), the ancestor.
George Woolsey, the ancestor, was the son of Benjamin, and grandson of Thomas, a near relative of Thomas, better known in history as Cardinal Wool- sey, who, by the liberality of his royal master, Henry VIII., was indebted for his extraordinary elevation.
George Woolsey was born Oct. 27, 1610, and had probably resided some time with his father in Holland, having come over with the Dutch emigrants in 1623, while yet a mere boy. It is generally believed that his father joined him in this country a few years after. He resided several succeeding years in New Amster- dam, where he is supposed to have been a trader or a merchant.
In 1647 he purchased a plantation at Flushing, where he established himself, but afterwards took up his residence with his father at Jamaica, which place was then lately settled, where he died Aug. 17, 1698, aged 80. In his will, dated Nov. 2, 1691, he named wife Rebecca, sons George, Thomas, John, and daughters Sarah Hallett, Mary and Rebecca Wiggin.
George Woolsey (2), son of Geo. (1), and Rebecca Wool sey, was born Oct. 19, 1650. He removed with his father to Jamaica, and is mentioned in Dongan's patent of 1686. His name also frequently occurs upon the town books of Jamaica. Toward the close of his life and when far advanced in age, he changed his residence to the house of his son Bejamin at Dosoris, in the town of Oyster Bay, where the gravestone of the family burying-ground marks his resting-place. He had a son Benjamin.
Benjamin Woolsey, son of George Woolsey (2), was born in Jamaica, Nov. 19, 1687; graduated at Yale College in 1737; entered the ministry and preached in
l66 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
several places before 1720 and succeeded that year the Rev. Joshua Hobart as pastor of the first church in Southold. He married Abigail, daughter of John Taylor, of Oyster Bay, in 1714, who inherited from his father the valuable estate of Dosoris, upon which, after the death of Mr. Taylor in 1735, they went to reside.
The name Dosoris, compounded of two Latin words, Dos and woris, were conferred by Mr. Woolsey to indicate that the premises were a gift or portion to his wife. Mr. Woolsey died Aug. 15, 1756. He had two sons, Benjamin and Melancthon Taylor, and four daughters.
Benjamin Woolsey, eldest son of Rev. Benjamin and Abigail (Taylor) Woolsey, was born June 8, 1717; graduated at Yale 1744, and resided at Dosoris till his death in 1771. His first wife was Esther Isaacs, of New Rochelle (born 1720; died March 29, 1756,), by whom he had daughters Mary and Sarah.
Sarah Woolsey, daughter of Benjamin and Esther (Isaacs) Woolsey, was born about 1750; was married to Moses Rogers.
Moses Rogers, by his wife Sarah (Woolsey) Rogers, daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, Jr., had issue :
1. Sarah Elizabeth, born Feb. 1, 1774; married Hon. Samuel Miles Hopkins.
2. Benjamin Woolsey, born May 13, 1775; died Dec. 11, 1859.
3. Archibald, born 1782.
3. Julia Ann, born 1788; married Francis Bayard Winthrop.
Sarah Elizabeth, born Feb. 4, 1774.
Mary.
Archibald Rogers, third child and second son of Moses and Sarah (Wool- sey) Rogers, was born at Shippan Point, Stamford, Conn., 1782, where his father had a summer residence. He was educated at Yale College, and, after complet- ing his studies, went abroad and spent some years in foreign travel, visiting many places of interest, notably the field of Waterloo, from which place he gathered many interesting relics.
With plenty of means at his command, he spent his time as a quiet country gentleman in hunting, travel and other means of recreation.
He married in 1821 Anna Pierce Pendleton, only daughter of Judge Na- thaniel Pendleton, son of Nathaniel (1), son of Henry, son of Philip, son of Henry, the progenitor of the American family of this name.
PENDLETON FAMILY.
The Pendleton family of Virginia derive descent from Henry Pendleton, of Norwich, England, whose two sons — Nathaniel, a minister of the Established Church of England, and Philip — emigrated to Virginia in 1674. This Norwich family bore Arms — Gules an inescutcheon argent between four escallops in saltire or. Crest — On a chapeau gules, turned up ermine, a demi-dragon, with wings endorsed or, holding an escallop argent.
Philip Pendleton, the second son of Henry Pendleton, was born in England
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
i(,7
in 1650; came with his brother to America in 1674. He married in 1682, Eliza- beth Hurt; he died in 1721. They had Henry, Isabella, John.
Henry Pendleton, eldest child of Philip and Elizabeth (Hurt) Pendleton, was born in 1683. He married in 1701, Mary Taylor (born in 1688), daughter of James Taylor, who came from Carlisle, England, and settled on the Chesapeake Bay; he died in 1698. The issue of this marriage was: James, born 1702; Philip, Nathaniel, John, Edmund Mary, Isabella.
Edmund Pendleton, whose portrait is shown in the accompanying engraving, was a member of the House of Burgesses during the Colonial period, and was one of the leading men in the colony. He was the uncle of Col. Nathaniel Pen- dleton, the patriot of the Revolution.
EDMUND PENDLETON.
Nathaniel Pendleton (1), son of Henry and Mary (Taylor) Pendleton, was born in 1715, died 1794, in Culpepper County, Va. He married his second cousin Elizabeth Clayton, daughter of Major Philip Clayton.
The first ancestor of this family was Robert de Clayton, who came to England with the Conqueror, and had the manor of Clayton conferred upon him for his military services, which estate gave the name to the family and remained in their possession until conveyed by the sole heiress, Dorothy, sister of Richard Clayton, Esq.
Major Philip Clayton came to Culpepper from New Kent through Essex. His name first appears on the church records of Virginia in 1741, where he was chosen vestryman of St. Mark's, and a patent for land from Lord Fairfax to John Brown as having been surveyed by Philip Clayton in 1749. He married Ann, sister of Robert Coleman, on whose land the court house was built.
l68 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Nathaniel Pendleton, above mentioned, by his wife, Miss Clayton, had issue : Nathaniel, born 1746; William, born 1748; Henry, 1750; died in South Carolina, 1789; eminent as a jurist and patriot; Pendleton District, S. C, is named in his honor; the other children were: Philip, Mary, Elizabeth, Susanna.
COLONEL NATHANIEL PENDLETON, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Nathaniel (1) and Elizabeth (Clayton) Pendleton, was born in 1746. His first military service was under Captain Daniel Morgan, "a man of sturdy frame and unflinching courage," who had seen service in the French and Indian War. Morgan, who was in command of the Virginia riflemen, accompanied the Quebec expedition under Arnold in 1775. The account of the storming of Quebec, states that "Arnold was directed to lead three hundred and fifty men, with Lamb's artillery and Morgan's riflemen, to assail and fire the works in St. Roque, while Montgomery should lead the remainder below Cape Diamond along the narrow space between the decliviety and the St. Lawrence, carry the defences at the foot of'the rocks and endeavor to press forward and join Ar- nold. * * * * At a narrow pass Arnold was wounded in the leg, and was carried to the General Hospital, when the command devolved on Morgan. The troops pressed forward under their new leader, captured a battery, and fought fiercely for three hours to capture another, and succeeded. Then Lamb was severely wounded. Morgan was about to push on to attack Prescott Gate, when the sad news came that troops under Dearborn, stationed near Palace Gate, had been captured by a party who had sallied out of the city and had then cut off the retreat of Arnold's division in front. At ten o'clock, after he had lost full one hundred men, Morgan was compelled to surrender with more than four hundred followers." In this notable event there is no doubt that young Pen- dleton behaved with the same gallantry that characterized his subsequent mili- tary career. He was commissioned Ensign 10th Continental Infantry, Jan. 1, 1776; First Lieutenant nth Virginia, July 23, 1776. In his account of the Battle of Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776, Johnson says: "Men from Virginia, too, were to take an active part in this campaign. The State had nine regiments organized for service. The record of service contained in the Society of the Cincinnati states that Pendleton was "Lieutenant in Col. Moses Rawling's regiment, which, after the Battle of Long Island, retreated to Fort Washington, where it engaged Sir William Howe's forces on the 16th of November, 1776, and with a three-gun battery kept in check the column of Gen Knyphausen's Hessians until compelled to fall back, where he was taken prisoner." Johnson says : "As they approached Rawlings, his men received them with a destructive and determined fire, which lasted a long time." During this engagement Lieutenant Pendleton received a wound in the arm. He was commissioned Captain, March 13, 1777, and was ex- changed Oct. 18, 1780.
Upon his release he was appointed Aide-de-Camp on the staff of General Greene, and accompanied him in the Southern campaign. He received the thanks of Congress for gallantry at Eutaw Springs on the 8th of September, 1781, in the following terms: "Resolved, That Major General Greene be di- rected to present the thanks of Congress to Capt. Pendleton, his Aide-deCamp,
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. IOQ
in testimony of his particular activity and good conduct during the whole action at Eutaw Springs, South Carolina."
His subsequent career, as well as a portion of his war record, is given in a letter dated "New York, January 8. 1818," addressed to Hon. John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, in which he says :
"I take the liberty of addressing a letter to the President, soliciting the office of Judge of the Southern District Court of New York, in case a vacancy which was expected had taken place. Having now received information that Judge Van Ness, owing to the inadequate compensation he receives will positively resign that office as soon as the inquiry pending in Congress, concerning some proceed- ings in that Court is terminated. I hope it will not be deemed premature to apply to you on the subject, and to state the ground upon which I rest my claims on the public liberality, etc.
"It is not probably known to you that my family in Virginia took an early and efficient part in the Revolution that terminated in the Independence of the United States. In 1775, at the age of nineteen, I entered into the Army, and went to Roxbury, where I served in the evacuation of Boston and was with the detachment that took possession of the heights of Dorchester, which produced that event. I was made a prisoner of war at the surrender of Fort Washington, having received in the defense a severe contusion on the arm. After the exchange of prisoners in 1780, I was appointed as Aide-de-Camp to General Greene when he took command of the Southern Department, and I continued in that situation, and was in all the battles and sieges in which he was himself present during the memorable campaign until the final disbanding of the Army in 1783. On account of these services I was honored with one of the medals struck in honor of Gen. Greene by a Resolution of Congress in 1787."
The following letter accompanied the presentation to which he refers:
"Office for Foreign Affairs, 12th February, 1788.
"Sir : It gives me pleasure to have an opportunity of transmitting to you by order of Congress a Copy of the Medal struck by their Direction in Honor of the late General Greene. A variety of circumstances conspire to render this Mark of public attention acceptable to you, though I am persuaded that none among them all will more immediately affect your feelings than the Relation it bears to that great Man whose Loss, you in particular, and the people of America in gen- eral, have just reason to regret and lament.
I have the Honor to be, Sir Your most obedient and humble servant,
JOHN JAY. P. S."
Continuing the letter addressed to Hon. John Quincy Adams, Col. Pendleton says:
"After the close of the war I resumed the study of the law and went into practice in Georgia, where I was successively appointed to the office of Attorney General and Chief Justice of that State. The Federal constitution having been adopted, I was appointed District Judge of Georgia in 1789, and received my
IjO SONS OF THE RF.VOLUTION.
commission in a letter from General Washington containing sentiments not less flattering to me personally than are just as regards the importance of the judiciary department, which he considered, to use his own words, 'as the pillar upon which our political fabric must rest.'
" In this office I continued until 1796 when, my health having suffered from that climate, and the salary not being adequate to the maintenance of our in- creasing family, I resigned and removed to the city of New York, where I practiced in the Superior Courts until 1811. Ill health then obliged me to return into the country, and to relinquish in a great degree my practice, where the situ- ation of my family and affairs made it extremely inconvenient to do so. I have the happiness to find that abstraction from professional business and the exer- cise of several occupations have completely restored my health. If the President shall find my professional character such as to justify my appointment, I hope my public services, and the dangers and privations to which they exposed me, will be deemed a reasonable ground for preference, and its emoluments would greatly contribute to smooth the remaining years of life alotted to me."
Judge Pendleton was a warm friend of General Alexander Hamilton, and when the controversy arose between Burr and Hamilton which resulted in the fatal duel at Weehawken. on the morning of July 11, 1804, Judge Pendleton ac- cepted the invitation to act as Hamilton's second, and as such conducted the cor- respondence for his principal ; and in doing this used every means in his power to effect an honorable reconciliation. Winfield. in his account of the affair, says: "After the delivery of Hamilton's second letter, Judge Pendleton submitted an- other paper dictated by the same kindly spirit." The kind offices of Judge Pen- dleton, however, availed nothing ; the formal challenge was given by Burr and accepted by Hamilton, and the parties arrived on the grounds at half-past six o'clock in the morning. When the final preparations were completed Judge Pendleton gave Hamilton his pistol and asked :
"Will you have the hair-spring set? "
"Not this time " was the quiet reply.
Judge Pendleton then explained to the parties the rules which were to gov- ern them in firing. Each took his place, and at the word Col. Burr fired and General Hamilton almost immediately fell, without having discharged his pistol. Judge Pendleton immediately sprang forward and lifted his friend to a sitting position. Dr. Hosack says : " His countenance of death I shall never forget. He had at that instant just strength to say: 'This is a mortal wound, doctor;' when he sank away and became to all apearance lifeless." Judge Pendleton re- mained with his friend up to the last moment, and did everything in his power, under the direction of the surgeon, to soothe and comfort him as his life ebbed away.
Judge Pendleton was an original member of the Virginia State Society of the Cincinnati. He removed to New York in 1796, and in 1798 united with the New York Society, becoming an active member of the Standing Committee the following year.
Judge Pendleton married Susanna, daughter of Dr John Bard of Burlington.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. \J\
N. J., a distinguished physician who attended General Washington. Dr. Bard married Susanna Valleau, daughter of Pierre Valleau and Magdalena Faucon- nier, daughter of Peter Fauconnier and Magdalena Pasquereau. Peter Faucon- nier was Treasurer and Receiver General of the Provinces of New Jersey and New York under Lord Cornbury. Dr. John Bard, above referred to, was the son of Col. Peter Bard, colonel of foot regiment, May 4, 1722; born in France, 1679, lived for a number of years at Burlington, N. J., and subsequently bought a farm at Hyde Park, near Poughkeepsie on the Hudson, where he died July 13, 1734. He was one of Govenor Barnet's Council, May 25, 1722. He died Oct. 23, 1734-
Judge Pendleton, by his wife Susanna (Bard) Pendleton, had issue:
Edmund Pendleton, died without issue.
Anna, married Archibald Rogers.
Nathaniel Green, born Aug. 27, 1794.
Nathaniel Green Pendleton, sou of Nathaniel and Susanna (Bard) Pen- dleton, was born in Savannah, Ga., August. 27, 1794; died in Cincinnati, O., June 15, 1861. He removed to New York city with his father in 1796; was graduated at Columbia College in 1813, and the same year joined the army as aide to his kinsman, General Edward Pendleton Gaines, serving till the close of the war. He renfoved to Ohio in 1818, settled in the practice of the law, was a member of the State Senate, 1825-6, and in 1840 was elected to Congress as a Whig, serving from 1841 till his voluntary retirement in 1843. He then resumed his profession, which he continued until his death.
He married Jane Frances Hunt, and had issue:
Susan P., married Oct. 20, 1842, Robert B. Bowler.
Martha E., married A. S. Dandridge.
George Hunt, born July 21, 1846.
Elliot H., married Emma Gaylord.
Anna P., married Dec. 14, 1850, N. H. Schenck.
George Hunt Pendleton, eldest son of Nathaniel Green and Frances (Hunt) Pendleton, was born in Cincinnati, O., July 21, 1825, died in 1889. He received an academic education, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati. He was a member of the State Senate in 1854-5, and was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1856, serving till 1865. He was a member of the Committee on Military affairs during each term and in the 38th Congress served on the Committee of Ways and Means and as chairman of the Special Commit- tee on admitting members of the Cabinet to the Floor of the House of Repre- sentatives. He was nominated for the Vice-Presidency on the ticket with Gen. George B. McClellan for President in 1864. He was a member of the Philadel- phia Loyalist Convention in 1866, an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Ohio in 1869, and the same year became President of the Kentucky Central Rail- road Company. In 1868 he came within a few votes of being nominated for the Presidency at the Democratic Convention held in New York, at which conven- tion Mr. Horatio Seymour of New York was ultimately nominated. He was elected United States Senator in 1878, and during the senatorial service he was
172
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
a member of the Committee of Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Civil Service Reform, and as such on June 26, 1882, introduced a resolution that in- structed the committee "to inquire whether any attempt is being made to levy and collect assessments for political or partisan purposes from any employee of the Government." He introduced and was the author of the reform law which
<.;eoi«;e hlwt i'endleton.
is the present civil service law. He continued in the U. S. Senate till 1885, and that year was appointed U. S. Minister to Berlin by President Cleveland, con- tinuing until 1889. He married June 23, 1846, Alice Key, daughter of Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star Spangled Banner." He had issue, Francis Key. Mary Hunt and Jane Frances Hunt.
Francis Key Pendleton, son of Hon. George H. and Alice (Key) Pendle- ton, was born Jan. 3, 1850, graduated at Harvard College and Law School ; went abroad and continued his studies in France and Germany. Was admitted to the bar of Boston, later that of Ohio, and on making New York his permanent resi- dence was admitted to the bar of this city, where he began practice in 1879, with an annually increasing clientel and a successful practice.
Mr. Pendleton is the lineal decendant in the male line of Nathaniel Pendle- ton of Revolutionary fame. He is a member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati.
He married Elizabeth La Montagne and had issue, George H., born Aug. 9, 1896.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
1/3
Archibald Rogers, by his first wife, Anna (Pendleton) Rogers, daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Pendleton, had issue:
Nathaniel, born April 29, 1822, was for several years a prominent lawyer in New York, and was associated in practice with Alexander Hamilton, a grandson of the patriot.
Julian, born Feb. 12, 1824, died in infancy.
Archibald, born Aug. 10, 1825, died March 21, 1831.
Edmund Pendleton, born July 31, 1827, died Feb. 10, 1895.
Philip C, born Aug. 13, 1829. Resided at Poughkeepsie 1899.
Archibald, again, born Nov. 12, 1832, died Dec. 20, 1820.
Susan Bard, born Nov. 4, 1834, married H. T. Livingston.
Edmund Pendleton Rogers, fourth child of Archibald and Anna (Pendleton) Rogers, was born July 31, 1827. He was educated at Columbia College, but hav- ing a natural taste for mechanics, he entered the employ of the Morgan Iron Works, of which he subsequently became manager and had charge of the con- struction of the gunboats built by this firm during the war. Later Mr. Rogers established the Quintard Iron Works, of which he was the principal owner. This became one of the largest and best known concerns of the kind in the coun-
EDMUND PENDLETON ROGERS
Father of Archibald Rogers, Hyde Park, N. Y,
1/4 SONS Of XHE REVOLUTION.
try, their products being shipped to every pare of this country, besides having large European contracts.
Whiie actively engaged in business, Air. Rogers, who had been for some time a member ol the Seventh Regiment, N. G. b. N. Y, responded promptly to tiie can ior volunteers at tne breaking out of the Civil War, and went to the iront on every occasion in which his regiment was engaged. His name appears on the Muster Roll for 1863 as Captain of Tenth Company (K). The same >ear he went to the front again during the Gettysburg campaign and returned with his regiment to participate in the important service of aiding in the suppres- sion of the draft riots, in which the Seventh was particularly conspicuous on several occasions, always occupying the post of danger. The Baltimore JJauy Clipper of July 17, 1863, referring to the service rendered by the regiment at this time, said: "The gallant New York Seventh, to whom our city and State is so much indebted for its promptness on three several occasions, flying to our aid when we were endangered by Rebel force coming over the Potomac, or by a worse foe in our midst, in the sympathizers with Rebellion on the 10th of April, 1861, were promptly recalled home to attend to the Copperheads of New York and their agents, the mob of the Five Points; and as they are announced to have ar- rived there on the evening of Wednesday, we have strong reason for believing that ere this the pestilent mob had been suppressed. With that regiment at home and a man in command of the military district who understood fully his duty, this disgraceful riot would have been nipped in the bud."
Mr. Rogers served some ten or twelve years in the regiment, first under Col. Marshal Lefferts, and late under Col. Emmons Clark. He resided during his latter years at Hyde Park on the Hudson, where he died Feb. 10, 1895. He married Virginia Holt Dummer, born Aug. 13, 1831, daughter of Phineas Cook Dummer, son of Stephen, son of Nathan, son of Edward.
Edward Dummer, the great grandfather of Phineas Cook Dummer, married Jerusha Andrews, daughter of Nathan, son of Lieut. William Andrews.
Lieutenant William Andrews, above referred to, was one of the fifty-three persons, besides women and children, who sailed from London, April 6, 1635, on the James. They landed at Boston, where William Andrews was made freeman in 1635. He was early at New Haven, with Eaton and Rev. John Rogers. He built the first meeting house in 1644. He was sergeant of train band and Lieut, of Artillery, 1648. He had sons Nathan and Samuel.
Nathan Andrews, son of Lieut. Williams, was one of the original proprietors of Wallingford, Conn., and was one of those selected to lay the foundation for the formation of the church at Wallingford. He married Phebe Gibbons (or Gibbands), daughter of Wiliam Gibbons, representative, 1652; Secretary of the Colony, 1657; Assistant, 1661.
Edward Dummer, by his first wife, Jerusha Andrews, daughter of Nathan Andrews, had son Nathan.
NATHAN DUMMER, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Edward and Jerusha (Andrews) Dummer, was born in 1730. Both he and his son Nathan, Jr., served in Captain Bradley's Company of Matrosses Artillery during Tryon's
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 1/5
invasion of Connecticut in July 1779. He married Tryphena Austin and had a son Stephen.
Stephen Dummer, son of Nathan, was born Aug. 10, 1755. He married Eunice Cook and had a son Phineas Cook Dummer.
Phineas Cook Dummer was born Oct. 28, 1797. He married Elizabeth Dobbs Holt, daughter of diaries Holt, son of William (2), son of William (1), son of Nathaniel (2), son of Nathaniel (1), son of William, the New Haven ancestor.
Wihiam Holt, born 1610, was one of the early settlers of New Haven. He signed the New Haven colony constitution, July 1644. He removed 10 Walling- ford about 1675, and conveyed his home lot in New Haven to his sons Nathaniel and John. He lived ten years after his removal to Wallingford and died there Sept. 1, 1683.
Nathaniel Holt, son of Wiliam, was born in New Haven, 1647. He removed to New London, and in 1689 to Newport, R. I. He held the militia title of Sergeant and was sent into the Narragansett country during King Philip's War. and was wounded in the shoulder in the Great Swamp Fight, Dec. 19, 1675. In 1678 the General Court awarded him the sum of £5 in consequence of the severe wound received at the Swamp Fight. He married 1st of April, 1680, Rebecca, daughter of Thomas and Millicent (Ash) Beebe, who died 1689. She was the daughter of Sergeant Thomas.
Miss Caulkins, in her history of New London, says: "The phrase, John Beeby and his brothers, in the early grants of the family, leads to the supposi- tion that John was the oldest of the four, John, Thomas, Samuel.
John Beeby was for several years Sergeant of the train band, and on being advanced to the Lieutenancy his brother Thomas was chosen Sergeant.
Nathaniel Holt (1) by his wife, Rebecca (Beebe) Holt, had issue, Nathaniel.
Nathaniel Holt (2), son of Nathaniel (1) and Rebecca (Beebe) Holt, was born in New London, July 18, 1683. He married Dec. 20, 1706, Phebe Tomlin. He died March 19, 1751, aged J7. They had Elizabeth, William, Phebe. Nathaniel.
William Holt, son of Nathaniel and Phebe (Tomlin) Holt, was born in New London, Conn., Sept. 12, 1709, married May 12, 1736, Sarah, daughter of Darral May (she was born Aug. 5, 1716, died July 7, 1775). He died Jan 5, 1769. They had fourteen children, of whom William (2) was the eldest.
WILLIAM HOLT (2) Patriot of the Revolution, son of William (1) and Sarah (May) Holt, was born in New London, Jan. 29, 1736. He served as private in CaptainWales' company in the defence of New London, 1776. He mar- ried June 21, 1768, Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen Hempstead (born Sept. 12, 1746, died at Groton, Dec. 19, 1831). He died March 15, 1810. They had issue seven children, of whom Charles was the fourth.
Charles Holt, son of William and Elizabeth (Hempstead) Holt, was born in New London, Conn., Aug. 11. 1772. In early manhood he was an earnest poli- tician of democratic principles. In June 1797, he established the Bee newspaper at New London, which was continued until 1802, when he removed with it to
1/6 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Hudson, N. Y., and it was continued at that place. This paper was a powerful organ in the Democratic party, and under the administration of the elder Adams, the editor was arrested for libel, tried by the United States Court, then sitting at New Haven, and under the provisions of the sedition law, condemned to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $200. He was afterwards editor and publisher of the Columbian. In 1844 Congress passed an act reimbursing him for the fine imposed under the sedition law, with interest.
He married at New York, Aug. 10, 1810, Mary, daughter of William and Dorcas Dobbs (she was born at Curacoa, W. I., Aug. 26, 1771, died Nov. 21, 1838). He died in New York, July 30, 1852.
They had a daughter, Elisabeth Dobbs, who was married to Phineas Cook Dummer, who was the father of Virginia Holt Dummer, wife of Edward Pen- dleton Rogers.
Edmund Pendleton Rogers, by his wife, Virginia Holt (Dummer) Rogers, had issue Archibald, born Feb. 22, 1852, Jane Bulloch, born Oct. 20, 1853, died Dec. 9, 1856.
ARCHIBALD ROGERS, New York Society Sons of the Revolution, son of Edward Pendleton and Virginia Holt (Dummer) Rogers, was born in Jer- sey City, N. J., Feb. 22, 1852. With a natural taste for mechanics, he entered in early boyhood Rogers' Locomotive Works at Paterson, N. J., as an apprentice, and after serving his time he entered Yale College, where he took a special course at the Sheffield Scientific School in engineering studies pertaining to his profession, finishing his course with the class of '73. He was afterwards em- ployed in a responsible position at the Rogers' Locomotive Works. Later he was engineer on the steamer Old Dominion, running from New York to Rich- mond, Va., He was also engineer on the steamship City of Tokio, and went on her from New York to Tokio, Japan and China and back to San Francisco in that capacity. He was also one of the corps of engineers employed in building the D. L. & W. Railway tunnel through Bergen Hill. He afterwards went to Wisconsin as Treasurer and assistant to the President of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad and General Manager of the Lands and Mills of the Traffic Company. He has been President for several years of the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railway Co., of Florida, President of the Cornwall & Lebanon Railway Company of Pennsylvania ; Trustee and one of the Executive Committee American Museum of Natural History, New York City, and one of the trustees of St. Stephen's College. He is a. partner in the firm of Pancoast & Rogers, New York City, who are agents of the Reading Iron Works, Pennsyl- vania, and of the Cornwall Ore Banks, Pennsylvania, etc.
Mr. Rogers has served in the National Guard, State of New York, first as Captain and Aide-de-Camp in the 2d Brigade in 1886, and in 1895 was appointed Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Gov. Morton, with the rank of Colonel. In 1891 he ran for Assembly on the Republican ticket, but was defeated by a small ma- jority, having been traded off and sold in the city of Poughkeepsie. He is es- pecially fond of yachting and all outdoor sports. He built and raced Bedouin, Tom Boy, Wasp, and was the managing member of the syndicate which built
Sons o^ the revolution. 17;
the America cup defender, "Colonia," in 1893. He also designed and built the ice yacht, Jack Frost, winning with her three times the Challenge Pennant of America. He has been for many years a hunter of big game in the Rocky Mountains, where he has a cattle ranch in the northhwest corner of Wyoming, bordering on the Yellowstone National Park.
Mr. Rogers married in 1880 Anne Caroline Coleman, daughter of William Coleman of Cornwall, Pa., and Helen Habersham, son of Thomas Bird Coleman and Hannah Casset, son of Robert Coleman and Anna Old. Ellen Habersham, above mentioned, was the daughter of Robert Habersham, son of Colonel Joseph, son of James Habersham.
In an old family Bible of the Habersham family appears the following entry : "James Habersham, the most respected and lamented Parent of the persons whose births and deaths are recorded in this Sacred Book, was born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, in the year 1712, and died at Brunswick, New Jersey, Aug. 28, 1775, aged 63 years. His corpse, attended by two of his sons, who were with him at the time of his decease, was carried to New York and interred in a vault of Trinity Church, preparatory to removal to Savannah — the funeral ser- vice being performed by the rector of that church."
The three sons of the Hon. James Habersham were men of patriotic fervor, of courage, of acknowledged ability and commanding influence.
James Habersham was prominent in arranging and sustaining, as far as prac- ticable, the finances of the young comonwealth. Upon the conclusion of the war, as a member of a committee appointed by the Executive Council to take charge of all the slaves who had deserted from the service of their masters, and also to assume the management and effect a just distribution of "suspected property," he performed important labors.
Col. Joseph Habersham, the father of Robert and grandfather of Ellen Hab- ersham (wife of William Coleman) was an early and conspicuous "Son of Lib- erty." In connection with a few others, at a late hour on the night of the nth of May, 1775, he broke open the King's magazine in Savannah,, and removed therefrom some six hundred pounds of gunpowder, a portion of which, it is said, was forwarded to Cambridge, Mass., and issued to the regular army.
As a member of the Council of Safety, he corresponded with the Continental Congress, and with other patriotic bodies, and was instant in devising measures for the defense of Georgia and the enkindling of a warlike flame within her borders.
In July, 1775, under the joint leadership of Joseph Habersham and Capt. Bowen, a detachment of Picked men, conveyed in a Georgia armed schooner, com- missioned by Congress, effected at the mouth of the Savannah River, the Capture of Captain Maitland's ship direct from London and freighted with gunpowder and other military stores. At the earnest solicitation of the Continental Congress five thousand pounds of this powder were forwarded to Philadelphia, where they were issued to the armies of the United Colonies. From the same source were the magazines of Georgia and South Carolina supplied.
Of the Provinical Congress, which convened in Savannah on the 4th of July,
I78 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
1775, and placed the Province of Georgia "on the same footing with her sister colonies," he was a leading member; and on the 7th of January in the following year he was appointed Major of the battalion raised for the protection of Georgia, of which Lachlan Mcintosh was made Colonel, and Samuel Elbert Lieut. Colonel in the Continental Army.
When the Council of Safety resolved upon the arrest and confinement of Sir James Wright, the royal governor, so that there might no longer be an> show of English dominion within the limits of the Province, Major Habersham volunteered for and successfully performed the service. "The physical courage displayed was transcended by the moral heroism involved in thus openly defying the power of the Realm, and in humbling the duly constituted representative of the Crown in the presence of the Colony he was commissioned to rule. The effect was startling — dramatic."
In frustrating the attempt of Captain Barclay and Major Grant to capture the shipping lying in the port of Savannah, during the memorable siege of Savannah, in September and October, 1779, and on various occasions during the progress of the War of the Revolution, Colonel Habersham rendered gallant and important service.
The struggle ended he was twice honored by an election to the Speaker's chair in the General Assembly of his native State. From 1785 to 1786 he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in 1788 was a member of the Convention which ratified the Federal Constitution. In 1795, he was appointed by President Washington, Postmaster-General of the United States^f This position he filled with entire acceptability also during the presidential term of the elder Adams. Upon the accession of Mr. Jefferson, he was the recipient of a polite note con- veying a tender of the office of Treasurer of the United States. Interpreting this as an intimation that his resignation of the position of Postmaster- General would be agreeable to the newly-elected President, he promptly surren- dered his portfolio, and returned to Savannah, where entering upon a mercan- tile life, he essayed to repair a fortune which had been seriously impaired the calamities of war. In 1802 he became the President of the Branch Bank of the United States at Savnnah. This office he retained until his death, which oc- curred on the 17th of November, 1815. He was then in the sixty-sixth year of his age.
Major John Habersham, a brother of Col. Joseph, was also one of the noted patriots of his day. He was born in Savannah, Ga., in 1754. He early espoused the cause of the revolutionists and was among the most active members of the "Sons of Liberty." On Jan. 7, 1776, he was mustered into the Continental Ser- vice as First Lieutenant of the first company of the battalion raised at the charge of the United Colonies for the protection of Georgia. Of this battalion his brother Joseph was Major. He was present and participated in the affair at expeditions fitted out in Georgia during that year. Whenever brought face to face with the enemy he behaved with great gallantry, which won for him the respect of his superior officers. In the affair near Musgrove Creek, Dec. 28, 1778, after a hard fight, he with others was captured, there being no means of escape.
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At the battle of Brier Creek, Major Habersham with sixty Continental troops^ one hundred and fifty Georgia militia, and a field piece held the left of the line of battle. Although the right and centre quickly broke and fled in wild con-
MAJOR JOHN HABERSHAM.
fusion, he prolonged the conflict until nearly every member of his force was either killed, wounded or captured, he being among the latter. He was exchanged in season to participate in the siege of Savannah in September and October, 1779, which culminated in the ill-advised, bloody and futile assault by the allied army under Count D'Estaing and General Lincoln upon the British lines.
Savannah remained in possession of the British until May 23, 1782, when Sir Guy Carleton issued, at New York, an order for the evacuation of that town and province. Negotiations were accordingly opened, and to Major John Haber- sham— an officer in the Georgia line, a native of Savannah, a gentleman whose personal character inspired confidence, and whose high-toned sentiment, correct conduct, and polished address commanded the thorough confidence and respect even of those who were inimical to the cause which he espoused — were they confided on the patriots. That they were conducted by him in all fairness and with becoming dignity, intelligence and fidelity, it seems scarcely necessary to add."
[&>
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Major Habersham represented his State in the Continental Congress in 1785-6. He was chairman of the Commissioners appointed in 1786 to confer with the Indians, which resulted in the conclusion of a treaty, stipulating for the peace- ful conduct of the Indians, and confirming the boundary lines.
From the period of the Revolution down to the present time, the Habershams and Colemans have been held in high estimation by the people of Georgia and Pennsylvania, where the latter resided.
Mr. Archibald Rogers, by his marriage to Anna Caroline Coleman, great- great-granddaughter of Col. Joseph Habersham, had issue : Archibald, born Feb. 23, 1881; died Dec. 26, 1889; Edmund Pendleton, born July 28, 1882; Robert Coleman, born Jan. 26, 1883; died June 9, 1884; William Coleman, born Feb. 24, 1885; Rae Habersham, born Feb. 15, 1887; Ellen Habersham, born Dec. 9, 1889; Herman Livingston, born Dec. 27, 1891 ; Ann Pendleton, born March 12, 1894.
GRIFFIN.— BUTLER.
From the earliest settlement of the country the ancestors of Francis Butler Griffin have borne an important part as founders, defenders and builders in their several localities.
Jasper Griffin, the first of this branch mentioned, was born probably in Fennrhyn, Wales, 1648; died in Southold, L. I., April 17, 1718. He came to Massachusetts before 1670, and removed thence to Southold in 1675. He was a farmer, Major of provincial troops, and quite a prominent man. He married
Hannah in Manchester, Mass., and had fourteen children, among whom
was Jasper.
Jasper Griffin (2), son of Jasper and Hannah ( ) Griffin, was born
in Southold, L. I., in 1675. He sold his share of his father's estate and pur- chased a tract of land at Lynn, where he removed, and lived to the advanced age of 90 years. He married, 1696, Ruth, daughter of Joseph Peck, son of Deacon William Peck, one of the founders of the New Haven Colony. They had issue : Lemuel and others.
Lemuel Griffin, son of Jasper (2) and Ruth (Peck) Griffin, was born at Southhold, L. I., 1704. He was a farmer and settled in East Haddam, Conn., where he married Phebe Comstock. He had issue : George.
GEORGE GRIFFIN, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Lemuel and Phebe (Peck) Griffin, was born in East Haddam, Conn., July 10, 1734. He served for a time as private in the Eighth Regiment, Connecticut Line, commanded by Col. John Chandler. He married March 9, 1762, Eve Dorr, daughter of Edmund and Mary (Griswold) Dorr, granddaughter of Matthew and Phebe Griswold of Lynn, a direct descendant of Sir John Wolcott. They had isssue: George (2).
George Griffin (2), son of George (1) and Eve (Dorr) Griffin, was born in East Haddam, Conn., Jan. 14, 1778; died in New York City, May 6, i860. He graduated at Yale College, 1797, and later at Litchfield Law School; began practice in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1800, where he continued for six years; removed to New York City in 1806, where he was a leading counsellor at law for more
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. l8l
than half a century. He received the degree of L.L. D. from Columbia College in 1837. He was the author of several religious works, among which were "Suf- ferings of Our Savior," "Evidences of Christianity," "The Gospel its Own Ad- vocate," etc.
He married July 3, 1801, Lydia, daughter of Colonel Zebulon and Phebe (Haight) Butler.
COL. ZEBULON BULER, Patriot of the Revolution was born in Lyme. New London County, Conn., in 1731, son of John and Hannah (Perkins) Butler of Lyme, son of John (1) and Catharine Houghton, daughter of Richard Hough- ton. Mr. Butler entered early into the provincial service, and served the mother country through the French war. He began his military career as Ensign, and soon rose to the rank of Captain. He participated in the memorable hardships of the campaign of 1758, on the frontier of Canada, at Fort Edward, Lake George, Ticonderoga and Crown Point. In 1762 he was at the protracted siege of Havana, Cuba. On his way he was on board one of the vessels that were shipwrecked. On Aug. 9 the last of the fleet arrived before Havana, and Capt. Butler shared largely in the dangers of the attack,, and the glories of the victory.
In 1768 five townships were laid out in Wyoming County, Pa., and each granted to forty persons, who engaged to "man their rights," Capt. Butler, as the leader of the Connecticut settlers, did this most effectively, in what was known as the "Pennyite and Yankee War." He was a brave and vigilant officer, his superior manner and address at once commanded general respect and con- centrated the attachment of his soldiers. "The great victory achieved over a superior force, with a sacrifice comparatively so inconsiderable, established entire confidence in the ultimate success of the Yankee cause, and Capt. Butler was lauded as the savior of Wyoming." He was humane as he was brave and politic as he was undaunted.
At the breaking out of the War of the Revolution, Capt. Butler promptly offered his services and was appointed Colonel in the Continental Line. He was actively engaged in the campaigns of 1777-8-9: was with Washington in New Jersey and was greatly esteemed by him. In the spring of 1778, Col. John Butler of the British Army induced the Seneca warriors in Western New York to con- sent to follow him into Pennsylvania. He had been joined by some Tories from the Wyoming Valley, and on the last day of June appeared at the head of the plains with more than a thousand men, Tories and Indians. When the alarm was given, the whole population flew to arms. Colonel Zebulon Butler, who hap- pened to be home for a brief season, was by common consent made commander- in-chief. The Indians were led by Gi-en-gwa-tah. a Seneca chief, and this force was first struck by the patriots, when a general battle ensued. It raged vehe- mently for half an hour, when, just as the left of the invaders was about to give way, a mistaken order caused the little band of patriots to retreat in disorder. The infuriated Indians sprang forward like wounded tigers and gave no quarter; only a few escaped, among them Colonel Butler, who reached Wilkes-Barre in safety. Then followed the horrible "massacre of Wyoming," instigated by the infamous Colonel Butler of the British Army, and the beautiful valley of the
l82 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Wyoming was deluged with the blood of men, women and children. The follow- ing year Col. Zebulon Butler was ordered to return with what force he could collect, and retake possession of the country, which he did in August, 1779. He erected a new fort at Wilkes-Barre, and established a well-regulated garrison, which he commanded until the winter of 1780. Keeping the Tories and Indians at bay, not risking a general action, but killing them off in detail by scouting parties and sharpshooters. In Dec, 1780, Col. Butler was directed by Washington to deliver the posts at Wyoming to Capt. Alexander Mitchell, and with the men under his command to join the Continental Army, the order being due to a jeal- ousy between the states of Pennsylvania and Connecticut, of long continuance, which was finally settled by what was known as the "decree of Trenton," which established the claim of Pennsylvania to the disputed territory. Col. Butler served with distinction to the close of the war. After Arnold's defection, he was placed in command at West Point, being one of the officers whom Washington felt that he could "trust." After the war he retired to the vale of the Wyoming to enjoy the fruits of his perilous toils, and the gratitude of the inhabitants whom he had nobly aided and protected. He was a member of the Connecticut General Assembly from Westmoreland in 1774-5-6. On Aug. 30, 1787, he received from the Supreme Executive Court of Pennsylvania the honorable appointment of Lieutenant of Luzerne County, then newly formed.
Col. Butler was three times married, 1st, to Anna Lord, Dec. 23, 1760, by whom he had issue: Zebulon, Lord and Hannah (who married Rosewell Willis) ; he married, 2d, Lydia, daughter of Rev. Jacob Johnson, the first minister of Wyoming; married, 3d, Phebe Haight, and had issue: Steuben, and Lydia, wro was married to George Griffin. z
By his marriage with Lydia Butler, George Griffin (2) had eight children, of whom George was the seventh.
George Griffin (3), son of George (2) and Lydia (Butler) Griffin, was born in New York City in 181 1. He was a student at Williams College, of which his uncle was President. He lived a quiet, uneventful life. In 1835 he removed with his family to Catskill, and spent the remainder of his life in tilling the soil. He married Elizabeth Benson, and had issue, Francis Butler.
FRANCIS BUTLER GRIFFIN, Member of the Sons of the Revolution. son of George and Elizabeth (Benson) Griffin, was born in Catskill, Nov. 8, 1852. He was sent to a first class boarding school at Elizabeth, where he received a thorough education. In 1870 he accepted a subordinate position with the well- known hardware firm of Clark Wilson & Co., where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the business in all its branches. In 1876 he assisted in organ- izing the present firm of C. E. Jennings & Co., which for more than twenty year* has done a prosperous business in the hardware line. He has been for some years a director in the Shoe and Leather Bank, and has other business connec- tions. His social connections are limited to the City Club, Hardware Club and Tuxedo Club.
He was formerly identified with the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York, of which he was long an elder, and was assistant superintendent of
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
183
the Sabbath-school. He is now connected with the Central Presbyterian Church. He is largely interested in works of benevolence and charitable institutions. He is one of the Board of Managers of the Presbyterian Hospital, a member of the Executive Board and of the House Committee. He is especially interested in the New York Infant Asylum, is a member of its Board of Managers ; also Treasurer and a member of the Executive Committee.
F. B. GRIKFIN.
Mr. Griffin has just reason to be proud of his revolutionary and colonial ancestors, and, in addition to his membership in the Sons of the Revolution, is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, his ancestor, Col. Zebulon Butler, as appears by the record, having fought in the colonial as well as the Revolutionary War, while his paternal great-grandfather also served in the Revolution.
Mr. Griffin married Anna M., daughter of John H. Earle and Sarah Benson. He was a prominent merchant of New York, President of St. Luke's Hospital, and well known in connection in various charitable enterprises.
HEILNER.— BUTLER.
On the paternal side, the ancestor of George Corson Heilner were the pioneers in the development of one of the richest portions of the country, of which
184 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
this maternal ancestor was not only one of the earliest settlers, but one of its bravest defenders, both before and after the Revolution.
Samuel Heilner, the grandfather of George Corson Heilner, came from Germany the early part of the present century, and settled in Berks County, Pa., where he taught school for a time, being a man of superior education and a noted linguist. He was among the first to discover the possibilities of the great mining district which has added so largely to the wealth of the country. He married Mary Bast, and had a son Marcus G.
Marcus G. Heilner, son of Samuel and Mary (Bast) Heilner, was born in Berks County, Pa., July 2, 1814. At an early age he removed with his parents to Schuylkill County, and at the age of 23 entered upon an active business career with his father, which led to extensive operations on Wolf Creek, near Miners- ville, on the Black Heath vein, and at Donaldson. On his father's death, he formed a copartnership with his brother, and opened up on the Miller tract the red ash veins known as the Gate vein, Salem vein and Black Mine. In 1853 they dissolved, and Marcus G. transferred his operations to Ashland and Silver Creek,
fiw ^P^
MARCUS G. HEILNER.
where he remained until 1867, when he discontinued mining and removed to New York to engage in the wholesale coal trade under the name of Heilner & Son, up to the time of his death. The Engineering and Mining Journal said of him : Mr. Heilner's personal characteristics all tended to make him a conspicuous
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 185
figure during his mining career. Possessed of a strong and active body, a clear and comprehensive mind and an undaunted spirit,, he passed through all the vicissitudes of an operator's career, both in the problematical outcome of new mining ventures and the physical clangers to which men of his energy and promi- nence were exposed during the turbulent and lawless period of the Molly Maguire reign. On several occasions he was in imminent peril from the ruffianism then rampant in the region, and was only saved from actual harm by his well known coolness and courage. From his long experience in every department of this great industry, Mr. Heilner was undoubtedly one of the best informed authorities on all that pertains to the coal trade. He was a gentleman of the old school- frank, kindly and with a high sense of honor. He was the last of that hardy and adventurous set of pioneer operators who penetrated into the new regions, pros- pecting and opening up new operations — frequently most hazardous undertakings, as is indicated by the numerous physical and financial wrecks that marked the path of development. The difficulties under which these early operators labored were very great, the vicissitudes of startling frequency — few, if any, fortunes being realized in the indutsry until the great stimulus of war times overtook the trade. These were the men, however, who "spied out the land," made the developments, and nursed into busy life and activity the numerous smaller enterprises which to- day form the immense aggregate holdings of the great combinations. With his death disappeared the last of his class of men who paved the way for the present order of things. While Mr. Heilner's business career (particularly the early part of it) was one of ceaseless activity and vexation, he was peculiarly fortunate in his domestic life. In early youth he married Miss Sylvia Butler, of Wilkes- barre, a woman of singular sweetness of character and charm of manner. She was the daughter of Zebulon Butler and his wife Jemima Fish, daughter of Jabez Fish. Zebulon Butler was the son of Colonel Zebulon Butler of Revolutionary fame and his wife Lydia Johnson, daughter of Rev. Jacob Johnson, the first min- ister of the Gospel in the Wyoming Valley. Rev. Mr. Johnson also drew up the articles of capitulation after the battle and massacre of Wyoming. (See Griffin.— Butler, for sketch of Col. Zebulon Butler.)
Mr. and Mrs. Heilner had the felicity of living together surrounded by a devoted family of children for over half a century, their golden wedding being celebrated in 1889. Mrs. Heilner, an unmarried daughter, and four sons survived him: George Corson and Marcus Butler, who succeeded to the business of Heil- ner & Son; Percy B., the general sales agent at New York for the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. ; and Walter, a lawyer, residing in Philadelphia.
GFORGE CORSON HEILNER, Member of New York State Society, Sons of the Revolution, youngest son of Marcus G. and Sylvina (Butler) Heil- ner, was born at Pottsville. Pa., Aug. 16, 1856. He received a thorough education in one of the best private schools in the country, located at Elizabeth, N. J. He entered his father's employ, and. after acquiring a knowledge of the various de- tails of the business, he became in 1890 a member of the firm. He has fully main- tained the reputation of the firm for probity and honor which his father gave to it, and the family escutcheon remains spotless. Mr. Heilner inherits the military
l86 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
ardor and patriotism which distinguished his maternal great-grandfather, and, should occasion require to call forth those same qualities, he would no doubt prove equal to the emergency. With only a theoretical knowledge of military tactics, he joined the Eighth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. as 2d Lieutenant of Company D in 1887. He not only fulfilled all the requirements of the position, but was pro- moted 1st Lieutenant of the company, continuing five years in the service. He was one of the early members of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, having joined in 1889, being No. 156 in a list of over two thousand members. Through his maternal great-grandfather, Col. Zebulon Butler, who fought in the colonial as as well as the Revolutionary War, he was eligible to membership and joined the Society of Colonial Wars. Mr. Heilner had many ancestors amongst the early settlers in New England, not the least distinguished of which was Elder William Brewster, the Pilgrim of the Mayflower.
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Mr. Heilner volunteered as a recruiting officer to assist in organizing the 108th Provisional Regiment, formed to take the place of the 8th Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y. when the latter entered the United States service.
When the 108th Regiment was mustered into the State service, he became Captain of Company C, and later on became Lieutenant Colonel, which rank he hold when the Regiment was mustered out of the service in January, 1899.
BIGELOW.— STOWELL.— DYE.
The name of Bigelow is variously spelled Biglo and Biglow. The family was somewhat conspicuous in the early settlement of New England.
John Bigelow, or Biglo, the ancestor of the Bigelows of America, was born at Wrentham, Suffolk Co., Eng., Feb. 16, 1616; died in Watertown, Mass, July 14, 1703. His was the first marriage recorded in Watertown, viz: "1633-4, John Bigulah and Mary Warin joyned in mariag before Mr. Nowell." He was Sur- veyor, 1660-62; Constable, 1663; Selectman, 1665-71. His wife was a daughter of John and Margaret Warren. They had thirteen children, among whom was Samuel.
Samuel Bigelow, son of John and Mary (Warren) Bigelow, was born at Watertown, Mass., Oct. 28, 1653. He married Mary Flagg, daughter of Thomas and Mary Flagg. Samuel Bigelow represented the town in the General Court, 1708-9-10. He had a son John.
John Bigelow, son of Samuel and Mary (Flagg) Bigelow, was born May 9, 1675. He married Jerusha Garfield, and had issue, Jotham.
Jotham Bigelow of Holden, Mass., and Guilford, Vt., son of John and Jeru- sha (Garfield) Bigelow, was born in Marlborough, Mass., Sept. 1, 1717. He early moved to that part of Worcester, afterwards Holden, and was one of the peti- tioners for the new town, and, with his brother John, was admitted to the church from Worcester on the formation of the new society in Holden, Dec. 22, 1742. Soon after 1761 he moved with his family to Guilford, Vt.,, and was one of the first settlers of that town. He married Perses Temple, daughter of Isaac and
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 187
Martha (Joslin) Temple. They had ten children, of whom Joel was the seventh.
JOEL BIGELOW, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jotham and Perses (Temple) Bigelow, was born in Holden, Mass., June 30, 1752. At the beginning of the Revolution he was living on the border of the disputed territory lying be- tween New York and Vermont, and then known as Cumberland County, N. Y. He earnestly espoused the cause of the patriots, and was commissioned Adjutant, with rank of Lieutenant, in the 1st Regiment of Cumberland County, N. Y. Militia, commanded by Lieut. Colonel Timothy Church. This regiment was or- ganized for special service on the border during 1782, and was effective in afford- ing protection to the sparsely settled district. Lieut. Bigelow had the confidence of the people, as shown by subsequent events. After the war he lived for many years in Guilford, Vt., where he owned a large farm near the centre of the town. He was honored with the title of Colonel, and was one of the substantial men of the town. During the controversy between Vermont and New York concern- ing the jurisdiction of the southern part of Vermont, he was quite prominent, taking sides with New York, and was elected a member of the Assembly in 1784 from Cumberland County, which was the name given to the new territory in dis- pute, and included Guilford, Vt. Soon after the death of his wife he removed to Ellisburg, Jefferson Co., N. Y., to live with his son Jotham. He married about 1773, Sarah Stowell of Petersham, Mass., a descendant probably in the fourth generation of Samuel Stowell, the ancestor, who settled in Hingham, Mass., where he married, 1649, Mary, daughter of John Farrow, of Hingham. Joel Bige- low, by his wife, Mary Stowell, had several children, among whom was William.
William Bigelow, son of Col. Joel and Sarah (Stowell) Bigelow, was born in Guilford, Vt., Nov. 16, 1781. He married Feb. 3, 1805, Arathusa. daughter Jotham and Mary (Powers) Bigelow. She was his cousin and a native of Phil- lipston, Mass. They lived in Guilford and Halifax, and later moved to Phil- lipston, Mass., where he died Oct. 6, 1849. They had thirteen children, of whom William Marlin was the third.
William Marlin Bigelow, son of William and Arathusa Bigelow, was born in Guilford, Vt., March 31, 1809. He engaged early in life in the manufacture of soap, and as a young man he carried it on from 1835 to 1837 in Havana. Cuba. , He returned to the States in the latter year, and was located at Ellisburg, N. Y., until 1842, removing thence to Springfield, Mass., where he carried on the business successfully for three years, and finally located in Rhode Island, in the village of Phcenix, town of Warwick, where he died March 25. 185 1. He married July 3. 1836, Margaret Catharine Dye, daughter of Richard Dye of Princess Anne Co., Va., and Catharine Baskerdore, and had issue : Virginia Arathusa. Elizabeth Pierce, William Milton, Austin Ingraham, Herbert Dodge and Clarence Otis.
CLARENCE OTIS BIGELOW, Member Sons of the Revolution, son of William Marlin and Margaret Catharine (Dye) Bigelow. was born in Phenix, town of Warwick, R. I., Nov. 29, 1851. His father died the same year, and he in Guilford, Vt., Nov. 16, 1781. He married Feb. 3, 1805. Aruthusia. daughter of was left wholly to the care of his mother. She removed to Phillipston, Mass., and later to Springfield, Mass., he attending the public schools in both places. His
l8S SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
first knowledge of the drug business was obtained in a retail drug store at Springfield, Mass. In 1867 Mr. Bigelow came to New York, and entered the employ of George L. Hooper, located at 102 Sitxh Avenue. He bought out his employer in 1880, and has since continued to carry on the business in his own name. The business was established at this location more than sixty years ago, when this part of the city was inhabited by wealthy residents. Notwithstanding the changes and removals, some to the upper part of the city, others to New Jersey, the same parties or their children still continue their patronage of the old house, and Mr. Bigelow's trade far exceeds that of many of the more pretentious uptown stores.
CLARENCE OTIS BICELOW.
Mr. Bigelow has been for many years an enthusiastic member of the Masonic Fraternity. He is Past Master of Ancient Lodge No. 724, F. and A. M., having been initiated on the night of its organization, and passed through the several chairs, except that of J. W. In Capitular Masonry he was advanced and exalted in Ancient Chapter No. 1, R. A. M., and served in that as Captain of the Host; he demitted from this to Adelphi Chapter No. 348, of which he is still a member. In the Chivalric Order he was created and dubbed a Knight Templar in Columbian Commandery No. 1. He dimitted to Adelphi Commandery No. 59—
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. l8g
the only mounted Commandery in New York — of which he was Captain General, the Eminent Commander being Dr. Alexander B. Mott. The membership in- cluded many of the leading and most prominent men in the city.
Mr. Bigelow was formerly identified with the various clubs, but pressure of business necessitated his withdrawal from all but the Aldine Association. He is President of the Board of Pharmacy of Greater New York, Treasurer of the New York College of Pharmacy, and a Trustee of the West Side Savings Bank. Kis ancestors, as shown by their record, have been patriots and men of mark in their day and generation.
190
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
ABEEL AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
INCLUDING THE FAMOUS CORN PLANT, THE FRIEND OF THE WHITES.
Recent discoveries relating to the Abeel family, of which little has hitherto been known, have brought to light certain facts which have an important bearing on the Revolutionary period of our country's history. The Genealogy of the Williamson and Abeel families, compiled by James A. Williamson, proves conclu- sively that the famous "Cornplanter" of the Seneca Tribe of the Six Nations was a direct descendant of Christopher Janse Abeel, the founder of this old Holland family in America. The faithful mother, who so carefully provided for her son's welfare, little dreamed of the influence that would be exerted by him and his de- scendants in the New World.
Christopher Janse Abeel, the progenitor of this family in America, was born in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1621. Both his father and mother fell victims to the great plague which scourged all Europe in 1633, when he was twelve years of age. Soon after his mother was taken ill, she sent for a trustworthy neighbor and friend, and placed in her keeping all the ready money she had with instruc- tions to keep it until the lad should become of age. He was placed in charge of the master of an orphanage, and grew to manhood well equipped for the duties of life, having been taught in the meantime the trade of a carpenter. On reach- ing his majority, the faithful friend, true to her trust, delivered to him the princi- pal with the accumulated interest, and with this little fortune he purchased a stock of hardware and started for America, settling in Beaverwick, now Albany, about
1647. His name first appears on the records of the town in the conveyance of a piece of proper- ty, April 23, 1652. In 1665, as a master builder, he erected the First Reformed Dutch Church, which took the place of the crude log house in which the first set- tlers worshipped. Two years after this Abeel was elected deacon of the church, and a vote of thanks was tendered him for faithful service as treasurer of the poor fund. In 1665 he made a voyage to Holland to re- ceive a legacy from a deceased great uncle. Passport was made in the name of the Honorable Stoffel Jans Abeel. He was a magistrate of Albany and filled other important positions, and in ordinary documents, as was the custom, he omitted the surname, but to all important legal documents he attached the full name. He died in 1684.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. igi
He married Nov. 22, 1660, Neiltje Jans Croom (or Kroom), a native of Holland. They had issue: Magdelena, married Gerardus Beekman; Marie, born 1666; married Garret Duyckinck ; Johannes born 1667; Elizabeth, born probably 1670; married Evert Bancker.
Johannes Abeel, eldest son of Christopher Janse (Croom) Abeel, was born in Albany, March 23, 1667, died Jan. 28, 171 x. He was a prosperous merchant, and was elected mayor of Albany, 1694-5. He removed to New Amsterdam and lived there for a time and on his return to Albany was elected a member of the Assem- bly in 1701 ; and in 1709 was again elected mayor of Albany. He married April 10, 1694, Catharine, daughter of David Schuyler, who, with his brother Pieterse, came from Amsterdam in 1650, and settled at Fort Orange. David Schuyler, the younger of the two, married Oct. 13, 1657, Callyntje, daughter of Abraham Isaac- sen Ver Planck, the owner of Paulus Hook, now Jersey City. Johannes Abeel, by his wife Catharine (Schuyler) Abeel, had issue: Cataline, bap. New York, Oct. 23, 1691; Neiltje, bap. Albany, April 14, 1698; Christoffel, bap. Dec. 16, 1696; David, bap. April 29, 1705; Jannette, bap. at Albany, June 6, 1705.
A copy of the inventory of his goods and personal estate includes a painted picture of himself; also one of his wife and daughter.
Christoffel Abeel, son of Johannes and Catalina (Schuyler) Abeel (elder brother of David), was bap. at Albany, Dec. 16, 1696. He married Sept. 23, 1720, Margueritta Breese, and had issue: Johannes {John), bap. April 18, 1722; An- thony, bap. Jan. 27, 1724; Anthony Breese, bap. April 11, 1725; David, bap. Aug. 13. I727 (settled at Bak-Oven, near Catskill, in Greene County, N. Y., where he died in Feb., 1813, in the eighty-seventh year of his age) ; Catharina, bap. June 9. 1734; Jacobus, bap. Jan. 26, 1736; Maria, bap. April 27, 1740.
Johannes, or John Abeel, eldest son of Christoffel and Margueritta Breese Abeel, was born in Albany, April 8, 1722, and is recorded as an "alleged lunatic" for the following reasons :
He early developed a taste for hunting and finally became a fur trader among the Indians of the Six Nations, with whom he was on terms of intimate friend- ship, so much so that he became enamoured with an Indian princess, named Aliquipiso, of the Turtle Clan of Seneca Tribe, and married her. Their son, born about 1742, became the famous Corn Plant.
The History of Montgomery County, N. Y., pages 218 and 233, contains the following additional facts relating to John Abeel :
"John Abeel, an Indian trader, settled in the town (Minden), a short dis- tance from Fort Plain, in 1748. He secured several hundred acres of land of one of the grantees of the Blucker patent. In his previous intercourse with the In- dians, he had married the daughter of a Seneca chief, the ceremony being per- formed after the Indian fashion. A child of this mariage was the famous chief, Cornplanter (Corn Plant).
"Abeel erected a stone dwelling upon a knoll directly above the flats. He married on Sept. 22, 1759, Mary Knouts, a member of one of the prominent Ger- man families, and at the beginning of the Revolution was living on his farm. During the invasion of Oct.. 1780, he was taken prisoner by a band of Indians,
i02 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
and while immediately expecting death, Cornplanter addresed him as father, thus securing his safety. He was given the liberty either to accompany the Indians under the protection of his son, or to return to his white family. Much credit is due him for choosing the latter, and after hostilities had ceased, Cornplanter visited him and was received with much hospitality."
John Abeel, by his second wife, had several children, descendants of whom are still living in Montgomery County, N. Y.
CORN PLANT (KI ON-TWOG-KY)
CHIEF OF THE SENECAS.
SON OF JOHN ABEEL AND THE INDIAN PRINCESS, ALIQUIPISO.
Corn Plant (usually, but improperly spelled Cornplanter) was one of the most unique characters in American history, and it appears somewhat strange that after a lapse of a century or more the true history of his parentage should now for the first time be brought to light, proving beyond a doubt that he was a grandson of one of Albany's most distinguished mayors. There may have been an effort on the part of those interested to cover up the facts at the time by permitting a misspelling the name which has passed into history as O'Bail (easily mistaken for Abeel), but Corn Plant's own statement to the Governor of Pennsylvania in 1836, in which he gives an account of his early life (omitting the name of his father), confirms the newly discovered evidence of his parentage. He says:
"I feel it my duty to send a speech to the Governor of Pennsylvania at this time and inform him of the place where I was born, which was at Connewaugus, on the Genesee River.
"When I was a child, I played with the butterfly, the grasshopper and the frogs, and as I grew up I began to pay some attention and play with the Indian boys in the neighborhood, and they took notice of my skin being a different color from theirs and spoke about it. I inquired of my mother the cause, and she told me that my father was a resident of Albany. I still eat my victuals out of a bark dish. I grew up to be a young man and married me a wife, and I had no kettle or gun. I then knew where my father lived, and went to see him, and found he was a white man and spoke the English language. He gave me victuals while at his house, but when I started home he gave me no provision to eat on the way. He gave me neither kettle nor gun, neither did he tell me that the United States were about to rebel against the Government of England.
"I will now tell you, brothers who are in session of the Legislature of Penn- sylvania, that the Great Spirit has made known to me that I have been wicked and the cause thereof has been the Revolutionary war in America. The cause of Indians being led into sin at that time, was that many of them were in the practice of drinking and getting intoxicated. Great Britain requested us to join with them in the conflict against the Americans, and promised the Indians land and liquor. I myself was opposed to joining in the conflict, as I had nothing to do with the difficulty that existed between the two parties. I have now informed you how it happened that the Indians took part in the revolution, and will relate
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193
to you some circumstances that occurred after the war. General Putnam, who was then at Philadelphia, told me there was to be a council at Fort Stanwix, and the Indians requested me to attend on behalf of the Six Nations, which I did,
CORN PLANT, KI-ON-TVVOG-KV
and there met with these commissioners who had been appointed to hold the council. They told me that they would inform me of the cause of the revolution, which I requested them to do minutely. They then said that it originated on account of the heavy taxes that had been imposed upon them by the British Gov- ernment, which had been for fifty years increasing upon them; that the Ameri- cans had grown weary thereof and refused to pay, which affronted the King. There had likewise a difficulty taken place about some tea which they wished me not to use, as it had been one of the causes that many people had lost their lives, and the British Government now being affronted, the war commenced and the cannons began to roar in our country.
"General Putnam then told me at the Council at Fort Stanwix that by the late war the Americans had gained two objects: they had established themselves an independent nation and had obtained some land to live upon, the division line of which from Great Britain runs through the Lakes. I then spoke and said I wanted some land for the Indians to live on, and General Putnam said it should be granted, and I should have land in the State of New York for the Indians. He then encouraged me to use my endeavors to pacify the Indians generally, and as he considered it an arduous task, wished to know what pay I would require. I replied that I would use my endeavors to do as he requested with the Indians,
194 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
and for pay therefor I would take land upon which I now live, which was pre- sented to me by Gov. Mifflin. I told General Putnam that I wished the Indians to have the privilege of hunting in the woods and making fires, which he likewise assented to.
"The treaty that was made at the aforementioned council has been broken by some of the white people, which I now intend acquainting the Governor with. Some white people are not willing that the Indians should hunt any more, whilst others are satisfied therewith; and those white people who reside near our res- ervation, tell us that the woods are theirs, and that they have obtained them from the Government. The treaty has also been broken by the white people using their endeavors to destroy all the wolves, which was not spoken about in the council at Fort Stanwix by General Putnam, but has originated lately."
Corn Plant further complains that "white people could get credit from the Indians and do not pay them honestly according to agreement ;" also that "there is a great quantity of whiskey brought near our reservation, and the Indians obtain it and become drunken." He complains further that he has been called upon to pay taxes, and says: "It is my desire that the Governor will exempt me from paying taxes for my land to white people, and also to cause the money I am now obliged to pay be refunded to me, as I am very poor."
"The Government has told us that when difficulties arose between the In- dians and the white people they would attend to having them removed. We are now in a trying situation, and I wish the Governor to send a person authorized to attend thereto the fore part of next summer, about the time that the grass has grown big enough for pasture.
"The Government requested me to pay attention to the Indians and take care of them. We are now arrived at a situation in which I believe the Indians can- not exist unless the Governor shall comply with my request, and send a person authorized to treat between us and the white people the approaching summer. I have now no more to speak."
This singular production of Corn Plant was of course dictated to an inter- preter, who acted as amenuensis, but the sentiments are undoubtedly his own. It was dated in 1822, when the lands reserved for the Indians in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania became surrounded by the farms of the whites and some attempt was made to tax the property of the Seneca Chief, in consequence of which he wrote this epistle to the Governor.
The letter is distinguished by its simplicity and good sense, and was no doubt dictated in the concise, nervous and elevated style of the Indian orator, which has lost much of its beauty and poetical character in the interpretation. His account of his parentage is simple and touching — his unprotected, yet happy home, where he played with the butterfly, the grasshopper and the frog is sketched with a scriptural felicity of style. There is something very pathetic in his description of his poverty when he grew up to be a young man, and married a wife, and had no kettle nor gun, while the brief account of his visit to his father is marked by a pathos of genuine feeling. It is to be hoped indeed that as the account states the father was non compos mentes.
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Corn Plant was one of the parties to the treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1784, when a large cession of territory was made by the Indians. At the treaty of Fort Harmer, five years afterwards he took the leading part in conveying an immense tract of country to the American Government, and became so unpopu- lar that his life was threatened by his incensed tribe. But this chief, and those who acted with him, were induced to make liberal concessions by motives of sound policy; for the Six Nations, having fought on the royal side during the War of the Revolution, and the British Government having recognized our independence, and signed a peace without stipulating for the protection of her misguided allies, they were wholly at our mercy. In an address sent to the President of the United States in 1790 by Corn Plant, Half Town and Big Tree, occurs the following :
"Father: We will not conceal from you that the Great Spirit and not men has preserved Corn Plant from the hands of his own nation, for they ask contin- ually, 'Where is the land upon which our children and their children after them are to lie down? You told us that the line drawn from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario would mark it forever on the East, and the line running from Beaver Creek to Pennsylvania would mark it on the West, and we see it is not so; for first comes one and then another and takes it away by order of that people which you tell us promised to secure it to us.' He is silent, for he has nothing to answer. When the sun goes down he opens his heart before the Great Spirit, and earlier than the sun appears again upon the hills he gives thanks for his protection dur- ing the night, for he feels that among men become desperate by the injuries they have received, it is God only that can protect him."
In reply to this address, President Washington remarked : "The merits of Corn Plant and his friendship for the United States are well known to me, and shall not be forgotten ; and as a mark of the esteem of the United States, I have directed the Secretary of War to make him a present of $250, either in money or goods, as Corn Plant shall like best."
In his efforts to preserve peace with his powerful neighbors, Corn Plant in- curred alternately the suspicion of both parties, the whites imputing him a secret agency in the depredations of lawless individuals of his nation, while the Senecas were sometimes jealous of his apparent fame with the whites, and regarded him as a pensionary of their oppressors. His course, however, was prudenl and consistent, and his influence very great.
He resided on the banks of the Alleghany river, a few miles below the junc- tion, upon a tract of fine land within the limits of Pennsylvania, and not far from the line between that State and New York. He owned thirteen hundred acres of land, of which six hundred were comprehended within the village occupied by his people. The Chief favored the Christian religion and welcomed those who came to teach it.
Referring to his personality, an eminent writer says: "He was the rival of Red Jacket. Without the commanding genius of Red Jacket, he possessed a large share of the common sense, which is more efficient in all the ordinary affars of life. They were both able men; both acquired the confidence of their people,
iyb SONS OF TH£ REVOLUTION.
but the patriotism of Red Jacket was exhibited in an unyielding hatred 01 the whites, while Corn Plant adopted the opposite policy oi conciliation towards his more powerful neighbors. The one was an orator of unblemislieu replication, the other an orator ot unrivalled eloquence. Hoili were snrevvu, artful and expert negotiators, and they prevailed alternately over each other, as opportunities were offered to either for the exertion of his peculiar abilities. The one rose into power when the Senecas were embittered against the whites, and the other acquired consequence when it became desirable to cultivate friendly relations upon the frontier."
On one occasion Red Jacket was boasting of what he had said at certain treaties, when Corn Plant quickly added, "Yes, but we told you what to say." Horatio Jones said of Corn Plant : "He was one of the best men to have on your side, and there you would be sure to find him if he thought yours the right side, but it was decidedly unlucky if he thought you were wrong."
Corn Plant was the first as well as one of the most eloquent temperance lec- turers in the United States, and labored hard to save his people from this growing evil, for which his white neighbors were largely responsible.
In his latter days he became superstitious, and his conscience reproached him for his friendshhip towards the whites, and in a moment of alarm, fancying that the Great Spirit had commanded him to destroy all evidence of his connection with the enemies of his race, he destroyed an elegant sword and other articles which he had received as presents.
There can no longer be any doubt of his relationship to the Abeel family. His mother told him that his father's name was Abeel, or O'Bial. The latter name does not appear in the Albany records, and it is doubtful if such a person ever lived in that city. The name of Abeel is still preserved with the tribe on the reservation.
The History of Montgomery County, page 233, says:
"Cornplanter visited Fort Plain in his native dress about the year 1810, bring- ing with him several Indians of dignified rank. They were cordially welcomed by the chief's relatives, going first to the house of Joseph Wagner, father of Peter J. Wagner, who was grandson on the mother's side of John Abeel. The party also visited the house of Nicholas Dygert, whose wife was a sister of Mrs. Wagner, and was richly entertained, and then at the home of Jacob Abeel, living with his widowed mother on their old homestead. The Indians were treated with hospitality. The visit lasted several days, and the guests were the central at- traction of village society, for Cornplanter was a man of noble bearing, and was decorated with all the native display of costume appropriate to his rank. His father at that time had been dead more than a dozen years."
Capt. David Abeel, son of Johannes and Catharine (Schuyler) Abeel (brother to Christoffel, the father of John, father of Corn Plant), was born at Albany, N. Y., April 27, 1705, died Oct. 20, 1777. At an early age, after his father's death, he was sent to New York and apprenticed to Mr. Schuyler in the dry goods bus- iness, and soon after reaching his majority he engaged in the flour and provision business, which he carried on successfully for many years. He held the position of
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Captain of the company of militia of foot of the city and county of New York, for many years until 1772. His commission was signed by Leonard Lispenard, Colonel. He married, Feb. 24, 1726, Mary Duyckink, born Oct. 4, 1702, daughter of Garret Duyckink, and Mary Abeel. They had David, Jr., born 1727 (married July 2, 1752, Neiltje Van Bergan Van Katckel), James, born May 12, 1733, Garret, born May 2, 1734, Annetti, bap. March 1, 1753.
COL. JAMES ABEEL, Patriot of the Revolution, second son of David and Mary (Duyckink) Abeel, was born in Albany, N. Y., May 12, 1733, died in New Brunswick, N. J., April 20, 1825. He enlisted early in the War of the Rev- olution and was Captain 1st Battalion, New York City Militia, Col. John Lasher, Sept. 14, 1775, Major of same August-November, 1776. This was known as the First Independent Battalion. It was a favorite corps, composed of young men of respectability and wealth, and when on parade attracted great attention. Its com- panies bore separate names, and the uniforms of each had some distinguishing feature. Major Abeel's old company, which he commanded as Captain, was known as the "Rangers." As reorganized in the summer of 1776, the regiment had for its field officers, Col. John Lasher, Lieut. Col. Andrew Stockholm and Major James Abeel.
When it was decided by Washington to fortify New York city, the First In- dependent Battalion constructed Bayard's Hill Redoubt on the west side of the Bowery, where Grand and Mulberry streets intersect. This regiment bore an important part in the battle of Long Island, which was fought August 27, 1776. It was attached to Gen. John Morin Scott's Brigade. Johnson's description of the battle states that: "As the report came in that the enemy intended to march at once upon Sullivan. Washington promptly sent him a reinforcement of six reg- iments, which included Miles' and Atlee's, from Sterling's brigade, Chester's and Silliman's from Wadsworth's, and probably Lasher's and Drake's from Scott's." The suffering of this regiment after the battlle are described in a letter from Gen. Scott, dated the 29th: "You may judge of our situation, subject to almost in- cessant rains, without baggage or tents, and almost without victuals or drink, and in some parts of the lines the men were standing up to their middles in water." This regiment took part in the subsequent events immediately following the retreat of the American Army from Long Island.
Col. Abeel was subsequently attached to the staff of General Washington as Deputy Quartermaster General. New Jersey Continental Line, during the winter the army was encamped at Morristown, and had charge of the transportation between Philadelphia and West Point, residing at the time in his own house at Morristown.
He married, March 23, 1762, Gertrude Neilson, daughter of Dr. John Neil- son, who came from Belfast, Ireland, about 1740, with his brother James, who settled at New Brunswick as a shipping merchant and ship owner. Dr. Neil- son married Johannes, daughter of Andrew Coeyman, who came from Holland with his mother, the widow of Andreas Coeyman, and settled on the Hudson, on Coeyman's patent, afterwards removing to Raritan, or Raritan Landing. Dr. Neilson died in 1745, as the result of an accident. He had one son, John, a dis-
I9o SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
tinguished officer of the Revolution, and a daughter Gertrude, who was married to Col. James Abeel.
Col. James Abeel, by his wife Gertrude (Neilson) Abeel, had issue: David, born Jan. 13, 1763, Johanna, Sept. 13, 1764 (married Leonard Blucker, and had three children, Gertrude, Feb. 23, 1786, James, Dec. 28, 1786, Maria, Sept. 26' 1788) ; Maria, born Nov. 30, 1766, died June 16, 1767; John Neilson, born Dec. 1, 1786.
CAPT. DAVID ABEEL, Patriot of the Revolution, eldest son of Col. James and Gertrude (Neilson) Abeel, was born Jan. 13, 1763, died Oct. 31, 1840. He early evinced a taste for a seafaring life, and volunteered to serve with Captain Barry (afterwards Commodore Barry, U. S. N.) on the ship "Governor General," which sailed under letters of marque during the Revolution. He made a voyage to St. Eustatia in 1780, which lasted several months. He next sailed as midshhipman on the frigate Alliance, which took Col. Lawrence, our American minister, to France, in the early part of 1781. After leaving France and cruising near the West Indies, the Alliance was attacked on the 28th of May, 1781, by the British sloops-of-war Atalanta and Tripassa. All three vessels were becalmed at the beginning of the action, the Alliance in consequence of her position being at a great disadvantage. Captain Barry was wounded early in the action and carried below, and the British made demand for the surrender of his ship, but a sudden breeze coming up at the moment the Alliance ran between the two British vessels, pouring a broadside from her starboard and larboard guns at the same time, disabling her antagonists and compelling their surrender. Midshipman Abeel was wounded in the thigh during the action by a musket ball. On reach- ing New York he received the public thanks of the Navy Board for his gallantry. His third cruise was on a letter-of-marque vessel bound for Holland. She was captured by the British and Abeel was sent a prisoner to the Jersey Prison Ship at Brooklyn. Through friends who had influence with the British Commander he was soon after released and sent to New York, where he was introduced to the British Admiral, who offerred him a midshipman's warrant on his own ship if he would join the British navy. Mr. Abeel replied that he was an American, and would hold in utter contempt any person who would thus turn recreant to the high claims of his country. The reply so provoked the Admiral that he would not allow him to be exchanged for one of equal rank, saying he was too great a rebel to let go, and Abeel was released on parole, which continued for about eighteen months, until the close of the war, for which time he received no com- pensation. He afterwards commanded a vessel in the merchant service.
He married May 10. 1789, Jane Hassert (born March 1, 1766, died March 2. 1842). They had issue. Mary Ann, who married Douw Ditmars Williamson: Gertrude, born Dec. 24, 1792, David, born June 12, 1804, died Sept. 6, 1846; Johanna, born Aug. 18, 1807, died Oct., 1826; James, John, Jacob, and James (2), died in infancy.
Mary Ann Abeel, daughter of Capt. David and Jane (Hassert) Abeel, was married Nov. 1, 1810, to Douw Ditmars Williamson, son- of Nicholas, son of Garret, son of Nicholas, son of Willem Willemsen, the ancestor.
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Willem Willemsen, the Long Island ancestor, was born in Holland in 1637, came to New Amsterdam in the ship Concorde in 1657, and settled at Gravesend, L. I., where his name appears on the tax list of 1683, and on the census of Graves- end in 1698. He took the oath of allegiance to England in 1687. In the allotment of lands, 1670, he drew lot 32, and received another portion in 1700. In his will dated Dec. 1, 1721, recorded in the surrogate's office, New York (p. 288, liber 9), and other contemporaneous documents he signs his name Willem Willemsen. In 1715 he and his son Nicholas were subscribers to a fund for the support of Dominies Freeman and Antonides, who presided over the churches of Breuck- elen, Flatlands, Jamaica, Gravesend and New Utrecht. He married probably in 1678, Marye Peterse Wyckoff, of Gravesend, born Oct. 17, 1653, daughter of Pieter Classy Wyckoff, who emigrated to this country in 1636, and married Greitze, daughter of Hendrick Van Ness. They had issue, Nicholas, born 1680, Pieter, bap. April 16, 1682; Jacobus, Cornelis, Marretje, bap. April 12, 1685 (mar- ried Abm. Emans of Gravesend) ; Ann, bap. May 29, 1695 (married John Griggs, Jr., of Gravesend.
Nicholas Williamson, eldest child of Willem and Mary Peterse (Wyckoff) Willemsen, was born at Gravesend, L. I., in 1680. He was an industrious and successful farmer. He married 1st in 1715, Lucrecy Voorheese, daughter of Steven Corte Voorheese of Gravesend, and his wife, Agatha Egge Janse, who (Voorheese) was of Flatlands, 1699, and of Gravesend, 1725, son of Steven Corte Voorheese, who emigrated in 1660 from Ruinen in Dreuthe, and from in front of the hamlet of Hees, which indicates the name. They had issue : Stephen, born July 1, 1716; Eva, bap. July 13, 1718; Garret born March 15, 1728. He married 2d Ida Remsen, daughter of Jeremias Remsen, and had Nicholas, bap. May 13, 1733; Johannes, bap. May 13, 1733; Rem, born April 17, 1738; Cor- nelis, bap. July 18, 1739; Antje, married Jacob Stillwill. The Williamsons of Flatbush,, Flatlands, Gravesend and New Utrecht are descendants of Nicholas by .his second wife.
Garret Williamson youngest child of Nicholas and Lucrecy (Voorhees) Williamson, was born at Gravesend, L. I., March 15, 1728, died at Neshanic, N. J., Jan. 17, 1790. He was an Elder in the Reformed Dutch Church at Neshanic. He married Aug. 18, 1761, Charity Bennett (born April 30, 1731, died Oct. 27, 1783). They had issue: Nicholas, born Oct. 8, 1762, Cornelis, born March 28, 1764, Jacobus, July 10, 1768, Anne, April 3, 1767, Lucrecy, Dec. 25, 1768. He married 2d Jan. 14, 1787, Alche Patterson; no issue.
NICHOLAS WILLIAMSON, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Gerret and Charity (Bennett) Williamson, was born Oct. 8, 1762, died Aug. 18, 1856. He served in the Revolution as a Minute Man, and was stationed for a time at Perth Amboy, and was under fire from the British ships in Raritan Bay. He was a farmer and storekeper at Neshanic, N. J. He was an Elder in the Re- formed Dutch church of that place, and a man of some influence. He married June 10, 1788, Alche Ditmars (born Sept. 6, 1754, died April 15, 1846), daughter of Douwe Ditmars and Seytie Suydam, son of Douwe Jansen Ditmars and Cath- arine Lott, son of Jan Jansen Ditmars, the ancestor, who married Altje Douwe
200 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
of Douwsen. Nicholas Williamson, by his wife, Alche Ditmars, had Douw Ditmars, born Jan. 4, 1789, and Garret, born March 7, 1798.
Douw Ditmars Williamson son of Nicholas and Alche (Ditmars) Wil- liamson, was born at Neshanick, N. J., Jan. 4, 1789. He served in the War of 1812-15, and was stationed at Paulus Hook, now Jersey City. He was Comp- troller of New York, and served under several administrations. He was con- nected with the Western railroads, and some little time before his death (Aug. 4. 1869), was President of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. In religion he followed in the footsteps of his ancestors. He was long a member and Elder of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch church of New York. He married Nov. I, 1810, Mary Ann Abeel, daughter of Capt. David Abeel and his wife, Jane Hassert, son of Col. James Abeel, son of David, son of Johannes, son of Christopher Janse Abeel, the ancestor.
By this marriage he had issue: Nicholas, born Sept. 17, 1811; John Neilson Abeel, Feb. 13, 1814; James Abeel, April 12, 1816; Jane Hassert, June 23, 1818; David Abeel, Feb. 8, 1821 ; George Rogers, May 17, 1823; Leonard Bleeker, Feb. 4, 1826; Douw Ditmars, born Nov. 15, 1830; Edwin, March 9, 1829.
Nicholas Williamson, son of Douw Ditmars and Mary Ann (Abeel) Wil- liamson, was born in New Brunswick, N. J., Sept. 17, 181 1. He was educated at the schools of his native town and came to New York about as clerk in
a commercial house, and later was appointed teller in the Butchers' and Drovers' Bank, and when the Bank of the State of New York was organized he left his old place and accepted the position of assistant teller in the new bank and after- wards became teller. The business training acquired in these financial institutions laid the foundation for his subsequent success. In 1850 he organized the Nov- elty Rubber Company, originally of Connecticut and later of New Brunswick, one of the earliest companies to introduce certain hard rubber goods of the Good- year patents. The Rubber business was then in its infancy, and through the skillful management of Mr. Williamson and his associates, it became one of the largest concerns in this line in the United States, its annual output reaching sev- eral hundred thousand dollars'. It was chiefly through Mr. Williamson's instru- mentality that the works were established at New Brunswick, and he thus con- tributed materially to the growth and prosperity of his native town. He was President of the company for many years, until his death.
While a resident of New York, he became interested in the movement for the improvement of young men by providing additional means for reading and study, and assisted in the organization of the Mercantile Library of New York, of which he was for several years Secretary. He was an officer of the Reformed Church of New Brunswick. He died Nov. 15, 1862. He married 1st Mary Rebecca Burlock, daughter of David Burlock, and Agnes Maria Codwise, born Nov. 3, 1819, on the Island of St. Croix, W. I. They had issue: Agnes M., born New York, June 14, 1839 ,died in infancy; David Abeel, born New York, Sept. 18, 1840, died Sept. 22, 1862; Marianna, born in New York, March 3, 1843, died June 11, 1871; Nicholas, born New York March 9, 1845; Agnes Burlock, born in Jersey City, Jan. 16, 1848, deceased; Douw Ditmars, born in Bound Brook, N. J.,
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Jan. 21, 1851; George Norman, born in Bound Brook, N. J., March 12, 1853; Martha Codwise, born in Bound Brook, May 3, 1855. Mr. Williamson's first wife died Jan. 22, 1857. He married 2d July 24, 1858, Augusta M. Storer (born March 10, 1833), daughter of William Storer and Delia Ann Moulthrop of West Hartford, Conn. No issue.
GEORGE NORMAN WILLIAMSON, New York State Society Sons of the Revolution, son of Nicholas and Mary Rebecca (Burlock) Williamson, was born at Bound Brook, N. J., March 12, 1853. After the death of his mother he was adopted by his uncle, Douw Ditmars Williamson. He went abroad with him and resided for some years at Edinborough, Scotland, where he was partly ed- ucated. On his return to this country he took a preparatory course and entered Columbia College, from which he was graduated in 1873, and later at Columbia College Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1876 and practiced for a short time and then became associated with his uncle in the chemical business, succeeding him in 1897, after the latter's death.
His inherited taste for military affairs led him in 1875 to join Company K, Seventh Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., and after completing his term of service be- came a member of the Seventh Regiment Veteran Association. Of a quiet and reserved nature, characteristic of his Holland ancestors, Mr. Williamson has taken no part in public affairs, giving his whole attention to business.
He married Katrina Margaritha Heink, born April 3, 1851, daughter of Frederick Augustus Heink Regierungsrath, of Dresden, Saxony, and his wife, Augusta Rebecca Dursthof. They have issue: Elsa Rebecca, Hildegard, Mar- garitha Fanny, born in Dresden, Germany; George Norman, born Sept. 28, 1881, in Colorado; Katrina.
Nicholas Williamson (2), M. D., eldest son of Nicholas (1) and Mary Rebecaa (Burlock) Williamson, was born in New York City, March 9, 184? He was educated in New Brunswick and New York, and prepared for Rutgers' Col- lege. After the death of his father he became connected with the Novelty Rubber Company as Secretary. On the graduation of the class at Rutgers, of which he would have been a member had he remained, he was given an honorary degree by the faculty.
Having a great desire to become a physician while still in active business, he studied medicine and received the degree of M. D. from Bellevue and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York.
He entered into active practice at New Brunswick, N. J., where he is one of the leading physicians. He has also been active in political life, and has been county physician, Alderman, and is now (1890) in his third term as Mayor of New Brunswick. On April 9. 1874, he married Sarah, daughter of Prof. Geo. H. Cook of Rutgers College. She died, leaving no children. He married 2 1 on June
2, 1881, Clara A., daughter of William and Maria Gurley of Troy. N. Y.
Issue: Clara Christian? Ruth Alice, Charles Gurley. Mary Agnes. Burloch.
202 SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
LINE OF JAMES ABEEL, SON OF CAPT. DAVID, SON OF JOHANNES (i), M OF CHRIS- TOPHER.
GARRET ABEEL, Patriot of the Revolution, son of David and Mary (Duyckinck) Abeel, was born in New York City, May 2, 1734. He was educated both in Dutch and English, and on May 1, 1751, was apprenticed to Gulean Ver- planck, a wholesale merchant. After serving his time he entered the employ of James Napier, Esq., Director of the British General Hospital at Albany. He left his position in 1757, and returned to New York, where he was induced to accept a better position in the same service in charge of the New York stores for the supply of other hospitals. He refused in Dec, 1770, to go to the Army, then at Boston, and was dismissed from the British hospital service, receiving from Gen. Gage a certificate for past faithful service. In 1765 he joined his brother-in-law, Evart Byranck, Jr., in the iron business, continuing until Aug. 24, 1774, when his partner withdrew and he continued the business alone till 1776, when, owing to the occupation of New York by the British, he was obliged to leave with his family, and located at Little Falls, N. J.
GARRIT ABEEL.
On Feb. 14, 1755, he was appointed by James De Lancey, Esq., His Majes- ty's Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Province of New York, and the territories depending thereon in America — iinsigi* of the company of militia foot of the city and county of New York, whereof David Abeel was Captain, and on April 15, 1760, he was appointed Lieutenant of the same company. In 1772 he was appointed Captain in place of his father, who
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resigned on account of advanced age. When troubles began wih the mother country, he immediately resigned his commission and offered his services to his native State, and Nov. 3, 1775, he was appointed Major of First Regiment, New York City Militia, Col. John Jay commanding. He was a member of the New York General Committee, Aug. 28, 1775; Chairman, 1776; Member of New- York Committee of Safety, 1776; Member of New York Provincial Congress, 1776-7. In a letter to his wife under date of June 19, 1776, he says : "The pub- lic have this day forced me into Congress, where I am to sit the second Tuesday of next month."
Under date of July 3, 1776, he writes: "The night before last, just after dark, there was an alarm that the fleet was under way and coming up ; the drums beat to Arms. I sat up till I found that the Tide was spent, and wind would not per- mit them to come up: then I went to bed. About n o'clock I was awakened by Col. Remsen, who came with an order to have our Regiment out by 4 o'clock in the morning. When I got up was hurried to go round to the Captain's to warn them ; before long the alarm guns were fired, and the fleet appeared in the Nar- rows; the drums beat to arms, and every one was ordered to his post. Mine was at the New Brick Meeting House, where our regiment parades. There I stayed till it was found that they were come to anchor under Staten Island. Capt. Randall has just informed me that they had only landed on Staten Island and drove the few Riflemen we had there to Elizabethtown point ; shall be a little easier, as two thousand men are going over to prevent their marching into the country. If they had landed here they must have met with a warm reception, as I judge we had Monday by 12 o'clock, 15,000 Men in the City and its neigh- borhood. To-morrow 7,000 Troops are expected from New England."
Col. Jay's regiment was soon after disbanded and the men joined other reg- iments, and Major Abeel was called to attend to his civil duties. On July 16 he writes from White Plains :
"I shall try next week to get permission to come and see you. as the con- sideration of forming a new government is postponed to the first of next month on account of the multiplicity of other necessary business which has come before the house since they have been here. We have only five New York members here at present, which is the exact number required to represent tho city and county in Congress ; hope some more will arrive in a few days."
The Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York assembled at Fishkill, Sept. 7, 1776, enacted the following:
Resolved, That a Committee of Safety and Correspondence for that part of the State which lies below the high Lands be immediately formed. That Col. Remsen, Major Abeel and Major Peter P. Van Zant be that Committee.
Resolved unanimously, That the Committee of Safety and Correspondence at New York be appointed and authorized to cause to be taken from the Doors of the Houses in the City of New York, all the Brass Knockers, an 1 they cause- the same to be sent to some careful Person at New Ark in New Jersey with all possible Dispatch— that the said Committee keep as accurate an Account as possible of the Weight and Value of them and of the Houses whence taken.
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in order that satisfaction may be hereafter made to the respective Owners "
Major Abeel served his country in various positions throughout the war. He was an active member of the Middle Dutch Church, in which he served as Deacon, 1764 and 1770, and an Elder in 1784. At the request of the corporation he wrote an account of the estate, revenue and income of the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church in the City of New York for different years, viz. : 1770, 1776, 1784 and 1786, showing the asse s and liabilities, from which it appears that the Manor of Fordham was sold in 1761, for £11,533, I7S-, 9d. When the North Church was being built be placed under a pillar near the pulpit a plate of pewter on which was inscribed the names of the Elders and Deacons, who comprised the Building Committee, the names of the carpenters, masons, etc., and also the fact that "The first stone was laid, July ye 2d, 1767, by Mr. Jacobus Rosevelt, Senr. Elder, &c." This plate was found when the church was torn down in 1875, and is still in possession of one of the members of the Consistory.
Major Abeel married Nov. 19, 1760, Mary Byvanck, daughter of Evert By- vanck and Mary Cannon.
Evert Byvanck was born June 15, 1705: resided at his country seat on the East River near the foot of Delancy Street, which he was obliged to leave as soon as i( was ascertained that the city would fall into the possession of British. He gives an interesting narrative of his efforts to get to horseneck, to which place he started on Aug. 31st, four days after the battle of Long Island. After relating some unimportant matters he says: "On Thursday, the 12th of September, I took my Chais, Horse and Negro Sam to drive, and went down to Corlears' Hook to my country seat. * * * * There being heavy firing of cannon from the two Batteries on Long Island [then in possession of the British] and two of ours on Corlears' Hook, on both sides of the house, was advised not to proceed farther, but being so near my house, about three-quarters of a mile off, I went out of my Chais and ventured to walk through a Lane which led me to the back part of my place, ordering my man to follow me with Horse and Chais. A heavy cannonade still kept on ; as we were going there several cannon balls ilew past us, and two balls struck a post and a rail of the Lane fence we passed through breast-high just before us; however, we got safe to the back part of my Land. * * * * That afternoon the Gentleman I took down with me in my Chais, came to me and importuned me to make all the haste I possibly could to get away out of imminent danger, as it was not in the least doubted but the King's Troops were preparing for landing, and by all likelihood would land next day or Sunday, at farthest, and I would or could not then escape being killed, wounded or taken prisoner, on which I took his advice, and after the firing of the Enemies' Cannon ceased, which was about six o'clock on Friday evening, 13 Sept.. I ordered my man Sam to put the horse in the Chais, and I proceeded that evening as far as the hill above Harlem to the place where Mr. Lawe Kortright had retired to, being a house belonging to Mr. Eagans of St. Croix, where I was kindly received, who told me he had removed his family to Hackensack that day, and intended in one or two days to follow them; his house and out- houses were filled with officers, attendants and their horses. About ten o'clock
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we were all preparing to go to bed, when a General who was there received orders to be with his several companies of Soldiers at one o'clock that night op- posite Turtle Bay and Kip's Bay, and to lay on their arms to obstruct the landing of the King's troops then hourly expected."
Under date of Jan. 28, 1777,, he writes: "It is reported that our Army of 12,000 New England Forces will endeavor to retake New York, and plunder it very much, as they judge no man that is true to this country has any business there more than those that are Tories, against whom they are much exasperated. Just this moment we received news that Gen. Washington was beating all the King's Troops back to New York, and hope in a short time to hear of their pack- ing off and leaving us in quiet possession of our Estates."
On Jan. 20, 1778, in a letter to his son, John, and his son-in-law, Garret Abeel, after describing the privations he had endured and the loss of his horse, stolen from the stable, he says: "I shall with all humility wait till the spring to see you and look out for deliverance from our cruel enemies ; I hope and Trust the Lord will work a deliverance in good time; I look nor wish for a patched up peace as my son John makes mention of in his letters to me; if the weather be good in April, if the troubles be not over sooner, I intend to come a foot to pay you a visit ; horse I have none nor know where to buy one."
He arrived at the house of his son-in-law, Garret Abeel, at Little Falls, N. J., where he died Monday, May 1, 1781, and was buried near there. His remains were subsequently removed to the family vault in the Middle Dutch Church, corner of Nassau and Liberty Streets.
Major Garret Abeel, by his wife Mary (Byvanck) Abeel, had eleven children, only two of whom are married, viz : Jane, who was married to Gasherie Brasher, son of Col. Abraham Brasher, who had served with distinction during the Revolutionary war, and was also a member of the Provincial Congress; and Garret Byvanck.
Garret Byvance Abeel, son of Major Garret Abeel, was born March 5, 1768. He continued the iron and hardware business of his father at the corner of James Slip and Cherry Street, until 1802, when he erected the building on Water Street, adjoining the one on South Street, since occupied by the Abeels and their successors. He died Dec. 21, 1829. He married Catharine Marschalk, daughter of Joseph Marschalk and Mary Schermerhorn. His wife died July 22, 1832. They had twelve children: Mary, married Edward Dunscomb; Cath- arine Schermerhorn, married Adrian H. Muller; Elizabeth, married Albert W. Wright ; Joanna, who remained single, died June 25, 1882, in the sixty-sixth year of her age; Theodore, born Aug. 11, 1810, graduated at Rutger's College, July 15, 1829, died Dec. 27, 1829; John Hozvard.
John Howard Abeel, son of Garret Byvanck and Catharine (Marschalk) Abeel, was born June 27, 1815, at No. 19 Park Place, New York City. He was prepared for college at Borland and Forrest Academy, but after the death of his father in 1829 he decided on a mercantile career. He entered the silk house of Downer & Co., in Hanover Square, but after a little over a year's experience he was induced to enter the employ of the old iron firm then conducted by
206
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Alfred and Edward Abeel. Edward died Jan. 18, 1832. Alfred took his brother George into partnership, who relinquished his law pratice, having graduated at
GARRET BYVANCE ABEEL.
Columbia College in 1822. In 1826 he was authorized to practice as attorney-at-law, by Hon. John T. Irving, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the City of New York. The same year he was appointed attorney in the Supreme Court, and in 1827 made solicitor by the Court of Chancery. Alfred died Dec. 14, 1835, and on Jan. 1, 1836, George took his brother John into partnership, and retired May 1, 1840, after which he spent most of his time in travel, both at home and abroad. He died Oct. 26, 1884, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. John Howard conducted the business alone for a few years, and as his sons became of age gave them an interest. He retired Jan. 1, 1870, leaving the business to his four sons. He died April 19, 1896.
He married Jan. 18, 1838, Catharine Emeline, daughter of Dr. John C. Strobel, an eminent physician of New York, who died of yellow fever, Oct. 15, 1822, during the great epidemic of that year. Dr. Strobel's wife was the daugh- ter of Francis Marschalk and Sarah Butler; she died Aug. 14, 1818. They had eight children : George, born Oct. 16, 1839 ; John Howard, Jr. ; Catharine, mar- ried Charles J. Canda, Assistant U. S. Treasurer, New York ; Louisa, married Dr. Samuel Kuypers Lyon, a prominent physician ; Alfred, born Oct. 14, 1844 (married Nov. 21, 1867, Rachel C, daughter of Ascher C. Havens; died May 8, 1871, leaving one son, Alfred,) ; Frederick H., born July 31, 1848, married Nov. 30, 1880, Helen Douglass; died Oct.. 7, 1887, leaving no issue.
GEORGE ABEEL, eldest child of John Howard and Catharine Emeline
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207
(Strobel) Abeel, was born at No. 90 Prince Street, Oct. 16, 1839. Receiving his education at the well-known school of Clark & Fanning, he acquired the requisite
JOHN HOWARD ABEEL.
knowledge and training to fit him for the responsible position to which he was soon to be called as the head of the oldest mercantile firm in New York City. After leaving school, he entered at once his father's employ, and after mastering all the details and technicalities of the business, became a partner with his father, and later his successor. Like his predecessors, he proved himself equal to every emergency, and the firm he represents has never yet failed to meet all its obligations and maintain the high credit for which it has always been noted. The old-fashioned ideas of honesty and business probity on which the house was founded are still kept up, and the ancestral pride is shown in the careful preserva- tion of books and papers of one hundred and fifty years ago, as well as the mil- itary commissions that tell the story of the honorable service rendered by their worthy sires during the days that tried men's souls.
Public honors have had no attraction for Mr. Abeel, and, except to fulfill his obligations as a citizen, he has taken no part in public affairs of any kind, know- ing that a man cannot give attention to one without neglecting the other. He is a trustee of the East River Savings Bank, a member of the St. Nicholas So-
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ciety, the Suburban Riding and Driving Club, Harlem Club, Historical Society, Museum Natural History, Zoological Society, Harlem Board of Commerce.
Mr. Abeel married Julia E. Guenther, daughter of Rev. Francis H. Guenther,
GEOUCE AREEL.
a well-known divine of Buffalo, a descendant of an old and prominent Saxon family. Their children are George H., born Oct. 21, 1862; Francis H., born Jan. 5, 1864; Henry Frascr.
HENRY FRASER ABEEL, youngest son of George and Julia E. (Guen- ther) Abeel, was born in New York City, Sept. 28, 1870. He was educated at the public school, and entered the employ of his father's firm, beginning at the lowest round of the ladder, and subject to the course of business training that would be required of any stranger. He reached his present position as a member of the firm, to which he was admitted Jan. 1, 1893, by his own efforts, and was well fitted to assume the responsibilities and obligations which such a position entails. Recognizing his duty as a citizen to maintain at all times the honor of his country, he joined the famous Seventh Regiment in 1890, and served the usual term as a member of Company B. His willingness to aid his fellow men is shown in his connection with the Masonic Fraternity as a member of Alma
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 200.
Lodge No. 728 of New York. He married Jesslyn Irene Forsythe, daughter of James Forsythe and Anna Moore. They have one child, Hazel Forsythe.
LINE OF DAVID ABEEL, ELDEST SON OF CAPT. DAVID, SON OF JOHANNES ABEEL.
DAVID ABEEL, Patriot of the Revolution, eldest son of Capt. David and Mary (Duyckinck) Abeel, was born in Albany, 1727. He married July 2, 1752, Neiltje, daughter of Garret Van Bergen and Annetje Meyer. He settled in Catskill as early as 1754. In 1771 he obtained a patent for one thousand acres of land "on the west side of. and adjoining the brook called the Caterskill, at a place called the Bak-Oven." This estate was within the bounds of the Catskill Patent, and was formerly owned by Abeel's father-in-law.
They had issue :
Annatie, born in Albany, March, 1753; died in infancy.
Anthony, born in Catskill, Oct. 9, 1754; died Feb. 25, 1822; married Oct. 6, 1797, Catharine Moon.
Garret, born in Catskill. March 27, 1757; died Oct. 23, 1829; married Eliza- beth Cantine.
Annatje, born April 8, 1760; married Jacobus B. Hasbrouck.
Catharine, born in Catskill, Sept. 28, 1765; died Aug. 24, 1829.
During the War of the Revolution there were living at the Bak-Oven, David Abeel, Neiltje, his wife, and their four children — Anthony, Gerrit, Catharine and Anna. The men of the household were zealous patriots, and between them and the few Tories in the neighborhood a bitter feud existed. One of these Tories, Jacobus Rowe, was especially malignant. He harbored the Indians when they came into the valley of the Catskill, and guided the Indians in their depre- dations throughout that neighborhood.
On a Sunday evening in 1780, a party of Indians with Jacobus Rowe and another Tory, entered the house of David Abeel. The inmates, who had been attending prayer meeting, were then at supper and were taken entirely by sur- prise. They had no time to take down their guns, which lay upon wooden baskets fastened to the walls and to the great beams of the ceiling. These weapons, however, would have been of no service, as the slaves of Abeel had been notified of the coming attack, and during the absence of the family in the afternoon, had removed the priming of the guns and had stuffed ashes into their pans. David and his son Anthony were made prisoners; Lon, a large and pow- erful slave of Abeel, assisting in binding his master. Owing to his extreme age he would doubtless have been released had he not inadvertently recognized his neighbor, Rowe, who was disguised as an Indian.
Gerrit Abeel, Anthony's youngest brother, had been spending the day at the Old Catskill parsonage, and as he approached his home he heard voices which at once aroused his suspicions, and, calling to his assistance a neighbor, the two hid themselves in a thicket near the path which led to the house, and waited. As the party passed, lantern in hand, Gerrit was about to fire, but his neighbor, who was paralyzed with fear, warned him that he might shoot his own father,
210 SON'S OF THE REVOLUTION.
and the party was allowed to escape unmolested. Their journey was through a vast and unbroken wilderness, and both captors and prisoners nearly died from hunger. They lived on dogs, roots and herbs and such other food as they could pick up. After reaching Fort Niagara, Anthony Abeel was made to run the gauntlet, his father being excused on account of his age. Anthony was notified that the Indians would attempt to stop him, and he would have to fight his way. Soon after he started, a young Indian stepped into the path and faced him. Anthony dealt him a powerful blow under the ear, much to the amusement of the crowd, and before they could recover he reached the goal without receiving a blow.
In May, 1781, the Abeels were confined in the Prevot at Montreal with thieves, murderers, deserters and captive Americans. They suffered great hard- ship, and, in May of the following year, they determined to break their parple and endeavor to escape. On the evening of the 10th of September, 1782, every- thing being in readiness, they went to their room to go to bed, but jumping out of the window with their packs they groped their way to the lower end of the island, seized a boat and began the descent of the St. Lawrence. After many mishaps and much suffering, the party reached the headquarters of Gen. Bailey, upon the lower Coos on the 29th of September. They were treated with great kindness, provided with clothes and shoes and an abundance of food, and, after resting, continued their journey home. David Abeel died Feb. 1813, in the 87th year of his age, and was buried upon a ridge between his house and the highway.
Gerrit Abeel son of David and Neiltje (Van Bergen) Abeel, was born in Catskill, March 2~, 1757. About 1785 he moved to Catskill Landing, and built for himself a stone house. He was for many years a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Greene County. Though not a lawyer by profession, he was endowed with strong common sense and an innate love of justice which was administered impartially, and his rulings seldom appealed from. He died Oct. 23, 1829. He married Elizabeth Cantine. Their Children were:
David Gerrit, born April 1, 1783; Anthony, Eleanor, Charles Cantine, Betsy, Ann, Catharine, Mary, John, Moses.
David Gerrit Abeel, eldest child of Gerrit and Elizabeth (Cantine) Abeel, was born April 1, 1783; died April 29, 1868. He married April 28, 1804, Nellie Goetschius, daughter of Jacob and Catharine Schuneman. Their children were:
Eliza Catharine, born Oct. 18. 1805: unmarried.
Amelia Emeline, born Feb. 23, 1807 ; married May 8, 1839, Jeremiah Romeyn.
Gerrit Nelson, born Oct. 18, 1809; married Dec. 6, 1836, Alida Wynkoop ; died 1874.
Eleanor, born Feb. 1, 1812; married, 1st. George Phillips; 2d, Frank Parsons.
Jane, born Dec. 23, 1815: died March 27, 1862; unmarried.
Charles Cantine, born Aug. 5, 1817.
John, born June 30, 1821.
Christine C, born Sept. 1, 1825; married Henry Seelye.
Frances Mary, born Jan. 8. 1828; married June 25, 1850, Abram Winne.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 211
They had issue : Emily Winne Webster. Frank N. and Lida Winne Dakin.
Charles Cantine Abeel, son of David Gerrit and Nellie Goetschius (Schuneman) Abeel, was born Aug. 5, 1817; died Aug. 18, 1890. He married Jennie Foland, daughter of Jacob Foland and Annie Gardner. They had issue : F. Romeyn, Charles C, Annie S., Emily E., Nellie B. and David G.
SUPPLEMENT
SECTION I
— OF—
THE HEROES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THEIR DESCENDANTS.
HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY
Sons of the American Revolution,
INCLUDING THE
ANCESTRAL LINE
FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS.
1898.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. NATIONAL SOCIETY.
At no period in the history of our country (unless we except that of the Civil War) has the patriotism of the American people been so thoroughly aroused as during the past decade, and this has led to the organization of numerous patriotic societies in almost every State in the Union. The history of the movement which began some twenty years ago, culminating in the organization of the society known as the Sons of the American Revolution, was published in the "Year Book" of this Society, in 1890, prepared by Henry Hall, Historian- General of the National Society. From this we extract the following :
" These associations are the product of the recent period of celebrations of centennial anniversaries of the Revolutionary War. Beginning in 1875 with the great celebration in Massachusetts of the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of Lexington, and including, among others, the centenaries of Independence, the surrender of Yorktown, completion of the Constitution, and evacuation of New York, these celebrations formed a brilliant and patriotic series of public rejoicings, culminating in the memorable demonstration of April 30th and May 1st, 1889, in New York in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States. They revived the glorious memories of Revolutionary days ; they inspired a pride in Revolutionary ancestry, a shame that the country had come to neglect the annual observance of the Fourth of July and Washington's birthday, and a new respect for the principles of popular government ; and they led, by a very natural and direct process, to the formation of societies of men of Revolutionary descent, who charged themselves with perpetuating the memory of the men of the Revolution, and of commending to the mass of the American people (the foreign born element particularly) the principles upon which the fathers had established the government.
"There seemed to exist a public necessity for the formation of societies of this character, growing out of the gradual disappearance from view, the principal- ism and the narrow field of activity of the once famous Society of the Cincinnati. Limited in membership to the commissioned officers of the Revolution and their eldest male descendants, in strict order of primogeniture, and confined in locality to the thirteen original States and to France, the Cincinnati could never have been in any event a really national order. * * *
" In 1876 a detachment of descendants of officers, soldiers and seamen of the Revolutionary War was collected in the city of San Francisco, Cal.,for participation in the local celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the Fourth of July. It was, after ihe ceremonies of the day, organized as a permanent society, under the title of 'California Society of Sons of Revolutionary Sires.' A similar movement was inaugurated in the city of New York, and the example thus set was inaugurated in other States. In 1888 a society of the 'Sons of the Revolution' was organized in Pennsylvania. Early in 1889, with a view to participate in the centennial cele-
4 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
bration in New York city, on the 30th of April, of that year, societies of the ' Sons of the Revolution ' were formed in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, Con- necticut, New Hampshire, Missouri, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
" Simultaneously with the formation of the new State societies and, indeed, as a natural and necessary part of the movement, steps were taken for the insti- tution of a National Society to bind together the various local branches of the order. Unable to develop and bring together the new local societies in time to muster them as a part of the grand parade in New York city, on April 30, 1889, the organizers of the movement determined, nevertheless, not to let that day pass without founding their National Society. Every effort was put forth to bring about a meeting of delegates for that purpose, and the work was triumphantly accomplished, thus giving to the country on the one hundredth anniversary of Washington's inauguration as first President of the United States, a national society entitled, ' Sons of the American Revolution' — young, vigorous, American in its plan of organization, and with unlimited capacity for growth, which should carry forward in this country the patriotic work originally undertaken by the Society of the Cincinnati.
" One motive in the formation of the National Society, S. A. R., grew out of the position taken by the local society in New York city toward the whole move- ment. The New York society was organized as a purely local association. But as years passed by, the managers of the society adopted a theory that societies in other States ought to be auxiliary branches of the one in New York, and the only general or national officers of the order throughout the United States, ought to be those elected at the annual meeting in New York city, or, in other words, the officers of the New York society. * * *
" Still another motive governed the founders of the National Society, S. A. R. Early in the movement for the creation of associations of descendants of the men of the Revolution, it was seen that if the Societies of this class could be made to exist in every part of the United States, founded upon the glorious memories and warm friendships of the period of the Revolution, they might prove of immense importance in the future history of the country. What an influence for peace they might have been in i860 and 1861 ! The glories and triumphs of the Revolution are the common heritage of North and South, of East and West ! It was one of the distinct purposes of the organizers of the Sons of the American Revolution to create a National Society, in which the men of all sections of the United States might unite, with no thought of sectionalism and with no feeling except that of the purest fraternity and patriotic affection for a common country.
"March 7, 1889, there were in existence only the California Society of Sons of Revolutionary Sires, and the New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Societies of Sons of the Revolution. Upon that day the newly formed New Jersey society adopted the following preamble and resolution :
" Whereas, There are now organized Societies of the Sons of the Revolution in the States of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; and
" Whereas, It is desirable, in view of the approaching one hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States, that there shall be sister societies organized in every State and Territory in the Union, particularly in the thirteen original States, that their members may participate in this centennial celebration.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 5
" RESOLVED, That the president of this society, when elected, and the two delegates to the National Society, are hereby appointed a committee to invite the appointment of a like committee from the New York and Pennsylvania societies, to cooperate with them and to meet with the descendants of revolutionary ancestors in the different States and Territories, and assist in organizing societies whose membership shall be composed exclusively of descendants of revolutionary states- men, soldiers and sailors.
"William O. McDowell, of Newark, Gen. William S. Stryker, of Trenton, and Josiah C. Pumpelly, of Morristown, were appointed a committee to carry out the purposes of the resolution. Printed slips were sent to all the leading newspapers in the United States, setting forth the desire for the formation of State societies and requesting correspondence with the New Jersey committee on the part of those interested, and letters were addressed to the Governors of the several States, asking the use of rooms at the capitols for preliminary meetings. Favorable replies were received from all parts of the country, and definite action was taken in a number of States. By the 30th of April, 1889, thirteen societies were in existence, as follows: California, organized July 4, 1876; New York, organized Dec. 4, 1883; Pennsylvania, organized April 3, 1888; New Jersey, organized March 7, 1889; Connecticut, organized April 2, 1889; Vermont, organized April 2, 1889; South Carolina, organized April 18, 1889; Massachusetts, organized April 19, 1889; Maryland, organized April 20, 1889; Ohio, organized April 22, 1889; Missouri, organized Apiil 23, 1889; Kentucky, organized April 23, 1889; New Hampshire, organized April 24, 1889.
" On April 10, 1889, Mr. Pumpelly, as secretary of the committee, sent notice to the several societies, requesting them to send delegates to a meeting to take place at 9 A. M., April 30, 1889, the one hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States, in Fraunces's Tavern, New York, corner of Pearl and Broad Streets, in the room where General Washington made his farewell address to the officers of the revolution- ary army. The New Jersey committee having found it impracticable to visit every State for the organization of local societies before April 30, addressed a circular to the Governors of the remaining States and of the Territories, requesting them to appoint three delegates, descendants of a revolutionary ancestry, by either the male or female line, to represent those in their States entitled to mem- bership, at the organization of the National Society, and after the adjournment, to take charge of organizing their State societies.
" Pursuant to call, the National Convention assembled at Fraunces's Tavern, in the City of New York, at 9 A. M., April 30, 1889. The following States were represented : California— -The Hon. Hamilton Fish, Col. A. S. Hubbard, Col. David Wilder and Major George B. Halstead*. delegates ; the Hon. Rutherford B. Hayes, the Hon. Charles K. Dennison and Mr. Charles James King, alternates. Pennsyl- vania— Dr. Herman Burgin and Josiah G. Leach*. New Jersey— William O. McDowell*, Gen. William S. Stryker and Josiah C. Pumpelly*, delegates; John J. Hubbell* and Paul Revere*, alternates. Vermont— The Hon. L. E. Chittenden. Connecticut— The Hon. Lucius P. Deming*, the Hon. Samuel E. Merwin, David Clark, Frank I. Starr*, Franklin H. Hart* and the Rev. Timothy Dwight, D.D., LL.D.* South Carolina— Governor J. P. Richardson, the Hon. Wade Hampton. Dr. N. N. Tulley, Col. Wm. McMaster, N. G. Gonzales and G. L. Calloway*,
6 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Massachusetts— The. Hon. Charles T. Saunders, Luther L. Tarbel'*, Clarence Stuart Ward* and N. C. Upham. Maryland— The Rev. John G. Morris, D.D., Lieut. James C. Cresap, U. S. N.* and the Hon. E. W. Lecompte. Ohio— The Rev. W. R. Paisons, Wilson L. Gill* and George W. Gill. Missouri — The Hon. Gaius Paddock* and Jared Flagg. Kentucky — The Hon. Simon B. Buckner, Judge William Lindsay and Gen. Samuel E. Hill. New Hampshire — The Hon. Charles R. Morrison*, the Hon. H. K. Slayton* and Frederick Leighton.* Indiana— The Hon. John C. New, H. S. New, Merrill Moores and Dr. G. W. Mc- Connell. Delaware — The Hon. Andrew J. Woodman*. West Virginia — The Hon. J. B. Jackson, H. S. Walker, the Hon. Bushrod C. Washington and E. W, Wilson. Arkansas— Col. Samuel W. Williams, the Hon. Josiah H. Shinn and Jas, Mitchell. Alabama— Charles C. Page, M.D.* Illinois— Dr. George B. Abbott*.
'•The following committee on constitution and by-laws and on nomination of permanent officers, to consist of one delegate from each State, was appointed : William O. McDowell, chairman ; the Hon. C. R. Morrison, of New Hampshire; Luther L. Tarbell, of Massachusetts; Wilson L. Gill, of Ohio; Dr. George B. Abbott, of Illinois ; the Hon. Lucius P. Deming, of Connecticut ; Charles C. Page, M.D., of Alabama; Andrew J. Woodman, of Delaware; Major G. B. Halstead, of California ; Lieut. James C. Cresap, of Maryland ; the Hon. Gaius Paddock, of Missouri ; G. L. Calloway, of South Carolina and Josiah Pumpelly, of New Jersey."
The draft of the Constitution was made or dictated by Hon. Lucius P. Deming.
Name. Article I. of the Constitution declares the name to be " The Society of the Sons of the Revolution."
Purposes. The purposes of the society, as defined by Article II., are to keep active among ourselves and our descendants, and in the community, the patriotic spirit of the men who achieved American Independence ; to collect and secure for preservation, the manuscript rolls, records and other documents relat- ing to the War of the Revolution, and to promote social intercourse and fellow- ship among its members now and hereafter.
Eligibility for Membership. Article III. states that, "Any person may be eligible for membership in a State society who is above the age of twenty- one years and who is descended from an ancestor that assisted, while acting in any of the following capacities, in establishing American Independence during the War of the Revolution : a military or naval officer, a soldier or sailor, an official in the service of any of the thirteen original States or Colonies, a recognized patriot who rendered material service to the cause of independence. But nothing herein contained shall preclude any State society from prescribing such requisites of eligibility for membership therein, within the foregoing limits as it shall deem proper and expedient."
Section VII. provides for and defines the duties of a Board of Management of the National Society.
The following named gentlemen were elected officers of the National Society :
President— The Hon. Lucius P. Deming, New Haven, Conn.
Vice-Preside7it-at-Large — William O. McDowell, Newark, N. J.
Vice-Presidents by States — Col. A. S. Hubbard, San Francisco, Cal.; Gov.
'Those actually present.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 7
Simon B. Buckner, Frankfort, Ky.; the Hon. Hamilton Fish, New York City; the Hon. J. C. Kinney, Hartford, Conn.; the Hon. C. H. Dennison, Portland, Me.; the Hon. H. C. Washington, Charlestown, W. Va.; Gov. D. R. Francis, St. Louis, Mo.; Col. Samuel C. Williams, Little Rock, Ark.; the Hon. Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, Indiana ; the Hon. G. B. West, Birmingham, Ala.; Gov. Wade Hampton, Columbia, S. C; Gov. Robert S. Green, New Jersey ; the Rev. John G. Morris, D.D., Baltimore, Md.; the Hon. L. L. Tarbell, Marlboro, Mass.; the Hon. Rutherford B. Hayes, Freemont, Ohio ; the Hon. H. K. Slayton, Manchester, N. H.; Mons. de Lafayette, Senateur, Paris, France; Gov. W. P. Dillingham, Montpelier, Vt.; Admiral D. D. Porter, U. S. N. for Dist. of Columbia.
Chaplain— -The Rev. Timothy Dwight, D.D., LL.D., Yale College.
Secretary— Lieut. James C. Cresap, U. S. N., Annapolis, Md.
Assistant Secretaries— Charles James King, San Francisco, Cal.; G. L. Calloway, Greenville, S. C; Wilson L. Gill, Columbus, Ohio.
Treasurer — Gaius Paddock, St. Louis, Mo.
Registrar— Gen. William S. Stryker, Trenton, N. J.
During the first year of the National Society, meetings were held by the Board of Managers upon July 12 and Oct. 23, 1889, Feb. 12 and March 22, 1890, in New York City, and April 29, 1890, in Louisville, Ky.; and by the Executive Committee, Dec. 7-21, 1889, and Jan. 25, Feb. 12 and March 1, 1890, in New York City. At a meeting held July 12, 1889, Hon. W. H. English, of Indiana, was elected in place of Hon. Benjamin Harrison, resigned. October 23, 1889. — An Executive Committee was appointed, consisting of the Hon. Lucius P. Deming, Wm. O. McDowell, Charles H. Saunders, Dr. Wm, Seward Webb and G. L. Calloway. The election of Luther L. Tarbell as Registrar, vice Gen. W. H. Stryker, resigned. Resignation of President-Gen. Deming and election of Dr. Wm. Seward Webb in his stead.* December 21, 1889. — Certificate of membership, also badge and rosette adopted, the badge having been designed by Major Gold- smith B. West ; the rosette, red and white. Jan. 25, 1890. — Election of Vice- Presidents, as follows: The Rt. Rev. Chas. E. Cheney, for Illinois; William H. Brearly, for Michigan ; Gov. W. D. Hoard, for Wisconsin, and Gen. J. B. Sanborn, for Minnesota. Election of James Otis as Treasurer-General, vice the Hon Gaius Paddock, resigned. Gen. Alexander S. Webb invited to preside at the National Congress, at Louisville. Adoption of titles for general officers. Feb. 12, 1890. — Executive Committee reconstructed as follows : Dr. William Seward Webb, the Hon. Lucius P. Deming, the Hon. E. S. Barrett, Major Goldsmith B. West, Wm. O. McDowell, the Hon. Robert S. Green and Luther L. Tarbell, with Lieut. James C. Cresap, as Secretary. Election of Hon. Wm. H. Arnoux, Vice-President for New York. Change of ribbon to blue and white. March 22, 1890.— Hon. Wm. H. Arnoux, Gen. Alexander S. Webb and Wilson L. Gill appointed a Committee on Revision of the Constitution. April 29, 1890. — Committee on Credentials for the Congress appointed, thus : The Hon. E. S. Barrett, the Hon. E. J. Hill, John W. Buchanan and William F. Cregar. Lieut. J. C. Cresap placed on Committee on Constitution, vice Wilson L. Gill.
During such intervals as could be snatched from their business occupations,
*At the meeting of the Board of Managers which elected Dr. Webb President-General, at his urgent request Hon. Lucius P. Deming was elected first and acting Vice-President-General.
8 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
the officers of the National Society, during the summer of 1889, strove to carry on the work which had been entrusted to them. Overtures were made by the Sons of the Revolution to unite the two societies and lengthy correspondence followed. Mr. Fred S. Tallmadge, the President of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, in concluding this correspondence, says : " I fully appreciate the benefit of harmonious action, so that we may be a unit ; but the society may well object, after six years' hard work, to being merged into a National Society, so called, where their individuality shall be surrendered and lost, and where their insignia, their ' muniments of title ' be lost, or at least shall be at the mercy of men who may not appreciate what they have done. They would prefer, I think, to adopt, as their motto, the request of Mr. Jefferson Davis at the begin- ning of the Rebellion, ' Let us alone.' "
On January 17, 1890, the National Society was incorporated in the State of Connecticut, through the efforts of its first President, Judge Deming. The national character of the order having made its incorporation desirable, identical bills were introduced into Congress on April 9, 1890, by Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, and on the 10th by Congressman McAdoo, of New Jersey, for that purpose. They were referred to the Committee on the Library, which promptly reported back to both houses in favor of its passage. The bill is as follows :
A Bill to Incorporate the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. "Be IT ENACTED, etc., That David D. Porter, of the District of Columbia; William H. Arnoux and James Otis, of New York ; William Seward Webb and Theodore S. Peck, of Vermont ; Timothy Dwight, Lucius P. Deming and J. Coddington Kinney, of Connecticut ; Rutherford B. Hayes and Wilson L. Gill, of Ohio ; Wade Hampton, of South Carolina ; Simon B. Buckner, of Kentucky ; John B. Gordon, of Georgia ; Robert L. Taylor, of Tennessee ; Robert S. Green and William O. McDowell, of New Jersey ; Edwin S. Barrett and Luther L. Tarbell, of Massachusetts; John G. Morris, James C. Cresap and W. Francis Cregar, of Maryland ; A. S. Hubbard and Charles J. King, of California ; Charles E. Cheney, of Illinois; William H. English, of Indiana; Charles H. Dennison, of Maine; William II. Brearley, of Michigan ; John B. Sanborn, of Minnesota; D. B. Francis, of Missouri ; Hiram E. Hall, of Washington ; Atwood Violett, of Louisiana ; Edmund de Lafayette, of France; Zebulon B. Vance, of North Carolina; William D. Hoard, of Wisconsin ; P'itzhugh Lee, of Virginia ; James A. Beaver, of Penn- sylvania; John J. Jacobs, of West Virginia; Elisha B. Andrews, of Rhode Island; H. K. Slayton, of New Hampshire; Joseph E.Johnston and Goldsmith Bernard West, of Alabama; Samuel W. Wilson, of Arkansas; Lyman E. Knapp, of Alaska; H. R. Wolcott, of Colorado ; A. J. Woodman, of Delaware ; William B. Allison, of Iowa; L. Bradford Prince, of New Mexico; George L. Miller, of Nebraska ; W. F. Wheeler, of Montana ; Charles E. Hooker, of Mississippi ; William Kapus, of Oregon ; George Pettigrew, of South Dakota ; their associates and successors, are hereby created, in the District of Columbia, a body corporate and politic, by the name of the ' Sons of the American Revolution,' to perpetu- ate the memory and spirit of the men who achieved American independence, by the encouragement of historical research in relation to the Revolution, and the
INSIGNIA OF THE SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. g
publication of its results ; the preservation of documents and relics and of the records of the individual services of Revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and the promotion of celebrations of all patriotic anniversaries ; to carry out the injunc- tion of Washington in his farewell address to the American people, ' to promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of know- ledge,' thus developing an enlightened public opinion and affording to young and old such advantages as shall develop in them the largest capacity for performing the duties of American citizens ; to cherish, maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom ; to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty. Said association is authorized to hold real and personal estate in the District of Columbia so far only as may be necessary to its lawful ends, to an amount not exceeding $500,000 ; to adopt a constitution and to make by-laws not inconsistent with this law. Said association shall have its principal office at Washington, in the District of Columbia, and may hold its annual meetings in such places as the said incorporators shall determine. Said association shall report annually to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion concerning its proceedings. Said Secretary shall communicate to Congress the whole of such reports or of such portion thereof as he shall see fit. The regents of the Smithsonian Institution are authorized to permit said association to deposit its collections, manuscripts, books, pamphlets and other material for history in the Smithsonian Institution or in the National Museum, at their discre- tion, upon such conditions and under such rules as they shall prescribe."
Seal. The seal adopted by the society is two and three-eighths of an inch in diameter, charged with the figure of a minute man grasping a musket in his right hand and surrounded by a constellation of thirteen stars, who is depicted in the habit of a husbandman of the period of the American Revolution, as in the act of deserting the plough for the service of his country, the whole encircled by a band three-eighths of an inch wide, within which appears the legend, " National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, organized April 30, 1889."
This seal was designed by Edwin S.Barrett, the present (1897) President- General.
Insignia. The insignia of the society consists of (1) a cross surmounted by an eagle in gold or silver ; (2) a duplicate for the same in miniature ; (3) a rosette. The cross to be of silver, with four arms, in miniature, and eight white enameled points, same size as Chevalier's Cross of the Legion of Honor of France, with a gold medallion in the centre, bearing on the obverse a bust of Washington in profile, and on the reverse the figure of a minute man surrounded by a ribbon enameled blue, with the motto Libertas et Patria on the obverse, and the legend " Sons of the American Revolution " on the reverse, both in letters of gold. The cross is surmounted by an eagle in gold or silver, and the whole decoration suspended from a ring of gold by a ribbon of deep blue with white edges, and may be worn by any member of the society on ceremonial occasions only, and shall be carried on the left breast, or, if an officer, at the collar.
The duplicate to have all the essential features of the cross, but to be miniature size.
The rosette to be seven-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, of usual pattern, displaying the colors of the society, and may be worn by all members at discretion, in the upper left hand button-hole of the coat.
IO SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
CERTIFICATE of Membership. Soon after Dr. Webb was elected Presi- dent-General, he appointed Luther L. Tarbell and Hon. Lucius P. Denning a committee to design and have executed a Certificate of Membership. These gentlemen met in the city of Boston with an officer of the American Bank Note Company, and together they arranged and designed the Certificate of Membership, which was submitted to President-General Webb and the Board of Managers and adopted by them. The bill for same, which amounted to $600, was paid by Dr. Webb.
FIRST CONGRESS OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY.
The second year in the history of the Sons of the American Revolution began with societies in actual operation in twenty-eight States, a membership of 2,500 men, and with organizing committees in existence in every other State and every Territory of the Union. In accordance with requirements of the constitution, the year was introduced by the assembling of the first annual congress of the order on April 30,1890,311(1 this body met in the city of Louisville, Ky., at the Gait House. The congress was called to order and the address of welcome given by Hon. Simon B. Buckner, then governor of Kentucky, and was responded to by Gen. Alexander S. Webb, in fitting terms. Gen. Webb was the presiding officer on this occasion. It was the first meeting between many of the old army veterans of the North and South since the war, and Gen. Webb, a gallant soldier, who fought in the Northern army from the beginning to the close of the war, extended a hearty greeting to the men of the South, reminding them of the great sacrifice made by our Revolutionary ancestors to establish the independence of the colonies, the men of the North and South standing shoulder to shoulder, battling for their rights against a common foe, the last act in the great drama being enacted on Southern soil, the soldiers of the North and South sharing equally the glory, and establishing a perpetual union in which sectional animosities should have no place. In the words of Abraham to Lot, ' Let there be no strife between me and thee, between thy herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we be brethren."
[Judge Deming, acting in his capacity of Vice-President-General, surrendered his right to preside over that congress to Gen. Alexander S. Webb, brother of Dr. Webb, out of compliment to Dr. Webb and his genial and talented brother. At that meeting Dr. Webb was again elected President-General and Hon. Lucius P. Deming, Vice-President-General.]
The following is a list of the delegates who met on this occasion at Louis- ville, Ky., April 30, 1890, represented by the following general officers, about one- third of whom were present : President-General — Dr. William Seward Webb, New York; Vice-President-General — Hon. Lucius P. Deming, New Haven; Vice- Presidents— F "or the State of Alabama, Major Goldsmith Bernard West*, Birming- ham ; for Arkansas, Col. Samuel W. Williams, Little Rock ; for California, Col. A. S. Hubbard, San Francisco ; for Connecticut, Major J. C. Kinney, Hartford ; for Delaware, the Hon. Andrew J. Woodman, Wilmington; for Illinois, the Rt. Rev. C. E. Cheney, LL.D., Chicago ; for Indiana, the Hon. W. H. English, Indianapo- lis ; for Kentucky, the Hon. S. B. Buckner*, Frankfort ; for Maine, the Hon. C. H. Dennison. Wiscassett ; for Maryland, the Rev. John G. Morris, D.D., Baltimore ; for Massachusetts, the Hon. Edwin S. Barrett*, Boston ; for Michigan, the Hon. W. H. Brearley*, Detroit ; for Minnesota, the Hon. J. B. Sanborn, St. Paul ; for Missouri, the Hon. D. R. Francis, Jefferson City ; for New Hampshire, the
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. II
Hon. H. K. Slayton, Manchester; for New Jersey, the Hon. Robert S. Green, Elizabeth ; for New York, the Hon. Wm. H. Arnoux*, New York City; for South Carolina, the Hon. Wade Hampton, Columbia; for Ten- nessee, the Rev. D. C. Kelley, LL.D.*, Nashville ; for Vermont, the Hon. W. P. Dillingham, Montpelier ; for Virginia, the Hon. Fitzhugh Lee, Richmond ; for West Virginia, the Hon. John J. Jacobs, Wheeling ; for Wisconsin, the Hon. Wm. D. Hoard, Madison ; for District of Columbia, Admiral D. D. Porter, U. S. N., Washington ; for France, Edmon de Lafayette, Paris. Secretary-General — Lieut. J. C. Cresap*, U. S. N., Annapolis ; Assistant Secretaries — General Charles J. King, of San Francisco ; Wilson L. Gill, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and William Francis Cregar*, of Annapolis, Md.; Treasurer-General — James Otis, New York City; Registrar-General— Luther L. Tarbell*, Boston ; Chaplain — Rev. Timothy Dwight, LL.D., New Haven, Conn.
Section 2, Article III., of the Constitution adopted by this Congress states that " For the purpose of making more nearly perfect the records of our Revo- lutionary ancestors and their descendants, any woman of Revolutionary ancestry may file a record of her ancestors' services and of her line of descent, with the Registrar, who shall send a duplicate to the Registrar-General."
Section 1, Article IV., states that " The officers of the National Society shall be a President-General, three Honorary Vice-Presidents-General, a Secretary- General, Treasurer-General, Registrar-General, Historian-General, Surgeon-Gen- eral and Chaplain, who shall be elected by ballot by a vote of the majority of the members present at the annual meeting of the Congress of the society, and who shall hold office for one year and until their successors shall be elected," etc.
The following general officers were successively elected by unanimous vote of the Congress: President-General— Dr. William Seward Webb, of New York. Vice-Presidents-General — The Hon. Lucius P. Deming, of Connecticut ; the Hon. Simon B. Buckner, of Kentucky ; the Hon. William H. Arnoux, of New York ; Josiah C. Pumpelly, of New Jersey, and Admiral David D. Porter, U. S. N., of the District of Columbia. Secretary-General — Lieut. James C. Cresap, U. S. N., of the District of Columbia. Registrar-General -Luther L. Tarbell, of Massa- chusetts. Historian-General — William Francis Cregar, of Maryland. Surgeon- General — William Thorndyke Parker, M.D., of Rhode Island. Chaplain-General — The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Cheney, Bishop of Illinois.
Officers, 1891: President-General -Dr. William Seward Webb, of New York. Past-President-General — Judge Lucius P. Deming, of Connecticut. Honorary Vice-Presidents-General— Admiral David D. Porter, U. S. N., and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, of the District of Columbia ; Hon. Edwin Shepard Barrett, of Massachusetts. Vice-Presidents-General— Judge Lucius P. Deming, of Con- necticut ; Gov. Simon B. Buckner, of Kentucky ; ex-Judge William H. Arnoux, of New York ; Joseph C. Pumpelly, of New Jersey ; George Brown Goode, Ph.D., of the Dis- trict of Columbia. Secretary-General — Lieut. James C. Cresap, U. S. N., of Mary- land. Treasurer-General -James Otis, of New York. Acting Treasurer-General —Frank Smith, of New York. Registrar-General— Luther L. Tarbell, of Massa- chusetts ; Historian-General— Andrew D. Melleck, Jr., of New Jersey. Surgeon- General— William T. Parker, M.D., of Massachusetts. Chaplain-General— Rt. Rev. Charles Edward Cheney, D.D., LL.D., of Illinois.
"Those actually present.
12 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Officers, 1892: President-General— Gen. Horace Porter, New York. Vice- Presidents-General— ]or\a\\\a.n Trumbull, of Connecticut ; Gen. J. C. Breckenridge, U. S. A.; Hon. Henry M. Shepard, of Illinois ; Gen. Theodore S. Peck, of Ver- mont ; Paul Revere, of New Jersey. Honorary Vice-Presidents-General — Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, LL.D., of New York; Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware; Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, of Maryland. Secretary-General — A. Howard Clark, District of Columbia. Registrar-General — Prof. George Brown Goode, District of Columbia. Historian-General — Henry Hall, of New York City. Surgeon- General — Dr. Aurelius Bovven, of Nebraska. Chaplain-General — Rt. Rev. Chas. E. Cheney, D.D., of Illinois.
Officers, 1893: President-General — Gen. Horace Porter, New York. Vice- Presidents-General — Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, New York ; Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, Maryland ; Hon. John Whitehead, New Jersey; Rev. Willard Parsons, Ohio ; Hon. William English, Indiana. Secretary-General — Franklin Murphy, Newark, N. J. Historian-General — Henry Hall, New York. Registrar-General — A. Howard Clark, Washington, D. C. Treasurer-General — C. W. Haskins, New York. Chaplain-General — Bishop Charles E. Cheney, Chicago, 111.
Officers, 1894: /'resident General — Gen. Horace Porter, LL.D., New York. Vice-Presidents-General — Gen. J. C. Breckenridge, U. S. A.; Col. Thomas M. Anderson, U. S. A.; William Ridgely Griffiths, Baltimore, Md.; Edwin S. Barrett, Concord, Mass.; John Whitehead, Morristown, N. J. Secretary-General — Frank- lin Murphy, Newark, N. J. Treasurer-General — C. W. Haskins, New York. Registrar-General — A. Howard Clark, Washington, D. C. Historian-General — Henry Hall, New York. Chaplain-General — Rt. Rev. Charles Edward Cheney, D.D., Chicago, 111.
Officers, 1895: President-General — Gen. Horace Porter, LL.D. J'ice- Presidents-General— Gen. J. C. Breckenridge, U.S. A.; Col. Thomas M.Ander- son, U. S. A.; Edwin S. Barrett; John Whitehead ; Cushman K. Davis, St. Paul, Minn. Secretary-General — Franklin Murphy. Treasurer-General — C. W. Has- kins. Registrar-General — A. Howard Clark. Historian-General — Henry Hall. Chaplain-General — Rt. Rev. Charles Edward Cheney, D.D.
Officers, 1896: President-General— Gen. Horace Porter, LL.D. Vice- Presidents-General — Col. Thomas M. Anderson, U. S. A.; Edwin S. Barrett ; John Whitehead ; William Ridgeley Griffiths, Baltimore, Md.; William Wirt Henry, Richmond, Va. Secretary-General — Franklin Murphy. Treasurer-General —
C. W. Haskins. Registrar-General — A. Howard Clark. Historian-General — Henry Hall. Chaplain-General '— Rt. Rev. Charles Edward Cheney, D.D.
Officers, 1897: President-General — Edwin S. Barrett, Concord, Mass. Vice- Presidents-General — Col. Thomas M. Anderson, U. S. A., Vancouver Barracks, Wash.; John Whitehead, Morristown, N. J.; James M. Richardson, Cleveland, O.; Capt. Samuel Eberly Cross, Chicago, 111.; Gen. J. C. Breckenridge, Washington,
D. C. Acting Secretary-General — Henry Hall. Treasurer-General — C. W. Haskins. Registrar-General— A. Howard Clark. Historian-General— -Henry Hall. Chaplain-General — Rev. Charles E. Cheney, D.D.
Gen. Horace Porter served as President-General for a portion of 1897, until his departure for France, and Edwin S. Barrett, of Concord, Mass., was elected to fill the unexpired term.
DEMING— SLAUTER— RUSSELL.
Hon. Lucius P. Deming, First President-General of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, was the "peacemaker" who sought to reconcile the differences between and unite the two societies. He left no stone unturned to accomplish this much-to-be-desired event. The report states that, "Judge Deming began a correspondence with both the Pennsylvania and New York Societies, and solicited the offices of both to aid him in removing the obstacles, whatever they might be, which stood in the way of union. In the most generous and admirable spirit, he offered to resign and permit the election of a new President of the National Society, and he assured the New York Society, especially, that their Society would, in the united brotherhood, by reason of its prestige and large membership, occupy a virtually controlling position." In his letter to President Tallmadge, of the S. of R., he says : " In all that has been done, care has been taken not to offend the New York Society. Being the largest society, the oldest society in the Eastern States, and counting among its members gentlemen of national reputation, it was, and is admitted, that New York should take the lead in this movement, not that New York should be recognized as the National Society and grant charters, but that her influence should be recognized as leading and directing the movement. If you could simply drop out of your Constitution Articles 6 and 7, your society will then stand upon a level and equality with all other societies. * * * * If that could be done, I should resign as President and a new President, possibly yourself, from your own State, could be elected at once." In connection with this it is noteworthy that the ancestor of President Tallmadge, was one of the founders of New Haven, the present residence of Judge Deming.
John Deming, the Connecticut ancestor of the family, who settled in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1635, died there 1705, was one of the nineteen (including his father-in-law, Richard Treat) to whom was granted the charter of Connecticut, April 23, 1662. He was a representative to the General Court several times from 1649 to 1 661. He married Honor Treat, daughter of Richard Treat, also one of the original settlers of Wethersfield. She was a sister of Robert Treat one of the founders of Newark, N. J., and afterwards Governor of Connecticut. Elizabeth, the sister of John Deming, was married to Gov. Thomas Welles, of Connecticut.
John Carlton Deming, fifth in descent from the ancestor John Deming, probably grandson of John Deming, who settled in West Stockbridge, Mass , about 1763, was born in West Stockbridge, Mass., Monday, August 22, 1790. He married, in iSu.Lucenia Woodruff, and had issue, Joint Carlton; she died in 1S12, and in 1 8 14 he married Miranda Newell.
John Carlton Deming (2), son of John Carlton (1) and Lucenia (Woodruff) Deming, was born Nov., 1812. He married Polly, daughter of Sylvanius Slauter, son of Ephraim, son of Gilbert Slauter.
14 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
GILBERT SLAUTER, Patriot of the Revolution, was born at Oblong, Dutchess County, N. Y., about 1730. He was a private in Second Regiment, Westchester County, N. Y., commanded by Colonel Thomas. He was killed in battle, Nov. 12, 1778. He had a son Ephraim.
EPHRAIM SLAUTER, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Gilbert, was born at Oblong, Dutchess County, N. Y., May 27, 1755. He enlisted at Sharon, Conn., Feb., 1776, for three years as Sergeant, under Capt. Theodore Woodbridge, in the Seventh Regiment, commanded by Col. Herman Swift. His name also appears as " Ephriam Sleter," in Capt. Dutcher's Company, Major Sheldon's Conn. Regiment Dragoons.
John Carlton Deming, by his wife Polly Slauter, daughter of Sylvanius, son of Ephraim Slauter, had three sons, Hervey Jencks, Lucius Parmenius and George Ai.
LUCIUS PARMENIUS DEHINQ, National Society Sons of the American Revolution, son of John Carlton and Polly (Slauter) Deming, was born in West Stockbridge, Mass., March 10, 1836. His early education was limited to the public schools of his native town, but he continued his studies up to the time he entered a professional life. At the age of fourteen he was clerk in a country store, and three years later was in the employ of a firm of fresco and ornamental painters. His failing health necessitated a voyage to sea, which he continued for several years, and was for seven years master of a vessel. Having recovered his health he began the study of law at Yale Law School, in 1875, and on graduation in 1877, he received the Townsend Prize for the best oration. He was admitted to the bar of New Haven the same year, and formed a law partnership with Hon. Wm. C. Case, which continued for fifteen years. He took a foremost position in his profession, ranking with the best lawyers in the State. Soon after he began practice, he was appointed Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in New Haven, later Assistant Judge of the City Court, Judge of the same court, and later Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for New Haven County, holding that position for six years, until the opposing political party came into power. He has been in public life almost from the time he began practice. In 1877 he was appointed by Governor Andrews, chairman of a commission to investigate complaints which had been made in regard to convict labor and its interference with free labor. As chairman of the committee, he acted in concert with a like committee from Massachusetts and other States. During the investigation he visited the State's prisons, penitentiaries and reformatories of nearly all the States, and in his report, recommended a law limiting contract labor in prisons, which was adopted and still continues in force in Connecticut and other States.
Judge Deming led the movement in 1889, in .the State of Connecticut, which culminated on April 2 in the formation of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution. The rapid progress and increase in numbers, leading for a time all the other States, was due largely to his efforts. He declined a reelection the following year owing to other pressing public duties. He wrote the first Consti- tution and By-Laws, and largely the amendments to it. He was active in the forma- tion of the National Society, and spent much of his time in the work of the organiza- tion, which increased to such an extent that he was obliged to resign the office of President a few months after his election. The National Society was incorporated in the State of Connecticut through his efforts, and the bills for incorporation, both
HON. LUCIUS P. DEMING
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 5
of this and the State Society were drafted by him. He dictated to Lieut. Cresap, the first Secretary-General, the first Constitution and Laws of the National Society and assisted in preparing the amendments to the first Constitution. He also prepared the design for the National Certificate of Membership, assisted by Mr. Tarbell. After Judge Deming resigned as President-General, he accepted the position of Vice-President-General, and continued in the same work he began in the first position.
Judge Deming has been equally conspicuous in the fraternal societies of his adopted State, and also in the national councils of the same. He passed through the several chairs in the Lodge of Odd Fellows and was elected Grand Master of the Order, and served a term as representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows. He has been for six years Grand Warden of Connecticut, of the New England Order of Protection, an institution devoted to " benevolence, equity and charity," and is now Supreme Warden of the Order. He is also a member of the Masonic Fraternity, having taken all of the degrees, including Knight Templars.
Judge Deming married Laura Eliza Russell, daughter of Calvin Russell, a descendant of Col. Edward Russell, who was Colonel of the Second Regiment Militia and received his appointment in May, 1875, and was afterwards Captain of the 2d Company, Fifth Battalion, Wadsworth Brigade, 1876. For his second wife he married Eleanor M. Parmelee, descendant in a direct line from Baron Maurice Parmelee, of Belgium, who settled in Holland in about 1570, whose third son was Johannes von Parmelee, Baron of Batavia, whose son was John Parmelee, who settled in Guilford, Conn., in 1639, and who died in New Haven, Conn., in 1659. By his first wife Judge Deming had three children : Lucius P., a physician in Syracuse, N. Y.; Hattie L., deceased, and Laura M., a physician in Philadelphia, Pa. By his second wife he has one daughter, Almira P.
DR. WILLIAM SEWARD WEBB.
Second. President=General National Society, Sons of
the American Revolution.
Richard Webb, the ancestor, was admitted a freeman of the town of Boston, in April, 1632. In the summer of 1635, he removed with Rev. Thomas Hooker, and others, to Hartford, Conn. He subsequently removed to Stratford thence to Stamford, where he died in 1676. He had five sons, one of whom was Joseph (1), and one daughter.
Joseph Webb (i), son of Richard Webb, was born, probably, in Stamford. He married Hannah Scofield and had a son, Joseph (2).
Joseph Webb (2), son of Joseph (1) and Hannah (Scofield) Webb, was born in Stamford, Conn. He married Feb. 23, 1698, Mary, daughter of Benjamin Hoyt, and had a son, Joseph (3).
Joseph Webb (3^, son of Joseph (2) and Mary (Hoyt) Webb, was born in Stamford, about 1700. He married, first, Sarah Blachley, in 1726. He married, second, Elizabeth Starr. By his first wife he had Joseph (4).
i6
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Joseph Webb (4), son of Joseph (3) and Sarah (Blachley) Webb, was born at Stamford, Conn., Dec. 8, 1727. He removed to Wethersfield, Conn., with his half brothers, Ezra and Ebenezer, where he married, in 1749, Mehitable Nott, and had four sons : Joseph, Samuel Blachley, John (1), John (2).
COL. SAHUEL BLACHLEY WEBB, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Joseph (4) and Mehitable (Nott) Webb, was born in Wethersfield, Conn ' Dec. 15, 1753. At the age of twenty-one, in command of a company of light
infantry, he left Wethersfield for Boston, on the " Lexington Alarm," participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was wounded, and was commended in general orders for gallantry. He was appointed aid-de-camp to General Putnam, and on June 21, 1776, was made private secretary and aid-de-camp to General Washington, with rank of Lieut.-Colonel. He wrote the order promulgating the Declaration of Independence, in New York City, July 9, 1776, and was associated with Col. Joseph Reed, a few days later, in refusing to receive a letter from Lord
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 7
Howe, addressed to George Washington, Esq. He was at the battle of Long Island, was wounded at White Plains and Trenton, and was also engaged at Frinceton. He raised and equipped almost entirely at his own expense, the Third Conn. Regiment, of which he took command in 1777. He took part in Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons' unfortunate expedition to Long Island, was captured with his command by the British fleet Dec. 10, 1777, and remained a prisoner until 1780, when he was exchanged and took command of the light infantry, with the brevet rank of Brigadier-General. He arranged the meeting between Wash- ington and Rochambeau at Wethersfield, Conn., May 9, 1781, and was one of the founders of the Cincinnati, in 1783. When Washington took the oath of office as first President of the United States, Gen. Webb was selected to hold the Bible on which he was sworn. Washington said of him that " he was the most accom- plished gentleman in the army."
His regiment, the Third Connecticut, was clothed with British uniforms, captured from the enemy, and was known as the " Decoy Regiment." It was to this regiment that Burgoyne's spy surrendered himself at Fishkill, and declared his mission, having swallowed the silver ball containing the dispatch from Burgoyne to Sir Henry Clinton, announcing his intended march southward from Ticonderoga. Col. Webb married, first, Eliza Bunker, daughter of Richard Bunker, of New York, in 1780. She died without issue. He married, second, 1790, at Claverach, Columbia Co., N. Y., Catharine, daughter of Judge Stephen Hogeboom, of the Manor of Claverach, fourth in descent from Peter Hogeboom, who came from Holland with Van Rensselaer, " the great Patroon." They had issue, Catharine Louisa, Maria, Henry Livingston, Stephen Hogeboom, Walter Wemple and Catharine Louise, twins, Chatharine Louise again, James Watson and Jane Hogeboom.
James Watson Webb, eighth child of Col. Samuel Blachley and Catharine (Hogeboom) Webb, was born in Claverach, N. Y.,Feb. 8, 1802 ; died in New York City, June 7, 1884. He was educated at Cooperstown, N. Y.; entered the U. S. Army as Second Lieut, in 1819, and became First Lieut, in 1823, Assistant Commissary of Subsistance in 1824, and Adjutant of the Third Regiment in 1S26. In 1827 he resigned and became editor of the New York Courier, and in 1829 purchased the Enquirer, and united the two under the name of the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer. In 1861 this was merged into the World. In June, 1842, he fought a duel with Thomas F. Marshall, a member of Congress from Kentucky, concerning whom he had published an article, and was wounded. He was indicted by the New York grand jury in November, " for leaving the State with the intention of giving or receiving a challenge." He pleaded guilty and was subjected to the full penalty under the law, but was pardoned after two weeks detention. In 1843 he became engineer-in-chief of the State of New York, with the rank of Major-General, and in 1849 ne was appointed Minister to Austria, but was rejected by the Senate. At the beginning of the Civil War, he applied for an appointment as Major-General of volunteers, which was refused, but he was offered a Brigadier-Generalship, which he declined. He refused the mission to Turkey in 1861, but was immediately appointed Minister to Brazil, in which office he secured the settlement of long standing claims against that country, and through his intimacy with Napoleon III., aided in procuring the withdrawal of the French from Mexico. He resigned the Brazillian mission in 1869, and returned to 3
1 8 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
New York in 1870. He published " Altowan, or Incidents of Life and Adventure in the Rocky Mountains," "Slavery and its Tendencies," and a pamphlet on the " National Currency."
Gen. Webb married, first, Helen Lispenard Stewart, daughter of Alexander L. Stewart, and grand-daughter of Anthony Lispenard. The issue of this marriage was Robert Stewart, Lispenard Stewart, Helen Matilda, Amelia Barclay, Catharine Louisa, James Watson, Watson, Alexander Stewart. His first wife died in 1848, and on Nov. 9, 1849, he married Laura Virginia, youngest daughter of Jacob Cram, Esq. They had issue, William Seward, Henry Walter, George Creigton, Jacob Louis and Francis Edgerton.
WILLIAn SEWARD WEBB, Second President-General National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, eldest son of James Watson and Laura Virginia (Cram) Webb, was born in New York City, Jan. 31, 1851. He was educated at Col. Churchill's Military Institute, Sing Sing, on the Hudson. After a two years course at Columbia College, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1S75, after which he spent two years abroad. He married, Dec. 20, i88t, Lelia Osgood Vanderbilt, daughter of William H. Yanderbilt, and soon after became connected with the Vanderbilt railroad interests. He has had charge, for some years, of the Wagner Palace Car Com- pany, of which he became president in 1883. The construction of the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railway, from Herkimer, N. Y., through the Adirondacks to the St. Lawrence River, is due to the efforts of Dr. Webb, and he has been president of the Company since 1891. He is interested as director and owner in other large enterprises. Dr. Webb's selection as President-General of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, proved a fortunate one. He helped the society through the most trying period of its existence and contributed materially to its success. He has spent the larger portion of his time, for some years past, at his beautiful home in Vermont, and in 1891 was appointed Inspector of Rifle Practice on the Governor's staff.
GENERAL HORACE PORTER.
Third. President-General of the Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution, XJ. S.
Robert Porter, the American ancestor of this branch of the Porter family, emigrated to this country from Londonderry, Ireland, and settled in Londonderry, N. H., in 1720. He afterwards bought land in Montgomery County, Pa. His ancestors were originally from Lancashire, England, and removed to Ireland, under the reign of James I. Robert, by his first wife, had issue, Andrew and other children.
GENERAL ANDREW PORTER, Officer of the Revolution, son of Robert Porter, was born in Worcester, Montgomery Co., Pa., Sept. 24, 1743; cued in Harrisburg, Nov. 16, 181 3. On June 19, 1776, he was appointed by Congress, Captain of marines, and was ordered to the frigate "Effingham." He was trans-
Uv^vL
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
19
ferred thence to the artillery, in which he served with distinction. He was pro- moted Major in 1782, and became Lieut.-Colonel and Colonel of Fourth Pennsyl- vania Artillery, continuing in this capacity until the close of the war. He was engaged in the battles of Newtown, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown. During the latter engagement nearly all his company were killed or taken prisoners. For his gallant conduct on that occasion he was specially commended by Washington, and at the latter's request, was sent to Philadelphia to prepare material for the siege of Yorktown. At the battle of Princeton he was thanked on the battle-field personally by Washington. In April, 1779, he was detached with his company to join General Sullivan's expedition against the Indians, and suggested to General James Clinton the idea of damming the outlet of Otsego
GENERAL ANDREW PORTER.
Lake, by which means the water was raised sufficiently to convey the troops by boats to Tioga Point. In 1783 he retired from the army and again settled down to the simple life of a farmer.
He was made Brigadier-General of Pennsylvania Militia in 1801, promoted Major-General, and in 1809, was appointed Surveyor-General, which position he held until his death. He declined the offer of Brigadier-General in the U. S. Army, which was tendered him during the latter years of his life, and also that of Secretary of War under President Monroe's administration, 1812-13. He married, first, Elizabeth McDowell ; afterwards Elizabeth Parker, and had issue David Rittenhouse, George Bryan, (who became Governor of Michigan), James Madison, (Secretary of War under Taylor, an eminent jurist and the founder of Lafayette College, Easton, Fa.), William Augustus, also a well-known jurist, son of David Rittenhouse.
20 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
David Rittenhouse Porter, son of Major-General Andrew and Elizabeth (Parker) Porter, was born at Norristown, Pa., Oct. 31, 1788 ; died in Harrisburg, Pa., Aug. 6, 1867. He was educated at Norristown Academy and when his father was appointed Surveyor-General, became his secretary. He began the study of law, which he was compelled to abandon owing to failing health. He removed to Huntington County where he engaged in the manufacture of iron and was also interested in agriculture and the raising of a fine stock of cattle and horses, which he introduced into the country. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1819, was made Prothonotary in 1821, elected State Senator in 1836 and Governor of Pennsylvania in 1838, continuing in office until 1845. He received a resolution of thanks from the city for his activity in suppressing the riots in 1844. He afterwards engaged in the manufacture of iron, and erected in Harrisburg the first anthracite furnace in that part of the State. He married Josephine McDermett, daughter of William McDermett, and had issue, William Augustus, Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ; Andrew and George W., both physicians ; Elizabeth, who married James M. Wheeler, and Horace.
GENERAL HORACE PORTER, President-General Sons of the American Revolution, 1892 to April, 1897, son of Governor David Ritten- house and Josephine (McDermett) Porter, was born in Huntington, Pa., April 15, 1837. After a preparatory course in his native State he entered Lawrence Scientific School, of Harvard, and was appointed thence a cadet at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating July 1, i860; served as Assistant Ordnance officer at Watervleet Arsenal, New York ; Second Lieutenant of Ordnance, April 22, 1861 ; was ordered to duty in the South at the beginning of the Civil War; promoted First Lieutenant of Ordnance, June 7, 1861 ; Assistant Ordnance officer of the Port Royal Expeditionary Corps, Oct. 5, 1861 to July 2, 1862, being engaged at the Hilton Head Depot, Nov. 7 to Dec. 1 5, 1 861 ; in erecting batteries of heavy artillery on Savannah River and Tybee Island, Georgia, for the reduction of Fort Pulaski, Dec. 15, 1861 to April 12, 1862; as Chief of Ordnance and Artillery at the reduction and capture of Fort Pulaski, Georgia, April io-ii, 1862. He was brevetted Captain April 10, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service at the siege of Pulaski ; in preparing heavy artillery and ordnance stores for James Island expedition, April 10 to June 1, 1862, and in the attack on Seces- sionville, S. C, June 16, 1 862 ; as Chief of Ordnance in the transfer of the Army of the Potomac from Harrison's Landing. Va., to Maryland, July 25, to Sep. 19, 1862; as Chief of Ordnance Department of Ohio, Sep. 20, 1862, to Jan. 25, 1863, and of the Department and Army of the Cumberland, Jan. 28 to Nov. 1, 1863 ; Captain of Ordnance March 5, 1863. Lieut.-Colonel, Staff Aid-de-Camp to the General-in- Chief ; as Aid-de-Camp to Lieut. -General Grant, April 4, 1864 to July 25, 1864.
Brevetted Major May 6, 1864, for gallant and meritorious service at the battle of the Wilderness. Brevetted Colonel U. S. Volunteers, Feb. 24, 1865, for faithful and meritorious service. He was twice wounded during the war. Brevetted Colonel U.S. Army, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the war; brevetted Brigadier-General U. S. A., March 13, 1865, for gallant and meri- torious service in the field during the war. At the headquarters of General Grant, commanding the armies of the United States, April 14, 1865 ; Colonel Staff, Aid- de-Camp to the General-in-Chief, July 25, 1866 ; Major Ordnance, March 7, 1867 ; served as Aid-de-Camp to the General of the armies in Washington, and in making
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 21
tours of inspection through the Southern States, Territories and along the Pacific coast till March, 1869 ; served as Secretary to President Grant, from March, 1869 to Dec, 1872 ; resigned from the army Dec. 6, 1872, and has since been engaged in railroad affairs as manager and vice-president of the Pullman Palace Car Com- pany, and as president and director of several corporations. He was largely interested in the construction of the West Shore Railroad, and was its first president.
To General Porter is due the credit of the erection of the Grant Monument at Riverside Park, New York. When he took the matter in hand, the Grant Monu- ment Association had been in existence some years and had only raised $150,000, and but little was being done to carry forward the enterprise. Grand Army men in various parts of the country were clamorous for the removal of the remains of General Grant to Washington, and efforts were made to induce Congress to take some action in the matter. At this juncture several of the old board of directors resigned and the Association was practically reorganized, and General Porter elected President. He at once appealed to the patriotism of the citizens of New York, and soon revived interest in the matter, and in less than two years the sum had reached half a million dollars. The work was pushed forward and on April 27, 1897, the anniversary of General Grant's birthday, the Grant Monument was unveiled to the public, with appropriate ceremonies, amidst the largest gathering of people ever met in New York City.
General Porter was one of the founders of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, in 1890, and was elected President-General of the National Society in 1892, serving continuously until his departure for France, as U. S. Ambas- sador, in 1897. He has been present at all its public gatherings, and under his management the society has increased in influence and numbers throughout the United States. He delivered the oration at the unveiling of the monument in honor of Maryland's "Four Hundred," in Prospect Park, Aug. 27, 1895.
President McKinley, soon after his inauguration in March, 1897, appointed General Porter U. S. Ambassador to France, and he took his departure from this country May 5, following. General Porter was Commander of the Military Order, Loyal Legion U. S., from 1894 to 1S97, and was Commander of George Washington Post, G. A. R., for the same period. He is Past Commander of the Society of the Army of the Potomac ; was President of Grant Monument Association from 1891 to 1897, and was President of the Union League from 1892 to 1897. He received from Union College, in 1894, the degree of LL.D. General Porter married in Dec, 1863, Miss Sophia K. McHarg, daughter of John McHarg, Esq., of Albany. They have two children, Clarence, a graduate at Princeton, and Elsee.
HON. EDWIN SHEPARD BARRETT.
Rotarth. President=General S. A. R., 1897.
The Hon. Edwin Shepard Barrett, elected in the Spring of 1897, to succeed General Horace Porter, was born in Concord, Mass., where his family have been prominent since 1638. His emigrant ancestor, Humphrey Barrett, an Englishman from the County of Kent, was first of the name in Massachusetts. The surround-
22 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
ings of Mr. Barrett tend to keep alive the spirit of patriotism which the scenes of 76 enkindled. His home is on the very battlefield where "the shot was fired heard 'round the world," under the command of his great-great-grandfather, Col. James Barrett, who led the Americans in the historic " Concord Fight." From his door he can look upon the homes where dwelt his ancestors for more than two hundred and fifty years, a privilege granted to few Americans. The paternal grandmother of Mr. Barrett, who watched over him through his early boyhood, was one of the actual witnesses of the battle at the North Bridge, and it was her delight to rehearse the events of that day to her grandchildren. Her portrait is in Mr. Barrett's possession.
In the old cemeteries of the town are buried nine soldiers of the American Revolution of the name of Barrett. Mr. Barrett is well known in his town and State as a patriotic and public-spirited citizen, and as a busy man of affairs. In private life, as trustee and manager of estates, he is very successful. While a temporary resident of New Hampshire during the late Civil War, he held for two years the executive position of State Auditor of Accounts, involving large respon- sibilities. He has been President of the Massachusetts Society of The Sons of the American Revolution since 1891. This is the largest and most progressive of all the societies of the S. A. R. Mr. Barrett is a member of many societies and clubs, notably, the Social Circle, made up from the original " Committee of Safety," in Concord in 1774-75, and with full records from the original date; The Society of Colonial Wars, The Massachusetts Historic Genealogical Society, Bunker Hill Monument Association and the Loyal Legion. He served his country in the Civil War as a volunteer staff officer in carrying orders on the battlefield at Bull Run in 1861. As Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Trade, he is in close touch with the business interests of the State, and is a careful and accurate observer of all live matters of public interest.
MURPHY— CRANE— PIER50N— LYON, Etc.
Line of r-^ra.nk:lin N/Etarptiy, Secretary=General N. tional Society, S. A. R.
The ancestors of Franklin Murphy were not only identified with the early settlement of East New Jersey, but were among the principal founders of the State of Connecticut; they were also well represented among the patriots of the Revolution. These names include the Cranes, Piersons, Wheelwrights, Swains, Lyons and other notable families.
Robert Murphy, the American ancestor of this branch of the family, was born in Ireland, March 17, 1735; died at Middle Patent, Conn., July 16, 1774. He came to this country in 1766 and settled at Horseneck, Fairfield County, Conn. He was a man of education, culture and refinement. He established a successful school at a place known as Middle Patent. He was an honor to his country and highly respected in the community where he resided. He married Ann Knapp, great-granddaughter of Caleb Knapp, born in Watertown, Mass.,
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 23
1637 ; moved to Stamford, Conn., 1648 ; son of Nicholas Knapp, born in Buoy, St. Marys, England ; emigrated to America in Winthrop's and Saltonstall's fleet, 1630; settled in Watertown, moved to Stamford, 1648; married, first, Eleanor
, died 1658; married, second, June 9, 1659, Unity (Buxton) Brown, widow
of Peter Brown. By his marriage with Ann Knapp, Robert Murphy (1) had a son, Robert (2).
ROBERT MURPHY (2), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Robert (1) and Ann (Knapp) Murphy, was born at Middle Patent, Fairfield County, Conn., December 6, 1759. He moved to Jersey City, N. J., previous to the Revolution, and was among the first to enlist at the breaking out of the war, on the call for three months' troops. He was a private in Colonel Theunis Day's regiment, Bergen County Militia ; also served as private in Captain David Marinus' company, Colonel Philip Van Cortlandt's battalion, General Nathaniel Heard's brigade, New Jersey State Troops, from June 14, 1776, to December 1, 1776, and took part in the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776. He married, March 9, 1789, Hannah Doane, and had issue, a son, William.
William Murphy, son of Robert and Hannah (Doane) Murphy, was born at Middle Patent, Fairfield County, Conn., December 6, 1795; died at Jersey City, N. J., August 18, 1845. He removed with his parents to Jersey City, early in life. He was a musician in the War of 181 2, and was stationed in New York harbor. He married, February, 181S, Sarah Lyon, daughter of Benjamin Lyon and Phebe Crane. Benjamin Lyon (3), born July 31, 1758, was the son of Benjamin (2), born at Lyons Farms, N. J., 1694, son of Benjamin (1), born 1673, brother of Joseph, who married Mary Pierson, and son of Henry Lyon, one of the Elizabeth- town Associates. Phebe Crane, the wife of Benjamin Lyon, was the daughter of Elias Crane, who was the son of Capt. Josiah Crane. He was the son of Joseph Crane and Abigail Lyon. Joseph Crane, born 1676, died August 4, 1726, was the son of Jasper Crane (2) and Joanna Swaine, daughter of Captain Samuel Swaine, son of William Swain, Esq., one of the founders of the Connecticut Colony, member of the Governor's Council, and one of the founders of Branford, Conn. Jasper Crane (2) was the son of Jasper Crane (1), one of the original settlers of the New Haven Colony; signed the first agreement June 4, 1649. at a general meeting of the free planters ; was a member, with Robert Treat, of the General Court, and many years a magistrate. He was an original settler of Branford, and came with the Branford colonists to Newark. He held many important positions, and was a member of the New Jersey Assembly. His son, Deacon Nathaniel, married a daughter of Governor Treat, of Connecticut. Abigail Lyon, the wife of Joseph Crane before mentioned, was the daughter of Joseph Lyon and Mary Pierson ; the latter was the daughter of Rev. Abraham Pierson, first President of Yale College, son of Rev. Abraham, a leading divine of New England; graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, England ; came to Boston, 1640; minister of the church at Lynn, Mass.; moved thence to Southampton, L. I., 1640, and finally settled at Branford. In consequence of the troubles between the Connecticut and New Haven colonies, he took his church almost bodily to Newark, of which he was the founder. His wife, Abigail Wheelwright, was the daughter of Rev. John Wheelwright, and granddaughter of Rev. Thomas Storer, Vicar of Belesbury, Lincolnshire, etc. William Murphy, by his marriage with Sarah Lyon (fifth in descent from Mary Pierson), had a son, William H.
24 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
William H. Murphy, son of William and Sarah (Lyon) Murphy, was born in Newark, N. J., April 15, 1821. He married Abby Elizabeth Hagar, daughter of John Hagar and Rachel Harrison. They had issue, Franklin.
FRANKLIN MURPHY, Sfxretaky-General National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, son of William H. and Abby Elizabeth (Hagar) Murphy, was born in Jersey City, N. J., January 3, 1846. He came with his parents to Newark at an early age, and has since been identified with and materially contributed to the growth and prosperity of his adopted city. He attended the Newark Academy until he was sixteen years of age, and immediately after the breaking out of the Civil War he left school and enlisted as private in Company A, 13th N. J. Vols. He served in the army of the Potomac, participa- ting in the battles of Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and afterwards in the Western army under Sherman on the Atlanta campaign and "the march to the sea." He was mustered out at the close of the war as First Lieutenant, having received his several promotions for gallant and meritorious service in the war. Hs enlisted as a boy and came out of the war a man and a patriot. He engaged in the manufacture of varnish not long after, and through his energy and business sagacity he has built a large and successful trade, with branches and manufactories at several important trade centres of the country, all under his personal supervision as President of the Murphy Varnish Company. He has thus added not only to the wealth of his adopted city, but to that of others, besides giving employment to a large number of operatives.
Mr. Murphy's labors and splendid work done in the building up of the National Society and New Jersey State Society is too well known to require an extended notice. Few men in his position, with the immense business interests and responsibilities, could have been induced to undertake the arduous labors and give the requisite time demanded by his position as Secretary-General of the S. A. R., and as Vice-President of the State organization. He is one of the most popular officers in the National and State organizations. Mr. Murphy is a leader in the Republican party of his State and is at present chairman of the Republican State Committee. He is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion U. S., of the Union League Club of New York, the Down Town Club, the Union League Club of Chicago, of the Essex Club and Essex County Country Club, located at Orange. He married Janet Caldwell, daughter of Israel Caldwell and Catharine Gale Hoagland, and has three children.
HASKINS— EMERSON.
Line of Charles Waldo Haskins, Treasurer-General National Society, 3. A. R
New York State is honored in having three representatives in the Board of Officers of the National Society, all members of the Empire State Society. Of this number, Charles Waldo Haskins, the Treasurer-General, is worthy of a place among the distinguished men who compose the Board, not only because of his
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
25
personal qualifications, but because of his long line of eminent ancestors. These include the well-known families of Haskins, Emerson, Waite, Upham, and others.
Robert Haskins, the first of this name who settled in New England, came to Boston in the early part of the last century. There is a tradition that he came from Virginia, and another, that he came from England with a brother, who went to Virginia, while he, Robert, remained in Boston. Robert married, in 1728, Sarah, daughter of Philip Cook, of Cambridge. They had a son John.
JOHN HASKINS, Soldier of the Revolution, son of Robert and Sarah (Cook) Haskins, was born in Boston, Mass., March 12, 1729. At the age of eighteen he embarked in a letter-of-marque vessel that was bound for the
JOHN HASKINS.
West Indies, and commissioned to act against French and Spanish. He was taken prisoner by the Spaniards and afterward by the French. Before the Revolu- tion he was much interested in military affairs. He was commissioned Captain of the old Boston Regiment, Feb. 20, 1722, the "Alarm List" (Lexington Alarm) being still preserved. He was one of the Sons of Liberty, and a list of them, dining at the "Liberty Tree," Dorchester, shows him the companion of John Adams, Samuel Adams, Josiah Quincey, Edward Case and Joseph Warren. He was prominent as a business man, and distinguished by unusual strength and uprightness of character. He was known as " Honest John Haskins," whose word was as good as his bond. He married Hannah, daughter of Phineas Upham and Hannah Waite, who was the daughter of Joseph Waite and Lydia Sargent,
26 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
daughter of John Sargent and Lydia Chipman. The latter was the daughter of John Chipman and Hope Howland, daughter of John How land and Elizabeth Tilley, who came in the Mayflower. John Howland was thirteenth on the list of those who signed the compact. He was the Governor's Assistant of Plymouth Colony, 1634; was an assistant of the Governor to raise soldiers in 1637; he was a member of a military company of Plymouth, 1643, and was in service against the Indians by order of the General Court. He represented the town of Plymouth at the General Court of Plymouth Colony, 1646-58, 1663, 1666-7 and l67o.
Phineas Upham, the father of Hannah (Upham) Haskins, was the grandson of Lieutenant Phineas Upham, of the 4th Company, Massachusetts Regiment, as organized for the Narragansett Company, and as mustered at Pellesquamscott (Tower Hill), R. I. At the "Swamp Fight," Dec. 19, 1675, Capt. Isaac Johnson, commanding the company, was killed and Lieut. Upham died from wounds received in the fight.
Through her mother, Hannah Waite, Hannah (Upham) Haskins was de- scended from Capt. John Waite, one of the early settlers of Maiden, Mass , when the Colony allowed /4.18s, "for his writing one booke and for finding paper for both bookes." This was the MS. of the celebrated Massachusetts Laws, per- fected by Joseph Hills, his father-in-law. He was Captain of the Train Band ; Selectman, and represented his town in the House of Deputies for eighteen years, and in 1684 was chosen Speaker of the House of Deputies. Hannah Upham was also descended from Rose Dunster, sister of Rev. Henry Dunster, the first President of Harvard College. The issue of the marriage of John Haskins and Hannah Upham, was a son, Robert.
Robert Haskins, son of John and Hannah (Upham) Haskins, was born in Boston, July 2, 1773. He was a prominent and successful merchant. He married Rebecca, daughter of Rev. William Emerson, of Concord.
REV. WILLIAM EMERSON, the Patriot Minister of the Revolu- tion, was the builder of the Old Manse, celebrated by Hawthorne. He was living there when the British troops came up on the 19th of April, 1775, and wrote an account of the skirmish at the bridge. He and his brother, Rev. Joseph Emerson, of Peppered, had been active patriots before the war. He preached to the minute men, exhorting them to ready obedience, to discipline, and assuring them that their resistance to invasion of their constitutional rights was true loyalty to " the principles which had advanced the House of Hanover to its unrivalled lustre." In August, 1776, he left Concord to join the army at Ticonderoga, as Chaplain, and died a few months later of camp fever. He was born in Maiden, Mass., in 1743 ; graduated at Harvard. His wife was Phebe Bliss, daughter of Rev. Daniel Bliss, his predecessor in the Concord pulpit. In addition to his daughter Rebecca, who married Robert Haskins, he had a son, Rev. William Emerson, who married Ruth Haskins (sister of Robert), who was the father of the eminent Ralph Waldo Emerson. Rev. William, the patriot, was the son of Rev. Joseph Emerson. He graduated at Harvard 1 717, "the greatest student in the country." He prayed that none of his descendants might be rich. He married Mary, daughter of Rev. Samuel Moody. Joseph was the son of Edward Emerson, who married Rebecca, daughter of Cornelius Waldo. Edward was the son of Rev. Joseph Emerson, of Ipswich, 1638, who preached there two or three years, and also at Wells, and became the first minister at Mendon, continu-
C. W. HASKINS
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 2"J
ing until the destruction of the town in Philip's War. He then removed to Concord. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkley, son of Thomas, son of Peter Bulkley, born 1583, an eminent, non-conformist divine, rector of Odell, Bedfordshire, England, who came to America in 1635, and was one of the founders of Concord, Mass. Robert Haskins, by his marriage with Rebecca Emerson, daughter of Rev. William Emerson (aunt of Ralph Waldo), had a son, Thomas.
Thomas Waldo Haskins, son of Robert and Rebecca (Emerson) Haskins, was born in Boston, in 1801. He was a leading merchant and had the largest hard- ware establishment in Boston. He married Mary Soren, daughter of John Soren and Sarah Johnston. She was the daughter of John Johnston, son of Thomas Johns- ton born probably about 1700; died 1765 ; buried in King's Chapel burying-ground, Tremont Street, Boston. It is said that he constructed the first organ of American manufacture used in Boston. This organ was broken up many years since by Messrs. Hook, and two of the pipes are now in possession of his descendants. He also built the old North Church organ, since removed, excepting the case, which still remains intact. His son, John Johnston, referred to above, was born about 1750. He was a sign and escutcheon painter, and did good artistic work. A portrait of Governor Sumner, which hangs in the State House, was done by him. He died in Dedham, in 18 16. His son John served his time as a printer, but did not follow the trade. He became one of the firm of Holyoke & Soren, West India merchants. By his marriage with Mary Soren, Thomas Waldo Haskins had a son, Waldo Emerson.
Waldo Emerson Haskins, son of Thomas and Mary (Soren) Haskins, was born in Roxbury, Mass., March 3, 1827. He received a thorough academic education, and came to New York in 1851, where he engaged in the banking business with his uncle, George Soren. He married Amelia Rowan Cammeyer, daughter of Alfred Cammeyer. They had issue, Charles Waldo and Emma Parsons.
CHARLES WALDO HASKINS, Treasurer-General of the Na- tional Society, 1892-7, Secretary of the Empire State Society, 1893-4, son of Waldo Emerson and Amelia Rowan (Cammeyer) Haskins, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., January 11, 1852. He was graduated at the Polytechnic Institute of his native city and entered upon his business career in the accounting department of the old and well-known importing house of F. Butterfield & Co. After an experience of five years in this firm, he spent two years in foreign travel and on his return became connected with the brokerage firm of W. E. Haskins. Subse- quently he was employed for three years, in the important work of keeping the accounts for the construction of the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway Company, by the North River Construction Company, and was also at the same time auditor of disbursements of the Railway Company.
Mr. Haskins then commenced the regular practice of public accountant in the capacity of an expert. He was for several years the Secretary of the Manhattan Trust Co., of New York, and organized the system of accounts for that concern. After severing his connection with this company, he resumed his former occupa- tion as expert accountant, in which he had acquired a great reputation and had engaged in many intricate and important cases. His employment by the Govern- ment on important work at Washington gave him a national reputation as an
28 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
expert, his associate being his present partner, Mr. E. W. Sells. They were selected by the Congressional Commission to effect a complete revision of the accounting system of the U. S. Government, with a view of expediting and simpli- fying the public business, and accomplished this enormous and important task in such a successful, thorough-going and enlightened manner, that their report was adopted. The new methods they suggested were put into immediate operation, and their work officially praised and attested by all of the accounting offices of the Government departments, after the radical innovations in pre-existing methods, adopted upon their suggestion, had been in practical operation for a sufficiently long period to render a judicial judgment upon them possible. This work was the most important of its kind done since the foundation of the Government, and has resulted in saving the Government more than $600,000, annually, as well as in greatly expediting and facilitating public business. The success and importance of their work is attested by the following certificate issued by the Congressional Commission :
" Office of the Joint Commission of Congress to Inquire into the Status of Laws Organiz- ing the Executive Departments.
Washington, D. C, March 2, 1895.
"Messrs. C. W. Haskins and E. W. Sells, "Experts under the Joint Commission, etc.:
" Gentlemen : — In concluding the work of this Commission, it affords me special pleasure to express to you, appreciation of the valuable services you have rendered. To your rare business capacity and peculiar adaptation to analyzing old and formulating plans for new methods, in great measure, is due the credit for the reorganization of the accounting system of the United States Government. It was, in many respects, the most extensive and important undertaking of the kind in the history of the country, and its success, in expediting and simplifying the public business without removing any of the necessary safeguards, has been fully demonstrated and attested by all of the officials affected thereby.
" Very respectfully, (Signed) "ALEX. M. DOCKERY,
" Chairman Joint Commission."
When the law was passed by the New York Legislature, establishing the pro- fession of Certified Public Accountants and empowering the Regents of the University of the State of New York, to issue to accountants, properly qualified, a certificate authorizing them to practice as Certified Public Accountants, Mr. Haskins was appointed by the Regents as one of the Board of the three Examiners to pass upon the qualifications of applicants, and at the first meeting of the Board, was chosen its President. He is also President of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Haskins is Comptroller of the Central of Georgia Railway Company and of the Ocean Steamship Company. He is also Comptroller of the Chesapeake & Western Railroad Company, Secretary of the Old Dominion Construction Company, Receiver of the Augusta Mining & Investment Company (a large iron property in Georgia, Alabama and Virginia), and Trustee of one or two estates.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 29
He inherits the strong characteristics of his distinguished Revolutionary ancestor, "Honest John Haskins." That he is worthy and well qualified for the high position he has filled in the annals of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, goes without saying. Intensely patriotic and earnest in the work, he has done much to advance the interests of the Society, and to bring it to its present high standing throughout the country. Mr. Haskins is a man of high social standing and well known throughout the business community. He is a mem- ber of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, Society of Colonial Wars, Manhattan Club, Riding Club, Westchester Country Club, Metropolitan Club, of Washington, D. C, and Piedmont Club, of Atlanta, Ga. Mr. Haskins married, September 12, 1884, Henrietta, daughter of Albert Havemeyer, brother of New York's most popular Mayor, William F. Havemeyer. The issue of this marriage is two children, Ruth and Noeline.
HENRY HALL.
Historian-General National Society, S. A. R.
No one individual connected with the National or State Society of the S. A. R., has done more to build up and extend its influence than Mr. Henry Hall. If the time and energy expended in this work were to be measured by the standard of dollars and cents, the Society would be indebted to him for a large amount, but it has been with him a labor of love. He believed in its final success from the beginning, and has left no stone unturned to accomplish the wonderful results that have been reached. Unselfish and untiring in his efforts, he has received the only reward he ever sought, viz.: the successful establishment of the S. A. R. on a firm foundation and the union of the two societies. The gathering of the material for, and the publication of the history of the National and State organizations are due to his efforts alone, and for this work his compatriots owe him a lasting debt of gratitude. His paper, "How to Obtain Proof of the Service of an Ancestor," read first at the National Congress, S. A. R., and subsequently published in pamphlet form, has been of marked service to the Societies.
Mr. Hall was born in Auburn, N. Y., December 6, 1845, his father being a lawyer and public-spirited man, for four years Chief Justice of Colorado, and an intimate friend of William H. Seward. Son of Benjamin Franklin Hall and Abigail Farnam Hagaman, grandson of Asbury Hall and Nancy Foster, great-grandson of Zalmon Hall and Elizabeth Botsford, great-grandson of William Hall and Sarah Peck, great-grandson of Joshua Hall and Sarah Burgess, great-grandson of Isaac Hall (2) and Jane Burgess, great-grandson of Isaac Hall (1) and Lydia Knapp, and great-grandson of Francis Hall, who came from England in 1639 and settled in New Haven, Conn.
LIEUT. WILLIAM HALL, Soldier of the Revolution, of Stratford and New Fairfield, Conn., was born November 4, 1741 ; fought in the battle of Danbury, 1777, and commanded a company of twenty-four men of the Sea Coast Guard, stationed for four years at New Fields, now Bridgeport, Conn., patroling the coast from New Field to Fairfield. Gen. Seilick Silliman was in charge of the
30 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
troops on the sea coast and superintended their movements. There is reason to believe that his father, Joshua Hall, was also in the battle of Danbury.
Mr. Hall is also a grandson of John I. Hagaman and Sarah Frye, great- grandson of Abiel Frye and Abigail Farnam, great-grandson of Eliab Farnam and Abigail Killum, great-grandson of Ralf Farnum, third great-grandson of Ralph (2), and great-grandson of Ralph (1).
ELIAB FARNAM, Soldier of the Revolution, was born in Windham, Conn., July 24, 1731. In October, 1775, he was commissioned Captain in the Twenty-fourth (Westmoreland) Regiment of Connecticut militia. His daughter, Abigail, who married Abiel Frye, was previously the wife of Eliazer Owen (1), who was killed in the massacre of Minisink, July 22, 1779.
Also great-grandson of Dan Foster and Miriam Wilson, great-grandson of
William Foster and Hannah Durkee, great-grandson of Jacob Foster and
Sheffield, great-grandson of Reginald Foster, who came to America from England in 1638.
WILLIAM FOSTER, Soldier of the Revolution, was born in 1734; lived in Canterbury, Conn., and died May 16, 1825. He was an office holder under the crown, but on the Lexington alarm he joined the first company of volunteers from Canterbury, being sergeant in Capt. Aaron Cleveland's company; fought at the battle of Bennington, where he and a son were wounded ; was subsequently appointed recruiting officer for the State during the war. At the beginning of the war he was a man of wealth and pledged his resources to provide for the families of recruits, and was thus impoverished. He received, in return for his advances, Continental currency worth only two and one-half cents on the dollar.
HENRY HALL, a worthy descendant of these Revolutionary patriots, received a good academic education and was employed in various business capacities for the first few years of his lift'. His journalistic career began in Auburn, as city reporter for the Morning News, and was continued as city editor and editorial writer on the Auburn Advertiser. After a few years' service he became, in 1873, one of the editors of the Norwich Bulletin, of Norwich, Conn. His contributions to the New York papers, at this time, brought him into favor- able notice, and in 1875 he accepted an offer from Whitelaw Reid to join the editorial staff of the New York Tribune. He became its business manager in 1882, and has since continued his connection in the same position.
Mr. Hall is a devoted Republican and protectionist, a warm admirer of the ability, purity and high standards of his chief, Mr. Reid, and always the happiest when he has promoted, in some manner, the interests of the Tribune. He is a clear and intelligent writer, and during the editorial part of his career, not only wrote copiously on industrial topics for the Tribune, but contributed many articles to daily papers in Boston and Chicago, and was for many years the New York cor- respondent of the London Times. In one letter to that paper he made light of the fears of the English people as to the fund, which it was alleged, was being raised in America to pay for dynamite explosions in London. The Times printed a furious editorial in reply to, and comment upon, this letter, and followed it with an investigation for proof as to what was being done in Paris to sustain the dynamiters, followed later by the attacks upon Mr. Parnell, which led to certain famous suits in court against the Times.
Mr. Hall is a member of the Union League, Republican and New York
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 31
Athletic Clubs, and of the patriotic societies known as Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of the Revolution and Patriots and Founders. He is an intense believer in his native land and its institutions. He married, in 1887, in Bath, Me., S. Virginia Houghton, the daughter of Levi W. Houghton of that city, one of the firm of Houghton Bros., famous the world over as one of the old shipping families of Maine.
CLARK— HALL— CARNE5.
The ancestry of Alonzo Howard Clark, Registrar-General National Society, S. A. R., embraces some of the leading families of the Colonial period, notably, Thomas Clarke, of the Plymouth Colony, who served in the Pequot War in 1637 ; Governor Thomas Prene, of Plymouth Colony, Governor John Haynes, of Con- necticut Colony, Capt. John Gorham, who lost his life in King Philip's War, Elder William Brewster, of the Mayflower, John Howland, John Tillie, Stephen Hopkins, etc. The following is a list of his Revolutionary ancestors : Son of Thatcher Clark, Jr. and Abby (Carnes) Clark ; Grandson of Thatcher Clark, Sr. and Lydia (flail) Clark ; Great-grandson of Enoch Clark and Lydia (Mayo) Clark; Great-grandson of Enoch Hall and Keziah (Sears) Hall; Grandson of John Carnes and Abigail (Lillie) Carnes ; Great-grandson of Thomas Jenner Carnes and Jemima (Johnson) Carnes ; Great-great-grandson of Edward Carnes and Joanna (Jenner) Carnes.
Enoch Clark, (1754-1816), of Brewster, Massachusetts, Seaman; taken prisoner on privateer " Viper," exchanged at Newport, February 1 1, 1777.
Enoch Hall, (1759-1S33, of Barnstable County, Massachusetts; Private, Captain Micah Hamlin's Company, 1776; Captain Abijah Bangs' Company, 1777; Captain Elisha Hedge's Company, 1777 ; Captain Joseph Griffith's Company, 1778; Captain Elijah Hedge's Company, 1779; Massachusetts Militia; Pensioned.
Thomas Jenner Carnes, (1753-1S02), of Boston, Cadet, Thomas Wait Foster's Company, Colonel Richard Gridley's Regiment, Massachusetts Artillery, May-December, 1775 ; at Bunker Hill and Siege of Boston; Second Lieutenant, Knox's Regiment, Continental Artillery, December, 1775, to December, 1776; taken prisoner at Fort Washington, November 16, 1776, exchanged, February 27, 1777; Captain-Lieutenant, January 1,1777, to March 8, 1779, Captain Thomas Clark's Independent Company, Knox's Artillery; at Valley Forge; Captain of Marines, 1779 to 17S1 ; served on ship " General Putnam " on Penobscot Expedi- tion, 1779.
Edward Carnes, ( 1 730-1782), of Boston, member of "Sons of Liberty"; Major of Boston Regiment of Militia in Siege of Boston, 1776; Head of Ward Six under appointment of Committee of Safety of Massachusetts.
Alonzo Howard Clark, Registrar-General National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, son of Thatcher Clark. Jr., and Abby (Carnes) Clark, was born in Boston, Mass., April 13, 1S50. He was educated at the schools of his native city and at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. ; was for some years engaged in business, but since 1879, has been connected with the U. S. National Museum, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C, and is
32 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
at present custodian of the historical collections of the Museum and editor of the publications of the Smithsonian Institution ; also Assistant Secretary of the American Historical Association, having charge of its publications. In 1883 he was on the executive staff of the U. S. Commission at the International Fisheries Exhibition at London, and in 1889 was appointed by the President one of the Expert Commissioners of the United States, at the Paris Exposition. He is a member of the Mayflower Descendants, also of the Society of the War of 181 2, by virtue of service of his grandfather Capt. John Carnes, of Boston, who was chief officer of the privateer York, and was captured in 1 814, suffered hardships of prison life in England. Mr. Clark married in 1881, Alice Morrow, daughter of Capt. Charles and Mary (Perry) Morrow, of Gloucester, Mass. Mrs. Clark was one of the earliest members and first Registrar-General, and late Secretary- General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and is now Honorary Vice-President. Her ancestors rendered military service during the Colonial and Revolutionary period, and she is related, in her line of descent, to John and Priscilla Alden, of the Mayflower, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, and others equally well known in American history. Their son, Chester Morrow Clark, is a member of the Children of the American Revolution, and after fifteen months residence abroad, he came home fully impressed with the belief that America is the best country in the world.
EMPIRE STATE SOCIETY
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
For a long period New York State was not represented in the National Society, S. A. R. Correspondence was in progress between the S. A. R. and S. R. with reference to a general union of all the different State societies into one national brotherhood ; and in a spirit of fraternal courtesy, while the negotia- tions were pending, the National Society, S. A. R., made no effort to establish itself, by means of a local society, S. A. R., in New York State. But the negotia- tions having failed completely, there arose the anomalous situation of the National society, S. A. R., organized at a convention in New York City, having its official headquarters in New York City, and yet not represented by any local society of its own in either New York City or State. Certain inconveniences followed from these facts.
In February, 1890, the proposition was made to organize in New York State. G. Creighton Webb was invited by the National Society, S. A. R., to take all proper steps in the matter. Within three days Mr. Webb secured the following signatures to an application for permission to organize a New York Society of the Sons of the American Revolution: The Hon. William H. Arnoux. the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, Gen. Alexander S. Webb, John C. Calhoun, James Otis, Le Grand B. Cannon, G. S. Bowdoin, J. McDowell Leavitt, Charles A. Dana, Hart Lyman, Egerton L. Winthrop, Jr., Lewis H. Livingston, G. Creighton Webb, William L. Bull, William Henry Lee, Col. Ethan Allen, John Wallace Riddle, the Hon. Grover Cleveland, Lewis Cass Ledyard, Edmund L. Baylies, Edmund C. Stanton, James W. McLane, Edward Hagaman Hall, Girard Beekman, George H. Bend, Allan McLane Hamilton, Julian H. Kean, the Hon. William C Whitney, J. Coleman Drayton, Stuyvesant Fish, J. William Beekman and Nicholas Fish.
February 10, 1890, a meeting of the signers was held at the office of President- General Webb, in New York City, and by resolution the society was organized and the following officers elected : President — The Hon. Chauncey M. Depew ; Vice-President — the Hon. William H. Arnoux; Secretary and Temporary Regis- trar— Edmund C. Stanton; Treasurer— William H. Lee; Board of Managers — Stuyvesant Fish, John C. Calhoun, William H. Lee, Charles A. Dana, James Otis. A. McLane Hamilton, Gen. Alexander S. Webb, William L. Bull, Hart Lyman, George S. Bowdoin, E. C. Stanton, Col. Ethan Allen and J. Coleman Drayton. The following were appointed upon admissions : J. Coleman Drayton, Gen. Alexander S. Webb and Col. Ethan Allen.
On taking the preliminary steps fur the organization of the New York State Society, it was discovered that a few individuals had filed an application at Albany
34 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
some time previous for an organization, under the name of the " New York State Society Sons of the American Revolution," thus preventing the use of the nann by this society. It therefore became necessary to incorporate under the present name, "The Empire State Society."
" About seventy-five applications for membership were received during the summer of 1890. These applications were filed, but in view of the fact that the S. A. R. had again invited the S. R. to a conference on the subject of union, the Committee on Admissions took no action on the applications, postponing the whole matter until it could be ascertained whether a conference would be held or not. As has been already stated, the efforts to unite the two societies were not successful.
"The following named persons were soon after added to the membership of the society: Elliott F. Shepard, Capt. Luther S. Ames, U.S.A., E. R. Leavitt, F. McD. Leavitt, Thomas W. Moore, Benjamin L. Bree, Lieut. Maury Nichols, U. S. A., Thomas H. Howard, William Hamilton Henry, Francis E. Webb, Judge Roger A. Pryor, Charles Waldo Haskins, George W. Vanderbilt, Gen. Horace Porter, Hon. Robert B. Roosevelt, Clarence Lyman Collins and other well known men.
" Under the leadership of such men, and of those who have constituted the successive boards of management, the society has advanced with giant strides. The annual banquet at Delmonico's is one of the greatest patriotic events of the year. Its memorable dedication of the Dobbs Ferry monument, its almost monthly celebration of Revolutionary events, its presentation of portraits of Washington to the public schools, its cultivation of a greater public respect for the flag, its influence on legislation for the preservation of historic sites and objects, its great unheralded work of collecting and preserving the records of the founders of the Republic and, above all, its incalculable value as a conservator of American principles, are too well known to need rehearsing in details."
Article II. of the Constitution states that 'This society shall be a part of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. It recognizes all State Societies of the Sons of the American Revolution as co-equal, and their members as their compatriots, entitled to receive from this society such information, assist- ance and fraternal consideration as may best promote the objects of the society "
The objects of the society, conditions of membership, etc., are in conformity with those already given under the National Society.
The officers and managers of the society for 1890-91 were: President — Chauncey Mitchell Depew ; Secretary and Registrar — Edmund C. Stanton; Treasurer — William Henry Lee ; Managers — Chauncey M. Depew, John Cald- well Calhoun, William Henry Lee, Charles Anderson Dana, James Otis, Ethan Allen, Alexander Stewart Webb, William Lanman Bull, Hart Lyman, George Sullivan Bowdoin, Edmund C. Stanton, James Coleman Drayton.
The officers for 1891-2 were: President — Chauncey Mitchell Depew; Secre- tary— George Creighton Webb ; Treasurer — Edmund C. Stanton ; Managers — Chauncey Mitchell Depew, Charles Anderson Dana, Ethan Allen, Roger Atkinson Pryor, James Coleman Drayton, John Caldwell Calhoun, Edmund C. Stanton, Alexander Stewart Webb, George Sullivan Bowdoin, George Creighton Webb, William Henry Lee, James Otis, Charles Beatty Alexander.
For 1892-3: President— Chauncey Mitchell Depew; Vice-President — John
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 35
Caldwell Calhoun; Secretary — George Creighton Webb ; Treasurer and Regis- trar— Edward Hagaman Hall ; Managers — Chauncey Mitchell Depew, Charles Anderson Dana, John Caldwell Calhoun, James Otis, George Sullivan Bowdoin, Hart Lyman, George Creighton Webb, John Sergeant Wise, Charles Waldo Has- kins, Walter S. Logan, George W. Vanderbilt, Edward Hagaman Hall, William Lanman Bull.
For 1893-4: President — Chauncey Mitchell Depew; Vice-President — Robert Barnwell Roosevelt ; Secretary— Charles Waldo Haskins ; Treasurer — Ira Bliss Stewart; Registrar and Historian — Edward Hagaman Hall; Chaplain — The Rev. Samuel H. Virgin, D.D.; Managers— Chauncey Mitchell Depew, Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, Charles Waldo Haskins, Ira Bliss Stewart, Edward Hagaman Hall, Rev. Samuel H. Virgin, D.D., John C. Calhoun, James Otis, George Creigh- ton Webb, Walter S. Logan, Henry Hall, Andrew J. C. Foy6, John Winfield Scott, William P. Wadsworth, Edward James Chaffee, Walter Jesse Sears, U. S. N.
For 1894-5: President — Chauncey M. Depew; Vice-President— Robert B. Roosevelt; Secretary— John Winfield Scott; Treasurer— Ira Bliss Stewart; Registrar— Edward Hagaman Hall; Historian — Henry Hall; Managers— John C. Calhoun, Walter S. Logan, Andrew J. C. Foye, William P. Wadsworth, Lieut. Walter J. Sears, U. S. N., Edward J. Chaffee, Ferdinand P. Earle, Hart Lyman, Hugh R. Garden, Gen. Thomas Wilson, U.S. A., Hon. E. G. Spaulding, President of Buffalo Chapter, ex-officio.
For 1895-6: All the officers of previous year reelected. Managers—John C. Calhoun, Walter S. Logan, Andrew J. C. Foye, Edward J. Chaffee, Ferdinand 1". Earle, Hart Lyman, Hugh R. Garden, Gen. Thomas Wilson, U.S. A., Col. Freder- ick D. Grant, William W. J. Warner, Ebenezer K. Wright, Stephen M. Wright, Hon. E. G. Spaulding, and Joseph W. Cutler, ex-officio.
For 1896-7: President — Chauncey M. Depew; Vice-President — Robert B. Roosevelt; Secretary — Stephen M. Wright; Treasurer — Ira Bliss Stewart, re- signed; Richard T. Davies elected in place ; Registrar — Edward Hagaman Hall, resigned ; Teunis D. Huntting elected in place ; Historian — Henry Hall ; Chap- /ain—Rev. Abbott E. Kittredge, D.D.; Managers— John C. Calhoun, Walter S. Logan, Ferdinand P. Earle, Andrew J. C. Foye, Gen. Thomas Wilson, U. S. A., William W. J. Warner, Gen. Horatio C. King, J. Lawrence McKeever, Richard H. Clark, Hon. E. G. Spaulding, Pres't Buffalo Chapter, James W. Cutler, Pres't Rochester Chapter, David McN. K. Stauffer, Pres't Yonkers Chapter, Hon. Edward Comstock, Rome Chapter, Hon. M. H. Northrup, Syracuse Chapter.
In the autumn of 1896 an effort was made to extend the influence of the society, by awakening an interest among the descendants of the distinguished Frenchmen and other foreigners whose generous aid contributed so largely toward securing our independence. It was therefore resolved to offer a tribute to France by a suitable observance of the 119th anniversary of the Treaty of Alliance between France and the United States. Col. John C. Calhoun, a promin- ent officer of the Empire State Society, who was then traveling abroad, was requested to act as Special Commissioner to France on behalf of the Society and to communicate with the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, with respect to the celebration of the anniversary to be held on the sixth of February, 1897, and also to extend an invitation to the descendants of Lafayette, Rochambeau, de Grasse and others to attend the public banquet to be held on that
36 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
occasion. Col. Calhoun not only communicated with these and other distinguished foreigners, but held a reception at his hotel in Paris where he met a number of those who had responded to his invitation, all of whom signified their hearty appreciation of the honor and gladly consented to cooperate with the society in this most laudable enterprise. The fifth annual banquet of the society was held at Delmonico's, in New York City, February 6, 1897, and there were present on this occasion a large number of members of the S. A. R. and prominent men from all parts of the country. Mr. Henry Hall, the Historian-General of the National Society read the several communications from the distinguished foreigners who had been invited to participate in the affair. Speeches were made by well-known men, and the affair proved to be one of the most successful ever attempted by the society. On the return of Col. Calhoun to this country he was presented by the society with a beautiful set of engrossed resolutions, in recognition of his services in the matter
DEPEW-SHERHAN OGDEN.
CHAUNCEY niTCHELL DEPEW, President Empire State Soci- ety, S. A. R., son of Isaac Depew and Martha Mitchell, grandson of Chauncey Root Mitchell and Ann Johnston, great grandson of Rev. Justus Mitchell and Martha Sherman, great-great-grandson of Rev. Josiah Sherman.
Rev. Josiah Sherman, of the Revolution, was a brother of Hon. Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the son of William, son of Joseph, son of John (2), son of John (1), who came to New England in 1634. Rev. Josiah Sherman was born in Woodbury, Conn., in 1734, and died Nov. 24, 1789. He was a graduate of Princeton College, in 1754, and received the honorary degree of A.M. at Harvard in 1758, and at Yale in 1765. He was an able writer and powerful orator, and labored with his brother, Roger Sherman, with voice and pen for the establishment of American Independence. His efforts, however, were not confined within the secure limits of his pulpit, but he served in the field as Chaplain of the Seventh Regiment, Connecticut Line, Continental Army.
Mr. Depew is a grandson of Robert Johnston and May Ogden, and great grandson of Gabriel Ogden, of New Jersey.
GABRIEL OGDEN, Soldier of the Revolution, served as private in Captain James Bennet's Company, 1st Regiment of Sussex County Militia, throughout the war. He was a descendant of John Ogden, who was at Stamford, 1 64 1, and agreed with Gov. Kieft, of New Amsterdam, to build a stone church ; in 1644 was at Hempstead; in 1656 at Southampton; named in Connecticut Charter 1662 ; one of the Elizabethtown (N. J.) purchasers, 1644; represented in the Assembly 1668.
Mr. Depew was one of the twenty-five founders of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1S90. His election as President of the Empire State Society, was spontaneous and unanimous, ard he has been a tower of strength to the society since its organization. In none of the numerous relations which Mr. Depew sustains with the world at large, does he more thoroughly reveal his genuine whole-souled, generous, sagacious and patriotic nature than in the Sons of
SONS OF THE AMERTCAN REVOLUTION. 37
the American Revolution. Some of the finest orations ever delivered by Mr. Depew have been at the public gatherings of the society, and its constant and rapid growth is due largely to the public interest he has awakened in its objects. His enthusiastic and ardent nature indicate the French Huguenot blood which flows in his veins, while his sturdy patriotism and broad democratic ideas are the inheritance from his New England ancestors, the Shermans.
Mr. Depew was born at Peekskill, N. Y., April 23, 1834, in the old homestead which has been in the possession of the Depew family for over two hundred years.
Mr. Depew was graduated from Yale in 1856. He read law with Hon. William Nelson, of Peekskill, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. He entered actively into politics and the same year was elected a delegate to the Republican State Convention. He continued the practice of law, but entered with great zeal and enthusiasm into the presidential campaign of i860, which resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Depew, in 1861, was elected to the assembly from the third district of Westchester County, and reelected the following year, and served as chairman of the committee on ways and means. In 1863, he ran on the republican ticket for Secretary of State and was elected by a majority of 30,000. He declined a renomination in 1865, and removed to New York City, where he received the appointment of tax commissioner. He was appointed Minister to Japan by Secretary of State William H. Seward, but resigned the position soon after and accepted from Commodore Vanderbilt the appointment of attorney for the New York and Harlem Railroad Company. In 1869 occurred the important consolidation of the New York Central and the New York and Harlem Railroad Companies, when Mr. Depew was appointed attorney of the new- organization, which was called the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Co. In 1875 he was appointed general counsel of the entire Vanderbilt system and elected a director of each company composing it, which included the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, Michigan Central, Chicago and Northwestern, St. Paul & Omaha, West Shore and Nickel Plate.
In 1872 Mr. Depew received the nomination for Lieutenant-Governor of the State by the Liberal Republicans, who had nominated Horace Greeley for Presi- dent. In 1874 Mr. Depew was made Regent of the State LJniversity and a member of the commission appointed to superintend the erection of the Capitol, at Albany. During the factional struggle in the republican party in 1881, which led to the resignation of Senators Conkling and Piatt as U. S. Senators, represent- ing the State of New York, Mr. Depew was nominated to succeed Mr. Piatt. On the third ballot he led by two, and on the twenty-fourth he lacked only ten votes of election. The struggle lasted for eighty-two days, when Mr. Depew retired from the contest. In 1884, with a two-thirds republican majority in the Legis- lature, he was offered the United States Senatorship, but declined. In 1888 he received the solid vote of the delegation of New York State for the presidency in the National Republican Convention. Diverting his strength to Benjamin Harri- son, the latter was nominated. In the National Convention of 1892 he was one of the leaders who secured Harrison's renomination, as opposed to Mr. Blaine. Mr. Depew declined the appointment as Secretary of State to succeed Mr. Blaine, tendered him by President Harrison.
From the time Mr. Depew first entered public life he has continued to grow in favor and popularity with the American people. A man of ready wit, unlimited
38 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
resources and having few rivals as a public orator, his services have been in constant demand, and no public banquet or other festival is complete without his presence.
Honors have literally been "thrust upon him." He has been a trustee of Yale College for more than a quarter of a century, and in 1887 received the degree of LL.D. from that institution. He is President of the St. Nicholas Society ; was for seven years President of the Union League Club ; for ten years President of the Yale Alumni of New York City, and is a member of the Holland Society of New York and the Huguenot Society of America.
ROBERT BARNWELL ROOSEVELT, First Vice-President, Empire State Society, S. A. R., was born in New York City, August 7, 1829, son of Cornelius W. Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. He is a prominent banker and well known in business circles. He is one of the oldest members of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., and has been active in the management of its affairs for many years. He is a descendant of one of the oldest and best known families of New York City.
Martensen Van Roosevelt, the immigrant ancestor of the family, was born in Holland and came with his wife, Jannetje Samuels-Thomas, to America in August, 1649, and settled in New Amsterdam, now New York. The " Van " was dropped from the name the next generation. They had issue, Nicholas.
Nicholas Roosevelt, of Esopus, son of Martensen, was born in New York, September, 1658. He married, December 9, 1682, Hyllotje Jans, and had issue, Johannes.
Johannes Roosevelt, son of Nicholas and Hyllotje (Jans) Roosevelt, was born at Esopus, N.Y., February 27, 1689. He married. 1708, Hilotje Syverts, and had issue, Jacobus.
Jacobus Roosevelt, son of Johannes and Hilotje (Syverts) Roosevelt, was born in New York, Aug. 13, 1724; married, 1746, Annetje Bogart, and had Jacobus (2), known as James I.
JAMES I. ROOSEVELT, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in New York City, October 25, 1759; died August 13, 1840. He served throughout the War of the Revolution as commissary without reward. " Getting supplies" for the Continental army had been about as hard a task as leading it to victory, and so impressed was the phrase on his mind that to the day of his death, when going to market— and it was the practice in those days for every burgher to do his marketing personally, accompanied by a colored boy, usually a slave, with a basket on his arm to carry home the purchases— Mr. Roosevelt always said he was " going for supplies." He married Mary Van Schaick, and had a son, Corneliics V. S.
Cornelius V. S. Roosevelt, son of James I. and Mary (Van Schaick) Roose- velt, was born in New York City, January 30, 1794; died July 17, 1871. He married Margaret Barnhill, of Philadelphia, and had issue, Robert Barnwell.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 39
LOGAN-HOLLISTER.
WALTER S. LOGAN, Second Vice-President, Empire State Soci- ety, S. A. R., was born in Washington, Conn., April 15, 1847 ; son of Seth S. Logan and Abigail Hollister, daughter of Sherman Hollister, son of Sherman Preston Hollister, son of Gideon, son of Stephen, son of John (2), son of John (i).
The Hollisters are descended from Clan McAlister, of the Highlands. The Logan and Hollister families came from England to Massachusetts about and were among the original settlers of Wethersfield.
On February 17, 1685, " a patent for all the territory then in Wethersfield was granted by the Governor (Robert Treat, of Conn.) and company to Capt. Samuel Wolcott, Capt. John Chester, Lieut. James Treat, Mr. Samuel Wolcott, Mr. John Deming, Sr., Mr. Robert Welles, Mr. John Robins, Mr. John Hollister, and Richard Smith and the rest of the present proprietors of the township of Wethersfield," and their heirs.
Lieut. John Hollister (2), son of John (1), was an "efficient man in Con- necticut." He was representative at the General Court in 1645 and often until 1656. He was Lieutenant of the Train Band. He died April, 1665. He married Joanna, daughter of Hon. Richard Treat, one of the patentees of the colony of Connecticut, his name appearing in the charter. He was the father of Gov. Robert Treat, of Connecticut. Lieut. John Hollister, by his wife, Joanna Treat, had a son, Stephen.
Lieut. Stephen Hollister, son of Lieut. John and Joanna (Treat) Hollister, was born in Wethersfield. He was Lieutenant of dragoons and " in all probability was present at the great Fort Fight, December 19, 1675, with the Narragansetts, at South Kingston, R. I." In June, 1697, he was sent with fifty men under Capt.
Whiting, to Massachusetts, where he remained until October. He married
and had a son, Gideon.
Gideon Hollister, son of Lieut. Stephen Hollister, was born in Wethersfield, about 1698. He was drowned in the Pequannock River, May 10, 1725. He married Rebecca (born January 18, 1700), daughter of Benjamin Sherman. He was the son of Mr. Samuel Sherman, who came to America with his father when about fourteen years of age, and remained at Watertown, Mass., several years. He removed to Wethersfield, Conn., about 1636. In the following May he was one of the committee who, before the general court was organized, declared war against the Pequot Indians, he being then but nineteen years of age. He removed to Stratford before 1656, where he died in 1700, as shown by his tomb- stone: "A P L-V-1700, Mr-S-Sherman, 80 ys." He was an assistant of the General Court, 1662-3-4-5. and was appointed one of the committee of six to watch and guard the coast, as a war committee, if the Dutch fleet should make its appearance as expected, from Stratford to Rye. It is probable, for his services in the General Court, that he received from that body, October 1664, 250 acres of land located in Stratford. He was the son of John and Judith (Augier) Sherman. Gideon Hollister, by his wife, Rebecca Sherman, had issue, Sarah, born 1723, and Gideon (2), born September 22, 1725.
GIDEON HOLLISTER, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Gideon (1) and Rebecca (Sherman) Hollister, was born Sept. 22, 1725. He served in the War of the Revolution as private in Capt. Daniel Sloper's company, of Col.
40 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Elisha Sheldon's regiment of Light Dragoons, and accompanied Washington in his retreat through New Jersey after the evacuation of Fort Lee, on the
Hudson. He married and had issue, Sherman Preston Hollister, whose
son, Sherman Hollister, married Polly Nettleton. They were the parents of Abigail Hollister, who married Seth S. Logan, the father of Walter S. Logan.
Seth S. Logan, the father of Walter S., was a native of Washington, which forms a part of the old town of Woodbury, Conn. He was conspicuous in local politics and almost continuously for forty years he was a member of one or the other branches of the Connecticut Legislature or a State officer. By his marriage to Abigail Hollister, daughter of Sherman Hollister and Polly Nettleton, he had Walter S.
Walter S. Logan was graduated from Yale College in 1870 and from Harvard Law School in 1871. While attending the latter he accepted a position in the office of James C. Carter, who at the time was engaged with Charles O'Connor in the famous Jumel case. The practical knowledge acquired by Mr. Logan in preparing the details of this case was of great benefit to him in his early profes- sional career. He was admitted to the bar of New York in 1872, and has since been engaged in many important cases which, under his skillful management, have had a successful issue.
Although one of the busiest men in his profession, Mr. Logan has found time to devote to literary work. He is the author of "The Siege of Cuantla," 'An Argument for an Eight-hour Law," " Nationalism," " Peonage in Mexico," " A Mexican Law Suit," and "Needed Modifications of the Patent Laws." He has been active in the great reform movements of New York for many years past. He was chairman of the executive committee of the Ballot Reform Association of New York State in 1887-8-9. A part of the work of this committee was the procuring of 50,000 signatures to the monster petition filed in the State Library. He is Vice-President of the New York State Bar Association. His efforts to build up and extend the influence of the S. A. R. from the date of its organization, are familiar to all his compatriots, and no man in the society is held in higher esteem.
RALPH EARL PRIHE, Third Vice-President, Empire State Soci- ety, S. A. R., was born in Mattewan, N. Y., March 29, 1840; son of Alanson Jermain Prime and Ruth Havens Higbie, grandson of Nathaniel Scudder Prime and Julia Ann Jermain, great-grandson of Benjamin Youngs Prime and Mary Wheelwright Greaton, and great-great-grandson of Ebenezer Prime and Experi- ence Youngs.
Ebenezer Prime was born at Milford, Conn., July 21, 1700, and lived in Huntington, L. I., where he died Sept. 25, 1779, after having preached the gospel for sixty years. In his seventy-seventh year, British troops, out of hatred for his public advocacy of American independence, drove him from his home and des- troyed his library ; and after he was dead Col. Thompson (Lord Rumford) pitched his tent in the Huntington graveyard, so that, as he said, he might "tread upon the dead rebels " whenever he went in and out of his tent.
Benjamin Youngs Prime was born at Huntington, L. I., December 20, 1733; lived in New York City from 1764 to 1773, until driven therefrom, and then
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
4<
returned to Huntington, where he died October 31, 1791. He was a writer in The American Whig, and a public speaker against British tyranny, and the author of many patriotic poems and songs.
Also grandson of Benjamin Higbie and Mary Ann Earl, great-grandson of Ralph Earl and Sarah Gates, great-great-grandson of Ralph Earl and Phebe Whittemore.
Ralph Earl, Sr., was born in Leicester, Mass., Nov. 13, 1726, and died there about 1800. He declined a captain's commission in the British army in 1776, and accepted a like commission in the First Regiment, Worcester County Militia, April 5, 1776. He was also captain in Lieut.-Col. Nathaniel Wade's Worcester regi- ment stationed at North Kingston, December 17, 1777, and in Col. Danforth Keye's regiment at Providence, December 29, 1777.
WRIGHT— MOTT.
Stephen Mott Wright, Secretary Empire State Society, S. A. R.,
and one of the mosi earnest and enthusiastic members of the Society, is a des- cendant of two well-known families whose names are prominently mentioned in connection with the early colonial history of New York and Long Island.
Nicholas Wright, the American ancestor of this branch of the Wright family, from which Stephen M. Wright is descended, is believed to be a direct descendant of the first Nicholas, who married Anne, daughter and co-heir of Edmund Beaupre, of Beaupre Hall. The father of this Nicholas was John Wright, who died seised of the manors of Tendalls and Rowses, in East Laxham, Norfolk, England, 32 Henry VIII, leaving two sons — Edmund, his heir, and the above- named Nicholas. The last named Nicholas, the emigrant, came with his wife to this country and settled in Saugus (now Lynn, Mass.), Plymouth Colony, in the latter part of 1636. They shortly afterward removed to the newly formed town- ship of Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Colony, in the settlement of which Nicholas became an active leader, acquiring lands and holding offices of military and civil trust while following his avocation as surveyor. In 1653 he and his two brothers, Peter and Anthony, joined the company led by Rev. William Leverich, came to Long Island and united with others in the purchase of land from the Indians of the territory, including the site of the present village of Oyster Bay. Nicholas continued to reside there until his death, in 1682.
The three brothers were all at an early period active and zealous members of the Society of Friends, and for many years Anthony's house at Oyster Bay was the place for both worship and business. On the " fifteenth of the eighth month, 1672," Anthony conveyed a portion of his land for a " burial place and a meeting house." The ,: meeting house " was erected on the ground and paid for in " wheat, pease, Indian corn and porke." Nicholas acquired prominence and influence in the town, holding many public offices, and was a large landholder. He was
elected Town Schepen (magistrate) in 1673. He married, in 1630, Ann , and
had issue a son, Edmund.
Edmund Wright, son of Nicholas, was born in 1640. He married Sarah Wright, his cousin. He died in 1703. He had a son, Edmund (2).
42
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Edmund Wright (2), son of Edmund (1) and Sarah Wright, was born in 1670, probably at Oyster Bay, L. I., and died in 1735. He married, in 1695, Sarah Townsend, and had a son, Thomas.
DR. THOMAS WRIGHT, son of Edmund (2) and Sarah (Townsend) Wright, was born at Oyster Bay, in 17 19, and about 1755 he moved to the town of East Chester, in Westchester County, N. Y. He became the most prominent physician and surgeon in Westchester County. He was an active participant in public affairs and an extensive property owner. He was the owner, in 1759, of the Tide Mill (run by the ebb and flow of the tide), the remains of which are still standing. He was Trustee of the Public Buildings of the town in 1760, and in 1765 he was made Senior Warden of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and was instrumental in the erection of the church building, which is still standing. He was evidently of an adventurous spirit in his younger clays, for during King George's War, which lasted from 1744 to 1748, he was surgeon on board the privateer "Grey- hound," fitted out from New York by Richard Jeffrey. An old engraving, still in possession of the family, a copy of which is also in the possession of the New York Historical Societv contains the following inscription :
NAVAL SCENE.
" A Draught of an Engagement between Guardaloupe and Grandterre, on the 12th Nov, 1746, between ye Brig Greyhound, of New York, Richard Jeffery, Comr of 14 Guns and 92 Men, and ye La Fleury, a French ship of 22 Guns and 84 Men, and a French Privateer Sloop of 14 Guns and 130 Men, Wherein Cap" Jeffery & Company Behaved very Gallantly and after an Engagement of 5 hours oblidg'd the Privateer to Sheer off and took ye Shin."
Dr. Wright, although advanced in years at the beginning of the struggle for independence, was an ardent patriot and an active participant in the events con- nected with the Revolution. While there is no evidence that he was regularly commissioned, yet he acted as surgeon and physician to the Continental Army in and about Westchester County, until his capture by the British and incarceration
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 43
in the Provost jail, where he died from inhuman treatment and his body was thrown into the trenches in the rear of the present City Hall, which became known as the "Grave of the Martyrs." Dr. Wright's first wife was Elizabeth Cooper, died January 12, 1755. He married, second, Elizabeth, daughter of
Johannes and Anna (Bajeux) Groesbeck, and relict of Rochelle. By the
latter he had a son, Stephen.
[One of Dr. Wright's sons, Dr. John G. Wright, served as Surgeon's Mate, in the General Hospital service, from 1777 to the close of the war.]
Stephen Wright, son of Dr. Thomas and Elizabeth (Groesbeck) Wright, was born in 1770. He carried on an extensive business in New York City as a shipwright, being a partner of Charles Browne. Among other vessels constructed by this firm was Fulton's steamboat "Clermont," in 1807, the first to ascend the Hudson. In the War of 1812-15, Mr. Wright assisted in the construction of the earthworks at Fort Greene, Brooklyn. He died November 24, 1S34. He was twice married ; his second wife was Martha Dodge, to whom he was married January i, 1804. By her he had a son, Daniel D.
Daniel Dodge Wright, son of Stephen and Martha (Dodge) Wright, was born in New York City, January 12. 1809, on the corner of Suffolk and Hester streets. He was for a time in the employ of his father, but having no taste for mechanical occupations he subsequently engaged in the hardware trade and became one of the most successful hardware merchants in the city. He was a man of strong character, of unimpeachable integrity, just and honest in all his dealings, courteous and affable in his intercourse with his fellowmen, yet firm and decided in his con- victions. From 1844 to i860 he was connected with the Veteran Corps of Artil- lery, and his commission and sword are treasured heirlooms by his son, Stephen. The latter part of his life was devoted to charitable and benevolent works. His death, caused by an accident, occurred April 29, 1892, in New York City. He married, April 14, 1840, Mary Mott, daughter of Stephen Mott, of Jericho, L. I. They had issue, Stephen Mott and Joseph Henry ; the latter died in early childhood.
STEPHEN MOTT WRIGHT, eldest son of Daniel D. and Mary (Mott) Wright, was born in Jericho, L. I., August 16, 1841. He was educated at the public schools of New York City. He began his business career in his father's employ in 1856, from whom he received a thorough training, ami by the time he reached his majority he was fully equipped for the line he had chosen. In 1865 he succeeded his father in the business, which he carried on until 1887 when he retired from active business life. Since then, being favored with a sufficient competence, he has devoted his time and his energies to the promotion of various public and benevolent enterprises. He has been especially identified with the material progress of the building industry of New York City. He has been for twelve years Secretary of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, which has been noted for over a century for educational and beneficent work. He has served the Building Trades Club as Secretary and Treasurer almost from its organization, in recognition of which he was presented, in 1894, with a bronze group, executed by Gaudez, of Paris, and upon his retirement, in February, 1S97, was presented with the following address, elegantly engrossed :
" To Stephen M. Wright. Your fellow members in the Building Trades Club, of New York City, desire to testify in this enduring form to the great regret
44 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
they feel in your withdrawal, at your own request, from the office of Secretary and Treasurer, which you have so adequately filled almost from its very inception
" Despite all the pressing claims upon your time in connection with the varied duties you are called upon to perform for so many other bodies, it would seem that no more perfect record could be made than that achieved by you in the fulfillment of the requirements as an official of this Club.
" We deeply appreciate the services rendered ; have the highest regard for your personal worth, and trust this record will ever remind you of the respect and esteem in which you are held by your fellow members."
He is an active and influential member of the Mechanics' and Traders' Exchange, of which he was Secretary for a number of years. He was for several years the New York representative in the Board of Directors of the National Association of Builders. He is Secretary and Treasurer of Webb's Academy and Home for Shipbuilders, an institution in which he takes the deepest interest, influenced, no doubt, by the fact that his grandfather was a leading ship- wright in New York and a friend of the elder Webb.
During the Washington Centennial celebration in New York, in 1889, Mr. Wright was Secretary of the civic and industrial division, and in recognition of his distinguished services in connection with that affair, he was presented with a bronze medal. In making the presentation, Gen. Butterfield, the Grand Marshall of the parade said :
" Throughout all the detail work connected with these duties, Mr. Stephen M. Wright has, without any recompense, been indefatigable, and by authorization of the conference of the civic, commercial and industrial bodies of this city, I am to present him with this token of the high appreciation, not only held by myself personally, but also by all who have been connected with the affair, for his most valuable, skillful and efficient aid. * * * Right well you have earned and deserved it. May it ever serve, not only as a memorial to you and others of your faithful services in behalf of this grand celebration, but serve also as a reminder of my undying friendship and respect."
When, in 1891, the builders of New York entertained the convention of the National Association of Builders, Mr. Wright was made Secretary of the Com- mittee of One Hundred on Arrangements, and had entire charge of all the details incident to the entertainment of nearly one thousand persons for a whole week. To prepare for the various details of this affair required nearly a year of his time.
Mr. Wright has been for many years one of the " bright and shining lights " in Freemasonry, guiding weary travelers in their pilgrimage and imparting to them a more perfect knowledge of the beautiful symbols of the Order. He is senior Past Master of Prince of Orange Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M., of New York. He has made a study of Capitular Masonry and was advanced and exalted in Phenix Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M.; greeted as a Royal and select Master in Pentalpha Council, No. 36. In the Chivalric Order he was created and dubbed a Knight Templar in Palestine Commandery, No. 18. In the Cerneau Body of the Scottish rite he has advanced to the 33d degree. He was Senior Grand»Deacon of the Grand Lodge of New York, 1881-2, and was the representative of the Grand Lodge of Kansas near the Grand Lodge of New York, from 1878 to 1885. He is a member of the Masonic Veterans of New York City.
The patriotism and military ardor of his ancestors has been manifested in
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 45
Mr. Wright to a marked degree from early life to the present time. He spent nearly ten years of active service in the National Guard. He enlisted in Battery G, First Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., October 25, 1864; promoted Orderly- Sergeant, February 15, 1865; commissioned Second Lieutenant, August 28, 1866; commissioned Regimental Adjutant, May 27, 1868, by Gov. Fenton, and on this occasion he was presented by his associates in Battery G, with a beautiful gold mounted sword which hangs in his private office on Fourth Avenue, among other interesting relics. Upon the disbandment of the regimental organization, in December, 1869, Lieut. Wright was rendered supernumerary, and on February 5, 1870, was assigned by Governor Hoffman to the position of First Lieutenant of Separate Battery G, Light Artillery, and continued until honorably discharged January 4, 1872, the commander expressing "sincere thanks for the faithful manner in which he performed his duty in the Battery," Lieut. Wright was in command of the battery during the "Orange Riot," July 12, 1871, and was complimented in general orders by Gen. Shaler on the efficient manner of his handling this important arm of the service on that day.
The Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution was especially fortunate in securing the services of Mr. Wright as Secretary of that organization, to which position he was elected in 1896 and reelected in 1897. He is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic members of the Society and his time, as well as the use of his private office on Fourth Avenue, is almost wholly devoted to the furtherance of its objects without any compensation whatever. Few men among those who are able, possess the self-sacrificing spirit to devote time and money to a work of this character. To Mr. Wright, however, it is a work of love, and in rendering service to his compatriots he experiences the happiness implied in the proverb, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." Mr. Wright is pos- sessed of rare executive ability and this added to his extensive business experience, renders him preeminently the man for the place. It may be truly said of him that he is sans fteur et sans reproche.
He became a member of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, in the very early days of its existence, and is a member of the Council of the New York State Society, while his patriotic instincts made him an active and efficient member of the Patria Club, as well as the Patriotic League, of this city.
On his maternal side, as his name indicates, he comes of a line of Long Island Quaker ancestry — the Motts — from whom he inherits the liberality of views and practice so marked a trait in his character, and the sterling integrity so frequently observed, as well as that love of peaceful and quiet home life which Mr. Wright so much enjoys when not engaged in some labor for the benefit of his fellow-men. James Mott, his great-grandfather, besides being an extensive farmer at West- bury, L. I., was also a weaver and early invented a loom for the weaving of carpets with set figures pattern. Mr. Wright married, May 10, 1S66, Kate A. Metzgar, daughter of Christian Metzgar, of renown as a practical shipbuilder, having been the superintendent for William H. Webb throughout his business career.
46 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
EDWARD HAGAHAN HALL, Late Registrar, Empire State Soci- ety, S. A. R., was born in Auburn, N. Y., November 3, 1858. His father, Benjamin Franklin Hall, was a distinguished lawyer and public-spirited citizen, and held many offices of public trust, local and national, including those of Mayor of the city of Auburn, and Chief Justice of the Territory of Colorado under President Lincoln.
Mr. Hall inherits several strains of early colonial and patriotic blood. His lineal ancestor, Asbury Hall, of the second antecedent generation, served in the War of 1812; Lieut. William Hall, of the fourth generation, in the Revolutionary War; Capt. Joshua Hall, of the fifth, in the French and Indian War, and Francis Hall, of the eighth, settled in Connecticut in 1639. Through his father's mother, Nancy Foster, he traces back through Dan Foster, of the third antecedent genera- tion, who served in the War of 181 2 ; Serg. William Foster, of the fourth genera- tion, who served in the Revolution, back to Reginald Foster, who came to America in 1638. Through his mother, Abigail Farnam Hagaman, he descends from John Hagaman, of the fourth antecedent generation, who served in the Revolution ; through his mother's mother, Sarah Frye, from Ensign Abiel Frye (third generation) and Capt. Abiel Frye (fourth), of the French and Indian War, Lieut. John Frye (fifth), Ensign Samuel Frye (sixth) to John Frye (seventh), one of the founders of Andover, Mass.; and through his great-grandmother, Abigail Farnam, wife of Eleazar Owen, who was massacred at Minisink, to Capt. Eliab Farnam (fourth), of the Revolution, and so on back to Ralf Farnam another pioneer settler of Andover.
Mr. Hall received an academic education with the expectation of entering Yale College, and graduated with the classical honor— salutatory oration — from the Auburn Academy, in the class of '77. Immediately thereafter, however, he entered professional life as a regular member of the editorial staff of the Norwich, Conn., Morning Bulletin, on which he served in various capacities until the close of the campaign of 1888, during three years occupying the chair of editor-in-chief. After a few months' residence in Waterbury, Conn., he was tendered the position of managing editor of one of the oldest and largest Repub- lican dailies of New England, but was persuaded to enter the printing and publishing business in New York City, in 1889. He is now Secretary of the New York Printing Co. (the Republic Press), publishers, with offices in the Tribune Building. He has always possessed marked literary and historical tastes, and has been a frequent correspondent and contributor to the daily and periodical press. He is also the author or editor of many brochures and books, chiefly of a historical character. In politics he inherits the old time Whig and Republican principles of his father, and in religion is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, having for eight years been vestryman of old Christ Church Parish, of Norwich, in which he was an active worker.
Mr. Hall has been a prominent worker in the Sons of the American Revolution and The Order of Founders and Patriots of America, and was one of the prime movers in the erection of the Dobbs Ferry Monument, the great international banquet of the S. A. R., in 1896, commemorating the Franco- American Alliance of 1778, and similar undertakings. He has been one of the most indefatigable members of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., since its organization, and in the various offices of Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar, Historian and Manager, has
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 47
enjoyed the confidence and respect of his fellow-officers and members. He is also a member of the American Institute of Civics, the Noctes Ambrosiana;, of New York, the League of American Wheelmen and various other organizations.
In 1893 Mr. Hall married Irene Gilbert Gazzam, daughter of Gen. Audley William Gazzam, and great-great-great-granddaughter of Baron Antoine de Beelen de Bertholf, first Austrian Ambassador to the United States. On the birth of their daughter, Edwina Gazzam Hall, September 27, 1894, the Board of Managers of the Empire State Society of the S. A. R. presented her with a handsome sterling silver loving cup, beautifully engraved in high relief, " as a token of esteem for her father, Edward Hagaman Hall."
[For further data of Hall and allied families, see Henry Hall, National Soci- ety, S. A. R., preceding. J
IRA BLISS STEWART, LATE TREASURER, EMPIRE STATE SOCIETY, S. A. R., is a descendant of one of the old Massachusetts families of this name. His Revolutionary ancestor was Paul Stewart.
Paul Stewart, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Braintree (or New Braintree), Mass., in 1765, and lived there and in South Brimfield, Mass., where he died in 1852. In March, 1781, when but sixteen years of age, he enlisted as a private in Capt. Sewall's company, so called, under the command successively of Lieut. Whitney and Capt. Smith, in the Second Massachusetts Regiment (Col. Sprout's) in Gen. Patterson's brigade. His command participated in the invest- ment of New York, in 1781, in the center of the left wing of the army; after which he went south with the army under Washington, and was present at the surrender ot Cornwallis at Yorktown. His command retired to West Point, where he was discharged in December, 1783.
Ira Bliss Stewart, late Treasurer Empire State Society, S. A. R., was born in Batavia, N. Y., October 28, 1855, son of Reuben Nelson Stewart and Harriet Dewey, grandson of Ira Stewart and Sally Rogers, and great-grandson of Paul Stewart and Oliver Munger. Ira Bliss Stewart was elected a member of the Board of Managers, 1893-4, and Treasurer in 1894, serving continuously until and during a portion of 1897.
TEUNIS DiriON HUNTTINQ, Registrar, Em imreStatkS.kietv.S.A.R., 1897-8, is of strictly English descent, although the name is similar in construction to those of the Hollanders who settled Long Island.
John Huntting, the immigrant ancestor, was born in Hoxne, County Suffolk, England, 1597, son of William and Margaret Huntting; came to this country and settled in Dedham, Mass., in 1638; died there, 1689. He was the first ruling elder of the church in that town and prominent in civil affairs. He married Hester Seaborn, of England, supposed to have been a second cousin of John Rogers, the martyr. They had a son John (2).
John Huntting (2), son of John (1) and Hester (Seaborn) Huntting, was born in England 1628 ; came with his parents to Dedham, Mass., where he died in 17 18. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Paine, who came to this country in 1637 on the "Mary Ann." They had a son, Nathanitl (1).
48 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Rev. Nathaniel Huntting, son of John (2) and Elizabeth (Paine) Huntting. was born in Dedham, Mass., 1675 ; graduated at Harvard, 1693; removed to East Hampton, L. I., where he died, 1753. He married Mary, daughter of John and Ruth Green, of Boston, Mass. Nathaniel Huntting (1) was the second minister of the church at East Hampton, where he preached from 1696 to 1746. John Green, born in Cambridge, Mass., 1636, was the son of Percival and Ellen Green, of England, who came to New England on the ship " Susan and Ellen," in 1635. John Green was Marshal-General or High Sheriff of Massachusetts colony in 1681, succeeding his father-in-law, Edward Mitchelson, who had held the office since 1657. Ruth, a sister of Mary Green, married another ancestor of Teunis D. Hunt- ting, thus forming a direct relationship on the maternal as well as the paternal side. By his marriage with Mary Green, daughter of John Green, Nathaniel Huntting (1) had a son, Nathaniel (2).
Nathaniel Huntting (2), son of Nathaniel (1) and Mary Green Huntting, was born in 1702 ; died 1770, at East Hampton, L. I. He married Mary Hedges, and had issue, Nathaniel (3).
Nathaniel Huntting (3), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Nathaniel (2) and Mary (Hedges) Huntting, was born in East Hampton, L. I., 1730; died there in 1801. He was an Associator in the town of East Hampton, in the Revolution. He married Mary, daughter of Major John Murdock, born 1706, in East Hampton; moved to East Saybrook (now Lyme), in New London County, Conn., where he died in 1778. He was a representative in the Connecticut Legis- lature, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of New London, and a major in the militia. The issue of this marriage was Abraham, and other children.
Abraham Huntting, son of Nathaniel (3) and Mary (Murdock) Huntting, was born at East Hampton, L. I., 1773; died in 1851. He married Mary, daugh- ter of Abraham Mulford, Jr., of Southhold, L. I. They had issue,/. Mad/son.
J. fladison Huntting, son of Abraham and Mary (Mulford) Huntting, was born at East Hampton, L. I., March 15, 181 2. He was a well-known merchant and a man of considerable influence in the community. He was President of Sag Harbor Savings Bank from the date of its organization until his death, March 14, 1868. He married Mary E. Dimon, daughter of John Dimon, Jr., and Hannah Hicks, who was the daughter of Zechariah Hicks. John Dimon, Sr. was the son of Abraham Dimon and Hannah Foster.
Abraham Dimon, Patriot of the Revolution, was an Associator in the town of East Hampton, L. I., May 5, 1775.
Zechariah Hicks, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in East Hamp- ton, L. I., Nov. 1, 1749; died there October 6, 1833. He was a member of Capt. Ezekiel Mulford's company of Minute Men, July 26, 1776, and marched from East Hampton, intending to join Col. Josiah Smith's regiment of the American army in defense of Long Island, but arrived at Jamaica the day after the battle of Long Island. He married Rebecca Sherrill.
John Dimon, Sr., before referred to, married Esther Filer, daughter of Thomas Filer.
Thomas Filer, Patriot of the Revolution, enlisted in Capt. John Davis' company, Fourth Regiment, New York Line, Nov. 21, 1776, and was killed near Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Oct. 31, 1777.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
49
By his marriage to Mary E. Dimon, daughter of John Dimon, Jr., Mr. J. Madison Huntting had issue a son, Tennis Dimon.
TEUNIS DIMON HUNTTING, Registrar, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of J. Madison and Mary (Dimon) Huntting, was born at East Hampton, L. I., September 22, 1848. He was educated at the old Clinton Acad- emy, the oldest academic institution in the State of New York. He has been engaged in business in New York City for a number of years. He is a well-known and an expert genealogist, and probably one of the best equipped for the position of Registrar, to which he was elected in June, 1897, of any one that could be found. He is conscientious, painstaking and thoroughly reliable. He is a mem-
TEUNIS D. HUNTTING.
ber of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Long Island Histori- cal Society, and of the Founders and Patriots of America. He is well known in Masonic circles, being a member of Crystal Wave Lodge, F. & A. M.; Gate of the Temple Chapter, R. A. M.; Brooklyn Council, No. 4 ; Clinton Commandery, Knights Templar, of Brooklyn ; a thirty-second degree member of the Scottish Rite, New York Consistory, Northern Jurisdiction, and is also a member of Kismet Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Oasis of Brooklyn. He married, first, Georgiana W. Hammond, daughter of Le Baron Hammond, a descendant of Richard Warren, of the '-Mayflower," one of the signers of the compact. Of the three children by this marriage, George H. is the only surviving one. Mr. Huntting married, second, Jessie I. Hobkirk.
50 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
EARLE— PINNEY.
There are probably few men in the country better known in connection with the various patriotic and colonial societies than Gen. Ferdinand P. Earle, of the Board of Managers, Empire State Society, S. A. R. His ancestry includes some of the leading families of this country whose lines extend back to the feudal ages.
Edward Earle, the American ancestor, went from England to the Barbadoes and thence to Baltimore, Md., where he married Hannah Baylis. In 1676 he removed to New Jersey and purchased the Island of Secaucus, in Bergen County, N. J., and was the progenitor of the Earle family of that State. He was a descend- ant of Edward Earle, the youngest of the English family of that name who took such a prominent part in the Parliamentary struggles in England, his brother, Sir Walter Earle, being the originator of the Habeas Corpus Act.
The English ancestors of the family extend back in an unbroken line to John de Erlegh, of Bukington, County Somerset. Of the allied families of the Earls of this country are included the Phelps, Porters and Hulls, of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and Thomas Spencer, who served under Capt. Mason in his attack on the stronghold of the Pequots ; also Capt. John Bissell, Capt. Benjamin Pinney, Joseph King and Serg. Thomas Huxley, all of whom served in King Philip's War ; also Judge Earle and Judge Vreeland, of Bergen, N. J., Abraham Finte, of the Revolution, Dr. Johanne de La Montagne, member of the councils of Garvin, Kuft and Sturtevant, etc.
Edward Earle, the American ancestor, to whom reference has already been made, had a son, Marmaduke, born i668;died 17 14 ; married Elsie Vreelandt. They had issue, Morris, born October 6, 1696; died 1765. He, by his wife,
Rebecca , had a son, William, born 1734; married Hannah Montagne. They
had a son, William Pitt, born April 22, 1775; died May 29, 1849; married Martha Pint6. The issue of this marriage was William Pitt Earle, born June 14, 1S12.
William Pitt Earle, the father of Gen. Ferdinand P., was for many years a leading hotel proprietor in New York, and at the time of his death was one of the oldest men in that line of business. He was for many years proprietor of the famous Clinton House, of Hartford, Conn., and later of the Lorillard House, New York, which was subsequently known and achieved a national reputation as Earle's Hotel. He married Elizabeth Pinney, daughter of Judge Benjamin Pinney, of Ellington, Conn., son of Eleazer, son of Capt. Benjamin, son of Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1), son of Humphrey, the ancestor.
Humphrey Pinney, the ancestor of the Pinney family in America, was born in Somerset County, England ; came to New England with Rev. John Warham in the ship " Mary and John," which sailed from Plymouth, England, March 30, 1630. He settled at Dorchester, Mass., where he married Mary Hull, who came in the same vessel with him. He was a person of considerable respectability, having the prefix of " Mr." to his name. In 1635 he removed to Windsor, Conn., of which he was one of the founders. He died August 20, 1683. His wife died August 13, 1684. They had, among other children, a son, Samuel (1).
Samuel Pinney (1), son of Humphrey and Mary (Hull) Pinney, was born in Dorchester, Mass. He bought land of the Indians and settled in Elling- ton, Conn. He married Mary Bissell, daughter of John Bissell, who came from
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 51
England to Plymouth Colony in 1628; moved to Windsor, 1640; deputy to General Court, 1642; Captain of Windsor Dragoons during King Philip's War, 1675 , Quartermaster Hartford County Troop of Horse, 1677. Samuel Pinney, by /lis wife, Mary Bissell, had Samuel (2).
Samuel Pinney (2), son of Samuel (1) and Mary (Bissell) Pinney, was born in Dorchester, Mass., and removed thence to Windsor, Conn. He married, October 24, 1698, Sarah Phelps, daughter of Timothy, son of William Phelps, who settled in Dorchester, in 1634; removed to Windsor, Conn., 1638. He was one of the most prominent and highly respected men in the colony ; a member of the first court held in Connecticut, 1636, also of the court, 1637, which declared war against the Pequots ; magistrate in 1638, foreman of the first grand jury; deputy to the General Court, 1645-6-7-8-9, in 1658, he was again made magistrate, continuing four years. He was a " pillar in church and State." By his wife, Sarah Phelps, Samuel Pinney had a son, Benjamin.
Capt. Benjamin Pinney, son of Samuel (2) and Sarah (Phelps) Pinney, was
born in Ellington, Conn., 17 15. He married, first, Ladd ; second, Susannah
Lathrop, by whom he had issue, Eleaser.
Eleazer Pinney, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Capt. Benjamin and Susannah (Lathrop) Pinney, was born February, 1753. He was with the Connecticut troops in the battle of Bemus Heights, Stillwater and Saratoga, Sep- tember and October, 1777. which resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne. He was a prominent citizen in his native town, which he represented in the Legislature, and was selectman of the town for fourteen years, and was such an authority in the settlement of estates and other responsible trusts that he was jocularly called the " Administrator-General " of Ellington. He married Eunice King, and had a son, Benjamin.
Hon. Benjamin Pinney, son of Eleazar and Eunice (King) Pinney, was born at Ellington, Conn., July 4, 1780. He married, February 23, 1803, Susan McKinney. born July 6, 1780. They had eight children, of whom Elizabeth was the sixth. She married William P. Earle.
William P. Earle, by his wife, Elizabeth (Pinney) Earle, had a son, Fer- dinand P.
GEN. FERDINAND P. EARLE, of the Board of Managers, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of William P. and Elizabeth (Pinney) Earle, was born in Hartford, Conn., 1839. After completing his education he became associ- ated with his father in the hotel and succeeded him as proprietor of Earle's Hotel, on Canal street. As he progressed his ideas enlarged, and for many years past he has been proprietor of two of the leading hotels in the country — the Normandie Hotel, of New York, and Normandie-by-the-Sea, a favorite summer resort.
Gen. Earle has long been a prominent figure in the National and in the G. A. R. His reputation as a National Guardsman was gained by honest, hard work. He began his military career as private in Company B, Seventh Regiment, in October, 1862 ; went with it to the front in the Gettysburg campaign and served continuously until 1869. In April, 1861, he was commissioned Captain of Second Battery, subsequently known as Earle's Battery, and under his command it was known as one of the most effectual organizations connected with the State National Guard. On January 1, 1889, he was appointed by Gov. David B. Hill on his staff to represent the artillery branch of the State service, with the rank of Brigadier-
52
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
General, and was reappointed by Gov. Flower. For services rendered in connec- tion with the National Guard to the Venezuelan Government, he was decorated with the order of the Bust of the Liberator. He was for many years chairman and treasurer of the Citizens' Auxiliary Committee of the G. A. R. His charitable and benevolent operations are well known, and the " Earle Guild," founded by him for the relief of the needy, has accomplished much good in this direction.
Gen. Earle is connected with many of the leading societies and organizations of the city. He is a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, the New York Historical Society New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Hugue- not Society of America, New England Society, National Rifle Association, Seventh Regiment Club, American Yacht Club, Order of the Founders and Patriots of
GEN. FERDINAND P. EARLE.
America, Society of Colonial Wars, Society of the War of 1812, etc. His interest in and his labors for the promotion of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., is well known and appreciated by his compatriots.
Gen. Earle was married November 6, 187 1, to Miss Lillie Jones Tuttle (Smith), whose ancestors, the Casiers, Masons, Downings, Guyons, Jones, Berrys, and Pur- cells, were among the earliest settlers of this country, Philip Casier, the Huguenot, being the first magistrate of Harlem, 1662, and the patent to Jacques Guyon grant of two hundred acres of land on Staten Island being dated 1664. The Guyon mansion at New Dorp, S. I., built in 1663, is still in a good state of preservation. Mrs. Earle is also a descendant of the Winthrop family, of Massachusetts, through Lucy, sister of the first Governor Winthrop. She is among the very few women in this country who can trace her descent in an unbroken line to Richard I., II. and III., Dukes of Normandy, and to Emperor Charlemagne.
Gen. Earle purchased, some years ago, the Col. Roger Morris mansion, later
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 53
known as the Junnel mansion, which was used by Gen. Washington as his head- quarters during the battle of Harlem Heights, in September, 1776, at 160th street, near Tenth avenue, New York. This, Gen. Earle has fitted up and restored as far as possible to its original condition and given it the name of '■ Earle Cliff." In this old place Mrs. Earle, who is Regent of the Washington Heights Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, has given many brilliant entertainments to the Daughters and other patriotic societies. She is the founder and president of the Washington Heights Society, Children of the American Revolution.
The children of Gen. and Mrs. Earl are : Ferdinand Pinney Earle, Jr., Victor de la Montagne Earle, William Pitt Striker Earle and Guyon Locke Crochron Earle.
CLARKE- BOONE.
Richard Henry Clarke, Board of Managers, S. A. R., comes of an old Mary- land family, identified with the history of that State from its earliest settlement.
Robert Clarke, the ancestor, settled in Maryland about 1638, and was sur- veyor-general and privy councillor under Lord Baltimore, and sat in the legislature which unanimously elected the Maryland Religious Liberty law, in 1649.
William Clarke, Patriot of the Revolution, a direct descendant of Robert Clarke, was born in Prince George's County, Md.. March 16, 1750, served as Second Lieutenant in the Seventh Battalion of the Maryland Line under Capt. Frederick Diaus, Col. John H. Stone and Brig. -Gen. William Smallwood ; partici- pated in the defence of Stater. Island, N. Y., in 1777, and the battles of Brandy- wine and Germantown ; camped at Valley Forge with Washington's army in the terrible winter of 1778-79, and fought at Monmouth. He was in the service three years.
RICHARD HENRY CLARKE, LL.D., of the Board of Managers, 1896-7, was born in Washington, D. C, July 3, 1827; son of Walter Clarke and Rachel Boone, grandson of William Clarke and Mary Simms, great-grandson of Robert Clarke and Ann Jenkins, great-great-grandson of Walter Clarke, great- great-great-grandson of John Clarke, and great-great-great-great-grandson of Robert Clarke.
Dr. Clarke was educated at Georgetown University, from which he re- ceived the degrees of A.B., A.M., and LL.D. He studied law in Washington, where he tried several important cases. He was a member of the City Council, was the founder and president of several benevolent societies, and one of the founders of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum. He removed to New York in 1864, where he has since continued the practice of his profession. He was associated with Charles O'Connor in several important cases and assisted him in preparing the defense of Jefferson Davis in the proceedings in Virginia, which the govern- ment discontinued. He was Vice-President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, of the Catholic Union, an officer of the Catholic Club, and President of the New York Catholic Protectory, He is the author of " The Lives of the Catholic Bishops of the United States," " The Illustrated History of the Catholic Church in the United States," " Hints for Prolonging Life," " Old and New Lights on Columbus," etc. He also wrote the biographies of several colonial governors
54 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
including those of Leonard Calvert, of Maryland, and of Thomas Dongan. of New York; also of great pioneer missionaries, of Commander Barry, the founder of the American Navy, of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the signer of the Declara- tion of Independence. Dr. Clarke married Ada Semmes, a near relative of Admiral Semmes, of the Confederate Navy.
HOYT— DEMING— FAY— SHERMAN.
The above-named families were not only conspicuous as founders of some of the oldest New England towns, but were represented in the War of the Revolu- tion by self-sacrificing patriots whose devotion to the cause of American independ- ence won for them the plaudits of their countrymen ; and the simple inscriptions on their tombstones tell the story of their achievements.
John Hoyt, the founder of the Massachusetts branch of the family, was born in England, about 1610, and came to this country earlier than 1639, as ms name appears on the Salisbury records that year, and his name appears among the list of original proprietors of Amesbury, Mass., the same year, his "home lot" being indicated on the old map of that town. The history of Amesbury refers to him as follows: "The most prominent event of this year (Feb. 28, 1688) was the death of Sergeant John Hoyt, Sen." Among those entrusted with office in the new town (Amesbury) he was prominent. He was selectman eight years, was on the committee to lay out the " Great Swamp," also to purchase a house for the minister, to treat with Capt. Pike, to build the meeting-house, etc.; he was con- stable, grand juryman, etc. He served as moderator of the town meeting as late
as 1687, and was a military officer in Norfolk County. He married Frances
and had John (2).
John Hoyt (2), son of John (1) and Frances ( ) Hoyt, was born about
1638; was admitted townsman December 10, 1660. He "kept ye Ordinary for Amesbury for ye year ensuing.'' and " hath liberty to sell ul wine and strong waters." He held public office and was a man of good standing in the community. He was killed by the Indians at Andover, August 13, 1696. His will mentions "snapsack, sword and powder horn." He married June 22, 1659, Mary, daughter of William and Rachel Barnes. They had issue, Joseph and other children.
Joseph Hoyt, son of John (2) and Mary (Barnes) Hoyt, was born July 14, 1666. He was tithingman, March, 1709; selectman, 1711-12; member of the grand jury, 1712-13. He lived on the homestead of his grandfather. He married Dorothy Worthen, and had a son, Ezekiel.
Ezekiel Hoyt, son of Joseph and Dorothy (Worthen) Hoyt, was born January 7, 1709 j died December 25, 1755. He resided in that part of Salisbury which was incorporated as South Hampton, in 1742. He was a man of considerable means, a member of the first church in Amesbury and of the second church of Salisbury. He married Rebecca Brown, of Newbury, and had a son, Joseph.
Joseph Hoyt, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Ezekiel and Rebecca (Brown) Hoyt, was born November 3, 1751. He settled in Sandwich, N. H. He was one of the signers of the famous " Association Test," viz.: "We, the sub- scribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our
SONS OF THE AMERICAN1 REVOLUTION.
55
Power, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes, with Arms, oppose the Hostile Proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United American Colonies." He married, August 25, 1774, Betsey Folsom, and had five children, among whom was Daniel.
HON. DANIEL HOYT, son of Joseph and Betsey (Folsom) Hoyt, was born October 26, 1778. He was largely engaged in mercantile pursuits, was President of the Carroll County Bank and a prominent public man in New Hampshire. He resided at Sandwich, N. H. He filled town offices of all kinds and was chosen a representative to the legislature in [807 and was fifteen times elected to represent his native town, but resigned ence, however, on account of his being chosen Senator. He was Senator four years and councillor two years. He was General of the
GEM. DANIEL HOYT.
State Militia and always went by the name of "General." He early identified himself with the old Liberty or Free Soil Party, and was for several years theit candidate for governor. Two years of his life were spent in Ohio. He married, first, Sarah Flanders, daughter of Moses Flanders, an officer in the Revolution and afterwards Major of the New Hampshire State Militia. They had five child- ren, among whom was William Henry.
Rev. William Henry Hoyt, son of Hon. Daniel and Sarah (Flanders) Hoyt, was born at Sandwich, N. H., January 8, 181 3. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1831, and was afterwards for several years rector of St. Luke's Epis- copal Church, at St. Albans, Vt. He resided in Burlington, Vt., for some time,
56 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
where he published the Burlington Sentinel, which was at one time carried on by John G. Saxe, the poet. He became a convert to the Roman Catholic faith, after which he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He removed to New York city about 1868, and after the death of his wife, in January, 1875, he entered the Catholic priesthood and was ordained by Archbishop Corrigan in May, 1877. He devoted the remaining years of his life to the arduous duties of the priesthood until his death, which occurred December 11, 1883. He was a man of scholarly attainments, a fine linguist and possessed qualities of heart that endeared him to all who knew him. He married Anne Deming, daughter of Eleazer Hubbell and Fanny (Follett) Deming. Eleazer Hubbell Deming was the son of Capt. Pownall Deming, son of David, son of Rev. David, son of John Deming, the ancestor.
John Deming, the ancestor, settled in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1635. He was one of the nineteen (including his father-in-law, Richard Treat) to whom was granted the charter of Connecticut, in 1662. He was representative nineteen times — from 1646 to 1665. His wife's brother Robert was one of the founders of Newark, N. J., and afterward Governor of Connecticut. Elizabeth, the sister of John Deming, married Gov. Thomas Welles, of Connecticut. John Deming married, in 1637, Honor Treat, daughter of Richard Treat, above mentioned. They had issue, David.
Rev. David Deming, grandson of John and Honor (Treat) Deming, was graduated at Harvard in 1700, and was the first pastor of the church at Med way, Mass. He removed to Middletown, Conn., and thence to Lyme. He married in 1708, Mercy Brigham, and had issue, David and other children.
David Deming (2), son of Rev. David and Mercy (Brigham) Deming, was born in Lyme, August 24, 1709. He married Mehitable Champion, of East Haddam, Conn., daughter of Lieut. Henry Champion and Mehitable Rowley, daughter of Moses and Mary Rowley. Henry Champion was the son of Thomas, son of Henry, of Saybrook, who came from England prior to 1647. David Dem- ing and his wife, Mehitable Champion, had a son, Pownall.
Lieut. Pownall Deming, Patriot of the Revolution, of Colchester, Conn. He was sergeant in Capt. Worthy Waters' Company, of Hebron, Conn., who marched from Connecticut "for the Relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm," April, 1775 ; sergeant in Eighth Company, Second Regiment, Connecticut Line, commanded by Capt. Levi Wells, of Colchester, May 6 to December 10, 1775. These troops took part at Roxbury, Mass., and served during the siege until expiration of term of service, around Boston. He was detached with others and served under Gen. Spencer at Bunker Hill. He reenlisted in Col. Wyllys' Regi- ment, Twenty-second Connecticut Line, 1776; promoted ensign during the year; reported in October in the " commissary business." After the evacuation of Boston by the British this regiment marched, under Washington, to New York by way of New London and the Sound ; assisted in fortifying New York ; ordered to the Brooklyn front, August 24 ; engaged in the battle of Long Island, August 27. Referring to Wyllys' and other regiments in this battle, Johnson says : " Some in groups, some keeping together in companies, some in battalions, all aiming for one objective — the camp. Here they fought the light infantry, there they were charged upon by the dragoons ; those who were intercepted fell into the hands or upon the bayonets of the Hessians. It was a trying and desperate situation from which there was no relief." Ensign Deming took part in the subsequent events
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
57
at Kip's Bay, Harlem and White Plains until the expiration of term of service, December 31, 1776. Previous to this, Ensign Deming had engaged in an import- ant undertaking in connection with Capt. Coit. On October 24, by order of Gen. Washington, Capt. William Coit, of Norwich, then in Parsons' regiment before Boston, marched with his company to Plymouth and took charge of the privateer " Harrison," carrying four carriage guns and ten swivels. He captured several prizes in which Serg. Deming shared. Ensign Deming was commissioned second lieutenant January 1, 1777, first lieutenant November 15, 1778. He was second in command of Capt. Clift's Company, First Regiment, Connecticut Line, commanded by Col. John Durkee, of Norwich, Conn. He remained in service with this regi- ment until it was finally disbanded at West Point in June, 1783, by Washington's
EI.KA7.KK HUBBELI, DEMING.
orders. His name appears among the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati. At the close of the war he engaged in business in Hartford, Conn., where he died suddenly, April 9, 1795. On his tombstone in Hartford his name appears as " Captain." He married Abigail Hubbell, of New Fairfield, Conn., a woman noted for her beauty. They had an only son, Eleazer Hubbell.
ELEAZER HUBBELL DEMING, only son of Capt. Pownall and Abigail (Hubbell) Deming, was born at Wethersfield, Conn., February 1 3, 1 785. His mother died when he was but ten days old and he was brought up by his grandmother, Mrs. Ann Noble Hubbell. He went to New York early in life and obtained a position
58 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
as clerk in a mercantile house. He moved to Burlington, Vt., in 1805, where he established a large business and was regarded by those, who knew him as the best business man in Northern Vermont. He accumulated what was then considered a large fortune. His views of men and affairs were broad and he was a man of strong character and decided convictions. He died May 5, 1828. He married Fanny Fay Follett, of Bennington, Vt., daughter of Susanna (Fay) Follett, and granddaughter of John Fay.
John Fay, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Hardwick, Mass., Dec. 23, 1734. and lived in Bennington, Vt. He was sergeant' in Capt. Elijah Dewey's Company, Col. Moses Robinson's regiment of militia, at Ticonderoga, in 1776. He was one of five brothers who were all engaged in the battle of Ben- nington, under Gen. Stark. His tombstone in the little graveyard at Bennington contains the following inscription :
" In memory of John Fay, Esq'r, who fell fighting for the freedom of his country in the Battle fought between Gen. Stark and Col. Baum, called Benning- ton Battle, on the 16th of August, 1777, in the 43d Year of his Age.
" The sweet remembrance of the Just Shall flourish while they sleep in dust."
John Fay was shot from behind a tree while taking aim with his musket at the enemy. A local historian, in his account of the affair, says : " Quick as light- ning ran the cry over the ranks of his townsmen, ' John Fay is shot !' Maddened with fury they sprang from behind the trees and fired their guns in the very faces of the foe. They leaped over the breastworks of the enemy with an impulse of onset nothing mortal could resist." The enemy were driven back and soon after victory perched on the banner of the Americans. The desperate charge of the townsmen of John Fay no doubt contributed materially to the final result. Capt. Stephen Fay, the father of John, was also an ardent patriot, and when the body of his son was brought home, he, with his own hands, washed away the blood stains and thanked God that he had a son who was willing to give his life for his country. The four surviving sons all became prominent in public affairs. Joseph became Secretary of State of Vermont, and Dr. Jonas Fay was the author of the Declaration of Independence of the State of Vermont.
Rev. William Henry Hoyt, by his wife, Anne Deming (granddaughter of John Fay), had issue, Charles Albert.
CHARLES ALBERT HOYT, Member of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., eldest son of Rev. William Henry and Anne (Deming) Hoyt, was born in the old Deming homestead, at Burlington, Vt., July 27, 1839. After a clue course of preparation he entered the University of Vermont and subsequently Georgetown College, from which he was graduated in 1857. He received his degrees of A.B. and A.M. from both institutions. He began the study of law in the office, intending to follow that profession, but finally decided on a business career, and started on the lowest round of the ladder with the mercantile house of Dennison & Binsse, in New York, and later with Howard, Sanger & Co. During the first year of his business life he continued his legal studies, and the knowledge acquired he was able to use to good advantage later in life. In i860 he was associated for a time with his father on the Burlington Sentinel, and during
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 59
this time contributed occasionally to the columns of the New York press. He returned to New York city in 1861 and obtained a position with Poppenhusen & Konig. This firm at the time had the entire control of what was known as the Goodyear hard rubber patents. The previous experience and knowledge acquired by Mr. Hoyt was a special advantage to him in the duties of his new position. He became a member of the firm in 1872, and for the past thirty years has been treasurer of the India Rubber Comb Co. and the Goodyear Hard Rubber Co., both being the outgrowth of the old firm. He is identified with other business interests and various organizations. He is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce and one of its Executive Committee ; he was one of the founders and is still a director of the German-American Insurance Co.; trustee of the Brooklyn Savings Bank ; a member of the Union League Club, the Hamilton Club, the New York Press Club, the New England Society, the Long Island Historical Society ; Vice-President of St. Vincent's Home for Boys ; member and trustee of the Church of St. Charles Borromeo, of Brooklyn ; he is an hereditary member of the Society of the Cincinnati and treasurer of the New York State Society.
Mr. Hoyt married, in 1862, Julia H. Sherman, daughter of Enoch P. and Julia M. Sherman ; son of Anthony, of Brookfield, Mass., who married Sally Piper; son of Thomas, who married Betsy Keith, of Bridgewater; son of Anthony, who married Silence Ford, of Bridgewater; son of William, of Marshfield, Mass., who married Mary, daughter of Peregrine White, born on the ship " Mayflower," in Cape Cod Harbor, November n, 1620, the first child born in Plymouth Colony ; son of William Sherman, of Marshfield, who married Desire Doty, daughter of Edward Doty, who came on the "Mayflower"; son of William Sherman, the emigrant, who came from Northampton, England, in 1629, married Prudence Hill, of Duxbury. He served under Miles Standish against the Indians. His son, William, above mentioned, served in King Philip's War and died from exposure.
The issue of the marriage of Charles Albert Hoyt to Julia H. Sherman is one son, Albert Sherman. He is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and Mrs. Hoyt is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
WILLIAM WATKINS KENLY,
Of the Board, of Managers?, Empire State Society, Sons of trie American Revolution.
There are probably few men in this country whose line of ancestry extends through so many distinguished families of America and in an unbroken line to the highest nobility of Europe, dating back to the seventh century, as that of William Watkins Kenly, one of the most active and enthusiastic members of the Society, which he represents as one of its Board of Managers. Mr. Kenly's ancestors were not only distinguished in the War of the Revolution, but also in the colonial wars, the War of 1812-15 and the more recent Mexican War, and bore an important part in shaping the destinies of our nation. During the Civil War also, his immediate relatives were conspicuous for their gallantry in both the Union and Confederate armies. The ancestry given through the several lines will doubtless prove of great value to others seeking information in this direction.
60 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Of those who served in the English army during the colonial period were the following ancestors : Col. Edward Claggett, Col. Edward Dorsey, Col. Nicholas Greenberry, Col. Nicholas Gassaway, Col. Henry Ridgely, Col. George Wells, Major Samuel Goldsmith, Capt. John Worthington, Capt. Thomas Claggett.
In the War of the Revolution there were: Capt. Gassaway Watkins, grand- father; Major Nicholas Worthington, great-uncle; Ensign Nicholas Worthington, Jr., relative ; Private Zacheriah Lyles, relative ; Private James Lyles, relative.
In the War of 1812: Col. Gassaway Watkins, grandfather; Private Edward Kenly, grandfather ; Lieut. Gassaway Watkins, Jr., uncle.
In the Mexican War : Major John R. Kenly, uncle ; Capt. Richard Watkins, first cousin.
In the Civil War : Maj.-Gen. John R. Kenly, uncle ; Major William L. Kenly, uncle; Private John R. Kenly, of George, brother; Private Albeit G. Warfield, first cousin ; Private Gassaway Warfield, first cousin ; Private Beale Warfield, first cousin ; Private Lewis Watkins, first cousin. These five privates enlisted in the army when between the ages of fifteen and eighteen.
Now in the regular army : Lieut. William Lacy Kenly, Jr., first cousin.
The first historical mention of the Kenly family is contained in a description of the " Kenly Manor," Shropshire, England, in the tenth century, during the reign of Edward the Confessor. The name also appears in the Domesday Book, A. D. 1085-6.
Richard Kenly, the American ancestor, is supposed to be a descendant of the proprietors of Kenly Manor. He had issue, Darnel and William. The latter was one of the gentlemen authorized by acts of assembly, April 6, 1776, and March 20, 1777, to sign notes or currency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Coat of Arms of the Kenly family — Attns, Per bend embattled sa. and ar. — is given in Burke's Encyclopedia of Heraldry.
Daniel Kenly, eldest son of Richard, was a resident of Deer Creek, Harford County, Md., a man of some prominence, being an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He married, November 6, 1739, Frances, daughter of Col. George Wells, son of Richard Wells, who was a member of the General Assembly of Maryland in 1654; one of the judges of the Provincial Council, 1655-8; appointed July 22, 1654, one of commissioners "for the well ordering, directing and governing the affairs of Maryland, under His Highness, the Lord Protector of England, Scot- land, Ireland, etc." George Wells, above mentioned, was a member of the General Assembly, 1674-8, was Colonel of the Provincial troops of Maryland, and was recommended by Lord Baltimore and sundry merchants as " one of the sub- stantial Protestant Inhabitants of Maryland and a member of the Provincial Council." He married Blanche, daughter of Major Samuel Goldsmith, Major of the Provincial troops, who in 1659 was one of the deputies sent from Maryland to the town of New Armstell. Daniel Kenly, by his wife, Frances (Wells) Kenly, had a son, Richard
Richard Kenly, son of Daniel and Frances (Wells) Kenly, was born in Harford County, Md., November 3, 1761. He married, in 1783, Avis, daughter of Richard and Rebecca Ward. He was a magistrate and a man of some note. They had issue, a son, Edward.
Edward Kenly, son of Richard and Avis (Ward) Kenly, was born November 22, 1788. He was a private in Company C, Twenty-seventh Regiment, in the War
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 6l
of 1812-15, and took part in the battles of Fort McHenry and North Point. The regiment was commanded by Col. Kennedy Long, and was known as " the brave Twenty-seventh." Mr. Kenly was Judge of the Appeal Tax Court and Assessors of Tax for the city of Baltimore, 1855. He married, February 9, 1814, Maria Keener Reese (born May 21, 1791), daughter of John Evans Reese and Anne Lacy, of Virginia. John Evans Reese was the son of John Reese, who married Sarah Evans, November 11, 1746, in Wales. John Reese was the son of Meredith ap Reese, who married, in Wales, Catherine, the daughter of Cadwallader. Edward Kenly and Maria Keener Reese, his wife, had issue, George Tyson, John Reese and William Lacy.
George Tyson Kenly, eldest son of Edward and Maria (Reese) Kenly, was born November 8, 181 4. He was a prominent merchant of Baltimore and was one of the charter members of the Chamber of Commerce, now called the Balti- more Corn and Flour Exchange, and for many years was one of its Directors. For the last thirteen years he has been the treasurer, and although in his eighty- fourth year still personally attends to the responsible duties of this office. He is one of the best known and highly respected citizens of Baltimore.
John Reese Kenly, the second son of Edward and Maria (Reese) Kenly, was a major in the Mexican War and commanded the escort that conducted Gen. Santa Anna through the American lines. He received the thanks of the State of Maryland by resolution of the General Assembly, " for distinguished gallantry displayed in the field during the war with Mexico." At the breaking out of the Civil War he held the position of Brigadier-General, State Militia, and was appointed by Gen. N. P. Banks, Provost Marshal of Baltimore. He served with distinction until the close of the war and rose to the rank of Major-General. As in the Revolutionary War, at the battle of Long Island, four hundred Maryland troops were left to cover the retreat of the American army, so again in the Civil War the Maryland troops were called upon to cover the retreat of Gen. Banks' army before Stonewall Jackson. Gen. Kenly, then Colonel of the First Maryland Infantry of nine hundred men, was left at Front Royal, Va., to check the advance of Stonewall Jackson's army of eight thousand men. His entire command was surrounded and captured or killed, and Col. Kenly, refusing to surrender, was forcibly cut out of his saddle by two cavalrymen. But the Union army was saved and Gen. Banks crossed the Potomac. " On receiving news from Secretary Stanton that Banks' army had crossed the Potomac without loss and in safety, owing to the gallant fight of Gen. Kenly at Front Royal, delaying the advance of Stonewall Jackson's army, President Lincoln, at midnight, in the executive chamber, with the members of the cabinet, rose from their seats and gave three rousing cheers— the first and only time that such a demonstration had been made by the President and his cabinet." — (Authority, Maj.-Gen. N. P. Banks). Presi- dent Lincoln appointed Colonel Kenly Brigadier-General for " gallant conduct at Front Royal, Va." He twice received a vote of thanks from his native State, through the General Assembly, for " early, prompt and distinguished services in the Civil War." He was presented with an elegant sword and mountings by the State of Maryland and another by the city of Baltimore. He was the author of " Memoirs of a Maryland Volunteer in the War with Mexico."
William Lacy Kenly, the youngest son of Edward and Maria (Reese) Kenly, was a Major of Infantry, Maryland Volunteers, during the Civil War and made
62 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
for himself an honorable record. He is a civil engineer by profession and Chief Engineer of the Baltimore City Water Supply. His son, William Lacy, Jr., is Lieutenant First Artillery, U. S. A.
George Tyson Kenly, the first mentioned son of Edward Kenly, married, April 16, 1844, Priscilla Agnes Watkins, daughter of Colonel Gassaway Watkins. Col. Gassaway Watkins, A Soldier of the Revolution, was an offi- cer in Smallwood's Regiment at the battle of Long Island and one of the immortal " Maryland Four Hundred," who saved the retreating American army from total destruction. He served seven years as an officer in the Maryland Regulars. He was made Sergeant, January, 1776; Ensign, April 20, 1777; Lieutenant, May 1, l777'< Captain, January 1, 1781, and mustered out of service January, 1783, as Captain Third Regiment, Maryland Line, commanded by Col. John Eager Howard. He was the last surviving officer of the old Maryland Line. In an autograph letter now in possession of William Watkins Kenly, a descendant in the second generation, he says: "I was on Long Island and the White Plains with Col. Smallwood's Regulars, in '77; at Germantown, '78; at Monmouth, 'So; at Cam- den, '81 ; at the Cowpens, Guilford Court House, Second Camden, Ninety-six, and Eutaw Springs. At the assault on Ninety-six, Capt. P. Benson fell wounded in my arms. I was several times in the vanguard ; was at Staten Island in March, 1780, and was at Elizabethtown a few hours after Major Egleston and his guard was taken. I was toasted by Gen. Nathaniel Greene at a public dinner on the High Hills of the Santee." In explanation of this incident he states that he was a bearer of special dispatches from Gen. Greene to Gen. Smallwood; also from Gen. Smallwood to Gen. Marion. He says: " In February(i78i), the day Gen. David- son was killed, I left camp with orders from Gen. Greene ; and upon reaching the Yadkin River, found it had overflown its banks, and was told by my guide that it was impossible to cross through the rushing current, on which was borne floating logs and other debris. I was satisfied there was nothing to stop the enemy, and knowing the wish of my General to bring his troops to a point near action, I immediately pulled off my coat and boots, put the dispatches in the crown of my hat, tied it on my head, took leave of my old friend who, with tears in his eyes, wished me well, and with difficulty crossed the river. My guide and friend expressed his joy by throwing up his hat. I got to headquarters and was received by Generals Greene and Morgan."
Col. Watkins was a man of magnificent physique, six feet two inches in height, well proportioned and developed. His height and size made him conspicuous in battle. He was a warm personal friend of Col. John Eager Howard. He was President of the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland, was Colonel of the Depart- ment of Drafted Militia of the State of Maryland in the War of 181 2-1 5, and was placed in command of the defences of Annapolis. One of his sons, Gassaway Watkins, Jr., was Lieutenant in the Maryland Militia in the War of 1812-15. Another son, Dr. William Washington Watkins, was a member of the State Senate and John Sebastian, another son, was also a member of the State Senate, and was one of the signers of the address which, in 1861, declared that the legislature had no power to commit the State to secession. He was also a member of the Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland.
Col Gassaway Watkins was the son of Nicholas Watkins and Ariana Worth- ington, fifth in descent from John Watkins, the immigrant ancestor, who married in
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 63
1688, Ann Gassaway, daughter of Nicholas Gassaway, Colonel of the Provincial troops, one of the "Commissioners of Peace and Tryall of Causes," and one of the justices of the Provincial court. Ariana Worthington, the mother of Col. Gassaway Watkins, was the daughter of Thomas Worthington (and Elizabeth Ridgely), who was a magistrate under the crown and a member of the General Assembly, the proceedings of which show him to have been one of the most influential and useful members of that body. Brice Thomas Beale Worthington, a brother of Ariana Worthington, was a member of the Committee of Safety and a delegate, with Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, and Samuel Chase, from Ann Arundel County, Md., to the Maryland State Convention, August 14, 1776. Another brother, Nicholas Worthington, was a major in the Seventh Battalion, Maryland Continentals, and also a member of the State legislature during the War of the Revolution. His son, Nicholas, was an ensign in the Seventh Battalion.
Capt. John Worthington, the grandfather of Ariana Worthington, was the immigrant ancestor of the family. He was a man of some importance and was captain of the provincial troops. The inscription on his tombstone states that " He was the progenitor of many sturdy sons of Maryland — men who moulded and controlled affairs and helped to build up the State, His family bore : Arms — Argent, three rustic forks, sable. Crest— A goat statant (or passant) argent, holding in mouth an oak branch, vert, fructed, or. Motto — Virtute dignus val- orem (In valor worthy of our ancestors.) He married Sarah Howard, daughter of Matthew Howard, the immigrant ancestor, and Sarah Dorsey. Elizabeth, the sister of Matthew Howard, married Col. Henry Ridgely, of whom hereafter. Sarah Dorsey, the wife of Matthew Howard, was the daughter of Col. Edward Dorsey and Margaret Larkin, who was the immigrant ancestor of this family. He was a colonel in the Colonial militia in the Province of Maryland, and partici- pated in most of the early contests with the Indians. He was an earnest promoter of the cause of education in the province, and one of the original trustees and incorporators of King William's College. He was a member of the General Assembly, was a "Justice of Pease and Tryall of Causes." He was the son of Edward Dorsey, of Hockley-in-the-Hole, Lancaster County, England.
The mother of Ariana Worthington was Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Ridgely and Catherine Greenberry. He was the son of Henry Ridgely, Colonel of the Provincial troops, member of the General Assembly, etc. He was one of the most distinguished men in the province, and progenitor of the numerous Ridgely family of Maryland, many descendants of whom have adorned the highest positions in the province and state, in civil, military and naval life. The Ridgely family bore : Arms — Or, on a cheveron gules, three mullets, argent. Crest — A stag's head erased ppr. attired or. Motto — Dum spiro spero (While I breathe I hope). He married Elizabeth Howard, in England. The Maryland Howards are descended from the Howard family of England, whose head is the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, of England, the oldest and proudest of the peerage. The Howard family bore : Anns — Gules, on a bend argent, between six cross crosslets fitchees argent, an escutcheon or, charged with a demi-lion rampant, pierced through the mouth with an arrow flory, counter flory of the first. Crest — On a chapeau, gules, turned up ermine, a lion statant, guardant, tail extended or, ducally crowned, and gorged with a ducal coronet, argent. Motto — Sola virtus Moicta (Virtue alone is invincible).
64 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Catharine Greenberry, the grandmother of Ariana Worthington and great- grandmother of Col. Gassaway Watkins, was the daughter of Col. Nicholas Greenberry, the immigrant ancestor ; Colonel of the Colonial forces of the Pro- vince of Maryland, President of the Provincial Council, acting Governor of the Province, one of the judges of the Provincial Court, " one of the seventeen citizens who signed articles of impeachment against my Lord Baltimore "
Col. Gassaway Watkins (whose mother was Ariana Worthington), referred to in the foregoing, married Eleanora Bowie Claggett, daughter of Wiseman Clag- gett (and Priscilla Bowie Lyles, whose two brothers, Zachariah and James, were privates in the Second Regulars, Maryland Line, in the War of the Revolution). Claggett Coat of Arms : Arms — Erm. on a fesse sa. 3 pheons, or. Crest — An eagle's head erased, erm. ducally crowned. Wiseman Claggett was the son of Edward Claggett and Ellen, daughter of John Bowie. Edward was the son of Richard Claggett and Deborah Dorsey ; she was the daughter of John Dorsey and Pleasance Ely ; he was the brother of Col. Edward Dorsey, referred to in connection with the family of Capt. John Worthington and Matthew Howard. John Dorsey was a commissioner of the Provincial government appointed to sur- vey and lay out Annapolis, the new capital.
Richard (2), Edward and Rev. Samuel Claggett were all sons of Richard Claggett (1). Richard Claggett (2) was one of the committee appointed November 18, 1774, for Charles City, Md., " to represent and act for said county, to carry into existence the Association agreed upon by the American Continental Congress."
Rev. Samuel Claggett, third son of Richard (1), brother of Richard (2) and Edward Claggett married, first, Elizabeth, daughter of Col. Edward Gaunt, of Calvert County, Md.; second, the daughter of Dr. Gustavus Brown.
Rt. Rev Thomas John Claggett, son of Rev. Samuel Claggett, was consecrated Bishop of Maryland, in Trinity Church, New York, September 17, 1792, by Revs. Samuel Provost, D.D., Samuel Seabury, D.D., James Madison, D.D., and William White, D.D. Bishop Claggett was the first Bishop consecrated on American soil, and the " first instance of the assertion of the National independence of the American Episcopal Church." In him, too, was united the Scottish and English lines of succession, and from him every American Bishop since consecrated has received the mingling of those two streams. In 1800, when the first congress sat in the newly established capital, at Washington, Bishop Claggett was Chaplain. An altar tomb is erected over his grave, on which is an eloquent Latin inscription written by Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star Spangled Banner."
Richard Claggett (1), the father of Rev. Samuel, Richard (2) and Edward, and the grandfather of Rt. Rev. Thomas John Claggett, was the son of Capt. Thomas Claggett.
Capt. Thomas Claggett, the immigrant ancestor, came to the Province of Maryland in 1670. He was one of the Committee of Inspection appointed to collect money for the purchase of arms. He was the son of
Col. Edward Claggett, born in England, 1600. He married in 1625, Margaret Adams, daughter of Sir Thomas Adams, Lord Mayor of London, and a cavalier in the reign of Charles I. As a royalist he was imprisoned in the Tower by Oliver Cromwell, and was afterward knighted by Charles II. He was the eldest brother of Henry Adams, of Braintree, Mass., the progenitor of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and was one of the grantees named in the
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 65
charter of Charles I., in 1629, of land of which Braintree formed a part. Adams Coat of Arms : Ar»is — Argent on a cross gules, five mullets, or. Crest — Out of a ducal coronet, a demi-lion. Motto— Loyal au mort. From Sir Thomas Adams the family is traced in an unbroken line to the seventh century, through William, Richard, John, Thomas, Roger, Sir John Ap Adam (2), Sir John (1), Thomas Ap Adam. Sir John, William, Sir John Ap Adam, who " came out of the marches of Wales." The last mentioned married Elizabeth, daughter of John de Gournai, Lord of Bervestan ; son of Anselm de Gournai, Lord of Bervestan ; Hugh de Gournai, Lord of Bervestan ; Hugh Baron de Gournai. Lady Editha, daughter of William de Warren and Gundred his wife, married Gerard, Baron de Gournai. Gundred, daughter of William I. the Conqueror and Matilda his wife, married William de Warren, who was created first Earl of Surrey. William de Warren was a lineal descendant of Charles III., King of France, who married Queen Edgina, daughter of Edward the elder, King of England, son of Alfred the Great. William the Conqueror, father of Gundred and the seventh Duke of Normandy, married Lady Matilda. Lady Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, was the daughter of Baldwin V., seventh Count of Flanders, who married Adela, sister of Henry I., King of France, and daughter of Robert II., the Pious King of Fiance, who was the son of Hugh Capet, King of France. Baldwin, sixth Count of Flan- ders ; Arnolph II., fifth Count of Flanders; Baldwin, third Count of Flanders; Arnolph the Great, Count of Flanders ; Baldwin II., Count of Flanders, Boulogne and St. Pole, founder of the House of Blois, King of Jerusalem, died 918, married Lady Ethelwida, daughter of Alfred the Great, King of England. Baldwin L, Count of Flanders, surnamed Bras le Fer, King of Jerusalem, who married Lady Judith, daughter of Charles I., King of France. Baldwin I. was the great-great- great-grandson of Charlemagne and the son of Count Croise Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, leader of a crusade, Baron of the Holy Sepulchre, defender of the Christians. Lady Judith, wife of Baldwin I., was the daughter of Charles I., the Bold King of France, son of Louis I., the Pious King of France, son of Charle- magne, Emperor of the West, born 768, died S14, son of Pepin le Bref, King of France, son of Charles Martel, born 690, died 741.
Col. Edward Claggett, mentioned in the foregoing as having married Margaret Adams, was the son of George Claggett, Mayor of Canterbury, England, in 1609, and again from 1622 to 1632. He was the son of Robert Claggett (2), born 1530 who married a daughter of Sir Robert Gordon. Robert Claggett (2) was the son of Robert (1), of Maling, in the County of Kent, England, born about 1490.
The maternal line of William Watkins Kenly begins with the marriage of George Tyson Kenly to Priscilla Agnes Watkins, daughter of Col. Gassaway Watkins, and ending with the Claggett family. The issue of this marriage was Edward Gassaway, John Reese, Davies Law, George Tyson, Jr. (deceased), Douglass Claggett, William Watkins, Albert Clarke.
WlLLIAtt WATKINS KENLY. Mr. Kenley is the sixth son of George Tyson Kenly and Priscilla Agnes Watkins, member Baltimore Chapter, D. A. R., and the grandson of Gassaway Watkins, Captain Maryland Line, Revolutionary War; one of the ' immortal Maryland 400, " Colonel of the Maryland Troops in the War of 181 2, and President of ihe Society of the Cincinnati, of Maryland. He was elected a member of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., on the tenth day of May, 1S95, State number 623. National number 7,123. In August, 1895, he 5
66
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
was appointed by the society as one of the committee to receive the delegation from the Maryland Society, S. A. R., at the unveiling of the monument in honor of the "immortal Maryland 400," erected in Brooklyn. He was secretary of the committee that drafted the present Constitution and By-Laws of the Society. He is a member of the Board of Managers and also chairman of the Finance Com- mittee. He designed the proposed standard for the society, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate blue and white ; the insignia of the society is embroidered in a white field, the American eagle surmounting the staff, the cords and tassels being white and blue, intertwined — the colors of the Society.
WILLIAM WATKINS KENLY
Mr. Kenly is a civil engineer by profession and was elected a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers on November 7, 1889. He attended the public schools of Baltimore city until lie was about fifteen years of age, when he was appointed third assistant in the Engineer Corps in charge of the construction of the Union Railroad, at Baltimore, now part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, of which his brother, John R. Kenly, was the engineer in charge. Mr. Kenly followed his profession of civil engineering, and in December, 1875, was appointed by Joshua Vansant, Mayor of Baltimore city, First Assistant Engineer in charge of the construction of the Lock Raven dam, gate house, reservoir and First Tunnel section, Baltimore City Water Works, this being one of the most important engineering works i;oing on in the country at that time. He resigned this position
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 6j
in February, 1881, and was appointed by Robert Garrett, President of the B. & O. Railroad, as Engineer of Maintenance of Way of the fourth and fifth divisions of the main line of the B. & 0. R. R. He resigned this position and was appointed engineer in charge of the construction of the East River division of the Norfolk & Western Railroad. On completion of this work he was appointed engineer in charge of the construction of the masonry and iron superstructure of the bridge across the Brandywine river, at Wilmington, Del., for the B. & O. R. R. He was then appointed engineer in charge of the erection of the great steel bridge across the Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace, Md. for the B. & O. R. R. At that time this was the most important bridge ever built in the world. He was then appointed assistant to the General Manager on Construction of the Atlantic Coast Line R. R., resigning to accept the position of engineer of construction of the Edge Moor Bridge Works, this company being one of the largest and best known bridge companies in the world. Amongst their work is the riveted steel work for the main span of the Brooklyn Bridge.
During his engineering experience Mr. Kenly spent eight years in the rolling mills and bridge shops, testing and inspecting the iron and steel and the construc- tion of bridges, erecting the same in the field and having charge of the mainten- ance of the same in the service of the railroad companies. In the fall of 1S92 Mr. Kenly came to New York, an entire strager, and organized the United States Mortar Supply Company, of which he is the General Manager. Mr. Kenly designed and built the factory for this company and also designed most of the machinery. He is prominent in building operations in New York City and in matters affecting the building trades' interests. He is a member of the Building Trades Club, and also a member of the Builders' League of New York, and one of its Board of Managers.
Mr. John R. Kenly, brother of Mr. William W. Kenly, is a prominent civil engineer and railroad man and the General Manager of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. He was sent by the American Railway Association as a delegate to the International Railway Congress, held in London, July, 1S95, which was presided over by the Prince of Wales. John R. Kenly attended the public schools of Baltimore city : left at the age of fifteen and joined the Confederate army. He took part in the battle of Gettysburg and served to the end of the war as a private, First Maryland Cavalry. He was the youngest soldier in the regiment. He was in most of the principal battles in the war and was in the charge made by his regiment when it cut through the Union army at Appomattox.
Another brother of W. W. Kenly is Mr. Edward G. Kenly, President of the Morton Safety Heating Company. Another brother is Albert C. Kenly, General Agent of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Baltimore city. He was one of the charter members of the Maryland Society, S. A. R., and for a number of years a member of the Board of Managers. Another brother, Davies Law Kenly, is a member of the Maryland Society, S. A. R., and a prominent merchant, living at Hagerstown, Md. Another brother, Douglass Claggett Kenly, is General Agent for the State of New Jersey for the National Cash Register Co.
68 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
THE CONE FAMILY.
Daniel Cone, the American ancestor of this family, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1626, died October 24, 1706. The family is mentioned in Burke's General Armory with the following description of the Arms - Gules a fesse engrailed between a cinquefoil in chief, and a crescent in base argent. Daniel Cone came to America in the ship "John and Sarah" in 1651, landing in Boston, afterward going to Lynn, where he married, and then settled in Hartford, Conn. The facsimile letter shown herewith was written by John Winthrop, Jr., Governor of Connecticut, to Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Netherlands. It is printed in Vol. VIII., fifth series, page 44 (Winthrop Papers, Part 4), of Massachusetts His- torical Collections, published by the Massachusetts Historical Society. He was one of the twenty-eight proprietors to whom permission was given by the General Court in 1660 to occupy the plantation known as Thirty Mile Island, on the Con- necticut river. The tract of land was purchased from four Indian kings in 1662, for thirty coats, of a value not exceeding $100. About six years later this tract was given the name of Haddam. In 1670 Daniel Cone, with a few others, removed to the east side of the river and settled in what was known as Creek Row. He built a log hut and settled on the farm, which remained until quite recently in the Cone family. He married Mehitable, daughter of Jared Spencer (born as early as 1610; emigrated from England in 1634 and settled at Cambridge, Mass.; removed thence to Hartford, and was one of the twenty-eight proprietors who settled Haddam in 1662; descendant of Robert de Spencer, who came into Eng- land with the Conqueror in 1066 and, as his name implies, was steward to that monarch). Their children were Ruth, Hannah, Daniel, Jared, Rebecca, Nathaniel, Jared again, Ebenezer, Stephen and Caleb.
Caleb Cone, youngest son of Daniel and Mehitable (Spencer) Cone, was born in Haddam in 1680; died September 1, 1741. He married for his second wife, Elizabeth Cunningham, and had five children, of whom Daniel was the eldest.
Daniel Cone, eldest son of Caleb and Elizabeth (Cunningham) Cone, was born December 22, 1725 ; died July 12, 1762. He was a soldier at Louisburg and Ticonderoga. He married Susannah Hurlbut, May 12, 1750, and had issue, six children, of whom Daniel H. was the second and the eldest son.
Daniel H. Cone, Soldier of the Revolution, second child and eldest son of Daniel and Susannah (Hurlbut) Cone, was born April 6, 1753; died May 16, 1842. He was a private in the Fourth Company, Second Regiment, Connecti- cut Line, at Bunker Hill. He was on guard duty in New York during the retreat of the American Army after the battle of Long Island. In 1777 he enlisted for three years and took part in the battles of Brandywine, Monmouth, Germantown and other engagements and, though always in the thickest of the fight, he was never wounded and seemed to carry a charmed life. At the battle of Monmouth he was assigned to the artillery, and Capt. Scott, commanding his company, had his head blown off at the second fire. Referring to his gallant conduct at the battle of Bunker Hill, Hon. J. Wetmore, in a communication to the Winsted Herald, June 27, 1878, says :
" As I have given some new anecdotes of the Revolution, I have thought that one more might not be out of place, as the hero was well known in the old town. His name was Daniel Cone, and he lies buried in the graveyard east of the old
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 69
Winchester Green. He was the father-in-law of the late Gen. Leonard Hurlbut, and some few of his descendants are still living who may enjoy the recital of their old ancestor's bravery. At the breaking out of the Revolution, Cone was one of the first soldiers in the ' rebel ' ranks. His heart was in it, and the roll of the drum and the ear-piercing fife were music in his ears. At the Battle of Bunker Hill he was one of the bravest and most daring. He was where the bullets flew thickest ; and where the battle raged the fiercest, there was Cone in all his glory.
' During that terrible struggle every man fought desperately, and the charging Britons were several times driven back with great slaughter. One gun had done most effective service, but from the duration of the fight and the determination of the enemy, with their grape and canister, to carry the hill, that gun was silenced. As it was too important a point to be lost and left unguarded, the commanding officer rode up in front of the broken regiment to which Cone belonged, urging upon them the necessity of holding that locality and using that particular gun against the enemy. Between this regiment and the gun there was not a blade of grass standing. The earth was completely plowed up by the enemy's shot, and to reach the desired spot seemed a piece of madness ; but after showing the importance and the danger of reaching and holding it, he declared he would order no one from the ranks, but asked if there were twelve men who would volunteer.
" Cone was the first to step out of the line, when eleven others quickly followed. Throwing off their chapeaux, they bound their temples with the inevitable 'bandana' handkerchief and bounded for the gun. PI very man reached it, when it sent again into the charging Britons a storm of iron and hail that swept them from the field like the harvest before the mower. The Americans, now fatigued and out of ammunition, at last retired from the hill, a broken but not a conquered host ; but among all that left that bloodstained eminence, none carried a braver or more determined and loyal heart than the old soldier, Daniel Hurlbut Cone."
He lived long to enjoy the fruits of peace and independence. He was a much respected citizen and an exemplary Christian, the remainder of his long and useful life being spent in spreading the glad tidings of salvation and seeking to promote the happiness of his fellow-men. He married Elizabeth, daughter of James and Rebecca (Storrs) Atkins, of Middletown, Conn., August 18, 1776, and had issue, Susannah, Daniel, Elizabeth, Samuel, Hurlbut, Warren, Sullivan and Silas.
Silas Cone, youngest child of Daniel H. and Elizabeth (Atkins) Cone, was born in Winchester, Conn., June 27, 1795. He was a manufacturer of scythes, as were his brothers Warren and Samuel, first at Norfolk and then at West Granby. He died at West Granby, Conn., September 6, 1866. He married Sarah, daughter of Ezekiel Hayes, whose wife was Polly Cossitt, daughter of Timothy, son of Rene Cossitt, a Frenchman, who settled in Granby, Conn., in 1717, born in France about 1690, in the Place Vendome, and educated at the University of Paris. He married, in New Haven, Conn., Ruth Porter. The children of Silas and Sarah (Hayes) Cone were, Sarah, born 1820; Caroline, born September 16, 1821 ; Silas M., born February 29, 1824; Hamilton Hurlbut, born November 16, 1825; Hamilton Hurlbut, born December 10, 1826; Hurlbut, born February 20, 1830; Ellen M., born May 3, 1831 ; Jane Elizabeth, born February 7, 1833; Edward Payson, born March 4, 1835; Jane Elizabeth, born February 17, 1837, married Rev. M. E. Wright.
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EDWARD PAYSON CONE, youngest son of Silas and Sarah (Hayes) Cone, was born in West Granby, Conn., March 4, 1835. He was educated at the Har- winton Academy, Litchfield County, Conn., and afterwards entered the employ of George E. and William H. Goodspeed, at Goodspeed's Landing, on the Connecti- cut River, in the town of East Haddam. This, at the time, was one of the largest and most enterprising business firms on the River. Mr. Cone came to New York in 1856, and the following year he went into business with his brother in Tennes- see, where he laid the foundation of the business training which subsequently won for him his prominent connection with metropolitan interests. At the outbreak of the Civil War, although a resident of Tennessee, he was open and fearless in
EUWAKD PAYSON CONE.
expressing his Union sentiments, and cast the only vote in the precinct in which he lived against the Ordinance of Secession, in June, 1861. He was watched closely by the local vigilance committee, but made his escape, reaching Louisville, Ky., where he remained until the fall of Fort Donelson.
Returning with Andrew Johnson, who had been appointed Military Governor, Mr. Cone became assistant postmaster at Nashville. He was secretary of the two reconstruction conventions called to reorganize the State, and rendered effective service in many other civil offices and in raising a military company at the time of Bragg's invasion of Kentucky, when Forrest's cavalry was almost in sight of
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. J I
Nashville and communication was entirely cut off from Louisville. Governor Johnson lived with Mr. Cone for nearly two years, and after the reorganization of the State the latter was made secretary of the Senate. He was a member of the Direct Tax Commission for the State of Tennessee, continuing until the expira- tion of the Tax Law. He returned East in 1867 and settled in New York, and was appointed to a responsible position in the Custom House. At the request of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in 1869, he became connected with the Christian Union, and later was one of the owners of the Christian at Work. Since 1890 he has occupied the responsible position of advertising manager of the New York Ledger, to the success of which his good judgment has largely contributed. Mr. Cone is Vice-Commander of the John A. Dix Post, G. A. R., member of the New England Society, Councilor-General of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, a member of the Union League Club, of the Lotos, Press, Patria, West Side Republican and Twilight Clubs, and of the New York Genealogical and Bio- graphical Society.
Mr. Cone is one of the most zealous and indefatigable workers in the Empire State Society, S. A. R. The September, 1896, number of T/ie Spirit of 'j6, referring to Mr. Cone's work in behalf of this society, says : " One of the most important enterprises of the society and one of the most valuable, lasting and far- reaching in its results, has given an enviable prominence to its author, Mr. Edward Payson Cone." The work referred to was the presentation to each of the 240 departments of the public schools of New York City, of a large photogravure of Stuarts' Athenaeum portrait of Washington, massively framed, and bearing the seal and presentation plate of the society. The undertaking ramified widely and stimulated individuals and committees in other cities and States to take up the idea, with the result that the face of the Father of His Country now looks benignly down from the walls of hundreds of public institutions to which he was a stranger before. Mr. Cone has also rendered the society valuable services on other com- mittees, and is conspicuously identified with the patriotic, religious and educational work of the metropolis outside of this organization. He was one of the earliest members of the society, his number being 53. His latest distinction was that of chairman of the citizens' committee, selected by the American Institute of Civics for the commemoration of the centenary of Washington's farewell address to the American people. Mr. Cone's patriotism is equalled only by his zeal in religious work. His uniform urbanity, proceeding from a naturally kind heart, and his sincerity, energy and efficiency in everything that he undertakes, have won for him hosts of friends.
Mr. Cone married Anna Maud Roche, of Massachusetts, a descendant of the family of de la Rochejaquelin, of La Vendee, France. She heartily shares with her husband and sons their patriotic interests. Their four sons, Andrew, William Cossitt, Edward Silas and Frederick Hayes, are all " worthy sons of an honored sire," and are equally enthusiastic in patriotic works, and members of the Empire State Society, S. A. R. Two sons, Lewis Tappan and Van Ceulin White, deceased in early childhood.
72 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
JAMES LAWRENCE McKEEVER.
James Lawrence McKeever, of the Board of Managers, 1897, son of Commodore Isaac McKeever, and great-grandson of Capt. Thomas Thomson. The name McKeever, or Mclver as it was originally spelled, is one of the oldest Scotch surnames on record, "the name having now changed," says Burke, " to Mclver Campbell." Burke gives the following (" Ashnish Cave, ancient ") Arms — Quarterly, first, gyronny of eight or and sable; second, argent a dexter hand couped, fesseways, grasping a dagger, in pale, gules ; third, argent a galley, her sails furled and oars in action, sable ; fourth, per cross or and gules a bend sable. Motto— Nunquam oblivscar.
Capt. James McKeever, the first of the name in America, came to this
COMMODORE ISAAC MCKEEVER.
country before the Revolution and settled in Philadelphia. The records of that city contain very little regarding his early life. It is known that he was very much interested in the development of steam navigation, and conceived the idea of employing steam tugs in towing vessels up the Mississippi to New Orleans, and being a man of means, transported across the Allegheny and down the Ohio on a raft, the machinery for that purpose, taking his son, afterwards Commodore McKeever, with him. The venture proved unsuccessful owing to the condition of the river and the limited power obtainable at that early stage of discovery, but on
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 73
being ridiculed for the attempt, he remarked, to the amusement of his hearers, " that it was only a question of a short time when the ocean would be navigated, by steam." He died of yellow fever at New Orleans, La., about 1805, when on the point of completing other schemes in the furtherance of his favorite project.
COMMODORE ISAAC McKEEVER, son of Capt. James and Mary (Ed- wards) McKeever, was born in Philadelphia, April, 1793; died in Norfolk, Va., April 1, 1856. He entered the U. S. navy as midshipman, in 1809; was made lieutenant in 18 14, and commanded one of a flotilla of gunboats under Lieut. Thomas ap Catesby Jones, that was captured by a British expedition on Lake Borgne, La., in December, 1814. The gunboats mounted collectively 23 guns and were manned by 1S2 men. The British expedition consisted of forty-two large barges and other boats manned by more than 1,000 seamen and marines. The engagement, which was very severe, lasted three hours, and 200 of the British were killed and wounded. Lieut. McKeever's vessel was the last one to be attacked and he was severely wounded, together with most of his officers, before he surrendered. He was commissioned Commander in 1830, and Captain in 183S. In 1S46 he took command of the navy yard at New York, with the rank of Commodore, and in 1851 assumed command of the Brazil Squadron, with the U. S. frigate "Congress" as his flagship. In 1855 he had charge of the navy yard at Norfolk, Va., when a pestilence broke out in that city and the adjoining towns, which terrified the people of the whole southern country. Commodore McKeever was authorized by the navy department to suspend operations in the yard for a time should he see fit, but he decided to remain in order that work might be given to those who depended upon it for support of their families. His reply to the department was, " The post of clanger is the post of honor." His death was attributed directly to his overtasked energies during this terrible period. He married Mary Flower Gamble, daughter of Lieut. Joseph Gamble and Mary Thomson, daughter of Capt. Thomas Thomson.
Capt. Thomas Thomson, Soldier of the Revolution, was born in Scotland and came to this country before the War of the Revolution, and settled in Philadelphia. He was an ardent patriot and was among the first to enlist in defense of his adopted country. His name is first mentioned as a private in Col. Nicol's City Guards, in which he was commissioned second lieutenant, Eighth Company, Second Battalion, commanded by Col. Robert Knox ; later he was made lieutenant in Capt. Christian Grove's company, same battalion, and was subsequently commissioned captain. He was a brave and accomplished officer and won high honors for his gallantry on the battlefield. He served with the Pennsylvania troops at the battle of Yorktown and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis. On his return to Philadelphia he was presented by his admirers with an elegant sword and mountings, which remained in the possession of his family for many years, until the destruction of the family residence by fire, which also destroyed many valuable papers and interesting relics. A simple marble stone marks the spot where lie the remains of Capt. Thomson, in Christ Church burying ground, in Philadelphia. He married Mary Jane Hale, of Philadelphia. Issue, one daughter, Mary, who married Lieut. Joseph Gamble.
The children of Commodore Isaac McKeever and Mary Flower Gamble were : Isaac Chauncey, James Lawrence and Marion (married William Spaden), and Caroline (married L. Rosenplaenter, of Riga, Russia).
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Isaac Chauncey McKeever, eldest child of Commodore Isaac and Mary Flower (Gamble) McKeever, was born in Baltimore, Md., August 31, 1829. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy, West Point, in 1849, and assigned to the artillery. He was promoted to first lieutenant December 24, 1853, and captain of staff and Assistant Adjutant-General, August 3, 1861. During the Civil War he took part in the battles of Bull Run and other engagements. After being promoted staff-major and lieutenant-colonel, he was brevetted colonel and Brigadier-General March 13, 1865, for "faithful and meritorious services during the war." On the ninth of March, 1875, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General. He was subsequently commissioned colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General, and retired August 31, 1893, by operation of law.
JAMES LAWRENCE MCKEEVER.
JANES LAWRENCE McKEEVER, of the Board of Managers, Em- pire State Society, S. A. R., youngest son of Commodore Isaac and Mary Flower (Gamble) McKeever, was born in Baltimore, Md., October 4, 1831. He received a thorough education in his native city. His brother and most of his ancestors for generations back were fighting men, but his inclinations led him to adopt a business career. His first experience was as a clerk in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he spent four years, and came to New York about 1855 as the repre- sentative of his Rio de Janeiro friends. For some years past he has been the New York agent for the London & Brazilian Bank, one of the leading banking institu- tions of Brazil. He is a man of high standing and irreproachable integrity. Mr. McKeever appreciates the importance of preserving the family records containing
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 75
the account of the personal achievements of his ancestors, but unfortunately, through no fault of his, much family data of interest and importance has been lost; but his connection with the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution has enabled him to preserve what little there is remaining, so that his posterity may receive the benefit of it. Mr. McKeever is an active and enthusiastic member of the society, and the great interest he has manifested in furthering its objects led to his appointment as one of the Board of Managers. He is a member of the Union Club, the Down Town Association, of which he has been treasurer for twenty years.
Mr. McKeever married, in 1863, Mary Augusta, daughter of Robert C. Towsend and Mary Augusta Whittemore, daughter of Samuel and Jane (Tilleston) Whittemore, son of Thomas and Ann (Cutler) Whittemore. Samuel was the brother and partner of Amos, the great inventor of the carding machine for card- ing cotton and wool, pronounced by Judge Story a " wonderful invention." A member of Congress was willing to vote for a perpetual patent, saying " it was the only machine ever invented that had a soul." It revolutionized the manufac- ture of cotton and wool in this country. Thomas, the father of Amos, and Samuel were the sons of Samuel (3).
Samuel Whittemore (3), Soldier of the Revolution, was the son of Samuel (1), son of Thomas, the ancestor, and was born July 27, 1696. He was an ardent patriot and served on various important committees at Cambridge during the Revolution, and rendered valuable service. At the age of 80 he fired upon the British on their retreat from Lexington, killing two soldiers. He was struck in the face by a bullet, which shot away a part of his cheek bone. He was mangled by the bayonets of the British soldiers and left for dead. He recovered in about four hours and survived sixteen years, long enough to witness the freedom of his country from British rule. He married, first, Elizabeth Spring, and second, Esther Prentice, and had ten children. He was the grandson of Thomas Whitte- more, the ancestor, one of the early settlers of Charlestown, Mass., and a descendant of the Whittemores of England, of whom it is said : " Earlier than the year 1300 we find the first recorded name, z. <?., John, Lord of Whytemere, having his domicile at Whytemere, on the northeast side of the parish of Bobbing- ton, in the manor of Claverly, county of Salop, England."
The issue of Mr. McKeever's marriage with Mary A. Townsend, was Robert Townsend.
Robert Townsend McKeever, member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, son of James Lawrence and Mary Augusta (Townsend) McKeever, was born in New York City, July 20, 1866. He resides in Gloversville, N. Y. He married Frances, daughter of Robert Webb, and has two children.
MARBLE- PUTNAM- ALM Y.
William Allen Marble, of the Board of Managers, Empire State Society, S. A. R., is a descendant from revolutionary ancestors through two well known families —the Marbles and Putnams.
Samuel Harble, whose name appears on the records of Rhode Island as early as 1648, is the first of this name found in the annals of New England. In
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167S his name appears in a list of 115 persons, being all the male inhabitants of Andover, Mass., of sixteen and older, who had taken the oath of allegiance. He married Rebecca Andrews and had issue, Freegracc, born June 15, 1682.
Freegrace Jlarble, eldest child of Samuel and Rebecca (Andrews) Marble, was born in Andover, Mass., June 15, 1682; died April 21, 1779. His was said to be the first marriage in the town of Sutton. His wife was Mary Sibley. They had issue, Enoch and other children.
Enoch Marble, son of Freegrace and Mary (Sibley) Marble, was born in Sutton, Mass., Nov. 25, 1726; died there January 12, 181 5. He married, January 9, 1750, Abigail Holland, and had issue, Aaron.
Aaron Marble, Patriot of the Revolution, fifth child of Enoch and Abigail (Holland) Marble, was born in Sutton, Mass., September 13, 1763; died in Charlton, Mass., July 9, 1843. Although but a lad of thirteen at the breaking out of the war, he was an ardent patriot, too young to command yet old enough to fight and endure hardship without complaint. He enlisted three times during the war and was in a number of engagements. When his term of service had expired he was stationed at West Point, on the Hudson. He walked from ihere barefooted to his home in Massachusetts. His first enlistment was a noble act, he having taken the place of an elder brother in limited circumstances, with a large family dependent on him for support. On the official records, Secretary of State's office, Massachusetts, he *' Appears with rank of Private on Muster and Pay Roll of Capt. Benjamin Allerton's Co., Col. John Rand's Regt. Enlisted July 9, 1780. Discharged Oct. 10, 1780. Time of service, 3 mos., 12 days. Raised for 3 mos. at West Point by Resolve of June 22, 1780."
" Appears with rank of Private on Muster and Pay Roll of Capt. Reuben Davis' Co., Col. Luke Drury's Regt. Enlisted July 17, 1781. Discharged Nov. 1, 1781. Service, 3 mos., 21 days. Residence, Sutton. Reported. Arrived at West Point Aug. 1. 3 mos. Levies raised by Resolve of June 30, 17S1."
He married Rebecca Putnam, daughter of Capt. John Putnam, son of Jeptha, of Eleazer, of Capt. John, son of John, the ancestor.
John Putnam, the New England ancestor of the Putnam family, was born at Aston Abbotts, County Bucks, England, about 1580; emigrated from there with his three sons and settled in Salem Village, now Danvers, Mass., about 1634. He received a grant of 100 acres of land from Salem authorities and afterwards purchased a large tract himself. He was the great-grandfather of Generals Israel
and Rufus Putnam, of the Revolution. He married Priscilla (perhaps
Priscilla Gould), and had issue, Elizabeth, Thomas, John, Nathaniel, Sara, Phoebe, John.
Capt. John Putnam, son of John (1) and Priscilla ( ) Putnam, was
born at Aston Abbotts, England, May 27, 1627; died at Salem Village, April 7, 1710. He was made a freeman in 1665. He was constantly to the fore in all matters relating to town and church government. He signed a petition to be allowed a minister at the " Farms." He was specially prominent in military affairs. He was corporal in 1672; commissioned lieutenant of the troop of horse at the Village, October 7, 1678. After 1687 he is styled captain. In 1706, " Capt. John Putnam, in company with Capt. Jonathan (his son), was empowered to settle town bounds." He served in the Narragansett fight and retained his military manners through life. He was a deputy to the General Court, in May, 1679, and the
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77
regular times, 1680, 1686, 1691-2. In the diary of Capt. Joseph Green appears the following : " April 7, (1710), Captain Putnam buried by ye soldiers." He married Rebecca Prince, stepdaughter of John Gedney and supposed sister of Richard Prince. They had issue, Rebecca, Sarah, Priscilla, Jonathan, James, Hannah, Eleazer, born 1665, John, Susanna, Ruth.
Eleazer Putnam, son of Capt. John and Rebecca (Prince) Putnam, was born in Salem Valley, in 1665. He settled on a farm near what was afterward the Gen. Israel Putnam place. In 1690 he was one of Capt. William Raymond's company, enlisted for the Canada expedition. He married, first, Hannah, daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Hutchinson) Boardman, and had son, Jeptha. His seven sons fought in the Revolution.
Jeptha Putnam, son of Eleazer and Hannah (Boardman) Putnam, was born in Salem Village, August 24, 1699. He removed to Sutton as early as 1725. He died in Sutton, April 23, 1772. He married Ruth Ray, and had issue, John, born July 27, 1738.
Capt. John Putnam, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jeptha and Ruth (Ray) Putnam, was born in Sutton, Mass., July 27, 1738. He commanded a company in Col. Ebenezer Larned's regiment, and marched with it on the " Lex- ington Alarm," April 19, 1775. His name appears among a "List of Officers of the Mass. Militia, chosen by field officers, Sutton, Mass., March 20, 1776, as cap- tain in First Sutton Company, Fifth Worcester County Regiment, commissioned April 4, 1776. Appears with rank of captain on muster and pay roll of Capt. John Putnam's company, Col. Wade's Regiment; enlisted June 20, 1778; time of service, 26 days; company marched from Worcester County, June 20, to join Gen. Sullivan at Providence, by order of General Court, for 21 days; roll dated Sutton. Appears among a list of officers of the Mass. Militia, appointed to command men drafted from Col. Jonathan Holman's regiment, as captain in Capt. John Putnam's company; residence, Sutton; company to join Col. Josiah Whitney's or Col Nathan Sparhawk's regiment. List of men enlisted or drafted from Worcester County Brigade, as returned to Maj.-Gen. Warren (year not given)." — [Official Records, Secretary of State's office, Massachusetts.]
Capt. Putnam married, April 9, 1761, Mary, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Marble) Cummings, and had issue, Rebecca, born September 13, 1763, married Aaron Marble (see Record).
Russel Marble, son of Aaron and Rebecca (Putnam) Marble, was born in Charlton, Worcester County, Mass., September 21, 1806; died at Woonsocket, R. I., 1875. He was largely engaged in the manufacture of scythes at Charlton and other places in New England. He was a man of uprightness and honesty, and while liberal toward those who differed with him, he was strong in his religious convictions. He married, October 21, 181 5, Phebe Almy, daughter of Christopher Almy, of Portsmouth, R. I., son of Holden, of Job (3), of Job (2), of Job (1), son of William Almy, the ancestor, born in England, 161 1, came to America, 1631, and settled first in Massachusetts and later in Rhode Island.
WILLIAM ALLEN JIARBLE, of the Board of Managers, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Russel and Phebe (Almy) Marble, was born in Woonsocket, R. I., in 1849. He is vice-president and general manager of the R. & G. Corset Company. Mr. Marble was made a member of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., in 1S95, and the following year was elected a member of the
78 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Board of Managers. He has proved a valuable acquisition to the Board, being a man of fine executive ability and good judgment, and in the management of the society's affairs his own ideas are in perfect harmony with those of his associates and compatriots. He is equally zealous in promoting the work of the society of The Founders and Patriots of America, the membership qualifications of which require not only an unblemished record for loyalty and patriotism in our ancestors, but that they or their ancestors should have assisted in laying the foundations of our government. Both on the paternal and maternal sides Mr. Marble's record is exceptionally good. Mr. Marble is connected with other societies and organiza- tions that claim a portion of his time and interest, notably Zion Lodge, F. & A. M., of Troy, the New England Society, of New York, the Harlem Club, etc. In politics he is a Republican and is a member of the New York County Republican Committee. He married Catharine Alice Cain, and had issue, Russel, born Feb. 4, 1876, deceased ; William Edward, born August 20, 1877, and James McNab, born August 16, 1882.
GARDENGIBBESDeSAUSSURERICHARDSON.
The ancestry of Hugh Richardson Garden, of the Board of Managers, S. A. R., 1895, includes some of the most distinguished men in the old State of South Carolina. His direct line on the paternal side is through the Gibbes and De Saussure families, the change of name having occurred in the following manner: Major Alexander Garden, of South Carolina, an officer in Lee's Legion, who was also aide-de-camp to Gen. Greene in the Revolution, married Mary Ann Gibbes, a sister of Wilmot S. Gibbes, whose son, Alester Garden Gibbes, was the father of Hugh R. Garden. At the request of Major Alexander Garden, who had no surviving children, he had his name changed by act of the legislature to Garden, his full name then being Alester Gibbes Garden. On the maternal side his direct line-is through the Richardson and Buford families. The allied Garden families include the Elliotts, Barnwells, Frasers, Allstons and others. The Gibbes family, a very ancient one which came from Normandy to England with the Conqueror, settled in Kent during the eleventh century. Several distinguished men of the name are mentioned in English history. William Gibbes was physi- cian to Queen Henrietta Maria; James Albion Gibbes was a lecturer at Rome to Pope Alexander VII.; Mary Gibbes, daughter of Sir Henry Gibbes, of Devon, married Sir Walter Raleigh. The Gibbes family of South Carolina are direct descendants of Jenking Gibbes, of Canbe, in the parish of Falkestone, county of Kent, who married Anne, daughter of Eden, and left sons Thomas and John.
Thomas Gibbes married Alice Trenwell and had issue, John, who married Margaret, daughter of Richard Champneys, King at Arms, who died in 1526; left issue, William and Thomas.
William Qibbes, owner of Elmstone Manor, married Jane, heiress of
Gason, died 1 599, and left issue, three children, of whom Stephen was the youngest.
Stephen Gibbes, of Edmonston Court, in Kent, third son of William and Jane Gibbes, married Jane, daughter of Thomas Forney, and had Robert and other children.
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Robert Gibbes, second son of Stephen and Jane, was born in Elmslone, Kent, England, November 27, 1594. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Coventry. He was sent as member of the Council Board to the Barbadoes, by the government of Great Britain, about 1640. This family have Arms— Argent, three battle axes sable. Crest — An arm embowed, steel, in armor garnished, or, the hand in a steel gauntlet, grasping a battle ax, as in the Arms. Motto — Tenax proposite (Hold fast to your purpose) ; or, as some branches have it, Vincit amor patria (Love of country conquers). Robert and Mary (Coventry) Gibbes had issue, Robert.
Robert Gibbes, son of Robert and Mary (Coventry) Gibbes, was born at Sandarich, in St. Peter's Parish, Barbadoes, January 9, 1644; died in South Carolina, June 24, 171 5. He was the Colonial Governor or Landgrave and subse- quently Chief Justice of South Carolina. John Gibbes, son of the Landgrave, married Mary Woodward, and resided in St. James' Parish. His son, Robert Gibbes, married Sarah Reeves, a lady of great beauty and accomplishments. They had issue eight children, of whom Wilmot S. was the youngest. Robert, of James Island, near Charleston, was a member of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, but at the breaking out of the war was too infirm to enter the army. His plantation was seized and house burned by the British in 1781.
Wilmot S. Gibbes, youngest son of Robert and Sarah (Reeves) Gibbes, was born in 1781. He was educated in England ; married Anna Frances de Saus- sure, daughter of Chancellor Henry William de Saussure, in 1804, and had issue, three daughters and four sons. He was a wealthy planter of the Edisto and died at his summer home, " Oakley," in the county of Chester, South Carolina, in 1852. His son, Alester Garden Gibbes, whose name was changed to Alester Gibbes Garden, as before stated, was the father of Hugh Richardson Garden.
Henri de Saussure, of Lausanne, the progenitor of the South Carolina family of this name, was descended from an ancient Huguenot family of Lorraine, France. He emigrated to South Carolina about the year 1700. The Popli- ment le France Heraldique refers as follows to the Saussure Arms and to the family :
Saussue. Lorraine. Suisse — Bande contre-bande d 'or et de sable.
Les representants de cette famile sont nombreux a. Geneve a Lausanne, dans la Caroline du Sud. Le nom etait primitivement Mongin de Saulxure, du bourg de Saulxure, en Lorraine.
Daniel de Saussure, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Henri de Saussure, was born at Pocotali^o, S. C, in 1736. He became a very successful merchant and planter, resident near Beaufort, S. C, and gave his fortune and services to his country. He served as a volunteer in the defence of Charleston, in 1780-81, and was taken prisoner when that city fell into the hands of Gen. Sir Henry Clinton and, with other distinguished Carolinians, was confined at St. Augustine, Fla. From 1783 to 1791 he was a member of the South Carolina legislature, and the last two years was President of the Senate. He had a son, Henry William.
CHANCELLOR HENRY WILLIAH De SAUSSURE, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Daniel de Saussure, was born at Pocotaligo, S. C. August 16, 1763; died in Charleston, S. C, March 29, 1839. He was but seventeen years of age when he served as a volunteer in defense of Charleston when that city was besieged by Sir Henry Clinton, in 1780. After the city fell he refused to take
8o
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protection and was sent to New York, where he was confined in the prison ship "Wasp" for two months, enduring great hardship. He was exchanged and sent in a cartel to Philadelphia, where he had the happiness to meet his father, who had also been exchanged. The son remained in Philadelphia and studied law with James Ingersoll. He was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia in 1784, and in 1785 to that of Charleston. He was a delegate to the South Carolina Convention of October, 1789. and in 1791 was a member of the Legislature. In 1794 he was appointed by President Washington, director of the U. S. Mint. When dining with him on a certain occasion, Gen. Washin^to" remarked that he had long
CHANCELLOR HENRY WILLIAM DE SAUSSURE.
desired to see gold coined at the Mint, but that his predecessor, in his efforts to do so, found insuperable difficulties. Gen. Washington remarked further that he should be much gratified if it could be accomplished. In the course of a few weeks Mr. de Saussure carried to the President a handful of gold eagles, being the first gold coined at the Mint of the United States. On his resignation from the office in 1795, he received from Washington an autograph letter, regretting his determination to retire and expressing " entire satisfaction " with his administra- tion. He then returned to the practice of law in South Carolina and was elected Chancellor of the State in 1808. From 1809 till 1829 the number of decrees in the Circuit Court of Equity and the Court of Appeals was 2,888, and of these Chancellor de Saussure delivered 1,314. In 1837, his health became impaired and
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he resigned. Gov. Butler, in communicating the resignation of the Chancellor, said : " He has occupied and now occupies a striking position to the people of the present generation. He is the last of the Revolutionary patriots who has held office under the authority of the States. ... He has worn the sword of a soldier amidst the perils of the Revolution, and the ermine of a virtuous magis- trate in peace. The one was never used but against the enemies of his country, and the other will descend from him without spot or blemish." His biographer, in speaking of his personal qualities, says : " He was indeed
' The kindest man. The best conditioned and unwearied spirit In doing courtesies,'
that it has been my lot to know." The wife of Mr. de Saussure was Miss Eliza Ford, of Morristown, N. J., to whom he was married in 1785.
CAPT. WILLIAM RICHARDSON, OF SOUTH CAROLINA PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND OF HUGER's RIFLES.
Anna Frances, the eldest child of Henry William and Eliza de Saussure, was married to Wilmot S. Gibbes, whose third son, Alester Garden Gibbes, as before stated, had his name changed by act of legislature to Alester Gibbes Garden.
Alester Gibbes Garden, son of Wilmot S. and Anna Frances (de Saussure) Gibbes, was born in Charleston, S. C, in 1810; died in Sumter, 1843. He was a graduate of the South Carolina College, and became a law partner of his uncle, Mr. Willaim F. de Saussure. He married Elizabeth, daughter of William G. Richardson, son of Capt. William Richardson of the Revolution.
CAPT. WILLIAM RICHARDSON, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in 1740; died in 1793. He was a grandson of William Richardson (16S0), of Jamestown, Va., son of Edward Richardson and Anna Poinsette. He was the owner of " Bloomhill " and "Ben Spring," on the "High Hills of Santee," South Carolina ; member of the first Provincial Congress of South Carolina ; 6
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commissioned a captain in Huger's Rifle Regiment, Continental Army, February 25, 1776. He was a friend of Marion, who often obtained supplies and personal encouragement from the master of "Bloomhill" plantation and the " Ben Spring." A portrait of Capt. William Richardson which hung in the great hall at " Bloomhill," still bears the marks of a sword-thrust from one of Tarleton's officers, enraged that Marion and the master had evaded a well planned attack.
Gen. Marion, in his official account of the attack on Fort Watson, April 15, 1781 (Johnson's Life of Gen. Greene), says: "I shall, without loss of time, demolish the fort, after which I shall proceed to the High Hills of the Santee, and halt at Capt. Richardson's." On page 102 it states that he "halted at Capt. Richardson's until the 27th, waiting orders from Gen. Greene." Capt. William Richardson married Magdalen Guignard. Their eldest son, William Guignard Richardson, married, second, Emma C. Buford, daughter of Col. William Buford, of the Continental army. Their eldest child, Elizabeth, became the wife of Alester Gibbes Garden.
"The family of Gardyne, or Garden," says Burke, "has for many centuries possessed lands in the shires of Banff and Perth, and is mentioned at a very early period as Gardyne of that ilk, and of Banchory." In 1589, Gardyne of Banchory was one of the gentlemen sent by James I. to Denmark on the occasion of the treaty of marriage betwixt him and the Princess Anne, afterwards his cjueen, and received a gold medallion set with diamonds, containing a portrait of the Princess, with the Arms of Denmark on the obverse side. In the succeeding generation the lands of Banchory, etc., were sold and Major Alexander Garden, son of Alex- ander, the last Laird of Banchory, went with the troops sent by Charles I. to Gustavus, of Sweden, and was present at the battle of Lutzen, where that great prince lost his life, in 1632. Major Garden remained several years at the Swedish court, high in favor with Queen Christina, and on her abdication in 1654, returned to Scotland and purchased the lands of Troup. He married Betty, daughter of Alexander Strachan, Esq., of Glenkindy. In 165 1 the Laird of Banchory received from Queen Mary a harp, as the prize for a piece of music performed by him at a musical competition held ^oon after the Queen's arrival in Scotland, and at which the laird attended in the disguise of a minstrel. This harp was carried by a daughter of the laird, on her marriage with the Laird of Luss, in Dumbartonshire, into that family, and is still preserved. The Garden of Banchory Arms are : A wild boar, with the motto, " Vires animat virtus."
Rev. Alexander Garden, great-grandson of George Garden, the Laird of Banchory (1555), was the first representative of the family in this country. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, 1685; died in Charleston, S. C, September 27, 1750. He was educated in his native town and became a clergyman of the Church of England. He came to America in 1719 and shortly afterward was elected rector of St. Philip's parish, in Charleston, S. C, and subsequently he was commissary under the Bishop of London. In 1735 ne was compelled to take a respite from his labors and visited the northern provinces. He was much inter- ested in the religious instruction of the colored people. In 1743 he solicited aid from the Society for Propagating the Gospel, in behalf of the negro school in Charleston, which then consisted of thirty children. A large contribution of prayer books and text books was the result. In 1750 he resigned the rectorship of St. Philip's and was presented by the vestrymen with a valuable set of plate.
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He published " Six Letters to the Rev. Geo. Whitfield," the second and third of which were on the subject of Justification. Before coming to America he was distinguished by his exertions in favor of the family of Hanover, and still more so by his humane interposition in behalf of the followers of the house of Stuart after their defeat at Culloden.
Alexander Garden, M.D., son of Rev. Alexander Garden, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, about 1728. He was educated at the Mareschall College University, of Aberdeen, 1748, and received his medical education under the celebrated Dr. John Gregory. He settled in South Carolina about 1749 and began practice in Christ Church parish, and two years later in Charleston ; he subse- quently rose to eminence as a physician and botanist. In 1754 he went to New York and was offered a professorship in King's College (now Columbia). He
MAJOR ALEXANDER GARDEN, OF LEE'S LEGION, AND STAFF OF GEN. GREENP
returned to Charleston, where he continued the practice of his profession for many years. He adhered to the royal cause in the Revolution and by his influence with the British government alleviated the sufferings of the citizens of Charleston under Lord Rawdon. His property was confiscated but was afterward given to his son by the State of South Carolina. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and on his arrival there in 1783 was appointed one of its council and subsequently was one of its vice-presidents. He was eminent as a botanist and zoologist. He introduced into medical use the pink root as a vermifuge, and published an account of its properties. He also published accounts of the Helesia, of the male and female cochineal insects. To extend his knowledge of natural history, he accompanied Gen. Glen into the Indian country and discovered an earth which was deemed in England equal to the finest porcelain. The know- ledge of the spot has been lost. Linneus named the beautiful Cape Jessamine the " Gardenia," in his honor.
MAJOR ALEXANDER GARDEN, Patriot of the Revolution, son of
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Dr. Alexander Garden, was born in Charleston, December 4, 1757 ; died February 29, 1829. He was educated at the University of Glasgow and traveled on the conti- nent of Europe. He returned to South Carolina in 1780 and joined the Revolu- tionary army. He was at one time aide-de-camp to Gen. Greene, and a lieutenant in Lee's Legion in February, 1782. He published *' Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War, with Sketches of Character of Persons most Distinguished in the Southern States for Civil and Military Services." He was Vice-President South Carolina Society of the Cincinnati, and an honorary member of the New York Historical Soci- ety. He married Mary Anna Gibbes, daughter of Robert Gibbes, who was the father of Wilmot S. Gibbes. They had two children, Alester and Gardenia. Alester died while completing his education in Europe. Gardenia married her cousin, George Gibbes, of New York, and died without issue. Thereafter Major Alex- ander Garden persuaded his nephew, Alester Garden Gibbes, to have his name changed to Alester Gibbes Garden.
CAPT. HUGH RICHARDSON GARDEN, of the Board of Managers, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Alester Gibbes and Elizabeth (Richard- son) Garden, was born at Sumter, S. C, July 9, 1840. He was graduated from South Carolina College in i860, and immediately after the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861, he enlisted as private in Company D, Second Regiment, South Carolina Infantry, one of the first regiments raised in that State for the Confeder- ate army, under the command of Col. J. 13. Kershaw. He was made color bearer and participated in the battle of Manassas and other engagements, until the close of his first term of enlistment in 1S62, when he enlisted for the war. He was appointed captain of Artillery and raised and equipped a battery of field guns known as the Palmetto Light Battery. The guns were cast under his personal direction from bells and other materials contributed by the citizens. He served in the campaigns of Northern Virginia with Longstreet's and A. P. Hill's corps. His battery was fiercely engaged at the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, Second Cold Harbor, Forts Harrison and the Crater, and during these engagements he lost three lieutenants killed -Pringle, Coit and McQueen. He three times changed his guns for others captured from the enemy — once at Harper's Ferry, at Fort Harrison and again at Gettysburg. During the battle of Gettysburg he carried from the field four guns captured in front of the Little Round Top. These, it is said, were the only guns brought from the field by the Confederates. In recognition of this ser- vice the captured guns were presented to him by Gen. Law, who commanded Hood's division after the latter was wounded. When the surrender of the Confeder- ate army to Grant at Appomatox took place, in April, 1865, Capt. Garden com- manded the artillery of the rear guard of Lee's army.
After the war he entered the University of Virginia, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1866, immediately began practice with his great-uncle, William F. de Saussure, at Columbia, S. C. Later he removed to Warrenton, Va., where, for fifteen years he enjoyed a successful practice. Capt. Garden came to New York in the winter of 1882-3, where he soon took a foremost position at the bar, and entered upon a lucrative practice. In 1890-91-92^5 a member of the Virginia bondholders' committee, composed of diplomatists and financiers of two continents, he was largely influential in effecting a settlement of the debt of Virginia, which for more than twenty-five years had been the cause of political dissensions and legal controversy. The successful adjustment of this affair to the
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 85
entire satisfaction of all parties concerned, added greatly to his reputation and to his practice as a lawyer. Capt. Garden has been identified with the New York Southern Society almost from the date of its organization and was its President in 1890 and 1 891. He declined a reelection in 1892. He presented the Society with a library composed principally of works relating to Southern history and literature, as the foundation for a Southern historical library in New York. This was properly named the " Garden Library."
In 1868 Capt. Garden married Miss Lucy Gordon Robertson, daughter of the Hon. William J. Robertson, formerly Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, granddaughter of Gen William F. Gordon, the friend of Madison and Monroe, and great-granddaughter of William Lindsay, a Virginia planter of the olden time, the products of whose estates were shipped direct from Dumfries to the English and Scottish ports. Capt. Garden is an exacting New York lawyer in his office, and country sports and the social life which Mrs. Garden adorns, occupy his leisure hours.
TRACY— SHERMAN— EVART5.
The ancestry of the Tracy family can be traced in an unbroken line from a very remote period. The Tracy descent is from the Sire de Traci, a Norman baron and an officer of the army of William the Conqueror, who fought at the battle of Hastings and whose name is on " the Roll of Battel Abbey." His son Henri's daughter Grace married John De Sudely, and their son William De Tracy inherited her estates and assumed her family name. He was one of the four knights who, in 11 70, at the instigation of King Henry II., assassinated Thomas ;\ Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Fuller, in his " Worthies of England," des- cribes him as Sir William Tracy, of Toddington, and as " a man of high birth, state and stomach, a favorite of the King's and his daily attendant." His son Sir Henry changed the spelling of his name to de Tracy, and Sir Henry's grandson, Sir William, dropped the " de." Thence the descent is through numerous genera- tions of Tracys to Richard Tracy, the third son of William Tracy (8), who was among the earliest of those who embraced the reformed religion in the reign of King Henry VI 1 1., and thence through his son Samuel and his grandson Samuel* to his great-grandson, Stephen Tracy, who came from Leyden to Plymouth, Mass., in the ship " Ann," in 1623.
From Stephen Tracy the descent is, John, Stephen (2), Thomas, Joseph, Ebenezer Carter, Jeremiah Evarts. John De Sudely, the husband of Grace De Traci, was descended from Cerdic, the first King of the West Saxons, who died
*It is stated in an old manuscript in possession of A. H. Tracy, of Chicago, that Stephen Tracy was a son of Samuel Tracy, son of Richard. In the record in England, Samuel, son of Richard, is said to have had several children, including a son Samuel, but no son Stephen is men- tioned, and it may be that Stephen was a son of Richard's son Samuel, and therefore a grand- son instead of a son of Richard. Among the children of Samuel, son of Richard, is named a daughter, Catharine, whose name was not originally on the chart, but was added subsequently. Her name having been omitted originally and afterwards added, the name of Stephen may have been omitted likewise, he having left England and gone to Leyden, from which place he sailed for America.
86 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
in 534, through several generations of Saxon kings to Egbert, who was the first King of England ; thence down through King Alfred the Great and King Aethel- red II. (the Unready), whose daughter, the Princess Goda, by his second wife Emma, the youngest daughter of Richard the Fearless, third Duke of Normandy, married Dreux, Count of Mantes, and thence through her son, Rudolph De Mantes, whose son, Harold De Mantes, was the father of said John De Sudely. Richard Tracy, the great-grandfather of Stephen Tracy before men- tioned, married Barbara Lucy, daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy and aunt of Shakespeare's Justice Shallow, who was descended from Pepin (the Short), through his son Charlemagne, Emperor of the West, and Louis I. (the Pious), Charles II. (the Bald), Emperors and Kings of France, Hugh Capet, King of France, and Robert II., King of France, and thence through his daughter Adalais (Alice), who married Count Baldwin V., of Flanders, and their daughter Matilda (Maud), who married William the Conqueror, and their daughter, the Princess Gundred, who married William De Warrenne, Earl of Warrenne, whose son William De Warrenne married Isabel De Vermandois, widow of Robert, Earl of Millent, and daughter of Hugh Magnus, Count of Vermandois and son of King Henry I. of France, who was descended from Romanus II., Emperor of the East, son of Constantine VII., through his daughter Anne, who married Waldomar, Grand Duke of Russia, and through their son Jaroslaus, Grand Duke of Russia, who was the father of Anne, who married Henry I., King of France. From the last named William De Warrenne to Sir Thomas Lucy, the line descends to and through Henry De Hastings, who married Ada, a descendant of Kenneth II.. founder of the Scottish monarchy, and thence through Constantine II., Donald IV., Malcom I., Kenneth III., Malcom II., the Princess Beatrix, Duncan I. (who was murdered by his cousin, Macbeth), Malcom III., husband of Margaret, the first crowned Queen of Scotland, who was a granddaughter of Henry II., of Germany (King of Bavaria, crowned Emperor at Rome in 1014), and of Edmund (Ironsides), of England.
Stephen Tracy came o Plymouth, Mass., in the " Ann," in 1623, with his wife Tryphosa, whom he married at Ley den, January 2, 1621. He was a leading man in the founding of the Plymouth Colony. At a meeting held March 21, 1635, for the uniting of Plymouth and Duxborough, " The pties representing the Dux- burrow side were Mr. William Collier, Stephen Tracy, Job Howland, Edward Chandler and Joshua Pratt ; representing the other side were Capt. Miles Standish, Manasseh Kempton, George Kenrick, John Jenny and Edward Bangs." Stephen Tracy was one of "the Freemen of the Incorporation of Plymouth, 1633." For "the exercising of the colony in arms," Stephen Tracy and four others were " added to the Govr and Assistants for the ceasing of men for the public charge for the prnt yeare." He was a member of the first General Court of the colony in 1635-6. His original homestead was near that of Gov. Bradford. In 1638 "Stephen Tracy was elected Constable for Druxburrow." He returned to Eng- land in 1650, and calls himself of Great Yarmouth. He made disposition of his property, empowering John Winslow to perform it. He says he has five children living in New England. They were Sarah, Rebecca, John, of Duxbury, Ruth and Mary.
Lieut. Jonn Tracy, son of Stephen and Tryphosa ( ) Tracy, was born in
1633; died in Windham, Conn., May 30, 1718. He lived for some years in Dux-
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bury. He was deputy to the General Court in 1683, and again in 1692. In 1686 he was elected lieutenant of the Duxbury Company, of which Jonathan Alden, youngest son of the pilgrim, was captain. He afterwards removed to Windham, Conn , where he spent the remainder of his life. He married Mary, daughter of Gov. Thomas Prince. He had issue, John and Stephen (2).
Stephen Tracy (2), son of Lieut. John and Mary (Prince) Tracy, was born in Duxbury, Mass., in 1673; died there December 19, 1769. He married Deborah Bingham, June 26, 1707. He had seven children, including a son, Thomas.
Thomas Tracy, Patriot of the Revolution, youngest son of Stephen (2) and Deborah (Bingham) Tracy, was born in Windham, Conn., August 19, 1725. He removed to Hartford, Vt., of which he was one of the charter pro- prietors. He acquired some 1400 acres of land. He took a prominent part in the municipal affairs of the town, and was lieutenant in the militia, doing frontier service. He married Elizabeth Warner, of Windham, and had eight children, of ■whom Joseph was the seventh.
Joseph Tracy, son of Lieut. Thomas and Elizabeth (Warner, Tracy, was born July 18, 1763; died at Hartford, Vt., April 10, 1829. He was "a pious, intelligent, companionable man." He was fond of study and was a civilian of the highest type, but had no taste for public office. He married Ruth Carter, Decem- ber 26, 1792, and had eight children, of whom Ebenezer Carter was the second.
Ebenezer Carter Tracy, son of Joseph and Ruth (Carter) Tracy, was born June 10, 1796; died in Windsor, Vt., May 15, 1862. He was graduated at Dart- mouth College and studied divinity at Andover Theological Seminary; was licensed but never ordained. He was a tutor in Dartmouth College, 1823 to 1824. He founded the Vermont Chronicle in 1826, at Bellows Falls, and moved thence to Windsor, Vt. He was afterward connected with the New York Journal of Commerce, then with the Observer, later with a temperance paper and later still with the Boston Recorder. He resumed the editorship of the Chronicle in 1834. He married Martha Sherman Evarts, daughter of Jeremiah Evarts, of Boston, Mass., granddaughter of Roger Sherman, who was the great-grandson of Capt. John Sherman. Roger Sherman was descended from Henry Sherman, of Col- chester, England, through his son Henry Sherman (2), of Dedham, England, and the latter's son John, who was the father of Capt. John Sherman, of Watertown.
Capt. John Sherman, born 161 5. came to New England about 1634 and settled in Watertown, Mass. He was a captain, surveyor, representative at the General Court and town clerk. He was with Gov. Winthrop when the northern boundary of Massachusetts was surveyed. He died January 25, 1691. He married Martha, a daughter of Roger Palmer, and had a son, Joseph.
Joseph Sherman, son of Capt. John and Martha (Palmer) Sherman, war, born in Watertown, May 14, 1650. He married Elizabeth Winship, daughter of Lieut. Edward Winship, of Cambridge. He was a representative at the General Court, 1702-3-4-5. He had eleven children, of whom William was the ninth child and the seventh son.
William Sherman, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Winship) Sherman, was born June 23, 1692. He married, first, Rebecca Cutler; second, September 3, 171 5, Mehitable Wellington, of Watertown, daughter of Benjamin, son of Roger
'lington, the ancestor. They had seven children, of whom Roger was the third.
Roger Sherman, Patriot of the Revolution, son of William and
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Mehitable (Wellington) Sherman, was born at Newtown, Mass., April 19, 1721 ; died at New Haver, ^onn., July 23, 1793. After his father's death in 1741, he supported his mother and several younger children, devoting all his leisure to study, especially of mathematics. He moved to New Milford, Conn., in 1743, and was there associated with hi? b --other in a small mercantile business. In 1745 he was appointed surveyor ot lands for the county of New Haven, and for several years furnished the astronomical calculations for an almanac published in New York. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1754. For many successive years he was elected a member of the Connecticut Legis- lature. In 1759 he was appointed a justice of the quorum, by virtue of which office he became one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, in Litchfield County, Conn. In 1761 he removed to New Haven. In 1766 was appointed Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, and was annually re- appointed for twenty-three years. He was elected the first Mayor of New Haven. When the Revolutionary struggle began he devoted himself unreservedly to the patriot cause and became a leader. In August, 1774, he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in 1776 he was one of the committee appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence, of which he was one of the signers, and as a member of Congress during the war he served on many important committees and was successively a member of the Boards of War and Ordnance and of the Board of Treasury. In 1783 he was associated with another judge in codifying the laws of Connecticut. He had been one of the committee which framed the Articles of Confederation of 1787, and was one of the most efficient members of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He first proposed the compromise which has been described as "the most ingenious novelty in the American Constitution, and which, it was generally conceded, saved the Union — that all States should be equally represented in the upper house and according to their population in the lower house." Among the patriots of the Revolutionary period he was the only person who signed all four of the great national compacts— the Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States. He was chiefly instrumental in securing the ratification of the Constitution by the State Convention of Connecticut. His services to his country were invaluable.
By the marriage of Ebenezer Carter Tracy to Martha Sherman Evarts, his children became connected with another distinguished family of New England. She was a daughter of Jeremiah Evarts, a man of eminent character and ability and widely known, who was a descendant of John Evarts, one of the early settlers in New England, who came to Concord, Mass., in 1630; and a sister of Hon. William M. Evarts, the eminent lawyer and statesman. The issue of this marri- age was eight children, one of whom, William Carter, was an officer in the Union army during the Civil War, and died in the service of his country ; another was Jeremiah Evarts Tracy, a member of the present law firm of Evarts, Choate & Beaman, of New York.
JEREMIAH EVARTS TRACY, Member of the Empire State Soci- ety, S. A. R., eldest son of Ebjnezer Carter and Martha Sherman (Evarts) Tracy, was born at Windsor, Vt., January 31, 1835. Through heredity, environment and educational advantages he attained the high position in his profession which he has occupied for so many years. He began the study of law at an early age in
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the office of his uncle, Hon. William M. Evarts, an ' completed his course at Yale College Law School, receiving his degree of LL. B. i .i Yale in 1857. He had been previously admitted to the bar. He has continued his connection with his uncle's firm and their successors as law student and partner for more than forty years. His reputation as a lawyer, a: 11 as that of the firm he represents, is known far and near, and no amount of praise or personal comments could add to either. To the citizens of Plainfield, N. J., where Mr. Tracy has resided for more than twenty years, he is known as an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, and he has done much to endear himself to that community. He was one of the founders of the Bar Association of the city of New York, and is a member of that association and of the New York State Bar Association, and of the New York Law Institute. He is also one of the Committee of Counsel of the Lawyers' Title Insurance Co , of New York. His connection with the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution began in 1895, and while not active as a working member, he is in hearty sympathy with its objects.
Mr. Tracy married Martha Sherman Greene, daughter of Rev. David Greene, September 30, 1863, and has nine children : Emily Baldwin, born November 30, 1864; Howard Crosby, born August 1, 1866; Evarts, born May 23, 1868; Mary Evarts, born December 22, 1869; Robert Storer, born October 6, 1871 ; Margaret Louisa, born May ri, 1873; Edith Hastings, born December 13. 1874; Martha, born April 10, 1876, and William Evarts, born September 24, 1878.
CLAIBORNE -HERBERT— WELDON— ALSTON.
The history of the Claiborne family is, in many respects, unique, and forms one of the most interesting chapters in American history. The individual char- acteristics, transmitted through several generations, stand out in bold relief, exercising a marked effect on the surroundings of the men. Always loyal, always true and fearless to an inordinate degree, it may be honestly said of them, strns peur et .wins reproche. " This ancient family," says the English historian, " may be traced in the male line to the early part of the eleventh century, and on the • spindle' side (through the Curwens) to the Scots-Pictish and West Saxon kings. It derived its sirname from the Lordship of Cleburne." The family bore Arms - Quarterly, first and fourth, argent three chevrons interlaced in base sable a chief of the last ; second and third, argent a cross engrailed vert. Crest — A demi-wolf ppr. rampant reguardant. Motto— (Saxon) Lofe clibbor na sceame.
Budolph, Lord of Ravensworth and other manors in Richmondshire, was the founder of this family. In his old age, when weary of the world and its troubles, he became a monk and retired to the abbey of which he had been a benefactor. He had a son, Akaris or Acarius Fitz Bardolph, who founded the Abbey of Fors. Hervey Fitz Akaris, his son, was a " noble and good knight " who died A. D. 1 182, and was succeeded by Alan dictus Cleburne, whose son Hervey (meaning strong in war) had Geoffrey Fitz Hervey de Cleburne, who had Sir Robert, of the manor of Cleburne Hervey; he was the father of John de Cleburne, who had a son, John de Clyborne, succeeded by Rowland, lord of the manors of Cliburn Hervey and Tailbois. Rowland, son and heir of John de Clyborn, was lord of the manors of
90 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Cliburn, Hervey and Tailbois, and held Bampton, Cundale and Knipe by homage, fealty and courage. Rowland had John, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Curwen, of Workington Hall. This Elizabeth sprang from Cos- patrick, who, says Freeman, was of " the noblest blood of Northumberland and the Kingly blood of Wessex." John and Elizabeth had a son Thomas, of Cle- burne Hall. Thomas had Robert of Cliborne, Westmoreland and Killerby, in York, who married Emma Kirkbride, of Kirkbride, whose arms were quartered with her husband's. Their son and heir was Edmond, or Edward, who had Richard. This Richard built Cleburn Hall, at present standing in Cleburn, West- moreland County, England. Richard had Edmond, who married Grace, second daughter of Sir Allan Bellingham, of Helsington and Levins. Edmund and Grace had Col. William Claiborne, Secretary of Virginia, who was their second son, and the ancestor of the American branch of the Claiborne family.
WILLIAH CLAIBORNE, son of Edmund, was born at Cleburn Hall, West- moreland, England, in 1587, died in Virginia, 1676. In 1621 he was appointed surveyor of the plantations of Virginia under the London company. He arrived at Jamestown in the ship "George" with Sir Francis Wyatt and other members of the new council, October, 1621. He acquired landed estates amounting to 45,000 acres. On March 24, 1625, he was commissioned by Charles I. as a member of the council, and "to be our Secretary of State for the said Collony and Plantation of Virginia." Owing to subsequent events he became known as " the evil genius of Maryland." Under a patent of King Charles I., dated May 16, 1631, authorizing him "to make discoveries," etc., he "discovered" and partially planted and settled the isle of Kent before the first patent of Maryland was heard of; and when Lord Baltimore's first colony arrived at St. Marie's, in March, 1634, Claiborne had been settled on the isle of Kent for more than three years, and his settlement had been recognized by the admission of the burgess into the Virginia
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91
Assembly. It caused serious trouble between the two claimants and their adher- ents which was kept up for many years, resulting in frequent collisions and bloodshed. Lord Baltimore's influence with the home government was paramount to that of Claiborne and resulted in a decision in the former's favor in 1658, and in 1660 Claiborne was turned out of the secretaryship of Virginia and also from the council. He has been unjustly called " Claiborne the rebel." He married Jane Buller, of London, and had a son, Thomas.
Lient.=Col. Thomas Claiborne, son of Hon. William Claiborne, was born in Virginia, 1647 ; died 16S3. He married Miss Dandridge, of Virginia, and had Thomas (2).
Capt. Thomas Claiborne (2), son of Lieut. -Col. Thomas (1) and Miss (Dandridge) Claiborne, was born in 1681 ; died in 1732. He married Ann Fox, a descendant of Lord Delaware. She died 1733. They had issue, Augustine.
JOHN HERBERT CLAIBORNE.
Col. Augustine Claiborne, son of Capt. Thomas and Ann (Fox) Claiborne, was born at Sweethall, Va., in 1720; died May 3, 1787. He married Mary, daugh- ter of Buller Herbert, of Paddledock, Prince George's County, Va. She was a woman of marked character and fine intellectual attainments, withal a fearless and uncompromising Tory. John and Buller Herbert, of London, England, settled at Paddledock, near Petersburg, where John's tomb is still to be seen. On it is inscribed the family Arms — Per pale azure and gules, three lions rampant, argent and langued or. Crest — A bundle of arrows or, headed and feathered argent, six in saltire, one in pale, girt round the middle with a belt gule, buckle and point extended, of the first. Col. Augustine Claiborne, by his wife, Mary (Herbert) Claiborne, had a son, John Herbert.
JOHN HERBERT CLAIBORNE, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Col. Augustine and Mary (Herbert) Claiborne, was born at Windsor, Surrey County.
92 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Va., May 30, 1763. He arrived at "fighting age" before the close of the Revolu- tion, and joined the Surrey Troop, a company of horse raised during the latter part of the war and attached to Lee's Legion. The company was composed mostly of young men of Surrey, gentlemen's sons, who were armed and equipped at their own expense. The company was commanded by Capt. Cocke, his brother-in-law, who was subsequently captured and died in prison of small-pox. After being in service a short time the company was led into a trap by the enemy and would doubtless have been captured but for the timely arrival of Major Buller Claiborne, who took command and extricated them. He was a brother of John Herbert and an old experienced soldier then serving on the staff of Gen. Lincoln. John Herbert Claiborne saw considerable service and was present with his troop at the siege of Yorktown, and surrender of Cornwallis. He married Mary, daughter of Roger Gregory, of Chesterfield County. They had a son, John.
Rev. John Gregory Claiborne, son of John Herbert and Mary (Gregory) Claiborne, was born at Claiborne, Dinwidclee County, Va, 1798. He was educated at William and Mary College, Va., and subsequently entered the ministry of the Protestant M. E. Church. He was a most devoted and earnest preacher, and was known far and wide as the " Patriarch of Methodism " in Virginia. He was a man of learning and great breadth of mind, but simple and unaffected in his manner. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel VVeldon, of Weldon, N. C, a descendant of an old and distinguished family of North Carolina. They had issue, John Herbert.
John Herbert Claiborne, 11. D., Sr., son of Rev. John Gregory and Eliza- beth (Weldon) Claiborne, was born at Roslyn Castle, Brunswick, Va., in 1827; graduated at the University of Virginia, and soon after began the study of medicine. Although thoroughly and well fitted for the profession he had chosen, the excitement of public affairs had for the time a greater attraction for him. He entered with enthusiasm into the political canvass, and in 1858 was elected to the State Senate of Virginia. He was always a firm advocate of State rights and when the political issue was brought to a final test he earnestly espoused the cause of the South, believing that a separation between the North and the South was the only remedy for the existing troubles. When his native State seceeded from the Union, he drew his sword and never sheathed it until the final surrender at Appomattox. Although a born fighter and leader of men, the great necessity for medical and surgical aid in the army led him to enter the Confederate army in his professional capacity. He was appointed surgeon of the Twelfth Virginia Regiment, with the rank of Major. His regiment was attached to Mahone's Brigade. When the war closed he was stationed at Petersburg and had charge of all the hospitals in that locality. After leaving the army he began the practice of medicine in Petersburg, Va , where he still continues and is well and favorably known, and has achieved a reputation as a surgeon and physician. He married Sara Joseph, daughter of Joseph Alston, of Halifax, N. C, a descendant of an old and well-known family of that State. He had issue, John Herbert, Jr.
JOHN HERBERT CLAIBORNE, fl.D., Jr., Empire State Society. S. A. R., son of Dr. John Herbert and Sara Joseph (Alston) Claiborne, twenty-fourth in descent from Budolph, Lord of Ravensworth, was born at Lewisburg, N. C, June 29, 1861. He was educated at the University School, Petersburg, Va., and he University of Virginia, receiving his degree of M.D. from the latter institution.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 93
After completing his course of study here he went abroad and studied at the Universities of Halle and Berlin ; also attended clinics in Paris and London. On his return in 1S86 he settled in New York city. He had made a special study of diseases of the eye and ear, and soon entered upon an active and lucrative practice, although almost an entire stranger at the beginning. Among his warmest friends who aided and encouraged him at the start, was the eminent specialist, Dr. C. R. Agnew. Dr. Claiborne is now recognized as among the leading specialists in his line. He is a man of advanced ideas in his profession and is the author of ' Theory and Practice of the Ophthalmoscope," the " Functional Examination of the Eye," and is a frequent contributor to the medical journals on this special line. He was formerly clinical assistant at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, visiting sur- geon of eye and ear diseases at the North Western Dispensary ; is at present assistant surgeon to the New Amsterdam Eye and Ear Hospital, instructor in Ophthamology at Columbia University, and was first adjunct professor of eye diseases in the New York Polyclinic College.
Fond of outdoor exercises, an expert horseman, he joined Troop A., N. G. S. N. Y., retiring after five years' service, as Third Sergeant of Troop 1, Squadron A. He was on constant duty during the Buffalo riots, and the Troop rendered most important service during the Brooklyn riots.
He is a member of the New York Academy of Medicine, American Medical Association, New York Medical Society, the Military Club, University Club, Fencer's Club, Calumet, and Knickerbocker Riding Club.
JACKSON-HALSEY— BEACH.
Robert Jackson, the ancestor of this family, was one of the original settlers of the town of Hempstead, L. I., in 1643; was magistrate under the Dutch government in 1659; one of the delegates to the convention held in 1665, after the English occupation, which adopted the code of laws for the colony known as the "Duke's Laws." He died in Hempstead, 1684. He married Agnes, daughter of William Washburn, and had sons John and Samuel, and daughters Saiah (married Nathaniel Moore) and Martha (married Nathaniel Coles).
John Jackson, son of Robert, lived at Jerusalem, town of Hempstead, where he died in 17:5. He was Sheriff of Queen's County, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Colonel of Militia and a member of the Provincial Assembly; one of the most prominent men in the county. He married, first, Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. John Seaman, one of the original settlers of the town of Hempstead ; he married, second, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Hallett, son of William Hallett, the ancestor, who acquired a large estate at Hell Gate. His house and plantation at Hallett's Cove was destroyed by the Indians in 1655. William Hallett was appointed Sheriff in 1656, but was deposed by Gov. Stuyvesant for allowing Rev. William Wickenden to preach at his house. On the revolt of Long Island from the Dutch, he warmly advocated the claims of Connecticut and was sent as a delegate to the General Court of that colony. At his death his property at Hell
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Gate Neck was equally divided between his sons, William and Samuel. Col. John Jackson, by his wife, Elizabeth Seaman, had sons fames, John and Samuel, and five daughters, who are mentioned in his will.
James Jackson, born about 1673, son of John and Elizabeth (Seaman) Jack- son, was born at Hempstead, L. I., and died at Flushing, L. I., 1735. He was voted a silver tankard valued at ^50 by the colony of Rhode Island, for services in settling a boundary dispute with Massachusetts in 1733. He married in 1694, Rebecca Hallett, born August 31, 1675, daughter of William (2), eldest son of William (1). They had issue twenty children, of whom eighteen were living at his death. They were: Thomas, born December 4, 1694, married Mary Town- send ; Mary, born November 20, 1696, married first, Jacob Willets, second, Nathaniel Townsend ; Sarah, born December 11, 1697, married Samuel Clement; Rebecca, born February 20, 1699, married Sylvanus Seaman ; John, born March 9, 1701, married Sarah Doty; Charity, born February 26, 1702, married John Dingee ; Elizabeth, born March 20, 1703, married Nathaniel Field; James, born June 4,
1704, married first, Sarah Thorne, second Mary Thorne ; William, born July 6,
1705, died in infancy ; Hannah, born August 5, 1706, married John Hicks ; William, born October 4, 1707, married Prudence Smith; Martha, born January 26, 1709, married William Green ; Joseph, born February 9, 17 10, married Mary Rogers; Richard, born March 20, 171 1, married Mary Wright, daughter of Nathaniel Townsend; Phebe, born May 3, 1712, married Edward Fitz Randolph, 1734; Robert, born May 15, 1713, married Sarah Hewlett; Jemima, born November 25, 1 7 14, married Henry Hicks; Samuel, born July 21, 1716, married Sarah Carpenter; Stephen, born August 17, 1 7 1 7, married Mary Lewis; Benjamin, born July 6, 1719, married Amy Paul, widow.
Joseph Jackson, son of James and Rebecca (Hallett) Jackson, was born at Flushing, L. I., February 9, 1710. He removed before the Revolution, about 1731 or 1732, to Rockaway, Morris County, N. J., where he and his son Stephen acquired a large tract of land, and engaged in the manufacture of iron. As early as 1722 John Jackson, probably an elder brother, purchased 527 acres in the vicinity of Dover, and erected there the first forge on what is still called Jackson's Brook. It was near this site that Joseph and his son Stephen established their forge. Stephen, in 1812, devised his forge to his sons William and John, but both interests were subsequently purchased by their brother Col. Joseph Jackson, and the property is still in the hands of his family. Joseph Jackson married aboui 1 73 1, Mary Rogers, probably a descendant of Thomas Rogers (who came over in the "Mayflower") and had issue, James, William, Elizabeth, Mary, Stephen, Anna, Edward, Phebe, Benjamin and Daniel.
STEPHEN JACKSON, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Joseph and Mary (Rogers) Jackson, was born at Rockaway, in 1744. He was captain of a troop of horse engaged in reconnoitering the enemy's lines below Short Hills during the severe winter of 1 779-80, while the army, under Gen. Washington, was encamped at Morristown. In this service he contracted a pulmonary disease which he supposed would, terminate fatally. Previous to this time he had been engaged in the manufacture of iron, but during his illness sold his forge. After his recovery he tried to repurchase it, but the party declined to sell. He erected, the following year, another forge at the lower dam, at Rockaway, which he sold to his son Joseph in 1809. He was one of the original founders and stockholders of Morris
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 9$
Academy, at Morristown, where his sons received their education. He married, at Rockaway, December 19, 1768, Mary, daughter of Adam Burwell, and had issue fourteen children, as follows: Elizabeth, born October 17, 1769, married Aaron Lyon; Agnes, born January 6, 1772, married David Herriman ; Joseph, born March 8, 1774, married first. Elizabeth Piatt Ogden, daughter of Robert Ogden, Esq., of Sparta, second, Electa Beach, daughter of Capt. Enoch Beach and widow of Silas Dickerson ; James, born January 14, 1776, married Clarissa Hoff ; Mar- garet, born July 17, 1778, married Samuel Arnold; Stephen, born December 15, 1780, died December 27, 1781; twin daughters, born 17S2, died in infancy; Stephen, born October 11, 1783, died September 19, 1801 ; Jacob, born January 22, 1786, died March 21. 1 79 1 ; William, born March 16, 1788, married Susan D. Halsey ; Maria, born February 9, 1790, died July 29, 1808; Harriet, born June 8, 1792, married Dr. Ira Crittenden ; John I)., born September 9, 1794, married Agnes Doughty.
William Jackson, son of Stephen and Mary (Burwell) Jackson, was born at Rockaway, Morris County, N. J., March 16, 178S. He was one of the first to introduce the improved methods of iron manufacture in this country. On January 26, 1822, he and his brother. Col. Joseph Jackson, entered into an agreement to build a rolling mill on the Colonel's land in Rockaway, to be driven by water. This was to continue for twenty-one years, the property then to revert to his brother at its appraised value. William Jackson made the following statement, which appears in the History of Morris County, N. J.: "The first bar of round iron ever rolled in this country was done by Col. Joseph Jackson and myself in the old rolling mill at Paterson, at that time owned by Samuel and Roswell Colt, in the year 1820, under a contract to furnish the United States government with a certain quantity of rolled and hammered iron at the Navy Yard, Brooklyn, in which we succeeded to the entire satisfaction of the government. Our experi- ments at rolling round and square iron induced us to build the rolling mill at Rock- away which was completed in November, 1822." He subsequently sold out his entire interest to his brother. In 1823 he purchased 1,200 acres of timber in a perfectly wild region of country in what was then a part of Bergen, now Passaic County. On this he established the celebrated Clinton Iron Works — so named in honor of DeWitt Clinton. He erected a saw mill, forge and blast furnace; sawed timber and made iron, which he carted to Dover and Rockaway for a market. He employed a large number of men and teams in the transportation of his lumber and iron, and the returning trips were made with loads of ore. He constructed roads and built houses for his men, and made vast improvements in that region of country. He also built an anchor shop and made anchors. While the works were being constructed, iron fell one-half or more in price, owing to the tariff legislation, and Mr. Jackson was obliged to stop operations. In 1833 he sold his property and subsequenrly removed to Hamburg, Sussex County, N. J., where he built for a company a blast furnace which he operated for several years. In 1837 he removed to East Avon, N. Y., and subsequently removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., where he died October 18, 1872. He married Susan Day Halsey, daughter of Dr. Abraham and Nancy (Beach) Halsey. He was the son of Elihu and Eliza- beth (Ely) Halsey.
DR. ABRAHAM HALSEY, Soldier of the Revolution, son of Elihu and Elizabeth (Ely) Halsey, was born at Hanover, N. J., February 19, 1764. He
96 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
received as good an education as the country afforded, and in the later years of the Revolutionary War, though but sixteen years of age, he served in the militia and probably took part in the battle of Springfield, in June, 1780. After the close of the war he studied medicine with Dr. John Darcy, who had served in the war as surgeon's mate. He removed to Oswego, in Dutchess County, N. Y., where he practiced his profession with great success during the remainder of his life. He married, October 20, 179!, Nancy, daughter of Capt. Enoch and Susan (Day) Beach. He was a descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas Halsey, who settled in Southampton, L. I., in 1640.
CAPT. ENOCH BEACH, Soldi kr of the Revolution, was a captain of militia in Morris County, and served with distinction under Gen. Heard when the latter was left with three brigades to guard New Jersey, while Washington had gone with the main army to West Point. A son of Enoch Beach's pastor who served with him, says : " He stood before his company with the greatest calmness and composure and scarcely spoke at all, unless it was to drop now and then a word of encouragement to his men while they were waiting orders to advance." Enoch Beach had a son Samuel, a student at Princeton College, who left college for a time and served in the War of the Revolution. Capt. Enoch Beach was a grand- son of Zopher Beach, who settled in Newark, N. J., in 1685, where he was known as the " well beloved brother."
The issue of the marriage of William Jackson and Susan Day Halsey was Mary Burwell, married Freeman Wood, Nancy Beach, married John F. Winslow, Abraham Halsey, William Augustus, Joseph Henry, Samuel Beach, Susan Louisa, married Augustus Sydenham Winslow, Silas Halsey, Sarah Electa, Theodore FrelingJiHysoi, Freeman Winslow, Robert Alexander, Edmund Drake and Frances Arabella.
THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN JACKSON, Empire State Society, S. A. R., tenth child of William and Susan Day (Halsey) Jackson, was born at Rockaway, N. J., November 16, 1830. He was educated in Livingston County, N. Y., and studied law with Judge Onderdonk, at Manhasset, L. I. He was subse- quently acting deputy clerk of Queens County, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. Soon after he began practice he formed a law partnership with Paul J. Fish, at that time the oldest resident lawyer in Williamsburg. His association with a man of such prominence and large experience was a great, advantage to him in the early part of his professional career. This continued for seven years and from that time until 1874 he practiced on his own account. Both from choice and favorable circumstances he became connected with large real estate interests, and he became an expert and authority in this line. His thorough knowledge of the value of real estate in Brooklyn and other parts of Long Island led to his appointment by Mayor Seth Low as Register of Arrears of Taxes, a most difficult and responsible position, owing to the large accumulation of unpaid taxes, the result of dissatisfied and protesting property holders. With great wisdom, tact and good judgment he adjusted the differences between the property holders and the city to the entire satisfaction of all parties, and was highly complimented for his efforts, and the task of preparing a bill for the relief of the taxpayers, which was finally adopted by the State Legislature, was assigned to him, and although the bill in its completed form was the work of Hon. William M. Evarts, the credit of the original draft is due to the efforts of Mr. Jackson. He was
Sons of the American revolution. 97
thorough, painstaking, accurate and reliable, and his clients always had the utmost confidence in his judgment and acted unhesitatingly on his advice and counsel. He was elected Comptroller of the city of Brooklyn in 1SS9 to fill a vacancy and was afterwards regularly elected to the position for two years. He formed a new law copartnership with Joseph A. Burr in 1874, which continued until 1893, when he retired from practice after nearly half a century of arduous and incessant labors. His interest in the achievements of his Revolutionary ancestors led to his becoming a member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and thus helping to perpetuate the memory of the men to whom we owe a debt of gratitude that should never be forgotten.
Mr. Jackson possesses the serene and quiet disposition, as well as the force and determination of character for which his ancestors were noted in their day and generation. Calm and self-possessed under the most trying circumstances, he has met and overcome all difficulties and success has crowned his efforts.
Mr. Jackson married, September 11, 1861 — the anniversary and celebration of his father's golden wedding — Cornelia W., daughter of Jonathan S. Burr, of Brooklyn, son of Gen. Gershom Burr, son of Gershom and nephew of Thaddeus (2), whose father was Thaddeus, son of Judge Peter Burr, of Fairfield, brother of David Burr, who was the grandfather of Aaron Burr. Thaddeus Burr (2), above referred to, was a noted patriot, whose house was destroyed at the burning of Fairfield by the British, in 1779. He was an intimate friend of Gen. John Hancock, who was married at his house. When he rebuilt the house he modeled it after that of Gov. Hancock, in Boston. They were descendants of Jehu, who came with Winthrop's fleet to America in 1630, and settled in Connecticut. Gen. Gershom Burr was raised by his uncle Thaddeus Burr, his father having died at an early age. Mr Jackson and his wife have had two children, one of whom died in infancy; the other, Frederick Burr, born September, 1863, died Febru- ary 27, 1873.
ROBERTS -HUBBARD-PRATT.
The family of Roberts is a very ancient one. Burke, in his General Armory, says: This family "derived through Howel-ap-Iolin, of Llangedwin, from Einion Effell, Lord of Cynllnaeth. Catharine, daughter and heiress of Maurice Roberts, of Llangedwin, England, married Owen Vaughn, of Llwydiarth, County Mont- gomery."
William Roberts, the projenitor of the Middletown family of this name, probably came from England. He may have been the son of John, one of the original settlers of Hartford. His name appears on the Middletown records in 1680.
Simeon Roberts, of Middletown, was probably a grandson of William. He married Anna Johnson, supposed to be a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of Isaac Johnson, who settled in Middletown, in 1670. They had a son, Elijah.
Elijah Roberts, Patriot OF the Revolution, son of Simeon and Anna (Johnson) Roberts, was born in Middletown, Conn., August 19, 1761 ; died Sep- tember 26, 1843. His name first appears among the soldiers of the Revolution who responded to the " Lexington Alarm," and later as a private in Capt. Elihu
98 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Hubbard's company, of Middletown, which formed a part of Col. Huntington's regiment, organized in 1775, and reorganized for service in Continental army for the year 1776. After the siege of Boston it marched under Washington to New York and assisted in fortifying the city, and was ordered, August 24, to the Brook- lyn front ; engaged in the battle of Long Island, August 27, in and near Green- wood Cemetery ; was surrounded by the enemy and lost heavily in prisoners. Private Roberts' name appears among the " missing." The regiment afterward joined the main army and took part in the battle of White Plains, and was engaged in the battle of Bemis Heights and surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, October, 1777. He brought with him a musket and cartridge box captured from the enemy. These are now in possession of his descendants. His name next appears among the list of pensioners residing in Middletown in 1832. He married, October 24, 1786, Phebe Hubbard, daughter of Nehemiah Hubbard. The Hub- bard family was one of the oldest and most prominent in the town of Middletown.
Qeorge Hubbard, one of the founders of the town, was born, as is supposed, in the southeastern part of England, in 1601. His name appears on the list of the original settlers of Hartford, in 1639. He was assigned six acres of land by- courtesy of the town and resided there for some years. About 1650 he left Hart- ford, carrying with him a commission from the Colonial government as Indian Agent and Trader for the Mattabesett District, afterwards named Middletown, of which he became an original settler. He was made freeman March 18, 1684. He was a man of " marked integrity and fairness" He was a large property owner and owned 226 acres at Long Hill. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Watts, an original proprietor of Hartford, and had eight children, of whom Nathaniel was the sixth.
Nathaniel Hubbard (1) son of George and Elizabeth (Watts) Hubbard, was born in Middletown, December 10, 1652; died May 29, 1682. He lived at Long Hill, on the cross roads, some two miles west of the Connecticut river, on the property purchased by his father. He married Mary Earle, and had ten children, of whom Natha7iiel (2) was the fourth child and eldest son.
Nathaniel Hubbard (2), son of Nathaniel (1) and Mary (Earle) Hubbard, was born in Middletown, September 14, 1690; died October 4, 1765. He married Sarah Johnson and had six children, of whom Nehemiah was the third child and second son
Nehemiah Hubbard, third child and second son of Nathaniel (2) and Sarah (Johnson) Hubbard, was born at the homestead. Long Hill, Middletown, July 22, 1721. He served in the ranks throughout the French War. He resided on the farm where he was born. He married, October 12, 1748, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Phebe (Lord) Sill, of Lyme, Conn.; he was probably son of Joseph Sill, born in England, 1636, died at Lyme, 1696; a captain in the Indian War, 1676; son of John, the ancestor, who settled in Cambridge, Mass., 1637 ; freeman 1638. By this marriage Mr. Hubbard had thirteen children, of whom Phebe was the eighth. She was born January 3, 1761 ; married Elijah Roberts, and had among other children, a son, Elijah Hubbard Roberts.
Elijah Hubbard Roberts, fifth child and second son of Elijah and Phebe (Hubbard) Roberts, was born in that part of Middletown known as Long Hill, April 4, 1795. He received a good education in his native town, and his early business training was under the direction of his uncle, Nehemiah Hubbard, in
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 99
whose employ he remained for some time. It is said he closely resembled his uncle in character and appearance as he advanced in years. He went to New York city early in the twenties, where he established a large and successful busi- ness. Later he went to Mobile, Ala., and engaged in the cotton commission business. In 1839 he made a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, to arrange for the importation of Russian hemp into this country. Such a trip was considered a great undertaking in those days, but he accomplished his object. He was con- nected with Tucker, Cooper & Co., the earliest house engaged in this branch of business, which was organized in 1855 as the New York Hemp & Flax Manufac- turing Co., Mr. Roberts being one of the ten incorporators and a director in the company from 1868 to 1874. He was recognized as one of the leading merchants of his day in New York city. With his progressive ideas he became interested in Chicago in its early days, and was a partner in what appears on the city map as Johnson's, Roberts' and Stoors' addition to Chicago.
After acquiring a competence Mr. Roberts returned to Middletown, Conn, and in 1856 he purchased the old Commodore McDonnough home and spent the remainder of his days amid the quiet scenes of his country home. He was a man of studious habits and employed his leisure time in the cultivation of his mind. He was greatly beloved by the people of his native town. He was the invaluable referee in business matters and the ever welcome addition to the social circle. He made great sacrifices to accommodate his neighbors, and in his frequent trips to New York during his early business career his trunk or valise was filled with letters and packages of his neighbors for which he willingly made himself the bearer, express companies not being in existence then and letter postage was high. As one of the directors of the Middlesex County Bank he also became the volun- tary messenger and frequently carried for that institution large sums of money, which, owing to his plain, unassuming manners, was never suspected by his fellow- travelers. While a resident in New York he united with the Bowery Presbyterian Church in 1831, of which Dr. John Woodbrige was pastor, and was active in religious work and liberal in his gifts to advance the cause of Christianity. On his return to Middletown, after the close of his active business career, he continued his efforts in the cause of Christianity and humanity. His giving was without ostentation and he always followed the command, " Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth." He married Emily Matilda Pratt, daughter of Capt. John Pratt, of the Revolution, a descendant in the sixth generation of John Pratt, the ancestor of the Hartford family of this name. He died at Middletown, Conn., September 16, 1871.
PRATT.— The earliest records of the Pratt family show that they were con- picuous for their courage and loyalty. In 1 191 William dePratellis (William Pratt) accompanied King Richard to the Holy Land, and on a certain occasion, when the King with his small escort became separated from the main army and was sur- rounded by a body of Turks, William de Pratellis rushed forward and surrendered himself, stating in the Saracencic language that he was the King. This diversion enabled the King to escape and Pratellis was afterwards exchanged and knighted for his valor. The immediate ancestor of the Hartford and Saybrook branches of the Pratt family was Rev. William Pratt, " Bachelor of Sacred Theology," who was for thirty years rector of the parish church of the parish of Stevenage, County Hertford, England, who died in 1629, aged 67. Three of the children of Rev.
IOO SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
William Pratt — Elizabeth, John and William— are not recognized in their father's will for the probable reason that they left England or signified their intention of leaving, and received their portion. John and William Pratt came to New England as early as 1632 and their names appear in the first division of Cambridge lands as the owners of home lots. The relationship as brothers is further established by the fact that they were members of Rev. Thomas Hooker's church, and in all probability formed a part of the company who accompanied their pastor through the wilderness and laid the foundation of Hartford, Conn. William received his assignment of a home lot in Hartford, which he afterward sold and removed to Saybrook.
John Pratt, of Hartford, born in the parish of Stevenage, England, received his assignment of a home lot in February, 1639. He drew lot No. 31 and soon after purchased No. 30, which was drawn by Gov. Haynes. These lots lay on the west side of Main street and extended north from the present Asylum street to the Melodion. From him Pratt street derives its name. He was deputy to the first General Court of Connecticut, April and August, 1638, and for several years afterward; town man, 1641 ; juror, 1642; member of the first grand jury in the colony, 1643; constable, etc., and held other positions of honor in the town. He died July 15, 1655. By his wife Elizabeth, he had John (2) and Daniel.
John Pratt (2). son of John (1) and Elizabeth ( ) Pratt, was born prob- ably in Hartford, Conn. He had thirty-nine acres in the land division in West
Hartford, in 1674. He died in 1690 He married Hepsibah ( ), and had eight
children, of whom /<)/;;; (3) was the second.
John Pratt (3), son of John (2) and Hepsibah ( ) Pratt, was born in
Hartford. He married Hannah Sanford. They had four children, of whom William was the second.
William Pratt, son of John and Hannah (Sanford) Pratt, was born in Hart- ford in 1691 ; died January 19, 1753. He was the ancestor of Gen. James T. Pratt, of Rocky Hill, and of Henry Pratt, of Rochester. He married for his second wife Mary, daughter of Eliazer Pinney. Zechariah was the youngest of three children of William Pratt by his first wife— name uncertain - but she died at the birth of Zechariah. By his second wife, Mary Pinney, Mr. Pratt had four children.
Zechariah Pratt, youngest child of William Pratt by his first wife, was born in Hartford in 1727 ; died October 5, 1805. He resided on the original home lot purchased by his ancestor from Gov. Haynes. He was a man of great influence and wealth for that period, his estate being inventoried at $24,016.41. He married about 1746, Abigail, daughter of Capt. Aaron Cook. Her mother was Elizabeth Marsh, a woman of superior mind and devotedly pious. Zechanah's mother died at his birth and he chose his uncle, Joseph Talcott, for his guardian. By his marriage with Abigail Cook he had issue five children, of whom John and his twin brother James were born October 12, 1753.
CAPT. JOHN PRATT, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Zechariah and Abigail (Cook) Pratt, was born in Hartford, Conn., October 12, 1753; died December 27, 1824. He entered the army at the beginning of the Revolution, con- tinuing until its close and remaining as an officer of the army for some years after. He was Assistant Commissary-General under Gen. James Clinton, in 1779, and engaged in the campaigns on the Hudson during that year, and continued in this
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. IOI
branch of the service until 1780 when his name appears as lieutenant in the Fourth Pennsylvania Line. His correspondence and his diary which he kept show that he continued in this capacity until the close of the war. He remained as an officer in the regular army for some years afterward, and in 1791 was appointed recruiting officer by Gen. Knox, then Secretary of War, to raise troops for Wayne's expedition to Ohio to quell the Indian disturbances. His instructions from Gen. Knox were to " enlist no negro, mulatto or Indian." He accompanied Wayne's expedition to Ohio, sharing in all the hardships and dangers of that campaign. He resigned his commission near the close of 1793.
He was one of the early members of the Connecticut Society of the Cincin- nati. Soon after he left the army he settled in Middletown, Conn. He became a magistrate and frequently represented Middletown in the State Legislature. He served in the May and October sessions of 1806, October, 1807, May, 1808, May and October, 1809. During Lafayette's second visit to this country, in 1823-4,
he passed through several Connecticut towns. Capt. Pratt was chief of the escort which went to Rocky Hill to escort him to Middletown. They rode together in the same carriage, and the mutual recognition of these two old comrades-in-arms was deeply affecting. On reaching Middletown they stopped at the Washington Hotel, now (1898) the residence of Bishop Williams, and Capt, Pratt introduced him to the citizens who called to pay their respects to the dis- tinguished guest. In the evening he was escorted by Capt. Pratt to the steamer Oliver Ellsworth— the first regular steamboat to ply between Hartford and New York — and departed for New York. Mr. Pratt was a man of warm sympathies, genial in his hospitality, sincere in his friendship and ever ready to lend a helping hand to those in trouble or distress. He died as he had lived, a devoted Christian and a true gentleman. A fine life-size portrait of him hangs in the Hartford Atheneum. He married, February 28, 1795, Elizabeth Cooper, daughter of Lani- berton and Elizabeth (Brown) Cooper, of Middletown. They had eight children, of whom Emily Matilda was the second. She was born August 17, 1797; died November 8, 1870; married Elijah Hubbard Roberts (see Roberts).
102 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Elijah Hubbard Roberts, by his marriage to Emily Matilda Pratt, had issue, Elizabeth Cooper, Frances Emily, John Pratt, Edward Hubbard, Mary Pratt, Ellen Cornelia and Richard Hubbard.
RICHARD HUBBARD ROBERTS, Empire State Society, S. A. R., youngest child of Elijah Hubbard and Emily Matilda (Pratt) Roberts, was born in Middletown, Conn., October 16, 1839. At the age of five years he removed with his parents to Williamsburg, now Brooklyn, E. D. He was sent to boarding school at Stamford, Conn., and at the age of sixteen started on his business career as clerk in a large jewelry establishment in Albany. That there was mutual confi- dence between employer and employee is evidenced by the fact that he remained
RICHARD UUBHAKH KoI'.KKTS.
with the firm seven years, becoming thoroughly proficient in every branch of the business. He then formed a connection with the old well-known firm of Ball, Black & Co., of New York, where, after remaining a short time he returned to Albany, where he formed a copartnership in the jewelry business with William Wendell, under the firm name of Wendell & Roberts. They did a large and successful business without interruption for thirteen years — 1863 to 1876, when Mr. Roberts retired with a competence, leaving a large circle of friends in the old town where he spent the earlier years of his life.
It was but natural that Mr. Roberts should become interested in military affairs, since both his paternal and maternal ancestors had served with honor
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 103
in the War of the Revolution. He was commissioned Quartermaster of the Tenth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., commanded by Col. Brooks, June 7, 1880, his commission being signed by Gov. Cornell. Mr. Roberts filled this position with great credit to himself and satisfaction to his superiors in rank until the regiment was disbanded. During his residence in Albany, Mr. Roberts was recognized as a public-spirited, progressive man, and lent his aid and encouragement to all honest improvements in that city. He was an incorporator and active member of the Fort Orange Club. He was an enthusiastic yachtsman and organized the Albany Yacht Club.
On retiring from business Mr. Roberts spent several years in exclusive travel. He afterward engaged in the wholesale diamond business in New York under the firm name of Roberts & Yerrington, continuing for eight years. During this period his attention was called to the mining for gems in North Carolina, and he organized the Emerald and Hiddenite Mining Company. The mine worked by this company yielded the largest emerald crystal ever taken from a mine, and the distinctly American gem, the Hiddenite. Mr. Roberts is president of the Wiles Laundering Co., of Troy, the pioneer of this industry in America. He is also a director in the Troy Laundry Machine Co., which is the outgrowth of the above mentioned company. He is secretary of the closing up of the affairs of the New York Hemp & Flax Manufacturing Co., of which his father was one of the founders. Fond of sports he joined the Manhattan Athletic Club of New York, and in order to keep up his Albany acquaintance became a member of the Albany Society Club of New York. With an ancestry having the patent of nobility, as viewed from an American standpoint, he identified himself with the Sons of the American Revolution and later with the Founders and Patriots of America.
LOVELL-BORDEN DURFEE-HOWLAND.
The above named represent some of the most distinguished families in New England, all of whom have filled an important position in American history. The first representative of the Lovell family mentioned in English history was Robert, Lord of Brehewal, who accompanied William the Conqueror in 1066, and was rewarded with the lordships of Cary and Harpetre, County Somerset, but return- ing into Normandy and being there attacked by severe illness, he became a monk in the abbey of Bee. He was succeeded by Ascelin Gouel de Percival, whose son Robert was Earl of Yvery. This nobleman was nicknamed " Lufellus," or the " Little Wolf," which designation was softened into Lupel and thence to Luvel, and became the surname of most of his descendants. He defended his castle of Kary in 11 53 against King Stephen. He married Aubric, sister of Waleran de Bellemont, Earl of Mellent, in Normandy, and died about 1155. His son Ralph was the first to adopt the surname of Lovel, and inherited the estate of Castle Kary, County Somerset, and became Lord of Castle Kary, or Cary.
Fitz Osborn, commander-in-chief under the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings, was an ancestor of the Lovell's, as was also Hugh Capet, King of France, Henry the Fowler, Emperor of Germany, etc. " Ye Shields of ye Pren-
104 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
cipal Knights in Arms at the Battle of Hastings" gives the Lovell's as blue, with fleur-de-lis and three lions rampant. The Earl of Egmont still has the arms of the Lovells quartered on his shield. During the War of the Roses, the Lovells adhered to the fortunes of York, and at the battle of Stoke, 1487, Viscount Lovell, Baron Holland, Baron Deincourt, the last of one of the two lines of Lovells, was slain. He had been Lord Chamberlain under Richard III. Tennyson, when ennobled, took Deincourt as one of his titles, claiming to be related to the old Baron of Deincourt.
Robert Lovell, the American ancestor, of Weymouth, Mass., 1635, came with a party from Weymouth, in Dorsetshire, on the southern coast of England. The party was collected from Dorset, Devon and Somerset, the ancient home of the Lovells. Robert Lovell, who settled in Weymouth, Mass., was made a freeman September 2, 1635. He had among other children a son, John.
John Lovell, son of Robert, was born probably in England. He married Jane, daughter of William Hatch, and had James.
James Lovell, son of John and Jane (Hatch) Lovell, was born October 26, 1662. He married in Barnstable, Mass., May, 1686, Mehitable Lumbart (or Lum- bard). They had issue, James (2).
James Lovell (2), son of James (1) and Mehitable (Lumbart) Lovell, was born August, 1692. He married Abigail Gorham (born March 31, 1699) daughter of Shubael Gorham, youngest son of Capt. John Gorham. the ancestor, born at Benefield, Northamptonshire, England, 1620-21. He was appointed by the Court captain of the Second Company of the Plymouth forces in King Philip's War, and was in the sanguinary battle of the Swamp Fort in the Narragansett country, fought December 19, 1675. He never recovered from the cold and fatigue to which he was exposed on this expedition. He married in 1643, Desire, daughter of John Howland, of Plymouth, who came with the "Blessed Company" on the " Mayflower," 1620.
John Howland, thirteenth signer of the Mayflower compact, is thus men- tioned in Bradford's journal of the voyage: " In a mighty storm John Howland, a Passenger, a stout young man, by a keel of ye ship, was thrown into the sea. But it pleased God, he caught hold of ye Topsail Halliards we hung overboard and run out ye length, yet he kept his hold the several Fathoms under water till he was drawn up by ye Rope to ye surface, and by a Boat Hook and other means got into ye ship, and tho' somew't ill upon it, lived many years and became a useful member both in church and Commonwealth." He was one of the " leading men in the colony, and a partaker of their hazardous undertakings, and eminent for his devotion to its interests both in civil and religious matters." He was " Deputy and assistant the greater part of his long and useful life." He "took to wife," Elizabeth, the young daughter of John Tilley. His children all married well and their husbands were prominent in the colony. Desire, named for Desire Minter, who was the kind friend of her mother's orphaned girlhood, married Capt. John Gorham in 1663.
James Lovell (2), by his wife. Abigail (Gorham) Lovell, had a son, Daniel.
Daniel Lovell, son of James (2) and Abigail (Gorham) Lovell, was born June 20, 1722; died August 9, 1785. He married, October 3, 1745, Sarah Beetle, of Martha's Vineyard, and had a son, Schubael. As a member of the Society of Friends, he took no active part in the Revolution.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 105
Rev. Schubael Lovell, son of Daniel and Sarah (Beetle) Lovell, was born March 6, 1770. He studied medicine and entered into practice, but abandoned the profession to enter the ministry as a Baptist preacher, serving for a time as an evangelist; he was subsequently called to take the pastoral charge of a church in Rowley (now Georgetown), Mass. He married. March 24, 1797, Bethia
Perkins, daughter of Perkins, a deacon in the Baptist church at Bridgewater,
Mass , who married Hooper. They had issue, Leander Perkins.
Leander Perkins Lovell, son of Rev. Schubael and Bethia (Perkins) Lovell, was born October 28, 1798; died June 10, 1842. He attended school at Rowley, the academy at Bridgewater, and then at Middletown, Mass. He was employed in the nail manufactory at Bridgewater for a time and later was for three years in Norwich, Conn. Returning to Bridgewater, he remained there till 1824. when he settled in Fall River, Mass., where he had charge of the nail mill of the Fall River Iron Works Co. He married, November 27, 1828, Ariadne Borden, of Fall River, Mass., daughter of Isaac Hathaway Borden, son of Thomas, son of Richard Borden. The name of Borden is derived from Bourdonnay, an ancient village of Normandy, France, from which the family emigrated. They came over with the Conqueror.
Richard Borden, the American ancestor, was the son of John. He was born in 1601 ; died May 25, 1671. He emigrated to New England and was admitted an inhabitant of the island of Aquidneck, R. I., in 1638. He was one of the original purchasers of land in New Jersey from the Indians. He was assistant, 1663-4; General Treasurer, 1654-5; Commissioner, 1654-56-57. His wife, Joan , was born in 1604; died July 15, 1688. They had a son, John.
John Borden, son of Richard and Joan ( ) Borden, was born September,
1640. He married Mary daughter of William Earl, and had a son, Richard.
Richard Borden, son of John and Mary (Earle) Borden, was born October 24, 1671 ; died July 12, 1732. He was a large landholder at Tiverton, R. I. He married Innocent Wodell, and had a son, Thomas.
Thomas Borden, son of Richard and Innocent (Wodell) Borden, was born December 3, 1697. He was a considerable landowner at Tiverton and largely interested in the Fall River stream. He married Mary Gifford, daughter of Christopher Gifford, of Dartmouth, and had a son, Richard.
Richard Borden, son of Thomas and Mary (Gifford) Borden, was born in 1722 ; died July 4, 1795. He was a farmer and mill owner. During the War of the Revolution, May 25, 1778. the British under command of Major Ayres landed a force at Fall River, beyond the saw mill and grist mill, together with a large quantity of lumber belonging to Thomas and Richard Borden, and after doing other damage and harassing the people, seized upon Mr. Borden, then quite advanced in life, and Capt. Benjamin Borden, and carried them to Newport as prisoners. The American forces were under command of Major Joseph Durfee. On approaching Bristol Ferry, the boat on which Richard Borden was being carried was assailed by a storm of chain shot and balls from the fort on the Bristol side of the Ferry. Mr. Borden, not liking the exposure, lay down in the bottom of the boat and resisted every attempt to raise him up. At length the fire from the battery becoming more annoying, killing and wounding some of the British, two of their number seized him and declared with oaths that he should take his chances with the rest and be killed. While thus engaged a chain shot
IOO SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
swept across the boat, killing both of the British soldiers but leaving Mr. Borden unharmed. The boats were then beached near the town and the men proceeded to Newport by land. Mr. Borden was detained at Newport but a short time when he was released on parole. Some important disclosures were expected to be obtained from him, but the commanding officer failing at every point soon dis- missed him with disgust. It is a fact worthy of remembrance that this officer afterwards declared of all men who had been brought before him from Tiverton and Little Compton, he had never found one who would communicate informa- tion advantageous to his own enterprises or injurious to the cause of his country. Richard Borden married, March 12, 1747, Hope Cook, and had a son, Thomas.
Thomas Borden, son of Richard and Hope (Cook) Borden, was born in 1750; died in 1831. He married Mary Hathaway (born at Freetown, Mass., 1757, died February 18, 1824), daughter of Isaac Hathaway, who married Phebe Bailey, of Little Compton, daughter of Thomas Bailey (2), born March 1, 171 5 ; son of Thomas Bailey (1), of Tiverton, who married Mary Wood, daughter of John Wood ; his wife was Mary Church, daughter of Joseph Church, born at Plymouth, 1638; son of Richard Church, born in England, 1613, died at Plymouth, Mass., 1638, who married Elizabeth Warren, daughter of Richard Warren, of the " May- flower," 1620. Thomas Borden, by his wife, Mary (Hathaway) Borden, had a son, Isaac Hathaway.
Isaac Hathaway Borden, son of Thomas and Mary (Hathaway) Borden, was born March 7, 1784; died April 28, 1828. He married Lucy Durfee, daugh- ter of Richard Durfee, (2), son of Richard (1), son of Benjamin, son of Thomas Durfee, the ancestor.
Thomas Durfee, the first of this name in America, emigrated from England about 1660, and settled in Rhode Island. He was born 1643; died 1702. He had issue, Robert, Thomas, William and Benjamin.
Benjamin Durfee, son of Thomas, was born about 1671. He inherited from his father large tracts of land within the present limits of Fall River, and subse- quently became one of the largest land owners in this section of the country. He married, in 1699, Prudence Earle, probably daughter of Ralph Earle, of Ports- mouth. They had ten children, of whom Richard was the youngest.
Richard Durfee, son of Benjamin and Prudence (Earle) Durfee, was born November 9, 17-3; married, in 1750. Rebecca Cole, and had a son, Richard.
Capt. Richard Durfee, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Richard and Rebecca (Cole) Durfee, was bom in Tiverton, R. I., September 8, 1758; died there, January 2, 1845. He held a captain's commission in the Continental army during the War of the Revolution and received great credit for the part he took in the engagement with the British at Fall River on May 25, 1778, an account of which is given in the sketch of Richard Borden, who was captured by the British on this occasion. Capt. Durfee showed great gallantry, and the little force of Americans under Major Joseph Durfee, of which Capt. Richard Durfee formed a part, drove the British, compelling them to take to their boats. Capt. Durfee took part in other engagements, the record of which has been lost. He married Patience Borden, daughter of Stephen Borden, son of Stephen, son of Joseph, son of John, son of Richard.
Isaac Hathaway Borden, by his wife, Lucy (Durfee) Borden, had a daughter, Ariadne, who married Leander Perkins Lovell. Leander Perkins Lovell, by his wife, Ariadne (Borden) Lovell, had among other children, Leander Newton.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
I07
LEANDER NEWTON LOVELL, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Leander Perkins and Ariadne (Borden) Lovell, was born at Fall River, Mass., November 16, 1835. He had hardly reached his seventh year when his father died, leaving him the only son surviving. He attended the public school in his native town and also the High School until 1852, when he came to New York city and entered the office of Tisdale & Borden, who were then agents for the Fall River Line of steamers, the Fall River Iron Works Co., and the Borden Coal
^te^t^^r /frJ^ue£&
Mining Co., Having passed through the various grades of clerkship, he was taken into copartnership with Col. William Borden in July, 1863, under the firm name of Borden & Lovell. Col. Borden died in 1882, but the firm name has been continued without interruption. During the Civil War Mr. Lovell's employees had much to do with it, and he was brought into connection with the different branches of the service, being frequently with the army and navy, but held no commission.
I08 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
In addition to his connection with the Fall River Steamboat Company, Mr. Lovell has various other interests to which he gives much time and attention. He is a director in the Old Colony Steamboat Co., the Eastern Insurance Co., the Ohio & Kentucky Railway Co.; President of the Borden Mining Co., the Lcvell Coal Mining Co., and the Northern Insurance Co. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Maritime Exchange, and associate member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, a trustee of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co., and of the Atlantic Trust Co. Through his ancestral lines he is connected with the various patriotic and other societies. He is a life member of the New England Society, a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, Colonial Wars and of the New York Y. M. C. A.
Mr. Lovell was for a number of years a resident of New York city, and was an elder in the Church of the Covenant. He moved to Plainfield in 1879 and has since identified himself with the various interests connected with that city. He is an elder in the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, and a member of the Board of Education and a contributor and supporter of the several city improvements. Mr. Lovell married Phebe Borden Durfee, daughter of Matthew C. Ourfee and Fidelia Borden, daughter of Capt. George Borden, who married Phebe, daughter of Thomas Borden, whose wife was Mary Hathaway, daughter of Isaac Hatha- way and Phebe Bailey. The latter was the daughter of Thomas Bailey (2), son of Thomas Bailey (1) and Mary Wood, daughter of John Wood, who married Mary Church, daughter of Joseph Church, son of Richard Church, born in Eng- land, 1633, died at Plymouth, October 2, 1673, married Elizabeth Warren, daugh- ter of Richard Warren, of the " Mayflower."
Richard Warren, twelfth signer of the Mayflower compact, with the honorable prefix of " Mr.," to which he always seemed fully entitled, is mentioned by Bradford "as a most useful man during the short time he lived, bearing a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the plantation." His daughters, who came with their mother in the " Ann," married active men in the colonies, Mary becoming the wife of Robert Bartlett ; Ann, of Thomas Little ; Sarah, of Joseph Cook ; Elizabeth, of Richard Church, a sergeant in the Pequod War, parents of Col. Benjamin Church, the distinguished hero of the Indian wars. The family is descended from the Earl of Warren and Surrey, who came to England with the Conqueror.
The children of Leander Newton Lovell and his wife, Phebe Borden Durfee, are : Leander Durfee, Arthur, Harry Borden, Phebe Durfee, Laura, Gilbert, Helen, and Richard Leonard.
SLAUSON— TEN EYCK- GRIFFIN- KEATOR — BAKER SANDS.
The name of Slawson is spelled Slosson, Sloson and Slauson. The earliest of this name recorded in the annals of New England is that of George Slawson, who was in Sandwich, Mass , in 1640. He came with Thomas Armitage to Stamford, Conn., in 1642. He was a leading member of the first church of that town, also a man of note in civil life. In 1667 he was deputy from Stamford to the last session of the New Haven Colony Assembly, May, 1663. He died
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. I09
February 17, 1695, leaving sons Eleazer and John. The line of descent of Austin M. Slauson, of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., was doubtless through one of these sons. Settlement of the town of Lewisboro (now known as Salem) was commenced under the authority of Connecticut at an early period, and this region was the scene of several revolutionary incidents. Two or more of the Slawsons resided at this point.
David Slauson, born about 1697, was probably a grandson of George, and was the father of Moses.
Hoses Slauson, son of David, it is supposed was the father of Major Eben- ezer Slauson.
Major Ebenezer Slauson, Patriot of the Revolution, was born prob- ably in Stamford, Conn., in 1730; died in Westerlo, Albany County, N. Y., 1821. His military operations during the Revolution were conducted both in Connecticut and Westchester County, N. Y. He was Captain of the First Company of Minute Men, Westchester County, attached to the command of Col. Joseph Drake. He was promoted to the rank of Major in the same regiment, February 22, 1776. He lived in Westchester County, N. Y., and probably after the war removed to Westerlo, Albany County, N. Y. He married Katy Selleck, a descendant of Jonathan Selleck, of Stamford, Conn., son of David Selleck, of Boston and Dorchester. Mass., 1635. They had a son, Nathaniel.
Nathaniel Slauson, son of Major Ebenezer and Katy (Selleck) Slauson, was born October 22, 1786, at Westerlo, N. Y. He moved to Greenville, Greene County, N. Y., where he died November 2, 1844. He married Hannah Griffin (born June 22. 1788, died December 27, 1870) daughter of Joseph Griffin, the patriot of the Revolution.
Joseph Griffin, PATRIOT OF the Revolution, was born in Connecticut, probably in Stamford, in 1 761 ; died at Middlefield, Otsego County, N. Y., June, 1853. He was a private in the Thirteenth Regiment, N. Y. Militia, commanded by Col. Cornelius Van Veghten, and also in the First Company, commanded by Capt. Peter Van Woert ; he was also in the First Regiment, New York Levies, Col. William Malcolm, and in the company commanded by Capt. Livingston. He was probably a descendant of Edward Griffin, of Long Island, born in Wales about 1670, who was an officer in the British navy. It is said that his two brothers, James and Obadiah, accompanied him to this country; that Obadiah settled in Boston, and that James remained in the navy. Edward had sons James, Joseph and Jonathan. Joseph of the Revolution might have been a son of Joseph, son of Edward.
Nathaniel Slauson and his wife, Hannah Griffin, had issue a son, Albert.
ALBERT SLAUSON, son of Nathaniel and Hannah (Griffin) Slauson, was born in Greenville, Greene County, N. Y., May 15, 1812, and received a private school education. He began life as clerk in a store at Coxsackie. He went from there to Napanoch, Ulster County, and after remaining some time as clerk in a general store, bought out his employer. He was among those who with rare foresight saw the possibilities of the great West, and in 1837, backed by a small syndicate of neighbors and friends, he went alone on horseback through the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, exploring this vast territory with a view to permanent investment. It was at that time a wilderness, inhabited by Indians and wild beasts and attended with no little hardship and danger, but
I IO SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
he came of a hardy race of people who in the early history of our country had braved dangers and endured hardships. As the successor of A. R. & G. South- wick, he continued to carry on the business at Napanoch until 1845, when he came to New York and established himself in the wholesale dry goods business. Two years later he became associated with Suydam, Reed & Co , wholesale grocers, and in 1852 started in the same line for himself under the firm name of Southworth, Slauson & Co., continuing until 1867, when he established the present firm of A. Slauson & Co., wholesale confectioners.
He did a successful business for many years by the old fashioned methods which were governed by the standard of the golden rule. He achieved a reputation
SLAUSON.
for high class goods and purity of manufacture that enabled him to hold his custom- ers through the sharpest competition in trade. He led a quiet, peaceful life, firm in his convictions of religious truth and upright in his daily walk, an honored example to those around him. He was for many years an elder and treasurer in the old Dutch Reformed Church which stood on the corner of Greene and Broome streets. He died January 15, 1892, after attaining his full four score years, assured that his life work had not been in vain. He married Cornelia C. Ten Eyck, daughter of Matthew P., son of Dr. Richard, son of Matthew, son of Abram, son of Matthias, son of Conraedt Ten Eyck, the ancestor.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. ill
Conraedt Ten Eyck came from Amsterdam, Holland, and settled in New Amsterdam about 1650, and married, first, Maria Boelen, the mother of his child- ren, and second, Anitje Daniels. He purchased lands on the west side of what is now Broad street. In 1672 he was estimated to be worth $5,000. After his death his sons Dirck, Tobias and Conraedt succeeded him in the tanning busi- ness at New York, and his eldest son Jacob migrated to Albany. Matthias, another son, settled in Ulster County, N. Y. Matthias married Jennecke Roosa, and had a son. Capt. Abram, who had a son, Matthew.
Matthew Ten Eyck, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Abram Ten Eyck, was born February 23, 1728; died June 11, 1809. He was chosen, A [Mil 7, 1775, as one of the Committee from Hurley, N. Y., to meet at New Paltz to elect delegates from Ulster County to the Provincial Congress to be held in New York. He served at New Paltz as a member of the committee from Hurley, May 11, 1775, to elect deputies to the Provincial Congress from Ulster County. He signed the "Articles of Association" in Hurley, July 6, 1 775. He was President of the Board of Trustees of the village of Hurley, and was selected to deliver the address of welcome to Gen. Washington when he passed through the village in the autumn of 1782. Matthew Ten Eyck married Cornelia Wynkoop and had a son, Dr. RicJiard.
Dr. Richard Ten Eyck, son of Matthew and Cornelia (Wynkoop) Ten Eyck, married Janet Baker, daughter of Matthias Baker.
Matthias Baker, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in New Jersey, November 15, 1742; died at Bound Brook. N. J., April 9, 1789. He was elected one of the Committee of Observation for Woodbridge, N. J., and met with the members of the other committees at New Brunswick, N. J., January 16, 1775. He was there chosen one of the Committee of Correspondence for Middlesex County, N.J. On February 20, 1775, he was appointed by the Committee of Observation of Woodbridge, Inspector of Public Landings.
Dr. Richard Ten Eyck, by his wife, Janet Baker, daughter of Matthias Baker, had a son, Matthew Person.
Matthew Person Ten Eyck, son of Dr. Richard and Janet (Baker) Ten Eyck, was born January 31, 1798; married Ann P. Keator, daughter of James Keator and Sybil Sands ; she was the daughter of George Sands.
George Sands, Patriot of the Revolution, was born at Sands Point, N. Y., April 17, 1733; died at Middletown, Delaware County, N. Y., August 5, 1816. When the Provincial Congiess of New York met in that city in the summer of 1775 and proposed " Articles of Association," to be signed by citizens of the different counties, George Sands, then a miller and freeholder of Pough- keepsie, N. Y., signed the " Articles" as a representative of Dutchess County.
James Keator, the husband of Sybil Sands, daughter of George Sands, was the son of Matthew Keator and Ann Peck.
Matthew Keator, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in 1736; died 1781. At the meeting of the Provincial Congress in New York City, in July, 1775, to take action on the " Articles of Association," Matthew Keator, freeholder of Marbletown, N. Y., as the representative of Ulster County, signed these " Articles," by which the signers declared their solemn resolution " never to become slaves," and bound themselves under all the ties of " Religion, Honor and Love to our Country," etc. This list is frequently referred to as "The Ulster County Roll of Honor."
112 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Albert Slauson, who married Cornelia C. Ten Eyck, daughter of Matthew P. Ten Eyck and Ann P. Keator, daughter of Matthew Keator, had issue, Austin Melvin.
AUSTIN MELVIN SLAUSON, Empire State Society, S. A. R.. son of Albert and Cornelia Catharine (Ten Eyck) Slauson, was born at Napanoch, Ulster County, N. Y., May 4, 1840. He removed with his parents to New York at the age of five years. He attended private school and had excellent advantages for acquiring an education. He was with his father in most of the business enter- prises in which the former engaged in New York. When his father started in the confectionery business, Austin M. entered his employ and subsequently became a partner, succeeding to the business after his father's death. Even with his own advanced ideas — the result of long experience — and the strong competition in the trade, he adhered to his father's old methods of manufacture, maintaining the high standard for purity and excellence of goods. He has kept well abreast of the times in the character of his goods which are adapted to the various climatic changes incidental to this country. In politics Mr. Slauson has followed in the footsteps of his father and has been a life-long Republican, and for the past ten years has been a member of the local Republican club. Other than this he has taken no part in public affairs, having neither the time nor the inclination. He married, first, Miss Elizabeth Carpenter, daughter of Thomas and Jane ( Underbill) Carpenter, and second, Emilie Carpenter, sister of first wife. Had two daughters, Alice M. Slauson, deceased, and Cornelia C. Slauson, married James VY. Stafford.
YALE- PAINE— WHITE.
The name and fame of Yale is world-wide, associated as it is with one of America's earliest benefactors and with one of the best known educational institu- tions in the woild. In the Old World the name is insciibed among, and the family is allied to some of the oldest and noblest families of England and Wales. Its antiquity is vouched for by the best authorities. Burke, referring to the families of Yales of Plas-yn-Yale and the Rogers of Bryntanger, says : " These distin- guished houses have formed uninterruptedly alliances with the most eminent Cambrian families, and through the marriage of an ancestor, Griffith ap Einion, of Cors-y-Gredol, with Lowrie, daughter and heir of Tudor, Lord of Gvvyddelwern, brother of the renowned Owen Glendower, they are co-representatives of the Sovereign Dynasties of Powys, North Wales and South Wales, and derive in direct descent from the Plantagenet Kings of England."
David Yale, a descendant of an ancient and wealthy family of that name in Wales, married in 1613, Ann Marten, daughter of Bishop Marten. She was there- fore the maternal ancestor of the Yale family in America. David Yale died about 1617, leaving issue, David, Ann and Thomas.
Thomas Yale, the youngest son of David and Ann (Marten) Yale, was born in England or Wales about 1616. He came in 1637 to New England with his step-father, Gov. Theophilus Eaton, who had married for his second wife the widowed mother of Thomas. They landed in Boston in 1638 and removed thence to the New Haven colony. Thomas Yale was a merchant with an estate of ,£300. After the death of Gov. Eaton, he accompanied his mother and Hannah Eaton,
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. I 1 3
his half-sister, with his son Elihu and brother David, to England in 1658. He returned the year following, to New Haven, and purchased lands in that part of the town which is now North Haven, and settled there as early as 1660. He was one of the principal men in the colony, a signer of the plantation covenant of New Haven, and filled with honor many offices of trust. He married Mary, daughter of Capt. Nathaniel Turner, of New Haven. He died May 27, 1683, leaving an estate of £479. He had nine chidren, of whom Thomas was the second.
Capt. Thomas Yale (2), second child of Thomas (1) and Mary (Turner) Yale, was born in New Haven about 1647, and removed afterward to Wallingford, Conn. He was captain of the train band and a man of considerable influence in the town. He was deputy to the General Court, 1684-7-8-9, 1690-2-3, 1694-5-6-7 and 1702. He married, first, Rebecca, daughter of William Gibbards, of New Haven, 1667 ; second, Sarah Nash, daughter of John Nash, Esq.; she died May 27, 17 16. He married, third, Mary Beach, of Wallingford. He had no issue by his second and third wives. About two years after his marriage he, with others, began to agitate the settlement of Wallingford, to which place he removed in 1670, under the direction of the New Haven Committee. He was one of the most active and energetic among them. He assisted in the formation of the church and in the call of the minister. He held many important offices in the town. In addition to that of captain of the train band, he was Justice of the Peace, surveyor, and moderator at public meetings, and kept the record of their proceedings for nearly twenty years. He died January 26, 1736. He had, by his first wife, eight children, of whom Theophilus was the fourth child and eldest son.
Capt. Theophilus Yale, fourth child and eldest son of Capt. Thomas and Rebecca (Gibbards) Yale, was born in Wallingford, November 13, 1675. He was a magistrate from about 1724 to the date of his death. He also filled many other offices, both civil and military. He was emphatically a man of the people. He married Sarah, daughter of Rev. Samuel and Anna Street. Rev. Samuel Street was one of the purchasers and first settlers of Wallingford ; was the first settled cleryman and pastor fony-five years. He was the son of Rev. Nicholas Street who, as colleague of Rev. John Davenport, had charge of the first church at New Haven until his death. Seven children were the issue of this marriage, of whom Samuel was the third child and eldest son.
Samuel Yale, third child and eldest son of Theophilus and Sarah (Street) Yale, was born in Wallingford, January 28, 171 1. He was a prosperous farmer and left a large estate in the north part of the town, now known as Yalesville. He married Susannah Abernathy, born March 11, 1736. He died October 6, 1754. They had six children, of whom Street was the second.
Street Yale, Patriot of the Revolution, second son of Samuel and Susannah (Abernathy) Yale, was born in Wallingford, about 1739. He enlisted July 12, 1775. in Second Company (Capt. Street Hall), Seventh Regiment, com- manded by Col. Charles Webb. This regiment was ordered to the Boston Camps and assigned to Gen Sullivan's brigade on Winter Hill, at the left of the besieging line, and remained until expiration of term of service. December, 1775. Street Yale enlisted again June 24, 1776, in Capt. Couch's Company, Bradley's Battalion, Wadsworth's Brigade. This Battalion was stationed during the summer at Paulus Hook, now Jersey City. It was removed thence to Fort Lee, under Greene's command, and in November was sent across to assist in defending Fort Washing-
ii4
Sons of the American revolution.
ton which, on the fall of the fort, November 16, was captured with the entire
garrison. Street Yale married Mary and had six 'children, of whom Samuel
was the eldest.
Samuel Yale, Patriot of the Revolution, eldest child of Street and Mary ( ) Yale, was born in Wallingford, August 18, 1763. He was but thir- teen years of age when his father left home to join the patriot army ; six years later found him in the ranks, a worthy son of his patriotic sire. He enlisted in Col. Canfield's Militia Regiment, which was at West Point in September, 178 1, serving until the close of the war. fourteen of the name of Yale served in the Revolution, most of whom were from the town of Wallingford. Samuel Yale was an early settler in that part of the old town of Wallingford, now known as Meriden. He was the first manufacturer in the town. In 1791 he began the manufacture of cut nails, he and his eldest son working their machine by hand, heading each nail separately. In 1794 he commenced the manufacture of pewter buttons, employing several hands in the business, and accumulated a handsome estate. He married, first, Eunice Paine, whose family trace their descent from
HON. WILLIAM YALE.
Sir Thomas Payne, Knight of Market Bosworth, whose arms were the same as those of Hugh de Payen, the crusader. Samuel Yale married, second, Mehitable Rice, of Wallingford. By his first wife he had seven children, of whom William was the eldest.
HON. WILLIAH YALE, eldest child of Samuel and Eunice (Pain) Yale, was born in Meriden, Conn., March 13, 1784. After leaving school he was apprenticed to a tin manufacturer, and soon after he reached his majority began the manufacture on his own account. He usually went to Boston to purchase his stock of tin, riding horseback all the way. His stock was enclosed in two canvas bags slung across the saddle. He made frequent business trips as far south as Richmond, Va. He purchased a piece of property of a party in 1818 for $2,500, giving his note for one year for $1,800. Learning that it was the intention of the
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION1.
itS
seller io demand specie payment, with the hope, perhaps, of foreclosing the property, he began to accumulate the amount in sixpence and shilling pieces. When the sheriff called to demand the specie, Mr. Yale opened his bags and poured out the amount on the table. "There," said he, "is the $i,8oo which I tender you in payment." " It will take me a week to count it," said the astonished sheriff. " I don't doubt it," said Mr. Yale, " for it has taken me six months to get it." Mr. Yale was a very enterprising and upright man, much respected by his townsmen. He represented his town ia the State Legislature for seven successive years. He was highly esteemed for his integrity of character, his great liberality and Christian life. None knew him but to love and honor him. He died June 23,
111 SUV CLAY YALE.
1833, greatly lamented by his friends and relatives far and wide. He married Mary Johnson, of Wallingford, and had thirteen children, of whom Henry Clay was the twelfth.
HENRY CLAY YALE, twelfth child of William and Mary (Johnson) Yale, was born in Meriden, Conn., August 5, 1829. He spent his boyhood in Meriden and his last school days at Hamden, Conn., under the tutorage of Rev. C. D. W. Everest, the rector of the school. Early in 1846 he went to Boston and entered the employ of the well-known house of Blake, Patterson & Co., importers and jobbers of woolen goods. He came to New York the following year, where he was connected with the house of Burnham & Plumb, the latter being his brother- in-law. In 1850 he formed a connection with Lombard & Butterick, and in 1854 he associated himself with E. M. Townsend, then of 54 Cedar street, and in 1855 the firm of Townsend & Yale, commission merchants, was formed, which contin- ued without interruption or change for more than forty years' with a steady growth,
Il6 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
yielding a net profit every year during the entire period in excess of expenses. They have represented one manufacturing firm since 1855 and another since 1867. Mr. Yale was in the truest sense a merchant of the old school. His methods of business were open and above board and he would never tolerate any of the " tricks of the trade " which some men deem essential to success. He was the soul of honor and integrity and endeavored to live up to the golden rule. He enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the whole business community and few merchants of the present period had a wider or more extended acquaintance.
He lived an exemplary Christian life and was identified with the Baptist denomination for nearly half a century, having united with the Hope Baptist Church (which afterward became the Calvary Baptist Church), in New York City, and later with the Strong Place Baptist Church, of Brooklyn. He united with the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, of New York, in 1878, continuing until his death. The esteem in which he was held by his associates was shown in the action taken by the Board of Trustees after his death. At a meeting held May 5, 1897, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:
" Resolved, That we, the Board of Trustees of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, desire to record an expression of our loss in the death of Mr. Henry C. Yale, and of our appreciation of his character and service. . . . He was elected a trustee of our church November 17, 1879, and served as secretary of the Board from January 14, 1880, until the time of his death, over seventeen years. He was one of our most faithful and efficient officers, and by his devotion to the interests of the church and by reason of his genial character and earnest and enthusiastic Christian spirit, he endeared himself to all."
Mr. Yale was a member of the Union League and the Merchants' Clubs. He was not, however, in any sense a " society " man. He was a man of domestic tastes and preferred home life to that of any other. His friends always found a hearty welcome, and the stranger in need he ever recognized as a brother. His creed was the "Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man." Mr. Yale married Amelia White, daughter of Thomas Broughton White and Hannah Burchard. The former was the grandson of Lieut. Thomas White, Jr., of the Revolution.
John White, Sr., the ancestor, came from the West of England to Salem, 1638, with his wife Jane and several children. He settled in Winham, 1658, and afterward in Lancaster, Mass. He had the most taxable property and the largest allotment of land of any of the planters. He had a son, Josiah.
Josiah White, son of John, was baptized June 4, 1643. He removed when ten years of age, with his father, to Lancaster. He was prominent in the town, holding many offices. During the Indian massacre of 1676 one of his sisters was killed and two were taken prisoners. After that he kept a garrison house for many years. By his wife Mary he had a son, Joint.
Capt. John White, son of Josiah, was born in Lancaster, September 29, 1684. He was a noted Indian fighter in his day. He married Eunice, daughter of Lieut. Nathaniel Wilder. After his death she was allowed by the State Assembly of Massachusetts, one hundred pounds for the services of her husband in the Indian War. They had a son, Thomas.
Thomas White, son of Capt. John and Eunice (Wilder) White, was born in Lancaster, Mass., 17 19. He married, October 31, 1739, Sarah, daughter of Edward and Martha Boughton, and had issue, Thomas (2).
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 11/
Lieut. Thomas White (2), Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Lancaster, Mass., September 4, 1740, and was the son of Thomas White, Sr. and Sarah Boughton, his wife. He responded heartily to the first call of his countiy and his name appears as Sergeant in the "Lexington Alarm " roll, in Capt. Mon- tague's Company, Col. Ruggle's Regiment. He served from January 1, 1777. to March 27, 1780, and during this period saw much active service, enduring with patience and fidelity the hardships and exposure of the several campaigns. In addition to his personal service he spent all his money in the cause of American Independence and impoverished himself. He enjoyed the personal friendship of his compatriots, foremost among whom was Baron Steuben who, on learning of the great sacrifice he had made for his country, took his son Boughton whom he educated at his own expense and afterward made him his private secretary.
By his marriage with Amelia White, daughter of Thomas Boughton White and great-granddaughter of Lieut. Thomas White, Mr. Yale had four children, viz.: Henrietta, died young, William Henry, Nelly White and Fanny Burchard.
WILLIAH HENRY YALE, Empire State Society, S. A. R., second child and eldest son of Henry Clay and Amelia (White) Yale, was born in Brook- lyn, N. Y., March 1, 1859. He was duly prepared for and entered Yale (of which his ancestor was the founder), in the class of '80. Failing health compelled him to leave college while passing his examinations for junior year. He finally decided not to return, and chose a business instead of a professional career. He began his business career as an employee of his father's firm on the same footing of those who had preceded him, beginning at the lowest round of the ladder and working his way up entirely on his own merits until he became, after his father's death in 1897, the latter's successor, this being the first change in the membership of the firm since its formation in 1854, the name, Townsend & Yale, still continuing. His knowledge of the business, acquired by long experience, fitted him to become his father's successor, and he fully maintains the reputation as well as the methods for which the firm has always been noted. Mr. Yale possesses not only the business qualifications, but inherits the sunny, cheerful disposition which inspires confidence and good feeling. He occupies the same position in the business community that his father did and is justly proud of the achievements of his worthy sire. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants' Club, the Union League Club, and the Yale Club of New York, which delights in perpetuating the memory of " Old Eli." Mr. Yale married, in Boston, Margaret Humphrey, daughter of Theodore F. Humphrey, of Albany, son of Friend Humphrey. They have issue, Theodore Humphrey, Henry Clay, William, Arthur McPherson, Burchard White, Margaret and Amelia.
FAY- FORBES.
The history of the Fay and Forbes families of New England presents a remarkable case of hereditary patriotism and loyalty to principle. Both families not only furnished their full quota on the call of the " Lexington Alarm," and continued in service throughout the War of the Revolution, but for centuries back as far as their record can be traced, there is not a taint of disloyalty. They were
1 I S SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
sans peur et sans reproche. The emblazoned shield indicates the character and achievements of the Fay family. It bore Arms — Argent six roses gules. Crest — A dexter arm holding in the gauntlet a dagger ppr.
John Fay, the progenitor of the New England family of this name, was a native of London and was left an orphan at eight years of age, at which time, May 30, 1656, he sailed for the New World in the good ship "Speedwell," with a company of colonists for Boston. On the breaking out of King Philip's War, in 1675, he was in Marlborough and was designated among others to defend the garrison house of William Kesley in case of attack. Like most of the settlers, he left the town soon after and repaired to Watertown to a greater place of safety. He returned to Marlborough after peace was restored. It was there that he met and married his second wife, Susannah, widow of Joseph Morse and daughter of William Shattuck, of Watertown, one of the founders of that town. Among other children he had a son, David.
David Fay, son of John (1) and Susannah Morse (nee Shattuck) Fay, was born in Marlborough, Mass., April 23, 1679. He ,ivecl m tnat Part °f Marlborough which was set off as Southboro, of which he was one of the original petitioners, June 12, 1727. The history of Southboro states that " Capt. Aaron Fay com- manded a company sent for the reduction of Canada and was out from March to November, 1758." He was probably a son of David Fay.
Capt. Josiah Fay, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Westboro, Mass., in 1732. He was probably a son of Aaron and a grandson of David Fay. He commanded a company of fifty men who marched from the town of South- boro to Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775. From May 23 to December 1, 1775, he was Captain in Ward's Regiment. The record states that " every able-bodied male citizen of the town from sixteen years old and upwards was armed according to law." During the ensuing year Capt. Fay commanded a company in the First Continental Regiment of Infantry until his death in New York city, August 12, 1776. From the fact that he died just previous to the Battle of Long Island, it would appear that he was guarding, at the time of his death, the defences of New York. He married Martha Fay and had a son. Aaron.
Aaron Fay, son of Capt. Josiah and Martha Fay, was born in Southboro, Mass, He married and had a son, Nahum.
Nahum Fay, son of Aaron Fay, was born in Southboro, Mass., about 1800. After receiving a common school education he went to Boston where he was employed for some years in a grocery house. He subsequently started in business for himself and removed to Alton, 111., where he carried on an exclusive trade for some years. He was one of the pioneers of the great West and assisted materi- ally in the development of the towns where he resided. He possessed the courage and energy, with the boldness and determination of his ancestors. He died in 1845. He married Mary Peters Forbes, daughter ef Eli Forbes, son of Ensign Elisha Forbes, who was a compatriot of and served in the same company with Capt. Josiah Fay. Elisha Forbes was the son of Hon. Daniel, son of Jonathan, son of Daniel, the ancestor.
William Forbes, of Tulliskerne, Scotland, who published an extended account of the Forbes family early in the sixteenth century, says : " As to their loyaltie it was never yet stained, but attempted by calumnators. One, in the days of King James V., the master of Forbes, was accused of treason, for which
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. I 19
he lost his head ; and after his death the King, finding that he was falsely accused out of malice by his enemies, restored his successor to all his lands and honours to the full, and gave him some more lands in gift, which ye Lord Forbes inherits till this day.
"Alexander III., King of Scotland, in 23d year of his reign, which is in the year of God 1272, gave and disposed to Lord Duncan Forbes, terras et tenementum de Forbes, and ye writer did see a charter given without date to Alexander. Earl of Buchanan, to Fergus Lord Forbes, and long after King David consigned a charter granted by John Lord Forbes, of the lands of Edinbouchorie and Cromlogie."
The Barony of Forbes is the first in the Union roll and, as such, takes rank before all the lords of parliament. Lord Forbes is so designated, 1442, Bart of Nova Scotia. The family bore A? ins— Azure, three bears' heads couped argent, muzzle, gules. Crest — A stag's head ppr. Supporias — Two greyhounds argent collared gules. Motto — " Spe expecto."
The name appears on the early records of Massachusetts as Forbush, the original spelling of the name being resumed by the second and third generations.
Daniel Forbush, the emigrant ancestor, was born in Kincellar, Scotland, about 1620. ''The supposition is drawn from documentary evidence that Daniel was a Scotch soldier in the battle of Dunbar, September 3, 1650, was captured with others and deported by Cromwell's orders to the New England colony." He settled in Cambridge where he married Rebecca Perriman. He wrote his name " Daniel Forbush." His wife died May 3, 1674, and he married, second, May 23, 1679, Deborah Redeat, daughter of John Redeat, one of the original proprietors of Marlboro, who shared in the first division of land. He had, by his first wife, Jonathan, who was the youngest child.
Jonathan Forbush, youngest child of Daniel and Rebecca (Perriman) Forbes, was born in Cambridge, March 20, 1664. He married Dorothy Pray, daughter of John Pray, of Braintree. His wife was captured by the Indians, but returned. He removed to Kittery, Maine, and his house being on the frontier, was made a garrison. In 1774 he embraced the Quaker faith. By his wife, Dorothy Pray, he had six children, of whom Daniel was the eldest.
Hon. Daniel Forbes, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jonathan and Dorothy (Pray) Forbush, was born October 23, 17 10. He was one of the first to change his name to Forbes. November 27, 1735, he was admitted to full com- munion with the Westboro church. The church records of his death in 1780 state that " beside his great regard for religion and forwardness to promote the interest of true piety and godliness among us, was remarkably strenuous in the cause of liberty and for maintaining our just rights and privileges, civil and sacred." In 1772 the Committee of Correspondence published an address to the towns of Massachusetts, stating the rights of the colonists and recording the long list of infringements of their liberties. Westboro made reply, from which the following is an extract : " For no doubt when tyranny is exercised oppression becomes a duty. As our fathers could, so can we plead our loyalty; we have been and are now ready to spill our dearest blood in defense of our king, religion and constitutional laws, and we cannot but look upon it as a hard trial, yea, greater than we can bear, if we cannot send to \ou full proof to loyalty, otherwise than by sacrificing those rights and liberties which we prize beyond life itself."
120 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Daniel Forbes was one of the seven signers to this reply. In 1774 he was one of the Committee of Correspondence at Westboro. He was selectman in 1757-8, and representative in 1777. He married Abigail Severs, of Newton, by whom he had a son, ElisJia.
Ensign Elisha Forbes, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Hon. Daniel and Abigail (Severs) Forbes, was born in Westboro, Mass., March 20, 1745. He was ensign in the company commanded by Capt. Josiah Fay, and with him was transferred to Col. Ward's regiment, serving at Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, and later in the defences of New York as a member of First Conti- nental Infantry. He continued in service through the war. He married Hannah Flagg and had a son Eli, whose daughter Mary was married to Nahum Fay, as previously stated.
Nahum Fay, by his wife Mary P. (Forbes) Fay, had issue, Sigourney Webster, Capt. Alfred F., Ellen, married C. N. Mackerbin, Josephine, married Edward E. White, Clara, married Marshall Lefferts, Jr.
Sigourney Webster Fay, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Nahum and Mary (Forbes) Fay, was born in Boston, Mass., February 6, 1836, and was graduated at the Boston High School. He entered the old and well-known mer- cantile house of Lawrence, Stone & Co., of Boston, and had a further experience in the Middlesex Mills, of Lowell, Mass., leading New England manufacturers in the line of woolen goods. In i860, at the age of twenty-four, he embarked in business on his own account and helped to organize the commission house of Stone, Bliss, Fay & Allen, of New York city. During the war and for some time following, this was one of the largest commission houses in the woolen goods trade in the city. At one time it was the selling agent of fifteen of the largest and most important factories in New England. In 1864 the firm was reorganized into Perry, Wendell, Fay & Co., and in 1878 it became Wendell, Fay & Co., the present firm name, the oldest in this line of trade in the city.
Mr. Fay is the veteran in the woolen trade, having outlived nearly all his competitors, and while he has passed his three score years, he looks ten years younger. He is also a veteran of the Union League Club, having joined it soon after its organization in 1863, being proposed by his friends, Dr. H. W. Bellows and Dr. C. R. Agnew, two of the founders of the club. All his old associates in the Union League have passed away, his friend Dr. Agnew having been a victim of the great blizzard of '87, while attending Hon. Roscoe Conklin. Mr. Fay is identified with various business and benevoient interests of the city. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, has been a director of the Hanover National Bank since 1876, and was one of the governors of the House of Refuge. He is a member of the Metropolitan, Union League, Players', City and Merchants' Clubs, and of the New England Society of New York, and the Boston Society of 1 >ston, Mass. Mr. Fay is a man of fine literary tastes and has been for many years a close student of the drama, past and present. He excels as a dramatic critic, being just and impartial in his criticisms, making due allowance for the idiosyn- cracies of the player where true genius exists. Among his literary productions on other subjects is a very able essay on Charles Lamb. Mr. Fay married his cousin, Delia A., daughter of Emory B. Fay, of Boston.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 12 1
CAPT. ALFORD FORBES FAY (Brevet Lieut-Colonel), a younger brother
of Sigourney W., was born in St. Louis, Mo., in 1843; died at Philadelphia, August 19, 18S1. He was distinguished for his bravery in the late Civil War as Commissary Sergeant of the Thirtieth Massachusetts Volunteers, and was pro- moted Lieutenant. He served under Gen. McClellan in the army of the Potomac. He was engaged in the first battle of Bull Run, also Cedar Creek and Winchester in Virginia, the several battles of the Wilderness, and was afterward transferred to the southwest, serving under Butler at the capture of New < >i leans, battles of
LKOKl) FORBES FAY.
Fisher's Hill, Donaldsonville, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Red River, Plains Store, also at Baton Rouge, where he was promoted Captain for savin;; the colors over President Taylor's grave, which was located on a part of the battlefield. He served under Gen. Grant at Vicksburg, where he was made a captain in the regular army. He was ordered from there to Fort Rice and detailed to build Fort Berthold, where he acted as Major. He was afterward brevetted Lieutenant- Colonel. He married Miss Susan Hutchinson, of Philadelphia, and had issue, Sigourney W. Fay, Jr., and Mary Forbes Fay. The former is now a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a young man of fine literary gifts, with a bright promise for the future. 9
122 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
SHITH— PARTRIDGE -TREAT -WOODRUFF— LOWRY.
The Smith family of Wethersfield, Conn., and Hadley, Mass., together with the allied families, bore an important part as founders and builders of their various places of settlement, also in the colonial wars and in the War of the Revolution.
Samuel Smith, the first representative of this branch of the Smith family, came from England in 1640 and settled in Wethersfield, Conn., and was one of the founders of that town. He represented the town at the General Court oftener than any other man, having served almost continuously during the two semi-annual sessions from 1641 to 1653. In 1659 he removed to Hadley, Mass., where he was held in high repute, and represented that town at the General Court of Massa- chusetts from 1661 to 1673. He was lieutenant in command of the militia from 1663 to 1667, and was succeeded by his son Philip, who was commissioned captain, being the first to receive that rank. Samuel was also a magistrate. He died in 1680. His wife, Elizabeth, died March 16, 16S5, aged 90, They had among other children, a son, John.
John Smith, fourth son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( ) Smith, was born in
England, about 1636, and was brought by his parents to this country, settling first in Wethersfield and removing thence to Hadley. The account of his death in the " Falls Fight " with the Indians, May 30, 1676, contained in the History of Hadley, says : " And though encompassed by numerous swarms of Indians who lay in ambush behind almost every tree and place of advantage, yet the English lost not one man till within about one hundred rods of the town, when five of ours were slain, among whom was a precious young man whose name was Smith, that place having lost many in losing one man." He married, November 12, 1663, Mary Partridge, probably daughter of William Partridge, of Hartford, Conn., an original settler who came from Berwick, Scotland ; died in Hadley, Mass., June 27, 1668; married Mary Smith, of Hartford. Her son Samuel was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, colonel of a regiment, one of His Majesty's Council and one of " three Connecticut river gods "; was second in the trio which ruled or led Massa- chusetts through an entire century of its history. John Smith, by his wife, Mary (Partridge) Smith, had a son, Benjamin.
Benjamin Smith, youngest son of John and Mary (Partridge) Smith, was born in Hadley, Mass., January 10, 1673. He removed to Wethersfield about 1700, where he had land set off to him by the courts of Northampton as his share of his father's estate. He married, March 14, 1700, Ruth Buck, of Wethersfield, and had a son, Josiah.
Capt. Josiah Smith, son of Benjamin and Ruth (Buck) Smith, was born in Wethersfield, Conn., January 31, 1709. He married, September 4, 1740, Mary Treat, daughter of Joseph, son of Lieut. James Treat, brother of Gov. Robert Treat, and son of Richard Treat, the ancestor.
Lieut. Joseph Treat was born at Wethersfield about 1680; died Sept. 15, 1756. In May, 1 714, he was appointed Ensign of the South Company, in Wethersfield Train Band, and in May was commissioned Lieutenant. He married Mary, daughter of Capt. Joshua Bobbins. The father of Joseph Treat was Lieut. James Treat.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
123
Lieut. James Treat was born in Pitminster, England, in 1624; died Febru- ary 12, 1708. He was listed as a trooper, 1658, elected Lieut, of the Train Band, 1679, and took part in the Indian War. He was constable, 1682; deputy to the General Court, 1672-1707 ; Justice of the Peace from Hartford County, 1698-1708; member of the Governor's Council, 1696-7-8. In 1685 he and others received a patent confirming title to the township of Wethersfield. He was the son of Richard, the ancestor.
Richard Treat, the American ancestor of this family, son of Robert, son of Richard, son of William, son of John, 1458, was born in Pitminster, Somerset, England, 1584. It is supposed that he belonged to the Saltonstall colony that
REV. JOHN SMITH.
came over in 1630. He was an original settler of Wethersfield, and was in 1663-4 a member of Gov. Winthrop's Council ; was patentee of the colony, his name appearing in the charter. He was a chosen deputy to the General Court in 1644, and was annually elected for fourteen years ; elected assistant magistrate eight times, from March 11, 1647-8 to 1655. October 25, 1644, he and Mr. Wells were the committee for Wethersfield to raise money for maintaining schools at Cam- bridge. He married, April 27, 161 5, Alice, daughter of Hugh Gaylord.
Josiah Smith, by his wife, Mary Treat (daughter of Joseph, son of Lieut. James, son of Richard), had a son, James.
124 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
James Smith, son of Josiah and Mary (Treat) Smith, was born in Wethers- field. January 20, 1756 ; died February 20, 1832. He married, first, Sarah Hanmer, March 14, 1780; she died April 21, 1800. He married, second, Mrs. Jerusha (Dix) Wright. By his first wife he had a son, Joint.
REV. JOHN SMITH, son of James and Sarah (Hanmer) Smith, was born in Wethersfield, September 2, 1796. He graduated at Yale in 1821, and at the Andover Theological Seminary, and was a licentiate of the Congregational Associ- ation of East Fairfield, Conn. He was called to the pastorate of the Trenton, N. J., Presbyterian Church, where he remained for three years doing excellent work. He resigned in 1828 and in February of the next year he was detached from that body and took charge of the Congregational Church at Exeter, N. H. He was also at Wilton, Conn., Kingston, N. H., and at York, Me. His entire pastorate covered a period of forty years, and his efforts were greatly blessed and the churches over which he presided increased in numbers and influence. He was an able preacher and a successful pastor. His settlement in Wilton, Conn., was among he marked pastorates of that State for the signal work of revival which attended his labors there. The closing years of his life were spent at the home of his son, James D., in Stamford, Conn., where he died February 20, 1874. He married Esther Woodruff, daughter of Hon. Aaron Dickinson Woodruff, son of Elias, son of David, son of John (2), son of John (1).
The family of Woodroff or Woodruff was originally settled in Suffolk and Yorkshire, England. The latter bore Arms — Argent a chevron between three crosses formee fitchee gules. Crest — A woodcock, ppr.
John Woodruff, the American ancestor, came from Wooley, near Wakefield, in West Rideing, of Yorkshire, before 1637 to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and settled first in Lynn, Mass., removing thence to Southampton, L. I., where his name is first mentioned on the list of 1637. He married Anne, daughter of John Gosmer. In his will dated May 4, 1670, he says: "I give my eldest son, John Woodruff, of Elizabeth Town, one half Crown piece of Money in full of all portions and Patrimony whatsoever to be expected from mee or out of any part of my Estate." At the close of his will he savs : " I make this my wife. Anne Woodruff and my youngest son, John Woodruff, joint Executors of my Last Will and Testament." He evidently married twice.
The oldest son John, was adopted by his grandfather, John Gosmer, and inherited large tracts of land from him. He removed with his wife Mary to Elizabethtown, N. J., of which he was one of the early Associates, and acquired there a plantation of one thousand acres, still known as the " Woodruff farm." He was a leading man in the town. He was appointed Constable December 1 1, 1674, Ensign July 15, 1675, and High Sheriff of the County November 28, 1684. John Woodruff, Sen., of Elizabethtown, by his wife Mary, had issue, Joint. Joseph, Anne and Elizabeth.
John Woodruff (3), son of John (2) and Mary ( ) Woodruff, was born
about 1655; was an early Associate of Elizabethtown. He was one of the bur- gesses of the Colonial Legislature and was appointed High Sheriff of Essex County in 1697. His wife Sarah was born in 1666 and died July 2, 1727. They had a son, David.
David Woodruff, son of John (3) and Sarah ( ) Woodruff, was born
about 1678 ; was admitted an Associate of Elizabeth in 1699. By his wife Eunice, he had eleven sons, of whom Elias was the sixth.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
125
Elias Woodruff, Patriot of the Revolution, son of David and Eunice ( ) Woodruff, was born at Elizabeth, N. J., March, 1739. He re- moved with his family to Princeton, in 1772. He was an ardent patriot during the Revolution and was appointed Commissary of Supplies for the New Jersey troops, and probably continued in this capacity until the close of the war. He married Mary Joline, daughter of John and Phebe Joline, and had nine children, of whom Aaron Dickinson was the eldest.
Hon. Aaron Dickinson Woodruff, son of Elias and Mary (Joline) Wood- ruff, was born at Elizabeth, N. J., September 12, 1762. He was graduated with honor at the College of New Jersey ( Princeton), in 1799, having been appointed valedictorian of the class. He was admitted to the bar in 1784, having won by his uncompromising integrity the confidence of all. He was a man highly esteemed for his abilities and probity. He served for a time in the Legislature and was a trustee in the First Church at Trenton. He was influential in having Trenton selected for the State Capital. The native benevolence of his heart made him the
COL. THOMAS LOVVKEY.
patron of the poor, a defender of the fatherless; he exulted in the joys or partici- pated in the sorrows of his friends, He married Grace, daughter of Col. Thomas Lowrey, of Alexandria, Hunterdon County, N. J.
COL. THOHAS LOWREY, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Ireland, September 3, 1737. He, with his mother, a widow, and her brother, Thomas Patterson, who was the father of Gov. William Patterson, came to America when he was ten years old. He was brought up under the supervision of his uncle, Thomas Patterson, and educated by him. He became a prosperous merchant and a large landowner. He was a shrewd, sagacious man who generally succeeded in his undertakings. He was one of the founders of the Baptist Church in Anwell Township, in 1765, which was the first in the town- ship. In 1775 he was a member from Hunterdon County, of the Provincial Con- gress, and in 1 791-2 was a member of the Legislative Assembly from that county. On June 18, 1776, he was commissioned Lieut. -Colonel in Col. David Chambers'
126
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Third Regiment, N. J. State Militia, attached to the brigade of Maj.-Gen. Dickin- son, and was promoted to the rank of Colonel. He enjoyed the confidence and friendship of President Washington, who had some time been a guest at his house in Flemington, during the Revolution. In 1775 he erected a grain and produce store. He was appointed Deputy Commissary and his army supplies were stored in this building ; also a large number of muskets. When the British occupied Trenton, a detachment of cavalry was sent on a foraging expedition to Flemington to take Lowrey prisoner and capture the supplies in his custody. Lowrey learned of their approach in time to make his escape, and soon after the British arrived he appeared on the neighboring slope of Mullin Hill on horseback as if in a reconnoiter in advance of a military force. He was seen by a British officer, who enquired of an Irishman in Lowrey's employ what that meant, and was told that there was a large body of American troops on the other side of the hill. " In that case," said the officer, "we had better get out of the way." They placed the King's seal on
MRS. ESTHER (FLEMING) LOWREY.
the store and hastily rode off, but were subsequently ambushed by a force under Capt. Schenck, and their commander killed. After the war, in 1791, he was made United States Marshall for the District of New Jersey, and held that position until 1803.
Col. Lowrey married Esther Fleming, second daughter of Samuel Fleming and Esther Mounier. His wife, Esther (Fleming) Lowrey, was a person of ami- ability and refinement. Like her husband, she was an ardent patriot, and in full sympathy with the Revolutionary struggle for freedom. She well understood the wrongs, oppression and persecution his ancestors had suffered, and fervently desired that every vestige of British tyranny and oppression should be removed. In 1780, when the American army was suffering from a great scarcity of supplies, Mrs. Lowrey was chosen one of a committee of ten ladies to cooperate with the commit-
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. \2J
lees of other counties to solicit voluntary contributions for the relief of the soldiers. In twelve days the sum of $15,408 was collected. In April, 1789, Mrs. Lowrey was one of the matrons in charge of the ceremonies at Trenton on the memor- able occasion of General Washington's reception and passage under the triumphal arch at that place.
By his marriage to Esther Mary Woodruff, daughter of Hon. Aaron Dickinson Woodruff, Rev. John Smith had issue, Susan Woodruff, James Dickinson, Charles Stewart, Esther Mary, Walter Mitchel and Maria Lowrey, all living.
HON. JAMES DICKINSON SMITH, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Rev. John, and Esther Mary (Woodruff) Smith, was born at Exeter, N. H.,
HON. JAMES DICKINSON SMITH.
November 24, 1829, during the pastorate of his father at that place. It is note- worthy that after all the wanderings of this family through the Eastern and Middle States, that the representatives of the past and present generation — father and son — should return to the State hallowed by the blood of their ancestors, and make for themselves a record which should add new lustre to the name.
For nearly half a century, James D. Smith has been a resident of the old town of Stamford, where he has been honored by his townsmen and has achieved a reputation that extends beyond his adopted State. The energy, perseverance and business capacity which characterized his ancestors, have been developed in a marked degree in his life. His boyhood was much like that of his playmates, and
128 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
yet there are few, if any, whom he has not distanced in the, long race. He had a good elementary education and a brief experience in a country store. Thus equipped, he began his business career with one of the oldest dry goods firms in New York city. That he soon reached the topmost round of the ladder goes without saying, and he became a successful dry goods merchant. A born finan- cier, he soon drifted into the world of finance and established the well-known banking house of Jameson, Smith & Cotting, later James D. Smith & Co., which firms, for over thirty-live years, have held a leading position among the banking houses of the country. His ability as a financier received due recognition by the New York Stock Exchange, which twice elected him its president. Careful, con- servative and endowed with almost prophetic knowledge, he has been able to forecast the future and thus weather the financial gales that have swept so many of his competitors out of existence during his business career. His interests are not confined alone to banking. As a director and promoter he was largely inter- ested in and a director at the same time of the Union Pacific, Kansas Pacific, Pacific Mail and Panama railroads, which extend over seven thousand miles of the great West and the Pacific Ocean. He exercised a potent influence in the councils of these great railroad enterprises, and his quick perception and sound common sense were important factors in their early management.
Probably the greatest compliment ever paid to his financial ability and per- sonal integrity was his appointment as treasurer of the State of Connecticut by Governor Bigelow, to succeed I). P. Nichols, deceased while in office. In urging the acceptance of Mr. Smith's appointment it was shown that an unusual oppor- tunity was afforded him to do the State important service in the refunding of its debt to the amount of half a million of dollars, a policy which had been resolved upon by the legislature and entrusted to the treasurer's hands. Mr. Smith's appointment was made in January, 1882. In July following, his arrangements for the refunding of the debt culminated in a success which won for the State the enviable distinction of placing its bonds at a lower rate of interest than any State in the Union had up to this time obtained, and of receiving good propositions for five times the amount of money called for. As a natural result of this unprece- dented success, Mr. Smith was urged to become the candidate for Governor in the following autumn. Few men would have declined so great an honor — far greater than that of any of his ancestors — and in view of what he had accomplished for his State, his election whould have been ahnost certain. While always willing to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of his fellowmen, Mr. Smith did not feel justified in making the great sacrifice of his business interests which the duties of that office would necessitate.
It is not alone as a business man and financier that Mr. Smith has achieved distinction. As a promoter of the noble sport of yachting he is known from one end of the country to the other. Referring to this, a writer in a recent publication says : " Apart from his honorable political service and his eminence as a business man and financier in the great city, apart, in fact, from the more serious affairs of life, Mr. Smith has won an international reputation as a yachtsman, devoting his leisure hours to that royal sport with an enthusiasm and energy which have con- tributed largely to that predominance of yachting in America which has done so much to preserve and popularize the traditions of her old achievements on the sea, and, so far at least as national pride is involved, to compensate in some
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 29
measure for the decadence of American marine commerce since the war. Inci- dentally, Commodore Smith's example and influence have done more in the last twenty years than those of any other individual to promote the interests and keep alive the spirit of this noble outdoor pastime in his home port of Stamford, where he has seen during the past five years (1892) a revival of a new interest in yachting affairs, culminating, in the summer of 1892, in the organization of the Stamford Yacht Club and the erection of one of the finest yacht club houses on the Con- necticut shore, in whose brilliant success during the first season there is the promise of a prominent and desirable addition to the attractions of the place."
Mr. Smith was for two years Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. His popularity in these social and other organizations is the natural result of his kindly, genial nature. His own yachts have been run rather for his own pleasure than for the purpose of rivaling others in speed. His attention to these matters in no way conflicts with his business affairs, but affords him ample means for recreation. While in no sense of the word a politician, he has filled various positions in the city of Stamford and represented his district in the State Legisla- ture of Connecticut, and was four years President of the City Council. He has done much to promote public improvements in Stamford. He takes a laudable pride in the achievements of his ancestors, and while unable to devote any time to the work of the S. A. R., is deeply interested in all its movements to perpetuate the memory of our Revolutionary sires. He is a ready debater and a fine speaker, logical, practical and convincing, a man of great force and energy of character.
He married, in 1857, Elizabeth Henderson, daughter of Archibald Henderson, of New York city, now deceased. Four children are the issue of this marriage, viz.: Mary Louise, deceased, Archibald Henderson, Helen Woodruff and Dickin- son Woodruff, deceased.
Archibald Henderson Smith, only surviving son of Hon. James Dickinson and Elizabeth (Henderson) Smith, was born in New York city, November 6, i860. He has been for a number of years associated with his father in the banking business. He is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars and other organizations. He married Lily Louise Bruggerhof, daughter of F. W. Bruggerhof, of New York, and has issue, Madeleine B., Everett H., and Elizabeth Henderson.
CHARLES STEWART SMITH, Empire State Society, S. A. R. It is noteworthy that the brightest and most successful business men and merchants in New York are those of New England birth and parentage ; ambitious youths from the country, trained to habits of industry and economy, with no other means of education than that afforded by the little country school, or, at most the country academy. Of this class was Charles Stewart Smith, third child of Rev. John and Esther May (Woodruff) Smith, born in Exeter, N. H., March 2, 1832. Trained from earliest childhood to habits of self-reliance, inheriting from his Puritan ancestors that rugged honesty and strong integrity which for generations has kept the family escutcheon unspotted, he left his country home at the age of fifteen to make his way in the great metropolis. He began at the lowest round of the ladder, without friends or influence, as a boy in a large wholesale dry goods store. Six years from that time, on reaching his majority, he entered the well-known dry goods firm of S. B. Chittenden & Co., as a partner, and for several years thereafter was their European buyer. He was one of the founders and senior partner of the dry goods commission house of George C. Richardson & Co., later George C, Rich-
130 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
ardson, Smith & Co., and Smith, Hogg & Garden, which for many years has occu- pied a leading position in the dry goods trade. Such was his influence and his strong personality that he became known throughout the business community as one of the leading and most successful merchants of his time.
During his business career Mr. Smith watched the growth and made a study of the wants of the city which was destined to become the first in importance of any city in the world, and many of the improvements that have been made in traveling and transportation facilities are due to his suggestions and personal efforts. His advanced ideas were embodied in well written articles for the press and in forcible and eloquent public addresses, which attracted the attention of leading business men and capitalists. After an active business career of forty years, in which he has added materially to the wealth of the city as well as con- tributed to its growth, he retired in 1887 and has since devoted his time to literary, philanthropic and other pursuits to which a portion of his time had been given for many years. In his retirement from active business he has widened his sphere of influence and at the same time kept himself in touch with the business world, and has devoted his time and energies to matters of public benefit.
For seven years as President of the New York Chamber of Commerce, his influence was felt from one end of the country to the other. He modestly declined the highest honor that could be awarded any man in his position, viz., that of the nomination for the mayoralty of the city of New York, which he was urged by the Committee of Seventy to accept in 1894. His acceptance of the nomination would undoubtedly have meant his election, as he was equally popular with both political parties. Mr. Smith was chairman of the Executive Committee of the Committee of Seventy which overthrew Tammany Hall in 1894, and was chairman of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce that instigated the police investi- gation which led up to the reform victory in the election of Mayor Strong. He was also chairman of the Citizens' Union Executive Committee that conducted the Seth Low campaign in 1897.
A natural lover of art, he has made of it a close study for many years, having had ample opportunity during his long residence abroad to gratify his tastes in this direction and acquire a more perfect knowledge. His fine collection of paint- ings and other works of art evince the true connoisseur. Mr. Smith was one of the founders of the Fifth Avenue National Bank, of the German-American Insur- ance Co., and is also a director in various corporations, among which are the United States Trust Co., the Fourth National Bank, the Merchants' Bank, the Presbyterian Hospital, the Equitable Life Insurance Co., the Greenwich Savings Bank, etc. He was a trustee of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, a veteran member of the Union League Club; also a member of the Century Club, the Merchants', the Metropolitan, the Lawyers' and Players' Clubs. He married, first, Eliza Bradish, eldest daughter of Wheaton Bradish ; she died in 1863. By her he had issue, Stewart Woodruff and Kate Warne, deceased.
Charles Stewart Smith married, second, Henrietta H. Caswell, daughter of John Caswell, of New York, and Mary Haight, daughter of Halsted E. Haight, son of Nicholas, born 1761, son of John, born 1738. John Haight married Abigail Haviland, daughter of Benjamin Haviland and Charlotte Park. She was the daughter of Roger Park, who married Charlotte L'Estrange, daughter of Daniel L'Estrange
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 3 1
" Daniel L'Estrange and Charlotte, his wife, a daughter of Francis Hubert, being Protestants, were compelled to make their escape from the city of Paris in 1685, during the persecution under Louis XIV. by the Roman Catholics and Jesuits, and came to the city of London, in Great Britain, where L'Estrange, through the interest of some merchants, obtained the position of Lieutenant in the Guards of James, then King of Great Britain, and continued there until 1688, when he went with his wife, embarked for America in company with a number of French Protestant families and arrived at the city of New York, fiom whence they moved to New Rochelle, in Westchester County, N. Y., where they remained for some years and finally settled in Rye." An English work, entitled " The Norman People," states that "This family descends from Ruald Lestrange, who witnessed a charter of Allen Fitz Flaald, in Norfolk, in 11 12. Ruald was probably son of Payne or Judicael de Peregrens (or extraneous le Strange), granted part of the island of Noirmoutier to the Abbey of St. Savior Bretagne, 1060."
John Caswell, who married Mary Haight, was the son of William Caswell, of Newport, R. I., and Mercy, his wife, son of John Caswell, of Newport, who married, December 31, 1761, Hannah West.
Charles Stewart Smith, by his wife, Henrietta H. Caswell, daughter of John Caswell (3), had a son, Howard Caswell. He married, third, Anna Walton Brown, daughter of Warren G. Brown, of New York City. No issue.
STEWART WOODRUFF SMITH, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Charles Stewart and Eliza (Bradish) Smith, was born in New York city, April 12, 1 86 1. His early education was received at private school and he was gradu- ated at Charlier Institute, New York, in 1878. He chose a business rather than a professional career, and in order to familiarize himself with every branch of the special line which he elected to follow, he went to Lawrence and Lowell, Mass., where he spent two years working and studying in the mills in order to obtain a knowledge of the details and process of manufacture. He returned to New York and entered his father's firm, then George C. Richardson & Co., later Smith, Hogg & Garden, spent the first few years as salesman and in July, 1887, was received into partnership, the firm name continuing the same. His opportunities for acquiring a thorough knowledge of the several branches of the dry goods trade have been greater than that of most young men, having made several trips abroad, spending some time on the continent familiarizing himself with the methods in vogue there and becoming acquainted with the large exporting houses.
Mr. Smith is a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, the Mer- chants' Club, Union League Club, New England Society, the Society of Colonial Wars, etc. He married Adele Richter, of Berlin, daughter of Hei'nrich Richter, a native of Hamburg, a merchant engaged in the South American trade. He has one son, Charles Stewart Smith (2d).
HOWARD CASWELL SHITH, Empire State Society, S. A. R. and Society of Colonial Wars, son of Charles Stewart Smith and Henrietta H. (Cas- well) Smith, was born in New York, February 19, 1871. He was prepared for college at a private school and was graduated from Harvard College in 1893. He entered the New York banking house of Charles Hathaway & Co. in January, 1894, and after spending three years in studying the business was admitted to the firm January 1, 1897. He is also treasurer of the Mossberg & Granville Manu- facturing Co., manufacturers of machinery at Providence, R. I. He is also a
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member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, and also a trustee of the Franklin Savings Bank, New York.
Mr. Smith appreciates the importance of outdoor exercise as a diversion from the cares of business as well as for the development of the body. A horseman from childhood, his hereditary fondness for military affairs led him, in 1894, to join Troop A, now known as Squadron A, of New York city, one of the best drilled and most efficient cavalry organizations in the country. Under the leadership of its commander, now Major-Gen. Charles F. Roe, it performed admirable work during the Brooklyn street car riots, in 1895. The troop dispersed the mob at
HOWARD CAS\
various points without casualty to either side, and the rioters were awed into sub- mission by the cool determination of the troopers. The troop showed that it could be depended upon to meet any emergency.
Mr. Smith, like his father and grandfather, is active in works of benevolence and charity. He is a trustee of the Good Samaritan Dispensary, the largest insti- tution of its kind in the country; also the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. He combines the energy and force of character as well as the genial natuie and kind- ness of disposition which characterized his ancestors, especially in the Smith line. He is a lover of music and an associate member of the Mendelssohn Glee Club and also an enthusiastic yachtsman ; Commodore of the Stamford Yacht Club and a
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133
member of the New York and Sewhanaka-Corinthian Yacht Clubs of this city ; also the Union League, Univeisity and Harvard Clubs of New York, etc.
WALTER J1ITCHELL SniTH, Empire State Society, S. A. R., young- est son of Rev. John and Esther Mary (Woodruff) Smith, was born in Exeter, N. H., February 13, 1837. His education was limited to the public schools. He was the last one to leave the paternal roof to seek his fortune in the metropolis, his older brothers having preceded him some years, both being at this time on the road to success. On January 1, 1853 being then but sixteen years of age, he entered the employ of Hopkins, Allen & Co., a leading New York dry goods firm, and continued with them and their successors, Allen, McLeod & Ikilkley, until the breaking out of the Civil War. The business of the firm was exclusively with the South, and Mr. Smith, as traveling salesman and collector, was in Florida
WALTER Mill HELL SMITH.
attending to the firm's business when Fort Sumpter was fired on. He immedi- ately returned North and in July following he formed a connection with Jamison, Cotting & Co., of St. Louis. He entered this firm as a partner in January, 1862. This was succeeded in 1S67 by Smith, Vogel & Co., Mr. Smith being the senior partner. It was conducted under this name for a time and then became simply Walter M. Smith, who carried on the business alone until 1873. when he closed his affairs in the southwest and came to New York in 1876 and formed a connection with George C. Richardson & Co., of which firm his brother was then a member,
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and in 1878 he became a member of the firm and its successors, including the present firm of Smith, Hogg & Gardner. Like his brothers, Mr. Smith's business career has been successful.
Mr. Smith has been a resident of Stamford since 1876. Naturally of a retiring disposition, he has kept aloof from politics. He has been active, however, in various works of benevolence and Christian charity, both in his own town and elsewhere. A work in which he is deeply interested is that of the Good Will Homes, at East Fairfield, Maine, for boys and girls " in need of a helping hand," of which homes he is a trustee. Mr. Smith is also a trustee of the Life Line Mission of South Brooklyn and of the Water Street Mission, New York, together with other enterprises for the improvement and upliftifting of the poor. He is an elder in the Presbyterian church of Stamford and active in Sunday School and Y. M. C. A. work.
Mr. Smith married, September 25, i860, Elizabeth Leonard Wilcox, daughter of Charles Cutts Wilcox. Mr. Wilcox was born in Kittery, Me., in 1808, and moved to Illinois quite early in life, where he achieved distinction as a lawyer and judge. He was three times married, his second wife being Mrs. Augusta (Ernst) Peebles, whose second child was Elizabeth L , wife of Walter M. Smith. Charles Cutts Wilcox was the son of Capt. David Wilcox, of York, Me., who married, October 26, 1806, Elizabeth Donnell Cutts, born 1781, daughter of Thomas Donnell Cutts.
Thomas Donnell Cutts was born June 8, 1760. He married Joanna Staples. He was the son of Thomas Cutts, Jr.
Thomas Cutts, Jr., was born November 23, 1732; married, in 1758, Eliza- beth Donnell. He was the son of Thomas Cutts, Sr.
Thomas Cutts, Sr., born April 15, 1700. He married Dorcas Hammond, great-granddaughter probably of William Hammond, who came from London to America in the ship "Griffin" to Boston in 1634. He married, about 1620, Elizabeth Penn., sister of Admiral Sir William Penn, and aunt to William Penn, the Quaker. Thomas Cutts, Sr., was the son of Richard.
Richard Cutts was born at Piscataqua, Me , about 1654 ; died at Kittery, Me., about 1720. He married Joanna, daughter of Thomas and Lucy (Treworgye) Wills. He was the son of Robert.
Robert Cutts was born in England and came to this country in 1640; died at Kittery, Me., 1674. He was Justice of the Peace there in 1665. He married in Barbadoes, before 1640, Mary Hoel or Howell, daughter of an English clergyman.
Mr. Smith was married at the old Wilcox home in York, Me., erected more than one hundred and forty years ago, which is now owned by Mrs. Smith. By his wife, Elizabeth Leonard (Wilcox) Smith, he had issue, Louise Putnam, deceased; Esther Woodruff, widow of Dr. Harry Hungerford, of Stamford, Conn.; Elizabeth Wilcox, deceased ; Isabel Ernst, deceased, and Mary Louise, unmarried.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 35
CRANE— TREAT— COLES.
There are few families who have exercised a more potent influence on the settlement of New England and later that of New Jersey than the Cranes, and yet, of the several settlers — two in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut and one in New Jersey, besides Jasper — no relationship between them has yet been estab- lished. That they had a common origin there is no doubt. Burke makes mention of two in County Suffolk, England, one in County Cornwall and one in London. Two of these bore similar coats of arms. That of Suffolk is: Arms — Gules on a fesse between three crosses pattee fitchee or, a crane azure endorsed by two amulets of the last. Crest — A demi-hind or, ducally gorged azure. Motto — " Vincit omnia Veritas " (Truth overcomes all things).
Rev. John Crane, in a paper prepared on the history of the Crane family, says: "The name of Crane appears often among the records of meeting in England before 1630 as one of the Governors of the New England Colony to be planted in Massachusetts Bay. Sir Robert Crane, of Coxshall, Essex County, England, married Mary, daughter of Samuel Sparhawk, of Dedham, in Essex, before 1630. Their children were Thomas, Samuel, Mary, Margaret. Margaret married Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, of Ipswich, England, rector of Assington, after- wards emigrated to Ipswich, Mass." A Ralph Crane is mentioned as having accompanied Sir Francis Drake in the "Golden Huld," 1577, when he visited North America. Jose Josiah Crane, a son of John Crane, in the service of King James I., became one of the firmest adherents of the Puritans, and after many persecutions he went to Holland, where many of his co-religionists accepted the invitation of the States.
Jasper Crane was the first of the name who emigrated from the Old to the New World. He came with his wife Alice from London, England, in 1637-8 ; was one of the original settlers of the New Haven colony, and signed the "Funda- mental Agreement," June 4, 1639, and was one of those at New Haven who attempted the settlement of the lands on the Delaware and was repulsed by the Dutch. He was a surveyor and trader and laid out much of the town plot at New Haven. He was selectman and one of the civil managers. In 1652 he purchased lands in Totoket, or Branford, of which he was one of the original settlers. He was Justice of the County Court at New Haven, 1664-5,0116 of the magistrates convened at Hartford by the Governor in 1665, and one of the assist- ants and magistrates of Connecticut in 1665-6-7, and magistrate in the New Haven colony in 1658. He did not remove with the first company that went to settle Newark, though he was one of the twenty-three persons who signed the first contract in 1665. He joined his associates in Newark. He and Robert Treat were the first magistrates in Newark. They represented Newark in the General Court in 1668-9-70. He ranked with the strong-minded men of Connecticut and New Jersey. He died in 1681. His children were John, Hannah, Delivered, Azariah.
Deacon Azariah Crane, son of Jasper (1) and Alice ( ) Crane, was born
in New Haven, 1647 ; died November 5, 1730. He was one of the signers of the "Fundamental Agreement," a deacon in the First Church of Newark, and held many offices of trust in the " towne." He left his " silver bole " to be used by " the church in Newark forever." " In the everturn of the government by the Dutch,"
136 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
in 1673, ne was " betrusted with the concerns of his honorable father-in-law," Mr. Robert Treat. In 1715 he is spoken of as having been settled for many years at the mountain. He married Mary, daughter of Governor Robert Treat son of Richard.
Richard Treat, was one of the original settlers of Hartford, Conn., 1637, and was one of the most important men in the colony, and held many offices. He was one of the nineteen to whom the charter of Connecticut was granted, Apiil 23. 1662. By his wife Alice, he had a son, Robert.
Capt. Robert Treat (afterward Governor), son of Richard and Alice ( )
Treat, was born in England about 1622; died in Newark, N. J., July 12, 1710. He was with his father in Wethersfield, was one of the founders of Milford, was Assistant of the New Haven colony, 1659. He represented the Milford settlers in the founding of Newark, signed the " Fundamental Agreement," first on the list. In 1672 he returned to New England. He was commander-in-chief in Philip's war ; in 1676 Deputy Governor, and in 1683 Governor of Connecticut, in which position he served fifteen years. He married Jane Tapp and had issue, Samuel. John, Mary, married Azariah Crane, Robert, Hannah, Joseph, Abigail.
Deacon Azariah Crane, by his wife, Mary I Treat) Crane, had issue, Nathaniel, Azariah Jr., John, Robert. Mary Baldwin and Jane Bull.
John Crane, son of Deacon Azariah and Mary (Treat) Crane, was born in
Newark, N. J., 1695; died Sept. 5, 1776. He married Abigail , born 1700,
died January 25, 1744, and had Jonas and other children.
Jonas Crane, son of John and Abigail ( ) Crane, was born in Newark,
N.J, 1718; died January 24, 1745. He married Hannah, daughter of Benjamin Lyon and Anna Canfield. He was the son of Henry Lyon, who was of Milford, 1646, and of Newark, 1667. The only son of Jonas and Hannah (Lyon) Crane was Rufus.
Rufus Crane, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jonas and Hannah (Lyon) Crane, was born in Newark, N. J., 1744; died 1804. He was precentor of the music in the First Presbyterian Church, of Newark, at the age of nineteen. This position had formerly been held "with great admiration" by his cousin, John Treat Crane. During the Revolutionary War he served as private in Capt. Henry Squier's company, Second Essex Regiment, N. J. Militia, commanded by Col. Philip Van Cortlandt. He married, in 1779, Charity Campbell, born 1700, fourth child of John Campbell and Rebecca Baldwin; she was the daughter of Joseph Baldwin, son of Jonathan, son of Benjamin Baldwin, one of the founders of Newark. Rufus, by his wife, Charity Campbell, had Richard Montgomery.
Richard /Tontgomery Crane, son of Rufus and Charity (Campbell) Crane, was born in Newark, N. J., 1797. He began his business career when the manu- facture of shoes was the leading industry in Newark and surrounding towns. He probably acquired his knowledge of the business from one of his predecessors, and from an employee he became one of the leading shoe manufacturers in Newark, with a trade extending all over the country, with a very large southern trade. For many years he ranked as one of the leading business men of Newark, and also as one of the most successful. He employed a number of hands and added materially to the wealth of Newark. While not particularly active in public affairs he was nevertheless greatly interested in the public improvements which were introduced during the thirties and forties, when Newark was just emerging
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 3?
from a country town to take its place among the great manufacturing cities of the East. He, like most of his competitors, lost heavily in the South during the panic of 1847 and was ohliged to give up business. This he did with an unsullied reputation and a stainless record. A man of unimpeachable integrity, he was respected by all classes of the community. His religious interest centered in the little Baptist Society whose place of worship was on the corner of Academy and Halsey Street. Although the record has not been preserved and his contempo- raries have long since passed away, there is no doubt that he contributed liberally to this struggling church which for half a century, from 1806, was the only Baptist church in Newark. While strictly orthodox in his denominational views he was a Christian in the highest sense of the word, and the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man was his creed. Conscientious in all his business dealings, recognizing his personal accountability, he endeavored by his example as well as his works to advance the cause of his Master.
After his retirement from business in 1849, he removed to Roselle, N. J., and purchased the historic homestead erected by Abraham Clarke, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Amid these pleasant surroundings he passed the closing years of his life. He was never idle, however, for he followed the scripture injunction, " Redeem the time," and every hour during his long and useful life was profitally employed. After his removal to Roselle he was identified with the Baptist church at Rahway, was made deacon, and was one of its warmest supporters and most earnest workers. Mr. Crane was twice married. His second wife was Maria Coles, daughter of Dennis Coles, of Scotch Plains, a descendant of an old English family which settled in West New Jersey and acquired large possessions in Eversham, township of Burlington. This ancient family was seated at Twickenham, England, and bore Arms — Argent, a bull passant, gules, armed or, within a bordure sable, berzantoe sable. Motto — " Deum cole, regem serva " (Worship God, honor the king). The issue of this marriage was two sons and two daughters, the youngest of which was William Montgomery.
WILLIAH MONTGOMERY CRANE, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Richard Montgomery and Maria (Coles) Crane, was born in Roselle, N. J., June 14, 1852. He is one of the very few comparatively young men whose grand- father served in the War of the Revolution, he being the issue of a second marriage, his father having married late in life. Mr. Crane was educated at the public schools of Roselle and Elizabeth. He inherited a robust constitution and splendid physique— characteristics of the Crane family. Industry, energy and in- ventive genius— also hereditary traits— formed the basis of his successful business career. As a lad of sixteen he began with the New York hosiery firm of John J. Hinchman & Co., and continued with them and their successors for nineteen years, traveling extensively over the country as salesman for ten years of this time. In 1885 he turned his attention to the manufacture of gas stoves and gas appli- ances. He was the pioneer in this branch of trade. Beginning alone in a small building in the vicinity of Fourteenth street, he subsequently organized the firm of William M. Crane & Co., and has now the largest establishment of the kind, and does the most extensive business in the line of specialties in gas appliances, of any firm in the country. With a large salesroom on Broadway, Mr. Crane devotes his entire attention to the manufacture of goods at their place on West Fourteenth street. While embodying many improvements, the invention of other parties, 1 0
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some of the most useful articles manufactured by the firm were designed by Mr. Crane himself.
Like his father, Mr. Crane has been for years a most earnest and indefatigable worker in religious and benevolent organizations. He was long a leader in the choir at Roselle, and since his residence in New York he has been identified with the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church and the Annitage Mission on Forty-seventh street and Ninth Avenue. He is gifted as a musician and his associates are among the musical celebrities of the country. He is vice-president of the Baton Club and is an active member of the Manuscript Society, composed of such
,1AM MONTGOMERY CRANE.
musical celebrities as Damrosch, Theo. Thomas, Dudley Buck, W. C. Carl, Seidel and others. The members of this society perform only their own compositions from original manuscripts.
During his residence in Roselle, Mr. Crane was an enthusiast in military affairs. He was a member of Phil Kearney Guards, known as Company C, Third Regiment, N. G. S. N. J. This company was noted for its remarkable military evolutions and frequently gave public exhibitions, eliciting great applause from enthusiastic and appreciative audiences. Also a member of the New York Ath- letic Club. He is of a genial, social nature, poetic temperament, and a pleasant conversationalist.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 39
RICHARDS, PECK, WISWALL, BARRETT, HON= FORT, CARHAN.
Both the Richards and the Pecks, together with the allied families, were conspicuous as founders of the several towns where they located. They also ren- dered important service in the colonial wars, as well as in the War of the Revolu- tion. They were men of intelligence, great force and stability of character, with never a taint of disloyalty— true to themselves and true to their neighbors.
Edward Richards, the ancestor, was born in Plymouth, England, came to New England in the ship " Lyon " in 1631 and resided in Cambridge till 1636 with his brother Nathaniel. He was received as one of the proprietors of Dedham, 1636-7 ; joined the church in 1640, took freeman's oath, 1641. He was known as " Gent" Richards, denoting a high social position in the town and was a signer of the social compact of Dedham. He married, September 10, 1638, Susan Hunting, daughter of Elder John Hunting of Watertown and Dedham. John Hunting was the first ruling elder of the church in that town and prominent in civil affairs. His wife, Hester Seaborn, is said to have been a second cousin of John Rogers, the martyr. By his wife Susan Hunting, Edward Richards had a son, Nathaniel.
Nathaniel Richards, son of Edward and Susan (Hunting) Richards, was born in Dedham, Mass., November 25, 1648; died there February 15, 1726. He rendered important military service in King Philip's War in 1675-6. The ledger of John Hull, Treasurer at War of the Colony of Massachusetts— still well pre- served—shows a number of entries to the debit and credit of Nathaniel Richards. He apparently had charge of the furnishing and guarding of the teams sent up to the various garrisons with supplies, and also those sent to bring down the inhabit- ants and their goods " from the towns assaulted and destroyed." He was made a freeman in 1670. He married, December 28, 1678, Mary Aldis, born September 29, 1657, daughter of Deacon John Aldis and his wife, Sarah Eliot.
The ancestry of Philip Eliot and Rev. John Eliot, his brother, is traced through several generations to Sir William De Aliot, an officer in the army of William the Conqueror. Hume says : " When William the Conqueror first set foot on English land he stumbled and fell, but he had the presence of mind, it is said, to have this omen to take advantage, by calling aloud that he had taken possession of the country, and a soldier (Sir William D. Aliot), running to a neighboring cottage, plucked some thatch, which, as if giving him, seized of the kingdom, presented to his General." Another writer, quoting the words of Hume, says : " Sir William De Aliot, then holding a distinguished rank in the invading army, drew his sword and swore by the honor of a soldier that he would maintain, at the hazard of his blood, the right of his lord to the sovereignty of his country. For this the Conqueror gave him an honorable addition to his coat of arms." From this valiant knight are descended Lord Keathfield, the Earls of Minte and St. Germans, and Sir William Francis Eliot.
Sir John Eliot, Earl of St. Germans, Cornwall, represented the borough of St. Germans in parliament in the second and third year of Charles I., and made himself conspicuous as a strenuous opponent of the court and a zealous asserter of the ancient liberties of the subject. He died a martyr to the liberties of England. That Eliot the apostle and his brother Philip were connected with this
I40 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
family is proved from the identity of the coat of arms. Rev. John Eliot the apostle and his brothers, Jacob and Philip, came in the ship "Lion" to Plymouth, November 3, 1631. Philip was a member of the artillery company, 1638; member of the General Court four years, 1654 to 1657, and a deacon in his brother's church at Roxbury. In his will he mentions three children, the youngest of whom, Sarah, was married to Deacon John Aldis, of the church at Roxbury.
Nathaniel Richards, by his marriage to Mary Aldis, daughter of Deacon John Aldis and his wife Sarah Eliot, had a son, James.
James Richards, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Aldis) Richards, was born in Dedham, Mass, February 24, 1683; married, May 22, 1706, Hannah, daughter of Deacon Jonathan Metcalf and his wife Hannah Kendric, granddaughter of John Kendric. Deacon Jonathan Metcalf, born in Dedham, Mass., September 21, 1650, was a man of large estate and gave considerable to the church. He was the son of Michael Metcalf, born in Norwich, England, August 20, 1620, son of Michael born in Tatterford, England, June 17, 1 586. came to America to escape religious persecution after losing his property by a Star Chamber fine. He came on the " John and Dorothy," April 6, 1637. James Richards, by his wife Hannah Metcalf, had Ebenezer.
Ebenezer Richards, son of James and Hannah (Metcalf) Richards, was born January 12, 1718; died February 27, 1799. He married Thankful Stratton, born December 17, 1721 ; died June 1, 1796. They had a son, Ebenezer (2).
Ebenezer Richards (2), Patriot of the Revolution, son of Ebenezer (i) and Thankful (Stratton) Richards, was born July 16, 1744; died August u, 1784. He was among the first in the town of Dedham to respond to the " Lexing- ton Alarm," April 19, 1775, and was corporal in Capt. Ebenezer Battle's company, Col. Mcintosh's regiment. His name appears on the pay roll of those who rendered service in taking possession of Dorchester Hill and fortifying it, March, 1776. His name again appears on " A Pay Roll for the Continental Pay for Capt. Ebenezer Battle's Company that marched to Roxbury, March 23, 1778, agreeable to an order of counsel under the com'd of Col. William Mcintosh." At this time he held the rank of sergeant. He married, in 1769, Hannah Wiswall, daughter of Noah Wiswall, son of Lieut. Thomas, son of Capt. Noah, son of Elder Thomas Wiswall, the ancestor.
Elder Thomas Wiswall, the ancestor, was a brother of Elder John Wiswall, both of whom were prominent among the early settlers of Dorchester. They came from England in 1635. Thomas subscribed to the school fund in Dorchester, 1 64 1 . He was selectman, 1644 and in 1652, and was prominent in town and church affairs. He subsequently removed to Cambridge Village. He married Elizabeth and had a son, Noah.
Capt. Noah Wisivall, son of Elder Thomas and Elizabeth ( ) Wiswall,
was baptized in Dorchester, 1638. He signed the secession petition in 1678. He was selectman, 1685, and was one of the parties, in 1687, to lay out a highway from the main street through the land of Cambridge to the Falls. In the spring of 1690 a party of 500 French and Indians made an attack on Casco (Portland, Me.), and carried away captive a number of persons. Capt. Noah Wiswall, with a company of infantry, marched to the relief of Casco, where he arrived July 6, He sent out his scouts, discovered the trail of the enemy, overtook them at Wheel- wright's pond, where a bloody engagement took place, and Capt. Wiswall, two
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 141
officers and fifteen men were slain. His son John was also killed in the engage- ment. Capt. Noah Wiswall married, December 10, 1664, Theodosia, daughter of John Jackson, and had a son, Thomas.
Lieut, Thomas Wiswall, son of Capt. Noah and Theodosia (Jackson) Wis- wall, was born 1668; lived at Newton, Mass. He was surveyor in 1694, con- stable 1699, selectman 1706-7. He died in 1709. He married at Newbury, July, 1696, Hannah Cheney, and had a son, Noah.
Capt. Noah Wiswall, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Lieut. Thomas and Hannah (Cheney) Wiswall, was born in 1699. In 1740 he was with the Massachusetts troops which went to the West Indies in the War between Great Britain and Spain. At the battle of Lexington his son Jeremiah commanded a company in which were two more of his sons, besides his sons-in-law. As he saw them leaving for the front ne started to follow them, saying, "I wish to see what the boys are doing." He was then seventy-six years of age. Standing with some Americans not far from the field, three British soldiers came in sight. He immediately pointed them out to his companions, saying, " If you aim at the middle one you will hit one of the three." They did so and the other two fled. As he held out his hand, pointing toward the Britons, a musket ball passed through it. He coolly bound up the hand with his handkerchief, picked up the gun of the fallen regular and brought it home as a trophy. He married, in 1720, Thankful, daughter of Jeremiah Fuller. Their daughter Hannah, born March 31, 1745, was married to Ebenezer Richards.
John Richards, son of Ebenezer and Hannah (Wiswall) Richards was born October 22, 1781 ; died November 3, 1829. He resided in Newton. He was a soldier in the War of 181 2. He married Mary Barrett, daughter of Stephen, son of John, son of Jonathan, son of John, son of Thomas Barrett, the ancestor. The ancestor of this family, who came over with the Conqueror, is recorded in the Battle Abbey and took part in the battle of Hastings, 1066.
Thomas Barrett, was one of the thirty-two residents of Braintree, Mass., to whom the General Court, in 1645, granted 10,000 acres of land in Warwick, which had been confiscated by Gorton's heresy. Among the other grantees of this land was Henry Adams, the projenitor of the two Presidents Adams. Thomas Barrett remained for some years in Braintree and then removed to Chelmsford, where he made his will in 1662. He had a son, Ji >h/i.
John Barrett, son of Thomas, had a grant of land in Chelmsford in 1659, where he resided, and had several grants later. He was a tithingman, lieutenant, mill owner and comparatively a large proprietor of lands. He served in King Philip's War. He married Sarah , and had a son, Jonathan.
Jonathan Barrett, son of John and Sarah ( ) Barrett, married Abigail
(Wilson) Hildreth, daughter of John Wilson, Sr., of Woburn, and had a son, John.
John Barrett, son of Jonathan and Abigail Barrett, was born Dec- ember 3, 1709. He married Martha Heald, daughter of Deacon John and Mary Heald. He was the son of John Heald and Mary Chandler. Mary White above named, was the daughter of Hon. Mark and Anna (Chamberlain) White, of Acton. John Barrett, by his wife, Martha (Heald) Barrett, had a son, Stephen.
Stephen Barrett, Patriot of the Revolution, son of John and Martha (Heald) Barrett, was born October 4, 1756; resided in Billerica, Mass. He was a
142 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
private in Capt. Edward Farmer's company, Col. Greene's regiment, which marched on the " Lexington Alarm," April 19, 1 77 5 ; also sergeant in Col. Nixon's regiment, from May 2, 1777, to December 31, 1779, reported as the Seventh Company. Return dated camp at Peekskill, August 15, 1777; muster roll dated Highlands, June 12, 1779; enlisted for three years; reported as Lieutenant, Colonel's company, pay abstracts for November and December, 1779, dated Soldier's Fortune; also lieutenant, Col. Daniel Whiting's company, pay abstract for January to June, 1780; discharged May 2. He married Lucy Kidder, of Billerica, daughter of Ephraim (5), son of Ephraim (4), son of Ephraim (3), son of Ephraim (2), son of James Kidder, the ancestor.
James Kidder, the ancestor, was born in East Grimsted, Sussex, England, in 1626. His ancestry has been traced in England through six generations, viz., James, Sr., John, John, Richard, Richard, Richard. He located in Billerica in 1658. He was ensign in Capt. Danforth's military company, and his house was a garrison in 1675. He himself was placed in charge of the Indians at Wamesit, a position which indicates, in that critical period, the confidence reposed in his skill and courage. The conjecture is probable that the hardships and exposure inci- dent to the war occasioned his death, which took place April 16, 1676. He married Anna Moore, daughter of Elder Francis Moore, of Cambridge, and had Ephraim.
Ephraim Kidder (1), son of James and Anna (Moore) Kidder, was born August 31, 1660; died September 25, 1724. He married, August 4, 1685, Rachel Crosby, daughter of Simon Crosby, Jr., born in Cambridge, 1637, died at Billerica, Mass., 1725. They had son, Ephraim (2).
Ephraim Kidder (2), son of Ephraim (1) and Rachel (Crosby) Kidder, was born April 26, 1687; died September 4, 1776. He lived in Tewksbury. He married Abigail Frost, and had Ephraim (3).
Ephraim Kidder (3), son of Ephraim (2) and Abigail (Frosti Kidder, was born February 15, 1710; died at Lake George, 1756. He was a lieutenant in the Massachusetts troops which were enlisted to reduce Crown Point, and he died from the effects of hardship and exposure while in camp at Fort William Henry on the 30th of August, 1756. He married Elizabeth French, daughter of William French, son of John French, born at Billerica, 1635, whose house was one of the garrisons, 1675. He was the son of William French, who first settled in Cam- bridge, and was one of the original proprietors of Billerica, 1652. Ephraim Kidder, by his wife, Elizabeth French, had son, Ephraim Kidder (4).
Ephraim Kidder (4), son of Ephraim (3) and Elizabeth (French) Kidder, was born July 9, 1736. He married Lucy Pollard, daughter of John Pollard, and had a daughter, Lucy, born September 6, 1760, married April 8, 1781, Stephen Barrett.
Stephen Barrett, son of John and Martha Heald Barrett had issue, by his wife, Lucy Kidder (daughter of Ephraim Kidder), Stephen, John, Lucy, Sally and Mary, who married John Richards, of Boston.
John Richards, of Boston, by his wife, Mary Barrett, had a son, Jere- miah (1).
Jeremiah Richards (t), son of John and Mary (Barrett) Richards, was born October 10, 1818; died April ^o, 1844. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, intelligence, and business sagacity. At the time of his death, at the age of
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 143
26, he was a leading lumber merchant in Boston, with a large and extensive business. His remarkable success at this early age indicates what he might have been had he reached an age ripened by experience and wisdom gained by contact with his fellow-men. Young as he was he had established a reputation for honor- able dealing, and he was the soul of honesty and uprightness of character. In this he bequeathed a legacy to his posterity of far greater value than the material accumulation of the few brief years of his business career. His death was sudden, but did not find him unprepared. His life was pure and in all his dealings he faithfullv observed the Golden Rule, and the sudden call from labor to rest, in the midst of business, found him ready to meet the messenger of death. His brief married life was a happy one, he having made a wise selection. He married, December 4, 1843, Lydia Adelaide Peck, daughter of Oren, son of James, son of Jathniel, son of Ebenezer, son of Jathniel, son of Joseph (2), son of Joseph Peck (1), the ancestor.
The pedigree of Joseph Peck, the emigrant ancestor of this branch of the Peck family, may be found in the British Museum, and is traced back for twenty generations to John Peck, of Bolton, Yorkshire, England. Joseph, with his brother Rev. Robeit Peck, came to this country in 1638 and settled in Hingham. Mass.; both were graduates of Magdalen College, Cambridge, England. Joseph resided at Hingham for seven years. Joseph was a representative at the General Court in 1639-40-41-42; he was Selectman, Justice of the Peace, Assessor, etc. In 1641 he was one of the principal purchasers from the Indians, of the tract of land comprised in the towns of Rehoboth, Seckonk and Pawtucket. Later he purchased lands in what was afterwards known as Harrington He made a third purchase of Wamsetter, brother of King Philip, which included what was after- wards Attleboro, Mass., and Cumberland and Woonsocket, R. I. In 1645 ne removed to Seckonk and was conspicuous in the affairs of that town, and held many public positions during his life; he was one of the wealthiest men in the town. He married Rebecca Clark, born 1585, died October 24, 1637. He was born April 30, 1587, died December 23, 1663. They had a son, Joseph.
Joseph Peck, (2), son of Joseph (1) and Rebecca (Clark) Peck, was born in
Hingham, England, August 23, 1623, died 1701. He married and had a
son, Jathniel,
Jathniel Peck, son of Joseph, was born July 24, 1660,: died April 5, 1742. He was representative to the General Court 172 1-2-3-6-7-8-9-30-31 . He married Sarah Smith, born 1670, died June 4, \7^7- They had a sun, Ebenezer.
Ebenezer Peck, son of Jathniel and Sarah (Smith) Peck, was born Septem- ber 20, 1697; died August, 1760; married Margaret Whitaker, born 1698, died 1762, and had a son, Jathniel.
Jathniel Peck, son of Ebenezer and Margaret (Whitaker) Peck, was born November 22, 1725; died March 23, 1812; married Sybil Butterworth and had issue, James. She was born 1729, died March 15, 1769.
James Peck, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jathniel and Sybil (Butterworth) Peck, was bom August 10, 1754; died April 3, 1834. The follow- ing is the official record of his service in the Revolution: "Men mustered for the Continental service for nine months from the time they shall appear at Fishkill, on Hudson River. For Col. Thomas Carpenter's Regiment, the first Reg't in the county of Bristol (Mass). Taunton, June ye 1st, 1778." James Peck married
144 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Lydia Pratt, born 1765, died October 20, 1838, who is a lineal descendant of Degory Priest, who came over on the " Mayflower." They had a son, Oren.
Oren Peck, son of James and Lydia (Pratt) Peck, was born September 16, 1795, died May 7, 1865. He was highly esteemed by all who knew him, as a man of honesty and integrity. He married Eliza Williams, born October 27, 1793, died April 26, 1858. They had a daughter, Lydia Adelaide, who married Jeremiah Richards (l), father of Jeremiah Richards.
Jeremiah Richards (2), Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Jeremiah (1) and Lydia Adelaide ( Peck) Richards, was born in Boston, October 1,1844; graduated at the English High School of that city, the highest attainable, next to a collegeiate education. After a brief experience in a Boston dry goods house, he came to New York and entered the employ of the Cumberland Coal & Iron Company, at that time one of the largest concerns of the kind in the country. He was soon after made secretary and treasurer, and continued in this position for ten years. That he inherited the qualities that would have made his father an eminently successful business man, is evidenced by the fact that his success in whatever undertaking he chose was assured from the beginning. Perseverence, industry and patience were the strong qualities early developed in him. His first experience was the stepping stone to his subsequent success. He entered the house of Spielmann & Co., where his great executive ability soon manifested itself, and he was made a partner in 1882, This is now one of the largest com- mission houses in New York, with branches in Paris, Lyons, Zurich and Berlin, and with a trade that extends throughout the entire country. That Mr. Richards has been an important factor in the great results attained during the past fifteen or twenty years, goes without saying.
It is not alone his business qualifications that have conduced to his success in life. There is a strong personality which impresses itself upon others and wins the confidence of all with whom he comes in contact, without auy apparent effort on his part. In the cultivation of his mind and in the development of his business qualities, Mr. Richards has not neglected the development of the body. He is especially fond of hunting and fishing, and during the summer season spends much of his time at his fine camp in the Dead River Region, Maine, where fish and game are abundant. He is Vice-President of the Megantic Fish and Game Club, of Maine, a member of the Union League Club, the New York Athletic Club and the Merchants' Club ; also of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Society of the War of 1812, the Mayflower Society, the Long Island Historical Society and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His religious connections are with the Central Presbyterian Church", of which he is a member.
During the Civil War Mr. Richards was one of the original members of the First Battalion, National Guard, of the city of Boston, Mayor Charles W. Stevens commanding. This battalion was organized in 1862 and among its members were some of the most prominent gentlemen of Boston. At the time of the riots in 1863 they were sworn into the service of the general government and rendered valuable assistance in quelling the draft riots and protecting property. They received the thanks of the city government for their services and were compli- mented by the Hon. F. W. Lincoln, mayor, in a letter dated August 3, 1863, and later received the thanks of the commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Order No. 20. The battalion maintained its organization through the war and
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 145
were only disbanded at its close. Mr. Richards married Susan A. Monfort, daughter of Jacob Monfort, son of John P., son of Peter J., fourth in descent from Peter Monfoort, the ancestor.
Peter and Jan Monfoort, emigrated from Holland to New Netherlands at a very early period, the first reference to them being made in 1639, when Peter entered into a contract with Peter Cesar Albertis to make a plantation and build a house at Wallabout (Brooklyn). On May 21, Peter Monfoort obtained a patent for land at Wallabout, between the plantations of Peter Cesar Albertis and Jan Monfoort, " in breadth 300 paces straight into the woods." This was located on the corner of what is now Washington and Clinton avenues. On the 17th of August, 1643, he obtained another patent for the same premises, described as "a piece of land for a Tobacco plantation, lying on Long Island, in the bend of Myerechkawick." In 1647 he obtained a patent for land on Manhattan Island, in northeast side of the Graft. He married, June 12 or 17, 1630, at Amsterdam, Holland, Sarah de Plancken. He died January 4, 1 66 1, leaving children, Janica, Jan Pieterse, Sarah Pieterse and Peter I'ieterse.
Peter John Monfort, third in descent from Peter Pieterse Monfort, was born in 1731, died March 1, 1791. He settled at Fishkill Plains. Dutchess County, N. Y. He married Margreta Schenck, of Flatlands, born 1736, died 18 14. They had issue, Jolin P.
John P. Monfort, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Peter J. and Margreta (Schenck) Monfort, was born at Fishkill Plains, July 24, 1760; died there 1803. He served in the War of the Revolution as private in Capt. Brower's company, Col. Abraham Brinkerhoff's regiment. He married Jane Bennett, of Greenpoint, born 1776, dted 1809, and had issue Jacob.
Jacob Monfort, son of John P. and Jane (Bennett) Monfort, was born in 1799; died in 1869. He married Harriet E. Carman, born May 25, 1808, daughter of Thomas Carman, son of Joshua, son of John (2 , son of John (1).
John and Florence Carman came from England in 163 1, and settled first in Roxbury, Mass., and later moved to Hempstead, L. I. Their giandsons John and Joshua moved to Beekman, Dutchess County, N. Y., between 1730 and 1740, and settled in separate homesteads on a section of land there.
/ohn Car/nan (2), was born at Hempstead, L. L, died at Beekman, Dutchess County, N. Y., October 6, 1766. He married February 8, 1739, at Hempstead, Mary Smith. He married, second, Mary Doughty, a widow from Long Island. By his first wife he had Thomas, Joshua. Martha. Mary.
Joshua Carman, Patriot of the Revolution, son of John and Mary (Smith) Carman, was born at Beekman, Dutchess County, N. Y. He was attached to the New York Line, Continental Army, as a member of Third Company, First Regiment, and continued to the close of the war. He married Jacoba Van Kleeck. He was a merchant at Beekman, and about 1800 he moved to the village of Poughkeepsie. His place of residence was south of the village, a portion of the lands of which is now used by the Protestant Episcopal denomina- tion as a cemetery, being situated on Academy and Montgomery streets. By his wife Jacoba, he had a son, Thomas.
Thomas Carman, son of Joshua and Jacoba (Van Kleeck) Carman, was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., April 22, 1780; died November 3, 1834. He married, May 7, 1803, Catharine Cypher, and had four children, of whom Harriet E., born May 25, 1808, married Jacob Monfort.
146
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Jeremiah Richards, by his wife, Susan A. Monfort, daughter of Jacob Mon- fort, had five children. The eldest, Anna, married Forrest H. Parker, Jr., and after a brief but happy married life they were both drowned on the 4th of September, 1897, by the capsizing of a boat on Chain Pond, in the Adirondacks,
CHARLES SPIELMANN RICHARDS.
where Mr. Parker had a camp. The other children were Harriet Monfort, C/iar/es Spielmann, William Stiger and Ethel Adelaide.
CHARLES SPIELHANN RICHARDS, Life Member, Society Sons of the Revolution, was born at Roselle, N. J., June 11, 1876. He began his classical studies at Leal Institute, Plainfleld, N. J., intending to enter Princeton,
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 147
but after completing his preparatory course, failing health compelled him to give up his studies and for two succeeding years he devoted himself wholly to rest and recreation. After this he attended Grammar School No. 87, of New York city, where he first acquired a taste for military exercises. An organization known as the American Guard was started in the school, of which he was elected adjutant, and when, on March 30, 1896, he was accepted as a member of the Fourth Company, Seventh Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., he was able to enter the ranks at once, without the long preparatory drill in the "awkward squad." After the war with Spain broke out he was appointed to the staff of Col. Denny, of the 1 1 2th Regiment, with the rank of First Lieutenant. He is an enthusiastic National Guardsman, and the accompanying portrait shows him in the uniform of the Seventh Regiment.
During the two or three years' rest, Mr. Richards' health was greatly improved, and instead of entering upon a collegiate course he decided on a business career. A favorable opportunity having presented itself to become associated with his brother-in-law, F. H. Parker, Jr., in the exporting trade, he entered at once upon his new duties and soon mastered all the details of the business. After Mr. Parker's death he founded the firm of Richards & Gunn, and they are now doing a very successful business as exporters and importers. Mr. Richards has already developed executive talent of the highest order and a capacity for details which, with his methodical habits, makes him master of the situation. He is a member of the New York Produce Exchange, a life member of the New York Athletic Club, a member of the Society of the Order of Founders and Patriots, and of the Megantic Fish and Game Club, of Maine, where he spends his summers.
William Stiger Richards, the youngest son of Jeremiah and Susan A. (Mon- fort) Richards, was born September 12, 18S1. He is associated with his brother in the exporting business. He is a bright, intelligent young man, with a natural capacity for business which augurs well for his future. He is a member of the New York Athletic Club, and of the Megantic Fish and Game Club, of Maine, and gives equal attention to the development of mind and body.
CLARK-TOWNER WHITE- BROOKS.
There were several families of the name of Clark among the early settlers of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and it frequently happened that there were two or more families of this name in the same town.
Benjamin Clark, the immediate ancestor of Byron G. Clark, M.D., was born in Hubbardston, Mass., and is supposed to be a descendant of Sergeant John Clark, of Middletown, Conn., son of William Clark, the Hartford ancestor. Another family of this name was long settled at Hubbardston, Mass., but their name does not appear in the list. It is not known who Benjamin married, but he was the father of Aaron Clark (1).
Aaron Clark (1). son of Benjamin Clark, was born in Hubbardston, Mass., October 29. 1788; died in Sharon, Vt, in 1846. He was a prosperous farmer of
I48 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
that town. Long before the " iron horse" penetrated the wilds of New England he ran a line of teams from Newport, N. H., to Boston. He married Elizabeth Brooks, of Princeton, Mass., daughter of David Brooks, of Lancaster and Prince- ton, Mass., son of Nathaniel, son of Jabez, son of John, son of Henry, the ancestor.
Henry Brooks was made a freeman at Concord, March 14, 1639, and was one of the proprietors of Woburn, Mass., January 10, 1652. He was selectman, 1669. His first wife, Susanna, died September 15, 1681. He married, second, Annis Jaquith, July 12, 1682. The town records of Woburn refer to Goodwife Brooks as "an ancient and skillful woman, famous for attainments in medical science." By his second wife, Henry Brooks had a son, John.
John Brooks, son of Henry and Annis (Jaquith) Brooks, was born probably about 1624. He married, November 1, 1649, Eunice Mousal, daughter of Deacon John Mousal. a founder and much-honored citizen of Woburn. They had eight children, of whom Jabez was the youngest.
Jabez Brooks, son of John and Eunice (Mousal) Brooks, was born July 17, 1643. He was one of the forty-five citizens of Woburn who volunteered for the defence in King Philip's War, 1675-6. He took part in the great " Swamp Fight." He married Hephzibah Cutter, daughter of Richard, the emigrant ancestor. They had issue, NatJianiel.
Nathaniel Brooks, son of Jabez and Hephzibah (Cutter) Brooks, was born about 1706, probably in Woburn. He married Submit Pouher, born 1708, grand- daughter of John Poulter, of Billerica, Mass , who married Rachel Eliot, of Brain- tree, Mass., daughter of Francis Eliot. They had David.
David Brooks, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Nathaniel and Sub- mit (Poulter) Brooks, was born March 29, 1749. He was of Lancaster, Mass., and afterwards of Princeton. David Brooks was a contractor and builder and erected several "meeting-houses" in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He married Patience White, daughter of Capt. Joseph White, of Lancaster, son of Josiah ^3), son of Josiah (2), son of John White, the ancestor.
Jo/in White was of Salem, 1638; had a grant of land the next year; joined the church, 1643. He and his son were among the first settlers of Lancaster, Mass. He had the largest estate of any man in the town ; it amounted to over ^380. The strong character of the man is shown in the following, which appears on the early records of the town : " All the orders of the selectmen passed except that of goodman White, which was rejected because he feared not to speak in his own cause." In 1662, John White was relieved from "ordinary traynings " on account of advanced years. He had a son, Josiah.
[osiah White (2), son of John White, was baptized in Salem, June 4, 1643. In 1688 he was allowed by the county, twenty shillings for " killing one growne wolf" in Lancaster. He was one of the first selectmen of Lancaster. He married, in 1678, Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Keing) Rice, of Marl- borough. He died in 1714. They had a son, Josiah (j).
Hon. Josiah White (3), son of Josiah (2) and Mary (Rice) White, was born in Lancaster, September 16, 1682; died May 5, 1772. He was a deacon of the church and represented the town at the General Court several terms. He mairied June 26, 1706, Abigail, daughter of Josiah and Rebecca (Waters) Whitcomb. They had Joseph.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. I49
Capt. Joseph White, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Josiah and Rebecca (Whitcomb) White, was born in Lancaster, Mass., November 1,1719; died November 15, 1780. The history of Woburn states that "a fourth company had Joseph White for Captain." This belonged to the regiment of Col. Asa Whitcomb, was engaged at Cambridge four or five days, returned home and prepared for more extended service. He married Patience, daughter of James Ball, and had among other children, a daughter, Patience, who was married to David Brooks.
David Brooks, by his wife, Patience (White) Brooks, had a daughter, ElizabetJi.
Elizabeth Brooks, daughter of David and Patience (White) Brooks, was born in Princeton, Mass., February 2, 1791.; died April 19, 1887. She was married to Aaron Clark.
Aaron Clark ( 1 ), by his wife, Patience (Brooks) Clark, had issue, Aaron.
Aaron Clark (2), son of Aaron ( 1) and Patience (Brooks) Clark, was born at Newport, N. LL, July 4; 1820. He attended the district school during the winter months, working on the farm during the summer as soon as he was old enough to be of assistance At the age of fourteen he drove one of his father's four-horse teams to Boston, Mass., and back with freight, and from that time forward he was often on the road with an extra team. He moved to Charleston, N. H., in 1841, and soon purchased a small farm, to which he added by purchase a few acres of land as fast as he was able to pay for it. He has been a thrifty and prosperous fa.imer, a public-spirited citizen, interested in public improvements and whatever tended to the moral and physical development of the town. He has been a staunch Republican in politics, but could never be induced to accept public office. He has been a great reader and close observer, and few men in the town have more friends, or one whose advice is oftener sought than his. He married. November 19, 1843, Mary Ann Towner, daughter of Daniel and Lucretia (Atkins) Towner, son of Comfort Towner, a native of Middletown, later of Claremont, N. H., and moved with them into the home which they still occupy ( 1898).
Comfort Towner, Patriot of the Revolution, was a native of Middle- town, Conn., at which place the ancestor of the family originally settled. Although the name is almost extinct in that locality, it is noteworthy that the Revolutionary records of Connecticut show the names of twelve Towners who fought in the Revolution. Comfort Towner removed to Claremont, N. H., and was a private in Capt. Abel Walker's company, Col. Benjamin Bellows' regiment, May 7 to June 18, 1777, to reinforce Northern Continental Army at Ticonderoga ; also private in Capt. Samuel Ashley's company, Col. Bellows' regiment, from Septem- ber 21, to October 21, 1777, to reinforce Gen. Gates' Northern Continental Army, at Saratoga; also in Jeremiah Spencer's scouting party, 1780. Comfort Towner married and had a son, Daniel
Daniel Towner, son of Comfort Towner, married Lucretia Atkins, daughter of John Atkins, of Middletown, Conn., who married Lucretia Fosdick, born 1765. He was probably a grandson of Ephraim, who married Elizabeth Wetmore, son of Josiah, son of Thomas, the ancestor.
Aaron Clark, by his wife, Mary Ann (Towner) Clark, had Emma, born October 7, 1844, married C. M. Bixby, of Windsor, Vt.; and Byron George.
DR. BYRON GEORGE CLARK, Empire State Society, S. A. R., son of Aaron and Mary Ann (Towner) Clark, was born at Charleston, N. H., Febru-
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ary 15, 1829. He naturally inclined to the study of medicine, but after pursuing a private course of instruction he adopted for a time a business career, and obtained a position in a banking house. He employed his leisure time in the pursuit of his favorite study, and with characteristic energy and determination prepared himself for the preliminary steps necessary for his chosen profession. He took a special course at the Long Island College Hospital and entered Dart- mouth Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1877. After an exhaust- ive investigation of the systems of the old and new school of practice, he decided on the latter, and returned to New York and took a post-graduate course in materia medica at the New York Homeopathic Medical College, after which he located at Windsor, Vt. He was the pioneer of the new school at that place, and at first met with strong opposition from the practitioners of the old school, but his successful treatment of difficult and complicated cases largely increased his clientel, and to his great surprise he was finally sent for and was engaged by a physician of the old school who had been his bitter opponent, and who, though he never lived to practice, became a convert to the theories of Hahneman.
The practice of Dr. Clark in the village and surrounding country where he was located increased to such an extent that he was compelled, through physical exhaustion, to abandon it. and in 1882 decided to locate in New York City. This was quite an undertaking for one whose practice had been limited to a country district, but he had kept himself well abreast of the times by constant study and reading, and he entered upon his new line of practice fully equipped for any and every emergency. He had made a special study of gynaecology and ophthal- mology, and his practice has gradually extended in this direction. He located at first what would now be called down town, but he anticipated the " upward movement" and was among the first to locate in the vicinity of I22d street, which is now populated by the well-to-do residents.
Dr. Clark was visiting physician to Hahneman Hospital in 1892-3, and was visiting physician to Laura Franklin Free Hospital for Children, in 1887-8-9. He is a member of the Americnn Institute of Homeopathy, the Homeopathic State and County Societies, the Carroll Durham Medical Club, the Materia Medica Society, the Radiological Society (homeopathic), the American Society of Orificial Surgeons, the Homeopathic Union, and honorary member of the Vermont State Homeopathic Medical Society and member of Harlem Club. Dr. Clark assisted is founding the Homeopathic Hospital of Harlem, which he opened, and held the first clinic March 23, 1896. Articles of incorporation were applied for, but were not granted until March 30, 1S98. He became one of its first directors.
Dr. Clark is in hearty sympathy with the various movements to increase the influence of American patriotic societies and preserve for future generations the noble achievements of our ancestors. He has been twice married. His first wife was Annis G. Ensworth, who deceased May, 1875. He married, second, in October, 1878, Elida Peck, daughter of Samuel leek (4), an old New York merchant, and a native of Greenwich, Conn. He was the son of Luther, son of Samuel (3), son of Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1), son of Jeremiah, son of William Peck, the New Haven ancestor.
William Peck, the ancestor of the Connecticut line of the Peck family, was born near the city of London, England, in 1601 ; died in New Haven, Conn., October 4, 1694. He emigrated from England to this country probably in
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 5 1
company with Gov. Eaton, Rev. John Davenport and others, in the ship " Hector," June 26, 1637. He signed the Fundamental Agreement or Constitution of the New Haven Colony, June 4, 1639, for the government of the colony. He was admitted a freeman, October 28, 1740. He was a merchant by occupation, a trustee, treasurer and the general business agent of the Colony Collegiate School.
He married, in 1620, Elizabeth , and had Jeremiah, John, Joseph, Elizabeth.
Jeremiah Peck, son of William and Elizabeth ( ) Peck, was born in
the vicinity of London, in 1623 and came with his father to New England. He is said to have been at Harvard College. He was for some time engaged in preaching or teaching school at Guilford and continued until 1666, when he was invited to take charge of the Collegiate School at New Haven, a colony school instituted by the General Court in 1659. In 1661 he accepted an invitation to preach at Saybrook, Conn., where he succeeded Rev. James Fitch. He returned to Guilford in 1666. He was opposed to the Hal-way Covenant and the union of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies. He left Guilford in 1666 and became one of the first settlers of Newark, N. J. In 167S he accepted a call to Greenwich, Conn., and became the first settled minister of that town. He married, November 12, 1656, Johanna Kitchell, of Guilford, Conn., and had Samuel ( 1 ) and other children.
Samuel Peck (i),son of Jeremiah and Joanna (Kitchell) Peck, was born at Guilford, Conn., January 18, 1659; came with his father to Greenwich. He was a man of large wealth and influence. He was for about fifty years Justice of the Peace, and held other important positions in Greenwich, where he died April 2, 1746 He married, November 27, 1686, Ruth Ferris, daughter of Peter, son of Jeffrey Ferris, of Stamford, Conn. The Ferris family were originally from Leicestershire, England, and descended from Henry de Feriers, son of Gualchilme de Feriers, master of the horse of the Duke of Normandy. Samuel Peck (1), by his wife Ruth Ferris, had Samuel (2).
Samuel Peck (2), son of Samuel (1) and Ruth (Ferris) Peck, was born March, 1688. He owned a farm in Old Greenwich, Conn., where he died in 1733. He married Elizabeth , and had Samuel (3).
Samuel Peck (3) son of Samuel (2) and Elizabeth ( ) Peck, was born
April, 1720. He was a man of great energy and decision of character, a valuable citizen and for many years a deacon of the P'irst Congregational Church in Green- wich. He died there June 29, 1793. He married, November 7, 1745. May, daughter of James Ferris, and had eight children, of whom Luther was the youngest.
Luther Peck, youngest child of Samuel (3) and Mary (Ferris) Peck, was born in Greenwich, Conn., December 22, 1766; died there October 29, 1S60, aged 94 years. He married Rachel Peck, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Sherwood) Peck, son of Theophilus, son of Samuel (2), son of Samuel (1), son of Jeremiah, son of William. They had issue Samuel (4), Huldah, William, Edwin.
Samuel Peck (4), son of Luther and Rachel Peck, was bom in Greenwich, Conn., March 25 . 1799. He removed to New York city, where he became a well- known merchant and carried on business for some years. He married Eliza Robbins, daughter of Harris Robbins, of Cos Cob., near Greenwich, Conn., and had issue, George, Alonzo, William H., Adelaide, Catharine, Albert, Susan, El Ida.
Elida Peck, youngest child of Samuel (4) and Eliza (Robbins) Peck, was
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married to Byron G. Clark, M.D., of New York city. Issue : Grace, born in Windsor, Vt.. April 9, 1881 ; Byron G., Jr., horn January 4, 1888; Miriam Lydia, born in New York, June 29, 1890; died October 17, 1894.
ELLIS-STURGIS-CARLYLE RANDALL.
Few families in America can boast of greater antiquity than that of the Ellis family. From the fact that all the emigrants of this name came originally from Wales, it would appear that they had a common origin. The line is traced to the eighth century and includes the highest nobility of Wales. The original motto borne on the family arms was, " Wrth ein ffrwythan yn hadna byddir" (Let us be seen by our actions), and will fitly apply to the ancestors in this country and their descendants.
The first of the name to settle in Pennsylvania was Rowland Ellis, born at Bryn-Mawr, in Mereetshire, in 1650. He came first to Pennsylvania in 1686 and returned shortly after. He came again in 1697 and purchased a plantation of some six hundred acres about ten miles from Philadelphia and a little north of ihe present Bryn-Mawr station. The farm is now known as the Morris property. According to the manuscript prepared by himself, he was the son of Ellis ap Rees, ap Lewis, ap Lion, ap Gruffydd, ap Howell. His mother was Ann verch Humphrey. Through this line he was a descendant of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, son of John of Gaunt, through the Kynston family in the same line as Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania.
Allin Ellis, the immediate ancestor of the present family, was born in Wales; came to this country in the early part of the past century and settled in Chester County. Pa. Whether he was related to the preceding, is not known. Being a British subject, he remained loyal to the mother country and soon after the break- ing out of the Revolution removed to Canada. He married Hannah Sturgis, daughter of Capt. Amos Sturgis, a staunch patriot.
Capt. Amos Sturgis, Patriot of the Revolution, appears to have served in some capacity almost constantly from the beginning to the close of the Revolution. The nature of his service does not appear in the Pennsylvania archives or in any of the local histories. In 1776-7 he was ensign of Fifth Company, Seventh Battalion, Philadelphia County Associators, commanded by Col. Isaac Warren. From 1778 to 1780, he was captain of First Company, First Battalion, Philadelphia County Militia. In 1780 he was captain of Second Com- pany, Third Battalion, Philadelphia County Militia, commanded by Lieut.-Col. James Barry. Capt. Amost Sturgis married Rachel Randall. They had a daugh- ter, Hannah, who was married to Allin Ellis.
Allin Ellis, by his wife Hannah (Sturgis) Ellis, had a son, John Randall.
John Randall Ellis, son of Allin and Hannah (Sturgis) Ellis, was born at Mount Pleasant Brant County, Ontario, in 181 1. He is still living and is at the present time (1898) the oldest man in the county. He is a man well informed, self- taught, respected by his neighbors, and much beloved by those who are admitted to the " inner circle." He has led an honest, upright but uneventful life. For thirty- five years as Justice of the Peace he dealt out even justice to all, arbitrated the little
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153
-£
differences of his neighbors, and no doubt saved them endless litigation. To "do good unto all men as ye have opportunity," has been the rule of his faith and practice, and none could ever accuse him of taking an unfair advantage in any business transaction. Gentle as a woman in his sympathy for the poor and unfortunate, but firm as a rock in his convictions of truth, he has left his impress for good on the community. The snows of four score and nearly ten years have whitened his locks and furrowed his cheeks, yet his step is firm and his steady, clear, bold handwriting gives no indication of advancing years. He married Janet Carlyle, daughter of John Carlyle, eldest brother of the distinguished litterateur, philosopher and savant, Thomas Carlyle. Both were born in Eichelfachen, Scot- land. By this marriage he has issue, William Randall.
WILLIAM RANDALL ELLIS, Empire State Society, S. A. R., young- est son of John Randall and Janet (Carlyle) Ellis, was born in Mount Pleasant, Brant County, Ontario, C. W., September 6, 1852. He graduated at the gram- mar school of his native town, which included in its curriculum the higher branches of study. At the age of seventeen, after completing his course, he went to Toronto and there engaged with a large firm in the straw goods business, con- tinuing until 1873, and since then, for more than a quarter of a century, has been a resident of the States. The next ten years he spent in Detroit, Mich., still engaged in the same line of business. He came to New York in 1883 and formed a connection with a large straw goods firm, with which he continued until 1893, when he formed the present firm of Paterson & Ellis, importers of Japanese straw goods. Their dealings are confined strictly to manufacturers, with whom they have established an extensive trade, and are now among the largest in that line of business.
It would be difficult to find one even "to the manner born " more thoroughly imbued with the patriotic sentiments that animate the members of the S. A. R. and kindred societies, than Mr. Ellis. Had he lived in " the days that tried men's souls," he would have followed the fortunes of his gallant paternal ancestor who, whatever his birth or lineage, was ready to sacrifice everything for the cause of American independence. Mr. Ellis was peculiarly fortunate in his selection of his " better half " — better, at least, in the fact that every drop of blood that flows in her veins is purely American, and that the of best New England stock, which includes the Gilletts, the Woodwards, the Griswolds and the Stanleys, each of whom were largely represented among the patriots of the Revolution, and their ancestors are all found among the defenders and patriots of the colonial period. Mr. Ellis married Harriet Winchell Gillett, daughter of Rufus Woodward Gillett and Charlotte Martha Smith, son of John Gillette and Mary Woodward, daughter of Israel Woodward.
leviathan Gillett, the ancestor, came to Dorchester with Rev. Mr. Wareham in 1630, and removed to Windsor with the first immigration. He had ten children, of whom Cornelius was one.
Cornelius Gillett, son of Jonathan, married Priscilla Kelsey, and had a son, Daniel.
Daniel Gillett, youngest child of Cornelius and Priscilla (Kelsey) Gillett, was born July 1, 1679; married Mary Eno and had eight children, of whom/^» was the third.
John Gillett (1), third child of Daniel and Mary (Eno) Gillett, was born Sep- 1 1
154 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
tember u, 1707; married Eliza Ruth Drake and had seven children, of whom JoJni (2) was the third.
John Gillett (2), son of John (1) and Eliza Ruth (Drake) Gillett, was born July 30, 1738; moved to Torrington, 1761. He married Abigail, daughter of Benjamin Catlin, of Harwinton, and had John (3).
fohn Gillett (3), son of John (2) and Abigail (Catlin) Gillett, was born in Torrington, Conn, March 30, 1776; married Mary, daughter of Dr. Samuel Woodward.
Dr. Samuel Woodward, Patriot of the Revolution, was educated at Yale in 1776, and left college to join the army. He enlisted May 26, 1777, in Capt. Brigham's Company. Eighth Regiment, Connecticut Line. He was at Peekskill in the spring of 'jy, and ordered into Pennsylvania in September, under Gen. McDougall, fought at Germantown, Mud River Island, November 12-16, 1777. He completed his medical studies in the office of Dr. Hastings, of Washing- ton, Conn., and of Dr. Daniel Sheldon, of Litchfield, Conn. He began the prac- tice of medicine in Torringford, in 1779; continued twelve years, when he removed to his native place, and subsequently returned again to Torringford. He had over forty students under him at various times. He was a great philanthropist and was beloved as a physician. He excelled as a writer and frequently wrote for the press. His style was vigorous and concise. He married Mary, daughter of Shubael Griswold.
Shubael Griswold, Patriot of the Revolution, was born in Windsor, Conn., December 18, 1725; died in Torringford. Conn., February 23, 1807. The record of his service in the Colonial Wars is certified to by the Adjutant-General of Connecticut under date of November 4. 1895, as follows :
"At a General Assembly of the Governor and Company of His Majesty's English Colony of Connecticut, in New England, in America, holden at New Haven on the 8th day of March, A. D. 1758, Shubael Griswold was appointed Ensign of the 10th Company of the 1st Reg., for the invasion of Canada.
" At a General Assembly holden at Hartford, on the 8th day of March, A. D. 1769, Shubael Griswold was appointed Second Lieutenant of the 10th Company, in the 1st Reg. of Connecticut.
" At a General Assembly of the Governors and Company of His Majesty's English Colony of Connecticut, in New England, in America, holden at Hartford, on the 15th day of March, A. D. 1760.
"This Assembly do appoint Shubael Griswold 1st Lieutenant of the 4th Company of the 1st Reg. raised in this colony."
At the breaking out of the Revolution, Shubael Griswold was among the first to offer his services. He was then living in Torrington. He was captain of the Fifth Company, Fourth Regiment of Connecticut, commanded by Col. Benjamin Hinman, raised on the first call for troops, April and May, 1775, recruited mainly in Litchfield County. Upon the surprise of Fort Ticonderoga, May 10, Governor Trumbull ordered this regiment to march as soon as possible to secure that post and Crown Point against recapture, and request to this effect was also made by the Continental Congress. The regiment reached Ticonderoga in June, and Col. Hinman assumed command until the arrival of Gen. Schuyler. It took part in the operations of the Northern Department until expiration of term of service, Decem- ber, 1775. Regiment suffered much from sickness, and many men were mustered
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155
out in October and November, 1775. During Tryon's invasion of Connecticut, July, 1779. known as the " New Haven Alarm," Capt. Griswold was in command of a company in Col. Sheldon's regiment. He was the son of Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1), son of Edward Griswold, the ancestor.
Edward Griswold, the ancestor, came to America in 1639, bringing his wife and four children with him. He settled first in Windsor, where he was one of the commissioners to lay out lands in Simsbury, 1663 ; he moved to Killingworth (now Clinton, 1664, and purchased large tracts of land there. He married, first, Mar- garet .died August 23, 1670, and had ten children; he married, second,
in 1771, Sarah Bemis, widow of James Bemis of New London. He had twelve children, of whom Joseph was the tenth.
Joseph Griswold, son of Edward ard Margaret ( ) Griswold, was born
November 16, .'649; died July 6, 1672 ; married Mary Gay lord, and had Joseph (2).
Joseph Griswold (2). son of Joseph (1) and Mary (Gaylord) Griswold, was
born January 22, 1677; married Deborah , and had ten children, of whom
Shubael was the second. (See Shubael).
John Gillett, by his wife Mary Woodward, daughter of Shubael Griswold, had a son, Rujus.
Rijus Gillett, son of John and Mary (Woodward) Gillett, was born in Tor- rington, February 2, 1824; removed to Detroit in May, 1862, and engaged exten- sively in the flour and grain business. He subsequently removed to Chicago, where for many years he has been one of the most prominent and public-spirited men, and is known all through the western country. He married Charlotte, daughter of Nathaniel Smith, and had issue, Harriet W., who became the wife of William Randall Ellis.
William Randall Ellis, by his wife Harriet Woodward (Gillett) Ellis, had issue a son, John Gillett.
BANGS— PRENCE-HOPKINS-BREWSTER.
A peculiar interest attaches to the history of the Bangs family, not only because of their achievements in the War of the Revolution, but from the fact of their line of descent from two of the most distinguished of the New England Pilgrims.
The Bangs family of this country are supposed to have descended from the Bankes of England, from the fact that they used the same crest as that used by Sir John Bankes, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, in the reign of Charles I., viz. : A Moor's head, full-faced, couped at the shoulders ppr., on the head a cap of maintenance gules turned up ermine, adorned with a crescent issuant therefrom a fleur-de-lis or. The similarity in the pronunciation of the name indicates that the change might have taken place after the arrival of the family in this country.
Edward Bangs, the American ancestor, was born in England about 1592; died at Eastham, Mass , 1678. He came to Plymouth in the "Anne," which arrived there 1623. He was a member of the Grand Jury 1636-7. He was made a freeman of Nawsett, or Eastham, in 1645. About 1652 he was deputy to the Old Colony Court. He was town treasurer of Eastham, 1646 to 1665 ; selectman for two years. In 1657 he was licensed as a merchant and was for many years
156 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
engaged quite extensively in trade. In 1659 the town being required to equip for military service, Gov. Thomas Prence and Edward Bangs each, agreed to furnish a man and a horse for two years. He had a son, Jonathan.
Capt. Jonathan Bangs, son of Edward Bangs, was born at Plymouth, July 1, 1664. He was selectman three years and deputy to the Old Colony Court ; also treasurer of the town of Eastham. He was a sea captain and also captain of the train band. He married Mary Mayo, daughter of Capt. Samuel and Thomasin (Lumpkins) Mayo, a mariner, son of Rev. John Mayo, of Boston, Barnstable and Yarmouth. Their eldest child was Edward.
Capt. Edward Bangs, eldest child of Jonathan and Mary (Mayo) Bangs, was born September 30, 1665 ; died May 22, 1746. He was a successful merchant. He married, first, Ruth Allen, died June 22, 1738; married, second, Mrs. Ruth Mayo, died August 17, 1747. By his first wife he had a son, Jonathan.
Jonathan Bangs, son of Capt. Edward and Ruth (Allen) Bangs, was baptized May 20. 1707, at Satucket, now Brewster, Mass. He married Phebe, daughter of Stephen Hopkins (4), son of Stephen (3), son of Giles, son of Stephen (i), of the Mayjlower.
Stephen Hopkins, the fourteenth signer of the Mayflower Compact, came with his wife Elizabeth and two children Giles and Constanta, daughters Damaris and Oceanus, (the last was born at sea) also servants Edward Uoly and Edward Lister, the " duelists." He was a leading man in the Plymouth Colony. He and Winslow were sent by Gov. Bradford to confer with Massasoit, from whom they secured a pledge of friendship. He was a member of the Governor's Council from Plvmouth, 1623-4-5-6, and one of the volunteers to aid Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut in the Pequot War.
Giles Hopkins, son of Stephen and Elizabeth ( ) Hopkins, was born in
England and came with his father on the Mayflower to Plymouth. He removed thence to Yarmouth. He married, October, 1639, Catharine Wheldon, and had Stephen and other children.
Stephen Hopkins (1), son of Giles and Catharine (Wheldon) Hopkins, was born September, 1642; died October 10, 1718. He resided in Eastham. He married May 23, 1667, Mary, daughter of William Merrick, and had nine children, of whom Stephen was the sixth.
Stephen Hopkins (2), son of Stephen (1) and Mary (Merrick) Hopkins, was
horn in Eastham, July 15, 1670. He married and had a daughter Phebe,
who married Jonathan Bangs.
Jonathan Bangs, by his wife Phebe (Hopkins) Bangs, had a son Allin. who, after his father's death, December 7, 1745, was placed in charge of Samuel Howes, of Yarmouth.
ALLIN BANGS, Patriot of the Revolution, only son of Jonathan and Phebe (Hopkins) Bangs, was born March 23, 1733-4, at Satucket, now Brewster, Mass. He was a private in Capt. Jonathan Crowell's company at "Lexington Alarm," April, 1775, also in Capt. John Nickerson's company, Col. Nathaniel Freeman's regiment, September, 1778, and was also in other service. He was a farmer and was drowned while boating hay from the marshes, September 14, 1793. He married Rebecca Howes, of Yarmouth, (born April 16, 1732) daughter of Joseph Howes and Elizabeth Paddock. Joseph Howes was the son of Jeremiah Howes, who married Sarah Prence, daughter of Gov. Thomas Prence, of Yarmouth.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 57
Governor Thomas Prence was the son of Lechlade Prence, county Gloucester, near Cuckdale, in Wiltz. He came in the Fortune to America, in 1621, which arrived at Plymouth soon after the Mayflower. He died March 29, 1673. He was one of the first settlers of Nansett, or Eastham, and removed to Duxbury in 1635. He was chosen Governor of Plymouth Colony in 1634, and served until 1638 ; again in 165;, till 1673. He was assistant, 1635-7 and 1639 to 1657. He was an impar- tial magistrate, was distinguished for his religious zeal, and opposed those he believed to be heretics, particularly the Quakers. In opposition to the clamors of the ignorant he procured revenue for the support of the grammer schools in the colony. He gave to Wamsutta and Pometacum, the sons of Massasoit, the names of Alexander and Philip, as a compliment to their warlike character. He married Patience, daughter of Elder William Brewster, of the May/lower.
Jeremiah Howes, of Yarmouth, who married the daughter of Governor Prence, was a representative of the first General Court after the charter of 1691. He was the son of Thomas Howes, of Yarmouth ; 1638, one of the grantees, con- stable 1644, representative 1652-3-8-9.
Allin Bangs, by his wife Rebecea (Howes) Bangs, had seven children, of whom Joscp/i was the second.
JOSEPH BANGS (2), Patriot of the Revolution, second child of Allin and Rebecca (Howes) Bangs, was born in Yarmouth, Mass., July 5, 1757; removed to Hawley, Mass., about 1780; died there June 30, 1809. He was a private in Capt. Jonathan Crowell's company from Yarmouth, Mass., April 19, i77r, "Lexington Alarm." He was also on the roll of Capt. John Gray's com- pany, July 8, 1775, three months; private, Capt. John Gray's company, enlisted 1775, discharged December 31, 1775; corporal, Capt. Elisha Hedges' company, detached service militia; marched on an alarm at Falmouth, Sept. 13, 1779; dis- charged Sept. 17, 1779; also served on coast defence, details of which do not appear on the records. He married Desire, daughter of Capt. Nathaniel Sears, son of Samuel, son of Josiah, son of Silas, son of Richard Sears, the ancestor, an early settler of Plymouth Colony; was in Marblehead, 1638, and earlv in 1639 he, with others, crossed to Cape Cod and settled Mattakeese, to which they gave the name Yarmouth. Joseph Bangs, by his wife, Desire (Sears) Bangs, had Joseph (3).
Joseph Bangs (3), son of Joseph (2) and Desire (Sears) Bangs, was born at Hawley, Mass., Oct. 10, 1783; died at Springfield, Mass., Sept. 27, 1839. He went to Springfield as a lad of sixteen, full of push and energy, with a determination to help his parents in the heavy burden they were trying to carry, and on the day he reached his majority he cleared his father's farm from incumbrance, carried the deed to his father, and prepared the way for his three brothers to go to Springfield and engage in a good business. He engaged in various business enterprises, in which he was successful and accumulated quite an estate. He was liberal in his charities, and delighted to help those who were in need. He married first, May 23, 1809, Mary Warner, of Springfield, born Jan. 11, 1786, died May 24, 1819; second, Julia Tuttle, daughter of Caleb Tuttle. By his first wife he had a son, JosiaJi Dennis.
Josiah Dennis Bangs, eldest child of Joseph and Mary (Warner) Bangs, was born in Springfield, Mass., July 12, 1S10. He received a good education, came to New York city, where he was for some time engaged as a reporter for the daily press, and in 1852 became one of the proprietors of the Sunday Cotcrier,
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under the firm name of Smith & Bangs. The paper was a successful weekly, published at 15 Spruce street. Mr. Bangs continued his connection with it until his death in 1853. He married, in 1829, Pauline Augusta Brooks, of Augusta, Me., and had issue, George Henry.
George Henry Bangs, son of Josiah Dennis and Pauline Augusta (Brooks) Bangs, was born at Augusta, Me., June 6, 1831 ; died at Roselle, N. J., Sept. 12, 1883. With the courage, decision and determination of character for which his ancestors were famous, with a keen insight of human nature which few possess, and with a self-consciousness of his own power, it was some years before he found his proper sphere in life. Reared on a farm with limited advantages, he nevertheless acquired a thorough education and began life as a school teacher, and later he learned the moulder's trade at Portland. In 1853, probably through his father's influence, he received the appointment of policeman at the Crystal Palace, New York City, where he continued until the building was destroyed by fire. In the meantime he made the acquaintance of Chief of Police Matsell, who was quick to perceive in him the qualities of an efficient officer and skillful detect- ive. He introduced him to Allan Pinkerton, of Chicago, who was at that time looking for capable men for his newly-formed detective agency. He soon made young Bangs his chief lieutenant and found him thoroughly capable and trust- worthy, ready for any and every emergency.
Mr. Bangs was associated and frequently in consultation with Mr. Pinkerton at the time of the latter's discovery of the plot to assassinate President Lincoln, at Baltimore, en route from Harrisburg, Pa., to Washington, for his first inaugura- tion, and though temporarily engaged elsewhere at the time, his counsel and co- operation were no doubt important factors in the case. Soon after the beginning of hostilities, Allan Pinkerton was summoned by President Lincoln to Washington, to organize the Secret Service of the United States, which, under the name of E. J. Allen, proved the most efficient arm of the military service of any connected with the Northern army. " A man's foes are those of his own household," and the worst enemies of the government were often those nearest the President. With the assistance of his able lieutenant, Mr. Bangs, Pinkerton succeeded in frustrat- ing the plans of traitors and professed friends of the government, and was no doubt often the means of saving the army from disaster by the capture of spies with valuable information for the enemy, and vice versa capturing important communications of the greatest advantage to our government. Mr. Bangs, as general superintendent of Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, was an an important factor in building up and establishing the world-wide reputation which this detective agency has for ferreting out crime and bringing criminals to justice.
One who knew him intimately said of him at the time of his death, in 1883: " Thirty years ago, after a preliminary experience in a local police department of the country, he joined his efforts with the oiganization of Mr. Pinkerton. For this distinguished citizen he was a helper and a strong arm. In the long-continued crusade, lasting for more than a generation of years, which his chief has conduc- ted against criminals, Mr. Bangs was an ever alert and active and brave toiler. His body never tired, his brain did not rest, his spirit never flagged. He was skillful and ingenious. His thoughts were deep, and the profoundest schemes of the bad were but surface things as compared with his deeper wisdom. No rob-
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159
ber, nor forger, nor murderer could conceal the track of his guilt from this man's determined pursuit.
" Concurrent with the thought of his chief, he was a patriot towards his country in those ' days which tried men's souls,' and when the government called for aid his thought and strength was dedicated to its cause. * * * But out- side his public work Mr. Bangs appears to our admiring and affectionate memory as a man whom we knew and loved. He was broad-brained and great-hearted. A lion in the line of his work, he was still most gentle and tender and loving. Among the five hundred men connected with the Pinkerton agency and the thousands who knew him, not one will raise his hand and say that he was aught else than always and everywhere a perfect type of a gentleman. The man with
GEORGE DENNIS BANGS.
whom he toiled, his chief and his associates, here bear witness to the beauty of his life."
Mr. Bangs married, January 1, 1853, Magaret Kirk, of New York, a native of Scotland, born 1832, died December 31, 1891. Their children were George Dennis, Ada Pauline, Maggie Pauline and Louise Augusta.
GEORGE DENNIS BANGS, Empire State Society, S. A. R., only son of George Henry and Margaret (Kirk) Bangs, was born in Chicago, 111.. Sep- tember 13, 1856. He came with his parents to New York at the age of twelve years and was educated at public schools and at the College of the City of
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New York. The training for his life work was under the immediate instruction of his father in the service of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which he entered immediately on leaving school. His environment led to the rapid develop- ment of those inherited qualities which made his father famous in the peculiar profession he chose. It is said that "poets are born and not made." It is equally so of a successful detective. Not one in ten thousand possess the peculiar qualifications for this position, viz., invincible courage, coolness, self-possession, quick decision, ingenuity, with a power of penetration border- ing on the supernatural. To what extent these qualities have been devel- oped in Mr. Bangs can be judged only by the position he holds at the present time, viz., that of general superintendent of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. His experience in outside work has not been equal to that of his father's, but as one of the executive heads of this great institution — in guiding, controlling and directing the vast army of men engaged in ferreting out crime and aiding in the execution of the laws, he has shown administrative ability of the highest order. To the valuable aid, counsel and warm friendship of William A. and Robert A. Pinkerton he is greatly indebted for the success he has achieved and consequent promotion.
Contact with the criminal class and the use of the means for their conviction and punishment has not hardened the heart of Mr. Hangs, nor in any way im- paired the fine susceptibilities of his nature. To those who enjoy his friendship and to all law-abiding citizens he is the genial, kind, courteous gentleman, sans penr el sans reproche. With a natural pride for the achievements of his ancestors and a desire to perpetuate the exemplary qualities, he joined the Empire State Society, S. A. R. This, however, is the extent of his society connections, his whole time being devoted to his family outside of his professional duties. It is a little remarkable that while there is no immediate connection between his own and that of his wife's family, that both lines meet at the beginning of the Pilgrim settlement of New England, viz., that of Elder William Brewster, the spiritual guide of the Pilgrims
Mr. Bangs married Emma Wilder Holmes, daughter of Christopher Columbus Holmes, son of Henry, son of Jedediah, son of Jonathan, son of Joseph, son of Rev. John, son of William Holmes, the ancestor.
In " English Surnames," Vol. I., p. 74, the name of Holmes is defined as flat- land, a small island, a deposit of soil at the confluence of two waters. Flat grounds near waters are called holms.
William Holmes, the ancestor, was of Scituate, Mass., 1646; made a freeman 1658. He removed to Marshfield and died there Nov. 9, 1678. He married Elizabeth , and had nine children, of \\\\om John was the youngest.
Rev. John Holmes, son of William and Elizabeth ( ) Holmes, was born
in England and died in "Duxburrow'" Mass., December 24, 1675. He was a student under President Chauncey, 1658, and succeeded Rev. Ralph Partridge as pastor of the church at Duxbury. As a preacher he was sincere but mild and gentle. His ministry, though not remarkably long, was productive of much good. He married Mary, daughter of John Woods, alias Atwood, of Plymouth. She survived him and became the third wife of Governor William Bradford. Rev. John Holmes had a son, Joseph.
Joseph Holmes, son of Rev. John and Mary (Wood) Holmes, was born in
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Duxbury, July 9, 1665; died at Kingston, June 26, 1753. He married for his second wife, Mary, daughter of Wrestling Brewster ; he was the son of Love, son of Elder William Brewster, of the Mayflower.
Love Brewster, son of Elder William Brewster, of the Mayflower, was admitted as freeman of Plymouth, 1636. He married Sarah, daughter of William Collier, whose sister Mary became the second wife of Governor Prence. Love and Sarah (Collier) Brewster had a son, Wrestling.
Wrestling Brewster, son of Love and Sarah (Collier) Brewster, married Mary , and had a daughter Mary, who became the wife of Joseph Holmes.
Joseph Holmes, by his wife, Mary (Brewster) Holmes, had a son, Jonathan.
Jonathan Holmes, son of Joseph and Mary (Brewster) Holmes, was born at Kingston, Mass., July 5, 1709; died there August 5, 1787. He married Mary Waterman and had Jedediah.
Jedediah Holmes, son of Jonathan and Mary (Waterman) Holmes, was born in Kingston, February 21, 1749; died Oct. 12, 1829. Married Sarah Adams, daugh- ter of John and Thankful (Washburn) Adams, and had a son, Henry.
Henry Holmes, son of Jedediah and Sarah (Adams) Holmes, was born in Kingston, December 28, 1784; died at Alfred, Me., April 2, 1852. He married Mary Wilder, daughter of Nathaniel Wilder, of Middlebury, Mass., and had a son, Christopher Columbus.
Christopher Columbus Holmes, son of Henry and Mary (Wilder) Holmes, was born at Alfred, Me., October 16, 1817, He went to New York and engaged in the dry goods business. He married Emma Windust, of New York City, and had issue, Emma Wilder, who became the wife of George Dennis Bangs.
George Dennis Bangs, by his wife, Emma Wilder, had issue, Ethel Pauline, George Harold, Ruth Ludlam, Lucy Allen, Priscilla Wilder.
CROMBIE- CHOATE— MURRAY.
The Crombie family for more than three hundred years has been noted for its firm maintenance of the principles of civil and religious liberty and its stubborn resistance to every form of tyranny and oppression. The family was originally seated in the county of Mialothian, Scotland. They bore on their shield, Arms — Vert, a cross bottonoe argent on a chief of the last a lion passant gules. Crest— A demi-lion rampant guardant or, holding a fleur-de-lis gules. The two principal emblems signify that the family participated in the second crusade under Richard Cceur-de-lion and later gained a victory over the French. A branch of the family crossed over to Londonderry, Ireland, and there maintained a stubborn defense against the religious persecution of James I.
John Crombie, the first of the name in America, emigrated from the north of Ireland and settled in Londonderry, N. H., in 1720, where a number of Scotch- Irish families from Londonderry, Ireland, had settled a short time previous. John Crombie married, Nov. 17, 1721, Joan Rankin, youngest child of Hugh Rankin, who came from the County of Antrim, Ireland, and settled in Londonderry in 1723. They had issue, Hugh, William, James, John, Elizabeth, Mary Jane, Nancy, Ann.
JAMES CROMBIE, Patriot of the Revolution, son of John and Joan (Rankin) Crombie, was born in Londonderry, N. H. He carried on the business
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of currier and tanner. He married Jane Clark, daughter of Robert Clark, of Londonderry. He joined the Minute Men on the " Lexington Alarm," April, 1775; was commissioned first lieutenant in Baldwin's regiment, N. H. Militia, and served September to November, 1 776 ; was first lieutenant Sec ond N. H. Militia, and served November, 1776, to September, 1778. He moved to New Boston, N. H., in 1773, where he remained until his death. He was one of the most useful mechan- ics of his day. " His ready wit created mirth for the gloomy and his Christian fervor prompted to acts of piety." By his wife, Jane (Clark) Crombie, he had issue, William, Robert, John, James, Samuel, Letitia and Clark.
John Crombie, third son of James and Jane (Clark) Crombie, was born July 30, 1770. He resided most of his life in New Boston, N. H. He was an exten- sive builder and a man much respected by his townsmen. He was a man of sound judgment, with a generous and benevolent disposition. He was often called to assist in compromising difficulties between conflicting parties who placed great confidence in his wisdom and impartiality. He was a man of great hospitality and kindness. He married Lydia Clark, daughter of Ninian Clark, whose mother was Rebecca Potter. They had issue, eight children, of whom Samuel Cooledge was the youngest.
Samuel Cooledge Crombie, youngest child of John and Lydia (Clark) Crombie, was born at New Boston, N. H., April 20, 18 14. In 1850 he removed to Nashua, N. H., to engage in the business of manufacturing doors, sash and blinds, and other house finishing, being associated with his brother, John Crombie, under the firm name of J. & S. C. Crombie. During his residence in Nashua, Samuel Crombie was prominent in business circles and occupied a high social position. He also filled important positions under the city government and was interested in public improvements. In 1857 he removed to Burlington, Vt., where he carried on an extensive wholesale business in the manufacture of doors, etc. He was a man of great enterprise and was successful in all his business undertakings and enjoyed the confidence of the community where he resided. He married Susan Choate, daughter of Capt. William Choate, who was nearly related to Judge Rufus Choate and other distinguished men of this family. The line of Capt. William Choate was through Capt. William (3), son of William (2), son of Capt. William (1), son of Francis, son of Thomas, son of John Choate, the ancestor.
The progenitors of the Choate family were originally from Holland and were known as Van Choate. They are supposed to have been among the refugees who fled the inquisition of the bloody court of Alva, in 1567. Their first settlement in England was probably near the boundary between Essex and Sussex Counties.
Jo/in Choate, son of Robert and Sarah Choate was baptized June 6, 1624, in Groton, Baxford, Colchester, England. He came to New England in 1643 and settled in Chebacco, Ipswich, Mass., where he became a large land owner and proprietor. The earliest mention of the name in the records of Ipswich is in 1648, where the name of John Choate, at the age of 24 years, appears in a list of i6i persons who subscribed to a fund to pay Major Daniel Denison forgiving
military instruction. He died December 4, 1695. He married Ann , and
had eight children, of whom Thomas was the fifth.
Thomas Choate, son of John and Ann ( ) Choate, was born in Che- bacco, Ipswich, about 1668. He was a man of strong mind and quick perceptions. He was a great farmer and a large land holder and was known as " Governor"
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 163
Choate. He represented his town at the General Court for four years. He was a man of remarkable intelligence. His views on the currency question at that early date are worthy of repetition at the present time, viz.: "The increase of cur- rency in bills of credit as a remedy for depression in trade and depreciated bills already in circulation, is like seeking to restore a corrupt state of the blood by high living." He and his wife were the first white settlers on Hog Island, where he resided for thirty-five years. He married, in 1690, Mary Varney, daughter of Thomas and Abigail (Proctor) Varney; she died Nov. 19, 1733. He married, second, Mrs. Mary Calif, widow of Dr. Joseph Calif. He married, third, Mrs. Hannah Burnham. He died March 31, 1745. Be had nine children, of whom Francis was the sixth.
Francis Choate, son of Thomas and Mary (Varney) Choate, was born Sept. 13, 1 701, in Chebacco, Ipswich. He was known as Esquire Francis. He became prominent in the church as well as the town. He was long a ruling elder in the church. It is said of him that he was a tower of strength in the " Whitfield movement," and to the close of his life the right hand man of his pastor, Rev. John Cleveland. He was an ardent patriot, and as he lay dying his old pastor hurried to his bedside, saying, " Burgoyne has surrendered !" The dying man waved his hand, with patriotic joy lighting up his face, but was too far gone to speak. He married, April 13, 1727, Hannah Perkins. They had eight children, of whom William (1) was the second.
Capt. William Choate, Patriot OF THE Revolution, son of Francis and Hannah (Perkins) Choate, was born in Chebacco, Ipswich, Mass., Sept. 5, 1730. He was particularly fond of and a close student of navigation, and at the age of twenty-five was captain of a ship. He followed the sea to southern ports in the winter and carried on the farm during the summer. It is said of him that lie was " the handsomest man on the island." He was quick to respond to the call of his country in the Revolution. He enlisted early in 1777, took part in the battle of Bennington, Aug. 16, 1777; battle of Bemis Heights (near Saratoga), Sept. 19, 1777; battle of Saratoga and surrender of Burgoyne, Oct. 17, 1777. At the surrender of Burgoyne he threw away his own musket and captured a better one from the enemy. He resumed his seafaring life in 1779 and was soon after captured by a British cruiser and imprisoned at Halifax in an old ship. He was soon after exchanged and accepted a commission on the privateer Count de Grasse, and during his four months' service captured a number of prizes, two of which he took to Newburyport, Mass. His share of the prize money amounted to $1,100, which he refused to accept, saying " it looked too much like robbery." He was subsequently captured and imprisoned in a French man-of-war at Martinique, and took part in a naval battle between the French and English near the West Indies. The French were defeated and he was taken prisoner by the English, but was soon after released.
The Massachusetts Revolutionary Rolls give the following details of his service in the Revolution : " William Choate appears as steward on a pay roll for the brigantine Tyrannicide, commanded by Allen Hallet, Esq., on her last cruise, Time of entry, Feb. 22, 1779; when discharged, April 30, 1779: time of service, 2 months, 9 days." [Vol. 39, p. 112.]
" William Choate, Master-at-Arms, also on muster roll fur the company of the brig Tyrannicide. Time of entry, July 23, 1776; time discharged, Dec. 18, 1778." [Vol. 39, p. 115.J
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" William Choate served as seaman, on pay roll for the officers, seamen, etc., belonging to Mars in the services of the State of Massachusetts Bay, from the date of their several engagements to March 12, 1 781, being the time they were discharged. Commanded by Simon Sampson. Time of entry, June 26, 1780; discharged March 12, 1781 ; time of service, 8 months, 22 days." [Vol. 39, pp. 208, 218.]
" William Choate appears as steward on a pay roll of the officers, seamen and marines belonging to the ship Mars, in the service of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, James Nevins, Esq., Commander. Time of entry, March 18, 1781, time discharged, June 12, 1781; time of service, 2 months, 2 days." [Vol. 39; pp. 217, 231. J
" His name also appears on a 'list of officers, seamen, etc., belonging to the ship Mars, who are entitled to share in the brig Tyral, provided she is made a prize.'" [Vol. 39, p. 213.I
" William Choate, steward on pay roll for the brig Active, commanded by Allen Hallet, Esq., June 3, 1779; 2 months, 39 days. Served as private in Capt. Burram's company, Col. Michael Jackson's regiment, from Feb. 20, 1777, to Dec. 31, 1779. Eighth Regiment in the Continental Army; service, 34 months, 11 days. As corporal of Gloucester, served in the same regiment from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1780.'' His name appears as private on "A State pay roll of Capt. David Low's company of volunteers, fiom 32d Regiment of Militia, in the County of Essex, in the State of Massachusetts Bay, in persuant of a Resolve of Sept. 22, 1777. Did duty in the Northward Department and in guarding Gen. Bur- goyne's troops to Prospect Hill in the regiment commanded by C. Smith, Major, allowing them eight days to return."
Capt. Choate married Mary Geddings, daughter of Job and Margaret (Low) Geddings. They had ten children, of whom William (2) was the third.
William Choate (2), son of Capt. William and Mary (Geddings) Choate, was born Aug. 10, 1759; died January 4, 1835. He sold half his farm on Hog Island to George Choate and removed, August 30, 1785, to Londonderry, N. H. He was selectman six years and representative to the legislature, 1796-7. He married Susannah, daughter of Humphrey Choate. They had a son, William (3).
Capt. William Choate (3). son of William (2) and Susannah Choate, was born in Chebacco, Ipswich, April 18. 1785. At the age of twenty he made a voyage of three years on the ship Reserve, and afterwards commanded the same vessel. The War of 181 2 so endangered his business that he sold his ship in a foreign port and returned home on a French vessel. The ship was shortly after- ward captured by a British privateer and burned. He represented the town of Londonderry two years in the legislature. He was moderator of the town meet- ing in Londonderry four years, and fifteen in Deny. He was five years director of the Derry Bank and forty-three years trustee of the Pinkerton Academy. He was a man of kind and generous impulses and Christian character. He married Mary Burnett Pinkerton, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Nesmith) Pinkerton. They had six children. Susan, the second child, born August 5, 1818, was married to Samuel C. Crombie.
Samuel C. Crombie, by his wife Susan Choate, had issue, Mary Pinkerton, married George R. Holt, U. S. N , and William Augustus ; Lydia Clark and Rufus Choate, deceased.
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I65
WILLIAM AUGUSTUS CROMBIE, Vermont Society, S. A. R., son of
Samuel C. and Susan (Choate) Crombie, was born in New Boston, N. H., April 20, 1844. He was taken by his parents to Nashua, N. H., at the age of six years. He was educated at the Pinkerton Academy, of Deny, N. H., and at the High School of Nashua. At the age of sixteen he entered the freight department of the Boston, Lowell & Nashua R. R. Co., and worked his way up through the several grades to the position of cashier. After an experience of three or four years he accepted an offer from Mr. Lawrence Barnes to go to Burlington, Vt., and engage in the lumber business. His natural aptitude and quick perception soon enabled him to master the details of the business, while his uniform courtesy and strict
WILLIAM AUGUSTUS CROMBIE.
integrity won for him the confidence of his associates, as well as the numerous business firms in this line in the Eastern States and Canada. In 1869 Mr. Barnes disposed of his interest to a new organization known as Shepard, Morse & Co., and in 1876 succeeded by the Shepard & Morse Lumber Company, in which Mr. Crombie was a large owner and manager. Other business interests of con- siderable importance occupied a portion of his time, notably the Vermont Life Insurance Co., the Porter Manufacturing Co., the American Milk Sugar Co., the Baldwin Manufacturing Co., the Brush Electric Light and Power Co., etc. In addition to this he was President of the Burlington Shade Roller Co. and a stock- holders in several other companies.
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Few men have ever obtained a stronger hold on a community. Every legiti- mate public enterprise that tended to the improvement of the city, he gave it his personal and often his financial support. Much of the prosperity of Burlington during his residence there is due to his efforts. Naturally of a modest and retiring disposition, he held himself aloof from public office, but honors were literally thrust upon him. At the earnest solicitation of his friends he permitted the use of his name for the mayoralty, and was twice elected to that position. He left it as he entered it, with clean hands and a clear conscience, and i.ever a breath of scandal tainted his wise administration of the duties of office. He made himself familiar with and gave his personal attention to the details of every department. In 1890 he was appointed Colonel on the staff of Governor Ormsbee. His exten- sive lumber interests brought him in connection with leading men throughout the country. As a lumber expert he has few equals and probably no superiors. In 1894 circumstances led to his removal from Burlington, and he has since been located in New York City, where he has made hosts of friends and has largely increased his lumber trade. Mr. Crombie was an original member of the Vermont Society, S. A. R., organized in 1889, and has since been an enthusiastic supporter of that society. He married, June 2, 1868, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. Orlando D. Murray, a descendant of Isaac Murray, one of the original settlers of Londonderry, N. H. Their children were, William Murray, Arthur Choate, and Maud Elizabeth.
WILLIAn HURRAY CROMBIE, Empire State Society, S. A. R., eld- est child of William Augustus and Sarah Elizabeth Crombie, was born in Burling- ton, Yt., Nov. 6, 1 87 1. His knowledge of the elementary branches was obtained at the public schools of his native town. He was graduated at the University of Vermont, in 1893. He spent some time in travel abroad, adding largely to his fund of practical knowledge, and subsequently resided for a year in the South. He chose a business rather than a professional career, and in 1895 became associ- ated with his father in the lumber business. Bright, active, alert, industrious, he lost no time in acquiring a knowledge of the business, which he has since been able to put to good account, as shown by the increase in the volume of trade. He inherits the best qualities of his ancestors, notably the genial nature, as well as the determined perseverance to overcome difficulties and face adversities. He is a member of the Sigma Phi Society, Empire State Society, S. A. R., and of Squadron A., N. G. N. Y. At the outbreak of the war with Spain, he was one of the number chosen to make up Troop A., N. Y. V. C, and served throughout the war in this country and in Porto Rico. Troop A., with Troop B. of Second Regular Cavalry, formed the body guard of Gen. Miles in Porto Rico. He is a thorough American and has a laudable pride in his ancestors, whose loyalty to the established forms of government under which they have lived has never been questioned.
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WILLIAM JONES SALOMON.
From " Contemporary Biography," by permisson of Atlantic Publishing and Engraving Company.
WILLIAM JONES SALOriON is a worthy descendant of a Revolutionary worthy, Haym Salomon, who, moved by patriotism, advanced to the federal government and its leading men first and last, three-fourths of a million of dollars, no part of which was repaid to him or has ever been made good to his heirs. To quote the Senate Committee which reported upon the claim in July, 1862 : "The facts show that Haym Salomon, a native of Poland, settled in this country as a merchant and banker before the Revolution and was a zealous supporter of the War for Independence; that he was a man of unquestioned integrity, great financial resources and ability, and enjoyed the highest confidence of our public men of the time, as is shown by the most abundant proof as stated in the reports of the various committees ; that his large private fortune and the proceeds of his extensive commercial earnings were freely applied to the use of the Revolutionary government and its various public men and the agents of foreign governments friendly to our cause whose supplies were for the time cut off; that during the war he was imprisoned as early as the year 1775, at New York, in the loathsome prison where he contracted the disease which ended in his death just after the close of the war."
It was soon after the arrival of the British at New York that he was arrested as a spy, and he was released from prison at the instance of the Hessian com- mander who wished to secure the enforced use of his knowledge as a linguist. He quietly used his position for the succeeding three years to further the escape of American and French prisoners, and this, with acts of like character showing his sympathies, led to another order for his arrest which he evaded only by flight. During his subsequent residence at Philadelphia, he acted as agent in negotiating loans for the government from France and Holland, was paymaster-general to the French forces, supplied the leading men in Congress with funds out of his own purse, advanced large sums to the government on no security but simply his confidence in its good faith, and loaned nearly equal amounts to Robert Morris, whose associate he was in meeting the financial difficulties which, needless to say, were not the least perplexing and discouraging accompaniments of the struggle.
At his death he left certificates of loans to the government and continental liquidated dollars in the amount of $353,000, evidences of advances to Robert Morris in the sum of $211,000, a claim of $92,000 on the United States for addi- tional loans, and unpaid advance of $10,000 to the Spanish ambassador and small loans innumerable to Madison, St Clair, Steuben, Wilson, Randolph and many others, the first of these declaring at the time that while always certain of aid from Haym Salomon, resort to the latter was attended with "great mortifica- tion as he obstinately rejects all recompense." In 1827 the Father of the Consti- tution wrote to the son of Haym Salomon relative to the personal advances here mentioned: "The transactions shown by the papers you enclose were for the support of the delegates to Congress, and the agency of your father therein was solicited on account of the respect and confidence he enjoyed among those best acquainted with him."
Haym Salomon left behind him a young wife— sister of a Revolutionary
1 68
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officer of distinction, Col. Isaac Franks — and four children, including two sons, the elder of whom died in 1822, at New Orleans, where, after retiring from the office of purser in the U. S. Navy, he held a responsible post as cashier of a branch of the famous United States Bank; and the younger Haym M., then but three weeks old, who after a business career in New York City, where he married
WILLIAM JONES SALOMON.
a daughter of Jacob Hart (a Baltimore merchant who headed a subscription for the relief of Lafayette's'detachment of the American Army), reared a large family and devoted the latter part of his life to an effort to secure for his children from Congress a return of at.least a portion of the funds loaned the government by his patriotic father.
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In addition to what has already been said of these advances, it is right and proper to mention that at least six reports of congressional committees o&n these claims are included in the published government documents, and they are all frankly to the effect that the loans were made and never repaid. A summary of previous findings on the subject is included in the report of the Library Committee of the Fifty-second Congress, second session, under the date of February, 1S93. All of these findings resulted in nothing, from the fact that in every instance the examination of the claims and vouchers— a tedious process, from the nature of the case— delayed action and relegated the reports to the fag end of the calendar, where, as a matter of course, they were never reached early enough to pass both houses and receive executive signature. Indeed, the descendants of Haym Salo- mon in the end forgave the United States Government the debt it owed, and asked, in the appeal to the Fifty-second Congress, only that in lieu thereof a medal be struck " as an heirloom for the family and in consideration of what their ancestor did at a time when it was all-important to have such services for the benefit of the United States." Needless to say, in view of what has been stated on the justness of the original claim, the committee reported in favor of "a gold medal to cost $250 to be struck and presented to the lineal descendant and heir" of the Revo- lutionary financier and patriot ; but, with admirable conformity to the long history of the indemnity claim, this latest report came "too late for consideration." Nevertheless, the record is there, and the story of the nation's obligations to Haym Salomon cannot be told so coldly, even in outline, as not to awaken that internal sentiment of gratitude and respect which is better than the outward show of honor, and which sentiment becomes all the stronger when the visible and official mark of recognition is seen to be unrighteously withheld.
Of the children born to Haym M. Solomon, one became specially representa- tive of the family in business talent and success, namely, Col. David Salomon, who, after a careful private education in New York City, began his practical career at Mobile, Ala., in the office of a firm of cotton factors of high standing and large connections. His success there is attested by his appointment as director of the bank of Mobile, which was then one of the most important finan- cial institutions in the country, just as the city named was at that period the second export point in the United States. In 1855 Col. Salomon, after contracting marriage with a lady who was a granddaughter of Capt. De Leon, of Revolu- tionary fame, and great-granddaughter of the famous old merchant of New York, Hayman Levy (he numbered John Jacob Astor among his clerks), removed with his wife and young son, William J., to Philadelphia, where as a prominent mer- chant he took the lead in calling together the conference of business men of the country shortly before the Civil War in the hope of avoiding the impending conflict by a compromise - the means whereby three times before an open rupture between the Northern and Southern sections of the country had been prevented.
In 1864 he took a trip abroad and a year later became a resident of New York where, his first wife having died in 1861, he married a daughter of Uriah Hendricks, a wealthy importer of the Metropolis. For several years he was vice- president of the German-American Bank and trustee of the Imperial Fire Insur- ance Company, of London, and a director in the Guarantee and Indemnity Company. Later, he became the financial agent in New York of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, a most responsible position of which he was the first incumbent
170 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
and which he held to his death in 1875. It is remarkable that a man devoted to business so closely from his youth up should have developed a thorough liking for literature and gained reputation as a writer by a number of able contributions to periodicals on general as well as financial subjects. Besides, he was a man of attractive address, a charming conversationalist and a genial host.
As these representatives of the family for three generatious were interested in public concerns and were influential not only in local but in federal affairs, so the present occupant of that honorable post, William J., son of the colonel, grandson of Haym M. and great-grandson of Haym Salomon, has shown unmistakable interest in measures affecting the great interests of the country. William had hardly begun his education at the Ferris Latin School, in Philadelphia, when a severe illness interrupted his studies, and he was finally sent to New York where his health improved and where his instruction was resumed in 1864, under private tutors, as a member of the household of the Rev. Jaques J. Lyons, then and after the honored rabbi of the oldest Hebrew congregation in New York. The youth finished his elimentary studies at the Columbia Grammar School where, among his fellow-pupils, were Felix Adler, Cleveland Coxe, Frank Lathrop, the author Kobbe, and other students since well known.
In accordance with the wishes of his father, who felt the full force of the practical argument in favor of an early and long apprenticeship to a business career, William in his fifteenth year began his mercantile education in the inter- national banking-house then known under the name of Philip Speyer & Co., whose members, with one exception, resided abroad. The young man very quickly saw the need of a mastery of German and French and soon thereafter perceived also the value of thoroughness in his calling with the importance attached to it by the foreign heads of the house. For these reasons he broached the idea of a sojourn at Frankfort-on-the-Main, the seat of the home establishment of the firm. All objections on the score of his youth — he was still in his eighteenth year — and the somewhat delicate state of his health were overcome, and he embarked for London where he was received under the care of Robert Speyer, the English resident partner, and of Mr. John S. Gilliat, then a director and afterwards governor of the Bank of England. After an enforced stay of some months in London, a stay (due to the Franco-German war) which was by no means misapplied, he reached Frankfort, where he passed a busy, studious, counting-house novitiate of two years, evidence of whose value is found in the fact that subsequently during the three years beginning with 1875 the business of the house in New York was left in the joint hands of himself and another youth.
In 1882 he was admitted by the brothers Speyer as a partner in the house, an honor the greater in view of the conservation of the family partnership, and took full charge of the American establishment. Up to that time the latter, however successful, had been regarded largely in the light of a branch of the foreign concern, whose chief centers of business were at London and Frankfort. The house of Speyer & Company had made wonderful advances in the meantime, first by its farsightedness in recommending to German investors American government securities when these were being offered in Germany at forty cents in gold and while many banks discouraged such takings from lack of faith in the survival of the federal government ; second, in placing the great issue of the Central Pacific bonds; third, and later, in shunning the negotiation of doubtful American securi-
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 171
ties at a time when such investments were excessively large, owing (1) to the plethora of money in Germany after its successful Franco-Prussian war, and (2) to the profits realized on bonds of the two classes as above named. It was thus seen that only sound securities were handled by Speyer & Company, and therefore while many of the houses suffered in credit they remained in command of the full confidence of investors, a fact which was soon evidenced by their success in placing the large bond issue of the Southern Pacific Railway of California.
With the prestige of the European house at this high state, Mr. William Salomon came to the management of the American branch, and his skill, judg- ment, courage, clear and quick insight and equally prompt decision have since then enlarged the scope of the New York house and brought it to a position along- side of the European establishment. In addition to the railroads already men- tioned. Speyer & Company became the issue firm of the Pennsylvania, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Illinois Central, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific railways, and now as a railroad issuing house challenges the leadership on this side of the Atlantic. In acquiring practical knowledge of the resources of the country, a knowledge essential to success in the field under notice, Mr. Salomon has repeatedly crossed the continent and visited every large city in the Union. Safety of investment has been the first consideration in his mind alike in conformity with the traditions of the house of Speyer & Company and in keeping with his own high principles of justice and business fairness. But close as Mr. Salomon has been to business interests since the fifteenth year of his age, these have not engrossed his attention to the neglect of his duties as a citizen of the republic, of whose capacities for the future no one makes a broader estimate. In 1891 he was chairman of the finance committee of the State Democracy, whose object was to advance the interests of sound money by securing the nomination of Grover Cleveland for the Presidency and the repeal by Congress of the silver purchasing clause of the Sherman Act. In The Forum of July, 1895, there appeared a review from his pen, of that campaign and a statement on the currency problem which, it was forseen, would become the issue in the canvass then casting its shadows before. Perhaps there has nowhere appeared a clearer as well as a more succinct statement of the "silver question" than the following from the article under notice :
" Now, the silver people probably want two things, or one of two things — either they want silver producers in the United States to receive a bounty, or they want what they call cheap money. It is sure that a tyro in finance could logically show that their aim would prove itself entirely illusory. Take the wish for the bounty to the silver producers in the United States; only as long as the credit of the United States would suffice to keep the two metals on the parity at present existing would the bounty exist. The moment the two metals should be torn apart, values of all commodities and the price of labor would be adjusted accord- ingly ; that is, they would still find their measure as before, in gold, with the premium which would then exist added. So that the owner of bullion receiving the coined silver dollar would find its purchasing power no greater than it was when he performed the simple operation of selling bullion at the price fixed by the markets of the world. If the silver man's dream has been cheap money, he will find that that desideratum is not attained by dishonesty or the destruction of confidence. The inflation of the circulating medium will not be stimulated if gold
172 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
and silver part company, because the mine owner then will not find the bounty he had grasped at. And even were an inflation of the currency to follow the free coinage of silver, it needs very little experience in financial affairs to assert it as an axiom that not inflation — not a large amount of circulation per capita — makes what is called cheap money, but it is a perfection of clearance and exchange, and confidence in trade and in the industrial situation, and naturally faith in the integrity and solvency of borrowers."
In May, 1896, The Forum published a second article by Mr. Salomon, bear- ing on the presidential canvass then impending. In this article he presented in cogent form the argument in favor of legislation for the gradual retirement of the United States legal tender notes. Such arguments from such a source would be final were the public, or a large part of it, not in a frame of mind to accept con- clusions in finance from those who, to say the least, have no practical knowledge of the subject, rather than from authorities like Mr. Salomon, who speak from an arduous business training, long trade experience and much thought on all its interests, in addition to wide connections with the best financial minds in both hemispheres. Moreover, the opinion of financiers like Mr, Salomon should carry with them a weight not attached to those of politicians, because these opinions are based on a breadth of view which sees no prospect of continuing and lasting business success, save by the adoption of financial systems which shall contribute their due part to the welfare of the whole country and all its classes, not alone the bondholders but the ordinary traders, the manufacturers, the farmers and the mechanics.
Mr. Salomon married, in 1892, Helen Forbes Lewis, a daughter of William McKensie Forbes, of Taine, Rosshire, Scotland.
It is hardly necessary to add that the facts given in this short biographical sketch prove beyond cavil that the lineal descendants of the Revolutionary patriot, Haym Salomon, from his son to his great-grandson, William Salomon, came honestly by their capacity for the management of large financial interests ; that they inherited from him and kept bright that patriotism for which he gave his means and his life; and that they have preserved intact the high sense of honor and love of justice and fairness as between man and man, which were the char- acteristics of one who in his younger days was the friend of the Polish patriots, Kosciusko and Pulaski, and in his later life the coadjutor of the financial head of the Revolution, Robert Morris, as well as the financial prop of a long list of the remarkable leaders of that remarkable period, including James Madison, worthy to be joined with Washington and Jefferson in the list of our first three great Presidents. All honor, not only to Haym Salomon, the Revolutionary financier and patriot, but to his high-minded great-grandson and living family representa- tive, William Jones Salomon, the upright banker, accomplished writer and zealous advocate and promoter of honest and wise government for these United States.
Mr. Salomon retired from the firm of Speyer & Co., on the first of January, 1899, and it is stated that he will become chairman of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 173
WILLIAH ALEXANDER SfllTH.
The clean of the New York Stock Exchange is not a man of words, and perhaps few of his business associates are aware that he comes of a peculiarly interesting Pilgrim and Revolutionary ancestry. It is a sufficient honor in the eyes of Wall street that he is numbered in the list of presidents of the exchange, an office which, it has been well said, men of the highest position in the New York business and social world have been eager to obtain. As the oldest active living member of the exchange and as still chairman of the trustees in charge of its most important fund, he takes precedence, moreover, over all others when the history and membership of that body are the theme. Neither is " the street " in its devotion to business concerned with the fact, we imagine, that while with advancing years he has shifted some of the burdens of the counting-house upon other shoulders, he has at the same time rather increased than lessened his interest in religious and philanthropic work. Yet, to obtain a true idea of the man, the latter phase of his activity must be measured as well as that other which connects him intimately with the commercial leaders of the republic in whose number he is indeed enrolled.
It was early in the last century that the family ancestor, William Smith, emigrated from Scotland to New York and was honored in a son, who commanded in the Continental army a company which he had himself raised for Col. Malcolm's regiment, noteworthy as one of the first organized in this State. The credit due to patriots like Capt. Smith, who was wounded at the battle of White Plains and again at Monmouth, will be heightened in our eyes if we keep in mind that at the time men's souls were tried the Tories were in the majority in this commonwealth, and the prospect was full of discouragement to those who took the other side. The brave officer proved, after the war, a successful merchant of Philadelphia, where he became not only a trustee of the Girard Bank, but a director of the United States Bank, around which the politics of the whole country circled in more than one Presidential canvass. The Revolutionary veteran was, furthermore, a religious man, being an elder in the Presbyterian church, which in that day still retained intact the strong impress of its Genevan founder, and of the latter's rugged Scotch disciple, John Knox. Fortunate in escaping death in the field and fortunate also in business, Capt. Smith was equally happy in his marriage with Rebecca Hobart, a sister of Bishop Hobart, of New York, and a descendant of Edmund Hobart, who closely followed the first pilgrims over from England and settled at Hingham, Mass. Those who have read the annals of New England know that the Hobart family furnished many of the strongest representatives of that section, including in lineal descent one who, besides serving as an officer in King Philip's War, was speaker of the Massachusetts House of Deputies, while another in 1674 was treasurer of the General Assembly.
Capt. Smith died in 1838, leaving a son, Robert Hobart Smith, who, born in 1792, in Philadelphia, studied law with Jared Ingersoll, of that city, but after- wards entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. In 1813 he took to wife, Mary Potts, a member of a family second to none in standing and influence among the settlers of the Keystone State. Its first representative, Thomas Potts, who was a member of the Society of Friends, came from Wales about 1680 and was a sheriff of Germantown in r7o2. Among the earliest who established iron works
174
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
in that State was this settler's son John, who became the founder of Pottstown, where the latter's son Jonathan, in turn, was prominent as a medical director in the Continental army, and as such in charge of the hospitals of the northern, and subsequently of the middle department. It is said that he personally dressed Arnold's wounds after the battle of Saratoga— a service which he must have per- formed with zeal at the time when the American general stood high in the confi- dence of Congress and the people, yet how naturally the reflection rises that it would have been well for Arnold if he had lost his life in the battle which was won largely by his dashing courage. These distinguished descendants of the
WILLIAM ALEXANDER SMITH.
Welsh Quaker ancestor were matched by a number of others, including that offshoot of the stock named Thomas who was a member of the Provincial Assem- bly and lost his life from exposure on the way to attend a session.
From this union of a daughter of the eminent Pennsylvania family with the descendant of Scotch and English settlers, sprang William Alexander Smith, their fourth son. He was born September 9, 1820, and entering a counting-house at the youthful age of thirteen, came to New York in 1843 as clerk to the stock broker- age house of Coit & Smith, the latter member of the firm being his uncle. But a year afterwards he joined the stock exchange, having thus at the present time (1899) been a member of that body for over half a century, or for more than half the period it has been in existence. In 1845 he became a member of the firm named, and,
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1 75
within a few years thereafter, by the death of both senior partners, its head, a position which he retains to this day. Mr. Smith's prominence as a banker and broker is attested by the fact that he was treasurer of the stock exchange in 1865-6, its president in 1866-7, and is now chairman of the trustees of its gratuity fund. As there is no active member of the exchange who can claim with it a connec- tion of equal length, so there is probably no one among its membership who began his business career so early in life, and both facts are suggestive of his inherited vigor and endurance in connection with the record of his ancestry on either side as taken from the annals of the three States in which they rose to prominence.
Aside from his still active connection with the affairs of the stock exchange, Mr. Smith is at the present time vice-president of the Continental Trust Company, yet he speaks of himself as having retired from active affairs. This retirement, as we have hinted, cannot apply in any sense, however, to his connection with church and benevolent organizations. At the present time, to give instances in point, he is president of the Sheltering Arms, trustee of the Trinity School and of the Society for Promoting Religion and Learning, vice-president of the New York City Mission, vice-president of the executive committee and manager of St. Luke's Hospital and the Home for Incurables, treasurer and trustee of the General Clergy Relief Fund, and trustee of the Parochial Fund of the Protestant Epis- copal Church. Incidentally it may be mentioned that for several ye.irs he occupied the highly responsible post of treasurer of the New York Bible Society. If all the sons of the church were equally active in her best work the question would never arise whether she is justified of her children.
Mr. Smith married a daughter of the Rev. Levi Bull. D.D., and six years after her death, which occurred in 1857, he was united in marriage to Margaret, daugh- ter of George and Serena Mason Jones. His children are Robert Hobart Smith, who was for many years associated in the banking-house with his father; Clara H., wife of the Rev. L. C. Stewardson, and William Alexander Smith, Jr. The city residence of the family is on Madison avenue, and their country home is West Hill, Nyack-on-the-Hudson. Mr. Smith is of middle stature, well preserved, of cheerful temperament and with an eye whose look of kindly shrewdness mirrors the genuine affability and the sound nature of the man within. He can look back upon a business career remarkable not only in its success but, as has been shown, beginning earlier than is the case with most others and continuing beyond the usual limit of active life. It is to his eternal honor that in seeking at length to withdraw from the pressure of business cares and responsibilities he has at the same time continued in their full force the accumulated connections with relig- ious and philanthropic interests which, besides taxing his time, involve trusts higher than those of any other character and yield no return save the con- sciousness of duty faithfully performed.
How extraordinary the contrast between the daily scenes witnessed in the stock exchange, the very business heart of a metropolis which is itself the finan- cial centre of the Western Hemisphere, and the spectacle presented by New York during the Revolutionary War, when the Continental forces in which Capt. Smith bore a commission and performed a patriot's duty were driven from their environs ! Yet let us not forget that it was the heroic sacrifices and the final triumph of these patriots which made possible a development that is still far from its climax. And
176 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
not less should it be remembered that it is to the qualities inherited from such ancestors, as well as to their good use of these transmitted advantages and their own opportunities, that men like William Alexander Smith owe their splendid success.
GOULD- CHAHBERLAIN -PRATT -MOULTON.
The Gould and allied families of America have, from the beginning of their settlement in New England, been among the most earnest and faithful promoters of civil and religious liberty. " Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy God's, thy country's and truth's," has been the great underlying principle which has actuated them through each succeeding generation, and their influence has been everywhere felt for good. Their personal achievements form an interesting chapter in American history.
The Gould family of Great Britain and the United States derives its origin from one of those ancient Normandy stocks which were transplanted to English soil with the advent of William the Conqueror. It is probable that Robert de Percheval. Lord of Tvery, in Normandy. " who was one of those that embarked in the Conqueror's expedition," was allied to the Goulds, since that name was per- petuated through his sons. One of these, Alceline, bore the surname Gouel, and was commonly known as Alceline Gouel de Percheval, while Alceline in turn had a son known as William Gouel de Percheval.* Henry Gould, lord of the manor of Brudenells, had an estate in Chesham and Iver in 161 5.
About the beginning of the thirteenth century John Gole, or Gold, appears as a crusader. Collinson gives the following curious account of him : " In the time of Henry III., Ralph de Vallibus, being obliged to send men in the service of that king when he undertook a crusade to the Holy Land, amongst others dispatched one John Gole out of his manor of Scarborough, who went accordingly to Jeru- salem, and was present at the siege of Damieta (1217), where he fought valiantly; and after his return, as a reward for his merits, this Ralph de Vallibus gave him an estate in Scarborough (by deed still extant) about A. D. 1229."!
From this time various branches of the family figure extensively in the annals of Somersetshire, Hertford, London, Devonshire and Buckinghamshire, several of the name holding important commissions in the army and navy, and others attain- ing prominence as bankers, merchants and members of the learned professions. In 1374 Adam Gould, of the city of Exeter, held the position of Receiver-General. In 1375 Rev. Thomas Goulde was instituted rector of the church of Moulsoe, in Buckinghamshire. In the time of Charles I., James Gould was a wealthy mer- chant of Exon, and successively held the officer of Head Steward of Exon (1630), Receiver (1645), High Sheriff of Exeter County (1646), and Mayor of Exon (1648). Holding the latter office at the time of the execution of Charles I., he refused to receive the proclamation of the Cromwellian usurpers, turning the messengers out
*See Collinson's " History of Somersetshire," Vol. II., p. 52.
t Collins' "History of Somersetshire," Vol. II., p. 172. See also "Visitations of the County of Devon," p. 18. The Goulds are descended from John Gould, of Scarborough who, for his valor at the seige of Damieta, A. D. 1217, was granted in 1220, an estate at Scarborough, County of Somerset, by Ralph de Vallibus.
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 177
of doors. He was fined ,£200 for this act of contempt, hut fought the judgment in the courts and secured its reversal. The only other mayor of England whose loyalty to the king led him to follow a similar couse, was hanged at his own door for his temerity.*
In more recent times, also, members of various branches of the Gould family in England, collateral to the New England line, have attained to distinguished honors. Sir Nathaniel Gould (knighted April 14, 1721) was a member of Parlia- ment and director of the Bank of England. His wife, Frances Hartopp, was the daughter of Sir John Hartopp, Bart., and great-granddaughter of Oliver Crom- well. She is often mentioned in Pepy's diary. Sir Henry Gould (died 1783) was a justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Sir Nicholas Gould was a promi- nent citizen of London about 1650. Sir Charles Gould assumed the name of Morgan as a result of his marriage into that distinguished family. t Sir David Gould, Esq., of Shapham Park, County Somerset, rose to distinction in the British navy. He was Admiral of the Red and Vice-Admiral of England. He served against the American colonies during the Revolution, " was present at Rodney's victory over Count de Grasse, commanded ships at the siege of Bastia and Calci in Lord Hotham's action, and the Audacious at the memorable battle of the Nile."}
The ancestors of that branch of the Gould family which appeared in Massa- chusetts in early colonial days were seated from a remote period at Bovington, § a village about twenty-four miles from London, in Hemel Hempstead parish, Hertfordshire. About 1235, " Thoman Goulde de Bovington " appears as one of the trustees for the neighboring church of Flanden.|| From the middle of the fifteenth century the line can be traced without interruption, as follows :
Thomas Goold, of Bovington, was born about 1455, and died in 1520. His will shows him to have been the owner of large estates. He had brothers John and William, and by his wife Johan had children, Thomas, Richard, John, Alice, William, Henry and Joan.
His will, proved September 28, 1520, at the Archdeacon's court of Hun- tingdon, but now at Peterborough, is as follows :
" In dei noie ame. In the yere of or lord MCCCCCXX the xxix day of August I Thomas Goold of Bovington the elder in good mynde and hole memory make my testament and last will as in man followeth :
" First I bequeth my sowle to almyghty god and to o' blissed lady saint Mary and to all the holy copany of Hevyn my body to be buryyd in the church yard of saint Laurence at Bovyngton
" Itm I bequeth to the high aulter ijs
" Itm to the moder church of Lincoln vjd
" Itm to the rood light xijd
*See John Prince's ■• Worthies of Devon," (London, 1810) pp. 436-7. for an extended ac- count of Hon. James Gould.
fThe Morgans, lords of St. Clare and Tiedsgar, are descended from Rhys, King of South Wales (■' History of Hertford," Clutterbeck, Vol. II., pp. 89, 190, 191).
ICrusader's " History of Hertfordshire,"' Vol. III., p. 294.
§Sir Nathaniel Gould, mentioned above, was of this branch of the Goulds and in his will directed that he should be buried at Bovington.
|| Sir Henry Chauncey's "Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire" (London, 1826), Vol.
II., p. 476.
178 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
" Itm to or ladys light xijd
" Itm to saint Laurence light xijd
"To saint Lenards light viijd
" Itm to saint Nicholas light viijd
" Itm to the mayntaynyng of the torches vjs viijd
" Itm to the gildyng of saint Laurence tabernacle v mks
" I will have a prest syngyng for my sowle helth ii yers
"Itm I bequeth to Richard Goold my Sonn a gray horse a long cait a muk cart a ql whet a cow vj shepe ii acre wood in langley bury wood vc tymber [at the] howse wherein I dwelt sntyme myself vc spoks a plough and the gerys that longith thereto
" Itm I bequeth to John Goold my Sonn x mks of lawfull money to be payd by the age of xxj yeris. A bullok and vj shepe
'• Itm I bequeth to Alys my Daughter x mks of lawfull money to be payd at the age of xix yerys if she erst mary erst to have it. A bullok and vj shepe
" Itm I bequeth to Willia Goold my Sonne x mks of lawfull money to be payd at the age of xxj yerys. A bullok and vj shepe
" Itm I bequeth to Harry Goold my Sonne x mks to be payd at the age of xxj yerys. A bullok and vj shepe
"Itm I bequeth to Johan Gould my Doughter \ls of lawfull money to be paid at the age of xxix yens if she erst mary erst to have it. A bullok and vj shepe
Also if it so happen that any of theis my childrene depart wl in age I wolle that oon half of the sayd money shall retne to Johan my wiff and the other half to the sonnys of my bodie lawfully begotten
" Itm I bequeth to the mendyng of the high way betwixt Bovington and Chepfeld xx5
" Itm to John Swetyng my Servaunt iijs iiijd
" Itm to Isabell Swetyng my svnt iijs iiijd
" Itm to Richard Mechet my svnt vjs viijd & C tymber at Langley bery wood
" Itm to Nicholas Alewen my svnt iijs iiijd
" Itm to evy oon of my godchilderne iiijd
" Itm to the howse of Ashrige vjs viijd
" Itm I will that Johan my wiff shall have all my woods Russhis croft oonly to her self she payyng the prestys wags for ii yere and v mks to the giltyng of saint Laurence tabernacle. Also she shall have Ml tymber Ml spokis owt of the hows wherin I dwelled sytyme my self
" Itm I will that Thomas Goold my eldest Sonne shall have all my woods at Langley bury oonly to him self payyng the money to the v childerene above sayd and all my horses and all my tymber unbequethed
" Itm I bequeth to John Goold my brother vjs viijd
" Itm I bequeth to Willia Goold my brother vjs viiijd C tymber at Langley bury wood
" The Residue of all my goods nother given nor bequethed I give and bequeth to Johan my wiff and to Thomas Goold my eldest Sonne whome I do mak and ordayn myn executors and John Goold and Willia Goold supvisors
" Witness Ser Richard Aleyn depute under the vicar Richard Gould, Thomas Smyth, Richard Mochet w4 divs other "
Richard Gold, second son of Thomas and Johan ( ) Goold, is described
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 179
as " of Bovington and Stoke Mandeville," the latter place being about twelve miles from Bovington. He was born about 1479, and died, according to the old brass tablet in the Bovington church,* on the 29th day of August, 1531. His wife Joan died in January, 1537. The wills of both are preserved. They left two sons, of whom the eldest,
Thomas Goolde, of Bovington, left issue. He was born about 1500 and died in 1547. By his wife, Alice, he had eight children— Thomas, John, Richard, Joan, Agnes, Elizabeth, Bridget and John the younger. His will indicates that he was the possessor of considerable estates which were divided between his children. His third child,
Richard Gold, of Bovington and Stoke Mandeville (a place about twelve miles north-northwest from Bovington, between Windover and Ayelsbury), Bucks,
son of Thomas and Alice, was born about 1530. Wife Jane, widow of
Weeden. In his will, date Stoke Mandeville, 1558, Dec. 4, and proved October 10, he desires to be buried at Bovington ; mentions wife Jane, sons Henry and Richard, daughters of Alice and Jane Weeden. Witnessed by Thomas Gold and others. The will is somewhat decayed and a portion of it destroyed. Children : Henry, of Chalfont St. Peter, died 1605; wife Alice; Richard, born about 1553. The will of his widow, Jane, dated Stoke Mandeville, 1559, June 26, and proved 1560, March 29, makes bequests to her son, William, and three daughters not named. She was probably a second wife of Richard and not the mother of his children.
Henry Gould (5), of Barkhampstead, St. Mary, alias Nortchurch (about five miles north-northwest from Bovington), born about 1555, son of Richard, of Stoke Mandeville. His will, dated 1603. January 3, and proved April 10 (book 19, folio 162), mentions wife Alice, son Henry and his eldest son William ; son's daughter Elizabeth, son's son Henry Gould, brother's son Richard Gould, and appoints his son Henry, executor. Children: Henry, of Brudenells, born about 1573, died 161 5, July 29, married Mary Russell; John, of Bovington.
Henry Gould (6), of Chalfont, St. Giles (a place near Amersham and about five miles from Bovington ; William Penn is there buried ; Chalfont, St. Peters, is less than two miles further south), born about 1573, son of Henry and Alice ; died 161 5, July 29; wife Mary Russell. Had lands in Chesham and Iver and was lord of the manor of Brudenells. Children : William, eldest mentioned in grandfather's will; John born 1594, died 1623, married Sarah Tredway ; Henry, of Iver, died
1644, no children ; Anne, married Winfield ; Katherine, married Honner;
Elizabeth, mentioned in grandfather's will.
His eldest son, Henry, also of Oak End, Iver, born 1683, married Mary Layght, 1702, May 12, and died 1739, June 21; she died 1768, July 30, aged 84. A marble slab in the floor of the church of Chalfont, St. Giles, shows the place of their burial and bears the family arms. Their son, Thomas, left no son and the
estate passed to his daughter, Sarah, who married first, Sewall; second, Sir
Richard Ellis, died 1769, January 19; third, Sir Francis Dashwood, Bart., born December, 1708 (see Lippincott's " History of Buckinghamshire," Vol. II., p. 22, Vol. III., p. 246).
*This tablet contains the following inscription: "Of your charitie pray for the soul of Rychard Gold and Joan, his wife, which Ric. decessed ye xxix day of August, an 1531, whose soul Jehu perdon." (Clutterbuck's " History of Hertfordshire.")
l8o SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Iver is a village near the southern extremity of Buckinghamshire, about nine miles south of Bovington and less than five miles north of Windsor. The prop- erty of Henry Gould was close to the church of Chalfont, St. Peter. Lyson says, in his " Magna Britannia," Vol. I., pp. 585-6, " Bishop Kenneth supposes Roger de Iver to have succeeded to the manor of Iver after Robert Doiley, who pos- sessed it at the time of the Norman survey. Roger de Ivery and Robert Doiley were contemporaries and sworn friends ; both came over with William the Con- queror and had large grants of land. Roger de Iveri had large estates in the County of Buckingham, but it does not appear that he ever possessed this manor, which in the survey of Domsday is called Ivre and Ivrehan, being described as the property of Robert Doiley, from whom it passed with his daughter in marriage to Milo Crispin, and after his death to Brien Fitz-Count, the brave defender of Wallingford Castle, who, we are told, kept his Christmas at Ivre in the year 1143. Having afterward entered into a religious order, the king (Henry II.) seized on all of his estates. * * * The manor of Oak End, at the northern extremity of this parish, is now the property and seat of Francis Sackville Lloyd, Esq., who inherits it by female descent from the family of Gould."
And later, p. 606, he says of Great Missenden : " At this place was an abbey of block cannon, etc. An old register of the convent dates its foundation in 1 r 33 {temp. Henry I.). An ancient court book of the manor says that it was founded by the Doyleys and augmented by the Missendens pursuant to a vow. Sir William de Missenden gave the manor of this place to the abbey. * * * The patronage was afterward in the Brudenells."
The author of this book is lineally descended in the maternal line from Nigell D'Oyley, brother and successor of Robert. He left no son and his first American paternal ancestor came from Great Missenden.
In a letter from John Lane to Job Lane, dated 1678, March 3, and printed in the "Genealogical Register," Vol. XL., p. 232, the writer says: "Mrs. Mary Gould is yet living and remains single still. Henry Gould is dead almost a year since."
Charles A. Gould, of New York, visited the parish church, Chalfont, St. Peter, in May, 1897, and took an exact copy of the gravestone over the grave of Henry Gould, by placing a large sheet of paper over the same and taking a rubbing im- pression, which he has now (1899) in his possession. The stone was in an excel- lent state of preservation, being inside of the church next to the chancel, the organ covering a small portion of it.
Richard Gould, son of Richard and Jane (Weeden) Gould, was born about 1553. He removed to the parish of Chesham, County Bucks, where he died in 1604, leaving four sons — Richard, Jeremy, John and Zacheus. Of these, Jeremy and Zacheus removed to New England.
Zacheus Gould, the American progenitor of the Topsfield, Mass , branch of the family, of Hemil Hempsted, Great Missenden, son of Richard Gould (3), was born in Bovington, in 1589, died at Topsfield, Mass., 1668. The exact date of the arrival of himself and family in New England is not definitely known, but the records show him to have been at Weymouth, Mass., as early as 1639. A little later he removed to Lynn, where he was proprietor of a mill, while as early as 1644 he appears at Topsfield, Mass., where he permanently resided, acquiring a large estate of some 3,000 acres. By his petition, dated May 29, 1644, Topsfield was
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 181
set off from Ipswich as a separate town. The first building erected on his estate was a block-house for the protection of the inhabitants against the Indians.
Zacheus Gould was a man of strong personality, of decided convictions, zealous in maintaining his rights, with a strong sense of justice and liberal in his religious views, a trait of character which the Puritans could never tolerate. He had an altercation with Governor Winthrop in regard to the naming of Topsfield, and a suit-at-law with Governor Endicott respecting the boundaries of their adjoin- ing estates. He maintained friendly relations with Quakers and Baptists, although both were proscribed, and more than once was severely fined for entertaining Quakers. Incensed by such persecution he thereafter refused to attend church services and was subjected to additional fines for this misdemeanor.
Almost the first, if not the first, iron works in America were established in 1668 or 1669 on the lands of Zacheus Gould, at Topsfield, where the first iron castings were made, he and his son John being heavy shareholders in the enter- prise.* An ancient deed of the transfer of the works is in the possession of Mr. Charles A Gould, of New York, of which the following is an abstract:
December 25, 1670, Mr. Gould quitclaimed to " Simond Bradstreet of And- over, gent., John Ruck of Salem, merchant, Thomas Baker of Topsfield, yeoman, and the rest of the part owners of the Iron works in Rowley Village, of whom the grantor is one, * * * all that my p'cel of upland and arable ground * * * in Rowley Village containing * * * eighty acres * * * on p' whereof the said iron works now standeth, bounded by a walnutt tree growing by the brook, commonly called the fishing brook, so up to a bastion tree bounded with ye land of Samuel Simonds on the southeast, and from ye bastion tree upon a straite line to a poplar tree standing west, or to the northward of the west, bounded with the land of ye sd John Gould, and from the poplar tree upon a straite line to a poplar stake & heape of stones by it, east or to the northward of the east bounded with ye land of ye sd John Gould & John Newmarsh and soe downe as the pond goeth to the walnut tree againe." The consideration for this land was £22 10s. Masses of slag may still be found here. The bog-ore used was dug from meadows in Danvers, Ipswich, Boxford, Middletown, Topsfield and Saugus. Four shillings and sixpence was the price paid per ox-cart load.
" Upon consideration that Henry Leonard the lessee, is behind of paying a great p' of the last year's rent and little or no stock provided, and that the sayd Leonard hath left the sd works and is fled for debt, and hath left them in great danger to be burnt and lost, there being no care taken to prevent danger of fire by reason of the defects of the chimneys, &c , and of the dam by breaches, &c. It is therefore agreed and concluded That forthwith there be a reentry made of the house and works, with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging, and to take into possession of the said owners. And mr. Bradstreet, maior Gn Denison, mr. Rucke, Ens. John Gould and corp'l Putnam, or any two of them are desired, and hereby empowered to make a reentry thereof in the name, and for the use of the rest of the owners and to proceed according to law with any that may oppose the same which wee will approve and justifie as wittnes our hands this 31:1: '74-
" Also it is referd to the above sd part owners or any 2 or 3 of them to
*See -Essex Institute
Mining and Quarrying and Smelting of Ores in Boxford," by Sidney Peeley.
182 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
let out the said works, or to take care for the improveing of them by procureing coale & myne & hireing workmen to make iron by the tun and to do what elce they judg nessesary for the good & advantage of the owners, and what is necessary to be disbursed about the same, every owner is to pay and beare his proportionable pt of charges and disbursements.
"Simon Bradstreete, Daniel Denison,
"John Rucke, John Gould,
"Nathaniell Putnam, John Putnam,
"John Safford, John Wilde,
"Thomas Andrews. " Memorandum that this 6th day of April, 1674, the owners of the above sd Iron works had lawfull and quiett possession resigned and delivered to them of the house, works and all appurtenances thereunto belonging, and did accordingly make there reentry, and tooke what then was in being or to be found into there possession, as in former times & had the lease formerly made to Henry Leonard delivered up by his wife to the said owners in the presence of
" Edmond Bridges, John Bridges, " Daniell Block, and (a marke.")
Rev. William Hubbard, the historian, of New England, writing in or about 1680, mentions the business here. He says : " As the country had hitherto begun to nourish in most English manufactories, so liberty was this year (1645) granted to make iron, for which purpose a work was set up at Lynn, upon a very commo- dious stream, which was very much promoted, and strenuously carried on for some considerable time; but at length, instead of drawing out bars of iron for the country's use, there was nothing but contentions and law suits, which was but a bad return for the undertaking. However, it gave occasion to others to acquaint themselves with that skill, to the great advantage of the colonies, who have since that time found out many convenient places where very good iron, not much inferior to that of Bilboa, may be produced, as at this day is seen in a village near Topsfield."
These iron works afterward came into possession of Capt. John Gould. A deed from Capt. John Gould, dated May 21, 1686, transferring about 2,000 acres of land, including the iron works, to his sons, is now in possession of Mr. Charles A. Gould, of New York.
Zaccheus Gould, by his wife, Phebe ( ), had issue: Phebe, Mary and
Martha, born at Hemel Hempstead, England, and Priscilla and John at Great Messenden.
Capt. John Gould, only son of Zaccheus and Phebe ( ) Gould, was born
at Great Messenden, England, June 21, 1635; died at Topsfield, Mass., in 1710. He was made a freeman in 1665, yet was chosen selectman of Topsfield in 1663, continuing in office for fifteen years. In 1675-6 he was a member of the " Three- County Troop," which served during King Philip's War. In 1688 he commanded the Topsfield militia and was perhaps the most outspoken of all the patriots in opposing the arbitrary government which James II. sought to impose upon the New England colonies under Dudley and Sir Edmund Andros.
Upon a warrant of August 5, 1686, issued on "information * * * of several treasonable and seditious words spoken by John Gould, of Topsfield, against our
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 183
Sovereign Lord the King,"* Mr. Gould was arrested and lodged in Boston jail. In a presentment found against him by the Court of Special Sessions, August 19, 1686, he is described as "John Gould, Sen., otherwise called Lieut. Gould, of Topsfield." and it is asserted that " at a Riotous Muster of armed men gathered together by him, the aforesaid John Gould as their pretended officer at Topsfield * * * he, the said John Gould, * * * did against the duty of his Allegiance, and in terror of his Majesty's liege people, maliciously, wickedly, treasonably and advisedly speak and utter these malicious, treasonable and seditious speeches following, viz.: ' If the County was of his mind they would keep Salem Court with the former Magistrates, and if the County would go the rounds he would make the first, and would go on and keep Salem Court, and would have his company down to do it.' And further, he, the said John Gould * * * maliciously, advisedly and treasonably did say and utter these malicious treasonable and seditious words following, viz.: That he 'was under another Government and had sworn to another Government, and did not know this government, and this in manifest contempt of his Majesty's laws and Government here in New England, to the evil and pernicious example of all others in the like case offending, and against the peace of our said Sovereign Lord the King, his Crown and dignity.' "
Capt. Gould was released August 25, 1686, with the imposition of a heavy fine. Three years later, in 1689, with the advent of William, Prince of Orange, Gov. Andros was apprehended and banished from the colony; while in 1690, under the ensuing liberal government, Capt. Gould was elected deputy from Tops- field to the General Court, and subsequently twice reelected. It is said of him that " his literary qualifications were good ; he wrote a very good hand in the fashion of the day in which he lived." He died in the seventy-fifth year of his age, leaving the reputation of an honorable, public-spirited and religious man, morally as well as physically brave, and of sterling integrity. He married Sarah (born March 9, 165 1; died January 20, 1708), daughter of John Baker, and had issue, John, Sarah, Thomas, Samuel, Zaccheus, Priscilla, Joseph, Mary.
Zaccheus Gould (2), fourth son and fifth child of John and Sarah (Baker) Gould, was born March 26, 1672; died April 29, 1739. He was selectman for many years. He married, January 21, 1701, Elizabeth (born December 15, 1679; died June 21, 1740), daughter of John Curtice, and had issue, Elizabeth, Mary, Priscilla, John, Sarah, Abigail, Zaccheus, Elieser, Susannah.
Ellezer Gould, eighth child and second son of Zaccheus and Elizabeth (Curtice) Gould, was born in Topsfield, Mass., May 29, 1720. He served in the French and Indian war and accompanied the expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 1758. He moved, in 1761, to Douglass, Mass. He married, first, Elizabeth Smith (born July 8, 1718, died March 27, 1753), daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Smith; married, second, February 25, 1755, Phebe Gould (born September 22, 1716), daughter of John Gould, of Boxford. By his second wife he had Bezaliel, Jedediah, Aholiab and Ebenezer.
BEZALIEL GOULD, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Eliezer and Phebe Gould, was born in Topsfield, Mass., July 4, 1756; died March iS, 181S. It is noteworthy as a patriot that his birthday preceded the Declaration of Inde- pendence by just twenty years. His first service in the Revolution was as private
fMass. Hist. Col., Series 3, vii., 150.
1 84 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
in Capt. Bartholomew Woodbury's company, of Douglass, Mass., Col. Learned's regiment, December 9, 1775; also served in Capt. Job Knapp's company, Doug- lass, Mass., Col. Nathaniel Tyler's regiment, July 27, 1780-95; he was also lieuten- ant of militia at Woodstock, Conn. He lived in Douglass until 1790 and then moved to Woodstock, Conn. He married, first, Bathsheba Robinson (born March 3, 1761, died November 2, 1803) daughter of Silas and Susannah (Moore) Robinson; married, second, January 13, 1805, Dinah (born December 5, 1758, died August 16, 1851), widow of Moses Hill, and sister of his first wife. He had issue by his first wife, Reuben, Ophir, Otis, Claressa, William, Phebe, Bathsheba, Susannah, Sophia, Silas, Calvin.
Ophir Gould, son of Bezaliel and Bathsheba (Robinson) Gould, was born in Douglass, Mass.. March 27, 1781, He moved with his parents to Woodstock. He moved to Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, N. Y., and later to East Pembroke, Genessee County, N. Y. He married, first, Rhoda Marcy, daughter of Jedediah Marcy, son of Jedediah (2), son of Jedediah (1), son of Moses, son of John Marcy, the ancestor.
The name appears to have come into Normandy with Rollo, A. D. 912 (it was then Von Marcy), thence went to England with William the Conqueror, A. D. 1068, and became very common in Cheshire, where the orthography is now univer- sally Massey or Marsie. In the patents of King John, A. D. 1208, mention is made of one Radius de Marcy.
John Marcy, of Woodstock, Conn., was born in 1662. Tradition says that he was the son of the High Sheriff of Limerick, Ireland. He joined Elliott's church in Roxbury, and later moved to Woodstock, Conn., of which he was one of the original thirteen founders. He married Sarah, daughter of James and Sarah (Draper) Hadlock, of Roxbury, Mass. Sarah Draper, the wife of James Hadlock, was probably the daughter of James Draper, born in Roxbury, Mass., 1654, died there April 30, 1698, who was a soldier in King Philip's war (married, February 18, 1681, Abigail Whiting, granddaughter of John Dwight, from whom President Dwight, of Yale College, descended), son of James Draper, born in Heptonstall, England, 1618; died in Roxbury, Mass., 1694; came to America about 1650 and became a manufacturer of cloth, owning a number of looms; son of Thomas Draper, of Heptonstall, England, a cloth manufacturer. John Marcy had eleven children, of whom Moses was the sixth son and seventh child.
Moses Marcy, sixth son and seventh child of John and Sarah (Hadlock) Marcy, was born in Woodstock, Conn., April 18, 1702. In 1732 he moved with his family of five children to what is now Southbridge, Mass., but at that time almost a wilderness. He erected a saw mill in 1732, and a grist mill in 1736. At the time of the incorporation of the region into the town of Southbridge, Mass., he was proprietor of 925 acres of land. He was commissioned by the General Court to call the first town meeting and was moderator of seventy-two consecutive meetings. He was the first representative of the town at the General Court. He was eight years town treasurer, eighteen years town clerk, and selectman thirty- one years, holding at different periods some of them at the same time. During the French and Indian war he fitted out soldiers several times at his own expense, the amount being afterwards reimbursed by the town. As Justice of the Peace he united in marriage, from 1755 to 1776, fifty-five couples. At a meeting of the church held March 18, 1752, he was moderator, and the historian of the town
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 185
refers to him as "the excellent spirit displayed by the excellent and venerable moderator." He died October 9, 1779. He married Prudence Morris, daughter of Samuel Morris, son of Lieut. Edward Morris (2), born at Roxbury, 1658-9, died at Woodstock, Conn., August 29, 1726, son, of Edward Morris (1), born at Waltham, near Nazing, England, about 1630, died at Woodstock, 1689; selectman, deputy to General Court and prominent in settling Woodstock. He was the progenitor of Commodore Charles Morris, executive officer of the frigate Constitution in the fight with the Guerriere, and of George Upham Morris, son of Charles, who com- manded the Cumberland, sunk by the Merrimac in Hampden Roads, March 9, 1862. By his marriage to Prudence Morris. Moses Marcy had issue. Dorothy, Jedediah, Moses, Elijah, Prudence, Mary, Daniel, Martha, Merriam, Mehitable.
Jedediah Marcy, son of Moses and Prudence (Morris) Marcy, was born Sep- tember 1, 1725. An inventory of his estate was filed for probate at Worcester, Mass., September 17, 1799, by Nathaniel Healy. John Harding, Joshua Harding and Salem Town were appointed commissioners, and they filed their report March 26, 1S01. After paying preferred debts they had $224.27 to pay $1,047.55, due William Simpson, of Charleston, S. C, merchant, executor of the will of Jonathan Simpson, late of Bristol, Kingdom of Great Britain. Jedediah Marcy married, December 1, 1748, Mary Healy, of Dudley, Mass., and had issue, Joseph, Jedediah, died soon, Jedediah again, Mary, Rhoda, Daniel.
Jedediah Marcy (2), son of Jedediah (1) and Mary (Healy) Marcy, was born July 26, 1757. He purchased of his father at Dudley, Mass., 400 acres, being a part of the original estate of his grandfather, Moses, the purchase price being _£r,ooo or about $3,333. This is now occupied by the central part of South- bridge. He married, March 1, 1782, Ruth Larned. and had issue, Rhoda, who married, August 21, 1782, Ophir Gould, of Woodstock.
Ophir Gould, by his wife, Rhoda Marcy, had issue, Caroline, Jedediah, Otis, Ilura, Ruth, William, Mary, Zene, Anne.
Jedediah Gould, eldest son of Ophir and Rhoda (Marcy) Gould, was born November 7, 1804; died at East Pembroke, Genessee County, N. Y., May 22, 1869. He married Nancy Chamberlain, of Alton, N. H., (born April 3. 1806, died February 14, 1889), daughter of Deacon Joseph and Hannah (Davies) Chamber- lain, son of Jacob (2), of Lieut. William (2), of Jacob (1), son of William (1).
William Chamberlain, the American ancestor of this family, was born in England, perhaps in Essex County, in 1620. He was probably a descendant of the family of Chamberlayne, which derived from the Norman Counts of Tanker- ville and maintained for a long series of years a leading position in the various countries in which it was established. The chief line were the Chamberlaynes of Sherborne, in Oxfordshire, from which derived, through a younger son, the cele- brated Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, of Prince Thorpe and Presbury, a distinguished diplomatist in the reign of Henry VIII., Edward VI„ Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. This family bore on their shield the motto : " Prudesse quam conspici" —"To do good rather than to be conspicuous" [Burke's " Landed Gentry "].
William Chamberlain first appears in New England in 1648, at Woburn, Mass., where the town voted to admit him an inhabitant thereof. He soon removed to Billerica, where he became one of the fourteen petitioners for the incorporation of that town in 1654. He purchased of the three proprietors of the Dudley farm of 1,500 acres in Billerica (one of the proprietors being Thomas
1 86
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
Chamberlain, of Chelmsford), 125 acres about 1656, but his deed was given in 1655. He was a husbandman, had thirteen children; died at Billerica, May 31,
1706, aged 86 years. He married Rebecca and had, among other children, a
son, Jacob.
Jacob Chamberlain, son of William and Rebecca Chamberlain, was born at Billerica, Mass., November 18, 1657 (Jan. 18, 1657-'$%). He removed to Medford, Mass., where he was taxed for the years i686-'87 and '91. He was living in the second precinct of Cambridge (now Arlington), 1695. He married Experience
, about 1690. In 1699 he bought 120 acres with buildings near Oak Hill
(now Ward V.), Newton, Mass., where he lived until his death, April 11, 1712. By his wife Experience, he had a son, William.
J
JEDEDIAH GOULD.
William Chamberlain, son of Jacob and Experience ( ) Chamberlain, was
born in the second precinct of Cambridge, Mass., between 1693 and 1699. He first settled at Dover, about 17 18, in a place called " Littleworth," about five miles from the compact part of the city of Dover, where he was living in 1720. He was on the extreme outskirts of the town, and when fears of an Indian attack recurred he sold his farm in 1724, returned to Newton, Mass., where he bought a farm in 1725 and lived until 1729. He then sold at Newton and returned to Dover, where he purchased several lots at Dover Neck and lived there until 1732. He exchanged this property with his wife's uncle for two whole shares of land in the new township of Rochester, at which place he was living in 1733. He was a large land owner in Rochester, which then included the present town together with Farmington and Milton. He was a man of some education, wrote a fine hand, as shown by his records as town clerk for the years i744-'45. He was selectman and an influential member of the first parish of Rochester. He fre-
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 187
quently wrote petitions to the General Assembly of New Hampshire. He was lieutenant of a company to defend the town from Indian attacks in 1746. He was a man of considerable wealth which he divided among his children. He married Mary, daughter of Capt. Samuel and Dorothy (Tuttle) Tibbets. He was the son of Jeremy Tibbets, born in England, 1631 ; married Mary, daughter of Thomas Cunning. Jeremy was the son of Henry Tibbets, who came from London in 1635, aged 39, with Eliza, aged 39, and Remembrance, aged 28. "One of them," says Savage, " may have been his wife and the other a sister." He settled in Dover, 1643. William Chamberlain, by his wife, Mary Tibbets, had a son, Jacob.
Jacob Chamberlain, son of William and Mary (Tibbets) Chamberlain, was born at Rochester, N. H., May 18, 1738, baptized June ?$ following. He removed to New Durham Cove in 1770, where he became one of the first settlers in that township, now known as Alton, N. H. He was a man of good judgment and business capacity, serving his town many years as selectman and town clerk. He was a man of good education, as indicated by the records. In the deeds, of which there are many, he is styled " gentleman." He lived on a beautiful ridge in the extreme northern part of Alton, where he died October 25, 181 5. He married probably at Rochester, N. H., Alice Rollins, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Nutter) Rollins, and had issue, Joseph.
Deacon Joseph Chamberlain, son of Jacob and Alice (Rollins) Chamberlain, was born at Rochester, N. H.. November n, 1766; baptized in First Parish, Rochester, May 3, 1767; died November 27, 1837, aged 71 years and one month. He was a farmer and was deacon of the Congregational church at Barnstead, N. H. He married, at Rochester, October 14, 1790, Hannah, daughter of Eleazer and Sallie (Cook) Davies, of New Durham Cove, now Alton. He had a daughter, Nancy, who became the wife of Jedediah Gould.
Jedediah Gould, by his wife, Nancy (Chamberlain) Gould, had issue, William Wallace, Hara, Amanda, Helen, Thomas, Orland and Albert J.
William Wallace Gould, eldest child of Jedediah and Nancy (Chamberlain) Gould, was born at East Pembroke, Genessee County, N. Y., March 7, 1826. He married, October 27, 1847, Electa M. Pratt, daughter of Alfred Pratt, son of Ebenezer, son of Jonathan, son of Joseph (3), son of Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1), son of Matthew.
Of the ten or more persons of the name of Pratt who settled in New England between 1 621 and 1650, little is known except those of Matthew, of Weymouth, and Lieut. William, of Cambridge, Mass., Hartford and Saybrook, Conn. The similarity of names which appear among the descendants of both the above named, especially those of Aaron, Phineas, Joseph, William, etc., would justify the belief that they may have been related. The name is variously spelled in ancient writings thus-Pratt, Prat, Pradt, De Pradt, Du Pre, etc., it being derived from the Latin Pratum, a meadow, hence the motto—" Rident Jlorentia prata " (" The flowering meadows smile"). The family is one of great antiquity, the name appearing in the roll of Battle Abbey as accompanying William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings. In 1096 Le Sire de Preaux and his kinsman William de Preaux accom- panied Duke Robert Courte Hare, of Normandy, to the first crusade. The latter bore on his shield-gules an eagle or, a baton, barry, argent and azure. John de Pratellis was a favorite minister of Richard Cceur de Lion. Peter de Pratellis and his brother William distinguished themselves at the siege of Acre, A. D. 1192.
188 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
In a manuscript, No. 5,520, of the British Museum, is a "Pedigree of Pratt, for- merly of the County of Devon but now of Siale and Chiselhurst, in the County of Kent, beginning with Sir John Pratt, Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the King," etc.
Matthew Pratt, the ancestor of the Pratts of Weymouth, Bridgewater, etc., settled in Weymouth before 1620, as the records show that he married there and had a son born before that date. He died there August 29, 1672. He married Elizabeth Bate and had seven children, of whom Joseph was the fifth.
Joseph Pratt (1), son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Bates) Pratt, was born June 10, 1637 ; died December 24, 1720. He was prominent in town and church affairs. He married, May 7, 1662, Sarah Judkins (born 1638, died Jan. 14, 1726), and had eight children, of whom Joseph (2) was the eldest.
Joseph Pratt (2), son of Joseph (1) and Sarah (Judkins) Pratt, was born Feb- ruary 2, 1665; died January 14, 1765. The Boston News Letter of January 31, 1765, states that " on the fourteenth of this month died at Bridgewater, Joseph Pratt, aged 100 years. A man of good character and religious profession. He had twenty children by his first wife but none by his second, who still survives him, about 90 years of age." He lived in Weymouth for about forty years and held some town offices. In 1704-5 he removed to Bridgewater, where he also held positions of trust — on the Grand Jury, February 17, 1720, selectman 1739. He married, first, Sarah Benson, of Hull, by whom he had twenty children, the eldest of whom, mentioned in his will, was Joseph (3).
Joseph Pratt (3), son of Joseph (2) ; "-rah (Benson) Pratt, was born in Weymouth probably before 1690. He lived in Bridgewater, was surveyor of highways, tithingman, etc. He married, first, December 9, 1712, Lydia Leonard, daughter probably of Jacob Leonard, of Bridgewater (born 1647, died 1 7 1 7 ) son of Solomon, born at Monmouthshire, England, about 16 10, died at Bridgewater, 1675; came to America from Leyden, Holland, about 1630; was in Plymouth, Mass.; settled at Duxbury before 1637; an original proprietor of Bridgewater, 1645 ; married Mary . The title of Lord Dacre belongs to the English Leon- ards. It is noteworthy that Thomas Barrett-Leonard, seventeenth Baron Dacre, married Anne Maria, daughter of Sir John Pratt, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Joseph Pratt married, second, Alice Hayward, daughter of Deacon Thomas Hayward. He had seven children by his first wife, of whom Jonathan was the second.
Jonathan Pratt, second child of Joseph (3) and Lydia (Leonard) Pratt, was born in 1720; died March 13, 1775. He married, November 11, 1740, Effie French, daughter of Eben French, of Bridgewater. They had eight children, of whom Ebenezer was the youngest.
Ebenezer Pratt, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Jonathan and Effie (French) Pratt, was born in Bridgewater, Mass., 1757. He became early a soldier of the Revolution and marched with the troops from Bridgewater, April 19, 1775, in Capt. Nathan Mitchell's company; time of service, eight months. In 1784 he moved to Wales, Mass., where he died February 2, 1805. He married Charity Besse and had issue, Otis, Sophia, Charity, Eben, Sally, Aljred, Lodesa and Diana. Aljred Pratt, second child of Ebenezer and Charity (Besse) Pratt, was born June 22, 1785 ; died January 3, 1875. He was one of the early settlers of western New York and lived at Alexander, Genessee County, N. Y. He married Lucinda Moulton, and their daughter, Electa M. Pratt, was married to William Wallace
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 189
Gould. Lucinda Moulton, the wife of Alfred Pratt, was the daughter of Daniel Moulton, son of Freeborn, son of Robert (4), son of Robert (3), son of Robert (2), son of Robert (1), the ancestor.
Robert Moulton, was the leading master shipwright in Salem, Mass., in 1629. He was representative at the first court in Charlestown, 1634, and held command under Parliament. He was in the Royal Navy in 1636. He died in Salem, 1655. The name of his wife is not given, but he left two children, Robert (2) and Dorothy.
Robert Moulton (2), son of Robert Moulton (1), married in 1640, Abigail Goade, of Salem, a niece of Emanuel Downing, who married Governor Winthrop's sister, Lucy. The issue of this marriage was nine children, of whom Robert (3) was the second.
Robert Moulton (3), son of Robert (2) and Abigail (Goade) Moulton, was born in 1644. He married Mary Cooke, daughter of Henry and Judith (Birdsall) Cooke, July 17, 1672. Robert Moulton died at the home of his son Robert (2) in Brimfield, in 1725, aged Si years. They had four children, of whom the second was Robert (4).
Robert Moulton (4), son of Robert (3) and Mary (Cook) Moulton, was born March 7, 1675. He lived in Salem until 1705; moved to Windham, Conn., and lived there until 1725, removing thence to Brimfield, Mass., where he was a very active and influential citizen, holding many offices of trust. He was the first representative of that town in the Colonial Legislature after the town was incor- porated in 1730; also first selectm- 1 town clerk for several years. He died in Brimfield at an advanced age. He was married, April 11, 1698, by Rev. John Hale, to Hannah Groves, of Beverley, Mass. It is probable that he had a second wife, Freeborn Wolfe, supposed to have been born on the ocean on the passage to America, hence the name, Freeborn. They had issue, twelve children, of whom Freeborn was the eleventh.
Freeborn Houlton, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Robert (4) and Hannah (Groves) or Freeborn (Wolfe) Moulton — this is tradition — was born in Windham, Conn., April 3, 1 7 1 7 ; removed to Brimfield, Mass., with his father in 1725. He married Rebecca Walker, of Union, Conn., and settled in Munson, Mass., where he purchased a tract of land four miles square. Near the centre of this property he built, in 1763, the famous old Moulton house on Moulton Hill, which remained until 1895, when it was torn down, having been sold out of the family. He divided the property with his sons who, with one exception, settled around him. Although advanced in years he served in the Revolutionary War ; responded to the " Lexington Alarm," April 19, 1775, as captain in Col. Daniel- son's (Danulson's) regiment, forming in Boston or Cambridge. He died at an advanced age, leaving the homestead to his son, Daniel. He had eleven children, of whom Daniel was the tenth.
Daniel Moulton, Patriot of the Revolution, tenth child of Freeborn and Rebecca (Walker) Moulton, was born at Munson, Mass., March 12, 1762; died there in March, 1849. At the age of seventeen he enlisted, July 12, 1779, in Capt. Joshua Shaw's company, Col. Elisha Shaw's Sixth Hamden County regi- ment, and served at New London, Conn., for a few weeks. He taught school for forty years and held office many times in his native town. He married Abigail Blodgett (born in Stafford, Conn., March 12, 1762), daughter of Joshua Blodgett, who married Hannah Alden, daughter of Daniel, son of Deacon Joseph, son of Joseph, son of John Alden, of the Mayflower.
190 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
John Alden, seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact, was born in England, 1599; died at Duxbury, Mass., 1687. He was distinguished for practical wisdom, integrity and decision, and early acquired and retained during his long life a commanding influence over his associates. He was much employed in public business. He was assistant to the Governor many years. In every position he occupied he fulfilled his duties promptly. He married Priscilla, daughter of William Mullins or Molines, tenth signer of the Mayflower Compact. He was of Dorking, in the County of Surrey, England. In his will he speaks of his wife Alice and two children, who were left in England. Tradition represents Priscilla to have been very beautiful in her youth and John Alden was also a comely person, and considering his other accomplishments it is not surprising that when he was sent by his friend, Capt. Miles Standish, after the death of the latter's wife, to solicit her hand in marriage, that she preferred the messenger to the message.
" As he warmed and glowed in his simple and eloquent language, Quite forgetful of self and full of the praises of his rival ; Archly the maiden smiled, and with eyes overrunning with laughter, Said, in a tremulous voice, ' Why don't you speak for yourself , John ?' "
By his wife, Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, John Alden had John, Joseph, Eliza- beth, Jonathan, Sarah, Ruth, Mary, Daniel.
Joseph Alden, son of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, was born in 1624, died February 8, 1697. He was admitted a freeman in 1699, had his father's proprietary share in Bndgewater, where he settled in that part of the town now West Bridgewater. He married Mary, daughter of Moses Simmons, Jr., and had five children, of whom Joseph (2) was the second.
Deacon Joseph Alden (2), son of Joseph (1) and Mary (Simmons) Alden, was born in 1667. He lived in what is now South Bridgewater, Mass., was a deacon in the church and much esteemed. He died December 22, 1747, aged 80. He married Hannah, daughter of Daniel Dunham, of Plymouth, and had ten children, of whom Daniel was the eldest.
Daniel Alden, Esq,, son of Deacon Joseph and Hannah (Dunham) Alden, was born in Bridgewater. Mass., in 1691 ; died in Stafford, Conn., May 3, 1767. He was a prominent man and a magistrate. He married, in 1 7 1 7, Abigail, daugh- ter of Joseph Shaw. She was the sister of Rev. Joseph Shaw, first pastor of the Congregational church in South Bridgewater. They had eleven children, of whom Hannah was the fifth. She was born in 1727 ; married Joshua Blodgett, of Staf- ford, Conn. Their daughter, Abigail Blodgett, was married to Daniel Moulton.
Daniel Moulton, by his wife, Abigail (Blodgett) Moulton, had issue, Harrison, Daniel, Ouiolata, Luanda, born December 12, 1787, married Alfred Pratt.
Alfred Pratt, by his wife, Lucinda, (Moulton) Pratt, had issue, Levi, Oril, Asa, Orilla. Tamen, Electa Maria.
Electa Maria Pratt, daughter of Alfred Pratt, became the wife of William Wallace Gould, as before stated.
William Wallace Gould, by his wife, Electa Maria (Pratt) Gould, had issue, Charles Albert, Cassius W., Clinton, Jed. O., Alice, Grace, Marion.
CHARLES A. GOULD, Empire State Society, S. A. R., also Society of Colonial Wars, eldest child of William Wallace and Electa (Pratt) Gould, was born in Batavia, N. Y., where he passed his boyhood. He was educated in the
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 191
public schools of his native town and prepared himself for college. He was unable, however, to carry out his plans in this regard, as his father met with busi- ness reverses. Thrown thus upon his own resources, Mr. Gould naturally turned his thoughts toward Buffalo, the largest city in his vicinity, and thither he went in 1869, a young man of twenty, to earn his own livelihood.
He was first engaged with a large mercantile firm and there gained the experience that was to be so beneficial to him in after years. Gradually he began to take an active part in politics. There was a stirring local campaign in Buffalo in 1870, and Mr. Gould's interest in political matters dates from that time. He showed taste and decided ability for public affairs, and it was not long before he had become prominent in local Republican councils. In 1878 he was appointed deputy postmaster of Buffalo and served in that position for two years. Then he was appointed collector of customs for the district of Buffalo Creek, by President Garfield, and served from 1880 to 1884, when the Democrats came into power with the first election of President Cleveland. During all these years Mr. Gould was one of the leaders of his party in Erie County, taking a prominent part in many Republican campaign organizations and acting for many years as a member of the Republican County Committee. With Mr. Gould's retirement from office there began a third period in his life. He had been an accountant and a public official. He now became a manufacturer, and in this field he has since continued with steadily growing success and prosperity. He bought an interest in the Henry Childs Steam Forge, in South Buffalo, which he ran for a number of years with marked success. He 1887 he purchased ground in Black Rock and built a large steam forge of his own, which he equipped with the very best modern appliances for the manufacture of iron and steel forgings, making a specialty of railway appliances. Success attended the new undertaking.
Soon after the erection of this new plant he took up the manufacture of what is now known as the Gould automatic coupler, as well as platforms and vestibules for passenger cars. He was not satisfied with placing the Gould equipment on American railways, but in 1895 succeeded in introducing it abroad, and it is now in use on several of the largest railways of England. In fact the Gould system seems likely to become the standard for English railways, and to change entirely their old method of vestibuling cars. The Gould Coupler Company was organ- ized for the manufacture of malleable iron, with Mr. Gould as its president ; with Charles M. Gould, vice-president; William S. Gould, treasurer; Frederick P. Huntley, secretary. Later, the Gould Steel Company, of Anderson, Ind., was formed with Mr. Gould as president of this latter concern also. Since 1889 Mr. Gould's home has been in New York City, where the main offices of this company are situated.
A picturesque episode of Mr. Gould's life is the establishment of the town of Depew. Need of better railroad facilities led him to look about for a new site, which he found near the village of Lancaster, N. Y. Within three years a tract of farming land ten miles from Buffalo was transformed into a thriving industrial community of several thousand people. In this transformation Mr. Gould has been one of the chief factors, and he was the originator of the general plan. The Buffalo Investment Co. was formed with Mr. Gould as president, and about thir- teen hundred acres of land were bought. The New York Central road took .00 acres for new shops, and the Gould Coupler Co. took fifty acres, on which they
192 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
erected one of the largest malleable iron works in the country. The forge at Black Rock was destroyed by fire in the summer of 1895. It was a disheartening loss but Mr. Gould, with indomitable push, immediately decided to rebuild at Depew with increased facilities and modern appliances.
Personally Mr. Gould is of a very social nature. He is a lover of yachting and is commodore of the American Yacht Club, as well as a member of the New York, Larchmont and Atlantic Yacht Clubs. Other organizations of a social nature with which he is connected are the Union League, New York Athletic, Republican, Engineers', Lawyers' and Lotos Clubs, of New York City; the Buf- falo and Ellicott Clubs, of Buffalo ; the Chicago Club, and the Manufacturers' Club, of Philadelphia. He is a generous giver to church and benevolent objects. Mr. Gould spends the winter months mostly at his residence, No. 714 Fifth avenue. His hours of pleasure and recreation during the summer months are spent at his beautiful home at Rye, in Westchester County, N. Y., where his numerous friends find always a hearty welcome. Mr. Gould married Julia Adelaide Stocking, of Batavia, N. Y., daughter of Abraham Stocking, son of George, son of Abraham, son of Steven, son of George, son of Deacon Samuel, son of George Stocking, the ancestor.
George Stocking, the ancestor, came from the west of England and settled in Massachusetts about 1633. He was made a freeman at Cambridge in 1635. He removed with the first settlers to Hartford, Conn., in 1635, and had a lot of twenty acres there in the first distribution of land. He was selectman of Hartford, 1647 ; surveyor of highways, 1654 and 1662; chimney viewer, 1659; excused from mili- tary duty, 1660, probably on account of age. He died May 25, 1685. His name appears on a monumental shaft in the old centre burying-ground erected to the first settlers of Hartford, by the city, to its founders. He had Samuel, Hannah, Sarah, Lydia.
Deacon Samuel Stocking, son of George and Anna ( ) Stocking, was
born in England, and came with his parents to Massachusetts, removing thence to Hartford, Conn. He was one of the three signers of the Indian deed of Matta- besett, in 1651, the General Court that year having "ordered, sentenced and decreed that Mattabeseck shall bee a Towne.'' This was known two years later as Middletown. Mr. Stocking was the first deacon of the Congregational church in the town, organized November 4, 1668. He represented Middletown at the General Court i658-'59-'65-'69-'74-'77-'8i. He served, in 1677, in King Philip's War as sergeant. His house was in upper Middletown, now Cromwell. He owned land on the east side of Connecticut River, now known as Portland. He married Bertha, daughter of John and Jane Hopkins, who came from Coventry, England, to Cambridge, Mass., in 1630, and removed to Hartford with the original settlers in 1635; freeman, 1654; representative, i665-'69-'74; served in King Philip's War, 1667, and was made sergeant. John Hopkins was the ancestor of Mark Hopkins, so many years president of Williams College, Mass. Deacon Samuel Stocking died December 3, 1683. By his wife, Bertha Hopkins, he had a son, George.
George Stocking, son of Deacon Samuel and Bertha (Hopkins) Stocking, was born February 20, 1665; died February 17, 1714. His name appears on the tax list of South Hampton, L. L, in 1694, but it is known that he moved to East Middletown, now Portland, before 17 10. He married Elizabeth , and had a
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 103
son, Steven. His estate, which amounted to .£359.09.01, was divided among his six children. His widow married Deacon Samuel Hall, of East Middletovvn
Steven Stocking, eldest son of George and Elizabeth ( ) Stocking was
born August 20, 1694; died 1789. He married, first, July 5, 1722, Elizabeth, daughter of Deacon Samuel and Sarah (Hinsdale) Hall. He married second February 24, 1757, widow Sarah Andrews. He resided in Chatham. He was' commissioned ensign of militia, 1732. He died 1789. His widow died July 29, 1790. They had a son, Joseph.
Joseph Stocking, Patriot of the Revolution, son of Steven and Sarah (Hall) Stocking, was born June 28, 1723. He was sergeant of Sixth Company. Second Connecticut Regiment, commanded by Col. (afterward General) Joseph Spencer, recruited mainly in Middlesex County under the first call for troops, April and May, 1775 ; marched bv companies to the camps around Boston, took post at Roxbury, and served during the siege until expiration of term of service, Decem- ber, 1775. Detachments of officers and men engaged at the battle of Runker Hill, June 17, and engaged in Arnold's Quebec Expedition, September and Decem- ber, 1775. Joseph Stocking married widow Sarah (Shepperd) Cornwall, Novem- ber 1, 1753. and had issue, Abraham.
Abraham Stocking, eldest son of Joseph and Sarah (Cornwall n6e Sheppard) Stocking, was born September 26, 1754; married Nabby Smith and had issue, George.
George Stocking, son of Abraham and Nabby (Smith) Stocking, was born at Ashfield, Mass., in 1784. He married Anna Toby, and had issue, Abram.
Abram Stocking, son of George and Anna (Toby) Stocking, was born June 19, 1810. He moved from Ashfield, Mass., to York, Livingston County, N. V., and thence to near Grass Lake, Mich. He married Henrietta Maria Colton (born in Caledonia, N. Y., February 14, 1 8 1 6, died in Manchester, Mich., September 14, 1853), daughter of Andrew Colton (2), son of Capt. Andrew (1), son of Capt. Isaac, son of Capt. Thomas, son of George Colton, the ancestor.
George Colton, the ancestor of this branch of the Colton family, is said to have come from Sutton Coldfields, County of Warwick, England, probably between 1635 anc' '640. He name appears on the records as quartermaster. He was quartermaster of a New Hampshire regiment, Major John Pynchon, King Philip's War. He married Deborah Gardner, of Hartford, Conn., 1644; she died September, 1689. Married, second, March 1, 1692, Lydia Lamb ; she died Febru- ary 13, 1699. He died December 17, 1699. He lived at Long Meadow, Mass., where his children, eight in number, were born, all by his first wife. The third child of these was Capt. Thomas.
Capt. Thomas Colton, third son of George and Deborah (Gardner) Colton, was born in Long Meadow, Mass., May 1, 1651. He married, first, Sarah Gris- wold, of Lyme, Conn., September 11, 1677, daughter of Matthew Griswold, an original settler of Saybrook, Conn., progenitor of the two governors of that name, She died September 12, 1690, and Thomas Colton married, second. December 17. 1 69 1, Hannah Bliss, born December 20. 1666. daughter of Samuel, son of Thomas Bliss, who was first to introduce potatoes. His first crop was six bushels and he did not know what to do with them. Previous to this the English turnip occu- pied the place at the table now accorded to the potatoes. The Bliss family came from Long Meadow to Brimfield. They are reported to have been great friends
194 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
of Oliver Cromwell. The family motto was " Semper Sursum " — Always Up- ward— indicates the determination of the family always to be found in the best company ("History of Brimfield," p. 371). Capt. Thomas Colton, by his first wife, Hannah Bliss, had Hepzibah, William, Ebenezer, Joseph, Capt. Isaac, Hannah, Dinah, Abner.
Capt. Isaac Colton, fifth child and fourth son of Capt. Thomas and Hannah (Bliss) Colton, was born October 10, 1700, at Long Meadow, Mass. He served in the French and Indian War and had charge of a company in Louisburg in 1745. He died January 1$, 1757. He married Esther Marshfield, pub. July 6, 1722. She was born May 16, 1699; died April 27, 1781. They had nine children, of whom Capt. Andrew was the eighth.
Capt. Andrew Co/ton, eighth child of Capt. Isaac and Esther (Marshfield) Colton, was born at Long Meadow, Mass., November 1, 1745; major in Timothy Danielson's regiment; marched from Springfield to Roxbury, April 28, 1775. He married, January 1, 1767, Hannah Bliss, daughter of Capt. Timothy and Elizabeth Bliss; she died August 5, 1787. He married, second, Mrs. Lydia White, pub.
August 25, 1790; she died August 8, 1800. He married, third, . He died at
Dalton, Mass., October 8, 1808. The third child and eldest son of Capt. Andrew and Hannah (Bliss) Colton, was Andrew (2).
Andrew Colton (2), eldest son of Capt. Andrew and Hannah (Bliss) Colton, was born May 24, 1772; died November 28, 1844, in York, Livingston County, N. Y. He married, December 25, 1797, in Stockbridge, Mass., Cynthia Seymour, and had eleven children, of whom Henrietta Maria was the tenth. She was born in Caledonia, N. Y., February 14, 1816; married, September 30, 1840, Abram Stocking, whose daughter, Julia Adelaide Stocking, was married to Charles A. Gould.
The children of Charles A. and Julia Adelaide (Stocking) Gould are: Henry Colton Gould, born November 22, 1869; married, August 27, 1890, to Lillian Augusta Rockwell, daughter of Augustus Rockwell and Jane Merntt ; died De- cember 16, 1892. Charles Moulton Gould, born September 7. 1873; married, Sep- tember 30, 1896, to Lillie Bell, daughter of Richard M. Bell and Julia Black, of Bayside, L. I. William Stocking Gould, born September 4, 1875; married, April 20, 1898, to Ethel Blanche Sanders, daughter of Charles Walton Sanders and Ella Wickwire. Celia Adelaide Gould, born October 21, 1877; married, Feb- ruary 8, 1899, to George G. Milne, son of William Milne and Frances Poole.
INDEX
To the History of the Sons of the Revolution.
Abeel and Allied Families, iyo.
Abeel, Col. James, 197.
Abeel, Capt. David, 198.
Abeel, Garrit, 201.
Abeel, John Howard, 207.
Abeel, George, 208.
Abeel, David, 209.
Adams, 36, 82, 118, 157, 169, 176.
Ames, 149, 151.
Abercrombie, 103.
Andre, 124.
Andrews, 174.
Archer, 125.
Applegate, 109.
Apleton, 150.
Atlee, 197.
Ainsley, 106.
Arnold, 100.
Abbott, 101.
Armstrong, 112, 13, 14, 134.
Asbury, 97.
Ay res, no.
Allyn, 71.
Baldwin, 24, 5.
Barber, 19.
Bard, 170-1.
Baker, 119, 128-9.
Bass, 157.
Baskidore, 187.
Barton, 137.
Barry, 177.
Baum, 44.
Bradford, 57, 60, 61, 66, 82.
Bradley, 174.
Bragg, 68.
Brace, 72.
Bracio, 72.
Bracey, 72.
Ballentine, 157.
Brainerd, 81.
Blanchard, 22.
Brandreth, 130.
Brausden, 31.
Beach, 25.
Belding, 145.
Beecher, 101.
Bell, 102.
Beeby, 175.
Bliss, 33, 162.
Bingham, 65.
Bishop, 92.
Brinkerhoff, 108.
Bigelow, 154.
Bigelow, Family of, 186.
Bigelow, Joel, 187.
Bigelow, Clarence O., 187
Brown, S7, 106, 162.
Bowne, 60.
Boosey, 70.
Boardman, 122.
Booth, 155.
Broadhead, 136.
Bottom, 158.
Bronson, "]2>-
Bloom, in.
Boroughs, 131.
Bowler, 171.
Burdsall, 56.
Burr, 71, 170.
Buckley, 160.
Butler, 151.
Butler, Col. Zebulon, 181.
Butler, 182.
Burlock, 199, 200.
Byvanck, 201-2.
Camp, 24. Cantine, 210. Caufield, 36. Carnes, 30. Canmore, 83. Clarke, 32, 131. Clark, 119. 174. 182. Classon, 93, 147. Clayton. 167. Chauncey, 9T- Chapin, 129. Clayton, 106. Carlton, 158.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Lrew, 102.
Cleveland, 39, 71-2, 172.
Chester, 149, 197-
Chippenham, 86.
Chipman, Family of, 80-8.
Chipman, 87, 9°-
Clinton Family, 25.
Clinton, Gen. James, 26.
Clinton, Alexander James. 30.
Clinton, 26, 27, 28, 31, 9^ 93- 104, 129.
Child, 35-
Cock, 22.
Codman, 40, 41.
Cod wise, 200.
Cook, 174, 200.
Cooke, 56. 7i-
Comstock, 74.
Conrow Family, 109.
Conrovv, Theodore, iio.
Conover. Lewis, 108.
Conovek. — Denise.— Dean, 122.
Conover, Frank E., 125.
Conover, 106, 108, 109, 122, 123. 124.
Colden, 92.
Collins, 82, 150.
Cornbnry, 171.
Cool, 108, 123.
Cogget, 99-
Coleman, 177, 180.
Clock, 140-7.
Coudert, 129.
Corn Plant, 191.
Cowen, 97, 98, 99.
Cowenhoven, 107, 108. 123.
Cowles, 76.
Cnrtiss, 91.
dimming, 129, 130.
Churchhill, 55.
Cnrlies, 106.
Dandridge, 171.
Davis, 27.
Dayton, Family of, 38.
Dayton, Charles Willoughby, 36.
Davenport, 140.
Day, 84.
Damen. 147.
Drake, 49.
Dearborn, 168.
Dennison, 149.
Delevan, 22.
Deckerman, 23.
DeLancey, 201.
Denniston, 26, 28.
Deming. 60.
Dean, John, 124.
Denslow, 159, 60.
D'Estaing, 179-
Dewey and Todd Families, 131.
Dewey, Jeremiah, 132.
Dewey, Hiram Todd, 132.
Dinker, 117.
Ditmars, 199, 200.
Dwight, 83, 128.
Dobbs, 176.
Dominick, Family of, 22.
Dominick, Marin us W., 23.
Doolittle, 17-
Dorr, 180.
Dota, 17.
Dorian, 142.
Dunham, 160.
DuPuy, 135-
Dudley, 149.
Dummer, 174, 176-
Dunscomb, 205.
Dykeman, 106.
Dye, 187.
Dygert, 196.
Evarts, 101.
Edwards, 77, 119, 20.
Emans, 199.
Elmendorf, Family of, 136.
Elmendorf, John Augustus, 138.
Eldridge, 160.
Fairbanks, 161.
Frankland, 32.
Franklin, 72.
Fenwick. 70.
Fitch, 58, 59. 61, 129, 162.
Fisher, 47.
Fraser, 208.
Fauconnier, 171.
Farrow, 187.
Foote, 60. 75-
Foster, 87-8.
Forse, 94.
Floyd, 104.
Fur man. 106.
Gardner. Col. Asa Bird, 16. Goodwin, 82. Gay, 33- 76. Gray. 88.
Graham, Family of. 90. Graham, Malcom, 93. Ganzevoort, 95- Greenwood, Family of. 31.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Ill
Greenwood, Isaac John, 34.
Gerard, 98.
Greely, 101.
Greene, 169, 171.
Greer, 135.
Gillis, Family of, 40.
Gillis, Charles Josiah, 46.
Gibbons, 174.
Gridley, 124.
Griffin, Butler, 180.
Griffin, George, 180.
Griffin. Francis Butler, 182-3.
Griffin, 182.
Griswold, 180.
Gookin, 72.
Godwin, 82.
Goldsmith, 112.
Goodspeed, 154.
Gorham, 143.
Habersham, 177, 178 ,179, Harrison. 24. 88. Haight, 182. Halsey, 146. Halsted. 86. Hathorne, 104, 112. Hathaway, 160. Hall. 82. Hanford, no. Hall ford. 157. Harmensen, 18, 19. Harlakenden, 82-3. Hasbrouck, 209. Hale. 77, 78, 81. Harvey, 146. Hassert, 198. Haynes, 82, 83. Hamilton, 29. 170, 173. Hawley, 127. Haskell, 20. Havens, 206. Hegeman, 97, 100, 101. Heilner, Butler, 183. Heilner, Marcus C.. 184. Heilner, George C., 185. Henry, 17. Heermans, 133. PTempstead, 175. Heywood, 152. Heink, 201. Htll, Family of, 94. Htll. Rev. Nicholas, 94. Hill. Nicholas, 97. Hill, John Lindsay, 101. Hill. 97, 98, 101, 144.
[80.
Hinman, 73, 91, 92. Hicks, 95. Holman, 17. Hobart, 66. Hodges, 92. Holly, 145. Hopestill, 127. Holmes, 124, 157. Holt, 175, 176. Hoar, S2. Hope, 87.
Hopkins, 70, 73, 75, 165. Hooker. 70, 120. Horton, 124. Hooper, 18S. Howe, 22. 168. Howley, 138, 139. Howland, 87, 143. Hosack, 170. Houghton, 181. Hurlbut, 151, 152. 155. Hutchinson, 87. Huntington, 160. Hunt, 171. Hyde, 72.
Irving, 206.
Jackson. — Conover. — Conrow. 105.
Jackson, William H., 109.
Jackson, 19, 78, 92, 106, 107.
Jay, 02, 151, 167.
Jefferson, 92.
Jennings, 182.
Johnson. 76, 80, 101, 182.
Jones, 143.
Jordan, 162.
Kennedy, Family of, 55.
Kennedy, Leonard, 63, 64.
Kennedy, Robinson. 55.
Kennedy, Elijah Robinson. 68.
Kennedy, 25, 61-2-3-8-9, 70-1-.I-4. M3-
Kellogg. 154.
Redder, 41.
Kent, 92.
Key. 172.
Kilconath, 56.
Kilbourne, 77.
Kimberly. 73.
Kingsmill, T28.
Kingsbury, 114.
Knight. 143.
Knyphausen. 168.
Komvenhoven, 123.
IV
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Lawrence, 18, 104, 159.
Lambertson, 76.
Lafetra, 106.
Lasher, 197.
Lathrop, 138.
La Montagne, 172.
Leonard, 57.
Leffingwell, 60.
Le Gros, 129.
Lincoln, 80.
Livingston, 104, 173.
Lobdell, 82.
Lorimer, 72, 73.
Lott, 199.
Love, 142.
Lord, 182.
Lydecker, 138.
Mansfield, 87.
Manning, 87-8.
Marshall, 92.
Mason, 59, 60, 70,. 119.
Manly, 33.
Marquand, 86.
May, 117.
MacLean, 56.
Mather, 73, 141.
McQueston, 41.
Malcom, 17.
Murschalk, 205.
May, 174.
Mcintosh, 178.
Miller, Warner, 47, 48, 50-1.
Miles, 197.
Mitchell, 72.
Minor, 92.
Muller, 205.
Montgomery, James Mortimer,
Moore, 19, 20, 54.
Morris, 18, 106.
Montgomery, 27.
Morgan, 84, 168.
Montford, 108, 123.
Mosier, 97.
Mosley, 56.
McDougall, Alexander, 134.
Nash, 99. Neilson, 197. Nelson, 98. Newkirk, 97. Newbury, 150. Newman, 39. Newell, 143. Nicoll, 112.
Oakley, 74. O'Bial, 196. Oweneco, 59. Olney, 74. Ogden, 119. Osborn, 24. O'Connor, 97.
Patterson, 32, 33.
Parker, 41.
Page, 46.
Pancoast, 176.
Partridge 82.
Paulding, 124.
Parsons, 151.
Pratt, 70-1-2-3-4.
Palmer, 100, 157.
Pearce, 114.
Peck, 119.
Pelerin, 130.
Pendleton, 166, 171-3-
Perkins, 66.
Peters, 92.
Pew, 164.
Piatt, 164.
Pike, 128.
Pinney, 71.
Pritchard. 41.
Peitkin, 76, 83.
Porter, 33. 72, 101, 155.
Putnam, 76, 87, 104, 193.
Pendleton Family, 166.
Pendleton, Col. Nathaniel, 168.
Rawlings, 168. Red Jacket, 195.
Riker, Family of, 18.
Riker, John Lawrence, 20.
Riker, John Jackson, 20.
Riker, Samuel, Jr., 21
Rice, 76.
Riley, 150.
Ripley, 66.
Richardson, 87.
Robbins, Family of. 149.
Robbins, Rowland A., 153.
Robbins, Major Rowland Ames, 155.
Robinson, 67, 81.
Roe, 86.
Rowe, 97, 209.
Romer, 124.
Rogers. — Fitch. — Pendleton, Etc., 162.
Rogers, 161, 171-3-6, 180.
Rowland, 162.
Rudd, 34, 65.
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Ruggles, 127. Russell, 75. Rutherford, 130.
Sanford, 39.
Sandford, 71.
Safford, 156-8-9.
Stanton, 149.
Standish, 57.
Stark, Gen. John, 42.
Stark, 41-2, 158.
Slason, 145.
Stratton, 138.
Sellick, 164.
Schermerhorn, 205.
Sewall, 72.
Seward, 80.
Seymour, 171.
Stevens, Family of, 10.
Stevens, John Austin, ii.
Stebbing, 84.
Schenck, 108, 123, 171.
Stebbins, 138.
Seymour, 117, 118.
Spencer. 17, 92, 119.
Steele 70.
Stenton, 65.
Sterling, 197.
Scriptieri, 67.
Smith, 25, 84, 104-6, 138, 157.
Scott, 49, 50, 76, 104, 156, 161, 197.
Schofield, 141-7.
Southworth, 66.
Strong, 20.
Schroeder, 122.
Stowell, 187.
Stroebel, 206.
Sullivan, 28. 96.
Sturtevant, 131.
Snyder, 137.
Tallmadge, Family of, 12.
Tallmadge, Col. Benjamin, 12.
Tallmadge. Frederick Augustus, 15.
Tallmadge. Frederick Daniel, 16.
Talcott, 77-8, 120.
Taylor, 82-3, 108, 167.
Thaxter, 66.
Thatcher, 117.
Tracy. 60, 101.
Thrall, 71.
Thayer, 33.
Taler. 17.
Treat. 73-5-7. 1*9. ISO.
Tweedy, 142-3.
Terry, Family of, 82.
Terry, John Taylor, 82-4.
Tilden, 80, 98.
Tilford, Frank, 134-5.
Thomand, 56.
Tomlinson, 35-6.
Topham, 130.
Todd, Thomas, 132.
Tomlin, 175.
Tuttle, 120.
Trumbull, 72,.
Tyler, Family of, 116.
Tyler, Capt. John, 117.
Tyler, Col. Mason Whiting, 120.
Tyler, Dea. John, 117.
Tryon, 174.
Vallau. 171. Van Bergen, 209. Van Rosenbergh, 17. Van Buylenhysen, 18. Van Brunt, 108. Van Courtlandt, 100. Van den Berg, 136. Varian, 155. Van Vorst. 93. Van Wyck, 92. Van Katckel, 197. Van Zandt. 201. Veeder, 100. Verplanck, 201. Voorhees, 199.
Wagner, 196.
Washington, 34, 50-1, 91, 170-1, 197- Walker, 32. 144. Wadswortli, 50, 76. Warner, 52, 158. Waterman, 60, 61. Waldron, 101. Walworth, 98. Warner, Family of, 47. Waterbury, 145-6. Webb, Family of. 156. Webb, Charles Hathaway, 160- i. Webb, 141. 156-7-8-9-60. Webster, 71, 73> I34> 142. Welling. 116.
Weed, Clock, and Allied Families, 139. Weed. Samuel Richards, 143. Weed, Waterbury. and Clock Fami- lies, vdv. Weed. Henry F., 148. Weed, 68. Weld, Family of, 126.
VI
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Weld, Gilbert Cumming, 129. Weld, De Witt Clinton Sr., 130. Weld, De Witt Clinton Jr., 130. Welles, Family of, 74. Welles, Hon. Gideon, 78. Welles, Edgar T., 79. Welles, 74-5-6-7. 81, 89. Winthrop, 65-6, 150. Wisner, Family of, hi. Wisner, Col. Henry, 112. Wisner, Jeffrey Amherst, 113. Wisner, Clinton W., 114. Willard, 17.
Williams. 124, 134, 149, 157. Willoughby, 35. Winn, 71. Winfield, 170. Witthaus, 129.
Wilckens, 130.
Whiting, 1 18-19, 126, 145.
White, 68, 73-8. 82.
Willis, 151, 182.
Wilson, 182.
Willemsen, 199.
Williamson, Family of, 199.
Williamson, Nicholas, 199.
Williamson, George Norman, 200.
Woodhull, Family of, 100, 101.
Woodhull, Gen. Nathaniel, 103.
Woodhull, Col. Jesse, 104.
Woodhull, Jesse Calvin, 105.
Woodward, 130.
Wolcott, 149-50.
Woolsey, 164-5.
Wyllys, 82-3.
Wyckoff, 199.
TO SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
PAGE.
Alden, Family of, -------- 190
Barrett, Hon. E. S., ------ - 21
Bangs, Prence, Hopkins, Brewster, - - - - - 155
Bangs, George Henry. - - - - 158
Bangs, George Dennis, - - - - - - 1 59
Clark, Hall, Carnes, _______ 31
Clark, Alonzo Howard, ______ 31
Clark, Towner, White, Brooks, - - - - - - 147
Clark, Byron George. M.D., - - - - - 149
Clarke, Boone. -------- 53
Clarke, Richard Henry, ------ 53
Cone Family, -------- 68
Cone, Edward Payson, ------- 70
Claiborne, Herbert, Weldon, Alston, ----- 89
Claiborne, John Herbert, M.D., Jr., ------ 92
Crane, Treat, Coles, - - - - - - - !35
Crane, William Montgomery, - - - - - *37
Crombie, Choate, Murray. - - - - - - '6i
Crombie, William Augustus, - - - - - - 165
Crombie, William Murray, - - - - - - '66
Chamberlain, Family of, - - - - - - - 106
Coulton, Family of, - " !93
Deming, Slauter, Russell, ------ '3
Deming, Hon. Lucius P., ----- '4
Deming, Eleazer Hubbell, - - - -
Depew. Sheridan, Ogden, - 3
Depew, Chauncey M., ----- - 37
Earle, Pinney.
Earle, Ferdinand P., -
Ellis, Sturgis, Carlyle, Randal
Ellis, William R.,
50 5i
152
i53
I96 INDEX.
PAGE.
Fay, Sherman, -------- 54
Fay, Forbes, - - - - - - -' - -117
Fay, Segourney Webster, - - - - - - 120
Fay, Capt. Alfred Forbes, - - - - - -121
Garden, Gibbes, DeSaussures, Richardson, - 78
Garden, Capt. Hugh Richardson, - 84
Gist, Major Mordecai, ------ 42
Gould, Chamberlain, Pratt, Moulton, - - - - 176
Gould, Bezaliel, - - - - - - - - 183
Gould, Charles A., ------- 190
Haskins, Emerson, _______ 24
Haskins, Charles Waldo, ...... 27
Hall, Family of, ------ - 29
Hall, Henry, --------30
Hall, Edward Hegeman, ------ 45
Hoyt, Deming, Fay, Sherman, ------ 54
Hoyt, Hon. Daniel, ------- 55
Hoyt, Charles Albert, -------58
Huntting, Family of, ------ - 47
Huntting, Teunis B., - - - - - - 49
Jackson, Halsey, Beach, ------- 93
Jackson, Theodore Frelinghuysen, - - - - - 96
Kenly, and Allied Families, ------ 59
Kenly, William Watkins, ------ 65
Logan, Hollister, .____-- 39
Logan, Walter S., _______ 40
Lovell, Borden, Durfee, Howland, - 103
Lovell, Leander Newton, ------ 107
Lowery, Col. Thomas, - - - - - - - 125
Marble, Putnam, Almy, - - - - - - -75
Marble, William Allen, ------ 77
McKeever Family, --------72
McKeever, James Lawrence, - 74
Murphy, Crane, Pierson, Lyon, ------ 22
Murphy, Franklin, ------- 24
Marcy, Family of, - - - - - - - - 184
Moulton, Freeborn, - - - - - - - 189
Moulton, Daniel, - - - - - - - -189
Pratt, Ebenezer, -------- 188
Porter, Family of, - - - - - - - -18
Porter, General Horace, ------ 20
Prime, Ralph E., - - - - - - - - 40
INDEX. I97
PAGE.
Richards, Peck, Wiswall, Barrett, Monfort, Carman, - - - 139
Richards, Jeremiah, -_.____ ,44
Richards, Charles Spelman, 146
Roberts, Hubbard, Pratt, ---____ 97
Roberts, Richard Hubbard, _____ I02
Roosevelt, James I., - - - - - - - 38
Smith, Partridge, Treat, Woodruff, - - - - - 122
Smith, Rev. John, - - - - - _ _ -123
Smith, Hon. James Dickinson, _____ i27
Smith, Charles Stewart, - - - - - - 129
Smith, Stewart Woodruff, ------
131 Smith, Howard Caswell, - - - - - 132
Smith, Walter Mitchell, - - - - - - 133
Slauson, Ten Eyck, Griffin, Keator, ------ 108
Slauson, Albert, ------- 109
Slauson, Austin, Melvin, - - - - - - -112
Stewart, Ira Bliss, _______ 47
Salomon, William Jones, ______ 167
Salomon, Haym, -------- 167
Salomon, Col. David, - - - - - - -169
Smith, William Alexander, ----- '73
Stocking, Family of, - - - - - - - - 193
Tracy, Sherman, Evarts, ------- 85
Tracy, Jeremiah Evarts, ______ 88
Wright, and Allied Families, ______ 41
Wright, Stephen M., ------- 43
Webb, Family of, ------- 15
Webb, William Seward, ______ 18
Watkins, Col. Gassaway, ------- 62
Woodward, Dr. Samuel, - - - - - - _I54
Yale, Paine, White, - - 112
Yale, Hon. William, - - - - - - -114
Yale, Henry Clav, ------- 115
Yale, William Henry, ------- 117
L. J. HARDHAM,
PRINTER, NEWARK, N J.
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