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Lynn in the Revolution Biographical
Sketches Burrage, John - Dagyr, John Adam |
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A Very Special Thanks To The Lynn Public Library
For The Use Of This Important
Resource.
Transcribed by Shaun Cook To help
transcribe or submit information, please e-mail Shaun
Cook |
BURRAGE, JOHN, - son of John
and Mehitable (Sargent) Burrage was born November 23, 1730. He lived on the
Common, near Park Street, in a large, two-story, slant-roofed house. This was
the homestead of three generations of Burriages, a family which owned nearly
four hundred acres of land in Lynn. Deacon John, the Revolutionary soldier,
whose father was also called "Deacon John," died in Lynn, June 30, 1780,
probably unmarried, and is buried in the old Western Burial Ground, where his grave is marked by a Revolutionary marker of the S. A. R. He held the
town offices of warden and treasurer for a series of years. His will on file in
the probate records gives his estate at the current rate of exchange as
£134,763. This is a good illustration of the tremendous depreciation of the
Continental currency, inasmuch as the real value of the estate in hard money was
but £2,246.
At the time of the Revolutionary War there were fourteen
able-bodied men of the name of Burriage, descendants of John Burrage who settled
in Charlestown in 1637, and of these ten were borne on the rolls of the soldiers
of the Revolution. William, a cousin of Deacon John, moved from Lynn in 1767,
and served from the town of Leominster. The others belonged in other towns. The
service of Deacon John Burrage, so far as is known, was only that which he
performed on the 19th of April, 1775, when he marched from Lynn in the company
of Captain Rufus Mansfield. He is credited with two days' service.
BURRILL, ALDEN, - probably
son of Samuel and Anna (Alden) Burrill, was born in 1753. He married in
September, 1782, Elizabeth Hammet, of Boston. In 1825, while living at Salem, he
made application for a pension, and in his affidavit states that he marched in
April, 1777, to Ticonderoga, and served, as did his brother Ebenezer, through
the Burgoyne campaign, and during the two following years in and about West
Point. In 1780 he was at headquarters at Morristown, N.J., where he was
discharged with his brother on the 6th of March. The Massachusetts rolls
also give the name of Alden Burrill among those who served from Lynn, at Concord
battle and elsewhere. It is not unlikely that he was in the company of Captain
Farrington with his brother Ebenezer, whose age was very near his own. Both
Alden and Ebenezer lived in Lynn
[ 235 ]
at the time of the war. From 1813 to 1818 he was
in the lumber and lime business in Salem. His pension was not allowed at the
time that he made application, but was granted to his children in 1851, at the
rate of $240 per year, from March 4, 1831, to December 14, 1831, the time of his
death. He was buried in Salem. His wife, Elizabeth, died in Salem March 20,
1800, at the age of forty-seven.
BURRILL, BENJAMIN, - private, probably son of Theophilus and Mary (Hills)
Burrill, was born in that part of Lynn, now Swampscott, August 14,1745. The
venerable homestead is still standing at the corner of Essex and Burrill
Streets, Swampscott, and this estate he inherited in 1791 on the death of his
father. Mr. Burrill was in Captain Farrington's company, but he saw no
further service in the war so far as is known. A Benjamin Burrill died in Lynn
in 1803, letters of administration having been granted to his wife March 29 of
that year, but nothing has been found to certainly connect him with the subject
of this sketch.
BURRILL, EBENEZER, - private, probably son of
Samuel and Anna (Alden) Burrill, was born in 1755. After the battle of
Lexington, in which he participated as a member of Captain Farrington's company,
he enlisted as a private in Captain John Merritt's company, Colonel John
Glover's 21st regiment, and served eight months with General Washington's army,
investing Boston. He was given the usual bounty coat at Cambridge,
December 25, 1775. Immediately upon his discharge, which took place January 1, 1776, he again
enlisted as a private in Captain Pollard's company of artificers, was present at
the evacuation of Boston and served for some time thereafter in guarding the
city. During the summer he marched with his company to New York, and was in the
battles of Long Island, Fort Washington, and Fort Lee, and was then stationed at
North Castle until November. He retreated across New Jersey with Washington's
army and was in the battle of Trenton, December 26, 1776. Soon after he was
honorably discharged and returned to Lynn. Early in 1777, probably in March, he
enlisted once more, this time for three years or during the war. He was assigned
to Captain Noah Nichols's company of artificers, and served under Major Ebenezer
Stevens in General Henry Knox's artillery brigade. With his brother Alden, who
had enlisted at the same time, he marched for Ticonderoga, where he was
stationed when the news came of the
[ 236 ]
invasion of Burgoyne. Upon the appearance of the British army the garrison
was obliged to fall back to Albany, and Burrill was in the retreat. He was in
the battles preceding the capture of General Burgoyne and was present at the
surrender, after which he was again stationed at Albany. For the next two years
he did duty in and about West Point, participating in several engagements. In
1780 he was at headquarters at Morristown, N.J., where he was finally
discharged, March 6, 1780. During the above time he was in the regiments of
Colonel Crane and Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin.
Ebenezer Burrill was married by Abner Cheever, Esq., January 23, 1783, to Mary
Wyatt, of Salem. After their marriage they removed to Salem, where they lived
for the remainder of their lives. He was pensioned under the act of 1818, receiving
eight dollars per month from April 20 of that year until May 1, 1820, when
he was dropped on account of the alarm felt at the increase in the number of
pensioners, then amounting to several thousand. He died in Salem, May 30, 1826,
and his wife died May 21, 1839. Their children, Sarah B. Hunting and Ruth L.
Allen, were pensioned in their mother's name August 2, 1852, receiving
the small amount which should have been paid to their mother.
On a descriptive list of officers and crew of the ship "Thomas,"
commanded by Captain Samuel Ingersoll, dated Salem, August 7, 1780, the
name of Ebenezer Burrill appears. He is described as of a light complexion, and
his residence Lynn. The age, twenty-five years, being the same as that of the
Ebenezer here described, might indicate that he was the same man.
BURRILL, EBENEZER, Esq - son of Hon. Ebenezer and Martha (Farrington)
Burrill, was born February 6, 1702-03. Although not a soldier of the Revolution,
he should be given a place among those of the town most active in forwarding the
cause of independence. Being seventy-two or three years of age at the time
of the breaking out of the war, his service was that of the wise counsellor in
the time when experience and calm judgment were as greatly needed as youthful
enthusiasm. He was perhaps the oldest member then living of a prominent and
influential family, and his voice carried great weight in the town meetings
of which he was clerk. His wife was Mary Mansfield, daughter of Joseph and Mary
(Hart) Mansfield, to whom he was married July 29, 1725, and his home was at the
northeast corner of Boston and Federal Streets. Called one of the "Sam Adams
rebels," he was on December
[ 237 ]
1, 1766, requested by his constituents to use
his endeavors to procure the passage of an act to compensate Mr. Hutchinson and
others for their losses in the riots of the preceding year, occasioned by the
passage of the Stamp Act. He was a stanch advocate of the rights of the
colonies from the beginning, and entered zealously into the plans which
they devised for assisting and protecting them. He joined the patriotic
associations of the times, and was, among other things, determined in his
opposition to the introduction of tea. On October 7, 1774, he was chosen a
delegate from Lynn to the Provincial Congress which assembled at Salem to
consider the state of public affairs. He continued to zealously aid the
efforts of the patriots, but did not live to see those efforts crowned with
success, his death occurring on the 20th of May, 1778. His service for the town
and colony had been a long one. From 1756 to 1775 he had been continuously, with
the exception of a single year, town clerk, treasurer, and selectman. From
1764 to 1775 he had been a representative to the General Court. His grave,
together with that of his wife who died in April, 1786, may be seen in the old
Western Burial Ground, surrounded by those of many others of the name of
Burrill.
BURRILL, ISRAEL, - was probably born in Saugus, and may have been a brother
of "Long John" Burrill. The dates of his birth, marriage, and death are unknown.
He served at the Lexington alarm, and on May 6 enlisted in Captain Ezra
Newhall's company, Colonel John Mansfield's regiment. He went into camp at
Cambridge, where he received an order for advance pay June 8. He was with his
company at Cobble Hill during the battle of Bunker Hill. He appears on a company
return dated October 6, and undoubtedly spent the winter in camp at Prospect
Hill. He was living in 1812, when he was granted letters of administration on
the estate of John Burrill.
BURRILL, JOHN, - eldest son of Ebenezer, Esq., and Mary (Mansfield) Burrill, was born August
29, 1726, in Lynn. He was married January 26, 1749, in Haverhill, by
Rev. Edward Bernard, to Anne Thompson, and occupied for a time the old Burrill homestead on Tower Hill.
His children were Anne, John (who became Colonel John), Mary, Joseph, Anne,
Micajah, Ebenezer, Thompson, and Sarah. He was in Captain Rufus
[ 238 ]
Mansfield's company which
marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, service two days. He was drowned in the
Saugus River, December 14, 1793. His wife died April 15, 1798, at the age of
seventy. Both are buried in the old Western Burial Ground. The grave is marked
with the Revolutionary marker.
BURRILL, JOHN, - son of John and Anne (Thompson) Burrill, was born in Lynn,
November 17, 1751. He married Anna Fuller, November 17, 1774, and lived on Tower
Hill. He was a tailor, and had a sign over the door of his house which read,
"John Burrill Tailor from Boston." He was a minute-man and corporal in Captain
Rufus Mansfield's (4th) company which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775,
service two days. He also enlisted in Captain Samuel King's company, July 4,
1775, service six months and two days, in the company stationed at Salem and
Lynn for the defence of the seacoast. It is said that he bore the title of
colonel, by which he was distinguished in the family. He was one of the
lecturers and chaplain of Mount Carmel Lodge of Masons, and a notice in the Lynn
Mirror at the time of his death is as follows: "In Lynn, December 2, 1826, Col.
John Burrill, aged 75. He was a Revolutionary patriot and a worthy citizen
and an honest man. His remains will be interred with masonic honors on Monday
next at 2 P.M. from his late residence. The relatives and friends of the
deceased with the masonic family in this vicinity, of which fraternity he was a
distinguished member, are requested to attend without a more particular
invitation."
His wife Anna died December 27, 1833, aged seventy-nine, and
both were buried in the old Burrill tomb on the Western Burial Ground. When the
tombs were removed, he was buried on Lotus Path in Pine Grove Cemetery, with
five other Revolutionary soldiers.
BURRILL, JOHN,-sergeant, probably was son of Samuel and Anna (Alden)
Burrill and brother to Ebenezer and Alden, although it is a matter of some
difficulty to accurately place the four John Burrills who served in the
Revolution from Lynn. Two were in the company of Captain Rufus Mansfield, and
one in that of Captain David Parker, of Saugus. The subject of this sketch was
probably the one married December 26, 1776, by Rev. John Treadwell, to Hannah
Lindsey, and whose children were Ann, Abigail, Samuel, and John. His only
service in the war was in response to the Lexington alarm. He died June 4, 1804,
and was buried in the old Western Burial Ground, where a bronze marker and
[ 239 ]
marble stone were erected to his memory in 1903.
Alden Burrill was appointed administrator of his estate, which was situated on
Marblehead Road, or Essex Street.
BURRILL, JOHN, - called "Long John," from his great height, lived where his
ancestors had lived, upon the old Burrill farm, southeast of the Hitchings
house. The old house, odd in appearance for that locality, may still be seen by
the angler and boatman upon the upper waters of Pranker's Pond, standing east of
the turnpike, towards Saugus Centre. Where or when he was born is not known. He
was a farmer and shoemaker, and went with his neighbors in Captain Parker's
company when the alarm rang out ort the morning of April 19, 1775. It is
possible that this was the John who was married in Chelsea, June 7, 1764, by
Rev. Phillips Payson, to Anne Tuttle, although this cannot be proved. Letters of
administration were granted on his estate, June 1, 1812, to Israel Burrill,
probably his brother. The inventory, made after the fashion of those days by his
neighbors, Lieutenant Nathan Hawkes, Richard Mansfield, and Jonathan
Makepeace, showed that he had seven and a half acres of tillage, and ten
acres called the "homestead," two acres of woodland in the "six hundred acres,"
so called, near Nathan Hawkes's land, about two and a half acres of woodland
near a road leading from Daniel Hitchings's to Benjamin Wilson's, etc. His
real estate amounted to $704. If he were married, his wife had died previously.
He is buried in the old cemetery at Saugus Centre, and his grave was marked in
1903 by a marble stone and bronze marker of the S. A. R
BURRILL, JOSEPH, - private, son of John and Anne (Thompson) Burrill, was born
in Lynn, probably in the old homestead on Tower Hill, February 13, 1756.
His father, also a soldier of the Revolution, was son of Ebenezer Burrill, Esq.,
the patriotic town clerk of Lynn and member of the General Court, and his
great-grandfather was Hon. Ebenezer Burrill, son of Lieutenant John and grandson
of George Burrill, the first of the name in Lynn. The story of the service of
Joseph Burrill in the Revolution has happily been preserved. In his old age he
applied for a pension, and filed with his application in the Pension Office is
his own story as he related it to his attorney. From this story the following
facts are gathered: Joseph Burrill became a minute-man in Captain Ezra Newhall's
company a week before the battle of Lexington, and marched with his company to
the Boston and Concord highway, where
[ 240 ]
he met the British on the return. The
muster-roll of Captain Newhall's company does not give Mr. Burrill's name, but
there would seem to be no doubt that his name should appear with the rest. On
April 20, 1775, he enlisted as a private in Captain Ezra Newhall's company,
Colonel John Mansfield's regiment, and marched to Cambridge, where he remained
until the 17th of June. On that eventful day he marched with his company to
Charlestown Neck, where, he says, he was prevented from going into the
battle by the British ships and batteries. After the battle the company marched
to Prospect Hill, where it remained about a month and then went into
quarters on Winter Hill, remaining there until discharged, January 1, 1776.
Private Burrill returned to Lynn, but the martial spirit was strong, and he
again enlisted October 1,1776, in Captain John Pool's company, Colonel
Coggswell's regiment, marching at once from Lynn to a place called the "Saw
Pitts," near the city of New York. His company, being engaged in scouring the
woods, arrived at White Plains the 30th of October, just after the battle had
closed. It then marched to North Castle, where it remained until January 1,
1777. Here Burrill was discharged, four hundred miles from home, in the
dead of winter, and with clothing scarcely sufficient to protect him on his long
walk back to Lynn. Nothing daunted, however, he turned his face homeward, and
arrived in Lynn in about three weeks. In the following summer, news came of the
march of General Burgoyne and his army from Canada. Burrill at once went to
Lexington and enlisted for the third time, marching in Captain Samuel Farrar's
company, Colonel Reed's regiment, for New York. The regiment went out by way of
Worcester and Hadley, to Northampton, and through Bennington to Saratoga,
where it arrived in time to engage in the battles preceding the capture of
Burgoyne, and to be present at the surrender. After the latter event Burrill was
detailed as one of the guards to accompany the defeated army to Cambridge. After
a tedious march of many days he arrived at Winter Hill, November 7, where he was
given a verbal discharge, and again he returned to Lynn.
About 1780 Joseph
Burrill went to Haverhill, where he married Lydia Mulliken. After her death he
married, second, December 17, 1791, her sister, Susannah Mulliken, born in
Haverhill, July 1, 1775. He bought a house on Pecker Street, and there his
children, John, Susan, Mary, Ann, Joseph, Lydia, Harriet, Emily, and Sarah were
born.
[ 241 ]
In a search for connecting links with this band
of heroes of the Revolution there was found in the city of Cambridge one of
the two surviving children of the old patriot, Mrs. Sarah (Burrill)
Sawtelle. Possessed of all her faculties, bright and active at the age of
eighty-seven, she pleasantly related the story of her father's life as she had
heard it from his own lips. She said that her father was a soldier in the army
of Washington, and that, in so far as she had been able to learn, her sister
Harriet, aged ninety-three, and herself were the only children living of any of
the soldiers who had served from Lynn in the Revolutionary War. Although
her father had been born one hundred and forty-eight years before, she could
remember him well, having been born when he was sixty-one years of age, and
being nineteen years old when he died. She said that she had often heard from
him the story of his connection with the Revolution, for he would gather the
children around the fireside and tell them of his experience. He was in the
fight of the 19th of April, and had followed the British all the way back to
Boston. He said that he counted many red-coats that day lying where they had
fallen along the road. Upon his being asked if he had ever killed a British
soldier, he always replied that, if he hadn't, he had tried to. He told them of
Washington whom he had seen in camp for many months, and of the sufferings from
hunger and cold which were sometimes very great, but that he had felt that he
was fighting for freedom and therefore had not minded them. He was very proud of
his experience. She said that her father was a tall, straight man and rather
slender, that he was always smooth-shaven and wore his hair in the
old-fashioned queue with a large black bow, which it was one of her early duties
to tie. She remembered well his appearance in knee-breeches and with silver
buckles on his shoes.
It was on the 25th of May, 1832, that Joseph Burrill
made application for a pension under the act of 1832, and his petition was
granted. He was pensioned at the rate of $43.22 per year and received $86.44
back pay. His death occurred in Haverhill at the advanced age of eighty-one. His
wife died August 27, 1831. They are buried in the old cemetery at Haverhill,
where black slate stones mark their graves.
BURRILL, JOSEPH, - born 1762, parentage unknown. Revolutionary service:
Descriptive list of men raised to reinforce the Continental Army
[ 242 ]
for the term of six months, agreeable to resolve of
June 5, 1780; age, eighteen years; stature, 5 ft. 9 in.; complexion, ruddy;
residence, Lynn; arrived at Springfield July 13, 1780; marched to camp July
13, 1780, under command of Captain Thomas Pritchard; also list of men
raised for six months' service and returned by Brigadier-General Patterson as
having passed muster in a return dated Camp Totoway, October 25, 1780.
BURRILL, MICAJAH, - son of John and Anne (Thompson) Burrill, was born October 5,
1760, and died at North Chelsea, March 25, 1847. He is buried in the old Western
Burial Ground, but nothing further is known of him. The Revolutionary record
given in the Massachusetts rolls is as follows: -
Private, Captain Addison Richardson's company, Colonel Wade's regiment,
detached from Essex County militia; enlisted July 12, 1780; discharged October
10, 1780; service, three months and eleven days.
BURRILL, SAMUEL, - son of Hon. Ebenezer and Martha (Farrington) Burrill,
was born April 1, 1717. He was a brother of Ebenezer, Esq., the town clerk, a
member of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety 1776-78
and 1781-83; a delegate to the convention at Concord to frame a state
constitution, September 29, 1779; representative to the General Court
1780-83; and on the committee to supply the families of soldiers gone to
the war, but not himself a soldier.
He married Anna Alden, daughter of
John and Anna (Brame) Alden. Her mother, as widow Anna, married Henry
Burchstead. Samuel Burrill died May 3, 1797. His wife died December 10, 1795,
aged seventy-four.
BURRILL, THEOPHILUS, - private, son of Theophilus
and Mary (Hills) Burrill, was born October 30, 1740, in the Burrill homestead,
still standing at the corner of Essex and Burrill Streets, Swampscott. He
was a descendant in the fifth generation from George Burrill, the
ancestor of all the Burrills of Lynn. He was married by Rev. Joseph Roby, May 3, 1762, to Martha Newhall, daughter of Benjamin and
Elizabeth (Fowle) Newhall, born in Malden, February 23, 1743. His children were
Susan, Micajah, Benjamin, Theophilus, Frederic, Benjamin, Ruth, Mary, and
Isaiah.
Theophilus Burrill, one of the neighbors of Abednego Ramsdell,
[ 243 ]
was with the latter when he was killed on the
afternoon of April 19, 1775, being a member with him of Captain Farrington's
company.
Upon the arrival of Burgoyne's captured army at Cambridge, he
enlisted, Noyember 11, 1777, as a private in Captain Miles Greenwood's
company, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment of guards, and did duty at Winter Hill
until April 3, 1778, when he was discharged.
The home of' Mr. Burrill after
his marriage was still the house in which he was born, and this substantial
building was gayly decorated with flags on the occasion of the celebration, in
1902, of the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of
Swampscott. His death occurred shortly after the Revolution, although the date
has not been found. Tradition says that he died in the fall of the year, and
that his wife died the following spring. They are probably buried in the old
Western Burial Ground.
BUXTON, STEPHEN.
- Although this name appears repeatedly
in the Lynnfield town records, it is probable that his Revolutionary
service was with the Reading men. Little is known of him. The Massachusetts
rolls give the following record: -
Private,
Captain John Bacheller's company of minute-men, Colonel Ebenezer Bridge's
regiment, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775; also Captain Bacheller's company,
Colonel Bridge's regiment; muster-roll dated August 1, 1775; service, three
months, fourteen days; also company return dated Cambridge camp, September 25,
1775.
CARLETON, SAMUEL, - a pensioner of the Revolution, died in Saugus, and
his grave may be seen in the old ground at Saugus Centre. He was not a Lynn man,
but enlisted from Boxford, and was possibly born there, September 28, 1750. He
was at Lexington and Bunker Hill, and at the latter place had a brother shot
down at his side. The Lynn Mirror, in a notice of his death, February 26,
1832, speaks of him as "late of Hanover."
CARNES, REV. JOHN, - son of John
and Sarah Carnes, was born in Boston, July 11, 1723; married by Rev. Nathaniel
Henchman, July 16, 1747, to Mary Lewis, daughter of John and Mary (Burrill)
Lewis; died October 20, 1802, aged seventy-eight years. His wife died in June,
1798, at the age of seventy-eight. Although in the Lewis History of Lynn, under
date of 1802, it is stated that Rev. John Carnes came to Lynn after the
Revolution, the statement in Richard Pratt's" Common
[ 244 ]
place-Book" under date of October 6, 1757, to the
effect that he removed from Stoneham to Lynn on the latter date, seems more
likely to be true from the fact that the entry was probably made at the time. Also the fact that he occupied the pulpit of Mr.
Henchman on October 9, 1757, and January 1, 1758, would seem to indicate that he had
taken up his residence in Lynn. Mr. Lewis says that he received a commission as
justice of the peace, and also that he was in 1788 a member of the Convention to
ratify the Constitution of the State, which is doubtless correct. Besides this
the Massachusetts rolls add the fact that he was chaplain in Colonel Edmund
Phinney's regiment; muster-roll dated Garrison at Fort George, December 8, 1776,
appointed March 1, 1776.
The home of Rev. John Carnes was an interesting old
house which stood well out into Boston Street, just where Carnes Street now
comes into it. Two large buttonwood-trees stood in front, and under these it is
said that a young couple took their station in the pouring rain while the Rev.
Mr. Carnes from a chamber window united them in marriage. Mr. Cyrus M. Tracy
made this incident the subject of one of his poems. The old house, built prior
to 1700, was removed in 1845, but a portion of it still remains in the shape of
a small house standing on Boston Street nearly opposite the old spot. Another
portion was included in the old John T. Moulton factories.
In the inventory of the property
of Rev. Mr. Carnes a home field of nine acres is mentioned, together with a
dwelling-house and barn, and also eleven acres called Skinner's Pasture, valued
at $200. Mr. Carnes is buried in the old Western Burial Ground, in a brick tomb,
without inscription, in the south part of the ground.
CHADWELL, LIEUTENANT HARRIS, - son of Benjamin and
Mary (Deylee) Chadwell, was born March 14, 1746, in the old family house of the
Chadwells, which stood in the field not far from where the Saugus Branch
Railroad track now is, a little to the north of Summer Street The old house
was demolished many years ago. He was a descendant of Thomas, who came to Lynn
in the first years of its settlement. His father, who was a sailor, died on one
of his voyages to the West Indies,
[ 245 ]
in 1775, leaving two sons, Harris, the
subject of this sketch, and William, who settled in Portland, Me. Harris
Chadwell was a carpenter by trade, and served his apprenticeship with
Richard Breed, who lived on the spot where later the house of Isaiah Walden was
built. It is said that when Chadwell was twenty-one years old, all that he
possessed, except a good trade, was a half pistareen of Spanish money. He
soon after went to Marblehead, where he toiled a month for his board and a dozen
bandanna handkerchiefs. When he had finished the work, he returned to Lynn, but
did not know what to do with the handkerchiefs. Finally, he concluded to give
one to Ruth Witt, daughter of Ivory and Ruth (Breed) Witt, his future wife, and
disposed of the others as best he could by way of barter. This was in 1768, and
his marriage occurred soon after, on December 22,1768. Mr. Chadwell built a
house for himself which stood between Summer Street and Lynn Common, in the
fields. It was a substantial, two-story mansion, pleasantly shaded by
Lombardy poplars. It still remains, somewhat changed in appearance, on
South Street, and is the present home of True B. Curtis.
When the Old Tunnel Meeting-House
was repaired in 1777, Mr. Chadwell and his men did the work.
Besides being a good carpenter, he was a good accountant and penman for those
days, and often assisted his neighbor Ephraim Breed, who was town clerk from
1786 to 1804.
The story of Mr. Chadwell's experience on the day of the battle of
Lexington has been told in the Lexington chapter in the first part of this book.
At the close of that eventful day he returned without having received
injury, and soon organized a company of alarm men. Not long after he enlisted in
the Continental Army, and received a lieutenant's commission. His departure
for war was somewhat sudden and is described in a sketch written many years ago
by George W. Rogers, and from which many of these facts are taken. Mr.
Chadwell was one day shingling Thomas Cheever's barn on the north of the
Common, when some one came along and told him of the great need of men in the
struggle for liberty, saying, "Chadwell, you must go!" Mr. Chadwell immediately
left off work, and started for the front. It was said that he was at the battle
of Brandywine when General Lafayette's horse was shot from under him, and,
being near, he assisted the French general to dismount. When that distinguished
gen-
[ 246 ]
eral
passed through Lynn in 1824, Lieutenant Chadwell was introduced to him, and
reference was made to the incident.
In person Lieutenant Chadwell was rather small, at least not above medium
height, was of a strong nervous temperament and of remarkable courage.
People used to say, even in his later days, that it would take a good deal to
frighten him, and that nothing short of the devil could make him run. He was
sprightly, very muscular, and wiry, and maintained his activity until he was
seventy-four years old. At that time he was thrown from his horse, and so
injured that he did little work thereafter. He was familiarly called "Grandsir"
by most people, and especially by his numerous children and grandchildren. His
children were Elizabeth, Mary, Moses, Lydia, Harris, Ruth, Sally, Susannah,
Patty, and William. One of his last appearances in public was at the
raising of the South Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1830. His wife died
January 30, 1834, and he died a few months later, namely, August 26. Both are
buried along the main path in the old Western Burial Ground, and their graves
are suitably marked.
The notice which appeared in the Lynn Record at the time of his death seems
worth quoting, since it gives something of his Revolutionary service, as well
as the estimate which was placed upon his life; -
"Died in Lynn, Aug. 26, 1834, Mr. Harris Chadwell, aged 88
years, 5 months. Another patriot soldier of the Revolution has gone to sleep with
his fathers. As a relic of those days which opened a pathway to American freedom,
we cannot but feel it a duty to record his exit as well as some of his virtues.
He was a lieutenant of the militia in the Revolutionary War. In 1775 he commanded
a detachment of Capt. King's company, then stationed on Lynn Common. In 1776
he was at Prospect Hill, watching the maneuvres of the British. In 1777 at
Providence and in 1778 in Rhode Island, and had command of the boats at that
place when the Americans returned from the island. He lived to a venerable old
age, having buried his consort a few months since, with whom he lived in perfect
harmony for the term of sixty-five years. Seven out of ten children also
found a grave before him, all of whom, however, became the heads of respectable
families. He was a pensioner under the last act, which by its tribute of respect
and pecuniary aid cast a sunshine over his last moments. He was followed to the
grave by a numerous procession, a portion of which was com-
[ 247
]
posed of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Four patriots of
the Revolution assisted as pall-bearers, and with tears in
their eyes consigned him to that lonely mansion prepared for the living. He had
no enemies - of course left none. He was an honest man, 'the noblest
work of God.' He now rests from his labors, and we trust his works will follow
him." - Lynn Record, September 3, 1834.
CHAMBERLAIN, GARLAND, -
son of John and Mary (Phillips) Chamberlain, of Charlestown, was born
May 20, 1759, and was fifth in line from William Chamberlain, of Hull, the
emigrant ancestor. He was married May 7, 1786, by Rev. Obadiah Parsons, to Mary
Newhall, daughter of Allen and Love Newhall, of Lynn. Their children were Polly,
Garland, and Sally. In each of the five generations following there was a
Garland Chamberlain, and two, father and son, served in the Civil War. The
present Garland A. lives on Pendexter Street in Charlestown, and in his
possession is the old family Bible of Mary, the mother of the first Garland.
Garland
Chamberlain, the Revolutionary soldier, was a boy of seventeen when the
battle of Bunker Hill was fought, and was living at the time in Charlestown; but
his mother's house was burned, and with her he walked to Lynn that night,
bringing the family Bible which she had saved. He belonged in Captain Ezra
Newhall's company, Colonel John Mansfield's regiment, which took no part in the
actual fighting, of the day. In that part of Lynn now called
Wyoma the two had friends with whom they found refuge.
During the latter
part of the war, Chamberlain took to privateering, and assisted in the capture
of several British ships. His grandson, Charles D. Mansfield, of 91 Park Street,
shows an old tea canister which was taken from a British prize. He died,
probably in London while on one of these trips, February 9, 1796, aged
thirty-six. His wife was sister of Daniel and Charles Newhall, Revolutionary
soldiers who lived on Boston Street, and after the death of her husband she
lived in the Daniel Newhall house, so called, now standing on Barrett Street,
turned to face the west. Garland Chamberlain was one of the first Free Masons in
Lynn, having been a member of the famous St. Andrew's Lodge No. 82, of Boston.
His old diploma, still preserved, bears the date of November 7, 1795, and in the
margin his autograph. It has now been restored to the ancient lodge through the
courtesy of the grandson.
[ 248 ]
Many times during the latter days of his widow
did the lodge of St. Andrew supply her with comforts. Her death occurred June
10, 1817, at the age of fifty-seven.
Further Revolutionary service of
Garland Chamberlain is given in the Massachusetts rolls as follows: Private,
Captain Ezra Newhall's company, Colonel John Mansfield's regiment,
commanded by LieutenantColonel Israel Hutchinson; muster-roll dated August
1, 1775; enlisted May 5,1775; service, three months, three days; also
company return dated October 6, 1775; also Captain Newhall's company, list of
men taken from the Orderly Book of Colonel Israel Hutchinson, of the 27th
regiment, dated Fort Lee; reported taken prisoner at Fort Washington, November
16, 1776.
Captain Newhall's
company, Colonel Mansfield's regiment; order for advance pay dated Cambridge,
June 8, 1775; also Captain Ezra Newhall's company, Colonel John Mansfield's
(19th) regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Israel Hutchinson; order
for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Winter Hill, November 4,1775;
also private, Captain Zadock Buffinton's company, Colonel Samuel Johnson's
regiment, enlisted August 19, 1777; discharged at Cambridge, November 30,
1777; service, three
months, twelve days at the northward.
CHEEVER, DR. ABIJAH, - son of Abner and Elizabeth
(Newhall) Cheever, was born in Saugus, May 23, 1760, brother of Abner, Jr. He
graduated at Harvard in 1779 and was a surgeon in the Revolution, afterward
practicing his profession in Boston, where he was married by Rev.
John Clarke, July 5, 1789, to Elizabeth Scott, daughter of Daniel Scott, of Boston. On October 16, 1798, he
was married the second time to Sally Williams. About 1810 he moved back to
Saugus, where he lived until his death, April 21, 1843. His children were
Margaret, Elizabeth Scott, Charles Augustus, Elizabeth Scott, Horatio Herbert.
His grandson, Dr. David W. Cheever, of Boston, says that he was buried in
one of the old tombs on Boston Common.
The "Dr. Cheever Place," so called,
of Saugus, built in 1806 and situated some thirty rods east of the Newburyport
turnpike, and about sixty rods north of the spot where stood the old farm
mansion of Abner Cheever, was for many years considered the most elegant house
of Sau-
[ 249 ]
gus. Its situation, surrounded by trees, was
picturesque and inviting, and never failed to command attention and respect. In
the palmy days of the doctor's life everything about it was kept in the neatest
order, and, when the turnpike was opened to public travel, he had a private road
made through a field belonging to the estate to the house itself. The birthplace
of Dr. Cheever was the old house of his father, which was demolished at about
the time that the new house was built, and thus, although the old house was
gone, he looked out for many years upon the scenes of his boyhood. Dr. Cheever
was a man of liberal education, studied for the medical profession at an
early age, and was commissioned as a surgeon in the Continental Army. From
that time until the erection of his house in Saugus he generally made his home
in Boston. He was a gentleman of the old school, never for a moment lowering his
dignity. In politics he became a rigid Federalist, and in religion he was a
Unitarian. He was one of the few slaveholders of the town, and owned some two
hundred acres of land in Saugus, a part of which is now crossed by the Saugus
Branch Railroad.
In the Pension Office an interesting record was found concerning his service
in the Revolution. At the time that he made application for a pension he deposed
that on July 16, 1779, he was appointed surgeon's mate in the Military Hospital
of the United States at Boston, under Dr. John Warren, brother of General
Warren, and that he continued to serve in that station until the spring of
1782, when he was appointed surgeon of the ship "Tartar," of twenty guns, which
was a frigate duly commissioned by the Commonwealth and commanded by Captain
John Cathcart, and in which he served until the last of November, 1782,
when she was sold by the state. He held his commission until peace was declared.
In a letter to John C. Calhoun he wrote: -
"On a sudden emergency in 1782 I acted as surgeon's mate of the 'Tartar,'
the enemy having invested our seacoast. I was taken and kept prisoner of war
at New York until peace was declared."
The military hospital at Boston was for the purpose of receiving sick and
wounded prisoners of war from the guard-ships of the harbor. In his deposition
he makes the statement that in 1809, owing to the bankruptcy of a man to
whom he had intrusted his property, he was left penniless, and that he fell sick
then for seven years, and had since had no property or income. Certain doctors
combined in 1821 to discredit
[ 250 ]
the statements of Dr. Cheever, and forwarded to Daniel
Webster evidence which, they submitted, would be enough to have him stricken
from the rolls, and they wrote Calhoun, they said, "from a sense of duty
to our country." His original commission was signed by Hancock as governor, May
13, 1782, and was sent to Hon. John F. Parrott, senator, March 4, 1824. The
wife of Dr. John Warren filed her affidavit that Dr. Cheever was in the service
with her husband. The following is a letter which Dr. Cheever wrote to Calhoun,
then Secretary of War: -
Sir; -
Pursuant to your letter of the 7th I enclose four depositions, with the Judge's
certificate, before whom I made my declaration. In this I think you will discover
in some measure the motive of the informant, who I cannot conceive to
be any other than a distant family connection, having a pique to satiate, and who
sir, after you have examined the annexed will and depositions, I think will stand
in your mind, as he does in the minds of those to whom his private characteristics
are known. Perhaps, sir, you will not consider it altogether
irrelevant if I add that while discharging the duties of a Mate, I
took a putrid fever in the hospital, which intailed to me an infirm constitution;
And while surgeon of the "Tartar," after she was converted
into a letter of marque, I was made prisoner when she was captured by a British
frigate, after a close engagement of six hours and lost all my property; that
when I returned home, I was obliged to sell my Final Settlement, which I
received from the United States in payment for my services as Hospital Mate, for
one seventh of the face of them to support myself.
When, then, sir, you may have examined the enclosed documents, I feel
confident you will no longer hesitate to continue to me the payment of the
pension allowed to me by my country for my youthful service.
I am, sir, with
high consideration,
Your hum. ser.
ABIJAH CHEEVER.
His claim was No. 534,
and he was stricken off in 1820. Originally pensioned at $ 20 per month from
April 18, 1818.
CHEEVER, ABNER, Sr., - son of Thomas and Mary
(Baker) Cheever, was born January 24, 1725; married November 8, 1752, to
Elizabeth Newhall, daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Breed) Newhall, born
March 30, 1723. Their children were Elizabeth, Abner, Sarah, Joshua, Abijah, Ann, Mehitable,
Lot, and Ezekiel. His home was in Saugus, very near the stately house still
known as the "Dr. Cheever Place," but which was built
[ 251 ]
some years after the Revolution and at about the
time that the old homestead of his father, Abner, was torn down.
Abner Cheever was one of the prominent men of Lynn during the Revolution, was a
justice and leader, and served on all important committees, was a member of
the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety in 1776, 1781, and
1782, and moderator of town meetings in 1781-86, and was one of the committee
to set a watch in 1776. At least two of his sons served as soldiers, -
Abner, Jr., and Abijah. He died April 22, 1796, at the age of
seventy-two, and is buried in a marked grave in the old ground at Saugus Centre.
CHEEVER, ABNER, Jr., - corporal, was born in Lynn, March 16, 1755, and was
the son of Abner and Elizabeth (Newhall) Cheever. His father was one of the
patriotic men of the town and prominent in public affairs. The Cheever homestead
was at the corner of Felton and Essex Streets, Cliftondale, and was destroyed by
fire many years ago. The ancient elms which shaded the house remain. He did
service in Captain Parker's Saugus company on the Lexington alarm, and continued
with the new army until Boston was evacuated, March 17, 1776. On that occasion
he was on the first boat crossing the Charles River, and entered the town while
the enemy were yet embarking on the wharves. On November 29, 1779, he was
married by Rev. Mr. Roby to Mercy Newhall, daughter of Colonel Ezra Newhall,
born September 4, 1757. His children were Abijah, Abner, Henry, Sally, Emily,
Frederick, Belinda, and Abner. His brother Abijah was a surgeon in the
Revolution. Family tradition says that he took part in the famous Boston Tea
Party. His grand-niece, Miss Rachel Cheever, of Saugus, has still in her
possession a small phial of tea which, it is said, he brought away from the
party in his shoes. Many of the older people remember the venerable patriot who
was known as Colonel Cheever in his latter days. He was a tall man, rather thin
in face, and smooth-shaven in accordance with the old-time custom. He was the
last survivor but one in Saugus of the battle of Lexington. He died September
13, 1837, aged eighty-two, and was first interred in a private tomb which
had been built upon his estate, but some few years ago his remains were
transferred to the new Saugus cemetery and buried in the Perley lot. A marble
stone and marker of the S. A. R. were erected at his grave in 1903. So far as is
known, he is the only Revolutionary soldier in the cemetery.
[ 252 ]
His entire estate of $4,000 was left to his wife
Mercy, the date of whose death is unknown.
CHEEVER, ISRAEL, - was another of the family of
Cheevers in Lynn who were descended from Ezekiel Cheever, the famous master of
the Boston Latin School. Israel was the son of William and Mehitable (Newhall)
Cheever, but the date of his birth has not been found except in a note which
says, "about 1755." His line traced back would be Israel6, William
5, William 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2,
Ezekiel1
.
The marriage of Israel Cheever to Martha Collins, daughter of John and Bethia
(Mansfield) Collins, took place June 8, 1778, the ceremony being performed
by Rev. John Treadwell.
The Revolutionary service is given as follows: Private,
Captain Ezra Newhall's company of minute-men which marched on the alarm of
April 19, 1775; service, seventeen days; also Captain Ezra Newhall's company, Colonel
John Mansfield's regiment, order for advance pay dated Cambridge, June 8,
1775; also same company and regiment, muster-roll dated August 1, 1775; enlisted
May 6, 1775; service, three months and two days; also Captain Newhall's company,
Colonel Mansfield's regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Israel Hutchinson,
company return dated October 6, 1775; also Captain Newhall's
company, Lieutenant-Colonel Israel Hutchinson's regiment, order for
bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated camp at Winter Hill, November 4,
1775; also sergeant, Captain Joseph Hiller's company, Colonel Jonathan Titcomb's
regiment, arrived at destination May 5, 1777; discharged July 5, 1777; service,
two months, six days, travel included, at Rhode Island; roll dated camp at
Providence. Mass. Rolls.
CHEEVER, JOHN, - son of Thomas and Mary (Emerson) Cheever, and brother of
Thomas, Jr., was born in Lynn, February 25, 1763. He was a private in Captain
Addison Richardson's company, Colonel Wade's detachment from Essex County
militia, enlisted July 12, 1780, discharged October 10, 1780; service, three
months and eleven days. Besides this he was in later service, for he died on the
Jersey prisonship, of small-pox, November 11, 1783. See under Jonathan
Boardman, where this fact appears in Boardman's letter to his parents.
CHEEVER, THOMAS, Sr., - son of Thomas and Eunice (Ivory) Cheever, was born in
Lynn, February 20, 1733, and together with the other
[ 253 ]
Cheevers of Lynn was a descendant of Ezekiel, the famous master of the Boston
Latin School, who was born in London and came to Boston in 1637. The first
Thomas, who came to Lynn about 1702, was from Rumney Marsh, now Chelsea, and
was a cordwainer, yeoman, and tanner, and built a mill on Saugus River in 1723.
He took a prominent part in forming the third parish, and his son Edward,
born May 2, 1717, was the first settled pastor. His grandson, the subject
of this sketch, married Mrs. Mary Emerson, of Reading, published September
30, 1753, and their house was at the head of Park Street, facing Lynn Common,
his farm extending through to what was afterward the turnpike. It was
his barn which Harris Chadwell was shingling when he suddenly decided to enlist
in the war. Thomas Cheever died January 28, 1823, at the age of ninety,
having for some years been of feeble mind and under the guardianship of Zachariah
Attwill. His wife Mary had previously died, November 23, 1809, and both
are buried in the central part of the old Western Burial Ground. Their children,
all born in Lynn, were Hannah, Mary, Thomas, and John. The Salem Gazette
at the time of his death made the statement that he was a soldier of the Revolution
and of the old French War, but his service cannot be distinguished from
that of his son Thomas. Jr. The records, as they appear on the rolls under the
name of Thomas Cheever, are as follows, part belonging to the father and part
to the son: -
Private, Captain Zadock
Buffinton's company, Colonel Johnson's regiment; enlisted August 15, 1777;
discharged November 30, 1777, at Cambridge; service, three months, sixteen days,
at the northward. Roll sworn
to at Salem.
Private, Captain Miles Greenwood's
company, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment of guards; enlisted November 11, 1777;
service to April 3, 1778, four months, twenty-three days. Rolls dated camp at Winter Hill.
Corporal, Captain
Addison Richardson's company, Colonel Wade's detachment from Essex County
militia; enlisted July 12, 1780; service, three months, eleven days.
Private, Captain Simeon Brown's
company, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment of guards; service from July 2 to July 12, 1778, ten days; roll
dated camp at Winter Hill; also Captain Simeon Brown's company, Colonel
Nathaniel Wade's regiment; enlisted July 30, 1778; service,
[ 254 ]
five months, seven days, at Rhode Island;
discharged at East Greenwich, R.I.; company raised in York and Essex
Counties; also musterroll dated East Greenwich, October 14, 1778;
enlistment to expire January 1, 1779; reported on command at Warwick; also
muster-roll dated East Greenwich, November 6, 1778.
Private, Captain Nathan Sargent's company of guards; enlisted February 3,
1779; discharged May 7, 1779; service, three months. three days, under
Major-General Gates at and about Boston.
CHEEVER, THOMAS, Jr., - son of Thomas and Mary (Emerson) Cheever, was born
March 17, 1760; married August 30, 1789, by Rev. Obadiah Parsons, to Mrs. Anna
Hudson. She died October 3, 1793, and he married, second, May 15, 1797, Abigail
Breed, who died December 25, 1828. Their children, born in Lynn, were John,
Anna, Joseph. He died April 19, 1825, and his inventory filed at Probate Court
mentions dwelling and barn on Lynn Common, and also nine acres of land and
another house. This may indicate that he succeeded to his father's property. He
is buried in the western part of the old Western Burial Ground. His
Revolutionary record cannot be distinguished from that of his father. The
records under the name of Thomas Cheever are given above.
CHITTENDEN, THOMAS, - private, was not a native of Lynn, but probably
came here from Marblehead. He was married December 8, 1774, by Rev. Mr.
Treadwell, to Love Ramsdell. His only military service recorded was upon
April 19, 1775, in Captain Farrington's company. He became a member of the
First Church, owning the covenant August 10, 1777.
CLARK, EDMUND, - son of Edmund and Mary, was born
October 14, 1747. He was married about 1770, and
his children were Rebecca, Elizabeth, Theophilus, and Sarah. He was a sergeant
in Captain Rufus Mansfield's (4th) company which marched on the alarm of
April 19, 1775, to Concord; service, two days. Little is known of him. Letters
of administration were granted upon his estate January 14, 1805, and his wife
Elizabeth and son Theophilus are mentioned. He enumerates a mansion house, barn,
shoemaker's shop, and twelve acres of land, valued at $1,545. His pasture land
adjoined Noah Ramsdell's, and his estate was evidently at Wood End. Theophilus
Burrill and Micajah Burrill were appraisers.
[ 255 ]
COATS, JOHN, - son of Samuel and Ruth (Hart)
Coats, was born in Lynn, April 2, 1738. His only service was in Captain
Farrington's company at the time of the Lexington alarm. Nothing further is
known of him.
COATS, PHILIP, - son of Philip and Ruth Coats, was born September
16, 1758. His father was probably the Philip who served in the French and
Indian War, serving in the expedition to Canada and on the Maine frontier. Philip,
the subject of this sketch, was married September 9, 1784, by Rev. Mr. Roby,
of Saugus, to Ruth Potter, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Brown) Potter, and
their children were Kitty, William, Burrill Potter, Lois, and John Brown. The
date of his death is unknown. He was living in 1805, inasmuch as his name appears
in connection with the will of William Newhall, Jr. His Revolutionary record
is given as follows: -
Private, Captain Joseph Hiller's company, Colonel Jonathan
Titcomb's regiment; arrived at destination May 5, 1777; discharged July
5, 1777; service, two months, six days, travel included, at Rhode Island;
roll dated camp at Providence; also list of men raised for the six months' service
and returned by Brigadier-General Patterson, as having passed muster in
a return dated Camp Totoway, October 25, 1780; also pay-roll for six months' men
raised by the town of Lynn for service in the Continental Army during 1780;
marched June 27, 1780; discharged December 5, 1780; service, five months, twenty
days. - Mass. Rolls.
COATS, STEPHEN, - son of Philip and Ruth Coats, was born in Malden, February
22, 1753. Little is known of him except his military record. He was a private in
Captain Ezra Newhall's company of minute-men which marched on the alarm of April
19,1775; service, sixteen days; also Captain Ezra Newhall's company, Colonel
John Mansfield's regiment; order for advance pay dated Cambridge, June 8,
1775; also same company and regiment, muster-roll dated August 1, 1775; enlisted
May 5,1775; service, three months, three days; also Captain Ezra Newhall's
company, Colonel Israel Hutchinson's (19th) regiment, order for bounty coat or
its equivalent in money dated Winter Hill, November 4, 1775.
Stephen Coats
was also in Washington's army in the Jerseys in 1776, but was taken to
Philadelphia sick in November of that year. Here he was quartered with Henry
Hallowell and Charles Florence. These
[ 256 ]
men left the city
together in the winter of 1776-77, and tried to reach Lynn. Mr. Florence and Mr.
Hallowell, however, both fell sick on the way, and Mr. Coats was obliged to push
on alone. How he reached home, sick, on foot and alone, is left entirely to the
imagination, since nothing further has been found concerning him, except the
brief record of his marriage in the Saugus church records. This took place about
a year later, December 3, 1777, to Sarah Stone. There is also found the birth of
his daughter, Ruth, on August 4, 1780.
COATS, WILLIAM, - son of Philip and Ruth and brother of Philip and Stephen, was
born April 8, 1756. Of this man only his Revolutionary record can be given: -
Private, Captain Ezra Newhall's company of minute-men which marched on the alarm of
April 19, 1775; service, sixteen days; also Captain Ezra Newhall's company, Colonel
John Mansfield's regiment; order for advance pay dated Cambridge, June
8, 1775; also same company and regiment; muster-roll dated August 1,
1775; enlisted May 5, 1775; service, three months, three days; also Captain Newhall's
company, Colonel Mansfield's (19th) regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Israel
Hutchinson; company return dated October 6, 1775; also Captain Ezra
Newhall's company, Colonel Israel Hutchinson's (19th) regiment; order for
bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Winter Hill, November 4, 1775. -
Mass. Rolls.
COLLINS, JOHN, - probably married Rebecca Richardson, of Lynnfield, April 19,
1770; had a son John. August 6, 1775, there is recorded the death of a child
of John Collins at Lynnfield. Nothing definite can be said of this man. In the
Massachusetts rolls the record is, "Drummer, Capt. Stephen Wilkins's co., Col.
Wigglesworth's reg.; pay abstract for travel allowance from Albany home, sworn
to Jan. 15, 1777."
COLLYER, JOHN. - Nothing is known of this man. He was
possibly born in Marblehead.
Captain Asa Prince's company, Colonel Mansfield's
regiment; receipt for advance pay dated Cambridge, June 8, 1775;
also Captain Prince's company, Colonel Israel Hutchinson's regiment; order for
bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated December 21, 1775. Mass.
Rolls.
COPP, SAMUEL, - may have been the Samuel who some time after the war was
engaged in the manufacture of tobacco in Lynn, first at Massey's
[ 257 ]
Hall, where in 1805 he carried on the
business with Joseph Nye, the sign reading "Copp & Nye." Subsequently Mr.
Copp removed to Saugus, and erected buildings at what was later known as
Sweetser's Corner, in Cliftondale. This Samuel Copp was a native of Boston, and
his mother was a sister to the wife of Landlord Newhall. He married Nancy,
daughter of William Sweetser, April 24, 1803, and after her death, which
occurred in 1805 at the age of twenty, he married her sister, Sophia, April 6,
1806. There is, however, a strong probability that this man was born too late to
have served in the Revolution, and that the soldier was his father or uncle. The
soldier is spoken of in the records as sometimes of Boston and sometimes of
Lynn, and his service was from 1777 to the close of the war. In 1781, in a
descriptive list of men, dated at West Point, his age is given as thirty-six,
his stature six feet, his complexion light, and his occupation that of a
carpenter. He served in several regiments as private and sergeant, for the most
part in and about West Point. He was granted, January 6, 1783, at New Windsor, a
furlough of one month and ten days to return to Boston. Evidently he did not
return to the army at the end of the term, for in March, only a month before the
cessation of hostilities, he was reported deserted.
COSTEKIN, ANTHONY, - was paid a bounty of fourteen pounds by Lynn in March,
1777. His name is given in a list of men mustered by Nathaniel Barber, muster-master
for Suffolk County, dated Boston, April 13, 1777; Captain Joseph Williams's
company, Colonel John Greaton's regiment; residence, Lynn; enlisted for
the town of Lynn. - Mass. Rolls.
Nothing further is known of him.
COWIN, FRANCIS, - private, Captain Ezra Newhall's Company, Colonel John Mansfield's
regiment; muster-roll dated August 1, 1775; enlisted May 6, 1775; service,
three months, two days; also Captain Newhall's company, Colonel Mansfield's
regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Israel Hutchinson; company
return dated October 6, 1775. Mass. Rolls.
COX, THOMAS, - was born in 1731; married, first, Abigail King, of Salem,
September 17, 1753; second, October 19, 1781, by Rev. Joseph Roby, to Mary Gray,
daughter of Abraham and Lydia (Caley) Gray, born January 5, 1743; third, Eunice
Rhodes, April 12, 1796. His children
[ 258 ]
by his first marriage were Abigail, Hepzibah,
Thomas, and Sarah. His home was on Waterhill, and with his son-in-law Nathaniel
Tarbox, Jr., he worked at shoemaking. He is mentioned as having held several
minor town offices, namely: tithing-man in 1760; constable in 1766; tithing-man
in 1775 and 1782; fish commissioner in 1779; and collector in 1781. His
death occurred November 19, 1796, according to Dr. Gardner's ledger, "of an
operation." He left no will, and letters of administration were applied for, his
wife Eunice being mentioned and a son, John. He is buried in the old Western
Burial Ground, where there is a marker and stone at his grave.
Of the Revolutionary service of
Thomas Cox nothing is known except that he was lieutenant in Captain Ezra
Newhall's company which marched on the morning of April 19, 1775, and that he is credited with twenty-one days' service at that time.
CUSHING, NATHANIEL, - private, list of men belonging to Lynn, now called
Lynn, Lynnfield, and Saugus, who served at Concord battle and elsewhere.
Return of men raised for Continental service agreeable to resolve of December 2,
1780; engaged March 30, 1780; engaged for town of Lynn; term, three years. -
Mass. Rolls.
CUTLER, JOHN. - There are two entries on the Lynn records regarding John
Cutler and his family. The first is as follows: "June 21, 1762, John Cutler,
wife and three children, Betty, Sarah, and Jerusha, came to the home of Benjamin
Meads, from Woburn, and were at once warned out of town." Benjamin Meads was a
Lynnfield man. The second is to the effect that on March 30, 1765, Daniel
Townsend informed selectmen that he had taken to live with him John Cutler,
Jr., who came from Woburn, August 7, 1764. "So he was warned out by Joseph
Gowing, constable."
This John Cutler, who according to another church record
owned the covenant with his wife, Elizabeth, September 18, 1763, it seems,
remained in the town of Lynn notwithstanding the fact that the town refused to
be responsible for the support of himself and family, for he not only responded
to the alarm of April 19, 1775, with Captain Ezra Newhall's company, but became
a corporal in the company which was formed later under Captain Newhall, in
Colonel John Mansfield's regiment. He is credited with three months' and five
days' service from
[ 259 ]
May 3,1775, to August 1,1775, besides fourteen days at the time of the Lexington
alarm. His birth is recorded at Burlington, July 21, 1726, and he married
Elizabeth Waters, of Woburn, October 21, 1749. Nothing further has
been found concerning him.
DAGYR, JOHN
ADAM, - at one time called "the celebrated shoemaker of Essex," was born in
Wales, came to Lynn in 1750, and gave to the industry of shoemaking in Lynn
the impulse which carried it forward to one of first rank among the colonies.
Many of Lynn's first shoemakers learned the trade of him, and from being
able to make the shoes for their own large families advanced in the art until
they could command a market in the neighboring towns. Alonzo Lewis says
that before the time of Dagyr only three men in Lynn made shoes so
extensively as to employ journeymen. These were John Mansfield,
Benjamin Newhall, and William Gray. Under the instruction of Dagyr,
however, the shoes made in Lynn became equal to the best imported from England.
John Adam Dagyr's home was on
the north side of Boston Street, between North Federal and Carnes. He was married, first, by Rev, Nathaniel Henchman,
August 18, 1761, to Susannah Newhall, daughter of Moses and Susannah (Bowden)
Newhall, born August 8, 1741. She died October 7, 1763, and he
married, second, in Malden, Mrs. Sarah (Hawkes) Wait, abont 1766. She was the
daughter of Elkanah and Eunice (Newhall) Hawkes, born March 19, 1747. His
children were Joseph, Catherine, Sarah, and John Adam, Jr. John Adam, Jr., died
January 29, 1773. Joseph was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died of yellow
fever February 21, 1814, on his way home from that service. His home was in
Saugus.
John Adam Dagyr became very poor
in his old age, and, in spite of the great benefit which he had rendered in the town, his last days were spent
in the old almshouse which stood at the corner of Essex and Chestnut Streets.
There his death occurred March 31, 1806, and the only notice which was given him
in the records of the town stated that he was "an aged person" who died on that
date.
Revolutionary service: Return of men enlisted or drafted into the
Continental Army from 1st Essex County regiment and sworn to at Salem by John
Flagg, February 16, 1778; joined Captain Goodale's company, Colonel Rufus
Putnam's regiment; term, three years or
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during the war; also private, Captain John
Williams's company, Colonel Putnam's regiment; muster return dated Albany,
February 9, 1778; also private, Captain Stephen Wilkins's company, Colonel
Wigglesworth's regiment; pay abstract for travel allowance from Albany home sworn
to January 15, 1777.
He was paid a bounty
of fourteen pounds by Lynn, March, 1777 . In making up his pay in 1779, one
pound and eighteen shillings is deducted as having been spent in provisions
for his family during his absence.
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