Melanie McCombFor my American friends, Happy Independence Day!
Do you have any patriotic ancestors who showed their loyalty to the American cause during the American Revolution? This doesn't necessarily mean fighting in the war!
Pete Rijks@shamrockgenealogist Happy Independence Day!
I don’t have my records handy, but I had a Chase ancestor living in Massachusetts at the time and the one document I found is he mustered with his company and marched to where a battle was to be fought, but by the time his company got there, the battle was won, so they turned around and went home.
I’ve found Revolutionary War records for six other ancestors, but that story is the one I always think of first.
@prijks Happy Independence Day Pete! I'm guessing he responded to the Lexington alarm.
@shamrockgenealogist You are correct! I just looked it up. I currently only have secondary sources for my ancestor Abner Chase of Yarmouth, MA.
My favorite of those is from "History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts" published 1890:
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"When the alarm of the country was sounded by the demonstration upon Lexington and Concord, the town's militia started out for the scene of operations, the western company under Captain Jonathan Crowell mustering sixty officers and men. They had not proceeded far before intelligence of the rout and retreat of the British troops reached them and they returned home."
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@shamrockgenealogist Thanks for the motivation to dig this up again. Perhaps my next project will be looking up primary sources for Abner.
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@prijks You're very welcome! Let me know if you need any guidance finding any records on Abner.