USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Oakham > Soldiers of Oakham, Massachusetts, in the revolutionary war, the war of 1812 and the Civil war > Part 9
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Benjamin Joslin.
Sergeant in Capt. John Crawford's company of minutemen who marched April 19, 1775, in response to the Lexington alarm.
He lived for a short time on the north side of the old road leading from New Braintree to the Oakham meeting-house, the Charles Keith place. He sold his land in 1776 to James Blair and Abraham Joslin. In 1775 he was a member of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety.
July 9, 1778, Benjamin Joslin and Persis, his wife, were dis- missed to the church in New Braintree.
M. S. R., viii, 727 (12) [Jaslyn]. Rev. J. Dana's Notes. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, lxxix, 439, 1xxxiii, 140.
John Kenny.
Enlisted from the town of Oakham May 5, 1777, as a Private in Capt. Edmund Hodges's Co., Col. Josiah Whitney's Regt., and served two months and seven days in Rhode Island.
M. S. R., ix, 125 (II).
Benjamin Knight.
Born in Sudbury, December 26, 1744, son of Samuel and Anna (Eams) Knight and brother of Silas Knight.
He enlisted in the summer of 1776 for a term of two months at Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown and North Castle, with Lieut. Asa French.
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In 1773 he bought, for fioo, seventy acres in the southwesterly part of Lot No. 18, bounded on the north by the land of Alex- ander Wilson. This was the Brimhall place. He was one of the signers of the petition of June 23, 1773, for the organization of the Congregational Church.
His wife's name was Hannah. They had four children, born in Oakham: Joseph, November 26, 1772; Molly, June 23, 1774; Betty, February 9, 1776; Benjamin, September 28, 1777.
Oakham T. R., i, 168. Oakham V. R., 34, 35. Sudbury V. R., 83, 228. Oakham Church Records, i, I. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, 1xxiii, 185. Pay Roll, Capt. How's Co., 1776.
Silas Knight.
Born in Sudbury, May 5, 1757, son of Samuel and Anna (Eams) Knight.
He enlisted for the town of Sudbury June 28, 1776, and served till December 1, 1776, at Camp Hull and Castle Island. Septem- ber 28, 1777, he again enlisted and served forty-one days with the Northern Army.
He came to Oakham about 1780 and lived in a house east of the Brimhall farm, on an old private road that ran in a northerly direction from the corner near the house of Isaac Stone, 2d. This road ran near a house on Bullard Hill, crossed the county road from Rutland to Hardwick near Phineas Bullard's and joined the Coldbrook road near the house of the late Capt. Sum- ner Barr. Silas Knight's house was burned in 1802. Deacon James Allen remembered going to this fire when he was ten years old.
He married Martha Goodenough, May 12, 1782. Children, born in Oakham: Silas, Jr., October 22, 1782; Mary, March 7, 1784; Perces, August 18, 1786; David, August 22, 1788; Pattie, January 26, 1790; Arathusa, November 29, 1791 ; Hiram, August 22, 1793; Ann, May 6, 1795; Prince, April 17, 1798; Benjamin Franklin, March 12, 1800; Thomas Jefferson, Jan- uary 29, 1803.
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Silas Knight died between July 30 and October 4, 1842. He was grandfather of Charles S. Knight and great-grandfather of James A. Knight, both of whom served in the Civil War in the 42d Massachusetts Infantry.
M. S. R., ix, 355 (4). Oakham V. R., 34, 35, 124. Sudbury V. R., 83, 228. Note of Dea. Jesse Allen.
Jacob Kubler.
Enlisted March 30, 1778, as a Private in Capt. Thomas Whipple's Co., Col. Abijah Stearns' Regt., to serve till July 2, 1778, guarding troops of the Saratoga Convention at Rutland. He has also credit on the town records for a campaign to Boston, beginning July 1, 1778.
June 15, 1777, he was married in Sudbury to Susanna Hayden, aunt of Joel Hayden and sister of Mrs. Isaiah Parmenter. He came to Oakham the same year and bought for £78 fifty-five acres and a house in Lot No. 29, on the north side of the county road leading from Rutland to Hardwick. In 1793 he was living (probably in this house) east of William Green's farm, which was then sold to Jeptha Ripley. His will was filed December 23, 1796. He gave to his wife, who was appointed executrix, his "whole estate, both real and personal," from which it appears that he had no descendants. His widow died January 6, 1810, aged seventy-three.
Oakham T. R., i, 189. M. S. R., ix, 398 (7) [Kubelor]. Oakham V. R., 124 [Kibley]. Sudbury V. R., 227 [Kibler]. Worc. Co. Prob. Records, Dec. 23, 1796 [Kublear]. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, cvi, 390, cxix, 236.
Loved Lincoln.
Born August 26, 1758, in Rehoboth, son of Nathaniel, Jr., and Elizabeth (Robinson) Lincoln, and brother of Stephen Lincoln.
He enlisted May 1, 1775, as a Private in Capt. Grainger's Co., Col. Ebenezer Learned's Regt. In May, 1778, he was enlisted by Capt. Crawford for the Continental Army for the term of nine
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months, agreeably to the resolve of April 20, 1778; age 19, stature 6 feet, complexion dark. It is stated on the town records that he was "hired by the four Bells." He was assigned to Capt. Cavenagh's company in the detachment under Major Weeks, and was later transferred to Capt. Jones' company of Col. Lamb's New York Artillery. He was probably an artillery driver. In his application for a pension, he stated that he "was at Terra Town when that place was attacked, and retreated to White Plain September 12, 1778."
Loved Lincoln came to New Braintree with his father in 1759. Sometime after the close of the war, he settled in Lewiston, Maine. He was twice married: (I) to a young woman in New Braintree, who died January 19, 1805; (2) to Betsey, daughter of Jonathan Hodgkin of Lewiston, who was born in 1774. Children: Charlotte, married a Mr. Thompson, died August 7, 1812; Nathaniel, lived in Bath, Me .; Cyrus; Betsey, born 1797 ; Lurany; Sally; Levi; Rufus. Six other children died young.
Cyrus was a Lieutenant in the War of 1812, and was taken prisoner when on board the Growler in June, 1813, on the Sorrel River, near Lake Champlain. He was kept a prisoner at Quebec and Halifax until the close of the war. He lived in Bath, Maine, and had four children.
Loved Lincoln died in Lewiston April 9, 1850, aged ninety-two years.
Oakham T. R., i, 190. M. S. R., ix, 796 (5) [Linclon], 813 (5), 824 (7) [Lincon], 837 (14) [Linkhorn]. Note of Dea. Horace Lincoln of Oak- ham. Pension Application, Apr. 12, 1818. N. E. Gen. & Ant. Reg., iv (1850), 293 [Lovell Lincoln]. Morris, Stephen Lincoln of Oakham, Mass., 10, 20. Letter of Professor G. M. Chase of Lewiston.
Stephen Lincoln.
Born in Rehoboth, December 3, 1751, son of Nathaniel, Jr., and Elizabeth (Robinson) Lincoln. His mother was daughter of Increase, Jr., and Mehitabel (Williams) Robinson. His father, Nathaniel, Jr., was a descendant in the fifth generation of Thomas Lincoln, who came from England in 1635, settled in Hingham, and removed before 1650 to Taunton.
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He has credit on the town records for six months' service in Rhode Island, beginning in August, 1778.
He came from Taunton to New Braintree in 1759, and removed a few years later to Oakham. He built a log house on Bogle Hill, in which his first two children were born. March 6, 1783, he purchased of the estate of Silas Hill, for £201, ninety-two acres, with house, barn, shoemaker's shop, bark house and tan yard, to which he added by subsequent purchase one hundred acres more. About 1800 he built the large house now belonging to Arthur and Francena Spooner. Here he lived till his death, March 16, 1840. He was chosen Chorister June 17, 1779, was Warden in 1784, and Selectman in 1791 and 1798.
April 29, 1779, he married Lydia Foster, daughter of Lieut. Ebenezer Foster. Children, born in Oakham: Abner, February II, 1780; Hannah, September 25, 1781; Lydia, March 2, 1784; Lucy, October 23, 1786; Betsy, September 7, 1788; Levi, November 3, 1790; Stephen, Jr., November 29, 1792; Sally, May 19, 1795; Justus, May 20, 1797; Mary, December 17, 1799; Louisa, February 3, 1803. A full acount of his ancestry and descendants was published by John E. Morris in 1895. At that time his descendants numbered nearly four hundred.
Oakham T. R., i, 214. Oakham V. R., 26, 36, 84, 124 [84 years should be 89]. Morris, Stephen Lincoln, 5, 17, 19, 36-38. Morris, Ancestry of Lydia Foster, 8, 9. Oakham Church Records i, 6. Recollections of Mr. Stephen Lincoln.
John Macomber.
Born May 18, 1760, in Taunton, Mass., son of John and Abigail (Padelford) Macomber, and descendant in the fifth generation of John Macomber who was in Taunton in 1643.
In the autumn of 1776, he was a private in Capt. Joshua Wilbore's Co., Col. Ebenezer Francis's Regt. He probably served from March I to May 1, 1778, at the Fort at Dartmouth, and also in the summer of 1780 in Rhode Island, in Capt. Barnabas Doty's Co., Lieut. Col. White's Regt. He is said to have been made deaf in the war.
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SOLDIERS OF OAKHAM
John Macomber came from Taunton to Oakham before 1795, and removed from Oakham to Westford, Vt., not later than 1821, when he and his wife united with the Congregational Church in that place.
August 25, 1785, he was married to Mary, daughter of Calvin Dean. She was born March 23, 1767, and died at Westford, November 29, 1823. After her death he was again married, December 8, 1825, to Betsey Robinson. He was the father of twelve children, the first four born in Taunton, the others in Oakham: Calvin Dean, June 7, 1786, died in Oakham, October 30, 1829; Betsey, September 3, 1788; Mary, August 16, 1790, married Samuel Thresher, Jr., of New Braintree, March 14, 1815; Abigail G., June 17, 1792; Harriet, February 11, 1795, married (1) Harvey Fales, March 26, 1816, who died in Oak- ham, April 3, 1836, (2) Levi Howe of Shrewsbury, February II, 1845; John Jarvis, November II, 1786; Lydia, December II, 1798, died September 11, 1815; Pliny, October 13, 1800, died December II, 1815; Lewis, June 2, 1803, died May 25, 1825, at Millidgeville, Ga .; Philip, October 15, 1805, died December 13, 1813; Luther, December 13, 1808, married Eliza Crawford, April 11, 1833; Sumner, June 17, 18II.
John Jarvis was married, January 17, 1828, to Abigail, daugh- ter of Jonathan and Susan (Crawford) Packard, and had thirteen children, five of whom were soldiers in the Civil War.
John Macomber, the Revolutionary soldier, died in Westford, Vt., October II, 1841, at the age of eighty-one years.
Oakham V. R., 37, 40, 70, 86, 118, 125 [Pliny=Ryna]. Macomber Gene- alogy, 24, 25, 37 [Oct. 30=Oct. 3]. Oakham T. R., ii, 360. M. S. R., x, I20 (8), 121 (2), (3).
Aaron McCobb.
Eldest son of William and Mary (Crawford) McCobb, and nephew of Alexander Crawford, one of the first settlers of Oakham. He was born in Rutland, but was living in Oakham at the beginning of the war.
, He enlisted for the town of Oakham, May 2, 1775, in Capt. Simeon Hazeltine's company of the 8th Regiment, commanded
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by Col. Fellows, and received a bounty coat at Dorchester, November 27 of the same year. On March 10, 1777, he enlisted in the Continental Army from Rutland, for three years, in Capt. Wheeler's Co., Col. Nixon's Regt., and died in the service February 27, 1778.
M. S. R., x, 441 (4). Crawford Family of Oakham, 10.
Alexander McFarland, Jr.
Son of Alexander McFarland, one of the first ten settlers of Oakham, who in 1742 bought two hundred acres in Lot No. 10 for £250, who married Jean Harper, daughter of William Harper, also one of the first ten settlers of Oakham, and who served as Selectman in 1761 and 1763.
He enlisted May 10, 1775, as Private in Capt. Seth Washburn's Co., Col. Jonathan Ward's Regt., and was in the battle of Bunker Hill.
Oakham T. R., i, 168. M. S. R., x, 480 (6). Worc. Co. Prob. Records, 1766 [Alexander McFarland], Oct. 31, 1774 [William Harper]. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, xv, 34I.
Reuben McFarland.
Born December 4, 1759, son of Alexander and Jean (Harper) McFar- land, and grandson of William Harper, one of the first settlers of Oakham.
He was Private in Capt. Newell's company, which was detached November 3, 1778, from General Warner's brigade to join Col. Gerrish's regiment of guards and escort troops of the Saratoga Convention from Rutland to Enfield, Conn. He has also credit on the town records for a short service in Rhode Island, in 1778.
He was residuary legatee of his father's estate. In 1782 he was married to Margaret McFarland, of Adams.
Oakham T. R., i, 214. M. S. R., x, 487 (12) [McFarling]. Oakham V. R., 37, 86. Worc. Co. Prob. Records, 1766 [Alexander McFarland].
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SOLDIERS OF OAKHAM
Matthew McGilligan.
Was living in Oakham at the beginning of the war, and was probably in the employ of Deacon James Dean.
Matthew McGilligan was enlisted by James Dean in Capt. Samuel Dexter's company of men raised in Hardwick, New Braintree and Oakham for six months' service in the siege of Boston, and was in camp at Roxbury in January, 1776. March II, 1777, he was again enlisted by James Dean in the Continental Army for three years, and was in Capt. Holden's Co., Col. Nixon's Regt., which served in the Northern Army and took part in the capture of General Burgoyne. April 1, 1781, he en- listed in the Continental Army for the town of Warren, for a term of three years. A descriptive list in 1781 gave his age 22, stature 5 feet II, complexion light, occupation farmer.
Oakham T. R., i, 165. M. S. R., vi, 450 (13), 451 (1) [Gilligan], x, 492 (8) [McGillagen].
James McHerrin.
Private in Capt. John Crawford's company of minutemen which marched on the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775. While still in service as a minuteman, he reënlisted April 27, 1775, for eight months in Capt. Hazeltine's Co., Col. Fellows' Regt., and was made Corporal.
James McHerrin was married to Fanny, fifth daughter of William and Mary (Crawford) McCobb. Children, baptized in Rutland: Peggy, May 25, 1777; Elizabeth, August 5, 1781; Mary, April 27, 1783. He removed with his family to Vermont before 1790.
M. S. R., x, 112 (13) [Mackilharin], xi, 183 (5) [Muckleherin], 183 (6) [Muckleheron]. Rutland V. R., 62 [McElheron], 63 [McHeron], 164 [McCkelheron]. Crawford Family of Oakham, 10 [Michaelherring]. U. S. Census (1790), Vt., 16 [George McElcharan]. Oakham T. R., i, 165 [Mcle Herrin].
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Francis Maynard.
Has credit on the town records for three months' service as guard at Rutland in 1779.
He was a tailor, came from Rutland to Oakham about 1776 and purchased in the west part of the town, near the old county road, a farm on which his descendants still live. He was twice elected a member of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety.
In 1767 he married Ruth Hubbard, who died September 21, 1782. He was again married February 12, 1784, to Serviah Wright of Brookfield. Children, the first six born in Rutland, the others in Oakham: Marcy, March 14, 1767; Patty, May 27, 1768; Amasa, September 16, 1769; Ephraim, September 5, 1771; Ruth, September 18, 1774; Naomi, March 6, 1776; Simon, May 5, 1778; Sally, November 7, 1780; Polly, baptized September 15, 1782; Francis, August 2, 1788.
Francis Maynard died January 16, 1799, aged sixty years.
Oakham T. R., i, 215. Oakham V. R., 38, 86, 125. Rutland V. R., 65, 170 [Meynard]. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, lxxvii, 163, 1xxviii, 213. Reed, Hist. of Rutland, 144.
Samuel Metcalf.
Son of Ebenezer and Margaret Metcalf, born in Rutland in 1739.
He was Sergeant in Capt. Crawford's company of minutemen who marched on April 19, 1775, in response to the Lexington alarm. September 19, 1776, he enlisted for two months as Cor- poral with Lieut. Asa French at Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown and North Castle. He was also Sergeant in the detachment from the Oakham company that marched on the Bennington alarm, August 20, 1777, and in Capt. Crawford's company raised in Hardwick, Oakham and New Braintree, that marched September 7, 1777, and was engaged in the battles that resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne. In 1778 he served again in the regiment that guarded Burgoyne's troops on their march from Rutland to Enfield, Conn.
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Samuel Metcalf came from Rutland and bought in 1763 of Edmond Goodenough, for f70, ninety acres in the northerly part of Lot No. 2, with a dwelling-house thereon. This farm had been purchased by Mr. Goodenough of John Sollen in 1761, and was the farm on which David Fuller was living in 1870, when Beers' Worcester County Atlas was made.
He was one of the signers of the petition of June 23, 1773, for the organization of the Congregational Church, and was on the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety in 1775.
He was married in Rutland, March II, 1762, to Hannah Richardson, and had eleven children, all born in Oakham: Thomas, August 9, 1764; David, September 15, 1766; Ester, September 14, 1768; Samuel, October 18, 1770; John, December 30, 1772; Joseph, August 24, 1774; Jane, July 30, 1776; Elisa- beth, March 14, 1779; Alpha, October 27, 1780; Hannah, June 15, 1782; Abigail, May 30, 1784.
Oakham T. R., i, 168, 188, 214. M. S. R., x, 595 (12) [Medcalf], 712 (2). Oakham V. R., 38. Rutland V. R., 169. Oakham Church Records, i, I. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, xlviii, 212. Reed, Hist. of Rutland, 163. Pay Roll, Capt. How's Co., 1776.
John Moore.
Enlisted for the town of Oakham, August 7, 1777, in Capt. Earll's Co., Col. Keyes's Regt., for six months' service in Rhode Island.
John Moore lived on the Crocker Nye farm till 1778. His wife's name was Hannah. Two children were born in Oakham: Nancy, May 7, 1773; William, March 2, 1778.
M. S. R., xi, 100 (4) [Morse]. Oakham V. R., 39 [Moores]. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, lxxvi, 338.
Ebenezer Nye.
Born in Barnstable, Mass., February 2, 1739, son of Caleb and Hannah (Bodfish) Nye, who were married October 28, 1731. Hannah Bodfish was daughter of Benjamin and Lydia (Crocker) Bodfish. She was born in
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Barnstable, February 12, 1712, and died March 7, 1779. Caleb Nye was born in Sandwich, Mass., June 28, 1704, the son of Nathan Nye, and grandson of Benjamin Nye, of Sandwich. In 1736 Caleb Nye removed to Barnstable, and in 1756 to Hardwick, Mass. His will was written in Hardwick December 13, 1775, and proved June 5, 1787.
Ebenezer Nye enlisted for the town of Barre, April 20, 1775, in Capt. John Black's Co., Col. Jonathan Brewer's Regt., and was made Corporal. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and received compensation for a bayonet and belt lost in the battle. He went also for the town of Barre in Capt. Benjamin Nye's Co. on the Bennington alarm, August 21, 1777, and again in the same company, on September 26, sent to reinforce the Northern Army. He served for the town of Oakham in Capt. Jotham Houghton's Co., Col. Samuel Denny's Regt., from October 24 to December 1, 1779, at Claverack, and has credit on the Oakham town records for fifteen days in April, 1777, on an alarm at Williamstown. His name is on the roll of Capt. Newell's Co. for fifteen days' service, on the march to Enfield, Conn., Novem- ber 3 to November 18, 1778.
Ebenezer Nye came from Barre, and bought in 1778 of John Moore, for £700, two hundred and five acres with buildings thereon, still known as the Crocker Nye farm. He was Selectman of Oakham for nine years, and was a member of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety in 1779.
Deacon Jesse Allen bought at the auction of Timothy Nye's property the gun which Ebenezer Nye carried in the Revolution. It was with the barrel of this gun used as a retort that Rev. David Burt made some of his chemical experiments when he taught the Oakham High School. The explosion of an ancient charge of powder left in the gun from flintlock days somewhat lessened the enthusiasm of the students for that kind of laboratory practice. The gun is now in the possession of William A. Nye.
Ebenezer Nye was married, July 8, 1759, to Meletiah Sturges of Hyannis, who was born in 1740 and died in March, 1826. Children :
Josiah Sturges, a soldier in the Revolutionary Army.
Temperance, who married Jonathan Richardson of Barre, November 12, 1778.
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Lucretia, who married Alpheus Stone in 1781.
Marcy, who married Bowman Chaddock, September 5, 1782. Timothy, baptized June 5, 1768, married November 25, 1790, to Parnal, daughter of Deacon Jesse Allen.
Meletiah, baptized July 8, 1770, married November 29, 1792, to Rev. Calvin Chaddock, Dartmouth, 1786.
Crocker, born July 4, 1772, married May 23, 1799, to Dulcinia, daughter of Major Artemas Howe. He was the father of David H. Nye and the grandfather of William A. Nye.
Achsa, called in her father's will the youngest daughter, baptized August 28, 1774, married Eli Haskell of Middleboro November 1, 1797.
Salmon, born in 1778, who was graduated from Dartmouth in 1803, studied law in Barnstable, Mass., was admitted to the Common Pleas Court in Barnstable in 1809, and to the Supreme Judicial Court in Plymouth in October, 1812. He was County Attorney for Barnstable County from 18II to 1813. He went South in 1818 and died in 1823 in North Carolina.
John, born in 1780, who was graduated from Dartmouth in 1801, in the class with Daniel Webster, studied law in Providence and practiced in New Bedford, Mass., where he died in 1826.
Ebenezer Nye died in Oakham in 1793.
Oakham T. R., i, 189, 252 [his son, Josiah S. Nye]. M. S. R., xi, 584 (5), (7), 585 (3). Oakham V. R., 40, 89 [Jonathan Richardson = Samuell], 126. N. E. Hist. & Gen. Reg., Ivii (1903), 410-414. General Catalogue of Dartmouth College (1910-II), 210, 212. Letter of Mrs. William A. Nye of Oakham. Worc. Co. Prob. Records, Aug. 6, 1793. Worc. Co. Reg. of Deeds, lxxvi, 338. Rev. D. Tomlinson's Notes. Paige, Hist. of Hardwick, 429, 430. Nye Genealogy, 27, 44, 90, 138 [Pamelia Sturges should be Meletiah], 234. Davis, Mass. Bench and Bar, ii, 330 [Julia (Hinckley) should be Meletiah (Sturges)]. Hyannis Town Clerk's Records.
Josiah Sturges Nye.
Was sent by his father in 1780 as a militiaman in a three months' campaign at West Point, and received fio bounty from the town. He enlisted July 5, and was discharged October 10.
Oakham T. R., i, 252. M. S. R., xi, 595 (2) [Sturgis Nye].
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Silas Nye.
Born in Barnstable in 1744, son of Caleb and Hannah (Bodfish) Nye, and brother of Ebenezer Nye.
Silas Nye enlisted for the town of Barre, April 20, 1775, in Capt. John Black's Co., and was in the battle of Bunker Hill. He received compensation for a coat lost in that battle. He went also, for the town of Barre, on the Bennington alarm, August 21, 1777. From September 26 to October 18, 1777, he served for the town of Oakham in Capt. Benjamin Nye's Co., which marched to reinforce the Northern Army.
November 27, 1766, he was married in Hardwick to Patience, daughter of Nathan and Patience Carpenter. She was born April 14, 1744. Children: Sarah, born January 13, 1768; Hannah, born November 22, 1769; Nathan, born January 5, 1772; Caleb, born July 5, 1774; Prudence, born September, 1776; Silas, born . December 1, 1780; Amos, born July 31, 1784, died April 9, 1789.
At the close of the war, Silas Nye removed to Salem, Wash- ington County, N. Y., and in 1791 to Pittsford, Monroe Co., N. Y., where he died. In 1796, 1797, and 1799, he served on the Board of Supervisors of Monroe County.
Oakham T. R., i, 189. M. S. R., xi, 594 (1). Paige, Hist. of Hardwick, 429, 430. Nye Genealogy, 90, 140, 14I.
William O'Brien.
William O'Brien was a British soldier who had served in the 9th Regiment under General Burgoyne, and was taken prisoner at Saratoga in October, 1777. He had either escaped or been paroled from the prison barracks at Rutland and, in the fall of 1778, he and George Perkins, a member of the 33d Regiment, came to Oakham, where they found employment as nail-makers with Thomas Mann. They were accepted as citizens and married. When the Council at Boston, on October 12, 1779, ordered that all escaped or paroled prisoners should be returned, he and Perkins petitioned the Massachusetts Legislature to be
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allowed to remain, and, on December 20, 1779, were given liberty to reside in the state during the Court's pleasure.
January II, 1781, he enlisted in the Continental Army for the town of Paxton, for three years, under Resolve of December 2, 1780; age 28, stature 5 feet 6, complexion dark, occupation nail-maker. He was first in Col. Benjamin Tupper's (10th) Regt., and later in Capt. Matthew Chamber's Co., Lieut. Col. Calvin Smith's (6th) Regt.
M. S. R., xi, 614 (II) [Obrian], 616 (II) [Obrine], 617 (4) [Obryon]. Acts and Resolves, Prov. of Mass. Bay, v, 840-843. See George Perkins, p. 130; George Walls, p. 146.
William Oliver.
Joined Capt. Holden's Co., Col. Nixon's Regt., for a term of three years in the Continental Army. He enlisted for the town of Oakham, March II, 1777, and was in camp near Peekskill, February 16, 1779. In May, 1779, he was reported with the Paymaster General, and on July 1, 1779, was appointed A. D. P. General. An order on Capt. Heywood, payable to Phineas Hey- wood, dated Shrewsbury, June 7, 1779, was signed by said Oliver, for $100 gratuity, which had been granted by the General Court in May, 1778.
William Oliver was a school-teacher, and taught in the north- east and southwest plots in Oakham before his enlistment. His wife, Sarah Oliver, received aid from the town while her husband was in the army.
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