USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume I > Part 14
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(II.) Sarah Lee, b. October 27, 1806; d. June 13, 1899; m. July 5, 1827, Isaac Voorheis, b. March 11, 1806; d. July 12, 1892.
(III.) Ellen, m. Sept. 14, 1833, Matthew Stanley.
(IV.) William, m. Hannah Lusk.
(V.) Jacob.
(VI.) Joshua, m. Lucy Tining.
(VII.) John.
(VIII.) Merritt, m. Emily Lewis.
(IX.) Caleb, b. October 11, 1816, Palmyra, Wayne county, N. Y .; d. April 26, 1890, Lansing, Mich .; m. 1840 Loraine Cole, b. February I, 1821, d. September 13, 1908, Port Huron, dau. of John and Elizabeth (Skinner) Cole.
(X.) Polly, m. Elijah Kirkham.
(XI.) Barney.
JOSHUA CHAMBERLIN AND ENOCH HOTCHKISS
The fifth Revolutionary soldier's grave to be located and marked in Oak Hill cemetery, Pontiac, was that of Joshua Chamberlin. He enlisted April 3, 1777, at Richmond, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, serving as a private until April 3, 1780, in Captain Jeremiah Miller's company, Col. Vose's regiment of Massachusetts troops. He applied in 1818 for a pension, which was granted, he being a resident of Lewiston, Niagara county, New York. In 1820 he was a resident of Detroit and undoubt- edly came to Pontiac with his sons, Joshua, Jr., and Dr. Olmstead Cham- berlin, two years later. Dr. Chamberlin was one of the prominent busi- ness men of Pontiac a great many years. His father died February 20, 1827, aged sixty-seven years. Sarah, his wife, died at Gorham, New York, August 14, 1814, aged forty-nine.
Enoch Hotchkiss, who is buried in the orchard on the farm he orig- inally settled in 1819, is claimed to be a soldier of the Revolution.
ELIJAH DRAKE
The early life of Elijah Drake was spent in the neighborhood of the Delaware Water Gap, that now famous summer resort where the com- bination of mountain and river forms scenery unexcelled in beauty. Here he was born July 4, 1759. In the sparsely settled country embraced by Smithfield township, the settlers were protected from raids of hostile
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Indians by the garrison at Fort Penn. It was located on a large tract of land owned by Col. Stroud and commanded also by him. Lying adja- cent to this great property of Col. Stroud was the land of Samuel Drake, father of Elijah.
A company belonging to the Associates Battalion formed in Pennsyl- vania was organized in Smithfield May 22, 1775, of which Jacob Stroud was captain and Samuel Drake lieutenant. In 1776 Jacob Stroud was colonel and Samuel Drake captain (Vol. 14, second series of Pennsylvania Archives, page 555, 576).
In June, 1778, the records of the Bureau of Pensions state that Elijah Drake enlisted as a private and served six months under Capt. Benjamin Schoonhoven, Col. Stroud's Pennsylvania regiment; reenlisted June 5, 1779, for three months under the same captain in Col. Armstrong's regi- ment Pennsylvania troops. After that a service of fifteen days is re- corded under Capt. Samuel Shoemaker and his place of residence is given as Lower Smithville, Northhampton county, Pennsylvania. The state records also show the service of his brother Thomas. This official record is meager enough, for in reality he gave four years of his life to the service of his country. The position of the family on the frontier of necessity demanded the protection of father and sons in the early days of the war and Elijah thus served three years before his official enlist- ment in 1778.
Like others of the valiant volunteers who first viewed the fertile valley of the Susquehanna in time of strife, he was resolved to make this locality his home some time in the future, and after serving as executor of his father's estate in 1789 he joined his sister Ruth, who had married Capt. Daniel McDowel and settled at Chemung, fourteen miles below Newtown Point, or Elmira, as the place is now called.
Living in the beautiful valley of Wyoming at the time of the terrible massacre, was the family of Thomas and Abigail (Culver) Stoddard, settlers from Connecticut. They were warned of the approaching dan- ger by a friendly Indian. in time to escape with their children. Their daughter Abigail was at that time eight or nine years old and many times in the course of her long life of ninety years, she recited the thrilling experiences which were so indelibly stamped upon her memory. The youngest child of two years of age died of exposure and hardships en- countered in their long march in the wilderness.
Just where was their refuge we do not know, but presumably to the north. This much is fact-that Elijah Drake married Abigail Stoddard in the year 1790 at Newtown Point. Their home was in Chemung, as we find Elijah Drake elected overseer of highways at the fourth town meeting held 1791. The next year he is still a resident, as is proved by a release given by him to his brother Joseph, for his interest in a piece of land adjoining their home farm.
His second daughter, Welthy, is said to have been born in Scipio, New York. If so, the change of residence must have taken place early in 1793. His father-in-law, Thomas Stoddard, went with him, and they settled on a farm in the town of Scipio, one and three-fourths miles east of the village of Aurora, lying on Cayuga lake. Here his eight sons were Vol. I-6
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born and here he lived until 1821 when he sold out and bought a farm two miles east of the village of Perry, Genesee county, New York, where he resided ten years.
Thomas J., the second son, had made his way to Pontiac, Michigan, in 1824, and became one of the most prominent men of the early history of Oakland county. His success and liking for the new country influ- enced the rest of the family to leave New York for the land of promise.
In 1835 Elijah Drake, with six of his sons, and their families em- barked from Buffalo on the old time steamer, "Thomas Jefferson." One son, Cyrus, with his family, settled in Huron county, Ohio, but the other five became pioneers of Michigan.
After tarrying a while in Oakland county, the old gentleman and his wife went to live with their sons who had settled near Ann Arbor. After a residence there of a few years, they removed with their son, Dr. Flemon Drake, in 1844, to Royal Oak, where they made their home the remain- ing years of their lives.
Elijah Drake died April 8, 1848. His wife lived to be over ninety years old and died February 20, 1860.
Children : (I.) Sally, b. January II, 1791, at Chemung, N. Y .; d. February 18, 1875, at Humberstone, Ont .; m. April 4, 1810 at Scipio, N. Y., Guy Jerome Atkins.
(II.) Welthy, b. March 4, 1793, at Scipio, N. Y .; d. April 30, 1856, at Buffalo, N. Y .; m. March 4, 1820 at Perry, N. Y., Samuel Rudolph At- kins.
(III.) Samuel, b. August 27, 1795, at Scipio, N. Y .; d. Sept., 1827, at New Orleans, La .; m. November 28, 1816 at Buffalo, Eliza Chapman, oldest daughter of Col. Asa Chapman. Her mother was Electa Doney, daughter of John and Mary (Keyes) Doney. Mrs. Eliza Drake died January 5, 1859, at Farmington, Mich.
(IV.) Thomas Jefferson, b. April 18, 1797, at Scipio, N. Y .; d. April 20, 1875, at Pontiac, Mich .; m. December 17, 1826, Martha Minot Bald- win, daughter of Nathaniel Baldwin of Rochester ; m. 2d April 19, 1843, Evelina H. Talbot.
(V.) Cyrus, b. December 24, 1800, Scipio, N. Y .; d. April 15, 1855; m. November 14, 1824, Sylvia Huestis.
(VI.) Elias, b. Sept. 25, 1803, Scipio, N. Y .; d. Nov. 18, 1878, at Madison, Lenawee county, Michigan; m. Sept. 19, 1837 at Lima, Wash- tenaw county, Michigan., Jane Hudson.
(VII.) Elijah, b. December 24, 1805, at Scipio, N. Y .; d. April 14, 1875, at Flint, Mich .; m. June 1, 1839 at Rush, Livingstone county, N. Y., Sally Webster.
(VIII.) Flemon, b. April 30, 1807, at Scipio, N. Y .; d. November 2, 1865, at Royal Oak, Mich .; m. April 10, 1834, Electa Depue; m. 2d. Mary E. Pierson.
(IX.) Edward L., b. April 30, 1810, at Scipio, N. Y .; d. Feb. 4, 1896, at McBain, Mich .; m. Ist, 1834, Ambrosia Lacy ; m. 2d, Mrs. Cynthia B. Capen.
(X.) Morgan L., b. Oct. 18, 1813, Scipio, N. Y .; d. April 21, 1865. at Pontiac, Mich .; m. September 19, 1837, Sarah Sophronia Stannard
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
EZRA PARKER
One of the two Revolutionary soldiers buried in the township ceme- tery of Royal Oak is Ezra Parker. He was born in Wallingford, Con- necticut, December 13, 1745, and died in Royal Oak, Michigan, July 7, 1842 in the ninety-seventh year of his age.
With the family of his father, Andrew Parker, they removed from Wallingford, Connecticut, to Adams, Massachusetts, about 1770; hav- ing previously married Sarah Tuttle. He married as his second wife, Elizabeth Perry of North Adams, Massachusetts, about 1772 and they had ten children, to-wit: Samuel, David, Ezra, William M., Joel, Cratus, Elizabeth, Ira, Abigail and another son, name unknown, who died young.
After the Battle of Lexington, April, 1775, Mr. Parker joined the Berkshire company; was present at the battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, and in September of that year was a sergeant among the picked 1,200 which constituted Arnold's expedition through the wilds of Maine to Quebec and participated in the entire campaign, returning with the remnants of that expedition. Later a commission was tendered him in the Revolutionary army by the state of Massachusetts, but was declined. He, still as sergeant, was engaged among the troops from western Massa- chusetts at the battles of Bennington and Saratoga.
In 1793 the family removed to Herkimer county, New York, and in 1795 to Bridgewater, Oneida county, New York. Mr. Parker, how- ever, was the owner of extensive tracts of land in various points, in the state of New York, including St. Lawrence county near Watertown, and upon these tracts he settled his various children. Later, he and Mrs. Parker made their home with their son, William M., in Sangersfield county, New York, from about 1813 to 1835, and removed with his son William to Royal Oak, Oakland county, Michigan, in June, 1835, living there until his death in 1842. His descendants are quite numerous and are scattered all over the United States. The family is connected through various branches with many of the prominent families of the east of that name.
The only ones of his immediate descendants living in this section was William M. Parker, who married Lydia Gilbert Bull in Bridgewater, Oneida county, New York, in 1802, and the fruits thereof were eleven chil- dren, seven of whom were living and removed with the family to Mich- igan in 1835. William M. Parker also owned numerous tracts of land in the state of Michigan in Oakland and Genesee counties, especially but settled upon the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 6, township of Royal Oak, and on the old road previously described, having purchased the farm or land of Alexander Campbell. Of his children, Asher B. Parker first settled upon the west half of the northeast quarter of section 8 and the east half of the northeast quarter of section 7, town- ship of Royal Oak. For four years, 1840 to 1844, he lived in the town- ship of Genesee, county of Genesee. In 1839 Asher B. Parker married Harriet M. Castle, they having seven children, all of whom are living. at the present date. One son, Ralzemond A. Parker lives upon the old homestead and is a practicing lawyer in Detroit.
William Parker was with Hooker's congregation settling Hartford,
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
Connecticut, removing thereto from Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1639. He had three sons, the youngest, John, settled in New Haven, Connecti- cut, and also had among other children a son John (2d).
John. 2d was born in 1648, married Hannah Bassett in 1670 and was among the early planters at Wallingford, Connecticut, giving the name of Parker's farm to a locality there west of the village, which name it still bears.
Among numerous children was one Joseph, the fifth child who mar- ried Sarah Curtis in 1705, and among eleven children was one Andrew who married Susannah Blakesless.
The children of Andrew Parker were Ambros, 1738; Grace, 1739, and Patience; Zeruiah, 1741 ; Oliver, 1743; Ezra, December 13, 1745; Susannah, 1747; Rachael, 1749; Sybil, 1753; and Jason, 1764. He moved with the family to Adams, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where he died. Jason Parker founded stage lines early in the nineteenth century and these lines ran to all parts of the state east, west, north and south, and west as far as Niagara Falls.
JEREMIAH CLARKE
Jeremiah Clarke was born in Preston, Connecticut, in 1760 or 1761. He lived with his father in Shaftsbury, Vermont, and in the Revolution- ary war served under Capt. Bigelow Lawrence, entering service March 2, 1778; discharged May 2, 1778; in service sixty days. His father, Jere- miah Clarke, Sr., was a member of the first convention of delegates from towns in July, 1776; major in 1777; was member of first Council of Safety of Vermont, 1778; Judge of the first court, and member of executive council for years (Vermont Hist. Soc., Vol. I pp. 1I, 15, 21, 23, 25; Vermont State Papers, 257, 266, 277, 553, 555).
In his journeying to the westward, after the war, his first stop was in Bath, New Jersey, where he built one of the first houses. Here he did not tarry long, however, for we find him one of the early settlers of Nelson, Madison county, New York. He lived north of Erieville and built the first sawmill that was put up in the town, where now is the outlet of the Erieville reservoir. Before 1808 he moved to Onondaga county and finally spent the last years of his life in Clarkston, Oakland county, Michigan, where his sons had settled and died there June I, 1845, aged eighty-four years. He married Sarah Millington in 1780. She was born in 1767; died July 17, 1845, aged seventy-eight years. They had fourteen children and a goodly proportion of the inhabitants of Clarkston claim descent from them.
Children : (I.) Julia, m. Elnathan Cobb; lived in Onondaga county, N. Y.
(II.) Amasa, m. a Mr. Green; went to Illinois over seventy years ago.
(III.) Lydia, b. 1781 ; d. September 14, 1845, Clarkston, Mich .; m. Nicholas Brown.
(IV.) Henry, left home when eighteen or twenty years of age and never heard of afterward.
(V.) Amos.
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(VI.) Jeremiah, b. Sept. 19, 1790, Shaftsbury, N. H .; d. August 29, 1847, Dewitt, N. Y .; m. Phebe Holdridge 1814, b. August 6, 1791 ; d. August 9, 1838.
(VII.) Lucy, m. William Johnson; lived in Nelson, N. Y.
(VIII.) Amy, b. 1794; d. July 29, 1953, Clarkston, Mich .; m. Oliver Poole.
(IX.) Susan, b. October 25, 1797; m. 1821 Jeremiah Blair.
(X.) Hiram.
(XI.) Sarah, b. Feb. 15, 1806; d. March 5, 1872, Clarkston, Mich .; m. Jacob Walter. (XII.) Nelson, b. June 8, 1808; d. April 17, 1876, Northville, Mich. (XIII.) Sidney.
(XIV.) Ebenezer, b. August 6, 1812; d. February 7, 1868, Michigan Center, Jackson county, Michigan.
BENJAMIN GRACE
Benjamin Grace made application for a pension on April 30, 1818, at which time he was fifty-eight years of age and resided in Lyons, New York. His pension was allowed for three years of actual service as a private in the New Hampshire troops, Revolutionary war. He enlisted at Amherst, New Hampshire, 1780, and served under Captain Livermore and Colonel Scammel until 1783. He came in 1828 to reside with his children at Farmington, Oakland county, Michigan, and died on the William Grace farm a mile north of Clarenceville, on November 15, 1851, aged ninety-one years and is buried in the Clarenceville cemetery. He was blind for nearly thirty years during the latter part of his life. Benjamin Grace is said to have entered service at the age of fifteen years, at the battle of Lexington, and continued in active duty all during the war, being at the surrender of Yorktown.
Children all born in Canaan, Somerset county, Maine: (I.) Ben- jamin, died in his youth.
(II.) Mary (Polly), m. Russell.
(III.) James, b. Apr. 27, 1789, d. Mar. 20, 1866, Livonia, Wayne Co., Mich .; m. May 22, 1814, Hannah Patten, b. June 22, 1792, d. Feb. 20, 1879, dau. of James Patten.
(IV.) Hannah, b. June 13, 1791, d. Feb. 20, 1879, Livonia, Wayne Co., Mich .; m. Solomon Lambert, b. June 15, 1792; d. Apr. 8, 1882.
(V.) William, left home and was never heard of afterward.
(VI.) Abigail, m. Williard Lambert.
(VII.) Amasa, b. Aug. 1797; d. July 14, 1873, Farmington, Mich .; m. in Maine, Jane Barton, a native of Ireland.
(VIII.) Sally, b. 1802; d. Oct. 20, 1861, Farmington, Mich .; m. Stephen Jennings, d. Sept. 5, 1850, aged 49 years.
(IX.) Amelia, m. John Grace, b. Feb. 13, 1805, Maine; d. Feb. 7, 1860, Fulton, Gratiot Co., Mich .; son of Joseph and Susan (Close) Grace, Joseph, d. in town of Lyons, N. Y., when his son John was 12 years of age.
(X.) Harriet, b. March 17, 1807; m. George Barton, m. 2nd. Ward.
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(XI.) Darius, b. Oct. 8, 1809; d. Jan. 2, 1892, Conway, Livingston Co., Mich .; m. Dec. 10, 1837, Livonia, Mich., Ann Eliza Grant; b. Feb. 27, 1822 Great Barrington, Mass .; living (1912) dau. of Warren G. Grant and Sophia Wilcox of Livonia.
CALEB BARKER MERRELL
Capt. Caleb Barker Merrell was a commissioned officer in the Amer- ican army during the struggle for independence, participating in the battles of Bennington, Bemis Heights, Saratoga, Stillwater and the sur- render of Burgoyne, October 17, 1777. He was at one time taken pris- oner, conveyed to Canada and was for some time confined by British authority. This memorial of him is given in Lakin's History, Military Lodge F. & A. M. No. 93, Manlius, N. Y. (p. 59), of which he was evi- dently a member. He was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and died in Springfield, Oakland county, Michigan, July 2, 1842, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-eight years. His wife was Sally Jackson, to whom he was married June 29, 1788. She was born October 3, 1766 and died July 22, 186-, daughter of Col. Giles and Anna Thomas Jackson.
Capt. Merrell came to Michigan with his son, John J. Merrell in 1833, and settled in Springfield. He is buried in the cemetery at Clarkston.
Children : (1.) John Jackson Merrell, b. March 22, 1797, at White- stone, N. Y .; d. Apr. 6, 1866; m. July 31, 1822, Maria Paddock, b. Jan. 4, 1804, Caznovia, N. Y .; died May 7, 1883.
(II.) Charlotte, b. Jan. 15, 1804; d. Apr. 4, 1873; m. John W. Pratt, b. Apr. 17, 1802 ; d. Apr. 24, 1847, Springfield. (III.) Charles.
(IV.) Helen, m. Lovett.
(V.) Anna, m. David Leonard.
LEVI GREEN
Levi Green was born in Coventry, R. I., June 6, 1758, and died in West Bloomfield, Oakland county, Michigan, on the 21st of June, 1859. At the time of making application for a pension, September 28, 1832, he was a resident of Livonia, N. Y. He enlisted July 1, 1776, for eight and one half months under Captain Baldwin; 2nd enlistment July 1, 1777, one month, under Captain Newell; 3rd enlistment August, 1777, under Captain Brown, Colonel Simonds regiment, Massachusetts troops. He was engaged in the battle of Bennington. His grandson, Horace A. Green, has in his possession the original pension papers and a powder horn carved with his name which was carried through the war.
Levi Green's wife was Asenath Robinson. Their son, Zephaniah Ripley Green, with whom the father lived, arrived in West Bloomfield in July, 1832. He is buried in the North Farmington cemetery. Many of his descendants are living in Oakland county.
Children: (I.) Aurelia, b. Nov. 5, 1785, Cheshire, Mass .; d. 1866, buried in Palermo, N. Y .; m. Joseph Chapel; m. 2nd, Selim Dayton.
(II.) Eunice, m. David Cripen.
(III.) Waterman, killed by falling tree when 18 years old.
,
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(IV.) Sophia, d. about 1848; m. David Curtis.
(V.) Fanny, b. Apr. 3, 1794; m. July 7, 1812, Orange Chapin.
(VI.) Horace, b. -; d. Jan. 20, 1833, Springfield, Mich .;
m. Sept. 21, 1820, Livonia, N. Y., Diantha Powell.
(VII.) Huldah, b. Sept. 24, 1799, Middleboro, N. Y .; d. Mar. 21, 1897; m. Godfrey Slocum.
(VIII.) Zephaniah Ripley, b. Aug. 6, 1801 ; d. Feb. 1, 1879; m. Dec. 3, 1826, Zerilla Gould.
(IX.) Emma, b. Apr. 24, 1804; d. June 19, 1889; m. June 7, 1827, Abner Beardsley.
(X.) Speedy, b. May 25, 1808; d. Mar. 21, 1890; m. Gerothman McDonald, June 4, 1827.
(XI.) Laura, b. Aug. 11, 1811 ; d. 1850 or '51 ; m. Sheldon Wilcox.
JOEL PHELPS
Enlisted June, 1775, and served till January 3, 1776, with rank of sergeant in Capt. John Mckinstry's company, Col. John Patterson's Massachusetts regiment ; also reenlisted February 2, 1776, in same com- pany and was taken prisoner in Canada. In 1777 served first in Capt. Hall's company, Col. Henry Sherborne's regiment, Continental army, and reenlisted June 16, 1777, in Capt. Stephen Hardin's company, Col. Zebulon Butler's Connecticut regiment. He was wounded in this service for which he was pensioned. Appointed quartermaster to accompany Gen. Burgoyne's army to Virginia and served from April or May, 1779, to May, 1780, as issuing commissary at Saratoga. Engaged in battles of the Cedars, Trenton, Princeton, Bound Brook, Wyoming and many skirmishes. Applied April 20, 1818, for pension, which was allowed, re- siding at that time in Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, and being sixty-two years old, being born July 16, 1755. In 1821 soldier's wife "Anner" was fifty-four years old. There were twelve children. In 1836 he moved to Michigan and in September, 1837, was living in Oakland county. He is buried in the cemetery at Rose Corners.
Children : (I.) Gilbert, b. Dec. 26, 1788.
(II.) Minerva, b. Dec. 1, 1790.
(III. ) Othanile, b. Feb. 10, 1793.
(IV.) Martha, b. July 4, 1795.
(V.) Sarah, b. May 5, 1798.
(VI.) Joel, b. May 22, 1800.
(VII.) Daniel, b. Aug. 16, 1802.
(VIII.) Mariah, b. Aug. 16, 1804.
(IX.) Aaron, b. Oct. 18, 1806.
(X.) Lewis, b. March 1I, 1809; d. Feb. 10, 1897.
(XI.) Henry, b. Jan. 18, 1813.
(XII.) Stephen, b. 1815.
ELIAS CADY
Elias Cady, son of Benajar Cady, was born in Providence, R. I., September 7, 1756. During the first year of the war the boy took his
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
, musket and went to Boston where he was enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and served till its close. He spent the winter at Valley Forge with Washington, and one night he and the general went on a reconnoitering expedition, returning at the break of day with suffi- cient information to make the American army better prepared to meet the enemy when it came. At the end of the war he was married in a church at Providence, Rhode Island, to Olive Baker. Six children were born to them-Seth B., Rhoda, Mary, Sarah, Philinda and Elias. They moved to Utica, N. Y., where she died, and in 1838 he came with his son, Seth B., to Holly, Michigan, on March 31, 1853, he died at the home of this same son at Genesee and was buried in Oak Hill cemetery, two miles northwest of Holly, Michigan. He was a pensioner.
SAMUEL NILES
Samuel Niles was born in Rhode Island, and was a private under General Green in the War of the Revolution and was wounded in an ac- tion in his native state. He came to Michigan in 1835 and took up his residence with his son Johnson Niles, the first settler in the township of Troy, and remained here until his death in July, 1838. Buried in Crook's cemetery, Troy, Oakland county, Michigan. His wife, Smellage Sisson, died in 1835; m. 2nd, Lucy Roberts.
SILAS SPRAGUE
Silas Sprague was another early settler and soldier who is buried in the Crooks cemetery at Troy, this county. He was born February 18, 1762, in Connecticut, coming to Michigan in 1824, with his son Silas; died March 8, 1841, in Troy, Michigan. His wife, Polly Leonard, was born October 16, 1763; died October 5, 1813, in New York. Their chil- dren were: (I.) Silas, b. Oct. 16, 1785, Middlebury, Conn .; d. July 2, 1868, Troy, Mich .; m. Nov. 12, 1807, Sarah Crofoot; m. 2nd, 1824, Amanda Bostwick; m. 3rd, 1855, Eunice Fuller.'
(II.) Polly, b. Mar. 9, 1790.
(III.) Charles, b. Dec. 13, 1791, Chenango Co., N. Y .; d. Nov. 30, 1871.
(IV.) Thomas, b. Apr. 6, 1794, Chenango Co., N. Y .; d. Apr. 1866. (V.) Orrin, b. Aug. 20, 1796; d. June 8, 1874, Troy.
(VI.) Barnabas, b. Mar. 20, 1799; d. Sept. 30, 1865.
(VII.) John, b. July 4, 1801 ; d. Sept. 29, 1866, Troy, Mich.
(VIII.) Leonard, b. Aug. 29, 1804; Broome Co., N. Y .; d. July 24, 1880, Pontiac, Mich.
"Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors" gives his service as follows : Certificate dated May 31, 1780; signed by Truman Wheeler, muster master of Berkshire county, stating that in the fore part of July, 1779, he had mustered said Sprague and others to serve in the Continental army for the term of nine months, to the credit of the town of Great Barrington; also descriptive list of men raised in Berkshire county to serve in the Continental army for the term of nine months to Capt. Good- rich's company, Col. Ashley's regiment ; age seventeen years ; stature five
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY
feet, nine inches, complexion light; engaged for the town of Great Bar- rington ; also served twelve days at Stillwater, 1781.
ESBON GREGORY
The Bureau of Pensions at Washington gives the following record : Esbon Gregory enlisted June 15, 1777, and served till August 17, 1777, as private in Capt. Amariah Babbitt's company, Col. Benjamin Simon's regiment of Massachusetts troops; also re-enlisted August 17, 1777, and served till October 17, 1777, under Capt. Herrick and Col. Seth Warner ; also, after October 17, 1777, to May or June, 1778, as teamster under Capt. Luther Loomis and Col. Warner; also from May or June, 1778, for eight months in Capt. Peter Porter's company, General Stark's Life Guard; also April, 1779, three months as quartermaster transporting military stores for General Stark; also July 1, 1779, served as sergeant under Capt. Barnes in Col. Israel Capen's regiment; also June 1, 1780, one year as sergeant under Captains Hickok, Spoor and Gross, and Colonels Brown and Willett; also June 1, 1781, through November of that year. He engaged in the battle of Bennington in which he was wounded; also battles of Stone Arabia and Johnstown. At the time of his enlistment he was a resident of New Ashford or Lanesborough, Berkshire county, N. Y. and at the time of his application for pension May 4, 1818, he resided in Manlius, New York. In 1833 he lived in Hanover, that state. In 1837 he was living in Troy, Oakland county, with his son, Jesse Gregory, where he remained until his death in 184 -. He is buried in the Plains cemetery, one and one quarter miles east of Troy Corners, Oakland county. His wife was Salome Sherwood.
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