USA > New York > Wayne County > Military history of Wayne County, N.Y. : the County in the Civil War > Part 20
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LYONS.
The following names not previously given are found in the list published annually by the Lyons Republican, pre- paratory to memorial day :
George Bassett, Calvin D. Palmeter, Chauncey Halliday, D- R. Rozelle, Hezekiah Roberts, John Delavan, Henry Lake, May, James Satterlee, buried in Lyons Rural Cemetery.
Joseph P. Goseline, George Sparks, Thomas E. Dorsey, Ananias Langdon, Gen. William H. Adams, Joseph Cole, buried in South Cemetery.
John Gilbert, (the oldest son of Amos Gilbert, a soldier of the Revolutionary war) was born in the town of Salem,
.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Washington County, N. Y., December 30, 1789. He moved to the town of Lyons with his father in 1806, and in 1810 moved to the village of Lyons, where he resided until his death. In 1812 he joined a company of volunteers under command of Captain Elias Hull, and was in service on the Niagara frontier one year, acting in the capacity of Second Sergeant. On his return from the war he was elected First Sergeant, and served two years as such, when he was made Captain of his company. In 1813 he rode through the woods on horseback to warn out the militia when the British invaded Sodus Point. He died on the 22d of July, 1882, in his ninety- third year, and is buried in Lyons. His widow and six children survive him.
Benjamin Ennis, of Lyons, was a soldier of 1812.
Cornelius Chipp, under Captain Hull at Sodus Point, also served one year in the Twenty-Ninth Infantry.
MARION.
Reuben Smith came from Elizabeth, St. Lawrence County, to Marion, died in this town and is buried in Marion Cemetery.
Solomon Leonard, a native of Vermont, served in the War of 1812-afterwards settled in Marion, and is buried in Marion Cemetery .*
Reuben Adams, Jr., died November 5, 1850, and is buried in Marion Cemetery.
Jacob G. Crane volunteered in 1813. Died in Marion, March 30, 1870, aged seventy-five years.
Weston Briggs, born in Dartmouth, Bristol County, Mass., died aged seventy-seven years, December 30, 1859. Buried in Marion Cemetery.
Thomas Cory, born in Rhode Island, died May 5, 1838, aged seventy-nine. Buried in East Palmyra.
William Cory, born in Rhode Island ; a soldier of the revolu- tion ; died in 1798, aged eighty-four.
Thomas Congdon, served in the War of 1812, about seven months, in Washington County. Removed to Marion, died in 1874, and is buried in the Marion Cemetery.
* Probably a son of the Revolutionary soldier.
244
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Amos T. Phelps, brother of E. T. Phelps, served in the War of 1812, died in the service and was buried by his com- rades.
Silas Barton, a soldier of 1812. Died February 18, 1861, aged seventy-two years and five months. Buried in the cemetery at Hall's Settlement.
Paul Phelps, died June 9, 1863, aged seventy-seven years.
Pardon Durfee was in the service in the War of 1812.
Joshua Terry went to Pultneyville at the time of the assault on that place. Died Nov. 1841, in Michigan, aged fifty- six years.
MACEDON.
Isaac Barnhardt served under Captain Swift, of Palmyra, died March, 1857, buried in Palmyra Cemetery.
Dr. William Plunkett Richardson of Macedon, was in the War of 1812, and served as Assistant Surgeon.
ONTARIO.
Jacob Decker was a soldier in 1812, from Owasco, Cayuga County ; was sent to guard Sackett's Harbor. His cap- tain's name was Daniel Coffee. Mr. Decker died in Ontario, December 12, 1847, and was buried in the Dickinson burial ground. Mr. Decker was born in Minisink, Orange County, N. Y., August II, 1792.
Andrew Graham served in the War of 1812, in the company of Captain W. Jackson, from the town of Perinton. He afterwards resided in Macedon, and about the year 1845 removed to Ontario. He died November 2, 1868, aged eighty-two, in Adrian, Michigan. Mr. Graham was born in Cheshire, Massachusetts, and was one of the pioneer settlers of Perinton, coming there about the year 1804.
James Woodworth, born in Hillsdale, Massachusetts, April 3, 1794, enlisted in 1814 under Captain J. Rockwell, Massachusetts militia, died in Ontario, December 30, 1848, buried on the farm of his son.
Samuel Brewer, born in Columbia County, town of Claver- ack, June 28, 1789, moved to Webster, and afterwards to Ontario, still living, at the age of ninety-four, (June 28, 1883). He was a private in the War of 1812, under Captain G. H. Strickers, of Columbia County.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
ONTARIO.
Lester Robins, born June 11, 1793. Died January 6, 1854. Buried in Finley Cemetery, Walworth.
Isaac Bramer, served forty days. Died April, 1868, aged seventy-three. Buried in Newark Cemetery.
John Speller, served on picket duty ; died in 1862.
PALMYRA.
Ambrose Salisbury was a soldier of 1812. He was an Orderly Sergeant in the rifle company of Captain Selma Stan- ley, of the Thirty-First regiment. He served a six months term. In June, 1813, he again went out as a substitute for his uncle, John Salisbury. He was then a member of Captain Anson Remer's company of dragoons from Geneva. He crossed into Canada and traversed the country in search of the enemy with whom he had several sharp skirmishes. His subsequent services in numerous civil offices were varied and important. He died July 21, 1864.
John Swift .-- Palmyra, in the War of 1812, suffered the loss of one of her leading citizens, one who had been the pioneer settler-General John Swift. He was a native of Litchfield, Connecticut. He took an active part in the Revolutionary War, held a commission and was at the battle of Wyoming. He settled in Palmyra in the sum- mer of 1789, as has been usually stated. Turner's His- tory of the Pultney estate records Webb Harwood, however, as the actual pioneer, and that John Swift, though he was the purchaser, with Colonel Jenkins, of the entire township No. 12, did not locate until the next year, 1790. He was prominent in the militia for several years prior to the War of 1812, as already seen in a previous chapter. April 10, 1805, a new Brigade having been formed in the northern part of the County of Ontario, John Swift received the appointment of Briga- dier-General, and his brother, Philetus Swift, succeeded to the command, as Lieutenant-Colonel, of the Seventy- First Regiment. John Swift resigned his command of the Brigade just before the breaking out of the war,
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
February 29, 1812, but was afterwards appointed a Brigadier-General of volunteers, and in this capacity he served upon the Niagara frontier. In reconnoitering the enemy's works at Fort George, he captured a picket guard, and while in the act of receiving their arms, one of the prisoners shot him through the breast ; an attack from a superior British force followed. The wounded General rallied his men and commenced a successful engagement, when he fell, exhausted by his wound. Never, says a writer at that time, was the country called upon to lament the loss of a firmer patriot or a braver man. The Legislature voted a sword to his oldest male heir, Asa R. Swift, of Palmvra, who was drowned in Sodus Bay, in 1820 or 1821. The sword afterwards fell to Henry C. Swift, of Phelps, a son of Asa R. General John Swift is buried in the old ceme- tery in Palmyra village. The stone at his grave bears the following inscription :
"Sacred to the memory of General JOHN SWIFT, who was killed by the enemy of his country, July 12, 1814, near Newark, in Upper Canada, aged 52 years, 25 days."
Palmyra owes a more generous care to the grave, and to the memory of General Swift. His burial place is a " rude, neglected spot where the forefathers of the hamlet sleep." The ground itself can scarcely be reached except by an expert climber in search of old names and dates. There the flowers and shrubbery, long since planted by loving hands, have run wild with nature's luxuriance. It is right to lavish wealth and labor upon the new cemeteries of modern times, but why forget the graves of the pioneers? Why shall not Palmyra village protect this crumbling hill from further desecration, clear out the brush, smooth down the sod, and let a memorial shaft rise from this crowning summit to General Swift, the early settler, the founder of the town, the first chosen supervisor, the brave general who gave his life in the prime of manhood, to his country's service.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
William Howe Cuyler .- One of the costliest sacrifices which Western New York laid upon the altar of the country · in the War of 1812, was the death of Major William Howe Cuyler, of Palmyra. In 1810, a battalion of riflemen had been organized under the authority of an order dated March 12, and attached to the Brigade of militia then commanded by Brigadier-General John Swift. Major Cuyler was appointed to the command of the battalion. Upon the breaking out of the war he was early upon the frontier and was appointed aid upon the staff of Major-General Hall. Stationed at Buffalo, he was the active co-operator with the navy agent, Lieutenant Elliott, in the preparations for the gallant exploit of capturing the British vessels from under the walls of Fort Erie, on the 8th of October, 1812. The expedition was successful, and the Adams and the Cale- donia were on the American side, but one of them was grounded before it was secured, and a sharp fire was opened by the British from Fort Erie. Major Cuyler, anxious for the fate of men attempting so dan- gerous an enterprise, had been up all night making such preparations as he judged necessary for the recep- tion of the wounded. Just at daylight he rode upon the beach towards Black Rock, and was instantly killed by a grape shot which passed through his body breaking the spine. He was buried near the spot where he fell, but after the war his remains were removed to Palmyra. The following verses appeared in The War, published in New York a week or two after his death :
TO THE MEMORY OF MAJOR CUYLER.
Born in the reach of splendor, pomp and power, He spurned at honors unattained by worth,
And fostering freedom, in a glorious hour, Preferred her cause to all the pride of birth.
In freedom's virtuous cause alert he rose, In freedom's virtuous cause undaunted bled ;
He died for freedom mid a host of foes,.
And found on Erie's beach an honored bed.
· But where, O ! where the hallowed sod,
Beneath whose verd the hero's ashes sleep ! Is this the cold, neglected moldering clod,
Or that the grave at which I ought to weep !
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Why rises not some massy pillar high,
To grace a name that fought for freedom's prize ! Or why at least some rudely etched stone nigh,
To show the spot where matchless valor lies ?
Yet soldier, thy illustrious name is known, Thy fame supported and thy worth confessed, That peerless virtue which in danger shone,
Is shining still where thou art laid in rest.
And though no monumental script is seen, Thy deeds to publish and thy worth proclaim, Each son of freedom passing near this green, Shall hail brave Cuyler and revere his name.
D. B. V.
The slab above his remains in Palmyra Cemetery bears the following fac-simile inscription :
SACRED To the memory of Major William Howe Cuyler, Who was killed at Black Rock, By a shot from the enemy, On the night of the 9th of October, 1812, While humanely administering To the relief Of the wounded soldiers.
Who intrepidly crossed to the British shore
And brought over the Adam Frigate, That had been surrendered by, General Hull, And the Caledonian Ship belonging To the enemy.
He was in the 30th year of his age, And son of the late Henry Cuyler Esq., of Greenbush, In this State. In life he was beloved, In death lamented.
As a Soldier, Patriot, Friend, Husband and Father, He shone conspicuously.
We add also the following obituary notice from the Ontario Messenger, October 27, 1812 :
OBITUARY.
"The death of Major Cuyler is justly regarded by all who knew him as a subject of deep regret. He was among the first settlers of our county, and we shall long cherish his remembrance. As a land agent he contributed very much
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
to the extent, respectability and comfort of our northern set- tlements. He had a quickness of sympathy with those who were in affliction and an ardor of benevolence that was unus- ual even among the good. Familiar with the best society from his childhood, his manners were polished and amiable.
" There are few who are so capable of receiving and com- municating social enjoyment as he was; and none more ready with his purse, his heart, his hand to engage in any undertaking for the public benefit. He has left a wife and three children whose loss God only can repair.
" They will have the comfort of numerous friends to join them in their sorrows, and may the Spirit of grace give them all the consolation of religion. Major Cuyler was a man whom nature had qualified peculiarly for military life. His bodily frame was large, well proportioned and uncom- monly vigorous, and it was animated by a soul disinterested, arduous, and of the most inflexible resolution. Though a respectable member of the bar, he was also a farmer. More accustomed to active than sedentary exertions, he had acquired a compactness and elasticity of muscle which enabled him to undergo the most toilsome labor without fatigue. Some years since he raised a rifle company, which stimulated by his example and assistance, were immediately uniformed, armed and equipped. No body of men could long be under his command without becoming exceedingly attached to him. He was cheerful, liberal, humane.
" Possessing a commanding presence and great ambition to make his company distinguished, they were soon in a respectable state of discipline. With this company, when the first law of Congress was passed authorizing the Presi- dent to accept of the services of volunteers, he offered him- self to the government. Soon after he was promoted to the command of a battalion of Riflemen. In war the ser- vices of such men as Major Cuyler are essential to success. He had been appointed by Major General Hall one of his aids, and when war was declared by our government he was called to the field.
" He believed the war to be unnecessary but as a soldier he was bound to obey the order of his superior, and as a patriot he was ever ready to repel invasion.
"On the 21st of July he left us regretting his absence but confident that whoever might be his companions, he would not fail to be conspicuous. He had no sooner reached the frontier than he began to gain the good will of the troops. His intelligence, his zeal, his activity, his charity, soon gave him a high place in the affections of both officers and sol- diers.
17
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
" But it was not his lot to display the efficiency of his arm, or the collectiveness of his mind in the rage of conflict. His was the eye, and his the action, and his the language, that would have inspired the inexperienced and irresolute with courage to follow him in the thickest of dangers; and had he lived he might have been fated to restore the battle in some desperate day when a band of heroes, fatigued with repeated victories, were yielding to superior numbers. But alas he was cut off in the commencement of his course.
" Patriotism mourns his fate. The heart of private friend- ship is inconsolable for his loss; and his associates in the field will never visit his grave without shedding tears of sorrow at the recollection of his virtues."
John Jagger served five months in the War of 1812-15. Still living in East Palmyra at the age of eighty-eight, (1883.)
The following additional names of soldiers of 1812, are from the decoration list of Garfield Post :
Isaac Gardner, Durfee Chase, Stephen Spear, Samuel Acker, William Rogers, Russell Stoddard, Hiram Payne, James Turner, David Jackway, Jared C. Selby, Stephen Porter, Nathaniel Beckwith, George Beckwith, Ezra Coon, Henry Jessup, Amos Risley, Peleg Palmer, John Sherman, Charles Wright, Christopher Hyde, Captain Tice, Thomas Rogers, Alexander McIntyre, Samuel Lillie, Isaac Ryck- man, Cornelius Westervelt, Thomas Lakey, Munson Seeley, Silas Tabor, Josiah Drake, all in Palmyra Cemetery, and John McDuffie, in the old burial ground.
Captain Asa Lillie shared in the War of 1812.
George Culver was captain in 1812, from East Palmyra. William Kellogg, fife major in 1812, was from Palmyra. Mr. Stoutenberg of Palmyra, was a soldier of 1812 ..
Joshua Terry (son of Parshall Terry, of Wyoming notoriety) was at Pultneyville, in the skirmish, and his name also appears in the militia rolls of that period. He and Stephen Reeves, son of James Reeves, the pioneer, scoured up their old guns and started "pell mell" for Pultneyville on the first alarm.
Captain Pardon Durfee was in the War of 1812.
Joel Willard should also be included in the war list of 1812. Captain Solomon Tice was a soldier of 1812.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
ROSE.
Captain Chauncey Bishop .-- At the time of the Sodus Point affair he was at work in the field on the Bishop home- stead, when Mr. Knapp (who lived near the Bay Bridge where B. and R. H. Catchpole now live) came riding by with the alarm that the British were coming to destroy the military stores. In a few minutes he was on his way musket in hand. He helped remove the stores and was in the skirmish in the evening. He afterwards became prominent in the militia, attaining the rank of Captain His commissions preserved in the family bear the auto- graph of De Witt Clinton. He died August 5, 1880, on the same farm where he settled with his father (Joel Bishop) in 1811. Like many other pioneers he came from Charleston, Massachusetts, to Rose, on foot, leav- ing home with a brother-in-law in February, 1811. Each " took up" a piece of land, built a log house, and chopped off a piece preparatory to removing their fam- ilies the coming winter. The father and son (Joel and Chauncey) were both Baptists in religion and federalists in politics.
James Covell, soldier of 1812, died April 15, 1872, aged eighty- two years, ten months and ten days.
Eliezier Flint was a soldier in the War of 1812, and is uow receiving a pension of $8 per month. He was drafted and served as a Corporal in the company of Captain Collins. The draft was at New London, Conn., and he served seventy days.
Nathan Jeffers was a soldier of the War of 1812. His widow, Mrs. Sally Jeffers is still living and draws a pension of $8 per month.
Samuel Hunn served in the War of 1812, and during the last years of his life received a pension of $8 per month.
Jacob Winchell served in the War of 1812, and drew a pen- sion during the last years of his life.
Simeon J. Barrett was a private in Captain D. Knapp's Com- pany, War of 1812. Pension commenced February 14, 1871, and he is still living in town. He was drafted from the militia about August Ist, 1814, and served on Har- lem Heights several months.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Philander Mitchell was a Corporal in Captain Saxon Lang- worthy's Company, Vermont militia. His widow now living draws a pension of $8 a month.
Peter Valentine, then living in Washington County, was called out, but the battle of Plattsburgh being over, he with others was discharged.
SAVANNAH.
Aaron Hall, soldier of 1812. His widow drew a pension, and died at the age of ninety-two in 1882.
John Pennell, soldier of 1812, died January 7, 1883, aged eighty-eight.
SODUS.
Byram Green was at the Point on the night of the battle. To him the author is indebted for much information as he related it years ago.
Samuel Green, a brother of Byram Green was also at the Point that night.
Valentine Hewitt, a brother of Orson Hewitt was a soldier of 1812, and was wounded at Niagara; came back to Sodus before his wound was dressed.
Mr. Levi Ellsworth gives the names of the following as soldiers of 1812, killed at Queenstown :
Daniel McNutt who went as a substitute for Daniel Norton. Ezra Blanchard and Roswell Blakely, the latter a son of Moses Blakely, the first settler of East Williamson.
Solomon G. Smedley, residing with Mr. Charles D. Lent (then of Vergennes, Vt.,) served in the War of 1812, a short time. Lucius Smedley, a son residing in Chicago, entered the service in war of 1861-5.
Othniel Taylor, born in Buckland, Massachusetts; removed to Phelps about 1800, and to Sodus about 1820 ; was in the battle of Sodus Point. Buried in Brick Church Cemetery.
Edward Taylor, born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, March I, 1793 ; came with his father to Phelps, in 1801 ; removed to Sodus in 1819; was at the battle at Sodus Point. Died September 27, 1854; buried in Brick Church Cemetery.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
John Watters was a resident of Columbia County ; served three months at New York City, during the War of 1812, died at Joy, March 30, 1878, aged eighty-eight years and four months ; buried in Joy Cemetery.
William Young, then living near South Sodus, belonged to a militia company or to a special company of minute men ; he was on duty at Sodus Point several times, and is understood to have been present in the skirmish.
George Palmer went as a substitute in the place of Thomas Boyd, who was drafted ; the draft was made at Sodus Village ; the militia was drawn up in a line ; a hat was passed containing blanks and numbers; those who drew numbers were obliged to serve or furnish a substitute.
Nicholas Pullen was in the cavalry under Colonel Cost of Phelps ; he had come with his father from his native place, Guilford, Vermont, in 1788, being then nine years old ; he was one of a family of fourteen children; his father settled at what is now Oak's Corners. Nicholas Pullen was at Sodus Point the night of the skirmish and was also out "on the lines" for several months; he came to Sodus in 1817; died in 1843, and is buried in the Brick Church Cemetery.
Dr. Nathaniel Kellogg was the son of the pioneer, Nathaniel Kellogg, and was a Justice of the Peace for many years at Sodus Centre ; it is understood that he was at Sodus Point on the night of the skirmish.
Joseph Williams was born in New York City. He came to Western New York at an early day and settled at Old Castle, Geneva. He was in the army during a part of of the War of 1812, and was stationed at Black Rock. When the report that a treaty of peace was signed reached the fort, he was one of a party sent across the Niagara River with a flag of truce to carry the news to the enemy. Their boat drifted into the rapids and narrowly escaped being carried over the falls. Soon after the close of the war he came to Sodus and settled where his son, Andrew C. Williams now resides, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died January 9th, 1859, in his seventy-fifth year.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
John Poucher* was drafted in 1814, then living in Columbia County, and served his time. Died in 1883, aged eighty-eight. Buried in Willow Avenue Cemetery, Newark.
John M. Granger was active in the militia in 1812, and was stationed at the Point, prior to the skirmish. It is not certain that he was in the engagement. Buried in Sodus Rural Cemetery.
Beebe Dennison, Sen., was taken prisoner at Lundy's Lane, sent to Halifax and detained until the close of the war. He is also mentioned in chapter V., as a revolutionary soldier.
Job B. Noris, served about four months on the lines at Niagara and vicinity. He was one of a party of volunteers from Palmyra. It is understood by the family that they were called out before the declaration of war in antici- pation of the coming troubles. He died April 27, 1866, at the age of seventy four, and is buried in Sodus Rural Cemetery.
Christopher Britton was one of the prisoners taken at the Point. He was set on shore the next day. His home- stead was the well known farm of later years belonging to his son John Britton, at Alton. Mrs. John Britton writes of him as follows :
" Christopher Britton left England because of the laws ; and soon as he got here he became a true American. When he heard the place was taken he took down his gun and started upon the run and went there and fired in amongst them. They took him prisoner, and took him out on their fleet and kept him over night, and let him go. His wife said it was because he was a Freemason. They asked him while there what freak it was that made him fire into them, and he said, ' I wanted to get one good shot at you.'"
Thomas Boyd, father of John A. and Reuben Boyd, was drafted and secured the services of George Palmer as a substitute, paying him forty dollars. Mr. Boyd was at Sodus Point in the battle of June 19, 1813. He is buried in the Bushnell burial place.
* The old gentleman always wrote his name according to the old spelling Boucher.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Frederick Boyd, a brother of Thomas Boyd, was at Sodus Point, in the battle of June 19, 1813, and is buried near Salmon Creek, where he settled.
Harry Skinner was one of the prisoners taken at the Point. He successfully deceived the British officers palming himself "off as drunk or idiotic until the Commander ordered the d-d fool put on shore."
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