OBITUARY NOTICES OF REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.
Died in Guilford, Medina county, Ohio, on the 19th (Oct, 1847) inst., Mr. Thomas Leland, in the ninety-first year of his age. He had borne arms and exposed his life at Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, to establish this free republican government, whose millions of happy, intelligent beings are now basking in the sunshine of liberty.
He has closed a long life of devoted patriotism, usefulness, and fraternal duties, and has gone to his last rest like a shock of corn that is fully ripe. Of him it may be truly said, "He was one of the noblest works of God—an honest man."
The funeral was attended at the Baptist Church, in Seville, where an eloquent, impressive and very appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Inman, to numerous relatives and a large audience.
From thence the corpse was attended to the place of interment by a large procession under military escort, commanded by Colonel Joseph Elder. The solemn tread, the melancholy sound of the muffled drum, the coffin shrouded in a banner on which was delineated the Stars and Stripes, and the Eagle, under which the deceased had bared his breast to the leaden messengers of death, in times that tried the souls of men, an ancient sword placed thereon, together with the imposing ceremonies at the grave, all conspired to awaken deep and most interesting reflections. It is said that this venerable sire has left over two hundred descendants to mourn his departure.
He was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, March 20, 1756. The name of his wife was Anna B. Rawson. (Sheboygan News — Oct., 1847).
Ref.: "Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine" Published by National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1905. Item notes: v. 27 (p19 Thomas Leland).
REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS
This department is intended for hitherto unpublished or practically inaccessible records of patriots of the War of American Independence, which records may be helpful to those desiring admission to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and to the registrars of chapters. Such data will be gladly received by the editor of this magazine.
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Thomas Leland appears in "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" as follws:
v1 p224 LELAND, THOMAS, (Medina Co.)
Pvt and Corp Thomas Leland of Sutton (also given Grafton, his father's residence), served as a Pvt in Capt John Putnam's Company, Col Larned's Regt. and marched in response to the Alarm of Apr 19, 1775. On June 1, 1775 he enl in Capt Drury's Company, Cal Ward's Regt. and served during the Siege of Boston. In July, 1780, he joined the company of Capt Sibley, Col Davis' Regt. as a Corp. and served in the expedition to Rhode Island. Br 1757 Sutton, Mass. Parents: Thomas and Margaret (Wood) Leland of Grafton, Mass. Mar Anna Bass Rawson.
v3 p213 LELAND. THOMAS - Medina Co
by Western Reserve Chapter, Cleveland, O
Roster I, p 224
D. 10-19-1849, ae 91 yrs at Guilford, O. In many battles. Appl for pens fr Monroe Co, N.Y. Pens $12 per mo, allowed for service as Pvt and Corpl in Mass Contl Line. 18th, p 222; 20th, p 72; 21st, p 102 N.S.D.A.R. R Reports.
[ref. "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" Columbus, Ohio : Ohio Adjutant General's Dept., 1929-1959. The adjutant general of Ohio is hereby authorized to secure the publication in book form of a complete roster the data for which has already been collected by the Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution (p3). Vol. 2. The official roster of the soldiers of the American Revolution who lived In the state of Ohio compiled by Mrs. Orville D. Dailey. [S.I.] Daughters of the American Revolution of Ohio, [1938]. Vol. 3. has title: Official Roster III, Soldiers of the American Revolution who lived in the state of Ohio].
Battle of Bunker Hill
Revolutionary War muster Roll for Col. Luke Drury signed by 37 of America's first soldiers. Sixteen of men marched to the Lexington Concord alarm. Also listed are 11 men who went to Bunker Hill. One man was "slain in battle June 17th arms lost." Among the most important American military documents extant.
A partially printed document with the date of 1 August 1775 being the company Muster Roll of Luke Drury's company. The document measures 17.5 x 23 inches and was extended along the bottom margin to accommodate the additional names of the privates. The Muster Roll is for the period of April through July or August 1775. The verso of the document bears the signatures of 37 members of the unit acknowledging receipt of their pay at Dorchester, February 9th, 1776.
Sixteen of the names signed on the back are men who fought under Drury at Lexington Concord. A list of Drury's men from a Muster Roll dated April 19, 1775 the day the first shot of the American Revolution was fired at Concord. At that time, Drury took his company of 46 men and marched to Cambridge, hounding the British on their retreat back to Boston. Drury was a farmer and gristmill operator was born in Grafton, Mass. The papers traced his military career from 1773, when he was first appointed militia captain for Grafton.
His minuteman company was one of the first mustered out on the day of the Lexington alarm. Drury successfully raised his company as ordered by Joseph Warren, received his commission, and joined Patriot forces at Cambridge in the regiment of Colonel Jonathan Ward. His men fought at Bunker Hill and participated in the siege of Boston. He was subsequently commissioned a lieutenant colonel and served throughout the war.
His papers indicate that toward the end of the war in 1781 his company was posted to West Point and was active in maintaining the Great Chain laid across the Hudson to hinder British traffic on the river. Perhaps because of his military career, Drury was later accused of participating in Shay's Rebellion, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. His name was later cleared but he resigned his commission. He later became a state Representative, constable, deputy sheriff and selectman of Grafton. He died in 1811 and is buried in Grafton.
The rare Lexington Concord Alarm list dated April 19th list holds 16 names of Drury's men who also signed the August 1775 Muster Roll. The names include, Ladock Putnam, William, Walker, Mathias Rice, Moses Sherman, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Isaac Brigham, Ebenzer Melendy, Ebenezer Leland, Jonah Goulding, Solomon Brook, Samuel Starnes, Peter Butler, and Ebenzer Leland. There are 37 signatures on the verso of the August 1775 sheet.
Of those 37 signatures, 6 belong to men who fought under Drury's company for Col. Artemas Ward at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The names of the men can be found on a list provided by the National Park Service of Boston of the Roster of New Hampshire soldiers in the Battle of Bunker's Hill. Those names include, Pvt. Joseph Plumley from Alstead, Pvt. Joseph Anthony of Alstead, Pvt. John Banks of Alstead, Pvt. Eleazer Leeland of Croydon, Cpl. Jonah Stowe of Alstead, Pvt. Ebenezer Wadsworth of Alstead.
The front of the document contains the names of five more soldiers who fought at Bunker Hill including, Samuel Adams of Walpole, William Martin of Walpole, James Martin of Walpole, Aaron Heath of Alstead and Abner Brigham of Croydon. The sheet is an extensive record of a regimental company during the early siege of Boston.
The muster indicates that one private, Samuel Heard who enlisted on May 7 was killed in battle June 17th "arms lost."Major General Artemas Ward created an American army right under the nose of British General Gage, in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Poor sanitation and cooking habits during his participation in the French and Indian War left Ward chronically ill in the years that followed. Slow moving and slow to react, he was without the showier qualities of leadership. Ward was trusted and respected because of his being from a good family and a Harvard graduate. A leader of the Patriotic movement from the beginning, he helped to purge the Massachusetts Militia of all Loyalist members, thus breaking the Royal Governor's means of using it.
The 37 signatures on the back of the document are: Thad, Kempre, Edmund Dolbear, Thomas leland, William Walker, William Evans. Joseph Plumly, Joseph Anthony, Eliphet Smith, Matthias Rice, Elisha Stedwick, Moses Shuman, Aaron Willard, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Essick Dexter, Edward Butrick, Isaac Brigham, Nathan Morse, Fortin. Burnea, Ebenezer Melendy, Eb. Leland, Jonath. Goulding, Solomon Brooke, George Smith, Sam'l Stearns, Ebenezer Wadsworth, Peter Butler, Benjamin Grover, Thomas Leland, John Banks and Jona. Stowe.
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Revolutionary War 1776 Siege of Boston Document Signed by 23 Lexington Alarm Minutemen. Manuscript Document Signed by 34 soldiers of Capt. Luke Drury's Company, February 9, 1776, Dorchester, Massachusetts [Seige of Boston], 1 pp., 7.75"X 12.5". At least 23 of the signers were Grafton, Massachusetts-area Minutemen who had responded to the Lexington-Concord Alarm on April 19 - 21, 1775, including Fortune Burnee, of African American and Native American heritage, joined by his half-brother, Joseph Anthony, who enlisted on April 29 and died in service. Light soiling to laid paper with folds and untrimmed margins. Fine condition with dark signatures. In full, "Recd of Capt. Luke Drury the full of all our Wages as Officers & Soldiers in his Company in Colo Wards Regt in the Continantal [sic] Army for the Months of November & December Last / To a 1 Leiut [sic] £4-0-0 / to a 2d Lt [£] 3-0-0 / to a Serj [£] 2-8-0 / to a Corpl [£] 2-4-0 / to a Drum [£] 2-4-0 / to a Privet [£] 2-0-0 / We have likewise Re[c]d all the money due to us for milk Peas & Indian meal & Ration Money to Carey us home in full as witness our Hand..."The following signatures appear in the order they are listed on the document. Additional information from "The History of Grafton", by Frederick Clifton Pierce, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1879, is added in brackets: "Edmund Dolbear [of Boston] / Thaddeus Kemp [mark] [of Billerica; enlisted April 29, 1775] / Thomas Leland, Jr. / [Cpl.] Joseph Leland / [Cpl.] William Walker / William Evans / Moses Rawson / Joseph Plumley [of Alstead] / Joseph Anthony [enlisted April 29, 1775; African-American] / Eliphalet Smith [born in Suffield, CT; of Sandisfield] / Matthias Rice / [Fifer] Zadock Putnam / [Sgt.] Ebenezer Phillips / [Drummer] Elijah Rice / [Sgt.] Shelomith Stow / Thomas Pratt / Eseck Dexter [Esek Dexter] / Edward Buttridge [Edward Buttrick] / Isaac Brigham / Zebulon Daniels / Forten Burnea [mark] [Fortin / Fortune / Fortunatus Burnee; African-American] / [Sgt.] Nathan Morse / [1st Lt.] Asaph Sherman / Ebenezer Melendy / Simeon Dexter [of Cumberland] / [Sgt.] Jonah Goulding / George Smith / Jonathan Hemenway [Jonathan Hemingway; of Framingham] / Samuel Starns [Samuel Stearns] / Ebenezer Wadsworth [mark] [of Alstead; guardian of above William Evans] / Peter Butler / [2nd] Lt. Jonas Brown / Thomas Leland [Sr.] / John Banks [of Alstead]" Captain Luke Drury of Grafton had commanded a company of Minutemen since 1773. When word of the Lexington Alarm arrived, Drury and his men began the 36-mile march to Cambridge. They arrived on the morning of April 20th to join a massive army of volunteers from across Massachusetts. Drury's company was soon incorporated into a Continental Army regiment under Col. Jonathan Ward, and stationed on the lines at Dorchester. On June 17, 1775, they fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill), with at least one man, Samuel Heard, being killed. Also serving under Drury that day was Aaron Heath, who later recalled: "I fired thirty-two rounds at the red-coats." Many of Drury's men reenlisted when their term of service expired on January 1, 1776. Less than a month after this document was signed, most likely some of these men also took part in the March 4, 1776 overnight seizure of Dorchester Heights - the celebrated action that forced the British to evacuate Boston. Joseph Anthony was born in Grafton on December 24, 1753, son of Joseph/William Anthony, "Negro" and Abigail (Printer) Abraham, "Indian." According to a Nipmuc leader and genealogist, Anthony's ancestors include Hassanamisco Nipmuc Chief Anaweakin [second in command in King Philip's War in 1675-6; along with Philip/Metacom, Anaweakin who was killed, and his children sold into slavery]; his father, Noas, Sachem of Hassanamesit, forced into exile at the same time and died at Deer Island in Boston Harbor; and Nanapashemet, Great Sagamore of the Massachuset Federation who was killed in battle in 1619 at Rock Hill, Medford, the year before Massachusetts was colonized by the English. In 1728, seven Indian "Planters" or householders and 33 English re-divided the land at Hassanamesit to incorporate the town of Grafton. In 1739, Abigail Printer married Andrew Abraham, Jr., "Indian Planter." Based on Abigail Printer's surname, and the very small population left at Hassanamesit in the 1700s, it is believed that she is a descendant of Rev. John Eliot's notable contemporary James Printer, a Harvard student in 1645-46, who worked for Samuel Green, printing Eliot's famous "Indian Bible" in 1663. Abigail and Andrew had three sons, before he died in August 1746, after returning from service in the Port Royal Campaign. Abigail remarried, November 14, 1752, Joseph/William Anthony. Little is known of him, other than his listing in town records as a "Negro." It appears he died circa 1756. Their son, the signer of this document, Joseph Anthony, married Lydia Mercy (Johnson). He enlisted in the army April 29, 1775, and was reported missing July 6, 1777, and dead December 26, 1777. At the time, he was a private in Capt. Blanchard's Company of Col. James Wesson's 9th Massachusetts Regiment. This sparse record may indicate that he was a prisoner of war. Fortune Burnee, Jr. [Grafton records spell his name a number of different ways.] Abigail, again a widow, married a third time, January 27, 1757, to Fortune Burnee, [Sr.], described as "Negro," a veteran of one or more expeditions to Canada during the French and Indian War and widower of another Hassanamisco, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple. It is thought that Burnee Sr. died about 1771. If so, his son Fortune Burnee, Jr., is the man who served under Capt. Luke Drury. It is as yet unknown if he is the son of Fortune Burnee, Sr.'s second wife Abigail (Printer) Abraham Anthony Burnee, who died in 1776, or his first wife, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple Burnee, who died in 1751 [thus, he is either Anthony's younger half-brother, or older step-brother]. It is interesting to observe that Burnee signs this document with a mark, while Anthony is capable of signing in full full. Fortune Burnee, Jr. marched on April 21, 1775 in response to the Lexington-Concord Alarm. Marriage records then show that Fortune Burnee, [Jr.] married July 31, 1778, "Phylis...negro servant of Rev. Mr. Frost...of Mendon [both are listed as "Negroes"], and then November 8, 1781, Sarah Hector, of Sutton [again, both are listed as "Negroes"]. He died in 1795. Of the estimated 100,000 men who served in the Continental Army, at least 5,000 were black. Most black soldiers fought in integrated units, as in Massachusetts; some states, like Rhode Island had segregated regiments, while Connecticut seems to have had both segregated and integrated. Both enslaved and free African-Americans served in the army as soldiers, laborers, and servants. In some cases, slaves were offered freedom for their services as soldiers, though others remained enslaved, fighting in place of their masters. Many states had been reluctant to arm the black population, but had no other countermove to the British Lord Dunmore's offer of freedom to Southern black enlistees. A significant number of colonial blacks at this time were also partly of Native American ancestry. Massachusetts's eighteenth-century Indian population had two females to one male, while the majority of the imported African slave laborers were male. Those figures, coupled with their removal to neighboring outskirts of colonial society, as well as the enslavement of many Indians in New England after King Philip's War, did much to comingle the two ethnic groups. Luke Drury (1734-1811) of Grafton, Massachusetts joined the militia in 1757 during the French and Indian Wars. As captain of a company of Minutemen and Militamen, he responded to the Lexington Alarm, and later joined Colonel Jonathan Ward's regiment to fight at Bunker Hill. Drury and his men served in different areas during the war, from West Point to Grafton, where his company guarded military stores. He also supported the Continentals financially, at one point giving £50 fifty pounds to enlist soldiers in Grafton. In 1786-1787, Drury became deeply involved in Shays' Rebellion, a tax revolt led by farmers in western Massachusetts. The uprising was quashed, and Drury imprisoned as "a person dangerous to the state." He was eventually released on good behavior. Drury remained active in state and local politics, serving terms as constable, deputy sheriff, tax collector, assessor, selectman, and state legislator.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. List of Officers and Men From Sutton in the Revolutionary War: LELAND, Ebenezer Private; p782. LELAND, Solomon Lieutenant; p781. NOTE: Buried in Dodge Cemetery Sutton MA: Solomon Leland Lt. b. May 12, 1742 d. July 21, 1808 m (1) Lois Haven m (2) Molley Dudley.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. "Minute Men From Sutton, Who Marched to Concord On the Alarm, April 19th, 1775, In Colonel Ebenezer Learned's Regiment." LELAND, Thomas Private; p784. 1832 Revolutionary War Pension List: Monroe Co., New York LELAND, Thomas Private Mass. Cont. age 77
Died in Guilford, Medina county, Ohio, on the 19th (Oct, 1847) inst., Mr. Thomas Leland, in the ninety-first year of his age. He had borne arms and exposed his life at Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, to establish this free republican government, whose millions of happy, intelligent beings are now basking in the sunshine of liberty.
He has closed a long life of devoted patriotism, usefulness, and fraternal duties, and has gone to his last rest like a shock of corn that is fully ripe. Of him it may be truly said, "He was one of the noblest works of God—an honest man."
The funeral was attended at the Baptist Church, in Seville, where an eloquent, impressive and very appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Inman, to numerous relatives and a large audience.
From thence the corpse was attended to the place of interment by a large procession under military escort, commanded by Colonel Joseph Elder. The solemn tread, the melancholy sound of the muffled drum, the coffin shrouded in a banner on which was delineated the Stars and Stripes, and the Eagle, under which the deceased had bared his breast to the leaden messengers of death, in times that tried the souls of men, an ancient sword placed thereon, together with the imposing ceremonies at the grave, all conspired to awaken deep and most interesting reflections. It is said that this venerable sire has left over two hundred descendants to mourn his departure.
He was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, March 20, 1756. The name of his wife was Anna B. Rawson. (Sheboygan News — Oct., 1847).
Ref.: "Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine" Published by National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1905. Item notes: v. 27 (p19 Thomas Leland).
REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS
This department is intended for hitherto unpublished or practically inaccessible records of patriots of the War of American Independence, which records may be helpful to those desiring admission to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and to the registrars of chapters. Such data will be gladly received by the editor of this magazine.
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Thomas Leland appears in "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" as follws:
v1 p224 LELAND, THOMAS, (Medina Co.)
Pvt and Corp Thomas Leland of Sutton (also given Grafton, his father's residence), served as a Pvt in Capt John Putnam's Company, Col Larned's Regt. and marched in response to the Alarm of Apr 19, 1775. On June 1, 1775 he enl in Capt Drury's Company, Cal Ward's Regt. and served during the Siege of Boston. In July, 1780, he joined the company of Capt Sibley, Col Davis' Regt. as a Corp. and served in the expedition to Rhode Island. Br 1757 Sutton, Mass. Parents: Thomas and Margaret (Wood) Leland of Grafton, Mass. Mar Anna Bass Rawson.
v3 p213 LELAND. THOMAS - Medina Co
by Western Reserve Chapter, Cleveland, O
Roster I, p 224
D. 10-19-1849, ae 91 yrs at Guilford, O. In many battles. Appl for pens fr Monroe Co, N.Y. Pens $12 per mo, allowed for service as Pvt and Corpl in Mass Contl Line. 18th, p 222; 20th, p 72; 21st, p 102 N.S.D.A.R. R Reports.
[ref. "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" Columbus, Ohio : Ohio Adjutant General's Dept., 1929-1959. The adjutant general of Ohio is hereby authorized to secure the publication in book form of a complete roster the data for which has already been collected by the Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution (p3). Vol. 2. The official roster of the soldiers of the American Revolution who lived In the state of Ohio compiled by Mrs. Orville D. Dailey. [S.I.] Daughters of the American Revolution of Ohio, [1938]. Vol. 3. has title: Official Roster III, Soldiers of the American Revolution who lived in the state of Ohio].
Battle of Bunker Hill
Revolutionary War muster Roll for Col. Luke Drury signed by 37 of America's first soldiers. Sixteen of men marched to the Lexington Concord alarm. Also listed are 11 men who went to Bunker Hill. One man was "slain in battle June 17th arms lost." Among the most important American military documents extant.
A partially printed document with the date of 1 August 1775 being the company Muster Roll of Luke Drury's company. The document measures 17.5 x 23 inches and was extended along the bottom margin to accommodate the additional names of the privates. The Muster Roll is for the period of April through July or August 1775. The verso of the document bears the signatures of 37 members of the unit acknowledging receipt of their pay at Dorchester, February 9th, 1776.
Sixteen of the names signed on the back are men who fought under Drury at Lexington Concord. A list of Drury's men from a Muster Roll dated April 19, 1775 the day the first shot of the American Revolution was fired at Concord. At that time, Drury took his company of 46 men and marched to Cambridge, hounding the British on their retreat back to Boston. Drury was a farmer and gristmill operator was born in Grafton, Mass. The papers traced his military career from 1773, when he was first appointed militia captain for Grafton.
His minuteman company was one of the first mustered out on the day of the Lexington alarm. Drury successfully raised his company as ordered by Joseph Warren, received his commission, and joined Patriot forces at Cambridge in the regiment of Colonel Jonathan Ward. His men fought at Bunker Hill and participated in the siege of Boston. He was subsequently commissioned a lieutenant colonel and served throughout the war.
His papers indicate that toward the end of the war in 1781 his company was posted to West Point and was active in maintaining the Great Chain laid across the Hudson to hinder British traffic on the river. Perhaps because of his military career, Drury was later accused of participating in Shay's Rebellion, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. His name was later cleared but he resigned his commission. He later became a state Representative, constable, deputy sheriff and selectman of Grafton. He died in 1811 and is buried in Grafton.
The rare Lexington Concord Alarm list dated April 19th list holds 16 names of Drury's men who also signed the August 1775 Muster Roll. The names include, Ladock Putnam, William, Walker, Mathias Rice, Moses Sherman, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Isaac Brigham, Ebenzer Melendy, Ebenezer Leland, Jonah Goulding, Solomon Brook, Samuel Starnes, Peter Butler, and Ebenzer Leland. There are 37 signatures on the verso of the August 1775 sheet.
Of those 37 signatures, 6 belong to men who fought under Drury's company for Col. Artemas Ward at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The names of the men can be found on a list provided by the National Park Service of Boston of the Roster of New Hampshire soldiers in the Battle of Bunker's Hill. Those names include, Pvt. Joseph Plumley from Alstead, Pvt. Joseph Anthony of Alstead, Pvt. John Banks of Alstead, Pvt. Eleazer Leeland of Croydon, Cpl. Jonah Stowe of Alstead, Pvt. Ebenezer Wadsworth of Alstead.
The front of the document contains the names of five more soldiers who fought at Bunker Hill including, Samuel Adams of Walpole, William Martin of Walpole, James Martin of Walpole, Aaron Heath of Alstead and Abner Brigham of Croydon. The sheet is an extensive record of a regimental company during the early siege of Boston.
The muster indicates that one private, Samuel Heard who enlisted on May 7 was killed in battle June 17th "arms lost."Major General Artemas Ward created an American army right under the nose of British General Gage, in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Poor sanitation and cooking habits during his participation in the French and Indian War left Ward chronically ill in the years that followed. Slow moving and slow to react, he was without the showier qualities of leadership. Ward was trusted and respected because of his being from a good family and a Harvard graduate. A leader of the Patriotic movement from the beginning, he helped to purge the Massachusetts Militia of all Loyalist members, thus breaking the Royal Governor's means of using it.
The 37 signatures on the back of the document are: Thad, Kempre, Edmund Dolbear, Thomas leland, William Walker, William Evans. Joseph Plumly, Joseph Anthony, Eliphet Smith, Matthias Rice, Elisha Stedwick, Moses Shuman, Aaron Willard, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Essick Dexter, Edward Butrick, Isaac Brigham, Nathan Morse, Fortin. Burnea, Ebenezer Melendy, Eb. Leland, Jonath. Goulding, Solomon Brooke, George Smith, Sam'l Stearns, Ebenezer Wadsworth, Peter Butler, Benjamin Grover, Thomas Leland, John Banks and Jona. Stowe.
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Revolutionary War 1776 Siege of Boston Document Signed by 23 Lexington Alarm Minutemen. Manuscript Document Signed by 34 soldiers of Capt. Luke Drury's Company, February 9, 1776, Dorchester, Massachusetts [Seige of Boston], 1 pp., 7.75"X 12.5". At least 23 of the signers were Grafton, Massachusetts-area Minutemen who had responded to the Lexington-Concord Alarm on April 19 - 21, 1775, including Fortune Burnee, of African American and Native American heritage, joined by his half-brother, Joseph Anthony, who enlisted on April 29 and died in service. Light soiling to laid paper with folds and untrimmed margins. Fine condition with dark signatures. In full, "Recd of Capt. Luke Drury the full of all our Wages as Officers & Soldiers in his Company in Colo Wards Regt in the Continantal [sic] Army for the Months of November & December Last / To a 1 Leiut [sic] £4-0-0 / to a 2d Lt [£] 3-0-0 / to a Serj [£] 2-8-0 / to a Corpl [£] 2-4-0 / to a Drum [£] 2-4-0 / to a Privet [£] 2-0-0 / We have likewise Re[c]d all the money due to us for milk Peas & Indian meal & Ration Money to Carey us home in full as witness our Hand..."The following signatures appear in the order they are listed on the document. Additional information from "The History of Grafton", by Frederick Clifton Pierce, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1879, is added in brackets: "Edmund Dolbear [of Boston] / Thaddeus Kemp [mark] [of Billerica; enlisted April 29, 1775] / Thomas Leland, Jr. / [Cpl.] Joseph Leland / [Cpl.] William Walker / William Evans / Moses Rawson / Joseph Plumley [of Alstead] / Joseph Anthony [enlisted April 29, 1775; African-American] / Eliphalet Smith [born in Suffield, CT; of Sandisfield] / Matthias Rice / [Fifer] Zadock Putnam / [Sgt.] Ebenezer Phillips / [Drummer] Elijah Rice / [Sgt.] Shelomith Stow / Thomas Pratt / Eseck Dexter [Esek Dexter] / Edward Buttridge [Edward Buttrick] / Isaac Brigham / Zebulon Daniels / Forten Burnea [mark] [Fortin / Fortune / Fortunatus Burnee; African-American] / [Sgt.] Nathan Morse / [1st Lt.] Asaph Sherman / Ebenezer Melendy / Simeon Dexter [of Cumberland] / [Sgt.] Jonah Goulding / George Smith / Jonathan Hemenway [Jonathan Hemingway; of Framingham] / Samuel Starns [Samuel Stearns] / Ebenezer Wadsworth [mark] [of Alstead; guardian of above William Evans] / Peter Butler / [2nd] Lt. Jonas Brown / Thomas Leland [Sr.] / John Banks [of Alstead]" Captain Luke Drury of Grafton had commanded a company of Minutemen since 1773. When word of the Lexington Alarm arrived, Drury and his men began the 36-mile march to Cambridge. They arrived on the morning of April 20th to join a massive army of volunteers from across Massachusetts. Drury's company was soon incorporated into a Continental Army regiment under Col. Jonathan Ward, and stationed on the lines at Dorchester. On June 17, 1775, they fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill), with at least one man, Samuel Heard, being killed. Also serving under Drury that day was Aaron Heath, who later recalled: "I fired thirty-two rounds at the red-coats." Many of Drury's men reenlisted when their term of service expired on January 1, 1776. Less than a month after this document was signed, most likely some of these men also took part in the March 4, 1776 overnight seizure of Dorchester Heights - the celebrated action that forced the British to evacuate Boston. Joseph Anthony was born in Grafton on December 24, 1753, son of Joseph/William Anthony, "Negro" and Abigail (Printer) Abraham, "Indian." According to a Nipmuc leader and genealogist, Anthony's ancestors include Hassanamisco Nipmuc Chief Anaweakin [second in command in King Philip's War in 1675-6; along with Philip/Metacom, Anaweakin who was killed, and his children sold into slavery]; his father, Noas, Sachem of Hassanamesit, forced into exile at the same time and died at Deer Island in Boston Harbor; and Nanapashemet, Great Sagamore of the Massachuset Federation who was killed in battle in 1619 at Rock Hill, Medford, the year before Massachusetts was colonized by the English. In 1728, seven Indian "Planters" or householders and 33 English re-divided the land at Hassanamesit to incorporate the town of Grafton. In 1739, Abigail Printer married Andrew Abraham, Jr., "Indian Planter." Based on Abigail Printer's surname, and the very small population left at Hassanamesit in the 1700s, it is believed that she is a descendant of Rev. John Eliot's notable contemporary James Printer, a Harvard student in 1645-46, who worked for Samuel Green, printing Eliot's famous "Indian Bible" in 1663. Abigail and Andrew had three sons, before he died in August 1746, after returning from service in the Port Royal Campaign. Abigail remarried, November 14, 1752, Joseph/William Anthony. Little is known of him, other than his listing in town records as a "Negro." It appears he died circa 1756. Their son, the signer of this document, Joseph Anthony, married Lydia Mercy (Johnson). He enlisted in the army April 29, 1775, and was reported missing July 6, 1777, and dead December 26, 1777. At the time, he was a private in Capt. Blanchard's Company of Col. James Wesson's 9th Massachusetts Regiment. This sparse record may indicate that he was a prisoner of war. Fortune Burnee, Jr. [Grafton records spell his name a number of different ways.] Abigail, again a widow, married a third time, January 27, 1757, to Fortune Burnee, [Sr.], described as "Negro," a veteran of one or more expeditions to Canada during the French and Indian War and widower of another Hassanamisco, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple. It is thought that Burnee Sr. died about 1771. If so, his son Fortune Burnee, Jr., is the man who served under Capt. Luke Drury. It is as yet unknown if he is the son of Fortune Burnee, Sr.'s second wife Abigail (Printer) Abraham Anthony Burnee, who died in 1776, or his first wife, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple Burnee, who died in 1751 [thus, he is either Anthony's younger half-brother, or older step-brother]. It is interesting to observe that Burnee signs this document with a mark, while Anthony is capable of signing in full full. Fortune Burnee, Jr. marched on April 21, 1775 in response to the Lexington-Concord Alarm. Marriage records then show that Fortune Burnee, [Jr.] married July 31, 1778, "Phylis...negro servant of Rev. Mr. Frost...of Mendon [both are listed as "Negroes"], and then November 8, 1781, Sarah Hector, of Sutton [again, both are listed as "Negroes"]. He died in 1795. Of the estimated 100,000 men who served in the Continental Army, at least 5,000 were black. Most black soldiers fought in integrated units, as in Massachusetts; some states, like Rhode Island had segregated regiments, while Connecticut seems to have had both segregated and integrated. Both enslaved and free African-Americans served in the army as soldiers, laborers, and servants. In some cases, slaves were offered freedom for their services as soldiers, though others remained enslaved, fighting in place of their masters. Many states had been reluctant to arm the black population, but had no other countermove to the British Lord Dunmore's offer of freedom to Southern black enlistees. A significant number of colonial blacks at this time were also partly of Native American ancestry. Massachusetts's eighteenth-century Indian population had two females to one male, while the majority of the imported African slave laborers were male. Those figures, coupled with their removal to neighboring outskirts of colonial society, as well as the enslavement of many Indians in New England after King Philip's War, did much to comingle the two ethnic groups. Luke Drury (1734-1811) of Grafton, Massachusetts joined the militia in 1757 during the French and Indian Wars. As captain of a company of Minutemen and Militamen, he responded to the Lexington Alarm, and later joined Colonel Jonathan Ward's regiment to fight at Bunker Hill. Drury and his men served in different areas during the war, from West Point to Grafton, where his company guarded military stores. He also supported the Continentals financially, at one point giving £50 fifty pounds to enlist soldiers in Grafton. In 1786-1787, Drury became deeply involved in Shays' Rebellion, a tax revolt led by farmers in western Massachusetts. The uprising was quashed, and Drury imprisoned as "a person dangerous to the state." He was eventually released on good behavior. Drury remained active in state and local politics, serving terms as constable, deputy sheriff, tax collector, assessor, selectman, and state legislator.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. List of Officers and Men From Sutton in the Revolutionary War: LELAND, Ebenezer Private; p782. LELAND, Solomon Lieutenant; p781. NOTE: Buried in Dodge Cemetery Sutton MA: Solomon Leland Lt. b. May 12, 1742 d. July 21, 1808 m (1) Lois Haven m (2) Molley Dudley.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. "Minute Men From Sutton, Who Marched to Concord On the Alarm, April 19th, 1775, In Colonel Ebenezer Learned's Regiment." LELAND, Thomas Private; p784. 1832 Revolutionary War Pension List: Monroe Co., New York LELAND, Thomas Private Mass. Cont. age 77
OBITUARY NOTICES OF REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.
Died in Guilford, Medina county, Ohio, on the 19th (Oct, 1847) inst., Mr. Thomas Leland, in the ninety-first year of his age. He had borne arms and exposed his life at Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, to establish this free republican government, whose millions of happy, intelligent beings are now basking in the sunshine of liberty.
He has closed a long life of devoted patriotism, usefulness, and fraternal duties, and has gone to his last rest like a shock of corn that is fully ripe. Of him it may be truly said, "He was one of the noblest works of God—an honest man."
The funeral was attended at the Baptist Church, in Seville, where an eloquent, impressive and very appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Inman, to numerous relatives and a large audience.
From thence the corpse was attended to the place of interment by a large procession under military escort, commanded by Colonel Joseph Elder. The solemn tread, the melancholy sound of the muffled drum, the coffin shrouded in a banner on which was delineated the Stars and Stripes, and the Eagle, under which the deceased had bared his breast to the leaden messengers of death, in times that tried the souls of men, an ancient sword placed thereon, together with the imposing ceremonies at the grave, all conspired to awaken deep and most interesting reflections. It is said that this venerable sire has left over two hundred descendants to mourn his departure.
He was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, March 20, 1756. The name of his wife was Anna B. Rawson. (Sheboygan News — Oct., 1847).
Ref.: "Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine" Published by National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1905. Item notes: v. 27 (p19 Thomas Leland).
REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS
This department is intended for hitherto unpublished or practically inaccessible records of patriots of the War of American Independence, which records may be helpful to those desiring admission to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and to the registrars of chapters. Such data will be gladly received by the editor of this magazine.
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Thomas Leland appears in "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" as follws:
v1 p224 LELAND, THOMAS, (Medina Co.)
Pvt and Corp Thomas Leland of Sutton (also given Grafton, his father's residence), served as a Pvt in Capt John Putnam's Company, Col Larned's Regt. and marched in response to the Alarm of Apr 19, 1775. On June 1, 1775 he enl in Capt Drury's Company, Cal Ward's Regt. and served during the Siege of Boston. In July, 1780, he joined the company of Capt Sibley, Col Davis' Regt. as a Corp. and served in the expedition to Rhode Island. Br 1757 Sutton, Mass. Parents: Thomas and Margaret (Wood) Leland of Grafton, Mass. Mar Anna Bass Rawson.
v3 p213 LELAND. THOMAS - Medina Co
by Western Reserve Chapter, Cleveland, O
Roster I, p 224
D. 10-19-1849, ae 91 yrs at Guilford, O. In many battles. Appl for pens fr Monroe Co, N.Y. Pens $12 per mo, allowed for service as Pvt and Corpl in Mass Contl Line. 18th, p 222; 20th, p 72; 21st, p 102 N.S.D.A.R. R Reports.
[ref. "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" Columbus, Ohio : Ohio Adjutant General's Dept., 1929-1959. The adjutant general of Ohio is hereby authorized to secure the publication in book form of a complete roster the data for which has already been collected by the Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution (p3). Vol. 2. The official roster of the soldiers of the American Revolution who lived In the state of Ohio compiled by Mrs. Orville D. Dailey. [S.I.] Daughters of the American Revolution of Ohio, [1938]. Vol. 3. has title: Official Roster III, Soldiers of the American Revolution who lived in the state of Ohio].
Battle of Bunker Hill
Revolutionary War muster Roll for Col. Luke Drury signed by 37 of America's first soldiers. Sixteen of men marched to the Lexington Concord alarm. Also listed are 11 men who went to Bunker Hill. One man was "slain in battle June 17th arms lost." Among the most important American military documents extant.
A partially printed document with the date of 1 August 1775 being the company Muster Roll of Luke Drury's company. The document measures 17.5 x 23 inches and was extended along the bottom margin to accommodate the additional names of the privates. The Muster Roll is for the period of April through July or August 1775. The verso of the document bears the signatures of 37 members of the unit acknowledging receipt of their pay at Dorchester, February 9th, 1776.
Sixteen of the names signed on the back are men who fought under Drury at Lexington Concord. A list of Drury's men from a Muster Roll dated April 19, 1775 the day the first shot of the American Revolution was fired at Concord. At that time, Drury took his company of 46 men and marched to Cambridge, hounding the British on their retreat back to Boston. Drury was a farmer and gristmill operator was born in Grafton, Mass. The papers traced his military career from 1773, when he was first appointed militia captain for Grafton.
His minuteman company was one of the first mustered out on the day of the Lexington alarm. Drury successfully raised his company as ordered by Joseph Warren, received his commission, and joined Patriot forces at Cambridge in the regiment of Colonel Jonathan Ward. His men fought at Bunker Hill and participated in the siege of Boston. He was subsequently commissioned a lieutenant colonel and served throughout the war.
His papers indicate that toward the end of the war in 1781 his company was posted to West Point and was active in maintaining the Great Chain laid across the Hudson to hinder British traffic on the river. Perhaps because of his military career, Drury was later accused of participating in Shay's Rebellion, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. His name was later cleared but he resigned his commission. He later became a state Representative, constable, deputy sheriff and selectman of Grafton. He died in 1811 and is buried in Grafton.
The rare Lexington Concord Alarm list dated April 19th list holds 16 names of Drury's men who also signed the August 1775 Muster Roll. The names include, Ladock Putnam, William, Walker, Mathias Rice, Moses Sherman, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Isaac Brigham, Ebenzer Melendy, Ebenezer Leland, Jonah Goulding, Solomon Brook, Samuel Starnes, Peter Butler, and Ebenzer Leland. There are 37 signatures on the verso of the August 1775 sheet.
Of those 37 signatures, 6 belong to men who fought under Drury's company for Col. Artemas Ward at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The names of the men can be found on a list provided by the National Park Service of Boston of the Roster of New Hampshire soldiers in the Battle of Bunker's Hill. Those names include, Pvt. Joseph Plumley from Alstead, Pvt. Joseph Anthony of Alstead, Pvt. John Banks of Alstead, Pvt. Eleazer Leeland of Croydon, Cpl. Jonah Stowe of Alstead, Pvt. Ebenezer Wadsworth of Alstead.
The front of the document contains the names of five more soldiers who fought at Bunker Hill including, Samuel Adams of Walpole, William Martin of Walpole, James Martin of Walpole, Aaron Heath of Alstead and Abner Brigham of Croydon. The sheet is an extensive record of a regimental company during the early siege of Boston.
The muster indicates that one private, Samuel Heard who enlisted on May 7 was killed in battle June 17th "arms lost."Major General Artemas Ward created an American army right under the nose of British General Gage, in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Poor sanitation and cooking habits during his participation in the French and Indian War left Ward chronically ill in the years that followed. Slow moving and slow to react, he was without the showier qualities of leadership. Ward was trusted and respected because of his being from a good family and a Harvard graduate. A leader of the Patriotic movement from the beginning, he helped to purge the Massachusetts Militia of all Loyalist members, thus breaking the Royal Governor's means of using it.
The 37 signatures on the back of the document are: Thad, Kempre, Edmund Dolbear, Thomas leland, William Walker, William Evans. Joseph Plumly, Joseph Anthony, Eliphet Smith, Matthias Rice, Elisha Stedwick, Moses Shuman, Aaron Willard, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Essick Dexter, Edward Butrick, Isaac Brigham, Nathan Morse, Fortin. Burnea, Ebenezer Melendy, Eb. Leland, Jonath. Goulding, Solomon Brooke, George Smith, Sam'l Stearns, Ebenezer Wadsworth, Peter Butler, Benjamin Grover, Thomas Leland, John Banks and Jona. Stowe.
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Revolutionary War 1776 Siege of Boston Document Signed by 23 Lexington Alarm Minutemen. Manuscript Document Signed by 34 soldiers of Capt. Luke Drury's Company, February 9, 1776, Dorchester, Massachusetts [Seige of Boston], 1 pp., 7.75"X 12.5". At least 23 of the signers were Grafton, Massachusetts-area Minutemen who had responded to the Lexington-Concord Alarm on April 19 - 21, 1775, including Fortune Burnee, of African American and Native American heritage, joined by his half-brother, Joseph Anthony, who enlisted on April 29 and died in service. Light soiling to laid paper with folds and untrimmed margins. Fine condition with dark signatures. In full, "Recd of Capt. Luke Drury the full of all our Wages as Officers & Soldiers in his Company in Colo Wards Regt in the Continantal [sic] Army for the Months of November & December Last / To a 1 Leiut [sic] £4-0-0 / to a 2d Lt [£] 3-0-0 / to a Serj [£] 2-8-0 / to a Corpl [£] 2-4-0 / to a Drum [£] 2-4-0 / to a Privet [£] 2-0-0 / We have likewise Re[c]d all the money due to us for milk Peas & Indian meal & Ration Money to Carey us home in full as witness our Hand..."The following signatures appear in the order they are listed on the document. Additional information from "The History of Grafton", by Frederick Clifton Pierce, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1879, is added in brackets: "Edmund Dolbear [of Boston] / Thaddeus Kemp [mark] [of Billerica; enlisted April 29, 1775] / Thomas Leland, Jr. / [Cpl.] Joseph Leland / [Cpl.] William Walker / William Evans / Moses Rawson / Joseph Plumley [of Alstead] / Joseph Anthony [enlisted April 29, 1775; African-American] / Eliphalet Smith [born in Suffield, CT; of Sandisfield] / Matthias Rice / [Fifer] Zadock Putnam / [Sgt.] Ebenezer Phillips / [Drummer] Elijah Rice / [Sgt.] Shelomith Stow / Thomas Pratt / Eseck Dexter [Esek Dexter] / Edward Buttridge [Edward Buttrick] / Isaac Brigham / Zebulon Daniels / Forten Burnea [mark] [Fortin / Fortune / Fortunatus Burnee; African-American] / [Sgt.] Nathan Morse / [1st Lt.] Asaph Sherman / Ebenezer Melendy / Simeon Dexter [of Cumberland] / [Sgt.] Jonah Goulding / George Smith / Jonathan Hemenway [Jonathan Hemingway; of Framingham] / Samuel Starns [Samuel Stearns] / Ebenezer Wadsworth [mark] [of Alstead; guardian of above William Evans] / Peter Butler / [2nd] Lt. Jonas Brown / Thomas Leland [Sr.] / John Banks [of Alstead]" Captain Luke Drury of Grafton had commanded a company of Minutemen since 1773. When word of the Lexington Alarm arrived, Drury and his men began the 36-mile march to Cambridge. They arrived on the morning of April 20th to join a massive army of volunteers from across Massachusetts. Drury's company was soon incorporated into a Continental Army regiment under Col. Jonathan Ward, and stationed on the lines at Dorchester. On June 17, 1775, they fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill), with at least one man, Samuel Heard, being killed. Also serving under Drury that day was Aaron Heath, who later recalled: "I fired thirty-two rounds at the red-coats." Many of Drury's men reenlisted when their term of service expired on January 1, 1776. Less than a month after this document was signed, most likely some of these men also took part in the March 4, 1776 overnight seizure of Dorchester Heights - the celebrated action that forced the British to evacuate Boston. Joseph Anthony was born in Grafton on December 24, 1753, son of Joseph/William Anthony, "Negro" and Abigail (Printer) Abraham, "Indian." According to a Nipmuc leader and genealogist, Anthony's ancestors include Hassanamisco Nipmuc Chief Anaweakin [second in command in King Philip's War in 1675-6; along with Philip/Metacom, Anaweakin who was killed, and his children sold into slavery]; his father, Noas, Sachem of Hassanamesit, forced into exile at the same time and died at Deer Island in Boston Harbor; and Nanapashemet, Great Sagamore of the Massachuset Federation who was killed in battle in 1619 at Rock Hill, Medford, the year before Massachusetts was colonized by the English. In 1728, seven Indian "Planters" or householders and 33 English re-divided the land at Hassanamesit to incorporate the town of Grafton. In 1739, Abigail Printer married Andrew Abraham, Jr., "Indian Planter." Based on Abigail Printer's surname, and the very small population left at Hassanamesit in the 1700s, it is believed that she is a descendant of Rev. John Eliot's notable contemporary James Printer, a Harvard student in 1645-46, who worked for Samuel Green, printing Eliot's famous "Indian Bible" in 1663. Abigail and Andrew had three sons, before he died in August 1746, after returning from service in the Port Royal Campaign. Abigail remarried, November 14, 1752, Joseph/William Anthony. Little is known of him, other than his listing in town records as a "Negro." It appears he died circa 1756. Their son, the signer of this document, Joseph Anthony, married Lydia Mercy (Johnson). He enlisted in the army April 29, 1775, and was reported missing July 6, 1777, and dead December 26, 1777. At the time, he was a private in Capt. Blanchard's Company of Col. James Wesson's 9th Massachusetts Regiment. This sparse record may indicate that he was a prisoner of war. Fortune Burnee, Jr. [Grafton records spell his name a number of different ways.] Abigail, again a widow, married a third time, January 27, 1757, to Fortune Burnee, [Sr.], described as "Negro," a veteran of one or more expeditions to Canada during the French and Indian War and widower of another Hassanamisco, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple. It is thought that Burnee Sr. died about 1771. If so, his son Fortune Burnee, Jr., is the man who served under Capt. Luke Drury. It is as yet unknown if he is the son of Fortune Burnee, Sr.'s second wife Abigail (Printer) Abraham Anthony Burnee, who died in 1776, or his first wife, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple Burnee, who died in 1751 [thus, he is either Anthony's younger half-brother, or older step-brother]. It is interesting to observe that Burnee signs this document with a mark, while Anthony is capable of signing in full full. Fortune Burnee, Jr. marched on April 21, 1775 in response to the Lexington-Concord Alarm. Marriage records then show that Fortune Burnee, [Jr.] married July 31, 1778, "Phylis...negro servant of Rev. Mr. Frost...of Mendon [both are listed as "Negroes"], and then November 8, 1781, Sarah Hector, of Sutton [again, both are listed as "Negroes"]. He died in 1795. Of the estimated 100,000 men who served in the Continental Army, at least 5,000 were black. Most black soldiers fought in integrated units, as in Massachusetts; some states, like Rhode Island had segregated regiments, while Connecticut seems to have had both segregated and integrated. Both enslaved and free African-Americans served in the army as soldiers, laborers, and servants. In some cases, slaves were offered freedom for their services as soldiers, though others remained enslaved, fighting in place of their masters. Many states had been reluctant to arm the black population, but had no other countermove to the British Lord Dunmore's offer of freedom to Southern black enlistees. A significant number of colonial blacks at this time were also partly of Native American ancestry. Massachusetts's eighteenth-century Indian population had two females to one male, while the majority of the imported African slave laborers were male. Those figures, coupled with their removal to neighboring outskirts of colonial society, as well as the enslavement of many Indians in New England after King Philip's War, did much to comingle the two ethnic groups. Luke Drury (1734-1811) of Grafton, Massachusetts joined the militia in 1757 during the French and Indian Wars. As captain of a company of Minutemen and Militamen, he responded to the Lexington Alarm, and later joined Colonel Jonathan Ward's regiment to fight at Bunker Hill. Drury and his men served in different areas during the war, from West Point to Grafton, where his company guarded military stores. He also supported the Continentals financially, at one point giving £50 fifty pounds to enlist soldiers in Grafton. In 1786-1787, Drury became deeply involved in Shays' Rebellion, a tax revolt led by farmers in western Massachusetts. The uprising was quashed, and Drury imprisoned as "a person dangerous to the state." He was eventually released on good behavior. Drury remained active in state and local politics, serving terms as constable, deputy sheriff, tax collector, assessor, selectman, and state legislator.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. List of Officers and Men From Sutton in the Revolutionary War: LELAND, Ebenezer Private; p782. LELAND, Solomon Lieutenant; p781. NOTE: Buried in Dodge Cemetery Sutton MA: Solomon Leland Lt. b. May 12, 1742 d. July 21, 1808 m (1) Lois Haven m (2) Molley Dudley.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. "Minute Men From Sutton, Who Marched to Concord On the Alarm, April 19th, 1775, In Colonel Ebenezer Learned's Regiment." LELAND, Thomas Private; p784. 1832 Revolutionary War Pension List: Monroe Co., New York LELAND, Thomas Private Mass. Cont. age 77
Died in Guilford, Medina county, Ohio, on the 19th (Oct, 1847) inst., Mr. Thomas Leland, in the ninety-first year of his age. He had borne arms and exposed his life at Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, to establish this free republican government, whose millions of happy, intelligent beings are now basking in the sunshine of liberty.
He has closed a long life of devoted patriotism, usefulness, and fraternal duties, and has gone to his last rest like a shock of corn that is fully ripe. Of him it may be truly said, "He was one of the noblest works of God—an honest man."
The funeral was attended at the Baptist Church, in Seville, where an eloquent, impressive and very appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Inman, to numerous relatives and a large audience.
From thence the corpse was attended to the place of interment by a large procession under military escort, commanded by Colonel Joseph Elder. The solemn tread, the melancholy sound of the muffled drum, the coffin shrouded in a banner on which was delineated the Stars and Stripes, and the Eagle, under which the deceased had bared his breast to the leaden messengers of death, in times that tried the souls of men, an ancient sword placed thereon, together with the imposing ceremonies at the grave, all conspired to awaken deep and most interesting reflections. It is said that this venerable sire has left over two hundred descendants to mourn his departure.
He was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, March 20, 1756. The name of his wife was Anna B. Rawson. (Sheboygan News — Oct., 1847).
Ref.: "Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine" Published by National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1905. Item notes: v. 27 (p19 Thomas Leland).
REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS
This department is intended for hitherto unpublished or practically inaccessible records of patriots of the War of American Independence, which records may be helpful to those desiring admission to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and to the registrars of chapters. Such data will be gladly received by the editor of this magazine.
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Thomas Leland appears in "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" as follws:
v1 p224 LELAND, THOMAS, (Medina Co.)
Pvt and Corp Thomas Leland of Sutton (also given Grafton, his father's residence), served as a Pvt in Capt John Putnam's Company, Col Larned's Regt. and marched in response to the Alarm of Apr 19, 1775. On June 1, 1775 he enl in Capt Drury's Company, Cal Ward's Regt. and served during the Siege of Boston. In July, 1780, he joined the company of Capt Sibley, Col Davis' Regt. as a Corp. and served in the expedition to Rhode Island. Br 1757 Sutton, Mass. Parents: Thomas and Margaret (Wood) Leland of Grafton, Mass. Mar Anna Bass Rawson.
v3 p213 LELAND. THOMAS - Medina Co
by Western Reserve Chapter, Cleveland, O
Roster I, p 224
D. 10-19-1849, ae 91 yrs at Guilford, O. In many battles. Appl for pens fr Monroe Co, N.Y. Pens $12 per mo, allowed for service as Pvt and Corpl in Mass Contl Line. 18th, p 222; 20th, p 72; 21st, p 102 N.S.D.A.R. R Reports.
[ref. "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio" Columbus, Ohio : Ohio Adjutant General's Dept., 1929-1959. The adjutant general of Ohio is hereby authorized to secure the publication in book form of a complete roster the data for which has already been collected by the Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution (p3). Vol. 2. The official roster of the soldiers of the American Revolution who lived In the state of Ohio compiled by Mrs. Orville D. Dailey. [S.I.] Daughters of the American Revolution of Ohio, [1938]. Vol. 3. has title: Official Roster III, Soldiers of the American Revolution who lived in the state of Ohio].
Battle of Bunker Hill
Revolutionary War muster Roll for Col. Luke Drury signed by 37 of America's first soldiers. Sixteen of men marched to the Lexington Concord alarm. Also listed are 11 men who went to Bunker Hill. One man was "slain in battle June 17th arms lost." Among the most important American military documents extant.
A partially printed document with the date of 1 August 1775 being the company Muster Roll of Luke Drury's company. The document measures 17.5 x 23 inches and was extended along the bottom margin to accommodate the additional names of the privates. The Muster Roll is for the period of April through July or August 1775. The verso of the document bears the signatures of 37 members of the unit acknowledging receipt of their pay at Dorchester, February 9th, 1776.
Sixteen of the names signed on the back are men who fought under Drury at Lexington Concord. A list of Drury's men from a Muster Roll dated April 19, 1775 the day the first shot of the American Revolution was fired at Concord. At that time, Drury took his company of 46 men and marched to Cambridge, hounding the British on their retreat back to Boston. Drury was a farmer and gristmill operator was born in Grafton, Mass. The papers traced his military career from 1773, when he was first appointed militia captain for Grafton.
His minuteman company was one of the first mustered out on the day of the Lexington alarm. Drury successfully raised his company as ordered by Joseph Warren, received his commission, and joined Patriot forces at Cambridge in the regiment of Colonel Jonathan Ward. His men fought at Bunker Hill and participated in the siege of Boston. He was subsequently commissioned a lieutenant colonel and served throughout the war.
His papers indicate that toward the end of the war in 1781 his company was posted to West Point and was active in maintaining the Great Chain laid across the Hudson to hinder British traffic on the river. Perhaps because of his military career, Drury was later accused of participating in Shay's Rebellion, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. His name was later cleared but he resigned his commission. He later became a state Representative, constable, deputy sheriff and selectman of Grafton. He died in 1811 and is buried in Grafton.
The rare Lexington Concord Alarm list dated April 19th list holds 16 names of Drury's men who also signed the August 1775 Muster Roll. The names include, Ladock Putnam, William, Walker, Mathias Rice, Moses Sherman, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Isaac Brigham, Ebenzer Melendy, Ebenezer Leland, Jonah Goulding, Solomon Brook, Samuel Starnes, Peter Butler, and Ebenzer Leland. There are 37 signatures on the verso of the August 1775 sheet.
Of those 37 signatures, 6 belong to men who fought under Drury's company for Col. Artemas Ward at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The names of the men can be found on a list provided by the National Park Service of Boston of the Roster of New Hampshire soldiers in the Battle of Bunker's Hill. Those names include, Pvt. Joseph Plumley from Alstead, Pvt. Joseph Anthony of Alstead, Pvt. John Banks of Alstead, Pvt. Eleazer Leeland of Croydon, Cpl. Jonah Stowe of Alstead, Pvt. Ebenezer Wadsworth of Alstead.
The front of the document contains the names of five more soldiers who fought at Bunker Hill including, Samuel Adams of Walpole, William Martin of Walpole, James Martin of Walpole, Aaron Heath of Alstead and Abner Brigham of Croydon. The sheet is an extensive record of a regimental company during the early siege of Boston.
The muster indicates that one private, Samuel Heard who enlisted on May 7 was killed in battle June 17th "arms lost."Major General Artemas Ward created an American army right under the nose of British General Gage, in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Poor sanitation and cooking habits during his participation in the French and Indian War left Ward chronically ill in the years that followed. Slow moving and slow to react, he was without the showier qualities of leadership. Ward was trusted and respected because of his being from a good family and a Harvard graduate. A leader of the Patriotic movement from the beginning, he helped to purge the Massachusetts Militia of all Loyalist members, thus breaking the Royal Governor's means of using it.
The 37 signatures on the back of the document are: Thad, Kempre, Edmund Dolbear, Thomas leland, William Walker, William Evans. Joseph Plumly, Joseph Anthony, Eliphet Smith, Matthias Rice, Elisha Stedwick, Moses Shuman, Aaron Willard, Ebenezer Phillips, Elizah Rice, Shelomilk Stow, Thomas Pratt, Essick Dexter, Edward Butrick, Isaac Brigham, Nathan Morse, Fortin. Burnea, Ebenezer Melendy, Eb. Leland, Jonath. Goulding, Solomon Brooke, George Smith, Sam'l Stearns, Ebenezer Wadsworth, Peter Butler, Benjamin Grover, Thomas Leland, John Banks and Jona. Stowe.
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Revolutionary War 1776 Siege of Boston Document Signed by 23 Lexington Alarm Minutemen. Manuscript Document Signed by 34 soldiers of Capt. Luke Drury's Company, February 9, 1776, Dorchester, Massachusetts [Seige of Boston], 1 pp., 7.75"X 12.5". At least 23 of the signers were Grafton, Massachusetts-area Minutemen who had responded to the Lexington-Concord Alarm on April 19 - 21, 1775, including Fortune Burnee, of African American and Native American heritage, joined by his half-brother, Joseph Anthony, who enlisted on April 29 and died in service. Light soiling to laid paper with folds and untrimmed margins. Fine condition with dark signatures. In full, "Recd of Capt. Luke Drury the full of all our Wages as Officers & Soldiers in his Company in Colo Wards Regt in the Continantal [sic] Army for the Months of November & December Last / To a 1 Leiut [sic] £4-0-0 / to a 2d Lt [£] 3-0-0 / to a Serj [£] 2-8-0 / to a Corpl [£] 2-4-0 / to a Drum [£] 2-4-0 / to a Privet [£] 2-0-0 / We have likewise Re[c]d all the money due to us for milk Peas & Indian meal & Ration Money to Carey us home in full as witness our Hand..."The following signatures appear in the order they are listed on the document. Additional information from "The History of Grafton", by Frederick Clifton Pierce, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1879, is added in brackets: "Edmund Dolbear [of Boston] / Thaddeus Kemp [mark] [of Billerica; enlisted April 29, 1775] / Thomas Leland, Jr. / [Cpl.] Joseph Leland / [Cpl.] William Walker / William Evans / Moses Rawson / Joseph Plumley [of Alstead] / Joseph Anthony [enlisted April 29, 1775; African-American] / Eliphalet Smith [born in Suffield, CT; of Sandisfield] / Matthias Rice / [Fifer] Zadock Putnam / [Sgt.] Ebenezer Phillips / [Drummer] Elijah Rice / [Sgt.] Shelomith Stow / Thomas Pratt / Eseck Dexter [Esek Dexter] / Edward Buttridge [Edward Buttrick] / Isaac Brigham / Zebulon Daniels / Forten Burnea [mark] [Fortin / Fortune / Fortunatus Burnee; African-American] / [Sgt.] Nathan Morse / [1st Lt.] Asaph Sherman / Ebenezer Melendy / Simeon Dexter [of Cumberland] / [Sgt.] Jonah Goulding / George Smith / Jonathan Hemenway [Jonathan Hemingway; of Framingham] / Samuel Starns [Samuel Stearns] / Ebenezer Wadsworth [mark] [of Alstead; guardian of above William Evans] / Peter Butler / [2nd] Lt. Jonas Brown / Thomas Leland [Sr.] / John Banks [of Alstead]" Captain Luke Drury of Grafton had commanded a company of Minutemen since 1773. When word of the Lexington Alarm arrived, Drury and his men began the 36-mile march to Cambridge. They arrived on the morning of April 20th to join a massive army of volunteers from across Massachusetts. Drury's company was soon incorporated into a Continental Army regiment under Col. Jonathan Ward, and stationed on the lines at Dorchester. On June 17, 1775, they fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill), with at least one man, Samuel Heard, being killed. Also serving under Drury that day was Aaron Heath, who later recalled: "I fired thirty-two rounds at the red-coats." Many of Drury's men reenlisted when their term of service expired on January 1, 1776. Less than a month after this document was signed, most likely some of these men also took part in the March 4, 1776 overnight seizure of Dorchester Heights - the celebrated action that forced the British to evacuate Boston. Joseph Anthony was born in Grafton on December 24, 1753, son of Joseph/William Anthony, "Negro" and Abigail (Printer) Abraham, "Indian." According to a Nipmuc leader and genealogist, Anthony's ancestors include Hassanamisco Nipmuc Chief Anaweakin [second in command in King Philip's War in 1675-6; along with Philip/Metacom, Anaweakin who was killed, and his children sold into slavery]; his father, Noas, Sachem of Hassanamesit, forced into exile at the same time and died at Deer Island in Boston Harbor; and Nanapashemet, Great Sagamore of the Massachuset Federation who was killed in battle in 1619 at Rock Hill, Medford, the year before Massachusetts was colonized by the English. In 1728, seven Indian "Planters" or householders and 33 English re-divided the land at Hassanamesit to incorporate the town of Grafton. In 1739, Abigail Printer married Andrew Abraham, Jr., "Indian Planter." Based on Abigail Printer's surname, and the very small population left at Hassanamesit in the 1700s, it is believed that she is a descendant of Rev. John Eliot's notable contemporary James Printer, a Harvard student in 1645-46, who worked for Samuel Green, printing Eliot's famous "Indian Bible" in 1663. Abigail and Andrew had three sons, before he died in August 1746, after returning from service in the Port Royal Campaign. Abigail remarried, November 14, 1752, Joseph/William Anthony. Little is known of him, other than his listing in town records as a "Negro." It appears he died circa 1756. Their son, the signer of this document, Joseph Anthony, married Lydia Mercy (Johnson). He enlisted in the army April 29, 1775, and was reported missing July 6, 1777, and dead December 26, 1777. At the time, he was a private in Capt. Blanchard's Company of Col. James Wesson's 9th Massachusetts Regiment. This sparse record may indicate that he was a prisoner of war. Fortune Burnee, Jr. [Grafton records spell his name a number of different ways.] Abigail, again a widow, married a third time, January 27, 1757, to Fortune Burnee, [Sr.], described as "Negro," a veteran of one or more expeditions to Canada during the French and Indian War and widower of another Hassanamisco, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple. It is thought that Burnee Sr. died about 1771. If so, his son Fortune Burnee, Jr., is the man who served under Capt. Luke Drury. It is as yet unknown if he is the son of Fortune Burnee, Sr.'s second wife Abigail (Printer) Abraham Anthony Burnee, who died in 1776, or his first wife, Sarah (Muckamaug) Whipple Burnee, who died in 1751 [thus, he is either Anthony's younger half-brother, or older step-brother]. It is interesting to observe that Burnee signs this document with a mark, while Anthony is capable of signing in full full. Fortune Burnee, Jr. marched on April 21, 1775 in response to the Lexington-Concord Alarm. Marriage records then show that Fortune Burnee, [Jr.] married July 31, 1778, "Phylis...negro servant of Rev. Mr. Frost...of Mendon [both are listed as "Negroes"], and then November 8, 1781, Sarah Hector, of Sutton [again, both are listed as "Negroes"]. He died in 1795. Of the estimated 100,000 men who served in the Continental Army, at least 5,000 were black. Most black soldiers fought in integrated units, as in Massachusetts; some states, like Rhode Island had segregated regiments, while Connecticut seems to have had both segregated and integrated. Both enslaved and free African-Americans served in the army as soldiers, laborers, and servants. In some cases, slaves were offered freedom for their services as soldiers, though others remained enslaved, fighting in place of their masters. Many states had been reluctant to arm the black population, but had no other countermove to the British Lord Dunmore's offer of freedom to Southern black enlistees. A significant number of colonial blacks at this time were also partly of Native American ancestry. Massachusetts's eighteenth-century Indian population had two females to one male, while the majority of the imported African slave laborers were male. Those figures, coupled with their removal to neighboring outskirts of colonial society, as well as the enslavement of many Indians in New England after King Philip's War, did much to comingle the two ethnic groups. Luke Drury (1734-1811) of Grafton, Massachusetts joined the militia in 1757 during the French and Indian Wars. As captain of a company of Minutemen and Militamen, he responded to the Lexington Alarm, and later joined Colonel Jonathan Ward's regiment to fight at Bunker Hill. Drury and his men served in different areas during the war, from West Point to Grafton, where his company guarded military stores. He also supported the Continentals financially, at one point giving £50 fifty pounds to enlist soldiers in Grafton. In 1786-1787, Drury became deeply involved in Shays' Rebellion, a tax revolt led by farmers in western Massachusetts. The uprising was quashed, and Drury imprisoned as "a person dangerous to the state." He was eventually released on good behavior. Drury remained active in state and local politics, serving terms as constable, deputy sheriff, tax collector, assessor, selectman, and state legislator.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. List of Officers and Men From Sutton in the Revolutionary War: LELAND, Ebenezer Private; p782. LELAND, Solomon Lieutenant; p781. NOTE: Buried in Dodge Cemetery Sutton MA: Solomon Leland Lt. b. May 12, 1742 d. July 21, 1808 m (1) Lois Haven m (2) Molley Dudley.
History of the Town of Sutton, Massachusetts from 1704 to 1876. "Minute Men From Sutton, Who Marched to Concord On the Alarm, April 19th, 1775, In Colonel Ebenezer Learned's Regiment." LELAND, Thomas Private; p784. 1832 Revolutionary War Pension List: Monroe Co., New York LELAND, Thomas Private Mass. Cont. age 77
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