Phillips Friday (continued from 9/04/2015)

While reading the information from Revolutionary Soldiers of Warren County, Pennsylvania, I spent some time looking up names of the officers who Esquire Phillips mentions in the report of his service. 

If you are a Revolutionary War buff or even just a good history student, you know who Col. Wm. Ledyard was.  If you are like me, you have forgotten if you ever knew.  Col. Wm. Ledyard was in command of Fort Trumbull and Fort Griswold in Connecticut when Fort Griswold was attacked and fell to the British under the command of Benedict Arnold. (Now, there is a name we all know). The Americans were far outnumbered according to American accounts of the battle. Ledyard and his poorly armed militia of 157 held off the British force of 800 for nearly an hour. According to one of the articles I read Ledyard ordered his men to cease firing and to lay down their arms after the British stormed Fort Griswold.  A Tory, Major Bromfield or Brownfield demanded to know who commanded the fort.  Ledyard replied "I did, sir, but you do now," and offered his sword.  The British officer took the sword and stabbed Ledyard to death. The date was September 6, 1781, in Groton. A massacre of the Americans followed, in which nearly 100 were killed or wounded   (Information found in Wikipedia) There is far more to this story, but I will let you do your own research if interested.

Esquire Phillips served under Col. Wm. Ledyard as his Waiter. Esquire writes, ".....served under Col. Ledyard at Fort Griswold 6 mos [sic].  I believe that Col. Ledyard commanded in the Fort across the river at New London and I was backwards and forward between the Forts, with Col. Ledyard frequently."

My guess gives me the estimate of spring of 1779 when Esquire was next discharged to go home. Later in 1779, he married Anna Gates. He says he was called back after the capture of Fort Griswold. He writes, "I helped at that time to take care of the sick and wounded also to bury the dead."

This Phillips line has certainly intrigued me. I have traveled in some of the areas where my husband's 4x Great Grandfather Esquire served in the Revolutionary War. If only I had known some of this information when my husband and I visited Groton, Connecticut a few years ago to see our son, the 5x great grandson of Esquire Phillips.  They both served their country in that location... just 200+ years apart.

Pennsylvania to Iowa 1860

I am thinking that I need a "new system" to alert my readers to which family tree I am climbing now that I am starting to jump around a bit.  The post from July 1 was about my maternal side. Today, the information is about my husband's maternal side. I am open to ideas. Anyone? Anyone? 

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Minerva Jane Marsh Reeder (1860-1953) was the fourth of six children. They were the children of Richard and Celestia Phillips Marsh who moved from Pennsylvania when Minerva Jane was just a baby. They stopped in Illinois first.

The baby of this family was Fanny. See Aunt Fanny (1873-1956) It is Fanny's research and writing that I am using to share this part of my husband's maternal family story. Among these records is a writing by Dwight, the third child of the family. I just have a feeling that Aunt Fanny convinced him to do this.

He writes of the family home in Warren County, Pennsylvania and their move to Illinois about 1860.  He says they started out with a team and a wagon.  There were four children. Joseph Merritt about 8 years old, Florence about 6, Dwight about 4, and the baby Minerva Jane (direct line ancestor). The trip included arriving at a railroad, loading everything on the train and eventually arriving in Princeton, Illinois.

He included a story that I found to be very, very sad. "My uncle and family started with us but we had not travelled many days when one of my cousins fell out of the wagon and was run over and killed so the family returned to Warren County". I wonder if this uncle and family were on Dwight's mother's side or father's side.

His mother's maiden name was Phillips.  Celestia Phillips was the daughter of Elijah Phillips and Ellen Thompson Phillips. I am explaining this lineage because Dwight mentions one of his great-grandfathers in his writing.

He mentions that Great Grandfather Thompson came from Pennsylvania to Illinois at the age of 99 years.  While there he jumped on a horse and rode.  He lived to be over 100 years old. So, Dwight and our Minerva Jane's mother Celestia was the daughter of Ellen Thompson Phillips and her father would have been Caleb Thompson, the Great Grandfather Thompson to whom Dwight is referring.

He also mentions that his great grandmother Phillips lived to be 97. So, longevity is on not just from Grandpa Halle Augustus (1890-1990) my husband's maternal grandfather, but from my husband's maternal, maternal, maternal, maternal, paternal side too. Doris/Ina/Minerva Jane/Celestia/Ellen/Caleb Thompson.

Ina Reeder Augustus, Minerva Jane Marsh Reeder, Celestia Phillips Marsh

Three generations of Grandmothers