Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Timeline (preliminary)


 1735 Blandford first settled
1740 Oliver Watson (1718-1782) bought 2000 acre lot #2 in Leicester
1740 Becket first settled
1741 Town of Blandford incorporated
27 Jan 1754 John Gibbs purchased 60 acre Blandford home lot #34 from his father for £56 13s.
1750s Chester first settled
1765 Towns of Chester and Becket incorporated
1768 John Watson (1747-1823) bought Blandford home lot #9 and established a tannery
1772 Oliver Snow Jr. moved to Becket
10 Jun 1773 23rd Foot arrived in New York Harbor from England
16 Dec 1773 Boston Tea Party
1773 Town of Otis incorporated (as Loudon)
1774 Oliver Snow Jr. married at Becket
20 May 1774 Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act (Intolerable Acts)
Spring 1774 23rd Foot ordered to Boston
16 Aug 1774 A mob closed the Berkshire county courthouse
6 Sep 1774 Militia seized the Worcester county courthouse
18 Sep 1774 Governor Gates ordered seizure of militia supplies at Concord
19 Apr 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord (including 23rd Foot's flank companies)
13 May-19 Jul 1775 Oliver Watson attended provincial Congress at Watertown, MA
16 Jun 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill  (Grenadiers of 23rd Foot led 3 charges, Sylvanus Snow injured)
3 Mar 1776 Knyphausen Regiment left Ziegenhain (Konrad + Wigand Dirlam?)
17 Mar 1776 British evacuated Boston
17 Apr 1776 4 companies of Knyphausen Regiment left Bremerlehe
6 May 1776 British/Hessian troop convoy #1a, 85 ships left Portsmouth
14 May 1776 Some von Scheither recruits left Stade (John Dirlam?)
14 May 1776 Blakeney Company assigned to 1st Grenadier Battalion
18 May 1776 Minnegrode Company of Knyphausen Regiment left Bremerlehe (K+W Dirlam?)
26 May 1776 British/Hessian troop convoy #1b, 25 ships left Portsmouth (K+W Dirlam?)
9 Jun 1776 British/Hessian troop convoy #2 left Ritzebuttel (John Dirlam?)
28 Jun 1776 British/Hessian troop convoy #2 left Portsmouth (John Dirlam?)
7 July 1776 Second Continental Congress adopted Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia
12 July 1776 Fleet of 150 British ships arrived in New York Harbor
14-15 Aug 1776 British/Hessian troop convoy #1a and 1b disembark on Staten Island (K+W Dirlam?)
27 Aug 1776 Battle of Brooklyn Heights, NY (incl. 23rd Foot)
16 Sep 1776 Battle of Harlem Heights, NY (incl. 23rd Foot)
18 Oct 1776 British/Hessian troop convoy #2 arrived at NY harbor
18 Oct 1776 John Dirlam, 3 other Hessians joined 23rd Foot in NYC (Blakeney Company)
28 Oct 1776 Battle of White Plains, NY (incl. 23rd Foot + Knyphausen)
Nov 1776 Nathan Snow's Ashford militia guarded Providence, RI for 3 months
16 Nov 1776 British captured Fort Washington, NY (incl. 23rd Foot + Knyphausen)
17 Nov 1776 23rd Foot garrisoned in New York City
8 Dec 1776 British captured Newport, RI
26 Dec 1776 Battle of Trenton, NJ (Wigand Dirlam captured)
2 Jan 1777 Battle of Assunpink Creek, NJ
3 Jan 1777 Battle of Princeton, NJ
8 Jan 1777 John Dirlam mustered for Blakeney Company
13 Apr 1777 Battle of Bound Brook, NJ
26 Apr 1777 Asa Snow and Oliver Jr's** Becket militia marched to Saratoga, NY
26 Apr 1777 Burning of Danbury, CT (23rd Foot in rearguard)
27 Apr 1777 Battle of Ridgefield, CT
23 May 1777 Battle of Sag Harbor, NY
26 Jun 1777 Battle of Metuchen Meeting House, NJ
6 Jul 1777 Fort Ticonderoga, NY surrendered to the British
18 Jul 1777 Oliver Snow Jr**, Amos Kingsley* Becket militia called 5 days to Manchester, VT
14 Aug 1777 Jonathan Wadsworth**, Amos Kingley* Becket militia called 9 days to Bennington, VT
16 Aug 1777 Battle of Bennington, NY
1 Sep 1777 Nathan Snow** and Sylvanus Snow's Ashford militia marched to Stillwater, NY
11 Sep 1777 Battle of Brandywine, PA (incl. 23rd Foot)
19 Sep 1777 First Battle of Saratoga, NY
21 Sep 1777 Battle of Battle of Paoli Tavern at Malvern, PA
26 Sep 1777 Capture of Philadelphia, PA (incl. 23rd Foot)
26 Sep 1777 23rd Foot moved to Germantown, PA
3 Oct 1777 23rd Foot sent to guard Middle Ferry and Chester Road at Philadelphia
4 Oct 1777 Battle of Germantown, PA (not incl. 23rd Foot)
7 Oct 1777 Second Battle of Saratoga, NY
8 Oct 1777 Nathan Snow** and Sylvanus Snow's Ashford militia marched to Albany,NY
10 Oct 1777 Battery on Carpenter's Isl. (behind Redbank) surrendered 300+ men by British (mostly grenadiers, incl. of 23rd Foot)
15 Oct 1777 Fort Mifflin, PA (opposite Redbank) evacuated by Continentals
19-26 Oct 1777 Middletown, CT militia escorted prisoners from Ticonderoga and Bennington through Connecticut and delivered them to the sheriff in Hartford, CT
22 Oct 1777 Battle of Redbank, NJ for Fort Mercer (incl. 23rd Foot)
Nov 1777 Burgoyne's Convention Army marched to stockade in Cambridge, MA
12 Nov 1777 Sylvanus Snow's youngest child born in Ashford, CT
11-12 Dec '77 British forage in force from Philadelphia to Radnor, PA (incl. 23rd Foot) 15 mi
Jan 1778 Timothy Levi and Nathan Snow Ashford militia guarded Providence, RI for 2 months
16 Feb 1778 The Treaty of Alliance with France signed in Paris
18 Feb 1778 Loyalist raid on Jenk's Fulling Mill, Newton, PA (25 mi to Philadelphia)
20 Feb 1778 Raid near Frankford, PA (8 mi to Philadelphia)
24-25 Feb '78 Raid near Skippack, PA ( 65 mi to Philadelphia)
24 Feb 1778 John O Dirlam reported 'captured by rebels' (by 23rd Foot)
Apr 1778 Levi Snow's* Ashford militia served at Greenwich, Hartford and New Haven, CT
1 May 1778 Silas Snow's** Ashford militia in West Point, NY and New London, CT for 1 year
18 Jun 1778 British evacuated Philadelphia, PA (incl. 23rd Foot)
28 Jun 1778 Battle of Monmouth, NJ (incl. 23rd Foot: grenadier company lost 1/3 of it's men)
Jun-Sep 1778 Wigand Dirlam freed/returned to Knyphausen regiment in Philadelphia or NYC
Jul 1778 Levi Snow's* Ashford militia served at White Plains and West Point, NY
5 Jul 1778 Blakeney Company returned to 23rd Foot from 1st Grenadier Battalion
1 Aug 1778 John Gibbs purchased 18 acres of Blandford lot #14 from sheriff for 17s. 3p.
Sep 1778 Nathan** and Bilarcah*** Snow's Ashford guarded New London, built Ft. Trumbull
Nov 1778 Levi Snow's* Ashford militia served at New London, CT
Feb 1779 Nathan Snow** moved from Ashford to Becket
May 1779 British captured the King's Ferry Forts (incl. 23rd Foot)
Jun 1779 Silas Snow's** Ashford militia served 3 months, guarded Groton, CT lighthouse
30 Jun 1779 British raided Fairport, New Haven and Norwalk, CT (incl. 23rd Foot)
Jul 1779 Nathan Snow's** Becket militia guarded New Haven, CT
5 Jul 1779 British raided New Haven, CT
9 Jul 1779 British burned Fairfield and Green Farms, CT
11 Jul 1779 British burned Norwalk, CT
8 Sep 1779 Knyphausen Regiment sailed for Quebec (3 ships inc. Wigand Dirlam captured)
7 Mar 1780 John Gibbs bought 405 acres on Blandford lots 4 and 14 from sheriff for £190 5s.
7 Mar 1780 John Gibbs and John Durlam bought 456 acres on lot 34 from sheriff for £107 s3 d6
Jul 1780 Silas Snow's** Ashford militia served 3 months at West Point, NY
21 Jul 1780 Asa Snow** enlisted for 6 months in Continental Army unit from Becket
16 Oct 1780 British raided Royalton, VT (Asa Snow present?)
25 Oct 1780 Asa Snow** mustered at Camp Totoway, NJ
15 Mar 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse, NC (incl. 23rd Foot, except grenadiers at NYC)
Jul 1781 Silas Snow's** Ashford militia served 3 months at Mohegan, CT
18 Sep 1781 John Dirlam married Sarah Snow at Becket
16 Oct 1779 Captured soldiers rejoin Knyphausen Regiment in NYC (inc. Wigand Dirlam)
19 Oct 1781 British surrender at Yorktown, VA
29 Oct 1781 Royal Welch Fusiliers marched to stockade in Winchester, VA
12 Jan 1782 Royal Welch Fusiliers marched to stockade in Lancaster, PA
5 Mar 1783 Oldest Dirlam son born
May 1783 Royal Welch Fusiliers marched to Staten Island, NY to rejoin the Army
24 Jun 1783 Royal Welch Fusiliers at Herricks, NY recorded John Dirlam as 'deserted'
Jan 1784 Royal Welch Fusiliers embarked for England
24 Sep 1788 John Dirlam land purchase in Becket recorded
10 Oct 1788 Sylvanus Snow land purchase in Becket recorded
20 Aug 1800 John Gibbs relinquished claim to 484 acres, farm lot 34

* Sylvanus Snow's sons, Levi, Timothy and son-in-law, Amos Kingsle
** Oliver Snow's sons Asa, Nathan, Silas, Oliver Jr. and son-in-law Jonathan Wadsworth
*** Samuel Snow's son, Bilarchy
Updated from November 2010 version.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Documents List Re: Hessians

These are War Office documents I believe pertain to the von Scheither Hessians, held at the National Archives in Kew:

First, there is the Correspondence of the Secretary-at-War.
  1. WO 4/96, pp. 257, 389, 462 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, January to April, 1776) **
  2. WO 4/98, p. 439-440 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, July 1776 to January 1777)
  3. WO 4/99, page 198 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, January to May 1777)**
  4. WO 43/405, (Colonel G.H.A. de Scheither of Hanover recruits 4,000 Germans for British army service. Details of transport of soldiers and their families to Dover and other ports. Letters from Lord North, Viscount Barrington, Deputy Adjutant General, Colonel W. Faucitt.)
William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, served as Secretary at War, so this is his correspondence. Much of it with Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, the Prime Minister; George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, Secretary of State for the Colonies;  and General William Howe, later 5th Viscount Howe, who commanded the British Armies in North America until 1781. My sources are "Forty German Recruits" by Don Hagist on REVWAR75 (http://www.revwar75.com/library/hagist/FORTYGERMANRECRUITS.htm#10) and page 16 of what seems to be an unpublished book on Oxford University Press (http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/13/9780198206590.pdf).

Then there are Muster Rolls for the 23rd Foot at WO 12/3960 for the period 1774-1785.
  1. New York, 8 Jan 1777 
  2. Philadelphia, 24 Feb 1778 
  3. Camp at New York Island 23 July 1778 
  4. New York, 20 Dec 1778 
  5. Staten Island, 16 Sept 1779 
  6. Herricks, Long Island, 13 Mar 1783 
  7. Herricks, Long Island, 3 July 1783

In the Public Records Office there are also the Headquarters Papers of Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, who served as Commander-in-Chief after the surrender and thus collected the documents of earlier royal officials. PRO 30/55 p. 200 is an "Embarkation Return of 402 German Recruits". It may include a duplicate of a list contained in WO 43/405 mentioned above.

The Carleton Papers are available in a 58 volume work, Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Volume 1, Correspondence between Sir Wm. Howe, Lord Barrington, Sir Geo. Osborne and Capt. Mackenzie, American War, 1775 to 1777 contains:
Lord Barrington to General Howe 1776, May 28. War Office - A body of German recruits being directed to embark for North America to be incorporated into the regiments, he sends copy of distribution of the same. Sergeants and corporals are to continue to do duty and receive pay and clothing as sergeants and corporals according to the rank in which they have been sent over. And the difference of pay and clothing between non-commissioned officers and privates is to be made a charge in the contingent bill of the regiment to which they belong. Duplicate signed letter. Vol. 1. No. 33. 3 folios.

Enclosure: - Distribution of the German recruits for the forces with General Howe. Shewing forty or forty one recruits each for the 4th, 5th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 28th, 35th and 38th Regiments. Vol. 1. No. 33. 1 page.

And Volume 2, Correspondence between Sir Wm. Howe and the Treasury Office, 1775 to 1777 contains:
German Recruits. 1776, June 1. Portsmouth - Embarkation return of 402 recruits for the regiments of foot in America. Vol. 2.  Number 74. 1 Page. Enclosed by Lord Germain to Gen. Howe, 21 June.
I reviewed references to the regiment by folio number in the index, the following are not relevant to our search: 23rd Foot, 42, 161, 163, 169, 217, 231, 439; Welsh Fusiliers [23rd regiment], 97. I also reviewed references to Major Blakeney without success. I might be able to locate potential lists by a careful review of this index. (http://www.archive.org/stream/reportonamerican12greauoft)

There are negative photocopies of these 30,000 manuscript pages in 44 boxes at the New York City Public Library, with a 4 volume index, called British Headquarters Papers, 1775-1783. The index volumes cover these dates:
  1. 1747-July 1779
  2. Aug. 1779-June 1782
  3. July 1782-Mar. 1783
  4. Apr.-Dec. 1783

There is a Royal Welch Fusiliers Regimental Museum in The Queen's Tower at The Castle of Caernarfon, Wales. Its old records have been transferred to the National Archives. What does that mean? How old? It's between curators so I can't inquire whether there are relevant records of service, diaries, or orders.

I reviewed microfilm of individual soldier's records through the local Family History Center. The records, part of WO 97/427, are described as Soldiers documents: service documents of soldiers, containing particulars of age, birthplace and trade or occupation on enlistment, a record of service, including any decorations and the reason for discharge to pension, 1760-1872. But the roll I reviewed, v. 427 23rd Rgmnt. of Foot: Cherry-Fellow 1760-1854, didn't include anything from the eighteenth century.

And what's in the Frederick MacKenzie Papers, at the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan?  There are a number of seven bound volumes of which Volume B contains approximately 95 pages of regulations and orders concerning the Royal Welch Fusiliers for the years 1755-1764. It conveys policies concerning military rank, provisions, prices of commissions, the compiling of returns, and other administrative matters. Also included are marching orders for the 23rd Regiment, information on their summer cantonment for the year 1768, and lists of necessary camp supplies.

Clements Library also holds German Auxiliaries Muster Rolls, 1776-1786 including for Knyphausen Regiment 1780 and 1781, in Box 1, folders 36 and 37.

And another possible source is the David Library of the American Revolution in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. They hold microfilm called "Recruitments by Lieutenant Colonel von Scheither and others for the English Crown; permission of places for recruitment as only residence in the electorate of Hannover and transportation of the foreign recruits: Hann. 41 V Nr. 4 [microform]."And they may have another copy of the British Headerquarters Papers, 1775-1783.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

What Ship?

The 23rd Regiment Royal Welch Fusiliers arrived in New York City in June of 1773. The following spring they were sent to Boston, and flank companies of the 23rd were part of the force sent to seize militia supplies at Concord in the spring of 1775. After their return to Boston, local militia began a siege of the city, and the 23rd were part of the British attack on militia positions on hills overlooking the city. "Bunker Hill" was a victory for the British. But their army was now seen as undermanned.

Blakeney's Company was brought up to a strength of 41 men with these additions:
1. transfers from other regiments, late 1775
3
2. new British recruits, Spring 1776
8
3. von Scheither recruits, October 18th, 1776
4
      total
15

By September 1776 the British had received 1738 Hessians from von Scheither, although he was able to scrape together an additional 129 by March 1777 (WO 04/99 folio 198, Barrington to John Robinson, 3 Mar., 1777). What record is there of the individual von Scheither recruits?

Hundreds of transport and war ships were loaded with tens of thousands of men, and the work spread over a period of months, because the job was too big for the harbors to accomplish at once. Three fleets conveyed troops from Hessen-Kassel. The first is described in a letter to the "London Chronicle" dated May 10th, 1776 from Plymouth: "Yesterday passed by this place all the fleet, amounting to upwards of 120 sail, with the Hessian troops and guards, and train of artillery on board, bound for America." A shortage of ships led to a second, smaller convoy May 26th. But the two convoys arrived together at Sandy Hook below New York Harbor on the morning of August 12th. A third convoy left June 1st and arrived October 20th.

Curiously, Dirlam and his fellow Hessian recruits, Lampman, Murstedt and Burchers all joined the regiment on October 18th. Is that when they arrived in New York harbor? Unfortunately I know of only one list, made June 1st, 1776 in Portsmouth: "Embarkation return of 402 recruits for the regiments of foot in America." I'm told Dirlam's name does not appear. Are there other lists accounting for the remaining 1336 Hessians??

For comparison: the Hessen-Kassel Regiment von Knyphausen was assembled and trained at Ziegenhain and Wolfhagen. They spent most of May marching to ports at Bremerlehe (on the Weser River) and Ritzebüttel (on the Elbe River near Cuxhaven). They embarked onto chartered transport ships and sailed for Spithead Roads (a sheltered place outside Portsmouth Harbor where ships can lie at anchor). From there they traveled in a convoy escorted by warships to New York. They left Spithead on June 28th and arrived at New York on October 18th. A month's marching followed by sixteen weeks aboard ships! Anyway, it's the same date Dirlam joined Blakeney Company's muster.

Altogether, the British Army fielded about 86,000 men, including 30,000 in the Hessian units. How many of them arrived in New York that Fall? On August 12th, there were 300 warships and 400 transport ships in and around the harbor and nearly 32,000 troops. The city had a native population around 30,000. What a scene of chaos that must have been!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Dirlam Immigrants

I believe all Dirlams in the US can trace their ancestry back to one of four immigrants:
  1. Caspar and Andrew Dirlam, brothers born in 1829 and 1832 in Baden-Achim, Hannover, who came to Brooklyn, New York. 
  2. Jacob Dirlam, born in Esselborn, Hesse Darmstadt, in 1808; and died in Cherry Ridge, Pennsylvania in 1884. 
  3. My ancester John O. Dirlam, possibly born in Kestrich, Hesse Darmstadt, about 1750; and died in Blandford, Massachusetts in 1836. 
  4. William Dirlam, born in Dirlammen, Hesse Darmstadt in 1820; and died in 1887 in Penn, Iowa. 
  5. Georg Dirlam, born in Reuters, Hesse Darmstadt in 1808; and died in Seadrift, Texas in 1851. His descendants spell their name Dierlam.
  6. Johann Peter and Justus August, who came to Huron County, Ontario. 
The last four were from what was Hesse-Darmstadt (until 1806), afterwards the Grandduchy of Hessen, then the German Empire (after 1871). Perhaps we're all cousins.

Did Marianne Weller (daughter of Anna Christina Dirlam Weller, granddaughter of Johann Georg Dirlam of Vadenrod) really became the third wife of Jacob Dirlam (of Esselborn) in Cherry Ridge? I can't find any blood relationship.

Did I miss any Dirlam families? I'd love to hear. Let me know by email. 

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Soldiers Who Served with John O. Dirlam

COMMON ORIGINS?
I have copies of three muster rolls from Blakeney's Company of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. The first, dated January 8, 1777, is the earliest record of John Dirlam in America. The second, dated February 24, 1776, documents Dirlam's capture. The third is a final head count taken before the British Army's return to England in 1783. Rereading them for clues I found these Hessians "Joined 18th Oct'r, 76":
  1. John Dirlam
  2. George Lampman
  3. Nicholas Murstedt
  4. John Burchers
We know Dirlam's fate: he stayed in the US. After the surrender in 1781, the British army camped in New York until they sailed home in 1783. A final muster was made, and any man like Dirlam who was listed as captured, who had not returned to his unit, was then listed as a deserter. Our ancestor!

We also know Lampman's fate. Listed on the first roll as sick, the second roll records his death.
Murstedt is missing from the final roll, so I guess his death is probably recorded on a roll I don't have. Burchers survived and the final roll lists him "on command." So Burchers probably sailed back to Germany. 

Anyway, I wonder if research into these three names might yield clues about Dirlam's origins. My researcher for the War Department records told me that Dirlam didn't appear on the roll made at Portsmouth Harbor, when the British inventoried the Hessians before shipping them to America. But were the other three men listed there, or not? Does the record show what towns they were from?

FELLOW TRAVELERS?
The muster roll for Blakeney Company that's dated February 24th, 1778 lists Dirlam as captured, and several others also:
  1. James Lowen
  2. James Grime
  3. Edmond Hill
  4. Daniel Brylie
What became of these men? When that final muster was made in 1783, Hill was listed as sick. And Lowen, Grime and Brylie are not listed. What happened to them?

A James Grimes is listed in Canadaigua, New York on the 1800 and 1810 censuses. It's interesting, since Dirlam's son Sylvanus lived there in 1810. But the soldier Grime would have been too old. There was also a cordwainer with the same name in New York City in 1815.That's interesting since John Dirlam was a cordwainer.

John O. Dirlam's Route to Blandford

John Dirlam was reported at Philadelphia in February 1778 by the 23rd Foot to have been "captured by the rebels". We don't know exactly where and when he was captured, because records were made so infrequently. But it was certainly a long way from the the remote towns in western Massachusetts, where he bought land in 1780, and was married in 1781. How would he have even known it existed? Once he got there, how did he find a place to live and work?

RELEASING A PRISONER OF WAR
It seems likely that after he was captured Dirlam was sent to Albany or Valley Forge or Fishkill with other prisoners. From there he may have been paroled: British and Hessian prisoners were often given into the custody of American farmers, if they promised not to rejoin the army. Farmers liked the arrangement because the war had created a labor shortage. And since the militias and Continental Army were operated on a shoestring, they had no POW camps and avoided as much as possible paying for captive enemy soldier's rations - hence parole. And the parolees received a point of entry into a beautiful country rich with opportunity.

Since it was desirable for former enemy soldiers to be held far from the field of battle, and far from the coast, the hill country of western Massachusetts may have seemed ideal. But somebody from Brandford, or a town very nearby, must have arranged it. I'm not suggesting Dirlam would have objected to settling in a remote place, since he certainly came from one. And since there are risks with going over to the other side, I think it probably seemed safer to be far far away from military action.

After Dirlam's capture in February 1778, one of two things might have happened. He might have been released upon swearing an oath. In 1776 Congress had adopted a report designed to encourage Hessians and other foreigners to quit the British service by extending protection to any who would settle here. Sometimes they were also offered money and land in exchange for their promise "not in any wise to forward or assist the subjects or allies of the King of Great Britain in their operations against the United States of America neither to correspond or have any connection with them during the present war." Alternatively, he might have been paroled into the custody of some trusted citizen.

Either way, he needed help since he was a foreigner in an unfamiliar place without resources. It would need to be someone who traveled, since Philadelphia and Blandford are so far apart. It could have happened through an intermediate location such as Valley Forge or Fishkill. So it might have been a militiaman charged with managing or transferring prisoners, or someone supplying shoes (or leather for shoes) to the army, or someone on a Committee of Correspondence.

TRAVELING TO BLANDFORD
I don't think Dirlam traveled on his own. How would he have known about Blandford? How would he have known there was a place for him there? The distance from Philadelphia is about 240 miles. Fishkill, New York, is halfway between them. The Continental Army had a major supply depot, manufacturing center and hospital there. A prisoner who was injured, and family lore has Dirlam injured, could have been moved there from Philadelphia, which was then in British hands. Shoes were a major problem for Continental troops and a shoemaker like Dirlam might have found a role after his recovery. Fishkill is also close enough to Westfield that a leather dealer like John Gibbs' uncle might have traveled there. Certainly, as small as Blandford was, Gibbs knew all the soldiers it sent to serve in Capt. Abel Holden's unit at Fishkill.

MOVING INTO A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE
By comparison, we live in extremely open communities today. Three factors would have made the unassisted route to property ownership and marriage in eighteenth century Blandford difficult for Dirlam: the poor laws, the established church, and the sheltered position of women.

The Province's poor law put the financial responsibility for paupers on the towns. So, towns as big as Boston, and as small as Blandford and Becket, were "warning out" indigents. Town registers record many of these warnings, carried out and certified by the sheriff.

Massachusetts retained an establishment of religion until 1833, requiring every man to belong to a church, and pay taxes towards it. An earlier requirement to belong to a specifically Puritan church was eliminated in 1691. But Church trials for refusal to be governed by one's congregation on matters of belief and behavior could result in excommunication, and resulted in the harassment and eventual exodus of the entire Scots-Irish population of Hopkinton and the settling of Blandford in the 1730s. By the 1780s most towns like Becket had Congregational Churches, but Blandford, with its Scots-Irish immigrants, had a Presbyterian Church. When hymns led by a singing master beating time came into Presbyterian churches, Blandford residents were shocked, and their church affiliated 1800 to the more conservative Congregational Church. The ledgers of these narrow-minded little churches are filled with accounts of church trials over drunkenness, telling lies about other church members, failures to attend church, and accusations of heresy.

BECOMING A PROPERTY OWNER
The transformation from prisoner to married property owner happened rather quickly. John Gibbs bought property in Blandford at a tax auction in partnership with John Durlam, according to Ulster Scots and Blandford Scouts, and the Registry of Deeds in Springfield documents that purchase from the sheriff in 1780.

Curiously, Gibbs' son (1763-1840) is described in a 1785 deed as "Samuel Crooks Gibbs, Cordwainer" and John Dirlam is described the same way in a 1789 deed. A cordwainer was a skilled craftsman who made soft leather goods. Did Samuel Crooks Gibbs learn his trade from John Dirlam? Traditionally a boy would be apprenticed for three years, usually ending at age 17. Masters usually supplied room, board, clothing, and taught the arithmetic used in commerce (fractions, percentages, etc.), in addition to the skills of the trade. And they were paid by the parents. Did Gibbs trade Dirlam land for the apprenticeship?

Another person of interest is John Watson, brother-in-law to John Gibbs. He had a large farm and tannery in Blandford and was accustomed to traveling to Boston and Albany. And Watson's father and brother operated a large tannery in Leicester. As cordwainers, Dirlam and Gibbs' son would have had skills of use to the Watsons, or perhaps been customers. Watson's uncle served on the Committee of Correspondence for nearby Spencer, and represented it at the Provincial Congress called in response to the killings at Lexington and Concord. These were people who traveled, who might have seen the opportunity in a paroled John Dirlam. Now all I need is some proof.

EXPECTATIONS OF MARRIAGE
Although mutual consent and love before marriage were routine in eighteenth century New England, courtship was not only a matter of personal choice. Rev. John Gill (1697-1771) expressed this clearly, in a discussion of Adam and Eve, saying it "affords a rule and example to be followed by parents and children, the one to dispose of their children in marriage, and the other to have the consent of their parents in it." And by John Wesley (1703-1791), in a letter to a fellow minister, "I was much concerned yesterday when I heard you were likely to marry a woman against the consent of your parents. I have never in an observation of fifty years known such a marriage attended with a blessing. I know not how it should be, since it is flatly contrary to the fifth commandment."

In this time before contraception, children were inevitable in marriage. So it was common to have a large family, and for the family to grow its own food and to make it's own clothes. To make this subsistence agriculture possible, conventionally a man brought land to marriage, and a woman a dowry of about half of its value. Dirlam would have needed to own property before he could court a woman. So, it would have been impossible for an penniless unemployed stranger, if that's what Dirlam was, to meet the marriageable Sarah Snow, daughter of a war veteran, somewhere far away from her father's home. He would need to have been established in Blandford first. In fact, from the land records, it looks like Dirlam had a place in Blandford before his future father-in-law had a place in nearby Becket. By the way, there would have been pressure on Dirlam to marry - single men were mistrusted in these regulated communities.

This post is substantially rewritten from an earlier post.