Peter Smith, private

Smith, Peter, Blandford.

• Descriptive list of men raised in Hampshire Co. to serve in the Continental Army for the term of 9 months; 
• Capt. Knox's co., Col. Moseley's regt.; age, 17 yrs.; stature, 5ft. 6in.; complexion,light; hair, light; residence, Blandford; engaged for town of Blandford; 
• arrived at Fishkill June 16, 1778; 
• also, list of men raised in Hampshire Co. for the term of 9 months from the time of their arrival at Fishkill, agreeable to resolve of April 20,1778, returned as received of Jonathan Warner, Commissioner, by Col. R. Putnam July 20, 1778.

William Shepard, colonel

William Lyman Shepard, of Westfield (1737 - 1817), was commander of the Massachusetts 3rd and 4th regiments. After the war he was commander of the state militia, and it was his order that cannons be fired into the crowd at the Springfield Armory during Shays' Rebellion of 1786. He also served in the state and United States Houses of Representatives, and as a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council. Here's his revolutionary war record:

• Lieutenant Colonel, Col. Timothy Danielson's regt. of Minute-men engaged April 20, 1775, service 4 days on the alarm of April 19, 1775;
• also Lieutenant Colonel general return of Col. Timothy Danielson's regt. in camp at Roxbury May 27, 1775; ordered in Provincial Congress May 27, 1775 that officers of said regiment be commissioned;
• also Lieutenant Colonel, Col. Timothy Danielson's regt. engaged April 24, 1775 service to Aug. 1, 1775; 3 mos. 2 weeks;
• also Colonel 4th;
• also given 3d Mass. regt. Continental Army pay accounts for service from Jan. 1, 1777 to Dec, 31. 1779;
• also letter dated Camp Valley Forge May 1. 1778 signed by officers of said Shepard's regt requesting that application be made to the President of the Board of War for clothing granted them by resolve of March 13, 1778 certificate attached signed by said Shepard Colonel certifies that said officers belonged to his regiment;
• also Colonel and Captain 3d Mass. regt. muster roll of field staff and commissioned officers for March and April 1779, dated Providence appointed Oct, 2. 1776;
• also Colonel 4th Mass. regt. return of officers for clothing dated Salem Aug. 28, 1779;
• also Colonel 4th Mass. regt. list of settlements of rank of Continental officers dated West Point made by a Board held for the purpose and confirmed by Congress Sept. 6, 1779 commissioned May 4, 1776;
• also Colonel 4th Mass. regt. Continental Army pay accounts for service from Jan 1, 1780 to Dec. 31, 1780;
• also return for rations of wagon department 2d Mass brigade dated Feb. 18, 1780 approved by said Shepard Colonel Commandant;
• also Colonel 4th Mass. regt, muster rolls of field staff and commissioned officers for June, July, and Aug 1781 reported on command at Springfield;
• also Colonel 4th Mass. regt. Brig. Gen. John Glover's 1st brigade return of effectives dated Sept 15 1781;
• also return of effectives dated Sept. 28, 1781 reported on command at Springfield;
• also muster rolls of field staff and commissioned officers for Oct, 1781, Jan, 1782 dated York Hutts;
• reported on command at Springfield in Oct. and Nov. 1781 commanding 1st Mass. brigade in Dec. 1781 and Jan. 1782;
• also returns of effectives between Feb. 8, 1782 and May, 24 1782 dated Hutts 1st Brigade and Cantonment 1st Mass. Brigade;
• reported on furlough at West Point from May 20, 1782 by leave of the Commander in Chief.

- from Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors

This record mentions West Point and nearby York Huts, also Valley Forge, but doesn't specifically mention Fishkill at all.

David Knox, private

Knox, David, Blandford.

• Descriptive list of men raised in Hampshire Co. for the term of 9 months from the time of their arrival at Fishkill, agreeable to resolve of April 20, 1778; 
• Capt. Knox's co., Col. Moresley's (Mosely's) regt.; age, 20 yrs.; stature, 5 ft. 6 in.; complexion, light; hair, brown; residence, Blandford; 
• engaged for town of Blandford; arrived at Fishkill June 16, 1778;
• also, list of men returned as received of Jonathan Warner, Commissioner, by Col. R. Putnam, July 20, 1778;
• also, Private, Capt. J. Holden's (4th) co., Col. Nixon's (6th) regt.; Continental Army pay accounts for service from Nov. 2, 1779, to Dec. 31, 1779;
• also, Capt. Abel Holden's co., Col. Thomas Nixon's regt.; pay rolls for Aug.-Oct., 1779;
• also, Capt. John Holden's co., Col. Nixon's regt.; pay rolls for Nov. and Dec., 1779;
• also, descriptive list of men belonging to 6th Mass. regt. who enlisted for the war subsequent to Sept. 30, 1779, as returned by Col. Thomas Nixon, dated Highlands; age, 20 yrs.; stature, 5 ft. 5 in.; complexion, light; engaged for town of Blandford;
• also, Capt. A. Holden's co., Col. Nixon's regt.; Continental Army pay accounts for service from Jan. 1, 1780, to Dec. 31, 1780;
• also, (late) Capt. John Holden's co., Col. Nixon's regt.; pay roll for Jan.-June, 1780; reported transferred to Capt. Abel Holden's (Light Infantry) co. Feb. 4, 1780;
• also, Light Infantry co., 6th Mass. regt.; return of men in need of clothing, dated Peekskill, July 31, 1780;
• also, Capt. Abel Holden's (Light Infantry) co., Col. Nixon's regt.; pay abstracts for July-Dec., 1780;
• also, descriptive list dated West Point, Jan. 29, 1781; Capt. Holden's co., Col. Thomas Nixon's (6th) regt. commanded by Lieut. Col. Smith; rank, Private; age, 20 yrs.; stature, 5 ft. 5 in.; complexion, light; hair, dark; occupation, farmer; enlisted Nov. 2, 1779, by Lieut. Frost; enlistment, during war; also, Capt. Peter Clayes's (Light Infantry) co., commanded by Capt. John K. Smith until May 1, 1781, Lieut. Col. Calvin Smith's (6th) regt.; returns for wages; wages allowed said Knox for Jan., 1781-Dec., 1782, 24 mos.;
• also, list dated Boston, Feb. 18, 1804, returned by John Avery, Secretary, and J. Jackson, Treasurer, of men who furnished satisfactory evidence of their service as soldiers and were entitled to gratuities under resolves of March 4, 1801, and June 19, 1801; 5th Mass. regt.

- from Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors

Knox served at Fishkill, New York from June 1778 to March 1779.

Leather and Shoe Supply to The Continental Army

No article of clothing was more important to the soldier than shoes. Two pairs were included in the clothing bounty offered in the fall of 1776. While the troops lay at Boston the problem of supply did not become acute, but thereafter long marches over rough terrain wore out shoes faster than they could be supplied. On the retreat from New York in November 1776, Sgt. John Smith recorded that "our soldiers had no shoes to wair; was obliged to lace on their feet the hide of the cattle we had kill'd the day before." The shortage of shoes first received attention in the Northern Army. Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, then commanding that army, suggested in September 1776 that Congress appoint agents to erect and operate a tanyard wherever materials for tanning could be most readily procured and where hides-from cattle slaughtered to feed both the Northern Army and the main army-could be most easily conveyed. This method, he thought, would be the cheapest way of supplying the Continental Army with leather for shoes. Congress referred his proposal to the Board of War for consideration, but his suggestion apparently produced no results.

A congressional committee was sent to the Northern Department in the fall of 1776 to confer about the problems of the Northern Army. The disposition of the hides of cattle killed during the 1776 campaign was an aspect of operations that interested the committee. Its members soon discovered that agents of the Commissary Department at Ticonderoga, Albany, and elsewhere in the Northern Department had been disposing of hides at prices far below their real value because they would have spoiled during the summer. The committee halted any further sales and directed Commissary General Joseph Trumbull to have all hides dried and transported to Albany, where they could be sold or shipped elsewhere as Congress directed. Information on these low prices also reached the New York delegates in Congress through William Duer. Late in November Congress took action to prevent waste. It directed the commissaries in each military department to employ proper persons to take charge of the hides, cure them to prevent spoilage, and store them for the use of the Continental Army, subject to the orders of Congress. Congress, however, took no steps specifically to provide a better supply of shoes until the summer of 1777. By then shortages were so great, Washington informed Clothier General Mease, who was responsible for shoe procurement, that some corps were "almost entirely incapable of doing duty" for lack of shoes. Such shoes as Mease had supplied were too small and consequently of little use. Imported shoes were "thin french pumps" that tore to pieces whenever they got wet. He urged Mease to procure as many shoes as he could, adding that 50,000 pairs would not be too many.

In June Congress resolved to establish a Hide Department under the direction of a commissary who would receive all rawhides belonging to the United States and exchange them either for tanned leather or for shoes at the customary rate of exchange. He would then deliver the shoes to the Clothier General, who would distribute them to the troops. If such exchanges could not be made on reasonable terms, Congress authorized the Commissary of Hides either to provide tanyards, materials, and workmen himself, or to contract with proper persons for converting the hides into tanned leather. Congress placed the Hide Department under the supervision of the Board of War. At the latter's direction, the Commissary of Hides also made deliveries of leather to the Commissary General of Military Stores for making accouterments. Congress elected Peter Phillips to the office, which carried a monthly salary of 80 dollars. When he declined the post, Congress appointed George Ewing.

Only the exchange of hides for shoes, Washington later informed the Board of War, saved soldiers from being "rendered totally unfit for Service." No immediate improvement in shoe supply was apparent, and three months after Ewing's appointment, Washington demanded to know on what terms he was disposing of hides. If the hides of all cattle consumed by the Continental Army were returned in leather, "they would much more than shoe the soldiers." Commissary Ewing reported that he had received 144,376 pounds of hides since 2 September 1777. He was in the process of exchanging them for leather at the rate of five pounds for one pound of sole leather, and eight pounds per one pound of upper leather. Despite his efforts, the tanned leather was coming in slowly. The poor quality of the shoes procured, including those imported from France, and the continuing shortages led Washington to direct commanding officers to select their most suitable men and set them to work making moccasins for their corps. On the basis of returns by the officers, he directed commissaries to issue them hides. At one point the Commander in Chief offered 10 dollars to any person who produced the "best substitute for shoes, made of raw hides."

Ewing was beset by difficulties in managing the Hide Department. He needed wagons to haul hides but found it impossible to obtain them from the Quartermaster General. To enable him to operate more effectively, Congress authorized the Commissary of Hides or his deputy at any military department to hire or impress one or more wagons for the use of the Hide Department. These wagons were not to be subject to any further impressment by officers of the Continental Army for any other service. Moreover, commanding officers of military departments, posts, or detachments were to supply guards for the wagons at the request of the Commissary of Hides. Since hides were a valuable asset in the market and since the method of exchanging them for tanned leather or shoes was susceptible of much abuse by dishonest agents, Congress soon found it necessary to direct the Board of War to draft regulations for the guidance of the Hide Department. It also gave the board authority to appoint and dismiss personnel in the department.

- from SUPPLYING WASHINGTON'S ARMY, by Erna Risch

 George Ewing, mentioned above, bought supplies on the expectation of reimbursement by the army. After the war he was forced to sell all his real property to pay this debt. Ewing served as Commissary of Hides from August 5, 1777 to April 20, 1779. After his resignation, The Board of War appointed five regional commissioners to replace him, including Robert Lamb for Massachusetts.

Dewery Russell, wagoner

Dewey Russell. Murrayfield.

• Fifer, Capt. David Shepard's co. of Minute-men, Col. Seth Pomroy's regt., which marched April 22, 1775 in response to the alarm of April 19, 1775 to Cambridge;
• service, 10 days; reported enlisted into the army May 2, 1775;
• also Capt. Abijah Childs's co., Lieut. Col. William Bond's (late Thomas Gardner's) 37th regt.;
• muster roll dated Aug 1 1775 enlisted April 30 1775 service 93 days stature 5 ft 7 in;
• also company return dated Prospect Hill Oct 6 1775;
• also order for bounty coat or Its equivalent in money, dated Prospect Hill, Dec 20, 1775;
• also list of men raised to serve in the Continental Army, as returned by Capt. James Black, dated April 13, 1779, residence Murrayfield; 
• engaged for town of Murrayfield; 
• joined Capt. Ball's co., Col. Shepard's regt. term daring war;
• also Quartermaster Sergeant, Col. William Sheppard's regt.; 
• Continental Army pay accounts for service from Jan. 1, 1777 to Nov. 1, 1779;
• reported promoted to Wagon Master Nov. 1, 1779;
• also Capt. Lebbeus Ball's co., Col. William Shepard's regt.; 
• muster return dated Feb. 3, 1778; 
• mustered by State and Continental Muster Masters;
• also Colonel's co. Col. Shepard's (3d regt.); 
• muster roll for March and April 1779, dated Providence; 
• appointed Jan. 1, 1777; 
• reported sick at Westfield; 
• also Wagon Conductor of brigade; 
• return for rations of wagon department of 2d Mass. brigade approved by William Shepard, Colonel Commandant, dated Feb. 18, 1780. 

- from Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors

This entry doesn't mention Fishkill at all. But Murrayfield, Russell's hometown, is an early name for Chester, located just 10 miles north of Blandford. 

Fishkill Supply Depot

During the time he served as Postmaster General (July 1775 to November 1776), Benjamin Franklin established Fishkill as one of six Regional Post Offices. So mail between the New England Colonies and Philadelphia and the Southern Colonies passed through Fishkill. And also, travelers going from New York City to Albany, or Fort Ticonderoga, took the Albany Post Road, located on the east bank of the Hudson River and now Route 9. And passed through Fishkill.

In 1775 General George Washington established a supply depot there for the Continental Army. The depot provided logistical support for the army's operations in the Hudson Valley. Without it there would have been no victory at the Battles of Saratoga, and thus no turning point to the war. It housed a medical complex, a prison facility, powder magazines, store houses, an artillery park and numerous artisan workshops. It included officer's residences and barracks for thousands of soldiers. Although under British surveillance, the depot was never attacked.

Cannons, cannon balls, muskets, uniforms, blankets, etc., manufactured in the New York and Pennsylvania were shipped to the Fishkill depot for distribution to the army as needed. Equipment and supplies used during the Battle of Trenton, NJ (Dec. 1776), the Battle of Saratoga, NY (Oct. 1777), and at Valley Forge, PA (winter encampment 1777-1778), probably came from the Fishkill depot.

Hundreds of Continental Soldiers and Militia are buried in an unmarked graveyard at the Fishkill depot. This graveyard was discovered during archeological digs in the Spring of 2007, and is the largest Continental Army burial site.

Could John O. Dirlam spent time as a prisoner at Fishkill? Fishkill is located in Dutchess County (the county seat is Poughkeepsie, 12 miles north of Fishkill).

John Gibbs and John Watson

At a busy tax collectors sale on 27 March 1780, John Gibbs bought 188 acres of farm lot 4 (£93 s17) , 217 acres of farm lot 14 (£96 s18), and with John Durlam he bought 456 acres (nearly the whole thing) of farm lot 34 (£107 s3 d6). The total expenditure was £297 s1. All three lots had belonged to proprietory owner Francis Brinley, who had not been able to sell them.

By 1754 John Gibbs owned town lot 34. His father, Israel Gibbs owned and lived on lot 35. In 1768 John Watson (1747-1823) bought town lot 9 and established a tannery there, near a little brook feed by a spring, on Tannery Hill. Watson, originally from Leicester, married Gibbs' sister Sarah in 1774. And original inhabitant, Robert Huston probably had a tannery on town lot 44, just on the other side of the old Church.

Curiously, John 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.

Another person of interest is John Watson, brother-in-law to John Gibbs. He bought town lot 9 in 1768. 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.

In TABLE 12: Committees of Inspection, Correspondence and Safety, Appointed March 3, 1777
William Bois, John Bois, Nathaniel Taggart, Solomon Brown, Israel Gibbs, John Gibbs, Samuel Ferguson, John Watson, David MeConethy, Jr., Robert Blair, John Wilson (11 men).

John Watson is also listed as appointed March 11, 1775, June 14, 1779 and March 6, 1780.

Brothers Isaac (1744-1823) and John Gibbs (1730-1816) marched with Capt. William Knox's company in Col. John Mosley's regt. to Ticonderoga 21 October 1776.

Lt. John Watson is listed in the town record book as a Minute-man.

Although not individually listed, Capt. Watson, Col. Wesson's Regiment, is mentioned in the Record of Continental Pay Accounts for Michael McManners, for service May 25, 1777 to May 6, 1779.

And Sergt. John Watson marched to Northampton June 12th 1782 in support of the government, in Capt. Samuel Sloper's Twelfth Company in Col. David Mosley's Third Hampshire County Regiment. This was a precursor to Shay's Rebellion. In April 1782, Rev. Samuel Ely was found guilty of “seditious and disorderly behaviour” in Springfield, Mass., for speaking out against the new state constitution and encouraging a mob to prevent the debtors court from sitting. When a later mob broke Ely out of jail, government troops were brought in.

- from Blandford Soldiers and Sailors

Oliver Watson' Sons in Massachusetts Service

Oliver Watson II (1743-1826): Corporal, Capt. Ebeneezer Mason's co. of Minute-men, Col. Jonathan Warner's regt., which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, service 14 days.

Robert Watson (1746-1806): Private, Capt. Ebeneezer Mason's co. of Minute-men, Col. Jonathan Warner's regt., which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, service 14 days.

James Watson (1754-1823): Private, Capt. Ebeneezer Mason's co. of Minute-men, Col. Jonathan Warner's regt., which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, service 37 days.

* The "alarm of April 19, 1775" refers to The Battles of Lexington and Concord, just 100 miles away.

Blandford Cemeteries

1. Hill Cemetery (aka Centre Cemetery) 1741
   North Street, Blandford, MA 01008
   1/4 mile north of Otis Stage Road
   574 graves listed on FindAGrave.com
   
2. Blandford Cemetery (aka Old Burying Ground)
   Otis Stage Road Blandford
   at Main Street
   listed on FindAGrave.com
   74 graves listed on FindAGrave.com
   
3. North Blandford Cemetery
   Blair Road, Blandford, MA 01008
   2 miles north of Otis Stage Road
   104 graves listed on FindAGrave.com

Additional Blandford Cemeteries listed on CemeteryFind.com:
Gilbert Tracy Gravesite (1833)
Hastings Family Cemetery
Henry B. Wadham Gravesite (1812)
Old Sperry Road Cemetery
Stannard Cemetery (1800)*

*Horace Lorenzo Hastings, born 26 November, 1831, in Blandford, Mass. ; died 21 October, 1899 in Goshen, Mass ; married 12 Oct 1853, Harriet Frances Barnett of Moretown, Vermont. Four children were born, 3 in Providence, RI, and 1 in Lawrence, Mass. A minister and tract publisher, best known for his hymn writing.

Henry Beebe Wadhams, son of Beebe and Charlotte (Ives) Wadhams, born 9 March, 1805, in Goshen, Conn. ; died in September, 1892, in Richmond, Mass.; married 16 July. 1827, Hannah Scott of Blandford, Mass. Three children were born in Goshen.


There is a Sperry Road, east of the Turnpike, below the Elementary School.


I believe Stannard Cemetery is listed in error. The only Stannard I have found is in Caledonia County, Vermont.

POWs in Reading, PA

Laura L. Becker of Clemson University wrote an article focusing on a single town, Reading, Pennsylvania, and its housing of British and Hessian prisoners of war. As early as February 1776, Reading was receiving prisoners, and her leading citizens petitioned the Pennsylvania Assembly to erect barracks "capable of containing four or five hundred men."  

Reading was a market town of roughly 300 families, mostly German, about 60 miles northeast of Philadelphia. In the beginning most prisoners were officers, but after Cornwallis' surrender "in October of 1781, no fewer than 1050 prisoners arrived, most of whom were privates."

Newly arrived prisoners were disarmed and released subject to a requirement to remain in Reading and an 8:00 PM curfew. Becker writes, "This curfew was not strictly enforced because at least some of the officers participated in the town's social activities... And a substantial number of the officers held in Reading were permitted to go to Philadelphia, New York, or elsewhere. Still others were exchanged."

The mostly German citizens of Reading were perhaps harsher in their treatment of their own countrymen than English, Scottish or Canadian prisoners. One German officer wrote that the German-Americans of Reading "could hardly hide their anger and hostile thoughts."

Many former Hessian captives did stay in the county after the war. They were referred to as "Brunswickers and Hanauers" in local church records. The expression "Du bist ein Hesse" was an insult in Reading well into the nineteenth century.

from http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2002_summer_fall/pows.htm