Life is funny. It is so weird how things in life happen.
History is also entertaining. I am not sure how it is that people find history - real history - boring. Reading it out of textbooks and being tested it on it; I can see how that is boring, However, real history, the kind that impacts you on a personal level, is fascinating. One just needs to take the time to learn it.
For those of you who don't know (and I am not sure how you couldn't) my girlfriend, Sharlay, is from a small town in New York called Liberty. Liberty is about 1,181 miles from where I grew up. Sadly Google sucks and my link to directions from Farmington to Liberty will not work on this blog. You will have trust me or Google it yourself.
It's hard to imagine I would have any connection (other than Sharlay) with such a random place so many miles away from Minnesota. Then again, history (and life) can be funny.
You probably don't know it but Liberty itself was carved from a larger town called Lumberland over 200 years ago. The town was created specifically for Revolutionary War soldiers so they could have a place to live after the war was over. Specifically, it was created for 303 soldiers and their families. The town of course is aptly named for this very reason. Many of those men were originally from Connecticut. The town itself, at least originally sat very close to Renovah Lake. Here is a rendering of the lake and saw mill:
Thaddeus Brown was born September 4, 1756 to Obadiah & Ann Brown, who at that time had already been married for 16 years. He was born and would live the majority of his young life in Connecticut. In 1775, at age 19 he enlisted in the Ashford Company (named for where the enlistments took place, Ashford, CT) under Capt. Thomas Knowlton. This unit would fold into the 5th Connecticut Regiment under Col. Johnson. This force, the one lead by Knowlton, was primarily made up of farmers, without uniforms whose only weapon was a shotgun. Google Thomas Knowlton to read more about him and his place in our countries history it is pretty cool.
The 5th Connecticut Regiment (and hence Thaddeus) would be summoned to fight at Bunker Hill. It was at Bunker Hill that this Regiment would hold their ground at Breed's Hill until the British would eventually retreat. Only 3 men from that Regiment died that day. You can read more about the Battle and in particular the stand at Breed's Hill here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bunker_Hill Ultimately Bunker Hill was a defeat for the U.S. but it came at a crippling cost to the Red Coats.
In 1776, after Knowlton left the regiment to form Knowlton's Rangers, Thaddeus would re-enlist. This time he would serve under Capt. John Hay in the 20th Continental Regiment under Col. John Durkee. The regiment was just one of the many who would fight at the Battle of Long Island against the British. This also is a famous battle of the war despite it being a loss for the Americans. You can read more about the battle here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island but basically Washington and his troops were able to escape in the middle of the night to Manhattan because the British refused to press their advantage when they had the chance. This allowed the Continental Army to live to fight another day and eventually win the war. Here is a painting of the battle of Long Island:
It is likely Thaddeus also fought in the Battle of Trenton later in 1776. This is the battle which made famous George Washington's crossing of the Delaware which shows up in just about any U.S. History book. While this was a small victory for the young Americans it was a crucial one. Morale was very low and this victory, on December 26th, was the shot in the arm the revolution needed to keep going. It is unclear if Thaddeus was one of the many men who overstayed their enlistments and would later fight in The Battle of Assunpink Creek and The Battle of Princeton but he may have.
What we do know is that Thaddeus re-enlisted again sometime in 1777. This time with Captain John Hay's Company under Col. John Cly's (possibly Clay) Regiment. It is unclear whether Thaddeus saw battle during this enlistment but there is a decent chance he did. Generally speaking enlistments were only for one year at a time. There is no record of him re-enlisting in 1778. We know very little about what happened to Thaddeus immediately after he was out of the military.
Sometime between 1778 and 1790, Thaddeus was married to Aboline and according to the 1790 census were living in Pine Hill, NY which would later become Delaware County, NY in 1797. According to the records they may have had 4 children at this time and Samuel (Thaddeus' brother) may have also been living with them.
On November 6, 1793 Aboline gave birth to my great, great, great, great grandmother Caroline Brown. Her father Thaddeus, is my 5th great grandfather!!
Shortly thereafter, the town of Liberty was created (or might have already been started at this point) and Thaddeus Brown moved his family there. In 1808 Thaddeus purchased 42 1/2 acres of land from Ichibod Benton in Liberty Township. It is unclear how long Thaddeus and his family lived in Liberty prior to purchasing this land. What is clear is one of his other daughters, Delitta Brown, would live the majority of her life in or around Liberty. She eventually married Nathaniel White (who would die in a milling accident) and would remarry Hooker Hubbard. Delitta passed away in 1886 in Tioga, NY and still has family living there today.
Sadly, Thaddeus was very poor and lived a meek existence after the war. From what we can gather it seems that Aboline likely passed away during the birth (or shortly thereafter) of their son, George Washington Brown (probably their only son given his name.) Thaddeus would eventually move to Salon, NY where he would pass away at the age of 74. Even more sadly, his grave, which was probably unmarked given how poor he was is listed as obliterated in the "Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots." All that can be determined is that he is buried on a farm somewhere in Salon.
While the ending to the story is a bit sad, what is amazing is that I have a family member who lived and owned property in the same town that my future wife would be born in. You can't make this kind of stuff up. I find it so fascinating that this kind of thing can happen when you study and research history. I have a copy of the deed Thaddeus had. At some point I am going to contact the town of Liberty and see if they can tell me where approximately this piece of land is. I hope to go back out there and see it next time Sharlay and I go for a visit. You can bet if they can tell me where it is that I will put up pictures.
To think that 203 years ago I had family in Liberty is absurd to me. Given the fact that Thaddeus fought at the Battle of Long Island also meant he set feet in Manhattan for a period of time, even if only for a short while. Now, I live in Manhattan and am in love with a woman from Liberty. I feel like in some ways life, at least my families life, has come full circle. Caroline (who I mentioned above as my 4th great grandmother) eventually moved to Wisconsin after her marriage to Ephraim Carpenter Gray Sr. It is her blood line that would eventually give birth to my grandfather Dennis Manley Anderson and then to my mother.
It is just so weird. And here we are today:
I love history, for better or for worse I love history and marvel at what we can learn. I know I am not in the majority and many of you probably found this boring if you managed to read this far. I am honored to have had a family member who fought so bravely in the Revolutionary War and who was involved in some of the most important battles of this great nation's foundation. Truth is I had another family member who also fought. Leonard Reed was a private in the New York Militia for two years he is also on my mother's side.
I sometimes wonder if things like this are passed via a families DNA. I know it sounds weird, even for me. I say this because I have always been fascinated by the Revolutionary War and that time period. It is my favorite part of American History. I have always felt drawn to this time period, mostly because I consider myself very patriotic and a die hard believer in this country and all that it stands for.
I am also very fortunate because we can trace our family back to before the United States was the United States. For instance, Thaddeus' father, Obediah (born 1718 in MA) was son to John Browne Jr. (his wife Lydia). John was born in 1682 in Reading, MA. John Jr. was born to John Browne Sr. who was born in 1628 in Worchestershire, England. He was married to Sarah Barsham who was born in 1646 (gotta love the 18 year age difference) in Watertown, MA. A similar story can be told regarding Thaddeus' mother Ann but not as detailed. I will spare you the few details I have but that line goes back to the 1660s.
Well I will sign off now, this has been a very long posting. I hope to go out to some of the places on Long Island (i.e. Brooklyn) where there are plaques dedicated to Rev. War battles. If and when I do I will post pics here. I have already been to Bunker Hill but want to go back and see where Breed's Hill is or what is there now.
Thank you to all the men and women who have served our great country and sacrificed so much to the cause. I am grateful to everyone of you!
Happy Veteran's Day!
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