Thursday, September 20, 2007

Going the extra mile

I posted last Saturday about one of my favorite ancestors, Isaac Buck (1757-1846) and his Revolutionary War record - the post is here. I had posted earlier about "the rest of his life" in posts here, here and here.

Tim Abbott, AKA GreenmanTim, who posts at Walking the Berkshires (a must read for me every day - I really appreciate Tim's writing talents and really enjoy his stories), commented in my post about the units that Isaac Buck served in. He wrote:

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Randy, this is a fascinating account. Intrigued by the service record you listed for your ancestor, I started looking into the units in which he served. Depending on when Isaac Buck transferred from Colonel Asa Whitcomb's Militia regiment to the Artillery, he might or might not have served with Knox from Ticonderoga to Boston but might well have serviced the guns that forced the British to evacuate on March 17, 1776. There is an article about Col. Whitcomb's regiment from a series in the Massachusetts Magazine apparently available at the NEHGS research library (F/61/M48) entitled: “Colonel Asa Whitcomb’s Regiment. Colonel Asa Whitcomb’s Regiment, April 19, 1775. Colonel Asa Whitcomb’s 5th Regiment, Provincial Army, April-July, 1775. Colonel Asa Whitcomb’s 23rd Regiment, Army United Colonies, July-December, 1775.”[The Massachusetts Magazine, July, 1914, 7:3, p. 99-123].

I wonder if perhaps the commander of the Artillery regiment in which he was a matross in 1776 was Thomas Crafts, not James? Here is an article on him from Boston 1775 that may be of interest. http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2006/08/thomas-craftss-astonishment.html

Col. Thomas Crafts was commander of Massachusett's militia artillery in 1776. He was a prominent Boston patriot as well.Colonel Gamaliel Bradford Commanded a regiment of the Massachusetts Line which saw service in the Saratoga campaign during 1777. More on Colonel Bradford here: http://www.famousamericans.net/gamalielbradford/

His regiment is usually called the 14th Massachusetts but I have seen it also given as the 13th and am not an expert in distinguishing which is correct. He was brigaded with the 10-12th Massachusetts Continentals in Patterson's Brigade at Mt. Independence (I had an ancestor in the 11th) and from there to Saratoga, Valley Forge and Monmouth. I had an ancestor in the 11th MA. In any event, Bradford's was an infantry regiment, not artillery.

Colonel Josiah Whitney had formerly been Lt. Colonel in Asa Whitcomb's Militia regiment. He was commissioned Colonel of the 2nd Worcester Regiment of Massachusetts Militia in February, 1776. If Isaac Buck served with him in 1778, He may have taken part in the bungled Newport, Rhode Island campaign between July and September, 1778.

Colonel John Crane's 3rd Continental Artillery Regiment was Knox's old Massachusetts Regiment. While it did indeed help move the guns from Ticonderoga while under Knox in the winter of 1775-1776, your remarkable ancestor served in it in later years.

All told, an extraordinary service record!

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I really appreciate Tim's effort in "going the extra mile" to find out information about someone who is not even his own ancestor. This sort of effort happens often, especially in a genealogy society setting. A researcher may ask for help and another researcher will help out of the goodness of his/her heart. Their motivation may also be to learn something interesting and to improve research skills.

Thank you, Tim, for adding more to this story - I really appreciate the effort and the information.

I will restate my summary sentence from my earlier article: "Isn't it amazing what records you can find about your ancestors?" And add to it: "You never know what you can find online, but you have to be willing to look for it."

2 comments:

GreenmanTim said...

My pleasure, Randy, and thanks for your exceedingly kind words. Regards, Tim

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