Revolutionary War Patriot Moses PARKHURST 1762-1827

  When I started to trace my ancestors back in the 1700's, I found several that fought in the Revolutionary War, actually five ancestors - three in my direct line.  

    In my journey through this time I kept running across the Sons of the American Revolution Society, a society based on direct line ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. 

    As I researched the SAR, I found that my beliefs aligned with theirs and it seemed like a good organization and even though I am not a joiner, I filled out their application. 

    Yes, I am now a proud member of the Sons of the American Revolution and my Patriot ancestor which I researched is Moses Parkhurst my 4th great-grandfather on my mother's side. 

    The following is his story, which is not a very happy one, but he and his family were survivors.  

    Moses PARKHURST was born in Mendon now Milford, Massachusetts in 1762, the son of Samuel PARKHURST and Kezia BEMIS.

    Nothing is known at the moment about Moses’ childhood, or what his father did. Was his father, Samuel, a landowner, farmer, shopkeeper, laborer or did he have a craft like a carpenter, or professional occupation like a lawyer?

    In 1779 at age16 Moses enlisted to fight in the American Revolutionary War. He originally enlisted in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment[i], the Massachusetts Line[ii], commanded by Col. Nixon for nine months. Moses re-enlisted before the end of the term in the same regiment, in the company commanded by Capt. John Holden.  

    Moses was furloughed in in Dec 1782 and honorably discharged in July 1783 at New Windsor, New York. He received his written discharge papers signed by General Washington. His military record does not show any battles he was in, but he was awarded the badge of merit for three years faithful service and it showed he was paid every 12 months for those three years.

    Service[iii]: Massachusetts, Rank: Private, Birth 1762 Massachusetts Death: (Post) 1820 Killingly Windham Co. Connecticut, Service Source: *S38293, MA Sols & Sail, Vol 11, pp915-916 Service Description:1) Capts Nelson, Clayes, Holden, Smith, Daniels 2) Cols Tyler, Nixon, Smith, 6th Reg, MA Line.

    On 11^th of October 1787 Moses married his first wife, Catherine HUCKER, in Franklin, Massachusetts and they had two children; Horace 1788-1833, Nellie 1790-1859. I cannot find at the moment when or where or how Catherine died.

    Moses remarried in 1796 to _________ in Norfolk, Massachusetts and had five more children; Susanhah 1796-1878, Jotham 1798-1860, Sophia 1800-?, William 1812-?, and Moses Henry (my direct line ancestor) born in Killingly Connecticut in 1820 and died in Keokuk, Iowa in 1881. I do not have any information on Moses’ second wife, but she must have died before him since she is not named in the will, only the names of the executers are named and the judge.

    This is where the paper trail gets a bit confused.

    According to the new Federal government anyone who fought in the Revolutionary War was granted Bounty Land of 100 acres[iv], in a spot designated by Congress. Most of this land was farm land in the Ohio frontier. I have papers filed by Moses for his pension in 1818 showing the deed for his Bounty Land 100 acres dated 3 Mar 1803[v]. There is also a deed of sale[vi] for that same Bounty Land filed in the state of Massachusetts 6^th Jan 1797 by Moses for $20 (farmland sold for around $2/acre at that time) to a Samuel Ide (?) and signed by J.(or S) Fisher Justice of the Peace. In 1806 another document was filed by S. Fisher[vii] to take away that same Bounty Land from Moses by the courts in Connecticut. When and who owned the land and when it was sold is up for debate I suppose, somewhere there is some more paperwork hopefully clearing this all up.

    Anyhow, in 1818 Moses filed for his pension[viii] of $8/mo. and got it. In 1820, the gov't. changed the pension rules again and only those who fought in the Revolutionary War and could not work were entitled to the pension.

    Moses refiled for his pension in 1820,  “The applicant is not in good health being constantly affected with jaundice & ______ complaint which renders him unfit for labour, his occupation a common laborer.”, and he listed his estate item by item showing he was poor and worth only $21.11 (1 cow worth 15.00 Dolls., 1 goat worth 3.00 Dolls., 3 chairs worth 50 cts, 1 pot 50 cts, 1 dish kettle 30 cts, 1 small skillet 12 cts. 4 cups & saucers 10 cts, 1 broken tea kettle 25cts, 1 hoe 17 cts, 1 pail 10 cts, old casks 17 cts). Moses needed the pension so his family, wife and two sons William aged 8 years and Moses Jr. 4 mos. could live. At that time, a common laborer when he could work could make $.68/day or $20.40/mo., a carpenter $1/day or $30/mo.and a mason $1.22/day or $36.60/mo.

    In the 1820’s the Industrial Revolution kicks in and drives prices and wages down. Prices dropped by 50% from 1820 -1830. Today think of it as your $30,000 car now being bought for $15,000, and wages did the same.

    Nothing more is known of Moses and his family until his will[ix] was probated 12 Feb 1827 in Connecticut, date also on his pension stop date papers, and his estate was now worth $4.12 in goods and $42.35 in pension cash.

    Any way you cut it, Moses and his family was poor. I wish I could find out more about his unnamed wife and what she did to help bring in money and what happened to her and her six kids from Horace the oldest born in 1788 to William born in 1812. 

    Moses Jr. was born in Connecticut, married in 1847 in Ohio and died in Keokuk Iowa in 1881. There is another story lost waiting to be uncovered.

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[i] The 6th Massachusetts Regiment also known as the 4th Continental Regiment was raised on April 23, 1775 under Colonel John Nixon outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The regiment was part of the Massachusetts Line and would see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, New York Campaign, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton and the Battle of Saratoga. The regiment was furloughed June 12, 1783 at West Point, New York and disbanded on November 3, 1783….From Wikipedia

[ii]    The Massachusetts Line was the name given to those units within the Continental Army that were assigned to Massachusetts at various times by the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. These, together with similar contingents from the other twelve states, formed the Continental Line. Line regiments were assigned to a particular state, which was then financially responsible for the maintenance (staffing and supplying) of the regiment. The concept of the line was also particularly important in relation to the promotion of commissioned officers. Officers of the Continental Army below the rank of brigadier general were ordinarily ineligible for promotion except in the line of their own state.^[1]

The size of the Massachusetts Line varied from as many as 27 active regiments (at the outset of the war) to four (at its end). For most of the war after the Siege of Boston (April 1775 to March 1776) almost all of these units were deployed outside Massachusetts, serving as far north as Quebec City, as far west as present-day central Upstate New York, and as far south as Yorktown, Virginia. Massachusetts line troops were involved in most of the war's major battles north of Chesapeake Bay, and were present at the decisive Siege of Yorktown in 1781. General officers of the line included Major Generals Artemas Ward, William Heath, and Benjamin Lincoln, and Brigadier Generals John Glover and John Nixon.
    The line's history began in the immediate aftermath of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, after which the Massachusetts Provincial Congress raised 27 regiments as a provincial army. These units, which were mostly organized by mid-May, were adopted into the first establishment of the Continental Army in June 1775. These units were generally referred to by the names of their colonels, and were numbered one way by the state and another by the Continental Army.
    At the end of 1775 the army was reorganized into its second establishment; a number of Massachusetts units were disbanded, but some were retained and others established. In the 1776 establishment regiments from the northern states identified as Continental regiments. At the end of 1776 the army was again reorganized. The third establishment restored a state-based regimental numbering scheme which was retained until the end of the war. After two major reorganizations (at the start of 1781 and 1783) the army was almost completely disbanded in November 1783, leaving a single regiment under the command of Massachusetts Colonel Henry Jackson. ….From Wikipedia

[iii] Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution” p.915-916  Parkhurst, Moses, Milford (also given Mendon). List of 9 months men mustered by Thomas Newhall, Muster Master for Worcester Co.; Capt. Nelson’s co., Col. Tyler’s regt.; mustered July 21, 1779; also descriptive list of men raised for Continental service, as returned by Seth Washburn, Superintendent for Worcester Co.; Capt. Nelson’s co., Col. Tyler’s reg.; age 16 yrs.; stature, 5 ft.4 in.; complexion, light; engaged for town of Mendon; marched July 21, 1779; reported delivered to Ensign J. Hubble; also, descriptive list of men belonging to 6^th Mass. Regt. Who enlisted for the war subsequent to Sept. 30, 1779, as returned by Col. Thomas Nixon, dated Highlands; age, 17 yrs.; stature, 5 ft. 2 in.; complexion, light; engaged for town of Mendon; also, Private, Capt. Peter Clayes’s co., Col. Thomas Nixon’s (6^th) reg.; Continental Army pay accounts service from Jan. 1, 1780 to Dec. 31, 1780; residence, Milford; also (late) Capt. John Holden’s co., Col. Nixon’s re.; pay rolls for Jan - July, 1780; also, Capt. Peter Clayes’s co., 6^th Mass. Reg.; payrolls for Aug.-Dec. 1780; also, descriptive list dated West Point, Jan. 29, 1781; Capt. Clayes’s co., 6^th Mass. Regt. commanded by  Lieut. Col. Calvin Smith; age 18 yrs.; stature, 5 ft. 4 in.; complexion, light; hair, light; eyes, blue; residence, Mendon; enlisted Dec 17, 1779, by Ensign White; enlistment, during war; also, Private, Capt. J. K. Smith’s (3^rd) co. (formerly Capt. Peter Clayes’s co.), Lieut. Col. Smith’s (6^th) regt.; return for wages for the year 1781; said Parkhurst allowed wages for 12 mos.; also, Capt. John K. Smith’s co., Lieut. Col. Smith’s regt.; return for wages for the year 1782; said Parkhurst allowed wages for 12 mos.; reported on furlough in Dec.,  1782.

[iv] The first pension law in 1776 granted half-pay for life to soldiers disabled in the service and unable to earn a living. The first pension law based on service was passed in 1818, but it was later amended to make eligible only those soldiers unable to earn a living. Fires in 1800 destroyed the earliest Revolutionary War pension application records.

    During the Revolutionary War the Continental Congress promised bounty land as an inducement to military service. For this war and other wars in which the United States engaged during the years 1812-1855, the issuance of bounty land warrants to veterans or their heirs as a form of reward for service was continued.

    The warrants for Revolutionary War service were issued under acts of July 9, 1788, March 3, 1803, and April 15, 1806.

    The 1788 act gave free land in the public domain to officers and soldiers who continued to serve during the Revolutionary War or, if they were killed, to their representatives or heirs. The resolution provided that a private or noncommissioned officer would be entitled to 100 acres of bounty land, an ensign to 150 acres, a lieutenant to 200 acres, a captain to 300 acres, a major to 400 acres, a lieutenant colonel to 450 acres, a colonel to 500 acres, a brigadier general to 850 acres, and a major general to 1,100 acres.

    A 4,000 square mile tract was located in the Northwest Territory and was set aside for these land warrants. This area came to be known as the U.S. Military District of Ohio. Originally the lands in this district were to be distributed by January 1, 1800. By the end of 1802 about 14,000 warrants had been issued. However, additional time was needed to locate warrants and to grant warrants to soldiers with late applications or uncompleted claims. Congress passed the act of 1803, which was later amended by the act of 1806, to extend the time limit.

    The first series includes warrants issued under the act of July 9, 1788 (numbered 1-14220). Most of the warrants from 1-6912 in this first series were destroyed during the War Department fires in 1800 and 1814. Beginning with warrant 6913, most of the actual warrants are intact. Those that are missing are presumed to be lost or not surrendered by the veteran or his heirs.

    The second series comprises warrants issued under the acts of March 3, 1803, and April 15, 1806. The warrants are numbered from 1-272 under the act of 1803, and continue from 273-2119 under the act of 1806. A series of 18 additional warrants issued under later acts is also included.

    Note: Warrants issued at this time were assignable and were often sold by the veteran on the open market. When this was done a notation on the reverse of the warrant indicates subsequent transfers of ownership from the veteran to heirs or assignees.

    *Description information taken from the following sources. For more information on these record collections, please consult these two references. U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S. Military District of Ohio and Related Papers (Acts of 1788, 1803, 1806), NARA Descriptive Pamphlet, M829. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1972. War of 1812 Military Bounty Land Warrants 1815-1858, NARA Descriptive Pamphlet, M848. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1975.

[v] Bounty Land Grant Deed Number 140. “Pursuant to an Act of Congress regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for other purposes, passed the 3^rd day of March 1803, Johuyles This___ (?) Asignee(s?) to Moses Parkhurst, a private(?) in the Massachusetts Line is entitled to one hundred acres of land to be located agreeably to said act on any unlocated parts of the fifty quarter townships and the fractional quarter townships which have been refeserved for original holders by virtue of the fifth section of the Act entitled “AN ACT in addition to an act entitled an act regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for the Society of the United Brethren propagating the Gospel among the Heathens. Given at the War Office this twenty-eight day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 4. H. Dearborn, Secretary of War.” 

[vi] Sale of Property  in the State of Massachusetts on 6^th Jan 1797 for the Bounty Lands owned by Moses Parkhurst and sold to Samuel Ide (?) for $20 as witnessed by the Justice of the Peace J. Fisher. “To all Persons to whom theses Presents Shall come, Know ye, That I Moses Parkhurst of Franklin in the County of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts yeoman in the Service of the United States of America, for and in Consideration of the Sum of Twenty Dollars to me in Hand paid at and before the Ensealing and Delivery of these Presents by Samuel Ide (?) of Richland(?) in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts … transfer and assign to the said Samuel Ide(?) … all the Right, Title, Interest, Claim and Demand … I may have to all the Land which I am entitled to … from the Congress of the United States of America, for my services as soldier in the Army of the United States of America, for and during the War with Great Britain …”

[vii] “Know all men by these presents that I S____ Fisher of P_______ in the state of Connecticut … to ask, demand, solicit and obtain in my name, from the United States of America. A grant or grants Patent, or Patents for all the land which Moses Parkhurst of Franklin in the County of Norfolk Commonwealth of Massachusetts is entitled to from the Congress of the United States of America for his services as a soldier in the Army of the United States for and during the war with Great Britain … this thirteenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six.”

[viii] Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Packet: Service: Mass. Parkhurst, Moses  Number:S38293, B.L. Wt. 140-100

[ix] “Estate of Moses Parkhurst Town of Killingly Date 1827 No. 3114 … The following is the Articles of our Inventory of Property belonging to the Estate of  Moses Parkhurst …one Baluster Bed, Bedding and Bedlinen  50cts.,three chests 50 cts., one iron pot 50cts., one ___ pot 25cts., one tea kettle 16 cts., one _____  ______ 25 cts., one table 16 cts., one iron bar $1.00 one shovel 25 cts., one hand ____ 35 cts., one water pail 9cts., one small pail  and iron 12cts. $4.12 ___ his pension $42.35 cash. Fees $2.25.”