Tag Archives: American Revolution

Benjamin Merrill and the Battle You Never Heard Of.

Benjamin Merrill

1731-1771

When I first heard the Battle of Alamance, I thought of France and WWI.  Alamance Creek actually runs through North Carolina. In the book, Captain Merrill and the Merrill Family of North Carolina , I learned about an important  Revolutionary War battle that preceded the battle of Concord and Lexington (April, 1775) by four years. Boston, site of the Boston Massacre in 1771, is thought to be the fuse that lit the fire under colonists to finally break from the British. But the same sort of harassment occurred in North Carolina around the same time, and concluded with an actual battle that later dropped from history books.

Why have we forgotten the Battle of Alamance the site of the first American blood spilled in the War of Independence? In the aftermath of the American Revolution, people numbered that battle among the important events in winning freedom. After the Civil War, Northerners tended to erase the South from history books, and their participation in the Civil War ( with a few exceptions like the Battle of New Orleans) disappeared. Not only did the winners write the history of the Civil War—they went farther back and rewrote the history of the Revolution as well. Today, the story is told differently, and I will meld the two versions as I tell the story.

BENJAMIN MERRIL, FARMER, SOLDIER

Benjamin Merrill was born in New Jersey. We share common 8 times great-grandparents—Richard and Penelope Stout. His mother, Penelope Stout (Jr.),  married into the French Huguenot Merrill family. According to a book called A Merrill Memorial, Penelope’s son Benjamin moved to North Carolina to an area called “Jersey Settlement” because a group of people from New Jersey, including his brother William, moved there. The move would have occurred about 1750, because his second son Andrew’s birth is recorded in North Carolina.

Benjamin was a farmer and a gun maker. He became the deacon of the Jersey Settlement Baptist Church, and a Captain in the militia.

Living in western North Carolina meant he was a frontiersman and fought battles with indigenous people still populating the area. The Jersey Settlement had more in common with neighboring Tennessee than with Eastern North Carolina with its elite plantation owners and businessmen. The local government operated on wild west principles—Sheriffs and Judges representing the English Crown, running rough-shod over the rights of the farmers.

According to a DAR application, Benjamin had a son named John born in 1750 in New Jersey. According to some sources, he married in 1753, which would have been after he moved to North Carolina, but I have not researched further to try to locate documentation. (John later lived in Georgia and in Monroe County, Mississippi.) According to most other sources, Benjamin had a total of 7 sons, including: John, Andrew (b. 1757 in North Carolina and continued to live there), Charles (b. 1761, later lived in S. Carolina), Elijah/Eli (b. circa 1763), William, (b. circa 1763), Jonathan (b. 1765), Samuel/Azariah (b. ?) and two daughters: Penelope (b. 1759), Nancy/Anna (b. 1760) .Some accounts list Samuel as the oldest son. In fact the information about his children is sketchy, and I have not rigorously  researched them. A tax record in 1757 also lists a Negro girl, Phyllis.

Apparently, Benjamin Merrill, tended toward independent thought early on. In 1756, he defied an order for “going out against a man who committed misdemeanors.” However, in 1759, he was among militia sent out on an alarm to aid a man attacked by Indians.

THE REGULATORS

Farmers in North Carolina, frustrated by corruption and excessive taxes and fees, formed an organization called The Regulators. This was in April 1767. They objected to local enforcement of English law rather than to the King’s rule. The same ambivalence shows up in documents about colonists in the north during this period. They wanted to be good British citizens. But they wanted fair treatment. They shied away from the idea of breaking with England.

An example of the abuse they suffered: By law a marriage license cost $1, but local officials charged $15. (Note, accounts I read said dollars, but I assume it was actually English pounds.) At first the Regulators tried by peaceful petition and argument to get more equitable treatment.

‘FIRE AND BE DAMNED“

However, making no headway, the Regulators turned to refusal to pay taxes, disruption of court proceedings, threats against officials, and vandalism. The ranking King’s officer, Governor Tryon, finally called together the militia to march against the Regulators after giving warning to the dissidents. Their reply–”Fire and be damned.”

JMay 14, 1771, Tryon’s 1000 militiamen were heading toward the Alamance Creek, about five miles away, where a ragtag, ill-armed and poorly-organized group of about 2000 dissidents assembled. A man representing the Regulators approached Tryon to talk, but as he turned away, the Governor shot him in the back.

Apparently some of the militia were sympathetic with the Regulators, because when the Governor ordered them to fire, some hesitated. He commanded the troops, “Fire on them, or fire on me.”

Tryon’s militia easily won the May 16 Battle of Alamance (also called the Battle of the Regulators). The King’s militia lost nine soldiers and had 61 wounded. The losses on the Regulator’s side is unknown.

The victorious Governor issued a proclamation that those who would swear allegiance and pay their taxes would be forgiven, except Captain Merrill and five others. The Governor declared them outlaws who would be hanged, drawn and quartered. Tryon took 15 prisoners, including Benjamin Merrill, who was not actually present on May 16. All but 6 escaped execution.

CAPTAIN MERRILL’S ROLE IN THE BATTLE

About May 12, Captain Merrill was heading toward Alamance with his company of 300-400 men, when he encountered General H. Waddell, who commanded a component of the King’s forces. Merrill took the General’s men prisoner and General Waddell fled to Salisbury.

Merrill and his men proceeded toward Alamance, but when they were within a day’s march, they heard the battle and a scout informed them of the Governor’s victory. Merrill released his troops and returned to his home in Ronan County. The Governor’s men arrested Merrill in short order, and took him to Tryon’s camp on June 6, 1771. The captors put Merrill in chains and dragged him through the countryside to Hillsborough where on June 19, 1771, a judge proclaimed the official sentence.

(Warning: The following contains explicit language that can be quite unsettling.)

The Judge’s sentence concluded:

“I must now close my afflicting Duty, by pronouncing upon you the awful sentence of the law; which is that you, Benjamin Merrill, be carried to the place whence you came, you be drawn from thence to the place of execution, where you are to be hanged by the neck; that you be cut down while yet alive, that your bowels be taken out and burnt before your face, that your head be cut off, your Body divided in Four Quarters and this be it his Majesty’s Disposal and the Lord have mercy on your soul.”

When allowed final remarks on the gallows, Merrill asked for mercy for his widow and ten children and that they be allowed to keep some of his property. The Governor later signed an order fulfilling that wish. Then Merrill, professing some doubts about having rebelled against the King, and professing his own faith in God, went to his death singing a Psalm.

THOUGHTS ON ALAMANCE

It is interesting to note that Merrill’s final statement refers to ten children, but the Governor’s order refers to eight children, and a later document refers to nine children.

As for the Regulators, one account I read speculated that had Merrill reached Alamance in time, the result could have been much different. That writer believed that Merrill was a better military leader than any of the men involved at Alamance. He certainly seemed to have no trouble subduing the branch of the King’s militia led by Waddell.

Although the Battle of Alamance did not prove to be the beginning of the Revolution, coming five years before the Revolution started in earnest in Massachusetts, it certainly illustrates the long simmering resentment of English government in the colonies. The Regulators were using the same arguments later used in Philadelphia by the crafters of the Declaration of Independence. And their struggle had tangible results in North Carolina. Of the 47 sections of the state constitution that was adopted in 1776, ¼ of them—thirteen sections— were reforms sought by the Regulators.

While I have written extensively about my New England ancestors in the American Revolution, this July 4th, I want to turn my attention to the North Carolinians who were the first to fight the British in actual battle, and to my relative, Benjamin Merrill, who became a martyr for the cause five years before the Declaration of Independence.

Veteran’s Day Tribute to Family Veterans

This is a story of men at war. I glance at a handy list of the dates of American wars and the birthdates of (until recently only) men who might have taken part in those wars. The overwhelming fact driven home by this list is–too many wars.

World War II Family 1942

World War II Family 1942

Last year on Pearl Harbor Day, I wrote a little about our family’s World War II veterans, and how rationing affected the home folk. You can read about the World War II effects on family here.

I have started a running list of ancestors who were veterans of various wars in our country’s history. Almost all survived. The list continues to grow, but here are some of my ancestor/veterans I have discovered so far, with birth date, place they enlisted, and relationship to me. If you know of some information I have missed, please tell me in the comments below.

Indian Wars Monument

Marker in honor of settlers and veterans of Indian Wars, Sudbury Cemetery

Veterans of New England Indian Wars

  • Major Peter Bulkely (b. 1642) Concord [8th great grandfather]
  • Capt. Joseph Bulkely (b. 1670) Concord [7th great grandfather]
  • Captain Joseph Hubbard (b. 1689) Concord,  [6th great grandfather]
  • David Stone (b. 1646) 1675, Great Swamp Fight, Framingham) [paternal grandfather of wife of 5th great-grand uncle–Ezekial Howe of Howe’s Tavern.]

DIED IN BATTLE:

John Howe Jr. (b.1640) Sudbury, Killed in battle at age 36 [7th great grand uncle]

 Veterans of American Revolution

Minuteman

This is a photograph of the statue representing Captain John Parker sculpted by Henry Hudson Kitson and erected in 1900. This statue in Lexington, Massachusetts is commonly called “The Lexington Minuteman” Photo from Wikipedia

  • Lt. Samuel Stone Jr. (b. 1748) Died 1775, Buried in Rutland MA Cemetery.[1st cousin 6 x removed.]
  • Ezekial Howe, (b. 1720) Lt. Col in MInutemen 1775, Col. of Regiment 1776-June 1779. Led Sudbury troops to Concord Bridge April 19, 1775. [5th great-grand uncle.]
  • Ezekial Howe, Jr., Minutemen. (b. 1756)  Ran 16 miles from Sudbury to Concord on the sounding of the alarm April 19, 1775. [1st cousin 6 X removed.]
  • Jeduthan Stone, (b. 1748) Minuteman, Pvt. in Militia from Rutland MA, Fought at Concord [4th great grandfather]
  • Note: Father John Fife Sr. and sons William and John Jr. all served.
  • John Fife Sr.,(b. 1721) Pvt. 4th C., 2nd Battalion in Washington County PA militia. [5th Great Grandfather]
  • William Fife (b. 1751) 12th Virginia Regiment 1777-1778, Captain in 4th Co., 2nd Battalion. Washington County PA Militia 1782. [4th Great granduncle]
  • John Fife Jr.,( b. 1756) Enlisted in Washington County, PA militia. Capt, 4th C. 2nd Battalion. [4th great grandfather]
  • Samuel Bassett,(b. 1754) Fifer, enlisted at Keene New Hampshire, slightly wounded at Battle of Bunker Hill [4th great grandfather]
  • Note: Brothers Israel, Benjamin and Stephen Barrett Jr. all served.
  • Israel Barrett (b. 1757) Enlisted in 1775 and second time in 1781. Served as Private under Col. Tupper, then in Nixon’s regiment. Taken prisoner and held in Quebec for about nine months. [4th great-grand uncle, step-son of Elizabeth Hubbard Howe Barrett]
  • Stephen Barrett, Jr. (b. 1753)  [4th great-grand uncle, step-son of Elizabeth Hubbard Howe Barrett.]
  • Benjamin Barrett (b. 1759 ) [4th great-grand uncle, step-son of Elizabeth Hubbard Howe Barrett]

Veteran of War of 1812

1812 Grave Marker

William Cochran Grave with War of 1812 Marker, Stout Family Cemetery, Guernsey Co.,Ohio

William Cochran [b. 1793]Enlisted in Ohio. Served six months in 1812 and one year from November 1813 to November 1814. [3rd Great Grandfather]

Veterans of Spanish American War (1898)

Although there is a Spanish American War medallion in the Stout family graveyard in Guernsey County, Ohio, it is not clear to whom it belongs.

Veterans of Civil War

  • William McCabe Anderson (b. 1841) Enlisted in Ohio, September, 1861. Discharged October 1864. Served in Co. B, 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  Was held captive for part of his service, but not in Andersonville as speculated in his obituary. [Great Grand Uncle, brother of Isabella McCabe Anderson.]
  • Benjamin Franklin Stone (b. 1782 ) Enlisted in Rutland MA in  1872 and reenlisted in 1873. Advanced from Pvt. of Company C, 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Adj. General of the 11th Army Corps.  Fought at Manassas, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain and was part of Sherman’s March to the Sea. [1st cousin 5x removed.]
  • Henry Allen Butts

    Great Grandfather Henry Allen Butts

  • Henry Allen Butts (b. 1835) Pvt. Enlisted twice, and was part of Sherman’s march to the sea. [Great grandfather , grandfather of my father]

DIED IN BATTLE:

Erasmus Anderson (b.1830) Pvt. in Company E, 16th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, enlisted in 1871. Killed in battle at VIcksburg in 1872.  Read the series telling his story here. [Great grand-uncle, Uncle of my maternal grandfather, Guy Anderson]

Veteran of World War I

Earl Fair

Earl Fair

Kenneth Earl Fair (B. 1898 ) From Ohio. [Uncle. Married to my mother’s step-sister.]

Veterans of World War II

World War II

Herbert and Bill Anderson and Frank Fair

  •  Herbert Guy Anderson From Ohio. Member of Navy Construction Battalion–SeaBees. Pacific Theater. [Uncle, mother’s brother]
  • William J. Anderson  From Ohio. Member of Navy Construction Battalion–SeaBees. Pacific Theater. [Uncle, mother’s brother]
  • Robert Anderson ,From Ohio. Navy–Pacific Theater [Cousin, son of William J. Anderson]
  • Frank Fair, From Ohio Army Air Force Fighter pilot in Europe. [Cousin, son of Rhema Anderson Fair]

Veteran of Vietnam

Brother, Paul Kaser, Vietnam Veteran

A visit from a Vietnam AF officer, Paul Kaser Scottsdale, circa 1966

Paul W. Kaser, From Ohio. Air Force Lt.  stationed at Bien Hoa in Vietnam [Brother]

Veteran of Cold War

Kenneth Paul Badertscher, From Arizona Navy, nuclear submarine. [Son]

Veterans of Iraq War

  • David Kaser, From California. Marine [Nephew]
  • Kenneth Paul Badertscher II, From Arizona. AirForce [Grandson]

 *Family members in picture

Top Row: Pauline McDowell Anderson, Herbert G. Anderson, Vera Stout Anderson, Frank Fair, Ruth Fair, Rhema Anderson Fair, Kenneth Earl Fair, Sarah Warner Anderson

Second Row: Dick Fair, Harriette Anderson Kaser, Leonard Guy Anderson, Paul Kaser, William J. Anderson

Bottom Row: Vera Marie (Bunny) Kaser, Joann Anderson, James (Jimmy) Anderson, Romona Anderson, Larry Anderson.

Picture was taken on the lawn of Vera and Guy Anderson’s home in Killbuck, Ohio.

 

Ezekiel Howe, Rum and Revolution

Ezekiel Howe (1720-1796)

Red Horse Inn

Propritors of the How family tavern–How’s Tavern, Red Horse .Inn, Wayside Inn. Photo shared on Ancestry.com

Proprietor of the Red Horse Tavern, which would become known as Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, elected leader in his community, father of ten, and military leader who was present for the “Shot heard round the world” at Concord.

When Ezekiel Howe/How took over his father, David How’s Sudbury Massachusetts “How’s Tavern” in 1744, he changed the name to “Red Horse Tavern.”  David had enlarged his two-room house to four rooms to accommodate his own large family plus guests in the tavern.

When Ezekiel, David’s youngest son, married Bathsheba Stone in January 1743 and they moved into the family home/business, they had sufficient space. But as their family grew to seven children between 1744 and 1759, the building had to grow also.

Besides the fact that the family obviously needed more space, Ezekiel and Bathsheba had more guests to feed and entertain. As colonials settled in the area and traveled west from Boston on the Boston Post Road, the Red Horse had to provide more sleeping space and drinking and eating space for visitors.

As I earlier mentioned, it was here in the Red Horse Tavern, according to family lore, that my 4 X great-grandmother, Elizabeth Howe (Stone) was born in 1744. Her father, Israel, was a brother to Ezekiel Howe. (Follow the link for her story)

Wayside Inn bedroom

Old style bedroom in museum of Wayside Inn from Ancestry.com user

In 1748, Ezekiel is listed on an application for a license as innkeeper. The application reveals his prices.

  • Lodging: 4 pence
  • Good Dinner: 20 pence
  • Common Dinner: 12 pence
  • Best Supper and Breakfast: 15 pence each

Best Supper costs less than Good Dinner presumably because dinner was a main meal, and supper a lighter meal. But what do those prices mean? Are the equivalent to what we would pay today at a Holiday Inn, for instance?

*WARNING: this little bit of information set me off on an interesting, but not essential side road. Feel free to skip if you are not interested in the price of things.

The bad news is that it is almost impossible to say how Tavern Keeper Howe’s prices compared to today’s. An excellent article from the history.org site run by Colonial Williamsburg fills you in on why it is so difficult to get equivalents. In that article, they give some prices from Virginia in 1755, which might have been different than Massachusetts in the same general time period, but probably are close.

  • Pound of butter: 4 pence (roughly $1.50 in today’s money)
  • Prayer Book: 35 shillings (roughly $13.40 today)
  • A Yard of flannel material: 1 shilling, 3 pence (roughly $5.60)
  • A saddle: 2 pounds (roughly $15)

Do the English shillings, pence, pounds confuse you as much as they do me? It really doesn’t help a lot to learn that 12 pence = a shilling and 20 shillings= a pound. Not to mention that various colonies valued money differently, and Massachusetts had started making their own paper money by this time.

However, if the assumptions above are accurate, we can conclude that the Red Horse Inn was a bargain compared to what we pay to have a meal or a night in a motel. If you compare to the price of butter, staying overnight would cost $4. If you use the calculator found at this page, you will get the same result. (That same web page contains pictures of the coins and a fairly clear explanation of the English monetary system in the 18th century.)

*End of digression.

Now, where was I?  Oh, yes, the need to expand the inn.  Between 1750 and 1760, Ezekiel plowed a lot of money and effort into growing the property.  He added what is known as the Back Parlor, which doubled the size of the inn, he added the “New Hall” used as a ballroom–a total of six rooms in all. These large public rooms may have been used by the disgruntled colonials to get organized in their rebellion against the British.

Old Red Horse Tavern

Old etching of Red Horse Tavern/ Wayside Inn, used with permission of Longfellow’s Wayside Inn archives.

I have learned through conversation with a historian from Longfellow’s Wayside Inn that tavern keepers in colonial days tended to be leaders in their communities. The townspeople not only had elected Ezekiel Howe (and four other tavern keepers) as a Selectmen for Sudbury (something like a town council member) but he also was chosen town moderator–the person who ran the meetings. And he was a member of the very important Committee of Correspondence, the groups used to tie together the colonies before independence. A short explanation of the Massachusetts Committees–the first formed in the colonies–can be found at this Massachusetts history site.

While all of these civil responsibilities sound fairly harmless, Ezekiel also was an early joiner of the American Political Society, founded in nearby Worchester. In 1776 he was elected chairman of this radical Whig debating society, a spinoff of the Committees of Correspondence who goaded the public to take action against Britain.

The drill field for the Militiamen was just down the road from the Inn, and some speculate that the Minutemen and other patriots held  meetings at the Red Horse Tavern.

In Public Houses

In Public Houses

A terrific book for history buffs called The Public Houses by David W. Conroy, describes Sudbury as a real hotbed of revolution.  And Ezekiel was right at the forefront of rebellion. Rather than get sidetracked with another diversion, I’ll write a separate post about the role of taverns and tavern keepers in the American Revolution, but I just can’t resist this quote about two British spies traveling through Sudbury.

They did not stop at any of the six Sudbury taverns, a wise decision since Sudbury companies had become very agitated in the spring of 1775.

Indeed! And just imagine what a busy life Ezekiel had as proprietor of a tavern that hosted meetings, himself running meetings and drilling soldiers, and still working to make a living to support his enormous family.

By the time the tenth child, Jenny (or Jane) was born in 1765, the oldest daughter Rebecca was twenty and might have been married, but it was quite a houseful of children, most not old enough to help with the guests.

Although we don’t have a concrete date for the death of Bathsheba, we know she died between 1765 and 1772 because in December 1772, Ezekiel Howe (then a Captain in the Militia) marries his second wife, widow Rebecca Ruggles (b. 1751).  Thus, Bathsheba missed most of the drama of Ezekiel’s career in the Minutemen and the American Revolution.

On April 19, 1775, Ezekiel was leader (Lt. Col.) of the Middlesex troops who ran (some quite literally*) to Concord, twelve miles away and fought the battle that began with “The shot heard ’round the world.”

*It is said that his son, Ezekiel, Jr., then nineteen, ran the distance in two hours, loaded down with musket and powder and balls and knapsack.

Luckily, both Ezekiels returned to Sudbury unscathed and in 1776, the father was called back as Colonel of a The 4th Massachusetts Foot Regiment, a position he held for the next three years. He would have been 55 years old when the war started and nearing 60 when he retired from the army, pleading ill health.

When peace returned to Sudbury, he once again expanded the inn.  1785 saw him building a new expanded kitchen with two sleeping rooms above it.

A great deal can be learned about the family from Ezekiel’s will. One of his daughters, Bathsheba Howe Loring, died in 1777, leaving three grandchildren. Two other daughters, Hepzibah Howe Brown and Anna Howe Brown died before their father made his will in 1795 or 1796. Like his father David, Ezekiel gave the Inn and its grounds to his youngest son. Adam Howe would carry on the family business.

On October 15, 1796, Ezekiel Howe, my 5th great grand uncle, died possibly of consumption. He is buried in the Revolutionary War Cemetery in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Ezekiel strikes me as the kind of person who grasps life with both hands, never shying away from a challenge and slipping naturally into leadership roles. He lived in an exciting, but dangerous time. He took full advantage of the inherited family business to build a political platform and then took full advantage of that platform to fight (with words and bullets) for what he believed was right. Thank you, Uncle Ezekiel.

How I am Related

  • Vera Marie (Badertscher) is the daughter of
  • Harriette Anderson (Kaser), the daughter of
  • Vera Stout (Anderson), the daughter of
  • Hattie Morgan (Stout), the daughter of
  • Mary Bassett (Morgan), the daughter of
  • Elizabeth Stone (Basset), the daughter of
  • Elizabeth Howe (Stone), the daughter of
  • Israel How, the brother of
  • Ezekiel How

Notes on Research

  • In Public Houses: Drink and the Revolution of Authority in Colonial Massachusetts by David W. Conroy, (1995)
  • Howe Genealogies by Daniel Wait Howe (1929), Massachusetts Historical and Genealogical Society. This is said to be the best of the several genealogies of the family. Although I do not have a copy of the entire book, portions of it are available on the Internet.
  • A personal genealogy by Dee Derrico at Genealogy.com While I am cautious about using personal genealogies because they are generally crammed with errors, this one contains an extensive set of footnotes verifying primary and secondary sources.
  • Ezekiel Howe’s will, from the Howe Genealogies, found on Ancestry.com
  • Middlesex County records found on Ancestry.com. Birth, death and marriage.
  • The Battle Road by Charles H. Bradford (1988), quoted on personal page at Ancestry.com
  • Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County Massachusetts Vol. 1, ed by Ellery Bicknell Crane (1907) Available as a Google Books e-book.
  • FindaGrave.com
  • I also have had assistance from the archivist and a historian at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn.

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