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Hugh McGough, Soldier in the American Revolution by Hugh McGough

Hugh McGough was a soldier—and a good one— in the Pennsylvania Line in the early years of the Revolutionary War. He was among 79 men who enlisted as privates in Captain John Marshall's Pennsylvania Rifle Company in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in March, April and May of 1776. Hugh McGough enlisted on April 15, 1776, and within a year had been promoted to Sergeant. His home at the time of enlistment was in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred on the northern boundary of Harford county, Maryland, and on the southern boundary of Pennsylvania. (Harford county was formed from part of Baltimore county in 1773.) At its northeastern tip, Harford county, Maryland, touches the southwestern tip of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.

Hugh McGough is on the list of taxable persons in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred in 1775. Early Harford Countians—Individuals Living in Harford County, Maryland, In Its Formative Years, volume 3: Supplement, by Henry C. Peden, Jr. (Willow Bend Books, Westminster Maryland, 1999), page 560.

Before joining Captain Marshall's Pennsylvania Rifle Company, Hugh McGough had been a private in Captain William Webb's Company of the Maryland Militia since October 14, 1775. All able-bodied men in Maryland over 16 years of age and under 50 were required to join a militia company in 1775. No member of a Maryland militia company could leave to join another company without his captain's permission. In 1776, Hugh McGough may have obtained permission to join another company, since the Maryland militia company had a surplus of privates, and was never called to active service.

Hugh McGough reported to the first assembly of Captain Marshall's Pennsylvania Rifle Company at the Cross Roads in Drumore township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on May 27, 1776. The Cross Roads was probably at the town of Buck, Pennsylvania, which is about 11 miles due north of the point in the middle of the Susquehanna River on the Maryland/Pennsylvania border where the corners of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and Harford county, Maryland, touch each other. To locate Lancaster county in Pennsylvania, see US census map of Pennsylvania counties. A map showing the location of the township of Drumore in southern Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, is on the website of the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society. See also Lancaster County Pennsylvania Township Maps.

From the place of assembly at the Cross Roads in Drumore township, Captain Marshall's company marched about 50 miles east to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River in Chester county (now Delaware county), where on May 30, 1776, the company joined its parent organization, Colonel Samuel Miles' Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment. Colonel Miles had been appointed to command the newly organized Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment on March 13, 1776. He remained in command until he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. On this page, I attempt to trace several changes of name and consolidations the history of Captain John Marshall's company and Colonel Samuel Miles' regiment during the Revolutionary War.

Sergeant Hugh McGough maintained an orderly book within the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot from May 10, 1777, to August 16, 1777. The Historical Resources Branch, US Army Center of Military History, The Continental Army, Bibliography, Pennsylvania, lists the document this way:

McGough, Hugh. "Orderly Book of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot, May 10 to August 16, 1777." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 22 (1898), pages 57-70, 196-210, 301-320, 475-478.

Revolutionary War Service Records, 1775–83 on Ancestry.com indexes this record:

Name: HUGH MCGAUGH
Rank - Induction: PRIVATE
Roll Box: 84
Roll Description: PA

The Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File Indexes in the Pennsylvania State Archives contain two cards for Hugh McGough, but none for a Hugh McGaugh. The reference above should read MCGOUGH. Roll box 84, the reference on the index card, includes a muster roll of Captain John Clark's company for September, 1777, which is image number 215 on Ancestry com's microfilm copy of roll 84 of U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775–1783 > Pennsylvania. (The number at the right edge of the original microfilm is 0130.) The title of the handwritten report is: "A Muster Roll of Capt. Jn. Clark's Comp. ... of Col. Walter Stewart Rgt. for the ninth of Sept. 1777." The third name in the first column of the roster included in the report is "Hugh McGough"—spelled with an o, not an a. The report is in folio 41, which is labeled: 13th Regiment, 1777. Hugh McGough is one of three unnumbered names at the head of the column, listed as sergeants. The other two are James Sloan† and James Minnis.* After the sergeants' names appear 52 numbered names of privates. The report was signed by Captain John Clark on October 12, 1777.

†"James Sloan (1756-1818) served, 1777, as sergeant in Capt. John Clark's company, 13th Pennsylvania regiment, under Col. Walter Stewart. He was born in Lancaster; died in Kittanning, Pa. Also No. 58633."

*"John Minnis served, 1777, as sergeant in Capt. John Clark's company, 13th Pennsylvania regiment, commanded by Col. Walter Stewart. He was born in Ireland; died, 1838, in Blount County, Tenn." (The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, volume 109, page 271—Mrs. Martha Trotter Gill. DAR ID Number: 108879.)

Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution. Associated Battalions and Militia. 1775–1783. Volume 1 Edited by William H. Egle, M. D. Harrisburg, E. K. Myers. StatePrinter. 1887. Pennsylvania, contains these entries: 153 McGough, Hugh. McGieyeu (electronic transcription; McGreyen in the printed version—cited below), William ... McGaughy, John ... 154 ... McGue, John. The preface to this work notes: "The following alphabetical List of Soldiers of the War for Independence has been compiled chiefly from the Depreciation Account books in the office of the Auditor General of Pennsylvania. It is difficult to distinguish between those of the Line, the Association, Rangers, or Militia and many of them, no doubt, appear in the rolls already published yet it has been deemed proper to print this list as it is. It contains nearly ten thousand names, and, as will be seen hereafter, but a small proportion of those heroes who gave us the heritage of liberty and free government we enjoy." See: PA Archives 3 Revolutionary War Associated Battalions and Lines 1775-1783.

As far as I can determine, Hugh McGough served his entire period of active Army duty in Captain John Marshall's Company (which became Captain John Clark's Company on February 20, 1777), but his tracks in military records that I have found end shortly after August 16, 1777, the last of the days covered by the available pages of the orderly book he maintained. He does, however, appear on a muster roll of John Clark's company of September, 1777, and signed by Clark on October 12, 1777 (see below).

By early 1778, Hugh McGough had returned to Harford county, Maryland. Hugh M. Gough is on the list, submitted early in 1778 by John Archer, of those who took the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, who had died before Archer submitted the list. Hugh McGouch is on the tax list compiled by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. Both names should be Hugh McGough. There was no separate tax list for Deer Creek Upper Hundred, and several of the names on the 1778 list for Deer Creek Middle Hundred probably lived in the township to the immediate northwest, Deer Creek Upper Hundred.

Circumstantial evidence supports a hypothesis that Hugh McGough was born in Harford county, Maryland, about 1756, and that he was the first-born son of Miles McGough, who was born in Ireland about 1730, and Elizabeth Spencer McGough, who was born in Harford county about 1730. I explore that possibility in this page and in my separate page: McGoughs in Pre-Revolutionary America: Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough. Hugh McGough's wife, Rosanna Crooks, however, was born in 1740, and if my hypothesis is correct, Hugh was about 15 years younger than his wife. There is also a possibility that Hugh McGough was lose in age, and a brother of, Miles McGough.

Hugh McGough died in Harford county, Maryland, shortly before October 4, 1779, when his widow, Rosanna (Crooks) McGough, was appointed administratrix of his estate. He may have suffered wounds that hastened his death in the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777, or in the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, but this is unsupported conjecture on my part. McGough family lore says that a brother of James McGough, the son of Miles McGough (senior), was killed at the Battle of Princeton, but, as indicated by his orderly book, Hugh McGough survived that battle, although he probably fought in it. The lore that a brother of James McGough was killed in the war may contain a kernel of truth, however, despite distortion of the story as it was repeated from generation to generation. The brother may have been Hugh McGough, not his brother Patrick McGough (who was alive in the 1790s), and Hugh McGough may have suffered injury or disease that led to his early death, rather than having been killed outright. He may have been no older than twenty four when he died (although his wife was about 39).

Deer Creek Upper Hundred, Harford County, Maryland

Deer Creek Upper Hundred is on Maryland's northern border, north and west of Deer Creek, and one township to the west of the Susquehanna River. For the location of the townships of Harford county, see the map on Welcome to Harford County, Maryland... and Images for townships of Harford County. See also Harford County Grid Maps and Harford County Map.

The southwestern corner of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, touches the northeastern corner of Harford county, Maryland. The point at which the two counties meet is in the middle of the Susquehanna River where the river crosses the Pennsylvania-Maryland line. The Susquehanna River is the boundary between Harford and Cecil counties in northeastern Maryland. See the Maryland County Selection Map. There is a detailed map of Maryland in the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection of the University of Texas Library. The same site has a good map of Pennsylvania.

The Deer Creek Upper Hundred in Harford county (Baltimore county before 1773) was the home of Miles McGough, who had immigrated from Ireland some time before 1756. He married Elizabeth Spencer in Harford county about 1755. Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough lived in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred, Harford county, from the time of their marriage until their deaths. In Harford county, they raised their children: Hugh McGough (possibly), born about 1756; John McGough, born about 1758; James McGough, born about 1760; Miles McGough (junior), born about 1762; Thomas McGough, born about 1765; and Elizabeth McGough Dempsey, born about 1767. In his will dated May 25, 1784, Miles McGough mentioned his wife Elizabeth, and the last four sons (and one daughter) just named. Hugh McGough is not mentioned. If my hypothesis is correct, that Hugh McGough was the first born son of Miles McGough (senior) and Elizabeth Spencer, he had died before Miles McGough made out his will in 1784. For more on the family, see my page: McGoughs in Pre-Revolutionary America: Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough.

The Maryland articles of the "Association of Freemen" of 1776 asserted American independence from Great Britain. Those who refused to sign, and thus declare allegiance to the United States of America, became "nonassociators," who included British loyalists and pacifists (mostly Quakers) who opposed the war. Hugh McGough subscribed to the list of Associators from Deer Creek Upper Hundred in 1776. His name was the fifth on the list. The first four names were officers in Captain William Webb's company of Maryland Militia, almost all of whom were from Deer Creek Upper Hundred. The solicitor of the list, James Barnet, was also a member of Captain Webb's company. See: Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, Volume 1–38, volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 323, on Genealogy.com. Hugh McGough was on the roster of October 14, 1775, of Captain Webb's company.

Hugh McGouch [should be McGough] and William Webb (and Samuel Webb Sr. and Jr., William's father and brother) are on the Harford county, Maryland list of taxable persons in 1778 for "Deer Creek Hundred: Middle," published in the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, volume 18, number 1, winter 1977, Harford county, Maryland Tax List, page 35 (available on Genealogy.com). Deer Creek Middle Hundred is adjacent to, and south of, Deer Creek Upper Hundred, and the entry indicates that Hugh McGough was considered a taxable person there in 1778.

Captain William Webb's Company—Maryland Militia

The Maryland Convention on July 26, 1775, created the he Association of Freemen, which began recruiting troops in December of 1775. When Hugh McGough signed the oath of the Association of Freemen in 1776, he was a member of Captain William Webb's company of the Maryland Militia. William Webb was born in Harford county about 1732 to Samuel Webb (who was born in England in 1704), a tanner, and Jane Weire in Harford county, Maryland (who were married on 21 Oct 1731 in the Church of Christ, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and who married Elizabeth Lee (who was born in 1738/1740, in Harford county), on July 12, 1758, in St. George's Parish (Anglican), Harford county, Maryland. William Webb signed the Bush Declaration of 1775, which has been claimed to be the first declaration of independence from Great Britain made by any representative body in America. The Bush Declaration was signed at Bush (or Harford city), Harford county, Maryland, on March 22, 1775 (see below). On Monday, July 31, 1775, Ignatius Wheeler, Junior and William Webb represented Harford county on the Maryland Council of Safety. (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776, volume 11, page 6.) Both Wheeler and Webb had signed the original document of the Association of the Freemen of Maryland on July 26, 1775. (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776, volume 11, Page 66.)

In the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 323, on Genealogy.com, Hugh McGough is listed with fifty other men under: "Deer Creek Upper Hundred." The men were recorded as Associators by James Barnet (spelled Barnett on page 315 of the same Bulletin). (On this list was "John Wilson, Scot'n," probably the father of the Joseph Wilson who solicited another 1776 list of signers from Deer Creek Upper Hundred—upon which were the names of John and Miles McGeaugh.) In a separate list of signers in 1776 of the Maryland Articles of Association, recorded by Joseph Wilson (son of John) and Alexander Rigdon, are the names of John McGeaugh and Miles McGeaugh. My guess is that John and Miles McGeaugh were the brother and father of Hugh McGough. (In later records, the surnames of John and James are spelled McGough.)

The Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 150 (also available on Genealogy.com, under "Maryland and Delaware Revolutionary Patriots, 1775-1783 Military Records") lists John McGeaugh and Miles McGeaugh as signers of the "Association of Freeman, Deer Creek Upper (I-322)" and "Hugh McGough, Webb's [Captain William Webb] Co. No. 16, October 14, 1775. (E-121) Signer of Association of Freemen, 1776, Deer Creek Upper. (I-323)."

On April 26, 1776, the Maryland Council of Safety appointed William Webb captain and Ignatius Wheeler 1st Lieutenant of a company of militia in Harford county:

"Also to William Webb appointed Captain Ignatius Wheeler 1 Lt William Fisher 2d Lt and Samuel Webb junior Ensign of a Company of Militia in said County." (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776, volume 11, page 387.)

On June 29, 1776, a roster of the Harford county Militia companies was submitted to the Maryland Council of Safety, including:

"[List of Harford Militia Companies.] C. S. C.

"A List of the Companies on the North side of Deer Creek in Harford County formed and returned to this Committee :

"Vizt

"Capt William Webb.
Ignatius Wheeler 1 Lieutenant
William Fisher Second Do
Samuel Webb Jun' Ensign
& 74 Privates. Date of Enrolment 14th day of October 1775." (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776, volume 11, page 537.)

Harford County Revolutionary War list and letters, volume 11, page 538, contains the same List of the Companies on the North side of Deer Creek in Harford County formed and returned to this Committee. Ignatius Wheeler (Ignatius, Benjamin, Thomas, John ), the second in command, was born in 1744. He married Henrietta Maria (Neale) Smith. He died in August of 1793 in Deer Park, Harford county, Maryland. Henrietta died in 1807 in Deer Park, Harford county, Maryland. (This information was published on the no-longer-active website of Christopher Fort and Allied Families.)

On February 5, 1777, the General Assembly of Maryland enacted a law that made it necessary to sign an oath of Allegiance and Fidelity to the state of Maryland and the cause of freedom. These oaths were taken before a magistrate of the county. Maryland Records, Volume II, Oaths of Fidelity and Support, page 236: Maryland Records—Harford County: "A List of those who took, repeated and Subscribed the aforesaid Oath before William Webb Esq. decd." lists "71. Gough, Hugh M." The list was submitted as a "true Copy" by "Jno. Archer." (John Archer (1741–1810) was one of the signers of the Bush Declaration of March 22, 1775. He was captain of Company No. 2 of the Harford County Militia in 1775, and went on to a distinguished political career. He was a physician, a Presbyterian, a Democrat, and served three terms in Congress from 1801 to 1807. See: Archer family of Maryland on The Political Graveyard website.) The oath was administered in 1778 and the list was submitted around February 28, 1778. Revolutionary Patriots Listings of Harford County, Maryland, page 94, repeats the same list and names: "Gough, Hugh M.—Signer Oath of Fidelity and Allegiance to Maryland, 1778 (A-33, B-14, J-236)" This item is found under "Maryland and Delaware Revolutionary Patriots, 1775-1783 Military Records" on Genealogy.com. Hugh M. Gough is the only person on this list with a middle initial, and the name should be Hugh McGough. The conversion of his name to Hugh M. Gough was probably a copying error. This list is evidence that Hugh McGough had returned to the Deer Creek Upper Hundred in Harford county by early 1778.

How could Hugh McGough join Captain Marshall's Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on April 25, 1776, when he had enrolled in Captain William Webb's Harford county militia company by October 14, 1775? Captain William Webb's company had not been activated before April 15, 1776, nor was it ever called to active duty. Each militia company was required to meet at least one day a week for instruction and the exercise of arms. I do not know if Captain William Webb's company conducted such drills, but Hugh McGough's early promotion to sergeant in Captain John Marshall's Pennsylvania Rifle Company supports the idea that he had previous military training.

The October 14, 1775, roster of Captain William Webb's Company No. 16 included 84 privates and four officers, The Maryland Convention had established an upper limit of 74 privates, and provided that "if a greater number than 74 shall be enrolled in any one Company, then the enrolment of any, after the first 68 effective privates, shall be deemed void; and such shall enrol in some other Company." After enrolment, "no man [was] permitted to leave the Company in which he shall have been enrolled without the consent of his Captain in writing." Captain William Webb's Company, No. 16, October 14, 1775. (E-121). (Deer Creek Upper Hundred). The minutes of the Council of Safety for June 29, 1776, include a report from Captain William Webb's company in which there were 74 privates—the maximum. Perhaps one of the ten privates eliminated from the roster was Hugh McGough who may have been given permission to join a nearby Pennsylvania company that was already uniformed and equipped and headed for active combat.

Captain Webb's Company was, on paper, part of a planned 8th Battalion of the Maryland Militia, which may have never existed except on paper. William Webb's entry in Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 232, says: "Captain, 8th Battalion, Militia, appointed 1776. (E-265, E-267)" The references are to pages 265 and 267 of The History of Harford County, by Walter W. Preston (Baltimore: Press of Sun Book Office, 1901).

Four signers of the Bush Declaration of March 22, 1775, are listed as Captains in the 8th Battalion: William Webb, William Morgan, John Patrick, and Alexander Rigdon. Also listed as Captains were Robert Glenn and John Jolly. William Morgan (1744-1795) is listed as a captain in the Deer Creek Battalion on April 9, 1778 and was a signer (and solicitor) of the Articles of Association in 1776 in the Deer Creek Lower Hundred. John Patrick (1735–1805) was captain of company number 17 of the Harford Militia on April 1, 1776, and a captain in the Deer Creek Battalion of the Maryland Militia in 1778. He was a signer and solicitor of the Articles of Association in the Deer Creek Lower Hundred in 1776. Alexander Rigdon (1742-1820) was the captain of company No. 12 of the Harford Militia on December 2, 1775, and a lieutenant colonel in the Deer Creek Battalion Militia, Harford county, 1778. He was a signer and solicitor of the Articles of Association in Deer Creek in 1776. [Reverend John Reeder Keech conducted the funeral of "Colonel Rigdon" in Harford county on April 25, 1820, probably in Christ's Church. volume 21, number 1, Winter 1980, Pastoral Records of Rev. Keech (cont.), page 57, on Genealogy.com.]. John Jolly (Jolley) is listed as a captain of the Deer Creek Battalion on March 10, 1775, and a signer of the Association of Freemen in Deer Creek Lower Hundred in 1776. Robert Glenn (1722–1799) is listed as a captain in the Harford County Militia Company in 1775 and 1776, a major in the Deer Creek Battalion in 1778, and a signer of the Association of Freemen in Bush Creek Upper Hundred in 1775. For more on John Jolley, see Grassland Hall on the Dublin, Maryland, website.

The Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, January 1-March 20, 1777, volume 16, pages 129–130, contains this letter of February 10, 1777, from Andrew Buchanan of Baltimore to the Maryland Council of Safety (I have added some paragraphing). At the time he wrote this letter, Buchanan was a Brigadier General of the Maryland Militia.

"Baltimore County Feby 10th 1777.

"Gentlemen.

"Their are in Harford County over Deer Creek, six companies of Militia, viz. Captains William Webb, William Morgan, John Partrick [should be Patrick], Jno. Jolley, Alex. Rigdon, and Robt Glen not yet formed into Battalion. They have had several meetings in order to recommend the necessary Field officers, but the consequence has been uproar and contention, and from the best information I can collect they never will agree.

"As the appointment is in the Council of Safety, or Assembly it would be well to appoint their officers immediately, or make them independant companies. The following commissions are wanting in Colo Hall's Battalion, viz for Capt. Jno. Ashmead, Edw. Bussey, 2nd Lieut. Nathaniel West, Ensign, Mathew McClintick 1st Lieut, James Walker 2nd Lieut.

"The eighth Battalion hath had a meeting in order to recommend their field officers but a quarrel ensued which prevented that business being accomplished. In short the militia in my District had rather battle at home than abroad. I see but little probability of their marching. Their are a few in several Battalions, that offer themselves but only on condition that the whole are compel'd, a great majority in each Battalion against marching so that their is not strength enough in any one to carry the whole.

"What method to fall upon I am greatly at a loss, and must submit the mode to the Council of Safety and the Legislature.

"I am Gent. Your most obedt Servt

"And. Buchanan.

"The Honble Council of Safety Annapolis"

Andrew Buchanan was a general in the Maryland Militia when he wrote this letter, and a merchant in Baltimore with a store on Calvert Street. Here is a note from the Buchanan/Bohanan genealogy site:

"Andrew Buchanan, Sr. was born 22 October 1734 in St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore Co., Maryland, and died 12 March 1786. He married Susanna Lawson 20 July 1760 (other sources say July 24, 1760, in Baltimore town), daughter of Alexander Lawson and Dorothy Smith. She was born 1743 in Baltimore Co., Maryland, and died 26 August 1798.

"Notes on Andrew Buchanan:

"Andrew Buchanan was a merchant and attorney as well as a very patriotic Baltimorean. He served on many committees:

13 March 1775: Baltimore County Committee of Inspection.
21 August 1775: Association of Freeman, representing the Westminster Hundred
23 September 1775: Committee of Observation
12 November 1775: Committee of Correspondence
May 1776: The Baltimore Committee
19 December 1775: Captain of the Baltimore County Militia, 1st Company
6 January 1776: Listed as Brigadier General in the Maryland Militia
2 September 1776: Committee of Safety.
1776 - 1777: County Lieutenant of Baltimore County
1777 - 1779: Justice of the Orphan's Count
6 January 1778: Lieutenant Colonel in Pulaski's Legion, Justice of the Peace for Baltimore
2 September 1778: Signed the Oath of Allegiance"

Buchanan was an elected captain of Company No. 1 of the Baltimore county militia on December 19, 1775, with 63 privates under his command.

Buchanan was chairman of the Baltimore Committee of Observation in 1774:

"When oppression began to awaken a spirit of general resistance throughout the colonies, 'Baltimore towne' was not behind its sister communities in zeal and action. A meeting was held there in 1774 [May 27.], [8] when the people generally agreed to support non-intercourse measures. Afterward they elected a Committee of Observation [November 12.], [9] and also appointed a committee of correspondence. [10]"

"8 Andrew Buchanan was chosen chairman, and Robert Alexander clerk or secretary.

"9 This committee, consisting of twenty-nine of the leading men of Baltimore, was elected by the qualified voters, at a town meeting, regularly assembled at the court-house. They not only took cognizance of political matters, but assumed a general supervision of the public morals, not by coercive measures, but by advice. Among other things, they recommended the discontinuance of fairs in Baltimore, and denounced them as nuisances, conducive to 'mischiefs and disorders,' 'serving no other purpose than debauching the morals of their children and servants,' and 'encouraging riots, drunkenness, gaming, and the vilest immoralities.' Horse-racing, cock-fighting, general extravagance, and dissipation were inveighed against, not only as wrong, but as derogatory to the character of patriots at that solemn hour (1775).

"10 The following are the names of this committee: Robert Alexander, Samuel Purviance, Jr., Andrew Buchanan, Doctor John Boyd, John Moale, Jeremiah Townly Chase, William Buchanan, and William Lux. Four members constituted a quorum for the transaction of business." (Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, volume II, by Benson J. Lossing, chapter VII.)

Here is an excerpt from the Chronicles of Baltimore by John Thomas Scharf (1974) - Part 7:

"On the 12th of March, 1786, died at his residence in the county, Andrew Buchanan, many years Presiding Justice of the County Court, General of the militia, and a most meretorious citizen and merchant of Baltimore."

William Webb must have been in the middle of the argument about organizing into a battalion his and the other companies named by Andrew Buchanan in his letter of February 10, 1777. William Webb's summary of service during the Revolutionary War includes this entry: "Captain 8th Battalion Militia, appointed 1776." (Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 232, on Genealogy.com.) The same source lists Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., as a first lieutenant in both Captain Webb's Company No. 16 (October 14th, 1775) and the 8th Battalion (1776). Wheeler is also listed as a Colonel in the Deer Creek Battalion, Maryland Militia, as of April 9, 1778.

On June 4, 1777, the Maryland Council of Safety appointed William Webb a Justice of the Orphans Court in Harford county. (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, January 1-March 20, 1777, volume 16, page 274.) William Webb died in early 1778. The administrator's bond of his estate was filed in Harford county on May 26, 1778. He was a Justice of the Peace; he verified a report of the census of people in the Deer Creek Lower Hundred on May 3, 1777. (Maryland Records, Volume II, Census of 1776, page 167.) He is shown as deceased in a return in March (or thereabouts) of 1778 of a list by John Archer, of men who took the oath of allegiance before William Webb. "1778—A List of persons in Harford County who have taken the following oath before the Different magistrates as mentioned below and returned by them to Harford County Court." (Maryland Records, Volume II, Oaths of Fidelity and Support, page 235.)

On April 9, 1778, the Maryland Council of Safety requested the Maryland Assembly to appoint and commission militia officers for Harford county, including Colonel Ignatius Wheeler, Major William Fisher, and Capt. Samuel Webb, the number 2, 3 and 4 officers under Captain William Webb when Webb's militia company was formed—on paper—on October 14, 1775. William Webb is absent from the list, and I assume either that he had died or that his health was too poor to allow him to serve. (Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, April 1, 1778 through October 26, 1779, volume 21, page 22.) (He died before May 26, 1788.) For more on the family history of William Webb, see Terry Mason's Family History Site.

Another person who enlisted in Captain William Webb's company on October 14, 1775, signed the oath of the Association of Freemen in 1776 in Deer Creek Upper Hundred, and held an interest in land ("a tithable over the age of 18") in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778, is John Barnhouse. John Barnhouse is on the same list, solicited by James Barnet, of persons who took the oath of the Association of Freemen as is Hugh McGough. See Barnhouse Branches—The Records Archive. On April 1, 1786, John Barnhouse of Harford county had a four year old apprentice bound to him to learn the shoemaker's trade.

Another person on the list of signers of the Association of Freemen compiled by James Barnet in 1776, and who had joined Captain William Webb's company on October 14, 1775, was Hugh Whiteford to whom Elizabeth McGough and her sons deeded 25 acres of the McGough family estate in Harford county on October 7, 1788, after the death of Miles McGough in 1884 (see above). See Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 238, under Maryland and Delaware Revolutionary Patriots, 1775–1783, Military Records, on Genealogy.com.

On April 15, 1776, Hugh McGough enlisted in Captain John Marshall's Pennsylvania Rifle Company in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Another man from Harford county and Captain William Webb's company who joined Captain Marshall's company at about the same time was Patrick Halfpenny, who enlisted on April 11, 1776. Another possibility is John Beaver, who enlisted on April 24, 1776, in Captain Marshall's company. There was a John Wilson on the roster of Captain Webb's company on October 14, 1775. Cary McClelland, who was also from Harford county, enlisted in Captain Marshall's company on April 18, 1776. His name appears on the roster as Kerry McClellan. There is also a possibility, though faint, that the John Wilson who enlisted in Captain John Marshall's company on March 23, 1776, was the same John Wilson who was from Deer Creek Upper Hundred, Harford county. See the next section.

A good source of records of Maryland during the Revolutionary War is Archives of Maryland Online. From this source and others, I have prepared an annotated roster of Captain William Webb's Company as originally submitted on October 14, 1775, a list of other militia companies formed in Harford county, Maryland, and some notes on minutemen and battalion organization. That material is in the last section of this page: Notes on Harford County, Maryland, in the Revolutionary War.

Captain John Marshall's Company—Pennsylvania Line

The roster of Captain John Marshall's Company published in Egles Notes and Queries of Pennsylvania, 1700s–1800s (volume II, chapter XXIII, page 133), shows the officers of the company as: Captain—John Marshall, appointed March 7, 1776; First Lieutenant—John Clark, appointed March 15, 1776, promoted captain, February 20, 1777; Second Lieutenant—Thomas Gourley, appointed March 19, 1776, promoted first lieutenant in Ninth Pennsylvania, December 6, 1776; Third Lieutenant—Stephen Hannah, appointed March 19, 1776; promoted second lieutenant, but declined service.

John Clark took over command of the company about the time he was promoted to captain on February 20, 1777, and afterwards the company was often referred to as Captain Clark's Company. [Captain John Marshall was the father of Isabel Marshall. Isabel's biography says that her father was commissioned as captain in General Miles' regiment, serving with that organization two months, nineteen days, and later was commissioned captain in Colonel Walter Stewart's Thirteenth Pennsylvania Regulars. He fought in the battle of Brandywine, where he was wounded. He was retired in December, 1778, and was given a pension May 8, 1818. He died upon the Marshall homestead in Richland County, Ohio, and is buried in a private cemetery on that homestead.]

The sergeants listed in the roll of Captain John Marshall's company are: James McMichael, April 22, 1776, promoted Lieutenant in Pennsylvania's State Regiment; Timothy Douglas, March 17, 1776; Edward Speer, March 19, 1776; John Herron*, April 6, 1776; and James Criswell+. Drum and Fife was John Campbell, who is also listed as a private who enlisted on April 18, 1776 and has this note after his name on the roll: "missing since the battle, Aug. 27, 1776."

[*A John Herron, born in 1750 (or 1747 according to other sources), died October 15, 1815, is buried in the Upper Graveyard of Middle Springs Church, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania; he married Mary Jack of Big Springs, Cumberland county, on March 16, 1773; he died at the homestead on a creek called Herron's Branch near Shippensburg, Pennsylvania that he had inherited from his father, Francis Herron (who had married Mary McNutt). The Herron family had originally settled in Pequea, Lancaster county, when they immigrated from county Antrim, Ireland, to the US in 1743, and moved to Cumberland (another sources says Franklin) county in 1745. Egle's Notes and Queries of Pennsylvania, 1700s–1800s, Annual Volume 1897, Notes and Queries—XXXIII, page 176. A biography of this family says that John Herron's brother, James, joined the Continental Army and rose to rank of major, but there is no mention of military service by John. Colonial & Revolutionary Families, volume II, John W. Herron, page 894. The family was large, and this John Herron may be a member of it.]

[+James Criswell enlisted as a private on March 18, 1776, and was promoted to sergeant before the roll was prepared. The card index in the Pennsylvania Archives shows James Criswell as a sergeant under the command of Captain John Marshal (sic) in the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, with service of July 1, 1776 to August 1, 1776, citing a morning report of Captain Marshal's company of August 1, 1776, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey. This may be the James Creswell of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who later married into the Johnson family. The family history says he served in Captain John Ramsey's company of the Pennsylvania Militia. I found no other card in the Pennsylvania State Archives that might match.

"John [Johnson] and Jean's daughter Mary [Johnson] married James Creswell in 1779. James was born in 1743 in Port Deposit, Maryland. He served as a private in Captain John Ramsey's* Company, 2nd Battalion, of the Chester County, Pennsylvania Militia. Mary and James made their home in Lancaster County and later moved to Brooke County, Virginia where he died in 1816 and she in 1823." The Johnson Family Book 2—Johnsons of St. George, Georgia, by Viva Jean Johnson Outterson; chapter 2, pages 21–46: The Johnsons of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.]

*"John Ramsey, Jr., Revolutionary War Veteran was born in 1718 in Pennsylvania. He died in 1805 in Columbia Co. GA. He married Johanna Stewart on 1 Dec 1744 in St George's Parish, Old Baltimore County (later Harford Co). ... St. George's Parish was bounded on the east and south by the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, on the west by Bush River and its headwaters, and on the north by Pennsylvania, constituting the upper two thirds of what became Harford County, Maryland." Captain John Ramsey's company has been refered to as part of the Chester County Militia. (see John Logue, Sr. private.) "

"From The Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, volume 5, Ppg 463:

'Muster roll of Captain Ramsey's Company, of the 1st Class of Chester County Militia, in the service of the United States, Commanded by Colonel John Hannum, Entered the Service the 18th of June 1777.'

"This muster roll includes the name "Saml. McNeal, June 18, 1777" [He enlisted on June 18, 1777, and is shown as on active duty by a muster report of July 11, 1777.]

The abstract card for Captain John Ramsey in the Pennsylvania State Archives shows that, May 5, 1777, he was elected captain of the 1st company, 2nd battalion (under Colonel Evans) of the Chester county Militia.

James McMichael was a native of Scotland and a resident of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, when he joined Captain Marshall's company as a sergeant on March 15, 1776. The morning report of Captain Marshall's Company at Marcus Hook on June 1, 1776, lists McMichael as First Sergeant (and his enlistment date as April 22, 1776). McMichael was promoted to second lieutenant in March, 1777, shortly after Captain John Clark took command of the company. He was promoted to first lieutenant on June 20, 1777. Clark served throughout the Revolutionary War and was discharged in 1883. He kept a diary during the whole period of his service with the army, but the only part that remains covers 1776, 1777, and the early part of 1778—until General George Washington left Valley Forge. The diary is invaluable in reconstructing the history of Captain Marshall's company. The Historical Resources Branch, US Army Center of Military History, The Continental Army, Bibliography, Pennsylvania, lists the diary this way:

McMichael, James. "Diary of Lieutenant James McMichael, of the Pennsylvania Line, 1776-1778." Edited by William P. McMichael. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 16 (1892), pages 129-159. [Also printed in Pennsylvania Archives, 2d Ser., 15, pages 193-218.]

Among the 78 privates listed in the Roll of Captain John Marshall's Company is Hugh McGouch, who enlisted on April 15, 1776. McGouch is a typographical error. The name is shown as Hugh McGough in the Pennsylvania State Archives and morning reports of the company. (I do not include within the 78 privates James Criswell because he is listed both as a private and as a sergeant, but I do count John Campbell even though he is also listed under Drum and Fife.)

The Pennsylvania State Archives include an Archives Records Information Access System (ARIAS) that allows easy access to the digitized Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File. The abstract card file contains transcriptions of data extracted from original records in the custody of the state archives concerning Revolutionary War service in the Pennsylvania Militia, Pennsylvania Line, and the Navy. There are two cards for Hugh McGough. The first card lists him as a private in the company of Captain John Marshall of the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment and an enlistment date of April 15, 1776. The source is the morning report of Captain Marshall's Company at Marcus Hook on June 1, 1776. The second card for Hugh McGough shows him as a sergeant in the Company of Captain John Clark, Pennsylvania State Regiment. The sources are morning reports of Captain Clark's Company in March and April, 1777. None of the documents shows a term of enlistment.

Here is an entry from page 272 of "Pennsylvania in the war of the revolution, battalions and line. 1775–1783" edited by John Blair Lynn and William Egle, M.D.:

STATE REGIMENT OF FOOT.

ROLL OF CAPTAIN JOHN CLARK'S COMPANY.
(March 1, 1777, to May 1, 1777. Mustered at Fort Island, May 8, 1777.)

Captain.
Clark, John.

First Lieutenant.
Moore, William, from Miles' battalion.

Second Lieutenant.
McMichael, James.

Ensign.
Collier, Joseph, promoted lieutenant First Penn'a.

Sergeants.
Speer, Edward.
Sloan, James.
Mennis, John.
McGough, Hugh.

Keynold, Christopher.
Miller, Michael. . . .

(At page 493, the same book lists a Martin McGough as a private in the 2nd Pennsylvania - on the Muster Roll of Capt. Jacob Ashmead's Company, in the Second Penn'a Regiment, commanded by Col. Walter Stewart, in the service of the United States for the month of July, 1778.)

Three other privates who enlisted in Captain John Marshall's company at about the same time as Hugh McGough were from Harford county, Maryland: Patrick Halfpenny, who enlisted on April 11, 1776; Kerry McClellan (also known as Cary McClelland), who enlisted on April 18, 1776; and John Beaver, who enlisted on April 24,1776. Patrick Halfpenny and John Beaver, both of the Deer Creek Upper Hundred, signed the Maryland Articles of Association in 1776 and, along with Hugh McGough, enrolled in Captain Webb's Company number 16 on October 14, 1775. (Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, pages 16 and 98, on Genealogy.com). Cary McClelland was also from Harford county, Maryland. There is more information on Patrick Halfpenny and Cary McClelland below. We may be talking about two John Beavers. There is a Private John Beaver who enlisted on June 1, 1778, and was discharged on February 13, 1779, listed on Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, "Musters of Maryland Troops," volume I, page 86, on Genealogy.com., who may be the John Beaver from Deer Creek Upper Hundred, and not the John Beaver who enrolled in Captain John Marshall's Company.

A James Burk enlisted in Captain John Marshall's company on April 12, 1775. On the Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 31, James Burk is described as "Pensioner (maimed soldier), 1778. (F=661)." There are, however, several James Burks on the rolls of Pennsylvania and Maryland revolutionary soldiers.

John Wilson enlisted in Captain John Marshall's company on March 23, 1776. A John Wilson had signed the list, compiled by Joseph Wilson (son of John) and Alexander Rigdon, of Associators for the Deer Creek Upper Hundred in 1776 (volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 322). This is the same list signed by "John McGeaugh" and "Miles McGeaugh." His name appears on the list as "John Wilson, Scot'n." The name is too common, however, to require a conclusion that the two John Wilsons were the same person. A John Wilson is on the Muster Roll of Capt. Alexander Lawson Smith's Company, Fourth Maryland Regiment. A John Wilson is listed as holding five tracts of land in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred, and tracts in the Deer Creek Middle Hundred and Gunpowder Upper and Gunpowder Lower Hundred and Susquehanna Hundred; and John Wilson, Sr., and John Wilson, Jr., are listed as holding land in the Bush River Lower Hundred, in the assessment of 1783 of Harford county. There are several John Wilsons on the rolls of Maryland revolutionary soldiers.

John Delaney enlisted in Captain John Marshall's Company on April 18, 1775, the same day Cary McClelland enlisted. Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 62, lists:

"Delaney (Deleney), John.

"Born 1740. Private, Maryland Line

"Signer, Association of Freemen, 1776, Deer Creek Upper.

"Land warrant No. 1343, 100 acres, applied July 31, 1828.

"Pay Certificates: 82088, $43.30, 2d Md. Regt. monthly pay; 85314, $80, Md. Regt. paid to January , 1782; 86667, $80, Md. Regt. paid to Jan. 1, 1873; 93081, $80, 4th Md. Regt. paid to Nov. 16, 1783. (I-323, N-18, N-62, P-141)"

The preamble to the publication of the Roll of Captain John Marshall's Company in Egles Notes and Queries of Pennsylvania, 1700s–1800s, is under the heading "Dauphin County in the Revolution." By an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly of March 4, 1785, Dauphin County was created out of the northern part of Lancaster county. The county was named "Dauphin" in honor of the eldest son of the King of France, who had come to the aid of the American colonies during the American Revolution. In 1791, its county seat was named "Harrisburg," after a brief stint as "Louisbourg" in honor of the French King Louis. See Dauphin County History. Since Captain Marshall's company was organized in what was then Lancaster county, many enlistees were residents of what remained Lancaster county, and a few were from Harford county, Maryland, to the south, it is less confusing to call the company a Lancaster county company rather than a Dauphin county company. I quote, nonetheless, the preamble referred to above:

"Dauphin County in the Revolution

'In Col. Samuel Miles; Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment of the Revolution were two Dauphin (then Lancaster) county companies, those of Captains John Murray and John Marshall.

"Capt. John Marshall, who commanded the Hanover company, was a native of Ireland, but he came to America and settled in Hanover township about 1770. He was an early associator and in March, 1776, was commissioned captain of the company raised by him. At the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, the company, like the battalion, was badly broken up. Owing to injuries received in that conflict Capt. Marshall resigned in February following. After the close of the Revolution he removed with many of his Hanover neighbors to Washington county, Pa., where he died. He was on the Pennsylvania pension list as late as 1820."

Colonel Samuel Miles' Rifle Regiment was also known as the 7th Rifle Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line. The orderly book used by Samuel Miles’ 7th Rifle Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line from May 16, 1776 until July 19, 1776, and then sporadically by Colonel John Patton’s Additional Continental Regiment from May 26, 1777 to June 4, 1778, is in the Archives of the New Jersey Historical Society. Manuscript Group 224, 7th Rifle Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line / Patton’s Additional Regiment. Here is information about that orderly book:

"Summary:

"Contains orders for Colonel Samuel Miles' 7th Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment, May 16-July 29, 1776; brigade orders for troops in Brigadier General John Patton's Additional Continental Regiment. Also include financial accounts of an unidentified person. This book was possible kept by Laurence Keene, who served in Patton's Regiment and later was a aide-de-camp to General Thomas Mifflin. ...

[Here is a note on Major Lawrence Keene from Egle's Notes and Queries of Pennsylvania, 1700s–1800s, Annual Volume 1897, Notes and Queries - XXIV, page 131 (on Genealogy.com):

"It is reasonable to conclude that Major Keene was of Scotch-Irish origin, but the date and place of his birth have not been preserved. We first hear of him as a commissioned captain in Colonel John Patton's regiment Jan. 13, 1777; transferred to 11th Pennsylvania, 13 January 1779; aide-de-camp to General Mifflin, 5th June 1778, to 25th February 1779; transferred to Third Pennsylvania, 17th January, 1781; transferred to Second Pennsylvania, 1st January, 1783, when he was mustered out, the war having closed.

"He then took up his residence in Sunbury, having been appointed prothonotary of Northumberland county, September 25, 1783, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Capt. Matthew Smith, another Revolutionary hero. ... Major Keene discharged the duties of prothonotary until July, 1789, when he died. ..."]

"Historical Note:

"The 7th Rifle Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line was commanded by Colonel Samuel Miles (1740-1805) from March 13, 1776 until Miles was taken prisoner at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. From May-June 1776, the regiment advanced from Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania to Elizabeth, New Jersey on its way towards Long Island.

"Colonel John Patton’s Additional Continental Regiment was formed in the spring of 1777 and, at the time covered by this volume, was camped at Middlebrook, New Jersey and engaged in the battles of Northern New Jersey. Hartley’s Additional Continental Regiment absorbed this regiment in January 1779. ...

"Scope and Content Note:

"This volume is an orderly book used by Samuel Miles’ 7th Rifle Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line from May 16, 1776 until July 19, 1776, and then sporadically by Colonel John Patton’s Additional Continental Regiment from May 26,1777 to June 4, 1778. It was also used as an account book by an unidentified farmer in 1799 and by an unidentified apothecary from 1800-1802.

"An orderly book is usually used by the orderly sergeant or the aide de camp to enter general and regimental orders; there is usually one for each company. This volume was probably kept by Laurence Keene (fl. 1776-1778), who served in Samuel Miles’ 7th Rifle Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line, Colonel John Patton’s Additional Continental Regiment, and later became an aide-de-camp to General Thomas Mifflin (1745-1800). Typical orders recorded regard troop movements and formation, rations of food and rum, and court marshal proceedings.

"Orders were issued at the following locations:

1. Marcus Hook, PA, May 16-July 2, 1776

2. Philadelphia, PA, July 5, 1776

3. Allentown, NJ, July 7, 1776

4. New Brunswick, NJ, July 9-10, 1776

5. Perth Amboy, NJ, July 11-30, 1776

6. Elizabeth, NJ, July 18-19,1776

7. Middlebrook, NJ, May 26-June 2, 1777

8. Valley Forge, PA, June 1-4, 1778."

The Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot was formed on May 2, 1777, and the remains of Colonel Samuel Miles' Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment were assigned to it. Sergeant Hugh McGough of Captain John Clark's company maintained the orderly book of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot in the middle part of 1777. The part of the book that covers May 10, 1777, to August 16, 1777, has been published. The Historical Resources Branch, US Army Center of Military History, The Continental Army, Bibliography, Pennsylvania, lists the document this way:

McGough, Hugh. "Orderly Book of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot, May 10 to August 16, 1777." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 22 (1898), pages 57-70, 196-210, 301-320, 475-478.

This orderly book is discussed in a separate section of this web page.

Here is a note from Pennsylvania State Regiment, 1777—Thirteenth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line from Uniforms of the American Revolution:

"The Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot was organized at the end of April, 1777, from the men and officers of Miles's rifle battalion and Atlee's musketry battalion. Colonel John Bull was appointed colonel on May 2, 1777, but was succeeded on June 17 by Colonel Walter Stewart. On June 10, 1777, the Pennsylvania Assembly, following the advice of the Supreme Executive Council of the state, transferred the state regiment to Continental service. Colonel Stewart called his regiment the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Regiment in his weekly return of October 27, and it was so designated and officially added to the Continental Line by a resolution of the Continental Congress dated November 12, 1777. The Thirteenth was incorporated with the Second Pennsylvania, July 1, 1778.

"The men of the Pennsylvania State Regiment were clothed and equipped at least as early as the middle of June, 1777. Their uniform was blue faced and lined with red, with the letters P S R on the white pewter buttons."

The morning report of the Encampment on the Neshaminy for August 10th through 23rd, 1777, lists Colonel Walter Stewart of the 13th Pennsylvania. See: 13th Pennsylvania Regiment.

A Roll of Captain John Clark's Company, Mustered at Fort Island, May 8, 1777, lists James McMichael as Second Lieutenant, and Hugh McGough as one of four sergeants. Other sergeants were Edward Spear, James Sloan, and John Mennis. Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution : battalions and line, 1775-1783, volume 1, page 272 (Harrisburg: L. S. Hart, state printer, 1880, 1645 pages). McGough, Sloan and Mennis (Minnis) are the three sergeants who appear on the muster roll of September, 1777, discussed above.

The muster roll of Captain John Clark's company for September of 1777 (which is image number 215 on Ancestry com's microfilm copy of roll 84 of U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775–1783 > Pennsylvania) lists Hugh McGough as a sergeant. The report is in folio 41, which is labeled: 13th Regiment, 1777. The report was signed by Captain John Clark on October 12, 1777, which is eight days after the Battle of Germantown of October 4, 1777. In that battle, the 13th Regiment was still assigned to General Nathaniel Greene's division, the PSR participated in the assault of the British right flank. On November 12, 1777, the Pennsylvania State Regiment was officially designated the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line.

Battle of Long Island

The Battle of Long Island is also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Flatbush. The battle was fought August 27, 1776.

At about 8:00 am on Tuesday, August 27, 1776, Colonel Samuel Miles and about 230 men (of his unit of 600 men) attacked the rear baggage guard of Sir William Howe's column. After fierce fighting, Miles and about 150 of his men were captured. His other troops retreated toward Brooklyn. On Wednesday, August 28, heavy rains made further fighting impossible. As darkness fell on the night of Thursday, August 29, General George Washington began a successful nighttime evacuation of his 10,000 troops by boat across the East River to Manhattan. For a map and brief description of the battle, see the Battle of Long Island.

Captain John Marshall's company was "badly broken up" in the Battle of Long Island. Captain Marshall was injured in the battle, as a result of which he resigned his commission in February of 1776. He was succeeded in command by Captain John Clark, who was promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain on February 20, 1777.

The roll of Captain John Marshall's Company published in Egles Notes and Queries of Pennsylvania, 1700s–1800s (volume II, chapter XXIII, page 133), contains this entry after the names of four privates: "missing since the battle, August 27, 1776." The names so annotated are: Robert Andrew, John Campbell, Edward Carlton, and Robert Sieman.

Battle of Princeton—Patrick McGough—Cary McClelland

Patrick McGough may have been a son of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer. See my page: McGoughs in Pre-Revolutionary America: Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough. There is some family history that says he served in the Revolutionary War and died in the Battle of Princeton. He was alive and in Harford county in the first half of the 1790s, and therefore did not die in the war. I have found no record of any service of a Patrick McGough in the Revolutionary War.

Possibly the legend of Patrick McGough and the Battle of Princeton is a distorted memory, filtered through several generations, of Hugh McGough (who may also have been a brother of James McGough) who served in the Revolutionary War, survived the Battle of Princeton, was possibly in the later Battle of Brandywine, and died in Harford county in October of 1779—possibly of injury or sickness incurred during his military service. (There is nothing other than circumstantial evidence to suggest this.)

One possibility is that the reason Hugh McGough was assigned to keep the regimental orderly book after the Battle of Princeton is that he was recovering from wounds received in the battle.

Kerry McClellan (as his name appears on the roll, more often spelled Cary McClellan) enlisted in Captain John Marshall's company on April 18, 1776, three days after Hugh McGough (who is initially on the rolls as Hugh McGouch). He was also from Harford county, Maryland. He participated in the Battle of Princeton. Cary McClellan was born on March 13, 1750, in Ireland, and had migrated to Maryland sometime before 1776. He served in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Princeton. Here are excerpts from his pension application of May 31, 1834, made while a resident of Pleasant Townaship, Knox county, Ohio:

"He enlisted in the army of the United States sometime in April, 1776, with sergeant Major Marshall, Sergeant Major Nelson was a person, taken at St Johns, and put the regiment that claimant was in through their exercise the first time, after their rendivous at Marshy Sook by the request of Colonel Stuart.

"Claimant served in (the members of regiment not recollected) but was called Col Stuart regiment or the Pennsylvania Riflemen and (as claimant thinks) of the Pennsylvania line, under the following named officers. To wit: Col Walter Stuart and Captain John Marshal, Lieut. (names not recollected at this time, thinks only) Ensign Spears. [Edward Speers was a sergeant on the roll of Captain John Marshall's Company with an enlistment date of March 19, 1776.]

"Claimant resided when he entered the service within five miles of Bushtown [also known as Harford town or Bush*, at the head of the Bush River in northern Harford county] in Harford County, Maryland. Entered at the Trap Tavern—the day before they rendivouzed the company that claimant was in. Drawed their capes and hunting shirts at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. ...

*"It was in Bush that 34 Harford County citizens met on March 22, 1775, to sign the Bush Declaration, a commitment to resist the British infringement on American rights. The closing words, "At the Risque of Our Lives & Fortunes," is embellished on the official Harford County seal." (From an article in the Harford County Sun by Karin Remesch published October 27, 2002.)

"The night before Christmas [1776], Washington recrossed the Delaware River, marched to Trenton, and took the Hessians stationed there on Christmas Day. After taking the Hessians we marched back to McCastles Ferry, our encamping ground, where we laid about eight days, then crossed the Delaware River and marched into Trenton again. While we were there, the British came up with a large army. We staid in town til they came in sight of town, and the British took possession of Trenton in the dusk of the evening. Washington gave orders to every man to build a fire about two yards apart, and while the fires were burning Washington marched us around the enemy and onto Princeton which the British had left the day before.

"The British had left a guard at Princeton over the baggage. Declarant heard G Washington tell Gen [Mercer]______ to detach a body of men and go and attack the guard. Declarant was one of the detachment. In the first of the engagements Gen [Mercer]_______ had the hoof shot off his horse with a three pounder and was himself wounded in the groin and fell. After that we had to push bayonets at the right and left wings and Gen M_____ was stabbed seven times with bayonets. When we retreated a little distance, and was relieved by Gen Washington with a reinforcement. ... Gen Mer[cer] survived this action but a short time. ...

"Skirmishing was the most that took place at this time, on until the battle of Brandywine which declarant was in. Marched to Chads Ferry to meet the British where it was expected they would cross but they went up the stream about three miles. Washington marched his army up in brigades to resist their crossing. The contest continued the remainder of the day. The PR regiment arrived about 2 hours Sun, and fought on until dark. Washington marched his army off that night and the next day marched to Philadelphia. Thence to Valley Forge. Gen Washington marched in the evening to Germantown where we had a battle. ...

"Declarant received a written discharge from Capt Marshall and Col Stuart which he has lost.

"Declarant was born in Ireland on the 15 of March AD 1753 had no record of his age. He was living within five miles of Buckstown [should be Bushtown], Harford County, Maryland, when he entered into the service of the United States. After the Revolution declarant moved to Pennsylvania where he lived about fifty years and moved from there to his present residence [in Knox county, Ohio].

At the end of the application is this note: "Cary McClelland did in Toss Co., Ohio, on March 8, 1847, and is buried in the Bell Cemetery at Utica."

Surname Family Exchange, volume 26, number 4, page 465 (Fall 1985) (on Genealogy.com) also says that Cary McClelland, a resident of Harford county, was born in 1753. (Reference B-262). Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 144 (on Genealogy.com) lists Cary McClelland as as a "pensioned soldier from Harford County, Maryland, who settled in Greene County, Pennsylvania after the war." He is listed as having entered 152 acres of land land in Licking county, Ohio, between 1848 and 1855. Gateway to the West, volume I, Licking Co., U.S. Land Entries, page 749 (on Genealogy.com). Several family trees on Ancestry.com give his date and place of birth as March 15, 1750, in county Down, Ireland, and his death on March 8, 1846, in Ross, Alleghenny county, Pennsylvania. A smaller number of family trees give the place of his death on March 8, 1846, as Licking county, Ohio.

The Ryan Family Tree, a Public Member Tree on Ancestry.com, says that Cary McClellan was born on March 14, 1753, in Down, county Down, Ireland; married Henrietta Meyers (or McVay ?) in 1780; fathered at least 8 children, including a son, Cary McClellan, born on October 6, 1683, in Washington county, Pennsylvania; and died at the age of 92 (?) on March 8, 1846, in Ross, Alleghenny county, Pennsylvania (the Roger Banks Family Tree says that Cary McClellan died on March 8, 1946, in Pleasant, Licking county, Ohio). The Krieg-Came Family Tree, also on Ancestry.com, lists several sources of information, and places the family in the 1810 and 1820 censuses of Morgan, Green county, Pennsylvania; the 1820 census of Green county, Pennsylvania; and in 1840 in Pleasant, Knox county, Pennsylvania. (The 1840 census of Eden, Licking County, Ohio, lists Cary McClelin, over 50 and under 60 (?), with a wife in the same age bracket, and young children; roll 408, page 274;  Family History Library Film 0020170. This seems to be the son of the Cary McClellan we are discussing. The tree says that the elder Cary McClellan died on May 30, 1834, in Knox county, Ohio.))

There were casualties in the Battle of Princeton; for example, General Hugh Mercer of the Flying Camp Battalion of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, was mortally wounded.

I have checked the Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, 1775–1783 (Archives of Maryland, XVIII). To quote Amazon.com: "This is the standard on the more than 20,000 Maryland troops in the Revolutionary War, and as such it is a book of the greatest genealogical and historical magnitude. The plan of the work is archival, that is, lists and documents are printed as found, with a general index of names at the back of the book. Lists enumerated include the Flying Camp, Maryland Troop Musters, the German Regiment, Artillery Rolls, Rolls of Men in Lee's Dragoons and Pulaski's and Armand's Legions, Naval Rolls, Invalid Returns, and Rolls of Escaped and Exchanged Prisoners." I found no McGoughs in the book.

Orderly Book of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot

Sergeant Hugh McGough maintained the orderly book of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot from May to August of 1777. Colonel John Bull commanded the regiment from the time of its organization on March 1, 1777, until June 17, 1777, and during this time the regiment was known as Bull's Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot. After June 17, 1777, the regiment was commanded by Colonel Walter Stewart.

Here are notes note from A Time Line Of The American Revolutionary War, Noting Events In Provincial Pennsylvania's Counties (from the Mother Bedford website):

"The Pennsylvania State Regiment Of Foot is raised (01/Mar/1777) Colonel John Bull is appointed to command (02/May/1777) (He is promoted, and Colonel Walter Stewart is appointed (17/Jun/1777) ."

"British General William Howe leaves New York with 15,000 redcoats at the start of a campaign against Philadelphia (23/Jul/1777)" (which ultimately led to the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and the capture of Philadelphia by the British). Philadelphia was the "rebel capitol" at the time Howe began his campaign.

Here is a note from page 2 of an article on The Use of Regimental Type Buttons in the Continental Army (1775–1783) in the column Revolutionary War "At the Crossroads" by Ernest Richard Bower in The Treasure Depot Magazine:

"Pennsylvania Packet, August 19, 1777.... From Bull's Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot ... four deserters ... all dressed in blue, turned up with red, and white pewter buttons with the letters PSR marked on them. ... PSR = Pennsylvania State Regiment (Infantry)."

For a replica of the Pennsylvania State Regiment "PSR" Pewter Button, 7/8" [#GPB7], go to The Sutler of Mt. Misery, G. Gedney Godwin, Inc. See also: History of the Pennsyvania State Regiment (PSR), which contains this note:

"March 1, 1777 The Pennsylvania State Regiment is officially activated as a unit. The Pennsylvania Council of Safety prescribes that there will be ten companies, "eight of them armed with muskets and the other two with riffles." (sic) /8/ They are officially uniformed in a blue regimental coat with red lining and facing and pewter buttons inscribed PSR. /9/ Black regimental hats are bound up in yellow. /10/ Records of deserters in 1777-78 show however, men clad in various color regimental coats and hunting shirts. /11/"

John W. Jordan has edited the orderly book kept by Hugh McGough and published it in 1898 in four installments in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (volume 22, pages 57–70, 196–210, 301–320, and 475–478. Here is Jordan's introduction to the book:

"The Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot was formed largely from the remains of the Rifle Battalion [Regiment?] of Colonel Samuel Miles and the Musketry Battalion of Colonel Samuel J. Atlee, and on May 2, 1777 John Bull was commissioned its colonel. His appointment was, however, unsatisfactory to the officers, who threatened to resign unless he was removed; accordingly on June 17 he was appointed Adjutant-General of the State, and Colonel Walter Stewart given the command of the regiment. The details of this movement are given in the 'Diary of Lieutenant James McMichael," PENNA. MAG., Vol XVI. pages 129 et seq. In July, the regiment was designated the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Line, and in November, by resolution of Congress, was placed on the Continental Establishment. When Colonel Stewart took command of the regiment it mustered eleven companies, fifty-two field and staff-officers, seventy nine non-commissioned officers, and four hundred and seventy-seven privates fit for duty. The Orderly-Book is in a fairly good condition, and many of the entries are in the handwriting of Hugh McGough, who was a sergeant in the company of Captain John Clark. On the inside of the cover is the following:

'May 15, 1777. Crossed ye River to Liberty Island from Red Bank. Four of the enemies ships came into the River and our Gallies bore down to meet them. On that night the enemy looked at New Castle and carried a number of live stock on board their ships, after cutting down ye Liberty Pole and taking away ye Alarm gun. The day following they stood for the Capes.'

"On the same date Lieutenant McMichael in his diary records,

'At noon the alarm guns down the river were fired and flags all hoisted. We were paraded and awaited the attack, which proved a false alarm.'

"The fly-leaf has also the following entries relating to two privates of Captain John Clark's company:

'William Jefferies, 5 ft. 6 in. high; pale complexion, long black hair, med. large gray eyes, a well made Irishman, received his furlough Aug. 21 for 30 days.'

'William Elliot, from Londonderry, Lancaster county, Pa., short dark curly hair, fair complexion, about 5 fee 7 or 8 in. high, has furlough from Dec. 16, 1777 to March 1, 1778.'

'December 30, 1977, Lieut. Joseph Finley [of second company] being promoted to Captain, is to take command of the company formerly Captain Patrick Anderson's.'

"Captain Anderson had been elected a member of the Assembly."

William Jeffries was on the roll of Captain John Marshall's Company with an enlistment date of April 26, 1776. William Elliot was not on the early roll of the company, but an abstract card in the Pennsylvania State Archives shows him on the morning reports of March and April, 1777.

The locations of Bull's Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot during the time covered by the orderly book maintained by Hugh McGough were: Red Bank (Fort Mercer), New Jersey (May 10 – June 15); Boundbrook (or Bound Brook), New Jersey; Morristown, New Jersey (July 3–10) (which was the American Winter Camp and headquarters of General George Washington from January 6, 1777, to May 26, 1777); Pompton Plains, New Jersey (July 11–14) (where General George Washington's itinerary shows he was on July 13, 1777); The Clove, New Jersey (July 15–23) (where General George Washington's itinerary shows he was on July 21–23, 1777); near Coryells Ferry, (now New Hope), New Jersey, on the Delaware River (July 28–31) (where General George Washington's itinerary shows he was on July 31, 1777, and where Washington had made his famous crossing of the Delaware on December 25, 1776); Germantown, Pennsylvania (August 2) (where the itinerary in The Papers of George Washington shows he was on August 6, 9, and 23, 1777); and Crossroads, at the intersection of York and Bristol Roads, in Warwick township, Hartsville, Bucks county, Pennsylvania—sometimes called the Hartsville Encampment (August 1–15). (Cross Roads camp, Buck county, Pennsylvania. General George Washington sent a letter to Major General Israel Putnam from "Camp in Bucks county on August 11, 1777; and a letter the same day to Brigadier General Silas Newcomb from "headquarters, near the Cross Roads." On the same day, he sent a letter to Artemas Ward from Neshaminy, Pennsylvania, and he used the same addresses interchangeably on dozens of letter sent through August 23, 1777. The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources: Volume 9. General Washington's itinerary shows that from August 12 to 23, 1777, he was at Moland House, Neshaminy Camp, in Warwick township, near Hartsville, Pennsylvania, and on August 9 and 23, he was in Germantown. The Neshaminy Valley is a few miles northeast of Philadelphia. The village of Germantown was about 6 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Here is a more complete history of the Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot:

"The Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot was organized at the end of April, 1777, from the men and officers of Miles's rifle battalion and Atlee's musketry battalion. Colonel John Bull was appointed colonel on May 2, 1777, but was succeeded on June 17 by Colonel Walter Stewart. On June 10, 1777, the Pennsylvania Assembly, following the advice of the Supreme Executive Council of the state, transferred the state regiment to Continental service. Colonel Stewart called his regiment the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Regiment in his weekly return of October 27, and it was so designated and officially added to the Continental Line by a resolution of the Continental Congress dated November 12, 1777. The Thirteenth was incorporated with the Second Pennsylvania, July 1, 1778.

"March 5, 1776 The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passes a resolution to establish: The Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment, known as Miles’s Regiment, was to consist of two battalions of six companies of seventy-eight enlisted men, armed with rifles: The State Battalion of Musketry, known as Atlees’s Battalion, was to consist of eight companies of fifty-eight enlisted men, armed with muskets.

"August 11, 1776 The Pennsylvania troops are ordered to New York and are assigned to the brigade commanded by General William Alexander.

"August 25–27, 1776 The Battle of Long Island. The Pennsylvania Riflemen are sent to the left near Flatbush and the Musketeers are sent to the right with General Alexander. During the battle, Colonel Miles, Atlee and Lt. Colonel Piper are captured. Lt. Colonel Brodhead is placed in command of the consolidated forces and ordered by General Washington to withdraw to Manhattan.

"October 28, 1776 The Battle of White Plains. A portion of the Pennsylvanians, most of them riflemen, served on the American left flank against the Hessians.

"November 16, 1776 The fall of Fort Washington. The Pennsylvanians assigned to the fort, mostly from the Musket Battalion, are among those captured.

"December 26, 1776 The Battle of Trenton. Participating in a part of the left wing under Nathaniel Green, the Pennsylvanians assist in the defeat of the Hessians under Colonel Rall.

[The Battle of Trenton Order of Battle includes, under Major General Nathaneal Greene's Division:

Brig. Gen. Hugh Mercer’s Brigade:

20th Continental Regt (Durkee’s Conn.)
Bradley’s Battalion Conn. State Troops
27th Continental Regt. (Hutchinson’s Mass.)
Smallwood’s 1st Maryland Regt.
Stephenson’s Md-Va. Rifle Regt.]

"January 3, 1777. The Battle of Princeton. With less than 200 troops remaining, the consolidated troops are assigned to Brig. General Hugh Mercer and attack a group of British dragoons. [Within Major-General Nathaneal Greene's Command was General Hugh Mercer's Brigade, which consisted of 73 officers and 765 men in these b units:

* Twentieth Regiment, Continental Foot - Connecticut Regiment
* First Maryland Regiment, Continental Infantry
* Twenty-seventh Regiment, Continental Foot - Massachusetts Regiment
* Colonel Bradley's Battalion, Connecticut State Troops
* Maryland Rifle Battalion Volunteers]

"March 1, 1777. The Pennsylvania State Regiment is officially activated as a unit. The Pennsylvania Council of Safety prescribes that there will be ten companies, 'eight of them armed with muskets and the other two with rifles.' They are officially uniformed in a blue regimental coat with red lining and facing and pewter buttons inscribed PSR. Black regimental hats are bound up in yellow. Records of deserters in 1777-78 show however, men clad in various color regimental coats and hunting shirts.

"June 10, 1777. The transfer of the Pennsylvania State Regiment to the Continental service is formalized.

"September 11, 1777. The Battle of Brandywine. After exchanging fire in the area of Chadd’s Ford, The PSR, as part of General Greene’s division, moves to meet the main British assault

"October 4, 1777. Battle of Germantown. Still assigned to Greene’s division, the PSR participates in the assault of the British right flank.

"November 12, 1777. The Pennsylvania State Regiment is officially designated the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line."

See the pension application of John Brownlee, a member of Colonel Samuel Miles' regiment, of Pennsylvania Riflemen which, after the battle of Princeton, was consolidated with another regiment into the Pennsylvania State regiment. The regiment was for some time commanded by Colonel Bull, and afterwards by Colonel Mathew [should be Walter] Stewart. See also the biography of John Murray. See also: 13th Pennsylvania Regiment and Historical Resources Branch—US Army Center of Military History—The Continental Army—Bibliography—Pennsylvania.

The publication of Hugh McGough's orderly book in volume 22 of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography has made it a recognized source of the history of the American Revolution. For example, pages 205–6, are quoted in Arming America—The Origins of a National Gun Culture, by Michael A. Bellesiles (Alfred A. Knopf 2000), page 201:

"A persistent problem for the officer corps was the common soldier's failure to care for his weapon. After an inspection of the Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot in July 1777, Washington 'was suprised this day to see the bad condition of many arms, they being not only unfit for fire, but very rusty, which latter is in the power of every man to prevent, and the neglect of it may arise from an inexcusable inattention of the orders.' ... Washington became nearly obsessed with the cleanliness of his troops' firearms, realizing full well that a fouled gun was useless if not dangerous. The orderly books of the Continental army are full of his orders that guns be cleaned regularly, weekly if possible."

Battle of Brandywine

Hugh McGough may have been a casualty of the Battle of Brandywine, but this is conjecture. The Battle of Brandywine, on September 11, 1777, was one of the largest land battles fought during the Revolution. Casualties were high. In the Battle of Brandywine: The Human Toll, Mary Costella says:

"After the battle, the ... Continental wounded were scattered about in small groups near the area of battle, many of them initially being moved to the Turk’s Head Tavern in what is currently the town of West Chester. Doctors were under orders from Congress to leave hospitals if necessary to attend the sick and wounded on the battlefield. The celebrated delegate Dr. Benjamin Rush, recently appointed Physician General of the Continental Army, was among those summoned to attend the wounded at General Howe’s invitation.

"Many other wounded and incapacitated Continentals were loaded into springless open wagons and transported in the direction of Philadelphia. There they were to be sent on to Trenton where a Continental hospital had been established. Due to the vagaries of war and the uncertain fate of the city and environs, the wounded were moved yet again to greater safety in Bethlehem, Allentown, and Easton. Others were sent to Moravian religious communities in Ephrata, Bethlehem, Lititz, and Reading. Diseases such as typhus, yellow fever, and malaria plagued the hospitals. In his memoirs Dr. Rush noted 'Fatal experience has taught the people of America…that a greater proportion of men have perished with sickness in our armies than have fallen by the sword.'

"Burial details are hard to come by, but eyewitness accounts that exist indicate that mass burials in shallow pits were the norm. Joseph Townsend’s account is illustrative: '… the inhabitants found it necessary to call in the assistance of their neighbors to rebury many of the dead, who lay exposed to the open air and ravages of beasts and wild fowls, having in consequence of the late heavy rains, been washed bare, and some few of them had never been interred.'"

For more on the Battle of Brandywine, see the article by Edward G. Lengel on the War Times Journal website.

Battle of Germantown

After the battle of Brandywine, a detachment of British troops under Lord Charles Cornwallis occupied Philadelphia on September 26, 1777. General William Howe remained wary of the Americans, who were camped only thirty miles northwest of Philadelphia along Perkiomen Creek between Pennypacker's Mills and Trappe. Accordingly, he put the bulk of his remaining force—some 9,000-10,000 troops—at Germantown, five miles above Philadelphia, covering the likely avenues of approach from Washington's position. On October 4, 1777, General Washington's troops attacked, were defeated, and withdrew in an orderly fashion. The Americans lost 1,073 officers and men killed, wounded and missing. See: The Battle of Germantown published by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Participating in the attack were the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Nathaniel Greene, which included the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment (also know as The Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment and Miles's Regiment), which in turn included Captain John Clark's company in which Hugh McGough was a sergeant.

Here is my attempt to copy a document on file at NARA referring to members of the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Regiment:

M 13 Pa.

Hugh McGough, Sgt.

Captain John Clark's Company of the regiment commanded by Colonel Walter Stewart

(Revolutionry War.)

Appears on

Company Muster Roll

of the organization named above for the month

of Sept., 1777.

Roll dated October 12, 1777.

***

Scherick

Copyist

There is also a record at NARA, dated December 28, 1777, that shows Hugh McGough, with a rank of Private, as entitled to "arier pay" due to Captain John Marshall's company for the months of September and October, 1777, in the amount of £5.

The Battle of Germantown was to be the last major battle of the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment until the battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778.

Hugh McGough in Harford county in 1778 and 1779

Hugh McGough apparently returned from his service with the Continental Army to Harford county in late 1777 or early 1778. Perhaps it was upon his return from Army service that he married Rosanna Crooks, daughter of William and Mary Crooks. Since Rosanna Crooks was born in 1740 and was 37 years old in 1777, the marriage may have preceded the Revolution.

According to OneWorldTree on Ancestry.com, William Crooks and Mary Weer were married on November 18, 1736, in the First Presybyterian Church of Philadelphia. See: First Presbyterian Church Marriages 1702–1745: Philadelphia, PA. Their daughter, Rosanna, who maried Hugh McGough, was born in 1740.

The Crooks family had come from Bucks county, Pennsylvania, to the Deer Creek area of what was to become Harford county, around 1763. On April 27, 1763, Thomas and Ann Johnson of Baltimore county deeded 200 acres of land at Broad Creek to William Crooks of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, for £215.6. Broad Creek is just north of Deer Creek.

Several months before Hugh McGough returned to Harford county from military service, William Crooks, the father of his wife, Rosanna Crooks, died. (OneWorldTree gives his date of death as December 31, 1776.) William Crooks of Harford county, Pennsylvania, "being sick but perfect in mind and memory" had William Hopkins prepare his "last will and testament" on December 30, 1776. Crooks approved the form of the will and asked Henry Guffee and James Barnett to come to his sick bed to witness his signature. Before they all got together, Crooks died. The will was approved on the basis of testimony of Hopkins, Guffee, and Barnett, on September 7, 1778. William Crooks' wife, Mary, was left 1/3 of his estate during her lifetime, and William named her and his son Henry as co-administrators of his estate. In his second bequest, William Crooks bequeathed 50 acres of land to his daughter, Rosanna:

"Secondly I give and Bequeath to my daughter Rosanna fifty acres of land beginning for the same on a line of a Tract of land called Cley Hill Inlarged running from thence with the said line to the Second Runn, which said Land I give and Bequeath unto my Said Daughter her heirs and assigns for ever."

The will does not indicate whether Rosanna was married at the time, and her last name is not stated in the will.

William Crooks left the rest of his land to his sons Henry, Thomas, and Robert. He left £10 to each of three other daughters, Jennete, Mary, and Margaret. He also left £5 to his grandson William, son of his son Henry (and his wife Jane), and £20 to his grandson James Dugle (?), to be paid with interest when each reached the age of 21. On the inventory of the estate, filed by Mary Crooks on November 26, 1779, Thomas Crooks and Henry Crooks appear as "Nearest of Kin." One of the appraisers of the estate was William Ashmore.

On January 27, 1778, Mary Crooks, as administratrix of the estate of William Crooks, brought a lawsuit in Harford county against her son-in-law, Hugh McGough, who was described as a weaver, on behalf of William Crooks, deceased, claiming that she was the administratrix of all the goods and chattels, rights and credits, that belonged to the late William Crooks, and asking that Hugh "provide unto hir Thirty pounds four Shillings Common Money which sum he owed and Unjustly Detained." Mary's lawyer was Aquila Hall. There is no indication in the suit of when Hugh McGough incurred this debt, or whether Hugh McGough incurred the debt before or after his marriage to Rosannah Crooks.

On September 26, 1780, a deed was filed with the Harford county clerk by which Margaret Crooks and Henry Crooks conveyed 25 acres of land to William Ashmore. The grantors describe themselves as: "Relict (surviving spouse) and Administratrix of Wm. Crooks late of Harford County Deceased and Henry Crooks of the same place Son and heir at Law of the Said William Crooks Deceased." The deed recites that, during his lifetime, William Crooks sold the tract of land to William Ashmore for £32. The land was described as 25 acres, more or less, laid out on the south side of Broad Creek, and called Giles and Websters Discovery. The instrument contains the date March 29, 1780, and was signed on May 29, 1780. Margaret Crooks signed "her X mark." Witnesses were William Smithson and James Giles.

William Ashmore, the purchaser of the 25 acres from William Crooks, was on the list of signers in 1776 in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred of the Maryland Articles of Association. Ashmore was also the solicitor of the list (volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 322, on Genealogy.com). He was also on the same list of taxpayers of 1777 in Deer Creek Middle Hundred as Hugh McGouch (volume18, number 1, Winter 1977, Harford County, Maryland Tax List, page 34, on Genealogy.com).

Hugh McGough died before October 4, 1779. On that date, his widow, Rosannah McGough filed a £2000 bond as administratrix of his estate. Sureties on the bond were James Barnett and Henry Crooks. The estate papers spell the surname as McGaugh.

On June 13, 1780, his widow, Rosannah McGough, filed an inventory and appraisal of the estate of Hugh McGough, dated November 15, 1779. The total valuation was one thousand two hundred and twenty pounds three shillings. Listed as creditors were Mary Crooks (who signed by her mark) and Thomas Crooks. Henry Crooks and Robert Crooks signed the inventory as "Nearest of Kin." At first, I thought that this meant that Hugh McGough had no blood relatives in Harford county—contrary to my hypothesis that Miles McGough (senior) and Elizabeth Spencer McGough were his father and mother (or possibly Hugh's brother and sister-in-law), and John, James, Miles (junior), and Thomas McGough were his brothers. Henry C. Peden, Jr., however, explained that the relatives of the wife of a deceased person could fill the legal requirement that the signatures of two "nearest of kin" sign the inventory. "Nearest of kin" in this context does not necessarily require persons with a potential right of inheritance. Henry and Robert Crooks were the brothers of Hugh McGough's widow Rosanna Crooks McGough. In answering my question, Mr. Peden told me an email on March 4, 2004:

"The 'nearest of kin' named in the inventory were the 'nearest of kin' to the deceased. Any adults present at the time, either blood related or in-laws, could witness and sign the inventory (you are right -- Henry and Robert Crooks were Hugh's brothers-in-law, that is, Rosanna's brothers). No matter how many McGoughs and Crooks were in the area, only two signatures were required and apparently the Crooks brothers were available to sign at the time."

Maryland State Archives—Probate Records gives us this explanation of inventories in Maryland estates in the 1700s:

"Inventories are lists of personal property owned by the deceased, drawn up by two appraisers, who would list everything in the house, the barn, and the tool shed, and appraise the items in terms of money or in tobacco. After about 1712, the inventory would have been signed by two of the 'greatest creditors' and two of the adult 'nearest of kin.'"

Appraisers of Hugh McGough's estate were Mannasse Finney and James Wilson.

Included in the inventory were tools of the weaver's trade: one old spinning wheel valued at £5, five dozen needles, a weaver's candlestick, and several pieces of cloth. Also in the inventory were some clues to military service: one old gun valued at £5, four pounds of "old powter," and one old tin cartridge box. (See: Rees, John. "On the Use of Tin Cartridge Boxes in the Continental Army." Military Collector and Historian, 42 (Winter 1990), pages 150-151.) The inventory also included indications that Hugh McGough was literate: six old small books, some bound, some unbound, valued at seven pounds, two shillings; and an old bible and other old small books, valued at eleven pounds, five shillings.

The estate inventory shows that Hugh McGough grew flax,wheat and rye, and maintained a small farm. There were two old hilling (?) hoes, 9 barrels of Indian corn, a half a barrel of buckwheat, 3 bushels of oats, an old horse (valued at £15), an old saddle, an old mare with a colt (valued at £150), a young sow and four pigs (valued at £12), an old sow (valued at £12), a bushel of flax seed and flax on the ground (valued at four pounds, ten shillings), one milk cow (worth $200, value combined with the value of 4 pounds of wool at 20 (?), was £79), 1 1/2 bushels of wheat (valued at £15), 4 acres of wheat in the ground (valued at £120), 6 acres of rye in the ground (£90), 20 bushels of turnips (at $2 per bushel, valued at £15). No plow is listed.

Hugh McGough, James Barnet, William Crooks, Sr., William Crooks, Jr., Thomas Crooks, and Mannassah Finney—in that order—are on the list of Association of Freemen in Deer Creek Upper Hundred compiled by James Barnett in 1776 (volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 323, on Genealogy.com). Henry Crooks and Robert Crooks were signers of the Oath of Fidelity and Allegiance to Maryland in 1778. William Crooks was a private in Captain Robert Harris' Harford Rifles in 1776 (Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 54, on Genealogy.com).

A census in 1776 of the Broad Creek Hundred of Harford county lists Henry Crooks, age 28; Jane Crooks, age 23; William Crooks, age 5; Andrew Crooks, age 3; and Margrett Crooks, aged 1/2. Living with the family is Elizabeth Kerby, age 26. In the 1790 census of Harford county, there is no listing for Henry, Mary, Robert, Thomas, or William Crooks. There is a listing for Henry Crooks in a family of eight in Baltimore county (roll 3, book 1, page 211). There is also a listing in Baltimore county for a Henary Crook in a family of six (roll 3, book 1, page 165). There is a listing in the 1790 census of Alexander Crooks in a family of three in Harford county (roll 3, book 2, page 290).

The estate of John Crooks, filed in Baltimore county on May 25, 1772, lists William Crooks as the next of kin. Henry Crooks and William Crooks are listed as creditors. The administrator of the estate was James Gordon. (Prerogative Court Abstracts, 1769-1772, Abstracts 1769-1772, page 104, on Genealogy.com).

Family of William Crooks and Mary Weer

Shelly Bellanger of Shakopee, Minnesota, says that William and Mary (Weer) Crooks "are my gr-gr-gr-gr grandparents on my Mom's side." Shelly sent me the GEDCOM of William Crooks and Mary Weer. I include a small part of the GEDCOM, dealing with generations number 1 and 2, below (even though it repeats some information in the previous section):

"Descendants of William Crooks

Generation No. 1

1. WILLIAM1 CROOKS was born Abt. 1715 in Harford County, Maryland, and died December 31, 1776 in Harford County, Maryland. He married MARY WEER November 18, 1736 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. She was born Abt. 1715.

Notes for WILLIAM CROOKS:

On January 2, 1777, Mary Crooks (wife), Andrew Howlett (son's father-in-law) and Henry Guffee (neighbor ?) were placed under bond to inventory William's estate. The estate was valued at 320 pounds (about $753) by a committee consisting of 6 men, including Thomas Crooks and Henry Crooks. (Presumably the latter were his sons!) Mary Crooks was involved in 2 different land transactions after the death of her husband.

Land transaction: Sold to William Ashmore Film #0014091 (Land Records, JLG, Book C, p 427)

On March 29, 1780, Margaret and Henry deeded 25 acres of a tract of land called 'Giles and Websters Discovery' to William Ashmore. Apparently, William had sold the land in 1772, but had not relinquished it. On November 10, 1780, Mary concurred with her son Henry's sale of 400 acres to Joseph Miller.

-------------------------------

Mary Crooks is in the 1790 Bucks County census. No will was found for Mary Crooks in Bucks County.

Notes for MARY WEER:

On January 2, 1777, Mary Crooks (wife), Andrew Howlett (son's father-in-law) and Henry Gufee (neighbor?) were placed under bond to inventory William's estate. The estate was valued at 320 pounds (about $753) by a committee consisting of 6 men, including Thomas Crooks and Henry Crooks. (presumably the latter were his sons.) Mary Crooks was involved in 2 different land transactions after the death of her husband.

-----------------------------

Land transaction: Sold to William Ashmore Film #0014091 (Land Records, JLG, Book C p 427)

On Mary 29, 1780, Margaret (really Mary?) and Henry deeded 25 acres of a tract of land called 'Giles and Websters Discovery' to William Ashmore. Apparently, William had sold the land in 1772, but had not relinquished it. On November 10, 1780, Mary concurred with her son Henry's sale of 400 acres to Joseph Miller. And this is the last mention of Mary in Harford County that we are aware of at this time. Don Harper did locate a Mary Crooks in the 1790 census in Bucks County and has speculated that Mary returned to Bucks County when her sons moved west. However, no will was found for Mary Crooks in Bucks County.

----------------------------

Married November 18, 1736 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

According to Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810, Volume II, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1968 (Hags Library, 929.3, PLr), William Crooks and Mary Weer married November 18, 1736 at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The name William Crooks and Mary match the names in William's will in Harford County, Maryland. And Philadelphia was near Springfield Township, Pennsylvania, which is where William eventually lived.

According to a document complied by Miriam Bolick, William Crooks married Mary Wier at First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia November 18, 1736. I am guessing that the primary source for this was Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810.

Marriage notes for William Crooks and Mary Weer: According to Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810, Volume II, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1968 (HAGS library, 929.3, PLr), William Crooks and Mary Weer married 11, 18, 1736 (November 18, 1736) at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The names William Crooks and Mary match the names in William's will in Harford County, Maryland. And Philadelphia was near Springfield Township, Pennsylvania, which is where William eventually lived.

More About William Crooks and Mary Weer:

Marriage: November 18, 1736, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

Children of WILLIAM CROOKS and MARY WEER are:

i. WILLIAM2 CROOKS, b. Abt. 1737.

ii. JENETTE CROOKS, b. Abt. 1738.

iii. MARY CROOKS, b. Abt. 1739.

iv. ROSANNA CROOKS, b. Abt. 1740; m. HUGH MCGAUGH; d. 1779, Harford, Maryland.

v. MARGARET CROOKS, b. Abt. 1740.

2. vi. THOMAS CROOKS, b. Abt. 1742; d. Bef. November 1810, Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.

3. vii. HENRY CROOKS, b. Abt. 1743, Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; d. March 10, 1831, Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

viii. ROBERT CROOKS, b. Bet. 1756 - 1760.

 

Generation No. 2

2. THOMAS2 CROOKS (WILLIAM1) was born Abt. 1742, and died Bef. November 1810 in Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. He married JANE COUSIN January 31, 1780 in Harford County, Maryland.

Notes for THOMAS CROOKS:

HISTORY OF OHIO, The American Historical Society, Inc., 1925 Volume I, page 434, 436, 437

TRUMBULL COUNTY

Trumbull County was formed in 1800. On July 10 of that year Governor St. Clair proclaimed that "all that territory included in Jefferson County, lying north of the forty first degree of north latitude and all that part of Wayne county included in the Connecticut Western Reserve should constitute a new county to be known by the name of Trumbull and that the seat of justice should be Warren. This made the new county co-extensive with the Western Reserve.

[I have omitted much of the material on Trumbull County. HMcG]

In 1790, Thomas is still living in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The census lists 1 male 16+, 2 males under 16 and 3 females. I am speculating that these 6 people include Thomas, his wife Jane and 4 children.

-------------------------------

1783 - Listed as having 2 horses and 3 sheep, valued at 9 pounds, 10 shillings. No acreage is listed. Thomas is not listed as single, so presumably he is married. Both Henry and Robert (his brothers) are listed in the same township.

-------------------------------

When the Revolutionary War broke out, William Crooks Jr. and Thomas Crooks were members of Captain William Webb's 16th Company. If William Jr. is a son, he must have died before December of 1776, since he is not mentioned in William Sr's will (The last known date of William Jr's military activity is November 9, 1776). William Crooks was not listed in the 1776 census.

Listed as over 18 years old.

------------------------------

Thomas a settler of 1806 died early and his widow brought up the family. Thomas, late of Warren.

_______________

On October 14, 1775, a Thomas Crooke was a private in Captain Webb's Company No. 16.

In 1776, Thomas Crooks signed the Association of Freemen in Deer Creek Hundred.

In 1778, Thomas was over the age of 18 in Deer Creek Middle Hundred, per the tax lists of 1778.

According to Pennsylvania Archives, Series 5, Volume 4, Thomas Crooks, Esq., private, received depreciation from Washington County militia. (See Page 326.) In addition, he served on the Continental Line in Washington County.

(See page 705.)

In 1783, Thomas Crooks is living in Nottingham Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Thomas Crooks is listed as having 2 horses and 3 sheep, valued at 9 pounds, 10 shillings. No acreage is listed. Thomas is not listed as single, so presumably he is married. Both Henry and Robert (his brothers) are listed in the same township.

In 1790, Thomas is still living in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The census lists 1 male 16+, 2 males under 16 and 3 females. I am speculating that these 6 people include Thomas, his wife Jane and 4 children.

In 1800, a Thomas Crookes is living in Washington County, Pennsylvania, as are his brothers Henry and Robert. Members of the household are 1 male 45+, 1 female 45+, 2 males 26-44, 1 female 26-44, 1 male 16-25, 1 female 16-25, 1 male 10-15, 1 female 0-9. This appears to be Thomas and Jane and possibly 7 of their children.

More About THOMAS CROOKS:

Burial: Kennedy Cemetery

Census: 1790, In 1790, Thomas is still living in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The census lists 1 male 16+, 2 males under 16 and 3 females. I am speculating that these 6 people include Thomas, his wife Jane and 4 children.

Military service: October 14, 1775, Private in Captains Webb's Company Number 16. Military ended about 1776 at Washington County, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Archives, Series 5, Volume 4, Thomas Crooks, Esq., private, received depreciation pay from Washington County militia.

Residence: 1783, Nottingham Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Listed as having 2 horses and 3 sheep, valued at 9 pounds, 10 shillings. No acreage is listed. Thomas is not listed as single, so presumbably he is married.

Notes for JANE COUSIN:

There is a discrepancy in regards to Jane's maiden name. On her son's Samuel Crossin Crook's Death Record - it is written down as Jane Smith. In the photocopy of the handwritten pages out of Elna Smith's Bible - it is written down as Jane Crossen.

Son, Samuel Crossin Crook's middle name is Crossin. Samuel's son Henry Samuel Crooks - had a son named Charles Crossen Crooks.

I believe that the middle name of Crossen or Crossin is a clue to Jane's last name.

Marriage Notes for THOMAS CROOKS and JANE COUSIN:

Three marriage records listed. The second one is for Jane Cussin - January 31, 1781 at Harford, Maryland. The third one is listed as March 17, 1780.

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Marriage

According to "Maryland Marriages, 1778-1800", Robert Barnes (compiler), Genealogical Publishing Company Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1978, page 49, KCMO downtown library. MV 929 3 Ma-bar-2, Thomas Crooks married Jane Cussin on 31 JAN 1781 in Harford County (Maryland). The reference in Harford County Courthouse, 3 HA-3.

According to Harford County, Maryland, Marriage License Book 1, page 3, Thomas Crooks married Jane Cussin on 31 January 1780 in Harford County.

According to 'Early Harford Countians', page 98, Thomas Crooks got a marriage license to Jane Cussin on January 31, 1780. The source referenced was Marriage Records, 1774-1790, at Harford County courthouse.

More About THOMAS CROOKS and JANE COUSIN:

Marriage: January 31, 1780, Harford County, Maryland

Children of THOMAS CROOKS and JANE COUSIN are:

i. HENRY3 CROOKS, d. Branch County, Michigan; m. ?; d. Michigan.

More About HENRY CROOKS:

Burial: Near Coldwater, Branch County, Michigan

ii. ? CROOKS.

iii. ? CROOKS.

4. iv. THOMAS CROOKS, b. Abt. 1789; d. March 08, 1834, Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.

5. v. WILLIAM CROOKS, b. Abt. 1790, Pennsylvania; d. Bef. June 23, 1834, Bayzetta Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.

6. vi. ROBERT CROOKS, b. Bet. 1792 - 1794; d. February 24, 1850, Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.

vii. JOHN CROOKS, b. Bef. 1796; d. Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.

7. viii. SAMUEL CROSSIN CROOKS, b. July 14, 1804, Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio; d. April 10, 1888, Crooks Township, Renville County, Minnesota.

3. HENRY2 CROOKS (WILLIAM1) was born Abt. 1743 in Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and died March 10, 1831 in Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. He married JANE HOWLETT Bet. 1768 - 1769 in Baltimore, Maryland, daughter of ANDREW HOWLETT and MARGARET. She was born Abt. 1753, and died July 15, 1816 in Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Notes for HENRY CROOKS:

1776 Broad Creek Hundred Census lists:

Henry Crooks, age 28

Jane, age 23

Son William, age 5

Son Andrew, age 3

Daughter Margaret, age 6 months

Elizabeth Kerby (?), age 26

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Sometime between 1780 and 1782, three Crooks brothers and their families moved to Washington County in Western Pennsylvania and appear in later Tax and Census records for the area.

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Henry Crooks and Robert Crooks are listed with 76 others who repeated and subscribed to the "Oath of Fidelity" before William Webb, Esquire in 1778; Henry's father-in-law, Andrew and his brother-in-law, James Howlett were also in the group.

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Henry and his brothers, Thomas and Robert were Revolutionary War soldier in Maryland and later in Pennsylvania. Henry is listed in the 5th Class of Captain Bruce's Company.

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Mortgage to Hugh Orlton, film #0172875 (Bucks County Deeds, 1742-9, Volume 3, page 133).

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BIRTH:

According to his military tombstone at Raccoon Presbyterian Church cemetery, Henry Crooks Sr., Revolutionary War patriot, was born in 1743.

According to his primary tombstone at Raccoon Presbyterian Church cemetery, Henry Crooks Sr., departed this life March the 10th. 1831 in the 88th year of his age.

According to 'The Crooks Family document from Miriam Bolick, Henry Crooks was the son of William Crooks and Mary Wier, and was born in 1743 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

According to the will of William Crooks (Harford County, Maryland wills, Liber AJ2, page 85-86), William Crooks had a son Henry. Since this son is listed first when he mentions his 3 sons, and since Henry was designated administrator of the estate, it is presumed that Henry is the eldest surviving son. Since William mentions his wife Mary, it seems likely that Mary is the mother of Henry.

According to the 1776 census of Broad Creek hundred, harford County, Maryland, Henry Crooks was 28 years of age. This implies a birth year of 1747 or 1748.

Based on land records for his father William. William would have resided in Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1743, so presumably this is where his son Henry was born.

MARRIAGE:

According to the "A History of the Family of William Crooks, 1738-1830" from Don Harper, Henry and Jane married in Baltimore County about 1768 or 1769. I am assuming that this is based on the facts that Henry and Jane were residing in Harford County in 1776, that Harford County was created from Baltimore County in 1773, and that the eldest child of Henry/Jane was 5 years old in 1776, which probably indicates a marriage at least by 1770.

We know that Henry's wife was Jane. We believe that this was Jane Howlett, because 1) Andrew Howlett names Margarett Crooks as his granddaughter. 2) Naming conventions bear the out: Henry and Jane named their second son Andrew, which is typically named after the maternal grandfather. Henry and Jane named their eldest daughter Margaret, which is typically named after the maternal grandmother.

BURIAL:

Henry Crooks Senior is buried in the Raccoon Presbyterian church cemetery. This cemetery is located near Candor in Washington County, Pennsylvania. His primary tombstone reads 'In memory of Henry Crooks Se'r who departed this life March the 10th 1831 in the 88th year of his age'. The military tombstone reads 'Henry Crooks Sr., Pennsylvania, Pvt 5 CL Washington Co mil, Revolutionary War, 1743-1831'.

NARRATIVE:

There are several early land transactions for a Henry Crooks in Baltimore County, but I do not know if they are for this Henry or not. Since they were dated 1764-1769, Henry would have been 21-25 years of age. But since he married in 1770, this does not seem possible. Perhaps the earliest land transaction is for the Henry Crooks formerly of Bucks County, the mysterious father/brother of William. In the first transaction, in 1764, Henry Crooks purchases 125 acres ("Watson's Trust") from Benjamin Harris and wife. (Book N, page 470) Second, in 1766, Henry Crooks/Crooke purchased 38 acres ("Absolom's Resolution") from Absolom Butler. Third, in 1769, Henry Crooks purchases 240 acres ("Ambrose and Lot augmented"?) from Ambrose Geoghegan.

According to the Tax Lists of 1774 for Harford County, Henry Crooks was living in Deer Creek, Upper Hundred and taxable, implying an age of 18+. Other taxables were William and Thomas Crooks and a Negro Phillis. Is this William Henry's father or brother? Is Robert not mentioned because he is under 18?

According to the 1776 Maryland census (completed 15 AUG), Henry Crooks lived in the Broad Creek Hundred in Harford County. Members of his household were: Henry (28), Jane (23), William (5), Andrew (3), Margarett (6 mos.) and Elizabeth Kerby (26).

According to the Tax Lists of 1778 for Harford County, Henry Crooks was living in Broad Creek Hundred and taxable, implying an age of 18+. Also in 1778, Henry Crooks signed an oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland.

On September, 1778, Henry Crooks was the executor of the will of his deceased father William, according to "Index to Wills Probated Between 1774 and 1790".

Even though the Revolutionary War broke out when Henry was still living in Maryland, he does not appear to have had any involvement in the war in that state. In 1778, he took the oath of fidelity before William Webb in compliance with a Maryland law enacted in Feb 1777, requiring all males to sign an oath. Henry signed his name, and therefore was presumably literate.

On 29 March 1780, Margaret Crooks gives a deed of conveyance to William Ashmore. Margaret Crooks is identified as "of Harford County relict and administratrix of Wm Crooks late of Harford County deceased", so perhaps she went by Margaret as well as Mary. Henry Crooks is a co-seller, 'of the same place, Son and heir at law of this said William Crooks deceased'. This deed appears to be a formality since William Crooks in his lifetime conveyed 25 acres of "Giles and Webster's Discovery" on the south side of Broad Creek to Wm Ashmore for the sum of 32 pounds. The bond that William gave at this time bore the date 10 Oct 1772. (A detailed description of this parcel of land is given, although it is difficult to read.) This document is signed by Henry Crooks and Margaret Crooks made her mark. Witnesses were Wm Smithson and James Gile. In addition, Jane Crooks, wife of Henry, came forward and acknowledged outside the presence of her husband her release of her dower rights to this land. (Presumably, this was a measure to prevent coercion by the husband.) The deed of conveyance was received and recorded 6 Sep 1780 by John Lee Gibson, clerk.

On November 10, 1780, Henry Crooks, farmer, conveyed land to Joseph Miller for the sum of 23, 160 pounds. The land consisted of three tracts of and amounting to 400 acres. The 3 tracts were: Johnson's Chance, Ashmore's Retirement and Onion's Meadow Ground. Since Henry was identified as of Harford County, he had not yet moved to southwest Pennsylvania. The indenture was signed by Henry Crooks and witnessed by John Patrick and Thomas Crooks (brother). Furthermore, Mary Crooks, widow and mother to Henry Crooks, and Jane Crooks, his wife, relinquished their rights to the property. The legal language is interesting. 'Being privately examined whether they willingly and freely without being induced thereto by fear or threats or of ill usage by said son and husband of for fear of his displeasure acknowledge the same to be the right title and interest of said Joseph Miller'. These statements by Mary and Jane were witnessed by John Patrick and Ignatious Wheeler.

Prior to moving to western Pennsylvania, son Henry and perhaps daughter Jane were born. (Based on two western Pennsylvania sources, however, Jane was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania.) Henry and Jane named their first six children according to the naming conventions of the day. The only exception is that if they had followed the convention strictly, Jane would have been named Mary and Mary would have been named Jane. Another explanation is that a daughter Mary was born about 1779 and died in the early 1780's. And actually, I think this is the most plausible explanation.

Since daughter Jane was born in the spring or early summer of 1781 and since she was presumably born near Candor in Washington County, the Crooks brothers must have moved to western Pennsylvania by this time. After his arrival, Henry did perform patriotic service. Henry was a private, 5th. class, in the Second Battalion of Washington County, Pennsylvania militia. He was in the company of Captain William Bruce and was ordered to rendezvous on 14 JUN 1782. It appears that he also was actively serving in 1783. In addition, it appears that his brother Robert was a private in the same company. Henry Crooks' patriotic service is documented by the DAR application by Nina M. Clark Marlatt. It is also documented by the DAR application by Jane Tweed Bell.

(Jane references PA Archives, Sixth Series, Volume 2, pages 47 & 76.)

According to the 1783 tax list of Washington County, Henry Crooks owned 3 horses, 1 cow and 8 sheep, valued at 39 pounds. No acreage was reported. A Thomas Crooks and a Robert Crooks were both listed in the same township. Furthermore, no Crooks are listed in the 1783 tax list for Broad Creek Hundred in Harford County, Maryland.

The 1790 census presents a riddle. The census reports Henry as living in Allegheny County, in Moon (First) Township. Don Harper is speculating that Henry actually lived in Robinson Township. His reasoning is that the border between the 2 counties/townships was unclear in 1790, since land was taken from Washington County in 1788 and 1789 and given to Allegheny County. Don Harper found Henry Crooks on the 1793 tax list for Robinson township and Dorothy Crooks found Henry Crooks on the 1789 tax list for Robinson township. The census lists 3 males 16+, 1 male 0-15 and 4 females. A second entry lists 2 males under 16 years.) This corresponds to Henry, wife Jane, William, Andrew, henry, John, Margaret, Jane and Mary.

In 1800, Henry Crooks Sr. lived in Washington county. Members of the household were: 1 male 45+, 1 female 45+, 1 male 16-25, 1 female 10-15, 1 male 0-9 and 1 female 0-9. This corresponds to Henry, wife Jane, son Henry Jr., daughter Mary, son John, and unidentified daughter. But where is his daughter Margaret? She should have been 24 or 25 years of age. Perhaps she is married, widowed early and lived the rest of her life with her father.

Based on notes from the McFarland clan, the earliest identified purchase by Henry Crooks Sr. in Washington County was on 29 DEC 1801, when he purchased 306 acres of land in Robinson Run from James Ross and his wife for 175 pounds.

Based on plat maps, the land was called "Omi" and was immediately adjacent to Allegheny County and land owned by John McDonald. It appears that the original plat of land consisted of 333 acres, was warranted 21 APR 1790, surveyed 16 AUG 1790 and patented 21 DEC 1801 to the warrantee. (Patent number looks like P47-56.) It appears that Hames Ross immediately turned around and sold the land to Henry. It makes me wonder if they didn't have a earlier arrangement that was simply held up because of the length of time it took to obtain the patent.

In 1810, Henry Crooks Sr. lived in Robinson Township in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Household member were: 1 male 45+, 1 female 45+, 1 female 26-44 and 1 male 16-25. I believe that this is Henry, wife Jane, daughter Margaret and son John.

According to the 1820 census, Henry Crooks Sr. resided in Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, Other Crooks in the township were Henry Crooks Jr. and John, most likely sons of Heny Sr. (John was listed twice.) Members of the household were: 1 male 45+, 1 female 45+, 1 female 26-44, 1 male 10-15, 2 males 0-9 and 2 females 0-9. The 2 eldest persons are Henry Sr. and his unmarried daughter Margaret. I am wonder if the female 26-44 is his daughter Mary, with the 5 children being Mary's.

Based on notes from the McFarland clan, the latest sale of land by Henry Crooks Sr. was on June 23, 1823, when he sold a tract of land in Robinson Tun to his son Henry Jr. (Volume 2G, page 134)

On July 13, 1825, Henry Crooks Senior of Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, wrote his will. His heirs were sons William, Andrew, Henry, John; daughters Jane Burns, Mary McKillip and Margaret. He gave 2 dollars to each child except Margaret and then gave the remainder of his estate to Margaret.

It appears that Margaret was his only unmarried daughter and took care of him in his declining years. He appointed his friend James McAdams and his son Henry as executors of his will. Witnesses to the will were John R. McEwen and John Crooks (his son). Letters testamentary were issued March 21, 1831.

According to the 1830 census, Henry Crooks Sr. resided in Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Other Crooks in the township were Henry Crooks Jr. and John, both his sons. Members of the household were: 1 male 70-79 and 1 female (50-59). This is relatively consistent with Henry Crooks and his daughter Margaret. Henry would in fact have been 87 years old, bit I believe the census record was in error. Margaret would have been 54 years old. She never married and was the primary heir of Henry's will, Henry dying in 1831. According to Doris Smith, Henry's home was near McDonald in Washington County.

BIO SUMMARY:

XX XXX 1743: Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Henry was born. XX XXX 1752: ????

Jane was born, 1768-1769: Baltimore County ?, Maryland.

Henry Crooks married Jane Howlett, estimate. XX XXX 1770: Baltimore County, Maryland.

Son William was born. XX XXX 1773: Harford/Baltimore County, Maryland.

Son Andrew was born. 1775-1776: Harford County, Maryland.

Daughter Margaret was born. XX XXX 1776: Broad Creek Hundred, Harford County, Maryland.

Henry Crooks lived with his wife, 3 children and one servant. XX XXX 1777: Harford County, Maryland.

Henry Crooks was on a committee to appraise the estate of Wm. Crooks. XX XXX 1777: Harford County, Maryland.

Son Henry Jr. was born. XX XXX 1778: Harford County, Maryland.

Henry took the oath of fidelity before William Webb. 29 MAR 1780: Harford County, Maryland.

Mary ? and Henry deed "Giles and Websters Discovery" to Wm. Ashmore. 10 NOV 1780: Harford County, Maryland.

Henry et. al sold Johnson's Chance, Ashmore's Retirement and Onions Meadow Ground. 29 JUN 1781: Candor, Washington County, Pennsylvania. (Date might have been May 4).

Daughter Jane was born. 14 JUN 1782: Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry rendezvoused as a private in Captain Bruce's company. XX XXX 1783: Nottingham Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry Crooks was on the tax list. 1784-1790: Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Daughter Mary was born. XX XXX 1789: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry was on the tax list. XX XXX 1790: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry was residing with his family. XX XXX 1790: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Son John was born. XX XXX 1793: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry was on the tax list. 1790-1800

Eighth child (daughter) was born, but died young. XX XXX 1800: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry Crooks Sr. was on the tax list. 29 DEC 1801: Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry purchased 306 acres of land. 27 JUN 1809: Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry and Jane sold 104 of the 306 acres to Henry Jr. 15 JUL 1816: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Jane died. XX XXX 1820: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry Crooks Senior resided with his wife and 6 others. 23 JUN 1823: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry Crooks Sr. sells land to Henry Jr. (Last land transaction) 13 JUL 1825: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry Crooks Senior writes his will. XX XXX 1830: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry resided with his daughter Margaret. 10 MAR 1831: Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Henry Crooks Sr. died.

More About HENRY CROOKS: Census: August 15, 1776, Broad Creek Hundred, Harford County, Maryland

More About HENRY CROOKS and JANE HOWLETT: Marriage: Bet. 1768 - 1769, Baltimore, Maryland

Children of HENRY CROOKS and JANE HOWLETT are:

8. i. WILLIAM3 CROOKS, b. Abt. 1770, Harford County, Maryland; d. November 26, 1853, Mechanicsburg, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

9. ii. ANDREW CROOKS, b. Abt. 1773, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; d. January 08, 1849.
iii. MARGARET CROOKS, b. Abt. 1775; d. Abt. 1832.

10. iv. HENRY RICHARD CROOKS, b. Abt. 1777, Harford County, Maryland; d. November 15, 1868, Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

v. JANE CROOKS, b. May 04, 1781, Candor, Washington County, Pennsylvania; d. September 29, 1865; m. JOHN BURNS, March 15, 1798; b. October 30, 1774, Findlay Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; d. March 20, 1854.

More About JANE CROOKS: Burial: Clinton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

More About JOHN BURNS: Burial: Clinton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

More About JOHN BURNS and JANE CROOKS: Marriage: March 15, 1798

vi. MARY CROOKS, b. Bet. 1784 - 1790.

11. vii. JOHN CROOKS, b. Abt. 1790, Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania; d. February 27, 1847."

Notes on Harford County, Maryland, in the Revolutionary War

These notes need polishing, but I thought the data worth publishing in this rough form. The information relates to the military organizations in and around the Deer Creek Upper Hundred in Harford county, Maryland, in 1775 and 1776. This material generally does not deal with the many militia companies formed later than 1776.

The following book by Henry C. Peden, Jr., is available by subscription on Genealogy.com, and has been invaluable in preparing this page:

Revolutionary Patriots of Harford County, Maryland 1775-1783. The more than 3,600 men named in this book rendered active service in the cause of American independence between 1775 and 1783, either as an officer, soldier, seaman, marine, militiaman, or minuteman in the armed forces of the Continental Congress. (1985), 2000. 271 pages

Henry C. Peden, Jr., has also authored a work, originally in two volumes. Here are descriptions of the second volume and a supplement issued as a third volume:

Early Harford Countians, volume 2: L to Z Volumes 1 and 2 have been extracted from the following: Tax list of 1774, 1776 (missing two Hundreds now contained in the supplement), 1778, 1783, censuses of 1776 and 1790; Dr. Archer's ledgers; Orphan's Court Proceedings; Family Bibles; Estate Administrations; registers of St. Johns, St. George's, Quaker monthly meetings of Deer Creek and little Falls; wills; court minutes; commercial licenses; survey certificates; land records index; marriage licenses; gleanings from various publications such as the Bulletin of the Historical Society of Harford County and other periodicals and histories; list of Non-Associators and Non-Enrolles in 1775; tombstone inscriptions. Over 30,000 entries. (1993), new format in 1999.

There was a supplement in a third volume:

Early Harford Countians, volume 3 Volume 3 is a supplement containing the 1775 census and two hundreds (subdivisions) of the 1776 census which were inadvertently omitted from the initial publication—along with corrections to the earlier volumes 1 and 2. (1999), 2001. 115 pages

He followed up on this work with another volume:

Inhabitants of Harford County, Maryland, 1791-1800. A follow-up to Mr. Peden's 1993 massive work on Harford County, Maryland inhabitants - which covered the years 1773 to 1790. This work continues to follow those residents up to the year 1800, bringing the 18th century to completion. Data has been taken from a wide variety of sources. Alphabetical. Includes maps. (1999), 2001. 373 pages.

As I was looking for ways to examine these books, I discovered that Henry C. Peden, Jr., is available to do genealogical research in Harford county. I engaged his services and found that he also has many privately published pamphlets and other private sources that he has developed. His work was great, his research exhaustive, and his prices reasonable. His email address is <pedenroots@msn.com>. His snail-mail address is:

Henry C. Peden, Jr., FMGS
707 Belford Road
Bel Air, MD 21014–4424

His telephone number is: 410–879–8717.

Archives of Maryland

The Archives of Maryland has published on the Internet a phenomenal collection of material on Maryland in the Revolutionary War. Especially valuable to me were the early records of the Maryland Convention and the Maryland Council of Safety. These sources are cited often on this page:

Journal of the Maryland Convention July 26 to August 14, 1775 (volume 11)

Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, held at the City of Annapolis, in 1774, 1775 & 1776. (volume 78)

Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775 to July 6, 1776 (volume 11)

Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7, 1776 to December 31, 1776 (volume 12)

Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution (volume 18)

Other volumes that complete the set of the records of the Council of Safety are:

Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Safety January 1 - March 20, 1777 (volume 16)

Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, March 20, 1777 - March 28, 1778 (volume 16)

Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, October 27, 1779 - November 13, 1780 (volume 43)

Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, November 13, 1780 - November 13, 1781 (volume 45)

Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, January 1, 1781 - December 31, 1781 (volume 47)

Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, November 19, 1781 - November 11, 1784 (volume 48)

Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, November 27, 1784 - February 23, 1789 (volume 71)

Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, February 23, 1789 to November 11, 1793 (volume 72)

In the material below, I have made copious links to these sources. There is a gold mine of information on the structure and recruiting of militia, commissioning of officer, equipping and arming companies, and the like; and I have inserted (for example, in the discussion of Captain Francis Holland's Company of Harford Greens) much unnecessary but interesting data—in the hope of encouraging the reader to go to the sources for more detail.

Maryland Historical Society— Library of Maryland History

The The H. Furlong Baldwin Library at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore has several documents that I hope to examine some day.

Here is a sampler:

Hall, Benedict Edward, Papers, MS.1297. "Letters to Benedict Edward Hall of Harford County from Benjamin  Rumsey, Otho H. Williams, John Eager Howard, Samuel Smith, 1773-1780.  Many of these letters relate to the proceedings of the Maryland Convention  of 1776. Also included is MS. copy of minutes of Committee of Safety of  Harford County, 1774–1777 (original owned by Harford County Historical  Society).  29 items, 1759–1824." 

Harford County Historical Society Papers MS.2000. "A collection of papers relative to Harford County and its residents, and to the county's role in State and National affairs, c. 1660–1936. ... Lists of taxables in the hundreds of the county, 1774–1776. County militia subscribers, 1775–1776. Lists of subscribers to the Association of Freemen of Maryland, 1775–1776. Lists of persons taking the Oath of Allegiance in 1778. County election returns, 1789–1812. c. 4,000 papers of the Hall family (Aquila Hall, etc.), including account books, ledgers, deeds, bills, receipts, etc., and business correspondence relating to the shipping and mercantile interests of several generations of the family, c. 1700-mid 19th century. A collection of c. 4,000 papers of members of the Archer family, concerned with business and miscellaneous ventures, 1700- early 20th century. ... Military items, including letters, muster rolls, commissions, recruiting service letters, quartermasters' receipts, bounty rolls, 1754–1865. ... c. 36,000 items, c. 1660–1936."

Harford County Revolutionary Committee Proceedings, MS.655. "Proceedings of the Revolutionary Committee of Harford County, Maryland, covering c. January, 1775-March, 1776. 41 (positive and negative) photostats. 41 items, 1775-1776." (Available as part of an appendix to History of Harford County, Maryland from 1608 (The Year of Smith's Expedition) to the close of the War of 1812 by Walter W. Preston, A.M., Bel Air Maryland (originally published on the Press of Sun Book Office in Baltimore in 1901), pages 278–344 under the heading: Minutes of the Harford County Committees Before and During the Revolution. See the Table of Contents: History of Harford Countty, Maryland, on the Maryland Genealogy Express under Harford County. A full text of Preston's book is in the Internet Archives. See also the website of the Maryland Historical Society)

Bush Declaration

A plaque at Harford town says that the Bush Declaration was "the first declaration of independence" from Great Britain adopted in America by an elected body of men. The declaration was proclaimed on March 22, 1775, in Harford town, which was also known as Bush. The Bush River Declaration is described in Harford county as a "prototype of the Declaration of Independence."

The act of the Assembly of Maryland in November and December of 1773 established Harford county and provided that the county seat be at "Bush-town, on the head of Bush river; and the said town, after the commencement of this act, shall be called Harford-town." (Hanson's Laws of Maryland 1763–1784, Volume 203, page 78) Harford town was on the route from Baltimore and points south to Philadelphia and New York. The description of the assembly gives us a clue to the origin of the name of Harford county:

"At a SESSION of ASSEMBLY, begun and held at the city of ANNAPOLIS, on Tuesday the sixteenth day of November, in the 3d year of the dominion of the Right Honourable HENRY HARFORD, Esq; absolute lord and proprietary of the province of Maryland, and ended the 23d day of December, anno domini 1773."

Harford town was the county seat of Harford county from March of 1774 when the county was organized, until 1782 (or thereabouts) when the county seat was moved to Aquila Scott's Old Field at Bel Air. The new site was picked by popular vote. The new courthouse in Bel Air was not completed until March of 1793. (See The County Courthouses and Records of Maryland—Part 1: The Courthouses, Volume 545, page 93)

The motto on the great seal of Harford county is "At the Risque of Our Lives and Fortunes." These are the last eight words of the Bush Declaration.

On March 22, 1775, a committee of 34 Harford county men, duly elected, met at the Bush Tavern, and passed this resolution:

"We the Committee of Harford County, having most seriously and maturely considered the Resolves and Association of the Continental Congress, and the Resolves of the Provincial Convention, do most heartily approve of the same, and as we esteem ourselves in a more particular manner intrusted by our constituents to see them carried into execution, we do most solemnly pledge ourselves to each other, and to our Country, and engage ourselves by every tie held sacred among mankind to perform the same at the risque of our lives and fortunes."

Signers were:

George W. Archer, M.D., a prolific Harford county historian, raised the hackles on the necks of fellow residents of Harford county by arguing that the Bush Declaration was not a declaration of independence. This was not a politically correct view in Harford county in 1900. Dr. Archer gave an address at the dedication of the "Bush Declaration" plaque in 1900. He almost certainly argued that the Bush Declaration should not be considered a declaration of independence. The Harford County Historical Society, in 1895, had commissioned Dr. Archer to write a history of the county, but the book was never published and only fragments of the manuscript have been found. The Society, or at least some member of it, apparently then furnished to Walter W. Preston much of the material that had been prepared and presented by various member in preparation for Dr. Archer's book. Dr. Archer felt, in 1902, that support of his book had faltered in "retaliation for [his] arguing that the Bush Declaration was not a declaration of independence." See: George W. Archer Historical Scrapbooks, 1859–1930 (Maryland Historical Society). Dr. Archer was born in 1824 (or possibly in September of 1825) and died in Emmorton, Harford county, on February 16, 1907. The diagnosis was "senile disability."

Dr. Archer felt that another historian of Harford county, Walter W. Preston, "stole" much of his work and used it in his book published in 1901: The History of Harford County (Baltimore: Press of Sun Book Office, 1901). Walter W. Preston was born on January 14, 1863 to James B. and Mary Wilkes Preston at the family's homestead near Preston's Mill on Deer Creek. He graduated from Princeton in 1881 and the Maryland School of Law in 1883. He served as the State Attorney General for Harford county from 1891 to 1900. He was appointed as Judge in 1921, and held this office for 15 years, until 1936. His older brother, James Harry Preston, served two consecutive terms as the elected mayor of Baltimore from 1911 to 1919. Walter W. Preston's treatment in his History of Harford County of the issue of whether the Bush Declaration should be considered a declaration of independence is a rebuttal of the argument of Dr. Archer, and doubtless a view much more acceptable to the member of the Harford County Historical Society::

"This association with the leading men of the colonies, bore fruit in the passage of a resolution by the committee of Harford county on the 22nd day of March, 1775, which may properly be called the first Declaration of Independence by any representative body in America. The committee of Harford county was not in any sense a mass-meeting. Its members were duly elected by ten thousand white people of the county; the thirty-four names signed to the resolution were the leading men of the new county, and their descendants are justly proud of this signal evidence of the courage and patriotism of their ancestors. The terms of the resolution, even without the aid of the knowledge of the resolves and association of the Continental Congress and the resolves of the Provincial Convention, indicate beyond a doubt that the signers realized that they were not dealing in mere glittering generalities, but that it was necessary for them to hang together, so that they might avoid the unpleasant alternative of hanging separately.

"When it was considered necessary to close the resolution with these words, 'We do most solemnly pledge ourselves to each other, and to our country, and engage ourselves by every tie held sacred among mankind, to perform the same at the risque of our lives and fortunes,' we may know that the signers had a full realization of the meaning of their famous declaration and of the work in which they were about to engage. ... [The text of the resolution follows.]

"In this declaration is foreshadowed Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and Long Island, Trenton, Monmouth and Princeton, and the final triumph at Yorktown.

"When we consider that the Resolves of the Continental Congress were the Bill of Rights defining the privileges of English speaking people everywhere, and that the signers to the Bush declaration declared their intention to see them carried into execution at the risk of their lives and fortunes, we may consider that except in detail this declaration breathed the same spirit as Jefferson's instrument of more than a year later." History of Harford County, pages 100–2.

Declaration of Association of Freemen

The Declaration of the Association of the Freemen of Maryland was adopted by the Maryland convention on July 26, 1775, and subscribed to by the men of Harford county, Maryland, in 1775 and 1776. The Declaration expressed opposition to the "uncontrollable tyranny" of Great Britain and resolved that the united colonies "be immediately put into a state of defence" and raise an army, at joint expense, "to restrain the further violence and repel the future attacks of a disappointed and exasperated enemy."

Here is the text of the Declaration from the printed document signed by Hugh McGough in 1776:

A s s o c i a t i o n

OF THE FREEMEN Of

M a r y l a n d.

July 26, 1775

"The long premeditated, and now avowed design of the British government, to raise a revenue from the property of the colonists without their consent, on the gift, grant and disposition of the commons of Great Britain; the arbitrary and vindictive statutes passed under colour of punishing a riot, to subdue by military force, and by famine, the Massachusetts Bay; the unlimited power assumed by Parliament to alter the charter of that province, and the constitution of all the colonies, thereby destroying the essential securities of the lives, liberties and properties of the colonists; the commencement of hostilities by the ministerial forces, and the cruel prosecution of the war against the people of the Massachusetts Bay, followed by General Gage's proclamation, declaring almost the whole of the inhabitants of the united colonies, by name, or description, rebels and traitors, are sufficient causes to arm a free people in defence of their liberty, and to justify resistance, no longer dictated by prudence merely, but by necessity, and leave no alternative but base submission or manly opposition to uncontrollable tyranny. The Congress chose the latter, and for the express purpose of securing and defending the united colonies and preserving them in safety, against all attempts to carry the above-mentioned Acts into execution by force of arms, RESOLVED, that the said colonies be immediately put into a state of defence, and now supports, at the joint expense, an army to restrain the further violence and repel the future attacks of a disappointed and exasperated Enemy,

"WE therefore, Inhabitants of the province of Maryland, firmly persuaded that it is necessary and justifiable to repel force by force, do approve of the opposition by arms to the British troops employed to enforce obedience to the late acts and statutes of the British parliament, for raising a revenue in America, and altering and changing the charter and constitution of the Massachusetts Bay, and for destroying the essential securities for the lives, liberties, and properties of the subjects in the united colonies. And WE do unite and associate, as one band, and firmly and solemnly engage and pledge ourselves to each other, and to America, that we will, to the utmost of our power, promote and support the present opposition, carrying on as well by arms, as by the continental association restraining our Commerce.

"AND as in these times of Public danger, and until a reconciliation with Great Britain on constitutional principles is effected (an event, we most ardently wish may soon take place) the energy of government may be greatly impaired, so that even zeal unrestrained may be productive of anarchy and confusion; WE do in like manner unite, associate and solemnly engage, in maintenance of good order, and the public peace, to support the civil power in the due execution of the laws, so far as may be consistent with the present plan of opposition; and to defend with our utmost power all persons from every species of outrage to themselves or their property, and to prevent any punishment, from being inflicted on any offenders, other than such, as shall be adjudged by the civil magistrate, the continental congress, our convention, council of safety, or committees of observation."

The articles of association signed by John McGeaugh and Miles McGeaugh at about the same time contains the same words, but many more words are capitalized and the type style and format of the printed part of the document are different.

William Webb and Ignatius Wheeler, Jr., were delegates of Harford county to the convention that adopted the Declaration and were among the original signers of the Declaration.

The convention required free men within the province of Maryland to subscribe to the Declaration:

"That the Committees of Observation, in every County, as soon as conveniently may be, appoint persons in each Parish, or Hundred, to offer or carry the said Association to all Freemen resident within their County, (the Household of His Excellency the Governor excepted) and require their subscription to the same, which Associations, when subscribed shall be returned by the Committees to the Convention. And in case any Freeman within their County, shall not subscribe upon application, or within ten days thereafter, his name shall be returned by the said Committee to the next Convention, to the end that the Convention may take order therein.

Minutemen and Militia

The Maryland Convention of July 1775 went on to direct the formation of forty companies of Minutemen in the Province of Maryland:

"Resolved, That there be forty Companies of Minute men enrolled in this Province, as soon as may be, each of which companies to consist of one Captain, two Lieutenants one Ensign, four Sergeants, four Corporals, one Drummer, one Fifer and 68 privates; and that the said forty companies be enrolled in the Counties and proportions following, to wit: ... Harford 3 ...

"And that for the enrolment of every such Company, a proper person be appointed by the Committee of each respective County, to enlist a sufficient number of men, who shall voluntarily offer themselves to make up the non-commissioned Officers and privates of each of the said Companies, for their respective County, in the enrolment of whom, care shall be had, that the men be strong and effective, and live as convenient may be for their frequent and ready assembling and" exercising together.

On Monday, January 4, 1776, the Maryland Convention directed that there be no more enrolments in minute men companies, and that the companies already organized be disbanded by March 1, 1776. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 73.)

The Maryland Council of Safety, on Monday, August 14, 1775, directed that all able-bodied freemen between 16 and 50 who were not Minutemen enroll in a company of militia:

"That every able bodied effective Freeman within this Province between sixteen and fifty years of age, (clergymen of all denominations, practising physicians, the Household of His Excellency the Governor, Minute and Artillery men, and such persons who from their religious principles cannot bear arms in any case, excepted) as soon as may be, and at farthest before the fifteenth day of September next, shall enrol himself in some Company of Militia, in the following Form to wit,

"We whose names are subscribed do hereby enrol ourselves into a Company of Militia, agreeable to the Resolutions of the Provincial Convention held at Annapolis the 26th day of July 1775, and we do promise and engage, that we will respectively march to such places within this Province, and at such times as we shall be commanded by the Convention or the Council of Safety of this Province, or by our Officers in pursuance of the orders of the said Convention or Council; and there, with our whole power fight against whomsoever we shall be commanded by such authority as aforesaid.

"Witness our Hands this day of 1775.

"That each Company of Militia consist of such Officers as are recommended by former Resolutions of the Convention, and of about 68 privates. That each Company already formed, if it now is, or before the fifteenth day of September next shall be made up to fifty privates or upwards, and shall have subscribed the said form of enrolment, shall confirm their Election of Officers already made, or elect others in their stead, by Ballot, as they shall think proper; and that officers be so chosen for all Companies which shall be hereafter formed, as recommended by the said former Resolves; after which confirmation and Elections, and before the first day of October next, each Captain of Militia shall transmit a Roll of his Company to the Committee of Observation, which shall be appointed for his County, who shall as soon as may be, transmit a memorandum or certificate of the names of the Captain, Lieutenants and Ensign, and of the numbers of non-commissioned Officers and privates, to the Council of Safety, in order that commissions may issue in the name of the Convention, to those Officers, which shall be done by the same convention, or Council of Safety as aforesaid.

"That no Company shall exceed the number of 74 Privates, or consist of less than fifty, and if a greater number than 74 shall be enrolled in any one Company, then the Enrolment of any, after the first 68 effective privates, shall be deemed void; and such shall enrol in some other Company; and if a number of men shall be enrolled not amounting to fifty privates besides sufficient for non-commissioned Officers for any one Company, they shall not be considered as a Company: yet as the local circumstances of some neighbourhoods, may make it very inconvenient for a full Company of Militia to meet weekly for Exercise, on one and the same place, in such case, the Officers may appoint two places, at each of which, a several part of the Company may be mustered, not oftener than three times out of four, so that every fourth time at least the whole be mustered together. That no Company be permitted to choose officers before a sufficient number of men be enrolled to make up 50 privates besides non-commissioned Officers.

"That after enrolment in pursuance of these Resolves, no man be permitted to leave the Company in which he shall have been enrolled without the consent of his Captain in writing.

"That the Committee of Observation in each County make diligent enquiry after, and transmit to the Convention, or Council of Safety, the name of every able bodied effective Freeman, as aforesaid in their respective County, if there shall be any such, who shall not enrol himself, either as a Minute, or Artillery man, or in the Militia, according to the preceding Resolves; to the end that the Convention may take order therein; against whom no further proceedings or measures shall be taken, but by the future order of the Convention.

"That the Committee of observation for each County shall divide the Militia of their County into Battalions or Companies of Light Infantry, each of which Battalions to consist of such eight Companies of Militia, as the same Committee shall appoint; and the same Committee also assigning to each Battalion one Company of Light Infantry, which Light Infantry, shall be armed in such manner, as the Council of Safety shall direct, and that to each of the said Battalions, there be one Colonel, one Lieutenant-Colonel, two Majors, one Quartermaster and one adjutant who shall be appointed and commissioned by the Delegates of this Province sitting in Convention, or at any time when they are not sitting in Convention, by the Council of Safety, in the name of the Convention; which Officers shall rank and martial the Companies of their respective Battalions.

"That every Company of Militia be exercised one day in every week, and that every Battalion of Militia be exercised in Battalion, at such times and places as the Field Officers of the Battalion shall appoint; not oftener than once in every month, nor seldomer than once in every two months, the day of exercise in Battalion being accounted as the day of exercise for that week. ...

"That every non-commissioned Officer and private, of the Minutemen and Militia appear at the time and place appointed for their respective appearance for mustering, with his Firelock and other accoutrements in good order and then orderly, diligently and obediently to attend to instruction and perform his Exercise in Arms, according to the Commands and orders of his Officers; and if any Minute or Militia-man shall not appear at the time and place of Muster with his Firelock and other accoutrements in good order, having no reasonable excuse, or shall not there, after appearance, behave himself decently, or in a manner, suitable to the attention and care requisite in such Exercise, he shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five shillings Common money, for every such neglect or misbehaviour; which shall be determined by the Captain, Lieutenants and Ensign, or any two of them either on their own View, or on Representation and proof thereof; and on non-payment shall be committed to the Custody of the Sergeant of his Company, till payment."

Upon the disbanding of the minutemen in early 1776, the convention passed essentially the same resolution requiring all able-bodied men of 16 to 50 to join the militia. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 74.) The convention also decreed:

"That to avoid a needless and insupportable expense, no person after the tenth day of May next, wear any uniform at exercise, either in single companies or in battalion, but hunting shirts, the officers distinguishing themselves from the privates by different feathers, cockades, or the like, as fancy may direct."

Harford County Committee of Observation

The First Continental Congress convened on September 5, 1774, in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. On October 20, 1774, the "Continental Association" was formed—to stop the importation of British goods to America and the consumption of British products, and to stop exportation of American goods to Britain. The resolution called for the formation of local elective “committees of observation” in every county and town to enforce the Association. "The committeemen became leaders of the revolution on the local level and gained increasing power as time went on [they spied on people and attacked dissenters in addition to overseeing the boycott]." (The Giant AHAP Review Outline by Susanna, Horace Greeley High School.) The committees gradually took over governmental powers from the governors appointed by the British.

"The Patriots were actually in effect seizing control of local government from royal governors and disbanded colonial assemblies. Patriot members of rural town meetings and county courts took command of the local institutions of government and elected their associates to the provincial assemblies. These assemblies expanded their powers and prerogatives without the approval of royal governors but most other people accepted or acquiesced in the process." (The Road To Independence by P. Scott Corbett)

The elected committee that adopted the Bush Declaration on March 22, 1775, apparently served as the original Committee of Observation for Harford county (see above).

The Proceedings and Resolutions of the Harford County Committee of Observation are MSA C946 MSA C949 in the County Agency Series Listing at the Maryland State Archives. The online archives may be searched by the use of phrases (within quotation marks).

The Maryland Convention of July, 1775, made the Committee of Observation of each county responsible for collecting signatures to the Articles of Association.

"That the committees of observation in every county, as soon as conveniently may be, appoint persons in each parish or hundred, to offer or carry the said association to all freemen resident within their county (the household of his excellency the governor except- ed) and require their subscription to the same, which association, when subscribed, shall be returned by the committees to the convention. And in case any freeman within their county shall not subscribe, upon application or within ten days thereafter, his name,shall be returned by the said committee to the next convention, to the end that the convention may take order therein." (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 18)

Council of Safety

The 1775 Convention also established the Maryland Council of Safety:

"And whereas, it is absolutely necessary in this time of imminent danger, that there should be some power existing, which may superintend the execution of the orders and resolutions of the convention, and occasionally, from time to time, promote the prudent and necessary preparations for defence, and in case of necessity, call forth a due proportion, or even the whole of the force of the province, in an orderly and regular manner, whereby the strength of the whole will be greatly increased in the common defence, and the rights and liberties of all better secured.

"Resolved, That sixteen persons, eight of whom residing on the western shore, and eight on the eastern shore, shall be chosen by ballot, by this convention, and be styled and denominated the council of safety of Maryland.

"That any nine or more of the said council of safety convened, or the major part of them, direct and regulate the operations of the minute men and militia, and may as aforesaid, grant all military commissions, appoint and commission field officers, and appoint and regulate the rank of all military officers. And in the recess of the convention call forth the minute men into action in any place or places in this province or the neighboring colonies, and the militia into action in any place or places in this province, at such time and times, in such proportions, and on such occasions as they may judge necessary; and do all such other matters and things for securing and strengthening this province and providing for the defence thereof, as they shall deem necessary and expedient, and execute such other powers as may be entrusted to them by the convention of this province."

The October 14, 1775, roster of Captain William Webb's Company No. 16 included 82 privates and four officers. Here is that roster with some notes of a member's other service in the Revolutionary War and other information that might be useful in further research.

Roster of Captain William Webb's Company Number 16

[B] before a name means that the person signed the list of Associators compiled by James Barnet in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred in 1776. (William Fisher, Jr., probably assisted Barnet in soliciting names for the list.) Hugh McGough's name is on this list.

Three other lists of Associators were prepared in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred at the same time.

[M] before a name means that the person is on the list solicited by Robert Morgan. Morgan solicited another list in Deer Creek Lower Hundred.

[W] before a name means that the person is on the list solicited by Joseph Wilson (son of John) and Alexander Rigdon. This list includes Miles McGeaugh (McGough) and John McGeaugh (McGough).

[A]. before a name means that the person is on the listed solicited by William Ashmore.

[O] before a name means that the person signed a list in a hundred other than Deer Creek Upper.

Much of this data comes from Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 6. The number in brackets after the entry of a name in my list below is the page number in this work, which was prepared in 1985 by Henry C. Peden, Jr. Another source is volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 323. Both works are on Genealogy.com.

Officers:

[B] William Webb (Captain). Signer, Bush Declaration, March 22, 1775. War Committee, Correspondence, 1775. Representative to Maryland Convention, June, 1775. Captain, Company No. 16, Militia, October 14, 1775. Captain, 8th Battalion, Militia, appointed 1776. Signer of Association of Freemen, Deer Creek Upper, 1776. Signer of Oath of Allegiance to Maryland, 1778. Administered the Oath, 1778. Harford county Court Justice, 1774. Furnished a draw bow gun with bullet molds, 1776. Died in early in 1778. William Webb is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [232]

[O] Ignatius Wheeler, Jr. (1st Lieutenant) (1744–1793) (Son of Ignatius Wheeler, Sr. (1714–1766), and Elizabeth Rosier; grandson of Benjamin Wheeler (1665–1741) and Elizabeth Clements (1665–1742); married Henrieta Neale Smith (1744–1807) in 1780. Signer of the association of Freemen in Spesutie Upper Hundred in 1776. (Ignatius Wheeler, Sr., is on the list for Deer Creek Upper Hundred.) 1st Lt., 8th Battalion, 1776. Colonel, Deer Creek Battalion, Maryland Militia, April 9, 1778. Ignatius Wheeler is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. In Charles county, Maryland, in 1790 census (along with Ignatius Wheeler (senior?). Ignatius Wheeler is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of seven with forty-four slaves! (roll 3, book 1, page 84). See OneWorldTree.

[B] William Fisher, Jr. (2d Lieutenant). Signer of the Bush Declaration of March 22, 1776. Signed and was a solicitor for the Articles of Association in Deer Creek Upper Hundred in 1776. "Constable, Deer Creek Upper, during the Revolutionary era." [79]

John Webb, Jr. (Ensign). His widow applied for a pension. [232]. [This name is not on the roster submitted to the Maryland Council of Safety on June 29, 1776.] A John Webb, with a family of nine, is listed by the 1790 census of Harford county (roll 3, book 1, page 99)—one tract removed from James MGeough with a family of seven. Another John Webb is listed in a family of eleven (roll 3, book 1, page 117).

[B] Samuel Webb, Jr. (Ensign) (1746–1813). he was not on the company roster of October 14, 1775. He was the brother of Captain William Webb. Samuel Webb, Jr., was born on April 8, 1746 in St. George's Parish, Harford, Maryland. He married Margaret Tuder on May 13, 1764, in St. John's Parish, Baltimore, Maryland. He later married Sarah Hardy—on November 15, 1803, in Prince Georges, Maryland. He died on August 1, 1813 (or, according to another source, October 30, 1813), and is buried at Darlington, Harford county, Mary land.. His father, Samuel Webb, Sr., signed the Association of Freemen in Deer Creek Upper Hundred in 1776, and is listed as a 1st Lieutenant in 1778 in the Deer Creek Battalion, Maryland Militia. Samuel Webb and Samuel Webb, Jr., are on the list submitted by John Archer of those who subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778. Samuel Webb Sr. and Jr. are on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. There are three Samuel Webbs in the 1790 census of Harford county. One Samuel Webb is listed in a family of eight, with seven slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 91); another in a family of eight with five slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 87); and another in a family of six with no slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 117). Samuel Webb was commissioned a captain in the "Deer Creek Battalion of Militia in Harford County" by the Maryland House of Delegates on April 9, 1778. (Samuel Webb, Jr., and Margaret Tudor also had a son, Samuel Webb (III?), who was born on October 6, 1768 in Maryland, and died on August 14, 1845, in Scio, Harrison, Ohio. He married Elizabeth Creal about 1807 in Harford county, Maryland.) [232]

Privates:

There are 84 privates on this list, which is 10 more than the roster of the Harford county Militia companies submitted to the Maryland Council of Safety on June 29, 1776.

[M] Philip Albert. Philip Albert was born in 1753 in Pennsylvania. He died on 25 May 1827 in Fayette,Kentucky. He married Rachel Webb in 1778 in Maryland. Rachel Webb was the daughter of Captain William Webb and Elizabeth Lee. Phillip Albert is in the 1790 census of Harford county with a family of eleven (roll 3, book 1, page 98). [2]

[B] James Alexander. James Allexander is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778. James (indexed as Jms) Alexander is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of three (roll 3, book 1, page 105). [2]

James Allen. Also listed as a private in Captain John Love's Company No. 10 on September 14, 1775; and Captain Aquila Paca's Company, July 24, 1776. James Allen is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of six. [2]

[A] James Anderson. Signer, Oath of Fidelity, 1778. James Anderson Sr. and Jr. are on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. (Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, volume 18, number 1, Winter 1977, Harford County, Maryland Tax List, page 34, on Genealogy.com.) One James Anderson is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of six (roll 3, book 1, page 84). Another James Anderson is listed in a family of nine with four slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 94). [6]

[B] James Barnett (Barnet) (1757–1824). Married Martha Finney. Solicitor and signer, Association of Freemen, Deer Creek Upper, 1775–6. James Barnett is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778. James Barnett is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of six, with two slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 91). Also listed is a second James Barnett family of six with two slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 96). James Barnett, Jr., is listed in a family of seven (roll 3, book 1, page 71). James Barnett and Henry Crooks signed, on October 4, 1779, the administrator's bond in the estate of Hugh McGough in Harford county, along with his widow Rosannah McGough. [13]

[B] John Barnhouse. John Barnhous is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. (Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, volume 18, number 1, Winter 1977, Harford County, Maryland Tax List, page 34, on Genealogy.com.) On April 1, 1786, John Barnhouse of Harford county had a four year old apprentice bound to him to learn the shoemaker's trade. John Burnhouse, in a family of four, is listed as living near Elizabeth MGeough in the 1790 census of Harford county (roll 3, book 1, page 102). [13]

John Beaven [16] (There is a John Beaven in a family of eight in the 1790 census of Prince George's county, Maryland (roll 3, book 1, page 275).) A John Beaver served in the Maryland militia from June 1, 1778, to February 13, 1779, when he was discharged (Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, "Musters of Maryland Troops," Volume I, page 86).

Charles Beaver. Charles Beaver is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [16] Here is an excerpt from Dublin History:

"Dr. Carroll sold "Arabia Petrea" to Jacob Giles and Isaac Webster in 1733. Isaac and Jacob were brothers-in-law. Isaac and Jacob in turn sold off part to new settlers moving into the area. Two of the newcomers in Dublin were William Beaver and Walter Ashmore. Isaac and Giles sold lands east of Route 136 to Walter Ashmore and land west of Route 136 to William Beaver. William Beaver willed his land to his son Charles Beaver.

"In 1796 Charles petitioned the court to have appointed commissioners "mark and bound" his land. The first stone was set November 8, 1796 with a "B" carved in the face. After 204 years, the stone still stands in that spot which is located in the northwest corner of The Evangelical Methodist Church of Dublin.

"Charles Beaver, now aging, started to sell off parts of his 135 acre farm. In 1794 he leased/purchased a lot on the northeast corner of Route 136 and Route 440 (1603 Whiteford Road) to George McCausland. In 1798 he sold to John Evatt two acres on the southwest side of Route 136 and Route 440 (1536 Whiteford Road).

"On October 20, 1800, Charles sold about 0.77 acre to five trustees for a church to be erected (1528 Whiteford Road). In 1802 he sold lot #1 to George McCausland on which George erected a tavern. This also served as the Fifth district voting place (Walt Moody's lot). In 1802 Charles sold 9.75 acres to John Evatt (Roger Waddell's lot and Ira Lee's field). The center section of Ira Lee's house is log and I believe this to be Charles Beaver's house. Charles Beaver died in 1812 and willed the remaining land to his sister Lieureiner Kelly. Lieureiner willed it to her daughter Blancher Flowers who in turn sold it to Robert McCausland in 1814. Out of the 135 acres 92 acres are still intact today."

[B] John Beaver (Enlisted in Captain John Marshall's company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on April 24, 1776.) [16] (There is a John Beaver in a family of five in the Two Delaware Hundred of Baltimore county in the 1790 census (roll 3, book 1, page 56).) [The parents of John Beaver may have been John Beaver (born on August 14, 1721, to William and Mary Beaver), and Sarah Hawkins (a twin of her brother William, born on January 20, 1726, to Robert Hawkins and his second wife, Sarah) who married on September 19, 1749, in Baltimore county.]

[B] Thomas Beaver. Recruit, New Regiment, 1780. [16]

[M] John Beshang. John Beshang is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778. [18]

[M] Thomas Brown. There are two Thomas Brown's listed in the 1790 census of Harford county: one in a family of three (roll 3, book 2, page 296) and one living alone (roll 3, book 2, page 305). [28]

[O] Edmund Callahan (An Edward Callahan signed the Association of Freemen in 1776 in Spesutie Upper Hundred). Private, Captain Francis Holland's Harford Rifles, 1776. [34]

[B] James Clark. Signer, Oath of Fidelity, 1778. James Clark is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county with a wife (or daughter) and five slaves. [42]

[M] Gilbert Crockett. Gilbert Crockett is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778, and is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [53]

Samuel Crockett. Samuel Crockett is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778, and is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [53]

[B] Thomas Crooke. Thomas Crooks is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. (see the next entry) [53] Thomas Crooks (born in 1742), William Crooks (born in 1737), and Henry Crooks (born in 1743) (mentioned in the next paragraph), and Rosannah Crooks McGough (born in 1740) were children of William Crooks and Mary Weer.

[B] William Crooks, Jr. (William Crook was a private in Captain Robert Harris' Harford Rifles, and received subsistence for four weeks and three days on October 4, 1776. James Barnett and Henry Crooks signed, on October 4, 1779, as sureties on the administratrix's bond filed by Rosannah McGough, widow of Hugh McGough, in the estate of Hugh McGough in Harford county. On the inventory of the estate, filed on October 14, 1780, Mary Crooks and Thomas Crooks are listed as creditors. Henry Crooks and Robert Crooks are listed as "next of kin" (of Mary Crooks. James Barnet, Robert Crooks (by X his mark), and Hugh M. Gough (i.e. Hugh McGough) are listed next to each other on the list of persons who took the Maryland oath of allegiance before William Webb in 1778. Henry Crooks is on the same list. The tax records of 1776 for the Broad Creek Hundred (which is immediately east of the Deer Creek Upper Hundred) in Harford county list Henry Crooks, age 28, his wife, Jane, 23, and children: William, 5; Andrew, 3; and Margaret, 1/2. (Living with the family was Elizabeth Kerby, age 26.)] [54]

[On December 19, 2005, I received an email from Shelly Belanger of Shakopee, Minnesota, in which she says: "William and Mary (Weer) Crooks ... are my gr-gr-gr-gr grandparents on my Mom's side. ... I do not have any information on Rosanna Crooks other than she married Hugh McGaugh (sic). But I do have a pretty complete line from my gr-gr-gr grandparents Thomas and Jane (Cousins) Crooks and his brother, Henry and Jane (Howlett) Crooks. I also have names for the 8 children of William and Mary (Weer) Crooks with approximate years of birth." She sent me a GEDCOM of the Crooks family, part of which I have published above in a section called Family of William Crooks and Mary Weer.]

[B] Michael Dougherty (Daugherty) Private, Captain Robert Harris' Harford Rifles, 1776; received subsistence for four weeks, three days, October 4, 1776. [67]

[M] Thomas Duff. Thomas Dufft was a private in Captain Paca's company, July 24, 1776; recruit 8th Maryland Regiment, 1780. [69].

[M] Samuel Elliott (Ellett). (1751–1841) married Keziah Webb. Signed Morgan's list with an X - (by his mark). [73]

Thomas Elliott (Ellett). Signed Oath of Fidelity, 1778. Thomas Eliott, spelled Eliot, is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. Thomas Elliott is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of four, with two slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 91). [73]

Ralph Ellison [74]

Godfrey Fie (Fye). There was a Mary Fie with four boys, 2 under 16 and 2 over 16, in the Harford county census of 1790. Godfrey Fye was on the return of March 3, 1778, of the "Worshipfull John Love" of men who signed the Maryland Oath of Allegiance in Harford county. [On the same list were John and William Francis Neal of Charles county.] [78]

[O] Thomas Gallion. Also a private in Captain Anderson's Company No. 3, September 23, 1775. Signed the Association of Freemen in 1776 in Susquehanna Hundred. [84]

James Garrettson. There is also a James Garrettson on the roster of Captain Baker's Company, No 15, January 27, 1776. [85].

Jonas Gilbert (Jarvis [Gervace in some records, Garvis in others] Gilbert is on Barnet's list of associators, and was in Captain Robert Harris' Harford Rifles in 1776. (See: Descendants of Garvis Gilbert.) [88]

Robert Gilchrist. from Kilmarnock, near Ayr, was living as a merchant in Maryland in 1770 and had to discharge a debt of his father, William Gilchrist Sr. Robert Gilchrist's uncle (the brother of Helen Gilchrist, the wife of Robert's uncle, also Robert Gilchrist) was John Walsh (sometimes Welsh), who had indicated an intention to buy, with John McGough (whom I believe was Hugh McGough's brother), about 250 acres of real estate in Harford county on September 9–17, 1782. See Timeline of McGoughs in Harford County, Maryland, 1750–1810. [90]

[B] Robert Griffin (On Barnet's list as Robert Giffen.) Robert Giffen is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778, and is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [87] and [96].

[M] Patrick Halfpenny (Enlisted in Captain John Marshall's Company of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on April 11, 1776—along with Hugh McGough.) On June 29, 1790, the council of Maryland remitted three 20 shilling fines that had been imposed on a Patrick Halfpenny and Catharine Halfpenny of Baltimore county for an assault because "the fines and fees are too burthensome, having a large family of Children to support, and nothing to depend on but the daily labour of him the said Patrick." (Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, 1789–1793, Volume 72, page 110.) Catherine Halfpenny, wife of Patrick Halfpenny and a native of Ireland, died in Baltimore county on January 1, 1798, at age 45. Patrick Halfpenny, son of Patrick and Catherine Halfpenny, was born about 1787 and baptized at the age of 4 on April 19, 1791 in baltimore county (Early Catholic Church Records in Baltimore, MD, Baptisms, page 54). A Patrick Halfpenny married Sarah Cole on October 1, 1795, in Baltimore county, Maryland. [98]. Pat Halfpenny was listed in the 1880 census of Baltimore City as a free white male over 45 with one other person in the household, a free white male between 16 and 25 (roll 9, page 524).

[M] William Hart. Also on roster of Captain Paca's Company, August 5, 1776. [107]

[B] James Hutcheson. James Hutchson is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [119]

[B] Archibald Ingram. Private in Captain Francis Holland's Harford Rifles, 1776. [121]

[M] James Jackson. Recruit, 8th Maryland Regiment, 1780. James Jackson, spelled Jakson, is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [121]

[B] John Jackson. (A John Jackson also signed the list of Associators in Gunpowder Upper Hundred in 1776.)

[B] Richard James. (On Barnet's list as Richd, James. The names of Richard and Sedwick James are next to each other on Barnet's list of Associators.) Richard James may have been son of Richard James of Harford county, whose will was probated on November 3, 1777, and a brother of Sedgewick James, who is listed immediately below. James McGough married Esther James, daughter of Richard James, in Harford county in about 1784. [122]

[B] Sedgewick James. His first name is spelled Sedwick on Barnet's list of Associators. Sedwick James is on the list of persons in Harford county who took the Oath of Fidelity and Support to Maryland in 1778 before James McComas, along with James McGaw. The list was submitted in March of 1778. (Maryland Records, Volume II, Oaths of Fidelity and Support, page 234, on Genealogy.com.) Sedgewick James was an ensign in the Deer Creek Battalion of the Harford Militia in 1778. He was the son of Richard James of Harford county, whose will was probated on November 3, 1777. Sedgwick James is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of six with two slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 97). Sedgwick James is also listed in the 1810 census of Harford county and the 1830 census of Harford county, District #5. [122]

[M] Francis Jenkins. Francis Jenkins, spelled Jinkins, is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [125]

[W] Thomas Jones. Thomas Jones of Deer Creek Upper Hundred, which should probably be Harford Upper Hundred, is on the roster of Captain Rigdon's Company No. 12, December 2, 1775. [129] and [130].

Simon Jordon (Jordin). Simon Jrudir is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778. [130]

Francis King. Francis King is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [134]

James King. James King is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [134]

[O] William King. Born in 1745 in America. Private, Flying Camp, Lt. John Smith, enlisted July 15, 1776, in Colonel Ewing's Battalion. Private Captain Bond's Co. No. 11, December 9, 1775. Signer of Articles of Association in Bush River, Lower, in 1776. (This may be data from two different William Kings.) [134].

[A] James Lewis. (1751–1811. (Married Polly ______.) [138]

James Linam. [138]

[B] Andrew Lindsay (Lindsey). Andrew Lindsey is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. Elizabeth Lindsay is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of seven, with two slaves. [138]

[M] Daniel Lindsay (Lindsey) [139]

[A] Levi Low. Private, Captain Robert Harris' Harford Rifles, 1776. Paid subsistence for six weeks, two days, September 16, 1776. [141]

William Lytle. Continental Army 1777–1780 (Family Support Allowance); Recruit, New Regiment, July 28, 1780. William Lytle is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of seven (roll 3, book 1, page 87). [143]

[B] Robert McCrady (McCroady) (Robert McCrery signed Wilson's list immediately above Miles McGeaugh.) [148]

James McDaniel. James McDaniel is on the 1778 list of taxpayers for "Deer Creek Hundred: Middle"—along with Hugh McGouch. (volume 18, number 1, Winter 1977, Harford County, Maryland Tax List, page 35, on Genealogy.com) The tax list was prepared by Constable William Smith, and included all free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. (There was no separate return for Deer Creek Upper Hundred, and those taxpayers appear to have been included in the Deer Creek Middle Hundred.) James McDaniel took the Oath of Allegiance in 1778 in Baltimore town or county. James McDaniel—who may well have been a different person—is on the roster of "draughts" returned from Charles county Maryland on July 27, 1781. (Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, Miscellaneous Maryland Line Papers, page 376, on Genealogy.com. James McDaniel is on the roster of the 4th Regiment of the Maryland militia on September 10, 1781, and on October 17, 1781, acknowledged the receipt from Robert Denny of £1.2.6 "in part of pay due us." [149]

[B] John McFaddin (McFaden. McFadin, McFadden.). "John McFadden 1755–1835 married Jeanette Hawkins. A Revolutionary War soldier; enlisted January 23, 1776, Sixth Co. (Md); in Battle of Long Island August 27, 1776; enlisted June 1st, 1778 (16th Md. Reg.)." John McFodion is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. John McFadden is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of five. There is a web page on John McFadin/McFadden, born in 1730 in Ireland, married Elizabeth around 1750, died in June of 1811, in Harford county, Maryland. This latter John McFadin was probably the father of the soldier on the roster of Captain Webb's company. See also McFadden family of Harford Co MD and Monroe Co Ohio. There is today in Harford county a McFadden Road that crosses Falling Branch on a county-maintained bridge—not far from the old McGough property. [150]

[B] Hugh McGough. Hugh M. Gough is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778. Hugh McGouch is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. Both names should be Hugh McGough. [150]

[A] Robert McNear (McNeare). (MnNeare on Ashmore's list.) Robert McNear is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [153]

[B] Stephen Marford (Morford). (Also on Robert Morgan's list—signed X, his mark.) [155]

[B] Daniel More (Moor). (Married Mary ______. Died 1792.) Daniel Moor is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [163]

[B] William More (Moor, Moore). (William Moore is on Ashmore's list.) [162]

John Morrow (John Moor is on Barnet's list.) [164]

[M] William Murdock (Murdough). William Mordogh is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [165]

George Patrick [176]

[M] Stophel (Stofel) Penchieff [178].

James Phillips. Recruit, New Regiment, August 1, 1780. James Phillips is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [178] and [179].

[W] Baker Rigdon (Thomas Baker Rigdon, Sr., is on Wilson's list.) Baker Rigdon is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. Baker Rigdon is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of nine. Baker Rigdon is also listed in the 1790 census of Harford county with a family of seven (roll 3, book 1, page 84). [190] and [191].

[A] George Rogers. George Rogers is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [193]

[B] Euclidus Scarborough, Jr. (Euclides Scarborough, Sr. (1714–1808) was in Captain Patrick's Company No. 17. Married Mary Dean in 1744. 11 children, including Euclides, Jr., and John.) Shown by the 1790 census as living on adjoining tracts in Harford county are: Ecludus Scarborough, Sr.; Ecludus Scarborough, Jr.; John Scarborough; Samuel Scarborough; Joseph Scarborough; Thomas Scarborough; and William Scarborough. [199]

[B] John Scarborough (see the preceding entry) [193]

[M] Michael Sivers (Sivest). Michele Syvers is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [204]

[M] John Smith. There were three signers of the 1776 Articles of Association with this name from Harford county, two of whom were in Deer Creek Upper Hundred. There were four John Smiths, and a Jonathon Smith, in the 1790 census of Harford county. [207]

John Smith, Jr. (see preceding entry) [207]

[M] Nathaniel Smith. (Married Elizabeth Webster in 1752.) Also signed Articles of Association in Harford Upper Hundred. Signed Oath of Allegiance in 1778. Nathaniel Smith is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. There were two Nathan Smiths, and a Nathn Smith and a Nath Smith, in the 1790 census of Harford county. [208]

[M] William Smith. The 1790 census lists seven William (Wm.) Smiths in Harford county. [209]

William Sparks (Spark). William Sparks is on the tax list prepared by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [211]

[B] John Taylor (probably not the John Taylor who enlisted in Captain Marshall's Company on March 24, 1776). A John Taylor was one of 34 Harford county men who signed the Bush Declaration on March 22, 1775. William Webb was another signer. A John Taylor was a private in Captain Robert Harris's Harford Rifles in October, 1776. A John Taylor also signed Wilson's list. John Hodges Taylor is on the list submitted by John Archer of those who took, repeated, and subscribed to the oath of fidelity and allegiance to Maryland before William Webb, deceased, in 1778. John Taylor is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [219]

[A] Benjamin Thomas. Benjamin Thomas is on the tax list prepared by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [220]

William Thoriman. (Probably should be Thorman) [222]

[B] James Trotter (Troter) [224]

[B] Richard Trotter (Troter) [224]

[B] Hugh Whiteford (1754–1812) Married: (1) Mary Sample. (2) Elizabeth Ross. Harford County War Committee, 1775. Signer, Oath of Allegiance, 1778. Hugh Whitford is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. Hugh Whitford is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of three, with five slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 80). [238]

[B] William Whiteford. Harford county petit juror, 1783. William Whitford is on the tax list by Constable James Smith of free males 18 years and upward in Deer Creek Middle Hundred in 1778. [238]

[B] Robert Williamson. [240]

[B] Archibald Wilson. Archibald Wilson is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county as living near Elizabeth MGeough. In the 1800 census, he is living adjacent to James and Thomas Megeough. The tax records of 1776 for the Broad Creek Hundred (which is immediately east of the Deer Creek Upper Hundred) in Harford county list Archable Wilson, 48; Margarett, 30; Jane, 6; Mary 3; Agnis, 2. [240]

[W] Joseph Wilson. Joseph Wilson, Jr., was a witness to the marriage of Leven Hill Hopkins and Frances Wallis on May 18, 1780, at the Deer Creek Quaker monthly meeting. (Quaker Records of Northern Maryland, 1716-1800, Deer Creek Monthly Meeting Marriage Certificates, page 115, on Genealogy.com. [241]

[B] John Woodward (Woodard) John Woodward was also a private in Captain Love's Company No. 10, September 14, 1775. [242]

[B] John Wright (1738– c. 1813) (Married Jemima Hendon in 1762.) Quartermaster, Maryland Service. [243]

Companies of Harford Militia and Dates of Organization

Captain Josias Carvill Hall's Company, No. 1, September 12, 1775. (E-106) (Harford Upper) (Bush River Upper) (Spesutie Lower). On January 6, 1776, the Maryland Convention elected these battalion officers for Harford county: Upper battalion. Mr. Aquila Hall, colonel; Mr. John Love, lieutenant-colonel; Mr. Josias Carvill Hall, 1st major; Dr. John Archer, 2d; Mr. Richard Dallarn, quarter-master. Lower battalion. Mr. Benjamin Rumsey, colonel; Mr. Thomas Bond, lieutenant colonel; Mr. Abraham Jarrett, 1st major; Mr. John Taylor, 2d; Mr. Robert Amos, quartermaster. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 80.)

Captain John Archer's Company, No. 2, September 16, 1775. (E-107) (Harford Upper) (Susquehanna). The residence of John Archer (1741–1810) was near Churchville in Spesutia Hundred. On Thursday, August 15, 1776, the election of the following delegates from Harford county was reported to the Maryland Convention: Jacob Bond, Henry Wilson, Jr., John Love, and John Archer. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 212,) John Archer is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of fourteen, with seven slaves and two others (roll 3, book 1, page 86). He was a physician. On his death, he absolved the debts of his insolvent patients and provided for the manumission of his slaves. (A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635–1789, by Edwin C. Papenfus, Alan F. Day, David W. Jordan, and Gregory A. Stiverson. The Johns Hopkins University Press 1985).

Captain Charles Anderson's Company, No. 3, September 23, 1775. (E-108) (Susquehanna). For a brief genealogy of Charles Anderson and history of this company, see the "Tri-County Researcher" By Dallas Ewing, Installment 2—Charles Anderson, signer of the Bush declaration, 22 March 1775. Charles Anderson II was born on March 27, 1734, in Carpenter's Plains, Swan Creek Run, Harford County, Maryland, and probably died in : August of 1824 in Muddy Creek, Cumberland Township, Washington (later Greene Co), Pennsylvania. He had 9 children and was a millwright.

Captain Aquila Hall's Company, No. 4, September 9, 1775. (E-109) (Harford Lower). On December 9, 1775, Aquila Hall (1727–1779) was a delegate from Harford county to the Maryland convention. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 42.) On February 2, 1776, the Maryland Council of Safety appointed Aquila Hall, Richard Dallam, and Aquila Paca, to collect all the gold and silver coins that could be procured in Harford county. Aquila Hall was also chairman of the Harford Town committee in March of 1776. On Friday, January 12, 1776, the Maryland Convention established the rank of colonels within the Maryland militia. In Harford county, Colonel Benjamin Rumsey ranked 8th, and Colonel Aquila Hall, 23rd. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 86.)

Captain John Rodger's Company, No. 5, September 15, 1775. (E-111) (Bush River Upper)

Captain Benjamin Rumsey's Company, No. 6, September 16, 1775. (E-112) (Gunpowder Neck). Benjamin Rumsey (1734–1808) was a delegate to the Maryland Convention of December 14, 1775. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 48.) On Friday, January 12, 1776, the Maryland Convention established the rank of colonels within the Maryland militia. In Harford county, Colonel Benjamin Rumsey ranked 8th, and Colonel Aquila Hall, 23rd. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 86.) Benjamin Rumsey was married to Aquila Hall's daughter Mary.

Captain John Taylor's Company, No. 7, September 9, 1775 (E-113) (Gunpowder Upper)

Captain Greenberry Dorsey's Company, No. 8. October 31, 1775. (E-114) (Spesutie Lower)

Captain James Stewart's Company, No. 9, November 9, 1775 (E-115) (Bush River Upper)

Captain John Love's Company, No. 10, September 14, 1775. (E-116) (Spesutie Upper) (Bush River Upper). John Love and Richard Dallarn were the Harford county delegates to the Maryland Convention on December 7, 1775. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 39.) John Love and John Archer were among the delegates to the convention on August 14, 1776. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 209.) John Love is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of 12 and eleven slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 97)/

Captain Jacob Bond's Company, No. 11, December 9. 1775. (E-117) (Susquehanna) (Bush River Lower) (Spesutie Upper)

Captain Alexander Rigdon's Company, No. 12, December 2, 1775 (E-118) (Deer Creek Upper)

Captain William Bradford's Company, No. 13, September 30, 1775. (E-119) (Gunpowder Neck) (Harford Upper) (Harford Hundred) (Bush River Upper). William Bradford is listed in the 1790 census of Harford county in a family of ten with two slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 86). His farm was one tract removed from John Archer's. (Another William Bradford is listed in a family of nine with six slaves (roll 3, book 1, page 92).)

[There was no company 14.The number may have been intended for a company to be raised either by Captain John Jolly or Captain Robert Glenn. John Jolly (Jolley) is listed as a captain of the Deer Creek Battalion on March 10, 1775, and a signer of the Association of Freemen in Deer Creek Lower Hundred in 1776. The minutes of the Council of Safety for June 29, 1776, include a list of three companies of militia on the north side of Deer Creek in Harford County formed and returned to the Committee by Amos Garrett, including: "Capt John Jolley; John Mongomery, first Letnt; James Wilson, second Do; James Thomas Ensign; & 57 Privates—Date of Enrolement the 10thday of March 1776." John Jolly was commissioned an ensign in the "Deer Creek Battalion of Militia in Harford County" by the Maryland House of Delegates on April 9, 1778. Robert Glenn (1722–1799) is listed as a captain in the Harford County Militia Company in 1775 and 1776, a major in the Deer Creek Battalion in 1778, and a signer of the Association of Freemen in Bush Creek Upper Hundred in 1775. Robert Glen was commissioned a major in the "Deer Creek Battalion of Militia in Harford County" by the Maryland House of Delegates on April 9, 1778. On May 20, 1778, the Council of Maryland directed the Treasurer to pay "Thirty seven pounds seventeen shillings for the Use of Capt, Glenn & his Compy."]

Captain Charles Baker's Company, No. 15, January 27, 1776. (E-120). (Eden Hundred).

Captain William Webb's Company, No. 16, October 14, 1775. (E-121). (Deer Creek Upper Hundred). The minutes of the Council of Safety for June 29, 1776, include a list of three companies of militia on the north side of Deer Creek in Harford County formed and returned to the Committee by Amos Garrett, including: "Capt William Webb; Ignatius Wheeler, 1 Lieutenant; William Fisher, Second Do; Samuel Webb, Jun' Ensign; & 74 Privates. Date of Enrolement 14th day of October 1775." William Webb had been appointed Captain by the Council of Safety on April 26, 1776.

Captain John Patrick's Company, No. 17, April 1, 1776. (E-122) (Deer Creek Lower). The minutes of the Council of Safety for June 29, 1776, include a list of three companies of militia on the north side of Deer Creek in Harford County formed and returned to the Committee by Amos Garrett, including: "Capt John Patrick; Winston Dallam, first Lieutenant; Samuel Barley, second Do; Richd Ward, Ensign; &. 55 Privates. Date of enrolement the 1st day of April 1776."

Other Companies:

On Thursday, June 27, 1776, the Maryland Convention resolved that Harford county raise two companies of militia for the Flying Camp. Each company was to consist of one captain, two lieutenants, one ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, and seventy-six privates. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 174.) On Saturday, June 29, 1776, the Convention appointed officers for Harford county. Aquila Paca, captain : John Beedle Hall, 1st lieutenant; Michael Gilbert, 2d lieutenant; and John Patterson, ensign. Also, Bennet Bussey, captain; Joshua Miles, 1st lieutenant; Azahel Hitchcock, 2d lieutenant; and Aquila Amos, ensign. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 177.) On April 26, 1776, the Maryland Council of Safety had appointed several officer of companies of militia in Harford county belonging to the 8th Battalion, including: "Bennett Bussey appointed Captain; Joshua Miles 1 Lieutenant; Azael Hitchcock, jr, 2d Lieut; and Joseph Amos, Ensign, of a Company of Militia of said Battalion. (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775, to July 6, 1776, Volume 11, page 387.)

Companies of militia that were later enrolled in Harford county and called to active duty included:

Captain Aquila Paca's Company, July 24, 1776; August 5, 1776. (E-126) (Harford Lower) [Maryland Settlers & Soldiers, 1700s-1800s, Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, Flying Camp Papers, page 59, on Genealogy.com.]

Captain Bennett Bussey [Enrolled members who were passed by Thomas Bond on July 20, 1776.] Bennett Bussey was born on November 8, 1745, and died on December 25, 1827 (Register of Maryland's Heraldic Families, page 175) .

Lt. John Beedle Hall [Enrolled members on August 5, 1776]

Lt. Asael Hitchcock [2d Lt. Azabel Hitchcock] [Lieut. Asel Hitchock, Jr., enrolled members who were passed by him on July 25, 1776.]

Ensign Aquila Amos [Lt Aquila Amos] [Enrolled members who were passed by Thomas Bond on July 25, 1776.]

Thomas Stevenson of Deer Creek Upper was in this company. Reviewed and passed by James Carvel Hall on July 24, 1776. He was enlisted by Ensign Toole on July 5, 1776 (Flying Camp Papers, page 57). On July 15, 1776, Nicholas McGeaugh (McGaw) was enlisted in Baltimore county into the same company by Lieutenant Smith. [To find on Genealogy.com, go to page 6 under Thomas Stevenson.]

Thomas Stevenson is also listed as a private in Colonel Ewing's Battalion, enlisted July 5, 1776 in Baltimore county, not on muster roll in August, 1776. (H-57). Baltimore Town and Baltimore County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 260, on Genealogy.com. (page 12 of listing for Thomas Stevenson)

Thomas Stevenson was on the list of Associators in the Deer Creek Lower Hundred, Harford county, collected by John Dallam in 1776. (volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 322)

Lieut. Joshua Miles enrolled members who were passed on July 27, 1776.

On Monday, October 28, 1776, it was reported to the Maryland Convention that the Harford County Rifle Company was not yet ready to March because they had not enlisted more than fifty men:

"Mr. Sheredine brings in and delivers to Mr. President a report from the committee appointed to enquire how far the resolves of the last convention of the sixth of July for raising two companies of rifle-men, and four companies of Germans, have been complied with, and into the expenditure of the money advanced for the raising those companies, which was read in the words following, to wit:

"In obedience to the order of the honourable convention, the committee appointed to enquire how far the resolves of the convention of the sixth of July last for raising two companies of rifle men, and four companies of Germans, have been complied with, and into the expenditure of the money advanced for raising those companies, beg leave to report, That the committee of observation for Harford, Baltimore, and Frederick counties, recommended officers for the several companies agreeable to the resolves of the said convention; that the rifle company and four companies of Germans for Frederick and Baltimore counties have some time since marched for their place of destination; that the company of rifle men for Harford county is not yet complete, having not more than fifty men."(Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774-1776, Volume 78, page 288.)

Captain Bennett Bussey's Company July 20, 25, 27, 1776. (E-128) (Bush River Upper) (combined with Paca's company?)

Captain Alexander Lawson Smith (1754–1802) was commissioned a Captain on July 13, 1776, to organize a rifle company in Harford county, Maryland. He was on the list of signers of the Articles of Association of Maryland in 1776 solicited by Michael Gilbert in the Harford Hundred, Harford county. He was "Clerk and Keeper of the Records" for Harford county in 1774, and is listed as a private in Captain Josias Hall's Company No. 1 on the roster of September 12, 1775. He is also listed as a Captain in 1776 of the 1st Company of Maryland Riflemen under Colonel Moses Rawlings, and a Captain in the 4th Maryland Regiment, commissioned on July 13, 1776. He saw service at the Battles of Princeton and Trenton, and the Battle of Fort Washington, New York, on November 19, 1776. (Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 206, on Genealogy.com.) The minutes of Monday, October 28, 1776, note "that the sum of eight hundred and sixty dollars appears to have been advanced to captain Smith of the rifle company for Harford county, and no account appears of the expenditure of the same, but your committee are informed that one hundred and sixty dollars of the said sum has been returned to the council of safety. the Maryland Convention. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 290.) After the war, Captain Smith settled in Harford county, married Martha Griffin on August 28, 1792, had three children between 1794 and 1799, and was buried in Spesutie Cemetery in St. George's Parish, Harford county, on January 26, 1802. (Maryland Genealogies, Volume 2, Smith Family of Calvert County, page 384, on Genealogy.com.). He was a vestryman in on April 1, 1793. Here is The Commission of Alexander Lawson Smith:

"From Md State Archives

Saturday 13 July 1776. C.S.J.

"Council met. Present as yesterday.

"Ordered That Copies of the Letter received from the President of the Congress, of the 8th Inst. be sent to the several Committees of Observation in each County and District in this Province respectively. Ordered that warrants issue agreeable to the Recommendation of the Committee of Observation for Harford County, to the following persons to command the Rifle Company to be raised there, to wit,

Alexander Lawson Smith, Capt
James White Hall 1 Lt
Wm Bradford 2 Lt
Josias Hall 3 Lt

"Ordered That the Treasurer of the Western Shore pay to Captain Smith 300 Dollars, to the first & second Lieutenant, 200 Dollars each, and to the Ensign One hundred and Sixty Dollars to be advanced as a Bounty to the said Company. Ordered That the said Treasurer pay Capt John Allen Thomas fifty pounds Continental Currency to defray the Expences of his march to Philadelphia. Ordered that the paymaster advance to Capt Thomas's Company half a month's Pay.

"Copy of Letter N° 32 was sent to the Deputies of this Province in Congress.

" Adjourned till o'Clock and met accordingly."

Captain Smith's Company became part of the 11th Virginia Regiment commanded by Col. Daniel Morgan during 1777, and afterwards a part of the 4th Maryland Regiment commanded by Col. Josias Carvel Hall. See The Flying Camp Battalion by John Allen Miller.

Harford Rifles

After listing the companies named above, Henry C. Peden, Jr., in his carefully prepared book Revolutionary Patriots of Harford County, Maryland, 1775–1783, lists two Harford county militia companies companies under the title: Harford Rifles. Company No. 1. was under the command of Captain Robert Harris' Company No. 2 was under the command of Captain Francis Holland. (Harford County, Maryland, Militia Company Captains, 1775-1776, page 245, on Genealogy.com.)

On September 23, 1776, the Maryland Council of Safety granted warrants to Captains Robert Harris and Francis Holland of Harford county to raise companies of militia. (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7 : December 31, 1776, Volume 12, page 293.)

Company No. 1 — Captain Robert Harris. On April 26, 1776, the Maryland Council of Safety appointed several officer of companies of militia in Harford county belonging to the 8th Battalion, including: "Robert Harris appointed Captain; William Coale, 1 Lieut; William Downes, 2d Lieut; and Joshua Renshaw, junr. Ensign of a Company in same Battalion. (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 29, 1775, to July 6, 1776, Volume 11, page 387.) The company was often referred to as Captain Robert Harris' Harford Rifles, and sometimes referred to as Captain Robert Harris' Company of Flying Camp Militia. See Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, Appendix, page 648, on Genealogy.com. Levi Low and Alexander Stevenson enlisted on September 16, 1776; William Crook and Michael Daugherty on October 4, 1776. See the Pension Application of Robert Hanna (born in county Down, Ireland, in 1755) who enlisted in the fall of 1776 "in the "Flying Camp" for five months in Captain Robert Harris' Company, attached to Col. Rumsays alias Ramsays Regiment; and the Pension Application of James Rigdon who enlisted in the company of Captain Robert Harris in October of 1776 in Harford county.

Company No. 2 — Captain Francis Holland. On October 4, 1776, the Maryland Council of Safety appointed Francis Holland the captain of a company of militia in Harford County. (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7 : December 31, 1776, Volume 12, page 318.)

The company of militia that he commanded was known as the Harford Greens.

Francis Holland signed the Bush Declaration of March 22, 1775. (Harford County, Maryland, The Bush Declaration, March 22, 1775, page 246, on Genealogy.com.) Francis Holland was a delegate to the convention of sixteen counties of Maryland which produced the Declaration of Association of Freemen, and he signed the original Declaration on July 26, 1775, representing Spesutie Lower Hundred. He was a solicitor of signatures to the Declaration in Spesutie Lower Hundred in 1775 and 1776. (volume 25, number 3, Summer 1984, Men of '76, page 317, on Genealogy.com.) Francis Holland, age 30, and Hannah Holland, and two sons, Francis, 5, and John, 2, are shown in the 1776 census of Spesutia Lower Hundred in Harford county. They owned eight slaves. (Maryland Records, Volume II, Census of 1776, page 145, on Genealogy.com.)

Here is are letters of October 10 and 11, 1776, from the Maryland Council of Safety that relate to the Harford Greens (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7 : December 31, 1776, Volume 12, page 331). These letters seem to refer to Company No. 1 of Captain Robert Harris' as the Harford Greens— as well as Captain Francis Holland's Company:

"[Council to W. Johnson.]

"Sir.

"Captain Holland and Captain Harriss of Harford County have orders to apply to you to make up tents for their Companies wh you will be paid for by us. You will be pleased to take receipts therefor when you make a delivery thereof, and furnish this Board therewith.

"Mr Wm Johnson. We are &c
"Oct.10th 1776

"[Council to A. Garrett.]

" Sir.

By Mr Benedict E. Hall you will receive one hundred Pounds to be laid out in the purchase of arms, blankets and linen for tents for the use of Captain Holland's Company.

"He brings up likewise an order for as many of the arms and blankets now at Harford (saving 40 of the latter ordered down to the hospital here) as that Company will want, the residue are destined for Captain Harriss if he should want them. You may go as high as 20/ for good new blankets and 3/6 for Country Linen fit for Tents & they can be made up in Baltimore Town in a few days. 21 1/2 yds will make a tent and one for six men will be allowed.

"Mr Hall likewise brings up an order for as many cartouch boxes, belts, Camp kettles gunslings, canteens or wooden bottles havresacks and knapsacks as will be wanted for that company and when they are ready to march on advice thereof they will receive marching orders. It has not been in our power to purchase linen & blankets and we are in hopes you can, or we would not have given you this trouble, expedition must be made use of or Captain Holland will not get up in time.

"When you have expended the money please to render an acct hereof to.

"N. B. Orders will be sent to Johnson to make up the tents.

"Mr Amos Garrett.
"October 10th 1776"

 

"Colo Bond & Majr Taylor

"Gentn

"By Mr Norris you will receive £300 to be laid out in the purchase of arms, Blankets and Linen for Tents, for the use of Captn Harriss's Company.—£100, for the use of the Harford Greens has been transmitted to Mr Garrett.

"The Harford Greens being first made up, will be first entitled to the arms and blankets lying now at Harford (deducting first about 40 Blankets for the use of the Hospital here) If they leave any, as from their being well furnished with those articles themselves, there is a likelyhood they will, Captn Harriss may be furnished with an order for them, if he stands in need.

"You may go as high as 20/ for good new blankets & 3/6 for Country Linen fit for Tents, of which one will be allowed for every six men. 21 1/2 yds will make a Tent, if the Linen is yard wide, & Johnson at Baltimore Town will make them in a few days, after sending Linen.

"You will hereby receive an order in favr of Captn Harriss for as many Cartouch Boxes, Belts, Camp Kettles, Canteens, or wooden Bottles, Havresacks & Knapsacks, as he will want for his Company & when they are ready to march, in sending a line, acquainting this board of their readiness, they will receive inarching orders.

" It has not been in our Power to purchase Linen & Blankets & we are in hopes you can, or we would not have given you this trouble, expedition must be made use of, or Captn Harriss will not get up in Time — if Mr Kean will take a reasonable Price p Day, his Waggon may carry the Baggage to Christeen; — when the Troops arrive at Phila The Congress are to take care of them. When you have expended the money, please to render an Acct thereof to [us.]

"Octr 11th 1776."

Here is a letter of October 13, 1776, to the Maryland Council of Safety (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7 : December 31, 1776, Volume 12, page 346):

"Original.

"[Hall to Jenifer.]

"Sir.

"Agreable to the resolve of Convention of the 10th September last to select a company of volunteers out of the 23rd Battalion in Harford County, I now make a return of the officers names which are appointed to that company and I am of opinion a compleater company has not gone from Maryland, the officers are first, Francis Holland Captain, John Carlile first Lieutenant, William Young 2nd Lieut and Robert Morgan Ensign. If their commissions are sent to me shall take care to have them delivered with dispatch.

"I have advanced to Mr Wm Rae £3. 10. 4 for his expences and trouble in goeing to Annapolis for the money for the Company as pr the account I inclosed and beg the favour of your sending the money by the first safe hand as cash is very scarce with me.

" I am Sir your most obedt & Humble Servt
Octob 13th 1776. Aquila Hall".

Here is a letter of October 15, 1776, from the Maryland Safety Council to Captain Francis Holland, with orders to march of Philadelphia (Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7 : December 31, 1776, Volume 12, page 351):

"[Council to Capt. Holland.]

"Sir.

"We have sent inclosed to Capt Aqa Hall the commissions for your Subalterns & request that you will march fol Philadelphia as soon as you are ready and then apply to Congress for further orders. You will be provided with Barrack; when you arrive at camp, as we are informed that Barracks are erecting there with the greatest expedition for the reception of the Soldiery now stationed there, as well as those whc are expected to reinforce the army.

"Octr 15th 1776
Capt. Francis Holland."

Here is a note from the Flying Camp Papers regarding the Harford Greens:

"A company in Harford County, the Harford Greens, enrolled for the Flying Camp, under Captain Francis Holland, 1st Lt. John Carlile, 2d Lt. William Young, Ensign Robert Morgan, commissioned October 15, 1776, by the Council of Safety. This company marched to Philadelphia, Oct. 23rd, 1776." (Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, Flying Camp Papers, page 74, on Genealogy.com.)

Battalions—8th Battalion, Maryland Militia

On January 6, 1776, the Maryland Convention elected these battalion officers for Harford county: Upper battalion. Mr. Aquila Hall, colonel; Mr. John Love, lieutenant-colonel; Mr. Josias Carvill Hall, 1st major; Dr. John Archer, 2d; Mr. Richard Dallarn, quarter-master. Lower battalion. Mr. Benjamin Rumsey, colonel; Mr. Thomas Bond, lieutenant colonel; Mr. Abraham Jarrett, 1st major; Mr. John Taylor, 2d; Mr. Robert Amos, quartermaster. (Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, Volume 78, page 80.)

References to military companies in the Revolutionary War sometimes use different names to refer to the same organization, and sometimes use the same name to refer to different organizations. (For an example, see The "Fifth" Maryland at Guilford Courthouse: An Exercise in Historical Accuracy, by L. E. Babits (February 1988)) Here is another example of apparent confusion:

William Coale (1740-1829) was commissioned lieutenant, 1776, of the 8th battalion, Harford County, Maryland militia. He was born in Baltimore County; died in Harford County, Md.

From Harford County, Maryland, Revolutionary Patriots Listings, page 44, on Genealogy.com:

Coale, William

Son of Skipworth [or Skipwith] Coale (Cole)

Born 1740, Baltimore County. Died 1829, Harford County. [According to St. George's Parish Registers, 1689–1793, Parish Register, page 64, on Genealogy.com, he was born on August 5, 1739, to Captain Skipworth and his wife Margaret.]

Married Sara Webster , daughter of Isaac Webster and Margaret Lee, in 1761, Deer Creek Society of Friends (Bush River).

Children: Isaac, Elizabeth, Sarah, William.

Signer, Association of Freemen, 1776, Spesutie Upper Hundred.

1st Lieutenant, Capt. Robert Harris' Harford Rifles, Co. No. 1, Flying Camp, Sept., 1776.

1st Lieutenant, 8th Battalion, Harford Militia, April, 1776.

Captain, 8th Battalion, 1778.

Listed on the Muster Roll of the 6th Maryland Regiment, 2d Battalion, ":serving the southern Army." Joined for 3 years in October, 1780.

Signer, Oath of Fidelity and Allegiance to Maryland, 1778.

Petit Juror, Harford County, 1783.

Flying Camp

The Flying Camp of militia, a collection of militia from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, was organized in July of 1776, at the direction of Congress, and dismantled shortly after the Battle of Fort Washington, the last position the Americans held on Manhattan Island in New York, on November 16, 1776. The militia of the Flying Camp had been engaged to serve only until the 1st of December, 1776. Here is information from Militia & Associated Companies of Bucks County Pennsylvania — Officers of the Flying Camp:

"The 'Flying Camp' was originally conceived by General George Washington as a 10,000 man strategic mobile reserve. Under the command of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, of Virginia, the flying camp was to be comprised of militia units from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Headquartered in Perth Amboy, this force would be expected to perform a number of vital functions in New Jersey while Washington's army was preoccupied with the defense of New York. Its duties would include guarding the vulnerable New Jersey coast, protecting the Continental Army's supply lines, suppressing roving bands of Tories and acting as a ready reserve should Washington have need of reinforcements.

On June 3, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved, 'That a flying camp be immediately established in the middle colonies.' For its part, Pennsylvania was called upon to provide a force of some 6,000 men. Delegations of one officer and two enlisted men from each of Pennsylvania's fifty-three associated battalions met in Lancaster, on July 4, 1776, for the purpose of selecting this force. Then, on July 10, 1776, the Bucks County Committee of Safety, citing 'the Resolve of the late Provincial Conference for imbodying [sic] four hundred of the Associators of this County,' appointed the following officers to command their contingent: ...

Colonel. Joseph Hart ...

Lieutenant Colonel. William Baxter ...

"The flying camp received little support from New Jersey. Pennsylvania sent some 2,000 associators, many of whom were quickly drafted into service by Gen. Washington in New York. More men soon arrived from Maryland and Delaware, but despite the best efforts of Gen. Mercer the flying camp was fraught with difficulties almost from its inception, and never realizing its full potential was disbanded by the end of November, shortly after the fall of Fort Washington.

Here is material from the now inactive website: Descendants of Philip Zehring. The same basic information will be found in the website: The Descendants of Philip Zehrung of Oldham County, Kentucky. See also Militia & Associated Companies of Bucks County Pennsylvania—Officers of the Flying Camp and Pennsylvania's York County in the American Revolution.

"On June 3, 1776, Congress established a fighting unit known as the Flying Camp. The Flying Camp was to consist of 10,000 men from Pennsylvania [6000 men], Maryland [3400 men], and Delaware [600 men]. Those county militia units that were assigned to the Flying Camp were called Associators. Soon after Congress acted, the counties involved formed their Associators into battalions.

"On July 4, 1776, representatives of the 53 battalions of Associators assembled at Lancaster, PA, to elect two brigadier generals. Ludwig Zehrung, Philip's brother, attended this convention as a private and representative of the Second Battalion, Lancaster County Militia.

"The Flying Camp, commanded by General Hugh Mercer, was stationed at Perth Amboy and points north, opposite the west side of Staten Island where the British were encamped. Sometime before the 17th of July, 2,000 men of the Flying Camp were sent to join Washington at New York where, on August 27, they fought in the battle for Long Island. The Flying Camp also took part in other operations, especially in the battle for, and capture of, Fort Washington. Later, by order of Washington, the Flying Camp supported General Mercer. They fought in the battle of Trenton and Princeton. Indeed, General Mercer was killed on January 3, 1777, at Princeton. Washington publicly acknowledged the nation's debt to the Militia of Pennsylvania."

The Maryland convention resolved on June 27, 1776, that Harford county furnish two companies for the flying camp, each consisting of one captain, two lieutenants, one ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, and seventy-six privates. Archives of Maryland, Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774–1776, volume 78, page 174. On June 29, 1776, the convention appointed Aquila Paca, captain; John Beedle Hall, 1st lieutenant Michael Gilbert, 2d lieutenant; and John Patterson, ensign, of one company; and Bennet Bussey, captain; Joshua Miles, 1st lieutenant; Azahel Hitchcock, 2d lieutenant; and Aquila Amos, ensign, of the other. The Revolutionary War Military Records, 1776–1824 of the Maryland Historical Society contain many boxes of rosters of the Maryland companies in the Flying Camp.

For more information, see the pension application of Robert Hannah of Harford county, Maryland, who enlisted in the Maryland Militia, served in the Flying Camp, and was later attached to George Washington's army. The application says in part:

"That in April 1776 he was drafted in Captain McComas company Maryland Militia for two months but has forgotten the name of his Col. That he was marched from Harford County M.D. to Baltimore and performed his two months service at that place. The object of the service was to guard the City of Baltimore against the British.

"That the Summer of 1776 he was again drafted for two months under Capt. McComas and was marched from Harford County to Bush town on the Head of Chesapeake Bay and stationed there for the purpose of opposing the British at that time laying in the Bay and performed his entire two months service at this place.

"And the deponent further saith on his oath aforesaid that the fall of 1776 he enlisted in the 'Flying Camp' for five months in Captain Robert Harris' Company attached to Col. Rumsays alias Ramsays Regt. That he was first marched to Amboy opposite Staten Island and was stationed there most of the time during his enlistment. That a part of British Army lay on Staten Island at this time. From thence he was marched to Brunswick where he was attached to Genl. Washingtons army and at this place was engaged in a cannonade with the British who were on the other side of the Raritan River. From thence he was marched to Princeton & from thence to Trenton at which place his term expired and he returned home.

[Robert Hannah is on the roster of Captain Robert Harris' Company of Flying Camp Militia, dated Philadelphia, November 9, 1776, with a date of September 16, 1776. Genealogy.com, Records of Maryland Troops in Continental Service during the War of the American Revolution, 1775–1783, Muster Rolls & Other Records of Service, Appendix, page 648, from Archives of Maryland, volume XII, pages 435–6.]

"That the Spring of 1777 her performed a two months tour in the militia but cannot recollect his officers names. That he remembers well his Captain was an old man but cannot remember his name. He performed this service at the Head of Elk the British at that time laying in the State of Delaware. That the whole period of his service is eleven months for which service he claims a pension. That he has no documentary evidence of his service nor does he know of one man by whom he can prove his service.

"That he was born in the County Down Ireland in the year 1755. That he has a record of his age.

"That he resided in Harford County Maryland when he entered the service. He continued there & in the eastern part of Penna. for several years after the war. He then removed to Fayette County Penna. where he still resides.

"He went first into the service under draft—he then enlisted in the 'Flying Camp.'

"The regular officers who were with the troops he cannot now recollect all of them he knows that Genl. Washington was with the troops during part of his service. He received a written discharge for his service in the Flying Camp but has lost it."

In support of the application is an affidavit of Richard Cooley that says in part:

"Richard Cooley before Squire Ayers a Justice of the Peace in and for Fayette County and after being sworn according to law did depose & say that this dep. and Rob. Hannah were drafted in Hartford (sic) Co. Maryland & served together a campaign in the Militia in or about the year 1777 under the command of Capt. John Jolly and were stationed during the said campaign at the head of Elk."

Hugh McGough, Soldier in the American Revolution <http://www.magoo.com/hugh/soldier.html> Updated April 10, 2013		Feedback » Site Search & Directory » © 1999–2013 Hugh McGough »