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James Thomas, Rev. Pat., fr. of Seth Thomas

James Thomas, Rev. Pat., fr. of Seth Thomas

Posted: 19 Feb 2010 3:04PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Thomas, Barnes
James Thomas, b. abt. 1759, d. 14 May 1796, emigrated from Scotland, m. Martha Barnes 3 Mar 1773, lived in Wolcott, CT. Fr. of Seth Thomas.
Was a Revolutionary Patriot, in the Continental Regiments- 1775, 5th Company (This Co. served at the Seige of Boston.) I need help finding pension papers/proof that he was in the Rev. War, to finish my DAR line to him. Please Help!
Celinda

Re: James Thomas, Rev. Pat., fr. of Seth Thomas

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 6:54AM GMT
Classification: Query
Celinda,

You do not say why you believe it was *your* James Thomas who had this particular service. How exactly you reached this conclusion is important, and explaining it clearly would help someone assist you with your research.

As you must already be aware, "James Thomas" is a rather common name, and more than one by this name had active-duty service.

All able-bodied free white males aged roughly 16-60 (varies by time and place) were obligated to serve in the County Militia for defense within the County. Most militiamen never saw active-duty service, but may appear on surviving muster rolls showing they turned out for regular drill (not considered active-duty service). Militiamen in that capacity might do such things as some patrolling, guard prisoners, or assist with escorting supplies bound elsewhere. Or, of course, be called out to respond to an alarm -- sometimes (but seldom) outside the County.

During the course of the war, militia units were sometimes folded into State Troops (standing armies created for defense within the Colony/State), and/or into the Continental Army. Each of the three organization types had their own functions, command structures and source of being paid: County, State, or Congress.

You appear to have found the listing for a James Thomas in Capt. Caleb Trowbridge's 5th Company, but you need also to mentally place the Company in its Regiment: the First CT Regiment (Continental) (1775). Giving this full description will also help others help you, as will the source of the listing: Johnston, Henry P., ed.. The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution 1775-1783. Vol. I-III. Hartford, CT, USA: 1889, Vol. I, p. 41.

You have made good progress in your thinking to realize that you need some corroboration that your particular James Thomas was the one with this service.

One sort of clue is where his Regiment was recruited from. You can take a look at a brief history of the 1st CT Reg't. (Continental, 1775) here (click on American Troops link, then the State link):

http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/index.htm

In order for it to *be* a clue, however, you need to have good documentation of where your man lived at the outset of the war.

At least one James Thomas (of Haddam, Middlesex Co.) was receiving a pension in the 1830s for his Revolutionary War service. He is listed in the above publication. If you have not looked at his pension application file, you'd need to do so, to determine whether he claimed service in Capt. Trowbridge's Company of the 1st CT Regiment (Continental). In fact, you would want to take a look at all pensioners under this name -- veterans with CT service moved to NY, to VT, to PA, to OH and elsewhere, so place of residence may very well not be the place served from.

Selected papers from pension files can be viewed at HeritageQuest, which your local library may subscribe to. www.footnote.com has put well-indexed complete pension files on its site; while it is a fee site, short-term subcriptions and sometimes free trial periods are available. While you have the difficulty of a somewhat common name, the indexing at footnote.com is every-name, so it is possible that a living pensioner might mention your James Thomas.

Pensions were not available to non-officers who died in 1796 unless severely wounded while in service. I do not know what CT legislation there was on this point -- it may be something you want to investigate.

Not until the 1830s did Congressional legislation begin to allow pensions for widows of soldiers who served less than 3 years. If your man left a widow who lived into the late 1830s, it is possible that she applied for a pension under his service.

Another possibility is that, if your man was married before the war began, his wife may have applied to the Town they lived in or to the County Court for subsistence while her husband was away, particularly if they had young children. The CT State Library has a web site with a good summary description of what it has records for, and some information about where to find records that are not in its custody.

There are doubtless many CT sources that can help with developing evidence about your man's service. At the NSDAR web site are lists of local Chapters by location (under the membership tab), with contact information:

http://www.dar.org

Each chapter has someone designated to assist prospective members, so it is well worth while to contact a nearby chapter, explain what you know so far, and ask for assistance. The organization has quite a few very able researcher-coaches.

Good hunting!

Re: James Thomas, Rev. Pat., fr. of Seth Thomas

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 3:48PM GMT
Classification: Query
Thanks for your help! James Thomas from Haddam is not my James Thomas, he died when he was 80, and has lots of papers.

Waterbury,was the largest city, next to Farmingbury, then named Wolcott,( after Oliver Wolcott)

My James Thomas from Wolcott, CT:

'The Town & City of Waterbury, CT, from Aboriginal Period to the year 1895', Vol 1, pg 417..'The 5th co. is the same regiment....recruited from Waterbury...51 of its centinels or privates, were Waterbury men' James Thomas, listed.

'Wolcott In The French & Indian Wars The Revolutionary War & the War of the Rebellion', by Wolcott Historical Soc., pg. 3, 'Soldiers who Went from Farmingbury Parish (Wolcott) to the War of the Revolution 1775-1784', James Thomas, listed.

History of the Town Of Wolcott (CT) from 1731 to 1874' by Samuel Orcutt, under the name 'Thomas' 'James Thomas came from Scotland, married Martha Barnes, and settled near James Alcox on Spindle Hill'(a section of Wolcott), etc.

I have photos of his and his wife Martha's headstone, taken by me, in Center Cemetery, Wolcott, CT. His stone reads: 'Mr. James Thomas died May 14, 1796, Aged 49 years'

James Thomas will..dated '6 June, 1796, administration was granted to Martha Thomas...etc' He died 1796,'etc.

James Thomas: 1790 US Federal Census: Township: Waterbury; Co: New Haven; State: CT, pg 179, James Thomas, listed.

James Thomas: 'Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots', Vol 4, Serial: 11999; Vol 8'. Name: James Thomas, Cemetery; Center Cem; Location; Wolcott, CT 56

Proven Genealogy:
Parents; Grand.,(Rose Andrews/John Walelee, Sr); Gr-Grand., (Martin L Andrews/Florence E. Porter); 2nd Gr-Grand., (Martin L Andrews/Lydia L Bassett); 3rd Gr-Grand. (Luther Andrews/Martha Thomas); 4th Gr-Grand, (James Thomas/Martha Barnes).

DAR says line has to be proven, so he would be considered a 'new' Pat., under DAR by-laws.

And....I see you go by 'Frostfreedet'..I'll be searching for Samuel Frost, m. to Naomi Fenn, next...as I remember, there are 3 of them Grand, Father & Son. I believe the 'Father' would have been my Pat too..Any relation?

Thanks, Celinda


Re: James Thomas, Rev. Pat., fr. of Seth Thomas

Posted: 20 Feb 2010 9:01PM GMT
Classification: Query
I did realize that James Thomas, pensioner of Haddam, is not your James Thomas d. 1796 [Tree People might have other ideas :(]. The main point was to be sure that pensioners living after 1796 did not claim the same service as what you attribute to your James.

Sidebar: one of my very-likely ancestors made elaborate claims in his pension application that are at odds with his clamed service record (he said he'd enlisted under a different name, and the record that goes with that name states he deserted). DAR accepted the pension applications as proof of his service; my actual cousins who successfully applied for DAR membership under him did not mention the service record, and did not even prove their descent from this man. He is still accepted as a DAR Patriot, although no one has applied under his service (successfully) recently. If someone had UNsuccessfully applied, he would be flagged on the DAR site; but he is not flagged as requiring either proof of service or proof of descent. So there are still significant numbers of errors in the DAR Patiot Ancestor database.

It's great that you have so much information toward proving a new DAR Patriot. When you have the documentation to suit current DAR standards, you can be pretty confident that your "lineage is right."

Thanks for asking about Frosts - I do have some Frost ancestry, but my line splits off well before the Rev. War. My username has nothing to do with that surname.

Re: James Thomas, Rev. Pat., fr. of Seth Thomas

Posted: 4 Nov 2010 8:03PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Thomas
Hi, your James Thomas might be my wife's ancestor as well, and maybe you can help me make the connection since you seem to have a lot of information about him. She had amongst her ancestors a Samuel Thomas, Civil War vet, born 1821 Bedford Co, PA, brother to George (b 1830), Hester Ann (b 1825), and Savina (b 1820). We are not 100% certain who their parents are, but we do have a letter written by Paul Thomas Manchester in 1958 where he mentions that he remembers talking to his grandfather George Thomas (Samuel's brother) by whom he was told that Seth Thomas, who started the famed clock company, was a brother to his father Sam (census records for Bedford Co, PA seem to suggest their father's name might be George and not Sam though, so we are looking for more proof). I have since found on-line that Seth Thomas is supposed to be the 5th child of James Thomas and Martha Barnes.

Do you happen to have any information from a will or anything else that might confirm or deny the claims made above? I have had no luck finding anything of use so far at the Bedford Co, PA courthouse to link the family to CT or even to confirm that Sam is the father of Samuel, George, Hester Ann and Savina. Have you seen any of these names in the Thomas family before?

Thank you very much for any help you can give me.

Niels

Re: James Thomas, Rev. Pat., fr. of Seth Thomas

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 1:45PM GMT
Classification: Query
None of the names you have stated are from the Seth Thomas family that I can find. He had a large family, who had large families, so I wouldn't be surprised if they are related. Unfortunately, I don't have Seth Thomas' will.

BUT I did prove that James Thomas was a Revolutionary War Patriot, for the DAR!
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