Tuesday, March 15, 2011
When you love genealogy like I do, it's exciting to find a new clue about your ancestors. Unfortunately, sometimes the clue doesn't get you anywhere; it just gives you more ideas for more places to search. Follow the trail with me as I take an ancestor hunt.
For many years, I have been looking for the father of Chester Elliott. In fact, my very first blog entries described the family mystery surrounding his identity.
It is important to identify Chester Elliott to help confirm or rule out the claim that our earliest Elliott ancestors in America were the parents of Deacon Jacob Elliott who came to Boston in 1630.
So, when a google search turned up this listing from the Yearbook of the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1896 for the father of Chester Elliott (as part of the documention for George W. Wing's SAR membership), I thought I was on to something!
Page 104 of the SAR Yearbook lists these details about David Elliott according to the application filed by George W. Wing.
"...enlisted July 12, 1781 as a fifer in his brother Captain Joseph Elliott’s company of Colonel William Thomas’ regiment of the Massachusetts troops of Sutton, Massachusetts. David served four months and 23 days in the Revolutionary War.
Authorities: War Records of Massachusetts; Records of Sutton"
Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 5, pg 287
Armed with this information, I was on the trail. At least I thought I was.
I looked at the Revolutionary War lists for soldiers from Massachusetts named David Elliott, Captain Joseph Elliott and Colonel William Thomas. Nothing conclusive jumped out at me.
I looked at the Sutton Vital Records and came up with two David Elliotts:
1) David, son of Joseph and Jerusha, b. Oct 11, 1734
2) David, son of Joseph Jr. and Susanna, b. Feb 19, 1766
And two Joseph Elliotts:
1) Joseph, son of Joseph and Jarusha, b. Nov 17, 1731
2) Joseph, son of Joseph Jr. and Anna, b. August 19, 1775
One pair seemed too old: 1) David, 47 and Joseph, 50; and the other is definitely too young: 2) David, 15 and Joseph, 6, on the enlistment day in 1781. While fifers did enter the service as young as age 9, it is impossible that set 2) could be right because this Joseph could not be a captain at age 6.
Then, assuming that set 1) David IS the father of Chester Elliott and Chester was born somewhere between 1774 and 1780, David would have been 40-46 years old when his son Chester was born and 41-47 when he enlisted in 1781 . His older brother, Captain Joseph Elliott, would have been about 50 when David went into the service.
To consider if it would have been plausible for David and Joseph to be in the Revolutionary War between the ages of 41 and 50, I read the Militia Act of 1792 (written just 10 years later). It clarified whom the militia consisted of. The Act reads:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia, by the Captain or Commanding Officer of the company, within whose bounds such citizen shall reside, and that within twelve months after the passing of this Act..."
That tells me it is reasonable that these brothers could be serving at their ages.
Then I e-mailed the Town of Sutton offices and their historical society. Both responded with suggestions and contact addresses for further research but did not have any information except a record that "a David Elliott" died at age 27, no date of death available. They had no record for children of David Elliott.
On my next blog entry I'll provide an update on the hunt for the elusive David Elliott.
This information turned out to be inaccurate. See the post called Elliotts of Sutton, Massachusetts for an update.
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