Introduction

On this Memorial Day, we gather not only to honor the fallen but also to resurrect the forgotten. Allow me to present seven of my ancestors who served in the military during the American Revolution. These are not the names etched in marble nor the grand heroes celebrated in epic ballads. Nope, these are just some of the ordinary men who overnight went from loyal British subjects to disloyal rebels to patriots to eventual tax-paying American citizens.

What might differentiate them from other ancestors of mine is timing. They came to America sooner than my German, Irish, Franco-Swiss, and Flemish ancestors. They were not the only ones who were successful in a revolt against a crown, and they were not the only ones who were colonialists. (My Scottish forebearers colonized Northern Ireland). There are an almost equal number of men on my father’s side of the family as there is on my mother’s side, with four Northerners (three of the same family) on my father’s side and three men from the South on my mother’s side of the family.

The Northerners – Ancestors of my Father who served during the American Revolution

These are all ancestors of my great-grandmother, Della Gaume DeBacker, daughter of Cordella Pickering.

Richard Denny III (1747-1825) (sometimes spelled Denney) was the father of Dr. John Denny. Both were born in New York state. John left New York following the War of 1812 and settled in Pennsylvania. John was the father of Tamar Denny, and grandfather of Cordelia Pickering.

Richard was my father’s great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Here is a payment record from 1785 that indicates Richard Denny was paid for service in 1777 at Peekskill, New York, and in 1779 at Fishkill, New York.

The record indicates that Denny was in Company D of the Hopkins Regiment, New York militia. In 1777, Col. Hopkins was second in command of the Dutchess County Regiment headed by Col. Morris Grisham.

A second payment record indicates that Richard Denny served as a guard at a jail (gaol) in Amenia precinct in the neighborhood of Dutchess County. The prisoners being guarded were probably Hessian soldiers captured at the Battles of Saratoga.

I found Richard Denny’s name at Google Books in a book published in the 1890s that reprinted muster rolls from the American Revolution – New York in the Revolution as Colony and State By New York (State). Comptroller’s Office, James Arthur Roberts · 1897

In 2022, I wrote a detailed blog post entitled “Just in Time for the Fourth of July” about Richard’s service in the NY militia.

Edward Pickering, Jr. (1732-1800), a veteran of the Seven Year’s War, he was listed in the Annals of Mendon, Massachusetts, as having served as one of the “Three Months Men” during the Crisis of 1775 that began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and his term of service ending that August. See this YouTube video of my podcast, Gathering More Leaves (GML 017: The Pickering Papers – Pt. 4). He was my father’s fourth great-grandfather.

Jonathan Pickering (1736-1832) was the brother of Edward Jr and my father’s fourth great-grandfather. He is recorded as having served in 1778. From the Annals of Mendon: “ During the year 1778, there were two special calls for troops, one for New York and one for the northern army, to both of which the town records shows Minden responded.” Jonathan Pickering is on the list of “nine months men” without designation to their place of service, probably to reinforce the Northern Army.”

“Northern Army” meant he was in the Massachusetts militia attached to the Continental Army opposing the British along the Canadian border.

Jotham Pickering (1761-1809), son of Jonathan Pickering, was 18 years old in 1779. In the Annals of Mendon, Jotham Is recorded in a list of “nine months men in Rhode Island service under Captain Samuel Hamant.”

“Rhode Island Service” meant attempting to break the siege of Rhode Island. Following the Continental Army’s defeat at the Battle of Rhode Island in the summer of 1778, the colony of Rhode Island was under British control for most of 1779.

The Southerners – Ancestors of my Mother who served during the American Revolution

These are all ancestors of my maternal grandfather, James Monroe Dobbs, Jr.

John McMullan (1740-1817) – There is a family legend surrounding John McMullan. According to descendants of John who settled in Mississippi, John was the tailor who sewed and stitched the uniform worn by General George Washington. What is known for a fact is that John McMullan was an officer in General Washington’s army. He was a Valley Forge during the Winter of 1777/78, and according to records, he spent some time in the hospital. Before the revolution, John married the 14-year-old, Theodosia Beazley, and they had five children. John was off at war for five long years, and during that time Theodosia didn’t know if John was alive or dead. As the story goes, she took up with another man, William Dula. For more of the story, see Bad Grandma? and The Legend of John McMullan.

John McMullan was my mother’s 4th great-grandfather.

Josiah Dobbs (?-1810) – Born in either Virginia or North Carolina, Josiah Dobbs would have been in his late teens during the American Revolution. It appears that he did serve in some capacity during the American Revolution as he is shown as receiving payment for military service in December 1784 in the amount of 20 pounds and five shillings in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. It is understood that he received land grants in South Carolina and Georgia along the Savannah River for his service.

Josiah Dobbs was my mother’s 3rd great-grandfather.

Evan Prothro (1742-1822), According to an application submitted by one of Evan Prothro’s female descendants to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Evan served in “General Francis Marion’s Brigade” and “rendered material support.” Another source states that Evan supplied hogs to the South Carolina militia. This would place the period of service between 1781 and 1782 when Marion was acting as a Brigadier General of a South Carolina Militia brigade and not earlier when he was known as Col. Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, and with the Continental Army. It is much later, after the war, that descendants of Evan and other South Carolinians came to see Francis Marion as a hero, his story having been elevated by the same author who invented the story of Washington and the Cherry Tree.

Evan Prothro was my mother’s 4th great-grandfather.