The book, “Pickering Genealogy,” provides detailed information on ten generations of Pickerings, but my direct lineage extends only to the third generation covered in the book. After that, my branch left Salem. Benjamin’s son, Edward Pickering (6x great-grandfather) was born in November 1701 in Salem and died in Mendon, Massachusetts. In 1724, he married Hannah Bancroft in Lynn, Massachusetts, and shortly after that, he relocated from Salem to Mendon, a town then on the frontier of Massachusetts.

Edward Pickering’s son, and my ancestor, was Jonathan Pickering. He resided in Mendon, Massachusetts, from 1736 to 1832. On February 28, 1760, he married Elizabeth Hunt in Mendon, Massachusetts, and together, they had five children. Jonathan lived a long life, passing away in April 1832 at the age of 96, in Mendon, where he was buried.

Jotham Pickering, the son of Jonathan and my ancestor, my fourth great-grandfather, was born around 1761 in Massachusetts. He eventually made his home in Gibson Hill, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where he sadly passed away around 1809. Jotham is known to have been a veteran of the Revolutionary War, serving in Fishkill, New York. More on that, later.

I was eager to find information about my father’s Pickering ancestors who moved from Salem to Mendon, Massachusetts in the 1730s. I scoured Google Books and came across a book titled “The Annals of the Town of Mendon 1659-1880.”

Three generations of my Pickering ancestors lived in Mendon for nearly a century. I was uncertain about the exact timing of Edward and Hannah Pickering’s departure from Salem to Mendon, but it appears they made the move in the 1730s while keeping property in Salem/Lynnfield. Their son, Jonathan Pickering, was born in Mendon in 1736.

Edward Pickering and Hannah Bancroft were blessed with eight children, two of whom are my ancestors. Their son, Edward Jr., had a daughter named Alice, who married her first cousin, Jotham Pickering, the son of Edward’s younger brother, Jonathan.

Edward Sr., in keeping with the tradition of his English forebears, was a husbandman who primarily raised sheep. These are the extent of the details I knew about Edward Pickering’s family prior to discovering the Annals of Mendon.

What I learned from the Annals of Mendon [Metcalf 1880] was primarily focused on the military service of the Pickering men.

The Invasion of Canada (Summer of 1759)

According to a muster roll (pgs 284-285) Edward Pickering, Jr. (1732-1800), my fifth great-grandfather, was a soldier in Massachusetts militia during the Seven Years War (aka French & Indian War). The muster roll is described as a “return of men enlisted or impressed for his Majesty’s Service within the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in Col. Whiting’s Regiment, under the command of Jeffrey Amherst, General and Commander in Chief of his Majesty’s Forces for the Invasion of Canada.” It was a three-month enlistment in the summer of 1759. This means that he was either at the Battle of Ft. Ticonderoga (July 26-27) or working on a crew constructing Fort Crown Point, both are located in what is now upstate New York near the Canadian border. At the time, Edward was 27 years old

The Battle of Lexington (April 19, 1775)

There are two muster rolls from 1775 – one that lists men from Mendon who responded to the alarm on April 19th and another that lists men from Mendon who enlisted for three months service following the general alarm. It appears that Edward’s eldest son, Benjamin was one of the first responders (in other words, a “minute man”) and that Edward was one of the “three months men” of Mendon whose service expired August 1775.

I guess Edward forgot the universal rule “Don’t forget to bring your towel!” because the Annals of Mendon record that in 1775 the Selectmen of the town voted to spend two dollars to buy him a blanket.

Siege of Rhode Island (1778) (pg 376)

In 1778, at least one other son of Edward Pickering served in the Massachusetts militia, my fifth great-grandfather, Jonathan Pickering. He appears on a list of nine month’s men for the “Rhode Island service,” referring to the on-going Siege of Rhode Island. Included on the list is a “John Pickering,” of whom I am uncertain. According to other sources, Edward did have a son named John, but those sources say that his son died in 1747.

Rhode Island Service

Edward’s grandson, Jotham, was 18 years old in 1779, and now it was his turn to be called up. “Rhode Island Service” may refer to the First Rhode Island Regiment. In addition to my 4th great-grandfather, Jotham, the name “John Pickering” appears on this list and is a muster roll from 1780. I have identified John Pickering as the eldest son of Edward Pickering, Jr., Alice’s brother and Jotham’s first cousin. He and Jotham served together in the summers of 1778-1780. Their names appear on a Massachusetts Militia muster roll of men enlisted for 9 months of service, dated September 1778.

One of the primary source documents provided physical descriptions of both men. John is described as 20 years old, 5 ft 11 in, complexion dark, hair black, eyes dark. While his cousin Jotham is described as 17 years old, 6 ft, dark complexion, black hair, dark eyes.

After the Revolutionary War

I know that, after the war, my ancestor, Jotham, left Massachusetts and settled in Pennsylvania. His father, Jonathan, and his family remained in Mendon for many years following the revolution. Jonathan lived a very long time, and when he was in his early sixties, something made it necessary for the town’s elders to appoint a guardian over him. This was in 1798.

In 1821, the Selectmen of Mendon “voted to allow Preserved Pickering [son of Jonathan] forty cents per week for the support of his father.” In 1822, the town elders again “voted to allow Preserved Pickering [son of Jonathan] forty cents per week for the support of his father.” The final entry I found in the Annals of the Town of Mendon said that the Selectmen of Mendon “voted that the town pay Preserved Pickering $15.50 for extra expenses in the late sickness and burial charges of his late father, Jonathan Pickering.” Jonathan was 96 years old when he died in 1823. I don’t for certain but his infirmity may have been due to his service during the revolution.

I found more information regarding Jotham Pickering, my father’s great-great-great-grandfather, who served in the military during the American Revolution. A book titled, “US, Massachusetts, Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1801,” and published in the 19th century summarizes the details of the muster rolls and provides a context of where they went and what they did when they got there.

When Jotham served in the Massachusetts militia in the summer of 1778, he and his fellow soldiers marched from Mendon, Massachusetts, to Fishkill, New York for three days. They spent only a few months at Fishkill and then marched back home. Fishkill, New York, is a village in Dutchess County, New York, approximately 60 miles north of New York City.

During the Revolutionary War, Fishkill was a key location. A major military base, the Fishkill Supply Depot, was set up just south of the village to protect a strategic mountain pass. They had signal fires ready on the mountains for quick communication. This base became the main supply point for the northern part of the Continental Army. Mount Beacon got its name from those signal fires, which were crucial for communication back then.

My research on Jotham Pickering’s military service was conducted with the help of Fold3.com (Library Edition), a military records database. By searching specifically for records related to the American Revolution and filtering the results, I was able to pinpoint his regimental unit. The muster roll (payment record) Confirmed that he served in the Massachusetts 6th Regiment for most of 1780.

I located Jotham Pickering’s resting place when I found a picture at Ancestry.com. It was a photograph of the burial plot of Jotham Pickering and other family members. He is buried on Kennedy Hill near Gibson Township, Pennsylvania, about 40 minutes north of Scranton.

More Patriots

In addition to what I learned about the Pickering family and their contribution to the American Revolution, I learned that I had other ancestors who participated in the effort against the British.

I have a list of ancestors who served during the American Revolutionary War. It now contains ten individuals: six ancestors of my father’s great-grandmother, Cordelia Pickering, and four of my maternal grandfather, James M. Dobbs, Jr. I have also included additional details about their service and sources.

I now count four ancestors who “answered the alarm on April 19th, 1775.” However, only one appears to have seen action that day at Lexington Green or the Old North Bridge. I’ll start on my father’s side with the oldest to have served. Due to the man’s age, I was unsure about this one, but thanks again to Google Books, I found confirmation in a 1915 DAR Lineage Book that it was the same guy.

Samuel Stearns (6X gGF) was 49 years old in 1775. According to the DAR Lineage Book Vol 137: “Samuel Stearns (1726-1801) served as a private at the Battle of Lexington in Captain Pollard’s Massachusetts company.” His home was in Billerica, about 10 miles from the Old North Bridge. From Fold3.com and the National Archives, I learned he enlisted for three years in the 15th Massachusetts Regiment. In the winter of 1777/78, he was at Valley Forge and fought in at least two battles. According to Wikipedia, the 15th Massachusetts was at the Battle of Bemis Heights (1777 – part of the Saratoga campaign) and the Battle of Monmouth (1778 – last battle of the Philadelphia Campaign). For Samuel, I found 10 muster roll cards on record at Fold 3.com, and with one other exception, most of the men on the list only had one or two pay cards on file, attesting to the briefness of their time in the military. Like many men, Samuel likely had no problem enlisting for three years, as they believed the war would end soon.

Richard Denney (5X gGF) was 28 years old in 1775. According to the National Archives muster rolls, he served in Peekskill and Fishkill, New York, in Co. D, Hopkins’ Regiment of the New York Militia. He was tasked with guarding Hessian POWs captured during the Battles of Saratoga in 1777.

Eldad Corbet (5X gGF) was 23 years old in 1775. According to the National Archives muster rolls, he served in Major John Brown’s Detachment of Militia for New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts in the summer of 1777. He was at the Battle of Bennington. The battle occurred in New York over the border from Bennington, Vermont.

In addition the Pickering men previously mentioned, here again are my mother’s four ancestors who served during the American Revolutionary War:

Solomon Morgan (5X gGF) was 40 years old in 1775. According to the “Roster of South Carolina Patriots,”: “He served in the militia from November 15th 1780 to July 15th 1781 under Lt. John Baxter and Gen. [Francis] Marion, making horseman swords and gunsmithing.”

John McMullan (5X gGF) was 35 years old in 1775. He served in the 11th Virginia Regiment (1776/77). In 1778, the 11th & 15th Virginia Regiments (1778) were folded into a reorganized 7th Virginia Regiment under the command of Daniel Morgan. He is said to have served for five years, from 1776 to 1780. According to family lore, he was hospitalized and nearly died while at Valley Forge. Years before the Revolution, he married my 5x great-grandmother, Theodosia Beazely, and by her, he had five children, including my ancestor Patrick McMullan. At some point, after not hearing from John and believing him to be dead, Theodosia left John for another man. While most have only two muster roll cards, John’s pay record in the National Archives consists of 24 records. He was at the Battle of Brandywine. Other places mentioned in the muster rolls are Valley Forge, PA; Camp White Plains, NY; Camp Pompton Plains, NJ; Camp New Ark (Newark), NJ; and Camp Middlebrook, NJ.

Evan Prothro (5X gGF) was 33 years old in 1775. According to the Roster of South Carolina Patriots, Evan “served in the militia during 1781 and was a hog driver during 1782. A family lore says he served under Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. In 1781/82, Marion was made a brigadier general and placed in command of a South Carolina militia brigade. Battles fought in South Carolina during Evan’s time in service were the Battle of Cowpens (Jan 1781) and the Battle of Guilford Court House (Mar 1781).

Josiah Dobbs (4X gGF) was reportedly 10 years old in 1775. He was born in Virginia or North Carolina and would have been in his teens during the war. It appears that he did serve in some capacity, as he is shown receiving payment for military service in December 1784 for 20 pounds and five shillings in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. It is understood that he received a land grant in Georgia along the Savannah River for his service.

He Went As Far As Danville

The War of 1812, often called America’s “second war of independence,” was a conflict between the United States and Great Britain that primarily arose from ongoing trade tensions and issues related to maritime rights. The British Royal Navy’s impressment of American sailors and the United Kingdom’s restrictions on U.S. trade while Britain was at war with France prompted calls for a declaration of war. The war also involved Native American allies of the British and American frontiersmen, which led to significant conflict in the western territories.

The war saw several key battles, including the burning of Washington D.C. and the Battle of New Orleans. The latter, famously led by Andrew Jackson, symbolized American resilience and determination. Although the war ended in a stalemate with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, it ultimately established the United States as a force to be reckoned with on the world stage and had significant long-term effects on the nation’s future.

Until yesterday, all I knew of Corbett Pickering’s service in the War of 1812 was from a single line in a history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, published in the 1880s. On page 767 of the book, Ramanthus Stoker wrote: “[Corbett] served in the War of 1812 and went as far as Danville.”

I googled “Danville in the War of 1812,” and it came up dry. That was over a decade ago, and until I made a related discovery yesterday, I do not think I tried searching again in the interim. Yesterday’s find was at Fold3.com. It was a card image from the “U.S., War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815”

The only useful information on the card was “Captain Frederick Bailey’s company Pennsylvania militia.” This was later used for confirmation.

In the meantime, I thought I might search for “He went as far as Danville,” thinking that phrase might be a euphemism for something. Much to my chagrin, I got multiple hits on “Danville” in the text of the same book by Ramenthus Stocker, including a second appearance of the exact phrase.

Here’s what happened: In August 1814, 2,500 soldiers under General Ross had just arrived in Bermuda aboard HMS Royal Oak, three frigates, three sloops, and ten other vessels. Released from the Peninsular War by victory, the British intended to use them for diversionary raids along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. The Brits decided to employ this force, together with the naval and military units already on the station, to strike at the national capital. Anticipating the attack, valuable documents, including the original Constitution, were removed to Leesburg, Virginia. The British task force advanced up the Chesapeake, routing Commodore Barney’s flotilla of gunboats, carried out the Raid on Alexandria, landed ground forces that bested the US defenders at the Battle of Bladensburg, and carried out the Burning of Washington.

United States Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr. insisted that the British would attack Baltimore rather than Washington, even as the British army and naval units were on their way to Washington. Brigadier General William H. Winder, who had burned several bridges in the area, assumed the British would attack Annapolis. He was reluctant to engage because he mistakenly thought the British army was twice its size.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania began mobilizing its militia, which was ultimately federalized but apparently never put to use. In Corbett’s case and possibly his father–in–law, John Denny, the men from Gibson were marched for a week south to Danville, a transportation hub on the northern branch of the Susquehanna River. After doing what armies have done throughout history—“hurry up and wait”—the men were discharged and marched back home.

Here’s what I found in Stocker’s book:

Page 212: “The War of 1812 furnished practical reasons for military duty. An ‘Appeal to Patriots,’ published in the Luzerne County papers in 1813, offered a bounty of $16 (for enlistment for three years) and three months’ pay at $8 per month, with one hundred and sixty acres of land. Those who enlisted for only eighteen months received no laud.

“Complaints of taxes increased as hostilities continued. May1814, bounty was raised to $124, besides 160 acres. In the summer a call appeared in the Luzerne County papers (none were then established in Susquehanna County) for a meeting immediately after court, 23d August, at Edward Fuller’s, ‘ friendly to a restoration of peace or a more vigorous prosecution of the war.’

“The burning of the Capitol at Washington stimulated militia organizations. At a militia election, in the summer of 1814, Frederick Bailey was elected colonel.”

“Isaac Post was appointed inspector of 2d Brigade. From his diary we learn that, October 23, 1814, he received orders for marching the militia, and set out for Wilkes-Barre on the 24th. Arrived at Danville, Pa., November 1 ; with a detachment of militia on the 13th; received orders to halt on the 19th; to dismiss the detachment 21st; the whole was discharged on 24th and 25th, same month.’ Colonel F. Bailey accompanied this expedition.

“It was held up to ridicule, while the militia were waiting for their pay until April, 1819, and afterwards for its fruitlessness. Ezra Sturdevant, drafted from Harford or New Milford, was left sick at Danville, died, and was buried with military honors. It is laughingly asserted that Major Post brought back one hand-rifle and one tin camp-kettle as the spoils of this expedition.”

Page 329: “[Walter Lathrop] was active as an officer and took troops as far as Danville, Pa., during the War of 1812— 14, where they were dismissed, owing to the proclamation of peace.”

Page 514: “…the famous Danville expedition starting and returning within the same month.”

The U.S. government granted land to military veterans through “land warrants” as a reward for their service, starting around the War of 1812. These warrants entitled veterans to substantial land allotments, typically 160 acres. This program, initiated in 1811-1812, continued for decades with expansions in the 1840s and 1850s, offering land to veterans of later conflicts as well. This policy served both as gratitude and as a means to promote westward expansion and settlement by incentivizing veterans to develop frontier territories.

Initially, pensions were just for soldiers with disabilities, similar to how things were done in Britain. Then, in 1818, the rules changed, and anyone who served could get money, but they tweaked it again later to focus on those who couldn’t support themselves. The 1832 Pension Act brought back pensions based on service and allowed widows to get benefits too. By 1871, even state militia guys who went federal in the War of 1812 were covered, and their widows got benefits from 1878. Widows would get half their husband’s pay for seven years after they passed away. And that is exactly what Corbett’s widow, Tamar Denny Pickering, received after his death in 1868.

Having largely focused on the male lineage of Cordelia Pickering Gaume’s family tree in the previous two chapters, we now turn our attention in the next chapter to the women, venturing back to Cordelia’s most ancient roots.