A Revolutionary War Martyr

A cousin to my sons, Samuel Swift (1715-1775), was a member of the Sons of Liberty and called a “martyr for freedom’s cause” by his friend, Samuel Adams (1722-1803). Samuel Swift was married twice, but at the period of time we’re interested in, he was married to his second wife, Ann Foster (1729-1788), with whom he had six children.

Swift died under British house arrest in Boston, Massachusetts, having contracted an illness from which he did not recover. I suspect it may have been smallpox or diphtheria as these were two prevalent diseases during the Revolutionary War and decimated General Washington’s troops.

Let’s backtrack from Swift’s death to the events leading up to his house arrest. His good friend, Samuel Adams, was the founder of the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty, was founded in 1765 in Boston and dissolved in 1776. It was a secret organization organized in all thirteen colonies to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It played a major role in battling the Stamp Act and applying pressure to merchants who did not comply with the non-importation associations (see prior blog). Wherever these groups existed, they were directed in secret by leading men – Samuel Swift was one of these men. 

Image from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Additionally, Swift was part of Boston’s Committee of Correspondence. Each major city had one of these committees whose purpose was to maintain contact between colonial cities. The defined purpose of Boston’s Committee was to “Prepare a statement of the rights of colonists, and of this province in particular, as men, as Christians, and as subjects; Prepare a declaration of the infringement of those rights; and Prepare a letter to be sent to all towns in this province (Massachusetts) and to the world, giving the sense of this town.” In 1773, this Committee was charged with managing the “tea crisis” and was the driving force behind the Boston Tea Party. Samuel Swift – not an actual member of the Boston Tea Party - is alleged to have been one of the managers of the Boston Tea Party. 1 Though the Committees of Correspondence were primarily concerned with diplomacy, the Sons of Liberty were more about action. So, it was probably the Sons of Liberty members (who were also members of the Committees of Correspondence) who pulled off the Boston Tea Party. 

Google Image

 Samuel Swift was known for his zeal regarding the revolution, and Samuel Adams said that “Samuel Swift caused Bostonians to secrete their arms when the British Governor, Gage, offered the town freedom if arms were brought into the arsenal.”  Additionally, in 1775, Swift was the presiding officer at a Freemasons meeting where it was agreed to use the concealed arms and, if needed, pitchforks and axes, to attack the British soldiers stationed in Boston. About June 1775, Gov. Gage got wind of this scheme and imprisoned Samuel Swift. 2

Swift’s willingness to resort to violence is seen in a letter he wrote to Samuel Adams on October 24, 1774: “As for my part I am no Swordsman but with Gun or flail I fear no man more especially my Cause being Good as I think otherwise [sic] I would not engage.” 3 

Needless to say, Swift’s wife, Ann, was distraught about her husband’s house arrest. She and their children were forced to leave their home and went to live in Springfield, Massachusetts, about 90 miles west of Boston. Ann was an inveterate diary keeper.  She writes in her diary in June 1775: “Here I am in the woods, Boston being so surrounded by armies that we could not enjoy our home: no school for the children, and the town forsaken by the ministers—the pillars of the land.” At the same time, she wrote a letter to a British officer, Captain Handfield, asking that her husband be able to come to her:

“Capt. Handfield, Sir,

            Your kindness in undertaking to me a pass for me emboldens me to ask the like favor for my dear husband whom I hear is in a very weak state of health. The anxiety of my mind is great about him. A word from you would have more weight than all the arguments that he could make use of.

            Could I come to him, this favor I would not ask. I, Sir I trust in your goodness that you will do what you can to forward Mr. Swift to me and in doing so you will greatly oblige

            Your distressed friend                        ANN SWIFT

Should be glad if he would bring out two

trunks which there is clothing in that I

want very much for myself and children.” 4

Despite his wife’s plea, Samuel Swift was not released to go to Springfield. I presume that despite his illness, Governor Gage, deemed him a threat, sick or not.  Samuel Swift died on August 30, 1775. His wife wrote in her diary: “Departed this life, in the 61^st year of his age, my dear husband, Samuel Swift. He died in Boston, or in other words, murdered there. He was not allowed to come to see me and live with his wife and children in the country. There he gave up the ghost—his heart was broken; the cruel treatment he met with in being a friend to his country was more than he could bear. With six fatherless children (in the woods) and all my substance in Boston.” 5 

Both Ann Foster Swift and Samuel Adams were correct – Samuel Swift, a true Revolutionary, gave his life for his country, dying a martyr. 

 

Image from Find a Grave

Samuel Swift is my sons’ second cousin, nine times removed.

1 - "Committees of Correspondence: The Voice of the Patriots." Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, 5 Mar 2019, www.bostonteapartyship.com/committees-of-correspondence.

2 - Ibid.

3 - "To John Adams from Samuel Swift, 20 October 1774," Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-02-0059. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 2, December 1773-April 1775, ed. Robert J. Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977, pp. 192-196.

4 - "North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000." Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. www.ancestry.com. Memoirs of Gen. Joseph Gardner Swift, LL D, USA : First graduate of the United States Military Academy.

5 - Ibid.

 

The Battle of Saratoga and a Great-uncle

Battle of Saratoga - Andy Thomas, Artist - Google Image

John Oliver (1725-1811) is the 7th great-uncle of my sons. He was born in Northern Ireland and immigrated with his parents in 1736 to the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He lived in Athol, Worcester County, Massachusetts; had a wife, Mary L. Beaman (1728-1810); and together, they had 11 children. John was also a Captain of the Massachusetts Militia at the Battle of Saratoga from 19 September 1777 to 17 October 1777 – also known as “The Burgoyne Alarm.”  The Battle of Saratoga is considered by many historians to be a turning point for the Americans during the American Revolution.

John Oliver was one of four captains in Col. Nathan Sparhawk’s 7th Worcester Company of the Massachusetts militia; specifically, captain of the Third Company. John was commissioned a captain on 5 April 1776.  This particular militia was sent to reinforce the American troops “at the time of reduction of General Burgoyne,” the British commander. [1] As a captain, it was John’s responsibility to teach the soldiers how to work together and how to survive on the battlefield. The illustration to the left shows the standard captain insignia for the Continental Army during this war. These would be worn attached to the shoulders of the individual uniform.

Massachusetts Militia

It was not easy being an American soldier at this time. The death rate was high because of battles, espionage, and disease. The British has the best weapons, best commanders, and trained killers. The Americans were barely trained and had few supplies. [2]  However, the Battle of Saratoga changed everything. According to author Dean Snow, showed that “an improvised army of amateurs could take on the best army in the world and force it surrender.” [3] Because of the American success at Saratoga in defeating the British, the French started providing troops and supplies to the Americans. All in all, this win was a boost to the American spirit.

When John Oliver died in 1811, his tombstone was inscribed as follows: Capt. Third Co. Mass./1777 The Burgoyne Alarm ~ John is buried in the Old Pleasant street Cemetery in Athol, Massachusetts.

Photo from Findagrave.com

 

[1] “Participants in the Battle of Saratoga.” Saratoga County NYGenWeb Project – Saratoga County, New York, Heritage Hunters of Saratoga County, 15 Oct. 2015, saratoganygenweb.com/batlo.htm.

[2] “Life of an American Soldier in the Revolutionary War.” Infogram, infogram.com/life-on-an-american-soldier-in-the revolutionary-war.

[3] Snow, Dean. 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga. 1^st ed., Oxford University Press, 2016

A Minuteman's Death

Minuteman - Google Image

Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday in May, honors the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. Veterans’ Day, observed in November, honors all men and women who have and are serving in the United States military. Keeping that distinction in mind, I decided to write about Daniel Thompson (1734-1775), my husband’s 3^rd cousin six times removed, in honor of Memorial Day.

Daniel Thompson was a Revolutionary war soldier. He was killed on April 19, 1775, during the British retreat from Concord on the first day of the American Revolution. Daniel was one of 50 Americans who died that day. 

Daniel was the second oldest child of five children. His parents, Samuel Thompson (1705-1748) and Ruth Wright Thompson (1706-1775) were life-long residents of Woburn, Massachusetts. Daniel came from a family who always stood ready to come to the defense of their community and surrounding area. His hometown of Woburn, where he was born, is only five miles from Lexington, where he died.

This first battle of the American Revolutionary War, which took place in multiple communities, came to be known as the Battle of Concord and Lexington. This “battle” was actually a series of skirmishes, between the Americans – aka Minutemen – and the British. The British (a force of 700 men) were intent on seizing a cache of ammunition, and the Minutemen were just as intent on denying them access. Shots were fired, battle ensued, and the Revolutionary War started.

So, what is known about Daniel Thompson on that fatal day? He was one of the many who gathered

Fowle Tavern - Google Image

at Fowle Tavern in Woburn to muster out against the British. As part of the Woburn Militia, Thompson would have marched with the militia from Fowle Tavern to Concord. Along with militia units from other communities. The militia hid behind trees, stone walls, and buildings in the hopes to ambush the approaching British soldiers. Once the British appeared, the fighting began. 

According to information found on the Find A Grave website, Thompson took cover behind a barn and fired with deadly results. His results were so deadly, “that a British regular was ordered to come up behind him and take him out. But no sooner did the regular’s find its target than he was in turn shot” by another militia man who had managed to get behind the British soldier. However, the shot killing the British regular was not in time to save Thompson’s life. It was left to Daniel’s brother, Abijah, to tell Daniel’s wife and children of Daniel’s death.

On Friday, April 21, 1775, Daniel, along with another patriot, Asahel Porter, were buried in the First Burial Ground in Woburn Cemetery.  According to the Find a Grave website: “. . . the Woburn Militia’s . . . flag bearer, lowered the militia’s flag and dragged it behind in honor of the dead heroes. Reverend Josiah Sherman made a speech fitting the occasion and when he was finished, the flag bearer raised the flag to symbolize Thompson’s and Porter’s rebirth in heaven.”

The inscription on Daniel’s headstone reads as follows:

            “Here lies Buried the Body of

            Mr. Daniel Thompson who was

            slain in Concord Battle on ye 19^th

            of April 1775. Aged 40 Years.

            Here Passenger confin’d reduc’d to dust

            lies what was once Religious wise & Just.

            The cause he engaged did animate him high.

            Namely Religion and dear Liberty.

            Steady and warm in Liberties defence.

            True to his Country. Loyal to his Prince.

            Though in his Breast a Thirst for glory fired.

            Courageous in his country’s cause expired.

            Although he’s gone his name Embalmed shall be,

            and had in everlasting Memory.”

Headstone Image from FindaGrave.com