Understanding the life of an ancestor who lived over 150
years ago can be very difficult. Yes, often we
can find birth/baptism, marriage and/or death dates but that really
doesn’t tell us much about the life they lived.
If there was a diary or letters or newspaper accounts of their life more
insight into their beliefs, hopes and dreams would be available but we rarely
ever have that. So much of our
ancestors’ lives, like ours, are dependent on life that is happening around us
at a particular time. A knowledge of the
time period and what was happening in the town or village our ancestor’ lived adds
so much to that understanding. While there is still uncertainty about how an
ancestor was influenced by events, a better understanding is available about
how their lives were possibly shaped given these events.
James Warner is my paternal 4th great-grandfather
26 April 1762 James
was born in Southold, Suffolk County, New York to parents Daniel and Hannah
(Petty) Warner. James was the 3rd
of 10 children born to the couple. Birth
date confirmed by record in mother’s Bible.
- Southold is proclaimed to be the first settled town on Long Island and the oldest English town in the State of New York. Founded by the Puritans in 1640 when the New Haven Colony magistrates purchased the land from the Corchaug Native Americans. Geographically “Southold” encompassed the eastern end of the north fork of Long Island from what is known today as the land from Orient Point to Wading River. This is important to know when “Southold” is listed in documents as a location of a marriage of a residence during this time.
12 January 1769 James
was 7 years old when he and siblings Nathaniel, Deborah, John & David were
baptized together at the Aquebogue Presbyterian Church by the Reverend Benjamin
Goldsmith.
16 December 1773 James
was 11 years old when the Boston Tea Party occurred. Resentment of the British and colonial
support for the American Revolution began to intensify.
- 1774 The Coercive Acts were punitive measures passed by the British Parliament, initially to punish Boston, and marked a major turning point between the British government and the colonies. The Quartering Act, also passed in 1774, allowed local governors, though out the American colonies, to find homes and buildings to house British soldiers. This included uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns and other buildings.
March-April 1775
James was almost 13 years old when his 2 older brothers (Daniel &
Nathaniel), a younger brother (John) and sister (Hannah) died tragically within
a month’s time. James was now the oldest
of the children. Did they succumb to
Small Pox, Cholera or the Influenza Epidemic?
How devastating for parents to lose 4 children within a month’s
time. The grief must have been
unbearable for all the remaining family members. The family dynamics changed so suddenly and
dramatically for James. The children are
buried in the cemetery known at the time as ‘Lower Aquebogue’ in what today is
the village of Jamesport.
April 19, 1775, a week before James’ 13th
birthday, the Battles of Lexington and Concord occur and the American
Revolution begins. How long did it take
for information to reach James’ family about the Revolutionary War
beginning? There were no newspapers in
Southold during the eighteenth century.
At this time people would have gotten their news from travelers,
Connecticut newspapers or from Taverns, which were the center of social
life. The population of Southold at this
time was just over 3,000, excluding slaves.
July 4, 1776 when James was 14 years old, Congress formally
ratified the Declaration of Independence and it was signed.
- 1776 The Suffolk County Militia formed its first Regiment of Minute Men. All able-bodied men were required to quickly assemble and serve when notified or faced a fine and the possibility of imprisonment. Typically, those chosen were 25 years of age or younger due to their physical strength, enthusiasm, and reliability. At times when the men weren’t needed, they returned to their usual farming tasks. The British occupied Southold with about 500 infantry and 50 cavalry. What was it like to have British soldiers living in your home or barns and taking your crops and livestock for food? Did the local colonists have enough to eat? What must it have been like to be occupied and know there were British soldiers so close, on a daily basis, for seven years? During this time there was an epidemic of cholera and dysentery in the area. Many colonists in the area were forced to take an oath of allegiance to the King. I have been unable to find any indication of James or his father signing this oath of allegiance or of the family leaving Long Island for Connecticut as many others did.
- August 1776 the British won the Battle of Long Island. The battle took place about 70-80 miles away from where 14 year old James was living. What did James know about what was happening and the significance of this to his family? Resentment of the British on eastern Long Island had begun long before the Revolution began.
25 November 1783, when James was 21 years old and nearly three months after the Treaty of
Paris was signed ending the American Revolution, the last shipload of British soldiers left rounded
Montauk Point. The people of New York
City and Long Island were no longer captives of the invading British Army. This is the only such time a part of our
country was held by an invading force and under its complete domination.
How was James’ life molded by the events of the country’s
struggle for independence? The family
lived in an area referred to as the “Great Woods”, miles away from the main town of Southold. Was this a move his father made to take the family
as far away from the struggles happening in the towns and villages nearby and the British
troops or just a move to gain good farmland and area for his family to spread
out? While I probably will never know
the answer to this question for certainty there was a lot for the James
to experience in his young life. What
would be in store for the rest of James’ life?
More to follow…
Enjoy the journey,
Debby
