American POW's in Revolutionary War

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

I had an "Aha!" moment last night. Earlier this week I had recorded a History Channel show on American POWs during the Revolutionary War which I watched last night. Even though I grew up in NYC, this was my first exposure to the British prison ships where 1000' s of patriots were held captive and many died during the Revolution.

I finally understood what the note in a genealogy file I have "died on prison ship in NY 1783" meant.

The genealogy is not that of my family, but the family of the man who built my house in 1842. Our town historian gave me what she had shortly after I bought the house, but she had hit a dead end. I was curious about what had become of them. Where their descendants still living in the area ? They apparently were ordinary folks - Betsey, the widow of a seafaring man and her carpenter son Miles - nothing newsworthy about them or their descendants. The family names are common, albeit famous (Bush and Grant). I have fleshed it out a bit more over the past 10 years, but still don't know what became of them.

I'm not even certain that the man I have the note on was the 1st husband of the widow's mother Temperance or was some other man with the same common name. I do know that the family was involved in seafaring and ship-building. They lived on the coast until this house was built and the widow and one son relocated closer to the center of town.

I'm sure most of you knew the significance of "died on prison ship in NY 1783". But it was an Aha moment for me that Temperance's first husband might have been a privateer who assisted the insurgents in the Revolutionary War.

[fudge stripe cookays]

1. Cool!

I love it when the puzzle pieces come together and the aha! moment hits.

Have you thought about checking local county or town histories for this family? I have recently become a devotee of them. The family I'm researching for my Smith family history came from a town in NY that had a courthouse fire in 1875, so it screwed me quite nicely for trying to find records from the time.

But items like "A History of Tompkins County" (many of which were published in the 1870s and 1880s as advertising tools to bring folks to the area, describing the lovely climate, industrious citizens, and good growing soil are VERY helpful for finding out what happened to folks. Many times there are biographical sketches throughout.

Good luck with finding them, and congrats on the find!

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

2. Yes, I tried those publications early on in my quest.

Betsey and her children were ordinary people, so they are not listed. I think I did get a little info on some other characters.

I have searched the documents in the local library and historical society. I found the posting of the bans for her eldest son's marriage mentioned in a diary kept by a contemporary of theirs. He also mentioned bringing wood to the widow Grant.

I even checked land records for mechanic's liens placed by Miles since he was a carpenter. I was trying to figure out what other houses he had built in hopes that they were still standing. The problem is that they didn't use street names - they referenced the neighboring land owners much like a land deed is still written. I have maps of the town from that time, but have not been able to match any names yet.