Amanuensis Monday: Happy Belated Independence Day

I love Independence Day holiday!  No greater proof is needed that how busy I was yesterday.  I never got around to posting on my blog what I wanted to; I never got around to calling my parents to wish them a happy holiday, and I didn't get to do any of my "fun work" like research.  My son and daughter-in-law flew in from the east coast to spend the weekend with us, and it has been fabulous!  What a fine couple they have matured into.

My wife decorated our house inside and out with a patriotic theme.  We had a large meal with my barbecued smoked spareribs at the center.  We spent much of the day sitting outside drinking and talking, shaded from the mid-day heat by awnings.  We watched the 1972 musical 1776 on TCM, which was once an annual family tradition.  The city fireworks were on Saturday night, so we spent the evening playing card games indoors.  It was a great time.

So today I offer the entry for my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather John Needham who served in the Revolutionary War, taken from the published family history The Ancestors and Descendants of Horatio Edmund Needham and Lucina Bagley, Who Married 25 November 1852 in Royalton, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Wise, 1995) by Melva Kinch Breffeilh and Shirley Kinch Morrison. --

John Needham was born in Salem on 22 Jan 1736, the son of Daniel and Isabella (Armstrong) Needham.  Some time around 1755, his father moved the family to Norwich, Ct. and on 11 Aug 1763, John married in East Haddam, Ct. Esther Willey, daughter of Noah and Sarah (Hart) Willey. . . .John served in the Revolutionary War aboard the ship General Putnam, in the expedition against the British at Penobscot (Maine) in 1779.  Serving with him were his son John, his brother Elias, and several of his Connecticut Valley neighbors.  The General Putnam was commissioned April 23, 1778.  Her master, Capt. Allen, posted these notices: "Gentleman Volunteers who are inclined for a cruise are desired to apply on board, or at Nathan Douglas's Tavern."  Following the war, the family moved to Washington County, New York, and John Needham, Sr. probably died there between 1790 and 1800 (Censuses).  In the 1800 census. Esther is listed as the "head of household" and probably died soon afterwards.  Both Esther and John Needham, Sr. were probably buried in or near Granville, N.Y. but no record  of their graves can be found.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker