The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: MA
Qualifying Service: Private
Birth: 25 Oct 1762 Woburn / Middlesex / MA Death: 13 Mar 1834 Bristol / Addison / VT
Qualifying Service Description:
Capt Joseph Killam; Colonel Rufus Putnam's 5th Reg't, MA Line
Enlstd Mar 1781, disch late fall 1782 with broken arm
Additional References:
Pension: S41409
SAR Patriot Index Edition III (CD: PP2210, Progeny Publ, 2002) plus data to 2004
Spouse: Polly Arba Children: John; Otis;
Members Who Share This Ancestor
None*
*This means that the NSSAR has no applications for this Patriot on file.
Instead the information provided is best effort, and from volunteers who have either researched grave sites, service records, or something similar. There is no documentation available at NSSAR HQ to order.
Upright, double-wide, white marble, contemporary to burial
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: VTSSAR
John was the 2nd of 5 children (1st of 4 sons) born of John Alexander (b. 1732) and his wife Abigail Thompson. John's siblings were: Vina (1760-1777), Arba (b. 1767), Seth (b. 1769), and Cyrus (b. 1772).
On February 27, 1781, John enlisted, as a Private, at Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, for 3 years in Captain Killam's Company, Colonel Rufus Putnam's 5th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Line. John continued in this service until sometime in the fall of 1782 when he was discharged as an invalid having broken his arm in the service at Robinson's Point across the Hudson River from West Point, New York.
Soon after the Revolutionary War (about 1783), John moved with his parents from Woburn to New Hampshire. Prior to the taking of the 1810 US Census, he moved from New Hampshire to Bristol, Addison County, Vermont.
In the 1790 US Census of Plainfield, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, John Jr. was enumerated as a Head of a Family with 1 Free White Male of 16 years of age and upward and 1 Free White Female.
In the 1800 US Census of Plainfield, John was enumerated as a Head of a Family with 1 Free White Male and 1 Free White female 26 thru 44 years of age and 4 Free White Males under 10.
In the 1810 US Census of Bristol, Addison County, Vermont, John was enumerated as the Head of a Family with 1 Free White Male and 1 Free White Female 45 year of age and over, 1 Free White Male under 10 and 1 Free White Male 10 thru 15.
In the 1820 US Census of Bristol, John was enumerated as the Head of a Family with 1 Free White Male and 1 Free White Female over the age of 45 years and 2 Free White Males of 16 to 26 years of age. Three persons were engaged in Agriculture.
In the 1830 US Census of Bristol, John was enumerated as the Head of a Family with 1 Free White Male and 1 Free White Female of 60 to 80 years of age, 1 Free White Male 20 to 30, and 1 Free White Female of 30 to 40 years of age.
In the 1840 US Census of Bristol, there were no Alexanders enumerated.
References:
(1) "Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, from 1640 to 1873. Part I. - - Births." by Edward F. Johnson, 1890, page 10
(2) "Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, from 1640 to 1873. Part II. - - Deaths." by Edward F. Johnson, 1890, page
(3) US Federal Military Pension File No. S.41409
(4) "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War." Vol. 1., by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1896, page 122
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.