Display Patriot - P-105159 - Joseph ATHERTON

Joseph ATHERTON

SAR Patriot #: P-105159

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
DAR #: A003560

Birth: abt 1728 Lancaster / Middlesex / MA
Death: 05 Dec 1789 Harvard / Worcester / MA

Qualifying Service Description:
  1. Private in the 4th Company (Captain Isaac Gates), under Colonel Asa Whitcomb. Marched to Cambridge on the Lexington Alarm of April 19, 1775
  2. Private under CAPT Manasseh Sawyer in COL Dyke's regiment. Marched to Dorchester Heights, probably from Sept-Nov 1776
  3. Private under CAPT Samuel Hill in COL Josiah Whitney's regiment. Marched in August 1777 on alarm at Bennington

Additional References:
  1. Secretary of the Commonwealth, MA Soldiers, and Sailors of the Rev War, Vol I, MA. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co, 1901, pg 327-8
  2. MA, Worcester County Probate Court, estate packets, case 2021

Spouse: Sarah Hutchins
Children: David; Joseph; Jonathan; Abigail Willard; Hannah Whitney; Sarah Whitney; Patience
Members Who Share This Ancestor
Date Approved Society ACN SAR Member Info Lineage via Child View Application Detail
2022-12-02 MN 104483 Alexander Eugene Ives (224464) Jonathan   
2022-12-02 MN 104484 Apollo George Ives (224465) Jonathan   
Burial:
Harvard Center (aka Old) Cemetery (C-0052822)
Location:
Harvard / Worcester / MA / USA
Find A Grave Cemetery #:
91060
Grave Plot #:
Grave GPS Coordinates:
n/a
Find A Grave Memorial #:
113679614
Marker Type:

SAR Grave Dedication Date:

Comments:
  • Patriot contemporary stone, upright, legible.
  • Gravestone records his age as 61 in 1789.
  • Additional grave info found in Nourse, Henry S., Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs, Lancaster, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. Lancaster: 1890, page 280.
  • Images 1, 2, & 3, provided with permission from Country Mouse, Find-A-Grave contributor # 46804908


Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:

The cemetery is located on the southwest corner of Still Water Road and Massachusetts Avenue.



Author: Richard Eugene Smith Ph.D.

SAR Editors Note: estate record listing heirs was added to the original biography.

Joseph Atherton was born in about 17281 and baptized at the First Church of Lancaster, Massachusetts, on 28 October 1729.2 He married Sarah Hutchins on 19 December 1752 at Harvard, Massachusetts.3

Joseph served as a private in the American Revolution on three separate occasions:4

  • During the Alarm of 19 April 1775, he served in the 4th Company of Captain Isaac Gates, commanded by  Colonel Asa Whitcomb, who marched to Cambridge.
  • Service at Dorchester Heights, probably from September to November 1776, during which he served in the company of Captain Sawyer, commanded by Colonel Dike.
  • During August 1777, he served in the company of Captain Hill, commanded by Colonel Josiah Whitney on Alarm at Bennington. 

Joseph's son Jonathan Atwood performed similar service during the war.

His estate lists his heirs as widow Sarah, children David, Joseph, Jonathan, Abigail Willard, Hannah Whitney, Sarah Whitney (wife of John Whitney), and Patience.6 Joseph's death was recorded in Harvard, Massachusetts, on 5 December 1789.1,5
 
Sources:

  1. Joseph Atherton, Find-a-Grave memorial #113679614.
  2. Nourse, Henry S., Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs, Lancaster, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. Lancaster: [np], 1890, page 280.
  3. Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Harvard, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, Massachusetts. Boston: NEHGS, 1917, page 135.
  4. Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Soldiers, and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1896, pages 327-328.
  5. Baldwin, Thomas W., Vital Records of Harvard, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, Boston: NEHGS, 1917, page 246.
  6. Massachusetts, Worcester County Probate Court, estate packets, case 2021.

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