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.
Birth: 03 Aug 1762 Mt Talneck / York / MA Death: 22 Nov 1852 Richland / Oswego / NY
Qualifying Service Description:
Captain JOHN LILLY, Colonel JOHN CRANE, 3RD REGT OF ARTILLERY, CONTINENTAL LINE
Additional References:
28th-35th Annual Reports, NSDAR. Senate documents (United States Congress, Senate). Government Printing Office: Washington, DC
Pension: S*W524
Spouse: (1) XX XX; (2) Mehitable Hanscom; (3) Olive Sampson Children: George; Asa; Charles;
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.
Photo by permission: Shawn Doyle, Empire State SAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Cemetery Coordinates: 43.58000, -76.11852
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: Shawn Patrick Doyle
Born--3 August 1762, York, York County, Maine (then part of Massachusetts) Died--22 November 1852, Richland Twp., Oswego County, New York Buried--November 1852, Pulaski Cemetery, Richland Twp., Oswego County, New York Parents--Jethro & Hannah (Buzzell) Bragdon Married--1st- 28 May 1791; Wells, York County, Maine 2nd-10 November 1843; Richland Twp., Oswego County, New York Spouse--1st-Mahetable Hanscom 2nd-Olive (Lilley) Samson (widow of Levi) Service Information--Massachusetts Line, March-December 1778, April 1782
Departing Rank-Private
Samuel Bragdon was born in York, York County, Maine, and was one of a family of nine children Information found in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution records that Samuel Bragdon first enlisted as a Private in Capt. Esaias Preble's company of Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment of guards. Bragdon’s service is listed as beginning 31 March 1778 and ending 3 July 1778 -- three months and seven days. A reference to the company’s station at Winter Hill is found. A second citation for service appears under Captain Richard Rogers's company, Colonel Gerrish's regiment of guards, where Samuel enlisted 17 Aug. 1778 and was discharged 14 Dec. 1778, after a service of four months and one day, at Winter Hill. Bragdon’s last recorded enlistment occurred in April 1782 where he joined the Massachusetts 3rd Artillery Line commanded by Captain John Lilley, under Colonel John Crane. According to Bragdon’s pension, he served in this company until the end of the war and was discharged from West Point, New York State. In family papers of grandson Charles Bragdon there are references to a discharge once in the family possession signed by George Washington. Charles’ son Claude also tells a story in his autobiography of Samuel being entrusted by Washington at the end of the war with delivery of money and riding equipment to the Marquis de Lafayette. Claude Bragdon retells a story told him by an aunt that Bragdon was present at the surrender of the British Army at Yorktown. Years later, Samuel applied for and was awarded a service pension of $8 per month on 18 March 1818. On 20 September 1820, Bragdon appeared before a Court of Record in Pulaski to swear out his 2nd pension application. Bragdon and his wife Mahetable were then living near Port Ontario on a farm later known as Chestnut Hill. A list of their meager possessions was compiled and values set to them. At that time Bragdon and his wife had three children at home: George Lindsey Bragdon, 14; Charles Parsons Bragdon, 11; and Eamon Erastus Bragdon, age eight. In February 1853 Bragdon’s second wife Olive amended the original application to report his death and ask for a widow’s pension. This was granted and continued at the same rate, $96 per year. On 16 June 1855, Olive appeared in Court again to apply for Bounty Lands in the west, available under the act of 3 March 1855. No record is found as to the award. Samuel had first married Mahetable Hanscom on 28 May 1791 in Wells, Maine. According to some sources she was from New Hampshire and was born about 1771. Mahetable died on 18 January 1828 in Richland. Her father Thomas Hanscom was a Captain in the Revolutionary Army who died at Valley Forge. Samuel and Mehitable had at least seven children, six sons, and a daughter who died in infancy. In the 1800 Federal census the Bragdon family is living in Shapleigh, Maine (still part of Massachusetts) and have three sons listed under the age of 10 (Samuel Jr., Thomas, and Asa). In an 1810 census the family is listed in Cumberland County, Maine, and has grown to include two boys aged 16-25 at home, and two girls under 10. The boys are likely Asa and George L. Bragdon—both under 16 at the time. Samuel Jr. is in nearby Wells, Maine, with no sign of Thomas. Sometime in the 1810s, Samuel relocated to Richland Twp., in Oswego County. According to the Bragdon papers Samuel brought his family and their possessions to Richland Township in an ox cart. Some time after Mahetable’s death, Samuel turned the property over to his son George Lindsey Bragdon who maintained and expanded the farm over the years. The old homestead burned down in the late 1800s, and the property left the family in 1931. Samuel Bragdon saw to it that all his sons were afforded the best education possible. Eamon, George and Charles all graduated from college. The eldest three, Asa; Samuel Jr.; and Thomas were farmers, but honored their father’s belief in education by encouraging several of their own children to earn higher education. George Bragdon and his wife Elizabeth were active abolitionists and opened their home to many travelers on the Underground Railroad, making Chestnut Hill an important stopping place on the route north to Canada. George was instrumental in founding the Bethel Union Church on April 1, 1848, and preached in this non-denominational facility until his death. Brothers Charles and “E. E. E.” Bragdon also were ordained ministers. Son Samuel moved westward into Erie, and later Wyoming County, NY. Thomas lived most of his life in the villages north and east of Syracuse, while Asa Bragdon raised his family in nearby Albion Township, and was the last survivor of the family, dying in 1888. In the 1840 census, Samuel Sr. was living with his son Thomas in Clay, Onondaga County, New York. He later returned to Richland, and on 10 November 1843 he married Olive, widow of Levi Samson at Richland Township, with the Rev. William Phelps presiding. Olive was the daughter of the late Revolutionary War soldier Abner, & Sibel (Hale) Lilley. Olive was born 7 April 1778 in Scotland, Windham County, Connecticut. Olive had children from her previous marriage, and had lived in the general neighborhood of the Bragdons. In the 1850 Census Samuel and Olive were living with her son Chester, and Julia E. Samson. Olive died living with the Sampsons on 15 April 1872 aged 94. In 2006 the Camden Queen Central News reported that a grave stone for a Samuel Bragdon was found in a barn in Redfield, New York. The small stone was reportedly found by the owners in a nearby stand of trees. It was later found that in the late 1800s the Bragdon family had redesigned their grave lots in Pulaski with a large marble monument in the center (photo opposite). It can be speculated that the stone found in Redfield was then removed, and given away as a paving block. The University of Rochester, New York is the repository for a large collection of Bragdon family papers, centering around architect Claude Bragdon (1861-1946) but with great emphasis on earlier and later family members. Children of Samuel & Mahetable (Hanscom) Bragdon
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolution, compiled by the Secretary of the Commonwealth in 17 volumes, 1896-1908; Wright & Potter Printing. Vol.2, page 429 More Lives than One, Claude Bragdon, 1917, pages 16-17. The document mistakenly applied the first name “George” to both of the eldest sons; family records clearly correct this error by the court stenographer. Pension and estate records of Olive Samson Bragdon, pension #W-524 Bragdon Family records, University of Rochester, Rush Rees Library Special Collections Records of the Bragdon family are clear on one daughter who died young. Either there was another, or the census is in error. When the large frame house burned, the last Bragdon residents, Emmett and his sister Melissa reportedly used the original cabin for a time as their home. Methodist publications from the period frequently list the activities of the Bragdon ministers, and also carried each of their obituaries prominently. Charles & Sarah Bragdon were the owners of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Auburn, and they transferred the deed to the Common Council and Mayor of Auburn on Dec. 20, 1860. In 1830 Census Samuel B. Bragdon, Jr. (eldest son) is listed with two males under 5, one male 10-15, one male 40-50; 3 girls 5-10, one 20 to 30. (This Samuel was later found in Niagara Falls in 1870 with wife Sabrina and a son C. L. Bragdon. In 1880 this man is in Pike, Wyoming County, NY with a son Edmund and family. Son George L. is next door, and Asa is nearby.....) Pension records The Redfield property on which the stone was discovered was in the Archibald McCaw family from 1847-1940. This writer is a Great-Great-Great grandson of the McCaws, and knows of no reason why the stone would be there, as there is no connection to the Bragdons. According to the obituary of George Bragdon, he and his parents were (in 1879) buried by the family home. It seems all bodies were thus moved to Pulaski Cemetery after 1880 and thus this stone may have been from the farm lot. In March 2008 we were able to examine many of these records which are under the care of Andrea Reithmeyer of the Library staff. Samuel’s stone lists birth date as February 29, 1796 while niece Melissa lists it as March 1, 1795—we select the former. According to family records, Sarah is a descendant of Mayflower passenger Robert Cushman. “attended the funeral of E.E.E. Bragdon, D. D., prof. of Ancient tongues” March 22, 1862 From the diary of John T. McMahon, edited by John M. Proust, 1993, page 12, Eamon had been the Principal of Falley Seminary in Fulton, NY prior to his last assignment at Genesee College in Lima, NY
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