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: CT/VT
Qualifying Service: Private
per FindaGrave Zacheus Downer m. Bethiah Brigham, 1782
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Located on the south side of Utica, take Oneida St So. Cemetery is located just south off Memorial Parkway on the east side of the street
Author: Mark Andrew Davis
Zacheus Downer was born on 13 November 1755 in Norwich, New London, Connecticut, the son of Andrew and Mary Downer.
In May 1775, while living in Coventry, Connecticut, he enlisted for a six-month term as a Private in the Company of Captain Israel Putnam under the command of Colonel Storrs and Colonel Durkee of the Connecticut Militia. The Company marched to Boston and was stationed at Cambridge. He participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and while entrenched on Prospect Hill, General Washington arrived and took command of the Army.
He was drafted in December 1776 for a one-month term in the Company of Captain Talcott under the command of Colonel Brown. The Company marched to Providence. He volunteered in the same Company for an additional two months.
Around 1 May 1777, he enlisted in the Company of Captain Ichabod Hinckley in the Regiment of Colonel Charles Webb of the Connecticut Line of Continentals. He served with this Company for eight months and 22 days. He was at the skirmish of White Marsh near Philadelphia and was discharged at Valley Forge on 9 January 1778. He was without money or proper clothing, nearly 300 miles from home. His return journey in a New England winter took eleven days.
After moving to Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, in 1780, he was drafted for three days on 9 August 1781 in the Vermont Militia in the Company of Captain Ebenezer Parkhurst following the Burning of Royalton [an attack by Native Americans against settlers in that nearby village]. The Company pursued the attackers to Brookfield, Vermont. On the return trip, he volunteered for an additional one-month enlistment in the same Company to guard the village of Sharon from similar attacks. He served six days in October 1781 of the Company as the Clerk.
He was married on 30 January 1782 to Bethiah Brigham, recorded in Sharon, Vermont. They had the following children:
Norman was born on 25 October 1782 in Sharon, Vermont.
Dan was born on 25 February 1784.
Jannett was born on 30 March 1786 and married [?] Reed.
Dana was born on 4 July 1788.
Mary “Polly” was born on 17 May 1791 and married Chauncey Kendall.
Andrew Otis was born on 25 July 1796
Zacheus [Jr.] was born on 8 March 1799.
Zacheus made his Last Will and Testament in New Lisbon, Otsego County, New York. He lists his heirs as sons Dana Downer of New Lisbon; Don S. Dower; daughter Janett Reed; grandchildren Uriah B., John, and Mary Kendall. He also mentions his late wife, Bethiah. It was signed on 18 February 1847. A record in the probate court lists those who needed to be notified of the filing: Norman Dowers, Jeanette Read, Andrew O. Dower, all residing in Utica, Oneida County, Zacheus Downer residing at Belpre Township, Washington County, Ohio, Uriah B. Kendall, Nancy J. Landley, and Mary Kendall all residing in Otsego County, and John Kendall residing in parts unknown.
He died on 27 July 1850 [pension file says 17 July 1851] where he had been living with his son Dana in New Lisbon, Otsego County, New York, and his grave is at Utica, New York.
Sources:
Revolutionary War Pension File S12782.
The War Record of Connecticut Men in the Military & Naval Service in the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783.
Goodrich, John E, Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783, Vermont. Rutland: The Tuttle Co., 1904, pages 192, 265, 441.
Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War. Micropublication M881, rolls 194, 901, 902. Washington: National Archives.
Otsego County, New York Probate Court, Will Book 9, page 250.
Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954.
Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850.
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