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: bpt 23 Jul 1738 Barnstable / Banstable / MA Death: 25 Aug 1809 Barnstable / Barnstable / MA
Qualifying Service Description:
Captain Ebenezer Jenkins's co, Colonel Nathaniel Freeman's regt.; service, 6 days on an alarm at Dartmouth and Falmouth, September 6, 1778
Additional References:
MA Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Volume 5, pg 683
Muster/Payrolls of the Rev War (MA&RI) Volume 36, pg 129 (image 181)
Spouse: (1) Mary Meigs; (2) Sarah Handy Children: Josiah; Heman; Reuben; Lydia; Cynthia; Jemima; David;
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 is displayed courtesy of David C Schafer, MA SAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
From the Rt. 6A cemetery entrance walk parallel to the stone wall fronting Rt. 6A for 94 yards to the gravestone of Reuben Fish
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: David Crandall Schafer
Reuben Fish, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Tobey) Fish, was baptized July 23, 1738, at the First Parish Church of Sandwich, Massachusetts.
December 3, 1761, Reuben married Mary Meigs, daughter of Reuben and Rebecca (Jones) Meigs, at Sandwich, MA. Together they had seven children from 1762 to 1778, Josiah, Heman, Reuben, Lydia, Cynthia, Jemima, and David.
September 5, 1778, thirty-two vessels of the British Fleet anchored at Clark’s Cove on the southern coast of (New) Bedford. Commanded to destroy the privateering vessels, storehouses, and wharves, along the western coastal communities of Buzzard’s Bay 4,000 British troops disembarked a little before sunset. The British forces marched north through Bedford, Acushnet, Oxford, and Fairhaven burning and destroying vessels, supplies, and warehouses supporting the privateers who had attacked and disrupted British vessels and supplies from reaching Newport and New York.
In response, Massachusetts militia General Joseph Otis called an alarm at Dartmouth and Falmouth, on September 6th to defend the seacoast and its towns. The British sailed easterly on September 8th toward Quick’s Hole on route to Vineyard Sound. Sailing past Woods Hole and Falmouth on the 9th the British captured two vessels at Falmouth before sailing onto Martha’s Vineyard. Anchoring at Holmes Hole the British remained through September 15th, and demanding livestock, feed, supplies, arms, and armaments from the citizens of Martha’s Vineyard. (1)
With the departure of the British ships from Vineyard Sound, General Joseph Otis dismissed the militia companies to return to their communities. From the Pay Roll for wages due to Capt. Ebenezer Jenkins and Company of militia in Col. Freeman’s Regiment on the alarm to Dartmouth and Falmouth in September the Sixth, 1778, “Ruben Fish” is shown having 6 days in service, and wages of 1 pound, 12 shillings. (2)
The 1790 census for the Town of Barnstable lists the household of “Rubin Fish” with four males and four females. The 1798 Tax assessment for the Town of Barnstable shows Reuben Fish with 198 acres of land, valued at $2,028.
Mrs. Mary (Meigs) Fish died on February 6, 1798, and was buried at the West Barnstable Cemetery. Reuben Fish married his second wife Sarah Handy in September 1800. In the "72nd year of his age", Reuben Fish died August 25, 1809, at Barnstable and was buried at the West Barnstable Cemetery. Mrs. Sarah (Handy) Fish married Christopher Lovell on October 30, 1818, at Barnstable.
References:
(1) A Journal of Occurrences along the Rebel Coast, by Frederick V. Lawrence, Jr., pp. 86-97.
(2) Muster/Payrolls of the Revolutionary War (MA&RI), Volume 36, page 129 (image 181)
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