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: RI
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Birth: 1737 / / RI Death: 1812
Qualifying Service Description:
Identified in the Providence, RI Military Census of 1777
Additional References:
SAR Patriot Index Edition III (CD: PP2210, Progeny Publ, 2002) plus data to 2004
Chamberlain, Mildred M. "The Rhode Island 1777 Military Census." 1985. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co, pg 2, 67, 75
Stephen is buried next to his son - Jacob Hartshorn (P-176654) - and Jacob's wife - Lucy Larcher. There is a DAR grave maker next to Jacob's gravestone. Photo displayed courtesy of David L. Peavey, TXSSAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
The cemetery is located in a community that had been referred to as the "Settlement on the Hill." This area eventually joined with other areas to form the town of Gloversville in Montgomery County. In 1838, Montgomery County was split and Gloversville was located in Fulton County
When Stephen Hartshorn was interred, the cemetery was called Glover Hill Cemetery. In 1855, the name was changed to Prospect Hill Cemetery. He is buried next to his son - Jacob Hartshorn (P-176654) - and Jacob's wife - Lucy Larcher. There is a DAR grave maker next to Jacob's gravestone
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: David Lee Peavy
Stephen Hartshorn was born in Providence, RI to Jacob and Martha Fry. Jacob's family had moved to Providence after his father was killed in the Haverhill massacre in 1708. There, Jacob became a mason, while Stephen followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfather (Lt. John Hartshorn, Sr., of Haverhill, MA) as a stonecutter. John and Stephen are both known today for the gravestones they carved in the New England area.
In May 1759, Stephen was admitted as a Freeman in Providence. Stephen married Silence Ingraham at the Second Congregational Church in Newport, RI on 20 Nov 1760. They had three children: Jacob (b. ca 1761), Hannah (b. ca 1763), and Charles (b. 1765). Stephen owned property in the "compact" part of Providence and was subject to a tax assessment in 1770. He is listed in the 1774 colonial census with a total of 8 inhabitants. During the American Revolutionary War, Stephen is listed in "The Rhode Island 1777 Military Census" as able to bear arms. While his son Jacob served in the militia, he did not and lived under British occupation, until they left in 1779.
After the war, the Economic Crisis of the 1780's impacted many Americans. For those in Rhode Island, the crisis was exacerbated by the passage of a paper money act in 1786. By 1788, Stephen, his son Jacob, and many other Rhode Island inhabitants had moved to counties west of Albany, NY. He settled first in the area of Caughnawaga, NY, but by 1810 he was living in Johnstown, NY, which was in Montgomery county at the time.
He died on 8 Jan 1813, presumable in Montgomery county, NY and was buried in Glover Hill cemetery at that time. His wife, Silence, died on 27 Feb 1816 while in Providence, RI. She was buried in Swan Point cemetery in Providence, RI.
Benes, Peter. “Lt. John Hartshorn, Stonecutter of Haverhill and Norwich”, Essex Institute Historical Collection 109 (1973), p. 152-164.
Tucker, Ralph. “Stonecutters and Their Works: Lt. John Hartshorne (1650-1738)” Newsletter of the Association for Gravestone Studies, vol. 4, #2 (Spring 1980), p. 10.
Luti, Vincent F. “Stonecarvers of the Narragansett Basin: Stephen and Charles Hartshorn of Providence,” Markers II (1983), p. 149-169.
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.
