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: 11 Apr 1760 Famingron / Hartford / CT Death: aft 1834 liv Cincinnati / Hamilton / OH
Qualifying Service Description:
1776, he served as a Private in the company of Captain Edward Russell, commanded by Colonel William Douglas' Connecticut Regiment. He was wounded in the Battle of White Plains. He suffered frozen feet.
1777-1778, he served as a Teamster under George Seymour, conductor, and Jeremiah Wadsworth, Deputy Quartermaster General.
1778, served as a waiter to Major Thomas Weeks and Colonel Udny Hay.
1780-1782, he served as express rider under said Colonel Hay.
Additional References:
Revolutionary War Pension file S9572
Spouse: Sarah Ives; Children: Elizabeth Thomas; Isaac;
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.
His name appears on a military memorial plaque at Christ Episcopal Churchyard - Find-a-Grave Memorial 261476536
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: Mark Andrew Davis
The following biography was created by PRS staff with some information provided by Michael J. Blum.
Ebenezer Rice Hawley was born on 11 April 1760 in Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut, the son of Abel and Abigail (Root) Hawley. He moved with his father when he was young to Meriden, New Haven County, Connecticut, where he resided during the Revolutionary War.
He enlisted using the name Rice Hawley on about 1 June 1776 and served six months as a Private in the company of Captain Edward Russell, Colonel William Douglas' Connecticut Regiment. During his term, he marched to New York City, was in the Battle of Long Island, and was in the retreat from New York City. He was in the Battles of Harlem Plains and White Plains, in which last engagement he was slightly wounded in his left thigh. He returned home with frozen feet, as the snow was two feet deep.
He entered service in April 1777 as a Teamster under George Seymour, conductor, and Jeremiah Wadsworth, Deputy Quartermaster General, and drove with supplies for the army to Fishkill. He also drove to New Jersey. Beginning in the spring of 1778, acted as waiter to Major Thomas Weeks and Colonel Udny Hay. After April 1780, he served as express rider under said Colonel Hay over a period of two years, frequently riding through the night with messages of importance.
This soldier resided in Meriden, Connecticut, and in Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut, by 1781.
Rice married Sarah Ives on 25 October 1781 in Wallingford. There know children were:
Mary was born on 21 September 1782 and died young.
Isaac was born on 19 August 1784 and married Elizabeth Thomas.
Based on his pension deposition in 1821, he states he has a 40-year-old wife [about 1781]. This is possibly his second wife, Olive Higby. We know her name from various records, including the record of the birth of their son:
Hiram Rice Hawley was born on 11 December 1799 in Aurelius, Cayuga County, New York.
A deed, from 1805, whereby “Ebenezer R. Hawley and Olive, his wife,” provided a mortgage to John and Abraham Varick. An 1822 deed from Onondaga County whereby Olive Hawley, wife of Ebenezer R. Hawley, late of the town of Onondaga, sold land to Samuel Bellamy. In 1823, we find the Last Will and Testament of her father, Joseph Higby of Whitestown, Oneida County, New York. It lists, among his children, “daughter Olive, the wife of Ebenezer R. Hawley.”
Onondaga County, New York records from 1795, tell us Rice was living in the county and serving as the County Sherriff. He also appears in a number of records from Herkimer County, including 1795, where he is serving as the county militia Quartermaster.
In 1803, at Paris, Onondaga County, New York, Rice’s mother, Abigail, made her Last Will and Testament.
1807, moved then to Sandusky, Ohio, and remained three years, then moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and resided until 1821, at which time he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Ebenezer was allowed a pension on account of his service in the Revolutionary War on his application executed 4 September 1832, at which time he resided in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and commenced on 27 January 1834.
The Patriot likely died in Hamilton County, Ohio, sometime after his pension commenced. One Find-a-Grave memorial [135751681] places his burial at Hamburg Cemetery in Hamburg, Preble County, Ohio, 70 miles from Cincinnati. Another memorial [39370604] has him buried in Darrtown, Benton County, Ohio. This county adjoins Hamilton, so it makes a bit more sense than Preble. This grave has a stone that is contemporary with the death date on the stone of 23 April 1838. The stone is inscribed Ebenezer R. Hawley, with an age of 78 years, 3 months. Unfortunately, the photographer missed the opportunity to brush away the dirt at the bottom to show the number of days. The age of 78 does put the birth in 1760, which is correct. However, we know from his pension deposition that he was born on 11 April 1760. Taking into account the age at death, 78 years, 3 months, this would put his birth in January. This could simply be an error on the part of the individual ordering the stone or even an error by the stone carver. What we can say is that there is no other Ebenezer R. Hawley in the area at that time. The correct facts may well outnumber the incorrect month. Without a contemporary source of death, we have nothing to prove or disprove.
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