Author: Paul Howard Burright
Isaac Messenger was my 6x Great Grandfather and he was born 26 Sep 1745 in Simsbury, Connecticut. He was the son of Isaac Messenger and Hannah Alford.
The Messengers have been a mainstay in America since my 11x Great Grandfather, Andrew Messenger, arrived in the Massachusetts colony around 1637 from Yorkshire, England. The Messengers quickly moved to Connecticut, where they remained and were listed as farmers in colonial records. In 1742, Isaac’s parents and grandparents moved the family to West Simsbury to settle and farm. The area was still wilderness in 1742, and they were the first owners of the plots they aquired. These family plots stayed in the Messenger family until well into the 20th Century.
In 1770, at the age of 25, Isaac married Anna Ward, also of Simsbury.
In 1778, Isaac, along with his brothers Simeon, Reuben, Elijah, and Abner, joined Captain Amasa Mill’s Company of the Connecticut State Troopers, Colonel Roger Enos’ Regiment, as a Private. He arrived in camp in June of 1778. He assisted in building the first fortifications at West Point, under the command of Washington, who was present through some of the construction. He is listed in Revolutionary Rolls as being at Fort Clinton in August and September, 1778.
Isaac had 7 brothers who all fought in the Revolution, 1 of which was at the battle of Bunker Hill, 3 were part of the battle of White Plains, and 1 was involved with Benedict Arnold’s Quebec Expedition. Most of the brothers were stationed at one time or another in their service at Fort Clinton and West Point. All the Messenger brothers survived. Isaac’s bride, Anna, also had 3 brothers who died in the war.
Fort Clinton was the main defensive garrison of the Revolutionary War defense network at West Point. Commanded by and named after Benedict Arnold before his betrayal of the Revolutionary Army and defection to the British, it was later renamed after General James Clinton. It was the key defensive fort, overlooking the turn in the Hudson River and the Great Chain. At the height of its use during the war, the southern and western walls were nine feet high and twenty feet thick. Three redoubts and batteries on the south were named Forts Meigs, Wyllys, and Webb. After the war, the remains of Fort Clinton fell into disrepair and were eventually demolished to make way for the expansion of the United States Military Academy, founded at the garrison in 1802.
After his service, Isaac went back to farming and raised his family of 9 children in Connecticut. Around 1800, he and his family moved to De Ruyter, in upstate New York. He moved again, to Concord, Ohio, some time prior to 1830, to be closer to many of his children and grandchildren that had settled there.


Private Isaac Messenger died on 8 May 1839, in Concord, Ohio, at the age of 93. He is buried in the Concord Cemetery in Concord, Ohio.