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.
Upright white marble gravestone, contemporary to burial
Photo by permission: Herman Charles Brown, Vermont SAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: VTSSAR
Eli was the 3rd of 4 children (all sons) born, in that portion Westfield, which in 1770 became Southwick, Hampshire (now Hampden) County, Massachusetts, of John Noble (1706-1776) and his 1st wife Lydia Bush (b. 1711). Eli's siblings were: Amos (1735-1753), Josiah (1737-1818), John (1743-1828), Elizabeth (b. 1748), Elizabeth (1750-1821), Eunice (1752-1789), Amos (1756-1834), and Timothy (1758-1827).
At the age of 17 years during the French and Indian War (1755-1762), Eli was on February 1, 1857 "In ye service from this town" (Westfield). Later that year, he was among the soldiers surrendered to the French at Fort William Henry at the south end of Lake George in the Province of New York. The day following the surrender, Eli was seized by 2 Indians who proceeded to lead him away, however, he was able to make good his escape and in due time reached his home in safety. During the campaign of 1758, Eli served under Captain Selah Barnard.
Eli married, February 27, 1760, his 1st wife Ruth Campbell (1741-1783) by whom he had 12 children (6 sons and 6 daughters): Margaret (b. 1760), Abner (1761-1829), Lydia, Asahel (d. 1813), Polly, Eli (d. 1807), Ruth (1774-1851), Huldah, Susan, Eunice, Ashbel (d. 1827), John (1781-1864), and Robert (1783-1860). Eli married, about 1787, his 2nd wife widdow Elizabeth (Dewey) Follet (1743-1832).
About the year 1765, Eli took up residence in Pownal on the New Hampshire Grants (now in Bennington County, Vermont.
In 1777, Eli was one of Pownal's Selectmen.
On March 17, 1778, the Vermont General Assembly voted "that there be but two Regiments in this State, on the west side of the range of Green Mountains, at present." These two Regiments were the 2nd and 5th Regiments of Vermont Militia. Colonel Samuel Herrick commanded the 2nd Regiment consisting of eight Companies, two of which were the 1st and 2nd Companies in Pownal. It appears that Eli Noble was then elected Captain commanding one of these Pownal Militia Companies and remained so at least until the close of the Revolutionary War.
Under the Vermont Constitution adoped in Convention, July 1777, each county had the liberty of electing (choosing) Justices of the Peace to be commissioned by the Governor and Council. On March 24, 1778, the Vermont General Assembly, at it's 1st session, voted to postpone County Elections "for the present." During it's 2nd session, on June 16, 1778, the General Assembly passed an Act for the electing Justice of the Peace and voted "to proceed in County elections, immediately." During it's 3rd session, October 8-24, 1778, Captain Eli Noble was one of two Representatives to the General Assembly from Pownal. On October 20, 1778, the Governor and Council listed the Justices of the Peace chosen and authorized by the Act of June, 1778. Captain Eli Noble was then the one Justice of the Peace commissioned for Pownal. An office that he held 18 non-consecutive years during his remaining life time.
On August 7, 1780, the Vermont Board of War resolved to raise a draft on the militia Regiment's formed west of the Green Mountains to join the Detachment of Rangers under the command of Major Ebenezer Allen who had been commissioned and ordered earlier in the year to defend the Vermont Frontier and build a series of Forts for the same. The draft was upon the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Regiments of Vermont Militia with Colonel Samuel Herrick's 2nd Regiment providing the Company Captain. Captain Eli Noble was called upon to command this Company. Captain Noble's composit Company was in the service of the State of Vermont with Major Allens' Detachment from August 16, 1780 to the 21st of November following. Captain Noble began his service in this Company on August 23rd and served therein 72 days.
About 2 months after beginning the service noted above, on October 11, 1780, Captain Eli Noble's Company, Colonel Samuel Herrick's 2nd Regiment of Militia was called into service of the State of Vermont to respond to an alarm caused by the raid led by British Major Christopher Carleton into the Lake Champlain valley and beyond. Captain served with his Pownal Militia Company for 10 days while they were out on this alarm.
In July, 1781. Captain Eli Noble's Company of Pownal Militia, Colonel Ebenezer Walbridge's Regiment marched to Saratoga, New York. Captain Noble and his men were in service 2 days during this alarm. Later the same year in October, Captain Eli Noble's Company of Pownal Militia, Colonel Ebenezer Walbridge's Regiment marched to Castleton, Rutland County, Vermont and tarried there during an alarm. Captain Noble entered this service on October 23, 1781 and served for 24 days until discharged in mid-November.
Eli died in Pownal, Bennington County, Vermont, on February 13, 1826. He had made his on November 28, 1825. His Will was proved in Probate Court, April 2, 1828.
References:
1) "History and Genealogy of the Family of Thomas Noble of Westfield, Massachusetts" by Lucius M. Boltwood, 1878, pages 507-512 and 518-524
(2) "Westfield and its Historic Influences 1669-1919" by John H. Lockwood, 1922, page 473
(3) "The Vermont Historical Gazetteer:" Vol. I, by Abby Maria Hemenway, 1867, page 216
(4) "State Papers of Vermont - Volume Three - Journals and Proceedings (Vol. I) of the General Assembly of the State of Vermont" by William H. Crockett, 1924, pages 7, 15-16, 27-28, 30, 33-48, and 85-86
(5) "Laws of Vermont" 1777-1780, State Papers of Vermont Volume Twelve, by Allen Soule, 1964, pages 17-18
(6) "Records of the Council of Safety and Governor and Council of the State of Vermont" Vol. I - July 1775 to December 1777, by E. P. Walton, 1873, pages 259 and 280
(7) "State Papers of Vermont - Volume Six - Sequestration, Confiscation and Sales of Estate" by Mary Green Nye, 1942, page 64
(8) "Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont - Volume II" by E. P. Walton, 1874, pages 28 and 37
(9) "The State of Vermont Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War 1775 to 1783" by John E. Goodrich, 1904, pages 203-205, 215-216, 400-401, 482, and 522-523
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