Display Patriot - P-259567 - Cyprian KEYES/KEYS III
Cyprian KEYES/KEYS III
SAR Patriot #:
P-259567
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: MA
Qualifying Service: Private
Birth: 31 Jan 1759 Shrewsbury / / MA Death: 1778 nr Valley Forge / / PA
Qualifying Service Description:
1777, 3 year enlistment as a Private in the companies of Captain William Gates and John Pierce of the Massachusetts 15th Regiment
Died of smallpox in a field hospital at Valley Forge
Additional References:
Fold3, Cyprian Keyes - database and images, https://www.fold3.com/memorial/630173783/cyprian-keyes
"United States Rev War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DG-LBCZ : 20 February 2021), Cyprian Keyes, Feb 1778; citing Feb 1778, MA, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,317
Secretary of the Commonwealth, MA Soldiers, and Sailors of the Rev War, Vol IX, MA. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co, 1901, pg 150, and Cyprian Keys, pg 157
Valley Forge Muster Roll Project, Valley Forge Park Alliance, database and images, Cypriam Keyes - MA27454
Spouse: Children: 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.
Died of smallpox in hospital at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania during the winter encampment of 1777-78
detailed unsourced Biography
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: David James Harrity
Cyprian Keyes, III, was born on 31 January 1759 at Shrewsbury, Providence of Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America. He was the second child of, Jr. (1734-1802) and Martha (Bush) Keyes. His paternal line descends from pilgrim Robert Keyes (1606-1647), who emigrated to America via the Winthrop Fleet no later than 1633.
At age 18, on 20 May 1777, Cyprian III signed a three-year enlistment with the 15th Massachusetts Regiment of the Massachusetts Continental Line, serving as a Private in the company designated at various times as Captain William Gates' or Captain John Pierce's Company.
In August 1777, Keyes was one of 5,000 Continental Troops that camped at Van Schaick Island (Cohoes, New York) under General Philip Schuyler. Next, the 15th Massachusetts marched north and saw action at the Battles of Saratoga (19 September - 7 October 1777). The battle acted as a decisive victory for American forces and catalyzed France to join forces in an alliance and enter the war.
In the winter of 1777-1778, the 15th Regiment under the command of the 2nd Massachusetts Brigade (Brigadier General John Glover), 4th Division (Major General Johann de Kalb), joined other Northern Department forces to form under the Main Department, commanded by General George Washington in defense of Philadelphia. He spent the winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and sadly, Cyprian contracted smallpox, likely from the mass inoculation efforts of that time. He lay sick in the field hospital for several weeks before dying there on 18 January 1778, just short of his 19th birthday.
Death from smallpox occurred three years earlier to his older brother David (1757-1775), by some accounts, possibly as a Patriot. Israel (1760-1841) was one of his younger brothers who fought and was wounded in the American Revolution as a Patriot (P-259588).
Sources:
"Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4NK-X9B : 20 May 2022), Cyprian Keyes, 31 Jan 1759; citing Birth, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011135.
Fold3, Cyprian Keyes (https://www.fold3.com/memorial/630173783/cyprian-keyes : accessed July 10, 2023), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/memorial/630173783/cyprian-keyes
"United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DG-LBCZ : 20 February 2021), Cyprian Keyes, Feb 1778; citing Feb 1778, Massachusetts, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,317.
Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Soldiers, and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. IX, Massachusetts. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1901, pages 150, 157
Valley Forge Muster Roll Project, Valley Forge Park Alliance, database and images, <valleyforgemusterroll.org>, Cypriam Keyes [MA27454].
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