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.
Author: Timothy D. Mallory
Biography: The Revolutionary War Patriot, John Phelps, Jr. of Hollis, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, is the son of John Phelps, Sr. and Deborah Lovejoy who married Dec. 16, 1740. He was born Sept. 12, 1743 in Reading, Massachusetts. He married Mary Lakin, Dec. 24, 1772 in Amherst, the daughter of Simeon Lakin, and Mary Lawrence of Groton, MA. She was born in 1752. They were pioneer family that came from Amherst, NH and settled in Hollis between 1780 and 1783.
Eleven children (the first four were born in Amherst, NH) of John and Mary Phelps, Jr. are: Polly, born Nov. 23, 1773, died 1863, and married in 1792 to Samuel McMillan; Deborah, born Sept. 13, 1775, died 1832, and married in 1794 to Asa Hobart; Sybill, born Nov. 30, 1777, died 1867, married 1799 to Nathan Holt; and John Lovejoy, born Apr 17, 1780, married in 1799 to Sally Wheeler; and Simeon Lakin, born Mar. 4, 1783, married in 1805 to Rhoda Dustin; Sarah, or “Sally” born Jun. 5, 1785, who married in Hollis on Dec. 24, 1801 to Aaron Kinney of Knox Plantation, Maine; Luther, born Jun. 17, 1787, died 1853, married (1) 1813 Betsey Brooks, and He married second in 1822 to Mary "Pollie" Brooks -- his children of 1st wife, three born at Dunstable, NH, and the others at Deering, NH; and Betsey, born Sept. 7, 1789; Abigail "Nabby" Phelps, born Nov 24, 1791, died 1883, married in 1811 to Ralph Lovejoy; Esther Phelps, born Jun. 5, 1794, died 1850, married in 1818 to Asa Jaquith; Hannah Phelps, born Sept. 18, 1798 who is buried at Churchyard Cemetery, Hollis, NH; the last seven children were all born in Hollis.
John Phelps, Jr. signed a deposition at the age of 73 for a Revolutionary War pension on Apr. 1, 1818, and gave his occupation as a cooper. He further stated in his deposition that in the year 1776 he served as a private soldier in the company commanded by Capt. Daniel Wilkins in Col. Bedel’s Regiment in the New Hampshire line for the term of one year, and that he faithfully served said time out and was regularly discharged at Saratoga. His regiment surrendered to British and Indians at the “Cedars” in May 1776. His pension declaration was sworn testimony in the Court of Common Pleas in Hillsborough, NH on Jul. 5, 1820; his pension file is S-45069.
An account of the Phelps family is given in “Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire,” and Worcester, Samuel T. History of the Town of Hollis, New Hampshire From Its First Settlement to the Year 1879 with many Biographical Sketches of It's Early Settlers, Their Descendants, & Other Residents. Boston: A. Williams & Co. 1879.
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