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: Augustus O. Thomas II
John Skinner was born in Colchester, New London County, Connecticut, on 23 Feb 1732, with parents Ebenezer and Sarah (nee Taylor) Skinner. He was the sixth of ten children. At about 7 years he family removed to Hebron, Tolland County, just nine miles to the north.
It appears the John Skinner had been with a militia unit dispatched to Fort Ticonderoga, as part of the Northern Department, but no further information is known.
There were many militia units assembled and hurried-off to relieve Boston in April 1775 as the conflict began with the British. Dispatched by Governor Trumbull, 2nd Lieutenant John Skinner was with the 10th Company, 4th Connecticut Regiment under Col. Hinman. The term minuteman was coined for these troops that formed as militia by the States.
Militia units returned home during the winter when their enlistment ended, usually in December, but remained on local call to thwart any Indian excursions into these small rural villages. For this reason, militia personnel were promoted although no battles were fought with the British. Gen George Washington commanded these provisional militia troops until permanent federal troops were authorized by Congress in 1777, establishing the Continental Line.
After the Revolutionary War, John Skinner sold his Hebron property and moved to Ballston, Saratoga County, New York, where he appears in the 1810 federal Census.
It was in 1818 that Lt. John Skinner made application for a pension from the United States Government (Pension File S43210). Actually his militia service time was only 17 days, possibly the shortest service on record! His application was denied since he belonged to the Connecticut militia and not under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. However, this was later reversed and he received a pension of $20.00 per month until his death.
Lt. Skinner died in Ballston, N. Y. on 29 Aug 1819. His wife, Elizabeth, had passed away before the move from Hebron, Connecticut.
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