William Tarbell was born 13 October 1764 at Groton, Massachusetts.  According to Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, Vol. 15, Pg. 388, he entered the Continental Army 23 April 1781 for a term of three years.  He served in Captain Thorp’s company, in the Seventh Regiment lead by Colonel J. Brooks.  Tarbell was tried and acquitted by regimental court martial 5 October 1781, with Captain Lincoln, President, “…on charge of stealing a fowl and cabbage or suffering it to be done when on guard.”

The second entry in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, Vol. 15, Pg. 391, describes William Tarbell as 17 years old, five feet four inches tall, with light complexion, light hair and light eyes.  His occupation was a farmer, from Groton, and he engaged 20 March 1781 for a term of three years.  He was a Private in Captain Eliphalet Thorp’s company, Lieutenant Colonel John Brook’s Seventh Regiment.  He mustered at West Point, Phillipsburgh, Peekskill, York Hutts.  He later served in Captain Nathaniel Allen’s Eighth Company, of the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment, from May to September 1783.

The Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Book, Vol. 28, relates information from Mrs. Mary Jane Tarbell Bennett that William Tarbell, born 1764, was a son of Benjamin Tarbell and Azubah.  William Tarbell was placed on the pension roll of Middlesex County in 1818 for service of private in the Massachusetts Line (of the Continental Army).  It goes on to state: “He was an amateur artist and his sketch of the encampment of the army on the Hudson while waiting for the signing of the Treaty of Peace, is now a precious relic of the family.  This sketch has been reproduced and is at Washington’s Headquarters at Newburgh.”

William Tarbell died 2 August 1851. He was buried at the Old Burying Ground at Groton, Massachusetts.  The following is inscribed on his headstone:  “William Tarbell detailed to headquarters of Gen. Washington from Mar. 20, 1781 to close of war.”