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: 19 May 1744 Yarmouth / Barnstable / MA Death: 16 Oct 1778 Kings Ferry / Cayuga / NY
Qualifying Service Description:
Served in the Continental Army from the 1st Barnstable County, MA Regiment
No record found in the DAR database
Additional References:
MA Soldiers and Sailors of the Rev War, compiled from the Archives, Boston, MA 1907, Vol XV, pg 508
Memorial only, Find-a-Grave states body lost or destroyed, Specifically: Assumed buried at King's Ferry while in service during the Revolutionary War
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: John Michael Stephenson
Joseph Thacher was born on May 19, 1744 in Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts. He was born to the parents of Joseph Thacher and Ruth (Hawes) Thacher. It was in Yarmouth he was christened on May 27th, 1744. He married Susannah Wheldon, born May 1, 1742 in Yarmouth. Joseph’s marriage intention is recorded in the Massachusetts town and vital records as having taken place on October 31, 1765 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The same record also documents that his marriage intention to Susannah was recorded on October 5, 1765 and published the following day. Joseph and Susannah had at least three sons and three daughters from this marriage. During his life he resided in Yarmouth in a house built by his father next to Thomas Lang.
Joseph was a Revolutionary War patriot from Massachusetts. His Revolutionary war service is documented in the book “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in The War of the Revolution” wherein there are three entries attributed to him:
THACHER, JOSEPH, Yarmouth. List of men mustered by Joseph Otis, Muster Master for Barnstable Co.; Capt. Davis's co., Col. Bradford's regt.; engaged for town of Yarmouth; mustered May 15, 1777; term, 3 years; reported received State bounty.
THACHER, JOSEPH, Yarmouth. Private, Capt. John Lamont's co., Col. Gamaliel Bradford's regt.; return [year not given]; residence, Yarmouth; enlisted for town of Yarmouth; mustered by County and Continental Muster Masters.
THACHER, JOSEPH, Private, Capt. John Grannis's co.; entered service June 1, 1776; service, 2 mos. 6 days; reported enlisted out Aug. 7, 1776; company stationed at Elizabeth Islands for defense of seacoast. Roll dated Tarpaulin Cove and sworn to in Barnstable Co.
A secondary source of this original record, “Thacher - Thatcher Genealogy” states the following, adding more information. As quoted from page 335:
Thatcher, Joseph, Yarmouth-Return of men raised to serve in Continental Army from Col. Nathaniel Freeman's (1st Barnstable County) regiment, dated Sandwich, June 10, 1777; residence Yarmouth; enlisted for town of Yarmouth; joined Capt. Lamont's Co., Col. Bradford's regt., enlistment 3 years; also private, 5th Co., Col. Bradford's Regt.; Continental Army pay accounts for service from May 16, 1777, to October 16th, 1778; residence Yarmouth; credited to town of Yarmouth; reputed deceased; also Capt. John Lamont's Co., Col. Gamaliel Bradford's (12th) regiment; subsistence allowed from date of enlistment, May 12, 1777, to May 27, 1777; credited with 15 days' allowance; also, same Co. and Regt.; return (year not given); mustered by County and Continental Muster Masters; joined June 26th, 1777; reported sick at Kings Ferry." From an analysis of above record it would seem that the date of his death was either on or subsequent to October 16th, 1778, as he was allowed pay up to that date.
Joseph Thacher died at King's Ferry, Westchester County, New York, while serving in the Revolutionary War. Joseph’s grave is reported to be at Old Burial Cemetery in Kingston, New York.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.