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: Death: 09 Feb 1779 Peekskill / / NY
Qualifying Service Description:
Militia. Captain William Breckingridge's Company, 4th Battalion, Hamsphire County, Massachusetts
Continental Line: Captain John Holden's and Captain Thomas Burns Companies, Colonel Thomas Nixon's 6th Regiment
Additional References:
"MA Soldiers and Sailors of the Rev War," Volume 1, pg 665; Vol 14, pg 905
Thomas Steel is believed to have been born around 1750 in Massachusetts.[1] Very little is known of his life except that he was a resident of the Town of Ware, Massachusetts. He married Anna Downing 1 April 1773 at New Braintree, Worcester County, Massachusetts,[2] and they were the parents of three sons: John Downing Steel, born 8 April 1774, David Steel born 25 May 1775, and Thomas Steel born 12 February 1777. All three children were born at Ware, Massachusetts.[3]
Thomas Steel enlisted in the Massachusetts Continental Line for three years, 20 March 1777, and was initially assigned to Captain Jabez Lane’s 4th company in the 6th Regiment of Foot, commanded by Colonel Thomas Nixon of the Massachusetts Continental Line.[4] As of 9 September 1778 records show Thomas Steel was serving a three year enlistment as a Private in Captain Thomas Barnes’ Company of Colonel Thomas Nixon’s 6th Massachusetts Continental Line Regiment of what was called the “Massachusetts Bay Forces,” then located in White Plains.[5] Inexplicably, a muster roll shows that 9 February 1779, Thomas Steel, while a member of Captain Barnes’ Company of Colonel Nixon’s Regiment, is recorded as having died.[6] The location of death is not specified on the Muster Roll published 20 March 1779, but another record shows the location of death to have been near Peekskill, New York.[7]
Additional Revolutionary War service for Thomas Steel is record of him having served as a private in Captain William Brakenridge’s company, 4th Battalion, Hampshire County, Massachusetts Militia,[8] prior to his 20 March 1777 enlistment as a private in Captain John Holden’s and then Captain Thomas Barns’ 4th company, Colonel Thomas Nixon’s 6th Regiment, Massachusetts Continental Line.[9]
It appears that the 6th Massachusetts Continental Line Regiment was operating in the Hudson River Valley of New York and had established a camp near Peekskill, New York. For reasons unknown, Thomas was found dead in camp.[10] All of his heirs are not known, however; his son, John Downing Steel, born 8 April 1774, at Ware, Massachusetts,[11] married Eunice Hamilton,[12] and their daughter, Catherine Steele,[13] married Welcome Hathaway.[14]
[1] Ancestry.com American Genealogical-Biographic Index (AGBI), Vol. 167, Pg. 434, Ref.: Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Comp. Secy of the Commonwealth of Mssachusetts, Boston 1896-1908 (17v.): 14: 905.
[2] Ancestry.com Thomas Steel in the Massachusetts Town Marriage Records, 1620 – 1850.
[3] The US Gen Web Project, l Ware Vital Records from the Corbin Collection.
[4] Fold3.com Company Muster Roll for the 6th Massachusetts Regiment.
[5] Ancestry.com Massachusetts Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850, marriage of Thomas Steal and Anna Downing
[6] Fold3, 6th Regiment, Massachusetts Continental Line of Colonel Nixon.
[7] “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War,” prepared and published by the Commonwealth, 1896, Vol. 16, SHA-STH, Pg. 905, Steel, Thomas of Ware.
[8] Chase, Arthur, “History of Ware, Massachusetts, Cambridge. The university Press, 1911, Ware, Massachusetts, Pg. 144 -145.
[9] “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, A Compilation from the Archives,” Boston, 1896, Vol. 14, SHA-STH, Pg. 905 and Vol. 1, A-BER, 1906, Pg. 665.
[10] Fold 3.com, Natl. Archives and Records Admin. (NARA) Publication #M881 – Record Group 93, Roll 0434, Revolutionary War Service Records, Vol. 3, Pg. 384.
[11] Ancestry.com, John Downing Steel in Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.
[12] Ancestry.com, Rootsweb, US Gen Web, Marriage Intentions for the Town of Ware, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Vital Records, Book 1 From 18 Mar 1750 through 1823, Pg. 200-248, 17 April 1797, Pg. 215.
[13] Ancestry.com Rootsweb, Ware, Hampshire County, MA Vital Records, Births and Deaths, from Corbin Collection, Catherine Steel, born 20 March 1799, daughter of John D. Steel and Eunice his wife.
[14] Town of Ware, Massachusetts, Office of the Town Clerk, 29 March 2007, Extract of Vol. 1, Town of Ware, Massachusetts, Births, Deaths, Marriages, p. 267.
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