Joseph Root was born on 13 July 1732, at Coventry, Windham (now Tolland) County, Connecticut, a son of Eliakim and Jemima (Allis) Root. He married Silance Curtis, daughter of Henry Curtis and Silance Janes, on 20 December 1754, at Coventry. Joseph and Silance had seven children recorded at Coventry, namely Jerusha, Bille, Naomi, Elijah, Joseph, Elias, and Esther. In addition, there may be one additional child not recorded named Oliver.

Joseph was active in town affairs at Coventry until his departure to Whitestown, New York, in 1788. Before the Revolution, he served as Lister and Inspector (1756 and 1758), Collector (1759), Grand Juryman (1773), Surveyor of Highways (1775), and a member of the School Committee (1775). During the war and when not in the field, Joseph served on the Committee of Inspection (1777), as Grand Juryman (1778), member of the School Committee (1779 and 1780), as Surveyor of Highways (1780), member of the Committee to Supply the Families of the soldiers that are in the Continental Army (1782), and Committee to Join Mansfield to Repair or Rebuild the Bridge over the River by John Turner's (1782). 

As a member of the Coventry Militia, Joseph answered the call to the Lexington Alarm on 19 April 1775. According to fellow townsman and Militiaman Nathaniel Root, the militia met at "…Pomfret in the County of Windham, the place assigned for the regiment to meet, when and where a draft was made from the regiment of about one-half its number..." Those drafted were ordered to proceed to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Joseph served only two days. It is presumed that he was not among the men sent to Massachusetts. They served in Captain Elias Buell's Fourth Company of Colonel Thomas Brown's Fifth Regiment of the Connecticut State Militia. Joseph served as an officer in this company and regiment for the duration of the war. He was elected Ensign on 7 September 1775, Lieutenant on 22 April 1777, and Captain in May 1781.

In 1776, Joseph, with this company and regiment, reinforced Washington's Army at New York during the Battles of Long Island and White Plains. According to Mary Ripley, widow of Jabez Ripley, Captain Jeremiah Ripley and Lieutenant Joseph Root of the Fourth Company in Colonel Experience Storr's Fifth Regiment served from September through November 1776 in New York. Josiah Fuller claims they marched to Valentine Hill and were stationed at Fort Washington, and were gone for six months. However, regimental orders state they were encamped on a hill opposite Fort Washington, which may have been Laurel Hill. This regiment served under Brigadier General Saltonstall.

Elijah Root, son of Joseph, declared in his pension application that he had served as a private in the Fifth Regiment under his father, Captain Joseph Root, and Major Thomas Brown at Rhode Island in the fall and winter of 1777. This was in response to a great fleet of man-o-war and transports threatening Newport and Providence. Many other tours of duty were performed by this company and regiment, which now remain lost to us or hidden in obscure accounts.

Coventry was an important hub for the procurement and distribution of gunpowder and supplies for the revolutionary cause. Joseph's name is listed on an account ledger from the Fourth Company in which he appears to have purchased 200 pounds of pork for the Continental Army, making a partial payment with ten quarts of salt valued at £1. 8. 2. The remainder of the payment was made in cash in the amount of £16. 1. 10.

According to The Roots of Coventry, Connecticut:

"He [Joseph] sold his farm in Coventry in 1788 to Jabez and Jeremiah Ripley and took his family to settle in that part of Whitestown, New York, now known as Oriskany and Marcy. He is listed in the 1790 Census of Whitestown, New York. He was one of the first trustees of the United Presbyterian Societies of Whitestown and Old Fort Schuyler."

He joined the Whitesboro (Whitestown) First Presbyterian Church in 1795, and it is from their records that we find the death of Joseph recorded on 30 March 1821. His wife, Silance, died on 18 December 1821. The burial location of Joseph and Silance is unknown. It is likely they were laid to rest at the Oriskany Cemetery near where they lived and where their daughter Esther is buried; here stand many faded and illegible stones of the ancient pioneers.

Sources:

Dimock, Susan W. Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths from the Records of the Town and Churches in Coventry, Connecticut, 1711-1844. New York, New York: The Baker and Taylor Company, 1897.

1. Fuller, Josiah. Revolutionary War Pension S16815: Revolutionary War Pension Application Files, NARA.
2. Larned, Ellen Douglas. History of Windham County, Connecticut. Vol. 2. 1760-1880. Worcester: Larned, 1880.
3. Messier, Betty Brooke and Janet Sutherland Aronson. The Roots of Coventry, Connecticut. 275th Anniversary Committee, 1987.
4. Ripley, Jabez. Revolutionary War Pension R8836: Revolutionary War Pension Application Files, NARA.
5. Root, Elijah. Revolutionary War Pension S23399: Revolutionary War Pension Application Files, NARA.
6. Root, Nathaniel. Revolutionary War Pension S36277: Revolutionary War Pension Application Files, NARA.
7. Vosburgh, Royden Woodward. Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Whitesboro in the Town of Whitestown, Oneida County, New York, 1794-1898.  New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. First Presbyterian Church (Whitesboro, New York).