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: Soldier
Birth: 1745 / / MA Death: 14 Apr 1778 Montgomery / / PA
Qualifying Service Description:
Eight months’ service - 6 May 1775 - Captain Oliver Parker, in Colonel William Prescott’s regiment
Served in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the redoubt.
Served on the main guard under Lieutenant-Colonel. Loammi Baldwin on 22 June 1775
1 August 1775 muster roll he was serving under Lieutenant Nathaniel Sartwell
7 October 1775 roll of the company under Captain Ephraim Corey.
31 October 1775, his name appeared on an order for a bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Camp at Cambridge
14 April 1777 for three years in the Continental Army, in Captain Joshua Brown’s company in Colonel Timothy Bigelow’s 15th Massachusetts Regiment
Served at Saratoga, being stationed at Van Schaick’s Island just before the battles
Additional References:
Secretary of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (1896-1908)
3:744, listed as ‘Colburn.’
3:736, listed as ‘Colbrn.’
3:687, listed as ‘Coborn’
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors Revolutionary war Series, 1896, Vol.II, pg 896
graves report submitted by Michael B. Gunn, 185230, Cincinnati Chapter, OH SAR - Apr 2025
Spouse: Peggy Whittemore Children: Members Who Share This Ancestor
None*
*This means that the NSSAR has no applications for this Patriot on file.
Instead the information provided is best effort, and from volunteers who have either researched grave sites, service records, or something similar. There is no documentation available at NSSAR HQ to order.
The following biography was written by PRS staff using some data provided by Mike Gunn.
Titus Coburn was born on 2 April 1742 at Dunstable, Massachusetts, in the part of the town that later became Hudson, New Hampshire. He was a man of color and was enslaved by Thomas Colburn of Dunstable.
On the Lexington Alarm, Titus marched from Shirley, Massachusetts, as a private in Captain Henry Haskell’s Minute Man company under Colonel James Prescott’s regiment. He enlisted for eight months’ service on 6 May 1775 in Captain Oliver Parker’s company, which was part of Colonel William Prescott’s regiment. This regiment fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775, where Titus’s company served in the redoubt. His participation is further evidenced by his name appearing on an order for cartridge boxes dated 18 June 1775 at Camp Cambridge.
On 22 June 1775, he served on the main guard under Lieutenant Colonel Loammi Baldwin. By 1 August 1775, he was recorded on the muster roll under Lieutenant Nathaniel Sartwell, and by 7 October 1775, he appeared in the company of Captain Ephraim Corey. On 31 October 1775, Titus was listed on an order for a bounty coat or its equivalent in money, issued from Camp Cambridge.
He filed intentions to marry Peggy Whittemore at Harvard, Massachusetts, on 12 November 1771. At the time, his residence was listed as Camden, New Hampshire. No children are known to have been born from this marriage.
With General Burgoyne advancing on northern New York, Titus reenlisted for three years on 14 April 1777 in Captain Joshua Brown’s company, Colonel Timothy Bigelow’s 15th Massachusetts Regiment. His regiment was stationed at Van Schaick’s Island near Albany, New York, immediately before the Battles of Saratoga. Muster rolls show his service from January through August 1777.
Titus later enlisted again on 3 February 1778, this time in Captain Samuel Hill’s militia company, enlisted for the town of Harvard. He was then transferred into the 7th Massachusetts Regiment under Colonel John Brooks.
He spent the winter of 1777–1778 encamped with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Titus Coburn died on 14 April 1778, likely of smallpox, at Valley Forge. His final resting place is unknown.
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