The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic. Headed by Ethan Allen and members of his extended family, it was instrumental in resisting New York's attempts to control the territory, over which it had won de jure control in a territorial dispute with New Hampshire.
Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It was once within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,752. The town center is a census-designated place listed as Suffield Depot in U.S. Census records.
Oliver Wolcott Sr. was an American Founding Father and politician. He was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Connecticut, and the nineteenth governor of Connecticut. Wolcott was a major general for the Connecticut militia in the Revolutionary War serving under George Washington.
John Paterson was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and a U.S. Congressman from New York.
Titus Hosmer was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and jurist from Middletown, Connecticut. He was a delegate for Connecticut to the Continental Congress in 1778, when he signed the Articles of Confederation.
Samuel Holden Parsons was an American lawyer, jurist, general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country. Parsons was described as "Soldier, scholar, judge, one of the strongest arms on which Washington leaned, who first suggested the Continental Congress, from the story of whose life could almost be written the history of the Northern War" by Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts
Thomas Hartley was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician from York, Pennsylvania.
Elijah Boardman was an American politician who served as a senator from Connecticut. Born to a noted and politically connected Connecticut family, he served in the Connecticut militia before becoming a noted merchant and businessman. Becoming involved in property and land ownership in Connecticut and Ohio, he founded the towns of Boardman and Medina in Ohio. His involvement in politics also increased, and he gradually rose through the ranks of the local, and then national government, being elected by the Connecticut legislature to the United States Senate. He served as Senator from Connecticut until his death in Ohio.
The Connecticut Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Connecticut Line" referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Connecticut at various times by the Continental Congress, the size of its allocation determined by the size of its population relative to that of other states. These, together with similarly apportioned contingents from the other twelve states, formed the Continental Line. The concept was particularly important in relation to the promotion of commissioned officers. Officers of the Continental Army below the rank of brigadier general were ordinarily ineligible for promotion except in the line of their own state.
Andrew Adams was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, and political leader in Connecticut during the nation's Revolutionary Era. As a delegate from Connecticut to the Second Continental Congress, he signed the Articles of Confederation in 1778. Following the war, he returned to his law practice, and in 1793, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Ebenezer Huntington was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and afterwards United States Representative from Connecticut.
William Shepard was a United States representative from Massachusetts (1797–1802), and a military officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. As a state militia leader he protected the Springfield Armory during Shays' Rebellion, firing cannon into the force of Daniel Shays and compelling them to disperse. He was also served in town and state government and was a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council.
In the American Revolution, gaining freedom was the strongest motive for Black enslaved people who joined the Patriot or British armies. It is estimated that 20,000 African Americans joined the British cause, which promised freedom to enslaved people, as Black Loyalists. Around 9,000 African Americans became Black Patriots.
Black Patriots were African Americans who sided with the colonists who opposed British rule during the American Revolution. The term "Black Patriots" includes, but is not limited to, the 5,000 or more African Americans who served in the Continental Army and Patriot militias during the American Revolutionary War.
The Ethiopian Regiment, better known as Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, was a British colonial military unit organized during the American Revolution by the Earl of Dunmore, last Royal Governor of Virginia. Composed of formerly enslaved people who had escaped from Patriot masters, it was led by British officers and sergeants. The regiment was disbanded in 1776, though many of its soldiers probably went on to serve in other Black Loyalist units.
Capt. John Wheeler Leavitt (1755–1815), born in Suffield, Connecticut, was an early settler of Ohio's Western Reserve lands, where members of his family had bought large tracts from the state of Connecticut, and where Capt. Leavitt became an early innkeeper, politician and landowner in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio. Capt. Leavitt was a member of the Connecticut Land Company and along with his cousin Ebenezer King from Suffield, paid over $51,000 for approximately 78,500 acres (318 km2) of Ohio land, which included the township of Warren. The Leavitt family of Warren would go on to play a substantial role in the history of their adopted town and in Ohio.
The Battle of Norwalk was a series of skirmishes between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. The attack was one part of a series of raids on coastal Connecticut towns collectively known as Tryon's raid. The battle was fought in Norwalk, Connecticut on July 11, 1779. 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot of Great Britain commanded by Major General William Tryon arrived on July 10, 1779. They marched in a two pronged attack on both sides of the Norwalk River. They followed a path along what is today East and West Avenues burning everything along the way. Only six houses within the business district at Head of River were spared.
Titus Gay (1787-1837), also known as Old Ti, was born into slavery in the town of Suffield, Connecticut, USA, and because of the Gradual Emancipation Act passed in 1784, he was freed in 1812 after reaching 25 years of age. He was buried in the northeastern corner of the cemetery behind the Congregational church in Suffield, CT.
Elihu William Nathan Starr, born in New Haven, Connecticut on August 10, 1812, was the ninth Adjutant General of the State of Connecticut. He was later elected to the position of town clerk for the City of Middletown. He also served as treasurer and Judge of Probate
Samuel Blachley Webb (1753–1807) was the commanding officer of the 9th Connecticut Regiment in the American Revolutionary War.
