Story
Canisteo, Steuben, New York, United States
Lyndeborough [Hillsborough County, New Hampshire] had the military honor of furnishing five captains of the War for Independence. Their names were William Barron, Peter Clark, Jonas Kider, William Lee and Levi Spaulding. Some of these did service in more than one campaign, and for the sake of both brevity and convenience, the service will be indicated as follows: Capt. Spaulding's men at Bunker Hill and Winter Hill will be indicated respectively by the capitals, B. H. and W. H.; Capt. Clark's men, on the Alarm at Bennington and Saratoga will be marked A., B. and S.; Captain Barron's men marched for Canada and served at Ticonderoga, indicated by C or Ti.; Captain Lee's men servied, as indicated, in R. I.; Captain Kidder's men raised for service at West Point in 1780, will be marked as W. P.
Men who served included my Wellman ancestors:
163. Stephenson, Capt. John. According to our town roll, "Capt. John Stephenson did a whole turn." He hired Joseph Ellinwood, Jr., paying him £12. He also paid two months' bounty towards hiring Isaac Carkin to serve a year in the Continental Army; and further, one month's bounty for a man to serve three months at W. P.
When Lyndeborough was chartered by the Provincial Government in 1764, (April 2), John Stephenson was appointed to call the firstmeting under the charter. At that meeting, May 15, 1764, he was chosen town clerk, and continued his service till March 12, 171. Oct. 4, 1765, according to W. H. Grant, Esq., "John Stephenson was commissioned Capt. and Jacob Wellman, Ensign of the tenth company in the Sixth Regt. of the Militia of the Province, by Benning Wentworth, Esq., Captain General and Governor in Chief" of "His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England & c."
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177. Wellman, Abraham. Abraham Wellman was the third son of Capt. Jacob Wellman, one of the early proprietors of Salem-Canada, and a Revolutionary soldier. He lived after the close of the war, and was a pensioner. He married Rebecca Parsons, and about 1785 removed to Belgrade, Me., and about 1820 to Ohio.
178. Wellman, Jacob Jr. Capt. Jacob Wellman, Jr., volunteered to serve ins country in Capt. Levi Spaulding's Co.; was in the battle of B. H., and first reported mortally wounded; was carried off the field, and the next day carried to a hospital in Cambridge. When sufficiently recovered to take the journey, he received a furlough, and "was welcomed home by his dear wife and children." He was wounded in the shoulder, and probably disabled for army service. He died Apr. 20, 1834, aged 88 years.
179. Wellman, James. James Wellman was born in Salem-Canada in 1747 and died in the Revolutionary Army.
180. Wellman, John. John Wellman was a Revolutionary soldier. In 1776, he did service for some Wilton man,unnamed in our town records. Of his subsequent services we have no record.
The Wellmans above named, Abraham, Jacob, Jr., James and John, were sons of Capt. Jacob Wellman, who served in the militia of our town before the Revolution. His commission, received from the Royal Governor, Benning Wentworth, as ensign bears date of Oct. 12, 1764, the same year in which our town was chartered. The captain's commission is thought to have been issued in 1765.