MILITARY: Pension; Brewster, Nathan; Orange co., NY Revolutionary War: 4th N.Y. Infantry Militia, New Windsor, Orange Co., NY submitted by JOHN HOFF (jsh at aviationattorney.com) ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/nyfiles.htm Submitted Date: February 12, 2006 This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/nyfiles/ File size: 5.9 Kb ************************************************ Military Service Record NATHAN BREWSTER (1758 New Windsor, Orange Co., NY - 1842 Athens Co., OH) Posted by: John Scott Hoff Date: May 14, 2005 at 12:26:35 My 3xG Grandfather, NATHAN BREWSTER (B: 12 Mar 1758 New Windsor, Orange Co., NY - 12 Mar 1842 Athens Co. {later Morgan Co.) OH, was a Patroit and served in the 4th N.Y. Militia between 1778-1783 in New Windsor, and it appears that he might have received a "Bounty land" warrant for land there in Otsego Co. in the mid-1790s for his military service, which may have prompted his move there. He appears to have moved there as a batchelor sometime in the mid- 1790s, and there, at age 39, in 1797 in Butternuts Twp., Otsego Co., NY, he (for the first time) married, a HANNAH PARKER (my 3x G Grandmother)(B: 1768 in somewhere "CT", per later Census) the 29 year old spinster daughter of a neighbor, REUBEN PARKER and HANNAH CHAPMAN PARKER, who are my 4xG Grandparents. REUBEN PARKER was from Wallingford, CT. Both men appear as neighbors on the same page of the 1800 Otsego Co., Census (on Page: 21a.gif). REUBEN PARKER was born in on 12 Mar 1738 in Wallingford, New Haven Co., CT, the son of JOHN PARKER, III (B: 1803 Wallingford, New Haven Co., NY) and a long line of well-documented PARKERs residing in Wallingford for 5 generations. REUBEN's wife, HANNAH CHAPMAN PARKER, was presumably born in Waterbury, New Haven Co., CT, about 1735-50. It is known (from LDS www.FamilySearch.com data) that she married REUBEN PARKER there in Waterbury, CT, on 10 Dec 1764. However, her other family connections, parentage and origins, date of birth and death, and exact burial location data are unknown to me: only her name and the date of her marriage seem available anywhere on- line. HANNAH PARKER, the daughter who flowed from that PARKER-CHAPMAN marriage might have been an 'only child', in that no other children are shown to the Parker parents in the 1800 Butternuts Twp. Census. However, she was age 29 at the time of the marriage in 1797, and other younger children could have already have flown the nest by that time. Although by 1810, only NATHAN BREWSTER and wife, HANNAH PARKER BREWSTER, family appear on the Otsego 1810 Census (Pg 155.gif). The pioneering NATHAN BREWSTER Family appear to have had a happpy and fruitful time together there in Butternuts Twp., and by the time of the 1800 Census - following their 1797 marriage, they had two children: with one son and one daughter showing. By the 1810 Census, they had 2 sons and 4 daughters under the age of 13. One of these was my 2x great frandmother, MARTHA BREWSTER, born there in Otsego Co., NY on 28 Jul 1802. Her family moved on in 1817 to Marietta, Washington Co., OH, and in 1824 in the home of her parents, she married my 2xGreatgrandfather, POWELL HOFF (13 Aug 1801 Pr. William Co., VA -6 May 1870 Dallas Co., IA). She lived to age 90, dying on 27 Jan 1892 in Dallas Co., IA, after having produced 12 childern. By the 1817, the BREWSTER Family had had 8 children, and had relocated from Butternuts Twp., Otsego Co., NY to Marietta, Washington Co., OH, thus ending my family's early pioneering nexus with Butternuts Twp., and Otsego Co., NY. In Athens Co., OH in 1832, aging and infirm, Rev. War Vet. and early former Otsego Co. pioneer, NATHAN BREWSTER, applied for and received a paltry Federal pension ($20/year) for his Rev. War service. Two months ago I obtained complete copies of these papers from the U. S. Archives documenting his fascinating military service. It included his service under Generals Washington and Benedict Arnold at West Point, placing the fameous "blocking chain" across the Hudson blocking the British fleet, and digging Fortification No. 3 at West Point and "spy" service, serving as a local "guide" for several of Gen. Washington's staff offficers needing information on the British Fleet at anchor at Stoney Point, NY. His militia unit was called out a total of 8 times for service of differing lengths of time in the Northern Campaign in N.Y. State. In 1835 he applied for, and after giving testamony in open court in Athesn co., OH, he received a small pension pursuant to the Federal Pension Act of 1835 for his Rev. War service. He died somewhere in Athens Co. (later subdivided into Morgan Co.), OH on 21 Mar 1842. His wife, HANNAH PARKER BREWSTER, also died there in New Plymouth, OH in 1855. After an exhausting search, their exact grave locations both remain unknown to me. So, that is the story of my Rev. War forbear who joined the migration from the East Coast in the post Rev. War years of the late 1700s. He, like many, moved from where these early Colonial pioneers were huddled closely to the sea coast and rivers in Colonial villages, and moved west after the Revolution to the rough and dangerous frontier, and from there on ever-further westward into the heart of the Continent as cheap and abundant farming land became available. I have a series of books printed by in 1821 by the State of New York, which documents the state's military commissions and brevets granted to all NY militia officers. It documents the service of the numerous New York BREWSTERs as officers to the American cause. Unfortunately, there is no roster of enlisted militia men in these volumes. Feel free to contact me directly @ Colonel John S. Hoff, USAF (Ret), 20 S. Clark St., #2210, Chicago, IL 60603-1816 Tele (312) 346-8111.