
Ever since learning of Samuel Corwin White's service in the American
Revolution, we have all had a very special place for him in our hearts.
When we learned further that he had died while serving in the Continental
Army, most if not all of us felt an even greater sense of pride and admiration.
A search of the Internet turned up an informational web-site
that had a lot of material about the Orderly Books that survived from
the Revolutionary
period. We were in luck as one of the books for Samuel's
regiment was among the surviving volumes and it showed that his regiment
was encamped "near
Peekskill" in northern Westchester County for the entire month of
May, 1777. With this information we knew where he was based
on the day of his death - May 9th.
A further search on the Internet located a web-site that
listed the members of the 4th New York Regiment of the Line. This was
Samuel's regiment.
Paging down through the lists of soldiers his name appeared,
together with the notation: "died in service" and the date of his death.
Looking through the rest of the regiment it was determined that those
soldiers that did not survive the war were either listed as "killed", "died" or "died
in service". It took a while to learn that "killed" referred
to deaths resulting from combat during major battles. "Died" referred
to deaths from disease or natural causes. The notation "died in
service" remained a mystery for several weeks. Accompanying the "died
in service" designation were some coded letters and numbers - "AP
20-218". Further research determined that this referred to a Volume
of the New York Assembly Papers, in his case Volume 20 -
page 218.
The Assembly Papers are a collection of miscellaneous records pertaining
to events that took place in New York during or related to the Revolutionary
War. About half of this material consisted of claims made by soldiers
or their families for war related service. A search of the New York State
Archives catalogue showed that the Assembly Papers had been deposited
there but they had suffered major damage in the 1911 fire. A number of
inquiries to the archive's staff yielded very little specific information
about the status of Volume 20.
During December, 2003 an opportunity presented itself to continue the
research at the National Archives and the DAR Research Library.
The Archives has a microfilm copy of the Muster Roll
that listed Private White's death. There were no clues as to the cause
or the circumstances
surrounding it. The research work was moved to the DAR’s extensive
library and micro-film resources. One of the librarians did
a search of their microfilm holdings dealing with New York soldier's
claims. A
film was located that looked promising. The author of this
work had transcribed the proceedings of a special commission empanelled
to hear and consider
claims resulting from war service by either veterans or their
heirs. Samuel Corwin White's case was listed in the booklet and it was
noted
that his claim met the criteria previously established by
the commission for the awarding of land grants and that the matter was
being forwarded
to the State Assembly for inclusion in a bill to actually
authorize the grant. This proved to be a major discovery.
Additional searches were conducted on the Internet for
information about Land Grants in New York State for Revolutionary War
Service. A listing
was found of what was known as the "New Military Tract" in
Cayuga County, New York. In the listings of Sterling Township it was
recorded that Parcel #24 had been divided into three equal pieces of
200 acres each, and one of them had been assigned to the "heirs
of Samuel C White". His service and death had been recognized and
rewarded.
After the holidays the search was continued with a flurry
of letters to various government agencies, officials and historians.
The letters
inquiring about pensions came back as expected, showing that
no pension had been awarded. (We do know from the Southold Town Records,
however,
that the town council voted an allowance for "Corwin White's children" during
a period of three years after his death.)
In early February a reply came from the Archivist of New York State.
She had her staff examine the charred remains of the Assembly Papers
for us and unfortunately the first 300 or so pages of Volume 20 had been
completely destroyed by the fire. The details we had been searching for
had literally gone up in smoke. This was a very disappointing turn of
events.
About the same time a wonderful three page letter was
received from Mr. John Curran who is a noted Revolutionary War expert
and author. He
also serves as the Peekskill City Historian. In addition
to relating the location of many of the interments of soldiers who
died while the
Continental Army was encamped in the area, he also wrote
some very profound statements about how men like Private Samuel Corwin
White had transcended
being more than just "heroes" but were "Active Patriots" in
the struggle for America's freedom. Reflecting on his letter,
and all the rest that we have learned, the specific details of our ancestor's
service and ensuing death are really not all that important.
Additional correspondence from some historians in the
area suggest that “Corwin” may
have been involved in the battle of Peekskill in March, 1777. His regiment
is known to have been in the area at that time. Had he been wounded in
the battle and later succumbed to his wounds that is a very plausible
explanation for his death being recorded as being “in service” and
the later awarding of a Land Grant. We will probably never
know the exact cause of his death.
What is important is that when duty called, our 4th-great-grandfather
and many of his comrades answered the call to arms. They
were forced to flee their homes on Long Island and exist as refugee's
in Connecticut
and on the mainland in New York. They willingly enlisted
in a volunteer army of farmers and tradesmen that were committed to
take on the mightiest
army in the world at that time. Many of them would die or
be seriously wounded in that struggle. The how and where are not really
all that important.
What is important is that they did answer the call and yes,
some had to die "in the service" carrying out these orders.
We will probably never know what those orders were, but we do know
that they
were carried out; that he, like so many of other of his comrades,
died in fulfilling them. This was the price of America's freedom in
the war
for our independence that lasted from1775 to1783. Let us
never forget these brave souls and let us always remember their courage
and valor.
Written and Researched by John M. Murphy
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