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