Basfords: Colonial Warriors

For Memorial Day Zeb and I put together some information about our recent relatives that we knew had served in the military. I've recently started filling in some details about our direct ancestors beyond Nathaniel and Keziah. It turns out that the further back I went the more interesting it got. There are several more veterans to add to the Basford Rolls. As before you can use the tree above to see the connections.

I'll start with Jacob Basford (1655-1735). He was the first of our ancestors to be born on this continent. The first, well unsurprisingly surprising, fact was that he was involved in an anti-government protest in 1684. It seems that the Governor had appointed a sheriff that the local citizens thught wasn't acting professional enough. Seems he was over enjoying his authority. So when the sheriff arrived in Hampton, New Hampshire to collect a fine from one of the townsmen, they ran him out of town. Jacob was one of the men that tied him to a horse and lead him out of town. His first military service was during The Second French and Indian War, or King William's War. It's not clear exactly which years he served but the war began about 1689 and lasted until about 1698. He then served in The Third French and Indian War also known as Queen Ann's War. We know that he served under Capt. Samuel Chesley, but not which years. There maybe more details if I looked for him, but I haven't done that yet. He then served on an expedition to Canada under Capt. Mathew Austin from 21 July 1710 to 14 Nov 1710; and then again in 1712, only this time under Capt. Phips. The unit rolls show he served 15 weeks and was paid 4 Pounds 10 Shillings.

Jacob's son James (1686-~1756) also served during The Third French and Indian War. His service was in Capt. Shadrack Walton's Company from  15 Dec 1710 to 9 April 1711. He was paid 4 Pounds, 17 Shillings and 8 Pence. It appears his enlistment was done in what is today Kittery Maine, as he entered into a one year "apprenticeship" there on 30 Oct 1710 to repay a debt of 50 Pounds. The unsurprisingly surprising fact about James? He owned and operated a sawmill in Chester New Hampshire in the 1730's.

James's son was named after his Grandfather, Jacob (1715 – 1760). His unsurprisingly surprising fact is that he was a Selectman for Chester, New Hampshire in 1758. His military service came in 1760 when he served in Capt. Hazzen's Company from 12 Mar 1760 until he died of wounds sustained in battle on 17 Nov 1760. His service was during an invasion of Canada that apparently took him through Albany, New York as a report filed by the Adjutant General places him there on 23 Oct 1760.

Which brings us to Ebenezer (1742 – 1816), Jacob's son. His military career started early, at only 18 or so. He joined his father in Capt Hazzan's Company for the expedition into Canada in 1760. Since both of their service time ended on 17 Nov 1760, Jacob's date of death, it's safe to assume he brought his father's body back to Chester, New Hampshire. Ebenezer was one of the men who signed Chester's "Association Test" on 14 Mar 1776. This document read:

"We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise, that we will, to the utmost in our Power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with ARMS, oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the United American Colonies"

It seems that this document was signed in many towns in the Colonies as a way to ascertain who was loyal to the cause of the revolution. On 14 May 1777 Col. John Webster by order of Brig. Gen. Folsom was to recruit men to join the New Hampshire Regiments of the Continental Army. Ebenezer was one of the 14 that Col. Webster recruited. Col. Webster assigned Lt. John Lane to be the Ensign for the new recruits. Lt Lane was to lead the recruits to Portsmouth NH where they were to "guard the seacoast" for one month and then "Receve Such Further orders which May be give him from such as have a Rite to give them:...". I can find no further mention of Ebenezer in any of the New Hampshire Regimental Rolls. The next record I have of him is in 1780 when he marries Mehitable Young in Chester NH.

One outside possibility is that he served on the USS Ranger out of Portsmouth. The USS Ranger was built in Kittery, Maine and set sail from there on 10 May 1777. That would have put the ship in Portsmouth during Ebenezer's time there as it sailed for France in November of 1777.The original rolls for the ship have been lost, though there have been some attempts to reconstruct it from the ships logs and various petitions that were signed by the crew. Ebenezer doesn't show up on any of those documents, but these reconstructed rolls only hold about 100 of the 140 men that served on its' decks. The USS Ranger arrived back in Portsmouth from France in Oct of 1778. In plenty of time for Ebenezer to get married. What makes it doubtful that he was on the ship is that the USS Ranger appears to have had only one crew, and it left Portsmouth again in Feb of 1779 to patrol the Atlantic. It was captured in May 1780 by the British. It's possible that he was released from service in Portsmouth, but there are no records that confirm that. We may never know Ebenezer's exact role in the Revolution, but we do know that he went to fight and being an experience soldier it's unlikely he deserted.

So as it turns out the Basfords have a long history of military service that dates back to at least the early Colonial period. We can also see some common "Basford traits" in what I've dubbed unsurprisingly surprising facts. We have a long history in the woods business from Jacob owning a saw mill, to Stanley Sr. planting the apple trees to the last three generations having independent lumbermen in them. With Dad and Joan's activity in local politics it's neat to see that James was a town Selectman. Along that same vein, but less official, Jacob's involvement in the demonstration in Hampton and his Grandson signing the "Association Test" ties in nicely with our more recent generations being so opinionated.

So when we say it's in our genes, we mean it...