As the nation prepares to observe its 250th anniversary, the Council Grove Republican asked area residents to share the names of Revolutionary War-era ancestors preserved in their family histories. The responses reached from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina to families now connected to Council Grove, Cottonwood Falls, Alta Vista, Wilsey and other communities.
The request also had a personal connection for Republican publisher Jan Sciacca, who listed John Claflin, 1750-1838, a Revolutionary War Minuteman, among her own family ancestors.
The most detailed response came from Linda Johnson of Council Grove, who submitted information about her fourth-great-grandfather, Josiah Bates. Bates was born in 1756 in Cohasset, Massachusetts, a coastal town southeast of Boston, and served in multiple enlistments during the Revolutionary War.
According to Johnson’s submission, Bates enlisted shortly after the battles of Lexington and Concord for eight months as a private in Capt. Job Cushing’s Company in Col. John Greaton’s Regiment. During the siege of Boston, he helped fortify Dorchester Heights, a key action that helped force the British evacuation of the city.
Bates later served for 15 months in Capt. Diamond Morton’s company of Col. Henry Knox’s artillery regiment. His service took him to several major events of the war, including the Battle of Long Island, where he was wounded. Johnson’s information also places him among the troops assembled in New York City when the Declaration of Independence was read to Washington’s army. On Dec. 25, 1776, Bates crossed the Delaware River with Washington and fought at Trenton.
After returning home in 1777, Bates served three months with the Massachusetts militia at Fort Independence in Hull, a strategic post guarding the entrance to Boston Harbor. The following September, he answered the call to stop the British army advancing from the north. Serving as a sergeant in Capt. Theophilus Wilder’s Company of Col. Benjamin Gill’s Regiment, Bates participated in the Saratoga campaign and witnessed the surrender of Gen. John Burgoyne and more than 5,000 British and German troops.
Bates later served aboard the schooner Allen under Capt. Levi Tower, his future brother-in-law, during the Penobscot Expedition. After the fleet was destroyed, survivors made a difficult trek of nearly 500 miles back to Boston with little food or support. His final Revolutionary War service was at sea, first as a privateer and later in the Continental Navy, although details of those enlistments remain uncertain. Bates died in 1823. Other residents also submitted family names and records. Carole Scott Day of Council Grove honored James Scott, born in 1732, who was a member of the Virginia Convention of 1775-1776, served as captain of a militia company and died during the war from hardships in the field. Lawrence Strouts, of Wilsey, honored Henry Howard, born Feb. 14, 1735, and died Jan. 4, 1789. Howard was listed as a private in Capt. Luscomb’s Company and responded to the Lexington Alarm on April 19, 1775, in the Massachusetts militia.
Council Grove town historian Ken McClintock also shared information from a recently received Atkinson family history. The Steven Atkinson Log House at Trail Days Historic Site was built in 1858 by Steven Atkinson, his father and two brothers along Clark’s Creek west of Latimer. McClintock said the family history showed that three of Steven Atkinson’s ancestors served in the Revolutionary War: Cornelius Atkinson Sr., a first lieutenant in Pennsylvania service; and Cornelius’ sons, James Atkinson and Charles Atkinson, who served in the Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, militia.
In addition to the individual submissions, a DAR-related list showed how many area families have preserved Revolutionary-era ancestry through documented applications and family records.
The Council Oak Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution also provided a list of ancestors connected to local residents. Colleen Anderson of Council Grove listed Jacob Hepler, Belcher Starkweather, Nathan Morgan and John Hoyl. Janet Ayers of Cottonwood Falls listed William Whiteside Sr. Colleen Battle of Council Grove listed John Kennard. Michelle “Miki” Bowman, who is serving in Washington, D.C., listed William Anderson. Alice Brown of Council Grove listed Johannes Reber. Donna Bundy of Alta Vista listed Dennis Locklin. Sharon Coley of Council Grove listed John Coon. Sandra Hartman of Council Grove listed Hezekiah Mount. Kathryn Hubbard of Emporia listed Michael Copenhaver and George Etzweiler. Liz Hutchinson of Council Grove listed Isaac Wedge. Janell Keltner of Kansas City, Kan., listed Abraham Graybill. Jan Koepke of Council Grove listed Butler Stonestreet. Sheila Litke of Council Grove listed Jesse Alvis. Monna Metzger of Council Grove listed John Adam Shaffer, John Dent Jr., John Dent Sr., Juan Ronquillo, Robert Beall, Amos Holiday, Nathan Watkins, Daniel Snow Sr., Gersham Towner, George Klinefelter, Joseph Bartholomew Jr., Gilbert Watkins, Conrad Best, Joseph Bragham, Joseph Bartholomew Sr., Cornelius Wygant Sr. and Simon B. Veeder. Della Orton of Council Grove listed John Kennard. Anne Otte of Manhattan listed George Trimble and Barbara X. Warlick. Ruth Parks of Emporia listed Moses Coats. Vicki Petry of Council Grove listed Hezekiah Mount. Suzanne Pickering of Manhattan listed George Cressman. Pat Schneider of Council Grove listed Jacob Hepler, Belcher Starkweather, Nathan Morgan and John Hoyl. Jody Seller of Lawrence listed Samuel Craig.
Together, the submissions show that Revolutionary-era service took many forms. Some ancestors served as privates, sergeants, captains, lieutenants, ensigns or colonels. Others supported the cause through patriotic or civil service. The names also show how family histories from the American Revolution continue to reach into the Flint Hills, carried forward by descendants who still know the names, places and stories of those who helped shape the country’s beginning.