2026 - 26 Lucy Wilcher: Before She Said, "I Do"

Lucy Wilcher England Forrest, My Maternal 4th Great Grand Aunt

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

2026 Week 26

Prompt: A Hard Choice

When I saw this week's prompt, "A Hard Choice," I decided to take a break from the Revolutionary War patriots I've been writing about and tell the story of a remarkable woman in my family tree.

Lucy Wilcher was the daughter of Thomas Wilcher and Annie Walton of Warren County, Tennessee. Thomas and Annie were my maternal fifth great-grandparents through my McCorkle line. The Wilcher family had settled in Warren County by about 1812, where Thomas became a prosperous landowner.

By 1828, Lucy had already experienced heartbreak. Her husband, Joseph England, had died, leaving her a widow with three children. His estate had not yet been settled, although Lucy knew she would eventually receive her widow's share. She had also inherited land from her father.

Only eleven days after Joseph's death, Lucy prepared to marry the Rev. Richard Albert Forrest, a Baptist minister who had  recently lost his wife. Between them, they brought fifteen children into the new marriage—Lucy had three, and Richard had twelve from his first marriage.

How do two widowed parents, bringing fifteen children into one family, protect the inheritance of both families?

The answer was tucked away in a Warren County deed book.

Before they married, Lucy and Richard signed Articles of Agreement, agreeing that each would retain complete ownership and control of the property each already possessed and could dispose of it as they wished.

"...each shall have and possess the entire right and control of all the property each now have..."

Lucy and Richard as imagined by ChatGPT.

I had always thought prenuptial agreements were a twentieth-century invention. Instead, here was one recorded in Tennessee in 1828.

As I followed Lucy through later deeds, estate records, tax lists, and chancery cases, that single agreement suddenly explained so much. Lucy continued to own property in her own name. Her widow's share was eventually divided among her heirs. The careful separation of property wasn't accidental—it had been planned from the beginning.

The hard choice wasn't simply whether to remarry.

It was how to build a new family without sacrificing the future of the children she already had.

Nearly two hundred years later, a single page hidden in a deed book revealed a woman determined to protect her children, her property, and her independence.

I never expected the most revealing document in Lucy Wilcher's story to be a prenuptial agreement.

2026 - 25 Henry Hyden: 175 Pounds of Beef

Henry Hyden, My Paternal 4th Great Grandfather

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 25

Prompt: An Ancestor Who Stays With Me

For many years, Henry Hyden was simply my DAR patriot.

DAR recognizes Henry for Patriotic Service during the Revolutionary War, and it is through him that I became a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Beyond that, I knew very little about the man himself.

That changed earlier this year while I was researching Revolutionary War patriots at Midwest Genealogy Center.

As I worked through a notebook filled with names and source citations, I came across an entry for Henry that immediately caught my attention: 175 pounds of beef.

That was not the sort of Revolutionary War service I expected to find.

According to Virginia Revolutionary Publick Claims, Henry Hyden of Stafford County, Virginia, furnished 175 pounds of beef in 1782. The following year, he paid the Virginia Supply Tax, another act recognized by DAR as patriotic service.

Image Created by ChatGPT

Most of us think of the Revolutionary War ending with the British surrender at Yorktown in October 1781. In reality, the new nation still faced enormous challenges. Troops remained in the field, prisoners had to be fed and guarded, and state governments struggled to finance the costs of war.

The beef Henry supplied and the taxes he paid may not sound dramatic, but they were part of the practical support that kept the Revolutionary effort functioning during its final years.

As interesting as Henry's story was, my research soon led me to another member of the family.

Henry's son William Hyden served as a soldier in the Revolution.

Born in Stafford County in 1761, William enlisted during the war and later applied for a pension based on his service. His pension file contains details of his military experience as well as documents created years later when his widow, Martha Baldwin Hyden, attempted to obtain a widow's pension after his death.

While reviewing those records, I discovered something I had never seen before: William's bounty land certificate.

Issued on 12 August 1856 under the provisions of the Bounty Land Act of 1855, the certificate entitled William to 160 acres of federal land in recognition of his Revolutionary War service. The ornate document survives today, a tangible reminder of a nation's attempt to reward veterans more than seventy years after the war had ended.

William Hyden's Bounty Land Certifcate from Fold2.com. 

What became of those 160 acres remains a mystery. Although I found the certificate, I have not yet found evidence showing whether William ever located land under the warrant or what ultimately happened to it.

Perhaps that is a research project for another day.

What struck me most about this family was how differently father and son contributed to the Revolutionary cause.

Henry's patriotic service was measured in pounds of beef and the payment of a wartime tax. William's was measured in months of military service and later recognized through a pension and bounty land certificate.

One supported the war from home. The other served in uniform.

Together, they remind me that the American Revolution was sustained not only by soldiers on the battlefield, but also by ordinary families who contributed what they could when their new nation needed them.

Today, when I look at my DAR membership certificate, I see more than a name on a lineage chart. I see a Stafford County farmer who supplied provisions during a difficult time and a son who served in the struggle for independence.

And thanks to a few records discovered more than two centuries later, Henry Hyden has become much more than simply my DAR patriot.

Image created by ChatGPT

2026 - 24 Before They Were Americans: Chappels of the Colony of Connecticut

 George Chappell, My Maternal 8th Great Grandfather

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 24

Prompt: Possibilities

On March 16, 1635, twenty-year-old George Chappell stood in London and enrolled for passage to New England aboard the Christian.

George Chappel boarding the Christian as imagined by ChatGPT.

He could not have known what lay ahead.

The young Englishman crossed the Atlantic as a servant bound to Francis Stiles. Within two years he was apprenticed as a carpenter in Connecticut. Before long he was serving under Captain John Mason during the Pequot War. He acquired land, established a home, raised a family, and became one of the early settlers of New London.

Like so many immigrants who followed after him, George came seeking opportunity. What he could not have imagined was how far those possibilities would extend.

George's son Caleb Chappell was born in New London in 1671. By the time Caleb wrote his will in 1733, he had accumulated substantial landholdings and was providing farms and property to his children. His descendants spread across eastern Connecticut, establishing families of their own and building lives on land that only a few generations earlier had been wilderness.

Then came another generation.

When tensions between Great Britain and her American colonies erupted into war in 1775, five of George Chappell's great-grandsons answered the call.

Ensign Caleb Chappell served in the Connecticut militia and later as an officer. Probate records show that he died in 1776, during the first difficult years of the Revolution.

His brothers Noah, Elijah, and Amos Chappell also performed military service in support of American independence. Like thousands of ordinary Connecticut farmers and tradesmen, they left their homes when needed, marched when called, and helped sustain the war effort.

Another great-grandson, Amaziah Chappell, likewise served the patriot cause. His story was the subject of an earlier post in this series, but he deserves mention here among the remarkable generation of cousins who answered their country's call.

What makes their service especially meaningful is the perspective of time.

Only 140 years separated George Chappell's arrival in New England from the opening battles of the American Revolution. The young man who boarded the Christian in 1635 left England as a servant seeking a better future. Four generations later, his great-grandsons were helping create a nation independent of the very country he had left behind.

George Chappell could not have imagined Lexington and Concord. He could not have foreseen declarations of independence, Continental armies, or a United States of America.

But the possibilities that began when a twenty-year-old immigrant stepped aboard a ship in London ultimately led to all of those things.

And among the Americans who helped make that future possible were five of his own great-grandsons: Ensign Caleb, Noah, Elijah, Amos, and Amaziah Chappell.

2026 - 23 A Family Gathered at Miller Cemetery

James Wallace/Wallis and Mary Jane Woodward,  My Paternal 2nd Great Grandparents

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 23

Prompt: A Place That Matters

When I began researching the Wallace/Wallis family, I expected the most important grave in Miller Cemetery to be that of Revolutionary War Patriot Benjamin Wallace, my 3rd great-grandfather. Instead, I found myself drawn to the resting place of his son James Wallace and daughter-in-law Jane Woodward Wallace. Their graves—and one notable absence—helped reveal a much larger family story.

Grave Stone photo from: http://ingenweb.org/indelaware/Harrison/Miller/wallacebenjamin.jpg

Photo Contributed By: Gina Richardson. (USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material)

Photo taken June 5, 2026 courtsey of Ted Shideler. 

The Miller Cemetery, near Bethel in Delaware County, Indiana, is said to have begun in the 1830s when a small portion of Jacob W. Miller's farm was set aside as a burying ground. Over time, it became the final resting place for several generations of the Wallace family who migrated from Virginia to Indiana during the early nineteenth century.

More than 180 years after Benjamin Wallace was laid to rest beneath an Indiana walnut tree, Miller Cemetery continues to tell the story of the family he helped establish.

Twenty-eight of the ninety-six memorials on Find A Grave belong to members of the Wallace family or their descendants. As daughters and granddaughters married, surnames such as Newhouse, Childs, and Conner appeared alongside the Wallace graves.

Most but not all have grave markers. Some memorials include photographs of broken but still partially legible stones displayed alongside newer replacement markers.

Benjamin Wallace’s original marker was later replaced by the SAR in recognition of his Revolutionary War service.  Although no marker survives for Sarah "Sally" Sargent Wallace, family tradition places her burial beside her husband. A grandson later recalled attending his grandmother's funeral and burial, preserving the memory of her final resting place.

An LDS cemetery transcription was made in 1961. It noted that many markers were in poor condition and not legible.  Curiously, the transcription omitted both Benjamin Wallace and his son James, my 2nd great-grandfather.

The transcription did include Mary Jane Woodward Wallace, recorded as "Jane wife of James Wallace died May 16, 1870, aged 58 years, 10 months, 9 days." Yet her documented birth and death dates indicate she was actually 57 years, 9 months, and 9 days old, raising questions about whether the stone was misread, mis-carved, or damaged before it was transcribed.

Today the question is difficult to resolve. Jane's stone was later found broken into five pieces and repaired. While portions remain legible, it is impossible to know with certainty exactly what was originally carved. The discrepancy serves as a reminder that even cemetery records—valuable as they are—must be weighed against other evidence.

Photo courtesy of Delaware County History via FindAGrave.com

The condition of Jane's marker also raises another question. Does the absence of a surviving marker mean that James Wallace is buried elsewhere? I do not believe so. 

Given the condition of the cemetery when the LDS transcription was made in 1961, together with the evidence that Miller Cemetery served as the Wallace family burial ground for those who remained in Delaware County, I believe that James Wallace is buried beside his wife Jane.

Miller Cemetery, Near Bethal, Indiana. Photo courtesy of Allen County Tombstones via FindAGrave.com

I posted a query on the Indiana Cemeteries Facebook page to determine whether the photograph on Find A Grave showing numerous fallen and broken stones was in fact Miller Cemetery. Jennifer Lewis Sparks confirmed that it was and noted that the photograph was taken in 2011. At that time, numerous stones could still be seen broken, displaced, or lying on the ground. The condition of the burial ground helps explain why some markers have been lost and why earlier transcriptions are not always complete.

Jennifer also shared that the cemetery was restored around 2020. Another Facebook responder, Karen Carter, provided a link to a blog post by Ted Shideler titled The Hidden History of Miller Cemetery. Coincidentally, at about the same time I was posting my inquiry, Ted and his friend Kathi- Kathryn Hirons Kesterson visited Miller Cemetery and cleaned Benjamin Wallace's grave marker. Their efforts, along with additional photographs and the history of the cemetery, are documented in Ted's article. As Jennifer pointed out, several of the gravestones visible in the 2011 photograph can also be identified Ted's more recent images, illustrating the remarkable improvement in the cemetery's condition.

For readers interested in learning more about the cemetery and the cleaning of Benjamin's stone I highly recommend Ted Shideler's article: Hidden History of Miller Cemetery

Today, some stones are broken, some markers are missing, and some names survive only in old cemetery transcriptions. Yet Miller Cemetery still gathers the family together. Benjamin and Sarah Wallace, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren remain connected in this small Indiana burial ground. That is why Miller Cemetery is a place that matters to me.

2026-22 Wallis, Wallace, or Wallas? A Revolutionary War Name with Meaning

 Benjamin Walllis, My Paternal 3rd Great Grandfather

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 22

Prompt: A Name With Meaning

Before I ever became interested in genealogy, I knew one thing about the Wallis name: nobody could spell it correctly. I spent my life spelling it for teachers, doctors, receptionists, and anyone else who needed to write it down. Even within the family, the name appeared in records as WALLIS, WALLACE, and sometimes WALLAS.

Image created by ChatGPT.

The name came from my paternal 3rd great grandfather, Benjamin Wallis, a Revolutionary War veteran born January 12, 1758, in Orange County (later Caswell County), North Carolina, the son of Irish immigrant James Wallace. Benjamin married Sarah “Sally” Sargent on June 5, 1782, and together they raised ten children — four sons and six daughters. I descend from their son James Wallace/Wallis.

Revolutionary War Patriot

Benjamin is recognized as a Revolutionary War Patriot by both the DAR (Ancestor A107109) and the SAR, which placed a grave marker at his burial site in Indiana in 1963. Ironically, even that marker reflects the family’s long-running spelling confusion: although paperwork for the stone was later corrected by hand from WALLACE to WALLIS, the grave marker itself was installed as BENJAMIN WALLACE.

The source of Benjamin’s Revolutionary War service is his pension file, S32571. More than fifty years after the Revolution, the aging North Carolina militiaman gave a remarkably detailed account of his wartime experiences. It follows here:

Pension Statement

Benjamin Wallis recalled that during the Siege of Charleston, his militia company marched to the mouth of the Cooper River, about six miles from Charleston, where part of the regiment was ordered onto the water under the command of Col. Ball. Their mission was to proceed up the river toward Moncks Corner, sinking empty vessels to prevent the British from using them and seizing those containing property in order to bring the goods safely to Red Bank. As they moved upriver, they could hear the cannonade at Charleston “distinctly” continuing for many days. Before reaching Moncks Corner, however, the firing suddenly ceased, leading the men to believe Charleston had surrendered. They turned back downriver with the vessels they had already secured and anchored for the night near Charleston. The following morning, Captain Adam Sanders, contrary to Col. Ball’s orders, raised anchor and attempted to sail for Red Bank. That decision likely saved their lives. The remaining vessels stayed behind and were captured by the British.

As Sanders’ company approached Red Bank, a man on shore warned them that Tarleton and his cavalry were waiting there to intercept them. The company quickly landed above the banks, abandoned the vessel, and fled toward nearby swamps. Benjamin recalled that Tarleton’s men came within about 150 yards of them before the militia escaped into the swamp. The company, consisting of twenty-four men besides Captain Sanders, remained hidden there for several days surviving on nothing but whortleberry buds.

They also found in the swamp two enslaved Black men, whom they persuaded to guide them safely out. From the swamp they traveled by a little-used road, managing to get ahead of Tarleton and his cavalry before joining General Buford’s army, which was then moving toward Charleston. When Buford learned that Tarleton was pursuing the militia company to which Benjamin belonged, the army retreated. Near Hanging Rock, Benjamin’s company separated from Buford’s regular troops and proceeded toward Fayetteville in company with the other militia units. Buford and his regulars continued toward Hanging Rock and were soon overtaken and defeated by the British.

After reaching Fayetteville and learning of Buford’s defeat, Benjamin’s company attempted to move across the country to intercept the British. By this time the men had suffered greatly from exhaustion, hunger, and constant retreat. Captain Adam Sanders informed his commander that his men’s term of service had expired and that they were no longer able to continue. At first the request was denied, but after inspection the men were finally discharged from further duty. Captain Sanders then marched them to General Butler’s command, where they received their discharges and returned home. Benjamin stated that this first term of service lasted “not less than six months” and occurred in 1780.

Benjamin further declared that he again entered service in 1781 as a volunteer under Captain William Wilson in a regiment commanded by Colonel William Moore. From Caswell County the company marched once more to Hillsborough, the general rendezvous point, where they awaited troops arriving from other counties. From there they marched to the Waxhaws and joined the main army under Generals Morgan and Smallwood. At that point, General Davidson assumed command.

Benjamin recalled that at the Waxhaws the army was stationed to observe the movements of the British forces under Lord Cornwallis, who were camped across the Catawba River. During this period the British made no direct attack. After the expiration of the three months for which the men had volunteered, and with conditions remaining dangerous, Colonel William Moore marched the regiment to his own home where the men were discharged and allowed to return home. Benjamin stated that this second tour lasted three months.

He further declared that later in 1781 he again volunteered for service, this time under Captain John McMullin, commander of a company of Rangers. Benjamin furnished his own horse and arms. The Rangers operated along the right flank of the British army as Cornwallis marched toward Yorktown. Their purpose was to prevent British foraging parties from obtaining supplies, to protect civilians from plunder, and to keep local Tories from “doing mischief.” Benjamin said the Rangers moved through Caswell County while the British were stationed at the Red House called Dabney’s, then ranged through Orange County, Granville County, and several other counties whose names he could no longer remember.

The company eventually crossed the Dan River into Virginia, where they joined the main American army under Generals Morgan, Greene, and Smallwood. Once there, the Rangers applied to the quartermaster for provisions but were refused. The following morning Captain McMullin marched the company back into Caswell County, where the men were dismissed from service. Benjamin noted that they did not receive written discharges.

Benjamin further stated that later in 1781 he again volunteered for service under Captain Sargent, commander of another company of Rangers operating in Caswell County. During this tour the Rangers attempted a nighttime infiltration of the British camp while the enemy was stationed at Robins, but the company was surrounded. Benjamin recalled that they narrowly escaped “without any loss.” During the same night operation, the Rangers captured a British dragoon who was later hanged by order of General Butler. Benjamin remembered this final term of service as lasting about two months, although he received no written discharge.

Because of age and failing memory, Benjamin explained that he could no longer swear positively to the exact length of each tour, but to the best of his recollection he had served no less than fourteen months in total during the Revolutionary War. He stated that after the Revolution he lived in both North Carolina and Virginia and was residing in Lee County, Virginia, at the time of his application. Benjamin explained that he had filed his declaration in neighboring Hawkins County, Tennessee, because it was more convenient to reach a magistrate there, adding that he had suffered from “fits” for five years and was unable to travel far without risking his life. He further stated that he had never held a commission and that although he once possessed written discharges from his periods of service, one had been lost with his pocketbook during the war and the others had disappeared because, as he admitted, “he took no care of them.”

Benjamin concluded his declaration by stating that there was no one still living who could directly prove his Revolutionary War service. He further explained that there was no clergyman living in his neighborhood who could testify on his behalf. However, he stated that he was well known to Samuel Marion and John Fritts, residents of his community, who could attest to his character for truthfulness and to the general belief that he had served in the Revolution. Benjamin formally relinquished all other claims to any pension or annuity except the present application and declared that his name was not on the pension rolls of any other state agency, except possibly North Carolina. He signed the declaration on 23 April 1834 with his mark before Justice of the Peace William Babb.

Samuel Marion and John Fritts then submitted a supporting statement declaring that they were personally acquainted with Benjamin Wallis, believed him to be about seventy-six years old, and that he was generally reputed in the neighborhood to have been a soldier of the Revolution. They also confirmed that Benjamin had long suffered from “fits,” which left him unable to travel to court in person. Both men signed the certification before William Babb, with Samuel Marion likewise signing by mark.

Pension Summary

Benjamin Wallis was approved for a Revolutionary War pension under the Act of June 7, 1832, based on approximately eleven months of service as a private in the North Carolina militia under Captain Sanders and Major Taylor. His pension certificate was issued on May 23, 1834. Benjamin had applied for the pension a month earlier, on 23 April 1834, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, although he stated in his declaration that he was then residing just across the state line in Lee County, Virginia. He explained that Hawkins County was more convenient because his age and longstanding “fits” made travel difficult. Benjamin was placed on the pension roll at the rate of $36.66 per year, with payments made retroactive to 4 March 1831, the date established by Congress for eligible veterans under the act. His initial payment included both back pay and a semi-annual allowance, totaling $128.33. 

After all those marches, swamps, pursuits by Tarleton, and fourteen months of remembered service…he finally received recognition more than fifty years after the Revolution.

Migration from Lee County, Virginia to Delaware County, Indiana

Benjamin later moved west to Rush County, Indiana, to be close to his children. Records there indicate he again appeared before officials on 1 September 1837 in order to continue or transfer his pension payments to his new place of residence. 

Personal property tax records in Lee County, Virginia, from 1830, 1833, and 1836, together with his appearance on the 1835 Hawkins County, Tennessee pension list, help document the final years of his migration from Virginia to Indiana.

Benjamin and his wife Sarah lived in Indiana for only about a year before their deaths. According to the remembrances of a grandson published in The Star Press of Muncie, Indiana, Benjamin and Sarah lived with their daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Newhouse, near Bethel in Delaware County, Indiana. Benjamin died there on August 24, 1838, and was buried near a walnut tree in Miller Cemetery. Sarah passed away within the same year and was buried beside her husband.

Wallis or Wallace?

There has always been a question about the spelling of our surname. Is it WALLIS or WALLACE? Benjamin’s pension file uses the WALLIS spelling. His marriage record has been interpreted as WALLAS, which does little to settle the matter. Census and marriage records for his children more often use the WALLACE spelling, while Benjamin’s father’s probate file also uses WALLACE.

In 1963, the Sons of the American Revolution erected a new grave marker recognizing Benjamin’s Revolutionary War service. I have a copy of the order form for the stone. The name was originally typed as “WALLACE, BENJAMIN.” Someone later drew a line through WALLACE and hand-corrected it to WALLIS. Despite the handwritten correction, the marker was delivered and installed as BENJAMIN WALLACE. Like many early American families, the spelling seems to have shifted from one generation to another — and sometimes from one record to the next.

SAR Ordered the new marker for Benjamin Wallis, but it arrived as Benjamin Wallace. 

“After spending my entire life spelling Wallis for people, I happily became a Russell when Bud and I married. ‘Russell is easier to spell,’ I told him at the courthouse. Of course, people still ask if Russell has two l’s.”

Benjamin Wallace's Grave Marker, Miller Cemetery, near Bethel, Delaware County, Indiana

2026 -21 Before They Were Americans

Johann Matthias Ringer (1692 - 1748) and Maria Magdalena Nischicker (1689 - 1764), my paternal 6th great grandparents.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 21

Prompt: An Unexpected Strength

Before my ancestors fought for American independence, they swore loyalty to a king, crossed oceans under foreign flags, worshipped in their native tongues, and carved farms from wilderness. Before they were Americans… they were something else.

Image created by ChatGPT

Johann Matthias Ringer was identified in Eighteenth Century Immigrants: The Northern Kraichgau as a native of Bonfeld, in the historic Kraichgau region of southwestern Germany, and a citizen of nearby Rappengau. Maria Magdalena was from the same area. They married there on 17 Jun 1717 and immediately emigrated with Maria’s daughter and son, settling in the early Pennsylvania German community of New Hanover in what would become Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Germans in a land claimed by the British.

In 1736 he purchased 150 acres there.

After living in Pennsylvania for roughly twenty-five years, immigrant Johannes Matthias Ringer appeared in the Supreme Court at Philadelphia County on 9 April 1743 to complete the process of naturalization as a British subject. Under Parliament’s Plantation Act of 1740, foreign-born Protestants who had resided in the colonies for at least seven years could become naturalized by taking the oaths of allegiance and presenting proof that they had received the Protestant sacrament. The court record specifically notes Matthias’s “time of taking the sacrament,” showing he met that religious requirement. Although he had already been living, worshipping, and holding land in Pennsylvania since at least 1717, formal naturalization strengthened his legal rights as a landowner, protected future inheritance for his wife and sons, and secured his standing under British law. It is easy to forget that long before the American Revolution, German immigrants like Matthias were not automatically British subjects; many consciously chose to become citizens of the British Empire while building new lives in colonial America. In Matthias’s case, his 1743 naturalization appears to have been part of putting his affairs in order during his later years—just six years before his death in 1749.

The family was active in the New Hanover Lutheran Church, with Matthias serving as an elder or deacon. In German Lutheran and Reformed congregations, an elder or deacon was a trusted lay leader who helped oversee finances, discipline, care of the poor, church property, and worship administration. Not clergy, but respected community leadership. For generations, the family’s births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and deaths were recorded in the church records. The inventory in Matthias’s probate file included three Bibles and other books.

In 1748, as New Hanover’s Lutheran congregation raised funds for a church bell that would toll for weddings and funerals, immigrant Matthias Ringer added his name to the subscription list. Within a year, the man who helped purchase the bell was gone. I imagine that the bell he helped place in the church tower rang for his own funeral in the spring of 1749.

Johann Matthias Ringer, a native of Germany, died as a British subject in a British colony before the American Revolution. Yet the foundations he and Maria Magdalena built endured far beyond their lifetimes. They left their sons, Matthias and John, not only land and a strong Lutheran faith, but also an unexpected strength: the ability to adapt, survive frontier life, build community, and ultimately raise families who would support the cause of American independence in the next generation.

Matthias Ringer, Sr (1734 - aft. 1810) and Susanna ______.

My paternal 5th great grandparents. (Son of Matthias and Maria, the immigrants)

A county history of Franklin County provides independent confirmation of Matthias Ringer as one of the earliest settlers in what became Washington Township. Under “Early Land Titles,” Matthias is listed with a warrant date of 14 February 1749, matching the original Cumberland County warrant record already identified in Antrim Township. The same history notes that John Wallace, warranted 20 October 1750, had Matthias Ringer listed among his neighbors—an important correlation with another 1751 land record placing Matthias between John Wallace and James Whitehead. Together, these records confirm that Matthias was not merely acquiring frontier warrants, but was actively establishing himself among the first settlers along the Antietam-Antrim frontier during the years immediately following his father’s death in New Hanover.

Between 1749 and 1752, Matthias Ringer appears repeatedly in Cumberland County warrant records, taking up at least four tracts totaling 175 acres in Antrim Township and along branches of Antietam Creek. These frontier warrants place him among the second generation of Pennsylvania Germans pushing westward from the settled communities near Philadelphia toward the Maryland frontier. Together, the records form an important bridge between the New Hanover church community of the 1740s and Matthias’s documented plantation near Frederick-Town, Maryland, by 1768.

Matthias executed a power of attorney in January 1768 to sell his share of the New Hanover land, suggesting he was no longer living there. That sale was finalized in March 1768, at which time his brother John sold his share as well.

In the Maryland Gazette of 17 March 1768, an unexpected newspaper notice places Matthias Ringer Sr. firmly in Frederick County just before the American Revolution. The notice reported that “at the Plantation of Matthias Ringer, living near Frederick-Town,” a stray sorrel horse had been taken up and was being held until claimed by its owner. The advertisement described the horse in remarkable detail—about thirteen hands high, thirteen years old, branded, with a blaze down its face and two white feet. More than a simple lost-and-found notice, this small item reveals that by 1768 Matthias was an established landholder whose farm, referred to in the period as a “plantation,” was well enough known to serve as a local landmark near Frederick-Town. When paired with his appearance on a Frederick County grand jury the following year, the notice paints a picture of Matthias not as a transient settler, but as a respected member of the Maryland German community on the eve of the Revolution.

Matthias Ringer Sr’s Involvement in the Revolution

DAR A096991 — Patriotic Service

DAR recognizes Matthias’s patriotism in two categories:

1) Associator

Matthias Ringer Sr. rendered patriotic service in Frederick County, Maryland, by signing the 1775 Association of Freemen as an Associator. In Maryland during 1775, an Associator was a man who signed the Association of Freemen—essentially a public pledge to support the revolutionary cause and, if needed, take up arms in defense of the colony. These men were not necessarily Continental soldiers, but they formally associated themselves with the patriot movement and local defense structure. Maryland’s revolutionary associators were organized by county committees in 1775.

2)Member of committee for raising money for arms and ammunition

Matthias Ringer Sr. was appointed to the Frederick County Committee of Correspondence for Middle Monocacy to solicit subscriptions for arms and ammunition. Committee members were expected to seek contributions from every freeman in their district and report those who refused to subscribe. This was civil and patriotic service — the kind of local leadership that kept the Revolution functioning behind the scenes through organization, fundraising, and community pressure.

John Ringer/Ringler (1728 - abt. 1801)

My paternal 5th great uncle

This son of Matthias and Maria, the immigrants, remained in York County, Pennsylvania throughout his life. He married Anna Mary Niss/Nyce/Nesen in the New Hanover Lutheran Church on 29 Mar 1748. His children’s baptisms and confirmations are recorded in the church records.

John Ringer’s Involvement in the Revolution

John is identified as John RINGLER in DAR records, where he is assigned Ancestor number A097017. He is recognized for military service as a Private in the York County Militia.

By February 1782, John Ringer appears on the return of Captain Simon Koppenhaffer’s York County militia company. Contemporary county history notes that in 1781 York County militia were ordered out to guard prisoners captured in Virginia and Maryland at the prisoner camp in Windsor Township, suggesting John’s late-war service may have involved guard duty rather than field operations.

Sons in the next generation were also involved in the Revolution.

Matthias John Ringer Jr. (1758 - 1843) and Rebecca Elizabeth Plank (1759 - 1843)

My paternal 4th great grandparents (son of Matthias Sr. and Susanna Ringer)

DAR A096996 — Military Service: Private in Maryland Militia

Matthias Jr. served as a private in the Maryland militia during the Revolutionary War under Lt. Jacob Remsberg and Capt. Daniel Sheeler. In a sworn declaration made in Washington County, Maryland, he stated that he first served a tour of about two months and was later drafted again in March 1781, remaining in service until returning home in May of that year. By the time he applied for a pension in 1836, he was about seventy-seven years old and unable to recall all of the exact dates of service. Although the War Department accepted that he had served, his claim for a pension was rejected because his total documented militia service amounted to only about four months, short of the six months required for eligibility under the Pension Act of 1832. Rejected Pension Application File R8831V. Lack of a pension does not prevent a descendant from joining DAR, and several descendants have joined through his sons David and Thomas.

Jacob Ringler (1754 - 1821)

My 1st cousin 6x removed, son of John Ringler and Anna Maria Nyce/Niss/Nesen

DAR A097016

Jacob Ringler was born in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1754 and married Agnes Haas in 1775. He entered Revolutionary service on 23 April 1777 as a drummer in Captain John Davis’ Company of the 9th Pennsylvania Regiment under Colonel Richard Butler. Muster cards show him “missing since Sept. 11, 1777,” the date of the Battle of Brandywine at Chadd’s Ford. Family tradition later recorded that Jacob’s thumb was shot off during the battle and that he was taken prisoner there, a story consistent with later military pay rolls stating that he was “Taken prisoner 11 Sept., rtd Mch,” indicating he returned the following March. Although his DAR record currently notes a question regarding later service, surviving military records strongly suggest Jacob’s absence resulted from capture rather than desertion.

After the war Jacob became a farmer. The 1800 census shows a large household with six sons and four daughters under the age of sixteen. In November 1801, Frederick Marteeney of Hunterdon County, New Jersey transferred to Jacob a 141-acre tract in Stonycreek Township known as “Springer’s Fortification.” Jacob died in 1821 and was buried in the Stoystown Lutheran Cemetery. (The Casselman Chronicles, Vol. XXXVI, No. 2, 1996, “John Ringler and his Descendents” by Janet Bender.)

An Unexpected Strength

The unexpected strength in the Ringer family was not found in famous battles or high political office. It appeared in quieter ways: in crossing an ocean to begin again, in becoming citizens of a foreign empire, in building churches and frontier farms, in serving on juries and committees, and later in answering militia calls during the Revolution. Before they were Americans, they were Pennsylvania Germans trying to survive and build stable lives for their families. Yet from those beginnings came generations willing to support the cause of independence in whatever ways they could — through military service, civic duty, financial sacrifice, and endurance. The strength Matthias and Maria Magdalena carried from the Kraichgau region of Germany became, over time, part of the foundation of an American family.

2026 - 20 From Prison Ship to Family Farm: The Final Resting Places of Two John Lents

John L. Lent, My Maternal 5th Great-Grandfather

John Lent Jr., My Maternal 4th Great-Grandfather

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 20

Prompt: At the Cemetery

When this week’s prompt, At the Cemetery, was announced, I thought I already knew exactly which ancestor I would write about—a Revolutionary War patriot whose original tombstone was replaced in 1963 by the Sons of the American Revolution. (That story will have to wait for another time.)

Instead, one simple question sent me down an entirely different path:

Where were my ancestors, John Lent and his son John Lent Jr., actually buried?

I already knew that John L. Lent, my maternal 5th great-grandfather, died in New York Harbor in 1780, and that his son, John Lent Jr., survived the war and died in Wysox in 1837. But knowing when they died was not the same as knowing where they were laid to rest.

Image created by ChatGPT

That simple question led me into a family of Revolutionary War patriots, multiple men named John Lent, a pension file, a prison ship in New York Harbor, and ultimately two very different burial places.

According to The Lent Family section of the Van Tassel Family History Homepage:

“The Lents were very numerous in the Continental Army. The muster rolls of the American Army during the Revolution register the names of twenty-eight Lents.”

A search of the Daughters of the American Revolution ancestor database for Lents who served in New York revealed nineteen patriots. Three were named John. All three were born in Peekskill, on land that was once part of Ryck’s Patent in Cortlandt Manor.

Previous research had already revealed that John L. Lent died on a prison ship in New York Harbor in 1780, while his son John Jr. died in Pennsylvania in 1837. Two of those DAR patriots matched my ancestors exactly. John Jr.’s entry even provided a Revolutionary War pension number: S23762.

But of course, I wanted to know more.

An Ancestry hint led me to the Lineage Book of the DAR Charter Members, Volume 30. There I found a detail I had never seen before: the name of the prison ship—HMS Jersey.

It also stated that John Lent Jr. enlisted at age sixteen with his father and four brothers and served until peace was declared.

The Prison Ship Jersey

What follows are excerpts from Prisoners of the Deep: The Terrors of the HMS Jersey by Armonee Wilkins.

The HMS Jersey, a decommissioned 60-gun ship of the Royal Navy, was repurposed in 1780 as a prison ship for American patriots. It was anchored in Wallabout Bay, the small body of water between present-day Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The conditions were horrific. Designed to hold about four hundred men, the ship often held between 1,100 and 2,000 prisoners. Disease, starvation, heat, filth, and overcrowding claimed lives daily. As many as eight to twelve men died each day.

When prisoners died aboard the Jersey, their bodies were often left unattended for days before being lowered from the ship and buried in shallow graves along the shoreline—sometimes only one or two feet deep.

It is believed that my 5th great-grandfather, John L. Lent, was among them.

Honoring the Prison Ship Martyrs

Prison ships remained in use in New York Harbor until the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781.

In 1873, the remains of those who perished aboard the prison ships were removed to Fort Greene Park. In 1908, the magnificent Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument was dedicated there to honor their sacrifice.

Though John L. Lent has no marked individual grave, his memory lives on as one of those prison ship martyrs.

John Lent Jr.’s Early Contributions

I have not yet been able to fully document the family story that John Jr. enlisted with his father and four brothers—but I did uncover stories that suggest he was involved even before he was officially old enough to serve.

One account claimed he was once captured by the British, deemed “too young a rebel to do any harm,” given a kick, and sent home.

Another said that at age fourteen—though large for his age—he frequently joined New York militia scouting parties.

On one occasion in the fall of 1779, his militia unit intercepted a Tory party under Captain John Kane near Hogs Lane, about six miles from Peekskill. After the Tories were defeated and Kane was killed, young John—who was barefoot—removed Kane’s shoes, put them on his own feet, and wore them until they wore out.

John Jr.’s Pension Story

In his Revolutionary War pension declaration, John Lent Jr. stated that he enlisted in April 1780 at Peekskill for one year.

He served under:

Captain Bond

Captain Jonathan Knapp

Colonel Hughes

His company guarded the Continental boats at King's Ferry, between Stony Point and Verplanck's Point.

After his discharge in April 1781, he enlisted again for another year.

In his declaration, he recalled:

seeing Benedict Arnold escape down the Hudson River

seeing John André on his way to execution

seeing Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette directing troops along the river

Although he initially received a pension, it was later revoked because the War Department classified his service as Quartermaster Post Service rather than qualifying military service under the Pension Act of 1832.

He petitioned Congress, insisting that he had been regularly enlisted and had faithfully guarded the ferry crossings under military orders.

He was credited with two years of Revolutionary War service in the New York Militia.

Westward to Pennsylvania

After the war, John remained in New York for a time. Then, hearing of the fertile lands of the Susquehanna River Valley, he decided to move west.

In the winter of 1797–98, he loaded his wife, Barbara Croft, their four children, and a few household goods into a sleigh and headed for Pennsylvania.

There, in Wysox, they cleared land, built a farm, raised their family, and spent the active years of their lives.

Today, John and Barbara rest side by side in Lake Wysauking Cemetery, also known as Pond Hill Cemetery, on land once part of the family farm.

Two Patriots. Two Final Resting Places

In the end, my search for the burial places of two John Lents led me to two very different resting places, each shaped by war, sacrifice, and time. John L. Lent, my 5th great-grandfather, was denied the dignity of a family burial when he died aboard the HMS Jersey in Wallabout Bay, his body likely placed in a shallow, unmarked grave with hundreds of fellow patriots. Nearly a century later, those remains were gathered and honored beneath the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument, where his sacrifice is remembered as part of a collective memorial. His son, John Lent Jr., survived the war, built a new life on the Pennsylvania frontier, and was laid to rest beside family in Lake Wysauking Cemetery on land he helped settle. One John was lost to history and later reclaimed by a nation. The other came home, raised a family, and rests in the soil he made his own. Together, their stories remind me that not all cemeteries begin with headstones.