Fireworks, picnics, family gatherings all celebrating the Fourth of July. This national holiday is brought to you, in part, by our ancestors. Beginning in 1775, long ago grandfathers and uncles from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine rose to the passion of the idea of independence to serve as Revolutionary War soldiers. 

Fireworks, picnics, family gatherings all celebrating the Fourth of July. This national holiday is brought to you, in part, by our ancestors. Beginning in 1775, long ago grandfathers and uncles from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine rose to the passion of the idea of independence to serve as Revolutionary War soldiers. 

  Pvt. James Henderson: Captain Warren's Regiment, New York and William's Regiment, Vermont

                DNA and historical documents confirm that James was the ancestral grandfather

                      of Zina Henderson Adkins, through his mother, Mandana Henderson Adkins.

 James enlisted on May 1, 1775, at Salem, Washington County, New York as a private in Captain Seth Warner’s regiment, under Colonel Van Schaick’s New York Regiment. He was at the battle of Fort Ticonderoga, and several battles in that area. He was wounded in the shin and thigh. He reenlisted in January 1776 in the New York Regiment.

Boundaries changed and part of New York became Vermont. In July of 1777, he enlisted in Captain Caleb Owen’s Company under Colonel William Williams’s Vermont Regiment. He was discharged in 1777 and is listed as receiving a pension for his services in 1831.

He is buried at the Old North Cemetery, Hungerford Corner, New York. 

 James Henderson's Gravestone

               The Geist Brothers of Pennsylvania: Captain Conrad, Berks County Militia; Sergeant Andreas, Lancaster Militia;

Pvts. Mathais, Valentine and John; Sixth Battalion. All children of Christoph Geist.

 Ancestral Uncles of John David Mize through his mother, Susan Geist Mize, through her ancestral grandfather Christoph Geist.

John, Christoph's son, may be Susan's great grandfather, not her uncle, DNA research is continuing.

   The following accounts are from "The Geist Relation - 200 Years in America" written in 1940, by A. Frank Geist.

Unknown artist's  rendition of the Battle of Brandywine.

Captain Conrad Geist enlisted in the Berks County Militia. His brothers Andreas (Andrew), Mathias, Valentine, and John also served but in the Philadelphia Militia.

There were records preserved in the Pennsylvania Archives that reference Conrad: "Page 303 of Volume XIV of the Archives shows the pay roll of a detachment of the Sixth Battalion, Pennsylvania Militia under Captain Conrad Geist detailed to guard British prisoners of war confined in a jail in Reading, that had attempted to break out and afterwards guarding them from Reading to Lancaster, to which these prisoners were transferred. This was in 1776." In 1777 he commanded the first Company of the Fourth Battalion. This Company remained under his command to the end of the war."



Sergeant Andreas Geist served as a teamster with Captain Andrew Graff's Philadelphia (Lancaster) County Militia. On September 11, 1777, General George Washington was determined to prevent the British from capturing the American seat of government, Philadelphia. The battle was known as Brandywine and was a devasting loss to the Continental army, Philadelphia fell.

 

 Andreas fought in this battle, with his brothers, Mathias and John, under the command of Washington.  Andreas escaped capture by the British, realizing the battle would be lost by cutting his best horse loose, disappearing for a while, and then heading back to the family farm. His brothers also survived the battle. 

Andreas, Mathais, and John were spared the harsh winter at Valley Forge, as their farm was only 15 miles away. Valentine, along with all the brothers survived the War for Independence.

Pvt. Simon Knowles: Furber's Battalion, New Hampshire

DNA and historical documents confirm that Simon was the ancestral grandfather   of Helen Leach Adkins, through her father, Henry Leach.

Simon Knowles enlisted November 13, 1776, for the duration of the war. The Third Battalion saw action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, Battle of Trois-Rivieres, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Monmouth, and the Sullivan expedition. In 1778, the Battalion survived the horrors of Valley Forge. According to historians, the New Hampshire regiments were among the most effective units of the Revolutionary War and played a vital role in securing American independence.

During the summer of 1783, after seven long years of fighting, Simon’s regiment was disbanded.

 In a 1928 letter written to Helen Leach by her cousin in Maine, Anna Miller, Anna stated that Simon was present at the surrender of  British General Cornwallis to General George Washington, which effectively ended the war.

Simon Knowles' gravestone in Waldo County, Maine.

Background: Unknown artist's rendetion of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Because of Simon Knowles, my sister Diane Graber, and I have been privileged to become members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Because of Simon Knowles, my sister Diane Graber, and I have been privileged to become members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

On Independence Day, 2022, two hundred and forty-six years after my ancestral grandfather, Simon served in this passionate war for freedom, I honored him and all the others. 

On Independence Day, 2022, two hundred and forty-six years after my ancestral grandfather, Simon served in this passionate war for freedom, I honored him and all the others. 

More of their stories, and as research progresses, more ancestral grandfathers will appear in future additions of this website.

More of their stories, and as research progresses, more ancestral grandfathers will appear in future additions of this website.