SOUTH SHORE CHAPTER FLORIDA SOCIETY SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION MAY-SUMMER 2016 NEWSLETTER VOL.1 ISSUES 5, 6 & 7 SSSAR OFFICERS President: Mark Dean cmd849@aol.com Vice President: Don Gunn gunn.donald@gmail.com Treasurer: Blaine Brown blainbrown@aol.com Secretary: Chip Churchill cachurchill1959@aol.com Registrar: Bill Love soshsar@gmail.com Chaplain: Jeff Brooks mychaplain@yahoo.com Members at Large: Luke Lloyd 1776warriors@gmail.com John Glynn glynstewart@yahoo.com Jack Bolen jbolen4@tampabay.rr.com COMMITTEES JROTC Don Gunn gunn.donald@gmail.com Eagle Scouts Doug Brown utcm21@aol.com Publicity Chip Churchill cachurchill1959@aol.com PRESIDENT S CORNER Greetings Compatriots, I hope all of our members and their families are doing well and the summer break brings you rest, relaxation, safe travel, and good health. We will resume our monthly meetings on September 10th. Stay tuned for information concerning the September program. The National Congress will be in Boston, MA beginning July 08 running through July 13. It is not too late to register. If you are interested in attending, go to www.sar.org and click on the link to the Congress. UPCOMING EVENTS The 126th Annual Congress of the Sons of the America Revolution is being held in Boston from July 8-13, 2016. More information is available at http://congress.sar.org/. The next issue of the SSSAR Newsletter will be published in late August A Nominating Committee has been appointed to present a slate of officers for the year 2017. If you are willing to serve please contact Luke Lloyd, Gordon Bassett, or Bill Bolin. Our current membership remains at 36 members. We have one application in process at national. If you have family or friends that are interested in joining, please refer them to Bill Love. Our newsletter continues to spotlight patriot ancestor information in each issue. If you would like to share the history of your patriot ancestor, please forward that information to Bill Bolin. I look forward to seeing many of you at our October meeting as I will be travelling in September. Fraternally, Mark Dean as we prep for our first meeting on September 10th. Have a safe and fun summer.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS May 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 1775 Congress resolves to put the colonies in a state of military readainess 1775 six transports of British Marines arrive Boston 1778 Battle of Barren Hill (PA) L. Gordon Bassett II 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1780 Battle of Waxhaws (SC) spawns cries of "Tarleton's Quarter" Russel W. Kenyon 1779 Benedict Arnold provides the British w/information becoming a traitor John W. Berthold II 29 30 31 JUNE 1 2 3 4 1775 The Mecklenberg Resolutions are signed in Charlotte, NC challenging royal authority Luther R. Lloyd III 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1776 Richard Henry Lee to Congress: we need total independence from England Nicholas P. Lloyd Andrew P. Lloyd 12 16 14 15 16 17 18 1775 General Gage proclaims martial law in Mass. 1777 Congress adopts the "stars & stripes" as the American flag 1775 George Washington appointed Commander in Chief of the new Continental Army 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1778 Washington and his troops leave Valley Forge 1782 Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States 26 27 28 29 30 JULY 1 2 Luther R. Lloyd 1778 Battle of Monmouth (NJ) 1775 Congress adopts the Continental Articles of War 1776 Congress adopts Lee's resolution for Independence. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1776 Jefferson's Declaration 1777 the fall of Fort 1778 Washington of Independence is signed in Ticonderoga establishes his headquarters Philadelphia Alan B. Tisdale Jeffrey L. Brooks at West Point 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1782 The British evacuate Savannah (GA) 1779 Battle of Stony Point (NY) Gen. Anthony Wayne Ryan earns the nickname "Mad" B. Dean for his attack 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1780 General Gates takes command of the Southern Army Mark W. Johnson 1780 Col Isaac Shelby and troops capture Thicketty Fort w/o firing a shot 31 AUGUST 1 2 3 4 5 6 John M. Dorsey Charles L. Churchill 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 for more Revolutionary War events by year and date visit: http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/revolution_day_by_day.html
(l to r) LTC Donald Gunn, Cadet Dylan Rogers, COL Samuel Taylor and LCDR John Ingraham at the May 2016 meeting. MAY MEETING -- MAY 14, 2016 Guest speaker Colonel Samuel Taylor presented a program detailing the 100 years of the JROTC program. COL Taylor (US Army Retired) is the current Director of Army Instruction for Hillsborough County. He oversees all high school JROTC units in the county school system and has authority over 17 cadet battalions that participate in competitions, summer camp, command inspections and other communications and directives from Army Cadet Com- LTC Donald Gunn presents the Bronze medal to Cadet Dylan Rogers. mand. He is a combat veteran and a former member of the legendary 3rd United States Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard. He also reviewed local programs available to high school students in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. LTC Donald Gunn presented JROTC Cadet Dylan Rogers with a Bronze Medal noting the cadet is, highly motivated, excels in all facets of ROTC, has a GPA of over 4.0, com- petes in soccer and football and is a community service volunteer. Also on the agenda was the presentation of Certificates of Induction into the FLSSAR Veterans Battalion to Compatriots Blain Brown and Jeffrey Brooks (below).
The American Revolution against British Gun Control The British were aware Military rule would prove difficult to impose on an armed populace. There were thousands of armed men in Boston alone. The British began to deprive the Americans of gunpowder. Since not all householders and militiamen could afford gunpowder for their firearms, the government sometimes supplied public arms and powder for individual militiamen. Before dawn on September 1, 1774, the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage s Redcoats, seized hundreds of barrels of powder from the Charlestown powder house. The Powder Alarm, as it became known, was a serious provocation. When the British used violence to seize arms or powder, the Americans considered it an act of war and would fight. Subsequently, the control of the local militia was taken away from the Royal Governor. The officers he had appointed were replaced with officers elected by the militia. The First Continental Congress, assembled in Philadelphia, urged all colonies to send supplies to help the Bostonians. A disarmament recommendation was dispatched by Lord Dartmouth, the Royal Secretary of State for America. King George III and his ministers blocked importation of arms and ammunition to America. Meanwhile, Benjamin Franklin commenced negotiations with the Netherlands, France and Spain to import arms and ammunition. In Parliament, a moderate minority favored conciliation with America. Among the moderates was the Duke of Manchester, who warned that American had three million people, and most of them were trained to use arms. He was certain they could produce a stronger army than Great Britain. The troubles in New England inflamed the other colonies. Patrick Henry s speech to the Virginia Legislature on March 23, 1775, argued that the British plainly meant to subjugate America by force. The American War of Independence began on April 19, 1775 when 700 Redcoats under the command of Major John Pitcairn left Boston to seize American Arms at Lexington and Concord. Source: Article written by David B. Kopel, printed in the Administrative and Regulatory Law News (American Bar Association). Vol. 37, no 4, Summer 2012. Prepared by Chip Churchill, Secretary US Park Service Map
ANCESTOR PROFILE CAPTAIN OLIVER BABCOCKsubmitted by Russel W. Kenyon Captain Oliver Babcock, the oldest son of Oliver and Anna (Avery) Babcock, was born in Stonington, Connecticut on January 22, 1741. He was a descendant of Mayflower passengers John Tilley, Joan Hurst, John Holland and Elizabeth Tilley. He married Mercy Kinney of Preston, Connecticut on September 3, 1767. He was in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. His first commission was that of Ensign on May 1, 1775 in Captain Samuel Parson s Company of Stonington in Colonel Parson s 6th Connecticut Regiment. He was on duty with his regiment at New London until June 17, 1775 when they were ordered by the Governor s Counsel to proceed to the Boston camps. There the regiment took post at Roxbury Heights in General Spencer s Brigade and remained there until the expiration of service, December 10, 1775. (A special report from the U.S. War Department, dated July 13, 1900, is as follows: The records of this office show that one Oliver Babcock served as 2nd Lieut. in the 6th Conn. Reg., Revolutionary War. ) He reentered the army on January 1, 1776 as a 1st Lieutenant in Colonel Samuel Parson s Continental Regiment as reorganized for 1776. He served with his regiment at the siege of Boston in the winter of 1776; then the 10th Regiment marched under Washington to New London. They proceeded from there to New York by vessels. They Gravesite illustration continued in the vicinity of New York from April until the end of 1776, assisting in fortifying the city. On August 24, 1776 they were ordered to lines around Brooklyn and engaged in the battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. On August 29, 1776 they were in retreat from Long Island. He was detailed to Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Knowlton s Rangers in September 1776. On November 16, 1776 he was taken prisoner by the British at the battle of Fort Washington on the Hudson. Tradition has it that he was greatly opposed to the surrender of the fort, and that he broke his sword across a cannon, declaring that it should never be surrendered to the hated British. While a prisoner he was confined in the British prisoner ship, Glascow. Soon after passing through Hellgate, a man who had broken out with smallpox was brought up from the hold and made to circulate among the prisoners in an attempt to give them the disease. He was exchanged and left New York early in January 1777. He returned home on January 8, 1777 and died of smallpox on January 25, 1777, leaving a disconsolate wife and three small children. Two of his three daughters died soon after with smallpox. For his bravery in the retreat from Brooklyn, he was promoted to Captain. Captain Oliver Babcock was buried in Pendleton Hill Cemetery in Stonington (now North Stonington), New London, Connecticut. In each issue of the Newsletter we d like to feature a profile of one of our members Revolutionary War ancestors. 500 words or less. Submit to: ebbolin83@verizon.net ABOUT US: The South Shore Chapter of the Florida Society Sons of the American Revolution meets the second Saturday of each month, September through May, at the Plaza Club, 3932 Upper Creek Drive, Sun City Center, Florida. For more information contact: Chip Churchill, Publicity Committee Chair at cachurchill1959@aol.com.