John Chipman Porter (1754 - 1838)

It seems like I have always known about my  great, great, great, great, grandfather, John Chipman Porter.  My grandmother, Zilpha Estep Hughes and her sisters Angie, Florence, and Wilma Jane had conducted a lot of genealogical research in their time and the story of the Porter family was one in which they took a lot of pride.  That and the fact that their grandmother Sarah Angeline Chauncey Scott, who lived to be 101 years old, had told them first hand the story of her grandfather, John Chipman Porter, the Revolutionary War Veteran.

John Porter  responded to the Lexington Alarm, Massachusetts' call for aid following the battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775.  This was the famous "shot heard 'round the world."  We can proudly say our man, John Porter, was in the thick of things right from the very beginning.

He was 21 years old when he enlisted  in Captain Thomas Burnham's company  in April of 1775  at Ipswich, Massachusetts. They were a company of minute men who marched from Ipswich town to Lexington. The men were engaged in service for three months  and were paid six pence a mile for a total of 50 miles.

He said in his declaration for pension that he enlisted again the last of April, 1775 and served as a private under Captain Abraham Dodge and Colonel Doolittle. During this enlistment he was at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.

Bunker Hill*

He also served for 3 months, beginning in November of  1776 under Captain Benjamin Phillips and Colonel Robinson when he was marched to Fort Edward on the Hudson and on to Ticonderoga.  He served again  for a period of two months in April 1777, under Captain Benjamin Phillips and Colonel Robinson and finally for 4 months, beginning in July of 1777  under Captain Elisha Cranston and Colonel Wells.

John Porter applied for a pension based on his military service June 13, 1827 while a resident of New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York when he was 73 years old.  See his signature on the affidavit below.

Record of John's marriage to  Mehitable Flower on May 29, 1777 is found in the church records of the Congregational Church of  Ashfield, Massachusetts.  They became the parents of eight children, all of whom were born in Ashfield.  Mable or (Mehitable)  was born   August 2, 1778 and died soon after. Another girl born October 31, 1779 was also named Mable.   Ebenezer was born May 20, 1781 and  Elizabeth Nowel was  born April 27, 1783. Rebekah  arrived on September 5, 1784 and Hannah on  April 30, 1786. A son John  was born on  November 11, 1787 and finally Sarah on July 26, 1789. 

John Chipman Porter  was the son of the Rev. Nehemiah Porter and Rebecca Chipman Porter.  He was born on May 11, 1754 and died January 27, 1838.  His wife, Mehitable Flower,  was the daughter of Lamrock Flower the third and Mehitable Goodwin Flower.   Mehitable, also known as Mable, was born  March 5, 1751 in Ashfield Massachusetts.   I would love to know where they are buried, but have not been able to locate that information.  If anyone knows, please let me know.  Pictures would be much appreciated.

About 1808 John Porter moved his family  to  New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York.  This was about six years  after his oldest daughter, Mable,  my 3x great grandmother,  married Russell Chauncey and also moved to New Lebanon.  Russell and Mable Chauncey were the parents of my 2x grandmother Sarah Angeline Chauncey Scott, the lady who remembered stories about the roles her grandfather and great grandfather, Rev. Nehemiah Porter, played in the Revolutionary War. 

* Copyright © 2004–2013. ClipArt ETC produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida.
                                                          This page  © 2013,  Cynthia H. Smith
                                                          Send email  to chsmith47@yahoo.com

John Deats (Dietz) (1759 - 1836)

Talk about being proud of an ancestor's valor, John Deats is that man!  Our great, great, great, great, great grandfather, John Deats (also known as John Dietz) gave considerable service to the War for Independence.   His pension application was filed in court in Easton, Pennsylvania  on September 14, 1832 while he was a resident of Lower Mount Bethel, Northampton County.  

The following information was obtained from John's Revolutionary War pension declaration.  John was a 17 year old  resident of Somerset County, New Jersey when he entered the service in the spring of 1776, under Captain William Verbryck, whose company belonged to a regiment of militia then commended by Colonel Mark Thompson.  They marched from  Somerset to Elizabeth Town where they remained one month and were then dismissed.  Shortly afterward John was once more drafted.  This time under the company of Captain Joseph Kershaw  marching from Somerset.  He remained in this company for one month. 

In the summer of 1777, they again drafted and marched him in a militia company  under the command of Captain Peter Vroom  to Amboy where they employed him in erecting a breastwork.  After one month another class of the militia  was brought in and  John was able to return home.   But again in the summer of 1777  he was called and marched under the command of Captain Peter Vroom back to Amboy where this time  he was employed as a guard for one month service. 

"Germantown Battle," engraving, circa 1830 *

John states that he was  called  out from time to time under various officers. While under the command of Captain Brokaw and  Colonel Peter Vroom he marched into Pennsylvania. There he participated  in the Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777 where Captain Brokaw was killed. After the Battle of Germantown his company was dismissed and he returned home to New Jersey. 

He may have been married by this time.  John married Elizabeth Smith who was said to have been born in New Jersey.  Their first child, a son named William, may have been  born in 1777.  

Later he re-entered the service and took part in Sullivan's Expedition against the Indians. He served from May, 1779 until that following fall, a period of about five months, under Captain Paul Shipman of Greenwich, New Jersey.  He had  crossed the Delaware River at Easton  where he drew some clothes: one pair of overall pantaloons, one pair of shoes, and one shirt.  He then marched to  Wilkes-Barre where he first met General Sullivan, as well as Generals Hand, Poor, and Maxwell.  General Clinton subsequently joined  them at Tioga Point. He marched into the State of New York  and crossed the outlet of Seneca Lake. He was  finally left at a place then known by the name of Catherine's Town (near present-day Watkins Glen) with some baggage.  In the fall of that year he began his  return march and crossed the Delaware again at Easton where he was dismissed  in Greenwich, at his field   officer, Colonel Bond's house.  

That fall John moved to Pennsylvania and took up residence in Lower Mount Bethel, Northampton County.  This document provides us with the names of John and Elizabeth's family.  Their order of birth is not know.    Easton, Pennsylvania Orphans Court,  Min. Book 12, page 511, Nov. 25, 1836.  "Peter Deatz , eldest son and heir at law of John Deatz, late of Lower Mt. Bethel, petitioned  for the settlement of his father's estate.  Peter  states that his father died on or about Oct. 11, 1836, leaving no widow but having seven children:   Peter, Henry, Joseph, Margaret,  William, Elizabeth, Polly."

John and Elizabeth are buried in the Scotch Irish Cemetery in Lower Mount Bethel, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania, also known as the old Presbyterian Cemetery.    The stones are inscribed:

John Deats,  April 6, 1756,  Oct. 12,  1836      
Elizabeth Deats,  died  May 17 , 1836,  age  74 years 10 months

The marker at his grave indicates  that he continued to be prepared to serve as a minute man in the Pennsylvania militia after moving to Pennsylvania.  He is listed in the Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Volume 8.  He served as a private in the 2nd Battalion,1st class of the Northampton County militia in 1782.  And again as a corporal in the 6th Battalion, Northampton County militia, July 30 1784 under Captain Lewis Stecher.

His son Peter Deats married Christina Plotts.  They had a son name Philip who married Caroline Ross and had a son named Joseph R. Deats.   Joseph married Amanda Shull on January 17, 1874 at the Richmond Methodist Church in Lower Mount Bethel, Northampton County.   Their daughter Lillie May married George Good.  George and Lillie were the grandparents of Dorothy Good Smith.  Now you know the rest of the story.

                                              
  *Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, HSP Print Collection 

                                                       This page  © 2013,  Cynthia H. Smith
                                                          Email  to chsmith47@yahoo.com

Henry Good (1764 - 1829)

As a teenager, Henry Good provided  Active Duty  service in the Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolutionary War.  The card on file in the Pennsylvania Archives on line  says that he  was a Private in Captain Manus Yost's company of the First Regiment of Foot, commanded by Colonel John Keller, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Henry was in the 1st class serving during the months of September and October, 1781.  He mustered out October 11,1781.

At the time of his service, Henry would have only been about 17 years old.  He was born on December 10, 1764, most likely in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where he spent his life. His father was Michael Good, a weaver whose will was probated August 24, 1778.  Henry is named in his father's will:  Bucks Co. Abstracts of Orphan's Court Records File # 664, Aug 3 1779,  Michael Good, Nockamixon twp., died about 2 years ago, Widow, Elizabeth, 4 children, Henry over 14, George, Rebecca and Elizabeth.

Henry Good married Catherine Barbara Schick,  about 1786.  Catherine's maiden name is given in the baptism record of their daughter, Magdalena.  In the Nockamixon Church record,  Magdalena's parents are named as  Henry and Catherine Shick Good.  In turn Catherine's  baptism record is found in  the Tohickon Reformed Congregation in Bedminster twp., Bucks Co., PA. on page 112.  CATHERINE BARBARA, born 2 March 1761, baptized 23 March 1761 at Tohickon Union Church.  Her parents are Michael and Margaret Schick  and her sponsor was  Catherine Barbara German. 

Henry and Catherine Good  were the parents of nine children whose baptism records are all recorded at Nockamixon Church, Bucks Co. as follows: Michael Good, July 31, 1785,  John Good, February 2, 1787,   John Henry Good, December 20, 1788,   Elizabeth Good, August 5, 1790,   Maria Good, December 10, 1793,  Catherine Good,  January 29, 1796,  Magdalena Good, August 10, 1798,   Jacob Good, July 20, 1800.

There are tax records that show he was  in the Nockamixon, Bucks Co. area in 1787, 1788, and 1805.

This reference, located in the Abstracts of Bucks Co. Orphans Court Records in the Marx History Room of the Easton Library, provides additional information regarding the family of Henry and Catherine Good.   August 27, 1830, Henry Guth, Springfield twp, died about 1 year ago, widow, and children, Michael (eldest son), John, Henry, Elizabeth (wife of John Rasley),  Margaret (wife of Samuel McHose), Catharine (wife of George Mills) , Sarah (wife of John Campbell), George, all of lawful age.  Owned 120 acres.

They are buried in the cemetery at Durham, Bucks Co., Pennsylvania.  Interestingly, his stone is inscribed in English while her's is inscribed in German.

  
                                      

Henry  Guth                                                                                Catherine Guth

December 10, 1764                                                                           wife of Heinrich Good

May 7, 1829                                                                                March 2, 1761
age 64-4-27                                                                             April 18, 1839  78-1-16      

He was  known by his German name - Heinrich Guth.   And also  Henry Guth or Heinrich Good or Henry Good. His son, John, who was born February 2, 1787,  moved to Lower Mount Bethel, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania.  The Good family of Lower Mount Bethel descend from him and his wife Rachel.  They had a son, John, Jr. , who had a son named Henry.  Henry's grandson Earl was the father of Dorothy Alice Good.

Pennsylvania State Archives @ http://www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us

                                                         This page  © 2013,  Cynthia H. Smith
                                                          Email  to chsmith47@yahoo.com