Officially, a young man during the Revolution
could be drafted or volunteer for service at the age of 16, and indeed many
young men did so. A few jumped the gun
and started their military service at a younger age. We found a few boy soldiers in our Morris
County soldiers database, the youngest being only 9 years old when he enlisted
in the army. These men (and/or their
widows) all applied for and received a pension for their service, which is a
significant reason why their stories are preserved. There were surely more young Morris County
soldiers whose stories have been lost to time.
This is Part 2 of our story of Morris County’s
Revolutionary boy soldiers.
Jonathan Ford
Morris (DAR Ancestor A080933)
Jonathan Ford Morris was born in Hanover Township NJ
on 21 Mar 1760, and at the age of 15 he enlisted in the army as a very young
Ensign serving in his father’s company.
Young men were not supposed to enlist until they were at least 16, so it
is particularly astonishing that he was an under-age officer. He was soon promoted to Lieutenant in
Proctor’s Artillery of the Continental Army.
Lieutenant Morris was so young that the other soldiers he commanded did
not appreciate taking orders from such a young man. Abraham Fairchild would testify that “I will
recollect the fact that many of this company whom I knew well were dissatisfied
+ shared their dissatisfaction plainly, that so young a man should be placed
over them."
After serving in several notable
battles including the Canada Expedition, Brandywine, and Monmouth, Jonathan
Ford Morris resigned from the army in November 1778, shortly after his father
died of a battle wound. He re-enlisted
in March 1780 in a new role that was a bit further from the action, serving as
a Surgeon’s Mate reporting directly to the Army’s Surgeon General, Dr. William
Shippen until June 1782. He and Dr.
Shippen remained close friends after the war, and Jonathan Ford Morris followed
Shippen’s lead to become a doctor.
Jonathan Ford Morris married
Margaret Smith Ewing/Ewen in 1784 and moved to Somerset County, where he set up
his medical practice. Jonathan and
Margaret raised a large family of nine children. He died in
Somerset Co NJ on 13 Apr 1810 and is buried at the Old Presbyterian Graveyard
in Bound Brook.
Jonathan Ford Morris’ signature, from his pension
application
Morgan Young Jr. (DAR
Ancestor A200275)
Born on 3 Jan
1762 in Mendham NJ, Morgan Young Jr. was about 14 years old when he joined the militia
as a Private in 1776. His father also
supported the Revolution as a wagoneer.
He served in the
Battle of Springfield, an expedition to Staten Island, and battles at
Hackensack and Elizabethtown. At
Minisink, he guarded the “frontiers against the incursions of the Indians.” He also served as a guard for British
prisoners held at Morristown. Historians
have reported that he served as a water boy for General Washington, but he did
not make any claim of this in his pension record.
He married Jane
Losey of Mendham and remained in Mendham for a few years after the war before moving
west. He lived for 18 years at Red Stone
Fort (currently Brownsville) PA, then moved to Ohio, living in Adams, Huron,
and Sandusky Counties before moving further west to Indiana with his son Losey
Young.
Morgan Young
Jr. died at La Grange IN on 21 Jan 1852.
He is buried next to his wife at the United Methodist Church Cemetery in
Howe IN. His tombstone reads “Morgan
Young Died
Jan. 21, 1852 in His 97 Year, A
Revolutioner Formerly of New Jersey"
Find-a-Grave Memorial #24741330
Morgan Young’s signature, from his pension
testimony
Moses Johnson
Moses Johnson was
born on 17 May 1763 at Hanover Twp NJ.
When he was 14 years old, he entered the service as a substitute in June
1777 as a Private in the Morris County militia.
He substituted for a number of men, including his uncle Jonas Ward, his
father, his neighbor John Tuttle, and David Ogden.
He first served
guard duty in Newark, Acquackanonk, and Morristown at the commissions
storehouse and guarding prisoners at the courthouse. He was also a scout to track Tory
movements. Later in the war, he served
on the Minisink expedition against the Indians, as well as battles at
Springfield, Connecticut Farms, and Elizabethtown.
After the Battle
of Connecticut Farms, he testified that his unit was sent to Elizabethtown, where
the next day they were ordered to “file off into an open field, where a firing
commenced between a scouting party of the militia + British. They were then formed into a line of battle
and were ordered to march at quick step toward the woods where the firing commenced. The party then retreated to the enemy
fortifications on Elizabethtown point - the part of the militia that had
engaged the scouting party of the enemy brought sixteen prisoners to our
regiment.”
A few days later
at the Battle of Springfield, he reported that “he was on a road north of the
village about half a mile when the battle began. After the village was set on fire the British
retreated to Elizabethtown point and crossed over to Staten Island. His Regiment with the militia + Regulars went
down the same night and destroyed the fortifications a few days after the
British retreated.”
Serving more
guard duty in Morristown in August 1780, he reported that “there were about 52
Tories brought to Morristown and confined in the jail there. They were tried in the Presbyterian Meeting
House in that place…there were thirty five of them sentenced to die hanged –
only two were hanged…”
He moved to
Tioga, Onandaga, and Ontario counties in New York. He was last known living in Angelica,
Allegany County NY in 1832, where he applied for a pension. His death and burial are unknown.
Moses Johnson’s signature, from his pension
testimony
Thomas Layton
Thomas Layton was
born in Morristown NJ on 11 May 1765.
When he was young his family moved to Northumberland County PA, where he
enlisted in the militia in 1777 at the tender age of only 12 or 13.
He was stationed
at a settlers’ fort known as Boone’s Fort near Milton PA, serving under Captain
Hawkins Boone who is said to be a cousin of Daniel Boone. The fort was the site of a grist mill which
had been fortified during the Revolution.
Being at the edge of the frontier, the area was subject to frequent
attacks by the British Army, loyalists, and Native Americans aligned with the
British. Beyond this point there was no
colonial government and no protection except for privately owned settlers’
forts.
The grist mill at Boone’s Fort, from
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/boones-fort-pennsylvania/
The most notable
fort in the area was Fort Freeland, the site of a bloody and pivotal incident
which young Thomas Layton witnessed first-hand.
In June 1779 several families fled to Fort Freeland for protection against
the frequent attacks. Though there had
been rumblings of another pending attack, 21 boys and old men defending the
fort were caught by surprise when 300 British soldiers and supporters stormed
Fort Freeland on 28 Jul 1779. When
Captain Boone heard of the attack, he rushed his company to defend Fort
Freeland, including Thomas Layton.
Captain Boone and other officers were killed in the ensuing battle,
along with about half the men. About
20-25 men were taken to Canada as prisoners.
A few men managed to escape, but 13 of their scalps were brought back in
a handkerchief. The fort was burned,
leaving the frontier largely defenseless, and most of the remaining settlers
left the area until after the war.
Fort Freeland, from https://www.legendsofamerica.com/boones-fort-pennsylvania/
Thomas Layton
continued his service even after the harrowing experience at Fort Freeland. He joined the Pennsylvania state troops when
he came of age, and remained in service until he was discharged in December
1783. His service consisted primarily of
guarding the inhabitants against the Native Americans, or tracking the Native
Americans as an “Indian Spy.”
In his pension
testimony, he described being provisioned clothing from the state of
Pennsylvania when he was part of the state troops. As a rifleman, he was provisioned a short blue
coat with white trim. Their officers
wore blue coats with red facing and trim.
He also described being provisioned powder and lead, but they had to
remake all of the lead balls to fit their rifles.
At one point his
unit went on an expedition to “Ealtown” with 350 men. But he reported that “the Indians had heard of
our coming + had left their town. We
burnt the town + then came home…”
Thomas Layton
moved to New York in 1791, then moved to Clark County IL around 1804. He applied for and received a pension in
1833. His final pension payment was
dated 3 Sep 1841 and died some time after that, though no further details of
his death or burial are known.
Thomas Layton’s signature, from his pension
testimony
Sources
Find-a-Grave
Memorial #244502757, Moses Johnson
Find-a-Grave
Memorial #147925086, Thomas Layton
Find-a-Grave
Memorial #52993873, Dr. Jonathan Ford Morris
Find-a-Grave
Memorial #24741330, Morgan Young, Jr.
Buckalew,
John M., The Frontier Forts Within the North and West Branches of the
Susquehanna River, Vol. 1 of the Report of the Commission to Locate the
Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania by Clarence M. Busch, 1896, online
at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/1picts/frontierforts/ff15.html
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/boones-fort-pennsylvania/
U.S.
Revolutionary War Pension W787, Abraham Fairchild, National Archives and
Records Administration, M804, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs,
RG15
U.S.
Revolutionary War Pension S13551, Moses Johnson, National Archives and Records
Administration, M804, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, RG15
U.S.
Revolutionary War Pension S32371, Thomas Layton, National Archives and Records
Administration, M804, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, RG15
U.S.
Revolutionary War Pension W135, Jonathan Ford Morris, National Archives and
Records Administration, M804, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs,
RG15
U.S.
Revolutionary War Pension S4741, Morgan Young, National Archives and Records
Administration, M804, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, RG15