Family tradition says that "we come from a yellow-bellied Yankee from Pennsylvania"....this ancestor was John Chambers living in Penn in 1765. It appears he was in Morris Co NJ at the time of the Rev. War and served in various units, the last being Malcom's which was absorbed by Spencer's. I have the muster rolls for his period in Valley Forge; he was a teamster, he was sick at Valley Forge and he was sick at Yellow Springs. He then went to Haverstraw, NY and from there was ordered to Easton to be part of Sullivan's troops. Spencer's unit was to improve the road from Easton to Wilkes Barre so that an army and their equipment could pass. Early in the muster rolls, it reports that he enlisted for the duration of the war. However, it appears that when Spencer's reg. absorbed Malcom's that he was given the opportunity to reenlist and did so for a three month period. As the troops were marching from Haverstraw to Easton and they passed the Minisink region, their scouts app! rehended the Tory spy, Robert Land. Col. Spencer wanted to have a military trial on the spot but G. Washington sent a overnight rider to negate that saying that Land was a civilian and would not be subjected to a military trial. They continued on to Easton with Land with them where he would be jailed; however, with friends in the area, he escaped and eventually made his way to Hamilton Ontario. The army continued toward the Wyoming Valley of Penn but just before they got to Wilkes Barre, and three months after the reenlistment, John Chambers deserted. I cannot track him after that. However, I think he joined other settlers in that area after the war and is documented in Bath, NY in 1795. In 1804, he left NY and migrated to Canada where his granddaughter married the grandson of Robert Land. I am pleased to have this account in my genealogical collection but I certainly wish I could find him prior to Morris Co. NJ. My opinion is that he was from RI and that either he or his father settled on the Conn. claims there in the early 1760's and perhaps went to NJ to escape the problems with the Indians and the Pennsylvanians who also claimed this area. If there is any lister who has a soldier with a similar history, would they please contact me to help me try to resolve the history of the "yellow bellied Yankee"? Carol Chambers Church