At 09:28 PM 2/7/04, JANICE KNOWLTON wrote: >[snip] > However, "Robert Knowlton of > Dartmouth" is also the man who fought in the Rev. War and removed to Ohio. > During May 1777 he was not busy serving in the war. He enlisted for his > third tour on June 25, 1777. However, in another unusual twist, William > Knowlton of Washington and Monroe Cos., OH who was presumably his son was > born on June 3, 1777, a mere two weeks after he married Rachel Perry. As > luck would have it he was NOT away at war nine months prior to this birth. > However, why would he wait until the last minute to marry Rachel, if she was > pregnant, and why would he go off to war again so soon thereafter. The > birth of William does not appear in Dartmouth, Rochester or any other MA > vital statistics that I have seen. Supposedly he was born in Vermont. [snip] Greetings: I have a remarkably similar situation in my own ancestry, involving a Valley Forge winter patriot. In general, I think it safe to say that wartime is extremely disruptive of the usual rhythms of life, including such things as the timing of courtships, marriages, and childbirth. It has always been that way, and there is little reason to think it will ever change. Here are a few more specific thoughts. They may possibly be of some value. First, is there any indication in the marriage record *where* the nuptials took place? It was not *usual* to record marriages in town records if they occurred elsewhere, but it was by no means *rare* either. Second, it might be instructive to determine the whereabouts of Robert during the time from the likely discovery of the pregnancy until the marriage. Public awareness might begin as late as four or five months on, depending on Rachel's embarrassment and/or naivete -- even later if the family joined in the coverup. It might be that a case could be made for Robert's being unable to attend to making things right, until the last moment. Third, it is possible that Robert "took some convincing". He may even have run off back to the war to avoid an unpleasant domestic situation, conceivably involving the threat of weaponry not in the hands of the British.... Fourth, it might be useful to find out if there is any evidence to suggest that Rachel's family was influential enough to get the marriage record back-dated. Examination of the original, especially of the physical position of the record on the page relative to other datable events, might be useful in this regard. Darrell Darrell A. Martin darrellm@sprynet.com a native Vermonter currently in exile in Illinois http://www.darrell-martin.net/genealogy