This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Sawyer Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kRFBAIB/649.687.693.1.1 Message Board Post: Conflicting information about Jesse Sawyer Sr., father of Capt Jesse Sawyer of the Vermont militia in the Revolutionary War exists. The following is one example: Jesse Sawyer 1721 From: Ruth Stanton Gildart Lewis, San Diego CA. (Note:Ruth is a descendant of Jesse 1721 through Joel 1747, Blind John 1773, Abraham 1796, Charles 1825, and Henrietta 1856. For the information we have on the parentage of Jesse Sawyer (1721), we are very grateful to Dr. Richard G. Fowler who found the reference to Jesse in Jacob’s will of 1758 in which Jesse is named son and executor, and knowing by family tradition that our earliest then known Sawyer ancestor was a Jesse, corrected a long standing error which took our line to Jacob’s brother Edward. According to family records, he, Jesse, was born 10 Dec. 1721, and because of the will, we are sure that he was the son of Jacob and Martha (Loomer) Sawyer of Lyme, CT. And so he was born and grew up in Lyme and probably about 1742, he married Sarah Barden. Two correspondents have said that her last name was “Barden” and I am inclined to put some credence into this. The name “Sarah Barden” has come down to us connected with Jesse’s son, Joel. However, CT marriage records show that Joel married Abigal Barden. It is possible that descendants confused the two. This is only conjecture. Eight children were born to Jesse and Sarah in Lyme, the last being Huldah, born 22 Feb. 1759 “to Jesse and Sarah Sawyer.” ( Note. The number of children is in question, other sources indicate 5 males: Joel, Jesse Jr., John, Abel and Aaron plus Huldah fjt). Jesse enlisted to fight in the French and Indian War and in 1759 the troops mustered in at “the fort No. 4 on the Connecticut River.” While Jesse was away his father died in 1760. He was still gone in 1762, as he did not sign in that year the receipt in regard to his inheritance from his father as did his brothers and sisters. A Sarah Sawyer, who, I presume, was Jesse’s wife, did sign. Sometime after the war, land was opening up around Canaan, CT. Jesse decided to settle there. Abraham and Jacob Barden, of Middleborough, MA, also moved to northern CT. If Jacob’s wife’s maiden name really was “Barden,” Abraham and Jacob may have influenced Jesse in his decision to transfer his family to a faraway place. But of course, that is pure conjecture. There is a record that Jesse purchased land in Canaan in 1776, but he must have been living there long before that. Jesse died in Old Canaan, CT about 1795. (Material provided by Eleanor Grace Sawyer, "Sawyer Families of New England 1636 - 1900." Penobscott Press, Camden ME 1995.) Also see the following reference: Guerra, C. Connecticut Soldiers, French and Indian War, 1755-1762. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1999-2000. Taken from: Bates, Albert C., ed. Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762, Vol. I 1755-1757. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society, 1903. Bates, Albert C., ed. Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762, Vol. II 1757-1762. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society, 1905. Extract: Surname: Sawyer Given Name: Jess Page: 88 Rank: - Location: Connecticut Regiment: Fourth Regimental Commander: Wooster, David Colonel Company: Eleventh Company Commander: Canfield, Joseph Captain Comments: - From: - Campaign Year: 1758 Source: Muster Roll http://home.talkcity.com/NonProfitBlvd/rufret/TS1616.htm