A special thanks to Sheron Long for a copy of a letter written about 1873 from Daniel Marsh (son of Amos Marsh Jr.) to Jane Marsh Parker, daughter of Joseph Marsh.

"James Marsh of Kent England was Captain against Cromwell and when Cromwell got victory 'the said Marsh' was beheaded at Hedgeyhill. His two sisters being concerned for their other brother William who was at College. Because he had been in the service against Cromwell and so sent him home and his two Nephews sons, to a half sister of William, and they set sail for America and landed at Salem. Then William went to Boston and was Commisary in the old Indian War and was wounded in the Narranganset fight and was removed to Stonington and was under the care of Doctor Roice and was healed of his wounds. Then married to Elizabeth Yeomans and soon removed to Plainfield where he lived and died and left the following heirs: THOMAS, JAMES, WILLIAM, ELIZABETH, MATIAS, JAMES. William lived and died at Plainfield, Thomas and Elizabeth came to Canada Parish, Conn. Elizabeth married to Utly, lived and died in Canada Parish, Ct. Thomas after spending most of his days removed to Plainfield, there lived and died and left the following heirs: Thomas, John, Elihu, Joseph, William, Hannah, Simion, Jacob, AMOS. Mathias come to Coventry married a Bridggam and then removed to Dover from their to the New Hampshire grants to the town of Dorset VT where he now lives this 13th, of June A.D. 1782. This statement was obtained from Mathias Marsh of Dorset VT in 1782 and was copied (by Daniel Marsh of Rochester) in 18__ from an old manuscript in the hands of Guerly Marsh of Clarendon, VT."

Also - "Sirs; I send you the sketch spoken of at your hands, which you trace our family to Kent in England and gives incidents enough to aid in identifying our branch of the family. But it appears that our ancestor left England two hundred year since. I should think it quite probable that the Canada Marshes were united with us...The youngest son of Thomas Marsh named Amos was our grandfather. His sons were Shubal, William, Amos, Daniel, Lemuel, Israel. Daughters, Eunice & Lydia. Our Grandfather [see death date below] & his son Shubal died at the quarters of the British army in Bemington. Daniel left his home when a young man and was not afterwards heard from. Truly yours Daniel Marsh"

Eunice White Spangenberg tells a lot of this same story, and that can be read on this website under the info for Eunice, daughter of Amanda Jane Marsh and Freeborn Green White. Eunice wrote of the heirs of William Marsh trying to reclaim his English estate. A special thanks to Wilson Brown for this copy of the letter circulated looking for Marsh heirs. The letter came from the collection of Harcourt Brown, which probably came from Sheldon Demorest and E. Ryerson Young.

More information can be found on Thomas Marsh by writing to the Mansfield Historical Society / P.O.Box 145 / Storrs, CT 06268, for a booklet entitled "On the Trail of a Legend." Ask about their fee for the booklet and shipping.

Amos Marsh was born 7 June 1719 to Thomas Marsh and Eunice Parkhurst. Amos married Abigail Dimmock 14 Nov 1759 in Mansfield, Tolland, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Shubael Dimmock and Priscilla Hovey. Bea Marsh wrote that Abigail Dimmock was raised by Eunice Marsh, (Shubael's second wife) after her mother's death. Both Amos and Abigail came from strong religious backgrounds; both had fathers who were persecuted for their preaching. Bea Marsh also wrote that Amos was given his father's land in his father's will with the understanding he would care for his mother. Sometime after her death in Mansfield, Amos left for Vermont.

The Amos Marsh farm in Clarendon looking west towards Otter Creek. Photos special courtesy of Dawn Hance.

When the brothers, Jacob and Amos Marsh, first went to Clarendon, they had two nephews with them by the name of Daniel and William Marsh. Those two names were used often in this early Marsh family, and sometimes it is hard to decide who is being referred to. Amos' son, Daniel, was not born until about 1766-70, so he is not the early Daniel referred to in the internet histories that was accused of siding for a time with Britian in the Revolution, but was later accepted back as a citizen in Clarendon. That Daniel's history can be found on this same website.

There was some type of document or petition dated 5 Dec 1770 in the New York Library vol. #27, p. 132, having to do with the early town of Socialborough. It told how many children were in each family, and Amos Marsh's family had six at that date.

Amos and Abigail Dimmock Marsh had Shubael Marsh, 17 Oct 1760 (he was dead before his father's probate), Eunice was born 22 Apr 1762, and William was born the 17 Apr 1764. These first three were born and recorded in Connecticut. Then they had Amos, 2 Aug 1767, in Mansfield, Daniel, abt 1768, Lemuel, abt 1770, Lydia, about 1774, and Israel, 24 Feb 1777, all born in Vermont. Daniel may have been born before Amos, also in Mansfield.

Amos was soon drawn into the land disputes in Clarendon as his land was put first into one jurisdiction and then another. Jacob Marsh, Amos' brother, sided with the New Yorkers, and his land became a focus of conflict with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. (See notes for Daniel the nephew on this site.) Amos sided with the New Hampshire Grant, through whom he had purchased his land. The following document is on file with the Vermont Secretary of State, Manuscript Division, and contains Amos' actual signature.

"To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty In Council"

The humble petition of your majesty's loyal, faithful, and obedient subjects whose only hope of relief from immediate distress and ruin with their helpless wives and children depends entirely on your majesty's consent, and paternal interposition, which unless your majesty shall be pleased to vouchsafe, they must suffer an inevitable ruin. Therefore they humbly pray to represent their unhappy state, hoping your majesty will be pleased to lend an ear while they briefly relate some few of the distressful circumstances of their present situation.

That they are inhabitants of your Majesty's land now, by your Majesty's order within the jurisdiction of your Majesty's government of New York, which at the time of the removal of the line of jurisdiction was unanimously esteemed to be in your Majesty's province of New Hampshire, except only by some interested persons in New York who have made large fortunes of those lands, and whose pretences were totally unknown and which said tract is situate between the western banks of Connecticut River and a north line drawn at twenty miles eastern distance from Hudson's River, till it intersects the wood Creek, Lake Champlain,?. That by virtue of patents filed by Benning Wentworth Esq. late governor of your Majesty's said province of New Hampshire under the seal thereof and granted to your petitioners, whose names are intered on a schedule annexed to each respective grant, in full faith of the said Governors authority to grant the said lands, they have settled, cultivated, inhabited, and improved, and expended their whole fortunes and all their labor to this day on the premises aforesaid.

That it having pleased your majesty to remove the line of jurisdiction between the two provinces aforesaid your petitioners in due rightful obedience to your Majesty's command obeyed although their lying in the province of New York was and is forever will and must be highly detrimental and disagreeable to them both in their property and good government, all of which they judged your Majesty and ministers of state had been egregiously misinformed.

And also that those circumstances had been erroneously represented to your Majesty that since your Majesty's said order to annex the said district to New York, their possessions have been unexceptionalby granted to other people under the great seal of New York, that writs of ejectment had been brought, their property wrested from them, their persons imprisoned, and their whole substance wasted in fruitless law suits, merely to the enrichment of a few men in said province of New York, whose great influence is the destruction of our hard, honestly earned property. That we were greatly industriously cultivating the Wilderness, orderly obeying every law, rejoicing in our safety under your Majesty's auspicious government, until by this invitation of our property by many who pretended your Majesty's authority therein, we are thrown into such evident distress, confusion, and dangerous disorder, as would touch your Royal breast with compasion, could our inexplicable misery be truly represented, and as that many of your good petitioners were soldiers in your Majesty's army in the late war in North America and were adding and assisting in the happy sweep thereof, whereby their lands were recovered from the enemy. That they have in all things and at all times been obedient to the laws of your Majesty's dominions, and ever obeyed your Majesty's royal command, that our misfortunes, interest, and lives were wholly directed? to your sacred person. They, therefore, humbly prostrate themselves and pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to preserve them from the impending evils by reannexing them to New Hampshire, to which province we are more contigious for government, at least seventy miles to near four hundred, through three governments, and by confirming to them possessions, as held and enjoyed under the New Hampshire, and by giving such other relief as to your Majesty shall seem adequate and meet whereby your petitioners may again return to their labour the wilderness may be cultivated and your petitioners again rejoice in the serenity of lawful and good governments having exercised among them, under God we rely on your Majesty only for relief. We can have no hope from your Majesty's servants at New York, from whose apperations our distresses have arisen as your Majesty's servants of New Hampshire having read our petition to them for relief declare their inability to take cognizance thereof, as the premises are by your Majesty's order in council, commanded to be within the province of New York, to your Majesty therefore we humbly look for compensating our distress. As your Majesty's petitioners in duty to loyalty bound shall ever pray - "

Benjamin Spaulding, Mathew Herrington, Robert Stevens, Samuel Brown, Durtham Kingbury, Israel Brown, John Carpenter, Samuel Brown Jr., John Cury?, Jonas Richard, Joseph Pratt, Joseph Packhurst, William Hunter, AMOS MARSH (only capitalized here for emphasis)

There were also letters written to Amos Marsh and the other citizens of Clarendon from Ethan Allen. Amos was able to retain his land in Clarendon, while Jacob lost his in the conflict. But the Revolution turned everyone's attention from the land disputes.

It is unclear as to what happened to Amos in the Revolution. There are sources that say that Amos fought for the American side before July of 1777, but those are for someone signing up in Connecticut or New York. It is a very good possibility that the Amos Marsh on those records was another Amos from the one in Vermont. There would have been no reason for Amos to join up prior to July of 1777 and no reason for him to have joined in those places.

In July of 1777, Amos and his son, Shubel, joined the Queen's Loyalist Rangers along with some of their neighbors in Clarendon. It is not known why Amos did this. It may have been that he sided with the British, or it may have been that when he went for protection papers in order to be able to stay on his farm, he was encouraged to join this fighting group. (See history for Daniel, Amos' nephew, on this same website.) Amos lived on the frontier of Vermont, and when General Burgoyne with his 1000's started down through that area, those on the frontier were left with no protection or help from the colonists. It would have been a very difficult decision to know what to do.

At this time, there is no evidence that Amos actually fought with the British or the Americans in any of the battles. One book says he fought in the Battle of Bennington, but it also says he was born in 1737, that he was born in Clarendon, Connecticut, and that he died at Bennington. That was not the Amos spoken of here! Some read the 1780 Queen's Loyalist List to say that Amos and his son were taken prisoner when they were on a scouting party. The prisoner entry may or may not be correct, and if they were taken prisoner while with the British, they were taken prisoners by the Americans. It is on record that Amos took the Oath of a Freeman in Clarendon, but the occasion was not dated, so this could have been Amos Marsh Jr. Amos Sr. and Shubel may have fought at the Battle of Bennington, and Shubel may have lost his life there, but no way of knowing has been found.

In the publication "The Life and Work of Jane Marsh Parker" from the Rochester Historical Society, the biography writer, Marcelle LeMenager Lane, opened by saying that Jane's "paternal great grandfather was Amos Marsh who "with his son Shubal" died during the Revolution "in the British quarters at Bennington." A footnote says, "From this entry in the family Bible, it had been assumed by his descendants that he was a Tory, and this supposition was the basis for Mrs. Parker's advocacy of a new type of patriotic-hereditary society to include only those who had ancestors on both sides of the Revolution. An article written in 1895 and a letter to her son, Force, in 1902 indicate, however, discovery by her that there may have been a misinterpretation of this statement and that Amos Marsh and his son may have been Yankee prisoners in the British quarters. With characteristic vigor and devotion to historic fact, Mrs. Parker has attempted to clear up this point in her family record. This writer finds that the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, has approved claims for membership on the basis of descent from Amos Marsh, indicating that he was a Patriot, not a Tory."

In January of 1778, Amos' oxen were confiscated and sold for whatever part he took with the British. This seems more of a hand slapping compared to the punishment for fighting as a Tory. Amos' land would have been confiscated and sold and his family driven out of Clarendon had he been a Tory. But an oxen was a valuable animal at the time, so he did pay a price.

In April of 1778, Amos was paid for taking care of Tory families. The document below is on file with the Vermont Secretary of State, Manuscript Division, and it is also cited in the Vermont State Papers book. This one document leaves no question that Amos deserted whatever interest or part he had in the British cause and returned to his farm. There is NO way that he would have been paid for this service had he been true to the British. Dawn Hance said that Amos and Samuel Place, whose farm was just north of Amos', were likely caring for the Brayton family, who lived just south of Amos, while Mr. Brayton was off fighting for the British. Samuel Place, who received money for caring for Tory families on the same document that Amos did, also signed up for the Queen's Loyalist Rangers with Amos , and he also did not have his land confiscated. Mr. Brayton did. This same document indicates that Amos did not die in any battle. He left us his own signature to show that he was alive and well in April of 1778.

Amos died 15 September, 1778. His probate gave the date. Abigail started probate proceedings in January of 1779. Later that year, the Brayton farm was confiscated and sold, and as part of the deed, Amos' land was described as bounding the Brayton farm. Amos was named as deceased (Vermont State Papers book).

The probate for Amos Marsh is on file (#79) at the Rutland Co. Probate Office, 83 Center Street, Rutland, Vermont, 05701. (802)- 775-0114.

Amos bought land from his brother, Jacob, in 1774. For some reason, that deed was never recorded, and in order to settle the estate, the family had to make a trip to Saratoga, New York where Jacob's family was, in order to get a copy of the deed. This trip was mentioned in the probate proceedings, and it was billed as an expense.

Amos' wife, Abigail Dimmock Marsh, married Ebenezer Hayward or Howard after Amos' death.

On the 10th of May 1790, Lemuel, Lydia, and Israel were still under age with guardians. They were obviously Amos' youngest children.

Dawn Hance gave this description of Amos' farm in Clarendon. "This farm is located on the Middle Road in Clarendon not far from Rutland line. On the 1869 map, it belongs to J.A. Nelson. Jacob Marsh sold lot number 6 on the Socialborough plan to his brother, Amos Marsh, in 1774. This hundred acre lot, bounded on the west by Otter Creek, was the home farm of Amos Marsh at his death in 1778. His widow, Abigail, married Ebenezer Howard, who sold the premises to Reuben Pitcher (no deed). Reuben Pitcher sold to Ebenezer Pitcher 12 Mar 1786, Bk. 4 pg. 5. In that deed, it says, "...the farm I bought of Ebenezer Howard...","same farm Amos Marsh died seized." In January of 1791, the legislature passed property from Ebenezer and Ebenezer Pitcher Jr. Most of the Marsh heirs and the Pitchers had conveyed their interest to Daniel Marsh by 1798. The land was later owned by Jonathan Parker Jr., and the lot north of it which was lot 7 on the Socialborough plan."

Dawn Hance later found where Daniel Marsh took the Pitchers to court. The case was first heard on the county level, and Daniel won that case in behalf of Lemuel, Lydia, and Israel for whom he served as guardian; however, the Pitchers did not vacate the land according to the court order, and Daniel took the case to the Supreme Court of Vermont where he won also.

Ebenezer Howard was dead by 1796 when Abigail sold her portion of Amos' estate. She may have been living in her son's (William) home in Shrewsbury in 1800; there was a woman the right age to be her. She did not marry again before William's death in 1813, as his probate showed he owed Abigail Howard about $25.00. Abigail Howard was found living about seven doors from her son, Amos, in the 1820 census of Weybridge, Vermont, and in the 1830 census, there was a woman in Israel's home the right age to be his mother. Abigail likely died in Addison County, Vermont. Her death was not recorded in the Vermont vitals.

A history of Shubael Dimock can be read at Canadian Biographies Online. Another history of him can be found in the pamphlet from the Mansfield Historical Society, address given above for Thomas Marsh.

A very, very special thanks goes to Wilson and Bea Marsh for sharing the following photographs from Newport, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Cemetery at Newport where Shubael is buried.	Newer headstone of Shubael Dimock.	Inside view of the Baptist Church.

Wilson Marsh at the original	Church where Shubael preached.
tombstone of his 5th great
grandfather, Shubael Dimock.