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| ~ Bio - Private Benjamin Morgan ~ | |||||||
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Benjamin Morgan was born about 1750 in New Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut. He was the 2nd of 7 children (2nd son) born of Caleb Morgan (1716-1775) and his wife Lydia Rogers (1726-1820). Benjamin's siblings were: Joseph (1748-1785), Caleb (b. 1753), Lydia (b. 1753), Nathan, Jonathan, and Levi (1762-1785). In 1770, Benjamin, at about the age of 20 years, came from Connecticut and settled in Pownal, on the New Hampshire Grants (now Bennington County, Vermont).
Benjamin married, November 16, 1775, Lucy Dunham (1759-1823) by whom he had 12 children (5 sons and 7 daughters): Benjamin (b. 1776), Rachel (1779-1859), Lucy Ann (1781-1847), Judith (b. 1785), Levi (1787-1859), Abigail (b. 1789), Elizabeth (b. 1791), Mary (b. 1794), Lois (b. 1796), Lemuel (1798-1800), Abram (1803-1870), and Samuel (b. 1804). On or about January 20, 1776, Benjamin enlisted, at Pownal, in Captain Samuel Wright's Company, Colonel Seth Warner's Regiment of Green Mountain Boys raised at the request of General David Wooster for service in Canada during the Quebec expedition. Benjamin marched to Quebec where he remained until the American Army retreated in the Spring of 1776. Benjamin was dismissed from this service in June 1776 at either Castleton or Bennington on the New Hampshire Grants and returned home to Pownal. In May or the forepart of June 1777, Benjamin enlisted as a Private in Captain Eli Noble's Pownal Company of Vermont Militia to serve four months. Noble's Company marched to Rutland on the New Hampshire Grants (now Rutland County, Vermont) and scouted around the country at different places, sometimes on the mountains east of Pittsford (now Rutland County, Vermont) and at a place called Leicester Pond (now Lake Dunmore in the Towns of Salisbury and Leicester, Addison County, Vermont), a place frequented by Indians and Tories, and to Fort Toconderoga and Crown Point in the Province of New York. Upon the American Army's retreat from Ticonderoga in July 1777 from the advance of the British Army commanded by General John Burgoyne, Noble's Company marched to Manchester (now in Bennington County, Vermont). At Manchester, July 21, 1777, Benjamin volunteered out of Noble's Militia Company into Captain John Warner's Company, Lieutenant Colonal Samuel Herrick's Vermont Regiment of Green Mountain Rangers. Captain Warner's Company was engaged in the Battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777. After the Bennington Battle, Benjamin marched to Stillwater (now in Saratoga County), New York. He was present at the surrender of British General Burgoyne and his army, October 1777. He then marched back to Bennington where he was discharged from Captain Warner's Company, December 3, 1777. Commencing October 11, 1780, Benjamin served for 20 days as a Private in Captain Eli Noble's Company, Colonel Samuel Herricks' 2nd Regiment of Vermont Militia in the service of the State of Vermont. That call up was in response to the alarm caused by the raid led by British Major Christopher Carleton into the Lake Champlain valley and beyond. A little over a year later, October 23, 1781, Benjamin entered the service for 11 days in Captain Eli Noble's Company then in Colonel Ebenezer Walbridge's 2nd Regiment of Vermont Militia. During that alarm Captain Noble's Company marched to Castleton, Rutland County, Vermont. Benjamin resided in Pownal, Bennington County, Vermont until his death January 30, 1834. He is buried next to his wife Lucy in the Morgan-Towslee Cemetery in Pownal.
- Biographical information courtesy of Herman C. Brown
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On or about May 1, 1775, Benjamin volunteered and joined, at Pownal, a group of men destined for the taking of Fort Ticonderoga in the Province of New York. Being without Officers to command their lot, they made choice of and appointed Samuel Wright, of Pownal, Captain; William Wheeler, Lieutenant; and Daniel Welch, of Pownal, Ensign. Soon thereafter, the Company marched to Castleton, on the New Hampshire Grants (now Rutland County, Vermont) where Ethan Allen took charge of the expedition and led them against Fort Ticonderoga then under British control. Fort Ticondergoa surrendered on the morning of May 10, 1775. Benjamin continued at Fort Ticonderoga until the fall, September or October, 1775, when he was dismissed and returned to Pownal.