20 September 2007

Was William Roark a Matross?

My ancestor, William Roark, may have been a teamster who assisted artillery gunners (matross) in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. His pension file stated that he “...drove his uncle’s team and hauled cannon balls.” [Speculation about Roark being a matross was found on an Ancestry.com message board]

More pension paper excerpts include:

“...he was drafted into service in the county of Sussex, state of New Jersey first under Captain John Fleet and served a tour under him during which time we were marched to Amboy in said state; the next tour of a similar service was under Captain Mark Thompson during which tour we were marched to a place called Bound Brook; the next tour was under Captain John Maxfield*.”

“I do not recollect many of the United States officers excepting those mentioned and General Washington who was about this time in New Jersey and General Maxfield*, the brother of my captain; somewhere during this time Captain John Maxfield* received a commission of Captain in the Regular, and enlisted a company, at __ and I enlisted in it under him. I was at the Battle of Millstone and took a prisoner at or near the Settlement of Monmouth. I had lived with an uncle who was acquainted with the General and he came down and got me off from further service.”

*Probably Maxwell instead of Maxfield

A biography of General William Maxwell stated that he was born near Newton Stewart, County of Tyrone, Ireland. Was Gen. Maxwell just a New Jersey acquaintance of William Roark’s uncle, or did the families know one another in Ireland?

A William Rorick was a teamster with Capt. George Allen -- was this actually our William Roark and was George Allen his "uncle"? [Another Roark researcher, K. E., is working on this angle]

Teamsters in Captain Allen’s New Jersey Unit - [Source - Official of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War by NJ Adj. General’s Office (1872)]:

Reeas, ___
Smith, John
Glass, James
Rorick, William
Stevins, William
Swesey, Caleb
Welsh, John
Wilmot, Amos
Young, John
Wye, N__
Fleming, Thomas
Davis, John
Davis, Conrad

Conrad Davis’s Revolutionary War Pension papers also mentioned James Kinney, William Allen, William Likens/Likeus, Matthias Parr, John Wortman, and James Likens

During the war years Roark “...moved from New Jersey to the Monongahela waters…” and from there he enlisted with Col. Lochry and was taken prisoner. [See earlier post]

No comments: