Curiosities Of The Town Of Columbia

By Donna Rubin,

Town Historian

Of the 29 Revolutionary War soldiers known to be buried in the Town of Columbia, two-thirds (19) were members of Palatine families, German-speaking, and Reformed or Lutheran churchmen.

Some had been born in the Mohawk Valley; others had emigrated from earlier Palatine settlements to the east.

They stayed here after the war ended, even though some family members continued moving west to areas newly open to European settlement.

The rest (10) were second, third, or more generation New Englanders who performed their services before moving here, some to be near family members who had come earlier, and others as part of the Yankee westward migration following the war.

Twenty-four of the 29 performed military service (mainly militia,) while two are credited with “Patriotic Service,” and one with “Civil Service.”

The remaining two were children captured during Tory and Indian raids and carried off to Canada, where they remained for the duration of the war.

In addition, six soldiers were taken as POWs (prisoners of war) at various times, in some cases escaping after months of imprisonment only to be recaptured at the next unfortunate encounter with the enemy.

But few in military service escaped being wounded in some way, even scalping, because it brought the attacker bounty money.

Pension application records would later detail the war-related injuries that, in some cases, disabled men permanently.

A few of these families lost their homes and everything they owned, including livestock, when they were attacked and forced to flee to the fort (Fort Herkimer.)

Returning to a pile of smoking timber would test the determination and resolve of the hardiest.

Several men followed General Nicholas Herkimer to relieve the forces at Fort Stanwix in 1777, escaping the ambush to return home, while several hundred of their comrades-in-arms, including their brothers, sons, and/or fathers, had to be left where they fell and remain today.

When the war ended, most of those who returned from service came back to homes, or what remained of them, in the valley, because Columbia ...