I have decided to write one post for each of the remaining months this year on a Revolutionary War Ancestor. (Thank you to Heather at Nutfield Genealogy for the idea.)
Benjamin Adsit, my 5th great-grandfather, was born 26 October 1728 in Lyme, Connecticut, and was in Dutchess County, New York, by about 1768 according to The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York by Frank J. Doherty. He was initially working as a "path master, " someone responsible for overseeing and maintaining roads and pathways in Crum Elbow, Dutchess County, New York. (It appears that Crum Elbow was in what is now Hyde Park, New York.)
Benjamin Adsit was living in Washington, Dutchess County, New York, at the time of the 1790 federal census.
Between 1768 (at the age of 40) and 1790, he observed a significant turning point in his life, as well as in his country, as the British Colonies became the United States of America.
The DAR Genealogical Research Database indicates that Benjamin served as a private under Captain Chamberlain and Colonel Lewis DuBois.
Service:
New York; Rank(s): Private
Service Source:
Fernow, Docs Rel to the Col Hist of State of NY, "NY in the Rev," Vol 15, p. 312; Roberts, NY in the Rev, p. 77.
Service Description:
1) Capt Chamberlain, Col Lewis Du Bois
2) The Levies
Berthold Fernow's Documents relative to the colonial history of the state of New York (vol. 15, p. 312) is at Archive.org and includes an alphabetical roster of state troops.
There appears to be a corporal Benjn. Adsill as well as a private Benjn. Adsits. The New York State Archives Index to the Revolutionary War accounts and claims suggests that there was only one Benjamin Adsit (and no Adsill), so I would guess that these are the same man, and he received a promotion at some point. (The NY Archives is only an online index; in-person research is needed to local the original muster and pay rolls.)
Ancestry has a U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, but Benjamin Adsit's name must be dramatically misindexed and I haven't been able to locate him in this database.
New York in the Revolution as Colony and State can be found at Google Books with Benjamin Adsit listed on p. 62 as an enlisted man in "The Levies" under Colonel Lewis DuBois.
Lewis DuBois initially served between 1776 and 1779, then was appointed colonel of of a regiment of New York State Levies on July 1, 1780, and served in the Mohawk Valley in 1780-1781. (See Biographies at the New York State Society of the Cincinnati and Wikipedia for more about him.)
Serving under Colonel Lewis DuBois indicates that Benjamin Adsit served his country when he was 51-52 years old (not a young man for the time) and he was likely in the Mohawk Valley, about 70-75 miles north of his home in Dutchess County. The Levies were raised by the State of New York for short-term service rather than as a part of the regular Continental Army and his military duty would have been local and intermittent. This period was when the war in upstate New York had become a brutal frontier conflict with Patriot settlements repeatedly threatened by Loyalist and Indigenous raids.
As noted above, without looking at the original records, I can only surmise what Benjamin did or where exactly he served based on what I can find online about Col. Lewis DuBois and New York Levies.
His duties likely included guarding frontier forts, patrolling roads, escorting supplies, and responding rapidly to alarms following enemy raids. There were British-supported Loyalist raids, as well as challenging local conditions, with neighbors on opposing sides. This kind of service demanded endurance, local knowledge, and readiness under constant uncertainty. Although he was unlikely to have fought in specific battles, his service was considered essential military labor, contributing directly to the security of his home region, and critical to maintaining Patriot control of upstate New York during this difficult period of the war.
Benjamin Adsit died in July 1793 at not quite 65 years old; his will was proved 24 July 1793. He lived long enough to see President Washington unanimously re-elected to a second term.
His son, Martin Adsit, also served in the New York Levies and I wrote about him at Martin Adsit Fought for Independence.
I descend from Benjamin Adsit as follows:
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