Elijah Blodgett: A Revolutionary War Veteran

In This Article

His Story

In the summer of 1832, more than half a century after the American Revolution, Elijah Blodgett appeared before a Vermont justice of the peace to remember a man with whom he had once served. The soldier was Moses Quinby, another veteran of the northern frontier. Quinby was seeking a pension, and Blodgett’s testimony would help establish that the two men had served together during the war.

For Blodgett, the Revolution was not merely a distant national event. It was something he had personally experienced, and he was still able to identify the officers and fellow soldiers associated with his service decades later.

His surviving records document two periods of military service: ten months in a Massachusetts regiment during 1776 and a further year in a New Hampshire regiment during 1778. His later home was Guildhall, Vermont, a community on the Connecticut River near the New Hampshire border.

That northern New England setting raises an intriguing historical question. Could Blodgett have been associated with the famous Green Mountain Boys, whose activities became closely connected with Vermont’s Revolutionary War history?

The possibility deserves investigation, but no source examined for this biography identifies him as a member of the Green Mountain Boys. His documented regiments must therefore remain separate from that organization unless new evidence establishes a connection.

Another mystery surrounds his final years. Although Blodgett was alive in July 1832 and had been a resident of Guildhall, no verified death date or gravesite has been established for him. His military service survives in the historical record, but the place where he was laid to rest remains unknown.

His First Recorded Service: 1776

Elijah Blodgett’s pension certificate records ten months of service as a private in Colonel Porter’s Massachusetts regiment during 1776.

It was a decisive year in the struggle for American independence. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, while American troops confronted the expanding military power of Great Britain.

Blodgett’s pension record establishes the regiment, year, rank, and credited duration of his service. It does not, in the material reviewed, establish the exact dates of enlistment and discharge, the location of his service, or the battles in which he may have participated.

Consequently, no specific battle is attributed to him in this biography. Establishing his movements in 1776 would require additional company rolls, muster lists, and military records.

Service on the Northern Frontier

Blodgett’s second documented period of service came in 1778. In his sworn testimony of July 26, 1832, he stated that he served as a private in Captain Luther Richardson’s company of Colonel Timothy Bedel’s New Hampshire regiment for one full year.

Colonel Bedel was associated with the military defense of the northern frontier, an area of strategic importance during the Revolutionary War. British forces in Canada remained a concern, and the northern approaches to New England required troops for regional defense.

The Connecticut River valley connected settlements in New Hampshire and present-day Vermont, creating a geographic setting in which military service could cross the political and administrative boundaries of the period.

Blodgett’s affidavit gives the names of his commanding officers and identifies the year and duration of his service. It does not describe particular engagements, forts, or military expeditions.

The strongest historical conclusion is therefore that Blodgett served in Bedel’s regiment in 1778. The precise locations and duties of his company remain subjects for further research.

Was Elijah Blodgett a Green Mountain Boy?

The Green Mountain Boys occupy a prominent place in Vermont’s Revolutionary War history. Originally organized around resistance to New York’s land claims in the territory, the movement became closely associated with Ethan Allen and the American cause.

In May 1775, Ethan Allen and members of the Green Mountain Boys participated in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. The episode helped establish the organization’s enduring reputation in American Revolutionary history.

Blodgett served during the same war and within the broader northern New England military environment. His later residence in Guildhall, Vermont, adds geographic interest to the question.

However, geography and overlapping military circumstances are not sufficient to establish organizational membership.

There is presently no identified source connecting Elijah Blodgett directly to Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys. His pension records identify service under Colonel Porter and Colonel Timothy Bedel, not service in a unit explicitly documented as the Green Mountain Boys.

It remains possible that further military records could reveal additional service or associations not described in the pension materials. That possibility should not be mistaken for evidence that such a connection existed.

For now, Blodgett is best described as a Revolutionary War veteran of Massachusetts and New Hampshire regiments whose military history intersects geographically with the wider history of Vermont and its northern frontier.

Remembering a Fellow Veteran

On July 26, 1832, Blodgett gave sworn testimony supporting the pension application of Moses Quinby, a resident of Lunenburg, Vermont.

Blodgett identified his own service in Captain Luther Richardson’s company and confirmed that Quinby had served with him throughout that period.

The affidavit was sworn before Justice of the Peace J. L. Wells in Essex County. Wells endorsed Blodgett’s credibility, and the county clerk subsequently certified the justice’s official standing.

This testimony is one of the most personally revealing documents associated with Blodgett. It shows that decades after the Revolution, he remained capable of recalling his officers and identifying another man who had shared his military experience.

For pension applicants, such testimony could be crucial. Veterans often needed to reconstruct service histories many years after the original records had been created, lost, or dispersed.

Recognition for His Service

Blodgett received pension recognition under the Act of March 18, 1818. His pension certificate was issued April 7, 1820, and his file is indexed as S.38557.

The pension record identifies his residence as Guildhall, Vermont, and credits ten months of service in Colonel Porter’s Massachusetts regiment during 1776.

The pension card contains financial and administrative entries, including a semiannual allowance of forty-eight dollars. These entries document pension administration but do not by themselves provide a complete history of every payment made to Blodgett.

His 1832 testimony concerning service in Bedel’s regiment provides an additional account of his military experience, but the reviewed documents do not explain how that service was treated in the calculation of his pension.

From His Account

Military Service

Conflict	American Revolutionary War
Rank	Private
1776 Unit	Colonel Porter’s Massachusetts regiment
1776 Duration	Ten months credited by pension record
1778 Unit	Colonel Timothy Bedel’s New Hampshire regiment
1778 Company	Captain Luther Richardson
1778 Duration	One full year, according to sworn testimony
Green Mountain Boys	No documented membership established
Verified Battles	None identified in reviewed documents
Later Residence	Guildhall, Essex County, Vermont
Pension Act	March 18, 1818
Pension Certificate	Issued April 7, 1820
Pension Number	S.38557
National Archives ID	53998536

The 1776 service is documented in Blodgett’s pension record. The 1778 service is documented through his 1832 affidavit in the pension application of Moses Quinby. These are separate sources describing different periods of military service.

Later Life & Burial

Elijah Blodgett’s later life is associated with Guildhall, Essex County, Vermont. The pension record identifies him as a resident there, and he again gave Guildhall as his residence when making his affidavit in July 1832.

Guildhall lies along the Connecticut River in northeastern Vermont. Its proximity to New Hampshire is consistent with the regional setting of Blodgett’s later life and the military history described in his affidavit.

The available records do not establish when he first settled in Guildhall, whether he owned land there, or the occupation by which he supported himself after the Revolution.

An Unidentified Grave

One of the most significant unresolved questions concerning Elijah Blodgett is the location of his grave.

His sworn affidavit proves that he was alive on July 26, 1832. However, no verified death record, gravestone, cemetery entry, or burial location has been established from the materials examined for this biography.

Although Guildhall is a logical location for further research, his documented residence there does not prove that he died or was buried in the town.

It is possible that a grave marker was lost, became illegible, was never erected, or that Blodgett was buried in a community not yet connected to his records. These are general possibilities, not established facts about his burial.

Until a reliable source is located, his death date and final resting place must remain unknown.

Family & Descendants

Parents and Birthplace

The examined pension records do not identify Elijah Blodgett’s parents, date of birth, or birthplace.

His later residence in Guildhall should not be treated as proof that he was born there. No verified parent-child relationship has been established from the documents reviewed.

Marriage and Children

No spouse, marriage date, or children have been securely identified through the pension materials examined for this biography.

The surviving affidavit primarily concerns military service, while the pension certificate documents his veteran status and pension administration. Neither source establishes a family household.

Descendants

At present, no documented line of descendants has been established from the reviewed records.

People researching the Blodgett surname in Vermont, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts may find promising genealogical leads, but a shared surname alone does not establish descent from this particular Revolutionary War veteran.

Town vital records, marriage registers, land deeds, probate files, and contemporary census records will be necessary to identify his family with confidence.

Research Priority & Unanswered Questions

Original Sources & Historical Note