Samuel Spaulding Revolution and Family Tree

His Story

In June 1781, seventeen-year-old Samuel Spaulding entered the Continental Army at a moment when the American Revolution was approaching its decisive final phase. He would remain in uniform for three years, serving through the end of the fighting and into the uncertain period when the newly independent United States struggled to maintain its remaining army.

Spaulding’s military career began in Captain Luke Day’s company of the 7th Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by Colonel John Brooks. He subsequently served in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment under Colonel Henry Jackson and in the reorganized American Regiment associated with Lieutenant Colonel William Hull.

Unlike many Revolutionary War veterans whose service ended after a short militia enlistment, Spaulding remained with the Continental establishment until June 1784. He was discharged at West Point, New York, after the peace settlement had formally ended the war.

His surviving pension file offers more than a record of enlistment and discharge. It documents the economic circumstances of a veteran who moved to northern Vermont, worked as a farmer, and eventually struggled with poor health and financial insecurity.

In 1820, Spaulding disclosed a household that included his wife Sarah, their young son Carlton, and a grandson named Riley Gage. His property inventory listed forty acres of land, farm animals, agricultural equipment, and household possessions. Nine years later, his circumstances had changed sufficiently that he sought renewed pension assistance.

The records preserve a particularly revealing account of the relationship between military service, family responsibility, and poverty in the early republic. They also show how federal pension laws could both support veterans and exclude them when their property was judged sufficient.

Spaulding died on May 13, 1854, according to a later War Department summary. His pension testimony and the statements of men who served beside him remain the principal evidence of his Revolutionary War experience.

Early Life

Samuel Spaulding was born in July 1764, according to the age he reported in his pension declarations and a later War Department summary of his records.

His precise birthplace has not been established. Although he enlisted in Massachusetts, the surviving pension evidence does not identify the town where he was born or the community in which he spent his childhood.

Spaulding grew up during the final years of British colonial rule in North America. He was approximately eleven years old when the Revolutionary War began in 1775.

By the time he entered military service in June 1781, the Revolution had already lasted more than six years. The Continental Army had endured severe shortages, changing military fortunes, and prolonged enlistments.

At approximately seventeen years of age, Spaulding committed himself to three years of service in the Massachusetts Continental Line.

His parents, grandparents, education, and early occupation have not been established from the pension documents examined for this biography.

Revolutionary War Service

Enlistment in the Massachusetts Line, 1781

Samuel Spaulding enlisted in June 1781 for a three-year term in Captain Luke Day’s company of the 7th Massachusetts Regiment.

The regiment was commanded by Colonel John Brooks, an experienced Continental officer who had served throughout much of the Revolutionary War.

The Massachusetts Line formed an important component of the Continental Army. By 1781, its regiments were part of an increasingly professional military establishment that had evolved from the early revolutionary forces of 1775.

Spaulding’s entry into the army occurred shortly before the Yorktown campaign, which culminated in the surrender of a major British army in October 1781. His pension records do not establish that he personally participated in the Siege of Yorktown.

His service nevertheless continued through the period when the American and British governments moved toward peace.

Transfer to the 4th Massachusetts Regiment

In 1783, Spaulding was transferred to the 4th Massachusetts Regiment and assigned to Captain Elnathan Haskell’s company.

The regiment was associated with Colonel Henry Jackson, another veteran Continental officer.

Such transfers were part of the broader reorganization of the Continental Army as the war approached its conclusion. The United States no longer required the same number of soldiers as during the major campaigns, yet military authorities still needed troops to maintain posts and preserve order.

Spaulding’s transfer did not mark the end of his military obligation. He continued serving under the terms of his original enlistment.

The American Regiment, 1784

By early 1784, Spaulding had been assigned to a regiment described in his pension records as the American Regiment.

He remained in Captain Haskell’s company, with Gamaliel Bradford serving as lieutenant and James Sawyer as ensign.

William Hull was identified with the command of the regiment. The surviving testimony contains some variation in how the officers’ ranks and responsibilities were described.

Fellow veteran Bela Shaw testified that he served with Spaulding in the same company during the opening months of 1784.

Discharge at West Point

Spaulding’s three-year enlistment ended in June 1784.

He reported being discharged at West Point, New York, an important Continental Army installation overlooking the Hudson River.

Bela Shaw’s affidavit identified June 30, 1784, as the date of Spaulding’s honorable discharge and associated the discharge with Henry Jackson.

By then, the Treaty of Paris had formally recognized American independence, and the Continental Army was being reduced to a small peacetime force.

Spaulding’s discharge therefore came during the final dissolution and reorganization of the military establishment that had fought for independence.

Battles and Campaigns

Samuel Spaulding’s pension file establishes his three years of Continental Army service but does not identify a specific battle in which he personally fought. His known military assignments place him within the final years of the Revolution and the transition to peace.

Military Honors and Recognition

Samuel Spaulding’s military service received federal recognition through the Revolutionary War pension system.

His pension documents identify him as a private who completed approximately three years of Continental Army service.

Bela Shaw specifically described Spaulding as having been honorably discharged in June 1784.

No individual military decoration, special battlefield commendation, or promotion beyond the rank of private has been established in the surviving documents examined.

His subsequent federal pension award recognized the duration and character of his military service.

Original Military Records

Revolutionary War Pension

The First Pension Application, 1818

On April 17, 1818, Samuel Spaulding applied for a federal pension under the Act of March 18, 1818.

The legislation provided pensions to qualifying veterans of Continental service who required financial assistance.

Spaulding was fifty-four years old and living in Waterford, Caledonia County, Vermont.

He described himself as dependent upon daily labor for support and stated that he possessed insufficient property to maintain himself.

His pension was initially approved at eight dollars per month, or ninety-six dollars annually. Certificate number 4,070 was issued October 31, 1818.

The 1820 Property Inventory

In June 1820, Spaulding appeared before the Caledonia County Court and submitted a detailed schedule of his property.

The inventory listed forty acres of land and buildings valued at four hundred dollars, together with livestock, farming equipment, household furniture, and other possessions.

Among the listed items were two oxen, four cows, sheep, lambs, hogs, pigs, a sleigh, a plow, a grindstone, and a wooden clock without a face.

The total value of his property was assessed at $728.42. He reported debts of approximately seventy-six dollars.

The resulting net property value was calculated at approximately $652.42.

His pension was subsequently removed from the rolls because of his property holdings.

The Renewed Application, 1829

On February 24, 1829, Spaulding again sought pension assistance.

He explained that he had transferred his forty-acre farm to his son Carlton in September 1825.

Under the arrangement, Carlton was to assume approximately one hundred dollars of debt, permit his parents to remain on the property for their lifetimes, and share the farm’s produce.

Spaulding’s remaining property was valued at $188, with the annual rental value of his land interest assessed at thirty dollars.

He described declining health and an inability to perform effective agricultural labor.

The Pension Under the Act of 1832

On July 11, 1832, Spaulding applied under the federal pension legislation enacted the previous month.

His application was approved, with an initial annual amount recorded as $73.33, commencing March 4, 1831.

Later pension records show the amount increased to eighty dollars annually, with a certificate issued December 9, 1833.

The surviving documents therefore reflect several stages of pension administration rather than one uninterrupted payment history.

From His Account

Military Service Record

Later Life and Burial

After leaving the Continental Army, Samuel Spaulding eventually settled in northern Vermont.

A notation in his pension records states that he had lived in Waterford for approximately thirty-three years by September 1833, suggesting that he established his residence there around 1800.

Before moving to Waterford, he had lived in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

Spaulding worked as a farmer and laborer. His property records indicate that he owned or occupied a forty-acre farm and maintained livestock and agricultural equipment.

By 1820, he was experiencing significant health difficulties. His wife Sarah was also in poor health.

His later declaration describes a family arrangement in which their son Carlton assumed ownership of the farm while agreeing to provide his parents with a lifetime interest in the property.

These documents illustrate the economic vulnerability of aging veterans in rural New England. Land ownership did not necessarily provide a reliable income, particularly when declining health prevented a farmer from working effectively.

Samuel Spaulding died May 13, 1854, according to a War Department letter issued in 1924.

His exact place of death and burial location have not been independently verified from the materials examined.

Historical Research Note

Genealogical Research Note

This biography has been compiled principally from Samuel Spaulding’s Revolutionary War pension file, including his sworn declarations, supporting military affidavits, property schedules, and later administrative correspondence.

Some information was recorded decades after the events described. Later administrative summaries and family inquiries are useful research aids but should be distinguished from contemporary records.

The Yost Post presents these materials as a historical and genealogical research resource. Readers investigating the Spaulding family are encouraged to examine original military, land, church, probate, and vital records before treating uncertain relationships as established facts.