Thomas Burbeck Revolution and Family Tree

In This Article

His Story

On April 8, 1818, Thomas Burbeck appeared before a federal judge in Massachusetts to describe the military service he had performed more than forty years earlier. His account began in the opening weeks of the American Revolution, when he joined an artillery company commanded by Captain Edward Burbeck. It ended in February 1777, after a second enlistment under Captain Henry Burbeck in Colonel Henry Knox’s artillery regiment.

Thomas had been a private, not an officer. Yet his military service was part of a striking concentration of Burbeck men in the Massachusetts artillery. Edward and Henry commanded companies, while Thomas served among the enlisted soldiers. His pension papers, supported by the testimony of fellow soldier Joshua Hardy, preserve a direct account of this family-associated military service.

By the time Thomas applied for a pension, his circumstances had changed dramatically. He described himself as impoverished and lame following a broken thigh. Two years later, he identified his occupation as ship carpenter but explained that broken bones in his right leg and arm prevented him from working at his trade. His application consequently documents not only his service during the Revolution but also the physical and financial difficulties of his later life.

The First Enlistment: Captain Edward Burbeck, 1775

Thomas testified that he entered Continental service on or about May 1, 1775. His first assignment was Captain Edward Burbeck’s artillery company in Colonel Richard Gridley’s regiment. He described an initial enlistment of eight months, lasting until January 1776.

This was the period immediately following the outbreak of fighting at Lexington and Concord. Massachusetts troops were assembling around Boston, and artillery units were essential to the developing American siege. Thomas’s statement identifies his unit and term of service, but it does not establish that he participated in any particular engagement. A separate 1832 declaration by James Burbeck places Captain Edward Burbeck’s company at Cambridge during James’s own 1775 service; that statement provides context for the company, not proof of every location Thomas occupied.

Service Under Henry Knox, 1776–1777

When his first enlistment expired, Thomas said he reenlisted for another year. His second period of service was in Captain Henry Burbeck’s company of artillery, within the regiment commanded by Colonel Henry Knox. Thomas stated that he served without interruption and was discharged around the middle of February 1777.

His account was corroborated in March 1819 by Joshua Hardy, who testified that he enlisted around January 1, 1776, in Captain Edward Burbeck’s company. Hardy described marching with a detachment under Lieutenant Henry Burbeck to New York, joining Knox’s Massachusetts artillery regiment, and serving there until the winter of 1777. He specifically identified Thomas as having enlisted at the same time and faithfully served for more than twelve consecutive months.

Hardy’s recollection is particularly valuable because Thomas’s pension eligibility initially encountered an administrative question about the length of his Continental service. The surviving file includes a note that a statement about insufficient service was crossed out and that new evidence had been submitted. Hardy’s affidavit provided precisely the sort of independent testimony needed to support Thomas’s account.

Injury, Work, and Hardship After the Revolution

Thomas’s postwar life is visible most clearly through his pension documents. In 1818, he described himself as fifty-seven years old, living in Boston, and in reduced circumstances. He reported being lame after a broken thigh. The document does not say when or how the injury occurred, and it should not be described as a battle wound.

In a further declaration dated June 3, 1820, Thomas described his trade as ship carpenter. His accompanying property schedule reported no real estate and no personal estate. He explained that he could no longer practice his trade because he was disabled, having suffered fractures to his right leg and arm. He also wrote that he had no family, a statement about his circumstances in 1820 that does not necessarily establish he had never married or had children.

Thomas’s pension had been placed on the Massachusetts roll at eight dollars per month, commencing April 8, 1818. His pension certificate, number 8,494, was issued March 23, 1819. These records demonstrate how a former Continental private sought federal assistance when age, injury, and poverty left him unable to support himself through his skilled trade.

From His Account

The following passages are drawn from transcriptions of Thomas Burbeck’s pension papers. They preserve the substance and spelling of the source transcriptions; the National Archives links open the complete catalog record, not a specific image.

Military Service

Conflict	American Revolutionary War
Allegiance	United States / Continental establishment
Rank	Private
First enlistment	About May 1, 1775–January 1776; Captain Edward Burbeck’s artillery company, Colonel Richard Gridley’s regiment
Second enlistment	January 1776–about mid-February 1777; Captain Henry Burbeck’s artillery company, Colonel Henry Knox’s regiment
Corroborating witness	Joshua Hardy, March 4, 1819
Locations supported by witness	New York during the second enlistment
Specific battles	Not established by Thomas’s pension papers
Pension declaration	April 8, 1818
Pension certificate	8,494, issued March 23, 1819
Pension file	S.34,121
Monthly pension	$8, commencing April 8, 1818
National Archives ID	54105731

Later Life & Burial

Thomas lived in Boston when he applied for a pension in 1818 and when he filed his 1820 financial statement. At that time he described himself as a ship carpenter who could not work because of his injuries. His reported age was fifty-seven in 1818 and fifty-nine in 1820, suggesting a birth around 1760 or 1761. Neither declaration gives a precise birth date.

The transcribed pension papers do not establish Thomas’s death date, burial place, or a later residence. No cemetery or memorial has been assigned to him without independent evidence linking the burial to this particular veteran.

Family

The strongest evidence for Thomas’s family connections appears not in his own pension declaration but in the 1832 pension application of James Burbeck. James identified Captain Edward Burbeck as his father, William Burbeck as his grandfather, and Henry and Thomas Burbeck as his uncles. He also believed John Burbeck was an uncle, although he qualified that recollection. These statements provide direct family testimony, but the exact identity of each similarly named soldier must still be considered carefully.

Parents

William Burbeck — probable father. James Burbeck’s 1832 declaration identified Lieutenant Colonel William Burbeck as his grandfather and Thomas as his uncle. Taken together, those statements support placing Thomas among William’s children, assuming James’s identification refers to this same Thomas. Thomas’s own pension file does not explicitly name his parents.

Mother — not independently established. Jerusha Glover is identified in secondary histories as the mother of Henry Burbeck. Her relationship to Thomas requires independent genealogical confirmation; it is not stated in Thomas’s pension file.

Spouse

No wife is named in Thomas’s surviving pension transcriptions. His 1820 statement that he had no family describes his circumstances at that time, but does not conclusively establish whether he had previously married or been widowed.

Children

No children are identified in the transcribed pension file. No descendants have been attributed to Thomas without supporting vital or probate records.

Siblings and Other Burbeck Connections

A family-tree infographic has not been included because several identities and relationships still require reconciliation with independent family records.

Original Sources & Historical Note