In this Soldiers’ Story, we honor the families who served together in the Revolution. Often brothers or cousins of the same generation served at the same time. Sometimes fathers and sons served together. One particular Morris County-based family, the Gordons, is unusual in that not one, not two, but *three* generations all served in the *same* war. Imagine that happening today: a young recruit, his father, and his grandfather all serving together! Through a coincidence in timing, the war took place when the eldest was still old enough to be productive in the army, and the youngest was just old enough to be a soldier. The fact that all three generations served is a testament to the family’s patriotic fervor and sacrifices to build our country.
The eldest was Joshua Gordon (DAR ancestor A046066), born circa 1712. In his early 60’s, Joshua was probably too old to serve in the field with the young soldiers. But he could do an office job, which is also vital to hold the army together. Joshua Gordon was recruited in June 1776 and as a 1st Lieutenant served as Quartermaster in Colonel Ephraim Martin’s Battalion, Heard’s Brigade, New Jersey State Troops. He was married to Martha (unknown maiden name). Joshua died some time around 1777. It might have been due to illness, because smallpox and other diseases were rampant around Morristown that year, but we don’t know.
Joshua’s son William (DAR ancestor A046118) was born ca 1736. He served as a 1st and 2nd Lieutenant and Captain in the Jersey Line of the Continental Army under Captain John Ross and Lieutenant Colonel Francis Barber. He participated in the Canada expedition early in the war. He was married to Deborah (Kinney) Canfield, and later Jemima (unknown maiden name). Sadly, William died of unknown cause in mid April 1777 in Pequannock Township, almost the same time that his father passed away, also of unknown causes. William is buried at the Presbyterian Church in Rockaway.
William’s son David (DAR ancestor A046002) was born 23 Oct 1759 in Ringwood, Bergen County. He enlisted in 1776, and served six years as a Private in his father’s company in the 3rd NJ Regiment of the Continental Army under Colonel Elias Dayton, and later in the Eastern Battalion of the Morris County Militia. David served under a long list of officers, including Jeremiah Ballard, John Bigelow, Ezekiel Crane, Joseph Beach, Stephen Jackson, Josiah Hall, Abraham Kitchell, Major Hayes, Colonel Ford, and General Winds.
David served in the infamous “Mud Rounds,” the Continental Army’s retreat from Fort Lee across New Jersey to Pennsylvania in late 1776 after a long series of devastating losses in Brooklyn, Fort Washington, and White Plains. With Cornwallis and his army hot on their tail, the soldiers marched through an almost impassable quagmire of mud up to their ankles (and some claimed up to their knees). Reminiscing about the march later in life, David would say that he was better off than many soldiers because at least he had shoes on his feet. It was during this experience that Thomas Paine wrote his series, “The Crisis,” summarizing the miserable state of affairs with the famous line, “these are the times that try mens’ souls.” Only a few days later, the army would regroup for the famous crossing of the Delaware and turn the tide of the war. David also served on the Sullivan Expedition in the summer of 1779, in campaigns in western Pennsylvania against the Native Americans, and at Yorktown in 1781.
After the war, David went on to serve for many years as sexton at the Presbyterian Church in Rockaway. He married Nancy Southard, and known children are Mary, Naomi, and Susannah. He lived many years, died on 23 Jul 1852, and is buried in the church yard that he was in his care for so long.
David Gordon’s long life gave him many opportunities to tell war stories, and he is quoted in local history books of the early 1800s. Some of David’s stories were documented by his friend, Rev. Dr. Joseph F. Tuttle, chronicler of many Morristown Revolutionary War stories. It’s a fun 2-page read, available here: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=IM9SAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA6&hl=en
One of David Gordon’s stories describes some interesting negotiations between a Captain and the enlisted men in his company. On a march from Morristown to Newark, the Captain stopped the march and told the soldiers to make their own way individually, promising them a half gill of rum when they got to Newark. The soldiers told the Captain to make it a full gill instead, and they would do it. The Captain agreed to the bargain, but only if the soldiers stopped before getting into town so they could march in “as brother soldiers should, together and in order.” The trek was a success, and the valiant captain had the pleasure of entering Newark at the head of his company in the “brother soldier” way.
The pictures below are of William and David Gordon’s gravestones. There’s no stone for Joshua. I like the other picture, Yankee Doodle by A.M. Willard, because it shows three generations of soldiers. The Gordons were not musicians like the painting, but it’s the closest I could find to an image of intergenerational Revolutionary soldiers like the Gordons.
Yankee Doodle 1776 by A. M. Willard
Library of Congress, http://lccn.loc.gov/2004673466
William Gordon gravestone, Find-a-Grave Memorial #15971293
David Gordon gravestone, Find-a-Grave Memorial #13577874
Sources
Daughters of the American Revolution, Genealogical Records System, Ancestors A046002 (David Gordon), A046066 (Joshua Gordon), and A046118 (William Gordon), online at https://dar.org
Pension of David Gordon, S2576, National Archives and Records Administration, M804, RG15
Tuttle, Joseph F., Revolutionary Fragments, Morris Co, NJ, Morristown NJ: The Jerseyman, 1896, No. 4, pp. 6-7 and No 9, pp. 17-18; No. 12, pp. 23-24
_____, History of Morris County, New Jersey, New York: W. W. Munsell & Co., 1882, pp. 31, 32, 36
Morristown ChapterDaughters of the American Revolution