My Family Tree

Author: Mark Andrew Davis

Ebenezer Nye was born 2 February 1739 at Barnstable, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, a son of Caleb and Hannah (Bodfish) Nye. The marriage intention of Ebenezer Nye and Melatiah Sturges was published on 16 June 1759 at the village of Barnstable. Melethia was from Hyannis. Their marriage took place on 8 July 1759. Their known children were:

Josiah; Crocker was born on 4 July 1772.
Temperance was born on 7 October 1757 and married Joseph Cummings.
Lucretia was born in about 1762 and married Alpeus Stone.
Marcey or Mary was born in 1770.
Timothy was born in about 1767.
Melethia was born on 8 July 1770 and married Calvin Chaddock.
Achsa was baptized on 28 August 1774 and married Eli Haskell.
Salmon was born in 1778 and married Julia Hinckley.
John was born in 1780.

During the American Revolution, Ebenezer Nye enlisted at Barre, Massachusetts, on 20 April 1775 in the Company of Captain John Black of Colonel Jonathan Brewer’s Regiment. He served as a Corporal and was at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he lost his bayonet and belt. He applied for and received compensation for the lost items.

While in the Company of Captain Benjamin Nye, he marched to the Bennington alarm on 21 August 1777 and again in the same Company on 26 September 1777 to reinforce the Northern Army. From Oakham, he served from 24 October 1779 for six weeks in the Company of Captain Jotham Houghton of Coronel Samuel Denny’s Regiment. His last military service was in the Company of Captain Newell. He marched to Enfield, Connecticut, in November 1778.

In 1778, Ebenezer purchased 205 acres of land with structures near the village of Barre, Massachusetts. In 1779, he served on the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety. He appears as head of household in the 1790 U.S. Census at Oakham.

Ebenezer died in 1793 at Oakham, Worcester County, Massachusetts. Melathiah died and was buried on 31 March 1826. Their final resting place is not known.

Sources:

Sons of the American Revolution, National Society, Louisville, Kentucky. Primary application of Duane Loren Devereaux, National Number 132850.
Holbrook, Jay Mack, Massachusetts Vital Records – New Braintree 1751-1913, Massachusetts. Oxford: Holbrook Research Institute, 1988.
Smith, Col. Leonard H., Vital Records of the Towns of Barnstable and Sandwich, Facsimile of records published serially 1901-1935 in The Mayflower Descendant, Maryland. Baltimore: Clearfield Co/Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.
Wright, Henry Parks, Soldiers of Oakham Massachusetts in the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, and The Civil War, Connecticut. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor Press, 1914.
Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 11, Massachusetts. Boston: Wright and Potter Printing Company, 1903, page 584.
Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, Micropublication M881, Roll 143. Washington: National Archives. W15141.