Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/395

DELAWARE COXJNTY. 371 isnffering every thing but death, and when exchanged, him- self and one other, were all that remained of the guard of thirteen taken with him. After he left the prison, he con- tinued in active service at different times and places, to the close of the war. In 1782, he married Mary Mead, daughter of Gen. John Mead, well known in Revolutionary times as the commander of the American lines at Horse Neck. She too, saw much of the cruelty, hardships and sufferings of our Revo- lutionary struggle. At one time, she was unexpectedly sur- rounded by British light-horse, and with a sword presented to her breast, was, with horrid oaths and imprecations, threat- ened with instant death, unless she revealed where her brother was secreted, who had fled, and was at the time but partially concealed, in sight, and almost within the sound of her own voice; but by her resolute firmness and intrepidity, she caused them to believe that, from the circumstances, she could not know the place of his concealment, thereby saving herself and her brother. At another time the house was surrounded, and a British light-horseman struck at her twin sister, and miss- ing her head, the sword struck the casing of the door, (an inch board,) cutting it quite in two. She was repeatedly plun- dered of her clothing and valuable effects. In 1808, they re- moved from Connecticut, into this county, with a family of nine children, all of whom are now living, and after living together for more than sixty-five years, her death, which occurred seven years since, at the age of 87, was the first death in their family. In 1809, they united with the Baptist church in Franklin, then under the pastoral care of Rev. Daniel Robertson, and to the close of their lives, lived in christian fellowship with the church, and by their daily deportment, evinced to themselves and the world, the genuineness of their love for the religion they pro- fessed. A large circle of relatives and friends will cherish their memory, and now sympathize with the afflicted family, in that dispensation of Divine Providence, that has bereft them