Using records and maps to check out revolutionary connections

 

             A Google map showing the distance between Herkimer and Stillwater places in the Woodworth and Tripp histories

Back in my October 28 post when I wrote about the Freedom Trail in Boston, I mentioned the members of my own family who had fought in the American Revolution. They were Charles Tripp, my 4 x great grandfather and his father-in-law, Solomon Woodworth. They had both served in New York State on the side of the patriots. Solomon Woodworth died fighting but writing about the fact that both men had fought in the same general area made me wonder if the two had ever met.

Of course, it would be hard to prove any association between the two of them at this late date given the scarcity of sources for that time period. Even in this day and age, the meeting of two people would be hard to prove but the possibility of their paths crossing might be something that I could ascertain.

The information I gleaned from Ancestry about the older man, Solomon Woodworth, was that he was killed on September 7, 1781 in Herkimer, Herkimer County, New York. According to records found on Fold 3, Charles Tripp was mustered on July 16, 1781. That means that both men were serving at the same time. When applying for his pension, Charles Tripp swore that he was living at Stillwater, New York when he joined up.

Given the dates: July of 1781 for Charles Tripp's enlistment and September of 1781 for Solomon Woodworth's death in battle, it is possible that the men may have met while both were fighting as patriots. They were also in roughly the same area of New York State in 1781. The Google map above shows the proximity of Stillwater, where Charles enlisted and Herkimer, where Solomon died.

While searching the records I have on hand to find those dates and places, I realized how much information I have about these two men from various sources. To make it more interesting, Charles Tripp died and his widow, Jane, the daughter of Solomon Woodworth, had to file many documents to get access to her husband's pension because the record of their marriage was missing. The extra documents from Jane included affidavits from Woodworth kin. It looks like I have plenty of information to start looking into the Tripp and Woodworth connections further and can probably expand this part of my family tree once I figure out how people are related.

Sources:

Find a Grave – for Captain Solomon Woodworth https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28181579/solomon-woodworth