The Thread of Freedom: An American Tapestry

 

The American story is often framed through the lens of grand proclamations and historic monuments. Yet the core promises of the United States—Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—were not merely abstract ideals penned in 1776; they were forged by generation after generation of ordinary citizens who bled, cleared wilderness, and stood ground against tyranny.

When Thomas Jefferson drafted those immortal words, he defined three fundamental human pillars:

• Life: The right to exist in safety, free from arbitrary harm or violence.
• Liberty: The freedom of speech, action, conscience, and self-governance under equal laws.
• Pursuit of Happiness: The right to build a life of virtue, personal fulfillment, and self-determination.

Our family tree represents an extraordinary, multi-cultural tapestry—a blend of English Pilgrims and Puritans, Scottish Covenanters, French Huguenots, Dutch New Amsterdammers, and Welsh Quakers. Long before the Bill of Rights was codified in 1791, our ancestors were already enduring the trials that proved why those protections were necessary.

Did you ever wonder what the differences were between Pilgrims and Puritans?

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/did-you-ever-wonder-what-differences.html

Tracing our lineage through the centuries reveals that our bloodline does not merely run parallel to American history—it helps weave it. Connected by cousinship to thirteen U.S. Presidents (from George Washington and John Adams to Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt)…

Their stories: 

George Washington first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797

10th cousin 8x removed

1732 - 1799

The General’s Shadow: Kinship, Cloaks, and the Crucible of Liberty

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-generals-shadow-kinship-cloaks-and.html

John Adams 2nd U.S. President

3rd cousin 8x removed

1735 - 1826

The Boylston Bloodline — From Colonial Surgeons to a Founding Father

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-boylston-bloodline-from-colonial.html

Thomas Jefferson 3rd U.S. President

13th cousin 7x removed

1743 - 1826

Algorithms vs. Ancestry: Uncovering Our Real Connection to President Thomas Jefferson

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/algorithms-vs-ancestry-uncovering-our.html

James Madison 4th U.S. President

17th cousin 8x removed

1751 - 1836

From European Royalty to French-Canadian Voyageurs: Our Kinship with James Madison

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/08/from-european-royalty-to-french.html

Martin Van Buren 8th U.S. President

3rd cousin 6x removed

1782 - 1862

Our New Netherland Dutch & President Martin Van Buren

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/our-new-netherland-dutch-president.html

Theodore Roosevelt 26th U.S. President

5th cousin 4x removed

1858 - 1919

They Came Seeking Spiritual Liberty, Peace, and Self-Determination

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/they-came-seeking-spiritual-liberty.html

America 250, My Cowboy Legacy: Peaceable Folks and a Rough Rider

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/02/america-250-my-cowboy-legacy-peaceable.html

Franklin Pierce 14th U.S. President

4th cousin 7x removed

1804 - 1869

DNA, the Mexican-American War, and President Franklin Pierce

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2023/11/dna-connection-mexican-american-war-and.html

Abraham Lincoln 16th U.S. President

10th cousin 4x removed

1809 - 1865

The Quaker Who Answered Lincoln’s Call: Faith, Freedom, and the Price of Gettysburg

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-quaker-who-answered-lincolns-call.html

And key Founding Fathers like Roger Sherman, George Mason, Samuel Huntington, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Stephen Hopkins and Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, our family’s story is the story of the American Republic itself.

Their stories: 

Roger Sherman

The Architects of the Republic: Cousin Roger Sherman and the Sherman Spirit

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-architects-of-republic-cousin-roger.html

George Mason

The Unyielding Pen: Our Kinship with Founding Father George Mason

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-unyielding-pen-our-kinship-with.html

Samuel Huntington

The Barrel-Maker’s Quill: The Shared Blood of Samuel Huntington

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-barrel-makers-quill-shared-blood-of.html

Benjamin Franklin

"Write something worth reading or do something worth writing"

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/write-something-worth-reading-or-do.html

John Hancock and Samuel Adams

The Firebrand and the Financier: How Our Family Bound the Revolution

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-firebrand-and-financier-how-our.html

Stephen Hopkins

“My hand trembles, but my heart does not!”

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/my-hand-trembles-but-my-heart-does-not.html

Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth

Oliver Ellsworth: A Most Underrated Founding Father

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/02/america-250-oliver-ellsworth-most.html

I. Colonial Beginnings and the Price of Frontier Liberty (1620–1763)

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, seeking Liberty meant facing the perilous unknown. Long before the Revolution, our early grandfathers laid the groundwork for a new society at immense personal cost.

In the Connecticut Colony, early grandfathers like Corporal Daniel Smith (7th great-grandfather) and William Scoville (7th great-grandfather) cleared the rocky soil of Haddam, laying the civic foundations of New England. In New York, Dutch ancestors like Corporal Peter Monfoort (8th great-grandfather) built lives along the Hudson and in New Jersey, establishing agricultural communities that would sustain generations.

Yet frontier life demanded grim sacrifices for the basic right to Life:

• Sergeant John Plympton (9th great-grandfather): Appointed chief military officer of Deerfield, Massachusetts, during King Philip’s War, Plympton stood as a wall of defense for his settlement. In 1677, he was captured and carried north into Canada, where he was burned at the stake by Native allies of the French—a stark reminder of the fragile nature of survival on the early frontier.
• Colonel Joshua Wingate (8th great-grandfather): Served in Colonel Gilman’s Regiment during the 1755 siege of the French fortress at Louisbourg, defending New England’s maritime borders.
• Ichabod Hawes (6th great-grandfather): Answered the call during the French and Indian War, setting a family precedent where he and his three sons would all eventually bear arms for American freedom.

Their stories: 

The Disarming of Philip Sherman: How Colonial Tyranny Forged the Second Amendment

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-disarming-of-philip-sherman-how.html

Corporal Daniel Smith (7th great-grandfather)

Lt. William Smith: Climax at the Siege of Yorktown

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/lt-william-smith-climax-at-siege-of.html

William Scoville (7th great-grandfather)

American Patriots: From the Shores of Rhode Island to the Carolina Woods

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-few-more-of-moms-revolutionary-war.html

Corporal Peter Monfoort (8th great-grandfather)

From the Wallabout to the Jersey Hills: The Long Trail of Peter Monfoort

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-wallabout-to-jersey-hills-long.html

Sergeant John Plympton (9th great-grandfather)

A Cycle of Bloody Retaliation: La Prairie vs Deerfield

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-cycle-of-bloody-retaliation-la.html

Colonel Joshua Wingate (8th great-grandfather)

The Fortress and the State: The Structural Mastery of the Wingate Bloodline

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-fortress-and-state-structural.html

Ichabod Hawes (6th great-grandfather)

Ichabod Hawes: Colonial-era Gunsmith

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/02/america-250-ichabod-hawes-colonial-era.html

II. The crucible of 1776: Forging the Republic

When the long-simmering tensions between the Thirteen Colonies and the British Crown erupted, our ancestors rallied to the Continental banner across every theater of the war.

Our direct kin helped guide the geopolitical strategy of the Revolution. Colonel Timothy Pickering Jr. (6th great-granduncle) stood at Washington’s side as Adjutant General of the Continental Army in 1777 and Quartermaster General in 1780, later serving the young nation as both Secretary of War and Secretary of State. Caleb G. Sweet (5th great-grandfather) served directly as a surgeon under General George Washington, tending to the wounded in the darkest hours of the struggle.

On the front lines, dozens of our grandfathers took up arms:

• The Disastrous Assault at Carillon & Double Lineage: During the French and Indian War in 1758, Oliver Bailey (6th great-grandfather) charged the French log works at Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) with the 3rd Connecticut Regiment. Unbeknownst to history at the time, on the other side of those same walls stood Michel Vielle (5th great-grandfather) of the French Régiment de la Reine. Eighteen years later, in 1776, Oliver Bailey picked up his musket again as a Continental private, fighting under Washington at Long Island and White Plains.
• Fort Stanwix & The Mohawk Valley: Zepheniah Rogers (5th great-grandfather) enlisted in Colonel Elmore’s Connecticut Regiment in 1776, garrisoning Fort Stanwix and Johnstown to secure the western frontier against British raids.
• The Artillery & Line Regiments: Colonel William McDonald (7th great-grandfather) and his son Major Richard McDonald (6th great-grandfather) commanded New Jersey troops, with William serving at the critical Pluckemin Continental Artillery Cantonment in 1778–79. Captain William Boyd (6th great-grandfather) led Virginia Continentals, while Drummer Boy Solomon Brown (4th great-grandfather), at just twelve years old, beat the cadence for Fish’s New York Militia.
• The German Regiment: David Bloom (5th great-grandfather) enlisted in the Continental Army's German Regiment in October 1777, enduring the brutal mid-war campaigns in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

From Rhode Island militia captains (Caleb Hall) to Massachusetts corporals (Job Plimpton Jr.) and New York line infantry (Peter Wyngaart), our grandfathers ensured that the Declaration's promise of Liberty was backed by iron and lead.

Their stories: 

Colonel Timothy Pickering Jr. (6th great-granduncle)

The Engine of the State: The Uncompromising Hand of Timothy Pickering

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-engine-of-state-uncompromising-hand.html

Caleb G. Sweet (5th great-grandfather)

Caleb Sweet: An Original Member of the Society of the Cincinnati

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/02/america-250-caleb-sweet-original-member.html

Oliver Bailey (6th great-grandfather)

Oliver Bailey (1738–1822): The Veteran of Two Empires

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/oliver-bailey-17381822-veteran-of-two.html

Zepheniah Rogers (5th great-grandfather)

Fort Stanwix, Towanda Creek, and the Road to Ohio: The Journey of Zepheniah Roger

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/fort-stanwix-towanda-creek-and-road-to.html

Colonel William McDonald (7th great-grandfather)

Colonel William McDonald: High Sheriff of Somerset County

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/colonel-william-mcdonald-high-sheriff.html

Major Richard McDonald (6th great-grandfather)

Cockpit of the Revolution: Jersey Blues to the Ohio Frontier

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/cockpit-of-revolution-jersey-blues-to.html

Captain William Boyd (6th great-grandfather)

American Patriots: From the Shores of Rhode Island to the Carolina Woods

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-few-more-of-moms-revolutionary-war.html

Drummer Boy Solomon Brown (4th great-grandfather)

The Frontier Defender: Solomon Brown’s Revolutionary Service

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-frontier-defender-solomon-browns.html

Caleb Hall

Rhode Island: The most rebellious colony in British America

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/rhode-island-most-rebellious-colony-in.html

Job Plimpton Jr.

Bloodlines of the Republic: From the English Civil War to the Shores of California

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/bloodlines-of-republic-from-english.html

Peter Wyngaart

The Watchman of Rensselaerwyck: The Story of Peter Wyngaart

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/watchman-of-rensselaerwyck-story-of.html

III. Securing and Expanding the Nation (1812–1848)

The struggle for the Pursuit of Happiness did not end with Yorktown. The young republic had to defend its sovereignty in the War of 1812 and expand its borders westward.

During the War of 1812—often called America's Second War for Independence—the sons and grandsons of our Revolutionary patriots stepped into the breach:

• Sergeant Thomas Bailey (5th great-grandfather) served with Massachusetts artillery units, while his son Smith Bailey (4th great-grandfather) served in the Pennsylvania Militia.
• Sergeant Joseph Hallowell (4th great-grandfather) marched with the Pennsylvania Light Infantry, defending the mid-Atlantic coast.
• Private Job Groom (4th great-grandfather) and Private Samuel R. Brown (3rd great-grandfather) served in Ohio militia and New York Light Dragoons, respectively, securing the expanding interior frontier.

Sacrifices on the Road to Mexico (1846–1848)

By the 1840s, the nation looked toward the Pacific. When the Mexican-American War broke out, James L. Pierce (3rd great-grandfather)—born in Rhode Island—answered the call to arms in 1847. Inspiring his enlistment was likely the high-profile recruitment drive led by his relative, Brigadier General (later 14th President) Franklin Pierce, who was raising the New England Regiment.

Tragically, James L. Pierce died at sea in 1847 en route to Vera Cruz, leaving behind a young son, Marcus Morton Pierce, to grow up on the New England frontier—a sobering testament to the quiet, forgotten sacrifices of those who helped build the nation.

Their stories: 

Sergeant Thomas Bailey (5th great-grandfather)

Our Bailey Family: The Long Trail West (1636–1942)

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/our-bailey-family-long-trail-west.html

Smith Bailey (4th great-grandfather)

The Coast Guard of Lake Erie: The Story of Smith Bailey

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-coast-guard-of-lake-erie-story-of.html

Sergeant Joseph Hallowell (4th great-grandfather)

The Skirmisher of the Delaware: The Story of Sergeant Joseph Hallowell

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-skirmisher-of-delaware-story-of.html

Private Job Groom (4th great-grandfather)

Cockpit of the Revolution: Jersey Blues to the Ohio Frontier

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/cockpit-of-revolution-jersey-blues-to.html

Private Samuel R. Brown (3rd great-grandfather) 

Samuel R. Brown and Ball's Squadron of Light Dragoons

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/samuel-r-brown-and-balls-squadron-of.html

James L. Pierce (3rd great-grandfather)

Our Pierce Family: Massachusetts Bay to the Pacific Coast

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/our-pierce-family-massachusetts-bay-to.html

Brigadier General (later 14th President) Franklin Pierce

DNA, the Mexican-American War, and President Franklin Pierce

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2023/11/dna-connection-mexican-american-war-and.html

The Price of the Soil: An American Odyssey

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/07/blog-post.html

IV. The Civil War: Preserving the Union (1861–1865)

No event tested the concepts of Life, Liberty, and Happiness more than the American Civil War. When the nation fractured, our grandfathers took up arms to preserve the Union and end the institution of slavery.

                    Civil War Service (1861–1865)

                    

 David Solomon Bailey  ──► Co. G, 3rd Iowa Cavalry

                           Lost leg at Brice's Crossroads (1864)

 

 Marcus Morton Pierce  ──► Co. E, 109th New York Infantry

                           Fought at Gettysburg, Wilderness, Petersburg

 

 Rifford R. Hallowell  ──► Co. K, 28th Pennsylvania Infantry

                           Fought at Gettysburg; died from service (1864)

 

 Charles H. Plympton   ──► Co. K, 97th Ohio Infantry

                           Fought at Perryville, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta

• Private David Solomon Bailey (2nd great-grandfather): Enlisted in the 3rd Iowa Cavalry. On June 10, 1864, at the brutal Battle of Brice's Crossroads in Mississippi, Bailey was struck by an artillery shell. Though he lost his leg, he survived the wound, exemplifying the sheer grit of the Western Union soldier.
• Private Marcus Morton Pierce (2nd great-grandfather): Enlisted in the 109th New York Infantry. He marched through the bloodiest fighting of the eastern theater—Gettysburg, the Wilderness, the Siege of Petersburg, and Cold Harbor—mustering out at Washington, D.C., in 1865.
• 2nd Lieutenant Rifford Randolph Hallowell (3rd great-grandfather): Served in the 28th Pennsylvania Volunteers. After fighting on the heights of Gettysburg in July 1863, severe illness or battle trauma forced his resignation; he passed away at home in Philadelphia just months later in January 1864.
• Private Charles Henry Plympton (2nd great-grandfather): Enlisted in the 97th Ohio Infantry, marching through the strategic heart of the Confederacy with battles at Perryville, Missionary Ridge, and the bloody Atlanta Campaign.

Their stories: 

The Crucible: Our Ancestors' Civil War Engagements

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/crucible-our-ancestors-civil-war.html

V. Guardians of the 20th Century: The World Wars

As the United States emerged as a global beacon of freedom in the 20th century, our family’s commitment to service remained unbroken.

                  20th Century Global Conflicts

                  

 World War I  ──► Frank Jackson Bailey (Montana Militia)

              ──► Hugh Sturdy McNeil (U.S. Army)

              

 World War II ──► Vernon Frank Bailey (U.S. Army Air Forces)

              ──► Lester Elias Bennett (U.S. Army)

              ──► Col. Fredrick Arthur Morgan (U.S. Army Air Forces)

• World War I: Grandfather Frank Jackson Bailey served with the Montana Militia, guarding domestic infrastructure, while granduncle Hugh Sturdy McNeil served in the United States Army during the mobilization that broke the stalemate on the Western Front.
• World War II: When freedom was threatened globally, three of our uncles stepped forward. Vernon Frank Bailey and Colonel Fredrick Arthur Morgan served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, helping secure control of the skies over Europe and the Pacific, while Lester Elias Bennett served in the U.S. Army on the ground.

Their stories: 

Frank Jackson Bailey

America 250, The 2nd Montana Infantry Regiment, Company H, 1908

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/02/america-250-2nd-montana-infantry.html

Hugh Sturdy McNeil

From Kennebec County to the Mud of the Argonne

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/from-kennebec-county-to-mud-of-argonne.html

Colonel Fredrick Arthur Morgan

Guardians of the Open Sky: The Flight of Fred and Helen Morgan

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2026/06/guardians-of-open-sky-flight-of-fred.html

Summary of Presidential & Ancestral Ties

To see our family tree is to see the leadership of the Republic itself. Through shared colonial roots, our direct line shares cousinship with the leaders who shaped every era of American governance:

Ancestor / Cousin	Relationship	Historic Significance
George Washington	10th cousin 8x removed	1st U.S. President; Commander of Continental Army
John Adams	3rd cousin 8x removed	2nd U.S. President; Founding Father & Diplomat
Thomas Jefferson	13th cousin 7x removed	3rd U.S. President; Author of Declaration of Independence
James Madison	17th cousin 8x removed	4th U.S. President; Father of the U.S. Constitution
Franklin Pierce	4th cousin 7x removed	14th U.S. President; Mexican-American War General
Abraham Lincoln	10th cousin 4x removed	16th U.S. President; Preserved the Union
Benjamin Franklin	5th cousin 9x removed	Founding Father, Inventor, & Diplomat
Col. Timothy Pickering	6th great-granduncle	Adjutant & Quartermaster Gen.; U.S. Sec. of War/State

Conclusion: The Living Legacy

The pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness is not a static gift inherited without effort; it is a continuous torch passed down through generations.

From the burned stockades of Deerfield to the bloodied waters of the Gulf of Mexico, from the sunken roads of Gettysburg to the skies over Europe, our ancestors did not merely watch history happen—they stood in its front ranks. As America celebrates its landmark anniversaries, our family can look back with pride knowing that the freedoms enjoyed today were paid for, defended, and preserved by the very blood in our veins.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy