I think it's possible that without my 5th great grandfather, Isaac Wilcox, I may never have become as infatuated with genealogy as I am. He was supposed to be my ticket into the lineage society, Daughters of the American Revolution. My great grandmother, Ethel (Hinman) Eggenberger, and her daughter, Vera, had become members based on his alleged participation as a patriot in the war for independence. However, when his records didn't hold up under the scrutiny of modern day genealogical standards, he became that enigma for me that has held my interest ever since.
While I did, eventually, gain admittance into the DAR (via another ancestor's service), Isaac has remained a constant question mark for me. Upon submitting my original application to DAR's offices in D.C., the genealogist assigned to verify my case, wrote me a kind rejection letter explaining why Isaac Wilcox was no longer considered a "valid" patriot. It turned out that when this registrar did their due diligence to fact check Isaac's service in the Revolutionary War, he stumbled upon not just a couple men whose identities had been tangled together, but FIVE men. Five men all named Isaac Wilcox and all living in the vicinity of Dutchess County, New York during the American Revolution.
At least one of those five men had served in the Revolutionary War on behalf of the colonies. I had believed that man to be my Isaac Wilcox (and clearly so did my great grandmother). However, the DAR's genealogist had discovered that that Isaac had died in Indiana and had filed for a pension from the government, clearly explaining his service. This could not have been my Isaac, because mine died in Kingston, Delaware County, Ohio about 1825 and left a will clearly stating his heirs.
In his biography that was printed locally there was nothing mentioned as to past military service, and he, nor any of his children, ever petitioned the government for a pension or compensation in any way for active military duty.
I do have that nagging feeling that he participated in the war in some way, given his age. I would love to be able to prove some sort of service for him one day, or at the very least, tease out his life story from that of the other Wilcox men in Dutchess County. It feels like a daunting task, so I have yet to take it on. And that's not the only challenge I would face in giving him his identity back.
In the book History of Lucerne County, there is a mention of brothers Crandall and Isaac Wilcox coming to the Wyoming Valley (in Pennsylvania) soon after 1772, but then escaping the Wyoming Massacre -- fleeing back home to Rhode Island. Initially, this would make sense to be this same Isaac based on timing. However, I have no record of him having a brother named Crandall. And to top it off, the name Crandall really only entered this branch of the family when Isaac married his wife Desire Crandall. They did have two sons named Crandall and Isaac Wilcox. You would think then that the story must be about those two brothers! However, then the timing and way in which the story was told would seem a tad off, as they'd only have been toddlers in 1772. At this point, anything is possible though.
And yes, one of those 5 Isaacs in Dutchess County to figure out was my 5th great grandfather's own son, Isaac Wilcox, Junior!
Comments
Post a Comment