James Emery, Acton Revolutionary War Soldier

Revolutionary War Soldiers Remembered Belatedly, Part 2

Research for our previous blog post on Revolutionary War soldier Isaac Ramsdell led us to a list of men recruited for service in the company of Capt. Wilbur Hudson Ballard (General Nixon’s Brigade, Col. Ichabod Alden) that included Acton soldiers Stephen Shepard and James Emery.  The document stated that James Emery was killed in service on Oct. 8, 1777.  We were very surprised to discover a second Acton resident who had died in service but was not on Rev. Woodbury’s list of local Revolutionary War soldiers and was not mentioned in our local histories. 

Unlike Isaac Ramsdell whose early life is still unknown to us, James Emery had clear Acton roots.  James’ grandfather Zacariah was mentioned in some of the earliest town meeting records.  (Though he is said to have lived in Chelmsford, he must have lived in Acton in some of those years, as he was chosen as highway surveyor, constable, and committeman in several town meetings).  James’s father John was born in Chelmsford but settled in Acton on land owned by Zechariah.  John appears in town meeting records starting in the 1750s.  He served as highway surveyor and constable for the town.  John and Mary Emery had a large family, most of whom show up in Acton vital records:

• Mary, born May 4, 1746, died Feb. 12, 1750
• Samuel, born Feb. 9, 1748-9, died April 20, 1754
• Elizabeth, born Dec. 25, 1749
• Mary, born Nov. 20, 1751
• John, born Nov. 20, 1753
• Samuel, born Feb. 9, 1755
• James, born March 13, 1756
• Joseph, born Aug. 3, 1757
• Noah, born March 25, 1759, died Feb. 8, 1760

Other children mentioned in a later genealogy of the family (Skowhegan on the Kennebec) were:

• Lucy, born June 13, 1760
• Sarah, born about April 8, 1761
• Two Abels who died young.

John Emery, James’ father, was listed as a member of Acton’s Alarm Company #2 in 1757, doing militia duty at the time of the French & Indian war.  (There does not seem to be a record of his going to Canada during that time.)  By the mid-1770s, the political sympathies of the Emery are quite clear.  James’ brother Joseph was on the 1774 sign-up sheet of Acton men who formed a militia company under Captain Joseph Robbins, thinking themselves “ignorant under the Military Art and Willing to be Instructed.”  John Emery appeared on Captain Joseph Robbins’ list of men who were under his command on May 15, 1775 and for the year 1776.  (It is unclear from Captain Robbins’ list whether John Sr. or Jr. is on the list, or both.  John Emery is the only name that shows up twice.  It is possible that both father and son were meant, without specifying a “Jr.”, or that John Jr. did two different stints, or perhaps a different Emery was meant.  Depending on the source, John Sr. is either credited with Revolutionary War service or not.)

Fortunately, James Emery and his brothers did show up in other records.  The compendium Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War has three entries for James.  In one, a “James Emery, Concord,” was listed as “Private, Capt. Asahel Wheeler’s co., Col. John Robinson’s regt.; marched Feb. 4 [year not given, probably 1776]; service 1 mo. 28 days.”  Given that he was assigned a town of Concord, this might seem to be a different James, but similar entries involve his brothers.  John Emery, “Acton (also given Concord)” and Samuel Emery were credited with the same service.  Acton’s John Oliver also served in that company and testified in his pension application that he was stationed in Cambridge at “the colleges” during that period. 

Another entry for James Emery came from a “List of men raised to serve in the Continental Army from Capt. Simon Hunt’s co., Col. Eleazer Brooks’s regt.,” dated Acton, Sept. 5, 1777.  Simon Hunt mentioned:

• Emory, James: residence, Acton, engaged for town of Acton, joined Capt. Parker’s co., Col. Allden’s regt.; term 3 years.  Colonel (Ichabod) Alden’s Regiment was the original name of the 7th Massachusetts Regiment.
• Emory, John: engaged for town of Acton; joined Capt. Toogood’s co., Col. Nixen’s regt. (also known as the 6th Massachusetts Regiment or the 4th Continental Regiment); term 3 years or during war.
• Emory, Samuel: engaged for town of Acton; joined Capt. Toogood’s co., Col. Nixen’s regt.; term 3 years or during war; reported also returned by Concord.

The title of Simon Hunt’s list implies that all three men served at some point in Simon Hunt’s company, although we have found no other information about that service and have not seen an original or scanned copy of that list.  The Massachusetts Line went through various reorganizations as the war progressed.  During 1777, there was a great deal of organizational change and a focus on much-needed, longer-term enlistments.  Records can be confusing as a result.  Pay and muster records state that James Emory of Acton enlisted on April 14, 1777 for a period of 3 years.  He served as a private in Capt. William Hudson Ballard’s co., Col. Alden’s (sometimes written Brooks’) regiment, joining the company on July 2.  The regiment was assigned to the Northern Department and was at Saratoga.  James, John and Samuel’s regiments were not involved in the first Saratoga battle but were in the second on Oct. 7, serving as part of Brigadier-General John Nixon’s Brigade under Major-General Benjamin Lincoln.  Both the 6th Mass Regiment and the 7th took part in storming Breymann Redoubt (also known as Breymann's Fortified Camp) in that battle.  Though the evidence is less clear, James’s younger brother Joseph seems to have enlisted in one of the shorter-term militia units that came to support the right wing at second battle of Saratoga as well.

A return of men recruited for US service by Captain Wilbur Hudson Ballard (listed as Nixon’s Brigade, Colonel Alden) specifies that James Emery was killed on Oct. 8, 1777.  (There was a clear distinction between men who were “killed” on Oct. 7-8 and others listed as “died” at other times.)  Given that the second Saratoga battle took place on Oct. 7, either James was unlucky enough to be involved in late action, or injuries that he received in the fighting the day before proved fatal.  He was 21 years old.

After serving in the Revolution, James’ brothers John, Samuel, and Joseph and James’ brother-in-law Jonathan Davis (husband of Elizabeth), along with John Emery Sr., moved to Canaan, Maine and farmed near each other.  James’ three other sisters married and settled in Maine.  Three out of his four sisters’ husbands served in the Revolution.  The family became actively involved in their new community, and local histories mention their Revolutionary War service.
Back in Acton, when Reverend Woodbury made up his list of Revolutionary War soldiers, he omitted all of the Emerys.  Perhaps no one was left in town who remembered them, or perhaps they were no longer considered “Acton,” because John Sr.’s land had become part of the new town of Carlisle in the intervening decades.  Whatever happened later, James Emery was born in Acton, was counted as an Acton recruit, and died an Acton resident.  Acton should remember his service.

Sources Consulted:

• Acton, MA: Early Town Meeting Records, Vital Records.
• Coburn, Louise H.  Skowhegan on the Kennebec.  Skowhegan, Maine: The Independent-Reporter Press (printer), 1941.
• Fletcher, James.  Acton in History.  Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1890
• Hanson, J. W.  History of the Old Towns of Norridgewock and Canaan.  Self-published.  Boston: 1849.
• Husbands, Charles R.  History of the Acton Minutemen and Militia Companies.  Acton, MA, 2003.
• National Park Service.  The Decisive Moment – 7- Breymann Redoubt.  Accessed June 3, 2024.
• Phelan, Harold R. History of the Town of Acton.  Cambridge, Mass.: Middlesex Printing, 1954.
• Secretary of the Commonwealth.  Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War.  Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 1899.  Emery (and variations):  Volume 5. 
• Snell, Charles W. A Report on the Organization and Numbers of Gates Army, September 19, October 7, and October 17, 1777, including an Appendix with Regimental Data and Notes. National Park Service, 1951.
• Weddle, Kevin J. The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Scans online:

• Recruiting Account, Capt. William H. Ballard, Col. Alden’s 7th Mass. Reg:  Return of Men Recruited for the Service of the United States of America by Captain Willm Hudson Ballard Officer of General Nixons Brigade, Colonel Ichabod Alden Regiment from Massachusetts Bay. 
  
• A Copy of Ration Money Drawn in Captain __ Company of Boston in  x year 1777 & paid out __ (folded card blocked part of the title when scanned)
• Return of Subsistence due and Drawn by the Men of Capt. William Hudson Ballard’s Company.

---