Sons of the American Revolution
Our founder and CEO is the 5th great-grandson of Nathaniel Babcock, a private who served in the Connecticut and Massachusetts militias during the Revolutionary War.
Nathaniel Babcock
Nathaniel Babcock was born March 26, 1765 and served in the Connecticut Militia with his father and two older brothers, Ebenezer, 48, Benjamin, 23, and Daniel, 22.
Nathaniel enlisted in April 1778 at the age of 13 and served as a private under Captain Squire-Hill and Colonel McLellan. He has an alternative birthdate listed as July 3, 1762 and it is presumed that he lied about his age in order to enlist. The official minimum age to serve at the time was 16.
In November 1779, Nathaniel enlisted again as a private in the Massachusetts Regiment under Captain Ely and Colonel Brown, and was stationed at Fort Paris in Stone Arabia, New York.
Battle of Stone Arabia
On October 19, 1780, an army of 900 Loyalist soldiers led an invasion on Stone Arabia. Colonel Brown marched his 381 militiamen to meet the enemy where they were outnumbered 3 to 1.
According to Nathaniel: “We met the enemy’s advanced guard who let us up to the center of the British force. Two men were shot by my side and I saw Col. Brown fall — this was first fire of the British from behind a log fence. We retreated to the Fort and the enemy nearly flanked us as our men were scattered.”
In total, 28 militiamen were killed and Stone Arabia was completely destroyed by the enemy. Nathaniel survived and the war ended three years later.
Houcktown Cemetery
In 1798, Nathaniel moved from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania at the age of 33. He had 9 children, including a daughter, Elizabeth — our founder’s 4th great grandmother — who was born in 1803.
In 1814 Nathaniel moved to Ohio and lived there for 25 years. On September 29, 1832, Nathaniel appeared in court to provide a sworn statement and obtain his veteran’s pension benefit. Remarkably, this documentation contains direct quotes from Nathaniel about his wartime experience.
Nathaniel died on July 4, 1839 at the age of 74, and is buried at the Houcktown Cemetery in Hancock County, Ohio. His tombstone is marked with official Sons of the American Revolution insignia.
INSPIRING AMERICAN PATRIOTISM SINCE 1889
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and teaching American history to future generations.