Back to the Fields

I have done some historical research on George Field, who was born in Pensacola, Florida in 1778 but moved at some point to New Brunswick, Canada. You may remember that the book "Pioneers of Aroostook Maine" said:

  The Field Family was one of the oldest in Aroostook, Me. George Field was born in Pensacola FL in 1778. His father died when he was young and after his mother remarried they moved to New Brunswick

Why would the family have moved all the way to New Brunswick? It probably had to do with the Spanish siege of Pensacola, which began on March 9 of 1781.

According to history.com:

After successfully capturing British positions in Louisiana and Mississippi, Spanish General Bernardo de Galvez, commander of the Spanish forces in North America, turns his attention to the British-occupied city of Pensacola, Florida, on this day in 1781. General Galvez and a Spanish naval force of more than 40 ships and 3,500 men landed at Santa Rosa Island and begin a two-month siege of British occupying forces that becomes known as the Battle of Pensacola... On the morning of May 8, 1781, the 18-year British occupation of Pensacola, Florida, ended with a British surrender. The British lost 105 men; the Spanish lost 78. An additional 198 Spaniards were wounded. Spain took 1,113 prisoners and sent 300 Britons to Georgia on the promise that they would not reenter the British military.

At the end of the Revolutionary war, the new Americans were upset  that Florida had not fought with them, so did not invite the state to join the new Union. Many loyal Britons (and probably the Field family) left the area for what is now Canada, a much more welcoming area for Loyalists. Florida did not become a territory of the United States until 1821.

We are getting pretty far back in history now. How can we push our lines back further? One help is the Daughters of the American Revolution. Founded on October 11, 1890, one of their purposes was to "perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence." Many women at that time undertook genealogy to prove that they were descendants of these valiant fighters. If we can link into one of their lines, we can push our genealogy back to the 1700's.

After doing a little more research, then going to the DAR Genealogical site, we find Zebedee Snell:

 

The red icon on his entry says that they have a list of his decendents, starting with:

 

My records show that Ruevilla Reynolds, the wife of George Oscar Field, is the granddaughter of Siemon Reynolds and Mary Snell. Someone has applied to DAR membership under the National Number 268145, along with supporting documentation. For a small fee, I can purchase copies of this documentation. If you find someone on the census that was old enough to fight for our freedom in the 1770's, check to see if their name is in the DAR database. Or, search for just the last name and see if you can find their father.

I have several Revolutionary War veterans in my line, which has helped me in my research.