--Independence Day and American Patriots--

It is Independence Day and I can't help but to recall the wonderful family gatherings we had on this day as a child.  My parents and the five of us younger kids would often find ourselves at Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bob Wetzel's for a day of picnicking and game playing.  Particularly vivid is 1976 and the Bicentennial.  I remember being glued to the television to witness the celebrations that where happening around the country, Valley Forge, Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York.  Remembering the wagon train that set out from each state to head to Valley Forge--the organizers from Michigan had stopped at my elementary school and had all of us sign our names on a long scroll that they would take with them, so our names would be present at the celebration. Above is an image of President Gerald R. Ford, also a Michiganian, at Valley Forge that day.

Since that time, I have learned the names of 12 of my ancestors that fought on the side of Independence during the American Revolution.  So today, I would like to pause and honor these patriots: 

• Elihu Allen of  Vermont, Captain Nathaniel Smiths Company and Captain James Brookings Company.

• Andrew Balsley of New York, Captain Robert McKeans Company. 

• John Bees(e) of New Jersey, Captain William Bond's Company. 

• Edward Slocum Burling of New York, “Fighting Quaker Slocum Burling” of the Westchester County Malitia. 

• Gideon Dunham of Connecticut, 5th Connecticut Line.

• Nathaniel Grinnell of Rhode Island, Captain Daniel Vaughn's Company.

• Thomas Galusha of New York and Massachusetts, Captain Eleaser Curtiss Company, Captain Isaac Bostick's Company, and Captain John Warner's Company. 

• Levi Hickox of Massachusetts, Captain Lebbeus Ball’s Company. 

           

• Eldad Holcomb of Massachusetts, Captain Samuel Thrall's Company.

• Alexander McCreery of New York, Captain Humphrey's Company.

• Jeremiah Reams [see also REEMS] of North Carolina, Colonel Allen Jones Regimen

• Josiah Risdon of Vermont, Captain Nathaniel Smith's Company and Captain Tehan Noble's Company.

           

Discovery of Sarah Ann Galusha Young's Maiden Name!

For a long time I have been unclear as to the maiden name of my great-great-great grandmother Sarah Ann Galusha Young. The mystery has been resolved, at least in my mind. For over twenty years, I have referred to notes shared with me by an long gone uncle who provided me with the surname of Kelly for Sarah. Since then I have been looking for some document to verify the Kelly surname. Then when I found my gggrandmother, Ida Jane Galusha Hagaman's death certificate from 1939 sure enought it had her mother named as Sarah Kelly. Not long ago, I discovered that Sarah had also had a son named George A. Galusha who died in 1903 in Waterloo Township, Jackson County, Michigan. His death certificate gives his mothers name as Sarah Sweet. OK, someone was wrong here!

Today, while searching for documents related to Sarah's first husband Giles Galusha on Fold3, I think I have found the answer. Giles Galusha died while he was serving as a volunteer during the Civil War. Pension records that are posted on Fold3 confirm that Sarah's maiden name was Sweet. In fact, the records include so much more, they were married on 17 Sept 1851 in Woodstock Township, Lenawee County, Michigan by Rev. Henry Eastman, a Presbyterian clergymen. What a great discovery!

Giles Galusha (c1826-1865) & Sarah Ann Sweet (1833-1879) were the parents of at least 3 children:

1) Mary Galusha (sometimes Mariaetta or Mary Etta) (1852-after 1920)

wife of Amos White of Cement City, Jackson County, Michigan.

2) Ida Jane Galusha (1856-1939)

wife of George Henry Hagaman, who lived in Liberty, Leoni and Grass Lake Townships in Jackson County, Michigan.

3) George Alanson Galusha (1860-1903)

husband of Anna, who lived in Grass Lake and Waterloo Townships in Jackson, County, Michigan.

Giles Galusha died on 4 Jan 1865 in a soldiers hospital in Murfreesboro, TN and is buried in the Stones River National Cemetery.

Sarah Sweet Galusha remarried after the death of her first husband to Isaac S. Young. Sarah died in Somerset, Hillsdale County, Michigan on 19 Jan 1879 and is buried at the Somerset Center Cemetery.