It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it. ~ George Washington
Almost a year ago, I wrote about the family tree frustrations I was going through, particularly the issues that I had been having trying to track down and sort out various branches of the Moseman family tree.
My chief frustrations lay around the tantalizing prospect that the Revolutionary War Captain, Marcus Moseman, of the Westchester County Militia, 2nd Regiment, may have been a direct ancestor of mine. The earliest known Moseman ancestor in my tree was one “Elisha Moseman”. Elisha’s birth year established the distinct possibility that he could be the son of the Captain, but proof of this relationship was eluding me.
I should probably stop here and explain that I am not only a part-time genealogist; I am also a bona fide history fanatic. Go ahead and say it, you won’t hurt my feelings - I am a history nerd. I love history in general, but ever since I was a child I’ve been somewhat obsessed with American history, particularly American colonial history. In retrospect it seems to me that perhaps I was predestined to uncover this part of the past as it relates to me.
Fast forward to December, 2007. I was killing time with one of those endless Google searches that I do on family names, when no other clues to the puzzle seem to present themselves. I found a web query that was recently posted by a man who was also researching the Moseman family of Westchester County. I looked up the man’s family tree file posted on the Ancestry website, and found that his Moseman family tree not only went all the way back to Marcus, but it also showed that Elisha was indeed one of Marcus’ many children!
It was a real shock to me to be confronted with this information. I had spent years, literally, looking for a family connection to Captain Marcus Moseman, and here it was, complete with names and dates in a database. It was one of those moments that stop you cold, dead in your tracks. I could, finally, in a clear lineal descent, march my way down the chart, from my grandmother, born in 1909, to Captain Moseman, born in 1748.
Here’s the basic path:
Augusta Wilhemenia Moseman (my grandmother)
Nathaniel Green van Buren Moseman
Willett William Moseman
George Washington Moseman
Albertson Moseman
Elisha Moseman
Captain Marcus Moseman
I’ve been trying to imagine what Marcus’ world would have been like, and what issues he might have been confronted with. He would have only been 28 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed; a man in the prime of his life, with a wife and five children to provide for. What implications would the signing of the Declaration have had for him? Was it clear to him that in a short time he would be required to take up arms and defend his home and his family? And did he foresee that beyond being a militia “Minuteman” that he would ultimately serve in the fledgling Continental Army, and later be taken as a British prisoner of war?
It’s difficult for me to perceive the drastic change in Marcus’ circumstances; normality one moment, chaos the next. Historically speaking, Westchester County during the American Revolution was the picture of chaos.
In 1776, George Washington’s troops retreated through Westchester after their defeat on Long Island. Washington’s main headquarters was at Continental Village, just north of Peekskill. The British established their headquarters in New York City. Westchester County became the “neutral ground” between the two camps.
As serene as the words “neutral ground” may seem, for the inhabitants of Westchester County it was anything but. For the entire course of the war, the citizens of Westchester were subject to raiding, pillaging and mayhem by both the British and the American camps. For Westchester, the American Revolution was truly the first “civil war” – families with divided loyalties were literally split apart by the terrible circumstances.
I don’t yet have much information regarding Marcus Moseman’s military service. I do know that he is listed on the muster rolls of both the Westchester County Militia, and later the Continental Army. He is shown to have been a prisoner of war, from November 20, 1780, to April 18th, 1781.
But I digress.
Having discovered this direct link between Elisha and Marcus, the next important step was to try to establish whether or not the information that I had found was actually correct. I needed to find any source files that might exist to support the family connections. My single-mindedness in this endeavor has revolved around a sole purpose: to gather enough evidence to be able to join the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Side note: I have no great interest in tea parties or white-glove meetings; my interest in the DAR is simple - as a fanatical closet historian, to find that I have a Revolutionary War patriot in my lineage is just plain cool. I want to celebrate it. I would feel the same if I found a Civil War veteran in the family tree, just as I feel the same pride in my Dad’s military service during World War II. I suppose I love my country, and I’m proud of its heritage, as unfashionable as that may be to admit in 2007.
As of this writing I am close to having all of my DAR documents in order. Some other blessed soul, back in the 1940’s or ‘50’s, helped pave the way for me. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was also descended from Marcus, all the way through George Washington Moseman, my 3rd great-grandfather. DAR rules allow me to “piggyback” my application on to Elizabeth’s. Apparently Elizabeth was able to satisfactorily prove the links from George, to Albertson, to Elisha, to Marcus, leaving me with much fewer vital records to track down. Thanks, Elizabeth! I don’t know what joining the DAR meant to you, but I’m glad you did it.
I’ll be a little bit sad when I finally finish gathering all of the documents that I’ll need for DAR membership. I’ve really enjoyed the journey. Fortunately, I have a lot of other patriots lurking in different branches of the family tree, who also will need investigating. Have I told you about Israel Greene? As in, possibly the cousin of George Washington’s trusted general, Nathanael Greene?
Stay tuned!






