John Britton,
Revolutionary War Patriot

John BRITTON is believed to have been born on Long Island, New York, in 1755.  (His obituary states that he was “a native of Somerset Co., NJ.”)  He enlisted as a Private, October 1775, at Kingston, New Jersey, and was discharged at Ticonderoga, New York, October 1776.  He served in the company of Captain John Polhemus (Captain of the 4^th Company, 1^st Battalion, “Jersey Line”) of the New Jersey Continental Line (First New Jersey Regiment of 1775) under the command of Lord Stirling (William Alexander) and Lieutenant Colonel William Winds.  Following his enlistment with the Continental Troops, he re-enlisted as a Private in the 2^nd Regiment of the Somerset County (New Jersey) Militia, commanded by Captain James Moore.  In 1819, at Niagara County, New York, he applied for and received an Invalid’s Pension for his service (S34669).  (John had a brother James, who also was a Revolutionary War soldier and Pensioner (S12293), having served as a Private in the 1^st Regiment of the Hunterdon County (New Jersey) Militia.)

John was married twice, first to Isabel RICE, who is believed to have been born at Dublin, Ireland.  His second wife was Mrs. Lydia Pitts HARRIS, widow of Asa Harris IV.  At some point, he left New York and traveled through Pennsylvania, residing at Gettysburg, and subsequently moving to Clarence, Niagara County (now Erie County), New York.  It was at Clarence where Isabel died in 1809, and where he married Mrs. Harris about five years later.  In 1843, they removed to Atlas, Genesee County, Michigan, where he desired to live near his children, and where he remained until the end of his life, May 20, 1846.  (It appears that his wife, Lydia, returned to Niagara County, New York, following his death, as she is living in the household of  Thomas Armstrong at Newfane in 1850.)  He and Isabel had three daughters and three sons, one of whom was our Great, Great, Great Grandfather, William.  William married a Margaret SHUMAN.  They had five children of whom their only (?) son John married Sophia BLOCHER (also from Clarence, New York).  John and Sophia had at least one son, William Mathias BRITTEN, and as far as can be discerned from the 1860 Genesee County, Michigan, Census, a daughter Clara.  William Mathias moved to southwestern Missouri where he married Ida Atlanta BUTLER.  They had six children, the eldest of whom was our grandmother, Neva May BRITTEN.

John Britton Grave Re-dedication Service, Sunday, June 11, 2006, Atlas township, Goodrich, Genesee County, Michigan.