to secrecy as they informed who they all before, and further his deponent sayeth not. (Sourced to this website.)

Public sentiment among the colonists grew overwhelmingly in favor of "The Black Boys." As stated here,When the drama of the Revolution opened, these same "Black Boys" stood up manfully for the cause of American freedom, and nobly assisted in achieving, on many a hard-fought battlefield, the independence of our country.

He was the son of David Shion and Mary Williams, immigrants to Delaware Colony from Wales.

Jesse enlisted in the Revolutionary War at Baltimore, MD in the summer of 1776, and as was the practice for the voluntary army made up overwhelmingly of farmers, served his multiple week tours of duty until the summer of 1781. (Sourced to his descendant's application formembership in the Sons of the American Revolution, at this link.) Note - paywall for the link.

History of the Town of Bernardston, Franklin County, Massachusetts. 1736 - 1900 by Lucy Jane Cutler Kellogg (publ. E A Hall and Company, 1902) describes Joel Chapin as one of the members of the "committee of inspection" established on 30 Jan 1775, "when war was an almost assured event" in colonial Massachusetts. Although I have been unable to turn up his service record, Joel must have served because his gravestone in Old Cemetery, Bernardston, Franklin Co., MA says he was Lieut. Joel Chapin.

I have occasionally mentioned frequently whined about my great grandmother Maxie Leah Meek's failure to label so many of the wonderful photos in her photo album.

As I initially paged through