Saluting my patriot ancestry

I have often written of my third great-grandfather, Capt. Peter Daly, an Irish-born soldier in the British army during the American Revolution who settled in Canada after the war. I’ve known Captain Daly’s story since childhood, as it was told me in letters from elderly aunts in Ontario, and long been proud of his loyalty to his homeland.

Researching my ancestry in later years, though, I have come across a number of grandfathers who fought opposite my loyalist grandfather. This Independence Day I proudly salute my patriot ancestors, both as a distant grandson and as a fellow veteran of service to these United States.

Those I found include:

• Colonel Issac Cox, 6th ggf, of Virginia, later killed by Indians.

• Captain John Cox, 9th ggf, from Pennsylvania.

• Private Thomas W. Piety, 5th ggf, of the Virginia state militia.

• Private James Russell, 6th ggf, of Wake County, North Carolina.

• Dr. William Hooker Lee, 3rd ggf, of Connecticut.

• Phillip Lear, 3rd ggf, Pennsylvania.

I’ve no doubt I’ve overlooked the service of others. Family trees have many branches. As I peruse those branches I note, too, many veterans of later wars, from 1812 to today. I also note many familiar surnames, such as Lee, Smith, Cox, Booth, Gower, Schmidt and others, leaving me to ponder possible connections to local families today.

Those possible connections aside, I’m sure my short list of Revolutionary War ancestors is hardly unique, and that’s kind of the point — almost all of us have direct ties to our patriot ancestors. Who we are and where we are today is because of who we were just 250 years ago.

For all its faults, ours is still the greatest country in the world — ours to love and preserve just as our ancestors did. May we never shrink from that heritage and duty.

Copyright 2024, James E. Hamilton; email jhamilton000@centurytel.net. Read more of his works in Ozarks RFD 2010-2015, available online from Amazon or from the author.