Who Was John Kilbury?

 

Since America has turned 250 it's been a renewed interest in those who served during the American Revolution. I have known for most of my life that I was a descendant of a man who fought in the revolutionary war. His name was John Kilbury. (And no, that's not him in the photo above...You should all KNOW that would have been impossible.  It is  however a photo of my grandfather,  Clinton Kilbury, who is the reason I am related to John.)

I know all of this because I am a member of  the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). I joined as a young woman (perhaps even a teen I can't remember), because my mother told me I had to. Yes, I did what my mother told me I had to do. 

My mother was a member and also served as a chapter secretary because her father's sister (that would make my mother’s aunt), Bertha Kilbury Latham did all the research and became a member of the DAR. So I guess I owe a debt of gratitude to great aunt Bertha!  I never met the woman and I'm sure there are descendants of her is out there but I don't know them. So if you're reading this and you happen to be a relative of Bertha Kilbury Latham, feel free to reach out. 

Anyway, the story that have been told to me is that John had been born in United Kingdom. No one seems to know exactly where. It may be England, it may be Ireland, or it may be Scotland. Take your pick. I had been told that he served in the British armed forces. I had also been told that he fought for the British, had been captured and jailed by the Rebels (or as we know them)/ Patriots. At that point he was given a choice. Stay in jail or join the Patriots and fight for American freedom. He chose the latter. Does that make him a Patriot?

I had also been told that he left behind a wife and family in the United Kingdom. The lore continues with him settling here in America and conveniently forgetting about that family.  He married again and had several children. (The “myth” says that he gave his second set of children the same names as his first!)  Whether this is true or not I don't know. This makes for a great story but I have no proof to back it up.

I've tried to do some digging.  I'll admit that I haven't dug too hard, but a man (a relative?) 26 years posted this on Genealogy.Com “His name was John Kilbury. He was born somewhere in England or Ireland between 1725 and 1750.Of his English life I know only what has been traditionally stated. Namely that he served seven years in the British Navy and was discharged in an American Port. We know he then lived and died in the state of Vermont and he first appears in America in 1770. He had an English wife whose maiden name I don't know but her given name was Zerviah."  (What a name!)

Social media led me to a possible cousin who (in referencing my maternal grandmother's sister): "Our shared Patriot is John Kilbury, my fifth great grandfather, 1730-1820, who, when released from servitude on a British ship for seven years, landed on American soil and joined the Vermont militia."

Slightly different story...

What records do show is that John Kilbury ended up in Dummerston, VT.  Per DUMMERSTON by David Lufkin Mansfield:  "who signed the settler's call for the first town meeting in 1771, bought land of the proprietors in 1770, and settled on lot No. 23, east of Slab Hollow. He was a resident of Chesterfield, N.H., for a time, but returned to Dummerston before 1787. He married 1st, Zerviah ____ (my records say the last name might have been  Pierce); children:

John, b. Mar. 10, 1772, married Hephzibah Pierce, Feb. 14, 1799;

Richard, b. July 2, 1773, m. Bedee Baldwin, Dec. 1, 1796; Children

Robert, b. Dec. 13, 1774, __ wife's name not recorded. 

John, Sen. m. 2d, Dorcas ___, who lived to he very aged"

According to what I was able to find, John Kilbury died in 1820.  If he was born, as I have been lead to believe, in 1730, that IS a long life.  A REALLY long life.

I wish I knew more about him.  I wish I knew more about his children, particularly Richard, whose lineage eventually leads to my grandfather.  My grandfather told stories.  I recorded some of them.  Unfortunately, I recorded them on a crappy cassette and most of what is left is hiss.  I (vaguely) remember some of his stories.  I wish I could remember them all.  I wish I knew all the stories my grandfather had and the stories his father, grandfather, etc. had.  Because as boring as they might be to some, they’d be fascinating to me.

Who was John Kilbury?  Patriot?  Traitor?  How did he end up in Vermont?  (I'd think Massachusetts or New Hampshire would make more sense.) Questions that cannot be answered, but certainly are intriguing!