The second revolutionary war burial in the Brush cemetery is James Vanderburgh. Like Samuel Ludington, his time in Bovina was relatively brief. James was born in 1758 in Beekman, Dutchess County, NY. In April 1776, he joined the company of Captain Durling, re-enlisting in 1777 and 1779. He was a guard over military stores in the Town of Beekman and participated in the taking of two robbers or, “cow boys as they were usually called, named Weeks and Ackerly.” They actually were British spies and were hanged at Poughkeepsie in April 1781. The whole time he was in service, as he later noted in his pension application, he did not attend to any civil pursuit, saying that “his business was solely that of a soldier…”
While in service, he found time in October 1779 to marry Jane Rosecrans. After the war, he settled in Columbia County, where he filed for his Revolutionary War pension in 1831. His pension was $40 a year.
One of the people writing to support his application wrote: “Mr. Vanderburgh is an honest & very respectable old man, all who know him feel a very deep interest in the success of his application because he is poor & meritorious. It would afford me very great pleasure to be able to take home with me a certificate that he is to be one of the recipients of his Country’s bounty and thus gladden the heart of the good old patriot.”
We don’t know when he came to Bovina but by 1840, he and his wife were living in Bovina with their son Clarence. James died later that year, as did his wife. He’s buried in the Brush cemetery, next to what is now the Bovina library, as likely is his wife, though her grave is not marked.
James Vanderburgh is my 5g grandfather. Thank you for posting a newer pic of his stone. I'd been unable to visit the cemetery. I'm desc. from his son Henry who moved to Clinton Co., OH in the early 1800's. James' family had a long history in Dutchess Co., NY. His father was a Col. during the Revolutionary War out of Dutchess Co. Geo. Washington was known to have stayed at the Vanderburgh residence (no, not a 'Geo. Washington was here' myth...lol.) From my knowledge, I would guess the author is right on that James and his wife moved to the Bovina area to spend out their last days with their son under his care.
ReplyDeleteI am the author - and thank you so much for sharing your information. We had the stone straightened up last year. And we were lucky. A tree came down a couple months later and didn't touch it. I'm now pushing to have a couple of other trees removed to be safe.
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