Thinking about our Grandfathers and Cousins on this
respectful 2026 Day of Honorable Remembrance.
Seven related men in Six Wars.
French and Indian War
Mortally-Wounded-In-Action, Battle of Ticonderoga, 8 Jul 1758, during the disastrous British General James Abercrombie's failed frontal attack on Fort Ticonderoga at Lake Champlain, New York Province.
Died of wounds near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers while in transit back to his Dutchess County home.
Thomas is probably interred near his homeland church in Bethel Churchyard Cemetery, Pine Plains, Dutchess County, New York Province. No gravestone is presently found.
American Revolutionary War
Killed-In Action, The Battle Of Groton Heights, 6 Sep 1781.
Soldiers serving in Colonel William Ledyard's Connecticut Militia Defense at Fort Griswold, Groton, Connecticut.
Interred at Stanton-Hull Cemetery, North Stonington, Connecticut.
Gravestone inscription: “Here Inter'd are the bodies of two brothers, Sons of Capt. Phineas Stanton and Elizabeth his wife who fell with many of their friends Sept 6th, 1781 while manfully fighting for the liberty of their Country and defense of Fort Griswold. The assailants were troops commanded by that most despicable patricide, Benedict Arnold.”
American Civil War
Corporal William Moegling (a Great-Great Grandfather) – died Nov 1869.
Wounded-In-Action, The Battle Of Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland
(17 Sep 1862, a gunshot wound).
Service with General Abram Duryea's Brigade, Company H, 97th Infantry Regiment, New York State Volunteers.
National Archives official records show William's Discharge For Disability from a Belle Plains Landing Field Hospital, Virginia in February 1863. Interestingly, William's discharge papers are signed by Corps Commander Major General John F. Reynolds (he KIA at The Battle of Gettysburg 1 Jul 1863).
William's untimely death is logically at least partially military-service-connected.
William was first interred at Potter Street Cemetery, the first municipal cemetery at Utica, New York, then in 1916 was re-interred in a mass grave with about 5,000 other early settlers at Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, New York (Section 58B) when Potter Street Cemetery was totally removed and the disinterred remains buried in this presently unmarked Utica-owned mass grave.
World War I
Private Charles Ernest Covert, Company M, 107th Infantry Regiment, 1st New York Infantry, 54th Brigade, 27th Division, U.S. Army (a first cousin-1xRemoved).
Wounded-In-Action in France, battles include: Dickenbusch, Battles of the Meuse–Argonne, and The Hindenburg Line (a gas attack), et al.
U.S. Army Honorable Discharge – French overseas military service 9 May 1918–26 Dec 1918. Official records report "Wounded severely in action about 30 Oct 1918" – a head wound and documented at 40% disabled on discharge date.
U.S. Veterans Hospital, Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York, Charles' official recorded condition is "Neuropsychiatric."
Charles died while a patient and resident at the aforementioned Canandaigua VA Medical Center, where Charles has been in residence for over 25 years.
Charles is interred along side his beloved mother and our Great Grandaunt Caroline [Anderson] Covert at Oak Hill Cemetery, Herkimer, New York.
World War II
Private Mahlon Barnes Zeh, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, U.S. Army (a distant cousin).
Mortally-Wounded-In-Action February 1945, wounds suffered as his unit was combat engaged in Germany and he died 8 Feb 1945 while a patient at a Belgium Field Hospital.
Mahlon is interred at the WWII American Military Cemetery and Memorial, Henri-Chapelle, Liege, Belgium.
Vietnam War
Corporal James Richard Brink, USMC (a contemporary Second Cousin).
Enlisted U.S. Marine Corps in July 1965. Active overseas service with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force (MAF).
Killed-In-Action 14 Dec 1966, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Official records report “...a USMC Rifleman – KIA by combat enemy ground fire, remains recovered.” Military awards include The Purple Heart.
James is interred at a family burial plot, Sierra Hills Memorial Park, Sacramento, California. His family had moved from New York State to California near the time of his 1962 graduation from Charles W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville, New York. James Brink's name is inscribed at Washington DC "THE WALL" -- Panel 13E, Line 43.
Ole asked me... I paraphrase... "How did I find the information on your relative in the French and Indian War."
ReplyDeleteHere's the scoop (my reply) on Ole's Q: As a member of the genealogy group Sheldon Family Association (SFA)... SFA has tons of records and an active group with family reunions, a quarterly newsletter, etc.. The Sheldon surname goes back to five unrelated original British-North American Colonial Sheldon men... a guy named John Sheldon from England is my colonial progenitor and the records of SFA coupled with other sources allows tracing descendants from John. SFA assigns a unique number to each ID'ed person, John is SFA# S0013... my number is SFA S6032x411422... each digit following the x is a generation from S6032, and S6032 is my 4th Great Grandpa Isaac Odell (died 1840 in Schoharie County, NY). The paperwork to join SFA is fairly significant... need to prove the relationship with source records and submit proofs in what are called family group sheets. The approval trick is find someone else already SFA approved – like a great Great Grand Aunt, etc. – someone having done good early work and copy their valid family group sheets, so some of the new applicant work is already done (OBTW, the DAR, etc., membership application works like this too).
My 7th Great Grandfather Thomas Sheldon (1708-1758) is SFA # S0301 (that's 9 generations senior, and he is well documented back to John S0013). SFA hired, or perhaps accepted some volunteer research from a recognized certified genealogist (Ms. Margaret B. Jones, Ph.D.), she researched and published a 2-page document on Thomas Sheldon findings appearing in the Sheldon Family Association Quarterly Magazine, page 875. The basic defining SFA genealogical work serving as the SFA organization foundation is Rev. Henry O. Sheldon (S#5124) ... this guy traveled New England, NY, Ohio, and East Coast locations by horseback doing first-hand interviews on Sheldon descendants... much of his research gained by personal US Mail letters to various Sheldon families. The Reverend's cited publication dated 1855 is entitled “THE SHELDON MAGAZINE,” or subtitled “A Genealogical List of the Sheldons in America, with Biographical and Historical Notes and Notices of other Families with which they Intermarried, Embellished with Portraits and Facsimiles.”
This comment as originally posted of 31 May 2026 is hereby edited for typos and some new information was added.
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