The pursuit of historical knowledge often leads to unexpected places. While searching for the middleton place restaurant menu, an entirely different history emerges. This article anchors on a detailed review of figures from the American Revolutionary War. These individuals—patriots, loyalists, soldiers, and citizens—are permanently linked by their final resting place in Green-Wood Cemetery. Their biographies reveal the complex, layered reality of colonial life, marked by intense political divisions, pivotal Continental Army service, and the evolution of New York colonial families.
The Crucible of Conflict: New York’s Divided Loyalties
The American Revolution was a civil war that deeply split families and communities, particularly in New York. The city and its surrounding areas, with deep Dutch roots, saw fierce debate over allegiance. Power shifted rapidly between patriot committees and British occupiers.
New York City’s Patriot Leadership: The Committee Men
The Revolutionary movement in New York relied heavily on merchants and influential citizens. Many joined groups like the Committee of 60 and the Committee of 100, stepping in as a de facto government. Gerardus Duyckinck, a merchant and painter, was active in both committees. He later provided supplies to the cause, a quiet but essential service. Robert Ray also served on the powerful Committee of 100, helping to enforce boycotts against British goods.
Elias Nexsen, a prominent merchant, showed his zeal by helping to remove cannons from the Battery. He risked his life under British fire during this mission. Nexsen later held the key role of Port Master of New York under the Provincial Congress. George Janeway, a prominent radical, served in the militia and helped lead the Procession on Evacuation Day. Robert Benson, a brewer and Sons of Liberty member, was secretary to the Provincial Congress. He later served as Lieutenant Colonel and aide-de-camp to Governor George Clinton. Thomas Ivers, a rope maker, was equally dedicated, serving on the Committee of 60 and later supplying the Continental Army.
The Loyalist Merchant Class and Ambiguous Alignments
Not all prominent New Yorkers supported the Patriot cause. Many merchants, including William Aymar and John D. Aymar, remained loyal to the British Crown. They signed addresses supporting the British commanders. After the war, many loyalists fled to Canada, resettling in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Whitehead Cornell, a butcher who owned land in Brooklyn, became a contractor supplying meat to the British fleet. His in-laws, the Sebrings, were Whigs, demonstrating the fractured loyalties within the same family. Local militia members like Tunis Bergen and Jacob Martin Ryerson also displayed fluid allegiances. They initially joined the patriot side but later signed oaths of allegiance to the King when the British occupied Kings County. These shifts reflect the immense pressure of living under martial law.
Portrait of Loyalist William Aymar's first cousin, John D. Aymar, whose family also supported the British.
Continental Heroes and Battles of the Line
The long, grueling fight for independence hinged on the fortitude of Continental Army soldiers and officers. Figures from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York served in the thick of the fiercest engagements.
Officers in Washington’s Inner Circle
Service as an aide-de-camp placed officers in close proximity to the highest command. William Smith Livingston, known as “Fighting Bill,” served as aide to both Lord Sterling and General Nathanael Greene. He was wounded at the Battle of Princeton and was captured and imprisoned at Fort Montgomery. Robert Troup, a roommate of Alexander Hamilton at King’s College, was also captured early in the war during the Battle of Brooklyn. He later served with distinction as an aide to General Horatio Gates at the Battle of Saratoga.
Major Bezaleel Howe was a trusted officer in the First New Hampshire Regiment. He was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine and spent the devastating winter at Valley Forge. Later, he served as commander of George Washington’s personal Life Guards. After the war, Washington specifically entrusted him to escort his personal papers and possessions back to Mount Vernon.
Portrait of Major Bezaleel Howe, Commander of Washington's Life Guards
Soldiers on the Front Lines: From Artillery to Infantry
Lower-ranking soldiers bore the brunt of the war’s combat and hardships. Matthew William Bird served in the artillery, taking part in the Siege of Boston. He was captured during the Battle of Long Island and imprisoned in the notorious Rhinelander Sugar House. Peter Vincent Tilyou, a private in the New Jersey Line, fought at the battles of Monmouth and Elizabethtown. He is credited with raising the American colors in New York City after the British evacuation.
Henry Gibson, one of Washington’s last surviving Life Guards, fought at White Plains, Brandywine, and Monmouth. His stories, recalled almost 70 years later, became valuable anecdotes of the war’s reality. John Greenwood, an infantryman and fifer, similarly saw action at Bunker Hill and Trenton. His post-war career earned him fame as George Washington’s favorite dentist.
The Massachusetts and Connecticut Contribution
Massachusetts soldiers were some of the first to respond to the alarm at Lexington and Concord. Major Solomon Allen of the Berkshire Militia fought at the Battle of Bennington. He was later involved in the investigation of Benedict Arnold’s treason. John Fellows volunteered to serve at age fifteen, arriving in Cambridge before the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Joseph Howland, a privateer and merchant from Norwich, Connecticut, helped fund the war effort. He later served in both Parsons’s and McClellan’s Connecticut regiments. Caleb Lyon served as an armourer, maintaining and repairing the small arms necessary for combat. He participated in both the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of White Plains.
Portrait of Revolutionary War figure Joseph Howland, a merchant and privateer who helped finance the cause.
From Battlefields to Boardrooms: Post-War Life
After the Treaty of Paris, many former military figures leveraged their connections and experience to shape the new nation. Their post-war careers spanned law, politics, and the burgeoning world of finance and commerce.
Judicial and Political Architects
Several veterans played a direct role in founding and governing the new republic. William Livingston was a delegate to the Continental Congresses and the first Governor of New Jersey. He was a key figure who signed the U.S. Constitution. His son, Henry Brockholst Livingston, became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Joshua Sands, a Captain in the Continental Army, was later appointed Collector of the Port of New York by President John Adams. He also served two terms in the U.S. Congress, demonstrating a commitment to continued public service. Joel Thompson, a sergeant major in the New York Militia, practiced law and was elected to the Thirteenth U.S. Congress. He also served as a county judge.
Commerce, Finance, and Entrepreneurship
The war’s end opened new avenues for trade and economic growth. Nicholas Low, who provided arms and allowed his ships to be used as privateers, became one of New York City’s largest landowners and a major figure in its commercial life. He helped found the Bank of New York. John Delafield arrived in New York just as the war ended, bringing with him a copy of the provisional treaty. He was one of New York’s wealthiest merchants and an original director of the Mutual Insurance Company.
Robert Remsen Jr., a merchant who fled New York during the British occupation, returned to rebuild his business. He assisted the state treasury in auditing financial claims arising from the war. James Maury Jr., who helped provision captured Patriot soldiers, became the first U.S. Consul to Liverpool, England, serving under the first six presidents.
A circa 1815 portrait of Major Solomon Allen, who went on to become an itinerant preacher after his military career.
The Social and Domestic Landscape
Beyond the official records of military and political life, these biographies illuminate the complex social dynamics of the Revolutionary era, including the roles of women and the troubling prevalence of slavery.
Women on the Homefront and Pioneers
Women played crucial, active roles, often at great personal risk. Susannah French Livingston, wife of the New Jersey Governor, was the state’s first First Lady. She and her daughters endured the occupation of their home by Hessians and contributed actively to the Ladies of Trenton, which raised money for Continental soldiers.
Margaret Amy Whetten, deemed a “Heroine of the American Revolution,” used her fluency in the Dutch dialect of the Hessian troops to protect her neighbors’ property. She also risked imprisonment by using her New York City home as a safe house for American spies. Later, George Washington personally thanked her for her service. Elizabeth F. Ellet, a writer and historian, chronicled these efforts in her work, The Women of the American Revolution (1848). This book was groundbreaking, providing virtually the only published material on the role of women during the conflict.
Portrait of writer and historian Elizabeth F. Ellet, who first chronicled the role of women in the Revolution.
The Enduring Dutch Legacy and Local Allegiance
The history of Brooklyn, in particular, is interwoven with Dutch colonial families like the Suydams, Vanderbilts, and Wyckoffs. Many members of the Kings County Troop of Horse, including Quartermaster Peter Johannes Wyckoff and Captain Lambert Suydam, were Dutch descendants. Their initial patriot support gave way to pragmatic loyalty oaths to the British during occupation, necessary to preserve their homes and livelihoods.
Reverend Martinus Schoonmaker, pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church of Gravesend, was a known patriot. He ministered entirely in Dutch and only narrowly avoided capture by the British, who suspected him of being a spy. John Van Vorhis, a private in the Dutchess County Militia, also came from this rich Dutch heritage.
The Paradox of Slavery in the Fight for Freedom
The pursuit of American freedom existed alongside the deeply entrenched institution of slavery. Many prominent figures in these sketches, both patriot and loyalist, owned or traded enslaved people. Abraham Lott, George Janeway, and Jeremiah Vanderbilt all listed enslaved persons in their household or estate records. John Valentine Swertcope, a former Hessian armorer, was known to have enslaved a woman named Peggy.
Jacob Cowenhoven, a Continental Army Captain, was involved in agreements to pay a debt through the work of an enslaved man. Peter Johannes Wyckoff listed four enslaved people in his 1820 census. The final emancipation of enslaved people in New York State did not occur until 1827, years after most of these figures had died, leaving behind a complex and challenging legacy for the new nation they helped create.
Engraving showing Robert Benson reading the first New York State Constitution in 1777, signed during the war.
Their Final Chapters: The Great Removal to Green-Wood
A recurring theme unites many of these figures: their reinterment at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Originally buried in churchyards, private family plots, or vaults, their remains were moved in the mid-19th century as New York City urbanized. This movement was a massive undertaking, reflecting a new Victorian reverence for history and the dead. Patriot leaders like Robert Benson and Henry Rutgers, along with figures like John Greenwood and Samuel Osgood, were moved to the Dutch Reformed Church vault or large family plots. The relocation ensured that their stories, once scattered across Manhattan and Long Island, would be preserved in perpetuity in this grand necropolis. This final journey cemented their shared identity as founders, heroes, and complicated figures of the American beginning.
The historical record offers a tapestry far richer than any single narrative. This detailed review of Revolutionary War figures uncovers complex truths about divided loyalties and the nature of colonial sacrifice. Their lives speak to the enduring American spirit of resilience. Research into their histories continues to deepen our appreciation for the nuanced past, a much more compelling search than finding the middleton place restaurant menu.
Last Updated on November 29, 2025 by Alex Cesaria
Alex Cesaria is the creative force behind Nomad Girl, an all-day café and ristorante with a signature Milanese flair located in the heart of Nomad, New York City. With years of experience in the hospitality industry, Alex blends refined Italian sensibilities with New York’s energetic dining culture to create a place that feels both elegant and welcoming.