ISAAC
OVERTON
Patriot
Coram
ISAAC OVERTON
Isaac Overton was an American Patriot
during the Revolutionary War. His parents were David and
Anna (Hulse) Overton. Their marriage produced six
children who were David, Isaac, Anna, Abigail, John, and
James. Isaac's mother passed away after twins John and
James were born. Isaac's father David then re-married;
his second wife was Susannah (Palmer) Overton. This
marriage also produced six children: Palmer, Susannah,
Nathaniel, Messenger, Justus, and Nehemiah. All of
David's children were born in Coram. The family home was
located on what is now called David Overton Road on the
west side of Mill Road.
Isaac was born February 15, 1740 and was
first married to Anna Swezey. This marriage produced six
children by the names of Isaac, Phebe, Joel, Stephen,
Anna, and Anna. Anna Swezey Overton died on March 12,
1782. Several years after Anna's death, Isaac married his
second wife, Deborah. Rose. This marriage, however, only
produced one child, a daughter named after her mother.
By trade, Isaac Overton was a blacksmith.
He made many items for shoeing horses and
"ironing," or maintaining, wooden plows. Other
items Isaac made consisted of auger bits, hay forks,
chopping knives, hog rings, hinges and various farming
tools and hardware. The family home and blacksmith shop
were located on Mill Road towards the Yaphank mill. This
was a good location, because as many local farmers
traveled the road to bring materials to the mill, they
could also stop at Isaac's blacksmith shop. His shop was
a very busy one; his ledger grew to 200 pages between the
years 1767 and 1774.
During the Revolutionary War, Isaac was a
Patriot who was loyal to the American cause. He was a
member of the Committee of Safety which met at Coram.
This committee closely watched the actions of the local
Loyalists who supported the British. As a Patriot, Isaac
signed the Association on June 8, 1775. By doing this, he
pledged support to the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia in the struggle against England. Signing the
Association also gave Isaac the title of Esquire. On
February 20, 1776 he was appointed to Colonel Josiah
Smith's regiment. He declined the Office of Adjutant of
Colonel Smith's regiment on April 4th and was made a 2nd
Major on May 30, 1776. This part of the Long Island
Militia was sent to the eastern end of Long Island to
protect against raids by passing British ships. The local
minute men especially wanted to prevent the further
taking of cattle, an important resource.
Only a few days before the Battle of Long
Island, Isaac wrote a letter to Captain Daniel Roe, who
was stationed on Shelter Island with Isaac's two
brothers, Nathaniel and Justice. The letter, dated August
19, 1776, explains that Isaac received a letter from New
York which warned that an attack was expected on Long
Island within days or even hours. "The Tores
[Tories] begin to held up their heads," Isaac wrote
to Roe, "and he that is not for us is against
us." The letter ends with Isaac asking Captain Roe
to send him 200 pounds by return messenger for a trip
Isaac expected to make to New York. But the British
invasion and occupation of Long Island a few days later
greatly changed Isaac's plans.
By September of 1776, Isaac and other
local Patriots were forced to flee with their families to
Connecticut. The refugees from Long Island tried to take
important belongings and supplies with them, to keep them
from British hands and help them in their new locations.
Captain Peter Latimer brought some of Isaac's cattle to
New London on September 13, 1776. Records state that
Isaac traveled from Southold to New London and then to
Norwich: "in Sept. and Oct. 1776, with 10 [ten] in
the family, he was brought over by Captain John
Vail." A few months later, in January, 1777, more of
Isaac's possessions, as well as some of those belonging
to his father, David, were safely transported across the
Long Island Sound by Captain Richard Spink.
Isaac remained in Connecticut for more
than four years. On March 22, 1780, he was permitted to
go to Long Island, but only for provisions, and he
returned to Norwich. Then on February 20, 1781, Isaac
petitioned the General Assembly of Connecticut. Isaac
explained that his invalid brother, Aaron, was with him
in Connecticut, but that their father, David, had
remained on Long Island. David Overton was then nearly 80
years of age and needed Isaac's services back home. Isaac
asked the General Assembly for "leave to return with
his family of 10 persons, cattle and effects."
Permission was granted, and Isaac and his family returned
to their native Long Island to care for his father and
re-establish themselves.
Sadly, Isaac's wife, Anna Swezey Overton,
lived for less than a year after returning home. Isaac
remarried, and, according to town records, "some
time after May 7, 1797 when he served as a Trustee in the
town of Brookhaven and before the town tax list of 1799,
he bought property in Bayport, in Islip town,"
adjoining Brookhaven's western boundary. Isaac Overton
died in Bayport, New York, on January 10, 1799, little
more than a month before his 59th birthday. He was buried
in the Old Baptist Cemetery in Coram.
Written by,
Brendan Bailey
June, 2001