Which ancestor was born on this date?

Jacob Granger, 1735-1795, my fifth great grandfather.

I'm glad to find someone who experienced that British calendar change in 1752. It was when England and North America finally changed to the Gregorian calendar (and added leap years.)  The Catholic countries of Europe (and their overseas possessions) had changed from the Julian calendar back in 1582, but England and Greece were not willing to do so.  Greece was the last European country to leave Julian behind in 1923.

A whole 11 days were skipped in Sept. New Year changed from April 5 to January 1.  So the year 1751 had only 282 days, though the months and day of the week remained the same. Wednesday, 2 September 1752, was followed by Thursday, 14 September 1752. 

Anything done, any children born, had strange shortened years of their lives... I find this fascinating.  Think of a woman who was expecting a baby...the dates just sifted around, but her term continued to be the same.  The tax collectors and churches had some interesting times as well.

Jacob Granger was father to Joseph Granger, b Dec 7, 1765 in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts, and who died Mar 21 1847 in Newburyport, Essex Co, MA.  Joseph's son, George Tyler Granger (1804-1870)...was the pioneering spirit who moved to Texas from Newburyport.

Jacob Granger was born Aug 7, 1735 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, and died on Feb 4 1795 in the same town. He married Sarah Farnam 4 Jan 1757. They had 8 children that I know of, (all born after 1752). His occupation on his probate document, following his death, is that of Yeoman. (In the United States, yeomen were identified in the 18th and 19th centuries as non-slaveholding, small landowning, family farmers.)

He is listed on the Revolutionary War Rolls of Fort Clinton, Nov. 16, 1778, as having served as a private for one month. He served that month under Capt. Davis Whittier.  I don't know much about the war history, so hope someone else can give me information about his service.

  
His widow Sarah Farnam Granger outlived him, and eventually was buried next to him in 1806.

Like many people in this cemetery, there's a marker attesting to Jacob having served his country during the Revolutionary War.  

His wife was Sarah Farnam Granger, whose stone is next to his.  I found the design on the tombstone interesting and wonder what meaning it might have.  It is great to see a cemetery that is this well cared for.

John Cannon served for/assignee of John Ellis

The document (original written one, photo in my last post HERE) about John Cannon serving in the Revolutionary War as assignee of John Ellis stayed in my mind for a day or two.  An assignee is apparently a person who can legally stand in for another...thus Cannon served in the militia instead of this John Ellis. Did he not fight at all?

How could I find out more about this John Ellis, in the North Carolina line?  I did a search through Ancestry's files, and sure enough, the document which I discarded with John Cannon's name listed, came up again. John Cannon is listed in Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774.

 Pg. 678 is on the photo of this microfilm, of which there are1276 pages and this is the 708th. I don't know source of the document this is from, but it's part of the Ancestry collection.

So I've put it back into grandpa Cannon's file (my great times 5 grandfather) and have thought to myself, "either the idea that these men were fighting in the 1750s is wrong, or John Cannon could have been fighting when he was a teen, if born in 1744."

But since the 100 acres of land were given to soldiers of the Revolutionary War (instead of their pay which the newly formed US country didn't have) and in 1796, Oct 11, John Cannon received a warrant for his, it is possible he also fought again later than the 1750s.

So let's at least go back a few pages and see if there's a heading for this list, of which John Cannon is soldier number 58.

This list is of Captain Nathaniel Bradford's Company...

I did find a great list of Captains who served in the Revolutionary War. It gave me this information:

"John Ellis, was Captain in the Bladen County Regiment, under Col. Thomas Brown, dates unknown."  Source: /NC/Revolution/nc_patriot_military_captains.html

But I don't know  how these 2 men might be connected such that John Cannon would have been listed as "assignee of John Ellis" in the late war (ie, Revolutionary War.)

But I did finally find a photo of a document verifying one man named John Ellis was a private in North Carolina, in the Revolutionary War.

1782 the top line shows John Ellis served as pvt. in 10th regiment. This document is in US Revolutionary War Rolls, North Carolina, 01st Regiment, 1775-1783 (Folder 1) - Various Organizations (Folder 23)

 I'm sharing this with Sepia Saturday this week, though a bit late. It's a fun pursuit, and I keep changing what I think about these men.  Who knows what my next discovery will be...