Bucklins, Rehoboth Minute Men, and the start of the Revolutionary War.

There was a Joseph Bucklin who marched as a Sergeant, with the Minute Man Company of Rehoboth on the Alarm raised for minute men to go to Lexington and Concord to fight in the battle there in April, 1775.  Two Bucklins went as privates.  The company was commanded by Capt Bishop.  [Erhardt, p. 724].

Click on the thumbnail to see a photo of some of the present day recreators of the Rehoboth Minute Men.  The cloth coats three of these men are wearing are the "bounty coats" that were issued as the only pay for those Rehoboth minute men who fought in the Boston campaign.

But here first, is a Sidenote on the Rehoboth Minute Company.

The Gaspee shooter Joseph Bucklin 5th's uncle, John Bucklin, was a captain of the Rehoboth Minute Company in 1774.  The Rehoboth Minute Company was the forerunner of the Revolutionary Town Militia. Originally chartered in 1774 by the town of Rehoboth as a town Militia unit, the unit was comprised of both ordinary Militia and Minutemen.   The Minutemen were men who volunteered to be ready to march "in a minute" after being summoned. (Photo, left: The Rehoboth Minute Men re-enactors march in the Gaspee Days parade each June in Pawtuxet, RI. )

Other than Captain John Bucklin's Minute Men company, a different company of the Rhoboth town Militia in 1775 was under command of Capt. John Perry and had as officers Lieut. John Paine, Ensign James Buklin [sic, should be Bucklin] and Sergeant Robert Sutton (probably the Gaspee Raider).

There is a problem identifying the right James Bucklin who was the company
Ensign, third in command.  One possibility is the James Bucklin 3rd who was the son of James Bucklin 2nd and Mary Peck of Pawtucket,   Born 30 Nov 1743, James Bucklin 3rd would have been 32 at the time of the Revolution.   This age fits for being an Ensign with Sergeant Sutton (age 290 in the same company.  There were several men named "James Bucklin' in Rehoboth, and the Ensign s is probably not the one listed in  Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, v. 2 p. 755, as being fined £10 for non-service when drafted to serve in the Continental Army on 15 May 1777.

Other than Capt John Bucklin's Minute Men company, and the Capt Perry militia company that had James Bucklin as Ensign, there was a third company commanded by Captain Bishop. Capt. Bishop's company had a Sergeant Joseph Bucklin.  John G. Erhardt, History of Rehoboth, Seekonk, Mass., Pawtucket & East Providence, RI, 1692-1812, (PO Box 33, 500 Fall River Av., Seekonk, MA, 1990), 724, says there was a Joseph Bucklin who marched as a Sargent, with the Minute Man Company of Rehoboth on the Alarm, with two Bucklins as privates, in the company of Capt Bishop. (Quere whether this Joseph Bucklin was Joseph Bucklin 5th , the Gaspee shooter? Erhardt's notes don't help with the identity.

By 1775 the Rehoboth Militia was a force of 210 persons. At that time there were under the command of Capt. John Daggett of Attleboro and Col. Timothy Walker of Rehoboth. On April 9, 1975, ten days before the confrontation between the British and American forces at Concord and Lexington, the unit was sent to Freetown MA. Without a shot being fired, the Rehoboth militia seized 40 stands of British arms, munitions, and accoutrements. Later, Rehoboth men were in Capt. Perry's company of the Walker unit.

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A Muster Roll of Capt. John Perry's Company of Minute Men from Rehoboth, from the 19th of April to the 27th , 1775 shows Bucklins. Each man gave 8 day's service.  This is taken from  Arnold, Vital Records of Rehoboth  (1897).

Capt. John Perry, Lieut. John Paine, Ensign James Bucklin, Sergeant John Wilson, Sergeant John Smith, Miles Shorey, Aaron Lyon, Preserved Abell, Caleb Walker, James Hill, William Bridgham, Richard Fairbrother, Jonathan Read, Samuel Jones, Enos Walker, Amos Goffa, Comfort Hill, William Ingraham, Lemuel Perren, Demos Biship, James Campbell, Peter Whitaker, Ezra Read, John Williams (drummer), Isaac Fuller, Joseph Wheaton, Jonathan Barney, Simeon Bowen, John Ingraham, Elkanah French, Barzaleel Bowen, James Medbury, Robert Abell, Eleazer Bowen, Amos Read, William Carpenter,

Capt. Perry had the following in a company in Col. Timothy Walker's Regiment.  These enlisted for 8 months from the 1st of August, 1775.   Again there were Bucklins.

Capt. John Perry, Lieut. John Paine, Ensign James Bucklin, Sergeant Robert Sutton, Sergeant John Wilson, Sergeant John Smith, Sergeant Miles Shorey, Corporal Amos Goff, Corporal Lemuel Perren, Corporal James Hill, Corpiral David Lawrence, Drummer John Williams, Fifer james Bly, Preserved Abell, James Alger, George Allen, Squire Allen, William Bridgham, Demos Bishop, Isaac Bowers, Charles Bowers, Asa Bowers, Gideon Brown, Sylvester Bowers, Jonathan Bucklin, Josiah Blake, Barzilla Bowen, Barzaleel Bowen, James Campbell, Samuel Chaffee, William Daggett, Richard Fairbrother, Isaac Fuller, William Fuller, Jonathan French, Sylvester Fuller, Stephen Hill, Comfort Hill, William Ingraham, Samuel Jones, Aaron Lyon, John Medbury, John McMullen, Amos Richardson, Ezra Read, Enos Walker, Peter Whitaker, Joseph Wheaton, John Walker, Peter Walker, Caleb Walker, Ephria Whitaker, Thomas Cole

There was a second company of Minute Men from Rehoboth, commanded by Capt. Bliss, for eight months from April or May of 1775. [Arnold, Vital Records of Rehoboth (1897).] References in brackets [ ] or { } on any page in this website are to books, or other materials, listed in the Joseph Bucklin Society Library List.]

Capt. Samuel Bliss, Lieut. Aaron Walker, Ensign Joseph Allen, Serjeant Aaron Read, Serjeant James Bullock, Serjeant Noah Allen, Serjeant Chrisstopher Ormsbee, Nathan Wheeler, Jonathan Nask, Elijah Perry, Peter Read, Hohn Bown, Samuel Munroe, William Fairbrother, Benjamin Coomer, William Allen, Oliver Jones, Samuel Allen, Joseph Ingals, Thomas Campbell, Hohn Dryer, Nathan Turner, Nathaniel Turner, Ephraim Bliss, Levi Lewis, Valentine Wheeler, Jonathan Macomber, Able Hix, Preserved Bullock, Laben Lake, Jonathan Drowne, Ezekiel Hix, Joseph Allen, Jacob Fuller, Comfort Stanley, Oliver Peck, Amos Bliss, Philip Peck Solomen Peck, Elnathan Lake, Josiah Perry, Ichabo

Samuel Blisss, was afterwards General Washington's steward at Morristown, in the winter of 1777.

Thereafter, Capt Bliss commanded a company that had the following enlistees, for 8 months from April and May, 1775. 

Capt. Samuel Bliss, Lieut. Aaron Wheeler, Ensign Joseph Allen, Sergeant Aaron Read, Sergeant James Bullock, Sergeant Noah Allen, Sergeant Christopher Ormsbee, Corporal Nathaniel Bliss, Corporal Nathaniel Wheeler, Corporal Jonathan Macomber, Corporal Elijah Wheeler, Drummer James Wheeler, Fifer Cyriel Smith, Joseph Allen, Samuel Allen, Wiliam Allen, Ephraim Bless, Charles Bless, David Bliss, Levi Baldwin, Thomas Baldwin, Preserved Bullock, Isaaac Burr, Samuel Baker, Eliphalet Corbin, James Cole, Thomas Campbell, John Dryer, William Fairbrother, Simon Goff, Abel Hix, Joseph Ingals, ______ Ide, Oliver Jones, Labin Lake, Levi Lewis, Samuel Munroe, Jonathan Nash, David Perry, Sylvester Peck, Peter Read, Nathaniel Round, Richard Round, Comfort Robinson, David Turner, Nathan Turner, Valentine Wilmot, Jonathan Drown, Christopher Blanding.

The following is a list of some officers in Col. Timothy Walker's regiment.

Col. Walker was a resident of Rehoboth as were also at least part of his officers .

STAFF OFFICERS: Timothy Walker, Esq., Col.; Nathaniel Leonard, Lieut, Col.; Abiel Mitchell, Major

CAPTAINS: John Perry, Peter Pitts, Mason Shaw, Silas Cobb, John King, Daniel Parker, Samuel Bliss, Caleb Richardson, Jacob Fuller, Francis Liscomb, Olive Soper, Maxcy Williams, Samuell Tubbs, Jr.

LIEUTENANTS: John Paine, Samuel Lane, Simeon Cobb, Isaac Smith, Enock Robinson, Aaron Walker, Zebedee Raiden, John Shaw, Matthew Randall, Noah Hall,

ENSIGNS: Thomas Bucklin, John Cook, Thomas Williams, Isaac Fisher, Solomon Stanley, Joseph Allen, Henry Briggs, Jowl Tubbs, Seth Pratt, Abraham Hathaway

Go directly to the Rehoboth Minute Men web site to learn more about that unit!