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• Henry J. Falkinburg I 
•  Henry J. Falkinburg II 
•  John Falkinburg 
•  Samuel Falkinburg I 
•  Samuel Falkinburg II 
•  George H. Falkinburg 
•  Solomon Falkenburg 
•  Samuel E. Falkenburg 
•  Edgar R. Falkenburg 

Samuel Falkinburg and Penelope Buffin

Samuel Falkinburg Sr. Moves to New York State

Samuel Falkinburg Sr. and his wife Penelope moved to New York State in the region of the Finger Lakes. The following quote is taken from a book published 13 JUN 1894 to commemorate the centennial of the town of Romulus, New York.

We simply do not know if Samuel, Son of Samuel Falkinburg and Alice Mathis was living with his father at that time. Early census records only list the number of persons in broad age categories living in the household. These could be family members, other relatives, or farm laborers.

Serendipitously, I found the following on the web site of the Cobblestone Farm Winery in western New York. "Cobblestone Farm Winery & Vineyard is located on the northwest shore of Cayuga Lake. It is a 148 acre farm that traces its roots to January 7, 1811, “the 35th year of our independence”. On that date, the state of New York gave the northern portion of the breathtaking property to Samuel Falkinburg as a reward for his military service during the revolutionary war." [3.31]

The concept of the Military Tract was established 16 SEP 1776 by the new Continental Congress. George Washington was fighting an invasion by the British on Long Island and Manhattan. General William Howe had an armada of 70 ships and a force of 32,000 which included Hessian mercenaries. The American force was pitifully small and ill-equipped to resist the invasion. Washington pleaded with the Continental Congress to provide an incentive to attract more men to the fledgling Continental Army. The land tracts were approved for this purpose. Congress defined a quota (based on population) defining each state’s participation in the war effort. Congress realized that while young men may be willing to participate in local  militia’s for short periods of time, they needed to reward enlistees with financial bonuses and land grants that they could claim at the end of the conflict.  New York was the fifth state to set aside land for these soldiers.  The Military Tract included 1.8 million acres in what is now the region of western New York State.  In order to complete the military tract negotiations had to begin with native tribes of Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas and Tuscaroras to sell portions of their lands to the State. [3.32]

Reference [3.32] contains a list of the grantees of these military lands, but unfortunately Samuel is not on the list. In addition, Samuel's name does not appear in any index of the officers and soldiers of the Revolution I have found. There are two possibilities. First, we know that many of the revolutionary soldiers never got to claim their bounty of land. Many had died, and some just did not want to move. It is possible that Samuel bought the land from the family of such a Son of the Revolution. It is intriguing to note that the citation on the Cobblestone Winery web site, says “the state of New York gave the northern portion of the breathtaking property to Samuel Falkinburg as a reward for his military service during the revolutionary war”. Let me enumerate one possibility that Samuel ended up with land in the Military Tract— admittedly, it is a long shot. Samuel was twelve years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed. Samuel was certainly an eye witness to the events of the Revolution that unfolded at Little Egg Harbor. Samuel’s uncle owned the tavern which was almost certainly the planning place for the attacks of privateers on British shipping off the coast that led to the massacre on Osborn Island. Was Samuel involved in this activity? Or after the British attack on Egg Harbor, was he so incensed by their deeds that he became involved in other revolutionary activity? It is possible that when the tracts of land were not filled up by veterans of the conflict, they became available to others who contributed, in some way, to the cause?

 

Notes
11	This estimate is made from later census data in 1830 when Samuel was listed as between the ages of 40 and 49.
12	Blackman gives a listing of persons buried in the Friends Cemetery in Tuckerton. Alice is listed after her parents; her surname is given as Mathis.
13	From a survey of Disciplinary Cases in Pennsylvania Monthly Meetings, 1682-1776.
References
3.30	_____, Centennial celebration of the official organization of the town of Romulus, Seneca county, New York, p. 28
3.31	Home page of Cobblestone Winery, Romulus, New York
3.32	Written History Of Seneca County: Chapter 7 The Military Tract