Hi,
Would anyone know the location of Connecticut militia; French and Indian war General Phineas Lyman’s grave? He was interred somewhere in Florida is all we know.
He is one of the truly forgotten heroes, especially since the Americans and British lost to general Montcalm at Carillon, he was victorious at battle of Lake George after William Johnson was wounded and in a pre-battle with Lord Howe in command.
Thanx,
Peter
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Dear Peter,
After the French and Indian War Major General Phineas Lyman, who by then was probably the most battle-experienced senior officer in the colonial militia forces, went to England to apply for a grant to lands in West Florida, which the British acquired from Spain. He finally got underway to the new colony in 1773, accompanied by his sons Phineas Jr. and Thaddeus, and eight slaves, going beyond settled areas along the Mississippi. In Natchez Phineas Jr. died of illness, but the rest, along with other colonists, pressed on, finally deciding to stake their claim to an area about 40 miles above the mouth of the Big Black River. That is about the closest anyone knows to where the general was buried, because by the time he arrived, even with the slaves, he was too old and his health too undermined for him to work the farm. He died on October 10, 1774, at age 59, and Thaddeus died about the same time. His wife arrived sometime after, only to discover his grave—and died a few days later. Lyman’s exact gravesite has since been lost to history because the colony failed and after the American Revolution West Florida reverted to Spanish control, where it would remain until the United States purchased Florida in 1819.
The attached site may provide further information.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~msclaib3/lyman.htm
Sincerely,
Jon Guttman
Research Director
World History Group
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