Throwback Thursday: Captain John Francis

I've been messing around with Ancestry.com and finding out some pretty remarkable things about my forebears. Allow me to introduce you to Captain John Francis, my fifth great-grandfather.

He was born in the colony of Connecticut on June 20, 1744, and died in the state of Connecticut on May 30, 1824. He married at age 20 and had one son.

He served in the American Revolution, too! Here is the story of his service, which came to me as a hint on Ancestry.com:

In the Revolutionary struggle he was a sturdy patriot and brave soldier. On the eighth day of July 1776, just four days after the "Declaration of Independence" was proclaimed, he enlisted as a private in Captain Aldin's company of the Third Regiment Connecticut State Troops, commanded by Colonel Samuel Wyllys of Hartford. The following year he was First Sergeant in Fourth Company, commanded by Captain Hezekiah Wells of Wethersifeld, attached to Colonel Erastus Wolcott's Regiment.

On July 29, 1778, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant in Captain Elijah Wright's company, in regiment commanded by Colonel Levi Wells. In 1781, he was Captain of the Wethersfield Company of the Provisional Regiment. He was in the service along the Hudson River and Long Island Sound and other places.

Captain Francis was a citizen greatly respected by his fellow townsmen. he was a member of the State Legislature in 1800; and held many offices of trust.

So I'm a daughter of the American Revolution! How about that?