Monday, April 19, 2010

John Coult, Revolutionary War Patriot

GRAVE OF JOHN COULT
DUCK RIVER CEMETERY
OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT



John Coult (1725-1784), Revolutionary War soldier, was my sixth great grandfather, and an ancestor to my Connecticut Clark family.  His father was Deacon Benjamin Coult, of the Hartford Coults, who had been there since the 1630s...yet I cannot find the colonial migrant ancestor yet (he may be descended from one of the Colture or Coltman colonists).  John's mother was Miriam Harris, whose grandfather Daniel Harris migrated from Gloucestershire, England in the late 1600s.

According to Sons of the American Revolution applications and the Connecticut Military Archives, he was enlisted as a Marine under Captain Hall with 100 men, on September 18, 1775 and was in service for three months.  He also was listed as a conductor of teams for transporting supplies from Connecticut to the Continental Army from 1779 to 1781.

His grave, however, mentions the Lexington Alarm, which was part of the Powder Alarms of the first battle of the Revolution, the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and he apparently loaned money to the Continental Congress. He married his 2nd cousin, Mary Lord. He is buried in Duck River Cemetery in Lyme, CT. 

His entire family were veterans.  His grandfather was army Captain John Coult (1658-1751).  His son, Dr. Amherst Coult, also fought in the Revolution in the 6th Connecticut Regiment, and had enlisted four times total.  Amherst had commanded a post on the Connecticut River.  His other sons, John Jr. and Gardiner, served as a Captain in the Revolution and a Seaman, respectively.  He had a brother, Harris who was a Captain, and a nephew, Peter, who was Commisary of the Eastern Dept.

His daughter Esther Coult was my fifth great grandmother.  She married Mather Peck, also a Revolutionary War patriot.

John Coult’s page on Daughters of American Revolution website

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