John Huntley was born in Lyme, New London County, Connecticut, about 1729. He married in Lyme on December 13, 1747, to Lois Beckwith, daughter of Mathew Beckwith and Elisheba Raynor. Together they had nine known children, including Williams Huntley, my paternal 5th great-grandfather, who was born in Lyme in 1755. That same year, John served in the French and Indian Wars in Capt. Joshua Abel's Co., 3rd Connecticut Regiment, from Sept. 8 to Dec. 13, 1755, to defend against the French. He also served in Capt. Jonathan Latimer's 5th Co., 3rd Connecticut Regiment from April 3 to Nov. 20, 1758, and is listed on the muster rolls of Capt. Zebulon Butler's 9th Co., 4th Connecticut Regimented, dated at Lyme, Connecticut, May 2, 1759. (Note: Capt. Zebulon Butler is buried in Hollenbeck Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania). Shown here is the silk painted flag of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army. A silver sword, green Roman numerals "III", and a green garland tied with a red ribbon all pointing toward the center.
John and his family left Lyme, Connecticut, soon after 1761 and removed 94 miles northwest to Charlotte Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, where he is found on the tax lists from February of 1763 to June of 1767. Charlotte Precinct's name was changed to Washington after George Washington passed through the town during the Revolution.
Sources:
John Huntley, immigrant of Boston & Roxbury, Massachusetts and Lyme, Connecticut, 1647-1977, and some of his descendants, by Virgil W. Huntley, 1978, p.99-102.
Photo: Silk painted flag of the Third Connecticut Regiment, Continental Army, New-York Historical Society. Public Domain.
Find records of the Third Connecticut Regiment in the American Revolution here.