The Privates Thomas Garner--Father And Son

     After writing about my fourth-great-grandfather Private Thomas Garner Jr. who fought in the war of 1812, I found myself curious about his father, Private Thomas Garner Sr.  Both men were soldiers fighting England, although their wars were thirty-eight years apart.  The family lived on the island of Martha's Vineyard in the town of Tisbury.  Thomas Jr. was born there but I'm not at all sure where Thomas Sr. was born.  It was probably somewhere in Massachusetts, but I've found no documentation.  I did have the good fortune to come across a book called, "The History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts", by Charles Edwin Banks at Google Books.  Using contemporary letters, rosters and other documents, Dr. Banks put together a detailed picture of  life on Martha's Vineyard at the time of the American Revolution.  I was disappointed to find Thomas Garner in only one spot in the book, a muster roll, but the index contains several entries for a Thomas Gardiner followed by the name Garner in parenthesis. I've seen that before, in the birth record of, "Elizabeth Gardner (Garner)", written just like that. Do they know something I don't?

As I was finishing this post, I found this on Family Search among the index cards to Massachusetts Muster Rolls--they DO know something I don't

     In the book, "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War",  I found Thomas Garner, a private in the company of Lt. Jeremiah Manter's detachment stationed at Martha's Vineyard 20 November 1776--31 December 1776.  He only served one month and ten days?  Not much of a record, but--if Lt. Manter's company was a detachment, what entity had they been detached from?  The answer was in Dr. Bank's history of the island.  By late 1776 the war wasn't going well for the American side, they needed every man they could get at the front on the mainland so the order went out to disband the island defenses.  On page 354 I found a roster titled, Captain Nathan Smith's Seacoast Company Stationed On Martha's Vineyard 1776, From The 1 Day Of September To The 21 Day Of November.  Thomas "Gardner" was in that roster. 

     After the company was ordered to disband, the island residents were none too happy to be left defenseless.  To appease them, the Massachusetts General Court allowed for a detachment of twenty five men to be selected to remain active on the island.  Thomas Garner/Gardner was among those chosen and went straight from Captain Smith's Company to Lt. Manter's detachment.  It should be noted the original company under Capt. Smith had no soldier named Thomas Garner, it was Thomas Gardner; Thomas was moved from the defunct company to Lt. Manter's it has to be the same Thomas with a slightly different surname.  You would think they could get a name like Garner correct.

     There was still more, I re-checked the book of Massachusetts Soldiers to see if  perhaps there might be more about Thomas Garner under the surname Gardner. This is what I found:

 Gardner, Thomas, Martha's Vineyard (also given as Duxbury). Private Capt. Nathan Smith's co. stationed at Martha's Vineyard for defense of seacoast; also return of men enlisted into the Continental Army from Capt. Nathan Snow's co. (South co in Abington) Col. Mitchel's (3d Plymouth Co) residence Martha's Vineyard...

There were many more companies and officers listed in a small time span, searching their names I deduced Thomas Sr. had joined the 14th Massachusetts in the Continental Army.  Amazingly, also included in the book was the reported date of Thomas' death, 14 September 1777!

     Dr. Banks mentioned in his book that many soldiers from the Vineyard joined regiments of the Continental Army on the mainland after the seacoast defenses were dissolved which explains Thomas being all over Massachusetts until his untimely death. As usual, in finding some answers I now have another pressing question, what happened to Thomas?