Thomas Pinkham 1752-1820

In the miniseries John Adams, there's a small scene where Abigail Adams meets General Henry Knox bringing cannons from Fort Ticonderoga (he's the fat guy on the horse).  These cannons were mounted at Dorchester Heights and drove the British from Boston permanently.  This story is better told in David McCullough's other book 1776.  

Anyways, my ancestor Thomas Pinkham was one of the men pushing those cannons through the mud on their way to Dorchester.  His wife Bridget Berry as a widow applied for a revolutionary war pension.  In the documentation is an affidavit dated 3 October 1840 from John Rollins of Alton, N.H. who states:

he was formerly, a Revolutionary Soldier; knew that Thomas Pinkham formerly of Dover, and later of Rochester, N.H. served with him under Capt. John Drew and that they messed together; that we were marched to  Ticondergora and were discharged at Mt. Independence December 31, 1776 and Pinkham and I returned home together.  One good reason why I recollect about this is that I lent Pinkham a gun, and other accoutrements for that campaign, which he afterward returned to me at our home in Rochester.  At that time Pinkham was a young man and living in his father's family.  

It's always good to remember the ordinary men and women who made our freedom possible.  Here's Thomas Pinkham's fine signature from 19 July 1780.

Download thomaspinkham.pdf