Esther Sumner Damon

Esther Sumner Damon (August 1, 1814[1] – November 11, 1906) was cited as the last widow of the American Revolutionary War to receive a state pension.

Esther Sumner Damon
Born
Esther Sumner

August 1, 1814 (1814-08)
Bridgewater, Vermont, US
DiedNovember 11, 1906 (1906-11-12) (aged 92)
Plymouth, Vermont, US
OccupationSchoolteacher
Known forThe last American Revolutionary War widow to receive a state pension
SpouseNoah D. Damon

Esther was born in Bridgewater, Vermont.[2] The family had eight or nine children.[1] Esther's father was killed by a falling tree when she was eight years old.[1][2] Esther attended school during the winter and worked during the summers to help support her family.[2] At the age of seventeen, Esther became a school teacher in Plymouth.[2]

Esther Sumner married Noah D. Damon (August 25, 1760 – July 2, 1853) on September 6, 1835, in Bridgewater, when she was 21 and he was 75.[2] The couple had met two weeks prior.[2]

Husband's war service
Noah Damon
Birth nameNoah D. Damon
BornAugust 25, 1760 (1760-08-25)
Benton, New Hampshire, U.S.
DiedJuly 2, 1853 (1853-07-03) (aged 92)
Norfolk County, Massachusetts, U.S.
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchContinental Army
Years of service1775-1848 (retired)
RankPrivate

Noah Damon enlisted in the Continental Army on April 19, 1775, as a private with the Massachusetts troops.[2] Over the next five years, he served from as little as six days to eight months in various companies and regiments.[1] Noah applied for a war pension, as a resident of Plainfield, New Hampshire on November 13, 1848.[3]

Noah was penniless, though Esther may have thought he was a hardworking landowner.[1] Esther supported him for three years before financial necessity forced him to move in with his daughter in New Hampshire.[2]

Esther supported herself by sewing and nursing.[2] She also leased a farm near Reading.[1]

After Noah's death in 1853, Esther applied for and received his pension from October 1855. The pension was increased to $24 a month by the United States Congress on February 28, 1905.[4]

Towards the end of her life, Esther received additional financial support from the Daughters of the American Revolution.[2]

Esther died on November 11, 1906, aged 92, and was buried at Plymouth Notch Cemetery in Plymouth, Vermont. The gravestone was paid for by the Daughters of the American Revolution.[5]

References
  1. Bayles, J. C. (18 June 1905). "The Last of the Revolutionary Widows" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  2. Granite State Magazine. Granite State Publishing Company. 1907-01-01. p. 111.
  3. "Esther (Sumner) Damon Genealogy & Ancestry Articles | GenealogyBank Blog". 2015-09-05. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2016-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. States, United (1905-01-01). Statutes of the United States of America Passed at the ... Session of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  5. Congressional Edition. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1909-01-01.
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