In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
Today as I watched the beginning of the Inaugural events on television I heard a gospel version of this song, America..
I was struck by the fact that I, a mostly Irish American, had ancestors that loved THIS country enough to stand up and be counted.They loved America possibly enough to think about laying down their life for it.
John Carrow of whose line I come from is a descendant of a man who served as a Constable in Accomac Virginia in 1667.We believe that he or his father were in Virginia in 1643 and quite likely fled Ireland for political and religious reasons.
His descendant, also John Carrow, lost his father in 1776 but in that same year mustered into the Queen Anne County Maryland Militia with a cousin Andrew Carrow.In 1782 he donated corn and rye in Duck Creek Delaware.
William Keys whose daughter Mary married the son of John Carrow enlisted in the Continental Army and served in the Delaware Regiment until very late in 1782.He was at or near Yorktown at the surrender surely as his unit served under Gen. Nathaniel Greene.They then marched to near Charleston SC where at Camp Ashley River they kept the British under surveilance with nightly skirmishes for 2 more years. Records show they(Delaware and Maryland regiments) were extremely poorly clothed and underfed.
Peter Rementer ( aka Regimenter) was of foreign birth.He may have been politically a German as he spoke the language but was believed to hail from near Alsace-Lorraine.He comes to America at least a decade before the Revolutionary War where he lived in Philadelphia in Southwark.He mustered into the Philadelphia Militia and served active duty Sept 1, 1781 in the 6th Regiment of Foot, Captain Warwick Coats Company. His papers are currently in review at the DAR.
Every generation it seems after this had it heroes in this family.Were these the first?Maybe not as William Keys served in the French and Indian War in 1758 and Henry Carrew served in Maryland Militia in 1678.
George Faunt first generation son of Patrick Faunt died in WWII in Italy defending this country.
Joe Swanson and William Faunt both from Beverly NJ served in WWI.
Louis George Carrow son of Grover Carrow and uncle of my father also died in WWII.
My father and all my Faunt uncles served heroically in the same conflict.
William F. Carrow, James Sweeney, John Swanson all served their country in the Civil War.
Today the 44th President of the United Sates said in his address " For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life."
For us they all came.
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