Edward Tinkham: Patriot

The Crosby side of my tree has their first Patriot!  Edward Tinkham’s patriotic service to the American cause during the revolution was confirmed and my lineage to him was accepted by the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). 

In a May 2012 post I wrote that I was applying to SAR to have Edward’s service recognized and to have my lineage accepted. I never expected the process to take almost four months.  (To learn about Edward’s service, read Edward Tinkham: Nova Scotia citizen, American patriot.)

In addition to being a Patriot, Edward is also a Mayflower descendant.  His parents were each descended from different passengers of the Mayflower.  My General Society of Mayflower Descendents (GSMD) applications were used to show the last two generations of my lineage and that was one of the reasons for the delay. SAR, I was told, was not sure how to handle lineages that were accepted by the GSMD. So, for awhile it looked like I would have to track down all the primary documents that the GSMD accepted.  Fortunately the applications, and the sources cited on them, were accepted at face value. It probably helped that the proof standards of the GSMD are very strict.

Proving Edward’s service was very easy. I only needed to submit the relevant pages from Annals of Yarmouth and Barrington (Nova Scotia) in the Revolutionary War. But, just in case, I ordered copies of the original documents from the Massachusetts Archives.  In addition to the documents I received a bonus; included on Edward Tinkham’s handwritten petition to the Massachusetts Assembly in 1778, was his signature.

When time, and finances allow, I plan on arranging to have a SAR grave marker placed on Edward’s grave. My research has put me in contact with some distant cousins, who share Edward as a ancestor, and some of those cousins still live in Nova Scotia. Edward deserves to be recognized for his assistance during the American Revolution — for he did so at great personal risk.

My lineage from Edward Tinkham is as follows*:

Edward Tinkham > Seth Tinkham > Seth Tinkham > Benjamin Tinkham >
Sarah (Tinkham) Crosby > Roy Crosby > Maurice Crosby > Me

* I will gladly provide copies of the documentation of Edward’s service and lineage to anybody wanting to join the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD).