Our Hamilton Family in the Revolution: The Eyewitness Story of Isaac Snow.
Glen Hamilton
I read last night the amazing eyewitness account of Revolutionary Soldier, Isaac Snow (1758-1855), and it brought our family history to life in a way few records do. Isaac was a 17 year old patriot from Cape Cod. His story opened a window into the experience of our Chatham, Cape Cod, Hamilton ancestors 250 years ago.
Link: As Isaac Snow Saw It - Witness to the Revolution - Soldier of Capt. Hamilton of Cape Cod (pdf newspaper article published in the Warren County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 4, Feb. 16, 1911).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iHr4nYSRirKZ5KfDjTb8GSseuJ9lWtDy/view?usp=sharing
Isaac's account (he lived to age 97 and was the oldest surviving Barnstable County Revolutionary soldier when he died) is powerful evidence that Barnstable County, Cape Cod men were right there with Washington's men fighting to evict the British from Boston in the winter of 1775-1776 during the 'Seige of Boston'. Isaac marched from the Cape to Roxbury, to build the fortifications at Dorchester Heights. These were the very works that, with cannon brought overland from Fort Ticonderoga by patriots under the command of Henry Knox, forced General Howe to finally evacuate Boston, driving the British fleet out of the harbor.
The Hamilton Family Connection: For us, a most fascinating detail is Isaac’s account of his service after the siege of Boston. He enlisted for six months in a company led by "Captain Hamilton of Chatham".
This was almost certainly Captain Thomas Hamilton, a key figure in our Cape Cod Hamilton family, a great grandson of Thomas and Lydia (Wing) Hamilton. Thomas was known for commanding the seacoast defenses on the Cape and leading men to support the War defenses in Rhode Island. The Snows were married into the Hamiltons, Nickersons, Godfreys, Ryders, Atkins, Atwoods, Sears, etc. as all the Cape Cod colonial families of Chatham, Eastham and Orleans in Barnstable County were. The Snows were Mayflower descendants of Stephen Hopkins.
Our Hamilton ancestors relied on a tight web of kinship and neighbors in both war and peace. They fought together and shared a common pride in their new creation, the United States of America.
Video: Dec 2025. 250th Anniversary reenactment of Heny Knox's "Noble Train" of cannon from Ft. Fort Ticonderoga to the Dorchester Heights in Boston to supply the artillery that drove General Howe from Boston in March 1776.
https://youtu.be/suaIL3Sto4E?si=wIyV9QtYSlvTdyto&t=156
Link: The Incredible Story of Isaac Snow
https://town.orleans.ma.us/1311/The-Incredible-Story-of-Isaac-Snow
Photos
Glen and son Alex Hamilton in front of the Revolutionary War memorial to the soldiers of Chatham, Massachusetts, honoring our Hamilton family, cousins and neighbors. Captain Thomas Hamilton of Chatham Massachusetts listed as a 'Notable Leader' of the men of the families of Chatham that served in the American War of Independence. AI recreation of the 1911 newspaper illustration of Isaac Snow as a Cape Cod militiaman under Washington's command during the seige of Boston in the winter of 1775-76. Dressed as Col. Benjamin Godfrey, William Cullinane speaks during the dedication of the Revolutionary War Memorial at Chase Park in Chatham, MA, May 30, 2022. Cullinane, quoting George Washington and Thomas Paine, said the "community fought together, the men with arms, the women making clothes, fishing and farming and melting lead to make bullets." "Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered," he said quoting Paine. https://www.capecodtimes.com/.../chatham-ma.../9807623002/ Grave of an American War of Independence Veteran in the Old Chatham Burial Ground. This photo was taken in April of 2022 when Steve Hamilton and myself visited Chatham on our New England Family History Tour.