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Stephen Goble

By Evelyn Goble Steen 

Stephen Goble was born in March of 1759 at Morris Colony, New Jersey. He was the second son of seven children born to Stephen (5) Goble and Rhoda Corey. During his lifetime he settled in Westmoreland Colony, then Bedford, Pennsylvania, later for a short time in Kentucky, and finally Bartholomew Colony, Indiana. Stephen (6) Goble served many military tours prior to 1780 which did not require enlistment (probably the Pennsylvania militia but also possibly New Jersey). According to service records he may have been a "drum fife." He enlisted in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and served 3 years in Captain Sparks Company, under General Wayne. (No specific dates available.) General Anthony Wayne won major recognition in the American Revolution and in Indian warfare. He was known as "Mad Anthony." He served in Canada in 1776 and at Brandywine and Germantown in 1777; he encamped at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-78. At the end of 1778 he was given command of a corps of light infantry. His most successful action was a surprise attack on the British at Stony Point on the Hudson River in July 1779.

Stephen fought in the Battle of Long Island (1776) at the age of 17 and was recognized for that battle in pension claims. (The Battle of Long Island, fought between the forces of George Washington and William Howe on August 27, 1776, opened the British campaign to seize New York City during the American Revolution. It was the first large scale battle of the war.)

In 1780, at age 21, Stephen enlisted for a seven or nine month term as a private in Captain John Moore's Pennsylvania Company, which was a volunteer militia. Capt. John Moore commanded a company called the "Nine Month Men."

Stephen may have fought in the Battle of Cowpens. The Battle of Cowpens was an American victory during the American Revolution. On January 17, 1781 Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan, with about 1000 men, met a British force of 1100 under Col. Banastre Tarleton at the Cow Pens, north of present Spartanburg, South Carolina. By a combination of skillful tactics and the deadly fire of his riflemen, Morgan defeated Tarleton, inflicting over 200 casualties, and capturing most of the rest of the British forces. He lost only about 70 of his own men. No evidence of Stephen's participation is available at this writing.

In the spring of 1781, as soon as his first enlistment was up, Stephen re-enlisted to serve as a private and then a corporal in Captain John Boyd's company of Rangers attached to General Patters Brigade, in Bedford Colony, Pennsylvania, known as the "Bedford Rangers." The Rangers consisted of Captain John Boyd; Lieutenant Richard Johnston; Sergeants Robert Aitkens, Henry Dugan, Florence Grimes, William Ward, and David Beates; and 37 privates, of which Stephen Goble was one. On June 3, 1781 Stephen was in the Battle of Frankstown, Blair County, Pennsylvania. While marching across the Allegheny Mountains, Captain Boyd and his men were ambushed by Indians near the headwaters of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. This was a bloody battle with a large party of Indians, about 3 miles from Frankstown. There were eight rangers under Captain Boyd, and twenty-five Cumberland militia volunteers under Captain Moore, engaged in the battle. Five men were wounded and eight were killed and scalped by the Indians. Captains Boyd, Moore, and Dunlap were all taken prisoner. Captain Boyd made a desperate effort to escape in spite of wounds he received in the battle. He was pursued, and received three terrible gashes in his head with a tomahawk and was recaptured. Stephen was wounded in his right arm by a bullet in this battle, and in another unnamed battle he was shot through the left arm and shoulder.

At the end of the war Stephen received an honorable discharge. He also received a patent, numbered 470, for a bounty of "Donation lands" in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The land was surveyed on July 19, 1785 and was described as 200 acres and allowance for roads situated in District #4 on the west side of the Allegheny River. He applied for the patent on April 18, 1796.

According to court documents Stephen also fought in the Battle of Frenchtown during the War of 1812. The Battle of Frenchtown (now Monroe, Michigan), south of Detroit, (also called the River Raisin Massacre) occurred January 18, 1813. About 650 American troops defeated 100 British soldiers and 400 Indians. Two days later the Americans were defeated by another contingent of British and Indians, totaling 1100. Many of the American troops were captured and the wounded were massacred by the Indians. Stephen would have been about 54 years old at the time and having a fighting spirit, may have been involved in the battle, although official military records of this battle, including Stephen's name, have not been located at this writing. (Historical accountings of battles in those days show men as old as 80 still listed as actively fighting.) A newspaper clipping from Bartholomew County, Indiana entitled "Early Settlers" referred to "Old Man Goble of the War of 1812." 

Sources:

• Military records and pension request
• Family Bible Records-Roy Scott Goble.
• Bartholomew, IN Historical Society, ltr dtd Mar 10, 1930.
• 1992 Grolier Electronic Publishing, INC.
• 1832 Affidavit of James Lafferty, Rev War Records, National Archives.
• The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania, C. Hale Sipe, 2nd Ed 1931, pages 645-46.
• Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. IX, page 202.
• Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, page 368.
• The Goble Family in America, Descendants of Stephen Goble of the Revolutionary War, by Evelyn Goble Steen, 1996 - LOC#96-69554, ISBN 0-9653482-0-2.
• Revolutionary War Service Records, 1775-83