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First Generation
1. Brig Gen Gad ACKLEY1 was born about 1784 in Hartford , Connecticut.2,3,4,5,6,7
On February 8, 1851 he was 67 years old.
On March 15, 1855 he was 71 years old.
On June 9, 1862 he was 78 years old.
He was living between 1810 and 1840 in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.2,8,9,10
He appeared in the census in 1850 in Wisconsin. He was living in
1850 in Troy Center, Walworth , Wisconsin.5
He appeared in the census in 1860 in Michigan. He was living in
1860 in China, Saint Clair , Michigan.7
living with daughter Mary and her husband Asahel Woodruff On 10 Jul 1860 he
was Farmer at China, Saint Clair , Michigan.7
He died in Mar 1865 in Saint Clair , Michigan.4,11 Tombstone has death as Died Sept.
16, 186?, Aged 80 yrs (Sign of the Masons above name)
Affidavit of Gad Ackley, Dated June 9, 1862, (Dated 9 June 1862), On this day
of June 1862 personally appeared before me a Justice of the Peace in and for
said county and state
(St. Clair, Michigan) Gad Ackley aged 78 years a resident of St Clair County.
He was buried in Rosehill Cemetery, St. Clair, East China Township, St. Clair
, Michigan.4 He appeared
in the census 1810, 1820, 1830 & 1840 in New York. He served in the
military War of 1812 in 55 REG'T (ALLEN'S), NEW YORK MILITIA.12,13,14 also listed as serving in 55 REG'T (SPRAGUE'S), NEW
YORK MILITIA
Inducted and discharged as a Captain
Gad Ackley was a captain in the New York Militia during the War
of 1812 and was subsequently promoted to brigadier general in 1821.
application for pension was rejected
particpated in the second battle of Sackett Harbor 29 May 1813
He The Battle of Big Sandy and the Carrying of the Great Rope in 1814.15 In May of 1814, a twenty-minute
skirmish involving only a few hundred soldiers helped assert the United States’
superiority on Lake Ontario in the latter part of the War of 1812. On a small
creek on the lake’s eastern shore, a British officer chased American forces
into their territory, disobeying a direct order and paying a taxing price. A
Great Rope made of hemp and powerful armament, won in this small battle, would
end up in the great shipyards in Sackets Harbor, effecting the launch of three
new vessels. The story of the Battle of Big Sandy and the Great Cable Carry
are tales of pain and triumph, of strength and determination. And today, 185
years later, those tales can still be told and heard.
During the winter of 1813-1814, both the British and the Americans had
decided that in order to end the fighting on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, an enormous
shipbuilding enterprise must be initiated. In Kingston and Sackets Harbor new
ships with more armament and a larger crew were being constructed in the hopes
of gaining an edge over the enemy.
At the American ship yards in Sackets Harbor, two brigs, the Jefferson
and the Jones, and a frigate, the Superior, waited for armament and rigging necessary
for their launch. They had been rapidly constructed there by the master ship
builder Henry Eckford (who died November 12, 1832 in Constantinople as the chief
director of the Turkish Empire’s dock yards)(Hough 513). When completed,
the Superior would hold 26 forty-two pounders, 30 thirty-two pounders, and 2
twenty-four pounders with a tonnage of 1580 and a complement of 500 officers
and men (National Archives Naval Records). The necessary supplies had been transported
from the Brooklyn Naval Yards in New York City to Albany, and from Albany up
the Mohawk to Wood Creek and the Oneida Lake, finally arriving at the Oswego
River (Slosek 14).
The British recognized that in order to prevent the Americans from becoming
a superior force on Lake Ontario, the stores would have to be captured. On May
4th, 1814, Sir James Yeo left Kingston Harbor with six vessels bound for Oswego.
Some time earlier, Lieutenant Colonel George E. Mitchell had been sent
with a battalion of light artillery to defend the fort at Oswego. His forces,
however, would prove to be inadequate in the face of the enemy’s numbers.
At sunrise of May 5th, the enemy was sighted advancing toward the shore. Mitchell,
knowing an attack was coming, had ordered all the tents available pitched near
the town. Rosemary Nesbitt, author of the young adult novel The Great Rope,
describes the scene.
“Teams and carriages were hired, and commenced moving the property, and
in about two weeks it was accomplished, without anything remarkable, except that
a cable of 22 inches circumference, and weighing, according to my best recollection,
about five tons, could not be transported safely on any carriage that could be
procured. The men were clamorous for their discharge, as their spring’s
work was far behind the usual time, but this cable must be strictly guarded,
as without it our superiority on the lake could not be acquired. The officers
of the regiment held a meeting, and proposed carrying the cable by hand, and
in this meeting agreed that no officer should be exempt except the Colonel, and
if the men would help carry it to the Harbor, they should be discharged. We
took up the cable about noon, and arrived that night at what is now Robert’s
Corners; here, during the night, perhaps one-third of our men deserted, leaving
a heavy load for the remainder to carry, and every man’s shoulder were bruised
till they were black and blue – larger than the palm of a man’s hand;
but finding the bottom of an old straw-stack near, we made mattresses from it,
and placed them on our shoulders, and thus shouldering the cable, arrived at
the Harbor before sundown; perhaps few of the men were able to make use of their
arms for a week. When we arrived at the Harbor, we numbered just 100, all told,
and received of Commodore Chauncey $2.00 each. I cannot recollect the names
of the men that assisted; no officer failed to fulfill his pledge; Clark Allen
was our Colonel; did not carry. Major Arnold Earl, Captains Gad Ackley, Brooks
Harrington, Daniel Ellis, Oliver Scott, Lieutenants Charles Hollister and Grout
Hossington, I recollect, and I also recollect Captain Jacob Wood, of revolutionary
memory, carried through (Hibbard 1859).”
reportedly had another wife Brig Gen Gad ACKLEY and Emma FOOTE were married
about 1811 in New York.3,4 Emma FOOTE (daughter of
Ira FOOTE and Mary POND) was born on 16 Jun 1788.3 She died on 18 Oct 1819.3 She was buried in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.3 Brig Gen Gad ACKLEY and Emma FOOTE
had the following children:
2 | i. | ACKLEY was born on 8 Nov 1812 in Ellisburg,
Jefferson , New York.16
He died on 16 Nov 1812 in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.16 He was buried in Ellisburg Cemetery, Ellisburg, Jefferson
, New York.4 | 3 | ii. | ACKLEY was
born on 8 Apr 1814 in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.3,16 He died
on 10 Apr 1814 in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.3,16 He was buried
in Ellisburg Cemetery, Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.3,4 | +4 | iii. | Albert A ACKLEY. | 5 | iv. | Juliann ACKLEY was born on 21 Dec 1815
in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.3,16 She died on 23 Mar 1819 in Ellisburg,
Jefferson , New York.3,16 She was buried in Ellisburg Cemetery, Ellisburg, Jefferson
, New York.3,4 | 6 | v. | Gad
Foote ACKLEY was born about 1813 in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.4,16
He died on 16 Nov 1822 in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.4,16 listed as
a Possibility | 7 | vi. | Harvey
ACKLEY was born on 25 Feb 1819 in Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.3,16
Kathie Kentfield has date as 25 Feb 1819 He died on 30 Aug 1819 in Ellisburg,
Jefferson , New York.3,16 Kathie Kentfield has date as 26 Aug 1819 He was buried
in Ellisburg Cemetery, Ellisburg, Jefferson , New York.3,4 |
Brig
Gen Gad ACKLEY and Mary E "Polly" POND were married on 23 Feb 1820 in Clinton,
Oneida , New York.4,6,17,18,19 "Polly"
Pond was married to "Aaron" Ackley on Feb 23, 1820 in Clinton, NY,
according
to the records of the Clinton Congregational Church. (Other references list
her as married to Col Gad Ackley - Gad's first or middle name must have been
Aaron.) and Early Oneida County Marriages Village of Clinton
Mary E "Polly" POND1 (daughter of Maj Barnabas POND and Thankful FOOTE) was
born on 16 Jun 1791 in Clinton, Oneida , New York.2,4,5,11 She appeared
in the census in 1850 in Wisconsin. She died on 15 Apr 1856 in Saint
Clair, Saint Clair , Michigan.4,6 She was buried in Rosehill Cemetery,
St. Clair, East China Township, St. Clair , Michigan.4 Brig Gen Gad ACKLEY and Mary E "Polly" POND
had the following children:
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