imported>Reviewer1830: /* Early life */

2024-08-05T14:24:18Z

Early life

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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Short description|American soldier and pioneer (1738–1792)}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Benjamin Tupper
|image=BenjaminTupperMarker.jpg
|caption= Benjamin Tupper marker at [[Mound Cemetery (Marietta, Ohio)|Mound Cemetery]], [[Marietta, Ohio]]
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1738|3|11}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1792|6|7|1738|3|11}}
|birth_place= [[Sharon, Massachusetts|Sharon]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]], [[British America]]
|death_place= [[Marietta, Ohio|Marietta]], [[Northwest Territory]], U.S.
|placeofburial= [[Mound Cemetery (Marietta, Ohio)]]
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|allegiance=[[United States|United States of America]]
|branch=[[Continental Army]]
|rank=[[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]]
|commands=[[6th Massachusetts Regiment]], [[10th Massachusetts Regiment]], [[11th Massachusetts Regiment]]
|battles=
{{tree list}}
* [[American Revolutionary War]]
** [[Siege of Boston]]
** [[Battle of Saratoga]]
** [[Battle of Monmouth]]
{{tree list/end}}
|relations=Huldah White, 1762–1792, ''sons'': Maj. [[Anselm Tupper]] Gen. Edward W. Tupper Col. Benjamin Tupper, Jr.
|laterwork=[[American pioneers to the Northwest Territory|Pioneer]] to the [[Ohio Country]]
}}

'''Benjamin Tupper''' (March 11, 1738 – June 7, 1792)<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/brigadiergeneral00chaf |title=Brigadier General Benjamin Tupper |last=Chaffin |first=William L. |year=1880 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/brigadiergeneral00chaf/page/n2 2]–7|publisher=[Marietta, Ohio, Leader print }}</ref> was an American soldier in the [[French and Indian War]], and an officer of the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]], achieving the rank of [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]]. Subsequently, he served as a [[Massachusetts]] legislator, and he assisted Gen. William Shepard in stopping [[Shays' Rebellion]]. Benjamin Tupper was a co-founder of the [[Ohio Company of Associates]], and was a pioneer to the [[Ohio Country]], involved in establishing [[Marietta, Ohio|Marietta]] as the first permanent settlement in the [[Northwest Territory]].

==Early life==
Benjamin Tupper, the youngest of eight children, was born in a precinct of Stoughton in the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], now a part of the town of [[Sharon, Massachusetts]]. His father died when he was young; Benjamin then worked as an apprentice to a tanner in [[Dorchester, Massachusetts|Dorchester]] near [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]. At the age of sixteen, he began working on a farm in [[Chesterfield, Massachusetts|Chesterfield]] in western Massachusetts. As a young man, Benjamin Tupper served as a soldier during the [[French and Indian War]] for two or three years. During that time, he also ran a district school in [[Easton, Massachusetts]] during the winters. At the age of 24, he married Huldah White in Easton, and they subsequently relocated to Chesterfield. He served as a lieutenant of the militia in Chesterfield.<ref>Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 217–18.</ref><ref name = "Drake 489">Drake, ''Memorials of the Society of Cincinnati'', 489.</ref>

==Revolutionary War==
[[File:Washington-at-ValleyForge.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Valley Forge]]
[[File:BattleofMonmouth.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Battle of Monmouth]]

Benjamin Tupper was in the field with the [[Continental Army]] throughout the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name = "Howe 509">Howe, ''Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol. III'', 509.</ref> He engaged as major with Col. John Fellows' Massachusetts regiment at the beginning of the war in April 1775, several days after the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]]. Maj. Tupper participated in the [[Siege of Boston]] during 1775. During the siege he led an expedition against British forces on [[Castle Island (Massachusetts)|Castle Island]] and the [[Boston Light]] in Boston harbor. During the expedition, his troops skirmished with British and Tories, and burned the lighthouse to hinder the movement of [[British Empire|British]] naval ships. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in late 1775.<ref name = "Drake 489" /><ref>Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 218–19.</ref>

After the [[Battle of Long Island]] in 1776, Lt. Col. Tupper commanded gunboats on the [[North River (New York-New Jersey)|North River]] (the southernmost portion of the [[Hudson River]]) near [[New York City]]. Describing an engagement of Tupper's gunboats with the British, Gen. [[George Washington]] wrote "...{{nbsp}}our officers and men, during the whole of the affair, behaved with great spirit and bravery."<ref>Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 221–22.</ref><ref name = "Drake 489 490">Drake, ''Memorials of the Society of Cincinnati'', 489–90.</ref> Benjamin Tupper was promoted to colonel during July 1777.<ref name = "Heitman 551">Heitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 551.</ref> Later that year, Col. Tupper served under Gen. [[Horatio Gates]] at [[Battle of Saratoga|Saratoga]]. Col. Tupper and his [[11th Massachusetts Regiment]] wintered at [[Valley Forge]] with Gen. Washington during the winter and spring of 1777 and 1778.<ref>Heitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 11.</ref>

During 1778, Col. Tupper served with Gen. Washington at the [[Battle of Monmouth]]; during the action, Tupper's horse was killed under him.<ref name = "Drake 489" /> During 1780 he served in the [[Departments of the Continental Army|Highlands Department]] and was in charge of the [[Hudson River Chain|Great Chain]] across the Hudson River at [[West Point]].<ref>Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 222.</ref> He served in the northern frontier of New York during the rest of the war as commanding officer of the [[10th Massachusetts Regiment]], and then the [[6th Massachusetts Regiment]]. During September 1783, he achieved the rank of [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]].<ref name = "Heitman 551" />

==Post-war and the Ohio Country==
[[File:PioneerFamiliesAugust1788.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Monument at Marietta, Ohio to pioneer families including Benjamin and Huldah Tupper]]

At the close of the war Gen. Tupper returned to his family at Chesterfield, and became a member of the Massachusetts [[State legislature (United States)|Legislature]]. During 1786, Benjamin Tupper and [[Rufus Putnam]] founded the [[Ohio Company of Associates]]. During that year, Benjamin Tupper was appointed as [[surveying|surveyor]] for the state of [[Massachusetts]] for the surveying of the [[Seven Ranges]] in the [[Ohio Country]].<ref name = "Hildreth Pioneer 166-67">Hildreth, ''Pioneer History'', 166–67.</ref><ref name = "Hildreth Settlers 223-24">Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 223–24.</ref><ref name = "Smith and Vining">Smith and Vining, ''American Geographers, 1784–1812'', 215.</ref> During 1787, he volunteered his services to Massachusetts militia Gen. [[William Shepard]] to assist in suppressing [[Shays' Rebellion]]; Gen. Tupper helped organize volunteers for the militia, and was with Gen Shepard defending the [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] [[Springfield Armory|armory]] when Shays attacked and was defeated.<ref name = "Drake 490">Drake, ''Memorials of the Society of Cincinnati'', 490.</ref><ref>Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 224–27.</ref>

During 1788, Benjamin Tupper and [[American Pioneers to the Northwest Territory|other pioneers]] of the [[Ohio Company of Associates]] arrived at the confluence of the [[Ohio River|Ohio]] and [[Muskingum River|Muskingum]] rivers to establish [[Marietta, Ohio]] as the first permanent American settlement in the [[Northwest Territory]].<ref name = "Drake 490" /><ref name = "Hildreth 228">Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 228.</ref> In August 1788, he invented a screw propeller, positioned in the stern of a boat, and turned with a crank. [[Manasseh Cutler]] wrote about the propeller that "It succeeded to admiration, and I think it a very useful discovery."<ref name = "Howe 509" /> During September 1788, Benjamin Tupper and Rufus Putnam were the justices of the first civil court in the Northwest Territory.<ref>Hildreth, ''Pioneer History'', 232–33.</ref> Benjamin Tupper was a prominent member of the pioneer settlement of Marietta. He was an original member of the [[Society of the Cincinnati]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Metcalf|first=Bryce|title=Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati, 1783-1938: With the Institution, Rules of Admission, and Lists of the Officers of the General and State Societies|publisher=Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc.|year=1938|isbn=|location=Strasburg, Va.|pages=}}</ref> and an original member of the American Union Lodge No. 1 of [[Freemasons]] at Marietta, along with several others including his son [[Anselm Tupper]], [[William Stacy]], and [[Rufus Putnam]].<ref name = "Summers 295">Summers, ''History of Marietta'', 294–95.</ref>

[[File:TupperStreetSign.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Tupper Street sign near Mound Cemetery in Marietta, Ohio]]

Benjamin Tupper's sons were Maj. [[Anselm Tupper]], Gen. Edward W. Tupper, and Col. Benjamin Tupper, Jr. His daughters were Sophia, Minerva, and Roewena, who married Gov. [[Winthrop Sargent]] in the first marriage ceremony in the Northwest Territory. Another daughter, Huldah, died young.<ref>Hildreth, ''Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', 229.</ref>

Benjamin Tupper died in June 1792. A visitor to the Marietta settlement witnessed the funeral, and wrote that:

<blockquote>Gen. Tupper, who had died the day before, was buried on the 17th. In consideration of the four different offices which he held, firstly as General in the service of the United States in the late war; secondly as member of the [[Society of the Cincinnati]]; thirdly as director of the Ohio Company; and fourthly as master among the Freemasons, therefore, because of these positions, great honors were shown his remains at the funeral.<ref>Cotton, ''Sketch of Mound Cemetery'', 11–12.</ref></blockquote>

Benjamin Tupper is buried with many other Revolutionary War soldiers and pioneers at [[Mound Cemetery (Marietta, Ohio)|Mound Cemetery]] in Marietta.<ref name = "Hawley 443">Hawley, ''Mound Cemetery'', 443.</ref>

==References==
[[File:CampusMartius.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Campus Martius at Marietta, home to Benjamin Tupper]]
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* Cotton, Willia Dawson: ''Sketch of Mound Cemetery, Marietta, Ohio'', Marietta Register Print, Marietta, Ohio (1900).
* Drake, Francis S.: ''Memorials of the Society of Cincinnati of Massachusetts'', Boston (1873).
* Hawley, Owen: ''Mound Cemetery, Marietta, Ohio'', Washington County Historical Society, Marietta, Ohio (1996).
* Heitman, Francis B.: ''Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution'', Rare Book Shop Publishing Co., Washington, D.C. (1914).
* Hildreth, S. P.: ''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', H. W. Derby and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1852).
* Hildreth, S. P.: ''Pioneer History: Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley, and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory'', H. W. Derby and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1848).
* {{cite book |first=Henry|last=Howe |authorlink=Henry Howe |title=[[Historical Collections of Ohio]] |volume=III |publisher=Henry Howe and Son |location=Columbus, Ohio|year=1891}}
* Hulbert, Archer Butler: ''The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume I'', Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917).
* Hulbert, Archer Butler: ''The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume II'', Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917).
* Smith, B. A. and Vining, J. W.: ''American Geographers, 1784–1812'', Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut (2003).
* Summers, Thomas J.: ''History of Marietta'', The Leader Publishing Co., Marietta, Ohio (1903).

==External links==
{{Appletons' Poster|Tupper, Benjamin|year=1889|Benjamin Tupper}}
* [https://www.societyofthecincinnati.org/ The Society of the Cincinnati]
*[https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/ The American Revolution Institute]
*[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=386 Benjamin Tupper at Ohio History Central].
* [http://www.ohio.edu/athens/bldgs/tupper.html Tupper Hall at Ohio University].
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{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tupper, Benjamin}}
[[Category:1738 births]]
[[Category:1792 deaths]]
[[Category:Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Continental Army officers from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Continental Army generals]]
[[Category:American pioneers]]
[[Category:Northwest Territory judges]]
[[Category:People from Marietta, Ohio]]
[[Category:American surveyors]]
[[Category:Burials at Mound Cemetery (Marietta, Ohio)]]
[[Category:People from Sharon, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People of the French and Indian War]]
[[Category:People from colonial Massachusetts]]

Benjamin Tupper - Revision history

imported>Reviewer1830: /* Early life */