ELIPHALET PHILBROOK (Jr.) MILITIA ORDERS

August 25, 1775

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Eliphalet Philbrook (Jr.) was born about 1751 and his death date is unknown.  Henry Ward, Secretary to the General Assembly of Rhode Island, wrote the document dated Aug. 25, 1775.  Ward & the General Assembly were supporters of the colonial forces fighting the British in 1775.  At the time, the hostilities in Boston were viewed as fight against the outrageous policies of the English Parliament and therefore the British troops, and not necessarily against King George himself.  This may account for the wording in the document that speaks of defending “His Majesty’s Plantation.”

The document is written after Lexington & Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill.  Militia and Minute Men units from Rhode Island were still stationed in and around Boston, so it was necessary to raise more units to support colonial forces there and to protect Rhode Island itself.  Recommended reading for this period of history is “Red Dawn at Lexington” by Louis Birnbaum.

The Rhode Island State Archives provided the following information:  

Philbrook, Eliphalet, about 26 years, 5' 9"; light eyes & dark hair; a laborer, belongs to the town of Scituate; deserted from Captain Coggeshall Olney's Company, Angell's Regiment; desertion advertised by Captain Thomas Hughes in Providence Gazette, September 13, 1777, Vol. XIV (Rhode Island Historical Society Library Collection, vol. v) Note:  No record of Eliphalet appearing on 1777 Rhode Island Military Census (or providing a loyalty oath).  There is no record of Eliphalet ever serving with the unit mentioned in the document.

We don’t know what happened to Eliphalet Jr. from here.  There are no other records of him in Rhode Island records that we have had searched, nor does he appear on any census records in R.I.