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1775      «   Revolutionary War   »     1783

Killed in Action     Wounded in action      POW/MIA    
  Died during active duty      + Contracted disease-illness-disability during service

   DeLong, Francis
   (no picture available)
   
       b 6-8-1759                d 2/8/1862
Pasquotank River NC      Hartford MI
Age 102y, 8m, 3d
(age 103 years recorded on tombstone)

Enlisted 9/13/1777
Age 18 years
Fifer

      Perhaps the only Revolutionary soldier who ever lived in Hartford Township was Francis DeLong who was born in 1760.  He and his wife came to the Township of Hartford in 1854 and lived with their children. Mr. DeLong enlisted in the American Army on the 13th day of September, 1777.  He was taken prisoner by the English forces at Charleston, South Carolina and was held prisoner for five months. He was then taken to the island of Jamaica where he was held for six years when he was transferred to Halifax and detained for one year, then sent to Montreal, and then three months afterward he and his comrades in captivity were sent to the West Indies to fight the natives, but not being of the requisite stature of an English soldier he was discharged, a stranger in a strange land without money and without friends.

     He finally succeeded in working his way to northern New York where he married and raised a family of eight children.  Three grandsons of the old hero were in the Civil War, Silas, Henry and Nathan DeLong.  Freeman Stowe, a great grandson, was also a Civil War soldier.  A great-great grandson, Bernard A. Stowe, served during WW1.  Numerous descendants of the old veteran, grandchildren and great grandchildren are residents of the townships of Hartford and Bangor.

     He died in 1862 and was laid to rest in the Hartford cemetery in military style in the presence of friends, relatives and a few soldiers who had just been sworn into the U.S. service by C.H. Engle.  The scene was an impressive one.  "We are consigning to his grave", says Mr. Engle, "in the presence of the young soldiers one of the last of the Revolutionary heroes who fought for the liberty that was secured to us by such loyals as Francis DeLong".

     Alvah DeLong was a settler of the town in 1839.  He removed to California where he died.  Two of his brothers, Asher and Allen, also became residents of the township.

The above information is from A History of Hartford, by township historian, Charles A Spaulding, covering the period of 1829-1929.
Photos submitted by Emma Thornburg Sefcik.

DeLong, Francis
 (no picture available)
Enlisted 9/13/1777

Died 2/8/1862

Buried in Hartford Pioneer Cemetery
Van Buren County, Hartford, Michigan
grave marked 1915. 
Father of 8 children with 2 listed as:

1. Silas DeLong of Bangor, MI

2. Mrs. Ette E. (Lewis) Landon of Hartford, MI.
(12-23-2007 Eric DeLong, great, great, great, great grandson of Francis Delong,
notes that Silas Delong and Ette E. (Lewis) Landon were actually children of
Allen Delong, who was the son of Francis Delong)

     This information was obtained from the Wayne County Michigan website MALHN at http://www.geocities.com/michhist/revburial.html regarding the Revolutionary War Soldiers buried in Michigan.  Other names were listed with men from the surrounding areas.

     Original information came from the book Michigan Military Records by
Sue I. Silliman, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore 1969.

  7-19-2007 Update

    Eric John DeLong, great, great, great, great grandson of Francis DeLong, visited the DeLong grave site in Pioneer Cemetery.  Eric, an avid history buff, is a teacher-tutor in Streator IL  He tracked down the DeLong grave site through historic family documents and found Francis DeLong's profile (above) in the History of Hartford military section. 

     Eric noted that Francis was the son of a French Sea Captain and also the first DeLong in his ancestral line to be born in North America. 

  The following updated information was provided in 1/24/07:

   Mary Moody - wife
   Children - Anna, Ben, Hiram, Allen, Armena, Alva (my line), Asher, and Hardy

5-25-2007 Update
Laurie Warner Jacobs, great-granddaughter to Freeman Stowe, provided the following updated information and photos.

Freeman Stowe, great grandson of Francis DeLong, served in the Civil War and great-great grandson, Bernard A. Stowe, served during WW1.