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"Gunner" was a mistake made when military records were copied by hand from the floral handwritten script "D" in "Drummer." Duplicate records show "Drummer" for Benoni, and variations of "Jr. Gunner" "Qr. Gunner" and "Drummer" for "Benjamin" - so presumably the scribe making the copy was taking liberties on information he deemed incorrect or unreadable. Benoni was consistently listed throughout the war/conflict as a fifer and a drummer in various records and rolls from Lexington Alarm to Valley Forge and then at Castle Island, with obvious corrections when someone mistakenly wrote his name as Benjamin in some cases having it crossed out, corrected, or otherwise munged worse, as "Benoni" was just as unusual then as now, it would seem. Despite the mythos, drummers were not usually children or young boys, but perhaps lesser-abled or weaker adults who could not fight as infantry but were otherwise healthy and reliable. A diminutive man might fit this profile.
Parentage speculation - "Benoni" means "child of my sorrow" (Genesis 35:18) - a biblical name given to a son whose mother died in childbirth. It is well-documented that Thomas and Grace Garnett married in 1758, 2 years AFTER Benoni's birth in 1756. So perhaps he had a different mother and Thomas had been married prior to Grace. More speculation - stunted growth due to dead birth-mother/birth complications?
Contributor: Fiferjanis (49376849) •
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"Gunner" was a mistake made when military records were copied by hand from the floral handwritten script "D" in "Drummer." Duplicate records show "Drummer" for Benoni, and variations of "Jr. Gunner" "Qr. Gunner" and "Drummer" for "Benjamin" - so presumably the scribe making the copy was taking liberties on information he deemed incorrect or unreadable. Benoni was consistently listed throughout the war/conflict as a fifer and a drummer in various records and rolls from Lexington Alarm to Valley Forge and then at Castle Island, with obvious corrections when someone mistakenly wrote his name as Benjamin in some cases having it crossed out, corrected, or otherwise munged worse, as "Benoni" was just as unusual then as now, it would seem. Despite the mythos, drummers were not usually children or young boys, but perhaps lesser-abled or weaker adults who could not fight as infantry but were otherwise healthy and reliable. A diminutive man might fit this profile.
Parentage speculation - "Benoni" means "child of my sorrow" (Genesis 35:18) - a biblical name given to a son whose mother died in childbirth. It is well-documented that Thomas and Grace Garnett married in 1758, 2 years AFTER Benoni's birth in 1756. So perhaps he had a different mother and Thomas had been married prior to Grace. More speculation - stunted growth due to dead birth-mother/birth complications?
Contributor: Fiferjanis (49376849) •
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