William Popham
William Popham (19 September 1752 – 25 September 1847) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a lawyer in New York, and the seventh President General of the Society of the Cincinnati from 1844 until his death in 1847.[1]
He was among the last surviving officers of the Revolutionary War and the last veteran of the conflict to serve as president of the hereditary society founded by officers of George Washington’s army.
Early life
Popham was born on 19 September 1752 in County Cork, Ireland, probably in the town of Bandon.[2] He was the son of William Popham and Catherine Millet.
Around 1764, at approximately twelve years of age, he emigrated to British North America. He settled in Delaware where he attended the Newark Academy, a Presbyterian institution where he was originally intended to train for the ministry.
The outbreak of the American Revolutionary War altered the course of his life.
American Revolutionary War
In January 1776 Popham joined the Continental Army. He initially served as a second lieutenant in the Delaware Regiment and later became a captain in the 2nd Canadian Regiment commanded by Colonel Moses Hazen.[3]
During the war he served as aide-de-camp to several senior officers, including General James Clinton. He later joined the staff of Baron von Steuben, the Prussian officer who helped train and reorganize the Continental Army.
Popham took part in various campaigns in the northern theater of the war, including operations in New York and Pennsylvania and expeditions against forces allied with the British.
Career after the war
After the war ended in 1783, Popham settled in New York City, where he pursued a career as a lawyer and notary public. He appears in early New York City directories as a notary public living on King Street in the late eighteenth century.
On 19 October 1783 he married Mary Morris in Albany, New York. The couple had several children and later resided primarily in Scarsdale in Westchester County, New York.
Popham appears in the 1790 United States census, as well as subsequent federal census records for Westchester County in 1800, 1820, and 1830.
He later received a federal pension for his Revolutionary War service. In the 1835 list of pensioners he appears as a captain of Hazen's regiment receiving an annual pension of $480.
Society of the Cincinnati
Popham was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, the hereditary organization founded in 1783 by officers of the Continental Army to preserve the memory of the Revolutionary War.
In 1844 he was elected President General of the Society, the highest office of the organization. Among his predecessors in that position were several prominent figures of the early United States, including:
Popham served as President General until his death in 1847. He was one of the last surviving officers of the Revolutionary War and the last veteran of that conflict to lead the society.
Death
William Popham died on 25 September 1847 at the age of 95.[4]
His death was widely reported in American newspapers of the period. He was buried at St. James Episcopal Church in Scarsdale, New York.
Family
William Popham married Mary Morris in 1783. Their children included:
Richard Morris Popham
Mary Lawrence Popham
Sarah Elizabeth Popham
William Sherbrooke Popham
John Popham
Elizabeth Popham
Charles Wilkes Popham
Julia Ludlow Popham
Members of the Popham family later settled in various parts of the United States, including New York and New Orleans.
See also
References
- ↑ "Presidents General". The Society of the Cincinnati. Society of the Cincinnati. 04-march-2026. Retrieved 2026. Check date values in:
|access-date=, |date=(help) - ↑ James Boulden. "William Popham genealogy entry". Ancestry World Tree Project. Missing or empty
|url=(help) - ↑ List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1835. United States Senate. 1835. Search this book on
- ↑ "Death of Major William Popham". Niles' National Register. 9 October 1847.
External links
- "Presidents General". Society of the Cincinnati.
Category:1752 births Category:1847 deaths Category Army officers Category Revolutionary War officers Category emigrants to the United States Category of the Society of the Cincinnati Category from County Cork
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