Reuben Colburn
Encyclopedia
Reuben Colburn was a shipbuilder in Pittston, Maine
who made great contributions to the American side in the Revolutionary War
. His home, the Major Reuben Colburn House
, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
.
. He arrived near the beginning of serious tensions between the colonists and the British.
A strong patriot, Colburn, a lumberman and shipbuilder, took up arms in 1775 when the revolution started, obtaining command of his local committee of safety. To bring local Indians
in on the American side, he gathered the Abenaki tribes of the St. Francis. Traveling by canoe Colburn led them to Cambridge, Massachusetts
for an audience with General George Washington
at the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House
. A surprised Washington welcomed them with open arms and enlisted the chiefs on the spot.
When informed of a plan to capture Quebec City
under the command of American Colonel Benedict Arnold
, Colburn offered his services to the Continental army
, complete with scouts, maps, and boats. Arnold was enthusiastic about the new support and wrote Colburn immediately:
Colburn sped to Maine
, making plans for the expedition. Once home, he put his crew to work building the bateau
x and procuring the foodstuffs from the local citizenry, many of them Tories unsympathetic to the patriot cause. He ordered maps and sent three scouts to explore the upper Dead River ahead of the coming army. Colburn made three trips to Cambridge during August of that year while the crews, under the supervision of his brothers, Oliver and Benjamin Colburn, and partner Thomas Agry, labored to fill the contract. They had only fifteen days to complete the task. Due to the short time frame and time of year, no dried pine was available and he was forced to cut fresh green pine to attach to the oak ribs.
When the transports arrived on September 20, 1775, the bateaux were just about finished. With Arnold on the transport Broad Bay was a 19-year-old volunteer soldier by the name of Aaron Burr
. Both were entertained in the Colburn home for three days until the army moved on upriver to Fort Western
. Many legends surround the activities of Burr, but his stay with Reuben and Elizabeth Colburn is well documented. Two divisions remained at Colburn House for a week.
Colburn followed the expedition with a company of carpenters, fixing the flotilla as needed. The army barely made it through to supplies in Canada
, and the 600 remaining men led by Arnold later mounted an unsuccessful attack on Quebec
. Most of the commanders were captured and Arnold received the leg wound that plagued him for the rest of his days. Colburn and his brothers returned to Pittston, where he continued to build ships and support the American cause for the remainder of the war.
He served in the Massachusetts General Court
and was a delegate to the Falmouth Convention, where he was the first to vote for statehood for Maine. That effort failed.
Colburn was never paid the money promised him by Washington. Thus, in the winter of 1776, when he first contacted Washington about the matter, a campaign began to gain payment that would last until the last family member failed in 1856. Treasury officials lost his receipts and for 20 years they sat in a box in New York after the commissioner died. In 1792, an act of limitation passed in the Continental Congress
banning all Revolutionary claims as questionable due to the length of time passed, but this was challenged as unjust. Colburn suffered great economic hardship for this great expense and died in 1818,http://www.genealogy.com/users/y/o/r/Mark-a-York/PHOTO/0014photo.html financially ruined by the embargo
and the War of 1812
. In 1819 the Congressional Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary claims reported that Colburn had pressed a claim on the United States for the sum of £523 15s 10d; that he had received in September 1775 the sum of £332 10s 6d in cash; that credit was given to the United States for the amount of £159 10s 6d leaving a balance of £364 4s 4d; that there was sufficient time until 1794 for the claim to have been settled until barred by the statue of limitations; and that to admit a claim after 40 years after being barred was inexpedient and that claim should not be granted.
Kenneth Roberts
' 1929 novel Arundel mentions Reuben Colburn on several pages. He, along with Arnold are the only real characters not fictionalized in his story. The journals of the members of the original expedition complied by Roberts in March to Quebec are a critical primary source for the ill-fated Arnold Expedition.
Pittston, Maine
Pittston is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,548 at the 2000 census. The town was named for the family of John Pitt, who were early settlers....
who made great contributions to the American side in the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. His home, the Major Reuben Colburn House
Major Reuben Colburn House
The Major Reuben Colburn House was the home of Reuben Colburn, a patriot and shipbuilder of Pittston, Maine from 1765 to 1818. Colburn assisted George Washington and Benedict Arnold in the planning and provisioning of the invasion of Canada...
, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Biography
In 1761, Colburn, his seven siblings and parents moved to Gardinerston in Maine, then a province of MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He arrived near the beginning of serious tensions between the colonists and the British.
A strong patriot, Colburn, a lumberman and shipbuilder, took up arms in 1775 when the revolution started, obtaining command of his local committee of safety. To bring local Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
in on the American side, he gathered the Abenaki tribes of the St. Francis. Traveling by canoe Colburn led them to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
for an audience with General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
at the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House
Longfellow National Historic Site
The Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House and, until December 2010, Longfellow National Historic Site, is a historic site located at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For almost fifty years, it was the...
. A surprised Washington welcomed them with open arms and enlisted the chiefs on the spot.
When informed of a plan to capture Quebec City
Invasion of Canada (1775)
The Invasion of Canada in 1775 was the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to gain military control of the British Province of Quebec, and convince the French-speaking Canadiens to join the...
under the command of American Colonel Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
, Colburn offered his services to the Continental army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
, complete with scouts, maps, and boats. Arnold was enthusiastic about the new support and wrote Colburn immediately:
Sir, His Excellency General Washington Desires you will Inform your self how soon, there can be procured, or built, at Kennebec, Two hundred light Batoos Capable of Carrying Six or Seven Men each, with their Provisions & Baggage, (say 100 wt. to each man) the Boats to be furnished with four Oars two Paddles & two Setting Poles each, the expense of Building them & whether a sufficient quantity of Nails can be procured with you.
Colburn sped to Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, making plans for the expedition. Once home, he put his crew to work building the bateau
Bateau
A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes...
x and procuring the foodstuffs from the local citizenry, many of them Tories unsympathetic to the patriot cause. He ordered maps and sent three scouts to explore the upper Dead River ahead of the coming army. Colburn made three trips to Cambridge during August of that year while the crews, under the supervision of his brothers, Oliver and Benjamin Colburn, and partner Thomas Agry, labored to fill the contract. They had only fifteen days to complete the task. Due to the short time frame and time of year, no dried pine was available and he was forced to cut fresh green pine to attach to the oak ribs.
When the transports arrived on September 20, 1775, the bateaux were just about finished. With Arnold on the transport Broad Bay was a 19-year-old volunteer soldier by the name of Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
. Both were entertained in the Colburn home for three days until the army moved on upriver to Fort Western
Fort Western
Fort Western was a colonial outpost at the head of navigation on the Kennebec River at modern Augusta, Maine, United States.It was built in 1754 by a Boston land company to promote settlement in the area. The fort was a log palisade with blockhouses which protected a store and warehouse. It was...
. Many legends surround the activities of Burr, but his stay with Reuben and Elizabeth Colburn is well documented. Two divisions remained at Colburn House for a week.
Colburn followed the expedition with a company of carpenters, fixing the flotilla as needed. The army barely made it through to supplies in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and the 600 remaining men led by Arnold later mounted an unsuccessful attack on Quebec
Battle of Quebec (1775)
The Battle of Quebec was fought on December 31, 1775 between American Continental Army forces and the British defenders of the city of Quebec, early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major defeat of the war for the Americans, and it came at a high price...
. Most of the commanders were captured and Arnold received the leg wound that plagued him for the rest of his days. Colburn and his brothers returned to Pittston, where he continued to build ships and support the American cause for the remainder of the war.
He served in the Massachusetts General Court
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
and was a delegate to the Falmouth Convention, where he was the first to vote for statehood for Maine. That effort failed.
Colburn was never paid the money promised him by Washington. Thus, in the winter of 1776, when he first contacted Washington about the matter, a campaign began to gain payment that would last until the last family member failed in 1856. Treasury officials lost his receipts and for 20 years they sat in a box in New York after the commissioner died. In 1792, an act of limitation passed in the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
banning all Revolutionary claims as questionable due to the length of time passed, but this was challenged as unjust. Colburn suffered great economic hardship for this great expense and died in 1818,http://www.genealogy.com/users/y/o/r/Mark-a-York/PHOTO/0014photo.html financially ruined by the embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
and the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. In 1819 the Congressional Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary claims reported that Colburn had pressed a claim on the United States for the sum of £523 15s 10d; that he had received in September 1775 the sum of £332 10s 6d in cash; that credit was given to the United States for the amount of £159 10s 6d leaving a balance of £364 4s 4d; that there was sufficient time until 1794 for the claim to have been settled until barred by the statue of limitations; and that to admit a claim after 40 years after being barred was inexpedient and that claim should not be granted.
Kenneth Roberts
Kenneth Roberts
Roberts graduated from Cornell University in 1908, where he wrote the lyrics for two Cornell fight songs, including Fight for Cornell. He was also a member of the Quill and Dagger society...
' 1929 novel Arundel mentions Reuben Colburn on several pages. He, along with Arnold are the only real characters not fictionalized in his story. The journals of the members of the original expedition complied by Roberts in March to Quebec are a critical primary source for the ill-fated Arnold Expedition.