Nathan Waller (March 7, 1753 – July 11, 1831) was an

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

soldier. He was originally from Connecticut, but became an early settler in the

Wyoming Valley The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal-mines. As a metropolitan are ...

region of present-day Pennsylvania. He fought in the

, reaching the rank of captain. Later, he became a relatively prosperous farmer and landowner.

Early life

Waller was born to Phineas and Rhoda Waller in

Cornwall, Connecticut Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census. History The town of Cornwall, Connecticut, is named after the county of Cornwall, England. The town was incorporated in 1740, near ...

, on March 7, 1753. He was the eldest of five sons. At an early age, he moved to the

, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, becoming one of the early settlers there. Like many others, he had purchased land from the Susquehanna Company in the area.

Career

Military service

While in Connecticut with his family in 1775, Waller joined the Revolutionary army as a

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within Captain Hickock's Company, which was part of Colonel Beardsley's Sixteenth Regiment, which was in turn part of the

Connecticut Line The Connecticut Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Connecticut Line" referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Connecticut at various times by the Continental Congress, the size of its allocation de ...

. In 1779, he participated in the expedition to Farfield and Darbury, Connecticut. He was also wounded in a military engagement at Horse Neck, close to West Greenwich, in the same year. Waller eventually attained the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Once the war ended, Waller returned with his family to the Wyoming Valley.

Later career

After returning to the Wyoming Valley, Waller came to own significant amounts of land in and around Wilkes-Barre. Prior to 1787, he constructed a house on his lower farm. More than a hundred years later, in the early 20th century, it was still standing on what was then Division Street. In the early 19th century, he sold his farm in South Wilkes-Barre and bought the Putman Catlin farm, a large farm on the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

in Oquago, New York (now part of

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, in Broome County). When the state of

was awarded sovereignty of the Wyoming Valley region in December 1782, Waller did not oppose this action. On April 21, 1787, he signed a document supporting the laws of Pennsylvania and in that year, he took an oath of loyalty to that state. In 1795, he was on a jury that conditionally convicted several anti-Pennsylvania conspirators. Waller's name appears quite frequently in the earliest records of Luzerne County. In 1792, he, Zebulon Butler, and Timothy Pickering were on a committee appointed by Wilkes-Barre to determine a location for a new Congregational Church. The site they chose was on Wilkes-Barre's public square. He eventually went on to become a relatively prosperous landowner and was also a farmer.

Personal life and death

Waller married Elizabeth Weeks on May 4, 1773. They had two sons, Phineas and Eliud (died 1814), and eight daughters: Lydia, Lucy, Elizabeth, and five others who moved to western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. After marrying, he moved to a farm in the

. In 1775, Waller returned to

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

with his wife and his infant son Phineas. Early in the 19th century, he moved to his farm in Oquago, taking part of his family with him. In 1822, he swapped farms with his son Phineas and returned to Wilkes-Barre, where he lived until his death. His paternal grandson was David Jewett Waller, Sr., a Pennsylvanian minister and civic leader. Waller was described as "a man of powerful physique". According to legend, he once killed a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

Plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...

when armed with only a pine knot. Waller died on July 11, 1831, in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Nathan People from Cornwall, Connecticut Farmers from Pennsylvania 18th-century American landowners 1753 births 1831 deaths People from colonial Connecticut Continental Army soldiers People of Connecticut in the American Revolution People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania