Richard Falley Jr. (January 31, 1740 in St. George, Maine – September 3, 1808 in

Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...

) was a soldier who fought in the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

Early life

Falley was born on January 31, 1740, in St. George, Maine. He was the son of Richard and Anna (Lamb) Falley. His father was born on

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, but was reputedly kidnapped as a boy and brought to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

.Excerpts From The Hitchcock Genealogy, Compiled for the Register by H. G. Cleveland, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio.

Career

At age 16, Falley joined the Provincial Army and was among those captured by Native Americans at the surrender of Fort Edward. He was taken to Montreal and adopted into the tribe. Later he was ransomed from the tribe by a woman for 16 gallons of

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

and returned to Westfield.Roberts, George Simon. ''Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley''. Robson & Adee, Schenectady, New York, 1906
convenience link
/ref> He later joined Captain Park’s company as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

and commanded a company at the

where his 14-year-old son, Frederick, served there as a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

, and reportedly "drummed all through the fight." During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, Falley made guns for the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

at an armory at the foot of

Tekoa Mountain Tekoa Mountain, , is a dramatic, rocky high point overlooking the Westfield River Gorge at the eastern edge of the Berkshire plateau in the towns of Montgomery and Russell, Massachusetts, USA. Tekoa Mountain, very prominent from the "Jacob's La ...

in Montgomery, Massachusetts. He was for many years superintendent of the Armory at

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

Personal life

On December 24, 1761, Falley married Margaret Hitchcock (b. May 25, 1741, Westfield, MA - d. February 11 or 18, 1820, Volney (now Fulton), NY) in Westfield, Massachusetts. Together they had 11 children, 10 of whom survived. # Lovisa Falley, b. Dec 3, 1763 # Frederick Falley, b. Jan 2, 1765 # Margaret Falley, b. Nov 15, 1766 # Richard Falley, b. Sept 15, 1768 # Russell Falley, b. Oct 5, 1770 # Daniel Falley, b. Dec 3, 1772 (did not survive) # Daniel Falley, b. Nov 15, 1773 # Ruth Falley, b. Dec 7, 1775 # Lewis Falley, b. Jan 15, 1778 # Samuel Falley, b. Oct 9, 1780 # Alexander Falley, b. Apr 4, 1783

Death and legacy

Falley died on September 3, 1808, in Westfield, Massachusetts. He was buried at the Old Burying Grounds off of Mechanic Street in Westfield. Through his daughter Margaret, Falley was the grandfather of

Richard Falley Cleveland Richard Falley Cleveland (June 19, 1804 – October 1, 1853) was an American Congregationalist and Presbyterian minister. A graduate of Yale College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he spent most of his life as a pastor, outside of a brief per ...

, who was the father of

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

(twice

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

).''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', 20 August 1884
GOV. CLEVELAND'S GRANDMOTHER; SOMETHING ABOUT HIS FAMILY ON THE MATERNAL SIDE
. Accessed 31 May 2011. Westfield, Massachusetts' Falley Drive is named for him.

References

External links

Historical Marker for Lieut. Richard Falley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falley, Richard Jr. 1740 births 1808 deaths Continental Army soldiers American adoptees American people of Guernsey descent People from Westfield, Massachusetts People from St. George, Maine Grover Cleveland family