Anselm Tupper (1763–1808) was an officer of 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 ...

during the American Revolutionary War, a pioneer to the Ohio Country, and one of the founders of Marietta, Ohio, the first permanent American settlement in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

. The eldest son of

Benjamin Tupper Benjamin Tupper (March 11, 1738 – June 7, 1792) was a soldier in the French and Indian War, and an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, achieving the rank of Brevet (military), brevet Brigadier general (United ...

, Anselm enlisted in the fight for independence during 1775, while only eleven years old, achieving the rank of lieutenant before his seventeenth birthday. After the war, he was a pioneer and

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

in the Northwest Territory, and became

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of the militia at Marietta during the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as the Northwestern ...

. Tupper was the first

school teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at Marietta, and was a classical scholar and poet. He was unmarried, and was known as a favorite in society.

Early life and the American Revolutionary War

Anselm Tupper was born in Easton, Massachusetts on October 11, 1763,Chaffin, ''History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts'', 255. and grew up to the age of eleven in Chesterfield in western Massachusetts. His childhood was brief, as he enlisted in May 1775 at the young age of eleven, shortly after the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...

,''Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, Vol 16'', 143-44.Chaffin, ''History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts'', 255-56. likely being one of the younger soldiers in the fight for independence. Anselm joined Captain Robert West's Chesterfield company, assigned to Colonel John Fellows' regiment (17th Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment), in which Anselm's father, Benjamin Tupper, was already major. As described in Chaffin's ''History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts'',

It is interesting to think of this Revolutionary soldier, ''not yet twelve years old'', engaging in all the toil, hardship, and peril of war, and never flinching until his country's independence was achieved.Chaffin, ''History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts'', 256.

In 1779, Tupper was appointed

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

Cutler, ''The Founders of Ohio'', 26. of Colonel

Ebenezer Sproat Ebenezer Sproat (February 9, 1752 – January 7, 1805), surname also spelled Sprout, was an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a pioneer to the Ohio Country, and one of the founders of Marietta, Ohio, the ...

's (aka Sprout) regiment. He was appointed ensign during 1779 or 1780. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of lieutenant and adjutant in the

11th Massachusetts Regiment The 11th Massachusetts Regiment was raised on September 16, 1776, under Colonel Ebenezer Francis at Boston, Massachusetts. The 11th Mass. would see action at the Battle of Hubbardton, Battle of Saratoga and the Battle of Monmouth. The regime ...

on September 1, 1780,Heitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 551. before his seventeenth birthday. He then served in the

10th Massachusetts Regiment The 10th Massachusetts Regiment was a military regiment in the American Revolutionary War. It was authorized on 16 September 1776, in the Continental Army under Colonel Marshall at Boston, Massachusetts, as eight companies of volunteers from ...

during 1781 and 1782, the

6th Massachusetts Regiment The 6th Massachusetts Regiment also known as the 4th Continental Regiment was raised on April 23, 1775, under Colonel John Nixon outside of Boston, Massachusetts. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, New York Campaign, B ...

during the first half of 1783, and the

2nd Massachusetts Regiment The 2nd Massachusetts Regiment, also known as Thomas' Regiment and Bailey's Regiment, was a unit of the Massachusetts Line in the 1777 establishment of the Continental Army. It was a successor to a number of Massachusetts provincial regiments f ...

from June until November 3, 1783.

Post-war and the Ohio Country

In 1786, Rufus Putnam and

founded the Ohio Company of Associates. During that year, Anselm joined his father in a survey of the Seven Ranges in the Ohio Country.Howe, ''Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol. III'', 509.Smith and Vining, ''American Geographers, 1784-1812'', 214, 279. Anslem became a shareholder of the Ohio Company of Associates, and was engaged as a surveyor with the company.Hulbert, ''Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume I'', 26. Subsequently, on April 7, 1788, Anselm Tupper and a group of American pioneers to the Northwest Territory, led by Rufus Putnam, arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers to establish Marietta, Ohio as the first permanent American settlement in the

.Hildreth, ''Pioneer History'', 206.Hulbert, ''Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume I'', 24. Anselm's parents,

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

and Huldah, arrived several months later. Anselm Tupper was a notable member of the pioneer settlement of Marietta, and a favorite in society. In September 1788, he served as a juror on the

Grand Jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

of the first civil court in the

.Hildreth, ''Pioneer History'', 232-33. During the

in 1789, he was appointed

in the militia with command of the Campus Martius fortification during the war. He was a founding member of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

,Drake, ''Memorials of the Society of Cincinnati'', 489. and an original member of the American Union Lodge No. 1 of

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

at MariettaSummers, ''History of Marietta'', 294–95. along with others including Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, and William Stacy. Anselm Tupper was the second officer of the vessel ''Orlando'', built at Marietta in 1803; he sailed with the ''Orlando'' from Marietta down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, across the Atlantic, and through the Mediterranean and

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

seas to Trieste.Andrews, ''History of Marietta and Washington County'', 880-81.Chaffin, ''History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts'', 257. He then returned home to Marietta. He was the first

in Marietta and the Northwest Territory,Venable, ''Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Ohio Valley'', 182-183.''Birthplace of the Northwest Territory'', 45. was a classical scholar, and was also a poet.Barker, ''Recollections of the First Settlement of Ohio'', 31-33. Anselm Tupper died on December 25, 1808. He is buried with his father and many other American Revolutionary War soldiers and pioneers at Mound Cemetery in Marietta.Hawley, ''Mound Cemetery'', 443.

References

External links

American Revolution InstituteAnselm Tupper surveyor's field notes - Manuscripts and Documents of the Ohio Company of Associates - Marietta College

Society of the Cincinnati

Bibliography

* Andrews, Martin R.: ''History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio and Representative Citizens'', Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois (1902). * Barker, Joseph: ''Recollections of the First Settlement of Ohio'', Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio (1958); original manuscript written late in Joseph Barker's life, prior to his death in 1843. * ''Birthplace of the Northwest Territory'', Northwest Territory Celebration Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1938). * Chaffin, William L.: ''History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts'', John Wilson and Son, University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1886). * Cutler, Julia Perkins: ''The Founders of Ohio, Brief Sketches of the Forty-Eight Pioneers'', Robert Clarke and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1888). * Drake, Francis S.: ''Memorials of the Society of Cincinnati of Massachusetts'', Boston (1873). * Hawley, Owen: ''Mound Cemetery, Marietta, Ohio'', Washington County Historical Society, Marietta, Ohio (1996). * Heitman, Francis B.: ''Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution'', Rare Book Shop Publishing Co., Washington, D.C. (1914). * Hildreth, S. P.: ''Pioneer History: Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley, and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory'', H. W. Derby and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1848). * * Hulbert, Archer Butler: ''The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume I'', Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917). * Hulbert, Archer Butler: ''The Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume II'', Marietta Historical Commission, Marietta, Ohio (1917). * ''Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Vol 16'', Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Wright and Potter Printing Co., Boston (1907). * Smith, B. A. and Vining, J. W.: ''American Geographers, 1784-1812'', Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut (2003). * Summers, Thomas J.: ''History of Marietta'', The Leader Publishing Co., Marietta, Ohio (1903). * Venable, W. H.: ''Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Ohio Valley'', Robert Clark and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (1891). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tupper, Anselm 1763 births 1808 deaths Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution Continental Army officers from Massachusetts American pioneers People from Marietta, Ohio American surveyors Burials at Mound Cemetery (Marietta, Ohio)