Jehu Eyre or Ayer (January 10, 1738 – July 23, 1781) was an American businessman, veteran of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

and

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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and member of the influential

Eyre family The Eyre family refers to the descendants of George Eyre (American), George Eyre and Mary Smith Eyre who comprised a political and business dynasty prominent in the Northeastern United States from the Colonial history of the United States, colonial ...

, which played a major role in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and the early Republic. Jehu's father George had emigrated to the New World in 1727; the family was descended from one of the oldest noble lines in England.http://proxy.wrlc.org:8080/cgi-bin/getdoc.pdf?file=CLS_1057029.pdf&pin=899812

Biography

Eyre was born in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a City (New Jersey), city situated on the banks of the Delaware River in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the c ...

. He married Lydia Wright Eyre on December 28, 1761, when Jehu was twenty-three years old. Jehu's brother

Manuel Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

, also an officer in the Continental Army,Rootsweb Carbon County data
/ref> had married Lydia's sister Martha on January 8 of the same year. In total, Jehu and Lydia Eyre would have five children: George (named after his grandfather), Jehu Jr., Franklin, Sarah, and Lydia (named after her mother).

British soldier

Eyre fought alongside

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

in the

, serving as the Chief Engineer and Director of Artillery for the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. Eyre and Washington were both participants in the July 9, 1755 Battle of Monongahela, when forces under

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

General

Edward Braddock Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe and Canada as ...

were defeated by combined

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and Native American units. Of the carnage there, Eyre later wrote:

Revolutionary

Eyre served under Washington at

Valley Forge Valley Forge was the winter encampment of the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. The Valley Forge encampment lasted six months, from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. It was the t ...

during the winter of 1776–1777. He and his brothers were commissioned by Washington to build vessels for the independence effort at the Eyre family's shipping yards in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

(now part of Philadelphia), and provided some of the first ships in the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United Colonies and United States from 1775 to 1785. It was founded on October 13, 1775 by the Continental Congress to fight against British forces and their allies as part of the American Revolutionary ...

. In 1775 Eyre mustered his workers into a force for the defense of Philadelphia known as the "Kensington Artillery". On December 25, 1776, Jehu Eyre "had charge of the boats" in Washington's crossing of the Delaware, a resounding success and a critical battle that saved the Revolution from being snuffed out in its infancy. At the

Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Am ...

, Colonel Eyre fought with his artillery company to halt the capture of Philadelphia, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Following the British occupation of the city in 1777, the naval works at Kensington were destroyed, to be rebuilt after the conflict's conclusion by Jehu's children and grandchildren. The Eyre Mansion, specifically targeted by the British, was ransacked that winter.

After independence

During the war, Eyre's shipping yards were destroyed and his house razed, amounting to a total loss of £6,392 as of 1778, for which neither he nor his family were ever compensated. One of the frigates built by the Eyres, ''The Alliance'', carried the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

to France in 1779 and then joined up with the fleet of

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

Death and legacy

Eyre died of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and his diaries were later published as ''The Memorials of Colonel Jehu Eyre''.Eyre, Jehu.
Memorials of Colonel Jehu Eyre.
Edited by Peter D. Keyser. ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'', 3 (1879), pp. 296–307, 412–425. In 1853, his remains were taken from the Coates family graveyard and re-interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...

in Philadelphia, where an Eyre family vault was constructed. A portrait of Jehu Eyre can be found at Trumbull's Gallery at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

Notes

Sources and external links

List of Patriots
— National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Zachariah Davies Chapter *Edgar S. MacLay, ''A History of American Privateers'' (includes illustration of Eyre) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Jehu 1738 births 1781 deaths 18th-century American businesspeople American manufacturing businesspeople American shipbuilders Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Continental Army officers from New Jersey Deaths from malaria Eyre family People from Burlington, New Jersey People from colonial New Jersey People from colonial Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War