VI. EBENEZER CARLEY, son of Joseph and Sarah. His birthdate is given in the records as Feb. 12, 1767. Yet as he claims to have been with Ethan Allen at the taking of Fort Ticonderoga, and from 1776 on to 1781 is listed on Revolutionary War records, and his gravestone states he died July 18, 1814, at the age of 54, there seems to be some discrepancy here. Or else he was an awfully big boy and passed beyond his age.
Ebenezer was at the taking of Fort Ticonderoga, helped remove the guns from there for the siege of Boston. Was with Washington at the Crossing of the Delaware, where he used to tell of the watchfires left burning in the night at the second crossing, to fool the British, before the Battle of Princeton. In 1777 he is back in Vermont again, fighting Indians, gave the alarm to Pittsford, Oct. 17, 1777, same day as Burgoyne's surrender.
Jan. 23, 1778, he is on a muster roll return dated Camp near Valley Forge, and must have been with his brother Jonathan at Monmouth.
In 1780 he is back in Vermont, a Corporal in the militia. Was called out to the Indian attack at Royalton.
In 1781 he is a sergeant and has again joined his brother and Knox's artillery for the hurried trek to Yorktown and that last decisive battle.
Then home again to Clarendon, Vermont, where he married Joanna Swift, born 1754, died Nov. 13, 1831. They are listed as of Clarendon in the first U.S. Census, in 1790, as having 2 boys under 16, 3 girls under 10. but as these boys do not show up in later censuses, they must have either died, or struck out for themselves when the family left Clarendon.
They moved to Unadilla, N.Y., then to Marathon, N.Y. about 1799, the second white family to settle there.
He was a captain of militia. At a training it was said that Capt. Carley and one other officer were the only ones to wear a cocked hat, with a sword and sash as sign of their authority. About 250 would turn out for a training session. Gingerbread, blackberry pies, and whiskey vied in equal quantities for their attention.
Ebenezer planted the first apple orchard seen for miles around. People used to come to wonder at its blossoming beauty in season. Had a sawmill, and a gristmill, later the Marathon Flouring Mills. Present Marathon has grown up on the Carley farm, on the west side of the river. ...
