When Rachel Hanchett’s husband Oliver said goodbye to her in April 1775, she could not have known how long their separation would last. News of the Battle of Lexington and Concord had just reached their home in Suffield, CT. Oliver, a lieutenant in the local militia, marched to Boston to join the fight. As she watched him leave, Rachel must have wondered when and if she would see him again. The militia company could return in a week or two, or the worst could happen. Oliver might never come home.
Rachel would see Oliver again, but she had to wait. While she remained at home, caring for their three young children and trying to keep affairs at home running smoothly, Oliver was named a captain in the 2nd Connecticut Regiment and agreed to serve until the end of 1775. He spent the summer at the Siege of Boston, then volunteered for an even more dangerous duty, joining Benedict Arnold’s expedition to Canada via the Kennebec River and the Maine wilderness.
Oliver survived the journey to Quebec, fording rapids and slogging through swamps while facing food shortages. Then, on December 31, just as his enlistment was set to expire, came the Battle of Quebec. In an assault on Quebec City, General Richard Montgomery was killed and many men, including Oliver, were captured. Rachel must have been relieved to hear that he had survived, but a separation of unknown length stretched before her. Who could say when the British and American governments would agree on an exchange that would bring Oliver home?
Rachel, left to manage their home and children and find the money to keep things running, took matters into her own hands. She petitioned Connecticut’s government for a portion of her husband’s salary. On July 30, 1776—250 years ago today—the Committee of the Pay Table granted her request, allowing her 18 pounds from Oliver’s wages. The money would help Rachel make ends meet until their family was reunited. She didn’t have much longer to wait; Oliver was paroled that August, and by November he was home.
Learn more about the pay order (MS.7513, property of Robert Nittolo) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31378