| Military Note |
- "In the early part of the war of the Revolution he was drafted into the service of the Americans - much against his own predilections. He, however, served through one campaign, and was engaged in several skirmishes with the British. In common with his father and most of his brothers, he was from the first a zealous and sincere loyalist in principle. When, therefore, he learned that he must run his chance of being drafted a second time, he resolved by some means to place himself beyond the reach of such a contingency. It so happened that about this time a loyal neighbor of his, Daniel Griswold, who had been a soldier in the British army, returned to his native town, bearing a Captains commission, and forthwith commenced the work of his mission, viz., enlisting soldiers into the king's service. Charles Kilborn was among the first to enroll his name, April 26, 1777. Dr. Reuben Smith, in a letter to Gov. Wolcott, dated at Litchfield, may 12, 1777, (in alluding to Griswold and his soldiers,) says: "The Wednesday following, April 30, they were taken, (except Benjamin Doolittle and Charles Kilborn, who is is said were killed in attempting to escape,) and were carried to Derby, where they were tried by a court marial, and Griswold was sentenced to be hanged; which sentence was executed the Monday following at New Haven. The rest were pardoned, upon their enlisting into the Continental army during the war." The supposition that Kilborn was killed, was a mistake. He was successful in his "attempt to escape." and, after a series of vicissitudes and adventures, he succeeded in finding his way to Canada, on foot - much of his route lying through uninhabited country. He stopped at
St. John's, then a considerable military post, where he en-
gaged himself as a clerk to an eminent merchant, named
White — he being then in the nineteenth year of his age. He
soon after became a partner with Mr. White ; and, though
extensively engaged in merchandizing, he was soon also an
active participant in the military movements consequent upon
the war. Before peace was concluded, he had attained the
rank of Captain in the British service. In Feb. 17S4, he
was married to Miss Margaret Young, a member of a loyal
family who had emigrated to Canada from the State of New
York. He subsequently removed to Caldwell's Manor, on
Lake Champlain, where for nearly seventeen years he was
extensively engaged as an agriculturist and merchant. Dur-
ing his residence here, he was for a long time the highest
civil and military officer in the place. Removing thence,
he resided for two years in Alburg. In 1804, he settled in
Stanstead, on an island formed by a considerable river, about
six miles west of Lake Memphremagog.
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1758 - 1834 (76 years)
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