Jethro New

Jethro New (September 20, 1757 – July 25, 1827) was an 18th-century American frontiersman and Continental Army officer during the American Revolutionary War, at one time serving as an aide to General George Washington. He was a prominent settler in North Carolina and Kentucky as well as being among the first families to arrive in Jennings County, Indiana.

Of his twelve children, his son Hickman New was a minister of the Disciples of Christ and his son Robert New was the first Indiana Secretary of State following Indiana'a admission into the U.S. His son, John Bowman New, was the father of John C. New, Treasurer of the United States from 1875-76. His youngest son Jeptha D. New served for one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represented Indiana.^[1]

Biography

Born in Kent County, Delaware, he enlisted in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Serving under Captain Rhodes in the 2nd Delaware Regiment,^[1] he saw action at the Battle of Cowpens, the Siege of Yorktown and was present at the execution of British spy Major John André in 1780. Captured by the British at one point, he was tied to a horse and forced to walk several miles on muddy roads. After his release, he became an aide to General George Washington at Valley Forge.^[2]

Following the war, he married Sarah Bowman in North Carolina and together had 12 children. Sarah Bowman was one of the daughters of Virginia pioneer George Bowman and, in 1785, he moved his family to Kentucky County to join his brothers-in-law Abraham, Isaac and John Jacob Bowman who had settled in the area nearly a decade before. After his wife died in 1813, he and his family moved from Gallatin County, Kentucky to Jefferson County, Indiana in 1822 ^[1] and later to Vernon, Indiana. He died there in 1827 and was later buried in the lower part of Vernon Cemetery.^[2]

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