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Eliphalet Wickes
1769 - 1850 (80 years)-
Name Eliphalet Wickes Birth 4 Jul 1769 Huntington, Long Island, New York 
Gender Male Death 7 Jun 1850 Troy, Rensselaer, New York Person ID I25184 Scudder Last Modified 14 Mar 2006
Father Major Thomas Wickes, b. 10 Aug 1740, Huntington, Suffolk, New York d. 30 Nov 1819 (Age 79 years) Mother Abigail Van Wyck, b. Sep 1747/1748 d. 15 Mar 1816 (Age 67 years) Marriage 8 Sep 1767 Family ID F8801 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Martha Herriman, b. 22 Jul 1766, Jamaica, Queens, New York d. 8 May 1824, Jamaica, Queens, New York (Age 57 years) Marriage 28 Nov 1790 Jamaica, Queens, New York Children 1. Reverend Thomas Scudder Wickes, b. 18 Apr 1795, Jamaica, New York d. 30 Nov 1876, Poughkeepsie, New York (Age 81 years)2. Eliza Martha Wickes, b. 5 Feb 1801 d. 9 Sep 1835, Troy, Rensselaer, New York (Age 34 years)3. Frances Wickes, b. 12 May 1805, Jamaica, Queens, New York d. 18 Jan 1875, Chicago, Cook, Illinois (Age 69 years)4. Harriet Wickes, b. 13 Jun 1807 d. 14 May 1836 (Age 28 years) Family ID F8802 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 3 Mar 2024
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Notes - Eliphalet, as a ten year old lad during the Revolution, acted as a courier for General Washington. In doing so, he earned himself a footnote in the history books. When Mad Anthony Wayne captured Stony Point he halted the British invasion of the Hudson Valley. It was imperative that Washington get word to General Gates in Rhode Island. Eliphalet volunteered. His father relented for it was thought that youth was a perfect cover for this hazardous duty. It was doubtful that roving British patrols would suspect him, or if captured, unlikely they would hang him as a spy.
Attired like any farm lad, Eliphalet set off on horseback. However, a Yankee toll collector refused to let him pass a tollgate for free. Young Wickes had no money. The boy broke down and cried. He proved his story by showing his dispatch pouch to the gatekeeper. With the keeper's sneering remark that Washington should employ braver boys, he was allowed to pass. Arriving safety at Gate's camp, the officers awarded him with a small purse of prize money.
- Eliphalet, as a ten year old lad during the Revolution, acted as a courier for General Washington. In doing so, he earned himself a footnote in the history books. When Mad Anthony Wayne captured Stony Point he halted the British invasion of the Hudson Valley. It was imperative that Washington get word to General Gates in Rhode Island. Eliphalet volunteered. His father relented for it was thought that youth was a perfect cover for this hazardous duty. It was doubtful that roving British patrols would suspect him, or if captured, unlikely they would hang him as a spy.