Royal Blood (abt. 1758 - abt. 1825)

Born about 8 Oct 1758 in Groton, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay, New England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 24 May 1825 at about age 66 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Royal Blood was reportedly born sometime in 1758 in Groton,^[1] (8 Oct is often cited as the exact date in various online family trees), but no primary evidence has yet been uncovered to support this. Royal was the son of Joseph and Hannah Blood -- his parents were first cousins and his mother was also a Blood.

Royal married, reportedly on 31 Jul 1785 and reportedly in Groton. As above, unfortunately, no primary evidence has been found to validate this, and the fact this is also the date of birth of his first child makes this an extraordinarily unlikely date of marriage. Royal definitely married a woman named Rachel, and many online trees identify her as Rachel Gilson, daughter of Samuel Gilson and Elizabeth Shed of Pepperell. While no primary evidence for this claim has been found to date, circumstantial evidence indicates this is plausible (see Research Notes).

Private Royal Blood served with 5th Regiment, Middlesex County Militia, Massachusetts Militia during the American Revolution.

Royal Blood is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A209476.

Royal served as a provincial militiaman in the American Revolutionary War. He enlisted on 15 Aug 1777 with his brother Lemuel in Capt. Aaron Jewett's company in Bullard's Regiment of Militia (also known as the 5th Middlesex County Militia Regiment), under the command of Col. Samuel Bullard.^[2] He is listed with Lemuel on a regimental muster roll dated 28 Nov 1777.^[3] It is reasonable to assume that Royal would have fought with his regiment in the first and second battles of Saratoga on 19 Sep and 7 Oct 1777. Bullard's Regiment of Militia was disbanded on 21 Oct and Royal was mustered out of service on 29 Nov, having served 3 months and 15 days.^[4]

Royal participated in Shay's Rebellion, an uprising in Massachusetts against the post-war state government in Boston. The seizure of rural lands for non-payment of debts and the high taxation imposed after the War caused the local people to demonstrate and eventually rebel and take up arms against the new government that they had just fought to create. But Royal laid down his arms and took an oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on 16 Feb 1787, along with numerous other Groton residents. [source needed]

Royal and Rachel used alliteration in naming their eight children:^[5]

1. Rachel, born 31 Jul 1785
2. Rebeckah, born 14 Apr 1787
3. Royal, Jr., born 14 Jul 1789
4. Ritta (sometimes Henrietta), born 5 Sep 1792
5. Rogers, born 23 May 1794
6. Richard, born 14 Apr 1796
7. Rufus, born 16 Jan 1799
8. Roxanna, born 18 Dec 1802

Royal died in Groton in 1825 at the age of 66 or 67. As with almost everything else about him, his exact date of death has not been determined, although 24 May is often cited. A court order appointing Caleb Butler as administrator of his estate is dated 27 Sep 1825,^[6] so he clearly died sometime before then.

Research Notes

Identity of Rachel: Royal's wife was definitely named Rachel. However, no marriage record has been found and none of the vital records of their children list her maiden name. According to "The Groton Register" by Elinor F. Skeate she was the daughter of Samuel Gilson and Elizabeth Shed of Pepperell. "The Story of the Bloods" by Roger Deane Harris also states her maiden name was Gilson, but without naming her parents. Examination of Samuel Gilson's probate records at the New England Historical Genealogical Society Library revealed no evidence that his daughter Rachel was married at the time of his probate -- she signed her name on an Apr 1783 probate document as Rachel Gilson. However, since Royal's first child was born in mid-1785, there was plenty of time for Rachel Gilson to marry Royal after her father's death and then have a normal pregnancy during the period Apr 1783 to Jul 1785. The death record for Rachel's daughter, Roxanna, states that her mother Rachel was from Pepperell. This is consistent with the hypothesis that Royal's wife Rachel was in fact Rachel Gilson.

Sources

1. ↑ Harris, The Story of the Blood, p.127.
2. ↑ Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War - Vol. 2, p.209 (image 208).
3. ↑ "U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," Ancestry.com.
4. ↑ Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War - Vol. 2, p.209 (image 208 of online version).
5. ↑ Harris, The Story of the Blood, p.127.
6. ↑ "Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991," Ancestry.com.

• Harris, Roger Deane. The Story of the Bloods, G.K. Hall & Co., Sanbornville, New Hampshire, United States: 1960. The Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/storyofbloodsinc00unse
• U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1357427:4282?ssrc=pt&tid=32380612&pid=422296767201 : accessed 19 Jan 2022); Name: Royal Blood; Gender: Male; Military Date: 28 Nov 1777; Military Place: Massachusetts; State or Army Served: Massachusetts; Regiment: Bullard's Regiment. Source: Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls); War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93; National Archives, Washington. D.C.
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War - Volume 2, Prepared and Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Published by Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, Boston, Massachusetts: 1896. Online at https://archive.org/details/massachusettssol1896mass/page/n3/mode/2up.
• "Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991," database with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9069/images/007554750_00066?pId=1645409 : accessed 19 Jan 2022); Name: Royal Blood; Probate Date: 23 Dec 1825 (Note: this is the date of the second document at bottom of image; the letter of administration to Caleb Butler is located above it, and is clearly dated 27 Sep 1825.); Probate Place: Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; Inferred Death Date: 1825; Inferred Death Place: Massachusetts, USA; Source: Probate Records 1648--1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts), Volume 302, 1824-1829, Page 118, Image 66.