John Neilson

The John and Lydia Neilson House, Saratoga NHP

NPS

A young John Neilson (b. 1753, d. 1834) moved in 1772 or 73 from Elizabeth, NJ northward through the Hudson River Valley to Stillwater, NY. While his purpose is unclear, once in Stillwater, he clearly spent a few years working hard for a local farmer, Abner Quitterfield. John earned enough to lease 150 acres of Saratoga Patent Lot 12; he sublet 50 acres to another farmer—likely for some additional income. John then leased 100 acres in Lot 14, just little west of Lot 12.

With land and income in place, John, in 1775, married Abner Quitterfield’s daughter, Lydia. Not long after, John purchased Lots 13-15 outright.

Somewhere around 1775-76, the young couple (John - 22, Lydia - 17 or 18) built a small, comfortable house on Lot 14…the original of today’s restored “Neilson House” on the Saratoga Battlefield driving tour (Stop #2).

When the autumn of 1777 arrived, war came to the Neilsons’ doorstep. British General John Burgoyne and his Crown Forces was moving southward from Canada along the Hudson River Valley toward Albany, NY…basically through the Neilsons’ backyard. American General Horatio Gates and his Continental Army planned to fortify the Bemus Heights area to stop the British.

Lydia and John packed up. Lydia brought everything south to her parents’ farm. John, a sergeant in the 13^th Albany County Militia Regiment, joined up with his unit and served as a teamster, shuttling supplies by oxen team from Albany to the Continental Army’s fortifications…basically John’s front yard, as American Generals Benedict Arnold and Enoch Poor headquartered in John’s house!

Some time after the Battles of Saratoga, John and Lydia returned home. John placed two damage claims to the Continental Congress for losses he and Lydia had incurred. The total amounted to almost 90£, or nearly 70 times a private soldier’s annual salary! John and Lydia continued with their farming and family, eventually having 8 children and earning enough to purchase still more land; John acquired property in Stillwater, Malta, Northumberland, and Fort Edward.

Eventually, John divested himself of some of that property, which ended up a local library, a town cemetery, and a public right-of-way for highway development. Of course, some of the property remained a family farm, of which 150 acres—equal to John’s original 150-acre lease— remained in family ownership until 1926, when New York State purchased the farm to preserve it as part of Saratoga Battlefield.