This Week in History

October 16, 1686 - Isaac Platt
Isaac Platt and Thomas Powell were designated to reply to Governor Thomas Dogan's "desire to know just what lands Huntington, Long Island, New York, had already purchased from the Indians and what remained still un-purchased". (Isaac is Howie’s 8g-grandfather)

October 17, 1777 - John Bonner
British General John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, to General Horatio Gates, the new commander of the northern army. The "Convention of Saratoga," negotiated by Gates, allows Burgoyne's army of 5,871 British regulars and German mercenaries to return to England and Europe on the promise that they will not fight in North America again. Congress finds various reasons for not allowing Burgoyne's army to leave, for fear that its return to England or the Continent will free an equal number of other troops to come to North America to fight. Burgoyne's army will be detained in various locations in Massachusetts and then settled on a tract of land in Virginia near Charlottesville. In September 1781, the "Convention Army" is removed to Maryland because of Cornwallis's invasion of Virginia. At the close of the War, Burgoyne's army has dwindled to a mere 1,500 due to escapes, desertions, but most significantly to the number of the troops deciding to stay and settle in America. John Bonner was among those that stayed in America. (John is Howie’s 5g-grandfather.)

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