William Coolbaugh

DAR# A025520

William was a sea captain. William Coolbaugh, of Amwell, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey, married Sarah Johnson (bp. 1724), daughter of Cornelius and Sarah Manbrut Johnson, about 1850. They had ten children. William and his sons served in state militia during the Revolutionary War. He died in 1779. Descendants lived in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and elsewhere.

William Coolbaugh early espoused the cause of the colonies upon the outbreak of the American Revolution. A careful inspection of the military records of the State of New Jersey reveals that the war record which has popularly been assigned to this William Coolbaugh, is, in realty, mostly that of his son, William, Jr., But we can identify him as the William Coolbach, who with his sons, served as sergeants, constables, etc., in the State Militia; and we are uncertain as to whether it was he or his son who served as a private in Capt. Peter D. Vroom's company, Second Regiment, Somerset Militia, serving at Millstone, N. J„ 26 Mar. to 3 Apr. 1777.

Some historians have stated that William removed from Kingwood to Shawnee. Monroe Co., Pa, where he died, and both he and his wife are buried. But there seems to be no reference to him in the records of the old Dutch church at Shawnee, nor have we come across his name in any old tax lists or other documents of the period. Another account says that he went on from Monroe to Bucks Co., Pa., but we do not have the evidence at hand to support this statement. His children lived in both of these places, so it is probable that references to them have been confused with him.

The children of William and Sarah (Johnson) Coolbaugh were:

23. Moses, b. 1752, m. Hannah Schoonmaker.

24. Peter, b. 8 Apr. 1754, in Somerset Co., N. J.; served as a private, 3rd Rgt., Hunterdon Militia, under Joseph Stout, Charles Reading