Plato Turner, Rev War soldier

Private Plato Turner served with 3rd Continental Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.
Plato Turner, held in slavery before the war, enlisted with the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment in 1776, serving in upstate New York during the Canadian campaign of 1776-1777.
He served during the Battle of Valcour Bay on Lake Champlain and the decisive American victory at Saratoga, among other battles.
Finishing out his first enlistment in 1779, he was declared a freeman, returned to Plymouth for a short time and purchased the Seth Fuller house at Parting Ways.
He signed up for a second enlistment, serving with the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment and again with the 3rd Massachusetts in garrison duty at West Point. He was discharged and returned home in 1783.

DAR Ancestor #A215216

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Four African-American veterans served in the Revolutionary War, built and lived in their own homes, and left behind vestiges of daily life that fused American and African cultural traditions.
The original settlement consisted of 106 acres granted by the town of Plymouth to Cato Howe Cato Howe, Rev War soldier, Prince Goodwin Prince Goodwin, Rev War soldier, Plato Turner, and Quamony Quash Quamony Quash, Rev War soldier, in return for their military service during the American Revolution.

Howe is believed to have been a freeman when he enlisted, and may have fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Quash and Turner were freed slaves, and Goodwin partially resided at the settlement as a freed slave who continued serving the household of William Thomas for years, according to Norman Barber, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Their community came to include three generations of descendants, who lived there until 1908, when the last house on the property burned down. The last resident was named James Burr, who is believed to have returned to the property in 1861 to be closer to the burial site of his grandfather, Plato Turner.

Parting Ways was largely ignored until 1974, when Plymouth Bicentennial Commission member Marjorie Anderson brought attention to the site not only to preserve a significant moment in the nation’s history, but to prevent the acreage from being turned into a town cemetery.

(Excerpt of http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2011/02/17/plymouth_e...)

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TURNER, PLATO Ancestor #: A215216
Service: MASSACHUSETTS Rank(s): PRIVATE
Birth: CIRCA 1751
Death: 5-5-1819 PLYMOUTH PLYMOUTH CO MASSACHUSETTS
Service Description: 1) CAPTS HUNT, PATRICK PHELAN; COLS GRATON, NIXON; MA LINE

RESIDENCE
1) City: PLYMOUTH - County: PLYMOUTH CO - State: MASSACHUSETTS

SPOUSE
Number Name 1) RACHEL X

Child [Spouse #] Spouse
RACHEL [1] ANDREW TELFORD

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links

• https://www.insider.com/joe-manganiello-discovered-part-black-under... DNA proven direct ancestor of Joe Manganiello (DNA confirmed paternal line) per Finding Your Roots
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Turner-24259
• https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=ful...
• http://www.partingways.org/cms/
• https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=...
• http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/parting.html
• https://www.ethicarch.org/today-in-ma/black-history-(and-archaeolog...
• https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=...
• https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=...
• https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=...
• https://www.nps.gov/vafo/learn/historyculture/africanpatriotsmonume...
• https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=68DE0979-351D-4A84-BFB7...
• Standing in Their Own Light; African American Patriots in the American Revolution by Judith L. Van Buskirk, page 89
• https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uma.ark:/13960/t42r4116c&vie...
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40251860/plato-turner
• www.PartingWays.org
• https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uma.ark:/13960/t42r4116c&vie...
• https://www.dar.org/library/research-guides/forgotten-patriots
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G7CK-YM5
• https://www.dar.org/library/research-guides/forgotten-patriots
• https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKL-YZF 1790 US Census Event Place: Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States; Page Number: 471
• https://ew.com/tv/joe-manganiello-finding-your-roots-discovery/
• https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/about/meet-our-guests/j...
• https://ktla.com/news/joe-manganiello-not-actually-a-manganiello-ac...
• https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/joe-mangan...

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One of four black Revolutionary War veterans who lived at the Parting Ways settlement in Plymouth.

Enlisted at age 28. Served in Colonel Cotton's regiment.

Plato married Rachel (surname unknown). They had children:

1. Plato Jr.
2. Rachel
3. James
4. Sarah

from his Biography at www.PartingWays.org
"Turner enlisted in the 3rd Massachusetts in 1776. That regiment saw action at the Battle of Trois-Rivieres (June 1776), the Battle of Valcour Island (October 1776) and the Battle of Saratoga (September-October 1777). In 1779-1780, Turner served in the 2nd Massachusetts, returning to the 3rd Massachusetts in 1781. Both regiments, after 1779, were stationed along the Hudson River around West Point as part of the "Highland's Department." Turner was honorably discharged at West Point in 1783."

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 21 2023, 17:52:55 UTC

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