When Garret Garretson was born in 1754, in New Castle, Delaware, British Colonial America, his father, Eliakim Garretson, was 38 and his mother, Lydia Walter, was 38. He married Phebe Webster on 15 May 1782, in Chester, Delaware, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons. He died before 1795.
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When the American Revolution began in 1775, the people of Delaware were not sure they wanted to split from England. When it came time to vote for the Declaration of Independence in 1776, even the delegates were split with two delegates in favor of independence and one against. The night before the vote, Caesar Rodney, who was for independence, was in the city of Dover. When he learned that the vote was taking place, he rode 70 miles at night through a thunderstorm to Philadelphia in order to vote so that Delaware would join the other colonies in declaring independence.
In October 1765, Delaware sent two delegates to a congress of the colonies in New York to deliberate on a joint colonial response to recent British measures, in particular, the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. The two men were landholder Caesar Rodney and attorney Thomas McKean: the two men and assemblyman George Read would continue to play a role in the movement for independence. Delaware declared its independence from Great Britain on June 15, 1776, and signed the Declaration of Independence with its fellow colonies on July 4.
English: patronymic from Garrett .
Americanized form of Dutch Gerritsen .
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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