Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War Hero and
Leader of The Green Mountain Boys.
3rd Cousin, 8 times removed
The following biographical information on Ethan Allen is from http://www.ethanallenhomestead.org/a-short-biography-of-ethan-allen.html. The family tree chart showing Ethan Allen's cousin relationship through several different Bissell ancestors is at the bottom of this page. Also as noted below, other Bissell Cousins were part of "The Green Mountain Boys" who captured Fort Ticonderoga during the Revolutionary War.
“Ethan Allen, who has become a folk hero in Vermont, was an unusually flamboyant backwoodsman-turned- statesman from Connecticut. He was one of the early inhabitants of Burlington, where he lived on his property in the Winooski River Intervale from 1787 until his death in 1789. He made a very significant contribution to the early history of Vermont, at that time called the New Hampshire Grants, then the territory constituted the northern frontier of the New England colonies, and of the emerging nation.
He is best known for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and his leadership of the Green Mountain Boys. He was also a Deist and philosopher. Towards the end of his life he published Reason the Only Oracle of Man, rewritten from a manuscript he and Dr. Thomas Young, a Deist friend and mentor from Connecticut, had written together years earlier.
As is so often the case with folk heroes, around whom myths grow up during and after their lives, it is hard to form an accurate picture of Ethan Allen. Indeed, there is no portrait of him! By most accounts, he was over six feet tall, unusual for that time, and, according to contemporary evidence, was a confrontational, even belligerent person, yet had that power to attract the most devoted and loyal followers. Persistent and independent like many frontiersmen, Ethan was, however, unusually well-read and articulate for a settler of the northern frontier.
In the Spring of 1775, Fort Ticonderoga was captured for the American Colonies by a troop led by Ethan Allen. The fort is situated at a very strategic point at the southern tip of Lake Champlain, and had been in British hands since the Peace of Paris in 1763. At the time of the attack it was neither well-maintained nor well-guarded; furthermore the garrison had no idea that hostilities had broken out in Concord and Lexington.
Ethan Allen recognized the significance of capturing the fort and was preparing to do so, with the Green Mountain Boys, when Benedict Arnold arrived with a military commission from the Massachusetts and Connecticut revolutionary councils to lead an attack.
The Green Mountain Boys refused to serve under anyone other than their own commander, so Ethan took charge leaving Benedict Arnold the honor of being co-commander of the force. At dawn on May 10th the fort was easily taken, as the garrison of a mere fifty men was indeed totally surprised.
Crown Point, another British fort a few miles to the north, was also taken without an engagement the following day. The capture of these two forts secured protection from the British to the north, and provided much needed cannon for the colonial army.
Although popular mythology attributed these early victories to Ethan's military skill, they were possible because of the total unpreparedness of the British.
Ethan Allen, 3rd Cousin, 8 times removed (through Silence Burt)
Bissell 3G Generation
[
[
Joyce, Meredith, George, Gwen, Roger, Arthur, Eleanor, Chip, Carolyn, Betsy, Clyde
]
]
Adelaide Lyon Boutelle --- Richard Meredith Bissell
]
]
Myrtie Ella Bisbee --- Herbert Hunt Bissell
]
]
Julie Ann Richardson --- John Hatch Bissell
]
]
Mercy Ann Searle --- Benoni Bliss Bissell
]
]
Tirzah Pierce --- Solomon Bissell
]
]
Eunice Olcott --- Noah Bissell ]
Ethan Allen ]
b. 1737/38 Silence Burt --- Noah Bissell
[ ]
[ ]
Joseph Allen --- Mary Baker John Burt, Jr. --- Abigail Rix
[ ]
[ ]
Mercy Wright --- Samuel Allen John Burt --- Sarah Day
[ ]
[ ]
Mercy Burt --- Judah Wright Dea. Jonathan Burt --- Elizabeth Lobdell
[ ]
[ ]
[ ---------------------------- Henry Burt and Eulalia March -----------------------------]
Note that the relationship to Ethan Allen also comes a second way, through Judah Wright as noted below
The cousin relationship to Ethan Allen comes a second way, through Judah Wright. His father was Deacon Samuel Wright, 10th Great-grandfather; one of Samuel's other sons and Judah's brother was 9th Great-grandfather James Wright; his son was Jonathan Wright; Jonathan's daughter was Experience Wright; her daughter was Experience Warner; her daughter was Lovisa Loomis; her son was Arunah Searle; and his daughter was Mercy Ann Searle, 3rd Great-grandmother on the chart above. It ends up as the same relationship, a 3rd Cousin, 8 times removed.
Ethan Allen, 3rd Cousin, 8 times removed (through Mercy Ann Searle)
Bissell 3G Generation
[
[
Joyce, Meredith, George, Gwen, Roger, Arthur, Eleanor, Chip, Carolyn, Betsy, Clyde
]
]
Adelaide Lyon Boutelle --- Richard Meredith Bissell
]
]
Myrtie Ella Bisbee --- Herbert Hunt Bissell
]
]
Julie Ann Richardson --- John Hatch Bissell
]
]
Mercy Ann Searle --- Benoni Bliss Bissell
]
]
Arunah Searle, 1788 -- Damaris Pomeroy
]
]
Gideon Searle, Jr. -- Lovisa Loomis, b. 1766 ]
Ethan Allen ]
b. 1737/38 Curtis Loomis -- Experience Warner, b. 1745
[ ]
[ ]
Joseph Allen --- Mary Baker Mark Warner -- Experience Wright, b. 1714
[ ]
[ ]
Mercy Wright --- Samuel Allen Jonathan Wright, b. 1681 -- Experience Edwards
[ ]
[ ]
Mercy Burt --- Judah Wright James Wright, b. 1639 -- Abigail Jess
[ ]
[ ]
[ ------------------- Deacon Samuel Wright, b. 1606 & Margarent ----------------]