| After watching "The Crossing" last
night on television, we looked in our new
American & European Family Forest Millennium
Edition for more information about Washington's
crossing of the Delaware River. Of course the
Founders & Patriots section of the A&E
Family Forest contained soldiers who were there,
but the two people I found of most interest were
in the Mid-Atlantic section of the A&E Family
Forest. They were Dr. Nathaniel Luff (PIN 2713)
and Major John Hazzard (PIN 918).
According to volume III of "Delaware: A
History of the First State" Major John
Hazzard was a Revolutionary War hero who
"piloted" Washington across the
Delaware River. It might be that
"piloted" is a bit of exaggeration,
since Colonel John Glover's Marblehead fishermen
appeared to have had complete control of
Washington's crossing. But then again, Major
Hazzard was from nearby Delaware, and could have
been much more familiar with the territory and
the river than those from Marblehead, MA.
Whatever the particulars, his descendants can
be justly proud that he was there. Major Hazzard
married three times, was the father of a Delaware
governor, and had numerous other descendants. In
addition to those named Hazzard, his descendants
(and families they married into) who are included
in the Mid-Atlantic section of the A&E Family
Forest had surnames of Clark, Coates, Davis,
Fisher, Hafleigh, McCurdy, Wolf, and Wolfe.
Dr. Nathaniel Luff, only twenty when he
crossed the Delaware with General Washington, was
a surgeon in the First Battalion of Philadelphia.
Twenty-three years later, he was a founder of the
Delaware Medical Society. He was married twice
and had at least eight children. In addition to
those named Luff, his descendants (and families
they married into) who are included in the
Mid-Atlantic section of the A&E Family Forest
had surnames of Atkins, Buckingham, Camper,
Clancey, Coverdale, Cohee, Elliott, Green,
Harrington, Jarrell, Kruger, Lord, Miller, Reoch,
Ross, Southard, Tucker, Valentine, Voshell,
Warren, Warrington, Wassman, and Wharton.
After more than two centuries, there can be a
very large number of descendants from those
hundreds of young soldiers who crossed the
Delaware River with Washington at that pivotal
point in American history. I can't help but
wonder how many people who watched "The
Crossing" had ancestors who were actually
there in December 1776, but are unaware of the
fact.
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