This is the 7th patriot ancestor I have written in this series of blog posts. My 6th great grandfather, Westley Burnham, was born on 17 August 1747 in the Chebacco Parish of Ipsiwch, Massachusetts (now the town of Essex), the son of Westley Burnham (1719 - 1797) and Deborah Story. He was a descendant of Thomas Burnham (about 1623 - 1694) of Norwich, Norfolk England, and his wife Mary Lawrence. On 5 December 1771 he married Molly Woodbury, who was born 29 July 1749 in Beverly, the daughter of Robert Woodbury and Hannah Preston. They had ten children, who all grew to adulthood and were married.
Westley, Jr., was a mariner, like most of the men in Chebacco Parish. He worked as a fisherman and as a sailor before his marriage. When the Lexington Alarm came on 19 April 1775 he served in Capt. David Low's 3rd Company, in Colonel Cogswell's regiment (which was a trainband or local militia). In 1776 he was a private in Capt. Daniel Giddings' Company, in Colonel Foster's Regiment, which was stationed at Gloucester for seacoast defence. Also in 1776 he served in Captain Ray's Company, Colonel Pickering's Regiment. Then he served again in Capt. Dodge's Company, Colonel Johnson's Regiment in 1777, where he was in the Battle of Bemis Heights, which was part of the Battles of Saratoga in New York.
Westley Burnham received a pension for his service in the war - Pension number s18750 [Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 9 Feb 2018), "Record of BURNHAM, WESLEY JR", Ancestor # A018081.] There is a Revolutionary War marker and flag on his grave in the Ancient Burial Ground in Essex.
According to the book The Burnham Family, on pages 344 and 345, Westley Burnham, Jr. became a privateer after the Revolutionary War. He was eventually captured by the British. "Captain Westley Burnham was in early life a sailor. At the age of seventeen he made a voyage to Lisbon, and rowed in a boat over the site of Old Lisbon, which had been destroyed and sunk by an earthquake in 1755. For a short time he served as a soldier in the war of the revolution. Afterwards he entered the privateering service. In an engagement with the enemy, the vessel in which he sailed was captured, and with the rest of the crew he was carried to England. An order of the admiralty gave permission to any American prisoners to go on board His Majesty's ships and do sailor's duty, except fighting, if they should choose to do so. After remaining some time in the 'Mill Prison,' he took advantage of this order, and entered the seventy-four gunship Preston. While on a cruise on the West India station he was taken sick with the small pox, and was left in hospital in Jamaica. He was so near to dying there, that one man who returned to this country from that island, reported to his family that he was dead. On his recovery he immediately took ship for Boston, and on arriving there walked to Chebacco. His arrival was noised abroad, and, as he expressed it, 'that night all Chebacco was at the house to see one who had risen from the dead.' He became a successful navigator. No vessel commanded by him was ever wreaked or dismasted, and his judgment in maritime matters was very highly esteemed. He afterwards followed the hereditary occupation of vessel-building. For a considerable length of time he was totally blind. He was a man of extraordinary strength."
This story is also told on the Historic Massachusetts website.
"The “skipper” was also a fisherman and made many trips to the Grand Banks. He followed the hereditary occupation of vessel building, and some of these were built in a yard near the house and hauled to the water as was the custom. Westley Burnham served in the War of the Revolution and afterward entered the privateering service. He was captured along with his vessel and crew and carried to England. After remaining in Mill Prison, he took advantage of an order of the Admiralty which gave permission to American prisoners to go board his majesty’s ship and do any sailor’s duty except fighting. While on a cruise to the West Indies, he was taken sick with smallpox, and when the ship sailed, he was left in a hospital in Jamaica. He was close to dying and was reported to be dead by one man who returned to this country from the island. Westley recovered, took a ship to Boston, and walked to Chebacco where he was welcomed by his family as one who had risen from the dead."
I descend from two of Westley Burnham's sons. First I descend from Asa Burnham (1778 - 1850) who married Polly Bray in 1801 in Ipswich. Secondly I descend from Henry Burnham (1783 - 1867) who married Sally Poland on 2 May 1805 in Essex. Sally was the daughter of Abner Poland, who was also a Revolutionary War Veteran. The Colonel Joshua Burnham (1754 - 1834), who was the first ancestor in this series about Revolutionary War ancestors, is also a descendant of the immigrant settlers Thomas Burnham and Mary Lawrence, and a distant cousin to Captain Westley Burnham.
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The photo of the David Burnham House, Essex, Massachusetts, above, is from Wikipedia and is attributed to Magicpiano - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20998307
The David Burnham house in the photos above is located on Pond Street in Essex, and was built in 1685. The land was granted to the brothers John and Thomas Burnham instead of pension money for serving in the Pequot War. Thomas Burnham's son John owned the land where the house was built by his youngest son David. It then passed to Westley Burnham, Sr., who passed it on to Captain Westley Burnham, Jr. After Capt. Burnham's death the house went to his daughter Anna Burnham (1785 - 1862) who married her cousin Abner Burnham. Anna and Abner had fourteen children and 81 grandchildren! From there the house passed into the hands of the Story family and was restored under the suppervision of George Francis Dowe, curator of the Essex Institute in Salem in 1924, 100 years ago. It is still standing on Pond Street in Essex.
For the truly curious:
The Burnham Family: Or the Genealogical Records of the Descendants of the Four Emigrants of the Name, who were among the early settlers in America , by Roderick Henry Burnham, Hartford, Connecticut, Press of Case, Lockwood & Brainard, 1869. (available to read online at Google books) See pages 344 and 345 for Westley Burham, Jr.
See also The Historic Massachusetts website https://historicmassachusetts.org/essex/ accessed 16 March 2026 for the aerial view photo and the story of Westley Burnham's homecoming after being captured by the British.
Patriot #2 in this series: Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html
#3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html
#4 Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html
#5 Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html
#6 Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich, Massachusetts: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-nathaniel.html
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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots - Captain Westley Burnham of Essex, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 28, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-captain.html: accessed [access date]).
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