2nd Lt. Michael Grosh (also Grosch) (c.1750 - October 4, 1777)
MSA SC 3520-14384
Soldier, Revolutionary War
Biography:
Born: September 11, 1749
Died: On or about October 4, 1777 at the Battle of Germantown
Father: John Conrad Grosh (born in Germany by 1720, died in Frederick in 1794)
Mother: Maria Sophia Gutenburg (born in Germany, died in Frederick)
Siblings:
Mary Dorothea (born in 1739 in Mayence, Germany); married William Beatty
Peter Grosh (born in Mayence, Germany probably before 1745, died in Frederick); married Mary Charlton daughter of Arthur and Eleanor Charlton;
Catherine Kimball (born in Mayence, Germany September 10, 1745 – May 18, 1831); ran a tavern from 1797 - 1828 (renamed the the City Hotel after 1828)
Anna Barbara Williams (born April 28, 1752 in Frederick); married by 1786 to Elie Williams (1750-1822). Elie was clerk of the Washington County Court from 1795-1796 and possibly presided on the Orphans Court by 1800.
Adam (born June 28, 1754 in Frederick - died c.1782)
Maria Sophia Kolb (September 15, 1772 - May 12, 1819), married Michael Kolb (? - December 22, 1826) in 1796, had daughter Sophia and son Roemer (and probably Daniel, David Brosch, and Frederick);
Charlotte Ramsberg (married Jacob Ramsberg, Jr. after April 16, 1796)
Daughters of Peter Grosh:
Eleanor who married Thomas Hart on or about April 14, 1795, and lived in Kentucky by 1797. Portrait of Eleanor from Kentucky Antebellum Portraiture (1956, in collection of Mrs. William P. Bohan (Nell Talbot Arnold of Loiusville).
Sophia, married Rev. Edwin Porter Clay in Kentucky c.1800 - Henry Clay’s (the statesman) brother.
Catherine, who also lived in Kentucky by 1797, probably with her sister Eleanor.
Mary
Sophia born March 6, 1777, daughter of Barbara and Elie Williams
Military Service: 2nd Lt. Michael Grosh enlisted in the Continental Army by November 29, 1775 when he first appears with Captain Haass' Company of the 1st Battalion. Also served with Colonel Baker Johnson's 4th Battalion.
Biographical Notes:
Michael Grosh was the first American-born child to John Conrad and Maria Sophia Grosh of Mayence, Germany. In 1777, he became the first in the family to die in America.
Michael Grosh, his two brothers Peter and Adam, and father Conrad, were early supporters of the patriot movement. Both Peter and Conrad gave money in support of the local militia. By September 1775, all three brothers joined the Frederick Militia, while Conrad served on the Committee of Observation for the Middle District of Frederick County. By the end of 1775, all appeared in the Journal of the Committee of Obervation of the Middle District of Frederick as Assoicators to the Oath of Fidelity.
A definitive enlistment date for Michael Grosh has not been determined, but by November 29, 1775, he was serving as a 2nd lieutenant in Captain John Haas's Company. Before the war on March 3, 1772, Michael and wife Christiana sponsored the baptism of Johann Haas’son, Johannes. Kinship ties ran deep in the local militia. Though Michael never served alongside a memeber of his immediate family, he knew many of the men in his company from the Frederick Evangelical Lutheran and Monocacy Lutheran Congregations, and from friendships and a business associates in Frederick. Later in his military career, he served under his sister's brother-in-law Charles Beatty and Frederick resident Baker Johnson, brother of Maryland first governor Thomas Johnson. After he was killed at the Battle of Germantown, Lt. Christian Weaver notified the family of Michael’s death with a signed certificate from his command. Lt. Weaver began his career in Capt. Charles Beatty’s Company of the Frederick County Militia.
In more peaceful times, Michael Grosh was probably a shoemaker as his inventory lists large quantities and varieties of sole and upper leather. Grosh’s inventory lists many hides, tools, and stores of leather. Bernard Steiner’s Western Maryland in the Revolution quotes British officer J.D.F. Smyth’s description of the Frederick Committee of Observation. Smyth, a tory, states that after he was taken prisoner, he was "dragged before a committee consisting of a tailor, a leather breeches maker, a shoemaker,…the majority were Germans."
When 2nd Lt. Michael Grosh died intestate at the Battle Germantown, he left behind his wife, Christiana, and two young children, Sophia and Charlotte. The young couple's extended families came to their aid until Christiana remarried; and even after that Michael's father, Conrad, made certain Sophia and Charlotte received their due inheritance.
In a case heard before the Frederick County Orphans Court on August 12, 1778, Peter Grosh applied for a pension on behalf of Christiana Grosh stating that Lt. Christian Weaver notified the family of Michael’s death with a signed certificate. John Beatty and Peter Mantz testified via certificate that the widow lived in Frederick and had two small children.
Christiana was granted a £5 per month pension for the period of Oct. 18, 1777 – Oct. 18 1778. Several years later on June 8, 1783, Michael Roemer(sic.?) re-applied on behalf of the Grosh children and received £300 for their support for the period Oct. 18, 1778 – Oct. 15, 1783. Michael Roemer was either Christiana's father or brother. Christiana married Mathias Buckey on or about April 22, 1780, and had two more children, Michael and Jacob Buckey. Michael's final legacy to his children likely came with his father's death c. 1790. John Conrad Grosh provided for his son's children in his will dated November 4, 1786.
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