Arnold Brothers - 1775

Pioneer Wed to Dead Brother's Sweetheart

Author unknown, published July 5, 1951

 

This story really begins at the Battle of Bunker Hill, with two brothers of the Colonial army marching side by side to their position on that famous hill, in the now historic fight against General Howe.  The story ends in the fertile valley near New Berlin [Chenango Co., NY].

 

The two brothers Othniel and Jaben Arnold, sons of Caleb Arnold of Gloucester [MA], had shouldered their muskets and left home to help fight for liberty against the British.  Othniel, the younger of the two brothers, had left behind him pretty Rachel Phetteplace, the daughter of a neighbor, and to whom he was betrothed. they were to marry when they war was won.

 

As the two lads marched along on that sunny morning of June 17, 1775, Othniel confided to his older brother that he had a presentiment that he would die in the coming battle.  "Jabez," he said, "if I am killed will you promise to marry Rachel?  I want to know she will be made happy."  Jabez was surprised at the question and tried to comfort his brother, but Othniel was persistent.  Finally Jabez agreed.  "Yes, I will do as you say," he said, as the order came to throw up a hasty breastworks. 

 

The next few minutes were busy, Commander Israel Putnam went along the line of shovelers explaining the situation.  He told his men frankly that the British under General Howe, had twice as many men.  "Our ammunition is low," he said grimly.  "Make every ball count.  Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes."

 

Othniel and Jabez Arnold the two brothers from Gloucester, crouched behind the rude fortifications ready for the inevitable.  Then a bugle sounded below them and the columns of red began to move.  When they came near, the Colonists opened fire with a might roar, but the Redcoats were too much for them.  the famous battle was soon over.

 

In the midst of the fighting Othniel threw up his hands.  He had been hit by a British bullet.  Jabez pulled him aside and protected him from the bayonets of the oncoming hordes of British.  Gen. Joseph Warren, one of the most popular generals of the Colonial army, died nearby.  When the battle was over, Othniel Arnold was taken to his home at Gloucester, where he died shortly after, and was buried in the old cemetery in that town.

 

Time has a way of healing even the wounds of grief, and Jabez, remembering his covenant with his dead brother, courted the lovely Rachel Phetteplace, and a few years later married her.  Their first-born son was named Othniel, in memory of the lad they both loved.

 

Jabez and Rachel Arnold moved to New Berlin, in Chenango County, in 1802, coming by ox team with seven of their family of nine children, Benjamin, Thomas, Lucy, Lucretia, Samuel, Eddy and Jabez.  The oldest son, Othniel, had come out three years before with Thomas Richmond, a carpenter, and Welcome remained in Gloucester until 1805, finally making the trip to the "west" to be with his parents.  William, the youngest son, was born after the arrival of the Arnolds, and died at the age of 18.

 

Today the entire family sleeps in the brush-covered cemetery about a mile west of New Berlin.  The stones are still visible among the shrubbery and myrtle, each marked plainly, but weather-beaten from the century of winter winds that have howled across the valley.  The stones standing side by side are mute evidence of the love story that started on the field of Bunker Hill.  These read:  "Jabez Arnold, died July 9, 1839, aged 81," and "Rachel Arnold, died May 21, 1854, aged 89."

 

[from the files of the Chenango County Historian]