Died between 27 April and 28 December, 1784.
Josiah Perry story
In 1740, Josiah purchased from his brothers Eliakim and Nathaniel their shares of the 386-acre lot the three brothers had purchased from their father in 1735. That same year, Josiah married Mary Kingsley (1719-1784) in Stoughton. Shortly thereafter they moved again — to Easton, Massachusetts, in 1747 and to Norwich, Connecticut, before 1752. They had six children, including my 6th great-grandfather Philip Henry Perry (1743-1775) before the family moved to Shaftsbury, Bennington County, Vermont by 1775. I’m not sure when the family moved to Shaftsbury. Philip had married Lydia House (1750-1800) in Connecticut in 1769; their first two children were born in Connecticut in 1770 and 1772, but their last child was born in Vermont four months after Philip died in 1775.

Yes, Philip died as quite a young man – in 1775 he was only 32 years old. His death is part of the larger story I told before, about the Green Mountain Boys. Philip joined this militia group sometime in 1775, and died on August 1 of that year in an encounter with a Tory spy, Hazard Wilcox, in Bennington County. This was a particularly tragic event; Philip and Hazard were apparently neighbors and friends, and they were also probably distant cousins. The names are too significant – a couple of decades later the War of 1812 military hero – Oliver Hazard Perry – would prevail over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. He bears the names Hazard and Perry, reflecting a marriage between these two families some generations back. I haven’t been able to clarify that relationship yet, but I know it’s there.