On this day 250 years ago in Rye, Westchester County, New York, 67-year-old Col. Jonathan Pettibone of Simsbury, Conn., commander of the 18th Regiment of Connecticut militia died of illness, the day after Gen. Washington discharged his regiment to return to Connecticut. Col. Pettibone left his sword to his son Jonathan who served as a first lieutenant under him in the militia regiment, and you can see his sword today in the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

Sources: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%2231%20August%201776%22&s=1111311111&sa=&r=2&sr= (note 13); https://www.amrevmuseum.org/collection/jonathan-pettibone-s-sword; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Col._Jonathan_Pettibone;

On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress named Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Thomas Jefferson as “commissioners to the court of France.” On the same day, the Congress resolved:

That General Washington be directed to procure, as soon as possible, an exchange of the officers and soldiers taken on Long Island, for the same number of British officers and privates, now prisoners to the United States.

Source: Journals of the Continental Congress, Vol. V at 827-30

On this day 99 years ago in Brooklyn, New York City, my mother-in-law was born. Happy birthday to Helen Haman!