Nathaniel Oak

Overview

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Service

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This story is about someone or something else, and names Nathaniel Oak.

• The Oak men who served, from Marlborough's garrisons to the Cold War

Family

Parents

• Father: Seth Oak born 1733
  Likely evidence: show why

  Why: Templeton enters Nathaniel to Seth and Elisabeth (1762); the register makes this the Nathaniel of Athens; the age-18 Bolton soldier of 1780 and the Athens widow's statements fit; no document names Seth as his father.

  Records:

  • Harvard and Templeton vital records: children of Seth and Elizabeth Oak, 1758-1764. Harvard enters Calvin (born 12 September 1758), Katharine and Seth to Seth and Elizabeth, 1758-1760; Templeton enters Nathaniel (born 3 May 1762) and Salome to Seth and Elisabeth (confirmed as printed; the Templeton line has not been independently re-checked).
  • H. L. Oak, Oak-Oaks-Oakes Family Register (Los Angeles, 1906), entries 1, 7, 20 and 72 (record page · view at Internet Archive) (context)
  • Revolutionary War pension file W.25398, Nathaniel Oak of Athens, Vt., widow Susan. widow Susan Oak's declaration of 26 Sept 1838: Nathaniel Oak of Athens died 25 March 1830; married 3 Dec 1787 at Athens; he lived at Bolton, Mass. when he entered service; 6 months in Col. Nixon's regiment, 1780 (context)
  • Vermont, Capt. Ezra Chaffee's company pay roll, 1782, with the oath before Seth Oak, Justice of the Peace, Athens, 7 Jan 1783. page 2: 'Seth Oak' and 'Nathaniel Oak' on the pay roll of Capt. Ezra Chaffee's company, 1782; page 3: Chaffee swears his account at Athens, 7 Jan 1783, 'before Seth Oak, Justice [of the] Peace' (context)
  • Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Athens: Seth Oak and sons as settlers. winter 1779-80 settlement: 'soon followed by Seth Oak and family from Winchendon'; 'The next May Mrs. Oak was delivered of a daughter, the first child born in Athens'; Seth first justice of the peace; Seth, Nathaniel and Calvin Oak among the original proprietors (context)

  Review: assessed 10-03-2026; evidence: Published transcription or compiled genealogy examined.

  Earlier: Unconfirmed (10-03-2026, research): Added from research; not in the imported family tree.

  What the labels mean

• Mother: Elizabeth (Shevally) Oak
  Likely evidence: show why

  Why: Templeton enters Nathaniel to Seth and Elisabeth.

  Records:

  • Harvard and Templeton vital records: children of Seth and Elizabeth Oak, 1758-1764. Harvard enters Calvin (born 12 September 1758), Katharine and Seth to Seth and Elizabeth, 1758-1760; Templeton enters Nathaniel (born 3 May 1762) and Salome to Seth and Elisabeth (confirmed as printed; the Templeton line has not been independently re-checked).
  • H. L. Oak, Oak-Oaks-Oakes Family Register (Los Angeles, 1906), entries 1, 7, 20 and 72 (record page · view at Internet Archive) (context)

  Review: assessed 10-03-2026; evidence: Published transcription or compiled genealogy examined.

  Earlier: Unconfirmed (10-03-2026, research): Added from research; not in the imported family tree.

  What the labels mean

Life events

Newspapers

1 newspaper clipping to view here. View it larger, one at a time.

• Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock), 9 June 1907, p. 29: 'The Oakes Family and Its History,' a syndicated surname column that prints the Nathaniel Oak cabin-boy tradition, names his wives Mehitable Rediat and Mary Holloway, and lists Maine descendants.9 Jun 1907 · p. 29

Record images

44 record images to view here. View them larger, one at a time.

• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, vol. XI, p. 598, heading OAK (N-S): Nathaniel of Bolton (1775 muster roll, continued), Seth of Winchendon and Sylvanus of Princeton, followed by the start of the OAKES heading.1775-1801 (volume printed 1902) · p. 598
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, vol. XI, p. 604, heading OAKS (John-Nehemiah): John of Harvard (Col. John Bailey's regiment, Capt. Samuel Darby's company) and Nathaniel of Bolton (1780, six months' service).1775-1801 (volume printed 1902) · p. 604
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, vol. 11, p. 601: the entry 'Oakes, Nathaniel, Winchendon', private in Capt. Benjamin Edgell's company, Col. John Jacobs's regiment, enlisted 30 June 1778, with muster rolls dated at Freetown in September and October 1778.1778 · p. 601
• Compiled service record, 6th Massachusetts Regiment (scan 0884): service index card, Oaks, Nathaniel, 6 Massachusetts Regiment (book mark R & P 436786). Index card grouping cards 0885 to 0889.1780
• Compiled service record, 6th Massachusetts Regiment (scan 0885): Nathaniel Oakes, 6th Massachusetts Regiment, Col. Thomas Nixon: copied roll (enlisted 3 July 1780, 6 months, discharged 16 Dec 1780). Card copied from the rolls: Nathaniel Oakes, 6th Massachusetts, Col. Thomas Nixon; enlisted 3 July 1780; term 6 months; discharged 16 December 1780.1780
• Compiled service record, 6th Massachusetts Regiment (scan 0886): Nathan Oaks, Lieut. Col. Whiting's company, 6th Massachusetts: muster roll for July 1780 (enlisted 13 July). Company muster roll card for July 1780: Nathan Oaks, private, Lieut. Col. Daniel Whiting's company, 6th Massachusetts; enlisted July 13; term 6 months.1780
• Compiled service record, 6th Massachusetts Regiment (scan 0887): Nathl Oaks, Lt. Col. Whiting's company, 6th Massachusetts: muster roll for August and September 1780 (sick in camp). Muster roll card for Aug. and Sept. 1780 (roll dated Camp Orangetown, Oct 6, 1780): Nathl Oaks, enlisted July 13, 1780; remarks: sick in camp.1780
• Compiled service record, 6th Massachusetts Regiment (scan 0888): Nathl Oaks, Lt. Col. Whiting's company, 6th Massachusetts: muster roll for October 1780. Muster roll card for Oct. 1780 (roll dated Camp Totoway, Nov 9, 1780): Nathl Oaks, private, enlisted July 13, 6 months.1780
• Compiled service record, 6th Massachusetts Regiment (scan 0889): Nathl Oaks, 6th Massachusetts: pay roll of the six-months levies. Pay roll card for the six-months levies, 6th Massachusetts, Nathl Oaks.1780
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00104: Col. Thomas Nixon's discharge of Nathaniel Oakes, a 6-months levy in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, West Point, 16 Dec 1780. The original discharge: Nathaniel Oakes, a 6 Months Levie in the 6th Massts Regiment, discharged at West Point 16 December 1780 by Tho Nixon, Col., with a provision order for the road home.16 Dec 1780
• Compiled service record index card: Nathaniel Oak, Capt. Chaffe's Company, Vermont (book mark R & P 431636)1782
• Vermont Revolutionary War Rolls: Capt. Ezra Chaffee's company pay roll, 1782, page 2 (Seth Oak and Nathaniel Oak).1782 · p. 2 of folder 111
• Vermont Revolutionary War Rolls: folder 111 cover, Capt. Ezra Chaffe's command, 1782.1782 · p. 1 of folder 111
• Compiled service record card: Nathaniel Oak, Capt. Chaffe's Company, Vermont, Athens pay roll of 18 Jan 1783 (service Sept. 1782, 2 days)18 Jan 1783
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00090: case wrapper W.25398. Wrapper reading 'Oak, Nathaniel or Oakes, or Oaks Susan, Number W.25398, service Mass'.1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00093: Lucy Chaffee's affidavit of 30 Oct 1838 on the marriage of Nathaniel Oaks and Susan Evans (Athens, 3 Dec 1787). Lucy Chaffee of Westminster, Vt., testifies she was present at the marriage of Nathaniel Oaks to Susan Evans at Athens on 3 December 1787, that their first two children died small and that Willard Oaks, the third, is 47 or 48.30 Oct 1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00094: clerk's certification of 28 Dec 1838 for the Lucy Chaffee affidavit. Marshall Miller, clerk of Windham County Court at Newfane, certifies Alexander S. Campbell's signature as justice of the peace.28 Dec 1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00095: claim docket no. 4307 and service calculation for Susan Oaks, widow of Nathaniel. Docket card no. 4307 (Susan Oaks, widow of Nathl, Vt., Act 7 July 1838) with a faint calculation of the service enlisted 3 July, discharged 16 Dec 1780.1838-1841
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00096: Susan Oaks's declaration of 26 Sept 1838, first page. Susan Oaks of Athens, aged 69, declares she is the widow of Nathaniel Oak, a private in the Massachusetts troops who as she believes lived in Bolton when he entered the service and served nine months in 1780, six of them she believes in Col. Nixon's regiment.26 Sep 1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00097: Susan Oaks's declaration, continuation and mark. Continuation: married 3 December 1787 by James Shafter, Esq., at Athens; Nathaniel died 25 March 1830; no proof but a discharge signed by Col. Nixon; signed with her mark, sworn before David L. Putnam, Judge of Probate.26 Sep 1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00098: probate clerk's certification of Judge Putnam's signature, 26 Sept 1838. James Crawford, clerk of the Probate Court for the District of Westminster, certifies David L. Putnam as judge.26 Sep 1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00101: widow-file jacket, Susan Oaks, widow of Nathaniel Oaks. Jacket: File No. 25398, Susan Oaks, wid. of Nathaniel Oaks, Priv. Rev. war, Act July 7th 1838; annotated 1923 Oct. 24 history to David F. Lane.1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00105: Willard Oak's affidavit of 7 Sept 1838 on Nathaniel's death and Susan's widowhood. Willard Oak of Athens testifies he knew Nathaniel Oaks, who died 25 March 1830 leaving Susan Oaks his widow, who has not remarried; sworn before Alexander S. Campbell, J.P.7 Sep 1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00106: clerk's certification of 28 Dec 1838 for the Willard Oak affidavit. Marshall Miller, clerk at Newfane, certifies Alexander S. Campbell's signatures of 7 Sept 1838.28 Dec 1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00958: alternate case wrapper W.25398. Alternate wrapper for the same file (Oaks, Nathaniel or Oak; Susan; W.25398). Not a second claim.1838
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00103: correspondence docket no. 4307 (to A. S. Campbell, 1839-1840). Short docket: 4307, to A. S. Campbell, June 3, 1839 and Feb 26 '40, act 7 July 38.1839-1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00109: address and docket side of A. S. Campbell's letter of 2 Jan 1839. Bellows Falls postmark Jan 2, to Hon. J. L. Edwards; docketed Jan. 7, 1839, 4307, Vt, 7 July 1838.2 Jan 1839
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00110: A. S. Campbell submits Susan Oaks's claim, 2 Jan 1839. Campbell encloses the application with the evidence obtained, supposing the three months' service might have been in Col. Nixon's regiment.2 Jan 1839
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00107: address and docket side of A. S. Campbell's letter of 26 Dec 1840. Bellows Falls, Vt., 26 Dec, to Hon. J. L. Edwards, Commissioner of Pensions; docketed Dec. 31, Vt., Addl proof, Susan Oaks.26 Dec 1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00108: A. S. Campbell forwards additional service proof, 26 Dec 1840. Campbell notes her husband served from July 3d to Dec 16th and encloses Daniel Bradish's affidavit proving an additional term of three months or more.26 Dec 1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00111: Daniel Bradish's affidavit of 11 Dec 1840, first page. Daniel Bradish of Norfolk, N.Y., aged 77, says he lived at Winchendon in the war, knew Nathaniel Oak there as a neighbour, and enlisted with him about 1 August 1780 for four months in Capt. Ephraim Houghton's company, Col. Denny.11 Dec 1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00112: Daniel Bradish's affidavit, second page. Bradish and Oak served together three to four months; Bradish was about 17 and Oaks a few months younger; Oak stayed at Winchendon some years after the war, then moved to Athens, Vt.11 Dec 1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00113: Daniel Bradish's affidavit, concluding certifications. Character certificate by B. G. Baldwin, J.P., and the clerk's certification of 16 Dec 1840 at St. Lawrence County, N.Y.11-16 Dec 1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00114: address and docket side of A. S. Campbell's letter of 13 Feb 1840. Bellows Falls, Feb 13, to Hon. J. L. Edwards; docketed Feb 18 1840, Vt, S. Oaks.13 Feb 1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00115: A. S. Campbell asks for examination of another pensioner's claim, 13 Feb 1840. Campbell reports it has been said the three months' service was in 1777 near Saratoga and asks that a comrade's (Peter Joslyn's) pension declaration be examined for the company and regiment.13 Feb 1840
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00092: pension certificate docket for Susan Oaks, widow of Nathaniel Oaks. Docket: Susan Oaks, widow of Nathaniel Oaks, who died 25 March 1830 of Windham, Vermont, private in a company of Col. Nixon's regiment in the Massachusetts line, 8 months 8 days; inscribed on the roll at Montpelier from 4 March 1836; Act of 7 July 1838.1841
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, vol. XI (1902), p. 598: Oak, Seth, Winchendon (sergeant, Capt. Hale's company, 1775; quartermaster sergeant, Doolittle's regiment) and Oak, Nathaniel (Bolton, six-months men, 1780). Seth Oak of Winchendon: sergeant in Capt. Moses Hale's militia company on the Lexington alarm (14 days), in Capt. Abel Wilder's company, Col. Ephraim Doolittle's regiment, and quartermaster sergeant at Winter Hill (Oct.-Dec. 1775). Above it, Nathaniel Oak on the Bolton pay roll of 6-months men for 1780.1902 · p. 598
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, vol. XI (1902), p. 604: Oaks, Nathaniel, Bolton (age 18, six-months men, 13 July 1780; 6th Mass. regiment). Nathaniel Oaks of Bolton, age 18, 5 ft 7 in. Ruddy: descriptive list of six-months men for the Continental Army, Springfield, 13 July 1780, Capt. Thomas Pritchard; private in the Lieut. Colonel's company, 6th Mass. regiment (pay rolls July to Sept. 1780).1902 · p. 604
• Goodrich, Vermont Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War (1904), p. 807: heading of the Athens detachment list, September 1782 (Capt. Ezra Chaffee). Heading of the paper in which the commanding officer of the militia at Athens, on orders of Brig. Gen. Fletcher of 10 Sept 1782, mustered and marched men toward Guilford to assist the Sheriff; the named rows (Capt. Ezra Chaffee, Seth Oak, Nathaniel Oak) are on p. 808.1904 · p. 807
• Goodrich, Vermont Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War (1904), p. 808: Athens detachment, September 1782: Capt. Ezra Chaffee, Seth Oak and Nathaniel Oak (two days each). Rows of the Athens list: Capt. Ezra Chaffee 2, Seth Oak 2, Nathaniel Oak 2 (days allowed), among the men who marched toward Guilford in September 1782.1904 · p. 808
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00099: Commissioner of Pensions' reply to David F. Lane, 24 Oct 1923. Reply summarising W.25398: Nathaniel Oak, then of Winchendon, served three or four months in Capt. Ephraim Houghton's company, Col. Denny's regiment (to Fort Stanwix) and six months in Col. Nixon's 6th Massachusetts, discharged 16 Dec 1780; married Susan Evans 3 Dec 1787 at Athens; died 25 March 1830.24 Oct 1923
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00116: David F. Lane's inquiry of 12 Sept 1923 about Seth Oak and Nathaniel Oak. Letter to the Commissioner of Pensions asking for the military records of Seth Oak (born 8 April 1733, son of Nathaniel and Tabitha Rice Oak, died at Townshend, Vt.) and of Nathaniel Oak (born 1762, second son of Seth and Elizabeth Shevally Oak, died at Athens 25 March 1830); margin note 'Negative' beside Seth.12 Sep 1923
• Pension file W.25398 (Nathaniel Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Susan), scan 00102: internal slip 'Oak, Nathaniel, S.25398'. Slip reading Mass., Oak, Nathaniel, S.25398.
• The jacket of the Revolutionary War widow's pension file of Nathaniel Oak (Massachusetts service) and his widow Susan, W. 25398jacket

Sources

Research sources

• H. L. Oak, Oak-Oaks-Oakes Family Register (Los Angeles, 1906), entries 1, 7, 20 and 72 Family histories and trees view at Internet Archive
• Harvard and Templeton vital records: children of Seth and Elizabeth Oak, 1758-1764 Other documents
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors vol. 11: entries for Seth Oak (sergeant, 1775) and Nathaniel Oak (Bolton, 1780) Military
• Revolutionary War pension file W.25398, Nathaniel Oak of Athens, Vt., widow Susan Military
• Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Athens: Seth Oak and sons as settlers Family histories and trees
• Vermont, Capt. Ezra Chaffee's company pay roll, 1782, with the oath before Seth Oak, Justice of the Peace, Athens, 7 Jan 1783 Military