Calvin Oak

Overview

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Service

Mentioned in another story

This story is about someone or something else, and names Calvin 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: Harvard's record gives Calvin, born 12 September 1758, to Seth and Elizabeth; the 1906 register places Calvin at Athens; the Gazetteer lists Seth, Nathaniel and Calvin Oak together as Athens proprietors. No record names Seth as the father of the Calvin of Athens.

  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.19932, Calvin Oak, widow Lucretia (33 pages). widow Lucretia Oak: Calvin Oak of Athens (Windham County, Vt.) a private in Capt. Wilder's company, 17 months allowed; died 8 or 10 Nov 1815; married 1782 at Leominster; she 'believes' he served a year under Capt. Seth Oaks (hearsay, not allowed); Campbell's 1840 letter: Seth 'probably acted as Capt. but was a subordinate officer' (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: Harvard's record gives Calvin to Seth and Elizabeth; no record names Elizabeth as the mother of the Calvin of Athens.

  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

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

• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 1: case-file jacket. Jacket: Mass., Oak, Calvin / Lucretia, W.19932.1838-1849 · p. 1
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 20: deposition of Mary Oak, widow of Edward Oak of Athens, 24 Aug 1838. Mary Oak, widow of Edward Oak of Athens, testifies she knew Lucretia Oak, widow of Calvin Oak, that Calvin died on 10 November 1815 and that Lucretia has not remarried; sworn before Alexander S. Campbell, J.P.24 Aug 1838 · p. 20
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 3: docket card summarising the claim (married 1782, died 1815, Act 7 July 1838). Docket card: Lucretia Oak widow of Calvin, Vt., Act 7 July '38, married in 1782, died in 1815.1838 · p. 3
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 4: Lucretia Oak's widow's declaration of 29 Aug 1838, first page (names Capt. Seth Oaks). Lucretia Oak of Athens, aged 75, declares she is the widow of Calvin Oak, a private who served eight months in 1775 (part or all under Capt. Wilder, from Winchendon), afterward a year under Capt. Seth Oaks, Lieut. Luther Graves and Ensign Chapman, and nine months under Capt. Taylor or Warner.29 Aug 1838 · p. 4
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 5: Lucretia Oak's declaration, continuation (marriage, Calvin's death). Continuation: she believes Calvin served nine months afterwards under Capt. Taylor or Warner, lived at Leominster, was married at Leominster 20 March (she says 1783; the town record says 1782) and died 8 or 10 Nov 1815.29 Aug 1838 · p. 5
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 6: clerk's certification of Judge Putnam's authority, 29 Aug 1838. Certification of Judge David L. Putnam's authority, District of Westminster, 29 Aug 1838.29 Aug 1838 · p. 6
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 7: Leominster town-clerk's certified copy of the marriage record of Calvin Oak and Lucretia Fuller (20 March 1782). Luke Lincoln, Town Clerk of Leominster, certifies a true copy of the record, with the exception of the date, which reads 'March ye 20, 1782' (the declaration said 1783).1 Sep 1838 · p. 7
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 8: clerk's certification of Justice William Perry's signature, Worcester Co., 8 Sept 1838. Clerk's certification of Justice William Perry's signature, Worcester County, Massachusetts.8 Sep 1838 · p. 8
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 25: War Department certificate of 29 May 1839 (five years' pension, $30 a year from 4 March 1836). Certificate under the Act of 7 July 1838: Lucretia Oak of Vermont, widow of Calvin Oak, a private in the Revolution who died 8 or 10 Nov 1815, is entitled to five years' pension at $30 a year from 4 March 1836; signed J. R. Poinsett, Secretary of War, countersigned J. L. Edwards.29 May 1839 · p. 25
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 15: envelope postmarked Bellows Falls, Vt., 5 Nov 1840, to the Commissioner of Pensions. Envelope to J. L. Edwards, Commissioner of Pensions, Washington City, postmarked Bellows Falls, Vt., 5 Nov 1840.5 Nov 1840 · p. 15
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 2: printed widow's pension summary card (Vermont no. 3896; roll from 4 March 1848, certificate 14 Feb 1849). Printed summary card: Lucretia Oak, widow of Calvin Oak, who served as a private; inscribed on the roll to commence 4 March 1848; certificate issued 14 Feb 1849.1849 · p. 2
• Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army (1893), p. 156: Doolittle, Ephraim (Mass.): Colonel Massachusetts Regiment, May to October 1775. Entry for Ephraim Doolittle, colonel of a Massachusetts regiment, May to October 1775.1893 · p. 156
• Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army (1893), p. 418: Warner, William (Mass.): Captain 10th Massachusetts, 1776-1780. Entry for William Warner, captain in the 10th Massachusetts from 6 Nov 1776 until he resigned 18 March 1780.1893 · p. 418
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, vol. XI (1902), p. 597: Oak, Calvin, Winchendon (Capt. Hale's and Capt. Wilder's companies, 1775) and the 1779 Leominster nine-months entry. Calvin Oak of Winchendon: private in Capt. Moses Hale's company on the Lexington alarm (6 days), then in Capt. Abel Wilder's company, Col. Ephraim Doolittle's regiment (muster roll 1 Aug 1775); and a separate entry for 9-months men engaged for Leominster in 1779.1902 · p. 597
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, vol. XI (1902), p. 603: Oaks, Calvin, Warner (descriptive list of Continental recruits, Leominster, 1779; Capt. Warner's company, 10th Mass. regiment). Calvin Oaks, age 20, engaged for the town of Leominster, marched 29 July 1779; also in Capt. Warner's company, 10th Mass. regiment, 28 July 1779 to 28 April 1780 (9 months).1902 · p. 603
• Pension file W.19932 (Calvin Oak, Athens, Vt.; widow Lucretia), page 9: index card (widow's file no. 19932). Index card: Widow, &c. File No. 19932, Lucretia Oak, widow of Calvin Oak, Pri. Rev. War; Index Vol. M, page 94.p. 9
• The jacket of the Revolutionary War widow's pension file of Calvin Oak (Massachusetts service) and his widow Lucretia, W. 19932jacket

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
• Revolutionary War pension file W.19932, Calvin Oak, widow Lucretia (33 pages) Military
• Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Athens: Seth Oak and sons as settlers Family histories and trees