Private Joseph Paugenit*

Joseph Pocknet/Paugenit was baptized in Natick on 10 November 1754, the son of Joseph and Zipporah Paugenit. He enlisted on 24 April 1775 from Framingham in the company of Capt. Thomas Drury, in Col. John Nixon’s regiment.

Twelve days before the Battle of Bunker Hill he, with others in his company, signed a petition to Gen. Artemus Ward ‘stating that they had enlisted to serve in Col. Nixon’s regiment, but had been shifted to Col. [Thomas] Gardner’s regiment, and requesting that they might be permitted to continue in Col. Nixon’s regiment.’’ Their protest was evidently heard since we find him listed on the 1 August 1775 roll as still being in Drury’s company, in Nixon’s regiment.

He was stationed at Winter Hill in September. In 1776, he was engaged in the New York campaign in Capt. Micajah Gleason’s company, in Col. Thomas Nixon’s 4th Regiment, at North Castle (now Mt. Kisko NY). He was probably involved in the Battles of Harlem Heights and White Plains. He was discharged in December 1776.

On 12 February 1777, he enlisted into the Continental Army in the company of Capt. John Holden, in the regiment of Col. Thomas Nixon. This unit fought at Saratoga. Joseph Paugenit is ‘reported deceased’ on 15 November 1777. He could have been wounded at one of the battles or could have contracted smallpox or some other disease. In either case, he would have probably been taken to the Military Hospital at Albany for care and died there.

Note: More often than not, service, vital, and/or other historical records were created and kept by men of English and European backgrounds. They employed a wide range of descriptive terms, such as "mulatto," negro," and "dark complexion." These terms cannot fully capture any soldier's identity, but they do offer clues. In some cases, the surname of a soldier of color connects him to a Natick family that is well documented. Often, these soldiers are Indigenous men. The biographies in this project make it possible to say more not only about a soldier's identity or background, but also about the life he led in Natick and beyond.