Nathaniel Oak (1751-1840), Revolutionary soldier

• Born: 16 May 1751, Westborough, Mass., "Nathaniel, s. John and Susanah" (printed town records). Documented
• Identity: this baby is the soldier described below. Five facts fit: his age in 1832, his home at Winchester, N.H. in 1775 (where his widowed mother had moved), his service under Capt. Benjamin Hastings, a son named Benjamin Hastings Oak, and an 1830 census that rules out a cousin and a nephew of the same name. Strongly supported. Probable
• Married: Susanna Hastings, daughter of Capt. Benjamin Hastings, at Bolton, Mass., 2 June 1773. Probable
• War service: marched on the Lexington alarm, 19 April 1775, in Capt. Hastings's company; served again in 1776 in Col. Wingate's New Hampshire regiment, by his own sworn declaration. Documented
• Pension: granted in 1832, when he was 81 and living at Chelsea, Vermont (file S.18534). Documented He kept a hotel and was town sexton there. Probable
• Last years: in March 1839 he moved to Exeter, Maine, "to spend the remainder of his days with his son who resides in Exeter." Documented He died there on 15 March 1840. Probable

Note: the family monument calls him "Capt." No record supports that rank.

Relationships shown: son of John Oak Probable; father of Nathaniel Oak, born 1780 Probable.

Sources: printed Westborough vital records p. 81; Revolutionary War pension file S.18534 (National Archives); 1830 Chelsea, Vt. census; 1906 Oak family register.