Note 12 — THE PIONEERS OF UNADILLA VILLAGE. 1784-1840.

The family to which Major Fellows belonged had interesting connection with the Revolution. A great uncle of his, John Fellows, served in the French and Indian war, was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1775, and when news of the battle of Lexington reached his home in Sheffield commanded a regiment which departed the next morning for the scene of conflict. In 1773 he was one of the Berkshire committee appointed to take into consideration the grievances of America against England. The report they drew up declared that Americans were “entitled to all the privileges and liberties of native-born British subjects, including the undisturbed enjoyment of their lives, liberty and property.” This interesting declaration is more than two years older than the one drawn up at the Mecklenburgh, North Carolina, which in turn is older than the immortal one drawn up by Thomas Jefferson in 1776.