Dr. Stephen Tainter CHAPTER

The Stephen Tainter Chapter was originally formed as the John B. Loyal Chapter in April of 1996. The first serving President was Mitchell Steinmetz of Eau Claire, and the first Secretary and Treasurer was Compatriot Joseph Phelps. In October of 2003 our chapter was renamed after Dr. Stephen Tainter Chapter, a Revolutionary War Patriot buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Menomonie, Wisconsin. The first President of the new chapter was Compatriot Donald Brill.

The Stephen Tainter Chapter covers twenty-eight counties reaching from Superior to the north, Hudson to the west, Jamestown to the south, and Eau Claire to the east—essentially the western half of the State of Wisconsin. Our members meet quarterly on the second Saturday of the month at the Metropolis Resort in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We remain active in the community through various programs which promote patriotism and historical education of the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the men and women who fought and sacrificed to achieve our countries independence from Great Britain.

Our Namesake

Dr. Stephen Tainter, Patriot

Stephen Tainter was born 13 October 1760 in Westborough, Massachusetts,[1] the son of Benjamin Tainter, of Newfane, Vermont, and Hannah Wood, his wife.[2] He married first on 18 December 1791 Elizabeth Gorham, who was born 20 December 1760, at Barnstable, Massachusetts, and died 3 October 1801, at Whitingham, Vermont. Children of his first marriage were Stephen G., Deacon Ezekiel W., Fordice and Elizabeth Tainter.[3] Stephen married second on 11 February 1802 Mercy Winslow,[4] who was born 11 April 1763, at Rochester, New York, and died 15 March 1822. Children of his second marriage were Clarissa K. W. and Adelia M. Tainter.[5]

Stephen Tainter began service in the Revolutionary War as a drummer boy at the age of 16. He re-enlisted several times, eventually ending his time in service during the war in 1782. After the signing of the Treaty of Paris on 3 September 1783, which officially ended the Revolutionary War, he served for a short period while stationed at Guilford, Vermont. His military service can be summarized as follows:

• ca. 15 Dec. 1776–30 March 1777: enlisted as a drummer while a resident of Westborough, Massachusetts, in Capt. Kimball’s Company, Col. Sparhawk’s Regiment, Gen. Warner’s Brigade;

• 27 July–29 Aug. 1777: Capt. Timothy Brigham’s Company, Col. Job Cushing’s Regiment. Served as a drummer and was called out to assist at the battle of Bennington. His company arrived the day after the battle when British officer Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered;

• 27 Sep.–23 Oct. 1777: Capt. Joseph Warren’s Company, Lieut. Col. Wheelock’s Regiment. Served as a drummer with the “Northern Army”;

• 24 June–13 July 1778: Capt. Ephraim Lyon’s Company, Col. Wade’s Regiment. Served as drummer and was sent to Rhode Island;

• 20 July–31 Dec. 1778: Capt. Nathan Fisher’s Company, Col. Nathaniel Wade’s Regiment, Gen. Sullivan’s Army. Served as a musician and “was on the Island at the time of the Battle [of Rhode Island],” although he “was not in it.” Stephen Tainter, drummer, is also listed as serving in Capt. Ebenezer Belknap’s Company in Col. Wade’s Regiment for 1 month, 13 days, from 20 July to 2 September—the same time he was serving in Capt. Fisher’s Company;

• 12 May–ca. 6 July 1779: Capt. Joseph McNall’s Company, Lieut. Col. Samuel Price’s Regiment. Served as a private at Tiverton, Rhode Island;

• 1782: enlisted for five days in Capt. Josiah Fish’s Company of Foot, Colonel Stephen R. Bradley’s First Vermont Militia, General Fletcher’s Brigade;

• 30 Oct. 1783–1 March 1784: Capt. Benjamin Whitney’s Company stationed at Guilford, Windham County, Vermont. This was Stephen Tainter’s final service.[6]

After the war Stephen Tainter became a physician, and although moving frequently he resided mainly at Whittingham, Vermont, and Gainesville, New York—the latter where he practiced medicine for twenty-three years.[7] He was allowed a pension on his application which was executed 16 October 1832, while a resident of Wethersfield, Genesee County, New York.[8] In 1833, Dr. Tainter moved to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Territory, as he stated in a deposition, “for the purpose of enjoying in the decline of life the society of his son and being much afflicted with the rheumatism was in hopes to derive some benefit from the journey and change of climate.”[9] In 1846, the family moved to Utica, Crawford County, where Dr. Tainter died on 11 July 1847, at the age of 87. His remains were later moved by his grandson, Captain Andrew Tainter, to the Tainter family plot in Evergreen Cemetery in Menomonie. Capt. Tainter was reportedly a “lumber baron,” and the family name is prevalent in the community.[10]

Evergreen Cemetery occupies an entire island on the east side of Lake Menomin in the city of Menomonie. A Wisconsin Historical Marker located near the entrance gives directions to Dr. Tainter’s grave site, which is located in Lot 1, Section 4. Next to a large Tainter family grave marker is the Revolutionary War Patriot's bronze government marker, accompanied by a homemade wooden cross.

Sources:
[1] Worcester County, Massachusetts, “Records of Births, Marriages & Deaths, Town of Westboro, From 1717,” p. 25, Stephen Tainter, born 13 October 1760; digital image, “Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 January 2019). The birth record reads, “Stephen Tainter Son of Benj’a Tainter and Hannah his wife was Born october 13: 1760.”
[2] Charles M. Taintor, Genealogy and History of the Taintor Family, From the Period of Their Emigration From Wales, to the Present Time (Greenfield, Mass.: Merriam and Mirick, 1847), 22–23.
[3] Dean W. Tainter, History and Genealogy of the Descendants of Joseph Taynter, Who Sailed From England April, A.D. 1638, and Settled in Watertown, Mass. (Boston: David Clapp, 1859), 47.
[4] “Vermont Vital Records, 1760–1954,” digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 September 2012), marriage record, Stephen Taintor to Mary Winslow, 11 February 1802; Family History Library microfilm 27,705.
[5] Dean W. Tainter, Descendants of Joseph Taynter, 47.
[6] Military services for Stephen Tainter were located in: Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 15, Stibbens–Tozer (Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1907), 366 (Stephen Tainter), 382 (Stephen Tantor), 464 (Stephen Taynter), 465 (Stephen Tayntor); PDF images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/massachusettssolstozmass : accessed 15 January 2019). Also, “Revolutionary War Pensions,” digital images, Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com : accessed 15 January 2019); Stephen Tainter (Pvt. & Drummer, Continental Army, Massachusetts Line), pension file S22006, pp. 8–11, 29; imaged from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, M804 (Washington D.C.: National Archives, [no date]), roll 2337; Also, Wisconsin Society Sons of the American Revolution (WISSAR), Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in Wisconsin (n.p.: WISSAR, 2011), 45.
[7] Dean W. Tainter, Descendants of Joseph Taynter, 47.
[8] “Revolutionary War Pensions,” Stephen Tainter (Pvt. & Drummer, Continental Army, Massachusetts Line), pension file S22006, p. 12, pension office letter, 29 April 1935.
[9] ibid., deposition, 6 September 1840.
[10] WISSAR, Soldiers Buried in Wisconsin, 45; Also, Dean W. Tainter, Descendants of Joseph Taynter, 47.