Ancestry Saturday: 202 Years, And Still Looking

UPDATE:  On April 15, 2016 at the Pennsylvania Archives, I came to be convinced that the George Platt on the Brig Niagara is NOT George F. Platt of Venango County.  A book titled "Officers and Enlisted Men Who Died in the Active Service of the U.S. Navy 1776-1885" contained a George Platt "Lake Erie Squad" dying 11 Jan 1814.  This and the lack of finding proof otherwise has caused me to conclude that George F. Platt, my third great grandfather was not on the Brig Niagara.

It's been my goal to settle the facts enough to reach a conclusion whether the George Platt who was wounded on the Brig Niagara at the Battle of Lake Erie was the same George F. Platt who served with the 132nd Pennsylvania Militia in the War of 1812.

George F. Platt was my third great grandfather.  It would be interesting to make a link.  I wrote my first piece on this in August 2014 and a follow up piece in September 2014.

The 202nd anniversary of the September 10, 1813 battle will come to pass next week, however, and it will remain unsolved.  I'm not done looking though.

The latest evidence came from a War of 1812 expert who responded to my inquiry with a "no" and a "maybe."

The "No" Scenario comes from the muster rolls of the Navy that showed George Platt, the one aboard the Brig Niagara, had mustered into the Navy by June 1813.  One cannot be both mustered in the Navy and mustered in the PA militia at the same time.

Excerpted from "A Description of the Medals of Washington."

Also, the expert concluded that no George Platt shows up on the list of medal recipients from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for those Pennsylvanians who served during the Battle of Lake Erie. 

However, a conversation later, the answer shifted a bit to "maybe."

The "Maybe" Scenario goes something like this:  That George Platt served in the Navy from June 1813 until he was wounded at the Battle of Lake Erie.  He could have mustered out of the Navy after being wounded and, if still able-bodied, was obligated to serve in the Pennsylvania Militia afterward. 

His military record shows his wife indicating he didn't join the Pennsylvania Militia until October 1813.  Plus, the records show him on the muster rolls in January 1814.  

He could have been omitted from the medal winners for service at the Battle of Lake Erie because he wasn't a member of a Pennsylvania Militia at the battle but, instead, with the United States Navy.

In fact, given that we know he was in the Pennsylvania Militia, the fact he didn't receive a medal from the Commonwealth confirms that he was not part of the Militia troops that were at Lake Erie. That could tend to support the idea that he didn't join the Militia until later.

So, there we go.  No firm answer, up or down, yet.