Captain George Mann lived at the sight of the current day Tory Tavern, just across Fox Creek from what is today the Old Stone Fort Museum. On July 14, 1772 this commission was signed and called on Captain Mann to take charge of a company of foot in Colonel Jacob Sternbergh’s militia regiment.
The original document received by Mann in 1772 is currently in the collections of the Schoharie County Historical Society and is a well preserved example of how King George III called on his loyal subjects to take up arms and defend the crown.
Mann’s answer to that call sparked centuries of debate and speaks to the struggle of what it must have been like to choose between being a “patriot” or “loyalist” in the colonial frontier.
More information on Captain Mann and how his service impacted the revolutionary history of the Schoharie Valley is available in Jeff O’Connor’s book Thunder in the Valley and Gavin Watt’s book The Flockey, both available for purchase in the Old Stone Fort Museum Store.
