Kissam, John

John Kissam (1748-1828) was a farmer in Flower Hill, a village in Queens County (N.Y.) at the time, but becoming part of North Hempstead, Nassau County, in the twentieth century. During the American Revolution, Kissam was a Loyalist and was given the rank of major in the Queens County Militia on December 9, 1776, during the British occupation of New York and Long Island. On June 30, 1781, he was kidnapped from his home by revolutionaries and taken to Connecticut. He was paroled and then exchanged for another prisoner in October 1981. Back on Long Island, he continued in the militia. Among other services, he oversaw the delivery of wood from Long Islanders at the order of the British authorities. At the close of the war, Kissam left for Nova Scotia, but returned to Long Island by 1786. He was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Queens County from 1797 to 1820. He also served as a vestryman in St. George's Episcopal Church in Hempstead and a warden at Christ Church in Manhasset.

Sources: Henry Onderdonk Jr.'s Documents and letters intended to illustrate the revolutionary incidents of Queens County, N.Y. (on the Brooklyn Historical Society library shelves at call number F127.Q3.Q4 v.4), especially pages 31-59; Edward Kissam's The Kissam family in America from 1644 to 1826 (call number CS71.C3883), page 25.