Descendants of Ebenezer Annable sought for marker-dedication ceremony

Ebenezer Annable’s headstone in Bridgewater Center Cemetery. It is being cleaned by a DAR member with an approved national cemetery product and is much easier to read than in the recent past. Photo courtesy of Denise Frost.

submitted by Denise Frost, Sarah Caswell Angell Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) 

The local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) are reaching out to the community in search of living descendants of Revolutionary War Patriot Ebenezer Annable (also spelled Annibil). A marker-dedication ceremony will be held at Bridgewater Center Cemetery on Saturday, October 11, 2025, and the DAR and SAR would like to recognize descendants at this historic event.

Ebenezer Annable was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1756, and served during the American Revolution. In 1789, he married Ann Merriam of Watertown, Connecticut, and together they raised eight children: Samuel (b. 1791), Anna (b. 1793), Sally (b. 1794), Harvey (b. 1800), Elizabeth (b. 1802) — who married John Mills and is buried at Bridgewater Center Cemetery — Maria (b. 1805), Ira (b. 1807), and Ruth (b. 1809). The family moved to Michigan in the early 1800s, joining two of their sons and a son-in-law who had already settled here. Ebenezer Annable lived in Michigan until his death in 1842, and his story remains a proud part of Washtenaw County’s history.

The DAR and SAR are especially eager to connect with Annable descendants who may still live in Washtenaw County or surrounding areas. “We want family members to be present at the dedication so that Ebenezer’s service to our nation can be honored not just by the community, but by his own descendants,” said Elizabeth Heller, Regent of the Ypsilanti Chapter, NSDAR. If you are a descendant — or believe you may be connected through the Annable, Merriam, or Mills family lines — the DAR encourages you to reach out. Distant family ties are welcomed.

For more information or to share your family connection, please contact: Denise Frost, Historian, Sarah Caswell Angell Chapter, NSDAR, at dmfrost@comcast.net.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.