Michigan Society SAR membership application (Nat. #30783) — applicant Hugh Philander Gaston, descendant of patriot Robert Gaston (Lt. Col., b. Basking Ridge NJ 28 Jan 1732, d. Warrior Run PA 1793)

Transcription and notes

• Source: National Society Sons of the American Revolution — Michigan Society application for membership. National Number 30783. Maintainer-supplied 3-page scan, merged + filed at (image held in the family archive) (2026-06-19). The 3 page-openings capture the full Gaston application; neighboring applications (a Conant one before, a Snyder one #883 after) spill at the page edges.

• Provenance: Found in the course of the Gaston-branch work (the patriot ancestor = p.55 Robert Gaston, husband of p.54 Rosanna (Cooper) Gaston, Daniel Sr's daughter). The application is a vetted genealogical-proof source documenting Robert Gaston's Revolutionary service + a descendant line.

• Verbatim / near-verbatim data (read from the scan):

• Applicant: Hugh Philander Gaston, "of the age of forty-five years," applying "by right of lineal descent … from Robert Gaston [of] Somerset County."
• Patriot ancestor — Robert Gaston: "who was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey on the 28th day of January 1732 and died in Warrior Run, Pennsylvania on the 2nd[?] day of September 1793, and who assisted in establishing American Independence." (The "2nd" is the application's error; the gravestone G.238 reads Sept. 22.)
• Lineal chain (as drawn on the lineage page): Hugh Philander Gaston → son of William Wickes Gaston → grandson of James Gaston → great-grandson of Hugh Gaston → … → Robert Gaston. The Ancestor's-Service page adds a family-memory note that the line runs through Robert's daughter "Tracey"/Gracey Gaston, who married a Hugh Gaston — i.e. descent via Robert's eldest daughter [Gracey Gaston (b. 1764)], who married a Gaston cousin.

• Ancestor's service (sources the application cites): Robert Gaston named in Halsey's History of Morris County as a member of the "Committee of vigilance"; appointed Captain / Lt. Col. of a regiment of Morris; cross-references to Stryker's Officers and Men of N.J. in the Revolutionary War, a History of Warren County, and Mellick's Story of an Old Farm (1889, the Somerset Co. NJ history).

• ** Catalog significance: 1. 3rd/4th independent confirmation that Robert Gaston was b. 28 Jan 1732 (with stone G.238 + Find A Grave + the Gaston register) — the convergence that proves L.4's "1742" a tree-author error. 2. Birthplace = Basking Ridge, NJ — a new datum (L.4/Tuttle gave only "Scotchman by birth"; note Robert was apparently NJ-born, not Scotland-born — conflicts with Tuttle [I.88]'s "a Scotchman by birth"; flag). 3. Primary-tier-ish attestation of his Rev-War rank (Lt. Col.) independent of the stone. 4. A documented descendant line through daughter Gracey Gaston (× Hugh Gaston)** — a source toward promoting Gracey (Robert's child #1) beyond L.4.

• ** Flag — birth origin conflict: the SAR says Robert was born in Basking Ridge, NJ** (1732); Tuttle I.88 called him "a Scotchman by birth." These conflict — either Tuttle was wrong, or "Scotchman" = ancestry/extraction rather than birthplace. Unresolved; recorded for follow-up.

• Remaining follow-up:

• Read the full lineage page at higher resolution to pin every intermediate generation (William Wickes / James / Hugh Gaston) + dates.
• Resolve the Basking Ridge NJ vs "Scotchman by birth" origin conflict.

• Use the descent-through-Gracey detail when promoting Gracey Gaston (child #1).

• Cross-reference:

• p.55 Robert Gaston (patriot) · p.54 Rosanna (Cooper) Gaston · G.238 gravestone · I.88 Tuttle (the "Scotchman" claim) · L.4 Gaston family-list