The Increase Pettit Revolutionary War period story that was published in the1939 titled: "Hick’s Neck, The Story of Baldwin, Long Island" and begins with the following quote: "Francis Pettit, son of the late John Pettit of Baldwin, tells of the role the marshes played in the Revolutionary history of his family. Francis’s father’s great-great-grandfather, Increase Pettit, while fishing with some friends down in Fundy, or Sea Dog Creek, saw a man running –running from “Redcoats”.__
The author has the generations incorrect - Increase Pettit was the great-grandson of Francis' father. The lineage goes as such: Increase Pettit>James Pettit>Asa Pettit>John Pettit>Francis Pettit (1872-1950)
The British occupied Long Island from Aug. 1776 to the end of the war, Nov. 1783. Unless an account was specifically dated, the event could have happened at anytime during those years. Increase Pettit (1726-1795) was the only Increase Pettit that was of an age that would qualify as being the person referred to in this account. Increase would have been aged 50-57 when he rowed his skiff into the water to save the man being chased by the Redcoats.
