Luther asked his father to write down all he knew about Mesnard History. This was the second version where additional information was added that provided invaluable clues to unraveling the mysteries involving our Knapp side of the family. I believe the information about the Knapps was not as straight forward as the legend suggests. The name Daniel is incorrect. Eri was 5 yrs old when his mom died and he was trying to remember what happened about 70 yrs before. I suspect it was he that spied on his grandmother and grand uncle talking about the bad old days. What information Mary gave her son was in a letter which I have read. The only thing that makes sense to me is after Mary Hoyt Mesnard died Mary Knapp Mesnard came up to tend the babies till a replacement could be found. After the Knapp spy ring was uncovered the Knapp boys were likely whipped and told to leave Greenwich and never return. Norwalk is only 10-20 miles from Greenwich. Mathew and Israel were the only brothers still alive and Eri would not have mistaken Israel since he saw him later. Mary and Mathew probably talked about the bad old days where they thought they were private. I am guessing Eri passed on to his father that their ancestor Timothy was a ‘jail bird’. Mary must have been able to put him off promising to tell him everything in a letter. This gave her time to think and be able to lie to her son without looking him in the eye.
Few today can appreciate the shame Mary had for her father. It is likely Mary was the one that discovered what her dad was doing and turned him in. Timothy Knapp was a Tory spymaster. He probably directed the Loyalist raiders whose farms to burn including Mary’s. Both John Sr. and John Jr. filed Firelands Claims. I am sure the conversation between John Mesnard Sr. and James Delancey would have been interesting when his farm was ravaged by Delancey's cow-boys. John and James's father were neighbors growing up. I believe John's youngest brother was named after James grandfather Stephen Delancey. Stephen and Daniel Mesnard were both Huguenots and there were many small associations between the 2 families including Stephen being a witness in Daniels God Father's will. James believed if you or your children were not in the Loyalist Army you were the enemy. I suspect John Sr. cursed James in French when being friendly did not save his farm. I doubt that either James of John Jr. knew any French. During my research I discovered the most chilling description of a Revolutionary War atrocity. A Tory was seen burning a house with all the family inside. When a Yankee party came to repay the favor they aborted the burning because the man was home visiting his family. Apparently, the raiders felt burning him alive with his family was too good for him. They wanted him to live knowing he caused his family to be burned alive. This was the level of contempt the town of Greenwich held for Tories. Having Timothy a judge for the Crown allowed her to explain away why he went to prison. Apparently, Andrew must have contacted his younger brother John and told him about grandfather. He still lived in Greenwich. He was able to get some garbled legend from someone about the Knapps. The garbling was most fortunate since it combined parts of the murder of both Thomas and Timothy shedding light on what really happened.
Timothy Knapp was not a judge he was a tavern keeper and his tavern still stands today as the second oldest structure in Olde Greenwich. It was named Putnam Cottage after the legend that General Putnam had started his famous ride from this tavern. While Timothy ran the tavern it was the hot spot of Greenwich and a popular stopping spot for persons traveling the King's Highway going to and from New York City.