A restored log cabin, the Casey Cabin, is in Heritage Park in Potosi in Washington County. The Casey family donated it to the Mine au Breton Historical Society in 2002, and the Society restored it. The cabin was on property originally owned by Samuel Silvers, who built the cabin, and later sold to Andrew Casey. Samuel Silvers has a unique story that led him from Maryland, to Kentucky, and finally to Missouri.
Silvers was born in Maryland, probably in Frederick County, in about 1750. He first appears in records on an enlistment list for Capt. Phillip Maroney’s Company, Maryland Flying Camp, dated June 1, 1776. He enlisted for six months. “Flying Camp” is a term unfamiliar to most people. Based on an idea of George Washington’s, flying camp units were supposed to be strategic mobile reserve militia from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The original intent was to have them act as reserves or home guards to protect local citizens, guard the Jersey coast, protect Continental Army supply lines, act against Loyalist bands, and be reinforcements if called upon by Washington. However, the need was such that several Flying Camp regiments were called to active service in July 1776, including Maroney’s company.
Using pension statements from others in the company to determine the company’s records, Silvers’ service likely included the remainder of the New York defense. First, they marched through southeastern Pennsylvania, through Philadelphia, and crossed the Delaware River at Trenton, New Jersey. They joined the Continental Army at New York as part of the 1st Maryland Battalion. Their first action was the Battle of Harlem Heights on September 16, a rare patriot victory.
The men then helped man Fort Washington on the Hudson for a time, before being called into battle at White Plains. The Battle of White Plains on October 28 was a British victory—Washington’s troops were forced to retreat to the north from local high ground. The Patriots fell back and crossed the Hudson to Fort Lee. By early December Maroney’s company marched through New Jersey to Philadelphia, where their six-month enlistment expired and they were discharged. Silvers may have served locally at some point during the remainder of the war, but if so, no records survive.
Samuel Silvers left Maryland for Nelson County, Kentucky, near Bardstown by 1786. He married his first wife either before leaving Maryland or soon after arriving in Kentucky. He purchased two land tracts in Kentucky and held most of the land for over 20 years. The area where he settled became part of the new Washington County, Kentucky in 1792. By 1801 his wife died, and he remarried Jane Fulton Springer, widow of Peter Springer. Samuel had children with both his wives.
The exact date when Silvers came to Missouri is not known. He last appears in tax records in 1812 in Kentucky and sold his remaining Kentucky land in 1814. He settled on 80 acres north of Potosi on present-day Lick Skillet Road, where he built the cabin now in Heritage Park. The Land Office issued the patent in 1821, shortly before Silvers' death. It is possible he took several years to make the payments before being issued title. His gravestone survives today, although the death date is 1817, probably because the stone was purchased years after his death and memories had faded. At his death, he had lived a life that included serving his country, being a pioneer settler in Kentucky, settling in Missouri during territorial days, and leaving a cabin as a memento of his journey.
