Austin Roe^[1]

1749 - 1830  (81 years)

• Name	Austin Roe
  Nickname	Culper Spy Ring
  Birth	2 Mar 1749	Suffolk, Lewis, New York, United States
  Gender	Male
  Birth	2 Mar 1749	Port Jefferson, Suffolk, New York Colony, British Colonial America
  Burial	Patchogue, Suffolk County, New York, USA
  Burial	1830	Cedar Grove Cemetery, Patchogue, Suffolk, New York, United States
  Death	28 Nov 1830	Patchogue, Suffolk, New York, United States
  Death	29 Nov 1830	Patchogue, Suffolk, New York, United States
  Person ID	I21064	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	8 Oct 2024

  
  

  Father	John Roe, II,   b. 1705, Port Jefferson, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 17 Nov 1782, Port Jefferson, Suffolk, New York, United States (Age 77 years)
  Mother	Hannah Bostwick,   b. Abt 1705   d. 28 Nov 1815 (Age 110 years)
  Family ID	F25247	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Catharine Jones,   b. 8 Jan 1752, Suffolk, New York, British Colonial America d. 16 May 1820, Suffolk, New York, United States (Age 68 years)
  Marriage	20 Nov 1772	New York County, New York, British Colonial America
  Children	1. Justus Roe,   b. 10 Aug 1774, Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York, British Colonial America d. 31 Mar 1847, New York, United States (Age 72 years)   2. Hannah Roe,   b. 6 Sep 1775, Setauket, Suffolk, NY, USA d. Yes, date unknown   3. Joanna Roe,   b. 22 Sep 1786, Setauket, Suffolk, NY, USA d. Yes, date unknown   4. Stephen Roe,   b. 25 Oct 1779, Setauket, Suffolk County, New York, United States d. 15 Sep 1851, Patchogue, Suffolk County, New York, United States (Age 71 years)   5. Ebenezer Roe,   b. 31 Jul 1781, Setauket, Suffolk, NY, USA d. Yes, date unknown   6. Elizabeth Roe,   b. 29 Jun 1788, Setauket, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 25 Jun 1868, Cortland, New York, United States (Age 79 years)   7. Sarah Roe,   b. 11 Jan 1791, Setauket, Suffolk, New York d. 29 Sep 1863, Rose, NY, USA (Age 72 years)   8. Mary Roe,   b. 9 Dec 1793, Setauket, Suffolk, NY, USA d. Yes, date unknown   9. Lewis Roe,   b. 21 Nov 1795, Setauket, Suffolk, NY, USA d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F8635	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 May 2025

  
  

• Notes

  In December 1778, General George Washington's chief of intelligence—and Culper Ring spymaster Major Benjamin Tallmadge—recruited Jonas Hawkins as a clandestine courier to bring messages to Setauket from New York City, where the group's leader, Abraham Woodhull was gathering information. From there, the coded correspondence could be relatively easily forwarded to Tallmadge.[3] At first, the ring employed just Hawkins in the role, but by early summer, Roe had joined the group as an alternate rider, who would take messages the 55 miles (89 km) between the group's two major centers of operation, Setauket, New York, and New York City.[1] At the time, both cities were occupied by the British.Work as spy [edit] Roe and Hawkins passed the messages from New York City to operative Caleb Brewster on Long Island.[3] Brewster would take them across the Sound to Tallmadge at Fairfield, Connecticut. From there, Tallmadge forwarded the messages to Washington.[4] Roe served the Culper spy ring as a courier by secretly relaying its messages beginning in early 1779. He claimed to be conducting business as a merchant in order to avoid suspicion and pass through the British checkpoints.[3] Roe became the sole dispatch carrier for the ring after July 1779, when Tallmadge gave Roe–but not Hawkins–a code number in his code index.[3] Hawkins increasing paranoia had led him to abandon the mission at that time.[3]In historical records

  
  

• Sources

  [S1749] , Lori J Smith Family Tree. (N.p.: n.p., n.d.)., John William Roe.