Col. Elias Berlin

  General Notes:

Col. Berlin and Catherine Ament had nine children, six of which were living and noted in the Westmoreland Co. history.

It is interesting to review the history of the Cornstalk Militia that Col. Berlin was associated with. From the Clarion County History and Genealogy on the Clarion County Militia it is shown that:

Under the old organization all able-bodied persons between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five, with several exceptions, were bound to militia service, and were organized into companies, regiments, brigades, etc. They were to drill one day in the year by companies, and one day by battalions or regiments. A service of seven years entitled to exemption from further service. Those who did not chose [sic] to serve were subject to a militia tax, exoneration, or commutation, as it was called.

The citizen soldiery were divided into two classes; the un-uniformed, commonly known as "militia" simply, and the uniformed or "volunteers." The first were those who shouldered the gun or broomstick, as the case might be, not out of love for the martial field, but perforce, to escape the alternative fine. When called into service they were drafted singly and not by companies. This branch was always absurdly defective in equipments and organization; they were dubbed the "cornstalk" militia, and were the subject of much ridicule and pleasantry. Once a year they met to go through the form of a drill and review; the whole was a huge farce.

Elias married Catherine Ament.