Joseph Stebbins, Jr.
(1749-1816)

Joseph Stebbins, owner of this tricorn hat, was a Deerfield, Massachusetts, farmer and an avid patriot who fought in the American Revolution (1775-1783). When the revolution broke out, he was captain of a company of Deerfield militia, and he became a symbol of revolutionary valor and zeal to the town's later inhabitants. Joseph owned a large gambrel-roofed house in Deerfield that his father built for him in 1773. He and his wife, Lucy (Frary) Stebbins (1754-1831), raised their twelve children there. Like many men of his time who farmed, Joseph did other things as well. He and his younger brother Asa operated mills in the south part of Deerfield. He was an avid supporter of Deerfield Academy when it opened in 1799, and he served in many capacities in the civil affairs of his town and county.