Powerful families in Colonial Boston were often connected by marriage. Their large families made it even more likely.
Henry Knox was just a bookseller, but his bookstore drew Lucy Flucker in. Their romance and marriage in 1774 caused her Loyalist family to disown her. Knox became well known for his mission to bring the armaments from Fort Ticonderoga in support of the Patriot cause. He continued to distinguish himself during the Revolutionary War, and served as Secretary of War in Washington's new government in New York and then Philadelphia. Lucy and Henry had relocated first to Worcester during the occupation of Boston. When she returned, her family was gone. She followed Henry when she could during the war, befriending Martha Washington as they supported the troops at Valley Forge.
Lucy's father, Thomas Flucker, was a wealthy merchant and the Massachusetts Royal Secretary. He served on the governing Council with John Erving. Her mother, Hannah Waldo, was the daughter of Brigadier General Samuel Waldo and an heir to his fortune when he died in 1759. Born in Boston in 1696, Samuel was a contemporary of John Erving. He was a General in the wars with the French in Nova Scotia and was granted vast land holdings in the area around what is now Portland Maine. Samuel Waldo, Jr. married John's daughter Sarah Erving in 1762 in Boston. They moved to the Waldo land in Maine, where Sarah had her children. Lucy was just a child of six when Sarah became her aunt by marriage. Samuel died in 1770 and Sarah returned to Boston. It took years to settle her husband's estate. The Knoxes claimed some of Lucy's family land in Maine after the war. Sarah and Lucy likely didn't know each other well, but they were tied together by the Waldo name.
The Fluckers evacuated to London with Sarah's brothers John, Jr. and George Erving. That bond by association may have been the primary connection between the Ervings and the Fluckers. Many of the Waldo heirs also lost their land as Loyalists. Support of the Patriot cause was not a given in New England, especially when wealth was at stake.
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