Independence Day

A couple of days ago I decided to see how many of my ancestors had participated in the Revolutionary War and I found 12 ancestors. My guess is there were more, but some of my ancestors I don’t even know their names and in other cases there is very little information about them. The way I found them is by finding which ancestors had been used for joining the DAR is Daughters of the American Revolution or the Sons of the American Revolution. You can join such organizations if you can prove you are descended from a qualifying ancestor. Note, these are all maternal ancestors. My father’s family did not come to America until the early 1840s.

I think history of Virginia and the other southern states tends to be overwhelmed by the history of New England, and this applies to the Revolutionary War. I also think that the reasons that my ancestors participated may well not have been the same as those not living on the frontier. For this reason, I have chosen a photo that I think better represents my people than those you usually see for the 4th of July. I will come back to this subject another time, but for now I’ve put several links at the end for additional reading.

1 Samuel Crowley (1741-1760) 5th great grandfather

Samuel Crowley was an Indian spy and Virginia Ranger. I wrote his revolutionary war story in a previous blog post. In sum, he died at the Battle of Point Pleasant 10 Oct 1774, which is considered to be the first battle of the revolutionary war. More about Virginia Rangers.

2 Robert Davis (1707-1780) 5th great grandfather

Robert Davis was a scout at Point Pleasant in 1774, the same battle where Samuel Crowley was killed. Then in May 1780 he was scalped by Indians in Kentucky. His body and the body his son John were found by Cuthbert Potter and documented in his journal, which has been published in Travels in the American colonies.

DAR Ancestor Number A211010

3 Captain Thomas Joplin (1708-1789) 6th great grandfather

Thomas Joplin served as captain of Amherst County, Virginia militia and furnished supplies during the Revolutionary War.

SAR number 59019
DAR Ancestor #: A062832

4 Johann Jacob Petree (1723-1804) 5th Great Grandfather

Johann Jacob Petree provided supplies to North Carolina troops during the Revolutionary War.

DAR Ancestor #: A089707

5 John Morriset (1718-1782) 6th great grandfather

John Morrissette and his son David Morrissette assisted in establishing the American Independence during the War of the Revolution by donation of feed and supplies to the Troops at Chesterfield Courthouse and to the Buckingham Militia.

DAR Ancestor #: A210071

6 Robert Baber (1766-1824) 4th great grandfather

Robert Baber was a recognized patriot in Virginia, furnished supplies.

DAR Ancestor #: A004301
SAR Membership 94963

7 James McCoun (1717-1800) 6th great grandfather

James Maccoun served as private in the Virginia Malitia. He was an early pioneer of Kentucky and senior member of McAfee Company.

SAR Membership 62227

8 John McGee (1730-1810) 5th great grandfather

John McGee fought in the battle of Point Pleasant—Oct. 10, 1774, and served with Virginia Volunteer Militia during the Revolutionary War under General Andrew Lewis.

DAR Ancestor #: A076926

9 Hammond Albert Morris (1733-1810) 5th great grandfather

Hammond Albert Morris signed the 10,000 name petition in 1765.

DAR Ancestor #: A080868

10 Benjamin Kimsey (1725-1807) 5th great grandfather

Benjamin Kimsey signed the Oath of Allegiance 1778.

DAR Ancestor #: A066231

11 William Nathan Chapman (1740-1807) 5th great grandfather

William Nathan Chapman was a soldier in the 2st Maryland Regiment. He enlisted March 1777 and served three years.

SAR Membership 21693
DAR Ancestor #: A134277

12 Benjamin Bolling (1734-1832) 5th great grandfather

Benjamin Bolling served a 9 month tour of duty as a soldier with the Revolutionary War army in North Carolina.

SAR Membership 89535

Additional Reading

Soldiers of Settlement: Violence and Psychological Warfare on the Kentucky Frontier, 1775-1783 (PDF file)
The Kentucky Frontier War is arguably one of the most brutal and violent episodes in America’s colonial history. During the American Revolution deaths linked to wartime combat in this region were over seven times higher than in any of the thirteen rebelling colonies. Bolstered by their British allies the Shawnee, Cherokee, Wyandots, Pickaways, and numerous other Native American tribes, launched a war of attrition upon the Kentucky Frontier that would outlast the Revolution by thirteen years. For those living on this frontier, warfare with Native Americans was a distinct everyday, reality and strikes into the heartlands of both settlers and their Native American adversaries was commonplace.

Western theater of the American Revolutionary War
In Kentucky, isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, compelling many to return to the East. By late spring of 1776, fewer than 200 colonists remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan’s Station.

Revolution on the Frontier
When the Revolutionary War began, many of the tribes in the Ohio Valley took it as an opportunity to renew their aggression against colonists. Other tribes hoped to remain neutral, a difficult position when sandwiched between the Americans to the east and British settlements on the Great Lakes. Amid raids launched by the British from Detroit and others from hostile tribes, many settlers chose to return east; those few hundred who stayed moved to the fortifications at Boonsborough, Harrodsburg and Logan’s Station.

Scotch-Irish Americans
In contrast to the Scottish Highlanders, the Scotch-Irish were generally ardent supporters of American independence from Britain in the 1770s. In Pennsylvania, Virginia, and most of the Carolinas, support for the revolution was “practically unanimous”. One Hessian officer said, “Call this war by whatever name you may, only call it not an American rebellion; it is nothing more or less than a Scotch Irish Presbyterian rebellion.” A British major general testified to the House of Commons that “half the rebel Continental Army were from Ireland”.