Daniel Whatley Rev War Soldier

                                Daniel Whatley

Daniel Whatley, the son of Michael and Kitty Bird Whatley was born in Culpepper, VA on December 26, 1744. (Michael Whatley served in North Carolina during the Rev War and was awarded a land grant in Georgia). Daniel married Mary Edwards around 1770.  

He enlisted as a private in Captain Trousdale’s Company in the North Carolina regiment in 1799. During the war, he also served under the command of General Nathaniel Greene and participated in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse near Greensboro, North Carolina on March 15, 1781. After the battle Greene retreated into South Carolina.  Even though the British won the battle, they lost more than 500 men. The British forces under Gen. Charles Cornwallis marched into Virginia. After an unsuccessful attempt to link with roughly 3,500 men under British Major General Phillips and American turncoat Benedict Arnold, Greene was able to unravel British control of the South, while leading Cornwallis to Yorktown, where he was forced to surrender to General George Washington. (In several petitions to the pension review board, Whatley stated that he continued to serve in the North Carolina militia until the end of the war.)

After the war, Whatley left North Carolina and moved into Georgia. He and Mary had six children (Frances, Mahaley, John, Daniel, Thomas and Willis).

Daniel served in the War of 1812 as a scout and spy on the Georgia frontier. He was awarded a pension for his services by the state of Georgia.

His wife, Mary, died around 1825.  By 1830 Whatley was farming in Houston County, GA. In 1840 he moved Marion County, GA and by 1850 he was living in Talbot County, GA. It was at this time he applied for a pension for his services during the Rev. War. His claim was denied, as most were during this time, for a lack of documentation.

Daniel Whatley died in Taylor County, Georgia on September 28, 1857 at the age of 112. His death was reported in Georgia newspapers and even in the West Chester, PA newspaper, “The Record.”  He was reported at the time of his death to still have all his mental faculties and be in fairly good health. He was still being discussed years after his death.  A story in the Butler Herald in 1937 (eighty years later) stated that on the day of his death he had been riding until midafternoon. When he returned home, everyone had gone fishing and he was hungry. He loved field peas and decided to cook some. Apparently he didn’t cook them long enough and later that evening he began to experience gastric distress. Though the local doctor tried to save his life, he died later that night.

Daniel Whatley is buried in the Heritage Baptist Church cemetery in Reynolds, Georgia.  

Heritage Baptist Church

 Reynolds, GA
 

 

“Georgia Journal and Messenger”, (Macon, GA),  October 14, 1857, p. 3

“The Butler Herald”, (Butler, Ga.) March 25, 1937, p.3

“The Record, “ (West Chester, PA), October 31, 1857, p.1

Georgia Revolutionary War Soldier’s Graves, Arnold H. Ross, Iberian Publishing Company, Athens, GA, 1993

Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia, Vol 1, Mrs. Howard McCall, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968

Ancestry.com/ abstract of rejected Rev. War pensions

Linda McCardle

                

The Dumas Family, Elijah Clarke and the Remonstrance

 (On a recent “Finding Your Roots” Henry Louis Gates traced the family roots of Lonnie Bunch, the director of the Smithsonian Institute.  Mr. Bunch found out that one of his ancestors had been directly involved in very early Civil Rights efforts. He said that finding out his ancestor touched history in such a profound way made it come alive for him. I am always finding connections between my family and events in history and my Dumas ancestors are no exception. I hope you’ll enjoy this article and look for connections in your family.)

The Dumas Family, Elijah Clarke 

and the Remonstrance

Jeremiah Dumas (my 7^th great grandfather) arrived in America on the Mary and Ann on July 20,1708. He was in the first group of Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution in Europe. The refugees  settled in Mannikin Town a short distance from Jamestown. Jeremiah married Unity Lucy Smith  in July 1702 in St. Peter’s Church. Unity was the daughter of George and Mary White. She had inherited several pieces of property frommiah,  both her father and mother. Jeremiah had managed to marry into a very old Virginia family. Sir George Yeardley, Unity’s 2^nd great grandfather, had been appointed as Virginia’s governor in 1619.   The Dumas’s had eight children: Mathen, Esther, Sarah, Benjamin, Jeremiah, Elizabeth and Temperance, Jeremiah Dumas acquired property adjoining Peter Jefferson’s plantation on May 29,1729. (Peter Jefferson was the father of Thomas Jefferson.) Their son, Benjamin Dumas I (my 6^th great grandfather) was born in 1705. He married Frances Clark, the daughter of Francis and Cornelia Lankford Clark in 1730. Benjamin decided to leave Virginia in 1748 along with his children and their families. He left two thriving plantations. The group settled in western North Carolina along the Peedee River.  Benjamin Dumas ended up establishing a tavern on a small piece of property in the middle of the river and named it Dumas Island. He also began operating a ferry across the PeeDee.

Dumas Ferry and Dumas Island map

 Benjamin and his oldest son David (my 5^th great grandfather) became involved with the Regulator Movement around 1766. Most settlers in North Carolina were farmers, but slowly the influx of merchants and lawyers from Eastern colonies had disrupted the economic, political and social systems of North Carolina. Scottish and Irish immigrants moving into North Carolina led to friction between them and British officials. Adding to the explosive situation was the ten-year drought that had plagued the backcountry, leading to severe economic depression and hunger. The settlers, forced to buy food and supplies from the newly arrived merchants, were soon deeply in debt. Adding fuel to the dire situation, the courts were controlled by British judges, lawyers and sheriffs who often confiscated settlers’ homes and lands to settle debts.

William Tryon

 

Tryon "Palace"

 In 1765, William Tryon, an English aristocrat, was appointed governor of North Carolina by King George III. Tryon, wanting to build an impressive residence and government building, raised property taxes and appointed ruthless tax collectors. On June 16, 1765, the North Carolina chapter of the Sons of Liberty met to protest the Stamp Act. George Sims, a planter, delivered a speech in which he called on the local residents to join him in protesting the actions of Gov. Tryon and North Carolina officials. It led to the formation of the Regulator movement. The movement was strongest in Orange, Anson and Granville of counties. In 1769 a petition addressed to Governor Tryon and the General Assembly expressed their grievances. 

Regulators' Petition (first page)*

David Dumas and Benjamin Dumas signed the petition that would put them in the crosshairs of the British Royal governor, William Tryon.

The signatures of John and Elijah Clarke were also on the petition . Elijah Clarke, a very familiar name in the American  Revolutionary history of Georgia, was the son of John Clarke a Scot-Irishman.  (Benjamin Dumas and John Clarke had known each other for years. In 1748 John Clarke sold Benjamin Dumas 750 acres on the north side of the PeeDee River.)

   The result was the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771. Governor Tryon’s forces quickly subdued the rebellion resulting in six of the Regulators being hung.

   

Elijah Clarke

 

Kettle Creek Historic Site (near Washington, GA)

 After Alamance Elijah Clarke left North Carolina and moved to South Carolina, He found farming to be unsatisfactory and moved his family to Wilkes County, Georgia in 1773. He enlisted in the local militia and quickly rose to the rank of Captain. Once the Revolution began he quickly joined the patriots and was wounded at the Batlle of Alligator Creek in 1778. He established himself as a proven leader at Kettle Creek in 1779 by defeating Loyalists. He was promoted to Colonel and spent the next two years leading troops in South Carolina. He returned to Georgia in 1781 and helped to recapture Augusta from the British. For his services he received $30,000 and the plantation of Thomas Waters, a Loyalist. Elijah Clarke’s affiliation with my ancestors didn’t end with my Dumas family. My 5^th great grandfather, Jesse Stallings, fought under Clarke and was awarded 250 acres in Wilkes County in 1784. My husband’s ancestor, Cornelius McCardle, also fought under Clarke and he awarded him 287 acres in Franklin County that same year. 

Jesse Stallings Rev War Bounty Land Grant

Clarke’s reputation as a war hero unfortunately was tarnished by his involvement with the Yazoo Land Fraud and his attempt to set up a separate nation by seizing Creek lands on the Oconee River frontier near present day Washington, GA. After that venture failed Clarke was almost bankrupt and politically discredited. He died in Augusta, GA on December 5, 1799.

References

Revolutionary Soldier’s Receipts for Georgia Bounty Grants, Ruth Blair, Georgia Archives, 1928

Anson County, N.C. Deed Abstracts Volume 1:1749-1757, Brent Holcomb, 1974

History of Anson County, North Carolina, 1750-1976, Mary L. Medley, Anson County Historical Society, Wadesboro, North Carolina, 1976

https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/.../elijah-clarke-1742-1799

https://nhd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/5-RegulatorMovement.pdf

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/governor-william-tryon

*You can find the Anson County petition here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr08-0060

Revolutionary War Pensions

Revolutionary War Soldiers' Pensions

 

One question about Revolutionary War veterans has kept popping up in my research. Why was it so difficult for them to obtain a pension? For example, my fourth great grandfather Henry Smith applied for a pension in 1818 and he died during the process. His widow, Sally Mathews Smith (daughter of Rev war soldier Moses Mathews), continued the process until her death in 1845, Her oldest son, Aaron Smith, continued to press the court for the pension to be awarded to the children. Finally in 1853, the government awarded a small pension to the family. (You can read about the Smith family’s pursuit on my blog It’s a Family Affair https://a.famfair.blogspot.com/2023/06/henry-smith-rev-war-patriot.html ).

There are several reasons for delays in soldiers pension payments, the most obvious one being that the federal government lacked funds to pay veterans. At the end of the war some were given promissory notes for future payment. Unfortunately, many traded their promissory notes for food or clothing until they could return home.  Although states gave many soldiers land, the bulk of the grants went to officers.

Promissory Note

Land Grant

A fire in the War Department on November 8, 1800, apparently destroyed all Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant applications and related papers submitted before that date, though pensions filed after 1800 are housed in the National Archives.

It wasn’t until 1818 that Congress passed the first pension legislation, however there were requirements to be met in order to receive the pension. The soldier had to have served for at least nine months in the Continental Army or Navy and be in reduced circumstances. Soldiers who had served in state militias were not eligible to receive pensions. Although the  war had been over for 35 years and many men had died, about 20,000 applied for the pension. Pride kept some former soldiers from applying for a pension because they had to state they were in need. It was humiliating to admit that they were in poor financial   condition. For those who applied there were many obstacles in their way. For example, many had moved and couldn’t contact people who could vouch for them. It was a frustrating experience for many, including my ancestor Henry Smith.

 In 1832 Congress passed a pension act providing a yearly sum to men who had served six months or more. They did not have to state their financial circumstance, but they did have to prove that they had served by providing their discharge papers, marriage certificate, testimonies from respected people in their communities, former soldiers they had served with or Bible records.

For those searching for our family’s history, Revolutionary pension records can provide a gold mine of information. You can find Revolutionary War pension records by using ancestry,com, family search.org or the National Archives. Revolutionary War Apps has a list of pension applicants: https://revwarapps.org/pension.

References:

https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2015/summer/rev-war-pension

s.html

The Revolutionary War by Bart McDowell, National Geographic Society,

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff, Robert Fass, et al.

Daniel Higdon Rev War Soldier

 

Daniel Higdon

Rev War Soldier

 

Daniel Higdon was born on August 1,1755 in Chatham, North Carolina the son of Daniel and Priscilla Brantley Higdon.  Daniel joined Captain Joseph Johnson's company, a part of Colonel John Collier's regiment which was part of the 1st Brigade commanded by Brig Gen. John Burler. The unit was part of General Gates' army that fought at Ramsey's Mill on Deep River and at Camden, SC. Later, in 1780 Private Higdon fought Tories at Cane Creek and Linsey's Mill as a member of Major Galston's unit. He continued to fight in many NC counties as the Patriots and Tories battled each other.   

                       

This culminated at Kings Mountain where he fought under the command of Major (then Col) James Williams. Afterwards, he joined Capt. Matthew Ramsey's company which was part of the 4th NC Regiment. This regiment was part of General Nathanael Green's army which fought at Ninety Six, SC and later at Guilford Courthouse, NC. He remained in Greene's army until the end of the southern campaign. He married Mary Bryant in 1798 in Chatham, NC.  Daniel moved his family to Hancock County, Georgia and drew land in the 1827 Land Lottery as a Rev. war soldier. In the 1840’s Daniel and Mary moved to Columbus, GA.  After applying several times, he received a pension as a resident of Muscogee County, GA.  Daniel and Mary had at least three children according to the pension application. Mahala, born about 1800, Letty, born about 1803 and Rhoda, born about 1806. After Daniels death, at age 91, on December 22, 1853, his wife received a pension of about $66.00 per year (about $2,400 today) until her death. Daniel and Mary are buried in the Providence Church Cemetery located on St. Mary’s Road in Columbus, GA.

Pension application

https://www.ancestry.com/familytree/person/tree/170349898/person/142251586052/fact

https://www.measuringworth.com/

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99FS-2NN?view=fullText&keywords=Daniel%20Higdon%2CMuscogee%2CGeorgia&lang=en&groupId=TH-1971-40580-148-14

Georgia Revolutionary War Soldier’s Graves, Arnold H. Ross, Iberian Publishing Co., Athens, Ga, 1993

 

                                                                

Rev. James Allen

                                          Rev. James Allen

                   Revolutionary War Soldier

Linwood Cemetery

Columbus, GA

“He was as useful, as a minister of the Gospel, as he was a physician, and the work of his hands will fruit on and on and ripen in eternity.” * 

*(from an article in Alabama Historical Quarterly, V. 15, no. 2 (Summer 1953) “ The History of Opelika and Her Agricultural Tributary Territory.” 

 

Rev. James Allen was born in Virginia, possibly in the Richmond area on July 26, 1764. He was the son of Andrew Chapman and Hannah Newton Allen. He served in the Virginia Continental Line during the Revolutionary War.  After the war, he settled in Columbia County, GA. He married Jane Eliza McGehee on June 16, 1792. 

The family moved into Meriwether County in the 1830’s where he worked as a carpenter. His wife Jane died there in October 1834. 

When the family moved into Russell County, AL, Allen became a physician and minster. It was reported that he never charged for his services. “The last half of his active life was devoted to the gratuitous practice of medicine. This necessity arose from the scarcity of regular physicians in the early days. It is known that he rode day and night, during the sickly season, to meet the calls of the suffering, furnishing medicine at his own expense and never charging a cent for his services. He was very successful in his practice, though he never made medicine a study until it became necessary and never graduated from any school of medicine, except that of the saddle and the sick bed.” *

*(from an article in Alabama Historical Quarterly, V. 15, no. 2 (Summer 1953) “ The History of Opelika and Her Agricultural Tributary Territory.” 

Rev. Allen died in the home of his son, John W. Allen, on July 12, 1871 near Smiths Station, AL.

James and Jane Allen had six children: Zilpah, Harriet, William, Mariah, James, and John.

Allen Family Plot

Linwood Cemetery

 References

U.S. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900, www.ancestry.com, accessed February 19, 2025

“The History of Opelika and Her Agricultural Tributary Territory,” Alabama Historical Quarterly, V. 15, no. 2 (Summer 1953), Chapter 29, 322, Alabama Department of Archives and History.

"United States, Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1966", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26485569/james-allen

 Historic Linwood Cemetery, Linda J. Kennedy and Mary Jane Galor, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2004, p.50

Linda McCardle

George Wells Foster

 

George Wells Foster

Rev War Soldier

George Wells Foster

Linwood Cemetery

Columbus, GA

                                                                                    

George Wells Foster, the son of James and Susannah Wells Foster was born in Prince Edward County, VA on June 4, 1764. He enlisted in Captain John Morton’s company as a lieutenant in Prince Edward County, later making the rank of Captain. His company fought against British General Charles Cornwallis.

George married Elizabeth Julia Flournoy, the daughter of Thomas and Ann Martin Flournoy on June 1,1786 in Prince William County, VA. George moved the family to Greensboro, GA (Greene Co.)  in 1790. They had three children in ten years: James, Ann and Thomas.

By 1790 the family had moved to Greene County, GA. Wells practiced law in Greene County and accumulated a great deal of property. He purchased 170 acres from Issac Skinner in 1802. He paid $100 for the property (around $3,500 today). Apparently Wells had difficulty paying debts owed to neighbors. In 1802 Robert Fisher sued Wells for $156.91 ($3,500 today). Foster was found guilty and promised to pay the amount along with interest promptly. That same year, Thomas Moore petitioned the court to have Wells pay a debt of $ 70.00 ($2,135 today) that he had incurred in 1801. In 1806 Wells was back in court being charged with neglecting to pay a promissory note involving a $100 ($3,000 today) debt to William Dawkins. In 1812 he was involved in another case where he had failed to pay $212.25 ($5,255 today) to Benjamin Weaver. All the cases involved complicated land transactions between sellers, buyers and lenders. It is very interesting that during this time he also served as a justice of the peace. He was also involved in politics in Greene County, he served as a representative to the 1798 Georgia Constitutional Convention. In 1826 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Greene County Militia.

George Wells Foster’s wife Elizabeth died in Greene County, GA on November 5, 1836 and was buried there.

Julia Foster

Greensboro City Cemetery

 

After the death of his wife, George moved to Columbus. Two of his children, Thomas and Ann were living there. He continued to practice law in Columbus until his death on May 31, 1847.  He was buried in Linwood Cemetery. The Muscogee County Superior Court adjourned for his funeral.

George’s son James Flournoy Foster was born in Prince Edward Co., VA in 1785. He attended Hampden Sydney College in Hampden Sydney, VA. He became a physician and practiced in Greensboro, GA. He married Matilda Houghton in Greene Co., GA on June 18, 1815. He died at his home on April 3, 1861.  

 

George’s son Thomas Flournoy Foster attended Franklin College in Pennsylvania and later attended Litchfield Law School in Litchfield, CT. The school became renowned for its’ revolutionary way of teaching law based on the constitution and the documents produced by America’s founders. Thomas was admitted to the bar in Georgia in 1816 and began his law practice in Greensboro. He became active in politics and was a member of the Georgia Legislature for many years. In 1836 he was elected to the legislature from Columbus and served until 1841.  He married Elizabeth McKinnne Gardner from Augusta, GA in 1839.  He practiced law in Columbus until his death in 1848.

Thomas Foster 

Linwood Cemetery

Elizabeth Foster

Summerville Cemetery Augusta, GA 

George’s daughter Ann Martin Foster married well known Methodist minister Lovick Pierce who became the minister of St. Luke Methodist church (Columbus, GA) in 1836. Lovick Piece and Ann are buried in Linwood Cemetery.

 

Ann Foster Pierce

Dr. Lovick Pierce

 

St. Luke Methodist Church

Columbus, GA

Sources:

Greene, Georgia, United States Records,(https: familysearch.org)

Ancestry.com. U.S., Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-1783 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Georgia Biographies 1790-1857, West Boylton Genealogies, 1858.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litchfield_Law_School

Appleton’s Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1899, Vol. 2

"The Daily Constitutionalist and Republic", Augusta, GA Tue, Sep 19, 1848 ·Page 3

 “George Wells Foster,” Graves Registry, Georgia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, http://gasocietysar.org/gravesregistry.

Images of America "Historic Linwood Cemetery, Linda J. Kennedy and Mary Jane Galer, Chapter Five, Page 50.

"Southern Confederacy" (Atlanta, Georgia) · Thu, May 9, 1861 · Page 2

"The Old Folks at Home: Former American Colonists Buried in Columbus, Georgia", Callie B. McGinnis, Muscogiana, Spring 2018, pp.38-41

Linda McCardle

Captain Philemon Hodges

 

Revolutionary War Soldiers

Captain Philemon Hodges

 

Captain Philemon Hodges was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina on October 25, 1757. His parents were William and Patrice Hawkins Hodges. 

In 1776 he joined the North Carolina line and served in Colonel William Thompson’s Regiment. He participated in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, SC. He served in various regiments throughout 1777-1780.  In August 1780 he participated in the Battle of Camden also near Charleston. In the fall of 1781, he joined Troop of Horse (beginning of the Calvary) and was appointed Captain of Light Horse. He served as captain for almost two years. 

He married Winifred Kittrell in Granville, North Carolina on September 18, 1783. They had three children: John (1787), Samuel (1793), and Penelope (1796). In 1784 he was granted 100 acres in Cumberland County. In 1809 he was granted 1,000 acres in Bedford County, Tennessee.  Winifred died in 1825 in Granville.

 By 1830, Captain Hodges had moved into Muscogee County in the Double Churches area. In 1832 he applied for a Rev. war pension. In his application he stated that the record of his age couldn’t be established because his home had burned. A number of prominent Columbusites including Seaborn Jones, James Bethune, John Bethune and James Watson testified on his behalf. Hodges was awarded a pension of $380 a year (about $15,000 today). He also won land in the 1832 Land Lottery (about 40 acres). He died in Muscogee County in 1848 and was buried in the Shiloh Methodist Church Cemetery. (Today the cemetery is known as the Shiloh Cemetery and is located on Double Churches Road.)  

 

Winifred Kitrell Hodges is buried in the Hodges Family Cemetery in Granville, NC.

Hodges Family Cemetery

Pension application

Seaborn Jones Testimony

Pension awarded 

References

Findagrave.com 

Ancestry.com/ U.S. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 (National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Tennessee State Library and Archives; Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records, Book B

1832 Georgia Land Lottery 

Georgia Revolutionary War Soldier's Graves, Ross, Arnold H., Iberian Publishing Co., Athens, GA, 1993