- Speer, Jacob 1796
- Speer, James 1803
- Speer, Levin, 1800
- Speer, Robert 1872
- Speer, Thomas 1797
McBride, Ransom. Claims of British Merchants After Revolutionary War, NCGS Journal, Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Genealogical Society, Feb. 1992
Parrish, David. Granville Co., £5.18.1. 30 Nov. 1776 - Died in the year 1792 possessed of considerable property which was divided among his widow and children . . . was solvent at the Peace and until his death
Parrish, Johnston. Granville Co. £3.6.4 1/4. 25 Dec. 1772
Parrish, Joseph. Granville Co. £20.4.8. 7 Mar 1774 - Dead. Left considerable property which was divided among his heirs.
McBride, Ransom. Davidson County [Tennessee] & the Cumberland Battalion, 1786-89 Part 1, NCGS Journal, Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Genealogical Society, Nov. 1992
The Cumberland Battalion (also Guard) was the State of North Carolina's last active military effort to aid the settlers in its western lands against Indian depredations. Never mind the fact that such settlement in Indian lands had been illegal from 1763, but that was under the government of King George III, and the American Revolution had brought about a change in the old colonial policy, albeit gradually. Three years after the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1783, ending the American Revolutionary War, the General Assembly of North Carolina enacted a law on 6 January 1787 to raise troops for the protection of the inhabitants of Davidson County. This county had only been formed three years before, but the General Assembly emphasized the need because of "frequent acts of hostility committed by the Indians on inhabitants of Davidson County" This Davidson County lay west across the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western lands of the state, now called Tennessee. These troops were to become known as the Cumberland Battalion, and documentation from troop and pay reports of this unit is surprisingly complete.
Background to the Formation of Davidson County, North Carolina (later Tennessee), & Its Indian Problems from 1779-1786:
- 1770 - Richard Henderson associate judge of the Superior Court run out by Regulators in Hillsborough
- 1771 - May - Battle of Alamance - Regulators defeated - Henderson presided over the trial where six of the twelve regulator were hanged. Over a thousand regulators fled into what is now Tennessee.
- 1774 - Daniel Boone returned from exploring in Kentucky, met with Henderson about settling in the west
- 1775 - March - Transylvania Company signs treaty with Cherokees to obtain majority of what is now Kentucky. Company made up of Henderson and seven of his associates. Treaty declared illegal.
- 1776 - Virginia creates Kentucky County from Transylvania County & North Carolina established District of Washington.
- 1777 - North Carolina created Washington County, land west of Wilkes County to the Mississippi River between Virginia and the Cherokee hunting grounds.
- 1777 - Jul 20 - Treaty of Long Island (Holston River) Cherokees ceded all lands east of Blue Ridge
- 1778 - Richard Henderson, James Robertson & John Donelson sent exploration party west to Cumberland River to French Lick. Henderson named a commissioner to expedite the expansion of a boundary line b/t Virginia and North Carolina westward to the Tennessee River.
- 1779 - James Robertson made scouting trip to French Lick area. [Nashville, TN]
- James Robertson b. 28 Jun 1742 Brunswick Co., VA, d. 1 Sep 1814 Chickasaw Agency TN, moved with parents at young age to Wake Co., NC. He md. 21 Jan 1768 Charlotte Reeves/Rives. Charlotte b. 2 Jan 1751 Northampton Co., NC, d. 11 Jun 1843.
- 1779 - Apr - Dragging Canoe and Cherokees who refused to abide by Treaty of Long Island set up Chickamauga near present day Chattanooga as their line in the sand. Colonels Evan Shelby & John Montgomery led nearly 900 militiamen to crush the Chickamauga. Dragging Canoe and friends escaped and hid out in the Cumberland Mountains along the Tennessee River.
- 1779 Fall - Robertson started his scouting trip again with several hundred emigrants from the Holston & Watauga settlements. Arrived at the Cumberland River on Christmas Day.
- 1779 - Donelson making the same trek by the waters of Holston River up the Tennessee River to the Ohio and down the Cumberland with 160 people in about 30 boats of varying kinds and sizes. They were attacked sporadically by Indians. Some people went down the Ohio to the Mississippi and settled in Illinois and some went down to Natchez.
- 1780 - Jan. 1 - Robertson's group reached bluff on south side of Cumberland where they created Nashborough.
- 1780 - Apr 24 - Donelson's group arrives in Nashborough after 900 miles on inland waterways.
- 1781 - Oct 19 - General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown
- 1783 - Sep 3 - Treaty of Paris officially ended the American Revolution
- 1783 - North Carolina created county of Davidson which included Nashborough
- 1783 - March - organized militia created in Nashborough for defense against Indians
- 1783 - Oct - North Carolina officially established Davidson County militia under Col. Anthony Bledsoe.
- 1784 - March - Petition
- Surrounded by Numerous Savage Enemy; our fellow Adventurers daily massacred; Our horses taken; our Cattle destroyed; closely confined to two small Stations; deprived of making Crop for future Subsistence; and Unable to remove ourselves and Families, we were exposed to every Calamity which War and Famine could inflict . . . we pray that the price of our lands may be proportioned to our abilities of Payment . . . some few Families arrived here shortly after the time prescribed by Law for making Settlement, and some young men who were not twenty-one years of age on the first day of June 1780 . . . have by that means been deprived of obtaining any claim to land; . . . and . . . those persons have been very instrumental in defending this county and have suffered an equal share in all our Calamities and Distresses . . .
- North Carolina Assembly passed An Act for the Relief of Sundry Petitioners Inhabitants of Davidson County Whose Names Are Therein Mentioned.
- list of those killed in defense of the settlement given 640 acre grants with nominal fees . . . Mark Robertson . . . William Overall . . . James Robertson . . . heirs of: John Robertson . . .
- list of those entitled to 640 acre grants with no fees
- 1784 - North Carolina passed a Cession Act which gave its western territory to the federal government. Repealed the Act in October
- 1784 - Settlers of Sullivan, Washington & Greene counties [eastern Tennessee] held 3 conventions in Jonesborough. A faction under John Sevier favored separation from North Carolina. A minor faction under John Tipton did not. Sevier elected governor of the "State of Franklin." The Davidson County settlements refused to join.
- 1785 - Jan. - Richard Henderson died
- 1785 - Nov. - Congress made a treaty with Cherokees at Hopewell, South Carolina which set boundaries for a Cherokee reserve in conflict with those created by North Carolina and Georgia . . .
In the Cumberland settlements, over two hundred militiamen were busy patrolling their borders with the Indians, but this number was insufficient against continued isolated killings. James Robertson pressed for additional troops at the North Carolina Assembly Sessions of 1786-87, and on 6 January 1787 an Act for Raising Troops for the Protection of the Inhabitants of Davidson County was passed. Selected passages from this eighteen article Act are shown below:
- Two hundred and one men shall be enlisted for two years, commencing from their first rendezvous at the lower end of Clinch Mountain [now Tennessee]. There shall be three companies of 67 men each, each company officiated by a Captain, Lieutenant, Ensign & four Sergeants. The whole is to be under command of one Major. The officers will be elected by the General Assembly and commissioned by the Governor, the Sergeants to be chosen by the commissioned officers. The field officers of Davidson County are authorized to give directions for the disposition of said troops.
- Every able-bodied man enlisted in such service shall furnish with a good rifled or smooth bore gun, a picker, shot bag and powder horn, 12 good flints, one pound of powder, and two pounds of good bullets suitable to his gun. The State will provide on 1 October 1787 and for each year of service: 1 blanket, 2 pair stockings, 2 pair shoes, 2 shirts, 2 leather stocks, 1 hunting shirt, 1 woolen or fur hat, 1 pair buckskin breeches, and 1 lined waistcoat - such items to be furnished by a clothier to be appointed by the Governor. . . .
- The Justices of Peace for Davidson County are authorized to impose a tax on the county's inhabitants for support of the troops. The monies arising from the tax on lands west of the Appalachian Mountains are appropriated for discharging the expense of raising, clothing, arming, and supporting embodied in this Act.
- The officers and privates of said troops shall be allowed 400 acres of land west of the Cumberland Mountain for half of the first year's pay and in the same proportion for the time above one year. The commanding officer shall be allowed 2,000 acres as above, and other officers shall receive satisfaction for one-half of the pay due them in lands proportionate to the quantum pay each officer shall be entitled to for the first year's pay.
- If twenty-five of said troops shall furnish themselves each with a horse not exceeding nine years of age with a good saddle and bridle and one good rifled or smooth bore gun, they shall be formed into a company of cavalry.
- Said troops, when assembled at the lower end of Clinch Mountain, shall cut and clear a road direct and most convenient to the town of Nashville on Cumberland River, making the same en feet wide and fit for passage of wagons and carts.
McBride, Ransom. Revolutionary War Service Records & Settlements, NCGS Journal, Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Genealogical Society, Nov. 1992.
Wright, Abraham. Request to "Francis Chileds Esqr. Comptroller of Publick Accounts for the State of North Carolina": "Please to Deliver the Final Settlement Certificate made out in my name Which I am Intitled to for my Services as a Soldier in the North Carolina Line Continental Establishment in the Year 1782 to the Bearer Andrew Gibson . . . " Daed 5 Sept 1791 and acknowledged by Luis Franklin, Justice of Peace for Wilkes Co., NC [on reverse:] Wright, Abram - 63 30/90
Wright, Amanuel. Request of Amanuel Wright to the Commissioners Appointed to pay to Thomas Price "the Wagars and Clothing Due me . . . for my Service as Soldier in the Contanental Line of this State . . . " Dated 10 Nov. 1785. No location stated.
Wright, Samson. Request of Samson (+) Wright to the Commissioners Appointed "to pay the Wager and Clothes Due for my Savis in the Contals Line of this State to John Price . . . " Dated 15 Nov 1785. No location stated.
Miller, James. Catawba: The Making of a North Carolina County, NCGS Journal, Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Genealogical Society, Nov. 1991
Includes detailed maps of boundary changes
An ancestor with longevity could have been born in Rowan County in 1753, married in Burke County in 1778, fathered children in the counties of Burke and Lincoln in the 1780s and died in 1842 during Catawba County's formation year while living on the same land all the while. His land simply became part of the new counties as they were formed. . . .
By way of explanation, Anson County, North Carolina, was formed in 1750 from Bladen County and engulfed within its boundaries all of western North Carolina including the land which lay within the Granville Proprietary, or Granville District, north of 35° 34' north latitude and all the land lying between this line and the South Carolina line which belonged to the English Crown.
At its formation Anson's boundaries were established by the General Assembly of North Carolina:
. . . That Bladen County be divided by a Line, beginning at the Place where the South Line of this Province crosseth the Westernmost Branch of the Little Pee-Dee River, than by a straight line to a Place where the Commissioners for running the Southern boundary of this Province crosseth that Branch of the Little Pee-Dee River, called Drowning Creek, thence up that Branch to the Head thereof; then by a Line, to run, as near as may be, equidistant, from Saxpahaw River, and the Great Pee-Dee River; and that the upper Part of the said County and Parish so laid off and undivided, be entered into a County and Parish, by the name of Anson County, and St. George's Parish, and that all the Inhabitants to the Westward of the aforementioned dividing line, shall belong and appertain to Anson County . . .
Their remoteness from the Anson County Court prompted the increasing number of inhabitants to petition for the formation of a new county. In 1753 that portion of Anson County lying above the Granville line was formed into the county of Rowan. . . .
The area which was to become Catawba County lay within the bounds of Rowan County. . .
In 1762 Mecklenburg County was formed from the western portion of Anson County which lay below the southern line of the Granville District. . . .
North of the Granville Line, new counties were also being formed: Guilford County from parts of Rowan and Orange counties in 1771; Wilkes County from parts of Surry County, and the District of Washington in 1771 & Iredell County from a portion of Rowan County lying east of the Catawba River in 1788. . . .
In 1782 the southeast portion of Burke County lying above the Granville Line and comprising the southeast corner of present Catawba County was added to Lincoln County due to complaints from the inhabitants that they laboured under great hardship in attending Burke County court functions due to their remote situation from the courthouse. . . .
In 1784 the line between Burke & Lincoln Counties was altered to include and to add to Lincoln County all that southeast portion of Burke from which all Catawba County would later be formed. . .
Catawba County was formed from the northern portion of Lincoln County in 1842. . .
Researchers should remember that the southern portion of Old Lincoln County which lay below the Granville Line was formed from Tryon County. However, the northern portion of Old Lincoln, from which Catawba was formed, was part of Burke County from 1777 to 1784 and was added to Lincoln County after it was formed from Tryon.
Unidentified article, NCGS Journal, Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Genealogical Society, Nov. 1991
Perry, Eleanor. Petition of twenty-two inhabitants of Orange Co., NC nd, who remark on the unhappy circumstances of Eleanor Perry, wife of John Perry of Orange Co., NC. Said John & Eleanor married 2 March 1797 [note: marriage bond identifies bride as Eleanor Bunch and bondsman as Thomas Bunch]. Soon after the marriage, said John Perry took to card playing, wasting his property and abusing his wife until they parted. Said Eleanor and her child went to her father's, the said John remaining in the neighbourhood, pretending to work. He sold a great part of the property he acquired through his wife and left with a huge debt remaining. Creditors executed the remainder of the property, including said Eleanor's riding saddle which she had purchased before marriage. Petitioners request that this woman's grievances be given relief. (GASR, Nov-Dec 1798, Box 3: Folder Petitions - divorce, inheritance).
Joint Committee on Propositions & Grievances reports that John Perry has deserted his wife, Eleanor, and recommends that such property as she may hereafter acquire be secured to her for her sole benefit. In Senate, 15 Dec 1798, and in House, 17 Dec. 1798. Committee's recommendation concurred with. Bill enacted. (GASR, Nov-Dec 1798, Box 2: Folder JCR - Propositions & Grievances and GASR Nov-Dec 1798 Box 1: Folder House Bill, 5 Dec.)
No comments:
Post a Comment