250 Years: Our Patriots & Soldiers

Since April I have been posting about my Revolutionary War patriots. This post shows  a list of all those men I have researched. If there was enough information for a blog post, you will find a link to that post. Others need more research to uncover more facts about the service given. Perhaps you know more about one of these men and you will contact me. 

Our Family’s Revolutionary War Patriots:

 

Jacob Alford*

1761 NC – 1824 LA; Son of Julius & Lucy Alford; Husband of Elizabeth Bryant

My 4x great grandfather 

North Carolina Militia

 

Jacob Cade Alford

 1737 VA – c 1814 NC; Son of Lodwick & Susanna Alford

My 1^st cousin, 6x removed 

 Served in 3^rd & 7^th Virginia Regiment; DAR Ancestor # A001289

 

James Alford

1740 NC – 1812 GA; Son of Lodwick & Rebecca (Ferrell) Alford

1^st cousin, 4x removed of Roy Jessie Brown

Private, North Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor # A001292

 

Julius Alford

c 1750 NC – 1820 GA; Son of Lodwick & Rebecca (Ferrell) Alford

My 1^st cousin, 6x removed 

Captain, North Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor # A215013

 

Lodwick Alford

b c 1740 NC; Son of Lodwick & Rebecca (Ferrell) Alford

My 1^st cousin, 6x removed 

Major, North Carolina Militia

 

Charles Brumfield*

1745 VA – 1826 SC; Son of John Watson & Elizabeth Brumfield; Husband of Elizabeth 

My 5x great grandfather 

Gave civil patriotic service in North and South Carolina; DAR Ancestor # A016014

 

John Brumfield

1750 VA – 1845 LA; Son of John Watson & Elizabeth Brumfield

My 6x great uncle 

Sergeant US Dept of Calvary & Horseman in South Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor #A016016

 

Reuben Brumfield

b c 1749; Son of John Watson & Elizabeth Brumfield

My 6x great uncle 

South Carolina Militia

 

Johan Adam Dick* 

1709 Germany - 1785 PA; Parents unknown; Husband of Anna Ottilla Knack

My 6x great grandfather 

Gave patriotic service in PA; DAR Ancestor # A215209

 

Richard Dillon*

1745 VA – 1833 MS; Son of James Theopilous & Mary Dillon; Husband of Anne Lawrence

My 6x great grandfather 

Private, North Carolina Militia; served onboard privateer ‘Greyhound’ & Prisoner of War

DAR Ancestor # A036157

 

David Faulkenberry

1746 – 1841 TN; Son of Jacob Faulkenberry

My 4x great uncle 

Sergeant, South Carolina Militia

 

John Faulkenberry*

[Also seen as John Fortenberry]

c1740 – 1815 SC; Son of Jacob Faulkenberry; Husband of Hannah Eubanks

My 5x great grandfather 

Private in South Carolina under Captain William McKenzie; DAR Ancestor # A041319

 

Elijah Hollis

1763 – c 1832 SC; Son of Moses & Rosannah Berry (Hagan) Hollis

My 6x great uncle 

Captain, South Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor #  A056668

 

James Hollis

Died after 1844 SC; Son of Moses & Rosannah Berry (Hagan) Hollis

My 6x great uncle 

South Carolina Militia

 

John Hollis

1751 VA – 1836 SC; Son of Moses & Rosannah Berry (Hagan) Hollis

My 6x great uncle 

Captain, South Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor # A056678

 

Moses Hollis*

1728 VA – c 1794 SC; Son of John & Esther (Canterbury) Hollis; 

Husband of Rosannah Berry Hagan

My 6x great grandfather 

Lieutenant in the South Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor #  A206608

 

William Hollis

1748 VA – c 1836 AL; Son of Moses & Rosannah Berry (Hagan) Hollis

My 6x great uncle 

Private, South Carolina Militia

 

Andreas Keck

1753 PA – 1828 PA; Son of Heinrich & Hannah Keck

My 6x great uncle 

Private in 7^th Company, 3^rd Battalion, Northampton Militia, PA; DAR Ancestor # A200654

 

Heinrich Keck*

1710 Germany - 8 May 1786 PA; Parents unknown; 

Husband of Hannah Catherine Peterson

My 6x great grandfather 

Gave Patriotic Service in PA; DAR Ancestor # A063799

 

Heinrich Keck

b c 1746 PA; Son of Heinrich & Hannah Keck

My 6x great uncle 

Private, 7^th Company, 4^th Battalion, Northampton Militia, PA

 

Johannes Keck

 c 1742 PA – 1803 PA; Son of Heinrich & Hannah Keck

My 6x great uncle 

Private in 7^th Company, 3^rd Battalion, Northampton Militia, PA

 

William Stark Kelly*

1739 Ireland – 1826 TN; Parents unknown; Husband of Mary F Durham

My 5x great grandfather 

Private, 1st Regiment of North Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor # A064317

 

John Kennington*

c 1745 – c 1814 SC; Son of Edward Kennington; Husband of Martha

3x great grandfather of Roy Jessie Brown

Captain, served under Col. Marshall; South Carolina Militia 

 

John Lawrence, Jr.

c 1747 VA – 1796 NC; Son of John & Martha Lawrence 

My 2^nd cousin, 7x removed 

Soldier in Virginia Militia; DAR Ancestor #A067184

 

Jacob Ott II*

1755 SC – 1820 SC; Son of Jacob & Margaret (Fitchtner) Ott I; Husband of Mary Elizabeth Ott 

My 5x great grandfather 

Captain, Orangeburg SC Militia; Served in Francis Marion’s Brigade, the ‘Swamp Fox’

Also gave patriotic service by giving supplies to troops; DAR Ancestor # A084856

 

Casper Ritter

1747 PA – 1824 PA; Son of Caspar & Anna Maria Ritter

My 1^st cousin, 7x removed 

Corporal, Infantry, 7^th Company, 4th Battalion Northampton County Militia, PA

DAR Ancestor # A096307

 

Johannes Ritter, Sr.*

1743 PA – 1816 PA; Son of Heinrich Ritter & Maria Elizabeth Tutt; 

Husband of Maria Elisabeth Keck

My 5x great grandfather 

Private, 4^th Battalion, Lancaster Co. Militia, Pennsylvania

Captain, 1^st Company, 3^rd Battalion, Northampton Militia, PA

Captain, 6^th Company, 4^th Battalion, Northampton Militia, PA

 

Martin Ritter

1749 PA – 1827 PA; Son of Heinrich Ritter & Maria Elizabeth Tutt

My 6x great uncle 

Private, 7^th Co., 1^st Battalion, Northampton Co., Militia, PA – 1777

Sergeant, 4^th Co., 2^nd Battalion, Northampton Co., Militia, PA – 1778

DAR Ancestor # A096359

 

Matthais Ritter

1741 PA – 1825 PA: Son of Paul & Maria Ritter

My 1^st cousin, 7x removed 

Gave patriotic service; DAR Ancestor # A213282

 

Jeremiah Smith, Sr.*

1755 – after 1827; Parents unknown; Husband of Jemimah Hollis

My 5x great grandfather 

Private, under Francis Marion’s Brigade, the ‘Swamp Fox’; 

South Carolina Militia; DAR Ancestor # A203742

 

Johann Jonas Wolf *

1739 PA – 1787 PA; Son of Johan Jacob Wolf & Anna Barbara Orth; Husband of Appollonia Dick

My 5x great grandfather 

Second Lieutenant in the 5^th Company, 6^th Battalion of the York Co. Militia, PA

(which later became the 8^th Company, 7^th Battalion of the York Co. Militia, PA)

DAR Ancestor # A127487

 

 

DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution. “Ancestor #” indicates a patriot recognized by the organization for his patriotic/military service.

* Indicates a ‘direct line” ancestor; a person from whom you are directly descended, such as parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. These people are different from “collateral relatives” such as siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. To become a Daughter of the American Revolution or a Son of the American Revolution you must prove your soldier is a “direct line” ancestor.

 

 

Semiquincentennial - - Revolutionary War - - John Faulkenberry

  - #14 and the last in a series of  posts about our family's Revolutionary War soldiers -

250 Years; 1776 - 2026

Our Family was there, from the Beginning

John Faulkenberry

[Also seen as John Fortenberry]

c 1740 Virginia – 1815 SC

Son of Jacob Faulkenberry; Husband of Hannah Eubanks

3x great grandfather of Roy Jessie Brown

 

Private, South Carolina Militia 

John Faulkenberry was a Revolutionary War soldier and diligent farmer. He began his life in Virginia but, like many in his family before him, he headed south and settled in South Carolina. In November 1758, when he was about 18 years old, John “Faulkenburough” bought 150 acres of land on Flat Creek, a branch of Lynches Creek in Craven County, South Carolina. The land was “Bounded on all sides by vacant land.”[1]

This is the area where our Kennington family also lived.[2]

Settlement was made in the lower part of the present Lancaster County on Hanging Rock Creek. The South Carolina colony first made a grant to settlers there in 1752; it included the overhanging mass of rock for which the creek was named. About the time the colony opened up this section, other settlers came in and settled along Lynches Creek, Little Lynches creek, Flat Creek, Beaver Creek, and lower Camp Creek. In coming to the Lancaster area, the first settlers followed old Indian paths. The increased traffic began to enlarge the paths and improve them as dirt roads.[3]

John married Hannah (Eubanks) Faulkenberry in Flat Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina on 4 December 1769. The Eubanks family lived on Great Lynches Creek[4] and were most certainly neighbors to the Faulkenberry family. John and Hannah were the parents of at least six children: William Jasper Fortenberry [William married Violette (Kennington) Fortenberry], Lee Faulkenberry, Jacob Faulkenberry, Israel Faulkenberry, Nathaniel Faulkenberry and Robert Faulkenberry.[5]

            On 2 August 1776 news of the Declaration of Independence arrived in South Carolina. On 5 August troops paraded to Charleston’s Liberty Tree and the Declaration was read. Support of the revolution was mixed. In 1776 more than two thousand South Carolinians enlisted as Continentals or Regulars but by 1778 only a handful were still in service. Monetary incentives and land bounties were used to entice soldiers. In 1779 the war arrived in South Carolina with a series of attacks by the British who were destructive and who stole horses, silver, furniture and slaves. Charleston fell to the British in May 1780.[6]

John Faulkenberry served in the Revolutionary War, circa 1782, as a private under Captain William McKenzie in Colonel William Hill’s Regiment of State Troops.[7]^, [8]^, [9] His brother, David, served as well. David served as a private with Captain John Kennington in 1781 and 1782.[10] (This John Kennington was to become the father-in-law of William Jasper Fortenberry, who was the nephew of David Faulkenberry.)

 

John Fortenberry’s name in a list of Pay Roll of Captain William Mckenzie’s Troops, 1782

 

Fortunately, South Carolina had many heroes, both famous and unknown, who helped to win the Revolutionary War and defeat the British. However, many areas of South Carolina suffered damage from the war.

Homes, farm buildings, and mills had been burned. Fields had been abandoned and were overgrown. Horses and livestock had been taken by one side or the other. There were thirty thousand fewer slaves in the state than there had been in 1775. In addition to those carried away in the loyalist evacuation, about twenty-five thousand were stolen by the British. With the dissolution of the ties with Great Britain, South Carolina lost its primary trading partner and the indigo bounty. The state’s economy was in a shambles.[11]

Lancaster County, in the Camden District of South Carolina is located in the north central area of the state, just across the border from North Carolina. We have evidence of John’s residence there when he purchased 150 acres of land there in 1760 and sold it in March 1774 to Isaac Fortenberry.[12] He purchased 100 acres in 1786.

John … purchased 100 acres of prime property in the vicinity of Flat and Lynches Creeks. This land was purchased from John's father in law, John Eubanks on 15 April 1786. John actually resided on the property before it was purchased by him. His relationship with his in laws was cordial and respectful. John subsequently bought several adjourning tracts of land in the Flat Creek area, totaling about 400 acres.[13]

At this time we do not know what John grew on his land to sustain his family. He may have grown one of the colony’s top three exported agricultural products. In the eighteenth-century South Carolina’s leading export was rice. It could be grown in freshwater inland swamps. A portion of the swamp was damned to create a reservoir to provide a reliable water supply. With regular irrigation high yields of rice were produced. Rice was transported to Charleston in bags or casks. By the early 1720s South Carolina exported an average of six million pounds of rice. Over the next decade it rose to thirty million pounds. Before the Revolution more than sixty-six million pounds were exported and between 1766-1775 prices were higher than any previous time in the colony’s history. Rice was called “Carolina gold.” Second to rice, planters grew indigo. During the French and Indian War it was difficult for the British to obtain indigo from the West Indies and they turned to South Carolina. The quality of the indigo was not as high as in the West Indies but it was easier to obtain. Hemp was another agricultural product planters could grow for export. Planters could sell hemp in Charleston for twenty pounds sterling for every 100 pounds.[14]

In 1790 John Faulkenberry was among those heads of households included in the first census of the United States. In March 1790 our country included 12 states. Nine months were allowed to count the heads of households in those states. Counting the people of South Carolina took twice that long, longer than any other state. About 240,000 square miles of the country were settled when the federal marshals traveled by foot, horse, stage or coach over that area. Their journeys included many difficulties, including speaking to the residents. Many did not want to reveal too much about themselves, fearing a taxation scheme was associated with the count. Others objected on religious grounds.[15] When John was counted he was living in Camden District, Lancaster County with neighbors Andrew, Jacob and Joseph Faulkenberry. Nearby was Isaac Faulkenberry. There were also Faulkenburghs in Camden: David, ‘Widow’, Robert and Henry.[16] Both Faulkenberry and Faulkenburgh were probably the same family. John’s known brothers were Jacob, Henry, David and Robert. Those match up with most of those men mentioned in the census. 

On 21 November 1790 John purchased land on Flat Creek from Benjamin Haile. On 7 March 1795 John purchased land from David Faulkenberry, his brother.[17] In 1800 John and family were shown as ‘Faulkinburg’ in the US Census. Henry, Isaac, Jacob and John were in Lancaster County.[18]

In 1810 John was again listed in the Lancaster County Census.[19]

He was an industrious farmer and lived the remainder of his life in this area. He loved his wife and together they worked hard to rear their children as strong, stalwart, and faithful Christians. Hannah supported her husband in his desire to provide an adequate lifestyle for their family. In 1815 John died at his home in Flat Creek and is buried there. He was 75 years of age.[20]

            John and Hannah had at least six children: William Jasper Fortenberry, a daughter, Jacob Faulkenberry, Israel Faulkenberry, Nathaniel Faulkenberry and Robert Faulkenberry. They may have had other children who died young. Notice that some sons used Faulkenberry but William used Fortenberry. 

While life on the frontier was uncertain everywhere, in South Carolina death by disease made life more precarious than anywhere else in British North America.[21]

Yellow fever, malaria, smallpox and typhus came to South Carolina with the Europeans and Africans. Influenza, measles, whooping cough and dysentery were present. Between 1670 and 1775 fifty-nine major epidemics hit South Carolina. Infants, children and women were especially vulnerable. Many of those who raised rice lived near their fields which were breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Couples had large families. Infant mortality was high and childbirth was often fatal for the mother and child.[22]

            Despite the diseases in the area and the uncertain life in the wilderness, John lived to be 75 years old and Hannah was 67. They both died in 1815.[23]

 

Revolutionary War Series:

#1  William Stark Kelly, Private in the North Carolina Militia

#2 Captain John Kennington, Camden District Regiment, South Carolina Militia 

#3 Sergeant John Brumfield, Patriot & Spy South Carolina Militia 

#4 Charles Brumfield, Gave Patriotic Service

#5 Captain Johannes Ritter, Sr., Northampton Co., PA Militia

#6 Sgt. David Faulkenberruy, SC Militia 

#7 Lt. Moses Hollis, Lieutenant in the South Carolina Militia

#8 Pvt. Jeremiah Smith

#9 Richard Dillon, NC Militia 

#10 Captain Jacob Ott II, SC Militia

#11 Lt. Johann Jonas Wolf, York Co. Militia, PA

#12 Captain John Hollis, SC Militia

#13 Pvt. William Hollis, SC Militia

Read more about our family's pioneers & patriots.

This is my newest book, published in late 2024. It includes chapters on these families:

Alford, Ashely, Brown, Brumfield,

Fortenberry, Hollis, Kelly, Kennington,

Lawrence, Ott, Smith & Spurlock

Buy from me: Price: $95.00 + $10 shipping & packaging. No credit cards.

OR: use credit card & purchase through Troy Book Makers.

 

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[1] South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Colonial Plat Books; Series S213184, Volume 7, Page 113, Item 3; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed Feb. 2024) John Faulkenburough, 1758, Craven Co., SC.

[2] South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Colonial Plat Books; Series S213184, Volume 7, Page 113, Item 3; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Faulkenburough, 1758, Craven Co.

[3] Lancaster County, South Carolina, History; digital image, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org: accessed March 2019).

[4] South Carolina Department of Archives and History. State Plat Book; Series S213192, Volume 39, Page 178, Item 2; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Eubanks, 1802.

[5] Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry. The Fortenberry Families of Southern Mississippi. (SC: Southern Historical Press, 1984).

[6] Edgar, Walter. South Carolina, A History (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1998) 229-239.

[7] Daughters of the American Revolution. Ancestor record, Ancestor #AO41319, John Fortenberry; digital image (dar.org: accessed 2017).

[8] South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Pay Roll of Captain William McKenzies Troop in Colonel William Hills Regiment of State Troops; Series S213089, Box 4, Folder 29; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Fortenberry, 1782.

[9] South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Accounts Audited of Claims Growing Out of the Revolution; Series S108092, Reel 47, Frame 460; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Fortenberry.

[10] Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files; NARA catalog 300022, Record Group 15; digital image, Fold3 (fold3.com: accessed July 2018) David Faulkenberry.  

[11] Edgar, Walter. South Carolina, A History (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1998) 244.

[12] Holcombe, Brent H. Lancaster County, South Carolina Deed Abstractss, 1787 – 1811 (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press) 117.

[13] Gurr, C. B., & Gurr, D. R. The Ties that Bind us Together. (Salt Lake City, UT: C.B. Gurr, 2006).

[14] Edgar, Walter. South Carolina, A History (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1998) 139-150.

[15] Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790; South Carolina (Baltimore, MD: Clearfield, 2004) 3-5.

[16] Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790; South Carolina (Baltimore, MD: Clearfield, 2004) 24. 

[17] Holcombe, Brent H. Lancaster County, South Carolina Deed Abstractss, 1787 – 1811 (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press) 106.

[18] Holcomb, Brent H., Index to the 1800 Census of South Carolina (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1980) 77.

[19] Small, Otha B. 1810 Lancaster County South Carolina Census (Monroe, NC: n.d.) 14.

[20] Gurr, C. B., & Gurr, D. R. The Ties that Bind us Together. (Salt Lake City, UT: C.B. Gurr, 2006).

[21] Edgar, Walter. South Carolina, A History (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1998) 156.

[22] Edgar, Walter. South Carolina, A History (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1998) 156-159.

[23] Fortinberry, G. K. Abstract History of the Fortinberry Family; 1795-1940's; (Family History Center Microfilm #1036152).