List of 63 Pension Application Petitioners
Copies from the original document. All spelling is Same as In Copy (sic).
BOLD has been used to highlight Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
Additional Information for each of the 63 Petitioners included with Link.
Pension Application Joseph McDowell
I think his given name was also Joseph, and that he was a cousin of the General and this Colonel. I do not remember any of the other North Carolina officers. At the end of about two weeks we marched from Turkey Cove up the Catawba [River] on the East side along an old Indian Trace, and crossed the mountains through a gap the name which I do not recollect; struck the waters of Swano [sic, Swannanoa] River, went down the same and crossed French Broad River just above the mouth of Swanano [sic, Swannanoa River?]. Here the foot company from Wilkes County in which was my uncle James Sparks, and which marched behind us built a station, and remained to guard the frontier until our return from the Indian Country. (Here I saw my uncle on return.) From the mouth of Swanano [Swannanoa River?] we proceeded across Richland Creek and then Hominy creek. Here we met and were joined by twelve or fourteen hundred mounted gunmen from South Carolina. I do not remember their commander, or any of their officers except a Maj. Lytle, and him I recollect only from his afterwards in the course of the campaign accidentally killing one of his own men by the name of Morrison in an Indian skirmish. The whole Army then proceeded across another ledge of mountains and then crossed Tuckaseegee River. The night of the day we crossed this River a scouting party of thirty or forty of our men under Maj. McDowell was attacked by a party of Indians of whom they killed two or three, and made prisoners of a woman and child, an old man and one or two boys. The old Indian was shot the next day by a friendly Indian, a servant of Col. Miller, NC, who I think was with us, but in what capacity, I do not recollect. I regret to say that I believe all the prisoners were murdered, except two boys. We then marched on to the Tennessee River a distance of some 20 or 30 miles, here we found several Indian Villages on the South East side of the River, which gave every indication of having been but recently deserted. We remained some two weeks destroying the houses, corn, beans and everything of utility in and about the villages, we then received orders one evening that on the next morning we were to march to the Valley Towns some 70 or 80 miles further on, but in the morning these orders were countermanded, I have never known why. We next proceeded about a day's march up a River, the name of which I forget, on the South East side of the Tennessee, to a large town surrounded by villages where we spent several days more in destroying the town and Villages and everything in and about them. Rumor afterwards stated, and I believe truly, that the devastation committed by us on this campaign was the cause of the death of many hundreds of Indians from starvation. After spending a week or two more in endeavoring through our Scouts in vain to find the Indians we commenced our return march, and retraced the same route as well as I recollect. When we repassed the station near the mouth of Sewanee the foot company was still there to protect the frontier, and remained there for some time afterwards. To the best of my recollection the South Carolina troops parted from us at Hominy Creek where they had joined us. The North Carolina troops then marched on and returned to the Yadkin at or near Wilkesboro where we were disbanded. From this service I received a written discharge from Capt. John Beverly which I kept for many years, but at length not deeming it of any use it was long since lost or destroyed. On this tour we marched a distance which we deemed about five hundred miles and back; and I served in it as a Private Mounted Rifleman (furnishing my own horse, arms, and equipment) at least four months, and I believe longer for I feel confident that I did not return home until after Christmas, and I know I returned home as soon as I was discharged. On this expedition I know I received no pay but to the best of my recollection the privates were promised twenty Dollars per month each, and the same remarks will apply with truth to all my revolutionary services; for I received no pay for any of them.
Pension Application William Spicer - S3962 - fn20NC
Transcribed by Will Graves 3/4/11
State of North Carolina County of Wilkes: SS
On this 4th day of February 1833 personally appeared in open Court before the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions for the County of Wilkes & State of North Carolina, now sitting, William Spicer a resident of the County of Wilkes & State of North Carolina aged seventy-eight years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.
That he was born in the County of Culpepper [Culpeper] & State of Virginia on the 16th day of January 1754 where he continued to reside until he entered the service of the United States in the month of May or June 1775 or 1776 by enlistment for the term of four months in the company of Captain William Hall and rendezvoused at some point on the Shenandoah River (not now recollected) where they joined the Regiment commanded by Colonel John Field, thence they marched to the levels of Greenbrier River, where they were stationed a considerable time, from whence they marched against the Shawnee Indians, until they reached a point near the Great Kenhawa River [sic, Kanawha River] where they had an engagement with the Shawnees, in which Colonel John Field together with many others of the whites (among whom was a celebrated Thomas Bluford) was killed – although they succeeded in defeating the Indians and putting them to the route. After the defeat of the Indians, the troops returned to Staunton in Virginia where they were discharged having served for four months and returned to their respective homes. After remaining at home about two weeks, this deponent removed from Culpeper County Virginia to Wilkes County North Carolina where he has continued to reside ever since – After being in North Carolina about nine months, he joined Captain Benjamin Cleveland's Company of minute man and marched in the month of August to Kriders Fort [Criders or Cryders Fort] on the waters of the Catawba [River], where they remained about two weeks and thence marched to the Pleasant Gardens in Burke County where they joined General Rutherford and marched against the Cherokee Indians, to the Indian Towns of Watauga, Cowee, Oconoluftee, and some others not recollected. At one of the Indian towns, General Pickens1 of South Carolina sent an express to General Rutherford requesting three hundred men to be detached from his troops and sent to his assistance – the request was immediately complied with and the three hundred men (of whom this deponent was one) had taken up the line of march, when another express was received from General Pickens in forming that the Indians had fled, and that the troops might return – After remaining in the nation for some time and after destroying all the corn, burning all the houses, and committing such other depredations as they could upon their property, the troops returned to North Carolina and dispersed to their respective homes after receiving their discharges having been gone three months and two or three days – – After remaining at home about two or three months, this deponent was again called upon, and marched under the command of Captain Jesse Walton to the Town of Salisbury North Carolina where they were stationed for three months under the command of General Rutherford—at the expiration of which time they were discharged and returned home. After remaining at home a few days he was again called upon to march against the Scotch & Tories who at that time were committing great depredations in the Country around Cross Creek or Fayetteville. They joined the Army under General Rutherford at Shobers or Dobson's cross roads near Salem, a Moravian Town, and marched from thence to Cross Creek or Fayetteville. Before they reached Cross Creek or Fayetteville the Scotch and Tories had been suppressed and taken prisoners and brought into the town of Cross Creek or Fayetteville, where they remained under guard for some days and were then marched off under charge of a company of Light Horse to the State of Virginia. After the prisoners were sent off, this deponent with the other troops under General Rutherford was discharged and returned home, having been gone at least two months. – This deponent had not been long at home before he was again called upon to go against the Tories, who at that time were very troublesome in the Western sections of North & South Carolina, and marched to the forks of the Yadkin [River] under Captain Cleveland, when they were gone two weeks – soon after this he was stationed a month at Surry old Court House, and a little more than a month at Hamblin's old Store, and three months over the mountains on the waters of New River – all these last mentioned tours were against the Tories and were not performed under the command of regular officers attached to the Army, but under the command of those who were willing to go upon such expeditions whenever they circumstances or exigencies of the Country required it.
This deponent further states that he had a discharge for one of the tours which he served, but that he got it burnt. He further states that he has no documentary evidence; & that he refers to Joel Stamper & Joseph Pruit, who served most of the tours with him as witnesses who can testify to his services. He refers to Captain John Holloway & John Gambill Esquire as persons of respectability with whom he is well acquainted, and who can testify their belief of his services which he has performed and for which no testimony he can be procured. – And also to his character for truth and veracity – He further states that he has not nor never had any particular record of his age, but that his statement on that subject is made from memory.
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.
Sworn to & subscribed the day & year aforesaid
S/ R. Martin, Clk S/ William Spicer, X his mark
This deponent, states upon further reflection, and conversation with some of his old Associates, that the expedition against the Indians under General Rutherford was performed after his return from Fayetteville in the expedition against the Tories.
S/ Wm Spicer, X his mark
This deponent further states by way of amendment and explanation to the foregoing declaration that it is not within his power conveniently to obtain the certificate of a clergyman there being none residing in his neighborhood, & he being too old and infirm to undertake to procure one of his acquaintance from any great distance.
Sworn to & subscribed the day & year aforesaid.
S/ William Spicer, X his mark
[fn p. 12]
On the day and year aforesaid, personally appeared in open Court, before the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions of the County & State aforesaid, now sitting, Joseph Pruit, who being first duly sworn according to law, deposeth and saith that, he served with William Spicer who has made the foregoing declaration, in the several tours set forth in the said declaration, as having been performed first under General Rutherford against the Cherokee Indians for three months – Secondly at Hamlins old store for about one month or upwards, and thirdly for about three months over the Blue Ridge on the waters of New River – the two last tours being performed against the Tories – and that the said services set forth in the foregoing declaration of the said William Spicer as having been performed by him (which come within the knowledge of this deponent, were performed by the said William Spicer.
Sworn to & subscribed, the day & year aforesaid.
S/ Joseph Pruit, X his mark
On the day and year aforesaid, personally appeared in open Court, before the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions of the County & State aforesaid, now sitting, Joel Stamper, who being first duly sworn according to law, deposeth and saith that he served with William Spicer the foregoing applicant, during the following tours set forth & specified in the declaration of the said William Spicer to wit the 3 months tour to Salisbury, where they were stationed under General Rutherford – the tour to Cross Creek or Fayetteville under Captain Walton for about 2 months, and the tour under Captain Cleveland to the forks of the Yadkin against the Tories for about 2 weeks – and further that, the said services set forth and specified as aforesaid by the said William Spicer (which come within the knowledge of this deponent) were performed by the said William Spicer.
Sworn to & subscribed the day & year aforesaid
S/ William Stamper, X his mark
[John Holloway & John Gambill gave the standard supporting affidavit.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $55.45 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831, for service of 17 months 16 days as a private in the North Carolina and Virginia service.]
1 I suspect this is an erroneous reference and should be to Andrew Williamson since Williamson was the commander of the South Carolina forces which participated in a joint effort with Rutherford's forces against the Cherokees in 1776.
Pension Application James Standridge - W9686
He was called on as one of the new levies or class of Draft for three months in 1776 (as well as he recollects) to go against the Cherokee Indians in the fall of the year just at the commencement of Frost he went under General Rutherford [Griffith Rutherford], Colonel William Sharpe, Captain William Morrison. He went out into the Cherokee Nation was at the Towns called Valley Towns, Overhill Towns, Tellico Plains. He was on the Guard of the bullocks and provisions & was in hearing of the guns & in sight of the enemy at the Valley Towns when Col. Andrew Williamson & his party fought the Cherokees, & was out on a scout when Major Pickens [Andrew Pickens] followed the Indians at the Horse Shoe [Horseshoe] & they killed many Indians & destroyed their crops & returned by way of French Broad [River], Swannanoa [River] to the head of the Catawba [River] his time expired & he was discharged at the Head of the Catawba after frost, having served out fully his Tour of three months. He lived when called out in Wilkes County North Carolina and returned after discharged home to [the] same place.
Pension Application James Stevenson -S4009
James Stevenson, 1832 (S4009). On the 15th day of October in the year 1776 he again volunteered for an indefinite period of time in a company commanded by Captain James Shelby and was attached to the Virginia troops commanded by Colonel Christie [sic, William Christian] in the campaign against the Cherokee Indians conducted by the Virginia and North Carolina troops under Colonel William Christie & was generally known by the name of Christie's campaign Colonel Christie being the commander – Having assembled at Long Island on Holston they were marched to the Cherokee towns on the Tennessee River, where we succeeded in destroying a number of their towns, a quantity of their corn provisions etc. – during this tour he served for three months and in the capacity of first Sergeant.
Pension Application Ezekiel Stone - S19331 - fn38NC
Transcribed by Will Graves 3/15/11
State of Tennessee Marion County: Sct.
On this 21st day of August 1832 personally appeared before the Justices of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of said County, now sitting, Ezekiel Stone the Resident in the County of Marion and State of Tennessee, aged about seventy-six years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832. That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated; viz., first that he entered the service in the year 1774, in the County of Surry in the State of North Carolina, as a volunteer against the Tories, under the command of Major Joseph Winston, in a company commanded by Captain Richard Good and served a Tour of three weeks; secondly, that in the year 1776 he entered the service as a volunteer, from the same County and State as orderly Sergeant in a company commanded by Captain William Dobson, under the command of Colonel Joseph Williams and Major Winston, and served a Tour of three months under said officers against the Indians, that he marched in said Regiment from Surry County in the State of North Carolina to Fort Chissel [probably Chiswell's Lead Mines] in the State of Virginia, where they joined Colonel Christie [sic, William Christian] and his command, that they marched from thence crossing Holston [River], French Broad [River] and little Tennessee [River] into the Cherokee Nation, and passing and destroying several Indian Towns along the Tennessee River, and then returned home; thirdly, that in the year 1781, he served a Tour of about two weeks as a drafted Militia man (private) from the same County and State in a company commanded by Captain William Bostic under the command of Major Joseph Winston, and against the British; Fourthly that in the year 1781, he was drafted as a private in the same County and State, to serve a Tour of three months, of which time he served about ten weeks, that he was first marched from Surry Courthouse in the State of North Carolina, under Captain Humphreys to Wilmington in said State against the British, that he cannot recollect the names of the field officers under whom he served in this Campaign except that one officer, Major White. That he was in no engagement or Battle during said Term, as the capture of Cornwallis took place about that time, and the Enemy withdrew from Wilmington, that in each of the terms of service herein specified, he served the full Term of his engagement, and he was Regularly discharged but his discharges have been lost or mislaid in a manner that he can have no recollection of; that he cannot recollect the day and month upon which he entered either of the aforesaid Terms of service; – That from the information of his parents he was Born in Faquier [Fauquier] County in the State of Virginia, on the 24th day of November in the year 1756; that he has a record of his age in his Bible at home, he transcribed from his father's Bible; that he Resided in the County of Surry in the State of North Carolina, at each time he was called into the Service of his Country; that he resided there until the year 1784, when he removed to Union District in the State of South Carolina, that he lived there until the year 1795, when he moved to Sevier County in the State of Tennessee, where he lived until the year 1816, when he removed to Bledsoe County, Tennessee, where he resided until the year 1819 when he removed to Marion County, Tennessee, where he now live; that he volunteered to serve the two first tours named herein, and that he was drafted to serve in the two latter cases; that he was acquainted with no field officers during his service other than Colonel Williams and Major Winston from North Carolina, whom he served and Colonel Christie from Virginia whose command he was afterwards attached; that he received from his several Captains Regular discharges for his services, and that they have been lost or mislaid, and he knows not how nor does he know of any person by whom he can prove his services; that he refers to the Honorable James Standefer, Ephraim Thurman, John Bennett Esquire, Stephen Richards, Esquire, and Reverend Moses Easterly of his neighborhood, for his character as to veracity and their belief of his services as a soldier of the Revolution. That he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any Agency.
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year above written.
S/ Ezekiel Stone
[David Nelms, a clergyman, and John Rice gave the standard supporting affidavit.]
[Facts in file, in 1832, William Stone, a son of Ezekiel Stone, was a resident of Delphi Tennessee; no other family data is contained in this file.
[fn p. 9: On April 21, 1855 in Marion County Tennessee, the veteran, then saying he was about 99 years old, filed for his bounty land entitlement as a revolutionary war veteran.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $20 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831, for 6 months service as a private in the North Carolina militia.]
Pension Application Solomon Stone S3990
Transcribed by Will Graves
State of Tennessee, Marion County of this 20th day of November in the year 1832 personally appeared in open Court before the Worshipful Justices of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for said County of Marion, now sitting, Solomon Stone a resident of said County and State, aged 79 years the third of December next, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as herein stated, that is to say under Captain Richard Gold in Surry County North Carolina who was under the command of Colonel Joseph Williams of the same County and was marched by them from Surry County as a drafted militia man to the Long Island of Holston River, now in this State where Colonel Williams' Regiment joined, and was placed under the command of General Christie [sic, William Christian] who conducted this expedition against the Cherokee Indians. The troops some time after the arrival of this applicant and the Regiment to which he belonged at the station at Long Island on Holston, were marched against the Indians to the distance of upwards of one hundred miles through the wilderness as it was then called, but could not bring them to an engagement. General Christie took possession of an evacuated Indian town on Tennessee River soon after which the Indians came on and sued for peace and hostilities ceased. A short time afterwards as this applicant understood a treaty of peace was concluded with the Cherokees. The troops were dismissed by General Christie at the before mentioned Indian town and this applicant returned home with the Regiment to which he belonged under Colonel Joseph Williams and was dismissed by him on his return. This applicant recollects that he was drafted to serve the before mentioned tour in the year 1776. That the draft was for six months and that he served out the time for which he was drafted and longer he believes. This applicant states that he was repeatedly called on to scout against the Tories in North Carolina which calls he obeyed, but does not remember what length of time he was in the service of his Country went on these scouting parties ? he was once or twice drafted after having served as before stated but owing to the situation of his family at the time, he had to hire a substitute and remained at home himself. He states that he never received a written discharge from the service and has no documentary evidence of his services and that he knows of no person whose testimony he can procure who can testify to his service. He states that he was born the 3rd day of December 1752 and has a record of his age in his Bible, at home, he was born in Prince Edward County Virginia, he was living in Surry County North Carolina, when he entered the service, about the close of the Revolutionary [War] he removed to the State of Georgia where he lived four or five years, he removed from Georgia to South Carolina where he lived 17 or 18 years, from South Carolina to Tennessee where he lived about three years, from Tennessee he removed to Alabama, where he lived about 10 years from Alabama he removed back to Tennessee, Marion County where he has been living about three years and still lives. He has stated how he was called into service, and the names of the officers under whom he served, there being no regular troops with the troops with which he served, he has also stated the general circumstances of his services as well as he recollects.
He states that he is known to Benjamin Selman and Noble Ladd in his present Neighborhood who can testify as to his character for veracity and good behavior as well as to their belief of his services as a soldier of the Revolution, but is not acquainted with any Clergyman in his present neighborhood who can, there being none immediately in his neighborhood.
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension roll of any Agency in any State.
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
S/ Wm Standefer, Dup. Clk S/ Solomon Stone
[Benjamin Selmon and Noble Ladd gave the standard supporting affidavit.]
[Isaac H. Roberts, a clergyman, gave a supporting affidavit.]