Revolutionary War Patriots

 

Our Revolutionary War Patriots 

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, I wanted to compile a small history of all American Revolutionary War Patriots that have been identified in our family. Presently, there are 16 proven Patriots through the Daughters of the American Revolution but four more supplemental applications have recently been sent in for approval.

These men are our ancestors and have been identified and documented as having served, supported, or sacrificed during the American Revolution. Some were already recognized by the DAR. Others required new research and careful documentation. A few were easy to trace through wills, pension files, land records or previously verified lineage papers. Others were far more difficult, requiring the patient gathering of indirect evidence from marriage bonds, tax lists, deeds, census records, family lore and the movements of neighbors across the frontier.

As the research grew, the names became more than entries on a lineage chart. They became people - our people - those who came before us with determination, tenacity, faith and a vision of a greater life for themselves and their families.  Because of them, we are part of that vision. In many ways, our lives are the continuation of the hope they carried when they came to America and, generation by generation, moved westward in search of opportunity, security, and a future for those who would come after them. It is an honor to share their stories.

They were soldiers, militia men, legislators, ministers, farmers, millers, jurors, oath-takers, suppliers, prisoners and pioneers. Some served in battle. Some provided supplies, food, horses, shelter or civil leadership.  Some endured Indian attacks, frontier danger, displacement, imprisonment, or loss. Others helped build the early communities that followed the Revolution westward into Kentucky, Missouri, and beyond.

Their lives did not unfold in isolation. They were part of families, neighborhoods, churches, courts, militias and migrating communities. 

While some of the chapters in the story focus on individual Patriots, others combine closely related families whose lives were intertwined through marriage, migration, and community relationships. These combined chapters reflect the reality of eighteenth-century life, where families rarely lived in isolation. There stories are often best understood together.

This book is not intended to be a complete history of the American Revolution. Rather it is part of a family history rooted in that larger story. It follows our own ancestral lines back to men and women whose lives intersected with the founding struggle of this nation. Some of these Patriots are well documented and long recognized. Others are newly submitted or still awaiting formal review. All are included because the evidence, the places, and the family connections tell a story work preserving.

These chapters are offered with gratitude: gratitude for the ancestors whose lives made mine possible, for the records that survived, for the historians and archivists who preserved them, and for the family members who will carry these stories forward and add to them.

May this book serve not only as a record of lineage, but as a reminder that history is personal. The American Revolution was not lived only by famous names in distant places. It was lived by families like ours - in farm fields, forts, mills, courthouses, churches, wilderness settlements, and homes along rivers and roads that led every westward.

Chapter 1

   The Henry Family: William Henry, Sr. and Malcolm Henry

   A Father and Son in Revolution, Settlement, and Public Service

Chapter 2

  The Jameson Family: George Jameson and Robert Jameson

  From Revolutionary Virginia to Missouri Frontier

        also "The Mahan Family Experience"

Chapter 3

   John Salmon

    Patriot of Henry County, Virginia