Blog Some Genealogy

AKA Henry PAYTON
Henry PAYTON served as a private in the Revolution with the Amherst County Riflemen. The “Cabell County Annals and Families” by George Selden Wallace of 1935, credited the service of Henry PAYTON as “first as a substitute at $20.00 a month, was on garrison duty at Point Pleasant, was at Guilford Court House and at Yorktown, later at Winchester guarding prisoners, a privater in the Virginia Militia.”

Henry PAYTON made application for a pension on 28 October 1833, when he was seventy-three years of age and a resident of Cabell County, Virginia. His pension was approved, but then, as often happened with these honorable patriots, for some reason his statement of service was declared fraudulent, resulting in his name being removed from the Revolutionary Pension Rolls.

I have encountered this same sequence of events with one of my own ancestors who was impressed as a teenager to carry a message from southeastern Virginia to Fort Pittsburg and who afterwards enlisted in the Continental Army, yet was never able to document his service to the government’s satisfaction. Another of my ancestors did qualify for his pension, but his exact-named cousin in the adjoining county was declared a “fraud” because the government considered it was already paying him a pension. I have sympathized with them at having given such invaluable service to their new nation, and then be declared dishonest and frauds as old soldiers in their waning years.

During his lifetime, Henry PAYTON petitioned several times to restore his good name, and finally on 16 February 1839, an act of the U.S. Congress reinstated his pension and made it retroactive to 1831. To add further insult to the soldier’s memory, the death date of 1836, on his grave marker that was placed by a Revolutionary War lineage society, was wrong. Henry PAYTON was alive in 1839, and still writing letters to Washington as late as 1842.

As of today, even though a number of descendants of three different children of Henry PAYTON had joined the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) under his Revolutionary War Service, his line has been closed, as the statement of fraud has been “rediscovered” in his pension record. Once again as genealogists, we see how difficult it is to correct errors of many years ago that were put in “official” writings. It will now be necessary for a descendant of patriot Henry PAYTON to join the DAR under his lineage and include a copy of H.R. Bill 1150 as proof of his service, or for a descendant who is already a DAR member to make a supplemental application proving his Revolutionary War service. Hopefully, someone will be able to once again, reinstate the good “Patriot” name of Henry PAYTON (Henry Lindsay PEYTON) of Amherst and Cabell Counties, Virginia.

When I published “PEYTONS Along the Aquia Genealogy” in 2004, I included on page 140, a photocopy of H.R. 1150 of the United States Congress, dated February 16, 1839, “For the relief of Henry PEYTON.” Page 141 onward contains some of the descendants of Henry PAYTON – one of the ‘PEYTONs Along the Aquia’ descendants.

The Wagener Family Memorial at Pohick Church, Virginia, including Revolutionary War patriot, Peter Wagener (1744-1798). “The remains from 29 graves were brought here from the Wagener family cemetery at Stisted, their plantation on the Occoquan River near Colchester. The Second Peter Wagener (1717-1774, Clerk of the Fairfax County Court (1752-1772), served as a Vestryman and Church Warden of Truro Parish.”

The image, Wagener Family Memorial at Pohick, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Neddy’s .

Pohick Churchyard, Lorton, Virginia (PDF Explanation)

George West, lieutenant-colonel, was recorded amongst the militia officers appointed by the county Court for Loudoun County, Virginia, to serve from March, 1778, to December, 1782.

The remains of John West, son of the Hugh West who died in 1754, may be included here. He was bequeathed from his father “all that property on which I now live.” John West, who passed away in 1776, continued his father’s tradition of public service, and during the American Revolution he was a member of the Fairfax Committee of Safety.

DAR Ancestor # A123173
WEST, JOHN SR
Birth Date: CIRCA 1726
Birth County/Parish: PRINCE WILLIAM CO
Birth State/Country: VIRGINIA
Death Date: ANTE 18 Feb 1777
Death County/Parish: FAIRFAX CO
Death State/Country: VIRGINIA
Rank: PATRIOTIC SERVICE
Service State/Organization: VIRGINIA
Spouse(s): CATHERINE COLVILLE

If you are searching for a photograph of the grave of your Revolutionary War patriot ancestor, here are two places to visit:

Find A Grave’s Revolutionary War Forum

Patriot Graves at Flickr

If you believe that you may have ancestors who were patriots during the American Revolution, the DAR Patriot Lookup Service may be of help.

The DAR Patriot Index contains names of Revolutionary patriots, both men and women, whose service (between 1775 and 1783) has been established by the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Additional information available may include: dates and places of birth and death, name(s) of wife (wives) or husband(s), rank, type of service, and the State where the patriot lived or served. If pension papers are known to exist, that fact will be included.

If you are interested in knowing if your ancestor is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary Patriot, please complete the request form below. Our volunteers would be happy to check for you at no charge!

Click here to view the request form.

In the old 1901 book History of Ablemarle County in Virginia by the Reverend Edgar Woods (The Michie Company Printers, Charlottesville, Virginia), on pages 365, 366 and 367, there are listed the 206 names of Albemarle citizens who signed the Albemarle Declaration of Independence. The date it was signed by the citizens of Albemarle County was April 21st, 1779. The original document is proudly preserved in the rooms of the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.

A number of the signers were men of an age too old to have fought for America’s freedom from tyranny in the Revolution, however, by signing, they too were putting their lives and property on the line. Anyone who can prove descent from these Virginia patriots is eligible for membership in CAR, DAR and SAR.

History of Ablemarle County in Virginia

If you believe that you may have an ancestor who served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) you should begin with checking the current “Patriot Index” of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) to see if he or she is listed. There is a helpful group of organized DAR volunteers, known as VIS, who monitor the RootsWeb DAR Message Board every day and welcome lookup requests.

When posting your request for a DAR look-up, include your Revolutionary War-era ancestor’s first and last name, spouse’s name (if known), dates of birth, death, and state of residence. You need not be interested in joining the DAR to request a lookup.

Even if your ancestor turns out not to be a DAR patriot, you should still continue your search elsewhere, as the “DAR Patriot Index” includes only those patriots who have been verified by members of that organization since its founding in 1890.
RootsWeb DAR Message Board

From “Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files”, by Virgil D. White, are the following Thomas men from Buckingham County, Virginia who were veterans of the Revolutionary War:

John Thomas - Virginia Line, S46515, BLW1769-300:
Soldier applied for pension 8 September 1828, in Buckingham County, Virginia. In 1836, Soldier was aged 74. In 1855, Soldier’s son Schuyler W. Thomas of Buckingham County, Virginia, was aged 54 and he stated his father John Thomas had died 13 September 1849, and his mother Susan Thomas died 17 February 1842.

Edward Thomas - Virginia Line, S17147:
Soldier was born 19 February 1758, in Buckingham County, Virginia, and lived there at enlistment and after his services he settled in Albemarle County, Virginia, and in December 1820, he moved to Washington County, Missouri, where he applied 4 November 1834. Soldier died 11 May 1847.

Joseph Thomas - Virginia Line, Wife; Rebecca, W6277:
Soldier was born 3 August 1759, in Buckingham County, Virginia, and he lived in Amherst County, Virginia, at enlistment and later returned to Buckingham County, Virginia, and lived there until 1796, then moved to Kanawha County, Virginia, where he applied 21 October 1833, and Soldier died there 1 August 1839. Soldier had married Rebecca (THOMAS) in Buckingham County, Virginia, where she was born (no marriage date given and no relationship prior to marriage given). Widow applied 12 September 1846, Kanawha County, Virginia, aged 85. Soldier and wife had 11 or 12 children but the only names given were; Lewis Thomas the oldest son, Polly Thomas, Washington Thomas, Henry Thomas and Matthew Thomas. Soldier’s brother James Thomas was of Kanawha County, Virginia, in 1801. One Reuben Thomas was recruiting Sergeant early in the Revolution. A John Thomas of Buckingham County, Virginia, in 1846, stated widow was his second cousin and that Soldier was his first cousin. Nancy Hudson daughter of Soldier’s brother James Thomas was aged 54 in 1846, a resident of Kanawha County, Virginia.

Revolutionary War Records of Fairfield, Connecticut

This book was originally published in 1932, as the third volume of Donald Lines Jacobus’ “History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield”. Since that time, these books have become standards of genealogical references for Fairfield, Connecticutt researchers. Volume III has never been reprinted until now. It has been retitled “Revolutionary War Records of Fairfield, Connecticut” and contains virtually all transcriptions of known Revolutionary War references to patriots of Fairfield. The author, Mr. Jacobus, was one of the best-known genealogy scholars of the twentieth century.