Revolutionary Pensioners
The declarations of a number of revolutionary soldiers, sworn to in order to obtain the provision made by acts of Congress for their benefit, are found in the earlier pages of the county records.Henry Green a resident of Schuyler county, appeared before the county commissioners court on the fourth of June, 1827, and made such a declaration. He enlisted in March, 1779, in Maryland, "in the regiment commanded by Col. Thomas Wolford in the line of the state of Maryland on the old continental establishment." He served till the close of the war and was discharged at Annapolis, Maryland. Green received the desired pension which he enjoyed till his death on the first of May, 1837.
William Blair, a resident of Rushville, declared on the third day of September, 1832, that he was born in 1760 in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and that in May, 1878, while living in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, he entered the continental service as a substitute for his father, Alexander Blair, and served two months. He was stationed at Penn's Valley, Pennsylvania. In May, 1779, he enlisted as a private, and served under Gen. Sullivan in his campaign against the Indians on the upper Susquehanna. He again enlisted in 1780, and served seven months on the frontier in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and vicinity, till his discharge in 1781.
Benjamin Carpenter, on the third day of September, 1832, made declaration that he enlisted in May, 1776, in the army of the United States, as a minute man, for four years, at Amherst Court House, in Amherst county, Virginia. He served under various commands in Virginia. His company joined the army of Gen. Lafayette on its arrival in Virginia, and he was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Though likely a brave soldier, he was not much of a scholar, and his mark is affixed to his declaration.
James Lanman, on the same date, being eighty-one years of age, stated that he enlisted in the army of the United States, at Charleston, South Carolina, in July, 1776. He served as orderly sergeant in the first regiment of riflemen in the South Carolina line, and in the fall of 1776 accompanied an expedition to the Cherokee nation. He enlisted a second time in March, 1781, near Hillsborough, North Carolina. He was orderly sergeant and was attached to a troop in the first regiment of horse, commanded by Col. William Henderson, under Gen. Nathaniel Greene. He was in the battle of Guilford Court House, and thence marched to South Carolina, and was in the battle at Eutaw Springs where he was wounded in the thigh. His commander, Gen. Henderson, was also wounded, and both were taken to a widow Nelson's on the Santee river where he remained till he recovered from his wound.
George Taylor, a resident of the county, on the 3d day of September, 1833, made declaration that in September, 1777, in Amherst county, Virginia, he enlisted in the regiment commanded by Col. Broadhead, attached to the command of Gen. McIntosh. His regiment marched to Fort Cumberland, thence to the place of Braddock's defeat in Pennsylvania, thence to the Ohio river where a fort called McIntosh was built, thence in the direction of Detroit, Michigan. On the Muskingum river in Ohio he assisted in building Fort Defiance. He soon afterwards returned to Virginia. He enlisted the second time in 1778, and helped guard the prisoners captured at Saratoga confined in Albemarle, Virginia. He also served afterwards in 1779 and 1780. Of those who vouched for Taylor's standing in the community, and avowed their belief in the truth of his statement, are the Rev. Peter Cartwright, the celebrated pioneer Methodist preacher. He describes himself as a resident of the county of Sangamon.
Excerpted from the Combined History of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, 1882
Transcribed by Robin Petersen for Schuyler County ILGenWeb.Copyright 1999, 2000 Robin L. W. Petersen; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with the information.