U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
Revolutionary War Soldiers Contributed Much to Our History
This article is compiled by Julian Williams.
Joyce Nichols called me the other day. Joyce, as you might know, was a premier math teacher and in retirement is quite an artist. She is also involved with the Daughters of the American Revolution and was asking me if I knew anything about any of the old Revolutionary soldiers who made their way to these parts of the country. Now, we're going a long way back because we are talking about the fighting that took place after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But, we don't want to leave out these great patriots of the past because they are a very important part of our history (local history included).
Obviously our mother country England did not want her budding colonies in America to pull away from her and form a country with the nonsense name "United States of America." On the other hand, colonists like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington and a host of others thought it made mighty good sense to do this. For some reason, maybe going back to the Magna Carta and before, common men thought it would be a good idea to have some personal hand in what was going on in the country and didn't especially cotton to the idea of being ruled over by a king. And sometimes these kings could be mighty cruel and spontaneous in their actions. The colonists wanted representative government and whether you were taxing tea or land they wanted some voice in deciding what was what.
Well, England disagreed with all this reasoning and the result was war - namely, the American Revolution. Because of it, and in defense of it, we heard some pretty strong statements from some of our committed leaders. "Give me liberty or give me death," said Patrick Henry. Nathan Hale, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Even old Ben Franklin said, "Gentlemen, if we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately." I think those statements pretty well tell us the affair was serious business.
But, the country united and prevailed. All the way from New England to Georgia, the colonies held fast, fighting Tories (those loyal to the English Crown) over here and fighting the British as they came over here. Throw in with that bunch some Indians and other nations' irritants and it wound up being a real battle.
Of course, most of the old Revolutionary veterans were to be found over on the coast because that area was settled first. But some of those old pioneers made it inland and some came from afar off (various states) because at the end of the war they received land grants and could move their families and get a new start with added resources.
I told Joyce that I knew of a few of these old soldiers who did this. Rev. Travis McDonald relates that one of his ancestors, Sampson Carver, was a Revolutionary soldier who came to what is now Coffee County from North Carolina in the early 1800's. Sampson also had two brothers who were Revolutionary soldiers. One was named William. Their burial sites are unknown but hosts of descendants are buried at Carver Church Cemetery and elsewhere.
Another was my great-great-great-great-grandfather Joseph Williams. He was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War, serving with the North Carolina militia. He moved to Telfair County around the area of Jacksonville, Georgia, in the early 1800's. He came here with his family from Duplin County, North Carolina, and as a result Williamses are scattered all over the country. One branch went to Florida and they have a reunion down there with about 2,500 attendees each year. Another bunch is around the Valdosta-Lake Park area and Boe Williams pretty well keeps up with that end. And, of course, there's the family around Telfair and various surrounding counties. Whether you are a Wells, Garrison, Jones, Rawlins, Boney, Fletcher, Parker, or about any other family in Telfair you probably have Williams blood in your veins (or vice-versa) or connected to them in some way.
Grandpa Joe made it fine until he ran personally and politically into a fellow named James McCall, Clerk of Superior Court in Telfair. Now, as you might know, things political in Telfair have always had the knack for taking strange turns and McCall was to employ one of those tricks. He had the Revolutionary War pension of Lt. Williams suspended. That means they cut off his check of $318.33 per year. Now, that was a heap of money in 1834 (when he started getting his pension, helped by Congressman General John Coffee, who was still alive at the time). And it was still a heap of money in 1844 when McCall had it canceled. But, through efforts of his children, the pension was reinstated. It was indeed established that he fought under his brother, Captain Aaron Williams, Major Kenan, and others and was involved in fighting in several skirmishes against the British and the Tories, the main encounter being at Big Bridge, just north of Wilmington, N.C.
It is interesting to note that one of the persons who testified in his behalf was Reverend Charles I. Shelton. Reverend Shelton (1787-1871) married Eliza Jane Boyd and after her death married Jane Ashley Boyd (of the Ashley-Manning connection). He had quite an experience himself. During the War of 1812, which followed the Revolutionary War, the British captured Charles Shelton and carried him to England. He was exchanged and finally made his way back to Jacksonville, Georgia. Shelton's Chapel is named for him.
I also told Joyce we might find more information on Revolutionary soldier William Fletcher who is buried in the old Concord Cemetery between Jacksonville and Rhine. It is said he was 110 years old when he died in 1831 and he also had a son who fought in the Revolution. The son, John, and his family moved from Telfair County to Gadsen County, Florida, according to information in one of the Huxford books.
Also, the grave of Revolutionary soldier Capt. Gabriel Clements' wife can be seen at the old Clements Cemetery on the grounds of the Mt. Galilee Baptist Church near Jacksonville. She was born in 1770.
