Found a document online about Lawrence Thompson [sometimes spelled Laurence Thompson], a paternal great-great-great-great-grandfather who served in the American Revolution. Know very little about him, but this adds some details. The document, dated October 23, 1833, Clay County, Indiana, is an application for a small pension for his military service -- he was 78 at the time, and he was about 21 when he enlisted early in the war (several months before the Declaration of Independence).
That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year 1776* and served in the first regiment of the North Carolina line, under the following officers: The Captain's name was Alfred Moore, Lieutenant Lawrence Thompson**, Ensign's name entirely forgotten. This applicant Sergeant. Colonel who commanded was by the name of Moore, given name not now recollected he was the Father of Capt. Alfred Moore aforesaid, that applicant was a resident of Roan [Rowan] County in the State of North Carolina, that he enlisted in Hillsborough in Orange County in the State last aforesaid, that he took the bounty of the Captain for a six months' tour, that shortly after he so enlisted as aforesaid, the company was marched down the Yadkin river to the narrows thence down the Peedee, thence to Brunswick, they were forted, that when they entered the fort two men of war and three frigates of the British was laying hard by that for some time they fired their cannon at the fort, on one occasion they came so near as that we fired our muskets at them when they drew off, they remained here for some time and then went off, that some time thus, a man by the name of McCloud [Lt. Col. Donald McLeod], a British officer went out across a stream called the widow Moore's Creek and raised a band of Tories and aiming to cross said creek as this applicant believes from the information he then . . .[?] that the regulars from the fort aforesaid was marched to reinforce the Americans and before the battle was over this applicant and company was within hearing of the small arms, that he continued in the company aforesaid as such, 1st Sergeant for six months this the terms of enlistment and was discharged in December in the year 1777 [1776] at Brunswick . . .
*1776 is the correct year, though a clerk crossed it out and put 1777. **Possibly a cousin with the same name.
Today's Rune: The Self. A salute to Sgt. Lawrence Thompson!
5 comments:
There is a story in the family history book my mother gave me which made me laugh out loud the first time I read it. When I read more into the story I continued to laugh, but only at the phrasing.
I don't have anything that dates my ancestry back that far. Pretty darn cool.
Erik, I keep thinking that I would like to do an ancestry search, too. Good work and interesting deets!
The more I learn about the Revolutionary War, the more it fascinates me. Washington, like Ho Chi Minh nearly 200 years later, figured out that all he had to do to win the war was not to lose it-- to drain the will of the British to fight it.
Thanls all for the comments! Nunya, it's weird phrasing, certainly. Charles, you might go for the Civil War records if you know the names. Jodi, it's fun! And with the internet, a lot easier. Johnny, right on. It was a "revolutionary" war not for nothing.
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