Our Southern Relatives in the War Part II

Maclaine later observed caustically that the label "Tory" included everyone the "liberty boys of Bladen (as they style themselves) choose to brand with that epithet. . ." ~ John R. Maass

RAIFORD

ROBERT RAIFORD (5U) 1720   

Our uncle Robert Raiford began the war as a captain in the 8th North Carolina Regiment. He was then part of George Washington's Continental army and served at Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. By 1778, he was back in the South in the 2nd North Carolina Regiment and took part in the Battle of Eutaw Springs.

Robert was involved in a little bit of drama toward the end of the war. Though the war was effectively over, animosity between the Whigs and Tories continued strong in North Carolina. In August of 1782, when Bladen County clerk John White was on trial for possible Loyalist leanings, our uncle was not pleased with one of White's defenders. John R. Maass in his article "The Cure for All Our Political Calamities" wrote about the incident:

Archibald Maclaine came to see firsthand how deeply these anti-Loyalist sentiments permeated North Carolina society. . .During the August 1782 session of the Bladen County Court, clerk John White was accused of having "treasonable correspondence with the enemy and other crimes." This was a serious charge. . .Maclaine. . .disputed the evidence for this accusation against White. Nevertheless, North Carolina Continental officer Robert Raiford. . .stated that he had heard rumors that White was "a damned Tory." Maclaine. . .thought Raiford drunk and to it upon himself to tell the sitting justices that Raiford's remarks were "highly derogatory to its (the court's) Dignity and that Raiford should be reproved." The court took no notice of Maclaine's statement, possibly (as Maclaine concluded) because about thirty armed and threatening supporters of Raiford's were in the courtroom. Raiford, who had a "horseman's sword in his hand," attacked the unarmed Maclaine in the courtroom. . .Maclaine's wounds were serious, and only the timely intervention of a bystander saved him from the wrath of Raiford's accomplices, who turned their hostility instead on White.

. . .Maclaine later observed caustically that the label "Tory" included everyone the "liberty boys of Bladen (as they style themselves) choose to brand with that epithet. . ." After breaking up the court, the rioters proceeded to elect a new set of militia officers in an extralegal fashion and search the vicinity for others they suspected of Loyalism. . .

A warrant was issued for Robert's arrest but he had returned to his military duties under General Nathaniel Greene. From a letter from North Carolina governor Alexander Martin to Greene:

Sundry affidavits have been submitted to me of late from Bladen County wherein are contained the charges against Captain Robert Raiford of the Continental Line of this State of being at the head of a riot which has endangered the Civil Government of that County. . . The rioters then. . .undertook to elect field officers for the County who accepted of their new appointments, and since marched about the Country armed under the color of apprehending Tories without any order from a commanding officer for this purpose, to the great Terror of the Good Citizens of that part of the State. The Judges of the Superior Court have issued their Warrant against Captain Raiford and his principal coadjutors and the Sheriff is directed to call for the aid of the Militia if necessary in apprehending them but Captain Raiford had previous thereto marched to your head Quarters and cannot be had without your interposition. I am therefore Sir to request that you will please to order him to attend Wilmington Superior Court, to be held the first of December next, where he may stand his trial, and give satisfaction for the wound he has given the Civil Government of this State, which was his duty to have supported.

The December court session had ended by the time General Greene received Governor Martin’s letter and "Greene did not press Raiford to return immediately."

In December of 1783, the rioters were finally sent to trial and all summarily acquitted. Maclaine, in a letter to George Hooper, voiced his disgust at the verdict:

The Bladen rioters were tried. I had given the Attorney General full instructions, and the court were possessed of the facts long since. From motives of delicacy I declined interfering in the trial, and as soon as I had given my testimony, withdrew. The evidence which I heard appeared to be full to prove a riot in the eye of the law; but if anything was wanting, the witnesses who were examined could have disclosed it, had they been properly examined. It was not thought to be too strict. The defendants were acquitted. And though the Judges exclaimed loudly against Raiford’s conduct, neither the court nor the council for the State thought proper to order a prosecution for an assault and wounding, in the face of a court of Justice. So much for judicial proceedings.

As it turned out, Robert did not suffer in the least for his part in the Bladen County Courthouse riots. In our "The War Moves South" post, we wrote about Robert's good fortune in purchasing 5,000 acres of confiscated Tory property. His luck continued until well after the war. In 1784, he was awarded a half-share in 3,840 acres of land in North Carolina for his military service. A note at the bottom of the certificate says that "Robert Raiford and Thomas Mercy? are entitled to the benefit of this warrant."

Then, in 1787, he was able to purchase over 1,000 additional acres of confiscated land in Bladen County for quite a sizable estate.

Robert also received a certificate for three hundred pounds from the state of North Carolina for his service during the war. Given the condition of the federal and state coffers when the war ended, it's debatable whether the certificate was worth much.

ROBERT RAIFORD (2C5X) b. 1757

Another of our relatives named Robert Raiford also served in the war. He was an Adjutant involved in the skirmish at Bear Swamp in October of 1780. William Easterling, husband of our cousin Elizabeth Covington (1C5X), wrote about Robert in his pension application:

During the engagement Captain Anderson (a brave man and true Whig) was shot down by my side. He cried out - Oh Lord, I'm a dead man; what shall I do? - Adjutant Raiford who was as brave as ever lived, but who stuttered very badly, replied - Gu Gu_d in it l-l-lye close... poor Anderson's wound was mortal -- we were ordered [illegible], set out sentinels, and lay on our arms till morning.

We wrote about the Bear Swamp battle in our "Maneuvering in the South" post.

JOHN RAIFORD (1C6X) b. 1750

From John's DAR record:

• Ancestor #: A093478

• Service: NORTH CAROLINA Rank(s): LIEUTENANT

• Birth: 6- -1750 NEW BERN CRAVEN CO NORTH CAROLINA

• Death: 4- -1812 JEFFERSON CO GEORGIA

• Service Source: HEITMAN, HIST REG OF OFFICERS OF THE CONT ARMY DURING THE WAR OF THE REV, 1775-1783, P 457

John served in the 2nd North Carolina Regiment from 1780-1. For his service, he received a land grant of 635 acres in Georgia where he subsequently moved with his family. As a war veteran, John was also given authorization to participate in the 1832 Georgia Land Lottery. The Land Lotteries were a method used by the state of Georgia between 1805 and 1833 to "redistribute stolen Cherokee and Muscogee land to white settlers." It appears that John's ticket was chosen 57th in the lottery

MAURICE RAIFORD (2C5X) b. 1755

When Maurice was drafted by Anson County, NC in 1778, records show that he hired a substitute to go in his place.  Later in the war, he did serve, first as an ensign in the North Carolina State Legion and later as a lieutenant in the North Carolina militia. His company was instrumental in forcing the British out of Wilmington, NC.

Below is Maurice's DAR service record

• RAIFORD, MAURICE

• Ancestor #: A093487

• Service: NORTH CAROLINA Rank(s): LIEUTENANT

• Birth: CIRCA 1755 NORTH CAROLINA

• Death: ANTE 11-1-1824 JEFFERSON CO GEORGIA

• Service Source: HAUN, NC REV ARMY ACCTS, VOL 4/BOOK R, P 394; CLARK, STATE RECS OF NC, VOL 16, PP 169, 170; VOL 17, PP 966, 967

• Service Description: 1) ALSO ENS, NC STATE LEGION

WALTER LEAK (H1C6X) b. 1761

Walter Leak, who married our cousin Hannah Pickett (1C6X) served in the war from the fall of 1779, when he was 18, until the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in October of 1781.  Hannah was the daughter of our aunt Mourning Raiford (5A). Most of what we know about Walter comes from his pension application which we included large chunks of in our last post.

In his pension application, filed in 1833 when he was 72, Walter stated that he served as a private, an express rider and a spy in North Carolina. According to his application:

. . .he took an oath which was in Substance to hold himself always ready at a minutes warning to march against the Tories and suppress all disaffection which might break out in the ? Country which was literally a Hot Bed of Tories.

Hence he became what was known in that day & time as a Minute Man – that he was in constant Service until they were forced off by the British & Tories embracing a period of service of six months, that this length of Service is impressed on his mind from the circumstance of his knowledge of serving from the fall of 1779 until after the defeat of Charleston which was in the spring of 1780 which defeat cast a Gloom over the American Army...

HARDYMAN

John Hardyman (2C6X) b. 1744

Our cousin John Hardyman served as a sergeant in the army for the state of Virginia. He, like our uncle William Covington, received a land grant for his service but not until quite a few years later. In 1808, when he was age 64, John was granted 400 acres of land in Lexington, Georgia.

HARRIS

Richard Harris (3C6X)  b. 1758

Richard Harris was the son of Anne Eppes Harris (2C7X). Anne's sister was Martha Eppes Wayles (2C7X), mother of Martha Wayles (3C6X) who married Thomas Jefferson. We'll have more on all those families in a future post.

Richard, as a private and later a quartermaster, served in the Revolutionary War beginning when he was 17 in 1775. He served on and off until the end of the war. When he was 75, he received a pension for his service. According to his 1832 pension application:

Richard Harris stated under oath that he was 73 years old, but that he entered the service (the Virginia Regiment) under Captain Edward Mumford in 1775. he was in the Battle of Petersburg (April 1781), the Battle of Jamestown (July 1781), and the Siege of York in addition to a number of small skirmishes he could no longer name due to the number of years that had passed. He resided in Powhatan County, Virginia at the time he served, and from there he would march every time he entered a tour. He stated that he volunteered several times and was drafted several times and that he was very confident he must have served at least three years unpaid for his service.

He knew and fought under General Washington, General Lafayette, Colonel Willis, and Major Duval along with others whose name he could not remember. When he was discharged from the military after the Siege of York, he had the rank of forage master, but that document had been lost.

He ended his service immediately after the siege and the war closed.

Richard's application was originally rejected for missing information. He reapplied and was granted $80 per year pension.

Below is a daguerreotype of Richard Harris that must have been taken a few years before his death in 1853 at 95.

KEMP

John Kemp (2C6X) b. 1737

Our cousin John Kemp, Jr., was born in Talbot, Maryland. Like his forebears, he remained true to the Quaker faith. His father, John Kemp Sr. (1C7X), left John, Jr. his entire estate with the stipulation that his mother be cared for. In spite of his Quaker roots, John Kemp, Sr. was the owner of three slaves. He left Robin and Judith to his wife Magdalena and to his son Joseph (2C6X) he left his slave Paris.

John, Jr. was a Patriot during the Revolutionary War. Instead of fighting, however, he was a sea captain "active in the revolution in transporting troops and supplies." I found John on a list of Continental Navy Officers who served from 1775-1785 and he was also mentioned in a 1781 letter from William Bardly to the governor of Maryland as "having been engaged to carry recruits to Annapolis in his boat."

Sometime before in 1781, John's ship, the Greyhound was captured by the British and he was thrown into Old Mill Prison in England. He evidently attempted escape at least two times. According to Dunlap and Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, a Philadelphia newspaper, John was still at Old Mill as of October, 1781. His ship is listed at the bottom of the article:

John must have either escaped or was released as his death date is listed as 7 Sep 1790.

WILLIAMS

James Mastin Williams (2C6X) b ca. 1763

Our cousin James Williams gave a thorough account of his service in the war in his pension application:

That he entered the Service of the United States as a volunteer, and marched from Peytonsburg, in the County of Pittsylvania and State of Virginia. . .in the month of February 1781 to Halifax Old Court House, and from there we crossed Dan River at Irvin’s Ferry and soon after joined Genl' Greens Army and marched into the State of N. Carolina and continued with him until some time in the month of March 1781. Capt Coleman and the most of his Company were discharged at the high rock in Rockingham County N.C. after which I entered the Service of the United States as a substitute for my Brother John Williams (2C6X) who was a drafted soldier in Captain William Dix's Company, attached to the Regiment commanded by Col. Nathaniel Cock. . .

Note: Nathaniel Cocke's mother, Elizabeth Ruffin, was married to our uncle William Kinchen (7U) before she married Nathaniel's father. Elizabeth and William Kinchen had eight children before his death in 1734.

. . .in the Battle at Guilford. The Americans were defeated and retreated to Troublesome Iron Works and rendezvoused at that place. I marched from there in the said company with Capt. Dix. Commanded by Col. Cock, Genl' Green - & I believe Genl' Lawson, to Ramsey's Mill on Deep River where many of the Militia were discharged. I was discharged near that place, about the last of March 1781 Then joined Captain Mortons Company - and came as a guard with some British Prisoners that were taken at the said mills to Halifax Court House and delivered them to the Jailer of Halifax County Virginia. The time of service rendered was at least 6 or 7 weeks. My discharges are lost and cannot be found I have no documentary evidence but the service rendered is proved by Robert Ferguson and (blank) 

who were soldiers with me in the service at the same time. 

In the month of July 1781 I enlisted with William McCraw, Deputy Quarter Master for the Southern Army at Peytonsburg, Pittsylvania County Virginia for twelve months and was employed the whole time as a carrier of Public Dispatches & after the term for which I enlisted, had expired, I still remained in the public service for some time. I was employed to take 56 horses from the County of Cumberland in the state of Virginia and carry them to Ashley Hill, in the State of South Carolina. I did so, and delivered them to Edward Carrington, who was Quarter Master General, for the Southern Army. The whole time of service rendered in the Revolutionary War was at least fifteen months. I have no discharge that can be found but the service rendered under this enlistment is proved by Robert Ferguson who enlisted in the service with me. 

I was born in the County of Pittsylvania in the State of Virginia in the year 1763. 

My age is recorded in a Family Bible, that is now in my possession. I lived the County of Pittsylvania when I entered the service of the United States, I lived in the same county when the war ended, and have lived in that county ever since. 

I hereby relinquish every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declare that my name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state. 

                                                (Signed) JMWilliams 

Joseph Terry Williams (2C6X) b. 1756

James' brother Joseph Williams' first stint in the war was the Cherokee Campaign of 1776. Like most of the men in the militia he served on and off throughout the war. In 1779, he joined General Benjamin Lincoln's army and participated in the Battle of Stono River. He also served in 1781 at the Guilford Courthouse and afterwards guarding British prisoners. Joseph finished out his service carrying dispatches for the Postmaster in Peytonsburg, VA

TERRY

Joseph Terry (1C7X) b. ca 1746

Joseph Terry was a 1st cousin of the Williams brothers' mother, Lucy Terry Williams (1C7X). We wrote about Joseph in our "The Southern War Continues" post. He served in the north under General "Mad Anthony" Wayne and participated in the 1779 Battle of Stoney Point on the Hudson River. Shortly after that battle, Joseph was taken prisoner by the British and incarcerated on one of the miserable prison ships in New York Harbor.

William Terry (2C6X) b. 1749

William was a militia and commissary officer from Halifax County, VA

Nathaniel Dickinson Terry (2C6X)

Brother of William Terry. He was a captain in the 10th Virginia Regiment

PEEBLES

David Peebles (2C7X) b. 1720

Our cousin David Peebles was employed furnishing supplies to the army in North Carolina

Joseph Peebles 1725 2C7X  

David's brother, Joseph Peebles was a captain of the militia in Brunswick County, Virginia. In 1777, he paid for rations and provisions for his company. In 1778, he was elected to the house of delegates in Richmond. He was made a major shortly before he died in 1782.