It all started in 2019, when I published a story titled “John McDonald/McDaniel Revolutionary War Soldier”. I had hopes of becoming a DAR member and honoring my paternal line through this ancestor. The application did not fly, and DAR has coded my Patriot red so future applicants will know there is a problem. I was irritated but was given a year to find proof of his service. It just wasn’t meant to be, and I want to show my readers why I let this mess be until recently. I want to thank researcher/genealogist, Rebecca Whitman Koford, for sharing her expertise on the problems with these old pension files, the importance of reading every page, and understanding the assigned file number.
Table 1 File No. R.6681
Patriot Name | File No. | State Served | Application County | Patriot’s Date of Death | Date of Application | Agent/ Lawyer Name |
McDaniel, John or McDonald, Margaret | R6681 | North Carolina | Rhea, Co & Hancock Co., Tennessee (reopened by James McDaniel son/admin. of Margaret’s estate) | 27 Apr 1833* (John) 7 Aug 1849 (Margaret) | 3 Apr 1835 6 Jul 1857 | Robert Cooley JP Nicholas Baldwin, Shff. Thomas Lumpkin, Esq. |
*More to read on this death date for this file number.
Now Margaret’s testimony is not included in File R.6681. Her application is found under R.6690 that I discovered later. Let’s begin with her words revealed on March 17th, 1834, when the widow Margaret McDonough appeared before Lewis Mitchell, Acting Justice for Hawkins County, Tennessee in hopes of getting money owed to her husband John for his Revolutionary War service. Are these the same patriot? Let’s see:
Table 2 File No. R.6690
Patriot Name | File No. | State Served | Application County | Patriot’s Date of Death | Date of Application | Agent/ Lawyer Name |
McDonough or McDaniel or McDonald, John | R6690 | Virginia | Hawkins Co., Tennessee Filed by the widow Margaret McDonough | 14 Apr 1833 | 1834 Mar 17 | Lewis Mitchell John Mitchell |
Danger, danger Will Robinson! Besides the different file numbers, state of service, county of application, and date of application, did you notice that I didn’t enter John of Rhea County’s death date? Hmmm…that can’t be right unless he was resurrected in Rhea County after dying in Hawkins County in 1833.
Then came the talk of two families from other researchers on Ancestry.com which I highly doubt given the vigor it would have taken John McDaniel to travel between Hawkins County and Rhea County, Tennessee in the early 1800s. He was getting a bit long in the tooth (he was about 90 in 1830 according to the Hawkins County census) to make that trip which was dangerous at the time. Think about it…driving from Rogersville (Hawkins) to Washington (Rhea), Tennessee in this day and time would be about 2 ½ hours. The common mode of travel in the 1830s would be stagecoach (aside from river travel or horseback) and that stagecoach ride would have taken almost three days.
Finally, a few other statements made in File R.6690 from the widow Margaret, "I was married to my husband John McDonough the spring after peace was made 1783 in Frederick County in the State of Virginia in which county he was living when he first went in to the service of the United States”. Margaret also explains why she does not understand the spelling of the name that may appear on the military records, “I am unlearned and so was my husband that I cannot tell how his name was spelt”. Look at the signature above. That is John McDaniel’s signature of Rhea County who was literate. Aside from applying for a Revolutionary War pension in April 1835, he also wrote his will on June 13th, 1835, that was probated in Meigs Co., TN on September 8th, 1840. This is an abstract of the Will:
McDaniel, John
Will Written: 13 June 1835; Probate: 8 September 1840; page 34
Children: Patsey, Samuel
Relatives: Thomas F. Taylor, grandson
Elizabeth B. Taylor, grand daughter
Sally E. Cox, grand daughter
Racheal B. Box, grand daughter
Elizabeth A. Cox, grand daughter
John Cox, grandson
Nelly McDaniel, grand daughter
Mentions: Old plantation below the mouth of Goodfield Creek where John Hampton now lives
Place where Taylor Inman now lives, for the use of his grandchildren
Place where Zackariah Cross now lives above the Goodfield Creek to grandchildren
Executors: Joseph McCorkle; Samuel McDaniel
Witnesses: Joseph McCorkle; James H. Briges
These are my thoughts; Margaret’s son James was handling her estate and had the pension case reopened at some point but probably around 1857. This involved a new group of people as John Mitchell, who helped his mother, had passed away. Nicholas Baldwin was the high sheriff for Hancock County, Tennessee who was assisting James. Had James McDaniel moved from Hawkins to Hancock County? Probably not as Hancock County was created in 1844 when it was created from parts of Hawkins and Claiborne Counties. James was also represented by a lawyer named Thomas Lumpkin. Who is Thomas Lumpkin?
A biography was found on mosiacnc.org:
“Thomas Lumpkin was born in Virginia in about 1808. A former clerk in the U.S. Pension Office for seven years, in 1849 he opened his own private legal firm and served as an attorney for many people that were pursuing pensions and other legal claims against the U.S. Government. He died in about July 1863.” I also found the following ad that was published in many newspapers:
 |
| Source: Daily National Intelligencer and Washington Express, Tue., Jan 15, 1850, p. 4, Newspapers.com. |
Thomas Lumpkin also circulated letters to various sheriffs in 1855 offering his services to help secure bounty land for “…the soldier, his widow, child or children….” The fee breakdown: $5 for 40 acres, $7 for 80 acres, $10 for 160 acres and recommends the Sheriff “…charge whatever fee you deem proper….” (Source: Library of Congress, Lumpkin, Thomas. Washington City, D. C. January 12th, . To the Sheriff of the County of Sir: Allow me to call your and the public attention to my circular herewith enclosed. The proposition now before Congress to give one hundred and sixty acres of land to e. Washington, 1855.). Hmmm…
So, Margaret clearly stated that she married John in Spring 1783 in Frederick County, Virginia but when File R.6681 was reopened the marriage certificate submitted took place in Botetourt County, Virginia in 1778. Reading through Margaret’s court appearance in Hawkins County on March 17th, 1834, she stated that she was 67 years old making her birth year about 1767. That would make her 11 years old in 1778! Now I wonder if her maiden name was really Watkins? The statements she made in R.6690 never revealed her maiden name.
Now my mind is reeling! Had the previous application of Margaret been lost and then reopened under the wrong man? Was the woman who appeared in Hawkins the mother of James in Hancock County? I believe it is since James McDaniel was enumerated next to Peter Wolf (his sister Margaret’s husband) in 1840 and he also has an elderly woman between the age of 70-80 in his household.
The result was James McDaniel's efforts made it all the way to the House of Representatives on April 13, 1860 and then I couldn't find anything else so I contacted History Hub (historyhub.history.gov) and received a response, "...on Feb. 17, 1860 a petition was submitted and referred to the House Committee on Revolutionary Pensions; on April 13, 1860 H.R. 642 was reported out of committee to the Whole House accompanied by a report; and on March 2, 1861 the papers of the children of John McDaniel, among others, were withdrawn from the files of the House for reference to the Commissioner of Pensions.
Given that the papers were referred to the Commissioner of Pensions, I would not expect to find record of the McDaniel family among the records of Congress. According to the Federal Records Guide, the records of the Commissioner of Pensions are part of RG 15 -- Records of the Veterans Administration.
If you'd like to find the report accompanying H.R. 642 mentioned in the Journal (it's numbered H.Rpt. 36-424), I recommend finding access to ProQuest Congressional, a subscription database with the full text of the U.S. Serial Set -- which has the published reports and documents of congressional committees. ProQuest is usually available through local academic and law libraries. It's also available through computers at National Archives research locations.
The Center for Legislative Archive, a unit within the National Archives, holds the official records of congressional committees and the records of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives as a whole. I did a quick check in the petitions referred to the House Committee on Revolutionary Pensions in the 36th Congress, as they're arranged alphabetically by claimant, but unsurprisingly (per reference above) I did not see anything.
If you have further questions, you are welcome to email the Center for Legislative Archives directly at legislative.archives@nara.gov...."
Did someone intentionally try to deceive the pension office? I doubt that we will ever find the answer to this, but I like the following quote as I think of how many times explanations were provided regarding John’s name:
The Hon. Nyrum Reynolds, of Wyoming county, one of the American barristers of a former generation, was one day accused in court of bad penmanship and worse spelling. "Gent'l'men of the jury," said he "the learned counsel on the other side finds fault with my writin' and spellin', as though the merits of the case depended upon such matters! I'm agin luggin' in any sich outside affairs, but I will say that a man must be a great fool who can't spell a word more than one way."
Source: 1855 December 8, The Latter-Day Saints Millennial Star, Vol.17, No. 49, Page 784, F. D. Richards, Islington.
No comments:
Post a Comment