Revolutionary Soldier - Torn on every side

Ninety-Six Battlefield, South Carolina

In commemorating the 250th anniversary of America's transformation from colony to republic, I’ve chosen to honor not just the celebrated patriots—but the forgotten ones, especially those whose choices challenge our grade-school narratives.

The teaching of this period of history in grade school is often painted with brushes of idealism and patriotism. The British were tyrants and bad! The Colonist were enlightened and good! The truth is much more complicated and nuanced. 

All of the ancestors I have discussed made choices based upon how they viewed their environments. Some, like Benjamin Brown and Edward Richardson, were motivated to defend the liberties of self-rule they and their ancestors had come to expect. Some, like Oliver Brown, were caught up in the revolutionary fever. Others, like Robert Goad and Francis Summers, simply chose to pay taxes. Southern soldiers, like Andrew Walker, were motivated because they associated the British with the Cherokee hostilities.

Naturally, when goals and motivations differ - decisions and choices differ. One discovered ancestor of mine made a decision that, in grade school, I would have been ashamed of.  He was a LOYALIST!  He supported the tyranny of King George! How could he make such an uninformed and unenlightened decision? 

That ancestor was Joseph Carmichael. Joseph was an ancestor that I knew nothing about.  I discovered him through Wikitree and the experience I have gained in searching records through my association with fellow genealogy enthusiasts I have encountered in that community. 

My maternal great-grandfather was adopted from his birth mother, Melinda Hamil. Melinda's maternal grandfather was Joseph Carmichael, the son of my loyalist ancestor. The exact place and time of Joseph the Loyalist's birth is uncertain.  His father, William, was born in Scotland and received a 300-acre land grant in 1762 in what is now Abbeville, South Carolina. Joseph was probably born in Scotland, but no record has been found.

Joseph found himself in a place of turmoil, the backcountry. This frontier of South Carolina was a law unto itself - blending the cultures of German, Scottish, and Irish settlers with native Cherokees. Lawlessness and vigilante behaviors were common - surviving meant picking the right sides at the right time. Loyalties were flexible.

Andrew Pickens is a notable revolutionary patriot soldier who lived in very close proximity to the Carmichaels at the time of the American Revolution. In fact, Joseph, served under Col. Richard King's Regiment, Long Cane Militia, Upper Ninety-Six Brigade - the same unit Pickens had commanded. It is possible he had served directly under Pickens before the militia unit was reorganized under Robert Cunningham.  

Andrew fought the Cherokee in the 1760s under British command. He led a decisive victory at Kettle Creek in 1779 defeating Loyalist forces and disrupting British recruitment, but after the fall of Charleston in 1780 - he surrendered to the British and pledged neutrality. Then Loyalist raided his plantation, and he abandoned his pledge playing a key role at the Battle of Cowpens in 1781.

All the while, his neighbor and my ancestor, Joseph Carmichael chose to remain attached to the British forces.  Afterall they would probably win. Charleston was taken. The market for his family's plantation was in Charleston. The British had repelled the patriot rebels at the fortifications at Ninety-six - right in his neighborhood. Betting on Britain was the logical choice. 

Joseph spent time at Ninety-six. Unfortunately, Joseph seems to have died of injuries associated with the Nathaniel Greene's initiatives or some retaliatory violence. His wife, Eleanor, was a refugee as a result of the violence and loss of her husband prior to 10 August 1782 when she is identified as a widow. Somehow she managed to keep the family going and get reintegrated into the community, at least for a time, after the war. Nonetheless, their son moved to Captain Walker's District of Morgan County, GA before 1820.

Conclusion

In the northern campaign and along the coasts of the colonies - the fighting was inspired by desire for liberty of trade, from perceived tyranny, or a desire for self-determination. But in the backcountry of South Carolina fighting was for survival yet choosing alliances was simultaneously critical and precarious.

In the backcountry, choosing sides was not about ideology—it was about survival. What do we make of ancestors who chose wrong for the right reasons, or right for the wrong ones? How do you choose sides when choosing is mandatory but both choices are wrong?

Revolution and Symbols

Sons of Freedom Pulling Down the Statue of King George III

Print from Steel Engraving, John C. McCrae (1859)

Growing up, it seemed every time I brought a history textbook home, my dad would turn to a page on American History and point to an image in the book much like the one above. Then he would say, "Your great-great-great granddad pulled that statue down." Of course, no school textbook, ever, said who pulled it down.  Most simply read, "A crowd of colonist gathered in New York City and pulled down a statue of King George to make bullets for the war."

In 2017 I was visiting New Orleans.  At the time there was great controversy in the nation about history, culture, and symbols of hate as many local governments began removing several statues that commemorated leaders of the Confederacy. While there were some exceptions most of these decisions were made and achieved peacefully.

In April 2003, images flooded the news medias as some Iraqi citizens attempted to bring down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in Baghdad. When unsuccessful the US Marines from the 3rd Battalion assisted in the activity. 

These moments—New York in 1776, New Orleans in 2017, Baghdad in 2003—share a common thread: statues as symbols. Each represented a regime, a legacy, or a wound. King George was a symbol of the tyranny the colonist had begun to loathe. The confederate statues were both symbols of history and symbols of hate. Saddam was a symbol of an era the people believed was now gone. Each case marked an inflection point.

This grandfather was Oliver Brown. He was the Revolutionary war ancestor used by my father, grandfather, great-aunt, and great-grandmother to gain their memberships into the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), respectively. My great-great-grandfather was written up in a Lawrence County Ohio newspaper in the early 1900s discussing his encounters with his grandfather, Oliver Brown. 

The story of Oliver was etched in our family memories.

Captain Oliver Brown’s Revolutionary journey began even before its first battle at Lexington.  As a lad of twenty, he happened to be in Boston conducting business on behalf of his family, on the day of the Boston Tea Party.  There he witnessed the events of that day.

His father, Benjamin Brown, was a Selectman in Lexington and on the Committee of Correspondence; his father-in-law, Edward Richardson, was on the Committee of Correspondence in Watertown. His brother, Solomon Brown, fired some of the first shots of the American Revolution on the Green.

Oliver had been living with the family of Captain Thatcher  (and Thatcher's wife; Oliver's first cousin) in Cambridge since the early 1760s. Naturally, he became one of Thatcher's Woburn Minutemen that arrived to repel the British regulars along the Battle Road. He stood against the first British cannon fired on colonial forces that day. He was part of nearly every major turning point of the war’s northern theater. He fought at Bunker Hill, commanded artillery at Harlem Heights, and endured defeat at White Plains. 

He served under General Washington for four years, rising to captain-lieutenant in the Massachusetts artillery line. With the artillery he fought at Trenton and Princeton during the winter campaigns, manned defensive posts at Bound Brook, and engaged in the pivotal battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. His artillery, he recalled, “did much execution” and his company of thirty men and two field pieces was entrusted with “many small adventures”.

After Oliver's service he returned to Middlesex.  He purchased several pieces of property in and around Concord. He was owner/operator of Wright Tavern for about three years starting in 1786. During his management there in September 1786 some townspeople met there to draft up a petition to address concerns about unrest associated with Shay's Rebellion. Then by 1789, he was having difficulty generating enough revenue to cover his mortgage, so he moved west to the region that is now Wellsburg, WV.

Oliver lived and participated in a pivotal time and place in American history.  Granddad didn't show up in standard history textbooks - but he was there. The retelling of his story in our family concretely connected us to the transition from American colonies to these United States.  

Oliver expressed only one regret about his actions and adventures.  It was that he had disappointed General Washington by defacing the statue of King George. Yet, I wonder what he thought in the moment of the event.  Was he just caught up in the mobbish fervor? Did the reading of the Declaration of Independence that day move him toward celebration? Was he thinking about the scarcity of lead for bullets? Like the Marines in 2003, perhaps he was thinking: How can we do this safely and successfully? 

We know he wasn't thinking, "What will General Washington think about this?"

An aside:  In 2022 Smithsonian published an interesting article on the subject that referenced Oliver indirectly with a link to his biography.

 

Revolution and The Weight of Expectation

 

Independence Hall in Philidelphia

Caveat:  In this time of decreased unity in our Nation. Today's post could be seen as partisan.  That was not my intent. My intent is to remind us of the uniqueness and fragility of the Nation that has existed and prospered.  My intent is to inspire us to continue our quest for liberty and justice for all.

The American Revolution was not merely a break from monarchy—it was a leap into uncertainty. For those who lived it, the promise of liberty came with the burden of responsibility. And for their descendants (you and me), the Constitution became both a guide and a mirror: reflecting hopes, fears, and the evolving meaning of self-governance.

The Founders’ Dilemma 

The architects of the Constitution feared concentrated power, yet they knew that without executive authority, the republic might collapse. They designed a presidency with limited powers, assuming that Congress and the people would carry the weight of national direction. But history had other plans.

Crisis and Expansion 

From Washington’s neutrality to Lincoln’s wartime proclamations, from Roosevelt’s New Deal to modern executive orders, the power of the presidency has grown—often in response to war, crisis, and gridlock. Each expansion met a need but also stretched the bounds of original intent.

The Impossible Expectation 

Today, we elect presidents with the hope that they will fix what Congress cannot, unify what culture divides, and embody both strength and humility. It’s a paradox: we ask for restraint and results, vision and compromise, all within a system that was never designed for unilateral action.

Genealogy and Legacy 

In tracing the lives of some of my ancestors—like Andrew Walker, Ephriam Bates, Priscilla Stephens, or Benjamin Brown—we see how ordinary people navigated extraordinary change. Their choices, migrations, and civic roles remind us that history is never shaped solely by presidents, but by families, communities, and quiet acts of stewardship.

Reflection

As we mark 250 years, perhaps the most honest celebration is not triumphalism, but reflection. Do we as individuals and collectively as a nation value action over restrained power? Do we trust a system designed to reign in a weakness of mankind to seek and maintain power? Or do we trust in the goodness and wisdom of a single individual?

Our Constitution has not endured because it is perfect, but because generations have wrestled with its imperfections. And in that wrestling, we find both the revolution’s promise—and its weight.

Unsung Revolutionary Patriots: Quills and Taxes

Before muskets and rifles fired or drums beat across colonial fields - plans, presses, and quills were making ready for the storm that was brewing in Colonial America. When we consider patriots we look to Colonels, Generals, politicians, and midnight messengers. They certainly played their parts and those parts were important. But aside from the Divine Providence the Nation's founders rightly credited - it was the everyday efforts of thousands of people. 

For generations, colonists solved their own problems at the local level. They built assemblies, held town meetings, and organized militias—not out of rebellion, but necessity. Yet as time passed, the halls of their government lay increasingly in a Parliament building 3,600 miles away. This meant bureaucratic decisions were further delayed by a five-month round trip. To the colonists, this wasn’t just inefficient. It was intolerable.

Despite the increase in royal regulations, the colonist continued to make their own decisions - particularly at local levels. In today's blog I'm going to look at some of my ancestors that are considered by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) to be Patriots, but as far as we know they never fired a shot against the British. 

What they most certainly did, though, was participate in or support self-rule.

The first and easiest way to participate in self-rule was to submit to the colony or local taxes that supported the militias. In an era when there was no effective or standard enforcement of taxes - avoiding them would have been easy for many. Loyalist often chose to avoid the taxes.  A patriot may even give a little extra or provide supplies at a particular time as militia might be in need of it. 

I have identified three of my ancestors who paid taxes that supported the colonial cause. The first, on my mother's side, was John Dodson. John lived in Pennsylvania but is listed as having paid a supply tax in 1778 for Connecticut. The circumstances of him paying a supply tax for a different colony is unclear. His Wikitree profile says he was also an "honorable Revolutionary War veteran" - but this is unverified. He would have been 55 years old. He was in Chester County (Valley Forge is there) so maybe that’s why a Pennsylvania man is credited with paying a Connecticut supply tax.

The second, also on my mother's side, was Robert Goad. Robert paid a supply tax in 1783 in Bedford County, Virginia. Nothing much is known about Robert and what transpired in his life other than that he moved to Maury County, TN in the late 18th or early 19th Century.

The third, on my father's side, was Francis Summers.  Francis also paid the 1783 supply tax in Virginia.  He is also credited with being an Overseer of the Poor in Fairfax County, VA from 1777 to 1783 by SAR. This duty upheld the fragile civic fabric of a nation in a time of turmoil.

I also have three ancestors that held positions in local governments in a time when local governments were discouraged and even forbidden at times by the British authorities. These three were in the thick of the extended planning for defending the local population. They were there collecting, storing, and securing arms. They were executing local justice. 

All of these ancestors are through my father's side. The first, William Reed, was a Justice of the Peace in Lexington, MA. Captain Reed had been involved in the politics of Lexington for many years. He was already in his eighties when the Lexington alarm was heard. Several of his grandchildren gathered on the Lexington Green to defend their freedoms that day.

The second ancestor, Benjamin Brown, was William's son-in-law. Benjamin was on the Committee of Correspondence in Lexington. When Paul Revere rode into town, Benjamin saw both the substantiation of his fears and the fruit of his labor come to bear. The alarm system and the assembly of the militia had been enabled by his actions.  (The image of the letter at the top includes his name along with John Parker and Edmund Monro as Town Selectmen. The letter is on display at Buckman Tavern in Lexington.)

Like Benjamin, another ancestor through my father's side, Edward Richardson, served on the Committee of Correspondence in Watertown, MA.

There are many ways to participate in a cause. Some are heralded. Some are overlooked. But all the efforts came together to establish this nation.  It happened, like all other events of notable human achievement, because the people, by and large, agreed on a common idea. In this case the idea — we can and we will create and enforce the rules and liberties for our own communities. We won’t accept the rules of a government that is distant from us in time, place, or values. We know best!

Unsung Revolutionary War - Southern Soldier

The war for independence in the American British colonies and fledgling nation is defined as starting at Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775, but the battles raged across the colonies until it came to full stop (Do like the way I snuck in that British term?) formally at the signing of the Treaty of Paris on 3 September 1783.

Between those two dates there were battles and power plays across the colonies to achieve an upper hand in the control of the colonies.  In British style they sought to divide the nation between the northern and southern colonies. (The effect of their effort has probably, to some extent, continued through the American Civil War and even to today.)

The British hoping to keep the southern militias occupied enlisted help from the Cherokee Nation.  Individuals like, John Stuart, who was the Crown's Superintendent of Indian Affairs were presumed to have encouraged the belief within the Cherokee Nation that by aligning with the Crown they would retain autonomy and control of their ancestral lands - but if the Colonies became independent from the Crown the Cherokee Nation would lose that control.

Enter my sixth great grandfather, Andrew Walker. Andrew is a grandfather from my mother's side of the family. Growing up I didn't know any of the lineages of my mother's family beyond a couple great grandparents, but I have been able to solidly connect records back to Andrew Walker. 

Andrew immigrated from County Antrim, Ireland arriving in Charleston, SC in 1767 abord the Earl of Donegal. By the time the Revolutionary War began he was in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He volunteered early in the effort under Colonel Ezekiel Polk's regiment in July 1775 where he marched to Prince's Fort in Spartanburg - likely to reinforce defenses in case of Cherokee unrest. He was drafted then to serve under Robert Irwin in a campaign against the Cherokee Nation - which aligns with the timeline of the Snow Campaign intended to suppress Loyalist and Cherokees in the region. He continued with the southern campaign all the way to Fort Johnston in Wilmington, NC.

Andrew volunteered for service again in 1780 to reconnoiter British forces in Mecklenburg and Lancaster Districts of the Carolinas. He participated in the skirmish at Walkup's Mills during Cornwallis's campaign. His road to an officer began in his service to General William Lee Davidson as his Quartermaster where he was afterwards commissioned by Robert Irwin as a Captain where he commanded a company for twelve months across the Carolinas.

In the book Young Hickory: The making of Andrew Jackson, my sixth great-grandfather is given an honorable mention with regard to his assistance while he was a Captain. He helped obtain young Andrew Jackson's freedom from British arrest in Camden, SC.  

“ ... The following day...unexpected news of more direct interest came to Andy [Jackson] -- the possibility of freedom. Andy Walker, Tommy Walker's big brother, a captain of the Waxhaw Whigs, had managed to capture thirteen British soldiers at the battle, operating independently alongside Greene's army like many of Sumter's Waxhaw followers... Through his sister Jane, a sturdy, black-haired young woman who had already ridden once from Waxhaw Creek with provisions for her brother, he offered to swap his captives for his brother and the other Waxhaw boys. Jane Walker worked out the exchange with Lord Rawdon,” [She was accompanied by Mrs. Jackson “who, sick and tired of the Carolina Irish, stormed at her and drove a hard bargain: thirteen British for seven Waxhaw boys, Tommy Walker, and six others, Andy and Robin Jackson among them. The swap took place a day or two later, and Andy walked out of the stinking jail into his mother's arms.”

Looking back at this incident and the hostilities surrounding it, it is clear that it was a precursor to the Trail of Tears.  Andrew Jackson, angered in his formative years, was influenced to campaign for the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which led to the loss and grieving of a people and regret for a Nation.

Blame the Cherokees? Blame the British? Blame the Waxhaw Boys?  

No...Blame humanity!

Religious Geneaology

 Center Point Church, Scottown, OH

In this blog, I've explored my genealogy through the lenses of the Revolutionary War, slavery, and religious heritage. Along the way I encountered a story about religious roots that I am uncovering. As settlers moved from Virginia into Ohio and beyond they took with them their deep religious convictions. 

Where settlers went they established places of worship. The building pictured above is one my second Great Grandfather, Lewis Rose, helped construct. Another of my Great Grandfathers (4th), Timothy Bates, was partially responsible for the establishment of the Mount Ephraim Church. 

 The Mount Ephraim church building was built in 1839. It is currently a United Methodist church, but it started its life as a Christian church with the roots in the Restoration Movement led in part by Alexander Campbell.

Growing up worshipping at a church of Christ, I was familiar with religious leaders like Campbell. I remember at least one focused study on the topic of the Restoration Movement in a bible class. In my twenties, I discovered copies of The Christian Baptist. I read them with fascination, struck by both the similarities and differences between Campbell’s spiritual insights and the church fellowship that emerged from his influence. 

With that background the religious intersection of Timothy Bates and Alexander Campbell seeded my current diversion. 

Timothy came to the Guernsey/Noble region of Ohio with his father, Ephraim. Timothy was counted as residing in Guernsey, OH in the US Census from 1820 until 1850. Ephraim had been influenced by a Presbyterian minister named Jacob Green, in New Jersey.  That influence likely included Jacob's abolitionist views and may have influenced Ephraim to move to a free territory. (Some who were in that region of Ohio were involved in the Underground Railroad, but all of their identities and cooperative associations have been lost to time.)

Alexander Campbell spent most of his life in Brooke, Virginia (now WV). But sometime after he married his second wife in 1828 but before the 1840 Census he resided in Guernsey, OH. By the 1850 Census he was back in Brooke, Virginia. Around 1840 was right around the time the church building was being constructed in Mount Ephraim.

Given Alexander's association with the Restoration movement, the construction of the Mount Ephraim church structure in 1839, Timothy's association with the Christian church movement, and Timothy and Alexander both residing in Guernsey, OH in 1840 - it is reasonable to conclude they interacted considerably.

What interaction that must have included! It was enough to convict Timothy to align with the restoration cause. How did those conversations impact Alexander's views on slavery? Certainly, he had no slaves in 1840 while in Ohio - but in the 1860 census he owned a 9-year-old girl.  The circumstance of that ownership is not known. It may have been an undesirable situation for him that he found himself involved with. After all, in 1829 and 1830 he was recorded as advocating in the Virginia Constitutional Convention for gradual emancipation of slavery. Clearly, while seemingly simple to us today, it was complicated.

Slavery question aside, the likely association of Alexander Campbell with Timothy Bates provides an unbroken connection of a portion of my family from the Second Great Awakening down to Timothy's great granddaughter Wilma Moore Rose. 

My father talked of the significant influences of his grandmother, Wilma, on his spiritual journey.  He remembered fondly worshipping with his grandmother, Wilma, in a small building they called Wilma's Chapel, built for his great grandmother, Willamina Moore, by her sons in the hills surrounding Crown City, OH.

My father, in turn, influenced my brothers and me to continue in the restoration spirit to become independent thinking Bereans, that is, "receiving the word with all readiness of mind, and searching the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." My brother, today, serves as a minister of a church in Tuscaloosa, AL that still holds to the principles of continuous restoration. 

Though Paul was addressing a different context, his words beautifully capture the spirit of Continuous Restoration -

 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14

Genealogy (and history, in general) reminds us so vividly if we listen that life is composed of individual journeys, interactions, decisions, and contradictions that affect others who are distant from us in space and time. Choices matter!  We seldom have the prescience to know exactly how. 

Genealogical Reckoning - The Final Reckoning

 The Final Reckoning

If you have followed the series of Genealogical Reckoning you know it has been a journey of discovery. It has held surprises both good and bad. This personal journey that I have shared is not particularly unique, though it isn't very prevalent - because it requires researching, knowing, and reflecting on things that are uncomfortable and inconvenient. 

Edward Ball is an exception as he has looked at his family's personal history as enslavers and published a book on the subject. Others like Rachel Swarns, have documented particular subsets of enslaved people and associated them with their enslavers. Some Universities, like Harvard and Princeton, have looked at their involvement and implemented scholarships or reparative efforts as part of their repentance.

Like so many moral errors of history - no one can truly make amends. Those directly affected by the original sins are no longer among the living. 

There are descendants of those who were enslaved who have overcome (often significantly) the disadvantages inflicted on their ancestors.  Likewise, others have continued to suffer multigenerational traumas that can be tied to an ancestor's experiences as a slave. 

There are also descendants of enslavers who are still benefitting from the prosperities enslaving brought them. And equally, there are descendants of enslavers whose ancestors suffered mightily from losses associated with the Civil War and have continued to suffer generationally.

So, what about me? “Certainly, the choices my ancestors made—and the situations that befell them—impacted my initial conditions. After that, like everyone else, it has been about my choices to seize or ignore opportunities that arose. My environment gave me more opportunities than some and less opportunities than others. As Solomon noted: "The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong... but time and chance happens to them all."

Review of my Ancestors

I looked at fourteen family names representing 2nd great grandparents and their ancestors. Of those, eight families owned one or more slaves; three of those families owned slaves quite extensively; one family was abolitionists in temperament; one family became abolitionists in 1776; and one family was immigrants.

Impact

I'm an American with deep ancestral roots in the country. With such deep roots it is impossible not to be impacted by the history of the nation.  This history includes things like harsh involvement with native Americans, slavery, Revolutionary War, industrial expansion, Civil War, and Reconstruction.

As I have looked, I have found uncles and ancestors that fought on opposite sides in battles on the frontier, in battles of the Revolutionary, and in the Civil War. I have ancestors who were enslavers and abolitionist. I have ancestors who lost much after the Civil War. I have family that prospered during the industrial revolution and others were displaced.

At the end the question is not, "who were my ancestor and what did they do?" but rather "who am I and what will I do?"