A Revolutionary War Story: Upshaws, Gatewoods, Thorntons, and a Dozier

I had originally planned to highlight Colonel William Woodford, under whom my ancestor John Threadgill served, in an effort to begin a series on men who aren't relatives but are instead men mine and my husband's ancestors knew. I did not, however, anticipate that Colonel William Woodford would eventually be promoted to Brigadier General Woodford!

This one promotion in rank drastically increased the number of documents I had to sift through. (I mean, he was reporting directly to His Excellency George Washington, himself!) Needless to say, I am still sifting through them. I will finish sorting through all of it soon, but, until then, I thought I would share the post I made to my personal family's blog, Widespread Roots, for the Fourth of July.

With today being a day of respect and remembrance of our nation's beginnings, and also being a day most people enjoy with their families, I thought I would highlight an extended family's experience in the American Revolutionary War. 

I wrote about John Upshaw's experience in the Revolution in a previous post, and I mentioned how his father-in-law, Larkin Gatewood, was a Sergeant under Captain William Tucker, who was also John's Captain during his first draft. 

John Upshaw's daughter, and my sixth great-grandmother, Sarah Upshaw married Benjamin Thornton on 12 January 1796. Benjamin was the son of Dozier Thornton and Lucinda Elizabeth Hill.

This portrait of Dozier hangs in Van's Creek Baptist Church in Elbert County, GA

Portrait copy found on various websites and forums related to Dozier and Van's Creek.

Dozier Thornton also served in the American Revolutionary War. Even Dozier's father, Mark Thomas Thornton, is thought to have aided in the War. 

Dozier and Mark are no longer accepted Patriots in the Daughters of the American Revolution. Dozier's grave has been marked twice (once by the DAR and once by the SAR) as being in the North Carolina Militia during the Revolution, though I haven't found any proof of his actual service. But I refuse to give up hope of finding it! I still have a few leads to follow, but they will require actual trips to repositories that aren't yet available online.

Application for Military Headstone for Dozier Thornton, dated 8 November 1927

There seems to be some confusion about Dozier's service online with people thinking he fought in Captain Dunston Blackwell's Division and Major David Dobbs' Battalion. This misinformation comes from a land lottery in Georgia drawn in 1825 (and awarded in 1827) where Dozier is shown as receiving lottery entries. This land lottery was not related to the War in any way. Soldiers did, however, get two drawings in the lottery. That may have sparked some of the confusion. 

The fifth person in the family to have aided in the War was (possibly) Mark's father-in-law, Leonard Dozier. (Leonard's relationship to Mark is often debated. While it is clear these two families are related, they may not be father/son-in-law.) Leonard is listed in Abercrombie and Slatten as furnishing beef for the War. 

Even despite Dozier and Mark's disputed service, this particular branch of the family tree leaves me feeling very grateful and very patriotic, especially on holidays like today. I hope everyone enjoys a safe and pleasant Fourth of July, and I hope everyone appreciates the actions of the men and women who attributed to the founding of this nation we call The Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave.

Sources:

• Application for Military Headstone, Dozier Thornton (accessed on Ancestry)
• Knight, Lucian Lamar "Georgia's roster of the revolution, containing a list of the states defenders; officers and men; soldiers and sailors; partisans and regulars; whether enlisted from Georgia or settled in Georgia after the close of hostilities"
• SAR Application for Membership, applicant: Isham Stanton Hudmon (accessed on Ancestry)
• SAR Application for Membership, applicant: Walter Wiley Thornton (accessed on Ancestry)

John Upshaw

John Upshaw is another verified Patriot in the DAR database. He is also another one of my ancestors. In the Daughters of the American Revolution, after you join under your first Patriot, you can submit "supplemental" applications for any other ancestor in your lineage who was also a Patriot. While I have not submitted any supplemental applications yet for myself (they can get costly quickly at $75 a piece), John Upshaw is another person in my lineage that I could use to submit a supplemental application. This is his story.

John was born 22 February 1755 in Essex County, Virginia.

Taken from his Pension Application.
John states he was born in Essex County, VA on 22 February 1755

John married Amy Gatewood on 5 March 1776.

According to his pension application, John served under a number of officers in his time in the Revolutionary War. First, he was drafted and served for three months as a Private with Captain William Tucker and Colonel Dabney. (His father-in-law, Larkin Gatewood, was a Sergeant with Captain William Tucker. I am curious if that had anything to do with his being drafted.)

Taken from Pension Application

During that three months in 1780, he marched from Amherst County, Virginia to Hampton under the Command of Marquis de Lafayette before being discharged.

Taken from Pension Application

Later, he was drafted again and served another two months as a Private under Captain Woodruff, who was under the command of Colonel Merriwether. In 1781, he marched, yet again from Amherst to Hampton, and after having only served for one month, he was discharged again.

Taken from Pension Application

Later in 1781, he was drafted to serve another two months, this time with Captain Dawson. He marched from Amherst to the Albemarle Barracks where he was stationed to Guard the British prisoners being held there. He served in this position for only a month before being discharged again. (As far as I can tell, the Albemarle Barracks ceased to function in the end of 1780. I wonder if John was mistaken on the time he served there.)

Sketch of the Albemarle Barracks
Artist unknown

John was later drafted a fourth time! This time, still being in 1781, he was drafted under Captain Burrows. Under Captain Burrows, he marched from Amherst County to a place near Yorktown. He was in service for one additional month during this term before being discharged.

I find John Upshaw's story to be very different from the story of my other ancestor, John Threadgill. John Threadgill enlisted before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He also fought for the American cause for a consecutive year.

John Upshaw, on the other hand, did not voluntarily enlist. He was drafted, not once, but four times. And his service wasn't until the later half of the War. Also, he only served for periods of a month or two before heading back home to his family. I wonder if the differences in their family lives influenced their different stories.

John Upshaw got married before his service. John Threadgill didn't seem to get married until after he served. Perhaps John Upshaw felt more of a duty to being home caring for his new bride than serving on the battlefield, whereas John Threadgill did not yet have a family waiting for him at home.

I also find it interesting that John Upshaw could not sign his name on his application like John Threadgill could. The following is a copy of his "mark" which served as his signature on his Pension Application.

John's mark as found in his Pension Application

In regards to the DAR, so far 19 Daughters have successfully filed under this Patriot. As of this writing, Daughters have successfully shown lineage under the following children of John and Amy:

• Sarah R. Upshaw
• George L. Upshaw
• James Upshaw
• John Upshaw

I have yet to uncover any additional children for this couple, but I have not investigated this family very deeply. If I find any other children born to this union, I will post their names, if not here on this post, on a future post.

Sources: 

• John Upshaw's Pension Application (accessed on Ancestry)
• Sketch of the Albemarle Barracks is currently unsourced. Found in a Google Search as being present on several blogs also unsourced.