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)

Martha Bowdoin

This week, I thought I would tackle a "coded" Patriot as well as my first female Patriot. Martha Bowdoin is a "coded" Patriot in the DAR database. For various reasons, men and women have been "red-lined" in the database preventing their being used for future applicants unless someone fixes whatever problem the DAR has discovered along the way. There are many things that could cause someone to be red-lined, and there are many different "codes," but Martha's code is "Future Applications Must Prove Correct Service," or "FAMPCS."

FAMPCS says, "The proof of service used to establish this person as a patriot is no longer valid. Subsequent evaluation of the proof of service may have determined that the proof is not acceptable under today's standards (examples: tombstone, obituary, undocumented genealogy or county history, family tradition); the service belongs to another person of the same name; the residence of this person during the Revolution is inconsistent with the service, or multiple people have claimed the same service. Future applicants must provide proof of service (and possibly residence) that meets current standards." So, since the status of a Patriot is determined solely on the proof of the service they provided in the founding of our country, this is probably the most serious of all of the "codes" in the database.

As for Martha's service, legend has it that, when Martha was a mere 12-year-old girl, she delayed the Tories, who had intruded upon her family demanding a home-cooked meal, by turning their horses loose out of the barnyard. A small act, but one that took courage and a true American spirit.

Since proving that story would probably be the hardest thing to try to do without lucking upon a diary or letter written in the time, the best efforts for clearing Martha's FAMPCS code would be the find a new service altogether. I would imagine the best place to look for a new source of service for Martha would be that (seemingly) go-to source for North Carolina patriotic service, "North Carolina Revolutionary War Army Accounts." I also hope to figure out what they "originally" had as a source of service for Martha as that would probably be a good start on where to find new service for her.

Martha came from a family that all provided some kind of service to the American efforts. Her father furnished supplies, her sister Elizabeth's husband (John Macon) was a member of the board of auditors and also furnished supplies, and her father-in-law (Nehemiah Odell) rendered material aid. I'm sure in the midst of a family like that, Martha has to have some kind of record proving her allegiance to the American cause.

Here's what I do know about Martha (though mostly from family legend). She was born 13 Nov 1768 in North Carolina to William Boudouin and Elizabeth Macon. (This means the legend of her run-in with the Tories took place about 1780.) She married Isaac Odell sometime before or around 1790 (since they seem to be living together in the 1790 census). She died in 1800 in Randolph County, North Carolina.

Clipping from 1790 census showing one "tick mark" for Isaac and one (presumably) for Martha

As for Martha's descendants, I have not traced this family very much myself. I know, so far, of the name of the single child who is listed in the DAR.

• James Alexander Odell

According to census records, it appears as though the couple had at least a few more children (at least another son and two daughters), but I have not yet located a will, pension, or land record for this family in order to place names to the "tick marks" on the early census records.

Clipping from 1800 census showing one "tick mark" for Isaac, one (possibly) for Martha, one for a son under 10,
one for a son aged 16-25, and two for a daughter under 10

If you happen to know the names of the other children born to this marriage, or if you think you have proven the family legend of her service, let me know! I would love to see her opened back up for future applicants.

Sources:

• 1790 Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1800 Hillsboro, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)