The Greene family history is ripe with family members fighting and leading people in the many wars and conflicts of the United States.  There are three captains who will be our topic for next several weeks as we learn more of how my ancestors affected US history.  Captain Joseph Greene, Captain William Greene and Captain Issac Greene will help carve out the history during the French and Indian & Revolutionary Wars.

Captain William Marion Greene was born on May 16, 1753 in Rutherford, North Carolina, to Joseph (Captain) Greene and Drucilla Greene.  He was my 5th Great Grand Father on my Mother’s side of the family.

Let’s Define some terms first;

• Whig – Patriot colonist and those who opposed Great Britain (England)
• Tory / Tories – Loyalist colonist who opposed the Revolution and stayed true to England
• Militia – Local army comprised on citizens and not a formal army.  Many of the people worked there fields and business and only mustered when the enemy was near or called to arms by the regular army
• Army – The official fighting body that was being paid to fight the conflict

William would be one of the many people caught up in the War with Britain and in his case, he would be involved with both armies as the conflict grew.  He joined the Whig Militia during the war where he would become a captain and would be leading the local men into conflicts.

The English often would move an army through the county side and recruit people to their cause by oppressing the people into their army.  This will become a big issue with the US in 1812 when the British would capture sailors from American vessels and make the men work for them.  During the war, many farmers and militia were captured and became part of the British army or Tory militia.  The choice was simple, join or die.  In 1780, William Greene would be captured and forced into fighting for the Tory Militia.

At the battle of Ramsour Hill, North Carolina, on 6-20-1780, two fighting militias would come to battle.  The Tory militia would have over 1200 people and this included Major Greene (new rank in the Tory army) and the Whig army would have between 200 to 300 men.  At these odds, the Whig militia should have not had a chance but the militia had people that were crack shots and they killed many a person.

Ramsour Hill would only be fought by militia of both sides.  Neither side had an uniform and both sides had to fight hand to hand and with tools during the battle.  Brother fought against Brother and in the end the battle was over and the Whigs won the field.  This would be a crushing defeat for the Tory resistance and give  significant boost to the Whig Patriots.

After the battle, William Greene was captured and sentenced to die since he had changed sides prior to the conflict.  William and one other were tied up and were going to be shot the next morning and both escaped during the night.  William would travel back to the Whig territory and would join back up with the Whig militia.

Captain Greene would fight in Kings Mountain in October, 1780.  At Kings Mountain, the English were building up men to fight and support Cornwallis flank.  The English were being led by Major Patrick Ferguson and were surprised at King Mountain.

The Whig militia surrounded the Tories and killed Major Ferguson during the one long battle.

Major William Greene / Captain Greene would be a prominent person in around North Carolina and would die in 1832.

Below is a picture of Major William Greene

For more information on the Revolutionary War, check out the following books at Amazon (Select picture to go to Amazon)

William Greene and others can be found at Ancestry and other Genealogy websites.  Select one of my Ancestry images on the side of the page to go and see my Vest / Michael / Chapman and Greene family tree.

Originally posted 2019-01-27 15:09:40.

What do you know about the 2nd Continental Congress and US History?  The Colonies were trying to find their way and all of the Colonies were trying to determine are they going to stay with England or pull their own way.

May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to make these difficult decisions.  The task had more than a few wanted men by the English government and met certain death if the English was fully aware of what was going on.  Each Colony sent men to represent their Colonies and my 5th Great Grandfather, John Harvie (1747 – 1807) met with the group to represent Virginia.

The group of people would continue to meet and discuss the form of Government for the new colonies.  The challenge was the group had people set upon their beliefs.  One group fully wanted to stay with the English, another group represented the South (Georgia) and the last group wanted to split away from England to stop the taxes being levied to help pay for the French and Indian war.

The group would have to move from Philadelphia to Baltimore because the English found out and now the people would become wanted for treason.

In 1777, the group would ratify the Articles of Confederation that would become the first Government of the United Colonies.  The Colonies were slow to adopt to the new government and it would be 1781 before all of the Colonies would fully ratify the new way of government.

Which state would be the first to sign and ratify?  Virginia would adopt to the new Government and my 5th Great Grand Father would become one of the signers on the Articles of Confederation.

Colonel John Harvie was a lawyer and would receive a provisional rank of Colonel and would become one of the people working to supply the Colonies during the war for Independence.

John Harvie and his family is related to the Vest Family through James Jackson Vest Sr who married Sallie Sarah Harvie in 1809. James Jackson Vest is my 3rd Great Grand Father. More to come about the Vest family this year.

For more information about the Articles of Confederation and War for Independence check out the following books

Check out Ancestry.com for more information about my family tree.  Select the picture below and look up our tree.

Originally posted 2019-01-12 20:29:58.

Captain Pierce was my 11th Great Grand Father as explained in the previous Blog entry.  Many people are not as lucky as I am in having as much information about a person as we do about Captain Pierce

He was a seagoing man and very prominent in England and in the New English colonies.  First, he was a sea Captain.  For many years, the Spanish ruled the ocean and it was difficult to explore many parts of the new world without conflict.  The Spanish would build bigger and bigger ships and arm each one with Sailors and cannons that could crush a ship quickly if caught in the cross fire.  The English would soon learn that their smaller ships were fast and able to stay out of direct fire from the Spanish Galleons.  This tactic would mean that the rule of the ocean would become more balanced as the agile English vessels would destroy and keep the Spanish at bay.

Captain Pierce was in charge of many vessels and a key person in James City = Jamestown.  He came to the new world 1609 to 1610 and was given a many acres to have and farm.  Captain Pierce traveled on the Sea Venture which was separated from the other 5 ships coming to the new wold to bring supplies and was lost during a hurricane.  The ship took on water and the crew had to abandon ship in the Bermuda islands.  Over the next several months, the crew along with William Pierce would rebuild the ship to continue their travel to Jamestown.

Link to Early Ship Travel to the New World

He led two expeditions against the local natives the “Chickahomies” to stop the harassment the new area was given by some of the local natives.

Some believe that William Pierce was a captain of one of the Mayflower ships.  It is quoted that he captained a second voyage to the new world but I have not been able to find solid evidence of this activity.

He was Captain of the Governor Wyatt Guards in early Jamestown and later he became LT. Governor of James City in 1629.

William would be active in the government and active in the House of Burgess in the new world.  He would a member of the Virginia council from 1631 to 1648.

He captained several voyages of the ship Lyon to Boston in 1630 to 1634.  He worked to bring more and more English people to the new world and on his fourth sailing, his vessel would hit a reef and sink.  The ship would be replaced by the Rebecca and continue it’s journey to Boston.

Continuing his love for the seas, Captain Pierce would be killed by the Spanish in Bermuda as he was attempting to bring English colonist to the Island in 1641.  The story goes that he and his ship navigator would be killed as the Spanish fired across the top of their vessel.  The vessel would leave the area and return to the New Colonies instead and Captain Pierce would be buried at sea along the way back.

The Navy has played a key role in my family over the years.  Going from Captain Pierce to my Father and Brother who would also serve in the US Navy.   Thank you for your service to all Veterans and to Captain Pierce who helped build the United States.

 

 

 

Originally posted 2018-05-13 15:59:06.

May 1, 2018

Pocahontas is very famous for being a Disney Star but her real story is rather sad.  Let’s begin with Jamestown and discuss what was happening to build the settlement here.

In the early 1600’s, the English was struggling to keep the Jamestown Colony going.  The early settlers believed that the Native Americans would provide food and would be in awe of the settlers.  The plan was to avoid seeing the colonist die or being buried but that failed due to the high rate of dying English Settlers.  Over 80 percent of the inhabitants would die due to diseases over the early years at Jamestown.  

The people were starving and the relationship between the Native Americans and the Settlers diminished because there was not enough food to be provided by the Native Americans.  The two groups began to fight and Powhatan who ruled the many tribes around the area would continue to push back.  Captain John Smith came to the colony and worked with the settlers during 1608 to 1609.  Captain Smith led a group to ambush the local Native Americans but was ambushed by Powhatan’s people instead.

History shared that Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas stepped in and stopped her father from killing the Captain.  That would make for a great story and a great animated movie during our modern time.  However, some authors think the execution attempt was staged to make Captain Smith a sub chief and Jamestown a part of the powerful Powhatan’s reach.  Either way, it saved his life.

Pocahontas was born in 1596 and was rather young during the event with John Smith.  The hostilities between the tribe and the English settlers would continue after John left to go back to England without Pocahontas.  She would eventually be captured in 1613 and would be used as a tool to stop the fighting by the people at Jamestown.  

She would convert to Christianity and marry John Rolfe in 1614.  John was a weatlty tobacco farmer and  John and his bride would move to England to live where she died in 1617 at the age of 21.  She had one child and his name was Thomas Rolfe.   Thomas Rolfe would come back to the colonies years later but John Rolfe returned shortly after her death.

Captain William Pierce is my 11 Great Grand Father through the Vest, Baker, Appling, Clements and finally Pierce family genealogy.  Captain Pierce came to the Jamestown in 1610 and was a very prominent person in the early colony.  He was a Captain of the Governor guard, member of the House of Burgess, Lieutenant Governor at James City in 1629 and he would know both John Rolfe and Pocahontas.  

After Pocahontas death in 1617, John Rolfe would return to the colonies and would marry Jane Pierce, Captain William Pierce’s daugher in 1617.  Jane would be my 11 Great Aunt and that is how our family is connected to the Pocahontas story of the early 1600’s.

For more information about the colonies, click on the link beliow

Originally posted 2018-05-01 11:18:43.

Have you heard of Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676?  Some people have and some people have no clue about the Rebellion conducted in the Jamestown area of Virginia.  Have you heard of Captain John Francis Clement?  No?  he is my 9th Grand Father on the Vest and Baker side of my family.

John Clement came to the US from England with his Father, Jeremiah Clements before 1662 and moved to the Surry, Virginia and Jamestown area.

The Bacon Rebellion is named after Nathaniel Bacon and the reason for the rebellion is questionable today.  Nathaniel came from England and lived in Jamestown near his cousin Governor  Sir William Berkeley, who gave his cousin a seat in the House of Burgess.  

In mid 1676, the tobacco farmers indentured servants and others higher in the community were becoming upset about the trade value of tobacco, local Native American Indian issues and a power struggle was going on with the egos of the two cousins.  

Tobacco was a commodity and with other colonies like Maryland selling to the English, the colonists were not making as much money.  The English government refused to let the colonist sell the Dutch or the French and the prices were getting pinched for the farmers.  In Virginia, the people approached the Governor about selling furs and trying other avenues to make money.  The fur trading idea was not approved and the war began.

Somewhere between 300 to 1,000 people started attacking the Indians and creating problems for the Governor Berkeley and the community.  John Clement joined Bacon and his group of the outlaw farmers and quickly became one of the Captains of the small army.  He and four other Captains captured Major Allen’s Grand Home in Surry, Virginia, called Bacon’s castle which was occupied for three months during the conflict. 

Link to pictures and story of Bacon’s Castle

Tales from a Revolution: Bacon’s Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America (New Narratives in American History)

The group captured and burned Jamestown after running the Governor out of the area.  The English dispatched their army to come to Virginia and put down the first rebellion in the new colonies but before they could arrive, Nathaniel died and the group lost control in early 1677.  A very short but destructive conflict that impacted the community and the Native Americans greatly.

John Clement had to pay for his actions and the cost was 10,000 pounds and this cost saved his life.  Many others could not afford to make payments for crimes committed and suffered capital punishment from the English. 

Governor Berkeley was sent home in disgrace and Jamestown had suffered a great loss.  For more about the rebellion, check out the following links

More information about the rebellion

John Clements relationship to me is through the Vest family through my Grand Mother Alta Mae Baker

• Alta Mae Baker
• George William Baker
• George Washington Baker
• Obed Baker
• John Baker who married Sarah Appling
• Sarah Appling’s father was Joel Appling
• Thomas Appling Jr
• Thomas Appling Sr who married Mary Clements
• Mary Clements father was William Clements
• Captain John Clements

John Clements died in 1710 in Surry, Virginia. 

Originally posted 2018-04-08 17:12:01.

in 1755, General Braddock led an unsuccessful mission to attack the French Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian war.  The battle failed slow badly for the British, the General himself was killed in the conflict.  This led way to several Native American attacks on local villages and settlements in Pennsylvania.

Mathew Leander Patton is my sixth grandfather and he came to the United States from Scotland.  He was born aboard the ship his father and mother sailed on escaping religious persecution in 1705.

Later, Mathew would marry Elizabeth Jane Alexander in 1723 and would own property in the community called the Great Cove.

As a result of the battle failure by Braddock, the French related Native American tribes, Shawnees and Delawares would attack Penn Creek and massacre many of the settlers there on October 16th, 1755.

Following the attack, the same tribes attacked the Great Cove  on November 1, 1755, where my Grand Father and Grand Mother would luckily escape the attack.  However, 47 of the 93 residents would not.  The people endured torture, scalping and many other horrible acts of sorrow.

The locals worked with the Cherokee Native Americans and went after the attacking party to recover some of the people taken during the attack.

My Grand Father would allow a Fort Loudon to be built on his land and several of his sons would be become Captains during the Revolutionary War.

Mathew Patton’s Daughter married Thomas Couch and down the Couch lineage, Edna Couch married George Baker.

 

 

 

 

 

Originally posted 2021-02-21 22:04:08.