Clift, G. Glenn, compiler. Second Census of Kentucky, 1800, (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1966).
Davies, Pamela, transcriber. "Jefferson, KY 1810 Federal Census", (www.us-census.org, 2000).
Felldin, Jeanne Robey and Gloria Kay Vandiver Inman, compilers. Index to the 1820 Census of Kentucky, (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1996).
Field, Eugene and Lucie. "Lucie's Genealogy: Field Family - Virginia Branch, 1635-2010", entry for "John Field (1726-1774) & Anna Rogers Clark Culpeper County Virginia, (www.luciefield.net, created: 06/25/1998, revised: 11/11/2014).
Ford, Carol Lee. Early Kentucky Tax Records: From the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1987).
Harrison, Bruce H. The Family Forest Descendants of Lady Joan Beaufort, (Miilisecond Publishing Company, Inc., 2005).
Quisenberry, Anderson Chenault, compiler. Revolutionary Soldiers of Kentucky: Containing a Roll of Officers of Virginia Line Who Received Land Bounties; A roll of the Revolutionary Pensioners in Kentucky; A List of the Illinois Regiment Who Served Under George Rogers Clark in the Northwest Campaign; Also a Roster of the Virginia Navy, (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1974).
Wagstaff, Ann T., compiler. Index to the 1810 Census of Kentucky, (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1980).
Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413
Lewis Field was a fascinating individual, to say the very least. His life and experiences have already been described in two previous posts in this blog - "A Completely Different,and Chance, Perspective...Lewis Field" and dated "10/21/2014" as well as "A Completely Different, and Chance, Perspective...Lewis Field", Pt. II - Additional Information on Lewis Field, Kentuckian" and dated "08/31/2015". Yet, more information has surfaced concerning this individual who, after the American Revolution, would settle in Kentucky and reside there for the remainder of his natural life, except for a short stint of residence in Pope County, IL. He is the sole individual in this overall blog who was not associated with the frigate South Carolina at all except for a rare and unusual perspective he casts on the whole scene - he was a prisoner-of-war on board a British prisoner transport on December 20, 1782 and witnessed the attempted flight and subsequent capture of the frigate South Carolina by the three British men-of-war - HMS Diomede, HMS Quebec, and HMS Astrea. Therefore, this blog writer feels his story is worth telling all the more due to his unique perspective.
The two earlier posts, the earliest of which was shortly after the commencement of this blog itself, were both supported in their evidence by three or fewer sources. This post, as can be seen from the list of cited references above, contains a bit more than either of those earlier posts. But, the writer of this blog will not be surprised at all if this particular post may be the shortest of the three concerning Lewis Field. Each of the seven sources cited above do indeed contain pertinent information concerning Lewis Field but, it is all rather brief information. Thus, there may not be enough information to write a lengthy post on Lewis Field but, we shall see...
The first issue to investigate is Lewis Field's military affiliation and services during the American Revolution. According to the pension application of Lewis Field, "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413":
"...he entered the service of the United States in Capt. Benjamin Roberts company in Major George Slaughters Battalion or Corps as it was then familiarly called. That he entered service by enlistment two or it may have been three years in Culpepper [sic: Culpeper] County in the State of Virginia and was mustered into Service at a Large frame house called the Red House which was Maj. Slaughters head quarters. That he cannot state the precise date of his enlistment but knows it was in the year 1779 in the latter part of the Summer or first of the fall probably in september or october of that year. That Joseph Sanders [sic: Joseph Saunders] was his Lieutenant. That Robert Green was his Ensign. That Joseph Crocket [sic: Joseph Crockett] was his Col. But he thinks Crocket was only a Lieutenant Col. and Geo. R. Clark [George Rogers Clark] (afterwards Brigadier Gen. Clark) was the Col. Commandant. That they were called the Illinois Regiment."
According to Quisenberry's work, Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky, pages 15-21, many of the above named men, as cited in the pension application of Lewis Field, did indeed serve in the Illinois Regiment. On page 15, George Slaughter is cited as a major. On page 15, Benjamin Roberts is cited as a captain. On page 16, Joseph Crockett is cited as a Lieutenant-Colonel. George Rogers Clark was the "Colonel Commandant" of the Illinois Regiment but, in the Quisenberry work, page 15, he is cited as a Brigadier-General. The only two men cited in Lewis Field's pension application that are not cited in the range of the above cited pages in Quisenberry's work, Revolutionary Soldiers of Kentucky, are Joseph Sanders and Robert Green. But, both of them are cited in earlier pages of the same work. Earlier in work, pages 1-14, is an extensive section entitled, "List of Bounty Recipients". The men cited in this section of Quisenberry's work all received land bounties located in either Kentucky, Ohio or Indiana and are cited according to their ranks during the American Revolution. In this section of Quisenberry's work, both a "Joseph Saunders" is cited as a lieutenant on page 9 as well as a "Robert Greene" is also cited as a lieutenant on page 7. In his pension application, Lewis Field cited Robert Green as an ensign, a rank just below that of lieutenant. According to Lewis Field's pension application Robert Green is cited as an ensign in late 1779. The citation contained in Quisenberry's work, Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky, page 7, could easily have been recorded after Robert Greene received a promotion to lieutenant. At the conclusion of the above recorded statement drawn from his pension application, Lewis Field does identify the regiment in which he served as being the "Illinois Regiment".
(Note: The spelling of each man's name in Quisenberry's work, Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky, differs slightly from the spellings employed by Lewis Field - "Joseph Sanders" in Lewis Field's pension application is spelled as "Joseph Saunders" in Quisenberry's work. "Robert Green" in Lewis Field's pension application is spelled as "Robert Greene" in Quisenberry's work . In Field's pension application the spelling of Joseph Sander's name is corrected in an offset set of brackets. This is not the case with Robert Green's name. But, there is reasonable belief that the same individual is being referred to in Quisenberry's work, Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky, as in the "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413".)
Lewis Field is also cited in Quisenberry's work, Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky, along with the above men who are mentioned in Lewis Field's pension application. Lewis Field is referred to on page 18 of the work just mentioned. This section of Quisenberry's work is entitled "Crockett's Regiment" and begins on page 16 of the above cited work. Lewis Field is cited simply as "Field, Lewis (prisoner)". This indicates that the entry for Lewis Field was recorded after his capture by the Shawnee and their allies some time around June 6, 1780. This is the date of his capture given in the pension application of Lewis Field, "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413". The entry in Quisenberry's work, Revolutionary Soldiers in Kentucky, page 18, is cited under the heading of "Privates" which would indicate the rank held by Lewis Field while he was enlisted in the "Illinois Regiment".
Through the next two and one half years - from June 6, 1780, the date of his capture along Fourteen Mile Creek in Kentucky, until December 31, 1782, the date of his release from captivity at Dobbs Ferry , NY - Lewis Field would cover hundreds and hundreds of miles, moving mostly north and eastwards on foot, by canoe or pirogue, and by various British ships-of-war, to Detroit, Niagara, Montreal, Quebec and, ultimately New York City by prisoner transport ship. In the course of these travels and travails, and according to his account as recorded in his pension application, his life would be spared by the intervention of the famous Miami chief Little Turtle; he would be ransomed from his native captors by Major Arendt de Peyster, military governor of Detroit after the capture of Henry Hamilton by George Rogers Clark at Vincennes; he saw the "infamous" Simon Girty - white loyalist and terror of the Kentucky frontier; and he may well have encountered Guy Carleton, the British Governor of Canada. And, to crown it all, he witnessed the incidents off the Capes of the Delaware in which the frigate South Carolina, subject of this post and overall blog, was captured by the three British men-of-war on December 20, 1782. His captivity among first the native peoples and later by the British was truly epic in his journeys, experiences, and encounters as he moved towards his release back to the patriots at Dobbs Ferry, NY "...on the last day of December 1782..." According to his pension application, Lewis Fields concludes with the statement "...that having been taken prisoner he got no discharge and as such has no documentary evidence of his service except the records of his enlistment [he] presumes are on file. That he knows of no one by whom he can prove his service unless Col. Bland Ballard of Shelby County, Ky. should be still living whose testimony if it be had will in due time be forwarded..." That Lewis Field, a private in the "Illinois Regiment", should be captured and experience all that travel and meeting all the various personalities of the American Revolution that he met, and finish his active duty to his country with no physical record of his services rendered, is ultimately an irony of the greatest magnitude. But, the fact that his pension application number is preceded by an "S" designation indicates that his statements were accepted and he did indeed receive his requested pension from the country he had served and suffered for, the United States of America.
The second issue to investigate is Lewis Field's marital status during his life after the American Revolution. According to Harrison's work, The Family Forest Descendants of Lady Joan Beaufort, page 3394, Lewis Field did indeed marry and raised a family. According to the above cited work, he married Hannah Lewis in 1787. There was known to have been at least one child of this union - Mildred Field, birth date not recorded. The other pieces of information recorded in the Harrison work concerning Lewis Field is that he was born in either 1764 or 1765. He is recorded as having died in 1845. One, final piece of information refers back to his services during the American Revolution:
"He served in the American Revolution; the only Lewis Field who received a Revolutionary pension..."
This last statement corroborates with the fact that, according to the "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413", Lewis Field did indeed serve in the "Illinois Regiment" in the western theater of the American Revolution. Also, an examination of all the works referring to the pension applications received by all the veterans of the American Revolution indicates that there was indeed only one Lewis Field that received a pension from the government of the United States of America. In his pension application, Lewis Field does cite his birth date as "...4th of July 1763...", which is near enough to the date cited in Harrison's work, The Family Forest Descendants of Lady Joan Beaufort, to be acceptable. The very brief entry cited above must be referring to the same Lewis Field whom this post is addressing. The validity of this statement regarding the life of Lewis Field lends credence to the other statements also contained in this work by Harrison, particularly those regarding the birth date and death date of Lewis Field, his marriage to Hannah Lewis in 1787, and the single child of that union.
The third and final issues to investigate are the places of residence of Lewis Field after the end of the American Revolution until his death. According to his pension application, "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413", from the time of his liberation from British captivity on December 31, 1782 at Dobbs Ferry, NY, his movements were as follows:
"From Dobbs Ferry he went to Philadelphia & thence in Feb[ruary] 1783 he reached home in Culpepper County Va, where he remained until March 1784 when he emigrated to Kentucky and settled near Louisville where he resided until 1811 when he moved to Henry County Ky where he resided until about 1826 when he moved to Pope County Illinois where he resided until about 1834 when he moved to McCracken County Kentucky where he has resided ever since that part of Ballard County in which he resides at this time having been stricken from McCracken County..."
In this single, lengthy run-on sentence, Lewis Field sums up his places of residence for sixty years of his life since the conclusion of the American Revolution. This recitation of his many movements across the first West of the new American nation forms the last lengthy portion of his pension application. What follows is a brief statement concerning his length of time in service, the fact that he has no physical discharge but, how proof of it might be obtained, his birth date, his infirmities being the reason for him possibly having mixed up the proper dates, and a final statement that he feels all the information is close to correct. In other words, the concluding remarks of Lewis Field give us little insight into the later years if his life and the events that transpired in those years.
Proof of the claims made by Lewis Field in the later part of his pension application might be hard to prove except that the writer of this blog has located the census records and tax records of the state of Kentucky from 1800 to 1820. There is an earlier census from Kentucky by Charles B. Heinemann and entitled "First Census" of Kentucky, 1790, (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1981). In the portion of his pension application cited above, Lewis Field states that he moved to the area of Louisville in March 1784 and remained there until 1811. This would have placed him in Jefferson County, Kentucky during the census of 1790. He does indeed appear on the census rolls as residing in Jefferson County at this time. This information is all recorded in the second post concerning Lewis Field entitled "A Completely Different, and Chance, Perspective...Lewis Field", Pt.II - Additional Information on Lewis Field, Kentuckian" and dated "08/31/2015". Now, with the acquisition of the later census rolls and tax records, a more complete picture of the movements of Lewis Field is formed.
According to Clift's work, "Second Census" of Kentucky, 1800, page v, "tax records...like census records, ...have the distinction of placing people in a particular location at a definite time and identifying them in relation to their households and property." On page 97 of this above cited work appears the following information:
Name - Lewis Field
County of Residence - Jefferson County, KY
Tax List Date - 09/03/1800
This can be interpreted as evidence that on September 3, 1800, Lewis Field resided in Jefferson County, KY.
According to Wagstaff's work, Index to the 1810 Census of Kentucky, page 68, the following information concerning Lewis Field appears:
Name - Lewis Fields
County of Residence - Jefferson County, KY
Tax List Date - 08/06/1810
This can be interpreted as evidence that on August 6, 1810, Lewis Field still resided in Jefferson County, KY.
(Note: In the "Census of 1800", Lewis Field is cited as exactly that - Lewis Field. But, in the "Census of 1810", Lewis Field is cited as "Lewis Fields". There are numerous individuals who are cited as "Field" but, none of them have the same first name of "Lewis". But, many of the individuals cited as "Field" in the "Census of 1800" are cited as "Fields" in the "Census of 1810". This can be discerned from the unusual nature of their first names, biblical in origin - Abraham, Ezekiel and Abner. Many of these appear as "Field" in the "Census of 1800" and as "Fields" in the "Census of 1810". Thus, the writer of this blog feels that the same individual is being referred to in both of these cases - Lewis Field.)
(Note: According to Field's website, "Lucie's Genealogy: Field family - Virginia Branch, 1635-2010", pages 1-4, there is another reason for the names of Abraham, Ezekiel, Abner and Lewis all being associated together - they are all brothers. All of these men were older siblings and issue of the marriage between John Field and Ann Rogers Clark, who is not a sister of George Rogers Clark, a position that others have held. Evidently, all of the older siblings moved to Kentucky to take up lands awarded to the heirs of Colonel John Field as a result of his death at the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774.)
According to Felldin and Inman's work, Index to the 1820 Census of Kentucky, page 94, the following information concerning Lewis Field appears:
Name - Lewis Fields
County of Residence - Jefferson
Tax List Date - not designated
Name - Lewis Fields
County of Residence - Henry
Tax List Date - not designated
There are obviously two Lewis Fields's that are being referred to here. According to the pension application of Lewis Field, "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413", after 1811, he had removed from Jefferson County to Henry County, where he would reside until some point around 1826. The writer of this blog believes that the reason for two men being cited by the same name is that by this time in Kentucky history, the later mentioned Lewis Fields is probably the individual in question in this post while the former mentioned Lewis Fields is most probably a son of the later Lewis Fields who had settled in Jefferson County and remained there when his father had removed to Henry County. Another possibility is that these are citations for the same man who owns property in both counties and had to pay taxes in two different counties.
There are two "unusual occurrences" in the existing records concerning the life of Lewis Field after the cessation of hostilities in the American Revolution. First, through out the entire text of his pension application, Lewis Field never once mentions a wife or any children as belonging to him. But, in Davies's work, "Jefferson, KY 1810 Federal Census", page 22, evidence is given that this might not have been the case for Lewis Field. In this particular census, each entry is organized into a chart that is divided into age groups according to free white males, free white females and slaves. The following information is presented here in list form for Lewis Fields:
Free White Males -
0 to 10 - 2
10 to 16 - 2
16 to 26 - 1
26 to 45 - 0
45 and up - 1
Free White Females -
0 to 10 - 1
10 to 16 - 1
16 to 26 - 1
26 to 45 - 1
45 and up - 0
Slaves - 4
The oldest male and the oldest female cited in this list are most likely Lewis Field and Hannah Lewis Field, husband and wife of the Field household. Lewis Field cited his birth date as being "July 4, 1763", which would make him forty-seven years old in 1810. There is no record found as yet that states the birth date of Hannah Lewis Field but, we can assume that she is the female cited in the list as being between 26 years of age and 45 years of age. If this is correct information given here, then they had eight children at the time of the Census of 1810 - five sons and three daughters. They also owned four slaves. This appears to be a well established and thriving household in Jefferson County, KY in 1810. Also, it appears that it somewhat prosperous in that they owned four slaves. Slave-owning was never a cheap proposition and to own that number of slaves could indicate that the Field household owned more land than they could farm themselves and thus needed assistance in maintaining their property and making it productive.
(Note: According to Davies's work, "Jefferson, KY 1810 Federal Census", the proper spelling of Lewis Field's name is Lewis Fields. There are no other Field or Fields cited in the entire census record, except Abner Fields, who is most probably the older brother of Lewis Field. In 1810, Abner Field would have been fifty-eight years old. He would die in Jefferson County, KY in 1831. Again, it seems that at this point in American history, strict attention was not paid to consistent spelling of last names. Thus, "Field" could easily be spelled as "Fields" and vice a versa. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that this is the Lewis Field who is the main topic of this post. According to his pension application, Lewis Field resided in Jefferson County, KY in 1810 and he appears as well in the "Census of 1790" and the "Census of 1800", both times citing Jefferson County, KY as his county of residence.)
Normally, in a pension application, if an individual felt the need to emphasize his need for assistance from the government, he would stress the number of children he and his wife, had, their physical ages or conditions, and any impediment or impairment that they might possess. Again, this is to make their plea for assistance a bit more convincing. All the Lewis Field cites in his pension application is his exact age in the initial paragraph of his pension application, "...aged eighty years and about ten months..." and in the final paragraph of his pension application, he briefly cited "...that by reason of the infirmity of old age he cannot now state times and dates positively...", citing his old age as the deciding factor in his lack of memory. Nowhere does he ever make a reference to nor give any evidence of being married or having any children. Yet, according to Harrison's work, The Family Forest Descendants, page 3394, Lewis Field married Hannah Lewis in 1787 and they had at least one child, Mildred. Also, in Davie's work, "Jefferson, KY 1810 Federal Census", page 22, Lewis Field is cited as having eight children and must have owned property enough to warrant him having four slaves.
(Note: The only other documentary evidence of property belonging to Lewis Field that this blog writer is aware of, is found in Ford's work, Early Kentucky Tax Records, page 88, and is brief in nature. This citation is contained in a section of Ford's work, Early Kentucky Tax Records, entitled "A List of Taxable Property Within the District of John Churchill, Commissioner, in the County of Jefferson for the Year 1789". The information on Lewis Field is as follows:
Person's Name Chargeable with the Tax - Lewis Field
Number of White Males Above 21 - 0
Number of White Males Between 16 and 21 - 0
Blacks Above 16 - 0
Blacks Above 12 - 0
Horse and Cattle - 1
According to the pension application of Lewis Field, "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413", after remaining in Culpeper County, VA for a year after his release from British captivity, Lewis Field removed to Kentucky in 1784 and settled in the area of Louisville, KY in Jefferson County. He remained there until 1811. According to Harrison's work, The Family Forest Descendants, page 3394, he married Hannah Lewis in 1787 and they had a daughter, Mildred. Comparing the previous two sources for dates and locations, one arrives at the understanding the Lewis Field married Hannah Lewis after he had removed to Jefferson County, KY and most probably married her in Kentucky. If one refers to the tax record cited above, only white males over 16 years of age and African-Americans (presumably slaves) over 12 years of age were documented, along with the number of horses and cattle owned by the individual tax payer. The presence of a wife and a white female child did not figure into the tax record at all. Thus, Mildred would not even figure into the tax record, no matter what her age at the time of the compilation of the tax record. Since the "List of Taxable Property..." was compiled in 1789, Lewis Field and Hannah Lewis Field had been married for about two years. They owned either a horse or a cow. The tax record does not define which one, horse or cow. At the time of the compilation of the "List of Taxable Property..." in 1789, Lewis Field was twenty-six years old.)
The second "unusual occurrence" regarding the post-Revolutionary War life of Lewis Field is the location of his burial place. Obviously, by there existing this "unusual occurrence" in regards to his burial place, then the actual burial plot of Lewis Field is unknown. Again, obviously, it is indicated that Lewis Field applied in person for his pension application. The first, and most obvious indication, is that the opening sentence of the pension application states this fact - "On the 2nd day of May Personally appeared in open Court Lewis Field before me S. W. Upshaw now sitting in open Court..." The second indication is that the pension application's number is prefaced with an "S" which means that it was awarded to a survivor of the American Revolution rather than a widow of a veteran in which case the pension application is prefaced with a "W" at the beginning of the actual number. Both of these stated realities indicate that Lewis Field was alive at the time of his pension application being awarded to him and thus his pension application has no reference to the location of his burial plot.
(Note: As indicated previously, a pension application prefaced with an "R" indicates that the pension application was rejected by the legislative committee that investigated the claims that were made by the veteran. The prefaces of "S", "W" and "R" are the only three letters utilized as prefaces on pension applications of veterans of the American Revolution.)
None of the other sources cited at the beginning of this post refer to the death and burial spot of Lewis Field, except one, and one that is possibly questionable. This is the Eugene and Lucie Field article, "John Field (1726-1774) & Anna Rogers Clark Culpeper County Virginia" and constitutes a family history of John and Anna Field and their children. According to page 3 of this article, their tenth child was Lewis Field who is cited in the article as being "...born 1764 in St. Mark's Parish, Culpeper County, Virginia..." This is more than likely the Lewis Field who is the subject of this post and whose birth date is variously given in different sources cited in this post as 1763, 1764, or 1765. This article also reiterates that Lewis Field married Hannah Lewis in 1787. But, in a fragmentary sentence it also states Lewis Field "...died 1845 in Pope County, Illinois..." According to Harrison's work, The Family Forest Descendants, page 3394, this same death year - 1845 - is cited for Lewis Field but, no death locale is provided. Lewis Field's pension application, "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413" states that, in a long list of movements across Kentucky, he resided in Henry County, KY "...until about 1826 when he moved to Pope County Illinois where he resided until about 1834..." Pope County, IL does indeed have a connection in the life of Lewis Field because he resided there for around eight years of his adult life before returning to Kentucky. This is the sole reference to Pope County, IL having a connection to the life of Lewis Field that the writer of this blog has encountered. But, it is also the only reference to the death of Lewis Field that the writer of this blog has encountered until now. It would appear to the writer of this blog that Lewis Field had made his life after the conclusion of the American Revolution in Kentucky. He moved every several years but, always within Kentucky, except for the period of time between 1826 and 1834, when he resided in Pope County, IL. After his residence in Pope County, IL, Lewis Field returned to Kentucky and settled in McCracken County, KY in the extreme western portion of Kentucky. When he personally appeared "...before me S. W. Upshaw now sitting in open Court..." he was a resident of Ballard County, KY because "...that part of Ballard Count in which he resides at this time having been stricken from McCracken County [,KY]..." Thus, this final move of residence occurred due to the subdivision of the county in which he lived at the time rather than another physical relocation as all the previous relocations had been. He would seem to have developed an affinity or love for Kentucky as proven by his return there in his final movement cited in his pension application. It would thus seem appropriate to be buried in his adopted state to which he removed after the end of the American Revolution "...until March 1784 when he emigrated to Kentucky..." He applied for his pension application on "...this 2nd day of May 1844..." and, according to Field's article, "John Field...& Anna Rogers Clark...", page 3, as well as Harrison's work, The Family Forest Descendants, page 3394, was dead by some time in 1845. Thus, he lived on for about one year after his pension application was granted to him before he died.
In geographic terms, Ballard County, KY and Pope County, IL are not that far apart with Ballard County, KY being the western most county of Kentucky and having the Mississippi River as its western boundary. Pope County, IL is diagonally northeast from Ballard County, KY with the centers of the two counties being about forty miles apart. It might be that Lewis Field, in his late years, decided to move closer to certain family members living in Pope County, IL and later died and is buried in Pope County, IL. Also, he may well have died in Pope County, IL, surrounded by family members who then brought his body back to Ballard County, KY for burial there. Only further research might possibly locate the actual burial place of this true American patriot who left his own mark on the first American West.
Lewis Field...an incredible life containing an incredible journey. Just during the course of the American Revolution, Lewis Field moved westward with the Illinois Regiment into Kentucky, was captured by native peoples and taken to Detroit, then marched to Niagara and then further to Montreal. Later, he was taken by ship to Quebec and finally to Dobbs Ferry, NY where he and his fellow captives were released back to the patriots. But, his journeys did not end with his return to his home in Culpeper County, VA. Less than a year after his return, he moved to Kentucky and within Kentucky relocated several times, covering the east-west extent of the state. He even spent several years in Illinois, just north of the Ohio River. He appeared before Judge S.W. Upshaw on May 2, 1844 at the age of almost eighty-one years old to apply for assistance from the government of the country he had fought for and helped create. He had traveled so very, very far and seen so very, very much in that long and eventful life that he had lived to the fullest. Yet, in his pension application, filed about a year before his death in 1845, he remembered and documented that blustery winter day of December 20, 1782, sixty-two years earlier, when off the Capes of the Delaware he had witnessed the capture of the frigate South Carolina.
Well, so much for a brief post...