Happy St Patrick’s Day!
For some reason I always
thought that I had Irish ancestors. Then….I received my DNA profile and that all changed. I seem
to have very little Irish DNA. I have 2,789 people in my tree of which six have Ireland as their birth or marriage place. Of those six I’m not even related to four!
So...two out of 2,789 people… not
much Irish blood in these veins! I’m not sure why I thought I had Irish
ancestors (I do enjoy green beer) but what is most likely true is that a good
bit of my heritage is Scots-Irish also known as the Ulster Scots. This
assumption fits what I know about my family and my DNA profile. From what
I have read a large number of Ulster Scots began to arrive in America around
1717-1718. Most were Presbyterian and many fought in the Revolutionary War. The
majority of these immigrants eventually settled in the Appalachian Mountains. This
is not the topic I wanted to write about today. I guess I just wanted a reason
to say ‘Kiss me I’m 2% Irish’
Anyway....
What I wanted to write
about is my Revolutionary War Patriots. My brother now lives near Saratoga
Springs NY and my plan for today was to begin to look for ancestors that fought
in the Battle of Saratoga. I have
researched a few of my patriots but I don’t think that I have seen the Battle
of Saratoga mentioned. The first thing I did this morning was use the filter
feature in my Family Tree Maker software to get a list of possible patriots.
Direct male ancestors born between the years 1726-1762 gave me a list of 35
possible patriots. Some I have already identified:
Bland
Ballard
Patrick
Board
Henry
Flesher
Abednego
Hodges
James
McDade
Charles
Parsons
Elisha
Pendell
Edward
Richards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PATRICK BOARD is my
patriot ancestor for my DAR membership.
- Living in Berkley County VA (now WV) when he enlisted early in the Revolution
- Private in Captain Dark’s Virginia Company
- Taken prisoner on Long Island but escaped that same night and joined a company of NJ regulars commanded by Captain John Henry
- Reenlisted in 1781 and served 9 months in Captain Morgan’s Virginia Company
- Battle of Paoli
- Battle of Chestnut Hill
- Was at the capture of Lord Cornwallis
JAMES MCDADE
- Living in Hampshire County VA (now WV) when he enlisted spring 1777 he served 3 years and discharged at Philadelphia
- Served under Captain William Vause and Colonel Wood
- Was at Valley Forge while serving with Vause *
- Enlisted again for 18 months as a substitute for Uriah Gandy and was discharged at Salisbury NC
- Served under Captain David Williams and Colonel Campbell
- Battle of Brandywine
- Battle at Germantown
- Battle at Monmouth
- Battle at Camden (sustained a gunshot wound of the ankle)
- Battle at Eutaw Springs (sustained a bayonet wound through his body and a sword wound of the wrist)
- Engaged in several skirmishes
*Side note about Valley
Forge: James McDade was serving with the 12th VA Regiment. Valley Forge
Muster Roll website says that the 12th VA had 495 assigned when they entered
Valley Forge but on 164 fit for duty. James McDade was in the hospital on the
muster rolls for Jan 1778, Mar 1778, Apr 1778. This is a great website and
worth visiting! Valley Forge Legacy
To be continued......
