There is a “Patriot” in my husband’s
family tree! Men who served in the Revolutionary are referred to as Patriots.
John Ferguson was the second child
born to William Ferguson and Elizabeth LeMaster in 1754. They lived in Poquoson,
York, Virginia. About 1769, John and his parents settled at Hick’s Ford in
Meherrin Parish.
John married Hannah Barrow about
1774-1775 in Brunswick, Virginia and in 1776, John bought 166 acres from Hannah’s
father, William Barrow.
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| Battle of Monmouth, 28 June 1778 photo credit Revolvy.com |
John joined the Continental Army and
in 1778 and 1779 served under Captain Harry Dudley in the 2nd
Virginia State Regiment.[i]
He was in the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778 under Major General George
Washington.
Perhaps it was this event that prompted John and Hannah to sell their
land on 22 October 1779 and move to Kerby’s Creek in Guilford County, North
Carolina. They eventually received a Patent of 166 acres from the State of
North Carolina.[ii]
John and Hanna’s plantation was next to that of her brother Moses Barrow. About
that time Hannah’s parents and siblings all moved to Guilford County, North
Carolina. By now John and Hannah were the parents of three daughters, Mary,
Martha, and Rebecca as well as a son, William.
By 1795, John and Hannah were the
parents of 12 children as mentioned by Hannah’s brother David Barrow in his diary.
“(Aug) 19th. Wednesday.
Agreeable weather. My brother-in-law came home in the afternoon. They are blessed
with twelve children: Mary, Martha, Rebecca, William, David, Nathan, John,
Elisabeth, Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah, and Moses. After an exhortation and prayer
to and for them all, we went to my father’s in the evening.”[iii]
Possibly David Barrow’s reports of
the lands across the Ohio River motivated John to move his family to the Ohio
Territory and the area that would eventually become the State of Indiana.
After the family moved to Indiana,
Hannah was never mentioned, and she is reported to have probably died in North
Carolina about 1811 or possibly in Kentucky on the way to Indiana. There is no
record of her death or burial.
John and some of his family members settled
in Boone County, Indiana where in 1828 he married Bethena Deacons and had two
more children Jonathan J born in 1829 and Bethany born in 1831.
John Ferguson died in Boone County on
14 Feb 1842 and is buried in Cox Cemetery.
His son Benjamin, my husband’s 4th
great-grandfather moved to Jasper County, Illinois before 1850, where the
family farming tradition continued for several more generations.
[i] "United
States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images,
FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-4NQW : 15 March
2018), John Ferguson, Oct 1778; citing Oct 1778, Virginia, United States,
citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and
Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,375.
[ii]
Rockingham County Deed Book C, 1790; pg 189, at Wentworth, NC
[iii]
Reverend David Barrow’s Diary, May to September 1795
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