Captain Thomas West

Virginia Revolutionary War State Pensions

Murphy, Martin - File 302

Spotsylvania County Court records Apr 1787 signed by John Chew, Jr. Deposition 1 May 1786 by Dr. W. Foushee that Martin Murphy, about 30 years of age, says that in 1776 he enlisted under Capt. Thomas West of Loudoun County, that he continued in service until the Battle at the Waxsaws when he then acted as a Sergeant under Capt. Thomas Howard who was commanded by Col. Buford, in which battle he received the wounds. Certificates authorizing pension approved by the Executive 1 May 1786. Receipts to Thomas Towles signed by Martin Murphy, witnessed by Wm. Drummond and John Pollock. Warrant endorsement by Jno. Hopkins. Henrico County Court records 1788 to 1789 signed by Adam Craig. Receipts to Samuel Mosby signed by Murphy, and witnessed by W. Reynolds and Julius Ewing.[Page 87]

http://vagensearch.com/AmericanRevolution/ContinentalSoldiers.html

Capt Thomas West of Loudon County is probably one of our relatives. We know we had a strong West line dating back to 1600's in Virginia and possibly the 1300's in England. We are still trying to sort out the West line.

Have found out he is my 6th great uncle - June 22, 2016.

The Kelley line opens up!

I got this from a fellow researcher, so it all still needs to be verified, but a fun story!

Benjamin Herndon Kelley

Okay, Kristina, thank you for the clarification. Then, Benjamin Herndon Kelley was the ggg grandfather of us both.

Norval H. Kelley had nine brothers. Of the ten sons of Benjamin Herndon Kelley, five served in the Civil War. Not all of them survived the conflict. One survived only to be killed very shortly after his discharge, by bushwackers. The ones who served were: Owen H., Thomas Allen, William Grant, Alfred C., and Jasper Newton. The one who was bushwacked was Owen H.

All of the ten sons of Benjamin Herndon Kelley were over six feet tall, and all ten sons weighed over 200 pounds. Perhaps the daughters were a bit smaller? That would have been quite a family in those days!

Benjamin Herndon was a reverend in a line of Baptist preachers. His brother, David Jerrel was also a reverend. There were at least four generations of Baptist preachers in DJK's line.

Benjamin Herndon Kelley was born in Virginia, 28 Oct 1795. All of his thirteen children were born in Kentucky. Benjamin Herndon lived in Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Kansas, and Missouri. His last known record was 1870 in Missouri. No one seems to know any more, where he is buried.

(This is from Wikipedia, both the text and picture) I am assuming that "Bloody Bill Anderson (pictured) is not a relative, but I needed to find a definition of bushwacked to make sure I understood tomorrow's post.

Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there are large areas of contested land and few Governmental Resources to control these tracts. This was particularly prevalent in rural areas during the Civil War where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers.

Bushwhackers were generally part of the irregular military forces on both sides. While bushwhackers conducted a few well-organized raids in which they burned cities, most of the attacks involved ambushes of individuals or families in rural areas. In areas affected by bushwhacking the actions were particularly insidious since it amounted to a fight of neighbor against neighbor. Since the attacks were non-uniformed, the government response was complicated by trying to decide whether they were legitimate military attacks or criminal actions.