Joel Gibson is my 6x Great-Grandfather and someone I write about most frequently. I probably know about his military service more so than any other ancestor in my tree. He certainly isn't my only veteran ancestor... certainly not the only one who served in the Revolutionary War but, again, I know the most about his service.
That's mostly due to there being a good record within the Henderson County courts of when Joel applied for his Revolutionary War pension and he detailed his service record for them which has been transcribed by many people over the years.
It reads:
On the 26th day of July, 1824, personally appeared in open court, in the County of Henderson at the courthouse in Henderson in the Commonwealth of aforesaid, and on the day aforesaid, Joel Gibson aged seventy five years, resident in the County of Henderson, and district of Kentucky, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath declare that he served in the Revolutionary War as follows.
He entered as a private soldier and left it with an honorable discharge. He served in the First North Carolina Regiment commanded by Colonel James Moore, and in Captain Henry Dixon's company, and of the continental line; and I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not since that time by gift, sale, or in any manner disposed of my property or any part thereof so to diminish it as to come within the provision of an act of Congress entitled "an act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary war" passed on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me any property, or securities, or debts due to me, nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed and by me subscribed and I do swear that I have no property, neither real, nor personal, that my occupation is the cultivation of the soil, and my age and infirmities prevent my being useful in the cultivation of the soil, that the number of my family is nine, myself being obliged to depend on my son, Bailey Gibson, for support.
Signed, Joel Gibson (X) his mark
On this 25th day of April, 1825, personally appeared in open court, the County Court for said County of Henderson being a court of record, and made so by the laws of the aforesaid state of Kentucky, which created it, Joel Gibson, resident in said County aged seventy five years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the provision made by the acts of the Congress on the 18th March 1818, and the 1st of May 1820, the he, the said Joel Gibson, enlisted for the term of six months in the year (say 1775), or when hostilities commenced in North Carolina, the date of enlisting, and also of discharge not recollected, papers being lost by fire in the state of North Carolina, in the company commanded by Captain Henry Dixon in the regiment commanded by Colonel James Moore in the line of the State of North Carolina on the North Carolina continental establishment. That he continued to serve in the said Corps until (as above) when he was discharged from the service in Wilmington in the State of North Carolina.
That he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension except the present, that his name is not on the roll of any state, except North Carolina; and that the following are the reasons for not making earlier application: his being totally unlettered, neither able to read or write, and failing for two years, after strenuous application to get any one to undertake it for him; that he also served three months at the siege of Ninety Six (in South Carolina, May 22nd, - June 19th, 1781) with a forage wagon, under General McCastle, wagon master General, and in pursuance of the act of the 1st of May 1820, I do solemnly swear, that I was a resident Citizen of the United States on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not since that time by gift, sale, or in any manner disposed of my property, or any part therefore, with intent thereby so to diminish it, as to bring myself within the provisions of an act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary War" passed on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me any property or securities, contracts, or debts due to me, nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed, and by me subscribed; that my occupation has been the tiling of ground, but through old age and bodily infirmities, I have been rendered totally incapable of following agricultural pursuits; that I have no wife, and my children being all married and gone from me, am obliged to depend for support on my son, Bailey Gibson, who has a numerous family of small children to support that since the 18th of March 1818, no change has been made in my property.
Schedule of Joel's property: Three pewter plates and perhaps some old knives and forks.
Joel Gibson (X) His mark.
That's mostly due to there being a good record within the Henderson County courts of when Joel applied for his Revolutionary War pension and he detailed his service record for them which has been transcribed by many people over the years.
It reads:
On the 26th day of July, 1824, personally appeared in open court, in the County of Henderson at the courthouse in Henderson in the Commonwealth of aforesaid, and on the day aforesaid, Joel Gibson aged seventy five years, resident in the County of Henderson, and district of Kentucky, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath declare that he served in the Revolutionary War as follows.
He entered as a private soldier and left it with an honorable discharge. He served in the First North Carolina Regiment commanded by Colonel James Moore, and in Captain Henry Dixon's company, and of the continental line; and I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not since that time by gift, sale, or in any manner disposed of my property or any part thereof so to diminish it as to come within the provision of an act of Congress entitled "an act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary war" passed on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me any property, or securities, or debts due to me, nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed and by me subscribed and I do swear that I have no property, neither real, nor personal, that my occupation is the cultivation of the soil, and my age and infirmities prevent my being useful in the cultivation of the soil, that the number of my family is nine, myself being obliged to depend on my son, Bailey Gibson, for support.
Signed, Joel Gibson (X) his mark
On this 25th day of April, 1825, personally appeared in open court, the County Court for said County of Henderson being a court of record, and made so by the laws of the aforesaid state of Kentucky, which created it, Joel Gibson, resident in said County aged seventy five years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the provision made by the acts of the Congress on the 18th March 1818, and the 1st of May 1820, the he, the said Joel Gibson, enlisted for the term of six months in the year (say 1775), or when hostilities commenced in North Carolina, the date of enlisting, and also of discharge not recollected, papers being lost by fire in the state of North Carolina, in the company commanded by Captain Henry Dixon in the regiment commanded by Colonel James Moore in the line of the State of North Carolina on the North Carolina continental establishment. That he continued to serve in the said Corps until (as above) when he was discharged from the service in Wilmington in the State of North Carolina.
That he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension except the present, that his name is not on the roll of any state, except North Carolina; and that the following are the reasons for not making earlier application: his being totally unlettered, neither able to read or write, and failing for two years, after strenuous application to get any one to undertake it for him; that he also served three months at the siege of Ninety Six (in South Carolina, May 22nd, - June 19th, 1781) with a forage wagon, under General McCastle, wagon master General, and in pursuance of the act of the 1st of May 1820, I do solemnly swear, that I was a resident Citizen of the United States on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not since that time by gift, sale, or in any manner disposed of my property, or any part therefore, with intent thereby so to diminish it, as to bring myself within the provisions of an act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary War" passed on the 18th day of March 1818, and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me any property or securities, contracts, or debts due to me, nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed, and by me subscribed; that my occupation has been the tiling of ground, but through old age and bodily infirmities, I have been rendered totally incapable of following agricultural pursuits; that I have no wife, and my children being all married and gone from me, am obliged to depend for support on my son, Bailey Gibson, who has a numerous family of small children to support that since the 18th of March 1818, no change has been made in my property.
Schedule of Joel's property: Three pewter plates and perhaps some old knives and forks.
Joel Gibson (X) His mark.
It is most interesting to note that General Henry Dixon's family ended up coming to Henderson County, Kentucky, as well. His son, Wynne Dixon, married Rebecca Hart -- and they were parents of Archibald Dixon, who became a Senator of Kentucky. Their other son, Henry Dixon, married Mary Johnston and then Rhoda Hart and they have many living descendants here in Henderson County, KY, today. It's also interesting to note that Rebecca Hart was a niece of famous Benjamin Hart and Nancy (Morgan) Hart, and Rhoda Hart was their granddaughter.
Here in Henderson we have a monument dedicated to our Revolutionary War ancestors and it's on the corner of 1st and Main St beside our courthouse. I'll share some photographs of the names on the stone.
This is the back of the stone that reads the names of Lt. Turner Anderson, Joseph Cabell Jr, Abraham Hatchett, Nancy (Morgan) Hart, Capt. Blackman Moseley Sr, John Hart, Lewis Rouse, Lt. John Harrison, Dr. Joseph Savage, Srgt. John Hughes, Capt. Obadiah Smith, Thomas Smith Sr, and Srgt. William Walker Jr.
This is the side of the monument which reads, Lt. Col. Charles V. Clay, Thomas Baker, Edward Baldwin, Jacob Barnett, Michael Book, William Brown, Joseph Butler, Maston Clay, James M. Edwards, William Frazier, Taliaferro Grigsby, Peter H. Mathews, John Moss, John Ramsey, Michael Sprinkle, Josiah Stone, George A. Sugg, Jacob Upp, and Samuel Williams.
This is not the best photograph of the front (taken from Google), I need to get downtown and get a new photo of the front (because I can't find mine) but the names read: General Samuel Hopkins, Col. Wynn Dixon, Col. Nathaniel Powell, Col. John Cannon, Col. William Marshall, Col. Gabriel Green, Capt. John Furna Cannon, Major John Holloway, Isham Sellers, John Martin, Edward Davis Bennett, and Joel Gibson.
The way I understand it -- Henderson has a rich history of Revolutionary War soldiers coming here probably partly because of the town being founded by General Samuel Hopkins (word of mouth, ya know?) and partly because of land grants given to the soldiers after the war. That's what I've always been told, at least. It's really not a far cry to say that our town truly was founded by Revolutionary War veterans -- but then again, pretty much every able bodied man from probably 15 or 16 years of age through upwards of 60 fought for their country if they had the chance back then. That's why a lot of us who've done our family tree back that far -- we've found sometimes upwards of 20 to 30 ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War alone. Some of these men, if they were young enough and served in the Rev. War, then they served a few decades later during the War of 1812.
In a future blog - I might take you through the genealogy/family history of each man listed on this Revolutionary War monument because I'm pretty sure I've got at least 90% of them in my Ancestry tree currently. Each one of them still have descendants alive and well in this town -- even if they don't know it!
It's fascinating to think these men have descendants that pass by this monument every single day and they have no idea that their Great-Great-Great some-odd Grandpa is listed on it. That's why I feel like Henderson's rich history should be taught in our schools... so many Powell's, Dixon's, Gibson's, Hughes', Holloway's, Sellers', Hart's, etc... they don't know their family legacy and it makes me so sad...and so upset.
Let me promise you, Joel... I certainly will never forget you or let you be forgotten!
It's fascinating to think these men have descendants that pass by this monument every single day and they have no idea that their Great-Great-Great some-odd Grandpa is listed on it. That's why I feel like Henderson's rich history should be taught in our schools... so many Powell's, Dixon's, Gibson's, Hughes', Holloway's, Sellers', Hart's, etc... they don't know their family legacy and it makes me so sad...and so upset.
Let me promise you, Joel... I certainly will never forget you or let you be forgotten!
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