4 July~Independence Day 2022

When our land is illumined with Liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile
The flag of her stars and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained, who our birthright have gained,
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

In Remembrance

of our Ancestors who fought 

for 

our Liberty and Independence.

Thomas Davis

b. 22 Mar 1760 – d. 20 March 1845

4th Great Grandfather

DAR & SAR Proven

That he entered the service of the United States under the officers named & served as stated in the following account. That he was drafted a short time before Christmas in the year __ & served as a Private under Captain Morris Murphy [Maurice Murphy] & Maj. Robert Lloyd [sic, Robert Lide], that he does not recollect the Regiment to which he belonged;1 that he was marched to a place called the "Long Bluff” on Pee Dee River [Pedee River] in the State aforesaid from there to Sewee Bay from there to Haderal's Point [sic, Haddrell's Point] & from there to James Island near Charleston from which place he returned home having served in this tour nine weeks. That he was again drafted & marched as a private under Capt. John DeWitt [John Dewitt] & Col. George Hicks to Cheraw in the District & State aforesaid where he remained one month & returned home. That he was again drafted as a private & then on this 8th day of February (year not recollected) he marched under Capt. Ellerbe [sic, Thomas Ellerbee] & Col. George Hicks crossed Black River at Benbows [sic, Benbow's Ferry?] & crossed Santee [River] at Lanud Ferry [sic, Lenud's Ferry] & proceeded to Charleston - that he was in Charleston at the time it was taken by the British under Clinton where he was taken prisoner on the 11th day of May after his March & was discharged on parole on the 19 of the same month having served this tour up to this time he was taken prisoner three months & four days.2 That he served two tours, of two weeks each, as one of a scouting party. That he was again drafted & marched as a private under Capt. William Preswood [sic, William Prestwood] to McCord's Ferry on the Congaree River in the State aforesaid where Col. Washington [William Washington] took command - That he returned home from McCord's Ferry having served this tour one month & remained at home two months. That he was drafted again & served as a private under Capt. Benton & Maj. Tristram Thomas for one month. That he never received a discharge. He hereby relinquishes every claim to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State. Sworn to in open Court the day & year above written.

S/ Richard Gantt                                                         s/ Thomas Davis, X his mark

Charles Dry

b. 1730 – d. bef 16 Oct 1797

5th Great Grandfather

DAR & SAR Proven

Patriotic Service during Revolutionary War - TOOK OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO MAKE LAND ENTRY, MECKLENBURG
CO, 1778.

Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1777

III. And be it also Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That every Person

-------------------- page 44 --------------------

except a Guardian who shall claim for an Orphan Child, and except Persons absent in the Service of this State, or the United States, before he shall enter a Claim for any of the Lands aforesaid, shall take and subscribe the Oath, or Affirmation, of Allegiance and Abjuration, prescribed by the Law of this State, which Oath the Entry Officer is hereby impowered and required to administer; and every Person claiming shall also, before he shall be entitled to enter a Claim for any of said Lands, pay into the Hands of the Entry Taker at the Rate of Two Pounds Ten Shillings for every Hundred Acres, together with the Fees, which shall be by this Act made lawful. Provided, That where any Person shall claim a greater Quantity of Lands aforesaid than Six Hundred and Forty Acres for Himself, and one Hundred Acres for his Wife and each of his children, including all that such Persons may have claimed in one or more Tracts or Surveys under this Act, within Twelve Months from the End of this present Session of Assembly, shall pay for every Hundred Acres exceeding the Quantity aforesaid Five Pounds, and so in Proportion.

Frederick F. Rivers, Sr.

b. bef 1754- d. aft 1820

5th Great Grandfather

REVOLUTIONARY WAR:  SOURCE- "American Revolution Roster, Fort Sullivan (Later Fort Moultrie) 1776-1780, Battle of Fort Sullivan, Events Leading to First Decisive Victory" Published by Fort Sullivan Chapter Daughter of the American Revolution, Book # US/CAN 975.7915, M2d, Page 270. RIVERS, FREDERICK -- YB; AA-6452; PI (1740-20 Feb 1820) SC Mil (Cheraw District); at fall of Charleston in 1780;
The YB above is a source reference. Page 74 shows Key to Sources. YB says "Charleston, S.C., YEARBOOK OF THE CITY OF CHARLESTON (Charleston, 1897), pp. 401-408, Gen. Benjamin Lincoln Papers in Thomas Addis Emmet Collection, New York Public Library, including petitions from the country militia at Charleston in May 1780 urging the surrender of the city." PI is the Daughters of American Revolution, PATRIOT INDEX, and AA-6452 is South Carolina Archives; Revolutionary War Audited Accounts.

Enlisted in Marion's Brigade, Benton's Regiment in 1782 at Cheraw (Revolutionary War). Surrender at Charleston and held prisoner for a while. Frederick Rivers Sr. was born near Chesterfield SC and was a farmer. He received grants of land 1784 -1787 for 200, 1000, and 227 acres lying on Abrams Creek. He enlisted (1782) in Cheraw SC in Marion's Brigade, Benton's Regiment. He may have seen action at Black Creek, the ferry on Georgetown/Cheraw Road, and Society Hill. He was held prisoner by the British in Charleston at the end of the war. [History of the Old Cheraws, page 412]

[Note] I need a document proving that Hulda Rivers, b. 13 October 1816 is the daughter of William Rivers and his wife Elizabeth “Betsy” Rivers to get Frederick Rivers accepted as my Revolutionary War Patriot. Any help greatly appreciated. 

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[1] Flag Image Courtesy of https://pixabay.com/.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner; a fifth stanza added to the song in 1861

[3] Thomas Davis, W8655, My thanks to Will Graves for the use of his transcribed Revolutionary War Record of Thomas Davis. https://revwarapps.org/w8655.pdf

[4] Charles Dry - https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr24-0002

[5] Frederick Rivers--Right Rev. Alexander Gregg D.D., History of the Old Cheraws (Columbia, South Carolina: The State Company, 1925), page 412.