In all, the six volumes contain upwards of 24,000 genealogical sketches. They are arranged alphabetically, and each fact cited therein includes the source of the information. While a minority of the entries are only a few lines long, they, nonetheless, place a pioneer in time and space. Most of the sketches, however, are paragraphs in length, and many are much longer. Here’s a sample entry:

DODMAN, John 2 – WC (1661-63); son of Jn. DODMAN 1 and Elizabeth DEATH (see Jn. DODMAN 1); wit., Jas. CUDWORTH of Newport in [Rhode] Island in the province of Providence, atty. of Wm. BENTON of Roade Island, merch., per virtue of attornyship dtd. 12 Sep 1661, discharge of Dan. HUTT of WC from all transactions, 11 Oct 1661 (WC Deeds Etc 1661-62:55 (53)); on jury that tried case of BUTLER vs. LETTSUM, 29 Apr 1663 (WCOB 1662-54:12) [Named as a son of Jn. & Eliz. (DEATH) DODMAN in the will of Rich. DEATH, Isle of Wight co., 3 Mar 1647 (Isle of Wight Will Book A:17)]

As Mr. Headley writes in the Introduction, there are “stories of great heroism and horrible cruelty, of financial disasters, of great successes, of vicious feuds, of husbands deserting wives and wives deserting husbands, of marriages, births, and funerals, of doctors, blacksmiths, carpenters, ministers, merchants, rogues, scoundrels, and above all planters. . . . Sometimes we see a slice of a person’s life—a few years and then nothing—and occasionally we can follow a person’s entire life from birth to death. . . .  At the very least, this work can provide a guide to locate records about an individual.”

In the Methodology section at the front of each volume, Mr. Headley explains the approach he took in compiling his database, as well as how he addressed the problems associated with 17^th-century spelling and name variants. Extensive appendices appear at the back each volume, covering the project’s sources, bibliography, list of abbreviations, name variants, and placenames. Each volume is fully indexed. The volumes may be purchased as a complete set or volume by volume, according to the following alphabetical sequence: Volume One, A-C; Volume Two, D-G; Volume Three, H-L; Volume Four, M-Q; Volume Five, R-T; and Volume Six, U-Z.

The post Northern Neck of Virginia Pioneeers, 1642-1675. In Six Volumes. appeared first on Genealogical.com.

The post Northern Neck of Virginia Pioneers, 1642-1675. In Six Volumes. Volume SIX: U-Z. Indexed appeared first on Genealogical.com.

The post Northern Neck of Virginia Pioneers, 1642-1675. In Six Volumes. Volume FOUR: M-Q. Indexed appeared first on Genealogical.com.

The post Northern Neck of Virginia Pioneers, 1642-1675. In Six Volumes. Volume FIVE: R-T. Indexed appeared first on Genealogical.com.

The post Northern Neck of Virginia Pioneers, 1642-1675. In Six Volumes. Volume THREE: H-L. Indexed appeared first on Genealogical.com.

The post Northern Neck of Virginia Pioneers, 1642-1675. In Six Volumes. Volume TWO: D-G. Indexed appeared first on Genealogical.com.

The post Northern Neck of Viginia Pioneeers, 1642-1675. In Six Volumes. Volume ONE: A-C. Indexed appeared first on Genealogical.com.

The population was relatively sparse with only a few small burghs mostly lying along the east coast, all of which had medieval origins. The burghs were Dingwall, Tain, Fortrose, Cromarty, Dornoch, Wick, and Inverness, with Scrabster and Thurso by the Pentland Firth, and Kingussie lying within the highlands. The only sizable burgh was Inverness. The people at the time were overwhelmingly Gaelic speakers, with Lowland Scots — who spoke a dialect of English — settled in the burghs. Similarly, placenames were predominantly in Gaelic though a few were based on Norse originals, such as Ullapool, based on Ulapul — Norse for ‘Wolf farm’– or Wick, from Vik the Norse for ‘bay’. Several local surnames superficially in Gaelic include a Norse element, such as McLeod or MacLeoid from the Norse ‘son of Ljotr’, or MacCorquodale based on the Norwegian personal name ‘Thorketill’.  There are also a few placenames indicating a Pictish origin, dating before 1000 AD, such as Petty, or Pitcalnie, or Pitkerrie. The Picts inhabited much of Scotland before the early Middle Ages, while the Norse Vikings settled in the Northern Isles, the Hebrides, and what is now Caithness and Sutherland [Suderland in Norse]. In the Medieval period the inhabitants spoke Norn, a Norse dialect, in such localities. However, by the seventeenth century Gaelic and Scots English were predominant.  The Reformation of the sixteenth century resulted in Scotland becoming officially a Protestant nation; however, in parts of the Highlands there were Roman Catholic enclaves, notably in Inverness-shire and on Barra.

Migration outwards from the Northern Highlands was initially small scale, apart from mercenaries who were recruited to fight for Scandinavia and the Netherlands, many of whom settled there. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, 1638-1651, led to enforced emigration or the transportation of prisoners of war, most of whom were captured at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 or the Siege of Worcester in 1651. These men were banished to the English colonies in the Caribbean, notably Barbados, or to Virginia and New England; they can be identified by their distinctive local surnames. Large-scale emigration from the Northern Highlands began in the eighteenth century and especially after the Highland Clearances of the mid-nineteenth century. The main clans or families during the seventeenth century were Sinclairs, Mackays, Sutherlands, McLeods, Rosses, Stewarts, McKenzies, Munros, Urquharts, Frasers, McDonnells, Chisholms, MacPhersons, McGillivrays, Davidsons, Gunns, McKinnons, MacDonalds, McLeans, Camerons, and Roses.

The post The People of the Northern Highlands, 1600-1699 appeared first on Genealogical.com.

In The Story of Yorktown, Revolutionary War expert Jack Darrell Crowder provides a day-by-day account of the Siege of Yorktown as told by the participants in their journals, diaries, memoirs, pension applications, and letters, as well as in contemporary newspapers. The soldiers write of their fears, hopes, and impressions of these culminating experiences, as well as the destruction that took place. They describe the fortifications, the artillery, life on the battlefield, and the death of friends.

Mr. Crowder begins his coverage with a description of the town of Yorktown and the start of the siege. The narrative continues with the preparations made on both sides, the role of the artillery, the British failed attempt to escape, and their ultimate surrender. Besides the numerical superiority of the Franco-American armies and navy, as the Hessian soldier Johann Conrad Dohla makes clear, the British grossly underestimated the capacity of the Patriot artillery: “At night . . . the enemy began to fire on our left wing, then against our entire line, to fire bombs, cannon, and howitzers. This removed the belief, which we held previously that they had only their regimental cannon there and could not bring up heavy weapons because of the many forests and swamps.”

The Story of Yorktown concludes with the author’s endnotes, a bibliography, and a detailed index to persons and places. Clearfield Company is pleased to add it to its collection of Revolutionary War titles written by Jack Darrell Crowder.

About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds B.A. and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.

The post The Story of Yorktown appeared first on Genealogical.com.

Over 420 African Americans who were born free during the colonial period served in the American Revolution from Virginia. Another 400 who descended from free-born colonial families served from North Carolina, 40 from South Carolina, 60 from Maryland, and 17 from Delaware. At least 24 from Virginia and 41 from North Carolina died in the service. Over 75 free African Americans were in colonial militias and the French and Indian Wars in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Although some slaves fought to gain their freedom as substitutes for their masters, they were relatively few in number. By the same token, those who were not serving under their own free will are not included in this list. It was simply not their fight.

While the information on each of the free black veterans of the War for Independence varies, in most cases the author has provided the individual’s name, state and county, unit served in, military theater, some family information, often a physical description, pension applied for or received, sometimes other information, and the source. The case of Isaac Brown of Charles City County, Virginia, is illustrative of many of the descriptions found in the volume:

Isaac Brown was born in Charles City County and enlisted there in the Revolution for 1-1/2 years on 12 September 1780: complexion black, 5’2-1/2″ high, a farmer [Register & description of Noncommissioned officers & Privates, LVA accession no. 24296, by http://revwarapps.org/b69.pdf (p.45)]. He was taxable in Lower Westover Precinct of Charles City County in 1786 [PPTL, 1783-7], head of a Charles City County household of 10 “other free” in 1810 [VA:959] and 4 “free colored” in 1820 [VA:13]. He applied for a pension in Charles City County at the age of 69 on 19 May 1829, stating that he enlisted in Charles City County in the fall of the year 1780 and served in Captain Sanford’s Company in Colonel Campbell’s Regiment for 18 months. He was in the Battle of Guildford Courthouse, the Siege 14 of Ninety Six, and the Battle of Eutaw Springs. He owned 70 acres in Charles City County [NARA, S.39,214, M804, Roll 366, frame 240 of 893; http://fold3.com/image/11713004].

The post List of Free African Americans in the American Revolution: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware appeared first on Genealogical.com.