Individual Details

Military

State of Virginia
Grayson County
  
On this 23rd day of October 1832 personally appeared in open Court, before the Justices of the Court of Grayson County, Jonathan Thomas a resident of Grayson County in the State of Virginia, aged 69 years who being first duly sworn according to Law, doth, on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832. That in the year 1782 he volunteered against the tories and marched in a company under Capt. William Douglas in persuit of the tories, and overtook and defeated a party of them near Haw river in Orange County in the State of North Carolina, and after this he persued them into Chatham, Guilford, & Randolph Counties in North Carolina & then into the mountains of Virginia. About this time a tory by the name of Hightown killed Col. Mcbane of the Continental army and the company in which this declarant was then serving pursued the said Hightown & one of his brothers, but could not overtake either of them. One other tory, however, was taken in this chase, by name of McRobards, who, through the darkness of the night afterwards made his escape. This declarant when the company were disbanded, received a discharge from Capt. William Douglas dated 15th day of March 1782, herewith forwarded for the inspection of the War department before the aforesaid Service, for which this declarant has the discharge aforesaid, in the year 1781. While in a Militia company commanded by a Capt. Richard Edwards of Orange County, North Carolina, this declarant was taken prisoner by the british & tories about 2 miles from Hillsboro in North Carolina, and taken by the enemy together with the Governor of North Carolina, his secretary and nearly all the members of the North Carolina Legislature, with many others amounting in number as well as he now recollects to 200 men, and carried them to Wilmington in the aforesaid State. Col. Archibald Lille of the regular troops was taken prisoner at the same time and place. The Brittish were commanded by a Major Craig and after being kept at Wilmington a considerable time, intelligence of the Surrender of Cornwallis reached the British who immediately left the place for Charleston, and many of the tories returning to their homes in the upper part of North Carolina brought the declarant with them from whom he soon escaped and immediately joined Capt. Douglas company & served therein, as herein before stated. This declarant was a prisoner about 5 months as near as he can recollect. He was born in Orange County, North Carolina, in the year 1762, Nov 29th. He has a record of his age, made by his father, now at home in his Bible. He resided in Orange County North Carolina untill May 1792 when he removed into Montgomery County in the State of Virginia afterwards Wythe County & now Grayson County, were he yet resides.  He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency of any State. He is known to Joshua Hanks & Eli Cook in his present County who can testify as to his character for veracity and thair belief of his services as a Souldier in the War of the revolution.
  
Sworn to, and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.

Jonathan Thomas