Happy 4th!

“Why stand we here idle? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”- Patrick Henry - Speech in Virginia Convention March 1775

My heart swells with thanks for the freedoms we enjoy because of the many men and women who gave their time and even their lives in service to establish a land of freedom. It began with the arrival of the pilgrims on the Mayflower, was sealed by the signing of the Declaration of Independence and is today maintained by the involvement of good men and women in politics and community. I would wish upon all of us the courage to stand up to injustice and tyranny should it ever arise. And I pray for each and every one of us that it does not.

And because I’m such an avid genealogist I can’t go without making a small tribute to just a few of my forefathers who participated in some way in the Revolutionary War:

Josiah Teneley
My eigth Great Grandfather

My eigth great grandfather was born sometime after 1721 in Maryland. Little is known about his life except that he was once in debtors prison.
Patriotic Service: He signed an Oath of Fidelity and Support in Prince George’s Co. Maryland on January 22, 1778. -Box: 4 Folder:31, Oaths of Fidelity, Prince George’s County, 1778 at the Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland

James Barnett Kenney
My eigth Great Grandfather

“James Kenney was born Nov. 29, 1752 in Augusta Co. Virginia to James Barnett Kenney and Miss Kramer.
Patriotic Service: James enlisted in Virginia in Capt. Joseph Crockett’s Company, 7th Virginia Regiment, commanded by Lieut. Col. Holt Richeson. James was taken prisoner 10-4-1778 at Germantown. At the close of the war James held the rank of Captain…”

Dr. Alexander Barnett
My seventh Great Grandfather

Patriotic Service: Private in Captain Hanry Hampton’s company in the 6th Regiment of the South Carolina troops, on Continental Establishment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Henderson Revolutionary War. December 1779 transferred to the 8th Company of the 1st Regiment. In Garrison at the siege of Charleston in 1780. Horseman in Captain Joseph Vince’s company of the South Carolina Malitia, April to June 1781. - Historical Commission of S.C. for Militia duty & War Department, Washington D.C., for service in the Continentals.

The name of Alexander Barnett and other Revolutionary War Soldiers who died citizens of Bourbon County are inscribed on a tablet at the Bourbon Co., Couthouse. Erected by jemima Johnson Chapter D.A.R.

Dea., Capt. Gideon Hotchkiss
My eigth Great Grandfather

“He was captain of a continental army company during the Revolutionary War as noted on page 463 of “The Town and City of Waterbury, Conn.” Whether he fought is not known; he was considered an aged man at that time in history.
Word was passed down to his descendants in the Prospect area that his Revolutionary War duties consisted of enlisting and training recruits in addition to his other publicized roles. It is known he was appointed one of the officials to look after the needs of those left at home and to collect food and clothing to be sent to the troops from the area. At a town meeting held 22 Oct. 1777, five days after Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga, and on the request of the Governor and council of Safety, a committe, including Gideon, was charged with obtaining sundry articles of clothing for the Continental soldiers from Connecticut.
The Hotchkiss Family, Volume II

William Fryar
My eigth Great Grandfather

Revolutionary War records state he served as a Private in Capt. John Ingall’s Co., 2nd North Carolina regiment, commanded by Col. John Patton. His name appears only on the roll of the Company dated 9 Sept 1778 as enlisted 3 May 1776 - 2-1/2 years, sick Valley Forge. DAR papers of Mrs. Oscar Barthold, Weatherford, Texas, number 39,776 - ref Y or V-40-p285.

Frederick Danner
My sixth Great Grandfather

Frederick Danner served two years in the Revolutionary War as a private in Captain May’s Company - Colonel Logan’s Virginia Regiment.
He was granted a pension on 24 Dec. 1833 in Surry County, NC. He was 74 years old at the time of pension, which was $40 per annum. Records were destroyed in the War of 1812. Pension No. R2658. Pvt. PA. NC. PNSR Sources: NC Archives; U.S. Census; Article in Heritage
Source: Danner’s in North Carolina Author William Danner
Frederick is listed on the Military Pension Roll of 1835. Resisence ; Surry County, North Carolina. A pension of $80.00 Annual Allowance started on June 10, 1833 at the age of 72.