William Deweese                                                                          GENERATION FOUR

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Birth: Dec., 1730
Montgomery County
Virginia, USA

Death: 1807
Philadelphia County
Pennsylvania, USA

Gabriel Ancestors Who Served in the American Revolution 
: Battle of Yorktown. Source:
MARTIN ARMSTRONG (1740-1808)

Served as: Colonel, Surry County North Carolina Militia

Descent: Martin Armstrong > Thomas Temple Armstrong > Jane B. Armstrong > Eliza Jane French > Isaac A.B. Smith > Effie Frances Smith > Bernice Mary Libel Gabriel
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Battles:

Cherokee War of 1776-1777 
Col. Martin Armstrong commanded a regiment of Surry County militia that accompanied General Griffith Rutherford on what is known as the Rutherford Expedition or the "Rutherford Trace" -- a 300-mile slash-and-burn campaign that has been compared to Sherman's March to Atlanta. See the testament of William Lenoir in the pension files at this link: 

For historical background
Battle of Camden, August 16, 1780

Battle of Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781

Before the war, Martin Armstrong was one of the founders of Surry County, NC. After the war, the 1790 Census shows him living with is wife, Mary Ann Tate, in nearby Stokes County.

Gen. Martin Armstrong became Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory, and as such became immediately embroiled in the political battles and scandals that surrounded the distribution of land grants to veterans of the war. Land grant reform became one of he hot issues during the election of President Andrew Jackson.

Armstrong moved to Tennessee, where he became one of the original surveyors and founders of the city of Clarksville, Tennessee. He died at Nashville, TN in 1808.

Above: George Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge, a house that once belonged to the Dewees Family, has been fully restored and may now be seen at Valley Forge National Park.


WILLIAM MEHLS DEWEES SR. (1711 - 1790)

Served as: Sheriff of Philadelphia County, and his son

WILLIAM FARMAR DEWEES JR (1739 - 1809)

Served as: Lt. Colonel of Pennsylvania militia and the owner of "Mount Joy Forge," Valley Forge, PA.

The Gabriels are not direct descendants of these two William Deweeses -- the Gabriels are descendants of cousins who were also named William Dewees Sr. (1732-1807) and William Dewees Jr. (abt. 1779 - 1812). Both lines descend from sons of Garrett Hendricks Dewees (1640 - 1701) who immigrated ca. 1690 and died in Philadelphia.

Thus the Gabriels are only laterally related to the owners of Valley Forge, but the Dewees family from Germantown, PA, is a colorful and well-connected one that certainly deserves special mention. Through them, the Gabriels of St. Joseph, MO are related (as distant cousins) to Gen. George Armstrong Custer and to architect Benjamin Latrobe, the man who designed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Descent to Gabriels 

The Gabriels of St. Joseph, MO descend from Gerret's youngest son, Cornelius: Gerhard (Gerrit) Hendricks De Wees > Cornelius Dewees > Garret Dewees > William Dewees Sr. (1732 - 1807) who married Hannah "Nelly" Gearhart > William Dewees Jr. (1779 - 1812) who married Mary "Polly" > Peter Deweese > Andrew Jackson Deweese > Leona Deweese who married Isaac A.B. Smith > Effie Frances Smith > Bernice Libel Gabriel

See the pedigree at the Gilkey family site:

Descent to "Valley Forge" Deweeses
The Dewees family who owned the house and forge at Valley Forge, PA, stem from Gerret Hendrick De Wees's third son, Willem: Gerret Hendrick Dewees > Willem Dewees (Papermaker) > William Mehls Dewees Sr. (Sheriff) > Lt. Col. William Farmar Dewees Jr., who married Sarah Potts, daughter of Joseph Potts, the original owner of the forge.

See the article "Who Was William Dewees Sr.?" at the Dewees Family History site:

Charles Baker has provided some wonderful photographs, profiles and a well-done pedigree at his own blogspot, Below: Valley Forge National Park, seen from the air.

Descent to Benjamin H. Latrobe, architect=====.

Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), the "Father of Ameican Architecture," descends from a grandaughter of Willem Dewees (Papermaker). Put a different way, Latrobe's mother, Anna Margareta Antes, was the niece of William Dewees Sr., the Sheriff of Philadelphia, PA, and a first cousin to William Dewees Jr., the owner of the forge at Valley Forge:

Gerret Hendricks Dewees > Willem Dewees > Christina Elizabetha Dewees (1702-1782) who married her father's business partner, a brilliant architect, named John Henry Antes (1701-1755) > 11 children, including Col. Frederick Antes and his sister, Anna Margareta Antes who moved to England and married the Rev. Benjamin Latrobe > Benjamin H. Latrobe. 
For a Wikipedia article on Benjamin H. Latrobe's life:
For an article by William Hughes on "Latrobe's Pennsylvania-German Family": 

Dewees Soldiers in the Revolution
The Dewees family are "Old Dutch" who settled in Germantown, PA, ca 1690. Many of the members of this family were Quakers, and therefore they do not appear on the military rolls.

For a listing of Dewees men who did serve as "Soldiers of the American Revolution, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania" see (at the bottom of this web page): 

The Lt. Col. William Dewees who owned and operated "Mount Joy Forge" better known as Valley Forge, was a Quaker. Because the iron works were essential to the war effort, he was commissioned with the honorary title of Colonel, but it appears that he did not fight in any battles.
Further Reading
For the History of Valley Forge Ownership, see:

For the Descendants of William Dewees, see:
Another good source: Richards, Henry M. The Pennsylvania-German in the Revolutionary War 1775-1783 (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1991, orig. published 1908) pp. 453-455

For more background on early members of the Dewees family (Garret, Cornelius and William Dewees) who settled in Germantown, PA, see the free Google Book: "On the Frontier with Colonel Antes" (pp. 22-24). All one has to do to get the book is Google the title.

The same book provides an interesting history of the Dewees Family and Valley Forge on pages 481-482.
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J. PETER DINGESS (1738-1809)

Served as: Artillery man, Col. Trigg's Battalion, Lafayette's Corps

Descent: Johan Peter Dingess > Mary "Polly" Dingess > Napoleon Bonaparte French > Eliza Jane French > Isaac A.B. Smith > Effie Frances Smith > Bernice Mary Libel Gabriel

Battles:

Battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774

(also known as "Lord Dunmore's War") under General Lewis.

Battle of Yorktown, October 19, 1781

Photo of grave stone:

MATTHEW FRENCH (1732-1814)

Served as: Private in Montgomery Co., VA, Militia, under Capt. Thomas Shannon, Maj. Joseph Cloyd's Company, Col. William Preston's Battalion

Descent: Matthew French > David French > Napoleon Bonaparte French > Eliza Jane French > Isaac A.B. Smith > Effie Frances Smith > Bernice Mary (Libel) Gabriel

Battles:

Battle of Wetzell's Mill, March 6, 1781
rom "A History of the New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory" by David E. Johnston, Chapter 4:

"Cornwallis' march into upper Carolina had greatly alarmed the Virginians and General Greene wrote letters to Governor Jefferson and to the various commanders of detached bodies of troops in Virginia asking help, and among those to whom he addressed his urgent appeals were Preston, Sevier, Shelby and Campbell. Colonel William Preston on February 10, 1781, ordered the militia of Montgomery County to assemble at the Lead Mines, and on the day appointed three hundred and fifty men assembled pursuant to the order of their commander.

"Major Joseph Cloyd, assembled and led the Middle New River men. It is to be regretted that the names of the men who went with Preston and Cloyd have not been preserved. One company went from the Middle New River valley, which was commanded by Captain Thomas Shannon, of Walker's Creek, and one of his lieutenants was Alexander Marrs. A few names only of the privates who went along have been secured. They were Matthew French, John French, Edward Hale, Joseph Hare, Isaac Cole and Thomas Farley.

"Preston began his march on the 18th day of February and reported to General Greene on the 28th day of that month, who assigned him to the command of General Andrew Pickens. On his way to report to Pickens he seems to have gotten between the American and British outposts, and camped for the night in close proximity to the British without knowing that they were near him.

"On the second day of March, 1781, Lee's Legion and Preston's men had a spirited encounter with Tarleton, which General Greene in a dispatch to General Washington thus notices: 'On the Second, Lieutenant Colonel Lee with a detachment of riflemen attacked the advance of the British army under Tarleton and killed and wounded thirty of them.'

"On the sixth of March at Whitsell's (Wetzell's mill), North Carolina, Williams' men, Pickens and his command, including Lee's Legion and Preston's Backwoodsmen, met the British and a severe engagement took place. The Americans were compelled to retreat, and Preston's horse took fright and ran through a mill pond near the British, threw Preston off and escaped into the British lines. Colonel Preston, being quite a fleshy man, found it difficult to keep up with the retreating army, and Major Cloyd seeing his condition dismounted and gave Preston his horse.

"On the eve of going into this battle John French, son of Matthew, and a member of Captain Shannon's company, was detailed as one of the guards to the wagon train. So soon as the firing began at the creek French left the train. Without orders -- in fact against orders --and went to the fight, joined therein and shot one of the enemy. The officer in charge of the wagon train reported him for disobedience of orders, and demanded that he be court martialed. Major Cloyd remarked that as French ran not from the fight, but towards it, if they court martialed him for such a cause, he would never again draw his sword in behalf of the country."


Battle of Guilford Courthouse, March 15, 1781
"The Americans continued their retreat to Guilford Court House, where the main body of Greene's army had assembled to fight Cornwallis. In the meantime, Colonel William Campbell with about sixty men had joined General Greene, and Preston's Montgomery men were placed under his, Campbell's, command on the extreme left of Greene's army. Colonel Tarleton says, in his Southern Campaigns pp 241, "That in the battle of Guilford Court House he held the right of the British army and that his troops were badly hurt by the Backwoodsmen from Virginia, that they stood behind a fence until the British Infantry with their bayonets climbed over the same."
"The Americans were defeated in this battle, and there were some criticisms as to the behavior of these Backwoodsmen or militia, and Colonel Preston in a letter to Governor Jefferson, written on the 10th of April, 1781, complaining of this criticism, and the injustice to his men, says, "that part of the men were in one action and all of the men were in two actions." Judge Schenek, in his "North Carolina 1780-81," credits Colonel Martin Armstrong with leading a body of Surry County men in the battle of Guilford Court House.
After the close of this battle the militia returned to their homes, which were then threatened by Indian incursions, their services being badly needed along the frontier to suppress the Indian forays and outrages."
JESSE HALL (1760-1848)

Enlisted February 1776 at age of 15.
Served as: Private in Dutchess Co. NY militia under Capt. Nathan Pierce, attached to Colonel Richmore's 1st NY Line, Gen. Alexander McDougal's Brigade.
Descent: Jesse Hall > Freeborn Hall > Rozena Hall > Leona Elizabeth Deweese > Effie Frances Smith > Bernice Mary (Libel) Gabrie
Battles:

Battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776

Battle of White Plains, October 28, 1776

Re-enlisted, April 1777

Jesse Hall and Asa Hall served as privates in Col. Morris Graham's NY Regiment of Levies, Capt. Isaac Vail's Company of Dutchess and Ulster Co. Militia

Battle of Bemis Heights (2nd Saratoga) October 7, 1777

Col. Morris Graham's Dutchess and Ulster County militia served under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln's Division in Brig. Gen. John Glover's Brigade (the right wing of the battleline)

Surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, October 16, 1777

See the order of battle at:


Glover's Brigade fought at the Battle of Saratoga, which means Jesse Hall and Asa Hall were probably present at the surrender of Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne.

The amazing victory at Saratoga changed the fate of American history. See:
.americanrevolution.com/BurgoyneSurrender.
Picture of Jesse Hall's Gravestone:

JEREMIAH PATE (1754-1819)

Served as: Captain in a force of VA militia marched by Capt. Adam Clements from Bedford County to the assistance of Gen. Greene in South Carolina May 1, 1781

Source: Gwathmey, John H. Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution 1775-1783
(Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987) p. 607

Descent: Jeremiah Pate > Catherine Pate > Rozena Hall > Leona Elizabeth Deweese > Effie Frances Smith > Bernice (Libel) Gabriel

Battles:

Battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774

ISAAC SMITH (1745-1801)

Served as: Private, Culpeper County, VA, militia, Lafayette's Corps.

Descent: Isaac Smith Sr. > Isaac Smith Jr. > Benjamine Smith > Theodore Smith > Isaac A.B. Smith > Effie Frances Smith > Bernice (Libel) Gabriel

Battles:

Battle of Yorktown, October 19, 1781

Isaac Smith Senior appears in the Daughters' of the American Revolution Patriot Index, Volume I, page 626. 
Posted by Mark Shernick Labels: American Revolution >, Battle of Guilford Courthouse Tuesday, August 25, 2009

How the Grosh Family of Pennsylvania Saved the Union : Ethan Allen and Hosea Grosh, ca. 1849, before they left for San Francisco. Source: Nevada Historical Society

Bernice (Libel) Gabriel descends from the Grosh (Grusch) family of Lancaster County, PA, through her paternal grandmother Mary Augusta Halling, who was the daughter of Mary Beatrice Grosh (1825 - 1908).

Of the Grosh family, it has been said that they "saved the Union." This may sound like one of Mark Twain's tall tales, but there may be some truth to the story. With a few stretches, here and there.

Four years before the Civil War began, in 1857, two Grosh brothers, Hosea and Ethan Allen Grosh from Marietta, PA, discovered the famous "Comstock Lode" near Virginia City, NV. Without the money generated by this legendary ledge of silver and gold, the federal government might never have been able to pay for the war.

See the Wikipedia article on the Comstock Lode at this link:

The story of the Grosh brothers may be found in "Back-Trailing on the Old Frontier" by Charles M. Russell ( Cheely-Raban Syndicate: Great Falls, MT, 1922) at this link:
A more detailed and colorful telling of the story was reprinted by the Nevada Observer on 19 December 2005. This account was taken from Volume I of the History of Nevada (1912), edited by Sam P. Davis, Chapter XIII "Early Mining Discoveries" p. 361 ff:

Davis concludes (page 383): "The men who made the assay are both dead. The grave of one is in California, and of the other in Nevada, and neither themselves nor their descendants ever realized a dollar from their discovery, which added to the world's wealth over seven hundred millions of dollars and saved the American union in the Civil War."

More recent historians say the "real treasure trove" left by the Grosh brothers may be 80 plus letters they sent home to Pennsylvania, which vividly describe life in the gold camps of California and Nevada.

The letters were recently acquired by the Nevada Historical Society from a great-great-great grandson of their brother, Warren Grosh. "In quality and content, those letters rank among the very best for telling what life was like back then," said Fred Holaman, an expert antique dealer. "It wasn't for the weak-hearted or the weak-bodied 
 
Family links: 
 Parents:
  Garret Deweese (1708 - 1769)
  Mary Deweese Deweese (1710 - 1775)
 
 Spouse:
  Hannah Nellie Gerrad Deweese (1733 - ____)
 
 Children:
  William Deweese (1761 - 1812)*
  David Deweese (1765 - 1836)*
  Jesse G Deweese (1770 - 1838)*
  Thomas Deweese (1771 - 1819)*
 
 Siblings:
  William Deweese (1730 - 1807)
  Cornelius Deweese (1731 - 1794)*
  Henry Deweese (1746 - 1831)*
  Paul Deweese (1748 - ____)*
 
*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Unknown

 
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Created by: BONNIE & CLYDE DEWEESE
Record added: Sep 02, 2013 
Find A Grave Memorial# 116459680