Strange Story About Shameful Combat Pay
William Weir: 1751-1787 (4th Great-grandfather)
Family stories about Revolutionary War service abound in
genealogy. But verified, proven stories are quite rare. If a researcher is
fortunate, they find a few breadcrumbs that prove someone with the ancestor’s
name from the right region served in the Revolution. When I reach this point in
research, I usually accept their service as an unverified “fact”—I add it to
the tree but note it isn’t verified. But the details from the family lore that
make some stories so fascinating and evocative are nearly impossible to prove.
That’s the case with this tale about David and William Weir’s service in the
Revolutionary War.
According to numerous family histories, William Weir was of
Scottish descent, and emigrated with his father David from Ireland. They appear
to have been Covenanters, a Presbyterian sect that was persecuted in Scotland.
Many Covenanters moved to the New World, and a large group settled in South
Carolina near the community of Fishing Creek. That’s where William Weir started
his family and acquired land.
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| Chester County region of South Carolina where Fishing Creek is located--1800s |
According to some descendants, father David and son William
served in the Revolutionary War together under General Sumter, fighting the
British in South Carolina. Other descendants say that William and his oldest
son David, a stripling lad of about 14, served together in the war, and young
David died of wounds he received in battle.
And then there’s a truly fascinating, repulsive detail from
one account: that William’s only compensation for his war service was bounty
confiscated from a Loyalist’s estate. The bounty? A young black slave girl. This
tale was printed in a reference book entitled Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The source is unclear.
So what parts of these stories can we prove?
First I searched Revolutionary War records on a variety of
sites. The National Park Service records confirm that a David Weir served in
the Continental Army in South Carolina.
A Genealogy.com thread on James Weir’s family compiled by
Dorann O’Neal Lam provided some records related to David’s service, which
seemed to indicate he was William’s son, not his father. She writes the
following:
“David Weir, b 1770,
Fishing Creek, Chester Co., SC d from wounds received in the battle at Eutaw
Springs (8 Sep 1781).The story was told by Miller Weir that when David's father
took a temporary leave from the war to return home to make shoes for his
children, young David took his place and was wounded at Eutaw Springs and/or
imprisoned at Charlotte. Although his mother Susannah obtained his release and
brought him home, he died from his wounds. (See Chester Co. Gen. Bul. June
1981.) Salley's Stub Entries, "Paid to David Weir (Indexed Wier) 10 pounds
sterling, for 100 days' militia duty, as per account audited.--Issued 2nd
November 1784, No. 470.* Bk L, by A. S. Salley, Jr., Secy of the Historical
Commission of SC.(Source:Charlene Gillespie Deutsch)” See full Lam citation
below.
I have not been able to access the Chester County Genealogy
Society’s 1981 Bulletin article that she cited to get further details. I would
have to go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City to read a copy. However,
I did find the “Stub Entry” she refers to. The stub records the distribution of
ten pounds sterling for David’s 100 days of service. The full citation is
below.
In addition, a website that details South Carolina’s
contributions to the American Revolution had listings for both David and
William Weir as members of the Turkey Creek Regiment. The Sons of the American
Revolution (SAR) has also accepted William’s Revolutionary War service,
although at least one of the applications lists David as William’s father and
relies on David’s Revolutionary War service.
I have not been able to verify veteran David Weir’s
identity. I have found no birth records for a David who would have been old
enough to serve in the war. And I have found no death records for William’s
father David that would at least confirm that he was still alive during the
Revolution. It is likely that war veteran David Weir is related to William
Weir, but I can’t determine whether this David is William’s father or son.
Miller Weir’s tale about David’s injury, release from service, and death are
persuasive, but they can’t be proven.
The final part of this story, the claim that William Weir
received no compensation for his Revolutionary War service except for a female
slave child, is the most shocking and hard to prove part. I was raised to see
the Revolution as a noble undertaking, untainted by the stain of slavery. This
was something I found hard to believe. But I searched for evidence nonetheless.
I could find no “Stub Entry” for William, so he doesn’t seem
to have received any cash remuneration for his service. I found it hard to
believe soldiers would receive slaves in lieu of pay. But when I did a Google
search on the topic, I was stunned to find there might actually be some truth
to the story. An online reference book called the South Carolina Encyclopedia had an entry on African Americans in
the Revolutionary War which included the following passage:
“However, South
Carolina slaves were used as bounty to raise white recruits. In 1781 General
Thomas Sumter offered one slave to each white citizen who joined as a private
soldier for ten months and as many as three grown and one small slave to those
who joined as colonels. Sumter did not have these slaves at the time he made
this promise. He was banking on slaves he hoped would be seized from Loyalists
during future campaigns. General Andrew Pickens also adopted this recruiting
incentive, which became known as “Sumter’s law,” but Francis Marion rejected it,
stating that it was ‘inhuman.’”
Sumter was named in the family story as William Weir’s
commanding officer and William’s service record shows he served in 1781, so
this horrible transaction may have actually taken place!
 |
| General Sumter |
My experiences trying to verify these old family stories
illustrate the continuing need for historical research and dissemination of
historical facts. Americans should all know just how entwined slavery was in
the Revolutionary War, and how pervasive the use of slaves really was during
the period. We must push back against recent right-wing suppression of history
with facts and records.
Sources:
Service records for William Weir and father David Weir in
the Turkey Creek Regiment. South
Carolina. The American Revolution in South. Website written and researched
by J D Lewis, Little River, SC. Carolina
https://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/patriot_military_sc_privates_w.htm
DAR application for descendant of David and William Weir. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/14571291/person/230139490984/media/aad489d9-dbee-4776-9193-42b04f90bc58?_phsrc=Jng25074&_phstart=successSource
South Carolina Encyclopedia. “African Americans in the
Revolutionary War, 1771782.” https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/african-americans-in-the-revolutionary-war/
Genealogy.com Surnames Forum: James Weir: Chester Co SC to Muhlenberg Co Ky. By Dorann O’Neal
Lam. 6 Dec 2008. https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/weir/2501/
Stub entries to
indents issued in payment of claims against South Carolina growing out of the
revolution. Books B-I, K-Z / Edited by A. S. Salley, Jr. secretary of the
Historical commission of South Carolina. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112037943567&seq=77
James
Weir (1821-1906), by Jerry Long, Owensboro, KY 1994. Excerpt from BIOGRAPHICAL
CYCLOPEDIA OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, John M.Gresham Company, Chicago,
Philadelphia, c1896, pp230-232[BA1] :
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