Family History - Person Sheet
Family History - Person Sheet
Spouses
Birthfrom 1765 to 1784814
Deathafter 1823531
FatherRobert Cole (~1720-1771)
MotherAnne Greenwell (~1720->1751)
Notes for Joseph Clayton
I believe Joseph Clayton most likely came from a family in Chesterfield County, Virginia, though this origin is disputed.
He fought in the Revolutionary War.899,151 He was a matross, an artillery private. He enlisted in 1777151 and served through at least March of 1780, when he was stationed in Morristown, New Jersey.902 His regiment, just being formed when he enlisted, initially did garrison duty at Portsmouth and Yorktown, Virginia, near where enemy ships were “hovering” in Chesapeake Bay near Hampton Roads. (This was the area from which a number of the men in Joseph Clayton’s company came.) In March of 1778, the regiment was jointed Washington’s army at Valley Forge. For the rest of the War, they fought in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.903 Joseph Clayton took part in several battles.904,905
In 1783, he received £111 13s 7d as the balance of his pay according to an act of 1781,905 and he was granted a Military Warrant for two hundred acres of land, an entitlement of every soldier who fought until the end of the war.906 There are signs that he sold out rights to the assigned parcel on Paint Creek to one David Nisbitt,907 one of a group of land speculators.908,909 It seems reasonable to suppose that he married between his military discharge and the move to Kentucky.
He first appears in the records of Nelson County in 1786, when he witnessed the will of John Brients.910 In 1792, tax books911 show him with no land, four horses, and seven cattle, appearing immediately after Joseph Clark. In 1793, he had 66 acres of land, five horses and seven cattle,900 perhaps funded in part with proceeds from the sale of his assigned warrant rights. Various Clarks are on the same page. On October 3, 1793, as he is listed on the court records912 as a bondsman for the marriage of George Clark and Sarah Brothers, both of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Joseph’s serving as bondsman suggests a prior relationship with George, who had come to Nelson County in 1786 or 1787.913,914 In 1800, Joseph Clayton is shown purchasing land from James With[e]row.915 He is regularly present in Nelson County records though 1813. I have found no trace of him after that. In 1823, “widow Eleanor Clayton” gave consent for the marriage of their daughter Catherine.531 An affadavit in much later pension application of 1851 by 84 year-old Peter Blair, whose brother knew Joseph Clayton during the Revolutionary War, reports that Joseph “as he was informed & believes… died on the [blank] day of [blank] 1824.”151 This information seems a bit squishy, since it is hearsay much after the fact, and occurs amid statements that are factually incorrect in some other particulars. I suspect that Joseph died around 1813 when the records for him seem to end, and that Eleanor stayed with their son John, who has a female over 45 in his household according to the 1820 census.
See the monograph Joseph and Eleanor Clayton for a fuller discussion.
He fought in the Revolutionary War.899,151 He was a matross, an artillery private. He enlisted in 1777151 and served through at least March of 1780, when he was stationed in Morristown, New Jersey.902 His regiment, just being formed when he enlisted, initially did garrison duty at Portsmouth and Yorktown, Virginia, near where enemy ships were “hovering” in Chesapeake Bay near Hampton Roads. (This was the area from which a number of the men in Joseph Clayton’s company came.) In March of 1778, the regiment was jointed Washington’s army at Valley Forge. For the rest of the War, they fought in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.903 Joseph Clayton took part in several battles.904,905
In 1783, he received £111 13s 7d as the balance of his pay according to an act of 1781,905 and he was granted a Military Warrant for two hundred acres of land, an entitlement of every soldier who fought until the end of the war.906 There are signs that he sold out rights to the assigned parcel on Paint Creek to one David Nisbitt,907 one of a group of land speculators.908,909 It seems reasonable to suppose that he married between his military discharge and the move to Kentucky.
He first appears in the records of Nelson County in 1786, when he witnessed the will of John Brients.910 In 1792, tax books911 show him with no land, four horses, and seven cattle, appearing immediately after Joseph Clark. In 1793, he had 66 acres of land, five horses and seven cattle,900 perhaps funded in part with proceeds from the sale of his assigned warrant rights. Various Clarks are on the same page. On October 3, 1793, as he is listed on the court records912 as a bondsman for the marriage of George Clark and Sarah Brothers, both of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Joseph’s serving as bondsman suggests a prior relationship with George, who had come to Nelson County in 1786 or 1787.913,914 In 1800, Joseph Clayton is shown purchasing land from James With[e]row.915 He is regularly present in Nelson County records though 1813. I have found no trace of him after that. In 1823, “widow Eleanor Clayton” gave consent for the marriage of their daughter Catherine.531 An affadavit in much later pension application of 1851 by 84 year-old Peter Blair, whose brother knew Joseph Clayton during the Revolutionary War, reports that Joseph “as he was informed & believes… died on the [blank] day of [blank] 1824.”151 This information seems a bit squishy, since it is hearsay much after the fact, and occurs amid statements that are factually incorrect in some other particulars. I suspect that Joseph died around 1813 when the records for him seem to end, and that Eleanor stayed with their son John, who has a female over 45 in his household according to the 1820 census.
See the monograph Joseph and Eleanor Clayton for a fuller discussion.