Revolutionary War Soldiers

of Monroe County

Submitted by Pat Vaseska

Revolutionary War Soldier
Zebediah Barker

Zebediah Barker was born in Methuen, Essex County, Massachusetts. He served as a "Minute Man" and also from June, 1776, for over two years; during this time he was an orderly sergeant under Capt. Maloon, Capt. David Whittier and Col. Thomas Poor. He was in the battle of Stillwater. He came to Illinois in 1818, settling in New Design, Monroe county, where he died October 10, 1819, and was buried on his farm, which is located one and one-half miles from Burkville. He was pensioned.

Revolutionary War Soldier
Shadrach Bond, Sr.
Sergeant of Virginia

Born October 28, 1751 in Maryland, died before June 6, 1812 in St. Aigle Twp, St. Clair Co., Territory of the United States NW of the Ohio River. Shadrach Bond was one of the 175 volunteers who accompanied Major George Rogers Clark on his secret mission to win the garrison of Kaskaskia. The Bond family history states he remained with the French and received his land Grant, three years later. He took part in forming the government of the area. His nephew by the same name followed him to the area and became the first Governor of Illinois. His will and probate are recorded in St. Clair County. After the death of James Garretson, Sr., Shadrach Bond, married his wife, Isabelle Garretson. There were no children by this marriage.

Revolutionary War Soldier

William Biggs

William Biggs was born in Maryland in 1755. He enlisted with George Rogers Clark for
the conquest of Illinois and was made lieutenant of his company. He returned to Virginia
then moved back to Illinois, settling near Bellefontaine in 1784. His cabin is now on the
property of Peterstown House in Waterloo.
In 1812 and 1814, he was elected to represent the Illinois Territory at Vincennes. He was then elected senator.
In 1789 he was captured by the Kickapoo Indians and was released by paying a heavy
ransom.
William Biggs moved to Madison County, Illinois and died there in 1827 at the home of
Major Samuel Judy. He is buried six miles south of Edwardsville, Illinois at Peters
Station.
William Biggs was married twice, first to Nancy Munday and then to Mary Ann (Nancy) Judy widow of George Lunceford.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Ebenezer Bourn

Ebenezer Bourn was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1753. He was on an exploring and hunting expedition on the Ohio River when he enlisted under Colonel George Rogers Clark in 1778 for fourteen days, Captain William Harrod, Colonel George Rogers Clark. He again enlisted for fourteen months with Captain John Williams, Col. Montgomery, and Colonel William Lynn. He died August 29, 1839, in Harrisonville, Monroe County.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Henry Carr

Henry Carr was born in Prince William County, Virginia in 1758. Henry was a Private
from Virginia in the Revolutionary war.
Henry Carr was married to Elizabeth Alexander.
He died in 1822 and is buried at New Design in Monroe County, Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

James Curry

James Curry settled on “claim 597, Survey 562, on the Mississippi River a mile below
Smith’s Landing in Monroe County, Illinois.
James was a man of great bravery and hardihood. He came to this area in 1780. James
was a soldier with Clark and lived in Monroe County, Illinois for sometime. Curry was chosen by Clark to undertake any desperate or hazardous service.
James Curry and Levi Teel were out hunting and found refuge in an unoccupied cabin
built by David Pagen. During the night Indians appeared, and as Teel stood by the door
with one foot near the” cat hole,” an Indian thrust a spear through his foot. When he
attempted to pull it out, they pinned his hand, thus nailing him to the floor.
One day while out hunting with Joseph Anderson, James disappeared. It is thought that
he was killed by Indians and his body taken away.

Revolutionary War Patriot
John Doyle

John Doyle was a Private with George Rogers Clark, during the Revolution. He settled near Kaskaskia, Illinois. John was born in about 1749 in Virginia and married Miss Smith in Monroe County, Illinois. John Doyle died on October 20, 1819. He was an educated man and taught in one of the earliest schools in Monroe County, Illinois. He was educated in France.

Revolutionary War Patriot
James Garretson

Born January 12, 1746 and died before May 17, 1797 in Virginia (now Monroe County, IL). Much of the history of James Garretson has been lost due to death in the very early history of this area. He traveled with the Revolutionary War soldiers, ran for magistrate, and appears on the militia list. He first settled on a farm just north of Waterloo but later moved the American Bottom near Mordock. Our history books do not recognize his early death and combine his history and the life of his son as one. His proof of death has been found in the deed books of Ohio Co., Virginia in which his son was given permission to sell his deceased father’s four hundred acres of land by his mother, the Isabelle Bond, and his four sisters.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Pierre Giradot

Pierre Giradot fought for the American cause in the Revolutionary War. He was made commandant of St. Phillippe, Illinois.
Giradot also served as justice in Monroe County, Illinois. He died before 1783.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Andrew Hilton

Andrew Hilton was born in Charles County, Maryland in 1757. Andrew served three
months with Captain Charles Mills and Colonel Hawkins during the Revolutionary War. He then enlisted for six months under Captain Henry Bowman and Colonel Hawkins.
Andrew came to Illinois, settling in Monroe County, where he drew a pension.

Revolutionary War Soldier

William Howard

William Howard served in the Revolutionary War from Virginia. He continued in the service of his country after the close of the war. He came to Monroe County, Illinois, and probably died here, according to “Virginia Records” and “pension Report.”

Revolutionary War Soldier

Robert Kidd

Robert Kidd served under George Rogers Clark and aided in the conquest of Illinois.
Kidd made a settlement in the bottom known as a Block House Fort. Robert Kidd
continued his residence in the American Bottom until his death. He was a good citizen,
quiet and domestic. Robert raised a family of children; all of whom were like their
father, worthy and respectable.
Robert Kidd was a farmer and lived a long life to enjoy the country he assisted to conquer
under Colonel Clark. He died in 1849, at his residence in Monroe County, Illinois and is
buried there.

Revolutionary War Soldier
James Levi Lemen

James Levi Lemen was born on November 20, 1760, in Harper’s Ferry area of Berkeley County, Virginia. He was the youngest child of Nicholas and Christian Lemen. In 1782, he married Catherine Ogle, the daughter of Captain Joseph Ogle and His first wife, Prudence Drusilla Biggs. He fought under the command of George Washington. He took part in the Battle of White Plains and was present at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered. He served two years and then returned to his home in Virginia until coming to the NW Territory in 1786, coming through Kaskaskia and settling in New Design, Monroe County, Illinois. He was recognized as a Revolutionary Soldier, Indian Fighter, anti-slavery Leader, Baptist Minister and organizer of the first Baptist Churches in Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Henry Levens

Henry Levens, Sr. was from Pennsylvania but served in the Virginia line of
Troops. Henry was born March 26, 1744 in Pennsylvania and came to Illinois
and resided in Morgan County, he later moved to Monroe County, Illinois and settled in
New Design.
Henry Levens married Elizabeth Dodridge and they had five sons and two daughters.
Henry built a sawmill and gristmill in 1800 on Horse Creek, near his residence, and carried this mill on with energy and advantage to the public. The lumber for nearly all of the flatboats built in early times in Illinois was sawed at this mill. In 1818, he felt that Monroe County was becoming too crowded and Henry sold his possessions on Horse Creek and moved to the frontiers of Missouri. He died in Missouri on February 9, 1835.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Thomas Logue

Thomas Logue served in the Pennsylvania line of troops. He came to Monroe County, Illinois where he resided and applied for pension.

Revolutionary War Soldier

George Lunceford

George Lunceford was born in Virginia on June 8, 1762. George was a private with Colonel George Rogers Clark, who with his command captured Kaskaskia.
In addition, they captured Prairie du Rocher in 1778. He reenlisted on January 20, 1780, and received his discharge February 18, 1783.
George married Mary Ann (Nancy) Judy, daughter of Jacob Judy, on September 10, 1792.
George and Mary had two sons, Jacob Judy born December 11, 1793, William born
April 15, 1796 and two daughters Elizabeth born October 11, 1802 and Ruth in 1805.
George Lunceford and Samuel Judy purchased the sugar-loaf tract of land and made a
farm on it. Judy sold out to Lunceford in 1800.
George died on December 8, 1808 and is buried in Palmier Cemetery, Columbia, Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier
Frederick Mann
Private in the Vermont militia, Capt. Heaton’s Co.

Frederick Mann, son of Nathan and Elizabeth Mann, was born 26 Feb. 1764 in Tolland Co., CN. The family moved to Thetford, Orange Co., VT where they established a ferry business. There he served as a Private in the Bermont militia, Capt. Heaton’s Co., during the Revolutionary War. On the 23rd of March 1786 he and Anne Post were married in Lyme, NH. They settled in Thetford, Vt and later moved to Aurelius, Cayuga Co., NY where they opened a mercantile business. After 1810 the family began their journey west by wagon train to Fort Pitt. From there they traveled down the Ohio River by boat, then up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia, IL. The following year Frederick and Anna moved to Waterloo, Monroe Co. Anna Post Mann died 1822. Frederick Mann married Miriam Heeley in Waterloo later in 1822. He died in 1823 at 59 years of age and is buried in Waterloo Cemetery.

Revolutionary War Soldier

John McClure

John McClure was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and served as a member
of General George Washington’s Life Guards. He served throughout the entire
struggle of the colonies for their independence.
Before coming to Monroe County, Illinois, he was a resident of Mifflin County,
Pennsylvania. John and his wife Dorothea had a daughter, Jane, born on October 1, 1794.
Jane McClure died on February 24, 1825 in Illinois.
It was at John’s house in Harrisonville, Illinois, that the first county court convened for
the new county of Monroe in 1816.
John McClure died September 29, 1830 and is believed to be buried in Harrisonville,
Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Charles McNab

Charles McNab was born in Maryland. He enlisted in the service during the Revolutionary War on January 7, 1778.
Charles was a Sergeant in the Sixth Company, First Maryland Regiment, in Captain
Beaty’s Company. He reenlisted in the Seventh Company of the Third Regiment.
Charles came to Illinois, settling in that part of Randolph County, which is now
Monroe County, where he died November 1, 1780. Charles McNab was pensioned.

Revolutionary War Soldier

James McRoberts

James McRoberts was born in Glasgow, Scotland, May 22, 1763. James came to America and enlisted in the Continental Army when he was eighteen years old and served to the close of the war. He came to Kaskaskia in 1786. James moved near Maeystown in 1797 and lived there until his death, February 11, 1844. He was buried on his farm.
James McRoberts married Mary Harris. They had a son, Samuel McRoberts, who was elected a United States Senator from Illinois in 1841. James McRoberts was pensioned.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Michael Miller

Michael Miller came to Monroe County, Illinois in 1800. He settled on his farm just south of Captain James Moore’s tract at BelleFontaine. Michael Miller served in the Virginia line of troops and was pensioned.

Revolutionary War Soldier

James Moore

James Moore was born February 14, 1750 in Maryland. He came to this area from Kentucky with George Rogers Clark, but returned to his old home. Later he was the leader of a colony that came to Illinois in 1781. James received his commission as Captain from Governor Patrick Henry. He received a land grant from Governor Patrick Henry as pay for his military service. Captain Moore settled at BelleFontaine near Waterloo, in Monroe County, Illinois and built a Blockhouse Fort.
James Moore married Miss Catherine Biggs, in or about the year 1771 and the issue of their marriage was a family of six children. These children in the order of their birth were John (the only one born in Maryland), William, James, Enoch (the first white American child born in this territory), Mary, and Milton. James Moore died in 1778 and is buried in BelleFontaine Cemetery on the old Moore Farm, Waterloo, Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Joseph Ogle

Joseph Ogle was born on June 17, 1741 in Virginia. He was commissioned a militia Captain by Virginia Governor Patrick Henry and proved himself a fearless defender of the Virginia frontier and a Revolutionary War soldier. He headed a company of spies who watched the movement of the Indian tribes in Dunmore’s War. This war against hostile Indian tribes provided valuable training and experience for the colonial soldiers in the ensuing Revolutionary War.
Joseph came to Illinois in 1785 from Wheeling, Virginia and settled in New Design, Monroe County, Illinois. His first marriage was to Drusilla Biggs who died in 1777. They had five children, Catherine, Prudence, Benjamin, Nancy, and Joseph, Jr. Captain Ogle then married Jemima Meiggs White, the widow of Samuel White.
Captain Joseph Ogle died February 21, 1821 and is buried in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

James Piggott

James Piggott was born 1739 in Connecticut. James moved to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania where he commanded a company of men. He was made captain on April 6, 1776, and served under General St. Clair. Captain Piggott fought in the battles of Brandywine and Saratoga. He traveled with General St. Clair westward and was in command of Fort Jefferson, located 5 miles below the mouth of the Ohio River. James came to St. Clair (Monroe) County, Illinois and built Fort Piggott a little west of Columbia, Illinois.
In 1795, he built a ferry to run across the Mississippi River between East Saint Louis, Illinois and Saint Louis, Missouri. James died on February 20, 1799 in East Saint Louis, Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

James Pulliam

James Pulliam was born in Botetourt County, Virginia. He served in the Virginia Troops in the Revolutionary War. After the War he moved to Kentucky and then to New Design, Monroe County, Illinois in 1796. He then moved to Fayetteville in St. Clair County, Illinois. James died in Fayetteville in 1813.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Rawleigh Ralls

Rawleigh Ralls was born in Virginia in 1762. He served in the Virginia Troops when he was quite young. When the War was over, he moved to Tennessee, then to Monroe County, Illinois in 1809. Rawleigh then moved to Randolph County, Illinois to Ralls Ridge. He died there May 6, 1828. Rawleigh Ralls is buried in Brickey’s Cemetery, Monroe County, Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Hosea Riggs

Hosea Riggs was born in Western Virginia April 4, 1760. In the war, he served in the Pennsylvania Line of troops. After the war in 1796, he came to Chalfin Bridge, Monroe County, Illinois. When he was 22 years old, he joined the Methodist Church. He was an exhorter in the Methodist Church and proved to be diligent and faithful. Mr. Riggs was soon ordained and became a local preacher. Reverend Riggs was the first minister of the Methodist Faith in the county. Hosea then moved to Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois, and died October 29, 1841.

Revolutionary War
Peter Rogers
Fife-major, Connecticut Line

Peter Rogers was born in New London, CN. He enlisted as a musician under Capt. William. He served as fife-major at German in Col. John Durkee’s regiment. In 1789 he married Abby Darrow (1768-1827) who was his 2nd wife. He died in 1849 Waterloo, IL.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Larkin Rutherford

Larkin Rutherford was one of George Rogers Clark’s soldiers that aided in the conquest of Illinois and was also in the storming of Fort Sackville in 1799. He settled first at BelleFontaine in Monroe County, Illinois in 1782. In 1800, he moved to St. Clair County settling north of Belleville, Illinois, where he died about 1813.
Larkin Rutherford was active in the organization of the government of the church, whether the job was difficult or not. He was in the church as he was in the army, ready at any moment for mortal combat.

Jacob Judy (Tschudy, Tschudi)
American Revolutionary Patriot
Gunsmith

Born in 1740 in Canton Basel, Switzerland came to America in 1777 in Ann Arundel, Co., Maryland. A widower, he married Elizabeth Sprater in Frederick, Md. and moved to Ft. Pitt (Pittsburgh), Penn. where he served his new country as a gunsmith without compensation for the duration of the war. He also hired and paid a substitute to take his place in the war in Maryland. In 1786 moved to Kentucky, where he filed on over 5,000 acres of land for his Revolutionary War service and finally in St. Clair Co. (which is now part of Monroe Co., IL.). He traveled by flat boat through hostile Indians to Kaskaskia where he lived for four years from there to the “New Design Settlement” in Monroe Co. In 1794 he filed on land in this county, known and Judy’s mill where he died and was buried 1807.

Revolutionary War Soldier

William Whiteside

William Whiteside, Patriarch and leader of the Whiteside family was born and raised on
the frontiers of North Carolina. He was of Irish descent, warm hearted, impulsive, and
patriotic. If you were his friend, you had his heart and he would shed his blood freely for
his country or his friend.
William was a brave soldier and was in the Battle of King’s Mountain. William
Whiteside erected a fort on the road from Cahokia to Kaskaskia, which became known as
Whiteside Station. Soon after his arrival in Illinois, he became a leader in the Indian War. He was captain of many parties that took signal vengeance on the savage foe for murders
they committed on the women and children, as well as the grown men.
William Whiteside was buried at Whiteside Station, south of Columbia, Illinois.

Revolutionary War Soldier

Joseph Wright

Joseph Wright was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia in 1760. In March 1780, he enlisted with Captain John Thompson and Colonel John Glenn for three months. In 1781, he enlisted with Captain Paul Waddleton and Colonel John Glenn for three months. Joseph came to Monroe County, Illinois and applied for pension.

HOME