Tennessee Pryors

The following is the transcription of the sworn statement for a Revolutionary War pension application that mentions a John Prior. It recounts events in 1783, about 10 years before Kentucky became a state. Hmmm, interesting tie-ins to Battle of Point Pleasant (1774) and Lord Dunmore’s War.

State of Kentucky}}
Campbell County}}
On this 26th day of November 1833 personally appeared in open court before the court of Campbell County now sitting William Thompson a resident of the state of Kentucky in the county of Campbell aged sixty-six years on the 22nd day of June last when being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress (proposed?) on the 7th day of June 1832. That he entered the service of the United States in the 15 year of his age as a volunteer under Capt. Baker Ewing¹, Col. John Logan² & John Sconce was sergants the names of the lieutenant and Ensign he does not recollect. I had just came to Kentucky and after my entrance into the Service we went in pursuit of the Indian and was rendevous’d at Pettit’s station³ on the head waters of Green River on the 1st day of February 1782 and from there we marked to Cumberland river at Price’s Cabbins (Cabins?) and crossed the river at that place after making a small canoe to carry over our guns and provisions and swam over our horses and the next day after crossing the river we came on the trail of a party of Indians who were making for their Towns, as they had been the settlement and had committed some murders and stole some horses, we followed the trail 7 or 8 days and overtook them on a fork of the Tennessee river and there we had a battle with them and killed 17 of them. 16 we killed on the battle ground and one was wounded and taken prisoner near one mile from the place of the battle, and Capt. Taris (Faris?) wounded the indian and took him prisoner, and the same night the wounded Indian attempted to make his escape and ran some distance and the same Capt. Taris killed him with his tomahawk. We had one man killed in the battle by the name of Thomas Gilmore and one wounded by the name of Daniel McCormick.⁴ Gilmore was a mapmate (messmate?) of mine and a near neighbor. We wereout this time one month and then returned home again. Then in the month of June I again turned out as a volunteer and had the command of the company to rance for one month and we marched to Russels (Russell’s?) Creek at Logan’s station on a Branch of the Green river and scouted round for some time and returned home without any battles this time. Then in the month of August in the year 1782 I turned out again as a volunteer under Capt. John Dougherty⁵, Col. Benjamin Logan, and crossed the Ohio river at the mouth of Limestone Creek and marched to the old Chilicothe Towns and had a Battle with the Indians there and killed several Indians and destroyed their Town and was out this time one month and a half. Then again in the year 1783 in the month of June there was a call sent from Col. Floyd⁶ to Col. Logan to send him some men to Bulletts Lick⁷ as the Indians were commilling? depredations on that place and Col. Logan sent me with the command of 40 men and we were out one month this time and we killed one Indian as he was in th eact of taking off the hoppler off a horse to steal him and the name of the person that killed the Indian was JOHN PRIOR⁸ and then we returned home again. Then in the month of August in the same year orders came to Col. Logan to raise a company of horsemen to be ready at a moments warning and I again volunteered and continued from the first day of that month til the last day of December making five months this time, making nine and a half months. In what I term my voluntary service, by this did not and my Indian warfare for I never failed to be at the port of danger while there was a savage to molest the country near where I was and I never received any pay or drew any rations only what the forest afforded and I know of no person that I can prove my services by at this time. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present one declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the Agency of any state or the United States. Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesiad in open court. Att. Jno N. Taliaferro clk
(signed) Wm. Thompson

1. Baker Ewing, from Bedford County, VA (see Ewing Clan website)

2. John Logan, served in Lord Dunmore’s War and the Battle of Point Pleasant. Does this help to identify the John Pryor in this transcript as the one who served at Point Pleasant? See Wikipedia.

3. Location of Pettit’s Station (Google)

4. Daniel McCormick is described as a cohort of Daniel Boone in Lincoln Co., KY history book (see article)

5. John Dougherty (Doherty) is a name on list of soldiers at Battle of Point Pleasant (see list)

6. Col. Floyd, possible John Floyd who was at Point Pleasant. (see John Floyd documents)

7. Bullett’s Lick, near Shepherdsville (see Wikipedia

8. Possibly the John Pryor at the Battle of Point Pleasant, see his brother’s pensions application (William Pryor). (See transcription)