Robert McLaughlin, b abt 1796, Bath County, VA: Family Timeline

McLaughlin Timeline 1796 to 1861

By David McLaughlin

• 1796 - Bath County, Virginia. Robert McLaughlin is born. (Appox. year based on age from 7 Oct 1850 Census and Bounty Land Warrant Application.) Charles McLaughlin stated that Robert was born in 1791*, according to *History of Grundy County, MO 1908. Page 859.
• 30 April 1803 - United States purchases Louisiana Territory from France.
• 1810 - Western Virginia protests unequal representation in Virginia legislature.
• 18 June 1812 - United States declares war on Great Britain.
• August 1812 - The governor of Virginia called up the militia in preparation for the defense of the Commonwealth.
• February 1813 - The first of British Naval forces arrive off the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Using the Lynnhaven Bay as an anchorage, the British are able to effectively limit shipping into and out of the bay. This anchorage allowed easy access to the main shipping channels into and out of the Chesapeake Bay.
• 22 June 1813 - Battle of Craney Island is fought near Norfolk, Virginia.
• 3 July 1813 - Norfolk, Virginia. The 35th U. S. Infantry, along with a number of local militia companies were ordered to reinforce Lambert's Point and Sewell's Point area of then Norfolk county. This was in response to the British burning and looting of Hampton, Virginia.
• 13 August 1813 - City of Richmond, Virginia. Robert enlisted in company commanded by Captain Walker of the 35th Regiment U. S. Infantry commanded by Colonel Gooden for a term of one year. (Based on Bounty Land Warrant application 19 Feb. 1851.)
• 23 August 1813 - Richmond, Virginia. Robert is shown to have enlisted on this date. (Based on War of 1812 rolls Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Est. May 17, 1815.)
• 31 December 1813 - Robert was present for duty with Captain Walker's 35th Regiment. (Based on War of 1812 rolls Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Est. May 17, 1815.)
• 22 or 23 February 1814 - Norfolk, Virginia. Robert is shown again enlisting in 35th U. S. Infantry Captain Walker, height 5' 61/2" Age 18 born Bath County, VA. for term of one year (based on War of 1812 rolls Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Est. May 17, 1815.)
• 6 March 1814 -Fort Barbour, Norfolk, Virginia. Robert is absent from muster roll and was detached to Fort Barbour. (Based on War of 1812 rolls Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Est. May 17, 1815.)
• 20 March 1814 - Norfolk, Virginia. Robert is discharged from 35th U.S. Infantry for being a minor. This would place his birth date sometime after March 20, 1796. (Based on War of 1812 rolls Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Est. May 17, 1815.) Robert stated on his bounty land warrant application that he had been honorably discharged at Norfolk, but lost his discharge later by accidentally throwing it into a fire in Bath County, Virginia.
• 31 March 1814 - Petersburg, Virginia. Robert is listed on regimental return of 35th U.S. Infantry. (Based on War of 1812 rolls Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Est. May 17, 1815.)
• 1 May 1814 - Robert is listed on muster roll of 35th U. S. Infantry. (Based on War of 1812 rolls Records of Men Enlisted in the U. S. Army Prior to the Peace Est. May 17, 1815.)
• 24-25 August 1814 - British capture Washington, DC, and set fire to White House and Capitol.
• 28 August 1814 - British capture Alexandria, Virginia.
• 22 December 1814? (1815 on bounty land application) - Franklin, Pendleton County, Virginia. Robert enlisted in company commanded by Captain John Bodkin's (Botkins) in the Regiment of Militia Commanded by Major Green for a term of six months to only serve two months. Hugh McLaughlin is also enlisted as a private the same regiment.
• 24 December 1814 - Treaty of Ghent is signed, officially ending the War of 1812.
• 13 February 1815 - Pendleton County, Virginia. Robert is shown to have commenced his service as a Private, Capt. John Botkin's Co. of Riflemen, from 46 Reg't Virginia Militia.
• 1 March 1815 - Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia. Robert was honorably discharged as a minuteman.
• 7 April 1815 - Robert's service expired as a Private, Capt. John Botkin's Company of Riflemen, from 46 Reg't Virginia Militia.
• 10 April 1815 - Robert appears on Company Pay Roll for term of service charged, 1 month, 23 days. Pay was 8 dollars per month. Actually paid $14.43.
• 8 March 1816 - Robert appears on a muster roll compiled for Capt. John Botkin's Company of Riflemen, from 46 Reg't Virginia Militia after the war.
• 11 December 1816 - Indiana becomes the 19th state.
• 1818 - Cumberland Road (or National Road) completed from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, Virginia.
• 1819 - The Panic of 1819 began and was the first major financial crisis in the United States. It featured widespread foreclosures, bank failures, unemployment, and a slump in agriculture and manufacturing. It marked the end of the economic expansion that had followed the War of 1812.
• 10 August 1821 - Missouri becomes the 24th state.
• 21 December 1821 - Pocahontas County created from Bath, Pendleton, and Randolph counties in Virginia.
• 26 October 1825 - The Erie Canal opens -passage from Albany, New York to Lake Erie.
• 1829 - Virginia counties west of the Allegheny Mountains protest constitution that favors the slave-holding counties.
• 4 March 1829 - Andrew Jackson is inaugurated as seventh president.
• 1830 - Separation of western Virginia from eastern Virginia is proposed by The Wheeling Gazette.
• 29 January 1830 - Saint Joseph and Elkhart Counties were created in Indiana.
• 1832 - The Michigan road was cut through Indiana in 1832. It extended from Madison, on the Ohio River, to Michigan City, on Lake Michigan, a distance of 258 miles. The Vistula road, running from Toledo to South Bend, Indiana was put in order about the same time. The opening of these roads had its influence upon the settlement of the country, and emigrants from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, found their way hither in great numbers, in the year 1832, and the succeeding two or three years.
• 6 April 1832 - The Black Hawk War begins in Illinois.
• 1 July 1835 - Robert marries Lucinda Shaw, age 16, in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 1837 - Allen W. McLaughlin is born in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 4 March 1837 - Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth president.
• 10 May 1837 - Panic of 1837 begins in New York City, results in a six-year depression nationwide, with failure of banks and record unemployment levels.
• 27 September 1838 - Andrew Jackson McLaughlin is born in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 1840 - Penn Twp, Saint Joseph County, Indiana. Census taken. Robert is shown along with 1 male (Andrew) child less than 5 yrs., 1 male (Allen) child between 5-10 yrs., and 1 female (Lucinda) between 20-30 yrs of age.
• 1841- Benton McLaughlin is born in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 15 January 1844 - The University of Notre Dame in Saint Joseph County, Indiana, receives its charter from the State of Indiana.
• 7 March 1844 - Phidelia (Phedelia) McLaughlin is born in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 25 April 1846 - The Mexican War begins with open conflict along Texas border.
• 28 December 1846 - Iowa becomes the 29th state.
• 26 March 1847 - Charles F. McLaughlin is born in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 24 January 1848 - Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California.
• 2 February 1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the Mexican War.
• 3 March 1849 - The United States Department of the Interior is established.
• January 1850 - Garrison McLaughlin is born in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 28 September 1850 - United States Act of September 28, 1850 grants bounty lands for military service in the War of 1812, War with Mexico, and Indian Wars.
• 7 October 1850 - Saint Joseph County, Indiana. Census taken. Robert is listed as being head of house, age 54, a farmer, born in Va, and could not read or write. He is also listed along with wife Lucinda age 31, born in Ohio and could not read or write. Children listed Allen 15 (farmer), Andrew 13, Benton 9, Phidelia 6, Charles 3, and Garrison 9/12. All children were born in Indiana. Allen, Andrew, and Benton had been to school within the year.
• 1851 - The Sioux Cession removed the final Native American Indian claim to land in Iowa, in the far north central and far northwest sections of the state.
• 19 February 1851 - Saint Joseph County, Indiana. Robert, age 54, appeared before the county to apply for a bounty land warrant for his service in the War of 1812.
• 24 February 1851 - St. Joseph County Clerk John T. Lindsey notarizes Robert’s application.
• 23 June 1851 - Application has another process date on note card for file# 106.858.
• 3 September 1851 - William W. McLaughlin is born in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.
• 11 March 1852 - Robert's application arrived at the Adjutant Office.
• 2 July 1852 - Washington, D. C. Treasury Department' reviews Robert's application file# 106.858.
• 21 July 1852 - Washington, D. C. Treasury Department authorizes that a warrant for 160 acres be issued and notice sent to Justice Of The Peace Theodore S. Cowles Mishawaka, Ind.
• 31 July 1852 - Official Department of the Interior Bounty Land Warrant Certificate No. 19.830 for 160 acres is issued Robert McLaughlin.
• Late 1852 - McLaughlin family moves to Iowa. (Based on History of Grundy County, MO 1908.)
• 26 September 1853 - Lee County, Iowa. Robert sells his Bounty Land Warrant Certificate to Joseph Rambo, with Robert L. and Matilda Fleming as witnesses of the sale.
• 1 October 1853 - Lee County, Iowa County Clerk S. A. James, notarizes Certificate sale.
• 22 October 1853 - Lee County, Iowa. Laura Jane McLaughlin is born.
• 24 October 1853 - Fairfield, Iowa. Joseph Rambo turns in the warrant certificate at the Fairfield Land Office.
• 1854 - Fairfield, Iowa. First state fair held.
• Winter 1854 - Robert McLaughlin dies.
• 1 January 1855 - Washington, D. C. President Franklin Pierce signed over 160 acres to Joseph Rambo on Certificate #3910. Patented Certificate# 19.830. Lee County, Iowa: SE no.12, TWP no. 67N, Range No.16W, 160 acres.
• 31 May 1855 - Joseph Rambo land records were compiled and filed away.
• Between 1855 and 1856 - Lee County, Iowa. Lucinda Shaw marries David I. Coon.
• 1856 - Lee County, Iowa. David and Lucinda Coon appear with children in 1856 Special Census for Lee County.
• Late 1856 - David Coon and family move to Mercer County, Missouri settling on a farm.
• 1857 - Mercer County, Missouri. Angelia Coon is born.
• 23 November 1859 - Mercer County, Missouri. Henry Coon is born.
• 18 June 1860 - Washington Twp., Mercer County, Missouri. Census is taken. David Coon is listed Age 53, Farmer; property valued at $400; born Virginia. Lucinda age 43, born Ohio and cannot read or write. Children listed Andrew J. McLaughlin 22 Farmer Indiana, Phidelia McLaughlin 16 Indiana, Charles McLaughlin 13 Indiana, W. A. Coon 11 Iowa, W. W. McLaughlin 7 Indiana, L. J. McLaughlin 6 Iowa, Angelia Coon 3 Missouri, and Henry Coon 6/12 Missouri. Phidelia, Charles, and W. A. had all been to school within the year.
• 12 April 1861 - The Civil War begins. Confederate forces attack Ft. Sumter in Charleston, S.C., marking the start of the war.
• 16 September 1861 - Middleburg, Missouri. David Coon and Andrew J. McLaughlin enlisted at the rank of Privates in the Mercer County Battalion Six Month Militia Company B under command of Loveland.
• 25 October 1861- David Coon sent home from Militia on account of disability.
• 31 December 1861- Andrew J. McLaughlin was sick in hospital on previous muster taken of Militia Company.

Charles McLaughlin, Bedford County, Virginia: Family Summary

Charles McLaughlin was born before the 1730s. If he is the son of James and Mary McLaughlin of Bull Run (Manassas), Prince William County (then Stafford County), Virginia, he was born before 1727¹. By the 1750s, Charles was living in Bedford County, Virginia. He was appointed surveyor in the Court Orders of Bedford, listed as Charles Laughlin². Also appearing at the time was a James McLaughlin under “Tithes for Road,” page 146. (See James McLaughlin, Stafford/Prince William County, Virginia³.) Charles appeared again in the 1750s as Charles McLawlin, licensed for an ordinary. He continued to be the proprietor of the ordinary into the 1760s.

The land records of Bedford show that Charles purchased 204 acres on the north branch of Otter River from Alexander Boyle in 1769, Liber and Folio being 3 and 253 respectively⁴. Other purchases in the area were: from George Miller, also in 1769; 238 acres from Henry Kay in 1773; and 300 acres, North Branch of Otter River from William Carson in 1778. He sold 100 acres on Lick Run to John McLaughlin in 1779.

His son, Charles, fought in Dunmore’s War of 1774⁵, sometimes called the first battle of the Revolution, in Western Virginia. Charles, Junior, also fought in the Revolution, along with his brother, William. Their mother is unknown but was still living at the time of the war⁶.

In 1782, Charles McLaughlin appeared in the Personal Property Tax Books of Bedford, alone. He owned two horses and two head of cattle. He disappeared from the tax records after 1787⁷.

His children were:

i. Charles
ii. William (b 19 Dec 1757, d before 5 Jun 1843)
iii. John
iv. others?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Footnotes:
¹Sparacio, Ruth. Deed Abstracts of Stafford County, Virginia, 1722-1728, 1755-1765. McLean, VA : R. and S. Sparacio. 1987. F232.S86. Entry for James Mackglohen. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond
²Bedford County, General Index to County Court Order Books, I-N, 1754-1904. Microfilm, Pos. Reel 52. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.
³List of Titheables, 1747; Prince William County; Microfilm, LVA Pos Reel 33. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.
⁴Bedford County, General Index to Deeds, Grantees, E-M, 1754-1930. Microfilm, Pos. Reel 23. Repository: Library of Virginia.
⁵Thwaites, Reuben G. Documentary History of Dunmore’s War. Genealogical Publishing : Baltimore, 2002. Repository: Joan M. Kay, Huntingtown, MD.
⁶Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. Application of William McLaughlin, 1832. National Archives Microfilm Publication: M804 roll 1693. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC
⁷Auditor of Public Accounts. “Personal Property Tax Books, Bedford County [Virginia], 1782-1805” LVA Microfilm Publication, Reel 34. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.

James and Mary McLaughlin, Stafford/Prince William County, Virginia, Family Summary

James McLaughlin (McGloughlin¹) was granted 225 acres in Prince William County (then Stafford County), Virginia, in 1725². The land was located between Broad Run and Bull Run, perhaps near present-day Manassas, Virginia. (See parish and county information here.) James also appeared in the Stafford County, Virginia, land records in 1727 when he entered into a deed agreement³. Also listed on the deed were a son, Charles, and James’ wife, Mary. They were tobacco farmers in Overwharton Parish, Virginia⁴.

James, Senior, then appears in the personal property tax lists of Prince William County, Virginia, (formerly Stafford) in 1747, appearing with a James, Jr., presumably his son. The tithes being collected were from homes “Between Leeder Run and Bool Run in Ditigin Parish”⁵. There were three titheables total in the record for that year⁶.

The children of James and Mary McLaughlin:
i. Charles
ii. James
iii. Others?

Pedigree of James and Mary McLaughlin:
James, father unknown, mother unknown.
Mary, father unknown, mother unknown.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Footnotes:
¹The variation of the name appearing in this land grant.
²Northern Neck Grants A, 1722-1726; p 185, Microfilm, Reel 290. Library of Virginia, Richmond.
³Sparacio, Ruth. Deed Abstracts of Stafford County, Virginia, 1722-1728, 1755-1765. McLean, VA : R. and S. Sparacio. 1987. F232.S86. Entry for James Mackglohen. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.
⁴King, George Harrison Sanford. The Register of Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, Virginia. Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1986. p 159. Repository: Joan M. Kay, Huntingtown, MD
⁵Bull Run; Dettingen Parish.
⁶List of Titheables, 1747; Prince William County; Microfilm, Pos Reel 33. Library of Virginia, Richmond.

They Sure Liked the Name Hugh, Didn't They?

by Joan M. Kay

I've seen where the rumor may have started 60 or 70 years ago.

On a research trip a few years back, there it was, in some genealogical quarterly, the assertion in a query letter, that Hugh McLaughlin (Bath County, Virginia), husband of Jane Wiley, was a Revolutionary War soldier who was also an orphaned fourteen-year-old in 1772.

A good deduction, but it's just not true, and many researchers have figured that out. But a whole slew of them haven't yet. So the rumor goes and grows. And who knows, I may have even passed it around myself when I first started researching.

That's because there are so darn many Hugh McLaughlins, pardon my French.

Let's get them straight so we know who we're supposed to be researching.

There's:

Hugh #1 turned up on the Virginia Coast in 1743¹, running from the Navy's HMS Cruizer. He was also impressed onto the ship in Virginia, so he may have been a resident of a coastal or shipping town. I don't know what happened to him after that. (My novel has him running to the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains to become Hugh #2. Fiction, I know. It's a novel--I had fun with it.)

Hugh #2 who in 1757 had connections to or lived in Pendleton County, (W)VA²; and either died or ran away from his family in 1772^3,4, Augusta County, Virginia, leaving the children Hugh (jr) and James.

Hugh #3 was the son of Hugh #2. He was born around 1757^{3, 4}; apprenticed to be a currier^{3, 4}; joined the Revolutionary War in 1777⁵, held prisoner where he learned to become a tailor, lived in Bath County, Virginia, working for tailor Wilson. He married Agnes (Nancy) Gwin in 1789. He died in 1798^6,7. He had currier's tools (or "tools for dressing skins") in his "estate" inventory⁷. Seems common enough. But a scouring of the inventories of a span of 50 years in Bath County showed only one other deceased owning currier's tools⁸.

Hugh #4 was most likely from Bedford County, Virginia, or surrounding area, judging from his enlistment in the Revolutionary War. He died in the war in 1777⁹.

Then there's:

Hugh, born around 1767
Hugh, born in 1798
Hugh, 1801
Hugh, son of William, Pocahontas County, WV
Hugh from Greenbrier County, WV
and then, of course,
"H.P."

All of which I'll get to next time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Footnotes:
¹British Admiralty. PRO (Public Records Office) Class ADM 36/681, HMS Cruizer, 1742-1743. Repository: The National Archives (PRO), Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU [UK]. [Tel: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444]

²Morton, Oren F. A History of Pendleton County, WV Baltimore: Regional Publishing Co, 1974; p 37. Repository: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Call no 975.491 H2M 1974 FHL US/CAN. [Viewed in 2002 at the National Archives, Washington, DC]

³Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia; Volume I, Order Book XIV, pp 166. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore. Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.

⁴Augusta County, Virginia. Order Book XIV, p 329. (17 Mar 1772, at issue, Hugh McLaughlin, orphan.) Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond.

⁵"Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War" National Archives Publication. Entry for Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M881 roll 69, Gist's Regiment. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.

⁶"Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800 to 1900" National Archives Publication. Entry for the soldier Hugh McGlaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M804 roll 1684. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.

⁷Bath County, Virginia. Wills Book 1, p 125-126. (15 Oct 1798, at issue, Hugh McGloughlin Estate Appraisal). Repository: Bath County, Virginia, Courthouse; Warm Springs, VA.

⁸ Bruns, Jean Randolph. Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County,Virginia, 1791-1842, (Baltimore, Clearfield Company, 1995) Repository: Joan M. Kay, Huntingtown, MD

⁹"Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War" National Archives Publication. Entry for Hugh McLaughlin. Microfilm Publication: M881 roll 906, (E-O) Virginia 1^st Regiment. Repository: National Archives, Washington, DC.

Hugh McLaughlin, (b between 1765-1770) Promissory Note, Signature

Click to enlarge

On Genealogy—Lessons in Finding Your Past:

Documentation, Proof, and Keeping It All Straight


by Joan M. Kay
from The Kaitlyn Mae Book Blog


This is a "do as I say, not as I do" post, folks.

For you could see by taking a browse through my family group records, a great many of my facts have not been documented clearly. Or well. Or at all. I've very often been lazy as a summer pond when I'm researching.

But no longer.

I used to tell my husband proudly and while tapping my head, "I've got it all up here." I soon learned, when I once wanted to tell a fellow researcher about a mystery woman I'd found living in Rockingham County, Virginia, circa 1760, and had not written down the citation for the property tax list I found her on, that my head can not hold everything, or even a lot of things. It's also not a good way to build a database of, oh, a few thousand family members. (And, yes, your research will eventually grow to include at least that many people. And they all come with documents, some with file-folder-bursting amounts.)

So we need to get the facts straight. And documented.

The Family Group Sheet


Family Group Sheet or Record, download available at Ancestry.com

The Family Group Sheet is where you will record vital information on your families and individuals: names and variation, birthdates and places, marriages, death dates and places, etc. It is a standard in genealogy. You will often hear from someone, willing to swap information or share their research, mention the "Sheet." As in, "I have a Sheet on Margaret McLaughlin. I'll send it to you." So to get with the In crowd, get a good Sheet, use it religiously.

You will need one for each set of parents in your tree if you're not using a genealogy computer program. (I swear by the Legacy program, though some genealogists don't like to use any software at all.) If you use Legacy, or some other program, you still need plenty of blank Family Group Sheet copies for your research trips. Once you return home, this will make it simple for you to enter the information you've found into your database.

Document

Source Summary, download available at Ancestry.com.

I like this form, though your citation information will take up a few lines for each document, because you will want to record more than is asked for on this sheet. Another great form to download is at Ancestors: Charts and Records, a PBS site.

In general, for each fact you find, you want to note: author of document (example, Auditor of Public Accounts); name or title of document ("Personal Property Tax Books, Bath County [Virginia], 1791-1816"); call number or microfilm canister number (LVA Reel 31); page or image number (XX); repository (Library of Virginia, Richmond); and researchers's annotation (optional and always bracketed[ ]) ["Record in good condition, readable, except for missing year 18XX).] For:

Auditor of Public Accounts. "Personal Property Tax Books Bath County [Virginia], 1791-1816." LVA Reel 31. Image XX. Library of Virginia, Richmond. [Record in good condition, readable, except for missing year 18XX.]

Your intention here is to tell other researchers (and yourself down the road) exactly where to find the information you have compiled. Just ask yourself while taking notes, Could another researcher easily find this specific document from what I have written here?

Keep the Source Summary for your family group in a file marked only for that particular family group, along with an up-to-date Family Group Sheet.

Oh, and by the way, buy these file folders in bulk. You're going to need them for the next Lesson.

McLaughlin Family Novel--Excerpt

GOD’S MOUNTAIN, MCLAUGHLIN’S VALLEY
Click Here to Order
COPYRIGHT © 2005 JOAN M. KAY



PROLOGUE

Virginia Coast
September 6, 1743


Five men, on foot and dripping seawater, scrambled through an unkempt autumn garden, an acre or two away from a small bayside plantation. A familiar port town, quiet in the still night, spread out to the north.

Before their escape from the Navy’s H.M.S. Cruizer, in the groaning below-decks, the men had solemnly agreed on stealth and silence. But now a few couldn’t hold back anxious laughter as they carelessly crushed tender orange mums under their bare feet and dipped muddy hands in a carved stone fountain.

Only one dared a look back to the inlet, trickling in over a sandbar from the ocean-sized Chesapeake Bay. Hugh McLaughlin, son of James, a tobacco planter from Bull Run in Virginia, had been snatched by the Navy’s press gang a year earlier while at the wharf shipping hogsheads of his father’s tobacco. He now balanced his weight on a low brick wall and patiently scanned the water. The other four men crossed the bricks and climbed a terraced hill, leading to a dark stand of trees.

All was quiet between them and the shore, where waves slowly lapped.

But beyond the shoreline, under a misty rising moon, a sloop rocked gently in the murky water, just far enough away that the swaying could not be heard over their own exertions.

Once dragged from riverside taverns, crowded wharfs, and merchant vessels to serve the king, there were stolen men among their number, eagerly joined in the running by the disillusioned, the beaten, the scurvied. His Majesty’s Sloop the Cruizer had held them tenuously, desperate to deliver a life of adventure and honor, but instead merely giving sustenance to the essence within the men that demanded all that God provided but earthly lords drained away. And the men ran to grasp God’s gifts. Of the soil, of the sea, of their spirit. They sought no less than their own liberty and security.

But the captain would want them back. Not even a pirate vessel, her belly pregnant with a king’s ransom, would be closer guarded than a deck full of seasoned and cynical sailors with the fever of liberty. Experienced seamen, they were as valuable cargo to the Navy as the great guns pointed outward from the colonies’ coasts, guarding into the night against French invasion. And still, they made good their escape.

For Hugh, this run was born of their last orders. The Cruizer’s anchors would soon be retrieved and her sails would snap in the wind, to blow them eastward to Spithead, England, after escorting one last ship into the Virginia capes.

Leaving. Back across the choppy, frigid Atlantic to England.

No, Captain.

Hugh thought of hot, loud, colorful Barbados where he had sailed to this summer, and then of the warm, salty breezes of the Chesapeake. No. He would not leave America, would not cross the unforgiving Atlantic. And so Hugh threw in his lot with George Anderson, Richard Welch, John Bond, and John Mayou—all running and in this escape together.

He turned and followed the rest of the men, leaving his home in Tidewater behind.

Soon he crossed Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to settle in the howling wilderness beyond, in search of liberty and security, far out of the Navy’s long reach.