Person:Samuel Lessley (1)

His obituary was reprinted 50 years later in the Staunton Spectator.

"The following obituary notice of Samuel Lessley appeared in the Staunton Spectator of Feb. —, 1828: ANOTHER REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOT IS GONE! Mr. Samuel Lessley departed this life in the evening of the 5th inst. (February) at his residence on Lewis Creek, in Augusta County, about six miles below Staunton. He caught an intense cold in the beginning of last June; the effect of which settled on his lungs, caused severe coughing, without the necessary expectoration, and in all probability produced the pulmonary affection which terminated his earthly existence, all of which he bore with exemplary fortitude and resignation. Mr. Lessley was born at the place of his late abode on the 10th day of April, 1755: consequently he was 72 years, 9 months and 26 days old on the day of his death. In the 19th year of his life he marched against the combined forces of the Indians, and fought in the battle of the 10th of October, 1774, on the Great Kanawha, near its confluence with the Ohio. In the year ’76, he marched against the Cherokees, and assisted in burning their towns, &c., which caused them to sue for peace. In January, ’30 [’80], he marched down to Portsmouth, in Virginia, against the British. He was in the battles at Cowpens, in South Carolina, on the 17th of January, ’81, and at Guilford Court-house, in N. Carolina, on the 15th of March following. Mr. Lessley’s history during the interims between the battle on the Great Kanawha and the Cherokee expedition, and between the latter and the Portsmouth campaign, in the 1780, can not be correctly obtained at this distance of time, as there are but few now living who have charged their memories of those days. However, it is reasonable to suppose that he performed several tours of militia duty in those periods, as he was never known to skulk when his county demanded his services. At the close of the revolutionary war, Mr. Lessley returned to the place of his nativity, married in his native county, in the year ’91, and raised a large family of respectable children: two of them died some years since. He has left an affectionate wife, two sons and five daughters, to bemoan their irretrievable loss. Mr. Lessley was truly hospitable to strangers and others in distress—a kind neighbor, and affectionate husband, a loving father, an indulgent master, and, verily, an honest man."

Note, the article contains much additional information before and after the obituary and it is unclear exactly where the obituary ends and the article continues.

Citations

Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.), 20 Aug. 1878. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024718/1878-08-20/ed-1/seq-4/>

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/h/i/Beverly-a-Phillips/GENE1-0006.html#CHILD14