Person:Benjamin Hamrick (1)

About Benjamin Hamrick

Note: Benjamin Hamrick, a son of Patrick and Margaret Hamrick, was born July 9, 1728, probably in King George County VA, and died in Upson County GA after November 1832. He married Mary Sais. Mary was a daughter of John Sais who died in Faquier County VA in 1773.

There were three Benjamin Hamricks:

(1) Benjamin son of Patrick Sr, listed in his household in 1747, make him "perhaps" 16/18 years of age. This Benjamin married Mary Sias, daughter of John Sias, and had, among others....

(2) Benjamin Hamrick born about 1755, who married Nancy McMillian. He served in the Revolutionary War, and made application for a pension 7 Sept 1832 in Nicholas Co VA. He seems to have had a fine career, participating in numerous battles. However, his pension was declared invalid 7 Dec 1835, because "you left the army without leave and before your term had expired." (File S5472} Joel Hamrick, Benjamin Lemaster, and John McMillian, his brother-in-law made statements for him. Joe Hamrick, age 80 b VA, 1850 census Nicholas Co VA. Benjamin Hamrick born 1750-1760, 1830 census Nicholas Co, VA.

(3) Benjamin Hamrick born 9 July 1739, Prince William Co VA, by his statement made 7 Nov 1832 in Upson Co GA. (1820 census Jasper Co GA; living with son John in 1830 Upson Co, GA age 80-90. He was age 93 when he made his application for Revolutionary War Pension.

THE HAMRICK AND OTHER FAMILIES & INDIAN LORE by Mayme H. Hamrick (1939)

Benjamin Hamrick of the Revolution

The Hamricks of Braxton, Webster, Randolph and Pocahontas counties (W.VA), are descendants of Benjamin Hamrick, a soldier who fought in the American Revolution. He was born in Prince William, now Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1755, In November, 1775, he enlisted in the military service of the colonial government of Virginia, as a "Minute Man," and served for a period of six months. He was at that time twenty years of age. He engaged in the battle of Great Bridge, on the bank of the Elizabeth River, commanded by Colonel Edward Stevens. In October, 1776, he enlisted in the Third Virginia Regiment under Captain John Chilton, and marched from Williamsburg to Alexandria, Virginia, and from there to New York, where he joined the regular continental army. (1)

At Brandywine Benjamin Hamrick participated in several of the most decisive battles of the Revolutionary War, The records disclose that he was at the capture of Trenton on December 26, 1776, when General Washington one sleety night crossed the ice-clogged Delaware river, captured one thousand prisoners, and seized a large amount of equipment. He fought at the battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777. He engaged in the battle of Brandywine Creek, September 11, 1777, at which battle General Lafayette was wounded. On October 4, 1777, he engaged in the battle of Germantown, near Philadelphia.

With Washington at Valley Forge In September, 1777; Benjamin Hamrick was attached to the third and forth Virginia Regiments under Captain John Blackwell, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Heth, while at Valley Forge.

At the time he entered said encampment he was a private, receiving six and two-third dollars per month. In April, 1778, he was commissioned corporal, and received seven and one-third dollars per month Virginia currency. During the period of service in 1777, and 1778, Benjamin Hamrick was frequently assigned to scout duty, as disclosed by the records of the War Department...

It is known...from corroborating affidavits filed with the Secretary of War in 1832, by comrades of Banjamin Hamrick, that he served throughout the Revolutionary War, and was in the service in Virginia, at the time of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, October 19, 1781. (2)

Benjamin Hamrick married Nancy McMillian, daughter of John and Martha McMillian, in Fauquier county, Virginia, while on furlough from the Continental Army in 1779. The date of the marriage is given in an affidavit of Joseph McMillian filed on behalf of Benjamin Hamrick when the latter made application for a pension under the Act of Congress of 183?. In the affidavit the affiant says, "he (Benjamin Hamrick) came home on furlough and visited his father who lived just three miles from my father. He married my sister and built a house and lived with my father."

That Benjamin Hamrick was one of the early settlers in Greenbrier County, Virginia, now West Virginia, is disclosed by the early tax lists and census records, now in the Virginia State Archives, Richmond, Virginia. The oldest available lists disclose the heads of families living in Greenbrier county, between 1783 and 1786. The name of Benjamin Hamrick, is on that, and each successive list, until 1796. That he removed from Fauquier County between 1781, the late of the surrender of Cornwallis, and 1785, is definitely known. As the boundary of Greenbrier County, formed in 1777, embraced the territory that is now Kanavha, Nicholas, Braxton and Greenbrier counties, and part of Monroe County, it is difficult to locate the place to which he first came and established his residence. One writer has stated that he first came to Cherry Tree Bottom where the town of Richwood, Nicholas County, is now located.(3)

His residence was near that place at the time of the alarm of an intended Indian Raid in 1793. At that time he hastily gathered his family and abandoned his residence and fled to Donnally's Fort, in Greenbrier County, near the present village of Frankfort. The distance traveled on that journey was more than one hundred miles. When all danger of further interference had passed, he is believed to have settled on Birch River.

In 1820, Benjamin Hamrick was living in Nicholas County. In 1826, he petitioned the General Assembly of Virginia for a pension for service rendered in the military service of the Colony of Virginia and the continental army. The petition specifies the residence of the petitioner as Nicholas County but does not designate the exact location of his residence. That he was totally disabled, due to exposure, privations and hardships, experienced during the Revolutionary War, is clearly set forth in his petition. The bill for pension, although passed

1 Records of the Revolutionary War, War Department, Washington, DC. 2 Pension Records of the Revolution, Washington, DC. 3 Moccasin Tracks and Other Imprints, by W. C. Dodrill. 4 Virginia State Archies, Richmond, Virginia.