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Notes for ZACHARIAH HAMPTON:
Revoluntionary War Warrants; Zarchariah Hampton--- Heirs of Zarchariah Hampton, private; 640 acres; issued 23 Aug 1821. John Hampton transferred the same to John Terrell on 11 Sept 1821, witnessed by Wilbourn F Hampton and William Clement. John Washington deposed before Richard Sneed, a justice of
the peace for Granville Co. N.C., that he was well acquainted with Zarchariah Hampton, reported to have died of wounds received from the ememy at the Hughtaugh(?) Battle in the Revolutionary War. John Hampton is the oldest son and rightful heir of said Zarchariah, dec. dated 20 July 1821
Who is Mrs. Mary Hampton, a widow, who married John Wilbourn in Granville Co., NC in 1783. The Wilbourns lived in the Knap of Reed's District in Granville Co., NC, having come there in 1768 from Fauquier Co., VA. According to John Wilbourn's will in Granville Co., NC in 1817? he names Mary Hampton's sons, Noah and Nolan?, as beneficiaries.
Who was Mrs. Mary Hampton's first husband? Does anyone have a path of migration for the Hampton family? Could they have earlier been either in the Prince William/Fauquier Counties areas of Virginia or in Frederick Co., VA?
Zachariah died "of wounds received at the Battle ofEutaw Springs." The actual date of his death may have been days or weeks after the date of the battle, 8 Sept 1781. It seems likely Zachariah was one of the two minor children Andrew claimed in making his application for a GA headright grant in 1769, but Zachariah was back in Granville by 1774, possibly as early as 1770. At this moment, whether the weather in the GA lowlands or the death of Andrew brought him back is anybody's guess. Zachariah shows as head of household on the 1774 tax list, his first entry , but John and Ephraim show extra titheables in their households in 1770 and 1772. Evidence indicates John was a surrogate father to Zachariah in Zachariah's late teens.
By 1774, Zachariah had married Mary Knowland, daughter of Edward Knowland. The couple were living on Edward's land, across the river from Ephraim. Their first son. John, had been born.
Although Zachariah and Mary made improvements on the land they believed to be Knowland's, due to surveying errors, the land was actually an unclaimed parcel between two pieces of land Edward Knowland had bought. In May 1780, Ephraim made a claim for the land in Zachariah's name. After Zachariah's death, Ephraim paid the fee necessary to take possession of the land. It was incorporated into Edward Knowland's "plantation" and inherited by Zachariah's and Mary's two sons when Edward died.
The date of May 1780, when Ephraim started the land claim process, is significant. Obviously, Zachariah was not around or he would have initiated the claim himself, since he had improved the land. I believe Zachariah joined John Hampton's Loyalists which were being organized in early 1780. Ephraim's action may give a hint to his foreboding about the mess John and Zachariah were getting into. The notes with Andrew Hampton's family sheet describe the events which led to the surrender of the Bryant/Hampton Loyalist force. Source: JW Foster
Captured Loyalist officers were often tried for treason in western NC., but Loyalist soldiers were frequently given the chance to swear a change of allegiance and join the American army. Whether self-preservation or disenchantment with the British cause was the reason, Zachariah was an American soldier by the summer of 1781.
At the Battle ofEutaw Springs in SC, 8 Sept 1781, an American army met the British, forcing them to retreat in the early stages of the fight. However, the hungry Americans stopped to enjoy the supplies captured from the British, giving the British time to regroup and regain the land they had lost. Casualties on both sides were very heavy, and they were losses the British could not afford. By the next morning, the British were retreating back to Charleston, effectively endingthe the war in SC. Zachariah Hampton was one of the American casualties.
REFERENCES
N.C Military Land Warrant #870, 23 August 1821
Georgia Headright Grants, Book F.5, pages 470 and 472 Granville County, NC, Tax Lists, 1770, 1772, 1774 Granville County Deeds, Book P, page 368 Granville Land Entry #635
Granville Wills, Edward Knowland, 22 September 1794
Source: JW Foster - Subject to Revision 2 April 2000
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