The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Lieutenant Colonel
Birth: 06 May 1736 / Bucks / PA Death: 26 Nov 1801 / Jefferson / VA
Additional References:
Rev War Graves Register. Clovis H. Brakebill, compiler. 672pp. SAR. 1993
SAR Rev War Graves Register CD. Progeny Publishing Co: Buffalo, NY. 1998
Spouse: Sarah DeLange Deleyea Children: Mary;
Members Who Share This Ancestor
None*
*This means that the NSSAR has no applications for this Patriot on file.
Instead the information provided is best effort, and from volunteers who have either researched grave sites, service records, or something similar. There is no documentation available at NSSAR HQ to order.
DAR grave marking on 8 Apr 2017. SAR General Adam Stehpen Chapter, WVSSAR provided assistance
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Gary Baldwin Parriott
William Darke was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1736, the son of Joseph Darke. The Darke's were among the early Quaker settlers at the Falls in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. William Darke had two brothers and one sister. His cousin, Benjamin Rush, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The Darke family moved to the Elk Branch near Shepherdstown, Virginia in 1740. As a child he fished, ploughed, and planted and was described as a strong man of his hands.
Darke enlisted in the British Army in 1755 and served briefly in the Braddock Expedition during the French and Indian War.
Darke married Sarah, the widow of Indian fighter, William Delayea. The two had four children: John, Joseph, Samuel, and Mary. All three of his sons died while young men but he has descendants through son John's daughter Elizabeth and through daughter Mary's two marriages.
In the American Revolutionary War, Darke served as a Captain (1776) in the 8th Virginia Regiment. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Germantown in 1777 and held in a British prison ship in New York Harbor until his exchange in 1780. He was then promoted to lieutenant colonel and served in the Fourth Virginia Regiment in February 1781. He was probably present at the siege of Yorktown in 1781. In 1789 he was issued a Land Warrant for 500 acres for his service during the Revolutionary War.
Darke was often a member of the Virginia legislature, and, in the convention of 1788, voted for the Federal Constitution. Lieutenant-colonel of the regiment of Levies. He commanded the left wing of the St. Clair's army, at its defeat by the Miami Indians, November 4, 1791. He made two gallant and successful charges with the bayonet in this fight, in the second of which his younger son, Captain Joseph Darke, was killed, and he himself was wounded and narrowly escaped death. Afterwards, Darke was a major-general of the Virginia militia.
William Darke died on November 26, 1801 and is buried in the Darke-Engle-Ronemous Cemetery, Shenandoah Junction, Jefferson County, West Virginia (Find A Grave Memorial# 43748513). His wife Sarah died in October 1806 and is buried nearby (Find A Grave Memorial# 52327066)
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