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: MD
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Charles Dorsey was born 11 November 1736, at Anne Arundel County, Maryland, a son of Edward Dorsey and Sarah Todd.
He spent a large portion of his youth with his older brother, Lieutenant Colonel John Dorsey. Prior to the Revolution, he married a distant cousin, Lydia Dorsey. They were the parents of seven children: Greenbury, Sarah/Sallie, Richard, Beal, Frony, Lydia and Charles.
Dorsey appears on the 8 September 1778 Roster of Lieutenant James Smith’s Company of the Fourth Maryland Regiment of the Continental Line. He enlisted for three years. This is the same regiment in which his father-in-law, Nicholas Dorsey, was an officer.
Charles Dorsey was his brother’s surety in business affairs and was considered wealthy, however; his interests were lost at sea. Creditors pursued him for a large sum, and he lost his property.
In 1787, he and his family moved to Kentucky. His wife died in 1796. After her death, he engaged in selling items at retail with his son, Charles, and then with other business partners, until his death in 1809.
References
Newman, Harry Wright: Anne Arundel Gentry, Pg. 90, 103, 104.
Dorsey, Maxwell J., Wright Dorsey, Jean Muir Dorsey, Nannie Ball Nimmo: The Dorsey Family, Pg. 64, 144-145.
Muster Roll of the Company of Lieutenant James Smith, Fourth Maryland Regiment, dated 8 September 1778.
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