Display Patriot - P-163531

Basil GAITHER

SAR Patriot #: P-163531

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.

Genealogy Notations

Problems have been discovered with at least one previously verified application.

The application depends upon an unverified 1911 DAR application as the source for DAR application #85867, Application CAN NOT be used by future applications until supporting documentation in the previous applications are supplied.

State of Service: MD Qualifying Service: Captain / Patriotic Service

DAR #: A043111

Birth: 1751 Elkridge / Anne Arundel / MD
Death: aft 08 Nov 1802 Salisbury / Rowan / NC

Qualifying Service Description:

Also, Lt, Capt Bristow, MD Militia, 1777
Oath of Fidelity and Support, Montgomery Co., MD, 1778
NSDAR cites
- ALSO LT, MILITIA
- TOOK OATH OF FIDELITY

Additional References:

Brumbaugh, Revolutionary Recs. of MD, pg 2
Biographical Hist. of NC, Vol 2, pg 93
NSDAR cites
- HALL OF RECS COMMISSION, RED BOOK, PART 2, pg 176
- DAR, UNPUBLISHED REV RECS OF MD
  - GRC 1939, S1, VOL 61, pg 56, #10
  - GRC 1941, S1, VOL 68, PART 2, pg 25

Spouse: Margaret Watkins;
Children: Basil; Betsy; Gassaway; Nelly/Nellie/Ellen; Nicholas W; Walter; Nathan; Ellen;

Members Who Share This Ancestor

Date Approved	Society	ACN	SAR Member Info	Lineage via Child	Genealogy Flags
1991-03-13	NC	215856	Webster Alexander Jones (136660)	Walter
1995-02-15	NC	206731	Robert Haywood Witherington (144033)	Ellen/Nellie
2014-08-20	NC	43793	Winborne Finch Springs (192077)	Elizabeth/Betsy	GRANDFATHERED

Burial:

Joppa Cemetery (aka Burying Ground Ridge)_(C-0373614)

Location:

Mocksville / Davie / NC / USA

Find A Grave Cemetery #:

47831

Grave Plot #:

Grave GPS Coordinates:

35.908889 / -80.576944

Find A Grave Memorial #:

15506914

Marker Type:

SAR granite; DAR plaque;

SAR Grave Dedication Date:

15 Apr 2023

Comments:

Photograph taken and published with permission from Compatriot Fred Learned member 154907.

Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:

The "Old Joppa Cemetery" is completely surrounded by an old stone wall with an iron gate at its only entrance. There is also a "new" portion of Joppa Cemetery that lies outside of the old stone walls. It has a looped paved driveway with two unfettered connections directly onto a busy State Hwy 601 (Yadkinville Road) with much newer gravestones.

Photo: 1 of 2

Photo: 2 of 2

Author: Frederick Douglas Learned

Basil Gaither was born in 1751 in Maryland (probably Anne Arundel County], the son of Edward and Eleanor Gaither. He was a migrant to Rowan County (now Davie) in 1781.

He married in about 1768 to Margaret Watkins. They had the following known children:

Ellen “Nellie” was born on 7 July 1769 and married Isaac Jones.
Walter was born in 1772 and married Elizabeth Smoot.
Nicholas was born in 1773 and married Tabitha Bailey.
Basil, Jr. was born on 21 December 1774 and married Tabitha Smart.
Gassaway was born in 1780 and married Mary Smoot.
Nathan was born on 15 September 1788 and married Martha Morrison.
Elizabeth “Betsey” was born on 4 January 1789 and married John March Jr.

In 1777, he served as a 1st Lieutenant in the company of Captain Gerald Briscoe when he was promoted to Captain to replace Briscoe of the Montgomery Middle Battalion. He also took the Oath of Fidelity.

Basil served as a justice of the Rowan County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions. He was also a member of the General Assembly of North Carolina between 1788-1802 (except 1798).

He served as a member of the Ratification Convention, Fayetteville, which voted to ratify the United States Constitution on 21 November 1789.
The Patriot died after he made his Last Will and Testament on 8 November 1802. In his Will, he named his heirs as his wife Margaret and children: Walter, Gassaway, Nathan, Betsey, Basil, and Nelly. He also mentions the grandchildren of his daughter Ellen Jones. He also mentions the names of several enslaved people.

Sources:

Samuel A. Ashe, ed., Biographical History of North Carolina, vols. 2 (1905), 8 (1917).
James S. Brawley, The Rowan Story (1953).
Homer Keever, History of Iredell County (1976).
North Carolina Journal, 4 Sept. 1793, 3 Sept. 1794, 7 Sept. 1795.
North Carolina Minerva, 10 Oct. 1803, Raleigh Minerva, 15 Dec. 1798, 26 Nov. 1799.
Raleigh Register, 10 Oct. 1803.
H. M. Wagstaff, The Papers of John Steele, 2 vols. (1924).

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