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
Author: James Edward Mitchell
Thomas Gaskins, Jr. was born 1745, a son of (Col.) Thomas Gaskins, Senr. (1720-1785), and Sarah Eustace (1724-1785) logically, a daughter of William Eustace of Northumberland County (Co,) Virginia (VA); source, Virginia Wills and Administrations 1632-1800: An Index, compiled by Clayton Torrence, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., see, EUSTACE Northumberland, Wm. 1739-40 w. pg 142.
Thomas Gaskins Jr., our subject, was identified as a LieutCol (3rd) VA Rgt. attached to the Continental Army and commissioned 16 May 1778, and a son of Thomas, Senr. and Sarah Eustace. Thomas Jr. was also a grandson of Thomas Gaskins and Mary Conway; source, Nat’l. Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Application For Membership, approved 25 Oct 1966 for Charles Griffith Moncure, Nat’l. Number (No.) 93825 and, the District of Columbia Society, No. 3305.
The Surname: Gaskins was recorded by the Virginia Wills, and Administrations: An Index, Clayton Torrence, as follows: GASKINS, Northumberland, Isaac 1712 w., Thos. Sr. 1726 w., Thos. 1727 inventory (i), Frances 1739 w., Saml. 1743-4 w., Jno. 1746 w., et al, and Thos. 1785 w., pg 166
At age 22, Thomas Gaskins, Jr., married Hannah Hull, 4 Sep 1767, Northumberland Co.; source, Virginia, Marriages of the Northern Neck of VA, 1649-1800]. From this holy state of matrimony Thomas and Hannah Hull Gaskins parented 2 surviving, daughters -Alice Peachy Gaskins, b. 1774, m. John Moncure, b. 1772, in Stafford Co, VA, and Sarah Eustace Gaskins, b. 1782, and 6 sons – Richard, b. 1772, Henry Lee Gaskins, b. 1772, Thomas V. Gaskins III, b. 1776, David Gaskins (1778-1866), Fisher Gaskins, b. 1780, and Benjamin. Their mother, Hannah Hull Gaskins was a daughter of Richard [d. North Carolina (NC) 1777] and Elizabeth Hull (d. NC 1794); Ibid, Virginia, Marriages …, pg 145.
A publication, entitled: History of the Battalion: The End of Colonel Gaskin’s War May-Oct 1781 by Richard C. Bush III, PhD., was published in the Bulletin of the Northumberland Co., Historical Society Vol. XXXIII-1996. The article reviews in detail LieutCol Thomas Gaskins Jr’s struggle along the James River opposing 1 British army already in the state; another under command of Lord Cornwallis who was to arrive in Petersburg, 20 May to raid Charlottesville and capture VA legislators including Governor Thomas Jefferson, at his Monticello home; see, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~breedlove/Gaskins.html
Monticello-A World Heritage Site, continues to be opened weekly. It is mapped at the foothill of Carters Mountain in 1781, within a direct, straight line of sight to the wooded structure that cost 375 Pounds, 10 Shillings - 1st Albemarle Co. Courthouse (defunct) that only opened for Court business, one day a week.
On the night of 3 Jun 1781, rider Jack Jouett, an Albemarle Co. VA minute-company, militiaman, son of the Swan Tavern’s owner across from the Courthouse, reached his father’s tavern bringing news that British forces and dragoons were less than 1 hour away from capturing Virginia’s House of Delegates that were lodgers. Then, Jouett raced using horse trails and back roads to warn Gov Thos. Jefferson at Carters Mountain.
Now, the Courthouse grounds with a brick building site, -Court House Square, was replaced in 1803 by the rear wing of the existing brick building. The grounds appear today, without the 1781 whipping post (restored as late as 1857), stocks and pillory; source, Historic Charlottesville Tour Book, publ. by The Albemarle C., Historical Society, at The McIntire Bldg., 200 Second St., N.E. Charlottesville, VA 22902, Tour A, pg 3.
LieutCol Thomas Gaskins recorded at age 36, “His house was burned down by the British April 11, 1781.” Writing of this outrage he recorded, “I had my dwelling Burnt to ashes on Wednes., morning, with considerable loss,” according to the Nat’l. Society SAR Approved 1966 Application For Membership for Charles Griffith Moncure, above. Soon thereafter, LieutCol Gaskins resigned his commission following the Siege at York(town) and Surrender on 19 Oct 1781.
At age 60, LieutCol Gaskins died at Northumberland Co. Some reported that he was laid to rest at Wicomico. An online search produced a Wicomico Church cemetery at 5191 Jessie Ball Dupont, Memorial Hwy., at Wicomico Church, a community in Northumberland Co, VA mapped at Latitude: 37.813925(DEC) and Longitude: -76.377967(DEC). Thomas Gaskins’ burial headstone was lost in any event, within Northumberland Co., Peninsula bounded by the Potomac River, Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay.
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