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: NC
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service / Civil Service
Author: Gary Owen Green
Gause (Goss), William – (b. 1745, Prince George Parish, Craven County, SC – d. Aft 9 May 1801, Brunswick County, NC) – Unmarked grave is located near Seaside just east of SunsetBeach. Service: Member, NC House of Commons and justice, Brunswick County. (NSDAR 1958-59 Report; NSSAR Membership #99907,NSSAR Patriot & Grave Index Number P 164848) Lost a leg in Revolutionary War. In 1762,he is found in Brunswick 1778; elected to House of Commons from Brunswick Friday, Dec. 23, 1791- Pres. George Washington and Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury had breakfast at the home of William Gause. 5th son settled about a mile south of present OceanIsleBeach at Gause's Landing. Unmarked grave is located near Seaside just east of Sunset Beach will written 9 May 1801 lists: Elizabeth wife, Peter (son by 1st wife), Elizabeth daughter, William JR (son by 1st wife), Martha daughter, William Wilson grandson, Benjamin William Gause grandson, John Gause Jr. son-in-law, in will mentions his plantation on Little River that he obtained from John Gause Jr. Gause Plantation • Name: William Gause , Jr. 1 2 • Sex: M • Birth: 17 45 in Craven County, South Carolina 2 • Death: 9 MAY 1801 in Brunswick County, NC 2 • Note: Source: Verta Mae Gause2.FTW
William Gause is listed in Ashe's expedition to Wilmington, North Carolina. As noted in Colony of North Carolina, 1765-1775, Abstracts of Land Patents, Volume Two, page181:
" William received on April 9, 1770, 290 acres in Brunswick on the East side of Waccamaw, joining Edward Wingate, New Brittons old field, the Swamp side on New Brittons line, and Jennys Branch."
In addition:
Nathan Frink of Prince George Parish, SC, Craven County, signed a bill of sale for three slaves: To wit: Caesar, March and Hannah for three hundred pounds current money. This bill of sale was signed at Star Bluff on 6 Feb. 1751 and was made to William Gause, Inn Keeper. Nathan Frink to William Gause, Inn Keeper, all and whole my stock of cattle on Waccamaw, likewise my sheep, 8 geese, and old canoe, and sundry household furniture, plantation tools, one desk with drawers, 1 large mahogany table, and one small tea table, two tables, 2 chests, 3 bedsteads, 1 couch and 2 feather beds, 3 iron pots, 1 tea kettle, a pair mill stones, 1 case quart bottles, 4 old chairs, axes and hoes, 2 grind stones (these items at the house of John Frink) and also 400 acres of land, for 300 pounds current money. Nathan Frink puts William Gause into possession of the land and mansion house and all rights except the "Quit rents" here in after due his Majesty. The deed was signed on 6 Feb 1751 at Star Bluff on the Waccamaw. "William received on April 9, 1770, 470 acres in Brunswick - being a tide Marsh between Jobs Inlet and Mad Inlet between Needham Gause, John Simmons, Gause's own land, Peter Allston, and Isaac Ludlan, joining the mouth of Spring Branch on Allstons Line, the Marsh side by Shelley’s point, Gause’s beach tract, the mouth of Morgan’s Creek, the beach, and the up land."
William Gause, Jr. was a hero of the Revolutionary War. He was one of four Revolutionary War soldier brothers from Brunswick County, sons of William Gause, Inn Keeper, of Craven County, South Carolina.
The following paragraph is quoted from The Roster of Texas Daughters Revolutionary Ancestors, 1976, pg. 816:
Service: Private in the North Carolina Militia from Wilmington, North Carolina. He was wounded and lost a leg. He was a member of the Committee of Safety in July 1775. He was also a member of the Provincial Congress from Bladen County, NC. William was also paymaster to the Militia in the Wilmington, NC District.
The following paragraph came from Heartening Heritage on a Carolina Crescent by J. M. M. Holden. William Gause was listed in the Head of Household Listing for St. Phillip's Parish, 1763.
"Rebellion was spreading over Brunswick County. Field guns were sent from Wilmington for James Moore to erect a battery at Brunswick Town. Supplies were ordered for William Gause and the people at Lockwood's Folly."
From the Wilmington-New Hanover Safety Committee Minutes, 1774-1776, for Saturday, January 20, 1776, we find the following:
"On the Application of Wm. Gause & Others in behalf of themselves & the Inhabitants of Challottee [Shallotte] and Lockwood’s folly setting forth their apprehensions of Danger from the people of Waggamaw and requesting of this Committee a small supply of powder to enable them to Act in their own defense in case they should be attacked - Ordered that 20 lbs. of Gunpowder be supplied to Wm. Gause from the Stock of this Committee for the use of the Inhabitants of Lockwood’s folly & Challottee when the said Gause applies for the same."
William was a member of the House of Commons in 1778 from Brunswick County, North Carolina. William took his seat on August 8, 1778 following an election ordered by the house - Second Session, Hillsborough, August 8-19, 1778. (North Carolina Government, 1585-1974, North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Raleigh, North Carolina)
The Gause family was a friend of the famous Methodist minister, Bishop Francis Asbury. Bishop Asbury visited Brunswick County in March 1801 after a six-hundred-mile trip in "barrens, swamps, savannahs, rivers, and creeks in South Carolina." He wrote of his restful stay at Gause's Manor. On this visit to the area, he preached first at Gause's and at Shallotte meeting house. He again visited in 1802 when, upon arrival, found out that William Gause, Sr. had died. William Gause Jr. is listed in The North Carolina Directory, 1822-23, as a local Methodist minister of the Brunswick Circuit. In 1859, Zoar, near Bolivia, was being served by C. C. Mercer, and William Gause helped in the general area. (Heartening Heritage on a Carolina Crescent)
The History of Brunswick County, North Carolina, by Lawrence Lee, gives numerous insights into the life of William Gause. In Chapter Nine, Government in a Free Land, William Gause and his brother, Needham, are listed among the first (19) justices for Brunswick County named by a 1776 Convention act. It was common practice for them to meet at the beginning of each year and choose five from among their number to hold court for that year. George Washington was apparently a good friend of William's, for he paid William a visit on April 27, 1791. This visit is mentioned in The Diaries of George Washington, Volume VI, January 1790-December 1799:
"Wednesday 27th Breakfasted at Willm. Gause's a little out of the direct Road 14 Miles - crossed the boundary line between No. & South Carolina about half after 12 o’clock which is 10 miles from Gauses. Dined at a private house (one Cochran's) about 2 miles farther and lodged at Mr. Vareens 14 Miles more and 2 Miles short of the long bay. To this house we were directed as a Tavern, but the proprietor of it either did not keep one, or would not acknowledge it. We therefore were en[ter]tained (& very kindly) without being able to make compensation."
A marker has been erected in North Carolina on Highway 17 between Shallotte and Grissettown commemorating the visit of General George Washington in the home of William Gause, Jr., during his Southern tour. The Gause family place was located at Gause's Landing, some four miles south of the site of the marker (The State Port Pilot, Southport, N.C., October 6, 1965).
According to Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Volume 2, William Gause is buried in the Oakdale Cemetery, New Hanover, North Carolina. (This seems implausible; the cemetery was not open until 1852.)
CENSUS RECORDS:
Brunswick County: 1769 Tax List - Gawse, Wm.1 White Male, 3 Negro Males, 4 Negro Women Brunswick County: 1772 Gause, Wm.2 White Males, 7 Negro Males, 5 Negro Women 1790 United States Census for Brunswick County, Wilmington District, North Carolina
William Gause 2 Free White Males > 16 3 Free White Males < 16 3 Free White Females 37 Slaves
1800 United States Census for Brunswick County, North Carolina
William Gause 1 Free White Male, Aged 10-16 1 Free White Male, Aged 45 & Over 1 Free White Female, Aged 26-45 28 Slaves Father: William Gause , Sr. b: ABOUT 1700 in Virginia Mother: Ann Bryan
Marriage 1 Mary Children 1. Sarah Gause 2. Needham Gause 3. Mary Gause 4. Samuel Gause
Marriage 2 Elizabeth Bacot b: 1746 in Prince George Parrish, South Carolina 5. Married: 1776 2 Children 6. William Bacot Gause b: 1778 in Gause Landing Plantation, North Carolina 7. Elizabeth Bacot Gause 8. Martha Gause b: 17 OCT 1780 9. Peter Gause 10. Samuel Peter Gause 11. Martha Gause b: 1781
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