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.
Images taken and provided with permission from compatriot Robert Crum (NC) member 221258.
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
From the US Post office in Linnville, NC, travel west 1.6 miles on Hwy 181 to the cemetery, which is on a hill to the right. Alternatively, from Newland, NC, travel east on Hwy 181 toward Linnville. From the intersection of Hwy 194 and Hwy 181, it's 2.4 miles to the cemetery on a hill to the left. The road into the cemetery is gravel and has limited turn around.
The Patriot's grave is at the top of the hill in the center of the cemetery and marked by a Military Headstone with text that says, "William Gragg Pvt Sharpe's VA Troops Rev War October 20, 1847."
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Photo: 2 of 2
Author: Robert Alvin Crum
William Gragg, Jr. was born on April 15, 1758, in Augusta, Virginia, the son of Obidiah Sr. and Elizabeth (Martin) Gragg.
He married Elizabeth Pulliam in about 1780, and their known children were:
John was born on 11 September 1781 and married Elizabeth Majors.
William was born about 1783 and married Celia Boone.
Benjamin was born about 1791 and married Nancy Dyer.
David Obediah was born in 1796.
James was born in 1795 and married Nancy Humphrey.
Robert was born on 2 April 1785 and married Rhoda Humphrey.
Susan was born in 1791.
Elizabeth "Betsy" was born in about 1801 and married Alfred Pritchard.
They lived in Albemarle, Virginia, until later moving to Surry County, North Carolina, and then Burke County, North Carolina. Elizabeth died sometime before he married a second time to Nancy Coffey on 4 July 1837, and their known children were
Indiana was born in 1838.
Zachariah Taylor was born on 27 May 1846 and married Elizabeth Pendly.
William’s Revolutionary War Pension Application entered service of the United States in the Commonwealth of Virginia about June or July 1779 or 1780 in Albemarle County under Captain Andrew Wallace in Colonel Taylor’s Regiment. In January 1781, he served under Captain Benjamin Harrison’s Virginia Regiment, commanded by Colonel Jonathan Bowyer, and was later discharged in April 1781. In September 1781, he served under Captain Robert Sharpe, who joined General Washington’s Army at Yorktown and witnessed the surrender of British General Cornwallis. He was then discharged in December 1781. The Application for a Headstone with the War Department and his Headstone also shows his service as a Private in Robert Sharpe’s Virginia Troops
The Patriot died on 20 October 1847. His last Will and Testament are found in the Yancey County Record of Wills. He left some personal property to his wife, divided most of his estate between his youngest two children, Indiana and Taylor, and left one dollar each to each of his older sons and daughters. He was buried at Montezuma Cemetery in Montezuma, Avery County, North County.
Sources:
Revolutionary War Pension file S/W7570
War Department Application for Headstone filed by Hon. A.L. Bulwinkle on 3-21-34.
Daughters of the American Revolution, Ancestor # A046612
Find-a-Grave Memorial ID 40556904.
Newspaper article in The Lenoir Topic, page 3, January 4, 1888.
Yancey County Record of Wills, Yancey County, North Carolina, Volume 1, page 348.
Author: James Michael Yohe
William Obediah Gragg, Jr., was born on 15 April 1758, in Augusta County, Virginia,1 the son of William Obediah Sr. and Elizabeth (Martin) Gragg2
His service, from his Revolutionary War pension application deposition, was given in his own words:
…he entered the service of the United States in the State of Virginia, sometime in the month of June or July 1779 or 1780 in the County of Albemarle… under Captain Andrew Wallace [Colonel Taylor’s Regiment]… he was at this time called out to guard the prisoners taken at the capture of General Burgoyne, that he remained in service this time one month or more…
…in the County of Rockbridge and State of Virginia in the month of January 1781, he entered the service a second time as a substitute for James Kennedy under Captain Benjamin Harrison… in the Regiment Commanded by Colonel Jno. Bowyer… apart of this time, the Regiment was with General Muhlenberg, near Portsmouth [Virginia]…
…After this, he was in two skirmishes with the British about twelve miles from Portsmouth . . .during this term of service, the troops . . . were march [sic]… toward North Carolina to meet with Lord Cornwallis, but before joining the main American army, they were informed of the battle of Gilford [sic] and… returned back to… Richmond where he was discharged… in… April of 1781… having served… three months…
…in the month of May following, he was drafted and again entered the service in the County of Albemarle… for a three-month tour… but… he was taken sick… sometime in the month of September 1781, he was again drafted… and entered the service under the command of Captain Robert Sharpe under whose command he marched to and joined General Washington’s army at Little York, where he was at the time that Lord Cornwallis was captured by Washington. From there, he was marched as one of the prison guards to the Potomac … where [he was discharged in] December of 1781 at Noland’s Ferry having served out three months…3
William married Elizabeth Pulliam, a daughter of Gideon Pulliam,4 about 1780. They were the parents of John, William “Buck,” Benjamin, Obediah, James, Robert, Elizabeth and Susan.5
They settled in Albemarle County. William appears on the Albemarle County, Virginia, tax list in 1785, with five White Souls, no Dwelling, and one Other Building.6 He moved to Surry County, North Carolina, and by 1798, to Burke County, where he lived in January 1833, when he filed his pension application.7
William “Revolutionary Bill” Gragg lived in that part of the Johns River basin known as the Globe Valley. He may have been a colorful figure because he is painted as a crusty miller, moonshiner, and bear hunter in a historical novel about that area.8
The date of death of Elizabeth Pulliam Gragg is not known; however, the 1830 U.S. Census enumeration of the Gragg household is consistent with her being alive at that time.9 She may have died in 1836 or 1837, as 79-year-old William married 21-year-old Nancy Coffey on 4 July 1837.10 They were the parents of Indiana and Taylor.11 In the 1840 U.S. Census, the Gragg household appears in Yancey County. Gragg had not likely relocated, as this county was formed in 1833 from parts of Burke and Buncombe Counties.12 Gragg is said to have later moved to Caldwell County.13
The Patriot died on 20 October 1847 and was buried at Montezuma Cemetery of Montezuma, North County.14 Nancy Coffey Gragg lived until 1890. She was buried at the Gragg Cemetery of Avery County, North Carolina.15
Sources:
Revolutionary War Pension application S/W7570
Daughters of the American Revolution, lineage for Member 808161.
Revolutionary War Pension application S/W7570, op. cit.
Profile page for William “Billy” Gragg. Gregg/Gragg Ancestry Web Site, undated.
ibid
Heads of families at the first census of the United States taken in the year 1790. : records of the state enumerations, 1782 to 1785.. Washington: G.P.O., 1908.
Revolutionary War Pension application S/W7570, op. cit.
Altmayer, Bud, The Globe Valley Revisited: 1783-1865. Boone, North Carolina, Minors Publishing, 1987 (out of print).
U.S. Census. Year: 1830; Census Place: Burke, North Carolina; Series: M19; Roll: 118; Pg.: 163.
The Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, 26 July 1837, Pg. 3
Ibid.
wikipedia.org for Yancey County, North Carolina.
Gragg, George Robert, Gragg Descent, Manuscript, undated (likely about 1975), Pg. 50.
FindaGrave Memorial 40556904
FindaGrave Memorial 66223524
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