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.
William’s parents are not known for sure but based on near proximity and family naming patterns, it is very likely he was the son and John and Ann Hansard. No exact birthdate is known for him either but based on surviving deeds, tax records and his pension application, R4580, he was likely born in 1763 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. William probably was raised in various places, spending time in Buckingham County, then Amherst County and finally Bedford County.
In Bedford County, William joined in the cause of Liberty as a young man. His pension application states that he served a 6 month hitch in 1781, guarding Tories in New London under Captain John Cottrell. His application was rejected since his service was just for guard duty and it did not include any military duty. The town of New London was the county seat of Bedford. It contained a court house, prison and, more importantly, an armory.
At the time of the Revolution, the town had about 80 homes, including several stores and taverns. Work at the Armory was halted due to political turmoil in early 1781. The Armory was up briefly before Tarleton’s Raid up the James River that June. It was reopened after that threat was over. As the Yorktown campaign began, the Armory was under strain, particularly with requests from Lafayette. Operations at the armory ceased after the surrender at Yorktown and it became a storehouse. It was later relocated altogether to Harper’s Ferry.
When Cornwallis first entered Virginia, it encouraged the local loyalists. Some militia units had been ordered to join Washington’s Army but other local militia leaders organized an extra-legal court and had persons suspected of disloyalty arrested and tried. Many of these were merchants and many eventually left the area. Even though Clark sent prisoners from Vincennes there in 1779 and Greene sent prisoners there from the South early in 1781, it was likely that the local troublemakers were probably the prisoners that William Hansard guarded.
He likely stayed in the area in the years after the war. On 4 Nov 1792 William married Martha Christian in Amherst County. Based on deeds, they lived near Bolling’s Creek. They appear to have left Amherst County about 1806, when they sold off the last of their land there. By 1811, they are in Knox County, Tennessee, where they purchase land along Bull Run Creek near the Union County line. He appears in the 1830 and 1840 Knox County census reports, with some of his kids and some enslaved people. The latter may explain why he turned south rather than west when they left Amherst County.
William was both a miller and a farmer. He died on 1 Sep 1846 and his wife pre-deceased him during the 1830’s. William left a Will that does not name all his children. It is believed he had ten children. Most of his children stayed nearby in Tennessee, including my ancestor, but two sons went to Missouri and one ended up in California.
William donated the land for the church and cemetery where he was buried. He and his wife were one of the first ones to be buried there. The church is currently named Hansard Chapel Methodist Church, just off Route 33, near the Union/Knox County line. He has a military headstone and a DAR marker.
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