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: Private / Patriotic Service
Birth: 1760 / Bottetourt / VA Death: 1849 / Giles / VA
Qualifying Service Description:
Defender of Frontier, Stations at Sinking Creek, Smithfield
Served as a spy
Served as a Private of the Virginia troops
Additional References:
Rev War Pension file R4613
Pritchard, J.L. M.D, Harless Genealogy, John Philip and Anna Margaretha (Preiss) Harless, Pioneers in Western Virginia and Some of Their Descendants, California. Los Altos: self-published, 1962
DAR Genealogical Research Databases. Abstracts of Rev War Pension Files, Vol II, pg 1520 by Virgil White
Two stones: 1] Upright stone that dates to the 20th century; 2] V/A flat stone (modern)
DAR marked the grave about 1955
1984 the DAR placed a new tombstone at his grave, replacing a bronze marker that had been mutilated by vandals
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
From the Columbus Airport, Columbus, OH get on I-270 S in Gahanna from International Gateway and Sawyer Rd (3.0 mi), and continue to Athens. Take the US-33 E exit from OH-32 W/US-33 E/US-50 W (76.7 mi). Get on I-77 S/US-33 E in Western (41.4 mi) and follow I-77 S to WV-94 S/Lens Creek Rd in Marmet. Take exit 89 from I-64 E/I-77 S (56.1 mi). Follow WV-94 S and State Hwy 3 W to the cemetery in Peytona (12.8 mi)
Author: Anonymous compatriot
Philip Harless volunteered in the company of Captain Floyd and served from 1777 until the first part of October of the same year. He was stationed in a garrison at Smithfield. That again in the spring of 1778 he volunteered and served in the same Garrison from the first of April until the first of October in the same year under the same Captain Floyd. That in the spring of 1779 he volunteered under the command of Captain John Lucas and served from April 1 to October 1. That he took the Oath of Fidelity as a spy and was engaged to monitor the movements of Native Americans and was stationed in a Garrison in the part of Botetourt County, which is now Giles County. In 1780 and 1781 he volunteered to serve from early in the spring until late fall. That he endured the perilous Indian warfare during nearly all the Revolutionary War.”
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Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
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Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.