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
Birth: abt 1757 Holston / Washington / VA Death: bef 1809 / Warren / KY
Qualifying Service Description:
He served as a Private in the Regiment of William Christian in the August 1776 Cherokee Expedition under Major Evan Shelby.
Additional References:
Summers, Lewis Preston, Annals of Southwest Virginia 1769-1800, Volume II, Tennessee. Johnson City: The Overmountain Press, 1992, pg 1419-1420
William Henson was born about 1757 near the Holston River in Washington County, Virginia, the son of William Sr. and Mary (Williams) Henson.
He served as a Private in the Virginia Militia during the Cherokee Expedition of 1776. William served at Rye Cove Station, protecting the Southern Frontier under Captain Joseph Martin and Colonel Evan Shelby, in May - Jun 1777. He served alongside his brother, Jesse Henson, Sr [Patriot: P-327074], John Henson [Patriot: P-174708], and brother-in-law James Ward [Patriot P-348482] between 1776 and 1782.
A historical marker in Scott County, Virginia, reads: "Near here stood a fort first known as Crissman's Fort, and later as Carter's or Rye Cove Fort, and by the militia officers as Fort Lee. Built by Isaac Crissman, Sr. in 1774, it was acquired by Thomas Carter (1731-1803) after Crissman's death at the hands of [Native American warriors] in 1776. The fort was rebuilt in 1777 by Col. Joseph Martin and his militia troops, who occupied it until at least 1794. The fort was under the command of Captain Andrew Lewis, Jr. from 1792 to 1794. GPS 36° 41.677′ N, 82° 45.207′ W. Located in Scott County, Virginia."
William arrived at Fort Nashborough on or around the week of 1 May 1780 and was present with Colonel James Robertson. He was a signer of the Cumberland Compact on 13 May 1780. Many of these early settlers were from the Watauga, Holston River, Clinch River, Washington District of Virginia, and the Cumberland settlements of Tennessee County, North Carolina, and South of the Ohio River settlements.
"Constructed between 1780 and 1781, Fort Nashborough was known originally as the French Lick or Bluff Station. The stockaded encampment was designed to protect against violent encounters from Chickamauga Cherokee, Delaware, Chickasaw, and Creek Nation warriors that continually attacked the settlement throughout the 1780s. In all, eight stations were built in various locations along the Cumberland River and its tributaries within the first year. By 1782, only two remained as the settlers who inhabited the area concentrated their defenses at the Bluff or Heaton stations.
GPS 36° 9.849′ N, 86° 46.52′ W. Marker is in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee."
About 1797, William was living in Warren County, Kentucky. He received a 100-acre land grant on 20 August 1807, originally in the name of his brother-in-law, James Ward.
In the Spring of 1808, William and his brother, Jesse, were scouting for a place to settle the family near or on the vacant land between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, known today as LBL or Land Between the Lakes, located at the mouth of Jonathan's Creek on the Tennessee River. It is located in present-day Old Birmingham, Marshall County, Kentucky, at GPS 36.83360, -88.16750. It is near the Henson Family Cemetery, established about 1809.
As William and Jesse were trying to cross over the Tennessee River, they were approached and attacked by Native American warriors, leaving William mortally wounded by a musket ball. Jesse drew the attention of the attackers and avenged his brother's death by shooting and killing the charging warrior instantly. Surviving Patriot's brothers Jesse Henson, Sr, and John Henson, now Henson Patriarchs, would later raise their nephews as their sons and settle the majority of the family from Warren, Allen, and Simpson Counties in Kentucky into the Jackson Purchase Territory of Kentucky and Southern Illinois between 1809 and 1830.
The original location near where William was killed is now underwater due to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Cemetery Relocation expanding the Tennessee River's width during the Kentucky Lake formation in the 1940s.
Fort Bluff Station Fort Nashborough. www.hmdb.orgm=188765
Fort Nashborough.
Carter's Fort. https://www.hmdb.org
Carter's Fort/Rye Cove Fort.
Find-a-Grave memorial 74355
A Family Story. By Carl Lovett. Marshall County, Kentucky Public Library. Published 22 September 1980. MCGHS Newsletter. July 2007 Vol. 22. No. 3.
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