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: PA/VA
Qualifying Service: Private
photo used with permission of Michael B. Gunn, 185230, Cincinnati Chapter, OHSSAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: Ralph Edward Bischak
Henry Jolly was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania on December 26th, 1757. In 1770 the family moved to Catfish Camp (present day Washington Pennsylvania.) On March 15th, 1776, Henry Jolly and his older Brother James enlisted, first into the Pennsylvania State Militia and then in August into the 8th Pennsylvania regiment. In December, 1776, they received orders from General Washington to march to Continental Headquarters in New Jersey. In April of 1777 the British overran their Post at Bound Brook and took 33 prisoners, including Henry Jolly’s Brother James, who later died a Prisoner of War in New York. A short time later 100 men from the 8th Pennsylvania, including Henry Jolly, were reassigned to Colonel Daniel Morgan’s Rifle Regiment. In August the Rifle Regiment was assigned to General Gates Northern Campaign. After the British Defeat at Saratoga, New York, Morgan’s Riflemen returned to Headquarters near Philadelphia, where a small detachment of Riflemen, including Henry Jolly, joined the Virginia Troops, under General La Fayette. In December of 1777 the British retreated to Philadelphia and General Washington’s troops went into Winter Quarters at Valley Forge. In June of 1778 Henry Jolly rejoined the 8th Pennsylvania Line and marched first to Fort McIntosh in Beaver, Pennsylvania and then to present day Zoar, Ohio, to construct Fort Laurens. In August of 1779 he was discharged in Pittsburgh, after over three years of service. He returned to the frontier joining the Virginia Militia in Wheeling as an Ensign. Upon the resignation of Captain Lewis Bonnett, he was commissioned by the Governor of Virginia as Captain of Militia for the County of Ohio, a position that held until 1794. While serving as Captain of Militia, Henry Jolly met his future wife, Rachel Greist, whose entire family was murdered by Indians in 1777, near Triadelphia, West Virginia. Fourteen year old Rachel was knocked unconscious by an Indian war club, however, she recovered, eventually marrying Henry Jolly, moving to Grandview, near Marietta, Ohio and having five children! Henry Jolly held almost every appointed and elected office in Washington County, Ohio, serving as a Judge for several years and in 1815 was elected to the Ohio State Legislature. In his later years he was contacted by Historian Lyman Draper and asked to write his recollections. The numerous manuscripts that he wrote are today included in the Draper Manuscripts at the University of Wisconsin. Henry Jolly died in Licking County, Ohio on July 29th, 1844, at the age of 85. His tombstone reads as follows: Here lies the body of Henry Jolly, the remnant of a Revolutionary Soldier. He fought many battles for Liberty, but now enjoys a profound peace with all the world. He was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania on the 26th day of December, 1757 and departed this life on the 29th day of July, 1842.
Author: Michael B. Gunn
Born on December 26, 1757 in Chester County, Pennsylvania to parents Peter (b. 1715) and Martha Jolly, Henry Jolly served as a Private in the Pennsylvania Line. He married Rachel Griest (b. 1759); children: William H. b. 1796, Kenzie D. b. 1798, Sidney b. 1800, and Albert G. b. 1803. In 1830, Henry Jolly went to live with his daughter Sidney and her husband Vaschel Dickerson in Licking County, where he later died.
Henry was pensioned, and applied April 30, 1818 in Washington County, Ohio, Ref.# S41710. He received an annual allowance of $96.00. He was dropped from the rolls under act of May 1, 1820 and restored under the act of March 1, 1823. He died at 87 years of age on July 29, 1842 in Jersey Township, Licking County, Ohio and is buried at the Jersey Universalist Cemetery in Licking County, Ohio. His grave is marked with a tombstone.
In 1812, he was a Washington County Commissioner; In 1815, he was the representative from Washington County, Ohio for the 13th Assembly; and between 1817 and 1834 he was an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Washington County, Ohio.
References:
DAR, Patriot Index Centennial Edition, Part 2, p. 1616.
Virgil White, Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, Volume 2, (Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing, Co., 1900), p. 1066.
Pension Roll of1835, Volume IV, Mid-Western States, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc, Baltimore, Maryland, 1994, p. 223.
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