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
The Kiethley Cemetery is off the road. There is a ___ and 1/4 mile wagon trail up a hill. GPS coordinates mark the beginning of the road up to the cemetery.
per Find-a-Grave: Map coordinates have not been set for this cemetery
Author: Ray Vaughn Cassell II
John May was born on 6 January 1760, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The family removed to Frederick County, Virginia, in about 1768. They lived in the northern part of the county, which in 1772 became Berkeley County (present-day West Virginia). It was at Berkeley County where May enlisted with Captain Cherry in 1776.
May served in Harrison’s Artillery Regiment, which was formed in Virginia. General orders at the camp at Williamsburg included a call for volunteers for the artillery. Payrolls for Harrison’s Artillery Regiment document his enlistment as 20 December 1776, for three years.
Bombardier John May appears on 20 October 1777 in the rolls of Captain William Pierce’s company of artillery, under the command of Colonel Charles Harrison, at Fort Stevens. Fort Stevens was erected near Portsmouth, Virginia, and opposite Norfolk, at the site that was later named Fort Nelson. In March 1778, Harrison’s regiment was ordered from Virginia to join the main army at Valley Forge without delay. An examination of General Orders issued at Valley Forge documents Harrison’s regiment received the order and arrived before 11 June 1778.
Bombardier May made his final appearance on a final muster roll for November and December 1779 as a member of a consolidated company of the First Artillery under command of Captain Samuel Eddens. The muster roll notes he was discharged on 20 December 1779.
May returned to Berkeley County, and the new town of Martinsburg, where he had family living. May married Sarah Jane Phillips in March 1780 at Martinsburg. They were the parents of John, Samuel, Thomas, Daniel, Elizabeth, Mary, Reuben, and Tlepolard.
May and his family moved west into Hampshire County in about 1784 along with extended family. In about 1788, they moved their young family to Washington County, North Carolina, near the mouth of Roan’s Creek at the Wautauga River, where they lived until the year 1800.
The Mays moved to Kentucky, where they settled at Shelby Creek, Floyd County. John May died on 25 January 1813. Sarah Jane Phillips May died after September 1845. She was buried beside her husband at their home place.
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