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.
Birth: 24 Nov 1765 / / VA Death: 06 Jan 1845 / Pontotoc / MS
Qualifying Service Description:
1780, he served in the company of Captain John Thompson, commanded by Colonel Thoams Brandon, and participated in the Battle of Kings Mountain.
1780-1782, he served a second tour in the company of Captain Field Pardue, commanded by Colonel Andrew Pickens.
Additional References:
Revolutionary War Pension file S7202
Draper, Lyman C.King’s Mountain, and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of King’s Mountain, October 7th, 1780, Ohio. Cincinnati: Peter G. Thomson, 1881, pg 320, 323-333
Moss, Bobby GilmerThe Patriots at Kings Mountain, South Carolina. Blacksburg: Scotia-Hibernia Press,1990; page 167
Two stones: 1] Original flat slab covering the grave and 2] modern flat V/A stone.
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Mr. Michael A. Velilla BS
Silas Leroy McBee was born on 24 November 1765, presumably in Halifax, Virginia, to Captain Vardry and Hannah (Echols) McBee. When he was about a year old, his family moved to the Spartanburg District of South Carolina. His father, Vardry, was away from his home fighting in the Revolutionary War, and Silas had to rise to the role of the man of the house as the firstborn.
At 15 years old, his mother sent him to reclaim a horse the Tories had taken. He was then captured and under guard in a British camp, where he escaped and hid in the woods not far from his home for a week.
He then volunteered for service in Colonel Thomas Brandon’s command, which was attached to Colonel James Williams’ command during the Battle of Kings Mountain. Shortly after that battle, he was discharged and again volunteered for service under Colonel Andrew Pickens before and after the Battle of Cowpens. Shortly after, he was discharged and lived briefly in Sumner County, Tennessee, before he moved to Kentucky in the 1790s. He was said to be part of the Stegall posse that tracked and killed Micajah Harpe, one of the murderous outlaw brothers.
In the early 1800s, he moved with his family to present-day Columbus, Mississippi, where he was elected to the Monroe County, Alabama legislature, which was erroneously thought to be Alabama but was found to be Mississippi. He became a prominent person in the area and is credited with naming Columbus, Mississippi. In the mid-1800s, he moved in with his son-in-law Thomas Hickman Williams in Pontotoc, Mississippi, where he lived until he passed away on 6 January 1845 and was buried in the Wiliams Cemetery on Williams’ land.
Sources:
Ivey, Robert A., A History Of Limestone Springs, South Carolina, With Genealogical Abstracts of its Owners and Settlers and Other Related Historical Materials from 1772 to 1882. grindalshoalsgazette.com
Mercer, Janice, Out of the Wilderness, Missouri. Clinton: The Printery, 1973
Revolutionary War Pension Number S7202
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