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
Qualifying Service: Colonel / Patriotic Service / Civil Service
Birth: abt 1740 Death: 23 Mar 1792 Mount Pleasant Twp / Westmoreland / PA
Qualifying Service Description:
Commander, Independent Battalion of Westmoreland County Provincials (I.B.W.C.P.) 1776 (Military Group of Associators)
COUNCILLOR, 1777; PAYMASTER OF MILITIA, 1777
AGENT FOR FORFEITED ESTATES, 1778
COMM FOR DEFENSE OF THE FRONTIERS, 1782
Additional References:
Published Pennsylvania Archives
Series 1, Volume 9, pg 559-560
Series 2, Volume 3, pg 679, 683
Series 6, Volume 2, Pg, 269
Spouse: Catherine Hamilton Children: Catherine; Jeremiah; William;
Members Who Share This Ancestor
None*
*This means that the NSSAR has no applications for this Patriot on file.
Instead the information provided is best effort, and from volunteers who have either researched grave sites, service records, or something similar. There is no documentation available at NSSAR HQ to order.
John Proctor/17xx - 1824/ORG. THE IND. BAT. OF WESTM'D CO. WHICH CARRIED THE ORIG. RATTLESNAKE FLAG
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Ernest Loran Sutton
Colonel John Proctor P-274015
The earliest public record John Proctor is a transcript of the roster of the First Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment commanded by Colonel Henry Bouquet in 1763. John Proctor, at the age of twenty-three, served as a captain of a company in that battalion. This would make his date of birth circa 1740. Bouquet's expedition freed the garrison at Fort Pitt from the Indians who were besieging it. There is no doubt that it was during that expedition that John decided to become a settler in the frontier.
In the early 1770s, John Proctor showed up in the records of the frontier counties. In October, 1772 he was elected to the position of Sheriff of Bedford County. (On 16 October, 1772 he filed a bond in the amount of £1,500 to the King of Great Britain as a surety that he would carry out the King's writs. During the following year the westernmost part of the territory created in 1771 as Bedford County was removed and erected as the new county of Westmoreland. On 19 October, 1773 John Proctor was elected to serve as Sheriff of Westmoreland County.
On 16 May, 1775 a general meeting of the inhabitants of Westmoreland County was held at Hanna’s Town aka Hannahstown to draft a set of Resolves to show their support of the growing Patriot cause. Shortly thereafter, three companies of Associators were formed. John Proctor was chosen to serve in the capacity of Colonel of the First Battalion recorded in the minutes of the Pennsylvania Council of Safety, dated 15 June, 1776.
On 13 September, 1777 John Proctor was appointed Paymaster of the Westmoreland County Militia. He held that position through 1779.
Colonel John Proctor's Battalion was included on a listing of fifty-three battalions of Associators in existence in the Province of Pennsylvania in the year 1775. It was number 52nd on that list, and therefore acquired the designation.
Beginning on 04 March, 1777, and continuing through 06 October, 1777, John Proctor served as a representative on the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
On 18 October, 1777 John Proctor was, along with Thomas Galbraith, appointed to the position of Agent of Forfeited Estates to confiscate the properties of Loyalists in Westmoreland County. He continued in this capacity into 1783.
In November of 1781 a House of General Assembly was created to govern the state of Pennsylvania. John Proctor served as one of three Representatives from the county of Westmoreland to that General Assembly.
He died in 1824 and is buried in Unity Cemetery, Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in Section B (Old Section). His birth date is unknown and is indicated on his grave marker as 17--. His DAR ancestor record (A-091714lists his birth as circa 1740.
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