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: SC
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Author: Dan Gwin
Charles SMITH was born 15 June 1742 in Fairfax County, Virginia. He died 7 April 1824 in Pauline, South Carolina, and was buried at Philadelphia Baptist Cemetery in Pauline. He married Catherine RHODES circa 1760.
A history of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, reports that, “[Charles Smith] was a soldier of the Revolution, but owing to a defective eyesight, he was assigned to duty in the commissary department.” This tale is probably a family tradition that had been embellished and twisted over the years.
South Carolina Revolutionary War Accounts Audited records include a Mr. Charles Smith who furnished provisions twice in 1782 to the state commissary. The first receipt, dated 30 April 1782, reports that, “Mr. Charles Smith has furnished Seven Beeves, Fourteen Hundred NtWt at Five dollars & a half prCWt on account of the State of So Carolina.” The second receipt, dated 30 November 1782, reports that, “Mr. Charles Smith has furnished Two Beeves wg Five hundred & fifty lbs NtWt & Fifteen lbs Wt of Beef at Five & a half Dollars prCWt and Thirty two lbs Wt of Clean Rice at Three Dollars prCWt on Acct State So Carolina.” These receipts do not mention this Charles Smith’s residence, nor do they identify him as a soldier. If these documents refer to the Charles Smith of this biographical sketch, his public (not military) service during the war might read as follows. “During the Revolutionary War, Mr. Charles Smith of Spartanburg County, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, yeoman, supplied food to the state commissary to be distributed to South Carolina troops.”
A headstone in Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery for a Charles Smith reads “Chas. Smith Sumter’s S. C. Mil. Rev. War.” (The date of its placement on the grave is not known.) There is a Charles Smith of Orangeburg District, South Carolina, who served ninety days as a sergeant in 1782, first in General Sumter’s Brigade and later with Henderson; he was paid eight pounds eight and one-half pence sterling 6 July 1784 for his active service.
Another Charles Smith who served under Sumter filed an application for a pension 4 December 1828 in Richland District, South Carolina. He states that, “he was a good whig & Soldier ... that he served under General Sumter in the [South Carolina] State troops for ten months, was at the Battle of the Eutaw Springs under the Command of Genl Colonel Henderson and served under Capt. John Gray, Capt Winn, also under Capt Frost ... serving in the whole about two years.” Charles Smith of Richland District, South Carolina, returned to Hall County, Georgia, after his pension was allowed.
Two payments were issued 16 September 1786 to a Mr. Charles Smith for duty in Roebuck’s Regiment. This Charles Smith died before 16 September 1786 (our Charles Smith died in 1824) and his pay was received by Alexander Ray of Spartanburg County, the guardian of the decedent’s minor children.
Charles was a member of Cedar Spring Church and later became a charter member of Philadelphia Baptist Church in Pauline, South Carolina.
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