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: 21 Jan 1748 Baltimore / Baltimore / MD Death: 1830 / Hardin / KY
Qualifying Service Description:
He served in the company of Captain John Gerault
1778, served in the regiment of George Roger Clark
1780, he served in the company of Captain Edward Worthington in George Rogers Clark's Illinois Regiment of Virginia
Additional References:
Harding, Margery Heberling, George Rogers Clark and his Men, Military Records, 1778-1784, Kentucky, Frankfort: Kentucky Historical Society, 1981, pg 29
James, James Alton, Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, Vol XIX, Virginia Series, Vol IVGeorge Rogers Clark Parkers 1781-1784, Illinois. Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1926
Gwathmey, John H.Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution: Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, 1775-1783, Virginia. Richmond: Dietz Press, 1938, pg 810
Spouse: Mary McClure Children: Thomas Sr; Joseph; Elijah; John; Naomi; Sarah;
Find-a-Grave lists his burial as UNKNOWN with his death being listed as / Hardin / KY
The SAR record shows his burial at Old Peterville Churchyard, Powhatan Co, Virginia
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Peterville Cemetery is not directly accessible by road. There is a house approximately 1.4 miles west of 522 on Rt. 60. We have always parked just to the west of this driveway and walked into the woods from there. The GPS coordinates on the west side of that houses driveway are 37.33.48 N/77.57.53W. If you are traveling west on Rt. 60 and see Bell Road, which is too far west
There is a no-trespassing sign and a path that leads across the pond dam. Be careful on the dam, some of the areas have washed out. At the end of the dam, if you proceed straight up the hill, there is an old iron mesh fence with a stone in it for Calvin Marshall Fariss. That is the Fariss plot. There are some simple stones also in the plot, please be careful not to move them
Author: Dr. Darrell Ray Over
Samuel Watkins was born on 21 January 1748 in Baltimore Colony, Maryland.
He performed several tours of duty during the Revolutionary War with Colonel George Rogers Clark's Regiment of the Virginia militia: For his first tour, he enlisted on 14 April 1778 and was discharged on 1 June 1778, serving 47 days. He re-enlisted in Captain Edward Worthington's company of Cavalry, serving from 17 July 1778 to 1 June 1779. He again enlisted on 24 December 1780 and was a private in Captain John Gerault's Company.
He married Mary McClure on 5 October 1777, and their known children were:
John was born in 1778.
Naomi was born in 1779.
Sarah was born in 1785.
Thomas was born in 1789.
Elijah was born in 1797.
Joseph was born in 1797.
He received a land grant for 400 acres in Kentucky on March 1783 for service in Clark's Illinois Regiment and moved his family there. He appears on the 1800 tax list in Hardin County, Kentucky. The 1810 census for Hardin County, Kentucky, shows him as the head of a family of ten persons. The 1820 census enumerates him in Hart County (which was formed in 1819 from parts of Hardin County.) with a household of seven persons. He was last enumerated in Hart County, Kentucky, in 1820 and probably died before the 1830 census was taken.
It is considered likely that he is buried near Watkins Bend of that area, but no gravesite has been located.
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