Author: George Geoffrey Baggett
There is very little information about Joel Cohoon outside of his military pension record. There is some confusion about the rendering of his last name, since his descendants now spell the name, “Calhoun.” However, they are merely alternative spellings of the same family surname. Cohoon is actually the Irish spelling of the Scottish clan name Colquhoun.
Based upon testimony in his pension record, Joel Cohoon was born in July 9, 1763 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Early in 1781 he enlisted in the North Carolina militia for a period of three months, mustering in at Nash Courthouse. He was marched to the High Rock Ford on the Haw River and placed under the command of General Nathanael Greene, a Colonel Reed, and a Major Coffield . This location indicates a date around the first week of March 1781.
His company went in pursuit of the British and overtook them at Ramsey’s Mill on the Deep River on March 19, 1781. Cohoon, in his testimony, stated, “ … a few guns were fired, but in no general engagement …” This was, indeed, an accurate description of the limited skirmish at Ramsey’s Mill.
He remained at Ramsey’s Mill for two or three weeks, and then was placed under the command of General John Butler. He served under General Butler until his time of discharge in May 1781. He admitted that he was not involved in any battle during his first enlistment.
Upon his discharge he returned to his father’s farm in Edgecombe County. He discovered that the British were within six miles of his father’s home. He was approached by a man named James Merritt, who had been recently drafted for military service, and asked to serve as his substitute. Cohoon agreed to serve in his stead, beginning in June 1781. He mustered in at Tarboro in Edgecombe County and was placed under the command of Lt. Colonel Henry Hart of the Edgecombe County Regiment, in the company of Captain James Wilson.
Though he was involved in pursuing Tories throughout neighboring counties, he did not fight in any engagements. He spent most of his time as a scout. He was discharged at the end of this three-month enlistment in Tarboro by Lt. Col. Hart.
After the war, Joel Cohoon married Naomi Futrell on August 4, 1785, in Edgecombe County. Though there exists no legal record of the marriage, several witnesses attested to the date in the official documents. He appears on the 1790 United States Census, the first Federal census in the history of the United States, in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. He is listed in this enumeration as “Joel Cahoon.” His household was comprised of six individuals (himself and Naomi, two sons, one daughter, and one slave). He appears on the census record for the final time in Edgecombe County in 1800 with a household comprised of nine members (himself, wife Naomi, four sons, one daughter, and two slaves).
The Cohoon family later relocated to Christian County (now Trigg), Kentucky, around 1805. The location of his home is easily pinpointed by the list of neighbors and acquaintances he cites in his pension testimony. That list included such figures as Drury Bridges, James Thomas, John Futrell, Thomas Futrell, James Holland, and Basil Holland. All of these men were residents of the area known as Donaldson Creek, located in what is now southern Trigg County. It appears that all of these families arrived along the creek from eastern North Carolina at roughly the same time (ca. 1800-1805). His household appears on the 1810 Christian County census with several of these Donaldson Creek neighbors on the same page. By 1810 his home included his wife, four sons, two daughters, but no slaves.
Joel Cohoon appeard in Trigg County Court in September 27, 1833, to make his claim for a Revolutionary War pension. He received a pension of twenty dollars per year back-dated to March 4, 1831, for service as a private in the North Carolina militia for six months.
Joel Cohoon died on October 15, 1835. He was buried in what is now known as the Griff Calhoun cemetery, on a bluff overlooking the modern Lake Barkley. Though the exact location of his grave is unknown, and now likely covered by the waters of Lake Barkley, descendants placed a Veteran’s Administration gravestone on the periphery of the Griff-Calhoun cemetery on a bluff overlooking his original farm location. The Col. Stephen Trigg Chapter marked his grave in a special ceremony on September 12, 2015.