|
According to family legend, James Sharrock was a member of the English army
during the Revolutionary War, but after his arrival in America he decided he
would rather fight on the other side and joined the Colonial forces in their
fight for independence. According to historical accounts, he had been
forced into service by a Press gang, and thusowed no loyalty to King George
III. Once in America he escaped, and served the Colonial army as a
Chaplain, a vocation for which he had been educated in England; he is
sometimes referred to as Rev. James Sharrock. After the war he was not able
to go back to England as deserters were being shot. He was given land in
present day Guernsey County, Ohio, after the War as payment for his service.
A website devoted to buried Revolutionary War soldiers states the following:
James Sharrock
3rd Milit fr Westchester co N Y Col Pierre Van Corlandt and Samuel
Drake etc. Ref N Y Soldrs in Rev as colony and state by Jas A
Roberts Comptroller 1898. Was b 1750 Liverpool England son of a Prot
Father Catholic mother. Mar Jane Everard 1785 of England. One known
dau Phoebe mar Cornight McCoy; another Polly b 1797 d 1799; named in
will are Timothy; Benjamin; Everard; George; John; Phoebe; and Mary.
Soldr d 1826; bur Miller cem Guernsey co O nr Salesville O in lot in
rear of church. Inscript on monument "James Sherrick who departed
this life March 28 1826 ae 76 yrs." Grave mrkd by deteriorating
stone. Soldr was educated for priest; rebelled; taken by a Press
gang; sent to fight colonists; escaped; joined Contl army. Timothy
and Edward were in war of 1812 (lists). Ref "Our Ancestors" by Homer
Eiler No 244-245 D A R. Will of March 1826; Williams Fam Geneal.
Rept by Homer Eiler and Elizabeth Zane Dew chpt.
Sources:
http://groups.msn.com/guernseycounty/buriedrevwarsoldiers.msnw
http://www.geocities.com/sharrocksearch/photo1.html
http://www.dallaspioneer.org/stories/historical.php?ID=277
http://www.heritagepursuit.com/Marion/History1883/mhs1883.htm
The fledgling American government, which had been unable to compensate
Its volunteer soldiers, had promised them “Military Bounty Lands” in the
Northwest Territory which the United States ultimately acquired under the
Treaty of Paris in 1783. Not until 1 June 1796 was Congress able to
establish the United States Military Tract in Ohio, on land to which
Indian title had been surrendered.
These lands were surveyed into townships of five miles square.
These townships were then again, originally, surveyed into quarter
townships of two and a half miles square, containing 4,000 acres
each; and subsequently some of these quarter townships were
subdivided into forty lots of 100 acres each, for the accommodation
of those soldiers holding warrants for only 100 acres each.
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~henryhowesbook/publiclands.html
The United States Military Tract was located in east-central Ohio, and
included most of Guernsey County, where James Sharrock eventually took up
his claim. As this had to be no earlier than 1 June 1796, all entries on
3
| |