Patriot graves stretch across Lee and neighboring counties
Publisher’s Note: This article, originally published in Tap Roots by the Genealogical Society of East Alabama, is being presented as a four-part series because of its length and the number of local Revolutionary War patriots included. Part 1 will appear in both The Observer and The LaFayette Sun. Part 2 in The LaFayette Sun will focus on Chambers County while Part 2 in the Observer will focus on Lee and surrounding counties. The final installment will return to both newspapers and focus on the continuing effort to locate, preserve and properly mark the graves of East Alabama’s Revolutionary War patriots.
BY SID HARDEN
REPUBLISHED WITH
PERMISSION
EAST ALABAMA — The search for Revolutionary War patriots in East Alabama extends well beyond Chambers County.
Records identify patriots connected to Lee, Macon, Russell and Tallapoosa counties, including soldiers whose graves have never been located and others whose resting places are known but remain unmarked.
In Lee County, one of those patriots was Ephraim Brown.
Brown was born April 9, 1763, in North Yarmouth, Massachusetts, and served as a private in the Massachusetts Line during the final years of the Revolutionary War.
Much of his service was spent in the Hudson Highlands near West Point, where he performed garrison duty, patrols and camp service.
He served under Capt. Walker, Col. Prime and Gen. Wadsworth.
After the war, Brown returned to civilian life before joining the migration of Revolutionary War veterans into the South.
By the time he applied for his pension, Brown and his wife, Susan, were living in Georgia.
He later moved to Russell County and died before September 1850 in an area of Russell County that is now part of Lee County.
A copy of Brown’s will provides clues to the location of his homestead west of Smiths Station near Lee Roads 293 and 577 and Hospilika Creek.
He may have been buried in a family cemetery somewhere on the property, but the location of his grave is unknown.
Several Revolutionary War patriots also had ties to Macon County.
Adam J. Files was born in March 1762 and served in the South Carolina militia.
He entered service as a teenager during the southern campaigns and completed multiple short militia tours.
Files identified several officers under whom he served, including Capt. Baskin, Col. Wade Hampton, Col. Richard Richardson and Capt. John Chestnut.
After the war, Files returned to civilian life and eventually moved to Alabama with his wife, Mary Baskin.
He died Aug. 11, 1840. His gravesite is unknown.
James Courson, also recorded as Corson, was born around 1762 in South Carolina.
He entered service as a teenager and served as a private in the South Carolina militia before later serving in the Continental Line under Col. Henderson.
Courson and his wife, Levice, later lived in Montgomery County, where he applied for a pension in 1832. He eventually moved to Macon County and died June 13, 1834.
His gravesite has not been located.
William Mullins, born in South Carolina around 1760, also served in the militia during the Revolution.
He later migrated to Alabama and died in Macon County in 1845. His burial place remains unknown.
Harrison Nicholson was born March 12, 1760, and died June 28, 1841, in Macon County.
He most likely served in a state militia, although specific battles and commanders are unknown.
Nicholson and his wife, Lucinda Long Nicholson, relocated to Alabama following the war.
He is buried at Tuskegee City Cemetery. His grave is known but has not been properly marked.
In Russell County, Samuel Pool was born June 19, 1759, in North Carolina and served as a private in the North Carolina militia.
Pension summaries indicate that he served under Col. Benjamin Seawell and Maj. Brian Russell.
Pool later lived in Upson County, Georgia, before moving to Russell County, where he died Sept. 28, 1844, at age 85.
Some records indicate that he may be buried near Seale, but the location of his grave remains unknown.
Martin Hinson, born around 1757, also served in the North Carolina militia. His burial place is unknown.
Penny Lewis, born around 1754, is believed to have been buried in Russell County. Records indicate she may have provided support to the Revolutionary cause, although details have not survived.
Her grave has not been located.
Thomas Miles was born Nov. 10, 1760, in Virginia and served as a private in the North Carolina militia under Capt. John Faulkner and Col. Moore.
He later lived in Georgia before settling in Russell County, where he died Nov. 23, 1844.
His gravesite is unknown.
Several patriots also settled in Tallapoosa County.
Philip Timmerman, also known as Zimmerman, served as a young drummer with his father, Capt. Barnard Timmerman, in the Lancaster County militia in Pennsylvania.
The militia marched to New Jersey in September 1776 to resist British advances.
Timmerman later moved to Georgia before purchasing land in Tallapoosa County with his wife, Elizabeth, in 1821.
He died July 6, 1835. His grave has not been located.
Edward Britt, born around 1761 in Virginia, served during the later years of the war in Georgia and later moved into Tallapoosa County.
He died around 1853. His grave is unknown.
William Colley served in the Continental Army as a corporal and later a sergeant in the 1st North Carolina Regiment.
Records show that he applied for a pension in Tallapoosa County in July 1843. His date of death and burial location are unknown.
John Fielder is recognized for civil rather than military service. He served as a juror in Surry County, North Carolina, in August 1782.
Fielder later moved to Tallapoosa County and died sometime after Sept. 3, 1839. His gravesite is unknown.
Matthew Harris was born in 1753 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and later moved to Georgia.
He served as a private in the Georgia 1st Regiment of Horse in Capt. Hatton Middleton’s company under Maj. Leonard Marbury.
Harris and his wife, Hannah Ross Harris, later relocated to Tallapoosa County.
He died May 12, 1845, and was buried in the Slaughter Family Cemetery near Dadeville.
His grave has been identified but has not been properly marked.
Ralph Low, born in 1759 in Randolph County, North Carolina, served in the North Carolina militia under Col. Collier and Capt. William Gray.
Low later lived in several Alabama counties before settling in Tallapoosa County.
He died around Oct. 11, 1854. The location of his grave is unknown.
Together, these stories show how Revolutionary War veterans and supporters became part of the early history of East Alabama — even when the physical evidence of their final resting places has disappeared.
