Pvt. William Lindsey of the 13th/9th Virginia Regiment
Yohogania Co., Virginia

According to family tradition, my ancestor was named William Lindsey.  William was said to have been a Revolutionary War soldier who died at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781.₁  So far, I have found no evidence of a soldier named William Lindsey who died at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.  There is circumstantial evidence that suggests that the man named William Lindsey who enlisted in the 13th VA regiment may have been my ancestor. This man lived in the area near present day Pittsburgh that was claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War.  Because of the boundary dispute, I refer to the area as the Fort Pitt area. Fort Pitt was located near present day Pittsburgh, and it was used by both Virginia and Pennsylvania military units during the Revolutionary War.

William Lindsey of the 13th VA regiment did not die in the war.  Records suggest that William died in the Fort Pitt area sometime after the war, and before 1806. ₂

William Lindsey of the Fort Pitt area may have been the father of Joshua Lindsey, who died in Jackson Co., IN abt. 1818.  This research seeks to determine if William Lindsey was Joshua's father. There was another soldier named William Lindsey who lived in the area, and he might have been Joshua's father.   This William Lindsey died in 1776.  My research page on him can be found at: http://mimpickles.com/lindsey/william_of_fort_pitt/1776/william_died_1776.html

William Lindsey enlisted in the 13th Virginia regiment in the Fort Pitt area of today's southwestern Pennsylvania.  He was in Capt. James Sullivan's company.  Later, Robert Vance, a lieutenant in Sullivan's company, was promoted to captain.  Vance organized his own company which became part of the 9th VA regiment in the fall of 1778.₃  William Lindsey was in Captain Vance's company of the 9th VA regiment.

William Lindsey attended a Council of War at Catfish Camp (present day Washington, PA) on January 28, 1777.  Also present at this council was Hezekiah Lindsey.₄ Hezekiah may have been William's brother, per family tradition.₅

William Lindsey was on a muster roll for Capt. James Sullivan's company on Sept. 6, 1777 (see image below).  He was listed as absent. Also on this roll was Eleven (Leven) Cooper.  Leven Cooper later lived in Jefferson Co., KY.  Cooper was a Revolutionary War pensioner who died in Jefferson Co. in 1841.₆  In 1823, Leven Cooper sued the administrator of Joshua Lindsey's (William Lindsey's son, per tradition) estate in Jackson Co., IN.₇  Though the details of the lawsuit are not known, it seems that Joshua may have owed Cooper some money, and Cooper sued Joshua's estate to recover the money he was owed.  Because Leven Cooper had never lived in Jackson Co., or anywhere in Indiana, it seems he must have met Joshua Lindsey somewhere else.  Perhaps Cooper became acquainted with Joshua's father, William, when both men were soldiers in the 13th VA regiment in the Fort Pitt area.
 

Sept. 5, 1777 muster roll of   Capt. James Sullivan's company	April 17, 1778 morning roll of          Capt. James Sullivan's company

It is known from census data that Joshua Lindsey's oldest children were born in Kentucky. I have not been able to find a record of Joshua Lindsey in Kentucky as of this date, but it seems he may have lived in Jefferson County if he knew Leven Cooper and had business or personal dealings with him. Interestingly, Leven Cooper had also served in Dunmore's War in 1774 in the same company as Kiah (Hezekiah) Lindsey.₈

William Lindsey appeared on a morning roll for Capt. James Sullivan's company taken on April 17, 1778.  William was listed as present and fit for duty.  Ezekiel Lindsey was also on this roll (see image, above).

On April 28, 1778 the Yohogania Co., VA (present day area of Washington/Westmoreland Co., PA) court ordered that money be paid to the wives of "poor continental soldiers" William and Ezekiel Lindsey. The order was retroactive to January 1st. Mary Lindsey, wife of William, was given six pounds per month for herself and her six children.  Eloner Lindsey, wife of Ezekiel, received five pounds per month for herself and her five children. ₉

It is not known if Ezekiel Lindsey was related to William, but it seems he may have been from the above records.  To date, no other records have been found for Ezekiel Lindsey in the Fort Pitt area. What became of Ezekiel is a mystery.

 In August of 1778, the Yohogania court ordered the appraisal of the estate of William Lindsey.  The actual appraisal was not for William Lindsey, but for a Widow Lindsey. 

When the 13th VA regiment was reorganized as part of the 9th VA regiment, William Lindsey joined Capt. Robert Vance's newly formed company. NARA microfilm records contain only two muster rolls for Robert Vance's 9th VA company, for June-Sept. and Oct-Dec 1779. These rolls list eighteen privates, and William Lindsey is not one of them.₁₀  But there is evidence that William Lindsey was in Vance's company.

In 1806, Robert Vance made an affadavit listing the names of 79 men who had served under him in the 13th/9th VA regiments for the duration of the war.  William Lindsey appeared on the list. Vance noted information about the men, including if they had died or had been killed during the war, their place of residence after the war, and if they were still alive in 1806.  William Lindsey was noted as being deceased, but not during the war.₁₁  So it seems that William Lindsey had survived the war, but had died in the local area sometime after the war, but before 1806.

I have found many records for William Lindsey in the Fort Pitt area during the Revolutionary War, and up until 1784.₁₂  I am not certain if all the records are for the man who was in the 13th/9th VA regiment.  If William was the same man who was taxed in Rostraver, Westmoreland Co., PA in 1784, then his financial circumstances had improved significantly since his 1778 "poor continental soldier" status.  In 1783 William Lindsey was taxed on 350 acres of land, some livestock, and he owned a slave.₁₃

At this time, there are no records that connect William Lindsey of the 13th/9th VA regiment to Joshua Lindsey.  I believe that Joshua Lindsey lived in the Fort Pitt area before moving to Kentucky.  He may have been the Josiah Lindsey listed on the 1790 census for Allegheny Co., in the portion taken from Washington Co.₁₄  It is believed that Joshua married Elizabeth Findley, the daughter of Rev. War soldier John Findley, who was also stationed in the Fort Pitt area.  Since the Findley's did not leave the Fort Pitt area until after the 1790 census, it seems that Joshua must have met and married Elizabeth while she lived with her family in Westmoreland Co., PA.

Hopefully, some records will surface that can prove if Pvt. William Lindsey was Joshua's father. I invite comments about my research, and any information about William and his family is appreciated. Please contact me at my e-mail address:

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