Capt. Micajah M. Pennington, Sr.

A Patriot of the American Revolution for VIRGINIA with the rank of PRIVATE. DAR Ancestor # A088598

Micajah (Micage) Pennington was presented to the government by Elizabeth Pennington Barton in her application for a Revolutionary War pension. His marriage to Rachel Jones was mentioned and the names and dates of birth of all their children .Micajah Pennington appears in the court records of Rowan Co, NC, in 1765-1766, he was appointed Constable "in the neighborhood--up the Catawba River". He was also a Justice of the Peace in Wilkes Co, NC. Many feel that this was the Micajah Pennington who served with Capt. Enoch Osborn's Company from Montgomery Co, VA in the Revolutionary War. He apparently died in Ashe Co, NC, about 1812. This is according to a power of attorney as given by his son, Benejah. More information on Michjah was found in a Bible record that gave his b date as 28 April 1743. Michajar and Rachel were m. on Jan. 28, 1761, and were the parents of 10.

NOTE: Micajah, Levi, Levi Jr., Ephraim, and Aaron Pennington appear in the 1815 Tax List for Ashe Co. NC. Place names were N. Fork, S. Fork, and Bare Creek. These were apparently the children and grchildren of Micajah Sr.

NOTE: According to The Upper New River Vally-The British Period, Justices of the Peace living in the Upper New River Valley from Wilkes Co were William Colvard and Michajah Pennington. Those in Montgomery Co were Enoch Osborne and Minitree Jones. In this same document a court case was cited as follows: "1776-Sept. 16. The Wilkes Co. Court ordered the confiscation of the estates of John Barton, David Smith, Thomas Waters, Daniel Manning, Doty illiam Atkins, Joshua Yeats, Micajah Pennington. These properties were ordered sold at a public sale at the court house on Sept. 20th. This order was amended and the sale postponed until ample notice could be given of the sale. " No reason was given. John Barton was Micajah's son-in-law. This sale could be due to the fact that NC was a proprietary colony, with the Earl of Granville holding title to much of the land. Residents of the Old North State before the Revolution paid a quit rent to the Earl for some years then perhaps could acquire title to the land they lived on. In 1777 the NC legislature passed a confiscation act which took the Earl of Granville's holdings and transferred title to the State. The state in turn issued land grants to its citizens for a nominal fee.

Five land grants were issued to Micajar Pennington, three to Benajah Pennington, one to Levi Pennington, and one to Abel Pennington between the years of 1778-1783. (Upper New River Valley Land Grants

NOTE: Micajar Pennington is listed in the 1800 Ashe Co. Census. The household consisted of 1 female (0-9 yrs.), 1 female (45+), and 1 male (45+). The household was also noted as having slaves. This would fit Micajar Sr. Their children: 1.Elijah , 2.Micajah "Micage" , 3.Mary , 4.Levi , 5.Edward "Neddie" , 6.Rachel , 7.Elizabeth , 8.Sarey "Sarah" 9. Johanna 10.Benajah

Micajah Pennington, Sr., died after 1815 in Ashe Co., North Carolina.

Family links:

Parents:

 Benajah Pennington (1725 - 1790)

Spouse:

 Rachel Jones Pennington (1739 - 1841)*

Children:

 Micajah Pennington (1763 - ____)*

 Edward Mitchell Pennington (1769 - 1860)*

 Elizabeth Pennington Barton (1774 - 1857)*

 Sarah Pennington Johnston (1778 - 1817)*

 Johanna Pennington Dickson (1779 - 1860)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Unknown

Created by: Daniel R. Earl Record added: Aug 18, 2012 Find A Grave Memorial# 95553416

GEDCOM Note

In 1772, he was appointed Constable "in the neighborhood -- up the Catawba River". He also was a Justice of the Peace in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Many feel that this was the Micajah Pennington who served with Capt. Enoch Osborn's Company from Montgomery County, Virginia in the Revolutionary War. He apparently d. in Ashe County, North Carolina, about 1812. This is according to a power of attorney as given by his son. Benejah. More information on Micajah was found in a Bible record that gave his birth date as 28 April 1743. His wife was Rachel Jones, b. 12 Jun 1741. This couple was m. on 28 Jan 1761, and were the parents of ten children. They left a huge number of descendants in North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and on westward. Dozens of descendants have contributed to Pennington Pedigrees on their lines. Much of the early information was gathered by Bee Holmes. Early information on this line was summarized by Naola Pennington in 1-2, pp. 35-41.

Many researchers had long felt that a Benejah Pennington was the father of Micajah because of their close relationship over the years. In an attempt to prove this, Jerry Pennington of Seattle, Washington, hired a professional Genealogist, Mrs. Jo White Linn of Salisbury, North Carolina to search for a possible connection. Mrs. Linn went through all the published and unpublished material at her disposal, but could find no proof that Benejah was the father of Micajah. This search included the loose papers in the Archives at Raleigh, North Carolina.

An index to the Micajah material in Pennington Pedigrees was complied by Iris Hurst of Pennsylvania and published in 16-2, pages 14-40.

Micajah Pennington, Sr., died after 1815 in Ashe Co., North Carolina.

Information courtesy of Larry Carpenter (ID 47802363):

Brother of William Pennington who married Elizabeth Strunk. The following story relates to him & others during that time frame.

If we go back to the time of the Revolutionary War, the 1770s and early 1780s we find that there were slightly more than three million people living in the thirteen colonies. Had there been a Gallup Poll or Rasmussen Survey polling all those citizens it would have been found that about a million of them favored independence. Another million were loyal to the British rule, and the other million or so didn't care one way or another. I don't recall ever learning this fact in public school. Col. Cleveland was among the first million, and so adamant was he that all the others join him he was willing to cut off the ears of those who expressed a preference to British rule. In extreme cases he was known to hang some Tories as they were called; quite naturally, of course, without benefit of due process.

In Wilkes County, NC and in surrounding areas there was such fear of Col. Cleveland and his henchmen that an effort was made by a group of Tories to capture the Colonel and take him to Ninetysix, SC, a Tory stronghold, where he could be turned over to the British. He was, in fact captured in 1780 by William Ridley and Zachariah Wells. While they had the Colonel in captivity he was freed by his own men who overtook the captors. Ridley and Wells were both immediately hanged with plowshares even though at least one of the men had been shot during the fracas.

Now there was in Wilkes County, or that part of Wilkes County that was to become in 1799 Ashe County, one Micajah Pennington who was a Justice of the Peace, and held his job thanks to his loyalty to the British. As a Loyalist he was not harmed by the so-called patriots, but there is a record of his possessions being confiscated. Micajah had several brothers, one being William whose wife in 1781 gave birth to a baby boy. The baby was named Wells, Was he named for Zachariah Wells? Your guess is as good as mine, and if your guess is yes you are probably right.

In 1912 this part of Whitley County became McCreary County and was made famous by another colonel, Col. Harland Sanders, the inventor of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1818 the families took up living on Marsh Creek in Whitley. While there two of the children, Theophilus and Christina took spouses.

In 1825 a former Indian fighter by the name of Pleasant Johnson of Wayne County, KY to the west of Marsh Creek was travelling through the area. One Angus Ross operated a tavern in his William died in 1812 and Micajah (pronounced with the "cage" sound) died in 1813. By then Wells had married Elizabeth Strunk, daughter of Johan Strunck in 1800. Wells and Elizabeth had four children: Theophilus (1802-1885) who married Penelope Jones; Christina, born 1804 and was married to Samuel Garland, whose father, Ambrose Garland had taken a Choctaw for his wife; Tabitha who was born in 1806 and later in life married Samuel Hardwick; and Arad who married at least three times. In 1818 all these children were still unmarried and they moved with their parents and Elizabeth's brother's family to what was then the western part of Whitley County, KY.home and provided ferry service to anyone wishing to cross Marsh Creek.