Lieutenant Colonel Henry Enoch, II

A Patriot of the American Revolution for PENNSYLVANIA with the rank of LIEUTENANT COLONEL. DAR Ancestor #: A036905

Henry Enoch, II was born 12 MAY 1732 in (Spotsylvania County, Colonial Virginia), and died 14 JUL 1794 in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

family

He was the son of Henry ENOCH and Elizabeth ROSS.

He married Sarah ? 1746 in (Colonial Maryland). She was born 1732, and died BEF 1794 in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Their children

1. Henry Enoch, III b: in Hampshire County, Colonial Virginia
2. Abraham 'Abram' Enoch, USA b: BEF 1760 in Washington County, Pennsylvania
3. Ann Enoch b: 1760 in Frederick County, Colonial Maryland
4. William Enoch, Sr. Patriot Soldier b: 30 NOV 1761 in Hampshire County, Colonial Virginia
5. Armanella 'Amy' Enoch b: 1764 in Hampshire County, Virginia
6. Hannah Enoch b: 1765 in Hampshire County, Colonial Virginia
7. Hiram Enoch b: 1768 in Hampshire County, Colonial Virginia
8. John Enoch b: BEF 1770 in Hampshire County, Colonial Virginia
9. Nancy Enoch b: 1770 in Colonial Virginia
10. Isaac Enoch b: 29 JAN 1775 in Westmoreland County, Colonial Pennsylvania
11. Elizabeth 'Betty' Enoch b: 1777 in Washington County, Pennsylvania

biography

Doris Enoch Withers wrote of the beginnings of her Washington County, Pennsylvania, family. "The first documentary record of our Enoch family is found in the survey notes of George Washington in which he recorded his survey, on April 22, 1750, of 388 acres of land for Henry Enoch [Sr] at the Forks of the "Cacaphon" (Cacapon) River in what is now Hampshire County, West Virginia.

He also recorded the fact that Henry Enoch [Jr] assisted him in surveying tracts of land for other settlers a few days later.

In 1756, after Braddock's defeat, the Colony of Virginia established a chain of forts along its western frontier, one of these being on the farm of Henry Enoch. Washington's diary of his trip to Fort Pitt and the Ohio River Valley in 1770 states that he stopped at Henry's [Sr] frontier home both on his way West and on his return.

When General Braddock embarked on his ill-fated campaign against Fort Duquesne in 1755, his army (or at least a major unit of it) crossed the Cacapon River at the Enoch farm. It is quite possible that one or more of the Enoch boys joined the group as a wagon driver and their father may even have served as a scout. This would have been their first introduction to the lands beyond the mountains and may well have awakened a determination to settle there once the French and the Indians had been pushed back... Henry [Jr] was old enough to have taken part in this adventure, but his brother, Enoch, who was born September 29, 1750, was only a child at the time and didn't go west until he was 16.
The family prospered in a modest way. They made use of the favorable water supply to establish a grist mill, and Henry [Sr] bought other property in the area until he owned 750 acres, or more.

Several strong characteristics were evident in this family from the start. They placed great importance on the ownership of land. They had large families and the father always planned to see that each son or daughter was provided with a farm when he or she married.

They especially prized land located at the junctions of two small rivers, probably because of the water power that would be needed for grinding grain and sawing wood, the water supply for their live stock and the probability that such a site would eventually become a road junction, important to trade and travel. This preference persisted in later generations.

They were also devout in their religion. Most of their sons were given scriptural names and, as is well known, two of them helped to establish the first church beyond the mountains.

One of their neighbors in Hampshire County was the Reverend John Corbley, a Baptist minister and an outspoken patriot - in fact so outspoken that tradition has it he was forced to leave Williamsburg because of his opposition to the Anglican Church and to British rule in general. That he was a close friend of the Enoch family is attested by the fact that his name appears as a witness on some of the Enoch land deeds. It is quite probably that he had a profound influence on the boys, Enoch and David, which later led to their taking such an active part in the organization of the North Ten Mile Baptist Church in 1773. ...

General Forbes captured Fort Duquesne on November 11, 1758. Under its new name, Fort Pitt, and with its strong colonial garrison, it offered enough protection against Indian and French enemies that emigrants soon began to pour into the new frontier lands. The Enochs were in the vanguard of this wave. ...

We found some earlier deed records of this area in Wheeling, and in Clarksburg, West Virginia. There were also early records of Henry Enoch and other members of his family serving in the colonial militia of Virginia while living in the Ten Mile country. ...

The physician who attended Henry in his last illness was Dr. Charles Wheeler. ...

All of the descendants of Colonel Henry Enoch left the Ten Mile area around the turn of the century. Hannah and Thomas Pribble moved to the 350 acre tract at the forks of the Little Kanawha. Isaac also made this area his permanent home. William went to Parkersburg where he set up a blacksmith shop. Nancy and Hugh Craig settled on the Ohio River about 15 miles below Parkersburg. Armanella Sargent and her husband settled on part of a 1000 acre tract patented by her father some 15-20 miles from the Pribble home. Henry, III and his wife, Elizabeth, with Betty and Benjamin Bell went to western Ohio. "

Donald Withers, who has shared his mother's documentation, and the genealogy for their descendants that follows. [Henry Enoch, Jr., is discussed extensively by Harry Enoch in the Appendix of this text]

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