Lt. Colonel Gassaway Watkins

for information about Gassaway Watkins and his family as slave owners see:

Oliver Cromwell Gilbert: a life 2014

Maryland Historical Magazine Summer 2011

Ancestor #: A122287

http://ancestors.pitard.net/getperson.php?personID=I6737&tree=Pitard

He served as a Lt. Colonel in Command of troops at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1813.

He was in the Battles of Long Island [27 Aug 1776], White Plains [28 Oct 1776], GermanTown [4 Oct 1777], Monmouth [28 Jun 1778], Camden [SC, 16 Aug 1780], Cowpens [17 Jan 1781], Guilford [NC, 15 Mar 1781], & Camden [Battle of Hobkirk's Hill near Camden, 25 Apr 1781] Ninety Six [Siege of Ninety-Six SC, 22 May - 19 Jun 1781] and Eutaw [Battle of Eutaw Springs SC, 8 Sep 1781]"

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Mar 28 2019, 1:18:44 UTC

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• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Mar 28 2019, 1:18:44 UTC
• Residence: SAR Membership: 23973
• Residence: SAR Membership: 64551
• Residence: Maryland, USA - 1790
• Residence: Maryland, USA - 1818
  • Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Dec 4 2019, 17:30:18 UTC

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Son of Nicholas Watkins and Ariana Worthington.

Revolutionary War Patriot

According to his Revolutionary War pension application dated 23 Apr 1818, Gassaway Watkins "Enlisted in the Company of Captain Patrick Sim[?] in the Regiment from the State of Maryland Commanded by Colonel William Smallwood as a Sergeant in January in the year Seventeen Hundred and Seventy Six. That he was appointed and commissioned an Ensign in the Seventh Maryland Regiment in April Seventeen Hundred and Seventy Seven and in May of the same year a Lieutenant therein – and that he was afterwards appointed and Commissioned a Captain and in these several stations served in the War of the Revolution from the time first mentioned till the conclusion of the War – and that he was in the Battles of Long Island [27 Aug 1776], White Plains [28 Oct 1776], GermanTown [4 Oct 1777], Monmouth [28 Jun 1778], Camden [SC, 16 Aug 1780], Cowpens [17 Jan 1781], Guilford [NC, 15 Mar 1781], & Camden [Battle of Hobkirk's Hill near Camden, 25 Apr 1781] Ninety Six [Siege of Ninety-Six SC, 22 May - 19 Jun 1781] and Eutaw [Battle of Eutaw Springs SC, 8 Sep 1781]"

On 13 May 1853, his widow, Mrs. Eleanora B. Watkins, aged 71, appeared in court to petition for a widow's pension. In that petition she states that "she is the widow of Gassaway Watkins who was a Captain in the war of the Revolution that he entered the army prior to the 1st of May 1777 as the accompanying certificate under seal of the Land office in Maryland, will show, that he served in the 7th Regiment of the Maryland Line and that he continued in the army until the close of the war. that when he left the army he held the rank of Captain in the Maryland Regiment Commanded by Col [John Eager] Howard, that he was at the battle of Cowpens and several other battles in the Southern Campaign and at the time he entered the army he resided in Anne Arundel County of this state. she further declares that she was married to the said Gassaway Watkins on the 26th day of April 1803 that her said husband died on the 14th day of July 1840 in Howard District of Anne Arundel County, now said Howard County, where she does and always has resided since her marriage".

He married three times: 1. Sarah Jones - no issue 2. Ruth Dorsey 3. Eleanora Bowie Clagett (26 Apr 1803)

In 1803 Col. Gassaway Watkins brought his third wife to "Walnut Grove." She was Eleanor Bowie Clagett, (b 1783) daughter of Wiseman and Priscilla Bowie (Lyles) Clagett, of Prince George County, MD.

Gassaway Watkins died at his home "Walnut Grove" and is buried on the property. His widow, Eleanor, also died at "Walnut Grove" in 1871.

• Children (by Ruth Dorsey):
• Gassaway Jr. m. Rebeckah Richardson
• Bonaparte d. young
• Thomas
• Turenne m. Eleanor Stockett
• Charlotte m. Alfred Coale
• Ann Elizabeth m. Lot Linthicum
• Harriet (8 Feb 1792) m. Basil Crapster

(by Eleanora Clagett):

• Caroline Lyles (10 Feb 1804) m. Julius Watkins
• Camadel Bowie (10 Sep 1805) m. Dr. Horatio Grieves
• Eleanor Clagett (18 Jun 1807) m. Wm. Ridgley Warfield
• Amanda Fitzallen (10 July 1809) m. Thomas Watkins
• Wm Washington (24 Dec 1810) m. Laura Watkins and Eleanor Harwood
• John Sebastian (20 Feb 1813) m. Amanda Linthicum
• Elizabeth Louisa (20 Feb 1815) m. William Watkins
• Priscilla Agnes (30 Nov 1817) m. George Kenly
• Margaret (10 Mar 1819) m. Albert Gallatin Warfield
• Albina Charlotte (5 Dec 1822) m. William Clark
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Dec 23 2019, 6:24:10 UTC

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