Pvt. William Cunningham

William Cunningham, of Shenandoah, Harrison and Wood Counties, Virginia DAR Ancestor #: A028679

• Birth: 7-23-1764    Frederick, VA
• Death:  12-31-1862     Ritchie, VA
• Parents: John Cunningham, Anne Tapp
• Married: Susanna Barbara Handyshel
• Service Pension *S8264

Children:

• 1. Elijah (1792-1868) m. Sarah Weigner in 1815
• 2. Phebe (1794-?) m. Jesse Lowther in 1811
• 3. Leah (1796-?) m. Jacob Wigner in 1816
• 4. Lydia (1798-?) m. Henry Wigner (brother of Jacob Wigner; both sons of John Wigner)
• 5. James (1800-?) m. Catherine Foley in 1818
• 6. William, Jr. (1803-?) m. Elizabeth Stone in 1831
• 7. Susan (1805-?) m. Robert Parks in 1829
• 8. John (1807-?) m. Matilda Shanklin
• 9. Barbara (1811-1887) m. Nathaniel parks in 1829
• 10. Isaac (1813-?) m. Margaret Lowther in 1835 (daughter of Jesse C. Lowther and Phebe Cunningham, thus making Margaret Isaac's niece).
• 11. Henry (1817-?)

Biographical notes:

Several incorrect reports have been published concerning the ancestry of William Cunningham who, in later life, lived at Harrison, now Ritchie County, West Virginia. One false report has that his father was named David Cunningham and another is that William was born in Ireland. Both are untrue.

William Cunningham stated in his Revolutionary War pension application that his father was John Cunningham and that he was born 23 July 1764 in Shenandoah County, Virginia. He further stated that he had an uncle named Thomas Cunningham.

Willam Cunningham served five tours of duty during the Revolutionary War for a total of seventeen months, beginning when he was not quite sixteen years old. The first was in 1781 when he served as a substitute for his father John Cunningham in the late spring of 1780, A year lter, in the spring of 1781, William again served as a substitute for his father. Thereafter, in August of 1781, Wiliam was drafted in his own right and during this tour was at the Battle of Yorktown, where he witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. Following the close of the War, he was drafted to guard the prisoners at Winchester but became ill and was discharged. When he was well, he substituted for his uncle Thomas Cunningham, who had one month remaining on his tour as a guard at Winchester.

According to the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot Index, William married Susanna Barbara Handyshel. No marriage record has been found giving the names of her parents; however people with the surname "Howdishele" lived in Shenandoah County during this time period. William and Susanna were married by 1792 and perhaps as early as 1788.

It is possible that Susann's parents originally lived in New Jersey. "Revolutionary War Soldiers Rockingham County," by an unstated compliler, p. 3: Howdershell, Laurence - Pension No. S19341. Born April 13, 1751, New Jersey. Moved 1760 to Loudoun County, Virginia, lived there for five years and moved to Shenandoah County where he lived until 1800, and moved to Rockingham County. Minute Book, 1833, page 10."

William and Susanna may have lived in Culpeper County, Virginia, after their marriage. The application for a pension based on his service in the War of 1812 filed by their son Elijah, born circa 1792, states that he was born in Culpeper County.

William and Susanna and their family removed to Harrison County, Virginia, in 1794. On 18 Sept 1797, William's uncle and aunt, Thomas and Phebe Cunningham, sold him 109 acres of land on Beard's Run of "Simpson's Creek" for $100.00 (see page 102). The family remained in Harrison County for about fifteen years but moved to the vicinity of Harrisville by 1810. The household of William Cunningham of Wood County is enumerated in the Virginia 1810 and 1820 censuses.

In 1832, when he was 69 years old, William Cunningham applied for a pension based upon his service during the Revolutionary War. He said he fought at Maches, Chester Gap and Yorktown.

William said he had received written discharges for his service tours which were in the hands of his mother, who is since dead, and the discharges lost. He knew of no living witness by whom he could prove the facts except Walter Cunningham, who attached his affidavit to William's application. Although the affidavit does not so state, Walter was William's uncle.

In one of the statements in his pension file, William said that he now resides in the county of Wood but near the Harrison line and about 40 miles from the county seat of Wood County at Parkersburg, and that he is old and infirm and cannot with convenience travel to the Wood County courthouse. It is for this reason that his pension application was filed in Harrison County. William signed all his application papers with his mark, an "x", indicating that he had not received an education.

William's pension was supported by the affidavit of Walter Cunningham, who swore under oath that he resided a neighbor to William Cunningham in the county of Shenandoah in the year 1780, and he well remembered that said William Cunningham served a tour under Capt. Richardson,; and that in 1781 he served another tour under Capt. Hall; that he the said Walter Cunningham is 83 years of age; that he was also a soldier in the War of the Revolution.

William was granted his pension in 1832 and given a bounty land grant of 160 acres.

Although William does not state in this particular affidavit that Thomas Cunningham is his uncle, the affidavit does repeat the identical service of William's earlier applicaton in which he does call Thomas his uncle, thus proving conclusively that Thomas and John Cunningham are brothers and, as such, both sons of Adam Cunningham l.

William Cunningham died 21 Dec 1862 and is buried in the Harrisville Pioneer Cemetery on the east edge of town. William donated the ground for the Pioneer Cemetery. Susan Handyshel Cunningham, who is supposed to have died in 1843, is buried in an unmarked grave in the same cemetery.

William and Susanna had a large family. The names of their children in "History of Ritchie County" by Minnie Lowther are listed below with their supposed dats of birth and those death and marriage records as have been discovered. William and Susannah's son Elijah, and perhaps their daughter Phebe, were born in Culpeper County. The remainder of their children were born after their removal to the western part of Virginia.

Works Cited:

Newman, Betty C. Adam and 500 More Cunninghams of the Valley of Virginia, C. 1734-C. 1800. Bowie, Md: Heritage Books, 2000. Print.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45815865

links

• http://tinyurl.com/23n8d2z
• http://www.lindapages.com/family/1839.htm
• Find A Grave Memorial# 36267774

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Notes

From "Adam and 500 more Cunninghams of the Valley of Virginia" c. 1734-c. 1800 by Betty Cunningham Newman pages 111-124

He was the son of John Cunningham (1744-1782) and Ann Tapp (1732-1789)

Therefore he was the grandson of Adam Cunningham (1714-1797 ) and his wife Catherine (?-1792).

Therefore, he was the nephew of Thomas Cunningham.

He was also born in Shennandoah county, VA rather than Ireland. (See pg 111)

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From HISTORY OF RITCHIE COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA - By Minnie Kendall Lowther, pub. 1910

CHAPTER II First Settlers in Ritchie County

William Cunningham.--The year 1806 was marked by the coming of William Cunningham, with his wife, Susana Barbara Handyshel Cunningham, and their ten children, from Culpepper county, Virginia, to the homestead of the late Noah Rexroad, now the property of E. C. Fox and S. M. Hoff.

Mr. Cunningham was one of the most noted pioneers of early days. He was born in Ireland on July 23, 1764, and when he was but a small boy, his parents emigrated to America and settled in Culpepper county, Virginia. He was a first cousin of Thomas Cunningham of Indian fame (see below), and their fathers are said to have crossed the ocean at the same time. He served as a soldier during the latter part of the American Revolution, being then but a mere youth, and was a member of the victorious army at Yorktown, and a witness of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. And in honor of this defeated chieftain he named the town of Cornwallis, where he resided when the stations along the Baltimore & Ohio railroad were located.

When Harrisville was laid out for a town in 1822, he was suddenly seized with the idea of rounding a town of his own, and forthwith proceeded to have one laid out on the ridge where A. O. Wilson and D. B. Patton now reside, which he named "Williamsburg;" but Harrisville has long since swallowed up this proposed village.

Pvt William Cunningham
BIRTH 23 Jul 1764 USA DEATH 1863 (aged 98–99) Cornwallis, Ritchie County, West Virginia, USA BURIAL Pioneer Cemetery Harrisville, Ritchie County, West Virginia

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36267774/william-cunningham

Children Elijah Cunningham 1792–1868

Photo Phebe Cunningham Lowther 1794–1871

Photo Lydia Cunningham Wigner 1798–1848

Barbara Cunningham Parks 1811–1887