William Brimer

A Patriot of the American Revolution for NORTH CAROLINA with the rank of PRIVATE. DAR Ancestor # A129625

William Brimer was born 2 January 1759 in North Carolina. At age 18, in July 1777, William volunteered for the North Carolina militia duty in Wilkes County, NC for service in the American Revolution. He volunteered again July 1778 and marched to Monck’s Corner near Charleston, South Carolina and then into Savannah. He was discharged from this tour on 9 April 1779.

William volunteered again a third time in Washington County, North Carolina (now a part of Tennessee) in 1780 under Captain Valentine Sevier and Colonel John Sevier and was at the Battle of Kings Mountain. He was a private, and in all, his service totaled fourteen months.

When William was with Colonel Sevier’s 240 man group they joined forces with approximately 1,150 other men from surrounding areas to pursue the forces of British Lieutenant Colonel Ferguson. From that group a 910 man battle force (which included William) joined forces with an additional 460 men from other units and, as part of a 1,370 man battle force that has been described as an “Avenging Horde” from the backwaters of the deep southern regions, caught and decimated the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain on 7 October 1780.

The Battle of Kings Mountain, 7 October 1780, was an important Patriot victory in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War. Frontier militia overwhelmed the loyalist militia led by British Major Patrick Ferguson. In The Winning of the West, Theodore Roosevelt wrote of Kings Mountain, "This brilliant victory marked the turning point of the American Revolution."

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, that battle was “… the joyful annunciation of that turn of the tide of success which terminated the Revolutionary War, with the seal of our independence." The National Park Service has since designated the area as an historical site to mark the significance of the battle.

As a Private in the North Carolina Militia, the records of the 1835 Tennessee Pension Roll indicate that William was awarded a Revolutionary War Pension at age 75 (1835 TN Pension Roll). He was to receive $46.66 with an annual allowance of $139.98 for his service. Records indicate that he had received a total of $139.98 as of 11 February 1833. He died 19 July 1834 in Sevier County, Tennessee and is believed to be buried in the Flat Creek area.

The Brimers moved to Sevier County in 1810 and soon after some of them moved on into Jefferson County, TN. William Brimer was also in the War of 1812.