James Trousdale

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James Trousdale (Dec 16, 1736 - Dec 24, 1818) was a captain in the American Revolution[1] and father of William Trousdale, Governor of Tennessee.[2] He was the son of John and Elizabeth (Carraway) Trousdale, who were born in Ulster Province, (now Northern) Ireland.[3] With his second wife and children, he accompanied his parents from Pennsylvania to Orange County, North Carolina, settling on the Haw River.[4] Trousdale's first recorded grant of land was by the State, 200 acres on the waters of Haw Creek, south of Hawfields, 3 Sep 1779.[5]

Military service[edit]

James Trousdale was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.[6] He was a captain in the North Carolina Militia, 1780–1781.[7] He commanded a company under General Francis Marion (The Swamp Fox) of North Carolina patriots; marched to Charleston, SC and built breastworks, etc., discharged on March 24, 1780, before the town surrendered.[8] He was severely wounded, and until his death, carried a lightning scar made by a saber in the hands of one of Banastre Tarleton's men at the Battle of Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781.[9] He was captured during the Battle of Hillsborough, 12 Sep 1781.;[10] He and his company were with George Washington at the Siege of Yorktown for the surrender of Cornwallis, 19 Oct 1781.[11][12][13]

In the Revolution, he began his active military service as a captain in 1779 and commanded at least three companies.[14]

It is believed that Trousdale was an unnamed member of the ill-fated rebels at the Battle of Alamance on 16 May 1771. In February 1781, under Nathaniel Green, he was sent to oppose Cornwallis' army in the Battle of Guilford Court House. Following Green's withdrawal the North Carolina Council Extraordinary, in a questionable manner, sentenced "all those who had fled from Guilford to 12 months service as Continentals."[15] On recovery from his wound Trousdale was probably given command of one of those reformed "Continental" units.[16] Part of this service includes "six months guarding the jail at Hillsboro".[17]

For his services during the American Revolution, Trousdale obtained from North Carolina, a grant for 640 acres of land situated in what was then Davidson County, now Sumner County, Tennessee.[18] This land was paid for in scrip or certificates issued by North Carolina. Trousdale moved from North Carolina and settled on this tract of land in 1796. The land was then covered by a dense forest. Here he cleared the land and began to cultivate the soil. But, on the 6th of November, 1801, the Legislature of Tennessee appointed commissioners to select and purchase land upon which to lay out a town to be named Gallatin, which was to be the county seat of Sumner County. The commissioners selected the farm of Trousdale, and the town of Gallatin, TN now stands upon the old Trousdale farm.[19][20] In 1802 the land for the county seat was purchased from Trousdale.[21]

To honor the Trousdale military history, a monument was placed on the front lawn of Trousdale Place, a home built c. 1813 on the original property owned by Trousdale. The home is on the National List of Historic Places.[22]

Marriage and children[edit]

He married first Elizabeth Ferguson by whom he had five children: John, Alexander, Ann, Mary and Elizabeth. She died in 1774. He married his second wife, Elizabeth Dobbins, a member of a prominent family in North Carolina, in 1775.[23] They had 10 children: James who married Malinda May; Robert who married first Sidney Wynham and second Abigail Robbins; Jonathan who married first Sally Josey, second Elizabeth Young; Catherine who married Matthew Cowan; Agnes; Sarah who married Matthew Neal; William Trousdale, who became the governor of Tennessee; Bryson who married first Susan Hicks and second Maria Smith; Jesse and Nancy. He died in 1818 in Gallatin, TN.[24] In his will he left the majority of his estate to his wife Elizabeth and sons William and Bryson including 4 slaves: Bill, Penny, Lo and Delia. September 1818, copy on file at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library in Madison, WI. In a codicil, however, James is called "my beloved son" and was given the "House Bible".

References[edit]

  1. ^ Roster of soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution: with an appendix containing a collection of miscellaneous records, p. 48
  2. ^ Phillips, Margaret I. The Governors of Tennessee. Gretna, La: Pelican Pub. Co, 1978. ISBN 9781565545045 pg. 59
  3. ^ Truesdell, Karl, Theodore M. K. Trousdale, and Ruth S. J. Trousdale. The Trousdale Genealogy: Descendants of John Trousdale of Orange County, North Carolina. Ithaca, N.Y: J.B. Trousdale, 1960., p. 19
  4. ^ Truesdell, Karl, Theodore M. K. Trousdale, and Ruth S. J. Trousdale. The Trousdale Genealogy: Descendants of John Trousdale of Orange County, North Carolina. Ithaca, N.Y: J.B. Trousdale, 1960., p. 28
  5. ^ North Carolina Land Grant File Number 929, Land Patent Book 40, pgs 244-245: http://www.nclandgrants.com/grant/?mars=12.14.95.915&qid=121186&rn=1
  6. ^ DAR Patriot Index, Centennial Edition, National Society of the DAR, 1994, p. 2981
  7. ^ Roster of soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution: with an appendix containing a collection of miscellaneous records, p. 48
  8. ^ The American Revolution in North Carolina: https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/nc_patriot_military_captains.html
  9. ^ The American Revolution in North Carolina: https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/nc_patriot_military_captains.html
  10. ^ The American Revolution in North Carolina: https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/nc_light_horse_regiment.html
  11. ^ "A History of the Life of General William Trousdale," Tennessee Historical Magazine, Vol. 2 (1916), pp. 119-136:[1]
  12. ^ Truesdell, Karl, Theodore M. K. Trousdale, and Ruth S. J. Trousdale. The Trousdale Genealogy: Descendants of John Trousdale of Orange County, North Carolina. Ithaca, N.Y: J.B. Trousdale, 1960., p. 28
  13. ^ Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Book, Volume 19, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1905, pg. 73.
  14. ^ The American Historical Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 4 (October 1902), pp. 311-315 By B. F. Allen, Gallatin, Tenn: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/AHM/7/4/Governor_William_Trousdale*.html
  15. ^ Truesdell, Karl, Theodore M. K. Trousdale, and Ruth S. J. Trousdale. The Trousdale Genealogy: Descendants of John Trousdale of Orange County, North Carolina. Ithaca, N.Y: J.B. Trousdale, 1960., p. 29 Rev War Greene 239-243
  16. ^ Truesdell, Karl, Theodore M. K. Trousdale, and Ruth S. J. Trousdale. The Trousdale Genealogy: Descendants of John Trousdale of Orange County, North Carolina. Ithaca, N.Y: J.B. Trousdale, 1960., p. 28, 29: North Carolina War Book C 98
  17. ^ Truesdell, Karl, Theodore M. K. Trousdale, and Ruth S. J. Trousdale. The Trousdale Genealogy: Descendants of John Trousdale of Orange County, North Carolina. Ithaca, N.Y: J.B. Trousdale, 1960., p. 30: Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, Heitman 549
  18. ^ North Carolina Land Grants, Land Patent Book 42, pgs. 342-343: http://www.nclandgrants.com/grant/?mars=12.14.2.1&qid=121212&rn=2
  19. ^ Historic Sumner County, Tennessee by Jay Guy Cisco, Folk-Keelin Printing Company, 1909, pg 30: https://archive.org/details/historicsumnerco00cisc
  20. ^ The American Historical Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 4 (October 1902), pp. 311-315 By B. F. Allen, Gallatin, Tenn
  21. ^ A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans : the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Lewis Publishing Company, 1913, pg. 828
  22. ^ Trousdale Place: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnc13udc/
  23. ^ The American Historical Magazine and Tennessee Historical Society Quarterly, Volume 7, p. 311: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42657399?seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents.
  24. ^ Truesdell, Karl, Theodore M. K. Trousdale, and Ruth S. J. Trousdale. The Trousdale Genealogy: Descendants of John Trousdale of Orange County, North Carolina. Ithaca, N.Y: J.B. Trousdale, 1960., p. 28
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