William Cross Research Log - Summary of Pension Application

According to his affidavit in his application for a Revolutionary War Pension, William Cross was born in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was born either on 5 Mar 1761 or on 5 Mar 1762. He had no record of his age. He was living in Sullivan County, North Carolina at the time of his service in the Revolutionary War. This area became Sullivan County, Tennessee when Tennessee became a state in 1796.

According to his affidavit, William Cross served two tours of duty. He served both tours in the militia of Col. Isaac Shelby. The first tour of duty was for twelve months as a drummer boy, beginning in September 1776. His affidavit mentions his commander Captain William Hicks and does not mention Col. Shelby. Other sources tell us that Captain Hicks's commander was Col. Shelby. The second tour of duty was for three months beginning in August 1781. This time William's affidavit does mention Col. Shelby.

According to his affidavit, William Cross continued to live in Sullivan County until 1817 when he moved to Knox County, Tennessee. He lived in Knox County for about a year before moving to Anderson County, Tennessee. His affidavit does not say so explicitly, but he continued to reside in Anderson County until his death in 1844.

William Cross's exact date of death is unknown. His pension file reports that the date of his last pension payment was the third quarter of 1844. Family members produced his will to court in Anderson County on 1 January 1845 and the court ordered the will be entered into record in the estate book. However, the will was not entered into record. There are no missing will books at the Anderson County courthouse. There are no missing estate books or settlement books at the Anderson County courthouse. Although no relevant books are missing from the courthouse, I have not found his will at the courthouse and I am certain that the will is not there. If the will were there, then the 1888 lawsuit would not have taken place. Therefore, we can use his will along with the payment record in his pension file to estimate William's date of death even though we do not know what was in the will.

Col. Shelby's militia was one of the four Patriot militias that made up the famous Overmountain Men. The Overmountain Men were primarily from what is now upper East Tennessee and southwest Virginia. They marched over the mountains to engage and defeat Loyalist militia under the command of British Major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina. The battle turned the tide of the war in the south in favor of the Patriots.

Researchers sometimes credit William Cross as having been one of the Overmountain Men simply because of his service in Col. Shelby's militia. The march over the mountains began from Sycamore Shoals in what is now Tennessee on 25 September 1780. The battle took place on 7 October 1780 in South Carolina. The Overmountain Men returned home over the next several weeks. William's affidavit made no claim of participation in the battle, and the dates of his tours of duty do not coincide with the dates of the Overmountain Men's campaign. It is a bit off the main topic of this research log, but nevertheless I wanted to clarify that there is no evidence to suggest that William participated in the Battle of Kings Mountain.

The government rejected William Cross's initial pension application. The primary objection was that he had volunteered rather than enlisted. Subsequently, William had a friend write to Sullivan County on the subject but had no return. He had a second letter sent but without service. Not believing any help was forthcoming, he submitted his application without any additional evidence. In the meantime, he received an additional affidavit contrary to his expectation. The additional affidavit was produced at the insistence and request of David Cross of Sullivan County, and it was a joint affidavit from Edward Cox and Abraham Cross of Sullivan County. The additional affidavit satisfied the government, and William received his pension.

The Edward Cox and Abraham Cross affidavit states that Edward Cox was the sergeant under whom William Cross served his 12 month term. The affidavit also states that Abraham Cross and William Cross served together. The affidavit does not state the relationship between William Cross, David Cross, and Abraham Cross. There is evidence from Baltimore County that William and Abraham were brothers. The evidence is not totally conclusive, but the evidence does exist. There is strong evidence in David Cross's will he was William's son. It therefore appears that William had written to his son David about the problem with his pension, and David had advocated with his uncle Abraham Cross and with Edward Cox to submit an affidavit in William's behalf.