Orphan Boy, Continental Officer, Landed Gentry
Wavetops: James McCullough (Sr.) (1757-1838)
When John McCullough died in 1766, he left four orphans without family or support in Rowan County, North Carolina. The courts bound each child to an apprenticeship, each with different terms.
"II:679. 16 Jan. 1767. Orderd P Cur that JAMES McCULLOH Orphant Child of JOHN McCULLOH Decd Be Bound to JAMES SMILEY to larn him the Art, & mistery of a Weaver he being Aged 9 1/2 Years Old & that he Sarve his sd Master till he Arive to the Age 21 Years & to Give, him at the Experation of his sd Time a Loome & Tackling to the Value of 4 pounds [symbol] in Money & to Comply with an Act of Assembly in Such Cases Made & Provided &c”
In her 1991 Ph.D. dissertation, Johanna Lewis1 noted that of 52 orphans placed as apprentices before 1770, only one (a Martin Basinger) completed his apprenticeship and remained in Rowan County working as a hatter. Based on his age in Jan 1767, James would have turned 21 in 1778, but in the fall of 1775, one of the few things that could release an apprentice from his bond presented itself, and James enlisted in the North Carolina Line under Col. Martin’s Regiment.
Becoming Lieutenant McCullough of Kentucky
James McCullough (1757-1838) enlisted as a private from Rowan County in Col. Martin’s Regiment - most likely referring to the 2nd North Carolina Regiment - serving 9 months beginning in the fall of 1775, and his record placed him in the 1776 Battle of Sullivan's Island, soon after which, his enlistment expired. He re-enlisted for three more terms in 1777 and 1778; in the spring of 1778, James moved to Kentucky County, Virginia.
In Kentucky, James signed up under Capt. William Smith’s company to guard some families moving to Kentucky, and he continued with them until they reached Harrodsburg. From Harrodsburg, the company marched to Logan Station, where modern-day Stanford now stands, and during that tour, James was wounded in a confrontation with Indians. When he recovered, he was employed as an Indian Spy until he was ordered into service in the militia of the State of Virginia at Harrodsburg in May 1779.
At the time, Kentucky was known as Kentucky County, Virginia. In 1780 it was divided into Lincoln, Jefferson, and Fayette Counties. In 1785, the part of Lincoln County around Harrodsburg became Mercer County. In 1792 Kentucky separated from Virginia.
From May 1779, he was a Lieutenant in Capt. McGary’s Company of Col. Bowman’s Regiment, and served during an expedition against Indians on the Little Miami. His unit was in the Battle of Blue Licks on 19 August 1782, and his name is included on the monument at the Blue Licks Battlefield State Park near Mount Olivet.
Landowner in Mercer County, KY
In 1794, James McCullough was on the Mercer County Tax List, with horses, cattle, and 300 acres of land in Green County. He bought 50 acres on the waters of Shawnee Run from Simeon Moore, out of Moore’s 1000-acre survey.
In May 1776, Simeon Moore had come down the Ohio River with nine other men and traveled up the Kentucky River landing at a place they named Harrod’s Landing. The group surveyed the land and built ten improvements, then drew lots. Simeon Moore received the 1000-acre tract in what later became Mercer County.
Simeon had three sons - Samuel, John, and Thomas - and by the time he made his will, his wife Mary, son Samuel, and daughter Drusilla were all deceased. He left $5 to the heirs of Samuel and $5 to the heirs of his daughter “Drusy” who was married to James McCullough.
James and Drusilla had seven children, and their youngest son was James McCullough, Jr.:
After Drusilla’s death, James married Eleanor in about 1804 and moved his family from Mercer County to Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky. They had six more children.
"James evidently made a very good living for his family in Montgomery County. When he wrote his will in 1834, he was holding notes on several men and had loaned money to his sons, quite different from his Harrodsburg days - when he was the borrower. His will was a lengthy one as he tried to divide his assets equally among his children and he set everything out in detail. He was probably a strict parent, but a kind one, too. He visited his sons, Simeon and James, Jr., in Rush County, Indiana, (see p 6 ) about 1835 so he kept up with all of his family. He made a Codicil to his will in 1836, making a few changes and additions. James died in 1838."2
Wavetop sighting
From this point, available information is sketchy, but the Maxcy book does give us some information about James Sr.’s ancestors. Next time, I’ll talk a bit more about what is in that book, and see what we can reliably say about them with evidence from available records.
If you’re a McCullough cousin, say hello!
Lewis, Johanna Carlson Miller, "Artisans in the Carolina backcountry: Rowan County, 1753-1770" (1991). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623804. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-3kw4-kw88
Maxcy, Mabel E, McSween, Jimmie D.; James McCullough and Descendants, A Family History; 1991, Penny Press, Inc., Denton-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.