Capt. Allen DanielPatriot? — or Nonexistent? Written by Diane Carrington Bradford
The Myths and LegendsDAR applications #42794, #92632, #154345, dated 1910-1920, were submitted by three different descendants, and all were based on incorrect interpretation of documents available at that time, family legends, and probably some "creative writing" by one or more of those applicants. The Official History of Elbert County 1790-1935, by John H. McIntosh, published 1940. On page 100 he stated
And on page 101 McIntosh continued:
William C. Stewart's Gone to Georgia, published in 1965 by the National Genealogical Society, stated on page 273: Capt. Allen Daniel "appeared in the Wilkes County records as early as 1788. In 1789, William Allen bought land on Beaverdam Creek from William and Nancy Daniel with Allen Daniel as a witness." Clifford Daniel Smith, and Fern Gholson Daniel in Our Family, The Daniels , published 1967, stated that Allen Daniel, Sr., "...came to Elbert County., Ga from Prince Georges County, Virginia, in 1785, with his two brothers, John O. Daniel, Jr., and David Daniel. The two latter settled in Moss District, Elbert County, near Carpenter Mill. Capt. Allen Daniel settled in that part of Elbert County now known as Madison County.... He commanded a Company in the 8th Regiment of Virginia.... He died in Madison County where he had held important civil offices.... Numerous descendants have used the military record of Capt. Allen Daniel, 8th Regiment to establish membership in the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution." A deed of record in Madison County states, "being a part of a 287-acre tract granted to Allen Daniel... (Deed Record Book F., Page 185). This is a Bounty Grant and is recognized as proof of Revolutionary War Service for Georgia." The Documented FactsUnfortunately, most of the above statements were disproved over the years since their publication in 1940 and 1967 respectively, including:
The DAR removed Capt. Allen Daniel's name from their Patriots Index because he was no longer considered to be an approved Patriot of the Revolution. Here's why... In 2007 a Daniel descendant asked this writer why Capt. Allen Daniel's name was not currently listed in the DAR Patriot Index. Unable to answer the question, this writer contacted the National DAR's Online Patriot Lookup Service and asked for clarification as follows:
This writer received the following reply: -----Original Message----- Your information is correct. Those numbers [#42794, #92632, #154345] are very early membership numbers, probably from around 1910-1920. Since then it has been discovered by the professional genealogists that the service cited for this man was incorrect. DAR does not "throw out" members who joined, however, it does "flag" these lines and omits them from the Patriot Index, so that nobody will think they are still approved. People can join using this patriot IF you provide the correct documentation of service, i.e., if you can "fix" the problem. Thank you for your interest in the DAR Patriot Lookup Service. Sincerely, So, while an Allen Daniel, born in Virginia, might have existed and might indeed have served somewhere in the Revolutionary War, he did NOT serve as a captain of the 8th Virginia Regiment. Nor did such person move to Georgia from Prince George's County, Virginia. The following items from the Minutes of Elbert County, Georgia, Land Court Records, 1791-1822 might have been the basis for early researchers' believing that "Capt. Allen" received bounty land for service in the Revolution: However, to date no service record has been found for an Allen Daniel, born 1738 in Virginia, upon which the above mentioned warrants could have been issued for bounty land for Revolutionary War service. Also any bounty land grants issued by the State of Georgia were issued only for land in Greene County. Therefore, the more probable and plausible explanation would be that the warrants referred to were headright warrants issued to Gen. Allen Daniel, rather than bounty land warrants. The ConclusionBased on recent research [done 2005-2010], along with re-evaluation of the extant records of Wilkes, Elbert and Madison counties in Georgia and in-depth discussions with the Wake-Elbert-Madison Research Group (WEMRG)—and contrary to the claims made in the three DAR applications, as well as in the published books by early researchers—we recognized that:
Because of the high probability that "Capt. Allen Daniel" never actually existed, that name was disassociated from any relationships with other Daniel families in the Leaves From Our Tree database. Should primary evidence of this person's existence be found in the future, the WEMG will be happy to reconsider this action.
NEXT: The Great "Osborn(e)" Controversy
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