Pension Application of William and Elizabeth Franklin Poage: W8502
Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris
Virginia at a Court held at the Court house for the County of Botetourt on Monday the 12th day of November 1832.
On this 12th day of November 1832 personally appeared in open court before the court of Botetourt County now sitting William Poge a resident of said County of Botetourt and State of Virginia aged Seventy three years who being first duly Sworn according to Law doth on his Oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832
That he entered the Service of the united States under the following named officers and served as herein stated – he states that he entered the service under the command of Lieutenant Andrew Armstrong in the Month of April he is not certain what year but thinks it was in 1777 or 78. he states that the object of the expedition under Armstrong was to guard the frontier against the Indians. he states that he was in no engagement with the Indians in this tour and returned home after harvest of the same year having been gone three months or more at the time he entered the service he lived on Back creek in the County of Botetourt [in Roanoke County since 1838] in the State of Va. He states that he was drafted The service performed on this expedition was on Sinking creek In the summer of the year after the above tour he was drafted again and started under William McClanahan to fight against the Tories in N. Carolina but owing to some inteligence received by the Captain they stopped at the lead mines now in Wythe County in Virginia for the purpose of guarding them He served three months during this tour and was discharged and returned home he has lost his discharge he was living at the same place when he entered this service as on the previous one – He states that he was again drafted in the month of January or February 17— and marched under Capt’n Wm McClanahan to N. Carolina a short time before they joined the main army the battle of Guilford [Guilford Courthouse, 15 Mar 1781] was fought they were making great exertions to join the army before the battle but were unable to do so Col. William Washington was the commanding officer to whom he belonged he was discharged after serving three months this tour. He has lost his discharge
He was drafted again in the year [blank] about the last of August and marched under the command of Captain David May to York and was there untill the Surrender of Cornwallis [19 Oct 1781] after the surrender he marched with the Prisoners to Winchester he was drafted for 3 months this tour but thinks he was longer in the service. he was again regularly discharged but has lost it
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension roll of the agency of any State he knows of no person who can prove the statements contained in this declaration except Esau Harman and he only into part Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid [signed] William Poag
NOTE: On 28 July 1853 in Roanoke County Elizabeth Poage, 68, applied for a pension stating that she was married to William Poage on 23 Dec 1806 by Rev. Samuel Mitchell, and her husband died 23 Sep 1834. With her application was a copy of a bond signed on 17 Dec 1806 by William Poage and Nathan Franklin for the marriage of Poage to Elizabeth Franklin, daughter of Nathan Franklin. On 5 Sep 1877 James Poage, son and administrator of Elizabeth Poage, applied to have her pension restored. He stated that she had died 11 July 1867 at age 82 at her home on Back Creek in Roanoke County, and “that she has not borne arms against the Government of the United States, or in any manner aided or abetted the rebellion, or those prosecuting the rebellion, or manifested a sympathy with their cause, but, on the contrary, did, during the said rebellion, earnestly desire its suppression by force of arms.” The document was witnessed by George Poage. In a related document her daughter, Susannah Poage, stated that her mother “never aided encouraged or sympathized with the Rebelion, but was always loyal to the government of the U. States.”