Military records are an excellent source of both historical and genealogical information. Under the care of the National Archives, they are among the mast complete, accessible and best protected type of document available to the researcher. While the records of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars have been very popular and published extensively over the past century, the lesser known records of the War of 1812 still wait patiently for those researchers who will someday discover those historical and genealogical gems they hold. The 1812 War records are more complete than their Revolutionary War counterparts. They are also more complete than what remains of the Civil War records maintained by the Confederate States of America. In Western Virginia the 1812 War was supported on two fronts. The first of these was in the fall of 1812 when units were sent to protect the southern shore of Lake Erie from the Canadians. The second was in the fall of 1814 when units were sent to Norfolk to protect that area from the British. One example of the latter is the Company of Infantry under the command of Captain Jonathan Wamsley which was mustered at Beverly in Randolph County on 3 September 1814 and became part of Lt. Colonel Henry E. Coleman's 6th Regiment of Virginia Militia. The following is intended to be a complete list of all the members of Captain Wamsley's Company based on the Muster Rolls of the unit in the National Archives. Supplementary information is included for some of the members as found by the author in the Service and Pension records for the individual soldiers which also are maintained by the National Archives. The list is in alphabetical order:
1. ROBERT ARMSTRONG - Private
2. N. ROBERT BALL - Private
3. GEORGE BEALL - Private
4. TOWNSEND BEALL - Private
5. ESY/ESEAY BENNETT - Private
6. WILLIAM BENNETT - Lieutenant. Resigned 7 October 1814
7. CHRISTIAN BICKLE - Private. Transferred to Captain John Hammond's Company 20 October 1814. 25 March 1817 affidavit as resident of Randolph County appoints John M. Hart his attorney to collect money due him for service at Camp Nelson near Norfolk under Captain Jonathan Wamsley in which he states "I never received any part of the pay Captain Wamsley drew for me at discharge."
8. AXNOLD BOHON - Private. Transferred to Captain John Hammond's Company 20 October 1814.
9. WILLIAM BOHON - Private. Transferred to Captain John Hammond’s Company 20 October 1814. Pension records indicate he also served in Company of Captain M. McCorn. Received Land Bounty. Married Eliza/Athaliah Goff 25 April 1830. Living in Preston County in 1850 and 1854. Died 20 April 1870. Widow was living at St. George in Tucker County in 1878.
10. DAVID BOOTH - Private
11. JONATHAN BOOTH - Private. May have died in service at Norfolk.
12. PRICE BOYLES - Private. Received Land Bounty. Pension records show he married Margaret Stemple in Preston County in 1841 and they lived at Philippi in 1871. His wife died 23 February 1876 at Weston and he died in Barbour County 1 May 1877.
13. WILLIAM BOYLES - Private
14. JOHN BRADY - Private
15. JOSEPH BROWN - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond’s Company 20 October 1814
16. BAYLIS BUTCHER - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company 20 October 1814
17. JAMES CARR - Private
18. EKEKIEL CASEBOTT - Private. May have died in service at Norfolk.
19. JAMES CASTO - Private. Reduced from Sergeant 20 October 1814. Pension file shows he married Sidney Kessel in Harrison County on 27 August 1817 and he died in Jackson County (WV) on 22 December 1866. His widow was living in Jackson County in 1878.
20. JONATHAN CASTO - Private. Received Land Bounty. Pension records show he married Magdalena Weatherholt in Randolph County on 10 June 1816 and he died in Jackson County (VA) on 22 October 1851. His widow was living in Jackson County in 1878.
21. JOHN CHILTON - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company 20 October 1814.
22. MOSES COBERLY - Private
23. JACOB CONRAD - Private
24. JESSE CUNNINGHAM - Private
25. SILAS CUNNINGHAM - Private
26. SAMUEL CURRENCE - Private. May have died in service at Norfolk.
27. HENRY CUTRIGHT - Private
28. THOMAS DAMRIL - Private
29. JOHN DEAN - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond’s Company 20 October 1814.
30. ROBERT FERGUSON - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond’s Company 20 October 1814.
31. JOHN GAINER - Private
32. ADAM GILMORE - Private
33. GEORGE GOFF - Private
34. AARON GOULD - Private
35. DANIEL GOULD - Private
36. EBENEZER GOULD - Private
37. ROBERT GRAHAM - Private
38. BENJAMIN HAMRICK - Private
39. DAVID HAMRICK - Private
40. WILLIAM HAYS - Corporal
41. GEORGE HELMICK - Private
42. JAMES HERDMAN - Private
43. MATTHEW HINES - Private
44. DAVID HOLDER - Lieutenant. Declared a supernumerary (more than needed) on 19 October 1814
45. ROBERT HOLDER - Corporal
46. JOHN HOLTSBERRY - Ensign
47. EDWARD HOPKINS - Private
48. DANIEL HOWDERSHELL - Sergeant
49. JOHN HOWELL - Private
50. WILLIAM HUFF - Private
51. URIAH INGRIM - Ensign. Original payroll form in service record. For the period from 3 September 1814 through 30 October 1814 he was paid 38.00 and received reimbursements for 20 days of rations @ 3 rations per day @ $.20 per ration. He also was paid by the paymaster on 1 March 1815.
52. ISAAC INGRIM - Private
53. JACOB ISNER - Private. May have died in service at Norfolk.
54. SELESTIAL ISNER - Private. Deserted at Norfolk 20 October 1814.
55. ROBERT JOHNSON - Private
56. ABEL W. KELLY - Private. Discharged due to ill health at camp in rear of Fort Barbour at Norfolk on 18 October 1814. Pension file says he was drafted on 3 September 1814 at Beverly, married Jemima Kittle near Beverly on 24 September 1809, and he was 84 years old and living on Cheat Mountain in Randolph County on 14 March 1871.
57. ISAAC KELLY - Private
58. JOHN KELLY - Private
59. JOHN KERNS - Private
60. JAMES LIPSCOMB - Private
61. PHILIP LOUGH - Private
62. WILLIAM LOUGHERY - Private. Service record shows he died in service at Norfolk on 6 December l8l4. 29 May 1817 affidavit from Randolph County Clerk Archibald Earle says William Loughery married Margaret Johnson on 6 April 1809. 24 May 1817 affidavit from widow, Peggy Loughery, appoints John M. Hart as her attorney to collect what was due her husband for his service.
63. JOHN LUNSFORD - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October 1814.
64. HENRY MACE - Private
65. JOHN MACE - Private. May have died in service at Norfolk.
66. ABNER McCLEAN - Private
67. JAMES McCLEAN - Private
68. JONATHAN McHENRY - Private
69. JAMES MILLER - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October 1814.
70. MARTIN MILLER - Private
71. NATHAN MINEAR - Private
72. GEORGE MUCKLEWANE - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October 1814.
73. SAMUEL MORRISON - Sergeant. Promoted from Corporal on 20 October 1814. According to Pension record he was stationed at Camp Tar in rear of Fort Barbour adjacent to Norfolk. He stated he helped drive back the enemy at Portsmouth. He was 5’ 9" tall, fair complexion, dark hair and blue eyes. He married Isabella Barr 19 September 1811. She died at Beverly 8 March 1830. He married Eliza McCall at Beverly 11 February 1832. He received an Honorable discharge at Fort Nelson at Portsmouth. On January 22nd 1851, 55 year old Henry Sturm, a member of the Virginia Legislature from Barbour County, testified in Richmond in support of his service record. Testimony by several people during the 1870s supporting his loyalty to the "Union" during the Civil War. Samuel died near Beverly on 13 July 1878. In October 1879 his widow, Eliza, moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and on 18 July 1887 she was still living there at 112 3rd Avenue. She was living with her daughter, Jane Morrison. An enquiry in this file from Samuel J. Fitzhugh of St. Albans, Vermont, a grandson of Samuel Morrison, suggests that Morrison was wounded at Washington when the British burned it.
74. HENRY OWENS (OURS) - Private. Discharged 20 October 1814.
75. SOLOMON PARSONS (OF JAMES) - Private. Pension file indicates he enlisted on 30 August 1814. He marched with unit from Randolph County to Norfolk. He was discharged for disability on 30 December 1814. On 7 April l855 John D. Nestor states that he was 60 years old. A letter in file dated 9 April 1855 from William Ewin written at Westernford, Randolph County and witnessed by widow Lucy DeMoss, widow Mary Parsons, Solomon Parsons, Martin Miller and John Stevenson. He was married on 28 August 1810 to Hannah Parsons at her father’s house in Tucker County. On 24 March 1871 he was a resident of Portland in Preston County, West Virginia.
76. SOLOMON PARSONS (OF WILLIAM) - Private. Pension file says he was drafted on 26 August 1814 and honorably discharged at Fort Nelson on 10 February 1815. On 10 December 1814 he employed George W. White as his substitute. On 3 September 1817 at Huttonsville he was married to Mary, the daughter of Jacob Ward. A witness to the marriage named Parsons was living at St. George in Tucker County in 1879. Solomon died 7 March 1833. His widow was living at St. George in 1870.
77. THOMAS PARSONS - Sergeant
78. JOHN PHILLIPS - Private
79. JOAS PITMAN - Private. May have died in service at Norfolk.
80. JONN POLING - Private
31. MARTIN D. POLING - Corporal
32. RICHARD POLING - Private
83. SAMUEL POLING - Private
84. WILLIAM POLING - Private
85. WILLLIAM POLING, JUNIOR - Private
86. NICHOLAS RECK - Private
87. THOMAS RECK - Private
88. JACOB RHINEHART - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October l814.
89. JEREMIAH RIDDLE - Private
90. GEORGE RIFFLE - Private. Letter in Service Record to his widow, Susannah Riffle states that he died in service on 13 March 1815 and that she would receive a half pay pension from that day until 4 September 1817. His children and heirs are listed as Jonathan Riffle, born 25 May 1811, Phoebe Riffle, born 25 December 1812 and George S. Riffle, born 30 December 1814.
91. PETER ROBERTS - Servant. Enlisted 20 October 1814.
92. THOMAS C. H. ROWAN - Private. Affidavit in Service File dated 15 November 1816 by which Rowan appoints John M. Hart his attorney to collect money due him which he had never received. He was stationed at Camp Tar near Norfolk.
93. JOHN ROY - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October l8l4.
94. MICHAEL SEE - Lieutenant. Resigned 20 October 1814. According to his Pension record he again served as a Captain in the Virginia Militia from 18 February 1815 through 8 March 1815 in Mason County. There he had married Nancy Greenlee 15 February 1808. Michael See died in Mason County 10 September 1827. His widow was living in Salem, Illinois in 1858. She died in 1871. (Note: The author suspects some confusion in this pension with another Michael See who was also a veteran of the 1812 War in Randolph County. This second Michael See was 76 years old in 1853 when he was a resident of Montgomery County, Missouri. He seems to be the more likely person who served in Jonathan Wamsley's Company.)
95. DANIEL SCHOONOVER - Private. According to pension record he was drafted at Beverly on 22 August 1814 and was discharged at Fort Nelson on 2 February 1815. He received an Honorable Discharge at Norfolk on 22 February 1815 since he had furnished a substitute to serve the balance of his tour. He married Susanna Wilmoth in Randolph County on 20 August 1801 and was living at New Interest Post Office in Randolph County on 25 April l871.
96. JOSEPH SCHOONOVER - Private
97. ABRAHAM SKIDMORE - Private
98. ANDREW SKIDMORE - Private
99. JAMES SKIDMORE - Private
100. JOSEPH SKIDMORE - Private
101. SAMUEL SMITH - Sergeant
102. THOMAS SMITH - Servant. Enlisted 12 October 1814.
103. DANIEL SPILLMAN - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October 1814.
104. ABSALOM STALNAKER - Private
105. SAMUEL STALNAKER - Fifer
106. HENRY STURMS - Private
107. JAMES SUTTON - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October 1814.
1O8. JOHN D. SUTTON - Corporal. Reduced from Sergeant 20 Oct 1814.
109. WILLIS TAYLOR - Private
110. HENRY TOOMIRE (DUMIRE) - Private
111. JOHN TOOMIRE (DUMIRE) - Private
112. FRANCIS VANNOY - Private
113. AARON VANSCOY - Private
114. JACOB VANSCOY - Private
115. JACOB WAGGONER - Private. May have died in service.
116. JOSEPH WALKER - Private
117. ISAAC WAMSLEY - Ensign. resigned 7 October 1814. Pension record states he married Susannah Yeager on 13 March 1813. He died on 29 December 1862 at Truby Run in Upshur County (WV). Susannah died on 24 November l878 in Lewis County.
118. JESSE WAMSLEY - Private
119. JONATHAN WAMSLEY - Captain. Referring to Harrison County (WV) Circuit Court File 4-1 in case entitled Jonathan Wamsley vs. Benjamin West is a 13 September 1815 deposition from a John Brown who stated that about 15 March 1815 Captain Jonathan Wamsley was at the Columbian Hotel in Richmond (VA) with $400 in Treasury notes in his possession, believed to be the payroll for the members who served in his Company. Wamsley asked Brown if he could put the notes in his trunk. Brown gave him key to trunk and room door. After supper Wamsley evidently gave the room key to John Mayse. Wamsley and Brown then went to a house (not the Hotel) to lodge for the night. They had to come back early since the stage left Richmond at 4 a.m. Wamsley found that the money was gone. He asked the Hotel to check their servants and said he would be ruined if the notes were not found. Evidently they were not located.
120. WILLIAM G. WAMSLEY - Sergeant
121. WILLIAM WARD - Private
122. DANIEL WEESE - Private. Discharged 18 October 1814 at Norfolk. In an affidavit dated 25 November 1816 Daniel Wees of Randolph County appoints John M. Hart his attorney to collect money due him that he did not receive. Wees served at Camp Tan near Norfolk. George Stalnaker witnessed the affidavit.
123. NICHOLAS WEATHERHOLT - Private
124. WILLIAM WELCH - Private
125. ISAAC WESTFALL - Private. Referring to Randolph County (WV) Minute Book on 22 August 1856, Catherine Westfall, widow of Isaac, states he died in December 1814 in Norfolk of disease while in service in 1812 War.
126. MOSES WILSON - Private
127. HENRY WINEMILLER - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October 1814.
128. ZACHARIAX WOODS - Private. Transferred to Capt. John Hammond's Company on 20 October 1814.
129. WILLIAM YEAGER - Private
130. JACOB YOKUM - Private
131. SOLOMON YOKUM - Private
NOTE: While the above is intended to be a complete list of the soldiers in this unit, it only includes information from a small portion of the available service and pension records for the members of this Company. (WHR)