American Revolution Ancestor of Alan DeCarlo
WILLIAM HAYNIE Sr.
1753 – 1826
William Haynie was born in 1753 in Virginia. As a young man, he moved to North Carolina along with his older brothers, settling in what later became Caswell County, where, at the age 21, he married Ann Bradley in 1774.
When American patriots took up arms in their struggle for independence, William Haynie enlisted in the North Carolina militia where he served throughout the War in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina, at various times as a private, first sergeant, ensign, lieutenant, adjutant and aide-de-camp.
The North Carolina militia played a major part in the defense of the area and fought alongside the regular army as part of the Continental Line. William Haynie participated in battles at Savannah, Camden, and Cowpens. At the battle of Guilford Courthouse, he was serving as ensign to Col. Hal Dixon when he came upon his brother John who had been wounded. It was during this tour of duty also that he served as aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene, commander of American forces. In the fall of 1781, he served as lieutenant at the Battle of Eutaw Springs. His last tour of duty was in the swamps against the Tories under Col. William Moore, after which he came home with a fine horse captured from the Tories. On one occasion, he was entrusted with a dangerous mission to the Governor of North Carolina along a route beset by Tories. He was known as a spirited and fiery soldier!
William, Ann and their six children lived in Caswell County until about 1795 when they joined the large migration from North Carolina who crossed the mountains into Smith County, Tennessee. William and Ann settled on Peyton’s Creek where they remained the rest of their lives. He died on August 25, 1826.
His widow , Ann, was granted a pension, drawing $48 per year on his military service. Several years later, the rolls of the North Carolina militia were found which substantiated that he received pay as an officer; as a result, her pension was increased to $159 per year.
Ann died February 10, 1843 and was buried with her husband here in the Haynie cemetery in Smith County.
The history of Smith County is filled with records of the Haynies and their kin who helped the area grow and prosper – and who, through the years, gallantly defended their country in times of crisis. William Haynie’s descendants were prominent and influential citizens in this community, this state and beyond.
Two of William Haynie’s children – son Thomas and daughter Susannah (along with her husband Samuel Evetts) --moved to Texas where they joined the cause for Texas Independence.
William Haynie’s legacy as a “spirited and fiery soldier” was passed on to 2 grandsons – James and Samuel Evetts, Jr., who both fought at the Battle of San Jacinto alongside Sam Houston when Santa Anna was defeated; and later helped tame the frontier as Texas Rangers.
Both men’s names are rostered on the San Jacinto Monument’s bronze plaque commemorating those who fought there.
Samuel Evetts Jr. married Penelope Dodson whose 8th great grandfather, John Dodson, was one of the original Jamestown settlers and who came over on the ship Susan Constant with Captain John Smith in 1607.
John married the grand daughter of the Algonquin Chief Powhatan, Princess Nicketti Eagle plume.
Along a different family line, Mary Dodson’s grandmother was Mary Neville, whose lineal ancestry is descended from the Plantagenet and Capetian Royal houses of Europe and thus directly linked to William the Conqueror.
Many early English settlers fled their home country to escape direct family persecution, including imprisonment and executions, as well as religious persecution after the rift with the Catholic Church in Rome by Henry VIII, or later on to avoid potential purges of royal lineages by Oliver Cromwell.