Samuel was my gggg-grandfather. He was born in Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century, then moved with his family, when he was just twelve, to North Carolina. An ancestor of his had emigrated from Ireland. We can trace his ancestry back at least two generations. The family name was spelled E-S-P-E-Y, but the second 'e' was later dropped. Keep reading to learn more about Samuel Espey, a Revolutionary War Patriot who is remembered for his role in the battle of Kings Mountain. Thomas Jefferson called this battle "the turn of the tide of success."
Long Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Bessemer City, North Carolina
Gaston County
Patriot Samuel Espey was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1758, and by 1770 he’d moved with the family to the eastern half of Tryon County, North Carolina - the part which became Lincoln County in 1779. Early in the war he served at McFaddon’s (McFadden’s) Fort, and in the late summer of 1776 participated in the expedition against the Cherokee. He performed another period of service in 1779, likely with the Lincoln County militia under Colonel William Graham. In 1780, the same Colonel promoted Samuel Espey to Captain. He served in the 1780 battles of Cedar Springs and Kings Mountain. It was in the latter engagement that he took a hit to the elbow, disabling him. After recovery, he continued to serve, but apparently his wound continued to plague him. Samuel Espey was pensioned in 1808, a time when a Revolutionary War veteran had to suffer a disability to draw a pension. His application was supported by numerous witness statements. The common theme in each witness statement of his service and injuries sustained are phrases such as “…he received a wound by a ball in his right arm passing through the elbow joint thereof and he is thereby not only incapacitated for Military Duty…” and “…Capt Espy’s arm became very sore, not having been healed of the wound he received at Kings Mountain in 1780, and during this tour of service, the soreness increased, and smelled very offensive. Captain Espy was unable to perform the duties that devolved on him as Captain and got leave to return home. His arm was so offensive that the soldiers under his command complained of the offensiveness of the smell before he consented to leave his company.”
At the time (1808) when Samuel Espey was pensioned (four dollars per month), one had to be suffering from wounds and disabled to some degree, and the applicant could only have been a private soldier. He was listed as a private to qualify. Four years before his passing, Samuel Espey added to his statement about the injury by stating to a Justice of the Peace that he “was shot through the right elbow, which disabled the use of that joint” and that he “was attended by a doctor until May 1781.”
Following the war, Captain Samuel Espey resided in Lincoln County, only a few miles from where his father settled in 1770. The captain died in 1838 and is commemorated by name on the United States Monument at Kings Mountain National Military Park. - source
Lyman Draper, "Battle of Kings Mountain," in Kings Mountain and Its Heroes, 1881
completed in 1909
Capt Samuel Espey's name is in the bottom-left column. Click here for the source of these photos and more info about the monument.
Click here for an easy-to-understand PowerPoint Presentation of the Known Patriots of Kings Mountain. Slide 17 shows Capt Espey's Lincoln County, NC regiment.
Click here for a marker commemorating African-American Patriots who participated in the Battle of Kings Mountain.
Samuel's brother, James, also fought at the Battle of Kings Mountan. And James' twin, John, also was a Patriot in the Revolutionary War.
Samuel Espey
Robert Marion Espy
Thomas Franklin Espy
John Jolly Espy, Sr.
Major Watt Espy, Sr.
Mark Carroll Espy, Sr.
Major Allen Espy
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The Gastonia Gazette
August 22, 1916
The Lincoln Times
September 16, 1935
The Charlotte Observer
March 30, 1941
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The Gastonia Gazette
January 31, 1955
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