Amherst County, Virginia in the Revolution

Description

Amherst County was formed from Albemarle County, Virginia in 1761. It is the parent county of Nelson County. This book represents a remarkable effort to reconstruct Amherst County’s contribution to the successful outcome of the American Revolution. A major component of the volume is the information extracted from the Amherst County Order Book for 1773-1782, which Mrs. Sweeny discovered among stacks of old ledgers and papers at the county courthouse. The contents of the Order Book, in conjunction with Mrs. Sweeny’s introductory chapters, serve to give us a sense of day-to-day life in Amherst County during the conflict. The genealogical meat of the volume, derived from other courthouse records, the State Library in Richmond and the National Archives, includes various rosters, payrolls or other lists of the following: 1st Rifle Company of Amherst County, Captain James Franklin’s Company, Revolutionary Officers and Soldiers from Amherst County, Captain Azariah Martin’s Militia Company, a Regiment of Guards, and Claims for Property Taken or Impressed. Perhaps the richest component of this fully-indexed book are the two hundred detailed genealogical and biographical sketches of Amherst County Revolutionary soldiers excerpted by Mrs. Sweeny from pension applications in the National Archives. This gem of a publication belongs on the bookshelf of all researchers with Amherst County forebears.