John Proctor
Early Settler of Kanawha County
I'm going to start with something controversial; John Proctor wasn't 105 years old when he died and he probably wasn't a Revolutionary War soldier.
Truthfully, I'm a little sad to actually put those words to print because just like everyone else who descends from him, I'm a little in love with the story. I mean, how fascinating it is to have an ancestor that lived to be 105 years old and bravely faced the hardships of emigrating to the untamed parts of the west all the while refusing to apply for his pension out of pride.
The records tell of different story.
John Proctor was actually born closer to 1764. This date is based on a court record in 1820 where he told whoever was taking his deposition that he was 56 years old. The 1830 census also gives his age as between 60 and 69, which clearly puts his birth between 1761 and 1770. In his pension application, he refers to one Edward Riley as his stepfather, but they also say that Edward Riley was a fellow soldier. I think it's important to note that even though we have accepted that John was a soldier in the American Revolution, he was not accepted as one at the time. His pension application was denied because he did not have enough evidence to support his claim. This doesn't mean that he couldn't have been in the war because he could have joined up as a fifteen or a sixteen-year-old boy, that was also common.
If we move John's timeline a little, it may make finding his parents a little easier.
*Fauquier County Court records, May Term 1780
"Ordered that the churchwardens of Leeds Parish bind John Proctor to John Lathey (Athey?) to learn the trade of a shoemaker"
*Fauquier County marriage records
"John Proctor and Elizabeth Hudnall Dec 21, 1786 by George King"
(makes more sense that he was 22 instead of 35 at the time of his first marriage)
*Fauquier County Court records March term 1790
"On the motion of John Athey to quash the execution sued out against him by John Proctor over-ruled"
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