Now that it has been proven that Isaac Carter of Craven County was not a Revolutionary War pensioner, does that mean he didn't serve as a soldier in the war?
According to “FORTITUDE AND FORBEARANCE” THE NORTH CAROLINA CONTINENTAL LINE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 1775-1783 (Babits & Howard, 2004),
“State troops and militia were not regarded as Continental service, even if the unit served as a part of a larger entity, such as the Southern army under Lincoln, Gates, or Greene. . . The official table of organization for a military force. . . made clear distinctions between Continental, state troops, and militia, even if they were serving together in a common cause.” (Preface)
With that knowledge, I turned to COLONIAL SOLDIERS OF THE SOUTH, 1732-1774, by Murtie June Clark (1983). This book contains a listing of all the states' militias. I began looking for the muster roll for companies originating in Craven County, North Carolina. Altogether, there were thirteen (13) Field Officers and Captains of the Craven County, North Carolina Regiment of Militia:
2. Lieut. Colonel Daniel Shine
3. Major Hardy Bryan
4. Captain Lewis Bryan
5. Captain Thomas Graves
6. Captain Joseph Bryan
7. Captain John Shine
8. Captain Solomon Kew
9. Captain Abner Neal
10. Arthur Johnston
11. John Curruther
12. John Islar
13. Cassin Brinson
Within the Muster Roll of Captain Lewis Bryan’s Company, [Craven County, North Carolina,] October 25, 1754, I found Private Isaac Carter, Number 61. I thought it was strange that none of the other names on the muster roll were associated with people living along the South Side of the Neuse River. And then I found a notation, stating: “[District: James MacKilwain’s to Marils Run and upwards to ye county line between Craven and Johnson Counties]” (p. 704).
This was not where Isaac Carter's family lived, along the South Side of Neuse River and the west side of Clubfoot Creek.
I kept looking through the lists, trying to find another Isaac Carter listed with residents of his neighborhood. In the Muster Roll of Captain Abner Neale’s Company, Craven County, North Carolina, October 4, 1754, I found some familiar names associated with our Isaac Carter:
97. Private Jacob Copes
98. Private Peter George
99. Private John Carter
A notation states: [District: between the head of Slocomb’s Creek to the head of Turnagain Bay].
Note, however, that October 4, 1754, was during the French and Indian War, not the Revolutionary War. Abel Carter was Isaac Carter's father (b. 1732, age 22), and this particular John Carter was his grandfather (b. 1714, age 40), and not his brother John (b. 1754.) Jacob Copes and Peter George had descendants who married into the Carter family.
This was the correct family group, just a different generation in a different military era.
Even though the original information I had read in both Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia and The Black Experience in Revolutionary North Carolina proved to be incorrect, I came away from the investigation with four connections to the North Carolina State Militia, serving during the French and Indian War.
So, I have yet to prove Isaac Carter of North Harlowe's Revolutionary War Militia service.
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