Isaac Carter: Determining Identity of Same Name Rev War Soldiers, Part 9

Compiled Service Records

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) didn't begin its database of Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR), beginning with Union Civil War veterans, until the 1890s. When I researched my husband's great-grandfather, Isaac Carter's United States Colored Troops (USCT) Civil War service, I ordered the file from NARA. All 175 pages of it. And yes, there are way too many Isaacs in the family.

But when the archives transcribed the Revolutionary War Service Records, the file contained the jacket and the muster roll card. It doesn't mean that other records don't exist out there. As researchers and authors, our job is to locate, compile, and analyze the extraneous pieces into a complete file. But how I wish for that one letter from the North Carolina Secretary of State authorizing our patriot's service found in other patriots' pension files.

So from here on out, I will create the compiled service record of Private Isaac Carter who lived on the South Side Neuse River, West Side of Clubfoot Creek in a community now known as North Harlowe in Craven County, North Carolina.

Carter, Isaac

Appears on a Roll

of Major John Tillman' s Company in the Craven County Regiment of Militia, commanded by Col. John Bryan.

(Revolutionary War)

Roll dated (account paid 1775-1776)

Craven County, State of North Carolina

40 days of service, paid 4 pounds [1]

1776, 1st August.

Isaac CARTER, Transportation.

No. in report: 34.

Specie dollars: 25.45. [2]

C.    2    NC

47. Isaac Carter

Appears on a Roll

of Captain Clement's Company in the 2nd North Carolina Battalion, Commanded by Colonel John Patten

(Revolutionary War.)

Roll dated: White Plains

September 9th, 1778

Time Enlisted,     17__.

Time Engaged for: [blank]

War, [blank]

Years, 3

Remarks: [blank]     [3]

Isaac Carter. 90009.

Regiment commanded by Colonel Thomas Clark,

Paid to November 15, 1783 [4]

Allowed Isaac CARTER for pay to 1st January 1782 including Interest to 1st August 1783 (4 months & 4 days unsettled)

22 pounds, 19 shillings, 10 pence [5]

Isaac Carter

Appeared on a Roll

of Capt. Silas Stevenson's company, 10th North Carolina Regiment, commanded by Col. Abraham Sheppard

Enlisted 1 September 1777, for 3 years, W, deserted 13 June 1783 [6]

Isaac Carter

Found on Payroll No. 2325.

Voucher No. 4409 paid: 20 pounds, 5 shillings, 0 pence.

Dated: August 27, 1783, District of Wilmington.

For Militia Duty.

Paid: 21 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence. 

(2 holes, 2 payments redeemed) [7]

Isaac Carter

Voucher No. 2337 paid: 1 pound.

Dated: February 20, 1784, District of New Bern.

For Militia Duty.

(payment redeemed) [8]

1. Isaac CARTER, Private. 

Amount charged: 355.07.

Amount credited: 21.76. 

Balanced paid & charged by the state: 333.21.

Balance actually found due: 244.74. [9]

Analysis of Compiled Service Record

Two main things stand out for me: Continental Line vs. Militia dates. 

• If Isaac Carter served in the Craven County Regiment of Militia before the establishment of Fort Macon, it would have been between 1775 and 1776, for 40 days.
• If Isaac Carter served with Isaac Perkins and Martin Black in the 10th NC Regiment and the 2nd NC Regiment, he enlisted on September 1, 1777, and deserted on June 13, 1783.
• If Isaac Carter served in the Craven County Regiment of Militia at Fort Hancock, it would have been for a year between June 1, 1778, and May 4, 1780.

Martin Black was listed on the same Militia Roll as Isaac Carter and Joshua Carter, in Major John Tillman's Company, for 40 days.

In another Militia Roll, Isaac Perkins and William Dove served on the same Militia Roll, in Major John Tillman's Company, for 40 days.

These five men were neighbors. 

So, when I see Isaac Carter's name on the muster roll with Isaac Perkins and Martin Black in the 10th and 2nd North Carolina Regiment, I tend to believe it's the same person. 

When I examine a timeline of the Craven County Militia and the 2nd North Carolina Regiment and its officers, I find the following:

• Sep 1, 1775: 2nd NC Regiment formed
• Sep 9, 1775: Craven County Regiment of Militia formed
• 1776: Capt. Silas Stevenson, under Col. John Bryan, Craven County Militia
• 1776-1778: Maj. John Tillman commanded Craven County Militia
• Feb 27, 1776: 2nd NC Regiment assigned to Southern Department
• Feb 5, 1777: 2nd NC Regiment reassigned to Northern Department
• 1777-1781: Capt. Clement Hall, under Col. John Patten, 2nd NC Regiment
• Apr 17, 1777: 10th NC Regiment formed
• Apr 19, 1777: Capt. Silas Stevenson, under Col. Abraham Sheppard, 10th NC Regiment
• Jul 8, 1777: 2nd NC Regiment assigned to the NC Brigade, Northern Dept.
• Aug 1777: 10th NC Regiment marches Northward
• mid-Feb 1778: 10th NC Regiment reached Hanover County, Virginia. At Valley Forge the 10th was attached to the 2nd NC Regiment
• Jun 1, 1778: 10th North Carolina Regiment formally disbanded permanently
• 1778-1783: Colonel John Tillman commanded Craven County Militia
• Jul 19, 1779: NC Brigade & 2nd NC Regiment reassigned to Highlands Dept.
• Nov 11, 1779: NC Brigade & 2nd NC Regiment reassigned to Southern Dept.
• May 12, 1780: 2nd NC Regiment surrendered 301 men to British Army at the Fall of Charleston, SC
• Apr-Jul 1781: reconstituted 2nd NC Regiment detachment, under Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, sent to South Carolina, added to NC Brigade
• Jan 1, 1783: 2nd NC Regiment furloughed at James Island, SC
• Nov 15, 1783: 2nd NC Regiment officially disbanded

And these are my conclusions:

1. It is plausible that Isaac Carter served for 40 days in the Craven County Militia under Major John Tillman in 1776. We have them together on the same pay roll (Haun, Journal "A").
2. If Isaac Carter enlisted in the 10th NC Regiment on Sep 1, 1777, he could have been in Capt. Silas Stevenson's Company with Isaac Perkins and Martin Black.
3. If Isaac Carter enlisted in the 10th NC Regiment, he was transfered to the 2nd NC Regiment at Valley Forge, in Capt. Clement Hall's Company, under Col. John Patten.
4. If Isaac Carter was in the 2nd NC Regiment, he deserted on Jun 13, 1783, after 5 years 9 months 12 days service.
5. But, it is not possible that Isaac Carter could serve in both the 2nd NC Regiment and at Fort Hancock, because if he returned from the War in 1783, he would not have been available for service at the fort in 1778-1780. 
6. However, if we go by the criteria that is now in place by the DAR, we can only claim 40 days militia duty as there is no pension file to verify if the Isaac Carter on the muster roll in White Plains, NY is the same Isaac Carter of Craven County, North Carolina.

The problem of Isaac Carter's service will never be certified by the Secretary of State of North Carolina as was Isaac Perkins' and Martin Black's was because Carter never applied for a pension. 

Sources

[1] North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Journal "A", [158].

[2] North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Vol. IV, Journal "G", [1446]-304.

[3] "US Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783", Fold3 (https://fold3.org). NARA publication no. M246, record group 93, NARA catalog id: 602384, Isaac Carter, 9 Sep 1778.

[4] "Roster of Soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution," NCDAR,Ju 1932, p. 6.

[5] North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Vol. II, Book I, p. 168 [593].

[6] "Roster of Soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution," NCDAR, 1932, p. 113.

[7] "North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 1779-1782", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WT-5YR1 : Fri Mar 08 21:03:03 UTC 2024), Entry for Isaac Carter, 27 Aug 1783.

[8] "North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 1779-1782", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WT-5SM6 : Fri Mar 08 21:00:54 UTC 2024), Entry for Isaac Carter, 20 Feb 1784.

[9] North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Vol. III, Journal "B", [765]-51.