Patriot Ancestor List
For
Captain John McKinley Chapter
KSDAR
Lexington, Kentucky

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Ancestor State  

Rank/Svce.

Spouse

ADAMS, David
BARRON, Archibald SC Pvt. (wgm) Frances Stewart
BURRIS, Thomas VA Corp. Frances Tandy
CALDWELL, Thos. P. NC/VA Capt/CS Delphia Ballard
CHENAULT, William VA Soldier/Patriot Elizabeth Mullins
CHRISTIAN, Gilbert VA   Major/VA Mil Margaret Anderson
COBB, Samuel SC Pvt. _____ Peak
COMBS, John VA   Pvt. Margaret (Biddy) Nance
DORRIS, William NJ Soldier/Pvt. Eleanor Brown
DUVALL, Cornelius VA Patriot Keziah Duvall
ENGLISH, David Sr. PA Justice of Peace/PS Eleanor
FAIN, William VA Militiaman Frances (Nancy)
GIBBONS, Thomas VA PS Ann Epps
GRAVES, John VA Capt. Ann Rice
GREEN, John VA Col. Susannah Blackwell
HAGGARD, Nathaniel VA Signer of Albemarle
Declaration of Independence		 Elizabeth Gentry
HAMBLIN, Pierce Dant VA Pvt.
HARDING, Wilmoth George VA   BBD  VA Sarah Jane Phillips
HICKS, James VA Corp. Mary Harris
HUTCHISON, Thomas VA Sgt. Verlinder Owsley
JASPER, Nicholas SC Lt./Capt. Elizabeth Wyatt
JONES, Bridger NC Soldier Rachel Barry
JUDY, Martin PA Pvt. Anna Boni
KELLY, (CELLEY), Luke VA Pvt. Mary Keyser
KNIGHT, James VA Corp./Sgt. Elizabeth Williams
LYON(S), William VA Pvt. Mary C
McAFEE, Robert KY/VA Patriot Ann McCoun
MCALISTER, Hugh PA Major Sarah Nelson
MCKINLEY, John VA Capt. Mary Connelly
NICHOLSON, Joseph MD   Justice/commissioner Hannah Smith Scott
OLDHAM, John NC Capt. Annis Rice
OWENS, David
POTTER, Joe NC Lt. Rhoda
POLK, Edmund PA Major Mary Fultz
PUTNAM, Henry, Sr. MA Patriot Hannah Boardman
REED, John VA PS Elizabeth
SANDERS, Daniel NH Lt./PS Joanne Barney
SANDUSKY/SODEWSKY, Emanuel NC PS Rosanna ________
SILER, Plikar Dederic VA Patriot Elizabeth Hartsoe
SCOTT, Ebinezer CT Sgt. Susannah Webster
STEARNS, Jonathon MA Pvt. Hannah Thayer
STEPHENS, Lawrence VA Pvt/Corp Joanna Herbert
UPSHAW, John VA Patriot Mary Lafon
VANCE, Robert VA Capt. Jean White
WILLIAMSON, Micajah GA Lt. Col. Sarah Gilliam
YOUNG, Robert VA Lt. Judith Heath Tebbs

Codes:
PS - Public Service
wgm - wagon master

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Capt. John McKinley Chapter
Organizing Regent
Mary Ford Higgins Rodes (Mrs. William)

Mrs. William Rodes of Lexington, Kentucky, the former Mary Ford Higgins, was born in Scott County, at Elmwood, the ancestral home of her mother. Reared in Lexington and Fayette County in a home filled with traditions of men and women, who were prominent in the early history of the State, she graduated from Sayre College, the well-known Presbyterian School. In 1893, she married Dr. William Rodes and the two were among the organizers of the Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church in 1887.

Mrs. Rodes became identified with various civic and charity boards and joined many worthwhile clubs and historical societies as well as patriotic societies which were being formed in Kentucky. She was admitted to the Bryan Station Chapter, DAR, March 6, 1912, and later became regent of that chapter. She later became Recording Secretary of the State Society and from 1922 to 1924 served as State Regent of the Kentucky Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Her term of office was marked by a large increase in membership, as she was responsible in forming seven new chapters. In 1924, Mrs. Rodes also organized the Captain John McKinley Chapter and the National Society granted her the privilege of naming it for her ancestor who had fought in the War of Independence. It is interesting to note that in the first six years, the new Capt. John McKinley Chapter grew from a membership of 28 to 114 members.

Mrs. Rodes served on the Governor's Committee to make plans for the 200th celebration of George Washington's birth. Later she wrote the Tourist Guide to Historic Spots in Kentucky, a work that took three years to compile.

Besides rearing a family of five, Mrs. Rodes always had time for continuous interest in the Kentucky Mountain Schools. In addition, she helped to create funds for Kenmore, the home of George Washington's sister in Fredericksburg, VA, the preservation of Blue Licks Battlefield, Boone Trail Markers, the DAR Constitution Hall, and served as chairman of the Kentucky Room in the Continental Hall from 1940 to 1946.

At the age of 88, Mrs. Rodes completed a "History of the Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church", and at the same time was engaged in writing a history of the Rodes-Higgins Families and Related Lines.

Mrs. Rodes' parents were John Allen and Betty Webb Higgins. Through Her father's lines, she was descended from the Higgins, Allen, Gibson, Winn and McKinley families – all early pioneers of Kentucky. Through her mother, she traced her lineage to the Webb, Chinn, Ball, Vivian, Crittenden, Thacker and Conway families to the Eltonheads of England, through these becoming eligible to the Society of Founders and Patriots of the Crown.

Mrs. Rodes was a product of Kentucky and its institutions. Her life was spent in the service of her family and the uplift of her state, always having its best interest at heart. She was truly a high type of American womanhood and exemplified in every work and act those attributes which bless and perpetuate our nation. She died January 18, 1948.

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CAPTAIN JOHN McKINLEY

Captain John McKinley was born about 1740 in Ireland. He was married to Mary Connelly in Cork, Ireland, on October 19, 1763. They moved to Dublin, Ireland, where their first child, Elizabeth was born, April 25, 1767 at Gravel Walks.

In 1769, they immigrated to America and settled at Mount Royal Forge, Maryland, where Thomas was born in 1769 and Harriet was born on June 29, 1771. Frances and John were born at the mouth of Wheeling Creek later.

John McKinley entered the Revolutionary Army as a Sergeant in Col. John Gibson's 13th Virginia Regiment. He was promoted to Lieutenant and then to Captain. He served throughout the period of the war and resigned his commission after the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781 and joined Col. William Crawford's ill-fated expedition against the Indians. He was captured and killed.

While Capt. John McKinley was waiting his turn to be fearfully tortured and burned at the stake, an eyewitness to the tragic fate of the Col. Crawford expedition saw an Indian woman slip up behind him and bury her tomahawk in his brain. Afterwards his head was cut off and kicked about the Indian camp by the Indian children. His death occurred in 1782.

The State of Ohio has erected a monument to Col. William Crawford and the brave men of this expedition who were massacred by the Indians.


Webmaster:Connie Kincer
UPDATED Oct, 1, 2007