John Faulkenberry was a Revolutionary War soldier and diligent farmer. He began his life in Virginia but, like many in his family before him, he headed south and settled in South Carolina. In November 1758, when he was about 18 years old, John “Faulkenburough” bought 150 acres of land on Flat Creek, a branch of Lynches Creek in Craven County, South Carolina. This is the area where our Kennington family also lived.[i]
John married Hannah Eubanks in Flat Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina on 4 December 1769. The Eubanks family lived on Great Lynches Creek[i]and were most certainly neighbors to the Faulkenberry family. John and Hannah were the parents of at least six children: William Jasper Fortenberry [William married Violette Kennington], Lee Faulkenberry, Jacob Faulkenberry, Israel Faulkenberry, Nathaniel Faulkenberry and Robert Faulkenberry.[ii]
John Faulkenberry served in the Revolutionary War, circa 1782, as a private under Captain William McKenzie in Colonel William Hill’s Regiment of State Troops.[i],[ii],[iii]His brother, David, served as well. David served as a private with Captain John Kennington in 1781 and 1782.[iv]
Lancaster County, in the Camden District of South Carolina is located in the north central area of the state, just across the border from North Carolina. We have evidence of John’s residence there when he purchased 150 acres of land there in 1760 and sold it in March 1774 to Isaac Fortenberry.[i]
On 21 November 1790 John purchased land on Flat Creek from Benjamin Haile. On 7 March 1795 John purchased land from David Faulkenberry, his brother.[i]In 1800 John and family were shown as ‘Faulkinburg’ in the US Census. Henry, Isaac, Jacob and John were in Lancaster County.[ii]
In 1810 John was again listed in the Lancaster County Census.[iii]
John and Hannah had at least six children: William Jasper Fortenberry, daughter (Faulkenberry) Lee, Jacob Faulkenberry, Israel Faulkenberry, Nathaniel Faulkenberry and Robert Faulkenberry. They may have had others who died young.
Despite the diseases in the area and the uncertain life in the wilderness, John lived to be 75 years old and Hannah was 67. They both died in 1815.[i]
[i]Fortinberry, G. K. Abstract History of the Fortinberry Family; 1795-1940’s; (Family History Center Microfilm #1036152).
[i]Holcombe, Brent H. Lancaster County, South Carolina Deed Abstractss, 1787 – 1811 (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press) 106.
[ii]Holcomb, Brent H., Index to the 1800 Census of South Carolina (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1980) 77.
[iii]Small, Otha B. 1810 Lancaster County South Carolina Census (Monroe, NC: n.d.) 14.
[i]Holcombe, Brent H. Lancaster County, South Carolina Deed Abstractss, 1787 – 1811 (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press) 117.
[i]Daughters of the American Revolution. Ancestor record, Ancestor #AO41319, John Fortenberry; digital image (dar.org: accessed 2017).
[ii]South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Pay Roll of Captain William McKenzies Troop in Colonel William Hills Regiment of State Troops; Series S213089, Box 4, Folder 29; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Fortenberry, 1782.
[iii]South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Accounts Audited of Claims Growing Out of the Revolution; Series S108092, Reel 47, Frame 460; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Fortenberry.
[iv]Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files; NARA catalog 300022, Record Group 15; digital image, Fold3 (fold3.com: accessed July 2018) David Faulkenberry.
[i]South Carolina Department of Archives and History. State Plat Book; Series S213192, Volume 39, Page 178, Item 2; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Eubanks, 1802.
[ii]Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry. The Fortenberry Families of Southern Mississippi. (SC: Southern Historical Press, 1984).
[i]South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Colonial Plat Books; Series S213184, Volume 7, Page 113, Item 3; digital image (scdah.sc.gov: accessed March 2019) John Faulkenburough, 1758, Craven Co.
Selected Sources:
- Adrianne Fortenberry Criminger, THE FORTENBERRY FAMILIES OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI; 1677-1984; South Carolina, Southern Historical Press, Inc, 1984