Timothy Sexton
Timothy Sexton (1750-1832) was a Revolutionary War veteran from New Jersey who moved to present-day Scott County after the war ended.
See Also: Revolutionary War Veterans
Biography
Born in New Jersey in 1750, Sexton was the son of John E. Sexton (1734-1799) and Elizabeth Shannon (1730-1799). He was one of about six children.
If the surname of Sexton’s mother seems familiar, it should be. The Shannon family is notable in northern Morgan County. Some sources suggest that Elizabeth died in present-day Scott County in 1799. This seems very unlikely.
Sexton’s family was originally Irish, and immigrated to the American colonies in the mid 17th century, settling in New Jersey. Some sources suggest that both of Sexton’s parents were born in Ireland, but that does not appear to be accurate.
Revolutionary War
Sexton was the only of Scott County’s Revolutionary War veterans who served in the northern theater of the war. He joined the Continental Army in 1776 or 1777, depending on the source. He served for at least three years. He spent the winter at Valley Forge with Gen. George Washington, and served under Col. Elias Deyton in the 3rd New Jersey Battalion, Fifth Company. He was discharged on Jan. 9, 1780, in Baltimore, Mary.
Sexton saw service in a number of battles that marked the northern theater of the war, including Brunswick, Amboy, Wertfield, Staten Island, Long Island, and New York. He is believed to be the only one of Scott County’s Revolutionary War veterans who served in the northern theater of the war.
Sexton was granted 55 acres of land in the Brimstone area for his service under the command of Capt. James Twaddle in 1782 and 1783. During that time, he fought the Catawba Indians.
After the War
Sexton married Esther Sisel (which some speculate may have been a derivative of the surname we know as Cecil) on Aug. 18, 1782 in South Carolina. They had as many as 14 children. It isn’t clear who Esther’s parents were. However, some sources list her parents as Samuel Cecil and Rebecca White. If this is accurate, Esther Sisel was from the same line of Cecils that would later settle the Helenwood and New River communities. Benjamin Solomon Cecil (1764-1815), one of Samuel’s sons (and, perhaps, Esthel’s brother), settled in Wayne County, Ky., around 1799, as did his brother, Samuel Cecil. It was Benjamin’s son, James Timothy Cecil (1805-1871), who moved to Helenwood and married Pharaba Reed, granddaughter of Civil War veteran John Reed. If Esther Sisel Sexton was indeed the daughter of Samuel Cecil and Rebecca White, she was an aunt to James Timothy Cecil of Helenwood.
Timothy Sexton moved his family to Georgia and then to present-day Scott County in the early 1800s. A land survey shows that he owned land on the west side of New River in 1808. That land was part of Campbell County at the time. He was living on Brimstone Creek in what was then Morgan County by 1819, but this may have been the place he originally had surveyed 11 years earlier. Either way, the area became part of Scott County in 1849.
When Sexton applied for a veteran’s pension in 1825, his affidavit stated that he owned 30 acres of land, a small cabin, a 12-year-old horse, two cows, three sows, seven sheep, and a few household items.
Sexton is believed to have been buried at Rob Sexton Cemetery near Round Mountain (above Brimstone Creek) when he died on June 18, 1832.
When the 1840 census was taken, Esther was living with her son, Timothy Sexton Jr. She died in 1850 and is also believed to have been buried at Rob Sexton Cemetery.
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