Joseph McPeters

Joseph McPeters (1761-1846) was a Revolutionary War veteran who served multiple tours of duty during the war and later moved to present-day Scott County.

See Also: Revolutionary War Veterans

Biography

Born in March 1761 in Anson County, N.C., McPeters was the son of Charles John McPeters and Mary Jane McDowell McPeters. His parents were married in Ulster, Ireland in 1748 and later migrated to North Carolina colony.

McPeters married Nancy Cross (1807-1856) on April 25, 1833, after moving to present-day Scott County. She was the daughter of Aseal Cross (1763-1818) and Temperance Deadmond (1763-1853), and was his second wife. He had first married Elizabeth Russ.

Nancy was also from North Carolina. Her sister, Sarah Cross (1795-1860), married Henry Hamby prior to moving to the portion of Morgan County that later became southern Scott County. Nancy appears to have made the move with her sister and her sister’s husband.

Revolutionary War

McPeters was only 15 years old when he enlisted in 1776. He served multiple tours of duty before being captured by Lord Charles Cornwallis’s army at the Battle of Camden in August 1780.

The Battle of Camden was a humiliating defeat for the Americans, and came on the heels of the British capture of Charleston, S.C. McPeters managed to escape by swimming the Santee River, and returned home to Anson County, N.C. However, he re-entered the war in November 1780 and fought at the Battle of Cowpens in January 1781, and the Siege of Ninety-Six in May and June of 1781, before finally returning him for good.

After the War

McPeters settled in what is now southern Scott County. He died on Feb. 15, 1846, but his burial location is unknown. He appeared in the 1840 census but not the 1850 census. His wife, Nancy, was buried at Davis Cemetery in Winfield when she died in 1856. Their exact number of children is unknown.

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