Family Group Sheet
NameWilliam Sorrell
Birthabt 1730, Orange Co., Virginia
Deathabt 1778, Culpeper Co., Virginia
SpouseAnn Holloway
Children
SpouseElizabeth Redman
SpouseMary
Notes for William Sorrell
Information about William Sorrell and Ann Holloway (and all other Sorrell family data before 1810) is imported from family trees online at Ancestry.com. (Most of them show his date of birth as about 1735, but that seems inconsistent with a marriage date of 1749, so I am adjusting it downward to about 1730.)
I am not attempting to enter complete family groups for these families, just enough to show the cousin relationships between the early Bath Co. Ky Sorrell families.
The following summary of French-Indian and Revolutionary War records for William and his sons is linked to about 40 different family trees on Ancestry.com. I haven’t looked at them all, but the ones that I have looked at just say “borrowed from another subscriber”, so I don’t know which researcher actually wrote it.
“It is yet undetermined if William was born in Culpeper County Virginia. According to a Bounty Land Warrant issued to his son James on 21 Feb 1780 in Culpeper County, William was a member of Lt. Col. George Hackett's regiment in the French-Indian War and discharged in 1755. (The war spanned the years of 1754 to 1763.) No other information associating William and this war is known except that by having a land bounty issued for his participation in the war indicates that William was a Colonist, and neither a member of the British Army nor a member of the Virginia County militia.
It is not determined if William had any daughters, but he had at least four sons: James, Elisha, Richard, and Thomas. The Culpeper County Tax List also suggests there is a Joseph. Of these sons, Elisha, Richard, and Thomas enlisted in the Revolutionary War. Elisha enlisted in the 6th Virginia Regiment on 8 Jan 1777. Richard enlisted in the 10th Virginia Regiment on 8 Jan 1777, and Thomas was in the 1st Virginia Regiment but no date for his enlistment has been found. Aso, a William Sorrell enlisted in the 10th Virginia Regiment on 3 Mar 1777. It remains unproven this William is the father but certain events raises the suspicion that he is. Son Thomas dies in May of 1777. The circumstances surrounding his death are yet unlearned. The Continental Army has recently suffered defeats in the New York and Manhattan areas. By 16 Jul 1777 Richard is sick in the Morristown camp. On the same date, William is tending the sick at the Morristown camp. Having the assignment of tending the sick may indicate that William is unable to fight due to age, for in 1777 William the father could be in his fifties. Not an age conducive to fightin in a Light Brigade (aka the "Minute Men"). By 31 Aug 1777 Richard is in the hospital. On 6 Aug 1777 William is also in the hospital, but it is unclear whether William is sick or tending the sick. By 10 Oct 1777 William is back to tending the sick at the Morristown camp. George Washington and the Continental Army are preparing to winter over at Morristown. By 7 Nov 1777 Richard dies; presumably in the hospital.
In summary, there seems to be a close association between William and Richard. Like a father hovering over a dying son? By 23 Dec 1777 William is on furlough and never returns. He is eventually listed as a deserter. Did this William, possibly sick and despondent over the death of two sons occurring within the span of seven months, go home and die before 21 Feb 1780, which is the date when son James acquires the land warrant?”
Some of the online trees also link in a son William, but they record the same dates of military service for the purported son that they do for the father.
I am not attempting to enter complete family groups for these families, just enough to show the cousin relationships between the early Bath Co. Ky Sorrell families.
The following summary of French-Indian and Revolutionary War records for William and his sons is linked to about 40 different family trees on Ancestry.com. I haven’t looked at them all, but the ones that I have looked at just say “borrowed from another subscriber”, so I don’t know which researcher actually wrote it.
“It is yet undetermined if William was born in Culpeper County Virginia. According to a Bounty Land Warrant issued to his son James on 21 Feb 1780 in Culpeper County, William was a member of Lt. Col. George Hackett's regiment in the French-Indian War and discharged in 1755. (The war spanned the years of 1754 to 1763.) No other information associating William and this war is known except that by having a land bounty issued for his participation in the war indicates that William was a Colonist, and neither a member of the British Army nor a member of the Virginia County militia.
It is not determined if William had any daughters, but he had at least four sons: James, Elisha, Richard, and Thomas. The Culpeper County Tax List also suggests there is a Joseph. Of these sons, Elisha, Richard, and Thomas enlisted in the Revolutionary War. Elisha enlisted in the 6th Virginia Regiment on 8 Jan 1777. Richard enlisted in the 10th Virginia Regiment on 8 Jan 1777, and Thomas was in the 1st Virginia Regiment but no date for his enlistment has been found. Aso, a William Sorrell enlisted in the 10th Virginia Regiment on 3 Mar 1777. It remains unproven this William is the father but certain events raises the suspicion that he is. Son Thomas dies in May of 1777. The circumstances surrounding his death are yet unlearned. The Continental Army has recently suffered defeats in the New York and Manhattan areas. By 16 Jul 1777 Richard is sick in the Morristown camp. On the same date, William is tending the sick at the Morristown camp. Having the assignment of tending the sick may indicate that William is unable to fight due to age, for in 1777 William the father could be in his fifties. Not an age conducive to fightin in a Light Brigade (aka the "Minute Men"). By 31 Aug 1777 Richard is in the hospital. On 6 Aug 1777 William is also in the hospital, but it is unclear whether William is sick or tending the sick. By 10 Oct 1777 William is back to tending the sick at the Morristown camp. George Washington and the Continental Army are preparing to winter over at Morristown. By 7 Nov 1777 Richard dies; presumably in the hospital.
In summary, there seems to be a close association between William and Richard. Like a father hovering over a dying son? By 23 Dec 1777 William is on furlough and never returns. He is eventually listed as a deserter. Did this William, possibly sick and despondent over the death of two sons occurring within the span of seven months, go home and die before 21 Feb 1780, which is the date when son James acquires the land warrant?”
Some of the online trees also link in a son William, but they record the same dates of military service for the purported son that they do for the father.
