Pierce Godwin - American Revolutionary War role?

Question

I'm trying to find the revolutionary war pension record for Pearce Godwin, which hopefully might lead to further connection. Pearce was Solomon's son. It's odd that neither DAR nor SAR have a record on Pearce (or Solomon), but this and other record indexes seem to indicate that something exists: : "United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872," database with images, [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24Q-2TWM FamilySearch]: accessed 25 Feb 2022, Pierce (sic) (Pearce) Godwin, 04 Mar 1831; citing North Carolina, United States, NARA microfilm publication T718 (Washington DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962), roll 5; FHL microfilm 1,319,385.

I have some indications that Pearce's downline exists on WikiTree so I'm hopeful to get a hold of an actual pension file as it likely will name some of his immediate family. For some reason, several records for Pearce that show up on Ancestry (mostly Columbus County, NC) are not showing up on FamilySearch...

Allegedly, Godwin-949 / Solomon Godwin (abt.1732-bef.1763) was the father of Pinkney Pearce Godwin (1760-1846); however, FamilySearch shows Solomon as 1732-1787, and husband of Martha (1738-1800) - shown as Martha (Pearce) Nichols (circa 1740-1800) on WikiTree. Thus, the records are not exactly harmonious.

Answer 1

One thing to note here is that there are many Revolutionary Soldiers that are not in the records of either DAR or SAR.  Each one has to be "proven", not just their service, but the entire line down to the person that is applying for membership into either Society.  Each generation must have documentation or proof linking it in both directions.  Sometimes this can take years to locate and people just give up.

It looks like you may have the proof of service that you need for membership into SAR.  I would suggest contacting them and a local chapter, if you are interested in membership.  They will help you with filling out their application and what documents are required for membership.

Comments

Thanks for that. At best, I am a cousin, not a direct descendant.

Answer 2

Check out this link to a transcript of his Revolutionary War application for pension.  https://revwarapps.org/s6902.pdf 

It looks like he was in the militia three times, twice he volunteered and once he was drafted.

Comments

That's very helpful to have a transcription. Hopefully, we can prove that he was a son of Solomon and if not, get his profile created, anyway.

Answer 3

Images of his pension application documents are online at the National Archives: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/54684160

Comments

Excellent! Hopefully we can get Pearce's profile created and a direct descendants attached for a few generations.

Answer 4

Part II:

Solomon and Martha (Pearce) had a son named Pinkney / Pierce / Pearce, as indexed in North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011, showing P P Godwin in Johnston, North Carolina with a spouse of Margaret A Hall, but the record is behind the Ancestry paywall and has not been located on FamilySearch to confirm that this is a match. Ancestry Record 60548 #5851043 or {{Ancestry Record|8909|2419865}} - caution: the record without a date behind it could belong to a son or nephew.

Anyone with Ancestry subscriber access may be able to tell us if this is a family group sheet entry, or points to an actual source.

A professional genealogist has found no record of the name of Pearce's wife.