On October 7, 1780 the foundation that would forever change the world was established. Fewer than one thousand American Heroes, through skill, luck, and the leadership of cunning strategists, defeated a brilliant star of the British military might. Captain Thomas Gann was headed toward that battle when he was sidelined by a skirmish in which he received a blow to his head which rendered him incapable of continuing to the King's Mountain.
Captain Gann was the son of Adam Gann, DAR Ancestor Number A043487, and Jane Abel, and was the husband of Elizabeth Walls. Their children are recorded on Ancestry.com and include:
George Gann 1790 – 1791
Cornelius Gann 1791 – 1998
John Jack Gann 1793 – 1871
Thomas Gann 1796 – 1855
Mary Gann 1798 –
Preston Gann 1802 – 1884
Eliza Gann 1802 – 1908
A subscriber to Ancestry.com shared the following:
Revolutionary War Pension Application No. S-3388, approved 4 Mar 1834: "On 29th of Aug 1832, Thomas Gann appeared in open Court of Pleas and Quarter sessions, Hamilton Co., TN, age 68 years, on his oath made the following declaration. He entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as herein stated that is to say he was drafted and entered the service under Captain William Trimble and Col. John Sevier in the upper part of North Carolina and now Washington County, TN, he was immediately marched under the before mentioned officers to the high hills of Santee in South Carolina and joined the Army under Genl. Greene where the regiment to which this applicant belonged remained two or three days and was marched to Genl. Marion's headquarters above Charleston, SC, and joined him under whose command this applicant served about four months. This applicant was discharged while at Genl. Marion's station he believes, by Col. Sevier and returned home. This applicant served about five months as a horseman finding his own horse this tour. Soon after this applicant returned home, he was appointed Capt. of a lighthorse company and commissioned by Governor Martin of North Carolina as such in which command as a Capt. this applicant served off and on as a ranger on the frontiers of North Carolina until the termination of the Revolutionary War, during which time this applicant was in several skirmishes in the immediate vicinity of King's Mountain. After the termination of the revolution this applicant served under Genl. Sevier, formerly Col. Sevier, until the termination of the Cherokee War, and was in several skirmishes with the Indians and was in sharp engagement with them at the fork of Coosa and Hightower rivers or a little above. This engagement was the last which this applicant remembers to have been in. The Indian War soon after terminated and this applicant returned home. This applicant from the commencement of his services in the revolution till the termination of the Indian War considered himself in the service of the United States or State of North Carolina about six years and received pay in the Continental money from paymasters Green and Guess and others not recollected except the last payment after the termination of the Cherokee War which was in good money and paid to Major James Steward at the War Department and by him paid over to this applicant." (GFS&L) .
This applicant states he was born in Virginia on March 17, 1764, and moved with his parents to Tennessee (Washington County which was North Carolina at that time) when he was about 14 or 15 years old. He said that the record of his birth was "in a book (Cato's Letters) which he believes to be in his brother's possession {presumably his brother Ignatious Nathan Gann} in Washington County, Tenn.," where he lived between 20 and 25 years before moving to Rhea County, where he lived 8 to 10 years before moving to Hamilton County. There is a pay record for Thomas Gann No. 3352, granted by Carter & Williams, 12 June 1783, for 9 pounds, 3 shillings, 8 pence, 23 Oct 1783. This is found in "Revolutionary Army Accounts" Vol. 1, p. 15, Folio 4 in Raleigh, NC. (GFS&L).
Hamilton Co., TN 27 May 1834. Thomas appeared before Saml. Igou, J.P., and "saith by reason of old age and the consequent loss of memory he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service but according to the best of his recollection he served not less than the periods mentioned below and in the following grades: for five months served as a private under Capt. William Trimble and Col. John Sevier & seventeen months as captain of a company of rangers during which I was actually engaged as a ranger by order of the State government of North Carolina making in all twenty eight months I was in actual service before the close of the Revolutionary War, besides my service afterwards against the Indians at different times. He don't know that he can prove as required by the department of war, that he received a commission or had one in possession yet such was the fact, it was lost about twenty two years ago in moving by water down Holston river - he believes that he can by being at some trouble and expense procure testimony that he acted as captain in the service before the close of the Revolutionary War but is advised that it would not be satisfactory evidence to the War department of his grade, he therefore claims a pension as a private for twenty eight months which is not less than the actual time he served during the Revolutionary War. (GFS&L).
Treasury Department, Jan'y 21st 1842, to the Commissioner of Pensions. "Sir: Under the date of the 6th of April, 1838, entitled "An act directing the transfer of money remaining unclaimed by certain Pensioners, and authorizing the payment of the same at the Treasury of the United States," the Agency, at the rate of Fifty Dollars and -0- Cents per annum, under the law of the 7th June 1832, has been paid at this Department, for the 4th of March (1835), to the 25th July 1840." (GFS&L).
Several of Thomas' descendants married in to the Moreland and Dooly/Dooley families and related Gann families.
The Daughters of the American Revolution have documented his participation in the American Revolution. The organization has designated Captain Gann "DAR Ancestor Number A131892".
**************************
While the actual burial for Thomas Gann remains unknown, there is a cenotaph in his honor in the Cantrell Gilliand Memorial Garden. May this memorial serve as a tribute to Captain Gann for the respect we owe Captain Gann for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
On October 7, 1780 the foundation that would forever change the world was established. Fewer than one thousand American Heroes, through skill, luck, and the leadership of cunning strategists, defeated a brilliant star of the British military might. Captain Thomas Gann was headed toward that battle when he was sidelined by a skirmish in which he received a blow to his head which rendered him incapable of continuing to the King's Mountain.
Captain Gann was the son of Adam Gann, DAR Ancestor Number A043487, and Jane Abel, and was the husband of Elizabeth Walls. Their children are recorded on Ancestry.com and include:
George Gann 1790 – 1791
Cornelius Gann 1791 – 1998
John Jack Gann 1793 – 1871
Thomas Gann 1796 – 1855
Mary Gann 1798 –
Preston Gann 1802 – 1884
Eliza Gann 1802 – 1908
A subscriber to Ancestry.com shared the following:
Revolutionary War Pension Application No. S-3388, approved 4 Mar 1834: "On 29th of Aug 1832, Thomas Gann appeared in open Court of Pleas and Quarter sessions, Hamilton Co., TN, age 68 years, on his oath made the following declaration. He entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as herein stated that is to say he was drafted and entered the service under Captain William Trimble and Col. John Sevier in the upper part of North Carolina and now Washington County, TN, he was immediately marched under the before mentioned officers to the high hills of Santee in South Carolina and joined the Army under Genl. Greene where the regiment to which this applicant belonged remained two or three days and was marched to Genl. Marion's headquarters above Charleston, SC, and joined him under whose command this applicant served about four months. This applicant was discharged while at Genl. Marion's station he believes, by Col. Sevier and returned home. This applicant served about five months as a horseman finding his own horse this tour. Soon after this applicant returned home, he was appointed Capt. of a lighthorse company and commissioned by Governor Martin of North Carolina as such in which command as a Capt. this applicant served off and on as a ranger on the frontiers of North Carolina until the termination of the Revolutionary War, during which time this applicant was in several skirmishes in the immediate vicinity of King's Mountain. After the termination of the revolution this applicant served under Genl. Sevier, formerly Col. Sevier, until the termination of the Cherokee War, and was in several skirmishes with the Indians and was in sharp engagement with them at the fork of Coosa and Hightower rivers or a little above. This engagement was the last which this applicant remembers to have been in. The Indian War soon after terminated and this applicant returned home. This applicant from the commencement of his services in the revolution till the termination of the Indian War considered himself in the service of the United States or State of North Carolina about six years and received pay in the Continental money from paymasters Green and Guess and others not recollected except the last payment after the termination of the Cherokee War which was in good money and paid to Major James Steward at the War Department and by him paid over to this applicant." (GFS&L) .
This applicant states he was born in Virginia on March 17, 1764, and moved with his parents to Tennessee (Washington County which was North Carolina at that time) when he was about 14 or 15 years old. He said that the record of his birth was "in a book (Cato's Letters) which he believes to be in his brother's possession {presumably his brother Ignatious Nathan Gann} in Washington County, Tenn.," where he lived between 20 and 25 years before moving to Rhea County, where he lived 8 to 10 years before moving to Hamilton County. There is a pay record for Thomas Gann No. 3352, granted by Carter & Williams, 12 June 1783, for 9 pounds, 3 shillings, 8 pence, 23 Oct 1783. This is found in "Revolutionary Army Accounts" Vol. 1, p. 15, Folio 4 in Raleigh, NC. (GFS&L).
Hamilton Co., TN 27 May 1834. Thomas appeared before Saml. Igou, J.P., and "saith by reason of old age and the consequent loss of memory he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service but according to the best of his recollection he served not less than the periods mentioned below and in the following grades: for five months served as a private under Capt. William Trimble and Col. John Sevier & seventeen months as captain of a company of rangers during which I was actually engaged as a ranger by order of the State government of North Carolina making in all twenty eight months I was in actual service before the close of the Revolutionary War, besides my service afterwards against the Indians at different times. He don't know that he can prove as required by the department of war, that he received a commission or had one in possession yet such was the fact, it was lost about twenty two years ago in moving by water down Holston river - he believes that he can by being at some trouble and expense procure testimony that he acted as captain in the service before the close of the Revolutionary War but is advised that it would not be satisfactory evidence to the War department of his grade, he therefore claims a pension as a private for twenty eight months which is not less than the actual time he served during the Revolutionary War. (GFS&L).
Treasury Department, Jan'y 21st 1842, to the Commissioner of Pensions. "Sir: Under the date of the 6th of April, 1838, entitled "An act directing the transfer of money remaining unclaimed by certain Pensioners, and authorizing the payment of the same at the Treasury of the United States," the Agency, at the rate of Fifty Dollars and -0- Cents per annum, under the law of the 7th June 1832, has been paid at this Department, for the 4th of March (1835), to the 25th July 1840." (GFS&L).
Several of Thomas' descendants married in to the Moreland and Dooly/Dooley families and related Gann families.
The Daughters of the American Revolution have documented his participation in the American Revolution. The organization has designated Captain Gann "DAR Ancestor Number A131892".
**************************
While the actual burial for Thomas Gann remains unknown, there is a cenotaph in his honor in the Cantrell Gilliand Memorial Garden. May this memorial serve as a tribute to Captain Gann for the respect we owe Captain Gann for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
