Captain Henry Connelly

[Mahayla]

Hi my 6th great grandpa was Captain Henry Connelly, a Captain in the North Carolina Calvary. He was born May 2, 1752 in Chester, Pennsylvania and he died on May 7, 1840 in Barnetts Creek, Kentucky. He went in to the military on July 7, 1777 in North Carolina. HIs parents were Thomas and Mary Connelly, his dad, Thomas Connelly got shot in the Revolutionary War and there is a story passed down my family that he could pass a handkerchief through the hole in his shoulder to the other side and he died 3 years after he got shot in 1783. Captain Henry Connelly fought in a lot of major battles like Yorktown, King’s Mountain, and Guilford Court House but one of the biggest is The Battle of the Cowpens where he led an army of 100 men. I have a lot more information let me know if you want to here it.

[D]

Hello McClain,

Wow, that sounds like some incredble family history. I myself like not too far from Chester, PA, do you know how Captain Henry Connelly ended up in North Carolina? Very intresting he was in the cavalry. I would absolutey love to hear more about the history if you’d be open to sharing it. Ws most of it passed down or have you spent a lot of time researching it yourself? Amazing stuff.

Thanks,
Dan

[Mahayla]

Hi Dan, I found most of this my self but it is incredible. Captain Henry Connelly ended up in North Carolina because his dad Thomas Connelly was an explorer with Daniel Boone, the Henry Connelly line of my family goes up my mom’s moms side of the family, but I am also related to Daniel Boone on my mom’s dads side of the family his sister was my 8th great grandma. If you visit this link it is his pension. http://jerryconley.com/Documents/henrypension.html, his pension tells a lot about him. It is just crazy to think that I am a direct descendent of him.

Thanks,
Mahayla

[D]

Hi Mahayla,

Thanks for the link, some great history. I thought it was interesting how the pension record mentioned that Continental currency was so devalued that $100 could not even purchase breakfast. Also excellent that he met Colonel Lee and Baron DeKalb.

So cool that you are a direct descendent. Have you ever found any information about their ancestors prior to the 1700s? Would be interesting to see where they might have come from Europe or otherwise.

I appreciate the story, always enjoyable to learn these things and imagine figures in history and what their lives were like.

Thanks,
Dan

[Author]

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