Captain William Henshaw
When Valley Virginia Henshaw organized the William Henshaw Chapter, she named it after her great-grandfather Captain William Henshaw who served as a rifleman in the Revolutionary War.
William Henshaw was born May 4, 1743, in Mill Creek, Virginia, a location that today is Bunker Hill, West Virginia. His birth was recorded in the register of Morgan's Chapel (1), a place of worship established in 1740 by the pioneer settler, Col. Morgan Morgan.
William was the son of Nicholas Henshaw and Rebecca Smith. He was raised at Spring Hill, the family homestead located about two miles west of Bunker Hill. (2) This home was lived in by the Henshaw family for many generations. Over the years, these families added on to the original log house.
William received his early education from private tutors. (2) It is known that in 1771-1772 he was a subscriber to Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. (3)
On January 30, 1768, in Mill Creek, William married Agnes Ann Anderson of Hampshire County, the daughter of Scotsman William Anderson and his wife Nancy Lauren. (3) William's wife was sometimes called "Ann"; other times, "Nancy."
William and his wife resided at Springfield. The house is an original log house that has been modernized. It was built upon the same plantation as Spring Hill.
The Henshaw plantation was of 600 acres with mills, orchards, spring houses, a still house, a smoke house, barns, stables, a miller's house, a smith shop, and other buildings necessary to a farm. Mill Creek "runs through the land," an early advertisement stated. (4)
William and his father Nicholas established the Henshaw Mills that, at the time of William's death, included a "saw and fulling mill" and "grist and merchant mills."(4)
Active in the formation of Berkeley County, William was among those who posted bond in 1772 for Major General Adam Stephen when he was appointed Berkeley County's first high sheriff. In that same year, William named his fourth son "Adam Stephen" after the general. (3)
William successfully petitioned the court of the new county --also in 1772--for the establishment of roads to improve local commerce. (3) Mill Creek became a thriving local trading center in great part due to the early Henshaw Mills and good road access. (4)
William was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1785. (6)
William's influence extended beyond the Bunker Hill area. In 1787, he helped organize the town of Gerrardstown and served on the town's first board of trustees. (5) When the Henshaw mills were torn down, stones from the walls were donated by E. S. Henshaw and used in the entrance of the Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church (when rebuilt in 1892). (4)
Military Service
William served in the French and Indian War and was in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. He was also present at the signing of the peace treaty with the Indians at Camp Charlotte in Chillicothe, Ohio, the same year. (3)
William was among the first men to respond to a call for troops after the Revolutionary War broke out. Continental Congress put out a call on June 14, 1775, for two companies of expert riflemen to be recruited in Virginia.
William signed up with Hugh Stephenson's company and was appointed First Lieutenant by the Committee of Safety of Shepherdstown, a community then a part of Berkeley County. This company of men, who called themselves the Riflemen of Berkeley, were among the very first Continental Troops. (7)
In July of 1775, the Riflemen of Berkeley began their famous bee-line march to Boston to join General George Washington, covering some 600 miles in about 24 days. (8) They were in competition with Daniel Morgan's company to be the first Virginia company to arrive. They lost the competition to Morgan, just barely, but it is told that Morgan took unfair advantage when his company left for Boston before the previously-appointed departure time. (7)
The appearance of the Virginia riflemen caused quite a sensation amongst those unfamiliar with the frontiersman. These men were dressed in homespun hunting shirts fringed around the neck and down the front, they wore leather leggins and moccasins, and they had a "buck-tail in their hats." Their weapons consisted of "tomahawk, scalping-knife, and rifle." Patrick Henry's famous words, "Liberty or Death," were emblazoned on their shirts, and they carried a banner like the one used by the Culpeper minutemen: the coiled rattlesnake and the words, "Don't tread on me!" (7)
The riflemen came into Boston with their fierce reputations preceding them. Hardy, seasoned pioneers--men like William Henshaw--were remarkable for the accuracy of their aim. It was said that they "could hit the bull's eye at 300 yards." (9) These sharpshooters were used by General Washington to alarm the British in Boston to keep them from attacking until supplies of ammunition could be secured.
William Henshaw served in the Siege of Boston until ordered to march to New York on March 15, 1776, to help fortify Staten Island. (9)
The Siege of Boston began on April 19, 1775, and ended March 17, 1776. It was not only the first conflict of the war, it was also the longest.
William's enlistment was for one year, and upon its expiration, he chose to return home. He retired a Captain, having been promoted to that rank in November of 1775. (9)
It is a proud tradition in the Henshaw family that Captain William Henshaw never accepted any pay for his services.
The Declaration of Independence adopted July 4, 1776, contains the grievances that caused men like William Henshaw to volunteer to leave homes, families, farms, and business enterprises, to fight for independence from the mother country.
William Henshaw's name, along with Colonel Morgan Morgan's, General Adam Stephen's, Col. Hugh Stephenson's, and General Daniel Morgan's are among those listed on the first Hall of Fame tablet placed in the Berkeley County Court House. It was erected in 1928 by the Berkeley County Historical Society.
William Henshaw's will was proven April 2, 1800, in a Superior Court at Winchester, Virginia. It names his wife Nancy and the following children: Nicholas, Levi, Hiram, Adam Stephen, Jonathan, Washington, William, Uriah, Rachel, Rebecca, and Ruhanna. (3)
Upon his death in 1799, William was buried at Morgan's Chapel. His grave has been marked by the William Henshaw Chapter. Present-day Christ Episcopal Church was built in 1851 on the site of the chapel; the churchyard is still in use.
