Life as a private during the Revolutionary War would have been difficult. It is hard to imagine the courage it would take, as a farmer with no military experience, to bear arms against the most powerful army in the world during the late 1700s.
It would have been equally difficult, once the war was won and several decades later, to leave your home and relocate your family to unknown places in a newly established nation that was hoping to grow and prosper. Thousands of men and women followed their dreams and settled in frontier places like Gwinnett County along the Chattahoochee River — areas that were once Native American Indian territory. These pioneers, like Isaac Horton’s family, started communities that still exist today. Their descendants walk among us even in modern times.
Isaac was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1763. He eventually made it to North Carolina where he enlisted in the North Carolina Militia and served in the Revolutionary War as a private. While enlisted during the Revolutionary War, Isaac spent much of his time engaged serving in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. According to a pension application transcript, he served under Captain John Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. At this military engagement, American Patriot forces faced British troops under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre “Butcher” Tarleton. Fought mostly by militia, the American victory contributed toward the worst loss suffered by British units since 1777. Later, Isaac was employed to guard British prisoners of war held in barracks in Virgina. Isaac was also involved in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse at what is now Greensboro, North Carolina. At this battle, 2,100 British soldiers under Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis defeated General Nathanael Greene’s force of 4,500 American Patriots.
After the Revolutionary War, Isaac married Mary Ann Green in Surry County, North Carolina. The couple moved around and settled in places like Spartanburg and Pendleton, South Carolina, as well as Hall County, Georgia. Both Isaac and Mary Ann, in their final years, settled in the Sugar Hill District in Gwinnett County near another Revolutionary War hero named Enoch Benson and his family.
Isaac applied for a Revolutionary War pension in early 1833, and it was attested by William Maltbie, clerk of the Inferior Court of Gwinnett County. Isaac was approved for the pension on Sept. 5, 1833. Once approved, Isaac received $40 per year, which was paid in two annual allotments.
During the 1850 census, both Isaac and Mary Ann were shown to be living near their son, Thomas Horton, and his wife, Nicey Nelson, in the Sugar Hill District of Gwinnett County. Both Isaac and Thomas are listed in the census as farmers.
Mary Ann preceded her husband in death and is believed to have passed away in 1851. Isaac received his last pension payment on Nov. 10, 1854, for the period between March 4 and Sept. 4 of that same year. Corresponding with his last pension payment, Isaac likely died in late 1854. He was 96 years old and had lived an amazing life of service and adventure.
According to a Gwinnett Daily Post article published on Feb. 20, 1982: “A Gwinnett County delegation Friday held a memorial service for Revolutionary War veteran Isaac Horton, who died in the Sugar Hill area of Gwinnett County in 1854. The ceremony took place at Sugar Hill Baptist Church [Cemetery] where a government marker was placed to honor Horton, whose real burial site is unknown.”
The location of Isaac’s burial is somewhat of a mystery, but many believe he is buried beside his wife in an old cemetery affiliated with Level Creek United Methodist Church and referred to as Old Level Creek Cemetery. This old cemetery is in a gated subdivision in Sugar Hill.
Brandon Hembree is mayor of Sugar Hill. He is a longtime resident of the city, and he uses his interest in history to detail Sugar Hill’s rich past.
FEATURED PHOTO: Representative from the Button Gwinnett Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution honor the late Revolutionary War hero Isaac Horton during a ceremony in November in Sugar Hill. Photo courtesy of Brandon Hembree.
