SHSMO Cape Girardeau Research Center

10/21/2026

10/19/2026

Recent column on a local Revolutionary War veteran, Thomas Hill.

One Cape Girardeau County veteran of the Revolution, Thomas Hill, served four tours in the militia and participated in key battles in the southern theater. Hill was born in Lincoln County, North Carolina (then called Tryon County), on March 27, 1762, a son of John Hill.

He first enlisted in Capt. Robert Alexander’s company in Lincoln County in August or September 1778. (He stated in his pension application it was 1777, but this does not mesh with subsequent events.) The British invaded Georgia in November-December 1778, prompting the call up of patriot militia. Alexander’s company, commanded by Col. Francis Locke, marched from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Charleston, South Carolina, then to Purrysburg on the Savannah River at the Georgia border. They fought in the Battle of Briar Creek, March 3, 1779. A gap in the patriot line and British bayonet charge combined to cause militiamen to panic, resulting in a lopsided British victory. The company next went to Two Sisters ferry on the Savannah River, returned to Purrysburg to meet the regulars, and returned to Two Sisters before their discharge.

Late in 1779, Hill enlisted in a ranger company commanded by Capt. Isaac White to counter Tories along the South-North Carolina border. The company participated in the Battle of Ramsour’s Mill at Lincolnton, North Carolina, June 20, 1780. A force of about 1,300 Loyalist militia assembled at Ramsour’s Mill in mid-June 1780 to join British Gen. Charles Cornwallis. Patriot Gen. Griffith Rutherford began moving from near Charlotte to the area and ordered Col. Francis Locke and other militia leaders to call up their militia to attack the Loyalists. Locke assembled four hundred militia and attacked ahead of Rutherford’s arrival. Despite being outnumbered, the patriots defeated the disorganized Tories. This battle was a civil war in which neighbors and relatives fought each other. From there, Hill and his company pursued Tories, and later joined Col. William Graham’s regiment at Kings Mountain. There, on Oct. 7, patriot militia soundly defeated a Tory force commanded by Col. Patrick Ferguson.

Hill volunteered Feb. 1, 1781, for service under Capt. Thomas Davidson to prevent the British under Cornwallis from crossing the Catawba River at Cowan’s Ford in Lincoln County. The British first intended to cross at Beattie’s Ford, but the current was too rapid. Gen. William L. Davidson acted to slow the British advance and dispatched part of his force to Cowan’s Ford when it became obvious that would be the crossing point. The patriots began picking off British soldiers trying to cross in deep water. When sufficient British troops crossed, they began firing volleys at the retreating patriots. One shot hit Gen. Davidson in the heart, killing him instantly. Hill stated he assisted in conveying Davidson’s body for burial. This is possible, but he also stated he and several hundred other militia moved ahead of the British to Tarrant’s (Torrence) Tavern, where they fought a delaying action.

Thomas Hill’s final enlistment was in late 1781 in Capt. Richard Simmons’ cavalry. The British occupied Wilmington, North Carolina, and the patriots intended to drive them out. The company marched with Gen. Rutherford’s army from Salisbury as the western wing of a two-pronged attack. The army attacked a Loyalist force at Raft Swamp, North Carolina, on Oct. 15, disbursing them, then began a siege of Wilmington. Hill was in a force that failed to dislodge 50 British soldiers from a brick “fort” on Nov. 15. Word of Cornwallis’s surrender arrived shortly thereafter, and Hill’s company was dismissed.

Thomas Hill returned to Lincoln County and began his post-war life. He married and started to buy land, becoming a successful farmer. Most of the records he left were land transactions and court records. He moved to Cape Girardeau County around 1830 and settled on land three miles north of present-day Oak Ridge.

Thomas Hill’s first wife was Sarah Eward/Ewart, the marriage bond dated Dec. 13, 1786. He had at least two surviving sons, Robert E. and James E. from this marriage. He married his second wife, Elizabeth (Walker?) on Oct. 11, 1805. The children of his second marriage included William W. (married Barzilla ___), Daniel W. (married Denicy Roy), Henry W. (married Frances/Fanny Welty), Lawson (married Lavina Smith) and Sarah (married (1) John Walker, possibly (2) John Breckenridge). Thomas died May 13, 1841, and Elizabeth died Aug. 2, 1858. Future research on Thomas Hill should focus on land and court records in North Carolina. Research on his siblings and father in North Carolina might be productive.

While Thomas Hill had an active service record during the Revolutionary War, thereafter he settled into a quiet life as a farmer. He fulfilled his duties as a citizen, serving on juries and other civic duties as called upon, having done more than his part to secure American independence.

“The Battle of Kings Mountain,” depicting patriot riflemen advancing on the British position. Oil painting by Frederick Coffay Yohn, National Park Service, public domain. Submitted See less

10/19/2026

A few basics on Revolutionary War genealogy and Missouri settlement:

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it’s a good time to look beyond the history books and explore our own family histories. Who were our ancestors? Did they serve in the Revolutionary War? How did their descendants eventually make their way to Missouri? Bill E...

10/09/2026

A restored log cabin, the Casey Cabin, is in Heritage Park in Potosi in Washington County. The Casey family donated it to the Mine au Breton Historical Society in 2002, and the Society restored it.

09/25/2026

The county seat of New Madrid County has been New Madrid for much of the county’s history. However, from 1815 to 1822 the county seat was in a town that no longer exists—Wi******er.

09/16/2026

Ithamar Hubble was born in Newtown, Connecticut, in 1762, but spent his childhood in Albany County, New York. In the aftermath of the Battles of Saratoga near his home, he entered active militia service when drafted at age 17 in 1779 for a nine-month hitch. He, his brothers Jonathan and Matthew and two Daniel Hubbles (one, his father, a corporal) mustered in at Fort Edward.
Hubble claimed in his 1832 pension application that he joined Capt. Samuel Harrison’s company, under Col. “McKinster” and Gen. [Philip] Schuyler. However, a surviving pay list shows he enlisted in the 14th Albany Co. militia commanded by Col. Peter Yates. No Capt. Samuel Harrison commanded any company in the regiment. The regiment marched to Fort Ann and back, then started for Fort Stanwix. Ithamar contracted smallpox at Schenectady, however, and returned to Fort Edward. Upon recovery, he was attached to a company commanded by Capt. John Chipman, where he served as a spy. Because of his likely familiarity with the area, he probably served as more of a scout or observer. Col. John Harper commanded at Fort Edward, and Ithamar received pay as a member of Harper’s regiment under Capt. Drake.
Hubble also claimed he enlisted in 1780 for eight months at the Saratoga fort in Capt. Gray’s company. He claimed eight months’ service as Gen. Schuyler’s guard. His memory was faulty on details again. He is on a payment list of Levies (men selected out of militia sub-units to fill a need for troops) in Capt. Silas Gray’s company, commanded by Col. Marius Willet and Lt. Col. John McKinstry, but in 1781, not 1780. Gen. Schuyler resigned from the Continental Army on April 19, 1779, so he must have served as guard for another officer or guarded the general during his first enlistment.

The Hubble family relocated to southwestern Virginia south of Roanoke in the mid-1780s. Records for the family are in Botetourt, Montgomery and Franklin counties. After his second marriage, Ithamar had a grant surveyed in the headwaters of the Roanoke River, in Botetourt County. He finalized the 186-acre grant in July 1793. He and his brother Jonathan were taxed in Montgomery County, beginning in 1791 and continuing through 1796. Ithamar sold his land Sept. 27, 1796, and by 1797 was in the Cape Girardeau District. He later stated that two brothers and a sister also came. Jonathan, Matthew and Daniel Hubble appear in the minutes of the commissioners for confirming Spanish land grants. Presumably Jonathan and Matthew were his brothers — Daniel was younger.

Ithamar received two grants on the River Zenon (named from the Spanish lieutenant governor) west of Cape Girardeau. He built a substantial grist mill and sawmill on the grants. The mill became a neighborhood landmark and gathering place, and shortly a community grew up in the vicinity, becoming known as Hubble’s Mill. Settlers also began calling the stream Hubble Creek. In 1805 Ithamar petitioned the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace to construct a road from Cape Girardeau to the mills. Today we call its successor Gordonville Road (Route K). After operating the mill for 10 years, Ithamar sold it to John Strong in 1808. He had purchased 550 acres on Whitewater River in 1806 from Adenston Rogers and relocated to it for the remainder of his life. Today this land is where Highway OO crosses Whitewater south of Burfordville.

Bethel Baptist Church received Hubble “by experience” in July 1808, and he remained a member for some years. Beginning in the 1830s, he and Catharine gradually sold their land. He applied for and received his Revolutionary War pension in 1832 and appears on the 1840 federal census as a pensioner. Although many sources indicate he died in 1840, he continued receiving his pension until early 1844.

Ithamar Hubble married two, possibly three, wives. He first married “Demorrus” Lewis, daughter of Thomas Lewis, in March 1787 in Franklin County, Virginia. He married Catharine Hughes on May 3, 1789. Ithamer Hubble and Eleanor Patterson married in Cape Girardeau County on Nov. 22, 1835, but this may be a younger Ithamer. He fathered these documented children: Jonathan, Ebenezer (married (1) Rebecca Foster, (2) Ruth Crump), Peter and Sarah (married George Lambert). Some sources include these children: Matthew, Demaris (m. Moses Crites) and Margaret L. “Peggy” (m. Abraham Crites). Cinderella Hubble, often listed as a daughter, was Ebenezer’s daughter as documented in numerous records.
There is potential to learn more about Ithamar Hubble in every location where he lived. Records dealing with court actions, land, taxes and Bethel Church all contain information on this early Cape Girardeau settler.

Residents recognize Ithamar Hubble because of the creek that flows through Jackson and Gordonville that bears his name. Perhaps more than any other local Revolutionary War veteran, he permanently left his mark on the landscape.

Plan map of Fort Edward, New York, on the Hudson River, circa 1757. Ithamar Hubble mustered into the 14th Albany County [New York] militia at this location in 1779. (No known copyright restrictions. This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License (CC BY-NC-SA).

08/31/2026

We are excited to get a new donation today from Bob Schmidt. Bob is a long-time historian of the Civil War in Southeast Missouri, and has donated research files and books. Of especial note is a set of original general orders. This collection will complement our existing James E. McGhee Civil War Research Papers, 1848-2020 (CG0047) and Lynn Bock Research Collection, 1856-2000 (CG0062). The collection should be available for research by the end of the year.

08/29/2026

Ithamar Hubble, a veteran of the Albany County, New York militia during the Revolutionary War, later built a grist and saw mill at a site that much later became Gordonville, Missouri. As before, I will post the full text in a couple of weeks--until then here is the link to the newspaper site.

Revolutionary War veteran Ithamar Hubble later built a Cape Girardeau District mill that gave rise to Hubble’s Mill and Hubble Creek.

06/03/2026

Mitchel Fleming was a Revolutionary War veteran, but later was a leader in local Presbyterian churches in North Carolina and Missouri

Mitchel Fleming is one of the better-known Revolutionary War veterans to settle in Cape Girardeau County. He was born in Kent County, Delaware, in 1761 and was the son of George Fleming. The family immigrated to North Carolina when Mitchel was age 10, settling on Coddle Creek northeast of Charlotte in the part of Rowan County that is now Cabarrus County.

Fleming’s pension application documents two enlistments in the Rowan County Militia. Mitchel initially volunteered for five months, supposedly in 1777, but the events he remembered occurred in 1778. His was one of the militia units called to resist the British effort to take Savannah, Georgia. Fleming fell in with Capt. James Craig’s company, under Col. Francis Locke and Gen. Griffith Rutherford. The company marched to Ten Mile Spring north of Charleston, South Carolina, then marched south to Gen. Rutherford’s headquarters at Purrysburg, 20 miles above Savannah, near the Georgia boundary with South Carolina. They joined the Patriot army under command of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, then spent the remainder of their five months patrolling along the east side of the Savannah River. He fought in one small engagement at Caney Island, and by February 1779 both Savannah and Augusta, Georgia, fell to the British. Fleming’s enlistment expired, and Rutherford’s force returned to North Carolina by April.

Mitchel claimed he was drafted in 1782, although the events he discussed actually occurred in 1781. He mustered into a company of horse commanded by Capt. James Stevenson, then marched with a company of horse and foot commanded by Col. Samuel Isaacs against the British force occupying Wilmington, North Carolina. The patriots stopped at Deep River about 50 miles above Fayetteville, a little over halfway, because the British evacuated Wilmington on Nov. 18 after the surrender at Yorktown in October. Loyalist bands still operated in the area but were unable to get supplies and arms after the departure of the British. Col. Isaacs’ men spent two months rounding up Loyalists and conveying them to jail in Salisbury, north of Charlotte.

Fleming’s militia service is like that of other patriot militia. Militia in general were poorly trained and thus less dependable than state or continental troops. Often they were employed in support roles of a non-military nature, used to counter Loyalist actions, or focused on one small aspect of a battle. Commanders used the regulars for the principal tasks of battle tactics.
Fleming went on to become a church and community leader, being a trustee of Bethphage Presbyterian Church in Rowan County. His farm, centered on land he inherited from his father, prospered. However, the lure of better land and prospects in Missouri caused Fleming and many of his neighbors to move to Cape Girardeau County, where they settled in the area in and near Pocahontas. Many were Presbyterian and were active in Apple Creek Presbyterian Church. Fleming was a ruling elder of the church from the time it was formed in 1821 and pledged his pension to the church building fund.

Mitchel Fleming married twice, first to Agnes Kennedy in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1784. Agnes died in Aug 1821, and Mitchel briefly returned to North Carolina to marry Jane Stevenson, daughter of his Revolutionary War captain, in 1824. Mitchel and his first wife Agnes Kennedy were the parents of three sons and six daughters. Their two elder sons, William (m. Jane Woodside) and Richard (m. Jane Waddington/Weddington) married in North Carolina and remained there. The remaining seven also came to Missouri, including Jane (m. James Stevenson, Jr.), Margaret (never married), Mary (m. Benjamin Franklin Brown), Agnes (m. Robert McFarland), Elizabeth (m. James R. Little), Sadah (m. Zenas Ross) and Hiram (m. (1) Jane Stevenson, granddaughter of Capt. James Stevenson, and (2) Margaret S. King). All their children except James and Elizabeth Little remained in Cape Girardeau County, and consequently there are numerous local descendants of Mitchel and Agnes Fleming, mostly through his daughters.

Mitchel Fleming died on April 16, 1837. Tragically, his was the first of five family deaths within a year suggesting a contagious disease ran through the family. Mitchel’s second wife Jane died a little over two weeks later, followed by his brother- and sister-in-law, John and Elizabeth Stevenson, within another two weeks. His daughter-in-law, Jane, wife of his son, Hiram, died in December 1837. Mitchel and family members are buried in a small cemetery on his farm southeast of New Wells.

Descendants of Mitchel Fleming have conducted substantial research on the family. Fleming’s life is well-documented in North Carolina and Missouri, especially in land, probate and church records. A good place to start is the excellent web site maintained by a descendant, Rob Lewis, at: www.robsgenealogy.com/fleming/fleming.html.

04/27/2026

Full text of the column on Stephen Ranney:

Few settlers of early Cape Girardeau County hailed from New England. The Ranney family, led by patriarch and Revolutionary War veteran Stephen Ranney, provided an exception. Ranney’s birth occurred May 24, 1761, in Bethlehem, Litchfield, Connecticut, into a large and well-established New England family.

Stephen Ranney enlisted for Revolutionary War service just after his 15th birthday on June 12, 1776, in Capt. Jonathan Johnson’s Company of Col. Phillip B. Bradley’s Regiment of Connecticut forces, and was discharged Jan. 1, 1777. He re-enlisted May 2, 1777, for the duration of the war in Capt. Samuel Mattock’s Company, 8th Connecticut Continental Line Regiment. He transferred in January 1781 to Capt. Benton’s Company, the 7th Company of the 5th Connecticut Continental Line Regiment, commanded by Col. Isaac Sherman.

His rank was private until appointed corporal June 1, 1781, and he transferred Aug. 1, 1782, to a light infantry company of the same regiment. He finally transferred Nov. 1, 1782, to the 5th Company, 1st Connecticut Continental Line Regiment, commanded by Col. Zebulon Butler. His war service ended in April 1783 at the rank of sergeant, having earned two badges of merit.
Stephen Ranney’s later stated he was in “most of the principal actions fought during the war.” He was in several actions as part of the Philadelphia campaign, including the Battles of Brandywine (Sept. 11, 1777), Germantown (Oct. 4, 1777), skirmishes around Mud Island (Sept. 26-Nov. 16, 1777) and Fort Mercer (Oct. 22, 1777). The 8th Regiment was with the part of Gen. Charles Lee’s corps which checked the British advance at the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778), giving Washington’s reserve a chance to form up and counterattack. Ranney received wounds to the leg and hand at Monmouth.

After the war, Ranney returned to Litchfield, where he served as a militia commander, married and started his family. He operated a military school for a time. When the “Quasi-War” with France led to the raising of an army in 1798, Ranney received appointment as a captain in a field command. No military action occurred, and the army disbanded. He returned as a captain in the 4th U.S. Infantry in 1808, recruited a full complement of men, occupied forts at Salem, Marble Head, Cape Ann and Newbury Port, and remained in command until 1813. He reluctantly received orders to superintend Recruiting District No. 1 at Boston. He rejoined his regiment in January 1814 at Plattsburgh, New York.

The army disbanded in 1815, and despite requesting an appointment from President Madison, Ranney became a civilian. The family lived near his wife Elizabeth’s family in Salem, Massachusetts, before relocating to Crawfordsville, Indiana. Elizabeth died Aug. 11, 1822, in Indiana. Indiana Gov. William Hendricks appointed Col. Ranney as state adjutant general, and he served in that capacity from Dec. 5, 1822, until Sept. 3, 1823.

Stephen Ranney followed his son Johnson C. to Cape Girardeau County after his service in Indiana. He appears little in local records, but his legacy is large because of the role of his sons Johnson C. and William C. in the history of the judiciary of Southeastern Missouri.

Col. Ranney married four times and outlived all his wives. He was the father of 15 children, nine of whom survived him. First, he married Margery Camp on April 15, 1785, and they were parents of Jeremiah (m. Susan Beach), Mary (m. ___ Norton), Johnson C. (m. (1) Mary C. Gayle and (2) Emily Neale) and Stephen (died young). Margery died in May 1792. Ranney married Rhoda Langdon in May 1795 and of their three children only Margary (m. ___ Hysslop) survived childhood. After Rhoda’s death in 1802, Ranney married Hannah Cooper in 1804. His children with her included Stephen, Rhoda L., Eliza (died young) and Hannah Cooper Ranney (m. John Willis McGuire). After Hannah’s death in 1811, Ranney married Elizabeth Hathorne, a distant relative of author Nathaniel Hawthorne/Hathorne, on Oct. 11, 1812. Two of their sons, Julius A. and Benjamin H., died in infancy, but two others, William C. (m. Elizabeth (Giboney)) and John H. (m. Caroline L. (Wall)) became well-known Cape Girardeau County citizens.

There is great potential to learn more about Col. Stephen Ranney, especially regarding his military career. There are Revolutionary War records, correspondence files during the War of 1812 and other resources on Fold3. His service as Indiana adjutant general provides more information, and local records in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York could provide more personal details for descendants to find. In addition, a number of letters written by Stephen and Elizabeth (Hathorne) Ranney survive in the Ellis-Ranney Papers manuscript collection of the State Historical Society of Missouri.