In recognition of the upcoming 250th celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the DAR America 250! Committee of the Botetourt County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is placing a spotlight on memners Patriot ancestors who helped the country achieve American Independence. Captain David McNabb is the Patriot ancestor of member Joy McNabb.
Captain David McNabb, a Revolutionary War officer, was born February 22, 1757. The Rev. John Craig married David and Elizabeth Taylor in 1778 in the Augusta Stone Church which, at that time, was a “pole” or log building located on land east of what is now Route 11. The building came to be known as Fort Defiance and offered protection during raids by Indians. This church has been Presbyterian from the inception in 1740 and exists today as the Old Stone Meeting House in Staunton.
In 1742, the inhabitants west of the Blue Ridge were organized into militia companies. This is an example of how the revolutionary armies were developed.
David McNabb had an 11-year war record, the first being against the Indians and then against the British which lasted from 1770 until 1781. David McNabb raised his own Company against Major Patrick Ferguson, a Scottish officer in the British Army; Captain McNabb and his company helped defeat Ferguson in the Battle of King’s Mountain on October 7, 1780. He served the state of North Carolina with General McDowell and General Marion and led a company in the Battle of Moncks Corner. Captain McNabb served under Brigadier General James Robertson, who was a companion of Daniel Boone and was a co-founder of Nashville, Tenn.
David McNabb and Landon Carter were members of a committee appointed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1796 to locate and name the site for the county seat of Carter County, Tenn. The committee named the county seat Elizabethton, as David McNabb’s wife and Landon Carter’s wife were both named Elizabeth. David McNabb died May 13, 1826 in Carter County, Tenn.
Elizabeth McNabb was born in 1757. She had two brothers, Andrew Taylor, who married Isabella McNabb, sister of David McNabb and Nathaniel Taylor, who became a Brigadier General in the Revolutionary Army. In 1838 she applied for and received a Revolutionary War Pension for her husband’s service; Elizabeth died June 20, 1849.
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a non-profit, non-political organization open to any woman who has lineage to a Patriot who contributed to the success of the American Revolution. Founded over 125 years ago, it is focused on service to the community and fosters Patriotism, Education and Historic Preservation.
~ Botetourt DAR
