Charles Elms obituary and loss of an eye ******************************************************************** File contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Janie Elms Matthews USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Return to the NCGenWeb Archives Table of Contents http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm#NC ******************************************************************* OBITUARIES: Raleigh Register of Feb. 2, 1836 (RRw #13, State Archives) In Mecklenburg county, 6th inst. Mr. Charles Elms, sen., a soldier of the Revolution during the whole struggle for Independence, and participated in many of the important engagements, as several honorable scars will testify--in the 78th year of his age. -------------- There are several references to his loss of an eye. *An 1820 letter to a Dr. Hendersen from Calvin Jones mentions Charles' loss of an eye. [Charles Elms pension file #137 *1873-John Rosser gave an interview in Memphis, Tennessee to Lyman Draper about his childhood in Mecklenburg County. He remembered Charles Elms as a pensioner who had lost an eye in the battle of Eutaw Springs: Draper's MS Thomas Sumter Papers, 13 VV 7-8, York County Genealogical Historical Quarterly, Summer 1989, p12. *On June 3, 1914, Mrs. Margaret Elms Britton was accepted for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution under the service of her grandfather, Charles Elms. Her application [109359] provides an account of her grandfather’s service with information about the loss of his eye during the Battle of Eutaw Springs. She writes: "Charles Elms fought in under Greene at the Battle of Eutaw South Carolina September 8, 1781 - Greene’s army was opposed by Stewarts. At that battle my Grandfather was shot in the eye and left as dead upon the Battlefield. While lying there, surrounded by dying and dead comrades an English soldier gave him a shake saying, ‘we got this one,' but true to that bravery so characteristic of our patriot of that distressing time, young Elms did not make much of his personal misfortune and replied, ‘it’s no great get.' " ------------------------------------------- I believe this story because dramatic events are recounted in families and passed down. I have one that I treasure of one of my ancestor's and his finding a dead brother on the battlefield and having to drink from a river red with blood during the War Between the States. --------------- *Charles Ellumms appears on a Roll of Cat' Clement Hall's Company in the 2nd NC Battalion, Commanded by Col. John Patton. The Roll was taken in White Plains on 9 Sept 1778. It states that he had enlisted on 28 Oct 1776 for 2 1/2 years. Card #37450017; microfilm at Rowan County Library, Salisbury, NC. *Charles Ellums served in Captain Clement Hall's Company in the 2nd NC Battalion commanded by Col. John Patten from October 28, 1776, and served 2 1/2 years. Recorded in the NC State and Colonial Records, Vol. 13, p507. *He again enlisted in April 1781 for a period of 12 months in Captain Rhodes 10th Regiment, NC State and Colonial Records, Vol. 16, p1053. *July 3, 1781, William Beasley was issued a certificate in Oxford for having produced a substitute Charles Ellums to serve in the military in his place, NC Genealogical Society Historical Journal, p154, August 1982.