Jesse Noland, My First Cousin Six Times Removed
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 13 – Prompt: Family Pattern
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JESSE NOLAND
Jesse Noland was a Revolutionary War patriot and the son of Daniel Noland and Henrietta Smallwood of the Maryland branch of the Noland family. He was one of four brothers who served during the Revolution, including Ledstone, James and Stephen. Daniel was the brother of Stephen Edward Noland, and Henrietta was the sister of Susannah Smallwood—making the Maryland and Fairfield Nolands double cousins.
Jesse Noland was born in 1761 in Charles County, Maryland, and died after 9 Sep 1836 in Estill County, Kentucky.
Early Life and Migration
Jesse Noland was born in 1761 in Charles County, Maryland. During his youth, his family moved first to Loudoun County, Virginia, and then to Rowan County, North Carolina.
By the time of the Revolutionary War, Jesse was living in Rowan County. His father was deceased by 1780, and his mother was a widow at that time.
In 1784, following the war, Jesse moved to Kentucky, where he remained for the rest of his life. By 1832, he was living in Estill County and had resided there for approximately thirty years.
Revolutionary War Service
Jesse Noland served as a private in the North Carolina militia.
He enlisted in 1780 in Rowan County, North Carolina, under Captain John Johnson, in a unit associated with Colonel Francis Locke and under the command of General Griffith Rutherford. His first tour of service lasted approximately three months.
During this service, he marched to Camden, South Carolina, and was present during the campaign in which General Horatio Gates was defeated. Jesse was assigned to guard the baggage rather than participate directly in the fighting.
After the battle, the troops regrouped in North Carolina, where he continued to serve until his discharge.
Later, in the summer of 1781, he volunteered again for another three-month tour under Captain Gabriel Enix in a regiment commanded by Colonel Smith. During this period, he marched toward Wilmington and was discharged near that location around the time news of Cornwallis’s surrender reached the troops.
Family Connections
Jesse Noland’s pension file contains an important family reference. In 1833, his brother James Noland, then aged ninety-two and also residing in Estill County, Kentucky, testified in support of his claim.
This confirms that Jesse belonged to a separate Noland branch associated with the Maryland–Virginia–North Carolina migration path, distinct from the Fairfield District, South Carolina group.
Later Life
After the war, Jesse remained in Kentucky, becoming an early settler of Estill County. He married Sarah Barbara Turner in 1785 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
He applied for a Revolutionary War pension on November 19, 1832, at the age of seventy-one. His pension was approved, and payments commenced in 1831 under the Kentucky Agency.
Legacy
Jesse Noland’s life reflects a different path from the Fairfield Nolands. While his contemporaries in South Carolina were engaged in campaigns around Ninety-Six, Savannah, and the southern backcountry, Jesse’s service centered in North Carolina militia actions, including the campaign surrounding Camden.
His story provides an important counterpoint to the Fairfield family, illustrating how closely related men of the same generation could serve in different regions and later settle in entirely different parts of the expanding United States.
Note: For consistency, I’ve used the spelling Noland throughout. In the records, the name appears in several forms, including, Nolen, Nowland, and Nolin.
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