Tag: Col. Archibald Campbell

David Dinsmore, Ulster-Scots Loyalist in South Carolina and Nova Scotia Exile: Every Life Worth a Novel (8)

William D. Lindsey2 Comments
Hants County, Nova Scotia, Deed Bk. 4, p, 508

Or, Subtitled: New Documents Casting New Light on Old Mysteries

And now another addendum to a series of postings from the past — these tracking the life of my ancestor David Dinsmore, who was born in Ulster in 1750, arrived from Belfast with his wife Margaret aboard the Earl of Donegal in Charleston, South Carolina, on 10 December 1767, and received a grant from the colony of 150 acres on the Tyger River in Craven County (later Ninety Six District, then Spartanburg County) on 27 February 1768. When the American Revolution broke out, David took the British side, in 1775 and ended up in Nova Scotia, with his wife Margaret and their five children remaining behind on their farm on Jamey’s Creek of the Tyger River in South Carolina. I told David’s story and the story of his family in a seven-part series (citing documentation you’ll find as you read this series) that began in February 2018 with this posting.

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David Dinsmore, Ulster-Scots Loyalist in South Carolina and Nova Scotia Exile: Every Life Worth a Novel (4)

William D. Lindsey1 Comment

Dunsmore, David Coldham Book
Peter Wilson Coldham, American Migrations 1765-1799: The Lives, Times, and Families of Colonial Americans Who Remained Loyal to the British Crown before, during and after the Revolutionary War, as Related in Their Own Words and through Their Correspondence (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000), p. 679.

3. The Revolution

A number of sources document David Dinsmore’s service under British military commanders during the Revolution.   On 19 April 1786 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dinsmore filed a land claim for his Loyalist military service.[1]  The claim states that in 1775, he had taken up arms under General Cunningham, joining Campbell in Georgia.  Cunningham is apparently William Cunningham, the British commander tagged as “Bloody Bill” by many Whigs, due to his role in atrocities committed against South Carolina rebels—though in 1775, he was not yet a general and in fact had begun his service in that year on the Whig side.[2]  His origins are not entirely clear, though it’s apparent he was a cousin of several influential Tory Cunninghams of Scotch-Irish descent, all brothers, who came to South Carolina from Pennsylvania in 1769 and who settled in Ninety Six District.  These included Robert Cunningham, the first magistrate of Ninety Six District, and Patrick Cunningham, deputy surveyor of the province of South Carolina. Continue reading “David Dinsmore, Ulster-Scots Loyalist in South Carolina and Nova Scotia Exile: Every Life Worth a Novel (4)” →