Praters/Prathers From My Line in the American Revolution
Because of an uncertainty about a generation being parents or grandparents and pedigree collapse, I can’t say for certain what number this ancestor is in the linear branches of my family tree. But approximately 9 generations back is Thomas Sprigg Prather.
He was almost too old to fight in the war and, though he didn’t live long enough to see the Constitution be signed, he stepped up again for Frederick County, Maryland.
Thomas was born in 1702 in Prince George Co., Maryland, to Thomas MacKay Prather and Martha Sprigg. Thomas earned Colonel status in the French and Indian War and the Frederick Co. militia. He led the county forces in the Revolutionary War and is even said to have entertained General Washington at his home in Maryland. He is NSDAR Patriot #A092430. He died in 1785.
He had numerous children, with several of them and a grandson also joining in the war effort:
Basil Prater was born May 3, 1731, in Prince George’s Co. Maryland. He married Priscilla Swearingen (1734-1756) February 18, 1749, in Frederick Co., Maryland, and had two children before she was killed in a raid preceding the French and Indian War. He moved to what would become Kentucky but returned to Maryland to fight in the Revolutionary War alongside his son Henry. He served in both Pennsylvania and Virginia forces, starting under his father-in-law Van Swearingen in 1776, and then as 1st Lieut. under Morgan and 2nd Lieut. under Gen. Clark, and wintered with General Washington at Valley Forge.
He is NSDAR Patriot #A092405. Capt. Basil became Adjutant General of Fort Nelson where he met his second wife. They married in 1789 in Jefferson Co., Kentucky. He died in 1803 and was buried at Fox Hill, the estate he built in 1789 near Louisville.
Charles Prater was born September 18, 1735, in Prince George’s Co., Maryland. He fought in the American Revolution for Maryland (SAR Patriot P-272989).
James Prater was born January 27, 1737, in Prince George’s Co., Maryland. He was captured during the French and Indian War, but was released when his father paid the ransom. He then served as a Captain in the Revolutionary War (NSDAR Patriot #A092410).
Thomas’ namesake, his son Thomas Claggett Prather (because his mother was Elizabeth Claggett) didn’t serve in the Revolution because he gave his life previously in the French and Indian War. He was born May 9, 1725, in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George’s Co., Maryland. He was a 2nd Lieutenant under Capt. Alexander Beall and 1st Lieutenant under Capt. Ware for Maryland and died at the Battle of Loyalhanna October 12, 1758. His father and brother Richard carried his body back to Richard’s Choice plantation for burial in the family cemetery in Washington Co., Maryland.