Patriot Ancestor: William Haymond
Born: 04 Jan 1740, Rockville, Montgomery, MD
Died: 12 Nov 1821, Quiet Dell, Monongahela, WV
Rank: Major, VA Militia // Captain, VA Militia // Commander, Prickett’s Fort
Years Served: 1755 – 1783
GGW Chapter SAR Member: Len Spesert
William Haymond was commissioned on 13 Mar 1776, by Governor Patrick Henry, to be a Captain in the Monongahela County, Virginia Militia. He had already been in the military for 21 years, since age 15.
It is most likely that William Haymond began his military career in the quartermaster’s department where he would have been employed to distribute goods to the army led by British Gen. Edward Braddock from Ft. Cumberland to capture the Canadian Ft. Duquesne from the French. This area is now the American city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Gen. Braddock met defeat along the way as he ran into the French/Indian army on the Monongahela River, 09 Jul 1755. This campaign is known as the “Battle of the Monongahela” or “Braddock’s Defeat.”
Well-known participants in “Braddock’s Defeat” include Daniel Boone, Daniel Morgan, William Crawford, Charles Scott, Thomas Gage, Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, Col. Nicholas Meriwether (great-grandfather of Meriwether Lewis), and future President George Washington, a volunteer officer at that time acting as Braddock’s Aide-de-camp. Washington was the only man not injured or killed in the battle, and he is credited for organizing a rear guard to enable the British/American Army to retreat from the battle. Braddock is the endower of the red ceremonial sash that Washington thereafter wore with his uniform; it was presented to the 23-year-old Washington by Braddock four days after the battle, on 13 Jul 1755, as he lay dying from a mortal wound and uttered his final words: “Who would have thought?”
Three years later, in 1758, Capt. William Haymond joined with then British Brig. Gen. John Forbes and then Virginian Lt. Col. George Washington to successfully capture Ft. Duquesne. The British/American troops blew up the French/Canadian weaponry and burned Ft. Duquesne to the ground. Then they built Ft. Pitt on the ruins and remained to guard the area.
In 1759, Capt. William Haymond enlisted in Col. Washington’s Virginia Regiment with 1,000 other soldiers to defend Virginia’s frontier against the French/Canada and to dispel quarrels among the Native Americans. He served under Col. Washington for three years then was discharged at Ft. Lewis on 19 Apr 1762.
William Haymond was married the following year to Cassandra Clelland on 19 Apr 1763. They had 13 children together and lived as Planters on the family’s tobacco plantation, “Constant Friendship” near Rockville, MD. After his first wife’s death in 1741, William Haymond married the widowed Mary Pettyjohn Powers on 29 Dec 1789, and they had 4 children together.
Constant Friendship was later sold to James Sutter for 212 pounds and 10 shillings. Then the Haymond family moved to the area of present-day Morgantown, WV where they faced savage attacks, last-second flights to the nearest fort for protection, and the defeat of the plantation workers by various illnesses.
North America: 1762-1783
In 1776, William Haymond served in the offices of Deputy Surveyor, Claims Adjuster, Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, and Coroner for the newly-formed Monongahela County, VA. When the Revolution began, Capt. William Haymond returned to military service as Captain of the VA Militia to guard against the hostilities exhibited by the Native Americans against The Treaty of Fort Stanwix.
In May 1777, William Haymond was assigned as an official to administer the Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia to all male persons over the age of sixteen, requiring them to renounce and refuse all allegiance to George III, King of Great Britain, which was authorized by an Act of Assembly. He also served as Commander of Prickett’s Fort with a detachment in Scott’s Mills in April 1777 until June 1777.
Capt. William Haymond was commissioned to Major by Governor Benjamin Harrison on 12 Nov 1781, and continued to serve in that rank throughout the remainder of the War for Independence.
After being discharged from military service, William Haymond traveled on horseback across the Allegheny Mountains to Williamsburg, VA where he was examined by the professors of William & Mary College then commissioned Surveyor by the Governor of Virginia, Benjamin Harrison, in 1784. To serve in this capacity, William Haymond moved his family to Clarksburg, VA where he built himself an office to discharge the duties of Surveyor. It was a busy time for property titles as settlers migrated to the Commonwealth of Virginia following the conclusion of the War. He held this position in the County for 37 years.
In 1791, he moved his family to a 1,941-acre piece of property on Zack’s Run at Elk Creek, VA. William Haymond was involved in the construction of two courthouses in Harrison County in 1787 and 1812, and also in marking a State Road from the Valley River to the Ohio River. His great aptitudes included: mechanics, math, surveying, and integrity.
Maj. William Haymond’s son, Col. John Haymond, married Mary Bird Wilson, the daughter of Col. Benjamin Wilson.
Source: History of Harrison County by Henry Haymond (1910/1973) p. 369-371
Source: Haymond Family and Associated Families Newsletter Vol 1 Issue 2 June 1995 by Billie Jo Runyon editor
General George Washington Chapter 
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