John Frye

AUDITED 2 Aug 2026 - KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS, 19 AUGUST 1782. The tree previously carried a bare 'Death 1782' with no place, no cause and no citation. That year is now confirmed and the day, place and manner supplied. EVIDENCE, in order of strength: (1) Col. Levi Todd's letter of 26 Aug 1782 - seven days after the battle, by the officer who commanded there and lost his own brother in it - lists 'John Fry' among the killed (Young, History of the Battle of the Blue Licks, 1897, App. K pp. 89-91, from Calendar of Virginia State Papers v.3 p.333); and the alphabetised roster at App. O p. 100 has 'Fry, John' among the privates, eight names after Israel Boone. (2) DAR Ancestor #A043063: FRY, JOHN, Virginia, Private, b. circa 1754 Virginia, d. 8-19-1782 BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS, Capt. Baxter / Nall, Col. Harrison, ROCKINGHAM CO MILITIA, residence Rockingham Co., Virginia, spouse CATHERINE SPEARS, with twelve approved applications naming children LEAH (m. Jacob Carpenter) and JOHN (m. Sally McKinney). (3) A D.A.R. Genealogical Records Committee lineage form (FamilySearch, United States. Genealogies 1720-1960, DGS 008978994, images 407-408). WHAT IS *NOT* PROVEN, and must not be inferred from the above: that THIS John Fry is the father of [1004] Leah Frye. The tree already asserted that link and this note does not strengthen it. DAR's ancestor database is compiled FROM APPLICATIONS - the same evidence class as the lineage form - so twelve applications may all descend from one another rather than being twelve independent informants. No proof flag has been set. ONE CONFLICT, AND IT RESOLVES IN THE TREE'S FAVOUR: DAR gives his residence as Rockingham County, VIRGINIA; the D.A.R. form says Kentucky. This tree independently has both [734] Catherine Spears and [1004] Leah Frye born in Rockingham, so the form is the outlier. THE FORM IS ALSO PROVABLY WRONG ABOUT ONE THING, which is why it is graded as one informant: its service item 'Volunteer to Mt. Pleasant 1777' cites Lewis, History of the Battle of Point Pleasant p. 111 - and that battle is 10 October 1774, Dunmore's War, not 1777 and not the Revolution. PLACE NOTE: 'Blue Licks, Kentucky' uses the modern state name. In August 1782 the site lay in Fayette County, VIRGINIA; Kentucky did not become a state until 1792. NAMED NEXT DOCUMENT: Burgess, Virginia Soldiers of 1776, vol. 1, p. 123 - DAR's own cited authority for the militia service. Not free online; library or subscription. Second: the DAR record copy for application 820294 (vol. 914), about $15, which likely holds the Lincoln Co. court records and the Casey Co. family Bible the lineage form says were enclosed. [2 AUG 2026, LATER - HIS SERVICE IS PART-SOURCED, HIS LAND IS DOCUMENTED, AND THE DAR FLAG IS EXPLAINED] BURGESS vol. 1 p. 123 - DAR's own cited authority - was found free (Google Books fAoRAQAAMAAJ, full view) and read. It is 'Captain Baxter's Pay Roll': Rockingham militia ordered out by Col. Benjamin Harrison to GUARD BRITISH PRISONERS TO WINCHESTER, 26 Feb - 4 Mar 1782. That is exactly the D.A.R. form's first service item and exactly DAR A043063's 'Capt Baxter ... Col Harrison' - the activity, officers, county and dates all match. ⛔ BUT THE PRIVATE IS PRINTED 'JOHN FYE', NOT 'JOHN FRY'. Controls: 'Fye' = 1 hit, this page only; 'Fry' = 2 hits, both other men; 'Nall' = 0 across vols 1 and 2, so half of DAR's officer citation is unsupported. DO NOT CITE BURGESS AS PROVING HIS SERVICE WITHOUT SAYING THE PAGE PRINTS 'FYE'. ⭐ 'George Speare' is a private on the SAME ROLL, four names away - and Wayland puts George Spears and George Baxter both on the 24 Apr 1782 Rockingham claims list (p. 99). Three Rockingham documents from Feb-Oct 1782 place Baxter, Spear and a probable Fry in one unit: he served alongside his future father-in-law. HIS KENTUCKY LAND, from originals at the Kentucky Secretary of State Land Office (web.sos.ky.gov/land/, free and unwalled): VIRGINIA TREASURY WARRANT #246, John Fry, 15 Oct 1779, 400 acres, GBP 160, patents VA 0688/0689/0690 - and it sits in a CONSECUTIVE BLOCK TAKEN THE SAME DAY: #241 George Carpenter, #242 George Spear (2,600 acres), #243 John Carpenter, #246 John Fry, while neighbouring numbers are unrelated names. One family group, one day at the land office, four years before the marriage that joined them. Three Lincoln County entries in his name on CARPENTER'S CREEK, and six neighbours' entries describe land by 'John Fry's survey' through 1783. ✪️ BLUE LICKS MONUMENT: 'Fry, John' under Privates Who Were Killed, dedicated 19 Aug 1928. Graded B - one transcription, and the photo sites are walled. NOTE Young's 1897 book cannot describe the monument; his preface says none existed. ⬜ NO BOUNTY-LAND CLAIM EXISTS FOR HIM AND NONE WAS LEGALLY POSSIBLE - militia service did not qualify under Hening, and Virginia half pay was officers only, so the Half Pay files are struck BY REASON rather than left as an unsearched gap. The one 'Fry, John' in LVA Rejected Claims (R3819) is excluded on five grounds: Albemarle Co., d. March 1825, Stokes Co. N.C., State Line enlistment, seven children none of them Leah. ⚠️ An earlier note that Ardery's Kentucky Records showed no estate is RETRACTED AS VOID, not weak: Ardery vol. 1 has NO LINCOLN COUNTY SECTION AT ALL. The instrument never examined the question. NEXT: Carpenter Family Papers MSS 47 Box 1 FF 1 at the Kentucky Historical Society; and VA Patent 7710.0, the will of John Carpenter of Lincoln Co., warrant #243 in the same 1779 block, free and unread.