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 1743 - 1840 (96 years)
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| Name |
William Daniell |
| Birth |
25 Nov 1743 |
New Hanover County, North Carolina (now Brunswick County)  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
5 Sep 1840 |
Clarke County, Georgia |
| Person ID |
I94 |
Georgia Revolutionary War Graves |
| Last Modified |
25 Mar 2007 |
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| Headstones |
 | Daniell, William
GPS Location: 33° 54.446' N, 83° 28.249' W
Marked by Athens, Lyman Hall and Piedmont Chapters. |
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| Notes |
- William Daniell, Sr. was born November 25, 1743, the fifth of seven children of John Daniell and his wife Sarah Raven Daniell. William’s grandfather, Robert Daniell, Sr., had come to Charles Town, South Carolina in the 1670s where he was a ship owner, Deputy Lord Proprietor, Landgrave, judge, and Governor of North Carolina and later South Carolina as well.
William grew up in New Hanover (later Brunswick) County, North Carolina in the Cape Fear area south of Wilmington. In his 1763 will, William’s father John bequeathed to his 20 year old son the 549 acre plantation home place called “Tom Bells” on the west side of Lockwood Folly River. While still a young man, William moved up the Cape Fear River to Chatham County in the center of the State. William and his first wife Rachel resided in the Deep River/Indian Creek area in the southern part of the county, where most of their seven children would have been born. One of their close neighbors was Jeremiah Melton who took part in the armed resistance to the royal Governor of North Carolina in the Battle of Alamance, considered to be a forerunner of the Revolutionary War.
William’s younger brother, Stephen Bedon Daniell, was a member of the Committee of Safety in 1775 and an officer in the first North Carolina Regiment. Stephen named his third son George Washington Daniell, who became the father of Rev. David Gonto Daniell, the first pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta.
In 1786, William and Rachel Daniell’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Benjamin Davis, a Revolutionary soldier, and William and Rachel Daniell’s eldest son, William Jr., married Benjamin Davis’ sister. Later in 1786, presumably after the death of his wife Rachel, William Daniell, Sr. and his children moved from Chatham County, North Carolina to the Dry Creek area of Jefferson County (then Burke), Georgia where son-in-law Benjamin Davis pastored some of the earliest Baptist churches in the State. Jeremiah Melton, William’s neighbor from Chatham Co., North Carolina, also moved
to the same area of Burke County and in June of 1787, William Daniell, Sr. married Melton’s daughter Mary,
known as “Polly”. William and Mary would have 13 children together, bringing the total number of William’s children from both marriages to 20.
Since Burke County’s records have been burned, we don’t know the exact date that he moved from there, but he and his family were among the earliest settlers to this area which became the Mars Hill community. The home they built, known as “The Cedars”, placed on the National Register of Historic Homes, still stands today only a short distance from this cemetery and the church where the family was so actively involved. In 1802, William Daniell joined Mars Hill Church by letter. The family’s deep religious convictions is evidenced by the fact that several of William’s sons and grandsons became Baptist ministers (George, Jeremiah, Beaton, Alfred, Moses, Robert).
As mentioned in Historian Lucian Knights’, Georgia’s Roster of the Revolution, William left his home to serve under General Elijah Clarke as a soldier. William was issued a Certificate of Service #791 under Elijah Clarke for his service as a Refugee Soldier in the battle of Kettle Creek and other minor engagements.
William Daniell, Sr. lived a long and vigorous life. Family stories recount how at age 90, William held a two week reunion at his home of his children and their families which would have been a large number indeed. He died September 5, 1840 approaching the age of 97. His wife Mary died three years later October 3, 1843. Together they left a rich legacy of many descendants, religious dedication, and family pride. Their descendants continue to meet in an annual reunion which has been ongoing for more than 70 years.
William Daniell was honored by the Elijah Clarke DAR Chapter (Athens) at a grave marking in 1937
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