Alexander Nailor
MSA SC 3520-18112
Biography:
Alexander Nailor was born around 1755 in Prince George’s County, MD to Samuel and Mary Nailor. His father had informal land claims in Ohio County West Virginia, as well as some in Frederick County and Prince George’s County. Alexander had six brothers: Nicholas, Benjamin Turner, James, Isaac Jones, George, and Joshua. [1]
In early 1776, Alexander. along with his brother Nicholas, enlisted as privates in the Ninth Company of Light Infantry, First Maryland Regiment, under Captain George Stricker. The Ninth Company was often deployed in small groups ahead of the main troops as scouts. This company became part of Maryland’s first contingent of full-time, professional troops. Its men distinguished themselves that summer as the “Maryland 400.” [2]
That July, the regiment received orders to march to New York to defend the city from an impending British attack. The Marylanders joined the Continental Army, whom they would fight alongside in the Battle of Brooklyn (also known as the Battle of Long Island) on August 27, 1776, the first full-scale engagement of the war.
The Maryland troops, under the command of Mordecai Gist, were positioned at the far right of the battlefield. Gowanus Creek, stretching from where the British landed to Brooklyn, blocked the Maryland troops from escaping. Now faced with a larger force, the remaining Maryland troops mounted a series of charges to hold the British at bay. Despite the loss of 256 men who were killed or captured, the Marylanders delayed the British long enough for the rest of the Continental Army to escape. [3]
At the battle, Nailor was taken prisoner, along with at least 14 other members of the Ninth Company, and held for four months until his exchange around the end of 1776. Nailor had been made a sergeant by the Battle of Brooklyn. [4]. After this, Nailor and his brother Nicholas re-enlisted for three more years in Frederick. [5]
From 1777-1778, the British and American troops vied for control over the American capital at Philadelphia. As part of the campaign, the American troops suffered two losses at Brandywine and Germantown in September and October of 1777. Nailor fought in both of these battles. Between June and August of 1778, Nailor disappears, but reappears in September that year. He was discharged in 1779.
Following his service in the First Maryland Regiment, Nailor took part in the Sandusky Expedition in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, the western front of the American Revolutionary War, in 1782, under the command of Colonel William Crawford.
The Sandusky Expedition was intended to be an extension of the events in Gnadenhutten. Following the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the Native Americans were accused by the British of aiding the Patriot cause as guides and were subsequently relocated from Gnadenhutten to the Upper Sandusky area. In 1782, some of the Native Americans returned to Gnadenhutten in search of food, but were blamed for attacks on white settlers in western Pennsylvania. In retaliation, a group of 100 Native Americans were murdered. [6]
After Gnadenhutten, a general call was issued for volunteers to invade the land of the Native Americans. The goal was to destroy enemy Native American towns along the Sandusky River in Ohio with the hope of ending Native American attacks on American settlers. [7]
In 1780, Pennsylvania and Virginia had settled a territorial dispute over modern-day Pittsburgh, which resulted in outrage of Virginians to find that they were living in Pennsylvania. Sergeant Levin Wilcoxon, another Maryland 400 veteran, was among those outraged over the dispute settlement. [8]
Around 1783, the state of “Westsylvania” was declared in southwest Pennsylvania. Settlers petitioned the Continental Congress to approve the creation of the new state, which would include southwest Pennsylvania and potions of Kentucky, Virginia and modern-day West Virginia. The frontiersmen believed that this new state would also serve as a barrier between the Native Americans and the disputed border states. Both Nailor and Wilcoxon were among the signers. [9]
The petition was opposed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as other state legislatures with western land claims. Despite their impassioned plea, the Continental Congress simply ignored the petition for statehood. The legislature of Pennsylvania then enacted a law declaring any mention of the formation of a new state an act of treason punishable by death. [10]
Nailor returned to Frederick County to resume civilian life after the Sanduksy Expedition. He married Magdalena (last name not known) in 1785, but she died shortly after giving birth to their son Samuel in 1786. Nailor remarried in 1788 to Mary Mills, with whom he had five children: John, James, Mary Ann, Mahala and Cecelia. [11] Nailor voted in the presidential election of 1796, indicating that he owned land somewhere in Frederick or Libertytown, but how much or where is not known.
Nailor took on a leadership role in Frederick. He was commissioned as an ensign in the Maryland Militia’s Twenty-Ninth Regiment, based in Frederick County in 1797. In 1800, he was promoted to lieutenant then resigned. Nailor resided in Libertytown, Maryland until his death around 1810.
Cassy Sottile, Explore America Research Intern 2019. Research generously provided by Joseph Doyle and Debra Naylor.
Notes:
[1] Alexander’s father Samuel was the administrator for the Nailor estate - Nailor’ Range, Nailor’s Purchase and Woodborough - that initially belonged to Alexander’s grandparents James and Ann. Final Probate Account of Ann Naylor, 1779, Prince George's County Register of Wills, Administration Accounts, Liber ST 1 p. 64 [MSA C1144-5, 1/25/10/16].
[3] Return of the Maryland troops, 13 September 1776, Revolutionary War Rolls, NARA M246, folder 35, p. 85, from Fold3.com.
[4] For unknown reasons, he was exchanged under the name “Porter” instead of his actual surname. Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, Pay Role of Prisoners taken on Long Island from 27th August to the 10th Dec. 1776, MdHR 19970-19-01 [MSA S997-19-1 01/07/03/15].
[5] Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, from Fold3.com.
[6] “Crawford’s Expedition and Death,” Westmoreland County Genealogy Project - PA Roots, 2018, https://www.pa-roots.com/westmoreland/oldwestmoreland/chapter24.html.
[7] Parker Brown, “Reconstructing Crawford’s Army of 1782,” The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. 65: 1 (1982), 33.
[8] For more information on Westsylvania, see the blog post “Sergeant Levin Wilcoxon: Settler of ‘Westsylvania,’” 1 April 2015.
[9] Petition to the Continental Congress, Papers of the Continental Congress, NARA M247, Roll 62, Item 48, Page 251, from Fold3.com.
[10] Thomas P. Slaughter, The Whiskey Rebellion, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986) 30.
[11] U.S. Federal Census, 1800, Frederick County, Maryland.
Return to Alexander Nailor's Page
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|