Several descendants of the Zachariah Wells “of Lee County,Virginia” have claimed that he
served in the American patriotic forces duringthe Revolutionary War. They have pointed to
Pension #S39119 for Zachariah Wellsof Sullivan County, Tennessee, as proof of his service.
A close examination ofthe available records provides ample proof that the Zachariah Wells
of SullivanCounty, Tennessee, and the Zachariah Wells of Lee County, Virginia, are NOT
thesame man. The following is a comparison of the documentation for both men:The Zachariah
Wells of Sullivan County, TN, stated in hispension application (#S39119) that he entered
the American service in LoudounCounty, Virginia, on July 28, 1776, and served at least
until December 1778.The Loudoun County, Virginia tax lists show that Zachariah Wells was a
tithablein Shelburne Parish of Loudoun County in 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775,1779
and 1782 (“Index to the Tithables of Loudoun County, Virginia andSlaveholders and Slaves,
1758-1786,” compiled by Margaret Lail Hopkins,Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore,
1991, page 83). As has beenpreviously shown in the documented timeline for the Zachariah
Wells of LeeCounty, Virginia, he was living in Fincastle County, Virginia, in 1772,
1773and 1774 and in Wilkes County, North Carolina from March 1778 until 1798. Itwould have
been impossible for Zachariah Wells to have been in Fincastle Countyrecords in 1772, 1773
and 1774 while also appearing in the Loudoun County taxlists. It would have been
impossible for Zachariah Wells to be in the AmericanRevolutionary service through December
1778 while at the same time being inWilkes County, North Carolina. Loudoun County is
located adjacent toWashington, D.C. some 200 miles from Fincastle, Virginia. Note also
that theZachariah Wells of Loudoun County, Virginia, continues to appear in LoudounCounty
tax lists through 1782 while the Zachariah Wells who later lived in LeeCounty, Virginia,
in living in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Secondly, The Zachariah Wells who received
Pension #S39119applied for his pension on March 29, 1825, as a resident of Sullivan
County,Tennessee. On March 5, 1833, he stated that he was a resident of WhitleyCounty,
Kentucky, and had been a resident of Kentucky for four years and beforethat lived in
Washington County, Tennessee. At the same time the “other”Zachariah Wells was living in
Lee County, Virginia. As “Zachariah Wells, Sen.”He sold property in Lee County, Virginia,
to his son Jacob Wells on August 21,1826. (Lee County, VA Deed Book 5, page 381). On March
1, 1827, Robert Wellsconveyed property in Lee County to “Zachariah Wells Sr.” (Lee County,
VA DeedBook 5, pages 438-440). Zachariah Wells does not appear in the Lee County, VACensus
for 1830 and is presumed to have died. The Zachariah Wells of SullivanCounty, Tennessee,
was living in Whitley County, Kentucky, on March 5, 1833,still alive and kicking. The
bottom line is that we are dealing with two differentmen. It is regrettable that the two
have been confused for each other, but acareful reading of the available documents
provides ample proof that theZachariah Wells of Lee County, Virginia, was not the same man
as the ZachariahWells who lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, from at least 1770 through
1782 andlater in Sullivan and Washington counties, Tennessee, and Whitley County,Kentucky.
John B. Wells III wellsga(a)bellsouth.net