In the Southern Pines Pilot from November 21, 1941, we came across a curious note about a John A. McLeod, a Moore County resident nearly 90 years old who had the notable distinction of being the son of a Revolutionary War veteran. At first we thought that it must be a mistake. When the paper said that his father “fought in the Revolution,” surely they didn’t mean the American Revolution? Were they referring to the Civil War? Or some more recent revolt?
But the math seems to work out. There was a brief piece on McLeod in The State in 1939, which said that McLeod’s father “was only 12 or 13 years old when some Tories staged a raid near his home. He was a participant in the skirmish that followed, so it can be said truthfully that he was a combatant in the Revolution.” The article also notes that “the present John McLeod was born when his father was quite an old man.”
So this begs the question — which has probably come up already in this sesquicentennial year — how many sons and daughters of Civil War veterans are still with us?