A grave marking ceremony was held at Barr Springs Cemetery between Westport and Clarksburg on Saturday at 2 p.m. for William Steen, a Revolutionary War patriot.
Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) presented the program that honored Steen’s Revolutionary War service.
Dorothy Lipham Steen, of Brentwood, who spoke of Steen’s life during the ceremony, completed the research that her late husband, Rev. Dr. John Warren Steen had begun before his death. A large crowd assembled at the cemetery. Many out-of-state people as well as local persons attended the ceremony that included a number of Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution.
A 21-gun salute was given by the SAR.
Steen’s marker was placed next to his daughter’s grave. It is not known for sure where his grave is actually located in Carroll County.
Steen was a farmer by occupation and served in the militia during the Revolutionary War. He fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain in North Carolina which occurred October 7, 1780.
Several years after hostilities ended with Great Britain, William and his family left South Carolina, heading for Mississippi. They stopped in Carroll County to farm and restock for the last leg of their journey to Mississippi. While residing in Carroll County, William Steen died.
Shortly after his death, his family except for three children resumed their journey to Mississippi.
William’s daughter, Sarah married Thompson Enochs and both are buried at Barr Springs Cemetery.
In 1774, William married Agnes Nancy Lusk, and they had 11 children.
He was a militiaman and was wounded and taken prisoner in the Battle of King’s Mountain, on Oct. 7, 1780. So the story goes, his wife, Nancy, left when notified of him being wounded to go to him, even though a two-year-old daughter had died earlier that day. She left her other children in the care of a neighbor, packed her supplies, borrowed a horse and rode some 40 miles that night. She arrived just after dawn the next morning at the house where her husband was lay wounded and being cared for. It was told by grandsons that she shared the story on her care for him. She put water on to boil and placed healing herbs in the liquid to steep. She placed his red bandana into the pot and cleaned his external wound where the musket ball had passed through his body. She lifted the saturated piece of cloth from the water and pushed it through the wound with a knitting needle. After several days his fever finally broke and he began to heal.
After the war, the Steen family settled in Carroll County. William went out one morning to check his stock and found some missing and set out to look for them. When he did not return, his sons went to search for him only to find his mauled body. It was never known what actually happened to him.
Descendants of William Steen in the South Carroll County area are many. It includes the descendants of Gabriel Enochs and Winey A. Roark; Richard J. Hill and Martha F. Enochs; and Robert J. Reed and Jane Enochs. Some of the current descendants of William who reside in the Clarksburg area are James Darnell of Huntingdon, the Reed family of Clarksburg that include the descendants of Jim Reed, and the Lewis family of Yuma to include the descendants of the late Ned D. Lewis, brother Mike Lewis, and the late Patricia Lewis Johnson of Huntingdon. These are a few names of the many that come to mind. This is a great honor for William Steen and his descendants.
