Our first documented record of Joseph's presence in America was in July of 1776, when he entered military service at Fort Pitt, in Western Pennsylvania. The Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, in which Joseph served, was made up of seven companies of Westmoreland County and one of Bedford County. It seems likely that Joseph lived in one of these two counties, as they were comprised in 1776. The name Joseph Beatty appears on the 1783 tax list of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in both Huntington and Pitt Townships. Joseph's Revolutionary War service took him far and wide, as he fought in several campaigns across the state of Pennsylvania and into New Jersey. In 1779, he returned to Fort Pitt and was discharged from the service, holding the rank of Sergeant. According to an affidavit made by Joseph's alleged son William in 1852, the family came west to the Kentucky District of Virginia in 1789. Tax records, newspaper announcements and the Indian War pension application of William’s brother, Adam, indicate that the family lived in Woodford County, Kentucky during the 1790's. This is further confirmed by the marriage of Joseph Beatty to Mary Beatty, widow, in Woodford County in 1792. Joseph was listed as a Madison County, Kentucky taxpayer in the years 1799-1801. However, the property for which he was taxed was situated further west, in Breckinridge and Hardin Counties. The earliest record of Joseph paying tax in Hardin County was in 1802. Joseph was appointed Justice of the Peace in Hardin County in March of 1805. He was listed in the tax records of Hardin County through 1809. His name appeared in various Hardin County public documents as a commissioner and as attested in the years preceding the formation of Grayson County in 1810. In 1810, Grayson County, Kentucky was formed from parts of Hardin and Ohio Counties. On January 26, 1810, Governor Scott appointed Joseph as a Justice of the Peace for the new county. He was later appointed as Sheriff of Grayson County in December of 1811. In December of 1812, a John Yates was appointed to replace Joseph Beatty, who had resigned his position as Justice of the Peace. Joseph's name appeared in tax lists and census records in Grayson County until his death on September 8, 1827 in Grayson County. Joseph's signature (background) is from an 1810 Grayson County court document.
Statements sworn to by Joseph in his pension applications indicate he was born about 1753. In one of the applications, ‘resident citizen’ replaced the word citizen.
Ancestry.com and Grayson County History Book
Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 29 Jan 2018), "Record of Joseph Beatty", Ancestor # A202243.
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