Taken from a family story posted on Tabitha Penningtons Hardwick's profile:
In Wilkes County, NC and in surrounding areas there was such fear of Col. Cleveland and his henchmen that an effort was made by a group of Tories to capture the Colonel and take him to Ninetysix, SC, a Tory stronghold, where he could be turned over to the British. He was, in fact captured in 1780 by William Ridley and Zachariah Wells. While they had the Colonel in captivity he was freed by his own men who overtook the captors. Ridley and Wells were both immediately hanged with plowshares even though at least one of the men had been shot during the fracas. Now there was in Wilkes County, or that part of Wilkes County that was to become in 1799 Ashe County, one Micajah Pennington who was a Justice of the Peace, and held his job thanks to his loyalty to the British. As a Loyalist he was not harmed by the so-called patriots, but there is a record of his possessions being confiscated. Micajah had several brothers, one being William whose wife in 1781 gave birth to a baby boy. The baby was named Wells, Was he named for Zachariah Wells?
Wells Pennington is listed on the 1860 Pulaski, Kentucky census reports age 81 born Virginia which is incorrect, he was born in Wilkes County North Carolina, living with son Theophilus & family
SOURCE BOX SHARE Attach to Family Tree Theophilus Penington United States Census, 1860 Name Theophilus Penington Event Type Census Event Date 1860 Event Place District 1, Pulaski, Kentucky, United States Gender Male Age 58 Race White Birth Year (Estimated) 1802 Birthplace N Carolina Page 100 Household Role Sex Age Birthplace Theophilus Penington M 58 N Carolina Penelope Penington F 59 N Carolina Hezekiah Penington M 17 Kentucky Elizabeth Penington F 14 Kentucky Wells Penington M 81 Virginia Citing this Record "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/
https://www.geni.com/people/Wells-Pennington/6000000005571966056
Gender: Male
Birth: circa 1781
Ashe County, North Carolina, United States
Death: circa 1865 (76-92)
Pulaski County, Kentucky, United States
Immediate Family:
Son of William Pennington and Sarah Pennington
Husband of Elizabeth Pennington
Father of Theophilus "Ophie" Pennington; Christina Garland; Tabitha Hardwick and Arad Pennington
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