"They all served under Washington....and at Yorktown"

  This is a phrase that still sticks in my mind, told to me by a veteran genealogist.
   These sorts of regional biographies are notorious for their fabrications and exaggerations.  One classic example is that of William Clenny--next door neighbor of Caleb Wilson in Orange Co NC.  William Clenny sold his land in 1822 and moved to Greene Co, IN.  Caleb was, in fact, the witness for the deed.  Meshach would have known this guy very well.  The following is from Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind.:

William Clenny--
the father of "Alec" Clenny, who lived and died north of Bloomfield, was a Virginian and fought in the Revolution with the highest and best leaders—both Washington and Greene. . Washington* always said if he was lost he wanted Greene put in his place .
    Mr. Clenny was at the closing scene of Yorktown. He remembered well the names of the French officers who served there, and to hear him pronounce them as he did was a rich literary treat to any one. He was an excellent citizen all his long life and made his own living by patient, useful labor, tanned his own leather, made his own and family's shoes, raised wool, cotton and flax, of which their clothes were made, and made his hand-mill on which was ground their breadstuff. He had an almost matchless figure, showing an exquisite model of perfect manhood, rugged and stalwart. In his last years he was entirely blind. His dust lies in the Bloomfield cemetery.

But, then  there is Clenny's own Revolutionary War pension application.  First of all it clearly shows what we already know, that Clenny was born in Delaware and moved to Orange Co NC and lived there over 40 years before moving to Indiana.  He never lived in Virginia at all--at least not for any discernible length of time.
  Secondly, you can see his service at the tail part of the War (in his own words)--while the Battle of Yorktown was going on, Clenny was serving in the Carolinas and Georgia!

  I know this is just one example (of many that I've seen over the years), but I hope it at least gives some indication of just how inaccurate regional biographies can be.
   And now, back to Wayne Co....
                                                                                        (Kevin)