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. Some believe this indicates that
Joseph was born outside 'the colonies'. Of course, given his surname and
location in western Pennsylvania, we all assume he was Scotch-Irish,
and that he and/or his parents probably came from Northern Ireland. We may
never know for sure.
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 a teste 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.