An American Family History

John Vincent was born in Kensington, Middlesex County, England, on August 24, 1750. He witnessed the coronation of King George 3rd.

According to his daughter, Sally's, obituary he was kidnapped and taken to Virginia about 1762 .He was apprenticed to a Dutchman who mistreated him and he ran away and joined the Virginia militia when he was only thirteen years old.

In July, 1774, he marched from Hampshire County, Virginia, to Chillicothe, Ohio as a volunteer under Captain Wallace, Major Crawford and Colonel Boman. He was in the the Battle of Point Pleasant (Battle of Kanawha ) which was the only major action of Dunmore's War. It was fought on October 10, 1774, between the Virginia militia and the Shawnee and Mingo tribes.

In the summer of 1755, during the French and Indian War, John was a soldier during Braddock's defeat which was a failed British expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. The French fort was built where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers come together to form the Ohio River. The British were defeated at the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9. John was in the battle at the mouth of the Kanawha. He was stationed at Fort Pitt and went with a scouting party that was attacked by the indigenous warriors, cut off, and surrounded.

In the summer of 1776, he volunteered under Captain Forman, who
was ordered to raise a company to be stationed at Fort Wheeling, and he served as an Orderly Sergeant.

On September 27, 1777 he was with a detachment of men who were attacked by indigenous warriors near McMechens Narrows. During the skirmish he was shot in the right leg. All but thirteen of the party were killed.

On March 15, 1782, he received a Lieutenant's Commission, and was ordered to go to Charlestown, South Carolina, in Captain Stadels Company, commanded by Colonel Voice.

John Vincent married Sarah Johnson on December 6, 1778. Their children and life together are described in detail in the section on John and Sarah Vincent.