William Romulus Poe, b 1895 in Richmond VA died 1866 in Ill

[Leon J Lyell]

Dear VA Genealogical Society Group,

Good wishes from Australia.

William Romulus Poe is my earliest known direct male ancestor. The information on his birth comes from records relating to his involvement in the War of 1812. This shows that he joined Capt John McPherson’s infantry Company of the 19th VA Militia Regiment from Richmond City, commanded by Lt Col John Ambler as a corporal, from 26 August 1814 until 7 September. He was apparently born in Richmond as well. My guess is that as he was made a corporal at such a young age he may have come from a well-established family. 

Unfortunately, I have no further clues as to his parents or the origins of his family as there is no obvious candidate for his father on the reconstructed VA census records. The NARA file basically contains what he was paid during his service and some other details come from an application from one of his daughters for membership of the daughters of 1812.

For a time (roughly 1817 to 1949 he spelt his surname as Powe but after that he and his sons resumed Poe which is the spelling for the time of his 1812 enlistment. 

Can anyone suggest the next logical step to take to uncover who his parents were, please?

Many thanks,

Leon J Lyell

p.s. My father changed his surname from Poe to Lyell in honour of his adoptive parents