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Nicholas Dorsey performed Patriotic Service for the American Revolution as a Commissioner of Observation (a committee of inspection to enforce a boycott of British goods enacted by the First Continental Congress) for Baltimore County (now Carroll County), MD in 1775-76 when he was commissioned Ensign. He was then promoted to First Lieutenant and later was commissioned to Colonel of Maryland Troops (Muster Rolls of Maryland-Archives of Maryland Volumes XVI and XXI). He was older than most when he entered the War where he served alongside his sons, Nicholas, and Henry. Prior to the War he was an active surveyor and served as Judge of the Orphan’s Court in Baltimore County, thus his being called Judge Dorsey. 

Nicholas Dorsey was born in 1712 at Anne Arundel County, Maryland and died around 1805. The Dorsey family is listed as part of Maryland Gentry and leaders in the settlement and early history of Anne Arundel which began in 1649 with a group of Puritans. The Dorsey’s are a major part of the book by Harry Wright Newman, part of the Pioneer Series published in 1933. Nicholas Dorsey, my 8th great grandfather, married Sarah Griffith (1718-1794) in 1736 in Maryland. They had a daughter, Rachel Dorsey, my 7th great grandmother born in 1737 in Anne Arundel County, MD and died in 1805 in Scott County, KY. Rachel married in 1758 in MD to Anthony Lindsey, born 1736 in MD and died in 1808 in Henry County, KY. Mr. Lindsey also served in the Revolution as a Lieutenant under Captain Henry Baker of the Linganore Battalion in MD.  Rachel and Anthony had a daughter Lydia Lindsey, my 6th great grandmother born in 1774 and died about 1798 in Shelby County, KY.  Lydia married Jesse Whitaker (1752-1800) about 1793-96 in Woodford County, KY. Lydia and Jesse had a son, Wilson Lee Whitaker, my 5th great grandfather, (1796-1872) being born in Shelby County and died in McLean County, KY. Wilson married Marenda Benton (1801-1872) on December 8, 1817, in Ohio County, KY. Wilson and Marenda had a son, Jesse Whitaker, my 4th great grandfather on 17 August 1822 who died in McLean County. He married Martha A Brashear (1823-1850) who also died in McLean County. They had a daughter Deliah Whitaker, my 3rd great grandmother, in 1843 who died in 1929 in McLean County. Deliah married John B. Atherton (1837-1920) on December 8, 1859, in McLean County. John and Deliah had a daughter, Stella Atherton, my 2nd great grandmother, born in August 1866 and died in November 1951in McLean County, KY. Stella married Jefferson Davis Vance (1862-1937) on January 10, 1884, in McLean County. They had a son John William Vance, my great grandfather, born June 27, 1886, and died on March 13, 1958, in Ohio County, KY. He married Mamie Lee Bradshaw (1889-1953) on August 7, 1906, in McLean County.  They had a daughter Anna Laura Vance, my grandmother (December 11, 1922- April 26, 2015) who married James Frank Duncan, (April 28, 1922- March 19, 1989), of Ohio County on December 11, 1940.  The Duncans had a son, Jerry Wayne Duncan, my father, born in Owensboro on January 12, 1953, and died on September 18, 2014, in Morgantown, KY. 

 As part of Celebrate America 250, 1776-2026, DAR members will be continuing our series of articles about our Patriots of the American Revolution. If you have a Revolutionary Patriot in your family line and are interested in joining contact any chapter member.