Who Was Captain William Penny?
William Penny was born in North Carolina in 1751. He married Elizabeth Barkley. During the Revolutionary War, he served as Captain of a North Carolina Cavalry Company attached to the army of General Horatio Gates, and as a spy against the Tories under the command of General Rutherford. By 1818, Captain Penny and his family were living in Illinois and at the time of his death on March 15, 1821, they lived on Richland Creek. Captain Penny is buried in the Richland Baptist Church Cemetery in Sangamon County. The chapter conducts an annual memorial service at his gravesite in May.
