Who was Benjamin Kercheval?

Kercheval is a street in the Detroit/Grosse Pointe area. So when Kercheval appeared in Lapeer County deeds it jumped out at me. Particularly because Benjamin Kercheval engaged in Lapeer land transactions with distant relatives Sumner A. RICHMOND and Edmund HOLLENBECK (who married Sumner Richmond’s sister, Julia).

So who was Benjamin Kercheval?

Benjamin Berry Kercheval was born on April 9th, 1793, in Winchester, Virginia. He came to Detroit where he held many important offices in the Territory and State and died in Detroit on March 23, 1855.

Revolutionary War pension papers of John Kercheval mention sons Ben B. Kercheval, of Detroit in 1834, and Thomas Kercheval. John Kercheval was born September 12, 1762 in Spottsylvania Co., VA. His second enlistment in the Revolutionary War was August 1, 1777, when he served 1 year and 4 months in Captain Thomas Berry’s company, Colonels Bowman and Clark’s Virginia regiment. Soldier married Jane (maiden name not stated in pension papers) Berry, possibly January 23, 1785, in Frederick Co., VA. John Kercheval allowed pension February 25, 1834, while a resident of Fleming Co., KY; he died there October 1839. His widow, Jane, 80 yrs old in 1843, when she applied for a pension while living in Mays Lick, Mason Co., KY. [Extracted from HeritageQuest – Revolutionary War files online, contained in letter to Mrs. John Prewitt, Mt. Sterling, KY in 1934]

Apparently, John Kercheval enlisted with his father-in-law’s company. The DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Lineage book shows the lineage of Miss Bettina Welch, born in May’s Lick, KY, as follows:

Descendant of Captain Thomas Berry of Virginia, as follows:
Daughter of Lemuel Welch and Annie Parry;
Granddaughter of Benjamin Parry and Jane Ann Groves;
Great-granddaughter of Elijah Groves and Lucinda Kercheval;
Great-gr-granddaughter of John Kercheval and Jennie (Jane) Berry;
Great-gr-gr-granddaughter of Thomas Berry and Frances Ann Kendall (1738-1818).

Thomas Berry (1735-1818) commanded a line in the Eighth Virginia Regiment, Continental Line, 1776. He was born in King George County; died in Frederick Co.
[DAR, HeritageQuest online]