William Overton Callis William O . Callis ( March 4 , 1756 – March 14 , 1814 ) was the son of William Harry Callis and Mary Jane Cosby . He was a childhood friend of Presidents James Madison and James Monroe , was with Washington at Yorktown , and was known to Lafayette , Thomas Jefferson , and Benedict Arnold . Early life . William Overton Callis was born March 4 , 1756 near Urbanna , Virginia . He was the son of William and Mary ( Cosby ) Callis . His mother was third in descent from William Overton and Mary Waters . His mother ' s first cousin was Dabney Carr , a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and his wife , Martha Jefferson . Martha was the sister of President Thomas Jefferson and she was also a cousin of William ' s second wife , Anne Price . Martha ' s mother was Jane Randolph , daughter of Isham Randolph , a ship ' s captain and sometime planter , first cousin to Peyton Randolph , and granddaughter of wealthy English gentry . Martha ' s father was Peter Jefferson , a planter and surveyor in Albemarle County ( Shadwell , then Edge Hill , Virginia . ) He was of Welsh descent . When Colonel William Randolph , an old friend of Peter Jefferson , died in 1745 , Peter assumed executorship and personal charge of William Randolph ' s estate in Tuckahoe as well as his infant son , Thomas Mann Randolph , Jr . That year the Jeffersons relocated to Tuckahoe where they would remain for the next seven years before returning to their home in Albemarle . Peter Jefferson was then appointed to the Colonelcy of the county , an important position at the time . Dabney and Martha were the parents of Dabney Carr and nephew of Dabney Smith Carr , who was a newspaper publisher and later was U . S . Minister to Turkey ( 1843 – 49 ) . In 1774 , he was tutored , along with James Madison and James Monroe , by Parson John Todd who established in his home near Ochid the first classical school in Louisa County . With Monroe , Callis entered the College of William & Mary at age 17 ; he left college in late 1775 to join the Continental Army . Marriage and family . He married first , about 1783 , Martha Elizabeth Winston ( June 21 , 1765 - April 29 , 1788 ) . They were the parents of three children . He married , as his second wife , on May 4 , 1790 in Louisa County , Virginia , Anne Price . She was born on November 4 , 1774 at " Cool Water " , Hanover County , Virginia and died on September 8 , 1846 at Doswell , Hanover County , Virginia . She is buried next to her husband at Fork Episcopal Church Cemetery in Doswell , Virginia . They were the parents of nine children . She was the daughter of Captain Thomas Randolph Price , who served as an officer in the Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War and was a participant in the Gunpowder Incident and Barbara Overton " Betsy " Winston . Barbara was a first cousin of Martha Elizabeth Winston , the first wife of William Overton Callis . Anne was a descendant of Cicely Wilford and the Most Reverend Dr . Edwin Sandys , an Anglican church leader who successively held the posts of the Bishop of Worcester ( 1559 – 1570 ) , Bishop of London ( 1570 – 1576 ) , and the Archbishop of York ( 1576 – 1588 ) ; Sir George Barne III ( 1532 - d . 1593 ) , the Lord Mayor of London and a prominent merchant and public official from London during the reign of Elizabeth I ; William Randolph ( bapt . November 7 , 1650 – April 11 , 1711 ) was a colonist and land owner who played an important role in the history and government of the Commonwealth of Virginia . He and his wife , Mary Isham , are referred to as " the Adam and Eve of Virginia " ; Richard Lovelace , an English poet in the seventeenth century and Francis Lovelace ( 1621 – 1675 ) , who was the second governor of the New York colony appointed by the Duke of York , later King James II of England . Anne was the great great great granddaughter of Captain Thomas Todd who married Elizabeth Bernard making her a cousin of Mary Todd Lincoln . Thomas and Elizabeth were also the great great grandparents of Presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor . War service . In November 1775 , he became a Private , 1st Regiment , Capt . John Belfield ' s Troop , Light Dragoons , Continental Troops commanded by Col . Theoderick Bland . On September 27 , 1776 , he enlisted in Col . Charles Dabney ' s Reg , Capt . Arthur Smith ' s Company of the 4th Virginia Regiment commanded by Col . Thomas Elliott . He was in New York in the Battle of the Heights and in Washington ' s army through his retreat from New York across New Jersey . On January 12 , 1777 , he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in Capt . John Smith ' s Company of the 4th Virginia Regiment of Foot , commanded by Col . Robert Lawson . Valley Forge . In June 1778 , he was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in Capt . George Wall ' s Company of the 5th Virginia Regiment of Foot , commanded by Col . James Wood , where he saw service at Camp Valley Forge , Camp Parsinus , Camp White Plains , and Camp Robert ' s Farm . On September 30 , 1778 , he was wounded and listed as a supernumerary after his lungs were damaged by a cannon ball at Monmouth . He left the war to go to the West Indies in Havana and Curracas in 1779 to recuperate . After recuperating , he re - entered the service , and in December 1780 , he was a Captain of Volunteer Troop of Horses in the 4th Virginia Militia . At Yorktown . March 8 , 1781 Yorktown — Letter from Capt . James Maxwell to Gov Jefferson described how a plundering party of about 300 British regulars under Col . Dundas were chased from Yorktown to Newport News by Maj . Callis & Lt . Allen with a small force of volunteers . On April 6 , 1781 , now a Major , Callis delivered letters from Brig Gen . Weedon to the British Maj . Gen . W Phillips , Portsmouth , regarding the exchange of prisoners . After the Siege of Yorktown , March 8 , 1781 , Capt . James Maxwell wrote a letter to Gov . Thomas Jefferson and described how a plundering party of about 300 British regulars under Col . Dundas were chased from Yorktown to Newport News by Maj . Callis & Lt . Allen with a small force of volunteers . Meets Benedict Arnold . On August 1 , 1781 , having been promoted to Colonel , Callis reported on the fleet in the Portsmouth area to Brig Gen . Weedon at Williamsburg . Louis L . Kean relates how his great - great - great - grandmother Anne ( Price ) Callis told her grandchildren that Callis met with Benedict Arnold on the James River to arrange for the exchange of prisoners of war . As they waited for the papers to be processed , Arnold asked what would happen if he , Arnold , were taken prisoner . Callis replied , " Sir , the leg that was wounded in the service of your country would be buried with full military honors . The rest of you , they would hang ! " A footnote in Irving ' s " Life of Washington " ( p . 286 ) relates this incident but does not name the officer . Aide to General Nelson . In his widow ' s application for a pension in 1847 , she stated her husband acted as aide de camp to Gen . Nelson in 1781 during the period when the British fleet under Adm . Graves was in Hampton Roads and Lord Cornwallis was operating by land . Lafayette ' s letter to Jefferson . In the " Virginia Magazine of History " ( V375 ) was printed a letter from Lafayette to Governor Jefferson , dated July 1 , 1781 . Lyons Plantation - - " I had yesterday the pleasure to see Maj . Callis and am happy to find you have established a chain of liaison between this camp and the seat of government . " Lafayette mentioned the enemy ' s retreat from Richmond , and their arrival at Williamsburg . He suggested that he go and fight Cornwallis . His troops had managed to get clear of the smallpox ; but his men were deserting to harvest their crops . He suggested arming two corps of volunteers of 120 men each with spears ( for lack of better weapons ) , forming a corp of 150 negro pioneers and a corp of 150 negro wagonners to collect horses and weapons from the countryside . " Col . Callis is going up for that same affair ( equipping a cavalry ) and to him I beg leave to refer your excellency . " In 1782 , Col . Callis was at the siege of Yorktown with Lafayette for Cornwallis ' s surrender ; he was an aide to Gen . Nelson . Col . Banastre Tarleton . During the siege of Yorktown , Capt . Callis was amused when a farmer dashed into the street and grabbed the bridle of the intensely disliked British Col . Tarleton ' s mount , declaring loudly , " This here be my horse that the damned Britishers stole " — and got his horse back . St . George Tucker , in his journal on the siege of Yorktown , corroborated that Capt . Callis was a witness of this incident . This is the hated British officer portrayed in the movie " The Patriot " ( 2000 ) . The character in the movie ( Colonel William Tavington ) was based on Tarleton as a cruel , sadistic commander who massacred prisoners of war and innocent civilians . Callis ' Revolutionary War service was a total of 7 years and 10 months . Later life . Society of Cincinnati . In early May 1783 , Callis became a charter member of the Society of Cincinnati , along with Gen . Washington . In 1787 , the Society held its meeting a week before the Constitutional Convention when the Articles of Confederation was replaced by the Constitution . 21 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were members of the Society . William Overton Callis was one of the 21 . Cool Springs . On December 7 , 1785 , he bought Cool Springs plantation , comprising , from Thomas and Lucy Poindexter for 120 pounds . It was near the crossroads of Cuckoo . On January 19 , 1788 he bought from Robert & Barbara Barrett 25 for 320 pounds . By 1788 , he was the 50th largest land owner , 57th wealthiest land owner , and the 70th largest slave owner in Louisa County . He owned over worth then around 500 pounds . He owned 15 slaves , 5 horses , and 15 cattle . Constitutional convention and politics . In 1788 , he was a representative from Louisa County to the Virginia Ratifying Convention where they ratified United States Constitution . Virginia was not necessarily as a whole inclined to ratify . There were eight representatives , one of which is our subject here , whose constituency was decidedly against ratification . Callis was persuaded to vote for the ratification against his citizen ' s opinion . Had he and the other seven not changed their votes , Virginia would not have ratified the constitution , at least at that vote . ( Wm . Writ Henry , Life of Patrick Henry ) He was a representative to the Virginia General Assembly from Louisa County for 17 years . Callis was an elector from Virginia in Washington ' s unanimous election to a second term in 1793 . Until 1800 , each elector had two votes . Callis voted with all the other electors unanimously using one vote for Washington . His second vote went for Republican George Clinton of New York as did the other electors from Virginia . Washington won President with 132 votes , but Clinton came in third with 50 votes behind Federalist John Adams 77 votes who became Vice President . George Clinton later became Governor of New York ( 1777 ) and ultimately become VP ( 1805 – 1812 ) under both Jefferson and Madison . Letters from Thomas Jefferson . During the time between serving as the first Secretary of State and as the second Vice President on May 8 , 1795 , Thomas Jefferson wrote to Callis at Cuckoo , requesting him to negotiate the purchase of Nance , a 34 year old weaver , from Jefferson ' s brother - in - law Hastings Marks ; Jefferson was resuming the business of domestic manufacture and needed a weaver but must pay for her out of next year ' s crops . Callis lived less than 40 miles from Monticello . While serving as President , Jefferson responds to a letter from Callis asking Jefferson for a position for Callis ' son in the Navy . " Washington , July 19 , 04 In receipt of your letter asking employment in the Navy for your son . I enclosed it to the Secretary of the Navy . He is at present at Baltimore . His answer is that your son can take his station with the midshipmen , and that his first employment will be in one of the gunboats . You omitted to mention his name , or the warrant would now have been sent . As I set out for Montecello in six days , it will be shorter for you to address the information to Robert Smith , Secretary of the Navy at Baltimore . He will forward the warrant and instructions to whatever place you shall direct . Accept my friendly salutations and assurances of great asteem and respect . Thos Jefferson " Retirement , Death , and burial . In 1790 , he built his last home , " Needmore " , in Cuckoo , Virginia across the road from his ordinary Cuckoo Tavern which he also bought in 1807 . Needmore was a large two - story southern style frame farmhouse . http : / / www . schutzfamily . us / It was at Cuckoo Tavern during the war that Jack Jouett overheard English officers plotting the capture of Gov . Jefferson and the Virginia legislature , then convened at Monticello . Jouett made the perilous ride over back roads in the dead of night to warn them so they were long gone when the British arrived the next day . In 1800 , Callis retired from politics . On March 14 , 1814 , he died at his Needmore home ; he is buried in Fork Episcopal Church Cemetery , Point of Fork , 12566 Old Ridge Road , Doswell , Va Hanover County , Virginia , with his second wife Ann ( Price ) Callis . General Nelson ' s wife is also buried in this cemetery . ( 3 ) The Fork Church is north of Richmond and 1 / 2 mile east of Cool Water . This church was also that of Patrick Henry , and they were fellow attendees during their lives . After Callis ' death in 1814 , Needmore was sold four years later in 1818 to Henry Pendleton . In 1912 , it was torn down and replaced by the home of the present Pendleton family . References . References : 1 " The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788 : With Some Account of the Eminent Virginian of that era who were members of the body . " by HUGH BLAIR GRIGSBY , LL . D . 1891 2 " The Family of William Overton Callis of Louisa County , Virginia " by Charles R Niehaus 1989 3 http : / / www . theforkchurch . org / history . html Virginia Regiment