Some Paternal Lines of Virginia Caroline Wright: Kincannons, Snodgrass, and Glenn

Virginia Caroline Wright’s Paternal Lines:  Kincannon, Snodgrass, and Glenn 

 I should include Virginia Caroline Wright’s great grandmother Elizabeth Montgomery in this section, but although researchers seem to agree that her name was Elizabeth Montgomery, that is all that I could find about her. The same source that mentions the Wright family living on Davis Creek and Rockfish River in Amherst County, later Nelson County, Virginia, named a second family living there named Montgomery, so I assume that Jacob Wright’s wife was likely from that family. There were also Montgomery families in Washington County, Virginia, during the 1700s-1800s, but I haven’t been able to tie this Elizabeth to any of them. I think the last name is pretty likely for Elizabeth since she used that name as a middle name for at least one child.

Kincannons

Francis George Kincannon Sr. (1715-1795) 6xggf  Immigrant Ancestor from Ireland

 We have 46 DNA matches where the common ancestors between our trees and the matches’ trees are Francis George Kincannon Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Summers.

Francis George Kincannon was born in Ireland, most likely Northern Ireland where many families from Scotland, Wales, and Northern England immigrated to Ireland to try to establish Protestantism in Ireland. He came to the colonies around 1735. He married Elizabeth Summers about 1740. He lived in York County, Pennsylvania, which had earlier been a part of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. York County is not far from Gettysburg.  Francis even acquired a l100-acre land grant there in Menallen Township and another in Cumberland Township before moving to Virginia.

It has been said that Kincannon moved to Washington County, Virginia, after Indian raids made life hard in Pennsyvania, but most of the Indians in Pennsylvania had made treaties with William Penn and the Quakers who established many of the Pennsylvania counties, so I would say we really don’t know the motivation for Francis to move to Washington County in 1769, but he moved to a plantation (think large farm) of over four hundred acres near Ebbing Springs, a little settlement just south of Glade Springs which is northeast from Abingdon and almost due north of Damascus, Virginia. It was on the Middle Fork of the Holston River. In 1770 he was named to survey a road and served on juries a number of times. Francis gave two acres for the Glade Springs Presbyterian church and cemetery, and was instrumental in requesting that the Presbytery of Hanover, Pennsylvania send out a minister in 1772. There are land grants made in 1774, for 546 acres, the original 400 acres was surveyed in 1781, and in 1785 he was granted an additional 328 acres adjoining Joseph Snodgrass. In 1777 he took an oath to the state of Virginia. Francis Kincannon Sr.’s will was made in March, 1795, leaving the property to his wife Elizabeth and their children, and the estate was probated in September, 1795. His widow received her dower  lands in January the following year. Francis Kincannon Sr. is buried in the cemetery for which he gave land, Glade Spring Prebyterian cemetery.

This map shows the Kincannon land grant on a modern map. Where all the northern boundaries seem to converge is Glade Spring, little settlement due north of Damascus.

Francis George Kincannon, Jr. (1750-1838) 5xggf  We have 98 DNA matches where the common ancestors between our trees and the matches’ trees are Francis George Kincannon, Jr. and his wife Martha Snodgrass.

Francis George Kincannon, Jr. was born in 1750, most likely in York County Pennsylvania. He moved with the family to Washington County, Virginia, in 1769, most likely along the Great Wagon road. There is an AGBI entry for him. In 1773 he married Martha Snodgrass, the daughter of David and Margaret Snodgrass on a neighboring farm. In 1774 he had 83 acres surveyed on the North Fork of the Holston River. In 1780 he bought 205 acres on the South Fork of the Holston which he later sold. In 1790 he bought 300 acres on both sides of the South Fork of the Holston and in 1796 he had an additional 49 acres surveyed there. In April of 1779 Kincannon was made an ensign (officer) in William Love’s Militia, and in June of 1779 he was made second lieutenant. He served in the Battle of King’s Mountain along with about 400 other Washington County men. He was also involved several times with the militia against the Indians. He is listed in the Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution as a lieutenant in the Montgomery militia dated 1779. He listed in tax records in 1782, owning three horses, seven head of cattle, and three slaves. In 1816 Francis sold his lands in Virginia and moved to Hardin County, Tennessee, not long after the death of his wife Martha.

Francis Kincannon, Jr. is said in the Trimble book to have been a physcian. He married his second wife, Frances Smith, in Maury County, Tennessee. His brother James Kincannon was also in Tennessee, and they made various purchases and sales of land there. One interesting record is about Francis receiving a bounty for the heads of two wolves in 1820. Like his father, Francis Jr. was involved in his new community laying out roads and serving on juries, involved in local affairs. In 1823 he paid for the freedom of a slave to his owner.  Francis Kincannon, Jr. made his will in 1838 leaving his property to his wife and children, all of whom were from his first wife.

What was the battle of Kings Mountain?

Fought for little over one hour on October 7,1780, this small but significant Patriot victory over the British was fought in South Carolina. The interesting thing about the battle is that it was fought by irregular forces, both Loyalists and Patriots; the only regular British soldier involved was the British commander Patrick Ferguson. Many of the Patriot forces were from the hills and valleys of western North Carolina, now Tennessee, and along the Holston River, called the Overmountain Men since they came from the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountains. The siege of Charleston ended with the British winning the ability to move inland where they hoped to rally the loyalists in the Carolinas. Ferguson had success in recruiting at least one thousand South Carolinian loyalists to his militia, but was constantly harrassed by North Carolina Patriots using hit-and-run tactics. Threatened by Ferguson, the North Carolinians sent outriders to muster the militia of the Overmountain regions, making a plan to defeat Ferguson east of the mountains. Colonel William Campbell gathered around four hundred men from the Abingeon, Virginia, region [including our Francis Kincannon, Jr. and his brother Andrew]. They joined forces with others from North Carolina and the region that would become Tennessee. Ferguson heard about the growing Patriot force and began a retreat. Campbell was appointed the commander of the Patriots. Firing from all sides with their long rifles, the Patriots used the cover of the woods against the Loyalists gathered on a large plateau. Ferguson was killed. The Loyalist forces disbanded, and the Overmountain men headed home. The victory demoralized the British and buoyed the spirits of the Patriots. Kings Mountain is seen in a turning point for the war; in just over one year Cornwallis surrendered his Army to Washington at Yorktown. Later the number of Washington County men who fought for the formation of a new country at Kings Mountain made the decision to leave the Union very difficult. Today, Abingdon Muster grounds is considered one end of the Overmountain Victory Trail and holds summer demonstrations and re-inactments of mustering for batttle.

Mary Kincannon (1774-1848)4xggm  As stated in the Wright post, we have 21 DNA matches where the common ancestors are Mary Kincannon and her husband John Montgomery Wright.

Mary Kincannon was born in 1774 in Washington County, Virginia. She married John Montgomery Wright and had eleven children. It was clear that she had pride in her family names since five of them had Kincannon or Snodgrass as middle names, and in our direct line, David Snodgrass Kincannon Wright had them both. He was usually known as David SK Wright. Mary died in 1848.

Snodgrass

William Snodgrass Sr. (1679-1735) 8xggf Immigrant Ancestor from Scotland

William Snodgrass came to the colonies sometime in the early 1700s, most likely from Ireland but with a Scots background, and established a town called Hedgesville which is now in West Virginia. He was a Presbyterian and is buried at the Tuscarora Presbyterian cemetery in Berkeley County.

William Snodgrass Jr. (1697-1750) 7xggf Immigrant Ancestor from Ireland

We have 39 DNA matches where the common ancestors between our trees and the matches’ trees are William Snodgrass Jr. and his wife Catherine Patterson.

William Snodgrass Jr. was born in Ireland where his Scots family had immigrated to try to help William Penn recruit Quakers in Ireland with the intention that they would help establish the colony of Pennsylvania in the colonies. The family came first to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where they had a tract of land next to William Patterson. William moved to Berkeley County, Virginia, and then to Frederick County, Virginia. He married Catherine Patterson who appears to have been William Patterson’s sister. Patterson died in 1782 and part of that tract eventually went to William Snodgrass. By 1732 William had purchased land in the settlement Hedgesville in Berkeley County. There is an historic tavern in Hedgesville, Berkeley County (now in West Virginia) called the Snodgrass Tavern. It was built in stages beginning around 1742 and is one of the oldest buildings still standing in West Virginia. The tavern became a private residence in 1847. It is claimed that the last Snodgrass owning the tavern refused to sell liquor, and with business dwindling, sold it. There are many records of William making land purchases in Berkeley County, but also in Augusta County, Virginia. He owned quite a bit of land. Upon his death in Frederick County,without a will, the court records his oldest son David appearing before the court to establish his rights as heir. William is buried in Hedgesville, Virginia.

Snodgrass Tavern

David Snodgrass (1725-1814) 6xggf We have 70 DNA matches where the common ancestors between our trees and the matches’ trees are David Snodgrass and his wife Martha Ann Glenn.

David Snodgrass was born most likely in Berkeley County, Virginia, although Findagrave and many trees place his birth in Washington County, VA. In 1757 david and his brother John began buying land from departing Quakers moving from Berkeley County and Frederick County in Virginia to North Carolina. David married Margaret Glenn in 1758, and in 1760 the first of their twelve children was born. He is listed in the militia for Frederick County, Virginia in 1758 as well. David and John divided their lands around 1769, and David moved to the middle fork of the Holston River, not far from Abingdon. He built a home and fort and became active in the religious and civil affairs of the town. There is mention of his being appointed to lay out a road from “Town House (now in Smythe County) to Eighteen Mile Creek (now Abingdon). About this time problems with the Indians, primarily the Shawnee, escalated, and David built not only a home, but a sort of fort for area settlers to shelter inside during hostilities. He is listed in the Washington County, Virginia, in the 1810 census. David’s sons enlisted for the Revolutionary War, but some part of that service was actually dealing with Indians incited to by the British against the colonials. At least one son served at Kings Mountain. David Snodgrass died in 1814 in Lodi, Washington County, Virginia. In his will he provides for his wife to have one-third of his estate, including at least one named slave and some cattle. To his sons Joseph and Benjamin he left all his lands and tenements (tenant farms), divided by an unnamed creek. The other children are named but receive much smaller inheritances. Margaret later in 1814 renounced the will’s provisions and asked for the land and personal estate entitled to her.

The Snodgrass Fort House after recent renovations; it is still occupied; note the log portion on the right end.

Martha Snodgrass (1759-1815) 5xggm As stated in the Kincannon section, we have 98 DNA matches with common ancestors of Martha Snodgrass and her husband Francis George Kinannon Jr.

Martha was born in Berkeley County, Virginia, now a part of West Virginia, to David and Margaret Glenn Snodgrass. She married Francis George Kincannon, Jr. in 1773. She died before Francis moved to Tennessee, but she was the mother of all nine of their children.

The Glenns

James Glenn (1723-1774) 7xggf  Immigrant Ancestor from Ireland We have four DNA matches where the common ancestors between our trees and the matches’ trees is James Glenn and his wife Martha Elizabeth Borland.

James Glenn was born in Ireland, but it is believed he was likely Scots-Irish. He had land grant of 247 acres on Tuscarora Branch. It is believed that James was a neighbor of the David Crockett family.Glenn’s will mentions Margaret Snodgrass, his daughter, and is witnessed by a John Snodgrass, likely a neighbor. It is interesting to note that the names of Glenn and Snodgrass are often mingled in the Glade Spring area of Washington County, Virginia, for example in at least two David Glenn Snodgrass men buried in the Old Glade Spring Cemetery.

I will take up the Hands and Edmondsons in my next post.

Resources

Resources from Ancestry.com that helped me with this section were Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800; West Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1724-1985; United States Federal Census Records; AGBI; Tennessee Wills and Probate Records 1779-2008.

Trimble, David B. Kincannon and McDonald of Southwest Virginia. Austin, 1992. Downloaded as e-book. Very informative about the Kincannon family.

https://archive.org/details/genealogicalhist00kinn/page/n161 Online version of Genealogical history of William Henry Kinnison, 1853-1933…related families Kincannon, Day, Dykes, Norwaod, Palmer and Taylor. By Don E. Kinnison and published in 1956 in Casper, Wyoming. Added a few bits about the Kincannons. This online version difficult to read.

“Francis Kincannon, Jr. 1750-1838.” By Margaret Kincannon for the publication Kincannon Kin, volume 20. Very informative article about Francis Kincannon Jr. Accessed at Ancestry.com from original poster dandjcecil1 who posted it in 2013.

http://www.ramblingroots.com/RYB-p/p3918.htm RamblingRoots.com  website which covers some of our kin in concise but well done articles, this one on Francis George Kincannon Sr.

http://sites.rootsweb.com/~rfwilson/robert-p/p39.htm#i13385 Just a genealogy of Kincannons and Snodgrasses, but accurately done.

https://www.historyisfun.org/blog/all-about-the-revolution/the-battle-of-kings-mountain-and-the-overmountain-men/

Good information about Kings Mountain.

https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthwe00lewi/page/108 Online version of History of Southwest Virginia 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870.  Good overall history with a bit about Francis Kincannon.

https://washingtonheritagetrail.com/bc_32.html Information about the Snodgrass Tavern.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Snodgrass-460#_ref-tree_0 Tree that retains some errors like birth in Washington County, Virginia, for David Snodgrass, but has transcriptions of many deeds in Frederick County

https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/glenn/2566/ Information on James Glenn.