Personas

I was born in the Winter of the Year of our Lord 1726, in Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, in the Colony of Virginia. I am by descent of the Scots-Irish, though an American by birth and affection. My honoured parents were Thomas and Marion Kendrick, and I was the youngest surviving of five sons.  I have since taken to wife Miss Denise Regier, and the Lord hath blessed our union with three sons, James, Joseph, and Robert.

In my youth I attended the Log College in Pennsylvania for the space of one year, where I was instructed under the celebrated New Light divine, the Reverend William Tennent, shortly before his departure from this mortal life. Having completed my studies there, I returned again into Virginia. Yet my inclination was ever toward the sea, and, removing to the coast, I entered the life of a mariner. In due course I was bound apprentice in the art of coastal surveying and the making of charts.

Whilst employed upon a survey in Charles Town, in the Province of South Carolina, I found both the country and its people much to my liking and resolved to remain. There I continued to perfect my skill in the drawing of maps and sea charts, whilst also applying myself to the improvement of land as a planter.

After maintaining a lengthy correspondence with the daughter of a worthy acquaintance, I journeyed by the Great Wagon Road unto Tryon County in North Carolina, that I might make her personal acquaintance. She was Miss Denise Regier, a Prussian, newly come into the colonies and employed as a schoolmistress. Our friendship prospered into affection, and in due season we were joined together in holy matrimony.

When the king of England was engaged in the late French and Indian War, commonly called the Seven Years’ War, I entered into military service. Therein I acquired considerable experience in the field and became well acquainted with the manner of warfare practised against the Cherokee. Upon the conclusion of that conflict, I continued my service in the New Acquisition Militia of this province fighting for Liberty.

I am Glenn McCorkle, born the eighteenth day of October in the Year of Our Lord 1750, on the Province of the Ulster Plantation in the Kingdom of Ireland. My father was James McCorkle and my mother Margaret were born in Argyllshire, Scotland, about the years 1720-1725. In 1751 they left Ulster and migrated to Pennsylvania, seeking liberty to worship God according to the Presbyterian faith and to provide honestly for their family. The Lord blessed them with seven sons and one daughter, of whom I am one.

As a young man in 1772, hearing much of the rich lands to the southward, I removed with my wife, Anne down the Great Wagon Road and afterward settled upon Twelve Mile Creek in the Waxhaw Settlement. By grant of His Majesty King George the Third I obtained land, felled the timber, raised a dwelling, and set about planting corn, tending goats and sheep, and providing for my household. When need required, I ranged the wilderness as a long hunter, bringing home deer, bear, and other game. In quieter seasons I wrought with my hands, making furniture for my neighbors and fashioning fiddles from the native woods. I have ever found good fellowship in the drawing of a bow across the strings, and many a harvest frolic, wedding, or tavern gathering hath been made merrier by a lively Scottish air or Irish reel. Our family worships with our neighbors in the Presbyterian meetinghouse, and I have long counted the people of the Waxhaws as my own.

When the King’s officers and their friends began to oppress the people of this country, many hoped the quarrel might yet be settled peaceably. But after the destruction suffered throughout the backcountry, and seeing neighbors driven from their homes, I could no longer remain idle. Therefore, in September of the year 1780, I joined the New Acquisition Militia, serving with my neighbors under our officers in defense of our homes, our families, and the liberties which we have long held dear. I count myself a friend to the American Cause and trust that Almighty God shall favor those who seek justice over tyranny.

 The Lord hath blessed Anne and me with two daughters, Sarah and Mary, whose future gives me courage to shoulder my musket whenever duty calls.

May God defend this land, preserve our liberties, and grant that these unhappy troubles may soon come to an end with justice and lasting peace.