IRISH SETTLERS ON THE OPEQUAN.
Compiled from an Article by “Iveagh,” in the Belfast (Ireland) Witness.
The year 1718 marks an epoch in the history of America, because in that year a band of sturdy Ulster men turned their faces and fortunes towards the new world. This early and most important organized company of emigrants to leave Ireland in the eighteenth century sailed from Lough Foyle in the year above named, and consisted of about 100 families. (Marmion’s Maritime Ports of Ireland.) These people founded a colony in New Hampshire which became famous in the history of America. The emigrants were of as much importance to America as were those of Plymouth, and from them are descended equally if not more distinguished men.
In 1727, 3,000 people sailed for the North American colonies from Belfast Lough. The following year, ships took 1,000 more, and in the next three years as many as 4,200. The tidings of the success of the New Hampshire colonists and of those who preceded them to other parts of America, drew between the years 1720 and 1742 over 3,000 emigrants annually from Ulster alone. (Gordon’s History of Ireland.) This enormous emigration, for the period, was stimulated by the rich resources and grand opportunities offered in a new country on the one hand, and on the other by the land laws and the restrictions placed on Irish industries.
In 1736 a number of families emigrated from Banbridge, County Down, and neighborhood; amongst them were members of the Glass, MacDowell, Magill, Mulholland, Linn and other families. These people settled in the Shenandoah Valley on the banks of the Opequan, Virginia.
In the beautiful valley of Shenandoah, three miles south of Winchester, Va., you will find the ruins of the old Opequan Presbyterian Church, destroyed in the Civil War. From the Donegal (Pennsylvania) Presbytery, as early as 1736, the Presbyterian settlers received attention, as they were visited by missionaries and ministers from that Presbytery, making it the earliest preaching place in the valley. The first pastor was John Hodge, who may justly be esteemed the founder of the church, as he gave five acres of land for the church site and graveyard. Mr. Hodge, with many of his large family, are buried there, as well as Samuel Glass, the emigrant from Banbridge.
Samuel Glass, the leader of the Banbridge emigrants, took up his residence at the head spring of the Opequan, after many wanderings through the then almost pathless woods, naming the homestead Greenwood, from the grand old forest which covered for the most part the 16,000 acres of land which he had purchased. His son David settled lower down the river, at a place named Cherry Mead, and Robert, another son, took up his abode at Long Meadows. James Vance, a son-in-law of Samuel Glass, resided in the same neighborhood. Another son-in-law named Becket, lived between the Glass estate and North Mountain.—(Foot’s Sketches of Virginia, second edition.) Samuel Glass died at an advanced age, honored and respected by all the settlers over a large portion of the state; he had centered in his person many good characteristics—courage, thrift, perseverance. In the cemetery, near the old homestead, stands a monument to Samuel Glass and his wife, erected by his descendants. It is an obelisk, executed in limestone, standing on a pedestal, in all over ten feet in height. On the south side is inscribed:
To the Memory
of
SAMUEL GLASS
and his wife,
MARY GAMBLE,
emigrants
from Banbridge,
County Down,
Ireland,
A. D. 1736.
Samuel Glass had six children: John, Eliza, Sarah, David, Robert and Joseph—all born at Banbridge. Joseph Glass, the son of Samuel Glass, had twelve children: Mary, Samuel, Robert, Georgetta, Sarah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Martha, Ruth, David, Nancy, and Sophia. Joseph Glass, son of Joseph, son of Samuel, the emigrant, entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. He was much esteemed, and widely known as an eloquent preacher. Other members of the family also distinguished themselves.
William Linn, son of one of these settlers, was born at Banbridge and served under Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, in the wars with the Indians. In the several encounters which took place he distinguished himself, and was rewarded with a commission as lieutenant. Soon after the breaking out of hostilities with the mother country, Linn joined the First Virginia Regiment with the rank of lieutenant.
An expedition was organized with the object of securing ammunition from the Spanish authorities at New Orleans. Capt. George Gibson, an Ulsterman, was entrusted with the leadership of the party, and attended by Lieutenant Linn, with a detachment of their company, descended the river Ohio from Fort Pitt on the 19th of May, 1776, reaching New Orleans on the 22d of September, after a succession of adventures that, in narrative, more resemble romance than the features of sober truth. The shores of the Ohio were lined with hostile Indians, and no white man before had attempted the voyage. Captain Gibson having accomplished his mission, and being secretly released from prison, in which he had been confined to remove the suspicion of the British residents, placed Lieutenant Linn in command.
Captain Gibson took ship from New Orleans, taking with him the powder for service on the seaboard, and in due course landed at Philadelphia, and from thence proceeded to Virginia. Linn’s party, with a total strength of forty-three men, arrived at Wheeling in the spring of 1777, with the barges containing the supply of powder for the western posts. The party suffered many hardships and ran considerable risk from the Indians. For this important and arduous service Gibson was raised to the rank of major and Linn to that of captain. In 1780 we find Linn a colonel commanding a battalion at the battle of Pigua or Chillicothe, in which action he distinguished himself with bravery, his battalion having borne the brunt of the battle, losing many of its men. Colonel Linn continued to serve the revolted colonies after they had achieved their independence. He was ordered to the West to assist in the campaign against the Northwest Indians, and was killed in attempting to reach a secret rendezvous at a place called No-Linn-Hill, in Kentucky—a name acquired from the first exclamation of surprise by a party of his men not finding him at the spot.