THEY CAME FROM McGLONE CREEK

If you carefully scan a map of Kentucky you won’t find it; if you look at a map of Carter County, Kentucky, you will only find a small stream called McGlone Branch or McGlone Fork; but nestled there in a valley of northeastern Kentucky, County of Carter, live descendants of one of the first settlers of this part of the Commonwealth. Many have moved on to find their niche in other parts of the country -- some return for brief visits -- but many do not know it exists.

A visit there offers one many things -- a reunion with friends and family; in the fall there is the gathering of nuts, the summer offers blackberry picking; e recently had the experience of having cows walk down the one lane road in front of us and absolutely refusing to be intimidated by the modern four wheel machine of our big city!; views of a serene country side that make one feel at peace with life. But most of all, a feeling of being with good people who still appreciate what God has given us.

We have tried in the pages to follow, to give a brief history, if you will, of the original McGlones and their descendants up to about 1900. We do acknowledge that errors may exist in the book but we have tried to keep them to a minimum. The material contained in this volume came from many sources; public records, correspondence, conversations, genealogy libraries throughout the United States, and our own vivid imaginations. We used whatever piece of information we could find to work out this family puzzle and it represents over a decade of searching. Many of the so called "truths" about the family have now been dispelled because of our research and in cases, it may be hard to convince those believers that other than what they believed is true.

Most of Owen McGlone’s youth is shrouded in mystery, obscured by lost or non-kept records. Whether he was an immigrant, from Ireland or a descendent of earlier McGlone pioneers of America ids not really known and can, at the present time, only be guessed at. All of the material we have seen and read indicate he was from the line of Hugh. He did settle in Carter County, Kentucky as one of the early pioneers of the Commonwealth. He was indeed an adventurer and a seeker trying to find his place for himself and his descendants. His family was large as were those families of his off-spring. Farming turned out to be his main vocation, yet he played a major role in conquering the wilderness in this part of Kentucky.

His children, for the most part, followed their mother and father as settlers and farmers. Still the adventuresome spirit that possessed Owen to venture into the frontier has passed down through the generations. His descendants have ventured from the land into very successful pursuits in business, education, industry, public service, and science. They can be located all over the United States.

As with any clan, large or small, there are some who are only "whispered" about. Yet, they, as well as the more "acceptable", have led to a rich and exciting heritage which we who have inherited it, can be proud and must strive to continue.

to study and learn about Owen, one needs to go back to McGlone Creek and see the "weedy patch" of land that his cemetery has become -- to wonder where his home was and if any trace of it will ever be found -- to wonder what his thoughts may have been as he first glimpsed this land of his -- to imagine the thoughts of his children as they grew up in that lonely land -- to try to imagine "why" we want to return if only for a brief visit up the valley.

Any genealogical search is probably incomplete. This is certainly true with the work here. Those who undertake it possess a morbid curiosity which may be motivated by many purposes -- legal religious, or just the desire to know. The more it is pursued, the more compelling it becomes. as the generations pass, more is lost of the "color" of our ancestors. To capture whatever is left, action must be taken. This attempt t preserve the past for our future was the genesis of this book and the years of research behind it. Perhaps someone, maybe ourselves, will update and correct it so that our children and theirs, will really know about the people who can say THEY CAME FROM McGLONE CREEK.
Bob McGlone

OWEN McGLONE AND HIS FAMILY

The attempt to guess family relations from patchy records can often be misleading. However, from some very slight evidence, we guess that Owen was the son of Andrew and Margaret. He was born on June 23, 1777, according to the Federal Census, or on December 25, 1777, according to his tombstone. This would make him the right age to be their child.

In later Census records, Owen one time states he was born in Ireland and other times gives Pennsylvania as his place of birth. Most of the evidence we have indicates he was born in Pennsylvania. Our main reason for believing that he was the son of Andrew is that according to Biggs and MacKoy’s book, HISTORY OF GREENUP COUNTY, KENTUCKY, Owen and Andrew were in the City of Greenupsburg (Greenup), Kentucky, when the 1802 census was taken. In the 1810 Federal Census, Owen is listed but Andrew is not. It is possible that Andrew may have left the area or perhaps he did between 1802 and 1810. If he was Owen’s father, the rigors of pioneer America would have been extremely trying for a man f his age. Regardless of Owen’s relationship to Andrew we have the first recorded account of Owen about whom this part ill focus along with his descendants.

Before we abandon speculation completely, it appears that Owen and Andrew may have brought more of their family to this section of Kentucky shortly after the Greenup Census. Three men, John, Joseph and William, and one woman, Sarah, are listed in marriage records as having wed between 1803 and 1806 in northeastern Kentucky. We believe they were brothers and sister although there is a possibility of a cousin or two. Documentation for this guess is not available but the records of these McGlones are found in Part II.

The typical route to the west for pioneers from Pennsylvania was along the "Philadelphia Road" according to Buck and Buck in THE PLANTING OF CIVILIZATION IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1939. This road started at Wright’s Ferry, Pennsylvania, on the Susquehana River and ran through York, Pennsylvania, and through the mountains of Hagerstown, Maryland, Fort Cumberland, Maryland, and Fort Necessity Pennsylvania. It then divided with one branch to Redstone Fort (Brownsville, Pennsylvania), and the other to what is now Pittsburgh.

The immigrants to this region were mostly Scotch Irish which was a name given to anyone from Northern Ireland. Most pioneers boarded riverboats on the Redstone Creek to sail down the Monongahilia and down the Ohio to the wilderness lands of the Ohio Valley. There were settlements in the late 1700’s along the river such as Greenupsburg (Greenup), Maysville, and inland around Lexington, Kentucky. This latter area, however, was settled mostly by pioneer who used the overland route through the Cumberland Gap. The river was probably the way Owen’s family reached Kentucky, which was considered part of Virginia until 1792, and Greenupsburg. From here they, or at least Owen, searched inland for land on which to settle. We know that one of the brothers, William, went on to Terre Haute, Indiana, and he will be discussed in a later part of this book. There is an old family tale that while Owen was exploring the area he often spent his nights in the hollow sections of giant sycamores that ere found throughout the region. Inns and other shelters were impossible to find in the vast forestland so the tale does seem logical. There is evidence that the early pioneers of this region did indeed live in trees and it is probable that Owen did also.

There were several ways Owen could have used to find the land he settled based on the patterns of early explorers. During the dry seasons travelers followed the rivers and creeks. If Owen chose this way, he could have gone up the Little Sandy River from Greenupsburg and then crossed the mountain range to Buffalo or Tygart Creek or he could have gone down the Ohio to the mouth of Tygart and then inland to Buffalo Creek. during the wet season, he could have followed a buffalo trace which was a trail made by buffalo on their way from the north to the salt flats of eastern Kentucky. Or, he could have gone by following an Indian trail which was used by the Indians on their hunting expeditions. Such a trace or trail existed west of Buffalo Creek near the head waters of McGlone, Brushy, and Smiths Creek.

Again, family tales claim that Owen did not originally settle on what is now called McGlone Creek, but on a ridge near where Brushy joins Buffalo Creek. Here, according to the story, he built a shelter and returned to get his family. Upon his return he found a family named Smith living in his "home". Whatever happened at this discovery was not related to us. However, we do know that the Smith family finally settled one creek to the north where Carter, Kentucky is now located and Owen moved South one creek to near where McGlone Creek flows into the Buffalo. any proof that this tale is factual is not available.

Owen did build a home at the mouth of the McGlone Creek Valley for his wife, Mary Ann (Polly) Edgar who was born October 11, 1779, in Virginia, and their two children, Elizabeth and John. Here he and Polly had ten more children; three girls and seven boys. When their children were all grown most moved further up the valley and built their own homes. A cemetery with the gravesites of Owen and Polly is located in this part of the valley and is probably close to where Owen built his house. The ruins of this house have never been found. Owen died on September 23, 1867 and Polly on April 16, 1877.

Other than "just" being the progenitor of hundreds of McGlones, some other things are known about Owen both by stories that have passed from generation to generation and from recorded documents. According to the 1810 Federal Census, Owen had seven children living at home. He also reported eight "free colored". The talk is told that one night one of the free colored was late in returning with the cows that had been at pasture some distance from the barn. Owen and probably some of his sons set out to look for him. They heard the howling of wolves in the distance and when they reached the source of the sound, they found the man up a tree surrounded by a wolf pack. He was rescued and we assume the cows got home in safety. People who have lived their lives on McGlone Creek showed us a cemetery for the "colored" of the area. It looked like a cemetery except the headstones were only rocks from the creek with no inscriptions.

Apparently Owen was strongly opposed to slavery and passed this belief on to his children and grandchildren. There are no records of any of them owning slaves although other families in the area did. in the Civil War, most of the men enlisted for the North although some of those enlisting did not serve; deserting after a short time at camp and returning to the hills. A few did indeed join the Confederacy. Of these, few ever returned to Eastern Kentucky.

Folklore has it that Owen was exceptional at tracking horses. This has led to the rumor that he was a United States Marshall. Records at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. which lists all Marshalls, do not include his name. Nevertheless, friends and neighbors of his, tried to put him to the test by placing the shoes of a horse on backwards and challenging him to track it. according to Mort McGlone, in the HISTORY OF CARTER COUNTY, KENTUCKY, he did it.

the amount of land Owen believed he had settled is not known although it was probably considerable. Not many pioneers were in the area so he, as well as they, probably thought all that was around them was theirs to use as needed. The land was later parceled out and according to Jillson, in KENTUCKY LAND GRANTS, 1929, published in 1925, Owen received land warrants of 200 acres in the 1820’s and 1830’s. His sons received 300 acres in the 1830’s and approximately 360 more acres in land grants in the 1860’s.

In 1798, the McGlone Creek region was part of Fleming County, Kentucky; Greenup County in 1803; and finally Carter County in 1839. The new County started to organize, issue deeds, marriage licenses, and to form a judicial system. Owen was selected to serve on the first grand jury in the county after its formation. He was one of the 16 men who were to convene at Cross Roads, Kentucky.

It is possible that Owen and his ancestors were of the Catholic religion. Indeed, many of the McGlones around the world are of this faith including among them, many priests and nuns. One of the fine gentlemen we were to meet during our research was Father Stout of Philadelphia, whose mother was a McGlone. However, from the section of Ireland where most of the McGlones are found, County Tyrone in the north, it seems that this was not necessarily the case. Regardless, he was probably non-practicing in whatever religion he professed to have. Fervent religious practices did not appear to become an important part of this McGlone family until the great Protestant revivals swept the frontier. We know for sure that then it became a very important aspect of life on McGlone Creek. From stories told to us, bitter arguments occurred especially among the women, who apparently were extremely strong willed about basic interpretations of the Bible and church doctrine. The role of religion remains strong even today but the fiery zeal of the pioneer days has cooled somewhat.

The reader who checks early maps such as the one above, will find McGlone listed a town in south central Carter County on the C & O railroad. This is not the McGlone Creek region discussed in this book. The town of McGlone was established much later by one of the family as a railroad stop. The name of the town has now been changed to Cory and the trains no longer stop there. McGlone Creek may be found in northwest Carter County. Some older maps, again like the one above, show the town of Rooney which was the post office for the community around McGlone Creek. It is said that the name was chosen because of the then popular song, "Little Annie Rooney". The post office was finally closed and the town of Rooney disappeared.

Some of the material included in this part has been based upon records found by the authors and the many people who assisted them. Much of it is conjecture and folklore which cannot be documented. Because of this, there may be many errors and assumptions may exist. Perhaps sometime in the future more evidence will be found to prove us correct or incorrect. We hope so, but until that time, this is our best effort and we sincerely hope that each person who reads about the McGlones of Owen will find a certain amount of pride in their ancestor.

It is our belief that Owen had at least three brothers and one sister. They were John, Joseph, William and Sarah, and are discussed later in the book. For instance, William was an early pioneer around the Terre Haute, Indiana area and we will dwell in some depth on that later. We have visited the McGlone Cemetery in that area and found much useful information. See Part II.

Space and mostly time, now permits us only to list the family trees of the male McGlones. Information will be given on the fairer sex but no effort has been made to trace their families.

Owen’s daughters were:
Elizabeth "Betsy" who was born on June 3, 1801, in Virginia and died on August 132, 1819 during childbirth. She married Thomas McCleese on November 13, 1818.

Lucinda was born on March 29, 1810, and died on March 21, 1899. She married John G. Osborn on October 321, 1835.

Margarette Ann was born on July 14, 1813, and died on October 15, 1855. She married James Osborn on January 29, 1834. James was the father of John G. who married Lucinda and of Mary Osborn who married Squire.

Sarah H. was born on June 7, 1816, and died on January 17, 1842. She married Sam McKinney.

Owen’s sons were:
John, William Owen, Robert H., James, Squire, Joseph, Alfred and Ambrose.

Each of these boys will be discussed by chapter and where possible, their families will be traced up to the period of about 1900. Information for the years around 1900 to the present time is available and most is documented by us, but the interest of most people dwells with the years prior to 1900. At some later date we may issue a publication dealing with the modern era of McGlones.

Will of Owen McGlone as listed in Carter County Will Book I in TALLEY’S NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY PAPERS.

Wife, Polly; to Grandchildren, the heirs of William, deceased, Elizabeth Jordan, Sally Fannin, Nancy Logan, Alfred McGlone, John McGlone, Martha McGlone, Jemima McGlone and William McGlone, daughter Lucinda Osburn, Mallisa bats, Lucinda Cobut, and Amanda Pearce; daughter Sarepta Owens; granddaughter, America Osburn; bequeaths to Mary E,, Charles, and Joseph Osburn; grandson, Robert Osburn; sons, Alfred and Ambrose; witness, E.P. Davis and Caleb Burton.

This will was probated August 4, 1866.