William McClung (1738 - 1833)

Born 1738 in Rockbridge, Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 18 Jan 1833 at about age 95 in Rupert, Greenbrier, Virginia, United States

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Biography

"Grandfather Billie" is well documented in the records. He is reported to have been the "first Anglo-Saxon resident of Greenbrier." (The area where he settled is now Rupert, WV and surrounding countryside.) One source ^[1] notes he:

"… was the first settler on Meadow River, locating here in 1766. He took a tomahawk entry for 100,000 acres on Meadow River and its tributaries, and made his home here when the Indians were so troublesome that he plowed with his rifle strung to his shoulder and his wife and three children took refuge in the dense swamp while he was working, only returning to the cabin at night when he was there to defend them."

Another source reflected:

"Greenbrier pioneers for the most part were well content to build their cabins in the region of the Great Levels (Lewisburg) and long the banks of the Greenbrier River, allowing the more remote and inaccessible sections to the north and west to await later settlers. The exception was the very early settlement by one hardy soul, William McClung, - or, more properly, by two, for certainly his wife was no less hardy-on Big Clear Creek, in Meadow Bluff District. The locality is still spoken of as McClung's Meadow, and the river running through it as Meadow River."

The first born of "Grandfather Billie" McClung and Abigail Dickenson Carpenter was also the first white born in the region. Our line descends from their third son, William "Chunky Billie" McClung who was born on April 11, 1772.

The McClung family was about twenty-two miles from Lewisburg, but the family made the journey to "town" frequently. "Grandfather Billie" became an elder in the Old Stone Church, and attended Sunday services there. Several of his brothers migrated to the area, and there soon came to be a little family colony on the creek, though that section failed to attract others and remained sparsely inhabited.

In partnership with Gen. Andrew Moore and Alexander Welch, McClung patented a tract of land containing 43,000 to over 100,000 acres (source dependent) lying between the Meadow and the Gauley Rivers, in what is now Nicholas Co., WV. According to one source "…(He) gave his grandchildren 100 acre plots as birthday gifts. His descendants are very numerous in Greenbrier and Nicholas Counties. During his lifetime he frequently remarked that he could stand on his doorstep, blow his bugle and call two hundred of his descendants to breakfast. He was very tall and handsome in appearance, a good conversationalist and a most estimable citizen. He was a Presbyterian and donated two acres of land on Otter Creek, one mile west of Meadow Bluff, for the erection of a church. The church ultimately came into the possession of the Baptists…"

William was born about 1738. He passed away in 1833. ^[2]

William was born in 1738. William McClung ... ^[3]

1. ↑ "The Backcountry Ancestors of Aimee Ernest Shawver," prepared by her grandson, Robert L. Ellis, 2001
2. ↑ Unsourced family tree handed down to Robert Neely.
3. ↑ A source for this information is needed.

See also:

• Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=555902&pid=18268709

• Find A Grave Memorial# 5015916 William "Grandfather Billie" McClung