Pictured is Colonel William Anderson who was a first cousin to Nancy Campbell’s mother.
We will next be looking at the younger brother of Nancy Campbell of Adams County. His name was Robert Glasgow. Robert was born in 1792 and was the youngest son of Arthur and Rebekah (McNutt) Glasgow of Buena Vista, Virginia. He married Catherine Anderson, his second cousin. Robert’s grandmother and Catherine’s grandfather were brother and sister. Catherine Anderson’s father was Colonel William Anderson, who was Nancy Campbell’s mother’s first cousin.
I want to stop here for a minute and talk about the Anderson family. You may also note that just like in Adams County, families and neighbors intermarried with each other. This occurred with the Andersons, Pauls, Taylors, Glasgows, Paxtons, Pattons, Grigsbys, McNutts and the McCorkles.
The Anderson family came from the Parish of Killagorwen, County Donegal, Ireland. Robert Anderson, the patriarch of the family, was born in 1700. He married Katherine Graham circa 1724, It was said she was the daughter of the Earl of Montrose. After her death, he married Margaret Graham. Margaret had been brought to Ireland by her mother after her father had been executed for his political beliefs in Scotland. In 1755, Robert and Margaret sailed for America with their two sons Robert and David. Researchers think they were sent to America, by the Presbyterian Church, to help evangelize the Colony of Virginia.
Robert and his family landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although destined for the colony of Virginia. They were persuaded otherwise because of Indian uprisings in Virginia. They settled temporarily in Delaware. They later settled in Botetourt County, Virginia. If you remember from previous articles, their oldest daughter, Katherine Anderson, had secretly snuck aboard a ship in 1851, that was carrying “Scotch Johnny” McNutt, the man her father bitterly opposed and forbade her marriage to him. All must have been forgiven as now they have come to Virginia and settled next to them.
You may also remember I wrote earlier stories concerning “Scotch Johnny” McNutt and the settlement of Novia Scotia. “Scotch Johnny” and Katherine (Anderson) McNutt were the grandparents of Nancy Campbell of Adams County. Katherine Anderson’s older brother Robert’s son was Colonel William Anderson (1764-1839). He was born at the Walnut Hill plantation in Botetourt Co., Virginia. Colonel Anderson lived all his life in the pioneer homestead of stone and logs. Botetourt County was nearer the frontier than was Rockbridge, and in his youth, Indians were still roaming the wilderness. As a boy of sixteen, he ran away from home in the night and traveled two days and nights through the forest with savages around him to join the Revolution. He fought in the Battles of Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse and then later in the War of 1812. He was given the rank of Colonel in the War of 1812 and served as a surveyor and a self-taught engineer.
Colonel Anderson supervised the building of the road from Fincastle to Covington, Virginia and beyond. (US 220 & US 60) In his later years, because he was called in to decide so many disputes among his neighbors, he was known as Squire Anderson. His three sons were all distinguished in Virginia of their period. They were Colonel John T. Anderson of Mount Joy, Botetourt County; Judge Francis Thomas Anderson, of Lexington, Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia and rector of Washington and Lee University and General Joseph Reid Anderson, president of the Tredegar Iron Works, in Richmond. Their ancestorial home, Walnut Hill, was burned to the ground during the Civil War. The home at that time was occupied by his son, John Thomas Anderson. Colonel Anderson died in 1839, at Fincastle, Virginia.
