Patriot Ancestor: Colonel John Glenn

on November 27, 2015

COLONEL JOHN GLENN (1750 - 1797) - He was born in Lunenburg County, Virginia in 1750, and served as an attorney prior to the Revolution. In 1776 he joined the 2nd Battalion Minutemen, Mecklenburg District Battalion as a Captain. In June 1776 he was promoted to Major. He participated in the Battle of Gwynn's Island, and eventually ended up fighting Indians at Ft. Patrick Henry (Kingsport, TN) on the North Bank of the Holston River. He served in the Virginia Militia until the Fall of 1776 and returned to Lunenburg County. John Glenn was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates during Spring 1777, and served in the following sessions:


  • May 5 – June 28, 1777; Oct 20, 1777 – Jan 24, 1778 - Williamsburg
  • May 4 – June 1, 1778; Oct 5 – Dec 19, 1778 - Williamsburg
  • May 1 – July 14, 1780; Oct 16, 1780 – Jan 2, 1781 - Richmond
  • Mar 1 – Mar 22, 1781 - Richmond
  • May 3 – June 30, 1784; Oct 18, 1784 – Jan 7, 1785 - Richmond

He served in the Virginia House of Delegates with every Virginian that signed the Declaration of Independence (Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe and Thomas Nelson Jr.). He also served with two future Presidents (Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) and served with George Mason the primary author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights which served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights.

In the Spring of 1780, John Glenn served in the Virginia Militia a second time. After the fall of Charleston, the state of Virginia called up its Militia to reinforce the Army under the Command of General Horatio Gates. John entered the Army as a Lt. Colonel in the Regiment commanded by Col. Holt Richardson and in the Brigade commanded by General Edward Stevens. This army marched south into South Carolina, and engaged (for lack of a better term) the British Army commanded by General Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780) in South Carolina. The American Army suffered a humiliating defeat. The Army was in total disarray when General Nathaniel Greene took over command of the Southern Campaign. After the Battle of Camden, John was promoted to Colonel and remained under the command of General Stevens. The reorganized American Army engaged Cornwallis again at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse (March 15, 1781).  Records indicate that Colonel Glenn and his company were in charge of guarding the British prisoners taken at the Battle of Cowpens during this period of time.  The British Army suffered heavy casualties during the Spring of 1781, which they weren't able to replace. As a result, Cornwallis withdrew the British Army from Charleston and Augusta and made their way to Virginia and on to Yorktown.

Col. Glenn returned home after the War and continued his occupation as an attorney, and as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He moved his family to Abbeville County, South Carolina around 1788, and he passed away in 1797.

Col Glenn is the qualifying ancestor of Stephen Kirby.