Col. George Clendenin Historic Marker
This document is not intended to be an exhaustive study of our Scottish background but a thread that traces our extended family back to our roots in Scotland. The many different sources will be acknowledged at the end. One can find many online and detailed articles that fill in the blanks.
It is surprising how little most of our relatives know about our family. There seems to be a conspiracy of silence. Our mothers and fathers seemed to be discouraged from asking too many questions. If someone were in the hospital it was considered inappropriate to ask why. Like most families of the Westward movement it is within the realm of possibilities that they were running from something as well as to something.
This document will trace our lineage only to the first cousins of the children of Samuel A. and Myrtle (Cypert) Clendenin back to our direct Relationship to Col. George Clendenin.
Col. George Clendenin Historic Marker
Historically there were 3 – 4 waves of Scottish immigration to the New World. Many came to America for adventure and the hope of a new life. Some were fleeing wars between Scotland and England. And some were deported as criminals. Others were driven by famine and hunger. Large numbers of Scots ended up in the southeast Colonies. The Blue Ridge, Smoky and Allegheny Mountains reminded them of their landscapes in Scotland. The Fiddle became a common instrument of Appalachian music because of its similar sound of the Bagpipes. Over the years the many branches of the Clendenin’s covered the rivers and forests like dew. This document will not trace all the brothers and cousins of every limb. My intent is to follow the direct ancestral tie that leads to us.
Clendenin’s seem to settle at the leading edges of the frontier. In Scotland the Clendenin’s lived just a few miles north of the famed Hadrian’s Wall which defined the limits of civilization. The first Barbarians the Roman Legion would face were likely a Clendenin.
Hadrian's Wall in modern day United Kingdom
They arrived in the New World through Maryland and temporarily paused in central Virginia where they became farmers and loggers and wood smiths. It wasn’t long before they advanced to the undefended land along the Kanawha River and into the heartland of the Shawnee Indians and Chief Cornstalk. When they landed in South Central Tennessee They lived among a large contingent of Pacifists who did not want to enter the War between the North and South. Following “The War of Northern Aggression” their trail led them to the Choctaw lands of Indian Territory.
With this brief synopsis let’s roll back the calendar for 800 years and follow between 8 to 10 generations and get a broad glimpse of who we are. It is my hope that this will whet your appetite for more research and leave you with a sense of pride.