Major Joseph McJunkin

Major Joseph McJunkin was born on June 22, 1755, near Carlisle, in the State of Pennsylvania. His father, Samuel McJunkin, was a native of Ireland. His mother, whose maiden name was Bogan, was a native of Pennsylvania. His ancestry was wholly Scotch and Scotch-Irish. At the time of his birth the whole iron-tier country of Pennsylvania and Vir­ginia was in a state of consternation. The defeat of Gen. Braddock had just occurred. All the Indian tribes bor­dering on those States were in a hos­tile attitude before that melancholy event; and its occurrence opened the way for them to fall at any point upon the defenseless whites. Large numbers fled, leaving home and property, and sought safety in the interior. The prospect for the subjugation of the Indians was gloomy and until that was affected the refugees dared not return with their families to their homes along the frontier. Hence they looked abroad for places where they might dwell in safety. Just before these events the Governor of South Carolina had obtained by treaty with the Cherokee Indians the peaceful possession of a large, fertile and salubrious territory.

The country from the Peedee to the Savannah in all the up-country was measurably void of inhabitants, smil­ing in all the richness of virgin beauty. Game was abundant. "The range" was as good as heart could wish. The rich valleys of the Catawba, Broad, Saluda and Savannah Rivers, with their numerous tributaries, offered all the husbandman could ask. Under these circumstances a large number of the exiles in Pennsylvania and Virginia, with their friends, sought homes in the sunny plains of the South. For here the red man was a peaceful neighbor and gladly ex­changed his peltries and furs for the products of civilized men.

Along those emigrants Samuel McJunkin came to South Carolina and stopped on Tinker's Creek Dec. 24, 1775. In the same section a number of his relatives and friends settled about the same time. Among these were the Brandons, Bogans, Youngs, Steens, Kennedys, etc. In fact, a large number of those who settled at this time in North and South Carolina were of the same race, the Scotch-Irish. And as a very large portion of the population of the country be­longed to the same race, they not only were Whigs, but Whigs of the most determined character, it may not be amiss to inquire as to the cause of this unanimity and efficacy.