Glenn, L. C. (Leonidas Chalmers), 1871-

Wilson (sometimes Willson), Glenn, and Torrence families lived in Crowders Creek, Gaston County, N.C. (previously Tryon County and Lincoln County) and York County, S.C. The Wilson family of Cumberland County, Pa., included John Wilson (1742-1799) of North Carolina; Samuel Wilson (1754-1799), Presbyterian minister of Cumberland County, Pa.; John's sons Robert G. Wilson (b. 1768), Presbyterian minister of Abbeville, S.C., who moved to Chillicothe, Ohio, because of his opposition to slavery, Samuel Blain Wilson, a Presbyterian minister at Fredericksburg, Va., and later a professor at the Union Theological Seminary in Prince Edward County, Va., and William Joseph Wilson (1777-1854), of Lincoln and Gaston counties, N.C., and his son Lawson Wilson (1809-1876); and other relatives in Ohio. The Glenn family included William Davis Glenn (b. 1833) of Gaston County; his brother Robert N. Glenn (d. 1864), a Confederate soldier; their father John F. Glenn of Gaston County and York County, S.C.; and William's son L.C. (Leonidas Chalmers) Glenn, author and geology professor at Vanderbilt University. The Torrence family included Edwin B. Torrence of Rutherford (later Cleveland) County, N.C., his children, Mary Ellen Torrence, Luther B. Torrence, and Thomas O. Torrence (d. 1862), a Confederate soldier, and brother-in-law Nathan Mendenhall of Gaston County, N.C.; William Wilson Torrence (1808-1875) and his son Leonidas Torrence (d. 1863), a Confederate soldier who died at Gettysburg; and other relatives in Arkansas.

From the description of L.C. Glenn papers, 1752-1927. WorldCat record id: 31070102

Persons represented are members of the Wilson, Torrence, and Glenn families. The Wilson family of Cumberland County, Pa., included John Wilson (1742-1799) of North Carolina; Samuel Wilson (1754-1799), Presbyterian minister at Big Spring Church, Cumberland County, Pa.; Robert G. Wilson (b. 1768), son of John, Presbyterian minister at Abbeville, S.C., who moved to Chillicothe because of his opposition to slavery; and William oseph Wilson (1777-1854), son of John, of Lincoln and Gaston counties, N.C. Glenn family members represented include William Davis Glenn (b. 1833); his brother, Robert N. Glenn, Confederate soldier; John F. Glenn, father of William and Robert, of the Crowders Creek area of Gaston County, N.C., and York County, S.C.; and L. C. Glenn (1871-1951), son of William, professor of geology at Vanderbilt University and author. Torrence family members represented include Edwin B. Torrence of Rutherford, later Cleveland, County, N.C., and his sons, both of whom fought in the Confederate Army; William Wilson Torrence (d. 1875); and Leonidas Torrence, a Confederate soldier who died at Gettysburg.

From the description of Papers, 1752-1927. WorldCat record id: 25255538

L. C. (Leonidas Chalmers) Glenn, a professor of geology at Vanderbilt University, collected papers of extended Glenn, Torrence, and Wilson (sometimes spelled Willson) families. His grandfather, John F. Glenn, of the Crowders Creek sections of North Carolina and South Carolina, married Jeanette Scott. Their children included William Davis Glenn (b. 1833), who married Sarah Priscilla Torrence (1851-1906) in 1870, and is the father of L. C. Glenn; and Robert N. Glenn (d. 1864), who served in the Confederate Army.

L. C. Glenn's mother, Sarah Priscilla Torrence, was the daughter of William Wilson Torrence (1808-1875) and Sally Ann Wilson Torrence (1813-1880). Her brother, Leonidas Torrence (d. 1863), served in the Confederate Army and was mortally wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. The Torrence family, chiefly of the piedmont of North Carolina, intermarried with the Wilsons and Glenns of Gaston County, N.C. (formerly Lincoln County, N.C.). Members of the Torrence family included Edwin B. Torrence (fl. 1840) of Rutherford County, N.C. (later Cleveland County, N.C.); his daughter, Mary Ellen Torrence (fl. 1850-1886); his sons, Luther B. Torrence and Thomas O. Torrence (d. 1862), both of whom fought with the Confederate Army; and his sister Mary B. Torrence (1799-1879) and her husband Nathan Mendenhall of Gaston County, N.C.

The patriarch of the Wilson family was John Wilson, who died in Pennsylvania in 1773. John Wilson had five sons: John Wilson (1742-1799), who was married to Mary Wray (1737-1830) and migrated to North Carolina; Samuel Wilson (1754-1799), who was a graduate of Princeton University, a pastor at Big Spring Presbyterian Church in Cumberland County, Pa., and married to Jane Mahon (who later married John Heap); Hugh Wilson, who migrated to Georgia; James Wilson, who settled in Ohio; and William Wilson (d. 1778), who died unmarried.

John Wilson (1742-1799) and Mary Wray Wilson had ten or eleven children, including Robert G. Wilson (b. 1768), William Joseph Wilson (1777-1854), and Samuel Blain Wilson (1783-1869). Robert G. Wilson was a Presbyterian pastor in Abbeville, S.C., until he migrated to Chillicothe, Ohio, because of his opposition to the institution of slavery. He served as the third president of the Ohio University, 1824-1839. William Joseph Wilson was married to Sarah Baird Wilson (1773-1851) in 1799. They lived in Lincoln County, N.C., and Gaston County, N.C., and had ten children, including Lawson Wilson (1809-1876); Sally Ann Wilson (1813-1880), who married William Wilson Torrence; and Mary Wilson ( Polly ) (1811-1900), who married Ephraim Torrence. Samuel Blain Wilson was a Presbyterian pastor at Fredericksburg, Va., for about 35 years. In 1841, he became a professor at the Union Theological Seminary at Hampden-Sydney College in Prince Edward County, Va. Among his six children was the Reverend Samuel Blair Owen Wilson (1809-1899), who served the presbyteries in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and was a professor at Davidson College, 1841-1853. Samuel Blair Owen Wilson died at Woodville, Tenn.

The region where the Wilson, Torrence, and Glenn families came together was in what is now Gaston County, N.C., and York County, S.C. Their lands were chiefly on Crowders Creek, which originally was in Tryon County (later in Lincoln County until Gaston County was formed) and always partly in South Carolina. From this neighborhood, they spread out into neighboring counties. The Wilsons kept in touch with kin in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio, and the Torrences with their kin in Pope County, Ark. (the families of one or more brothers of Edwin B. Torrence) and Illinois.

From the guide to the L. C. Glenn Papers, 1752-1927, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)