William McNutt was the son of John McNutt and Katherine Rebecca Anderson. He married Elizabeth "Betty" Grigsby, on 24 Jul 1806 and they had 9 known children.
Henrietta H. McCormick's Genealogies and Reminiscences, Chicago, 1897, p 107 says William and Elizabeth lived "a mile west of Falling Spring Church. William was a ruling elder there.
They resided on a farm just west of Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, of which they were live long members. A stained glass window was placed in the church sanctuary in the honor of William and Elizabeth, with their names and dates. Dr. George West Diehl's article in the News-Gazette.
"William McNutt, Married Elizabeth Grigsby. Born---, Said to have been in the battle of King's Mountain. Went to the Northwest." Rockbridge Men in The Revolutionary War compiled by the DAR, by regent Linnette B Peak of Glasgow, VA. Includes other McNutts. Per article in the Lexington Gazette, dated 24 Jul 1941, p 6, Library of Virginia. Note: confusion here as that battle was in 1780, when he was 6.
7 Aug 1941 issue of The Rockbridge County News, Lexington, VA, Page 8 article says: "Falling Spring Church To Dedicate Windows At Service On Sunday, A service of unusual interest will be held at Falling Spring Presbyterian church next Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. The first of eight memorial windows to be dedicated in the church, will then be dedicated. The handsome memorial is donated by Dr. R. M. McNutt, of New York city and other relatives. The window is in memory of William and ELIZABETH GRIGSBY MCNUTT, who were members of Falling Spring(.) The exercises will be presided over by the pastor, Rev. Herman L. Cathey and Dr. E. Pendleton Tompkins of Lexington and others will take part in the program. Dr. McNutt and members of his clan will be present. Friends of the McNutt clan and all interested persons are invited to join the congregation in the celebration." Clipping is posted on his wife's site.
A long article begins: Dr. Tompkins' Discourse On The McNutt Family, Aug. 10. At the dedication of a memorial window to the memory of William MdNutt and wife Elizabeth (Grigsby) McNutt, at Fallings Springs Church Sunday, August 10, Dr. E. P. Tompkins gave the following discourse concerning the McNutt family: "I have been asked to give you a few notes on the McNutt family, in whose honor this commemorative service today takes place. And when the name McNutt or McNaught is mentioned please bear in mind that not a little diversity exists in the spelling of this name, and its pronunciation as well. For some examples of this diversity notice this (placard is shown). A descendant of one of the collateral lines, Mrs. Henrietta Hamilton McCormick, has traced the linage far back into the past, to 1267 she tells us, but for our purpose today we may begin a number of centuries later. Alexander McNutt, of pure Scottish blood, though it is said he was born in Ireland, came to Virginia about 1720—some say a few years later —and settled in Orange county. Just where we do not know, as in that early day Orange county took in a mighty scope of territory, extending westward even to the Mississippi river. At any rate his son John McNutt, who had married Katherine Anderson, acquired land on North river. 'Six miles east of Lexington'—though at that day. Lexington had not yet come into existence. Here he proceeded to make his home, and there this sketch of the McNutts has its starting point. "To this couple was born a sizeable family—nine in all, seven sons and two daughters; and from them have descended a vast number, only comparatively small portion of whom are recorded by name on this chart (to be shown). "As our eyes run down the lists of names, our thoughts go back to those early days, and we wish we could know more of the people themselves. But with very few exceptions no records are extant to tell us of their personalities, no writings to describe their characteristics, their features, their mode of thought. Yet, we may safely say they were of substantial worth. An old adage says: Blood will tell. And the scriptures lay down a law: By their fruits ye may know them. And we can safely depend upon it—they left their mark upon their day and generation, and in their progeny they set the measure of themselves. Men and women, these, who have helped in large measure and in varied walks of life, to bring our country to what it is today, in the way of material development and of intellectual advancement. "Even to recite the names of those recorded on the chart would be tedious and time-consuming. Not all of them, of course, bear the McNutt name; throughout the unfolding years the daughters married into other families, and took other names—McCorkle, Glasgow, Paxton, etc. More than one intermarriage between McNutts and Grigsbys have tied those two families of early years so closely together than any consideration of the one almost of necessity involves metion of the other. "The progenitor of the Grigsbys of Rockbridge county was John Grigsby—'Soldier John' he was called. He is said to have been a compatriot of Lawrence Washington, older brother of George Washington—and that he was with 'Lawrence under command of Admiral Vernon in the bombardment of Carthagena, Venezuela. Soldier John's home was "Fruit Hill' known to many of us Us the Effinger place, and now the property of Mr. Effinger's grandson, my esteemed young friend, Effinger Herring. "Here Soldier John entertained the Marquis de Chastellux, a French officer who fought for American independence under Lafayette. It was, however, not in the present mansion, which is of some what later date. The Marquis wrote a lengthy book about his stay under Mr. Grigsby's roof, of whom he writes most appreciatively. Two of John Grigsby's daughters married into the McNutt family; Rachel married in 1790, Alexander McNutt—one of the many Alexanders—and some sixteen years later her sister Elizabeth married William McNutt. John Grigsby, their father, married twice—first Rosanna Etchison, and to them were born four sons and a daughter; his first wife died in 1761, and in 1764 he married Elizabeth Porter. To this wife were born nine children, so making a total of fourteen children bom to Soldier John, The two daughters who married into the McNutt family were both children of the second marriage. The only daughter of the first marriage, Sally by name, married Thomas Welch, and they lived at Fancy Hill, which house they probably built. "Before getting on beyond the history of John McNutt, progenitor of the Rockbridge McNutts, we may devote a few moments to his brother, Alexander, referred to as Col. McNutt, or more properly, Sir Alexander McNutt. The first we learn of him was in the Sandy Creek expedition against the Indians, in which those taking part nearly lost their lives from starvation. Whether from his part in this expedition, or otherwise, he secured the attention of the king of England; and the upshot of this was that he obtained a grant, or several grants, of land in Nova Scotia. His title to this land was conditioned—as was the case with Ben Borden's grant— upon his settling certain numbers of people upon the land within a given period of time. It is said that he brought over, first and last, more than three thousand settlers. For this excellent record he was knighted by King George. "But when the colonists had their disagreement with the mother country Sir Alexander cast his lot with the Americans; and his lands being in what we now call Canada, all his holdings were confiscated by the British crown. Sir Alexander fought in the American army, and after the surrender at Yorktown he returned to Virginia, and made his home for the rest of his life with his brother John. Here he died, and his body rests in Falling Spring cemetery. "A moment ago I said that no description of the appearance, or of the personalities, of these people of early days has come down to us. There is one notable exception. We have a very succinct picture, in words, of Sir Alexander albeit a brief one. It is written of him that even after the Revolution he never gave up his colonial style of dress, but he always wore his hair in a cue—'braided and tied with a ribbon at the back; and that he never gave up kneebreeches and silver-buckled shoes. The sword which was presented him by the king when he received the accolade of Sir Knight always was by his side. The story is told that on one occasion a little child of his brother John was climbing upon his knee, and asked why he always wore his sword; to this he made reply: 'If the enemy should appear it would never do to have no weapon at hand.' This sword has been treasured through the years, and is now in the possession of the Glasgow family at 'Tuscan Villa', up the river from Buena Vista. When Hunter made his raid through Rockbridge in 1864, the sword was despoiled of its scabbard, its silver chain and other ornaments, by vandals in that army. "But let us return to those with whom we are immediately concerned today. John McNutt's son, William, and John Grigsby's daughter, Elizabeth, became man and wife. They had their home within sight of this church—not more than a rifle-shot away. It was at the farm which we know as the Lunsford place—though even as late as my boyhood days it was still called the McNutt farm. I recollect this particularly because on that farm is a deposit of stone which is a splendid whetrock. (Dr. McNutt, whom I see in the audience, should certainly take back with him to New York a sample of this stone. I am sure he will never need it to ...sharpen his wits'..., but might need it to put an edge on his pocketknife). "When we come to tell of these McNutts—or of many another bearing the name of McNutt or other honored names—we are grieved to find that not much is known to tell. They lived out the measure of their days, filling an honorable place in their community, leaving scant record of themselves written down. We could wish that more of the personal history of these, and of many others, could be brought to light. But it is not possible to know their doings, their thinking, their day-by-day lives—these high-minded and stalwart-bodied men and women, these gracious matrons and graceful daughters, these sturdy young sons. It was too evanescent, most of it, to be recorded. Many an incident of more than ordinary interest at the time was passed from mouth to ear—little events of family interest, incidents having to do with the tragic or the comic, stories of travels here and there, accounts of weddings and funerals, tales of family or of community gatherings, were told one to another, but never written down, and with the passing of the years they were forgotten or they were lost in the death of the participants. Some of these probably were recorded in letters, treasured by the recipient for a time, packed away for a score, two-score, threescore years in old secretaries; then unearthed and consigned to the flames, unread, by someone of a later generation To those of us who consider such things well worthwhile such an happening is little short of tragic. "WILLIAM McNutt, and his devoted consort, ELIZABETH GRIGSBY McNutt, both lie slumbering in the soil of old Rockbridge, in the cemetery of this church In the little volume which I hold in my hand, which Dr. McNutt has graciously donated for the archives of Falling Spring is a photograph of their graves. "Time would fail me were I to attempt to do more than merely mention by name some of those who have acquired fame; such as GOVERNOR McNutt of Mississippi, a nephew of those to whose memory this window is dedicated; Professor REUBEN A. McNutt, Dr. ROBERT B. McNutt, bom within sight of Falling Spring but removed to West Virginia, Dr. ELISHA BAXTER McNutt, and Dr. JOHN McNutt, likewise born here but whose labors were in Missouri—all three were sons of WILLIAM and ELIZABETH McNutt. In another branch of the family were Dr. Sarah McNutt, and Dr. Jane McNutt, physicians and authors. Then coming on down to a more recent day, the name of Paul V. McNutt appears—lawyer, Judge, soldier, author, governor of Indiana, U. S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, Federal Security Administrator, etc. "But lest I worry you I must bring this recital to an end. I think I cannot better do so than by relating an incident about a certain representative of the McNutt clan whom it was my good fortune to know—that splendid woman of blessed memory, Mrs, SUSAN YOUELL. She was leaving my office one day, and as a light rain was falling I offered an umbrella. This brought from her a remark which seems so characteristic of her that I feel sure it was. original. With a smile she said: The Bible says the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike; but I think more of it falls, on the just —because usually the unjust has borrowed the just's only umbrella, and has not returned it." Per the Lexington Gazette, Vol 139, # 34, dated 21 Aug 1941.
Marker says:
IN
memory of
WILLIAM McNUTT
Born April 16th 1774
Died Decr. 1st, 1836
Bio by LSP
Henrietta H. McCormick's Genealogies and Reminiscences, Chicago, 1897, p 107 says William and Elizabeth lived "a mile west of Falling Spring Church. William was a ruling elder there.
They resided on a farm just west of Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, of which they were live long members. A stained glass window was placed in the church sanctuary in the honor of William and Elizabeth, with their names and dates. Dr. George West Diehl's article in the News-Gazette.
"William McNutt, Married Elizabeth Grigsby. Born---, Said to have been in the battle of King's Mountain. Went to the Northwest." Rockbridge Men in The Revolutionary War compiled by the DAR, by regent Linnette B Peak of Glasgow, VA. Includes other McNutts. Per article in the Lexington Gazette, dated 24 Jul 1941, p 6, Library of Virginia. Note: confusion here as that battle was in 1780, when he was 6.
7 Aug 1941 issue of The Rockbridge County News, Lexington, VA, Page 8 article says: "Falling Spring Church To Dedicate Windows At Service On Sunday, A service of unusual interest will be held at Falling Spring Presbyterian church next Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. The first of eight memorial windows to be dedicated in the church, will then be dedicated. The handsome memorial is donated by Dr. R. M. McNutt, of New York city and other relatives. The window is in memory of William and ELIZABETH GRIGSBY MCNUTT, who were members of Falling Spring(.) The exercises will be presided over by the pastor, Rev. Herman L. Cathey and Dr. E. Pendleton Tompkins of Lexington and others will take part in the program. Dr. McNutt and members of his clan will be present. Friends of the McNutt clan and all interested persons are invited to join the congregation in the celebration." Clipping is posted on his wife's site.
A long article begins: Dr. Tompkins' Discourse On The McNutt Family, Aug. 10. At the dedication of a memorial window to the memory of William MdNutt and wife Elizabeth (Grigsby) McNutt, at Fallings Springs Church Sunday, August 10, Dr. E. P. Tompkins gave the following discourse concerning the McNutt family: "I have been asked to give you a few notes on the McNutt family, in whose honor this commemorative service today takes place. And when the name McNutt or McNaught is mentioned please bear in mind that not a little diversity exists in the spelling of this name, and its pronunciation as well. For some examples of this diversity notice this (placard is shown). A descendant of one of the collateral lines, Mrs. Henrietta Hamilton McCormick, has traced the linage far back into the past, to 1267 she tells us, but for our purpose today we may begin a number of centuries later. Alexander McNutt, of pure Scottish blood, though it is said he was born in Ireland, came to Virginia about 1720—some say a few years later —and settled in Orange county. Just where we do not know, as in that early day Orange county took in a mighty scope of territory, extending westward even to the Mississippi river. At any rate his son John McNutt, who had married Katherine Anderson, acquired land on North river. 'Six miles east of Lexington'—though at that day. Lexington had not yet come into existence. Here he proceeded to make his home, and there this sketch of the McNutts has its starting point. "To this couple was born a sizeable family—nine in all, seven sons and two daughters; and from them have descended a vast number, only comparatively small portion of whom are recorded by name on this chart (to be shown). "As our eyes run down the lists of names, our thoughts go back to those early days, and we wish we could know more of the people themselves. But with very few exceptions no records are extant to tell us of their personalities, no writings to describe their characteristics, their features, their mode of thought. Yet, we may safely say they were of substantial worth. An old adage says: Blood will tell. And the scriptures lay down a law: By their fruits ye may know them. And we can safely depend upon it—they left their mark upon their day and generation, and in their progeny they set the measure of themselves. Men and women, these, who have helped in large measure and in varied walks of life, to bring our country to what it is today, in the way of material development and of intellectual advancement. "Even to recite the names of those recorded on the chart would be tedious and time-consuming. Not all of them, of course, bear the McNutt name; throughout the unfolding years the daughters married into other families, and took other names—McCorkle, Glasgow, Paxton, etc. More than one intermarriage between McNutts and Grigsbys have tied those two families of early years so closely together than any consideration of the one almost of necessity involves metion of the other. "The progenitor of the Grigsbys of Rockbridge county was John Grigsby—'Soldier John' he was called. He is said to have been a compatriot of Lawrence Washington, older brother of George Washington—and that he was with 'Lawrence under command of Admiral Vernon in the bombardment of Carthagena, Venezuela. Soldier John's home was "Fruit Hill' known to many of us Us the Effinger place, and now the property of Mr. Effinger's grandson, my esteemed young friend, Effinger Herring. "Here Soldier John entertained the Marquis de Chastellux, a French officer who fought for American independence under Lafayette. It was, however, not in the present mansion, which is of some what later date. The Marquis wrote a lengthy book about his stay under Mr. Grigsby's roof, of whom he writes most appreciatively. Two of John Grigsby's daughters married into the McNutt family; Rachel married in 1790, Alexander McNutt—one of the many Alexanders—and some sixteen years later her sister Elizabeth married William McNutt. John Grigsby, their father, married twice—first Rosanna Etchison, and to them were born four sons and a daughter; his first wife died in 1761, and in 1764 he married Elizabeth Porter. To this wife were born nine children, so making a total of fourteen children bom to Soldier John, The two daughters who married into the McNutt family were both children of the second marriage. The only daughter of the first marriage, Sally by name, married Thomas Welch, and they lived at Fancy Hill, which house they probably built. "Before getting on beyond the history of John McNutt, progenitor of the Rockbridge McNutts, we may devote a few moments to his brother, Alexander, referred to as Col. McNutt, or more properly, Sir Alexander McNutt. The first we learn of him was in the Sandy Creek expedition against the Indians, in which those taking part nearly lost their lives from starvation. Whether from his part in this expedition, or otherwise, he secured the attention of the king of England; and the upshot of this was that he obtained a grant, or several grants, of land in Nova Scotia. His title to this land was conditioned—as was the case with Ben Borden's grant— upon his settling certain numbers of people upon the land within a given period of time. It is said that he brought over, first and last, more than three thousand settlers. For this excellent record he was knighted by King George. "But when the colonists had their disagreement with the mother country Sir Alexander cast his lot with the Americans; and his lands being in what we now call Canada, all his holdings were confiscated by the British crown. Sir Alexander fought in the American army, and after the surrender at Yorktown he returned to Virginia, and made his home for the rest of his life with his brother John. Here he died, and his body rests in Falling Spring cemetery. "A moment ago I said that no description of the appearance, or of the personalities, of these people of early days has come down to us. There is one notable exception. We have a very succinct picture, in words, of Sir Alexander albeit a brief one. It is written of him that even after the Revolution he never gave up his colonial style of dress, but he always wore his hair in a cue—'braided and tied with a ribbon at the back; and that he never gave up kneebreeches and silver-buckled shoes. The sword which was presented him by the king when he received the accolade of Sir Knight always was by his side. The story is told that on one occasion a little child of his brother John was climbing upon his knee, and asked why he always wore his sword; to this he made reply: 'If the enemy should appear it would never do to have no weapon at hand.' This sword has been treasured through the years, and is now in the possession of the Glasgow family at 'Tuscan Villa', up the river from Buena Vista. When Hunter made his raid through Rockbridge in 1864, the sword was despoiled of its scabbard, its silver chain and other ornaments, by vandals in that army. "But let us return to those with whom we are immediately concerned today. John McNutt's son, William, and John Grigsby's daughter, Elizabeth, became man and wife. They had their home within sight of this church—not more than a rifle-shot away. It was at the farm which we know as the Lunsford place—though even as late as my boyhood days it was still called the McNutt farm. I recollect this particularly because on that farm is a deposit of stone which is a splendid whetrock. (Dr. McNutt, whom I see in the audience, should certainly take back with him to New York a sample of this stone. I am sure he will never need it to ...sharpen his wits'..., but might need it to put an edge on his pocketknife). "When we come to tell of these McNutts—or of many another bearing the name of McNutt or other honored names—we are grieved to find that not much is known to tell. They lived out the measure of their days, filling an honorable place in their community, leaving scant record of themselves written down. We could wish that more of the personal history of these, and of many others, could be brought to light. But it is not possible to know their doings, their thinking, their day-by-day lives—these high-minded and stalwart-bodied men and women, these gracious matrons and graceful daughters, these sturdy young sons. It was too evanescent, most of it, to be recorded. Many an incident of more than ordinary interest at the time was passed from mouth to ear—little events of family interest, incidents having to do with the tragic or the comic, stories of travels here and there, accounts of weddings and funerals, tales of family or of community gatherings, were told one to another, but never written down, and with the passing of the years they were forgotten or they were lost in the death of the participants. Some of these probably were recorded in letters, treasured by the recipient for a time, packed away for a score, two-score, threescore years in old secretaries; then unearthed and consigned to the flames, unread, by someone of a later generation To those of us who consider such things well worthwhile such an happening is little short of tragic. "WILLIAM McNutt, and his devoted consort, ELIZABETH GRIGSBY McNutt, both lie slumbering in the soil of old Rockbridge, in the cemetery of this church In the little volume which I hold in my hand, which Dr. McNutt has graciously donated for the archives of Falling Spring is a photograph of their graves. "Time would fail me were I to attempt to do more than merely mention by name some of those who have acquired fame; such as GOVERNOR McNutt of Mississippi, a nephew of those to whose memory this window is dedicated; Professor REUBEN A. McNutt, Dr. ROBERT B. McNutt, bom within sight of Falling Spring but removed to West Virginia, Dr. ELISHA BAXTER McNutt, and Dr. JOHN McNutt, likewise born here but whose labors were in Missouri—all three were sons of WILLIAM and ELIZABETH McNutt. In another branch of the family were Dr. Sarah McNutt, and Dr. Jane McNutt, physicians and authors. Then coming on down to a more recent day, the name of Paul V. McNutt appears—lawyer, Judge, soldier, author, governor of Indiana, U. S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, Federal Security Administrator, etc. "But lest I worry you I must bring this recital to an end. I think I cannot better do so than by relating an incident about a certain representative of the McNutt clan whom it was my good fortune to know—that splendid woman of blessed memory, Mrs, SUSAN YOUELL. She was leaving my office one day, and as a light rain was falling I offered an umbrella. This brought from her a remark which seems so characteristic of her that I feel sure it was. original. With a smile she said: The Bible says the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike; but I think more of it falls, on the just —because usually the unjust has borrowed the just's only umbrella, and has not returned it." Per the Lexington Gazette, Vol 139, # 34, dated 21 Aug 1941.
Marker says:
IN
memory of
WILLIAM McNUTT
Born April 16th 1774
Died Decr. 1st, 1836
Bio by LSP
William McNutt was the son of John McNutt and Katherine Rebecca Anderson. He married Elizabeth "Betty" Grigsby, on 24 Jul 1806 and they had 9 known children.
Henrietta H. McCormick's Genealogies and Reminiscences, Chicago, 1897, p 107 says William and Elizabeth lived "a mile west of Falling Spring Church. William was a ruling elder there.
They resided on a farm just west of Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, of which they were live long members. A stained glass window was placed in the church sanctuary in the honor of William and Elizabeth, with their names and dates. Dr. George West Diehl's article in the News-Gazette.
"William McNutt, Married Elizabeth Grigsby. Born---, Said to have been in the battle of King's Mountain. Went to the Northwest." Rockbridge Men in The Revolutionary War compiled by the DAR, by regent Linnette B Peak of Glasgow, VA. Includes other McNutts. Per article in the Lexington Gazette, dated 24 Jul 1941, p 6, Library of Virginia. Note: confusion here as that battle was in 1780, when he was 6.
7 Aug 1941 issue of The Rockbridge County News, Lexington, VA, Page 8 article says: "Falling Spring Church To Dedicate Windows At Service On Sunday, A service of unusual interest will be held at Falling Spring Presbyterian church next Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. The first of eight memorial windows to be dedicated in the church, will then be dedicated. The handsome memorial is donated by Dr. R. M. McNutt, of New York city and other relatives. The window is in memory of William and ELIZABETH GRIGSBY MCNUTT, who were members of Falling Spring(.) The exercises will be presided over by the pastor, Rev. Herman L. Cathey and Dr. E. Pendleton Tompkins of Lexington and others will take part in the program. Dr. McNutt and members of his clan will be present. Friends of the McNutt clan and all interested persons are invited to join the congregation in the celebration." Clipping is posted on his wife's site.
A long article begins: Dr. Tompkins' Discourse On The McNutt Family, Aug. 10. At the dedication of a memorial window to the memory of William MdNutt and wife Elizabeth (Grigsby) McNutt, at Fallings Springs Church Sunday, August 10, Dr. E. P. Tompkins gave the following discourse concerning the McNutt family: "I have been asked to give you a few notes on the McNutt family, in whose honor this commemorative service today takes place. And when the name McNutt or McNaught is mentioned please bear in mind that not a little diversity exists in the spelling of this name, and its pronunciation as well. For some examples of this diversity notice this (placard is shown). A descendant of one of the collateral lines, Mrs. Henrietta Hamilton McCormick, has traced the linage far back into the past, to 1267 she tells us, but for our purpose today we may begin a number of centuries later. Alexander McNutt, of pure Scottish blood, though it is said he was born in Ireland, came to Virginia about 1720—some say a few years later —and settled in Orange county. Just where we do not know, as in that early day Orange county took in a mighty scope of territory, extending westward even to the Mississippi river. At any rate his son John McNutt, who had married Katherine Anderson, acquired land on North river. 'Six miles east of Lexington'—though at that day. Lexington had not yet come into existence. Here he proceeded to make his home, and there this sketch of the McNutts has its starting point. "To this couple was born a sizeable family—nine in all, seven sons and two daughters; and from them have descended a vast number, only comparatively small portion of whom are recorded by name on this chart (to be shown). "As our eyes run down the lists of names, our thoughts go back to those early days, and we wish we could know more of the people themselves. But with very few exceptions no records are extant to tell us of their personalities, no writings to describe their characteristics, their features, their mode of thought. Yet, we may safely say they were of substantial worth. An old adage says: Blood will tell. And the scriptures lay down a law: By their fruits ye may know them. And we can safely depend upon it—they left their mark upon their day and generation, and in their progeny they set the measure of themselves. Men and women, these, who have helped in large measure and in varied walks of life, to bring our country to what it is today, in the way of material development and of intellectual advancement. "Even to recite the names of those recorded on the chart would be tedious and time-consuming. Not all of them, of course, bear the McNutt name; throughout the unfolding years the daughters married into other families, and took other names—McCorkle, Glasgow, Paxton, etc. More than one intermarriage between McNutts and Grigsbys have tied those two families of early years so closely together than any consideration of the one almost of necessity involves metion of the other. "The progenitor of the Grigsbys of Rockbridge county was John Grigsby—'Soldier John' he was called. He is said to have been a compatriot of Lawrence Washington, older brother of George Washington—and that he was with 'Lawrence under command of Admiral Vernon in the bombardment of Carthagena, Venezuela. Soldier John's home was "Fruit Hill' known to many of us Us the Effinger place, and now the property of Mr. Effinger's grandson, my esteemed young friend, Effinger Herring. "Here Soldier John entertained the Marquis de Chastellux, a French officer who fought for American independence under Lafayette. It was, however, not in the present mansion, which is of some what later date. The Marquis wrote a lengthy book about his stay under Mr. Grigsby's roof, of whom he writes most appreciatively. Two of John Grigsby's daughters married into the McNutt family; Rachel married in 1790, Alexander McNutt—one of the many Alexanders—and some sixteen years later her sister Elizabeth married William McNutt. John Grigsby, their father, married twice—first Rosanna Etchison, and to them were born four sons and a daughter; his first wife died in 1761, and in 1764 he married Elizabeth Porter. To this wife were born nine children, so making a total of fourteen children bom to Soldier John, The two daughters who married into the McNutt family were both children of the second marriage. The only daughter of the first marriage, Sally by name, married Thomas Welch, and they lived at Fancy Hill, which house they probably built. "Before getting on beyond the history of John McNutt, progenitor of the Rockbridge McNutts, we may devote a few moments to his brother, Alexander, referred to as Col. McNutt, or more properly, Sir Alexander McNutt. The first we learn of him was in the Sandy Creek expedition against the Indians, in which those taking part nearly lost their lives from starvation. Whether from his part in this expedition, or otherwise, he secured the attention of the king of England; and the upshot of this was that he obtained a grant, or several grants, of land in Nova Scotia. His title to this land was conditioned—as was the case with Ben Borden's grant— upon his settling certain numbers of people upon the land within a given period of time. It is said that he brought over, first and last, more than three thousand settlers. For this excellent record he was knighted by King George. "But when the colonists had their disagreement with the mother country Sir Alexander cast his lot with the Americans; and his lands being in what we now call Canada, all his holdings were confiscated by the British crown. Sir Alexander fought in the American army, and after the surrender at Yorktown he returned to Virginia, and made his home for the rest of his life with his brother John. Here he died, and his body rests in Falling Spring cemetery. "A moment ago I said that no description of the appearance, or of the personalities, of these people of early days has come down to us. There is one notable exception. We have a very succinct picture, in words, of Sir Alexander albeit a brief one. It is written of him that even after the Revolution he never gave up his colonial style of dress, but he always wore his hair in a cue—'braided and tied with a ribbon at the back; and that he never gave up kneebreeches and silver-buckled shoes. The sword which was presented him by the king when he received the accolade of Sir Knight always was by his side. The story is told that on one occasion a little child of his brother John was climbing upon his knee, and asked why he always wore his sword; to this he made reply: 'If the enemy should appear it would never do to have no weapon at hand.' This sword has been treasured through the years, and is now in the possession of the Glasgow family at 'Tuscan Villa', up the river from Buena Vista. When Hunter made his raid through Rockbridge in 1864, the sword was despoiled of its scabbard, its silver chain and other ornaments, by vandals in that army. "But let us return to those with whom we are immediately concerned today. John McNutt's son, William, and John Grigsby's daughter, Elizabeth, became man and wife. They had their home within sight of this church—not more than a rifle-shot away. It was at the farm which we know as the Lunsford place—though even as late as my boyhood days it was still called the McNutt farm. I recollect this particularly because on that farm is a deposit of stone which is a splendid whetrock. (Dr. McNutt, whom I see in the audience, should certainly take back with him to New York a sample of this stone. I am sure he will never need it to ...sharpen his wits'..., but might need it to put an edge on his pocketknife). "When we come to tell of these McNutts—or of many another bearing the name of McNutt or other honored names—we are grieved to find that not much is known to tell. They lived out the measure of their days, filling an honorable place in their community, leaving scant record of themselves written down. We could wish that more of the personal history of these, and of many others, could be brought to light. But it is not possible to know their doings, their thinking, their day-by-day lives—these high-minded and stalwart-bodied men and women, these gracious matrons and graceful daughters, these sturdy young sons. It was too evanescent, most of it, to be recorded. Many an incident of more than ordinary interest at the time was passed from mouth to ear—little events of family interest, incidents having to do with the tragic or the comic, stories of travels here and there, accounts of weddings and funerals, tales of family or of community gatherings, were told one to another, but never written down, and with the passing of the years they were forgotten or they were lost in the death of the participants. Some of these probably were recorded in letters, treasured by the recipient for a time, packed away for a score, two-score, threescore years in old secretaries; then unearthed and consigned to the flames, unread, by someone of a later generation To those of us who consider such things well worthwhile such an happening is little short of tragic. "WILLIAM McNutt, and his devoted consort, ELIZABETH GRIGSBY McNutt, both lie slumbering in the soil of old Rockbridge, in the cemetery of this church In the little volume which I hold in my hand, which Dr. McNutt has graciously donated for the archives of Falling Spring is a photograph of their graves. "Time would fail me were I to attempt to do more than merely mention by name some of those who have acquired fame; such as GOVERNOR McNutt of Mississippi, a nephew of those to whose memory this window is dedicated; Professor REUBEN A. McNutt, Dr. ROBERT B. McNutt, bom within sight of Falling Spring but removed to West Virginia, Dr. ELISHA BAXTER McNutt, and Dr. JOHN McNutt, likewise born here but whose labors were in Missouri—all three were sons of WILLIAM and ELIZABETH McNutt. In another branch of the family were Dr. Sarah McNutt, and Dr. Jane McNutt, physicians and authors. Then coming on down to a more recent day, the name of Paul V. McNutt appears—lawyer, Judge, soldier, author, governor of Indiana, U. S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, Federal Security Administrator, etc. "But lest I worry you I must bring this recital to an end. I think I cannot better do so than by relating an incident about a certain representative of the McNutt clan whom it was my good fortune to know—that splendid woman of blessed memory, Mrs, SUSAN YOUELL. She was leaving my office one day, and as a light rain was falling I offered an umbrella. This brought from her a remark which seems so characteristic of her that I feel sure it was. original. With a smile she said: The Bible says the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike; but I think more of it falls, on the just —because usually the unjust has borrowed the just's only umbrella, and has not returned it." Per the Lexington Gazette, Vol 139, # 34, dated 21 Aug 1941.
Marker says:
IN
memory of
WILLIAM McNUTT
Born April 16th 1774
Died Decr. 1st, 1836
Bio by LSP
Henrietta H. McCormick's Genealogies and Reminiscences, Chicago, 1897, p 107 says William and Elizabeth lived "a mile west of Falling Spring Church. William was a ruling elder there.
They resided on a farm just west of Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, of which they were live long members. A stained glass window was placed in the church sanctuary in the honor of William and Elizabeth, with their names and dates. Dr. George West Diehl's article in the News-Gazette.
"William McNutt, Married Elizabeth Grigsby. Born---, Said to have been in the battle of King's Mountain. Went to the Northwest." Rockbridge Men in The Revolutionary War compiled by the DAR, by regent Linnette B Peak of Glasgow, VA. Includes other McNutts. Per article in the Lexington Gazette, dated 24 Jul 1941, p 6, Library of Virginia. Note: confusion here as that battle was in 1780, when he was 6.
7 Aug 1941 issue of The Rockbridge County News, Lexington, VA, Page 8 article says: "Falling Spring Church To Dedicate Windows At Service On Sunday, A service of unusual interest will be held at Falling Spring Presbyterian church next Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. The first of eight memorial windows to be dedicated in the church, will then be dedicated. The handsome memorial is donated by Dr. R. M. McNutt, of New York city and other relatives. The window is in memory of William and ELIZABETH GRIGSBY MCNUTT, who were members of Falling Spring(.) The exercises will be presided over by the pastor, Rev. Herman L. Cathey and Dr. E. Pendleton Tompkins of Lexington and others will take part in the program. Dr. McNutt and members of his clan will be present. Friends of the McNutt clan and all interested persons are invited to join the congregation in the celebration." Clipping is posted on his wife's site.
A long article begins: Dr. Tompkins' Discourse On The McNutt Family, Aug. 10. At the dedication of a memorial window to the memory of William MdNutt and wife Elizabeth (Grigsby) McNutt, at Fallings Springs Church Sunday, August 10, Dr. E. P. Tompkins gave the following discourse concerning the McNutt family: "I have been asked to give you a few notes on the McNutt family, in whose honor this commemorative service today takes place. And when the name McNutt or McNaught is mentioned please bear in mind that not a little diversity exists in the spelling of this name, and its pronunciation as well. For some examples of this diversity notice this (placard is shown). A descendant of one of the collateral lines, Mrs. Henrietta Hamilton McCormick, has traced the linage far back into the past, to 1267 she tells us, but for our purpose today we may begin a number of centuries later. Alexander McNutt, of pure Scottish blood, though it is said he was born in Ireland, came to Virginia about 1720—some say a few years later —and settled in Orange county. Just where we do not know, as in that early day Orange county took in a mighty scope of territory, extending westward even to the Mississippi river. At any rate his son John McNutt, who had married Katherine Anderson, acquired land on North river. 'Six miles east of Lexington'—though at that day. Lexington had not yet come into existence. Here he proceeded to make his home, and there this sketch of the McNutts has its starting point. "To this couple was born a sizeable family—nine in all, seven sons and two daughters; and from them have descended a vast number, only comparatively small portion of whom are recorded by name on this chart (to be shown). "As our eyes run down the lists of names, our thoughts go back to those early days, and we wish we could know more of the people themselves. But with very few exceptions no records are extant to tell us of their personalities, no writings to describe their characteristics, their features, their mode of thought. Yet, we may safely say they were of substantial worth. An old adage says: Blood will tell. And the scriptures lay down a law: By their fruits ye may know them. And we can safely depend upon it—they left their mark upon their day and generation, and in their progeny they set the measure of themselves. Men and women, these, who have helped in large measure and in varied walks of life, to bring our country to what it is today, in the way of material development and of intellectual advancement. "Even to recite the names of those recorded on the chart would be tedious and time-consuming. Not all of them, of course, bear the McNutt name; throughout the unfolding years the daughters married into other families, and took other names—McCorkle, Glasgow, Paxton, etc. More than one intermarriage between McNutts and Grigsbys have tied those two families of early years so closely together than any consideration of the one almost of necessity involves metion of the other. "The progenitor of the Grigsbys of Rockbridge county was John Grigsby—'Soldier John' he was called. He is said to have been a compatriot of Lawrence Washington, older brother of George Washington—and that he was with 'Lawrence under command of Admiral Vernon in the bombardment of Carthagena, Venezuela. Soldier John's home was "Fruit Hill' known to many of us Us the Effinger place, and now the property of Mr. Effinger's grandson, my esteemed young friend, Effinger Herring. "Here Soldier John entertained the Marquis de Chastellux, a French officer who fought for American independence under Lafayette. It was, however, not in the present mansion, which is of some what later date. The Marquis wrote a lengthy book about his stay under Mr. Grigsby's roof, of whom he writes most appreciatively. Two of John Grigsby's daughters married into the McNutt family; Rachel married in 1790, Alexander McNutt—one of the many Alexanders—and some sixteen years later her sister Elizabeth married William McNutt. John Grigsby, their father, married twice—first Rosanna Etchison, and to them were born four sons and a daughter; his first wife died in 1761, and in 1764 he married Elizabeth Porter. To this wife were born nine children, so making a total of fourteen children bom to Soldier John, The two daughters who married into the McNutt family were both children of the second marriage. The only daughter of the first marriage, Sally by name, married Thomas Welch, and they lived at Fancy Hill, which house they probably built. "Before getting on beyond the history of John McNutt, progenitor of the Rockbridge McNutts, we may devote a few moments to his brother, Alexander, referred to as Col. McNutt, or more properly, Sir Alexander McNutt. The first we learn of him was in the Sandy Creek expedition against the Indians, in which those taking part nearly lost their lives from starvation. Whether from his part in this expedition, or otherwise, he secured the attention of the king of England; and the upshot of this was that he obtained a grant, or several grants, of land in Nova Scotia. His title to this land was conditioned—as was the case with Ben Borden's grant— upon his settling certain numbers of people upon the land within a given period of time. It is said that he brought over, first and last, more than three thousand settlers. For this excellent record he was knighted by King George. "But when the colonists had their disagreement with the mother country Sir Alexander cast his lot with the Americans; and his lands being in what we now call Canada, all his holdings were confiscated by the British crown. Sir Alexander fought in the American army, and after the surrender at Yorktown he returned to Virginia, and made his home for the rest of his life with his brother John. Here he died, and his body rests in Falling Spring cemetery. "A moment ago I said that no description of the appearance, or of the personalities, of these people of early days has come down to us. There is one notable exception. We have a very succinct picture, in words, of Sir Alexander albeit a brief one. It is written of him that even after the Revolution he never gave up his colonial style of dress, but he always wore his hair in a cue—'braided and tied with a ribbon at the back; and that he never gave up kneebreeches and silver-buckled shoes. The sword which was presented him by the king when he received the accolade of Sir Knight always was by his side. The story is told that on one occasion a little child of his brother John was climbing upon his knee, and asked why he always wore his sword; to this he made reply: 'If the enemy should appear it would never do to have no weapon at hand.' This sword has been treasured through the years, and is now in the possession of the Glasgow family at 'Tuscan Villa', up the river from Buena Vista. When Hunter made his raid through Rockbridge in 1864, the sword was despoiled of its scabbard, its silver chain and other ornaments, by vandals in that army. "But let us return to those with whom we are immediately concerned today. John McNutt's son, William, and John Grigsby's daughter, Elizabeth, became man and wife. They had their home within sight of this church—not more than a rifle-shot away. It was at the farm which we know as the Lunsford place—though even as late as my boyhood days it was still called the McNutt farm. I recollect this particularly because on that farm is a deposit of stone which is a splendid whetrock. (Dr. McNutt, whom I see in the audience, should certainly take back with him to New York a sample of this stone. I am sure he will never need it to ...sharpen his wits'..., but might need it to put an edge on his pocketknife). "When we come to tell of these McNutts—or of many another bearing the name of McNutt or other honored names—we are grieved to find that not much is known to tell. They lived out the measure of their days, filling an honorable place in their community, leaving scant record of themselves written down. We could wish that more of the personal history of these, and of many others, could be brought to light. But it is not possible to know their doings, their thinking, their day-by-day lives—these high-minded and stalwart-bodied men and women, these gracious matrons and graceful daughters, these sturdy young sons. It was too evanescent, most of it, to be recorded. Many an incident of more than ordinary interest at the time was passed from mouth to ear—little events of family interest, incidents having to do with the tragic or the comic, stories of travels here and there, accounts of weddings and funerals, tales of family or of community gatherings, were told one to another, but never written down, and with the passing of the years they were forgotten or they were lost in the death of the participants. Some of these probably were recorded in letters, treasured by the recipient for a time, packed away for a score, two-score, threescore years in old secretaries; then unearthed and consigned to the flames, unread, by someone of a later generation To those of us who consider such things well worthwhile such an happening is little short of tragic. "WILLIAM McNutt, and his devoted consort, ELIZABETH GRIGSBY McNutt, both lie slumbering in the soil of old Rockbridge, in the cemetery of this church In the little volume which I hold in my hand, which Dr. McNutt has graciously donated for the archives of Falling Spring is a photograph of their graves. "Time would fail me were I to attempt to do more than merely mention by name some of those who have acquired fame; such as GOVERNOR McNutt of Mississippi, a nephew of those to whose memory this window is dedicated; Professor REUBEN A. McNutt, Dr. ROBERT B. McNutt, bom within sight of Falling Spring but removed to West Virginia, Dr. ELISHA BAXTER McNutt, and Dr. JOHN McNutt, likewise born here but whose labors were in Missouri—all three were sons of WILLIAM and ELIZABETH McNutt. In another branch of the family were Dr. Sarah McNutt, and Dr. Jane McNutt, physicians and authors. Then coming on down to a more recent day, the name of Paul V. McNutt appears—lawyer, Judge, soldier, author, governor of Indiana, U. S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, Federal Security Administrator, etc. "But lest I worry you I must bring this recital to an end. I think I cannot better do so than by relating an incident about a certain representative of the McNutt clan whom it was my good fortune to know—that splendid woman of blessed memory, Mrs, SUSAN YOUELL. She was leaving my office one day, and as a light rain was falling I offered an umbrella. This brought from her a remark which seems so characteristic of her that I feel sure it was. original. With a smile she said: The Bible says the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike; but I think more of it falls, on the just —because usually the unjust has borrowed the just's only umbrella, and has not returned it." Per the Lexington Gazette, Vol 139, # 34, dated 21 Aug 1941.
Marker says:
IN
memory of
WILLIAM McNUTT
Born April 16th 1774
Died Decr. 1st, 1836
Bio by LSP
Inscription
Marker says:
IN
memory of
WILLIAM McNUTT
Born April 16th 1774
Died Decr. 1st, 1836
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