Name of Patriot: Robert McCormick NSSAR Patriot # P-245820
Submitted by: Robert B. Fish, Jr.
Robert McCormick was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1738 and died in Augusta County, Virginia, on 12 Oct 1818. He is buried in the cemetery of Old Providence Presbyterian Church, Augusta County, Virginia along with his wife, Martha Sanderson McCormick.
Robert McCormick served as a private in the Virginia Line during the Carolina Campaign under General Nathanial Greene. He fought in the Battle of Cowpens and was wounded in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. It was said that, as he was approaching the cover of a fence, a British Officer cried out, “Shoot that damned rebel.”
Robert McCormick was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He held unwavering adherence to the Scottish piety of his forebears. Appalled by the hymns being sung in the local Presbyterian church, he founded a rival congregation faithful to the old ways.
The McCormick family is well known in American history. Robert’s grandson, Cyrus McCormick is credited with perfecting the invention of the mechanical reaper begun by his father, Robert McCormick, Jr.
- Log in to post comments