James Glasgow (c. 1735 – November 17, 1819) served as the first

North Carolina Secretary of State The North Carolina Secretary of State is an elected state constitutional officer, constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of North Carolina, government of the U.S. state of North Carolina, and is fourth in the Gubernator ...

, from 1777 to 1798.

Biography

Early life

James Glasgow, the son of a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

minister, Reverend James Patrick Glasgow and his wife, Martha Jones, of Cecil County, Maryland. He was born in the Colony of Maryland and educated at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

. After graduation he served as an accounting and corresponding clerk for an import-export house in Suffolk, Virginia.

Career

He was an officer in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

in North Carolina, and in December 1776, was rewarded by the last of the state's provincial congresses with the office of Secretary of State. From 1777 to 1781, Glasgow lived at Harmony Hall in Kinston. Service record: * Adjutant in the

Dobbs County Regiment The Dobbs County Regiment was a unit of the North Carolina militia that served during the American Revolution. The regiment was one of thirty-five existing county militias that were authorized by the North Carolina Provincial Congress to be organ ...

of the

North Carolina militia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

(1776) * Major in the Dobbs County Regiment (1776-1777) * Colonel in the Dobbs County Regiment (1777-1778, 1779-1780) * Secretary of State (1776-1799) In 1791, while he was still serving as Secretary of State, the state legislature named a county after him. He resigned in disgrace after a scandal known as the " Glasgow Land Fraud." After his resignation, the county was renamed Greene County.

Personal life

His daughter, Nancy Glasgow, married Willoughby Williams, a member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

, and later remarried to

Joseph McMinn Joseph McMinn (June 22, 1758 – October 17, 1824) was an American politician who served as the fourth Governor of Tennessee from 1815 to 1821. A veteran of the American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, he had previously served in the leg ...

, who served as

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

from 1815 to 1821.

References

External links

NC Historical Markers
* 1730s births 1819 deaths American people of Scottish descent College of William & Mary alumni Secretaries of state of North Carolina North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub