The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
William McCune was born at Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in January 1751. At about the age of 18, he married Elizabeth McClintock, who was 12 years his senior. She was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1738.
After leaving his family at the “Falls of the Ohio,” William was in the company of other men when they proceeded to Kentucky. Shortly after arriving at Ruddell’s Station in what is now Bourbon County, the British and a combined force of Canadians and Shawnee marched from Detroit, Michigan, to Ruddell’s Station. The troops arrived in June 1780. The occupants of Ruddell’s Station were faced with overwhelming odds and British artillery. The station’s leaders arranged a surrender after receiving British assurances that no one would be harmed. Once the gates were opened, the British were unable or unwilling to control the Shawnee Indians. While inside Ruddell’s Station, the Shawnee looted, murdered, and raped a number of the occupants.
Stephen Ruddell was 11 years old and his brother, Abram Ruddell, was six years old when they became captives of the Shawnee. Their three-year-old sister, Elizabeth Ruddell, was taken by the British to Detroit. They were the children of Isaac Ruddell and Elizabeth Bowman.
William McCune was 29 years old when he was taken prisoner by the British and marched to Detroit. Upon their release in about 1783, Elizabeth Ruddell and William McCune returned to Kentucky to reunite with their families. At the age of 12, Elizabeth married John Mulherin, a former Revolutionary War soldier, on 31 January 1789. Stephen and Abram Ruddell remained captives of the Shawnee for 15 years. Once released, Stephen returned to Bourbon County, where he married his second wife, Susannan “Susan” David, at Ruddell’s Mill on 9 July 1809. The following year, he became a Baptist minister.
William McCune was still residing in Bourbon County, Kentucky, when his wife died in 1812, at about the age of 74. She was buried in the Stonermouth Presbyterian Cemetery at Ruddles Mills in Bourbon County.
Shortly after his wife’s death, William married 35-year-old Elizabeth Patton. She was born in 1777. Elizabeth was the widow of Samuel P. Maxwell and the sister of John Fullerton Patton.
In 1816, Reverend Stephen Ruddell left Bourbon County, Kentucky, with his brother-in-law John Mulherin and their families. They traveled to Missouri and settled in the area of Ramsey Creek. Soon after arriving, Stephen organized a church and served as the first pastor. The Ramsey Creek Baptist Church is still active. It is located three miles north of where the Pike County village of Paynesville was developed in 1831.
Accompanied by other allied families, William McCune and his family left Kentucky in 1817 and traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, where they crossed the Ohio River. They proceeded to Smelser’s Ferry, located about two miles north of Alton, Illinois. After crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri, they traveled north from St. Charles and settled at Ramsey Creek. The following year, in December 1818, the area where they settled became Pike County. The McCune family eventually relocated to an area about seven miles from Bowling Green which was settled in 1819 and established McCune’s Station.
William died in Pike County, Missouri, on 6 December 1830, at 79. Elizabeth Patton died on 09 November 1835, at about 58. They were buried in the Grassy Creek Cemetery at McCune’s Station near Bowling Green, Pike County, Missouri.
William McCune and Elizabeth McClintock were the parents of six children, Nancy McCune, John McCune, Susannah McCune, Elizabeth Betsy McCune, Margaret Peggy McCune, and Hugh McCune. William McCune and Elizabeth Patton were the parents of four children, William Patton McCune, Joseph P. McCune, Polly Lucy McCune, and Susan McCune.
Note: The great-granddaughter of William McCune and Elizabeth McClintock was Nancy R. McCune. She was born on 16 June 1799 in Bourbon County, Kentucky. At 16, she married Joseph Holliday in Bourbon County on 18 March 1816. He was born in Kentucky to William Holliday and Martha Patton on 15 September 1789.
Nancy died on 09 January 1834, at the age of 34. She was buried in the Grassy Creek Cemetery at McCune’s Station near Bowling Green, Pike County, Missouri. Joseph died in Monroe County, Missouri, on 17, 1870, at 81. Nancy and Joseph were the 3rd great-grandparents of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
Sources
SAR Patriot Index Edition 111 (CD: PP2210, Progeny Publ., 2002) plus data to 2004 DAR as William McCune.
Register of Kentucky Historical Society, Volume 32, page 157; Collins History of Kentucky, Volume two, pages 327-329.
American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI.)
Kentucky Land Grants.
U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1707.
U.S. Find-A-Grave Index, 1600s-Current.
The history of Pike County, Missouri, 1883.
Bourbon County, Kentucky, Marriage Index, 1786-1799.
Author: Kenneth Wayne Lawrence
William McCune
William McCune was born around 1750 or 1751 in Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, son of John and Agnes McCune.
After his father’s death, William was raised by his mother until he petitioned the court to allow his half-brother, John Hinkson to become his guardian until he became of age.
On or about 1769, William met and wed his wife Elizabeth. They moved to a farm in Fairfield Township, Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania, where they had six children.
In 1780, William's half-brother John Hinkson convinced William and family to pull up stakes and move to Kentucky. After a brush with Indians, the men left their families at the fort at the Falls of the Ohio. William and John began to trek into the interior frontier of Kentucky. They came to a fort called Ruddle's Station, commanded by Captain Isaac Ruddle. The fort held upwards of three hundred people. On June 24, 1780, a force of over one thousand British regulars, Tories, Canadian volunteers and Indians quietly denuded upon them. The expedition led by Captain Henry Byrd of His Majesty's 8th Regiment, had traveled from Montreal to wreak havoc upon the Kentucky Frontier. Adding to their great force, the British brought with them the first cannon ever used against log forts of the wilderness. It proved too much against flintlocks and ensured the outcome of the battle. After destroying the fort, the Indians were allowed to plunder. After Ruddle's, the British and Indians moved on to another fort in the area and captured it as well. They captured over 450 people and forced them to march over 600 miles from the wilderness of Kentucky to Detroit. Many died or were killed along the way while the Indians carried others into captivity. John Hinkson managed to escape his captors, William McCune was not as lucky. He spent about twenty months in captivity attempting to escape on at least one occasion. According to folklore, William McCune was betrayed by none other than Captain Isaac Ruddle. Ruddle, hearing of the pending escape attempt, forewarned the British. McCune was subsequently placed in irons. Upon returning from captivity McCune met Ruddle where he beat Ruddle badly with a hoop-pole.
After returning to Bourbon County, Kentucky, William and Elizabeth settled into farm life and raising their family. Over the next several years William purchased several parcels of land.
Sometime in 1817, William and family moved from Kentucky to Pike County, Missouri. They established McCune's Station, and farmed.
William died on December 6, 1830. Elizabeth died November 9, 1835.
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Bourbon Co Ky Record Book D, p 475 deposition of service in defense of Ruddles Station, May 1780, Register of KY State Historical Society, Vol. 32, p 157, Ruddles & Martin Stations Historical Society (RAMSHA), https//www.frontierfold.net/ramsha research/captivesite.html