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.
Birth: 28 Mar 1752 Wigtonshire / / Scotland Death: 10 Aug 1846 Cross Creek Twp / Washington / PA
Qualifying Service Description:
Private, Flying Camp, York County, PA (1776) and military duty with Pennsylvania regiments 01 Aug 1776-Jun 1780
DAR RC# 319712 states: PRIVATE; FLYING CAMP, YORK CO MILITIA; Captain ANDREW SWEARINGEN, LT Colonel DAVID WILLIAMSON, 3RD BATT, WASHINGTON CO MILITIA; SUFFERED DEPREDATION
Additional References:
NSDAR RC# 319712 Cites: AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN MCCREADY, ROBERT MCCREADY FAMILY, pg 15-16
No GPS data for grave site on findageave.com - Nov 2020
Author: LCdr John Woodward Patterson III
Robert McCready was born in 1752. He was married on 14 February 1779 in Cross Creek to Anne Levins. She was born on 15 April 1759 in Ireland, the daughter of Thomas Leavins and Ann Wells.
He may have been a son of William and Sarah McCurdy, of Girvan, Wigtonshire, Scotland. D. A. Sloan lived in Scotland and married John Sloan. Children: Jennie, John, William, Joseph married Elizabeth Betsey Leeper, Nancy married John Yeamans, Robert, David married Martha Jones, Elizabeth, William married Margaret Boyd, Mary married Robert L. Smith, Elizabeth married Thomas Smith, and Robert married Mary Carter.
He enlisted on 1 August 1776 in York County, Pennsylvania in the company of Captain Reed, 4th Regiment Flying Camp, Major Findley commanding. After that tour, he joined the 3rd Battalion in the company of Captain Andrew Swearingen, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel David Williamson. Served as an Adjutant for four months.
In March 1777 and April 1778, he was at Holliday’s Cove with Captain Baxter’s Company in Colonel Matthew Ritchie's Pennsylvania Regiment. Then in September 1778, he served as an Orderly Sergeant with Captain Bay's Company, commanded by Colonel Stephenson of the Pennsylvania Militia, under General McIntosh. He was appointed Adjutant on 2 November 1778 and discharged on 15 January 1779.
His final role in the Revolution was in June 1780 as a Private in Captain Well's Company, commanded by Colonel Williamson of the Pennsylvania Militia near the Muskingum River in Ohio.
He served again in the War of 1812 as an Adjutant for the Washington County Militia under Colonel John Vance during the "Lisbon campaign." He was granted a pension on 2 December 1836 on his application of November 19, 1836.
“I was born Scotland March 28th 1752. I left my father's house April 30th 1772, went to White Haven in England, sailed from thence to North America May 3rd, and arrived New York July 29th where I stayed for a short time, then by water and land stages got to Philadelphia. Prior to my enlistment under Captain Reed, I had been sometime teaching at school in Harford County, Maryland. I gave up the school, returned to York County and volunteered for service.”
Robert was one of the earliest settlers of Jefferson Township, settling 322 acres of "Good Will" on Scott's Run. In 1779, he picked the site and drove the stake for the Church of Cross Creek and he helped to clear and fence the graveyard with his own hand. In 1792 he was chosen as one of the ruling elders for the Church of Cross Creek. It is said that he was a large, fine-looking officer, with an unusually powerful voice, well adapted for military command. He was, for more than half a century, a Justice of the Peace.
The Patriot died in 1846 in Cross Creek Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and was buried in Cross Creek Graveyard. His wife Anne died on 30 June 1836.
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