First in a series of articles celebrating the tenth anniversary of Craig Valley Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
In 1776, Adam Lugar left his home in Germany and boarded a ship to America. According to his pension application dated in 1834, he was sent to fight against the American colonists. Very soon after landing, however, he left his German Hessian unit and joined forces with the Continental Army in Pennsylvania. His service in the Light Infantry under General Pulaski and Caption Celroe took him from New England to South Carolina, where he was taken a prisoner and eventually discharged. Lugar later served six months with the North Carolina militia.
Around 1777, Adam married Anna Margaret Clappe, whose father came to America in 1727 and settled in the German community in what is now the Greensboro area of North Carolina. Adam and Margaret moved north to claim land in an area of Montgomery County which would become Giles County in 1806 and Craig County in 1851. It is believed that Adam was given a large area of the Sinking Creek Valley in exchange for his war service. The road leading from Rt. 42 at Level Green to the North Side is called “Lugar Hill.” Early tax records indicate he owned land on Sinking Creek on the south side of Johns Creek Mountain extending west as far as Newport and Mountain Lake.
Adam lived to be an impressive 99 years old, and Margaret lived to be 87. In their last years, they lived with their next to last child, Adam Lugar, Jr.
Adam and Margaret had ten children, several of whom went west as adults, raising large families and taming the frontier. Some are documented as being the first white settlers in areas of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. A granddaughter named Virginia was the first death recorded in the township of Monroe, Indiana, when she died at the tender age of eight in 1833.
At least four of the ten children remained in Virginia. Phoebe was born in 1784 or 85. She married Jacob McPherson and had ten children. Jacob is well known in county history as a respected community leader and educator. He and Phoebe were instrumental in establishing Gravel Hill Church.
Jacob Lugar was born in 1791 and married Mary Ross, the daughter of James and Jane Black Ross. The town of Blacksburg was named after Mary’s maternal grandfather. Jacob and Mary had 11 children.
John Lugar was born in 1802 and married Elizabeth Fisher. They had nine children including two sons, who joined the 26th Virginia Infantry on the same day in 1861 and were discharged on the same day in April 1865.
Adam Lugar, Jr. was born in 1804 and lived to be 101 years old. He married Elizabeth Wilson and had six children. Later he married Ann Shawver, and they had seven children.
Several names are often repeated in the Lugar family tree. There is a Phoebe in many families. George, William, Adam and Margaret are popular names. Some records show Adam’s middle name was Barnabas and Margaret had a brother named Barnhart. Therefore the name Barney is frequently used.
DAR was founded 127 years ago to document and honor people who participated in the American Revolution such as Adam Lugar. Current members of Craig Valley DAR who are descendants of Adam and Margaret Lugar include Peggy Dowdy Huffman, Gerlene Caldwell Sizer and Dianna Carper-Rice.
Two volumes of Lugar history compiled by Twila Lugar Graves and Jane Echols Johnston list numerous other county residents who are eligible for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the American Revolution. For information, please visit www.dar.org or call Craig Valley members Diane Givens at 540-580-3745 or Margaret Hines, 540-864-8447.
– Submitted by Craig Valley NSDAR
