Philip Pendleton (soldier)


Colonel Philip Pendleton was a Virginia lawyer and soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War, helped found Martinsburg as well as represented Berkeley County several times in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Early and family life

Pendleton was the son of Elizabeth Clayton and her husband Nathaniel Pendleton, and thus descended from the First Families of Virginia. His ancestors, brothers Nathaniel and Philip Pendleton, emigrated from England in 1674, and their descendant Judge Edmund Pendleton would perhaps become the family's most prestigious member, as well as write an early genealogy.
In 1773, this Philip Pendleton married Agnes Patterson, daughter of Angus Patterson, who bore four sons and three daughters. Their firstborn, Philip Clayton Pendleton followed his father's example into the law, politics and military service. His brothers James and William Henry died without having children, and his youngest brother Edmund Pendleton had a son Isaac Purnell Pendleton, but only his daughter Serena Catherine had children. This Philip Pendleton's daughters all married and had children: Elizabeth married David Hunter and their grandson David Hunter Strother would become a noted artist as well as Union General during the American Civil War; Anne Clayton Pendleton married John Kennedy and gave birth to John Pendleton Kennedy; Sarah Pendleton married Adam Stephen Dandridge, and their youngest daughter Maria Pendleton married lawyer John R. Cooke. Among their 13 children were the lawyer writers Philip Pendleton Cooke and John Esten Cooke, the latter becoming a Confederate officer during the Civil War.

Career

One of the first lawyers in Berkeley County, Col. Pendleton led the Berkeley County militia during the American Revolutionary War, receiving a commission on April 3, 1777. In 1778, he and seven other men were elected trustees of the newly chartered town of Martinsburg.
Berkeley County voters elected this Philip Pendleton as one of their representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1776 and re-elected him the following year. He would also win election for a single term in 1785 and two sessions beginning in 1790.

Death and legacy

Col. Philip Pendleton died in early 1802, since his will was admitted to probate and sons Philip C., James and William Pendleton, son-in-law David Hunter and Elisha Boyd named as executors on January 26, 1802.