Foote records the Logan surname in three prominent but unconnected settings: John Logan among the first settlers and ruling elders of New Providence, Benjamin Logan among the Presbyterian householders of the Holston Valley before his removal to Kentucky, and Rev. Robert Logan in the Bethel and Fincastle communities. Foote does not establish a family relationship among these men.
The following account brings together the Logan family references scattered throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical, Second Series, arranging them by generation and family relationship.
John Logan of New Providence
John Logan was among the early settlers who established homes along Kennedy’s Creek and its branches in the New Providence area. The settlement then belonged to Augusta County and later became part of Rockbridge County.
In August 1753 the united congregations of Timber Ridge and New Providence called Rev. John Brown as their first regular pastor. John Logan signed the call, on which his surname was recorded as Loggan.
Logan became one of the first ruling elders of the New Providence congregation. He continued in that office for many years and helped oversee the congregation as it developed from a frontier gathering into an established church with a permanent stone meetinghouse.
The congregation’s financial records show that John Logan subscribed fifteen shillings annually toward the support of Rev. John Brown in both 1754 and 1755.
Foote does not identify John Logan’s wife, children, parents, or place of origin. His position among the earliest settlers and elders nevertheless places him firmly within the first generation of the New Providence community.
Benjamin Logan of the Holston Valley
Benjamin Logan was one of the Presbyterian householders living in the Holston River settlement during the period when the region belonged to Fincastle County.
In 1773 he joined 137 other heads of families in signing the call inviting Rev. Charles Cummings to become pastor of the united congregations of Ebbing Spring and Sinking Spring. The document places Benjamin within the organized Presbyterian community of the Holston frontier.
Benjamin later moved to Kentucky. In a historical letter quoted by Foote, former Virginia governor David Campbell identified him as the same Benjamin Logan who became a highly distinguished Kentucky leader and military officer.
Foote does not identify Benjamin’s wife, children, parents, or relationship to John Logan of New Providence or Rev. Robert Logan of Fincastle.
Rev. Robert Logan
The minister whom Foote identifies as Mr. Logan in Chapter XLVI was Rev. Robert Logan. He was born in September 1769 within the Bethel congregation of Augusta County.
Robert belonged to a large family whose children were raised according to strict Presbyterian customs and all became professing members of the church. Foote does not name Robert’s parents or siblings.
He completed his literary and theological education at Liberty Hall under Rev. William Graham. After receiving his license to preach, Robert undertook missionary journeys to western New York, New England, and Kentucky.
Marriage to Margaret Moore
While visiting Kentucky, Robert Logan married Margaret Moore, who came from the Walker’s Creek community of Rockbridge County, Virginia.
Foote does not identify Margaret’s parents or provide a list of the couple’s children. He indicates that Robert’s need to support his family influenced the course of his ministry and required him to combine preaching with teaching.
Ministry at Fincastle and Salem
Robert eventually settled at Fincastle in Botetourt County. For many years he served as a frontier minister over a broad and thinly settled field. Rev. Samuel Houston at Natural Bridge was his nearest ministerial neighbor to the north, while Rev. McIlhenney at Lewisburg served to the west. Rev. Samuel H. McNutt was for a time a neighboring minister on the New River.
Fincastle and Salem formed the principal centers of Robert’s work. When his strength permitted, he also visited surrounding counties to preach.
Because the congregation could not provide sufficient financial support, Robert conducted a classical and general school during much of his ministry. His teaching supplied income for his household but limited the time available for theological study and pastoral travel.
Robert occasionally attempted to give up the school and depend entirely upon ministerial support. Foote recounts that when Robert explained one such plan to Rev. Conrad Speece, Speece remarked that Logan’s faith must be very strong if he expected to live in Fincastle on the available salary.
Robert preached at Fincastle for approximately thirty years. He died in October 1828, in the sixtieth year of his age, and was buried near the church at Fincastle.
Hampden-Sydney College
Before John Holt Rice became a tutor at Hampden-Sydney College, the trustees had been corresponding with Robert Logan about the position. Rice traveled across Virginia to learn whether Robert intended to accept.
Robert relinquished his claim to the tutorship and recommended Rice in his place. His decision allowed Rice to begin the educational career that later made him a leading Presbyterian teacher and theological educator.
Genealogical Notes
Foote does not establish a relationship among John Logan of New Providence, Benjamin Logan of the Holston Valley, and Rev. Robert Logan of Bethel and Fincastle. Geographic proximity and a shared surname are insufficient to combine their households.
The spelling Loggan appears beside John Logan’s name on the 1753 pastoral call. The modern surname form Logan has been used throughout this account for consistency.
John Logan’s wife, children, parentage, and place of origin are not supplied. Augusta and Rockbridge County land, tax, probate, court, and church records will be necessary to distinguish him from other men of the same name.
Benjamin Logan appears in Foote primarily through the Holston pastoral call and David Campbell’s identification of him with the distinguished Kentucky pioneer. Foote does not provide enough family information to connect him with either Virginia Logan household.
The minister called simply “Mr. Logan” in the supplied summary is identified in Chapter XLVI as Robert Logan, born in the Bethel congregation in September 1769. Foote says that he came from a large Presbyterian family but does not name its members.
Margaret Moore Logan is identified as a native of Walker’s Creek in Rockbridge County, but Foote does not give her parents, birth and death dates, or the names of her children.
John Logan settled at New Providence while the area belonged to Augusta County; later records for the same community are held under Rockbridge County. Benjamin Logan signed the Holston call while that settlement belonged to Fincastle County; later records for the same community may be found in Washington County. These predecessor jurisdictions are therefore important when searching for Logan records.
Source
This family genealogy was compiled from references appearing throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Foote’s scattered biographical, family, church, and settlement references have been brought together here and arranged by generation to make the genealogical relationships easier to follow.
Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Second Series. Second edition, revised. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1856. Available online at AccessGenealogy, Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Accessed 12 August 2026.