John Flennekin

John Flennekin (3/7/1744 - ?) was one of the original signers of the Meckenburg Declaration of Independence. There are many people in this family with this name, and doing genealogical research is difficult. Family researchers say that his family came from Tryone, Ulster, Ireland about 1730 with other Scotch-Irish natives. They arrived in Philadelphia and later moved to Charlotte. His parents, James and Jean, had nine children. John married and had a son, John Oliver, who often gets confused with his father. John, Sr., served in the Revolutionary War with his daughter-in-law's father, David Reid.

The Fennekins owned a lot of land in Sharon township in Mecklenburg County. John was a delegate from Captain James Jack's company at a convention in Charlotte in May 1775. He served under Francis Marion as a private soldier. He also was an elder at the Providence Presbyterian Church, a magistrate and a member of the Mecklenburg county court.

One report is that he was killed from being thrown off a horse. The confusion comes into play because no one knows for sure where he is buried or when he died. Family members and professional genealogists have considered an unmarked grave, missing tombstone, as well as a burial in the area around Knoxville, TN. Records get confused with his son, so that this family heritage has been filled with errors on all levels. The only thing that has been generally agreed upon is that John, the son of James and Jean, is most likely the signer, rather than his son, John O. Flennekin.

Documentation

(1) King, Victor C. Lives and Times of the 27 Signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of May 20, 1775. Charlotte, NC, 1956.