If you consider misspelling to be creative, then yes, he is. As you might have guessed, it is related to glue and gluten , among others. It's what causes dough to be sticky and rise when yeast is added to it. Gluten dates from the early 17th century. Glue came to English via Old French glu in the 14th century.
Agglutination is an etymological process, by the way.
See our glossary for a precise definition. As for tarnation , you and your dictionary are correct in deriving it from eternal damnation . Tarnal , an aphetic form of eternal , dates back to the late 18th century in America. Tarnation , a portmanteau formed from tarnal and damnation , also dates from that period. That comment implies that the word had been in use for some time and had lost its shock value by the time Mr. Webster recorded it.