/». Ji 11 OF THE M! LE NEWRIVERI JTLEMENTS yy PAviflF^^OHNSii^N:^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 189I BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Date Dae M^«r -t ^ ^n f{ f* - MOVl 2 1^40 JB^ «pw ■ ' easasB^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924081365474 DAVID E. JOHNSTON, at 60. A HISTORY OF MIDDLE NEW RIVER SETTLEMENTS AND CONTIGUOUS TERRITORY By DAVID E. JOHNSTON AUTHOR OF "FOUR YEARS A SOLDIER" 1906 STANDARD PTC. « PUB. CO. HUNTINCTON, W. VA. /\lS^Si>S' Copyright 1806 BT DAVID B. JOHNSTON INTRODUCTION. I have had in mind for several years to write and publish a history of Mercer County and its people, but finding on re- search and investigation that the settlement of the territory thereof and incidents connected with the life of its people are so interwoven with that of the people who first crowned and crossed the Alleghanies and made settlements on and along the upper waters of the Clinch, Sandy, Guyandotte, Coal, and other rivers and streams, that it will be necessary to broaden the scope of the work beyond what was at first intended. Mercer County as originally created, and as it now exists, embraces territory which was formerly a part of that vast do- main known as Augusta, later, and in succession, Botetourt,^ Fincastle, Montgomery, Greenbrier, Wythe, Monroe, Tazewell, and Giles Counties. The early history of the County, and that of its settlers and people, is largely common all those who occupy the territory referred to. Their long sufferings, dangerous encounters with the wild beasts and the savages, their patient endurance, their history during and after the close of the war between the States, their manly and heroic efforts to restore and reestablish their rights as citizens of a free Republic, not less renowned than their chivalric deeds in war, deserve a place in the annals of history to be handed down to succeeding generations, as examples of valor, heroism and fortitude worthy of emulation. The desire usually possessed by civilized men to learn the history and character of their ancestors, who they were, and whence they came, excites regret that this history is the more often involved in obscurity; no one has thought it necessary to keep a correct record of the family. Tradition alone, depended upon to supply the place of re- corded facts, is often so obscured by the efflux of time and other causes, that it cannot always be relied upon as a safe guide to truth. Yet when tradition and known facts are closely coupled together, the former is greatly strengthened and becomes much more reliable. Our ancestors who came across the mountains from the East and settled upon the Western waters were not, as a rule, college bred people ; in fact, most of them had had few advant- ages along this line. They came bringing with them all their world's goods of which they were possessed, consisting usually of a horse or two, a cow, rifle gun, a dog, and such an amount of household furniture as could be carried on horses. It is important as well as a matter of interest, that the deeds of heroism, and the dangers to which they were exposed, as well as the sufferings of those who won and redeemed this great wilderness country from the Savages and the wild beast; should be truthfully written. Already the time is here when the names of many of our ancestors who felled the forests, stood on the frontier, risked their lives, and endured untold hardships, have been forgotten. Their names should, as far as possible, be rescued from the obliteration of time and their illustrious deeds recorded upon the pages of history, lest they be forgotten or left to be preserved only in the indistinct memo- rials of tradition. With this view and to this end, the author has undertaken, with the best lights and information obtainable by him, gath- ered from the most reliable sources attainable, to record the history of these people. It cannot and will not of necessity be full and accurate, and much that would be of great interest to those of the later generation has been lost and cannot be produced. No attempt will be made to give a particular history of all the settlers of the New River Valley, or of the territory, re- ferred to, but will be confined to that portion of the said terri- tory in which the first settlements were made along the Middle- New River and contiguous territory, and to record local inci- dents, coupling therewith biographical sketches of families. David E. Johnston. Bluefield, W. Va., 1905. Middle New River Settlements. CHAPTER I. 1654-1753 Vast unexplored domain West of the Alleghanies — Crowning and Crossing the same — First White Man to see New River — First White Man West of this River — Origin of Name — Porter Settles at Mouth of East River — Salley, Howards and St. Clair on Middle-Lower New River — Clinche and Castle in Clinch Valley prior to 1748 — Thom- as Walker and party cross New River, 1748 — Same year Draper's Ingles' settlement made — Adam Harman at Gun- powder Spring — 1750 Dr. Thomas Walker and others on the Holstein and at Cumberland Gap — Christopher Gist on the Ohio and visits Mountain Lake — Philip Lybrook settles at Mouth of Sinking Creek — John Lewis and his son Andrew on the Greenbrier — James Burke discovers Burke's Garden — Samuel Culbertson on Culbertson's Bot- tom — Thomas Farley on New River — Builds a fort — James Ellison born in Farley's Fort — French and Indian War — Washington on the Ohio — Indian Depredations. The country embraced by the New River Valley belonged, at the time the first settlements were made therein by white people, to that vast unknown domain in Augusta County, be- yond the Alleghanies, which was sometimes erroneously called "West Augusta," stretching from the top of the Alleghanies Westward to the Mississippi River — if not to the uttermost sea. The country at the time mentioned was a vast unexplored wilderness about which the people East of the Alleghanies had very vague and indefinite ideas. Immediately in and near this 8 New River Settlements valley, about or a little before the white people came, the Can- awhay tribe of Indians occupied the valley and plateau, now in Carroll and Floyd Counties, Virginia, and from the name of which tribe of Indians, the New and Kanawha Kivers took the name of Kanawha. Where or when the upper part of this same river came to be called New Eiver is not altogether agreed. The late Oapt. Charles R. Boyd, upon the authority of Judge David McComas, says it was an Indian name meaning "New Water." Hardesty in his geographical history, says that "Captain Byrd, who had been employed in 1764 to open a road from the James River to where the town of Abingdon now stands, probably using Jef- ferson's map of Virginia engraved in France in 1755, and on which this river did not appear, named it New River. The late Major Jed Hotchkiss of Staunton, Virginia, attributed the name to a man by the name "New," who at an early day kept a ferry at or near where "Ingle's Ferry" was afterwards established. The first white man who is supposed to have entered this valley, was Colonel Abraham Wood in 1654. Wood lived at the Falls of the Appomatox near where the present city of Petersburg, Virginia, now stands, and being, as said, of an adventurous turn of mind, obtained from the Government au- thority to open trade with the Western Indians. It is sup- posed, in fact stated, that Colonel Wood came over the Alle- ghanies at a place now and long known and called Wood's Gap in the present county of Floyd, and passed down Little river to the river now known as New Eiver, and seeing a river flowing in a different direction from those up the course of which he had just traveled, he took it to be a new river and gave to it his own name "Wood's River," and it so appears on some of the oldest maps of Virginia. So far as known, between the date of the discovery of this river by Colonel Wood, Captain Henry Batte in 1666, Thomas Batte and party in 1671, John Sailing who was captured by the Indians and carried over this river to the West thereof in 1654-1753 1730, Salley, the Howards and St. Clair in 1742, Dr. Thomaa (3) Walker, and his parties in 1748-1750, are the only white men that had seen or crossed New River, or penetrated this vast wilderness country prior to 1748, unless it were the three men whose names are hereinafter mentioned. It is now more than a century and a half since the first white settlement was made in the New Kiver Valley. It has been claimed, in fact conceded, that the first white settlement was made in the year of 1748 by Ingles, Drapers and othera near where Blacksburg, in Montgomery county, Virginia, now stands, but this claim is now and has been for many years disputed and upon an investigation it appears from discover- ies made at the mouth of East Eiver at its junction with New River in Giles County, Virginia, that in the year of 1780, when Mr. John Toney (1) and his family, from Buckingham County, Virginia, settled at that place, they found the decayed re- mains of a cabin and evidences that some of the land around the same had been cleared, and nearby they found a grave with a rough stone at the head, on which was engraved, "Mary Porter was killed by the Indians November 28, 1742. (2) "Then followed something respecting Mr. Porter, but the crumbling away of the stone during the century and a half which has elapsed since its erection, has rendered it illegible." — Hardes- ty's Geographical His. 405. This Ingles-Draper settlement was called "Draper's Mead- ows," but we are told that the name was changed by Colonel William Preston to "Smithfield," in honor of his wife, who was a Miss Smith of Louisa County, Virginia. While the "Draper's Meadows" settlement was not made directly on the New River, it was not far away and the drain- age of the waters in the vicinity is into this river. (1). Built the brick dwelling house at mouth of Bast River, the first brick house built In Giles County. (2). This stone with engraving thereon often seen by Dr. Phillip H. Killey and Mr. G. W. Toney. (3). Upon the authority of Haywood, Vaughan of Amelia County, Va., with a number of Indian traders crossed New River about Ingle's ferry in 1740. 10 New Eiver Settlements Adam Harman, who came with the Ingles, Drapers and others from Pattonsburg, in the Virginia Valley, shortly after the planting of the Colony, located, probably in the Spring of 1749, on New Eiver at the place now known as Eggleston's Springs, but called by the early settlers "Gunpowder Spring," from the resemblance of its odor and taste to that of gun powder. This settlement of Harman, save that of Porter at the mouth of East Eiver, is believed to be the oldest settlement made by white people in what is now the territory of Giles County. Philip Lybrook, from Pennsylvania, but most likely born in Holland, and of whom we shall have occasion to hereafter speak, settled at the mouth of Sinking Creek on the New Eiver, a short distance below Harman's settlement, about 1750. It is not believed that Lybrook, the correct spelling of whose name in his native tongue is "Leibroch," came with the Drapers Meadows settlers, but subsequently. His was the third settle- ment made by the whites in what is now Giles County. It was upon Harman at Gunpowder Spring in April, 1749, that the Indians committed depredations by stealing his fur skins, but they remained peaceable and quiet until the break- ing out of the French and Indian war in the year of 1753, which continued on the border for more than ten years. It seems that Harman suspected a man by the name of Cas- tle as being in league with and as prompting the Indians to steal his fur skins. Castle was at the time on a hunting expe- dition with the Indians, who were now friendly, in what is now called Castleswoods on the Clinch Eiver in the Western por- tion of the now County of Eussell. Harman obtained from a magistrate of Augusta County a warrant for the arrest of Castle, and with a posse, among them a large, stout, athletic man by the name of Clinche, who had been a hunter in that section, he set out to accomplish his purpose, but met with seri- ous resistance from Castle and the Indians with whom he was engaged in hunting, and forced to beat a retreat, in which his 1654-1753 11 man Clinche was thrown from his horse in crossing the river. Being a lame man from an attack of white swelling, the In- dians supposing him disabled from the fall, one of them dashed into the river and seized him, but the great, strong man was an over match for his Indian enemy, and succeeded in drowning him, hence the name "Clinche River" was given, as the story goes. Dr. Thomas Walker in his journal kept of his journey to and through Cumberland Gap and return in 1750, says: "Clinche River was named for a hunter whose name was Clinche." It therefore seems altogether probable that, except Sailing, Porter, Castle and Clinche were the first white men to cross the Middle-New River and to explore the territory West thereof. It is stated upon the authority of Mr. Virgil A. Lewis in his recent history, as well as by others, that in 1742, Salley, the Howards and St. Clair crossed the New River below the mouth of Greenbrier and passed over on to Coal River, to which they gave that name. In the year of 1748 Dr. Thomas Walker, of Albemarle Coun- ty, Colonel James Patton, Colonel John Buchanan, Colonel James Wood and Major Charles Campbell, from the neighbor- hood of Pattonsburg, on the James River, made an excursion into what is now known as Southwestern Virginia. The pre- cise route this party traveled after leaving the New River, or how far they went Westward, seems to be left in doubt. This trip must not be confused with Dr. Walker's second one across the New River westward through Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky in 1750, in which his pompanions were Ambrose Powell, William Tomlinson, Colby Chew, Henry Lawless and John Hughes. This party on this trip in 1750 gave names, in some instances their own, to several mountains and streams, and on their return home came by way of the site of the pres- ent city of Pocahontas, Virginia, and along the Bluestone and Flat Top mountains near the present town of Hinton, and thence up the Greenbrier. See Appendix to "His. South- west Virginia," by Summers. From sketches taken from the diary of Dr. Walker and pub- 12 New Eivee Settlements lished by Major Jed Hotchkiss some years ago, it appears that Dr. Walker was the first white man to discover the great coal deposit in the Flat Top region. In his dairy he says that near the mouth of a small creek at the base of a mountain he dis- covered a large bed of stone coal lying to the north and north- west. As already stated the Drapers Meadows settlement was made in 1748. Whether the settlers made this location prior to Dr. Walker's first journey across New Eiver or after his re- turn, does not certainly appear, but it is evident that some of the parties who established themselves here must have had some knowledge of the country before the date of settlement. In 1750-1751 Christopher Gist, the employee of the Ohio Company, explored the country west of New River through a portion of Kentucky, returning through what is now Wise County, Virginia, giving his name to a river now in that County, as well also as a station, moving east along the water- shed dividing the Clinch, Sandy and the Bluestone, he passed through the territory of what is now the County of Mercer, crossing New Eiver about eight miles above the mouth of Bluestone, and not far below the lower part of Culbertson's- Crump's Bottom, now in Summers County, and on the 11th day of May discovered on top of a very high mountain a lake or pond about three-fourths of a mile long, northeast and southwest, and one-fourth of a mile wide, which is supposed to be what is now known as Mountain Lake, in Giles County, Vir- ginia. — "His. So. W. Va./' Summers. If tradition well authenticated is to be taken when support- ed by well attested evidence, then Christopher Gist never saw Mountain Lake in Giles County. (1) The earliest settlers in the vicinity of the lake and who lived longest, left the unbro- ken tradition that when they first knew the place where the lake now exists there was a deep depression between the moun- tains into which flowed the water from one or more springs (1). If Gist really saw this lake in 1751, then it is evident that water had escaped before 17C8. 1654-1753 13 which found its outlet at the northeastern portion of the de- pression, and in this gorge or depression was a favorite salting ground in which the settlers salted their cattle by whose con- tinual tramping the crevices through which the water from the springs found an escape, became closed and the depression be- gan to fill with water. This filling began in 1804 and by 1818 the water in the depression had risen to about one-half its present height. Kerchival in his "History of the Valley," at page 343 gives a conversation had by him in the year of 1836 with Colonel Christian Snidow and John Lybrook, which fully substantiates the statement above made, that the lake did not exist when the first settlers knew the place. To reconcile this statement with that of Gist it is fair to presume that after he saw this lake in 1751, the water had escaped through the crevices of the rocks and had disappeared before Snidow, Lybrook, and others saw it in about 1768, and that afterwards it repeated the process of refilling. It is reputed to be rapidly receding, having fall- en several feet within the past two years. In 1753, Andrew Culbertson settled on New Eiver on what has been known since his settlement as Culbertson's, or Crump's Bottom, now in Summers County, formerly a part of the territory of Mercer County. This was the first white settlement made within the boundaries of Mercer County. Andrew Culbertson, who lived in Pennsylvania, near to or where the town of Chambersburg is now situate, was compell- ed on account of the breaking out of the French and Indian war and fear of Indians to leave his land. He sold his claim " to Samuel Culbertson, perhaps his brother. The country for some years was so infested with Indians from northwest of the Ohio, that the property appeared to be deserted and aban- doned and in fact was. In the meantime other persons began to assert claim to the land, until finally the claims of all be- came vested in Thomas Farley who in March, 1775, procured the land to be surveyed, took a certificate thereof in order to obtain a grant from the Virginia Land Ofiflce, then expected 14 New Eiver Settlements to be shortly opened, and then assigned his right to James Burnsides. (Byrnside.) Long litigation followed over the right and ownership to this land or a part thereof between the Culbertsons, Eeid, and Byrnside. — WytM's Chancery Reports, 150. Thomas Farley from Albemarle County, Virginia, came to New Eiver Valley shortly after the ^coming of Culbertson and immediately on locating on the land referred to, erected a fort near the lower portion of the bottom on the south bank of the river, near what is known as "Warford." (1) This fort was known as Farley's and in which James Ellison, whose father came from the State of New Jersey, was born in May, 1778. The father of James Ellison was in the battle of Point Pleasant, and after his return to his home on Culbert- son's Bottom, was on the 19th day of October, 1780, while at work about a com crib, attacked by a party of seven or eight Indians, wounded in the shoulder, captured, and carried some fifteen miles, escaping the day after his capture. In 1774 a woman was killed on Culbertson's Bottom, by the Indians, and about the same time a man by the name of Shockley, on a hill above the bottom, which still bears the name of "Shockley's Hill." The James Ellison spoken of, became a distinguished and successful Baptist minister, and was instrumental in planting a number of Baptist churches in this section, among them the Guyandotte Baptist church, in 1812, where Oceana, in Wyo- ming County, is now situated. He was the father of the late Matthew Ellison, of Beckley, West Virginia, and who was re- garded the most distinguished Baptist preacher in this section in his day. James Burke, who was one of the Drapers Meadows settlers, on a hunting exedition in 1753, wounded an elk and followed it through what is now called Henshue's Gap, into that beauti- ful body of magnificent land which has since borne the name of (1). Shortly after the opening of Dunmore's war in 1774, a fort was erected at the mouth of Joshua's Run, on Culbertson's Bottom, called Fort Field. 16541753 15 Burke's Garden, about which and the discoverer more will be said later on. The Indian (1) name for this beautiful land was "Great Swamp." CHAPTER II. 1753-1766 Exploring the Mississippi Valley — French and Indian War- Washington on the Ohio — ^Virginia Raises Troops — Colo- nel Fry Sick and Command Devolves on Washington- Fort Necessity — General Braddock Defeated on the Mon- ongahela — Depredations on the Virginia Border — De- struction of Drapers Meadows Settlers — Mrs. Ingles a Prisoner— Philip Barger Killed — Mrs. Ingles Escapes — Captain William Ingles and Governor Dinwiddie plan an Expedition Against the Ohio Indians — Major Andrew Lewis Ordered to raise a force for the destruction of the Indian Towns on the Ohio — Lewis Marches in February, 1756, Crosses New River, North Fork of the Holstein, through Burke's Garden, over the head of the Clinch and on to the Sandy— Vaux's Fort Destroyed— 1756 Settle- ments West of New River — Joseph Howe and Others on Back Creek West of New River, 1760 — Indian Marauding Party Near Ingle's Ferry Attacked by Ingles, Harman and Others — Captain Henry Harman, Adam Harman — Herrman — One Branch of the Family from North Caro- lina and the Other from Virginia Valley — New River Lead Mines Discovered by Colonel Chiswell — Indian In- cursion into Jackson's River, Roanoke and Catawba Set- tlements — Pack, Swope and Pitman on the New River — Captain Audley Paul on Lower New River in 1763 — Mas- sacres by Indians in Greenbrier Section in 1763 — Butler, Carr and Others, Hunters on head of Clinch, 1766— This Year Family of John Snidow Settle at Mouth of Sinking Creek on the New River. The Mississippi Valley was first explored and settled by the French. They had a line of forts extending from New Orleans (1). When first seen by white men, contained a large number of acres of wet, marshy land, evidently once a lake. The waters flowing out of Burke's Garden are the head springs, of Wolf Creek. 16 New Eivbr Settlements to Quebec, one of which being Fort du Quesne, where Pittsburg now stands. The English were jealous of these movements, which jealousy at last ripened into open hostility, but before proceeding to open acts of war, the English sought to gain possession of the Western country by throwing a large white population into it by means of land companies, to whom large grants for land were made. The Ohio Company with a grant of 500,000 acres on the south side of the Ohio between Monon- gahela and the Kanawha ; the Greenbrier Company, at the head of which was John Lewis of Augusta, obtained authority to locate 100,000 acres on the Greenbrier and its waters, and the Loyal Company, with a grant of 800,000 acres with authority to locate the same from the North Carolina line north and west. Each of these land companies proceeded to locate their lands, and in 1751 Colonel John Lewis and his son, Andrew, afterward a distinguished General, surveyed the Greenbrier tract, including "Marlinton's Bottom," on the Greenbrier River, on which is now situate the town of Marlinton, the County seat of Pocahontas County, where they found Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell. The Loyal Company surveyed a large part of the lands granted to it, even extending its surveys into what is now Giles County, Virginia, about one of which tracts a controversy arose and was decided by the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia in July, 1834. French vs Loyal Company, 5th Leigh's R. 680. The movements of the English were closely watched by the French, who, understanding their design, determined to defeat them.' They accordingly crossed Lake Champlain, built Crown Point, and fortified certain positions on the waters of the upper Ohio. In the year of 1752, on the Miami, a collision occurred between some of the French soldiers and the English traders and Indians, in which some of the Indians were killed and some of the whites were taken prisoners. This was the begin- ning of what is known as the French and Indian War, which 1654-1753 17 resulted in the loss to France of all her territory east of the Mississippi. Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia, arrived in that Colony in 1752, and viewing with alarm the encroachments of the French, dispatched George Washington on a commission to the French Commandant on the Ohio. Washington left Williamsburg on the 31st day of October, 1753, and proceeded by way of Bomney, in Hampshire County, where he remained one night, and finally reached the French post on the Ohio, made known his commission to the French Commandant, who replied that it "did not become him to dis- cuss civil matters." Washington returned immediately to Williamsburg and reported the failure of his mission. Under instructions from the English government to raise a force of men to build and occupy two forts on the Ohio, the House of Burgesses voted 10,000 pounds and the raising of a regiment of men, the command of which was given to Colonel Joshua Fry as Commandant, with George Washington as Lieutenant- Colonel. Fry was taken sick on the journey and the command devolved upon Washington, These troops left Alexandria, Virginia, in April, and arrived at Will's Creek on the 20th of the same month, and on the 28th of May reached a place called Bedstone, where they encountered a French and Indian force, which they attacked, killing ten and taking the rest prisoners. From these prisoners Washington learned that a large force of French and Indians were in his front; neverthe- less he continued his march to the Great Meadows, where he halted and built a fort, calling it "Fort Necessity." On the third day of July, at 11 o'clock a. m., the enemy assailed Wash- ington's works with vigor, and attempted to carry them by assault, but were repulsed with loss. The battle however, con- tinued with great fury until well into the night. At the end of a nine hours engagement and after severe loss to the enemy, the French Commandant Count de Viliers, sent in a flag of truce, praising the gallantry of the Virginians, and offering to treat for a surrender of the works on honorable terms. His 18 New Eivbe Settlements proposals were accepted, and the next morning the treaty was concluded, and the Virginians took up their line of march for their homes. The French and Indians numbered 1,000 men. (Peyton's Augusta.) It seems that Washington on his march to the Great Mead- ows was joined by a Company of soldiers from South Carolina, who were with him at the surrender of Fort Necessity. Being now fully satisfied that war was inevitable, the British cabinet encouraged the Colonies to unite for defense or aggression, as might be necessary, and a plan to this effect was duly signed in 1754. In the Spring of 1755 the colonial forces attacked the French at four different points. Nova Scotia, Crown Point, Niagara, and on the Ohio Eiver. Against the French on the Ohio, oper- ations were conducted by General Braddock, who arrived from England in February of that year with two regiments. Vir- ginia raised eight hundred men to join Braddock, who arrived at Alexandria, then called Bellhaven, and appointed Washing- ton his aide-de-camp. Braddock dispatched one company of colonial troops under Captain Thomas Lewis of Augusta, to the Greenbrier country to build a stockade fort and prevent Indian raids on the white settlements in that region. The captains commanding companies in the Virginia troops, which served under Braddock in his march to the Monongahela were Waggener, Cock, Hogg, Stephens, Poulson, Pemronny, Mercer and Stuart. Braddock with his command of about twenty-two hundred men, left Alexandria on the 20th day of April, and crossed the Monongahela Eiver on the 9th day of July, 1755, where he fell into an ambuscade of French and Indians. He was mor- tally wounded, and his army after sustaining fearful loss was routed and put to flight. But for the courage and bravery of Washington and his Virginians, Braddock's whole force would have been annihilated. The Colonial and British loss in this engagement was seven hundred and seventy-seven (777) killed and wounded. 1654-1753 19 This defeat spread wide alarm throughout Virginia, and aroused the people to renewed energies for the defense of the border. It may here be noted that among the Virginians who sur- vived this battle, and were afterwards distinguished in our annals, were Washington, Andrew and William Lewis, Mat- thews, Field, and Grant. Following this disaster of Braddock and his army, devasta- tions and inhuman murders were perpetrated by the French and Indians during the summer on the western borders of Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania. As a result of Braddock's defeat, the whole frontier of West- ern Virginia was thrown open to the ravages of the Indians, who crossed the AUeghanies and pushed into Augusta, the lower Valley and New Eiver settlements, torturing and mur- dering men, women and children. Such was the distress oc- casioned by these butcheries that Washington in one of his letters to Governor Dinwiddie says, "The supplicating tears of the women and the moving petitions of the men melt me into such deadly sorrow, that I solemnly declare that if I know my own mind I could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the butch- ering enemy, provided that it would contribute to the people's ease." During all the years, beginning with the year 1753 to 1763 the Indians continued their barbarities along the Virginia bor- der. We must now turn to events transpiring in the New Eiver valley. Notwithstanding that Drapers Meadows settlement was far from the Ohio, and apparently safe from any probability of at- tack from any quarter, and although these settlers must have been aware that war was then being waged by the Indians against the whites, they took no reasonable precaution for their safety, but on Sunday, the 8th day of July, 1755, the day before Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela, they per- mitted themselves to be surprised by a band of marauding Shawnees from North of the Ohio, who killed, wounded and 20 New Rivee Settlements captured every person present. The killed were Colonel James Patton, Mrs. George Draper, Casper Barrier, and a child of John Draper, James Cull ; wounded, Mrs. William Ingles, Mrs. John Draper and Henry Leonard, captured. After putting their plunder and the women and children on horses, they set fire to the buildings, and with their prisoners began their re- treat to the Ohio, passing on their way, and not far from the scene of the tragedy, the house of Philip Barger, an old white haired man, whose heM they cut off, put in a bag, and took it with them to the house of Philip Lybrook at the mouth of Sinking Creek, and where they left it, telling Mrs. Lybrook to look in the bag and she would find an acquaintance. The morning of the attack upon the settlers of Drapers Meadows Colonel Patton had sent his nephew, young William Preston, over to Philip Lybrook's, on Sinking Creek, to get him to come over and help next day with the harvest, which was ready to cut. Preston and Lybrook instead of following the river, crossed the mountains, probably by the place where Newport, in Giles County, is now situated, and thus doubtless escaped death or capture. Of the facts and circumstances at- tending the attack on this settlement, the killing, wounding and capture of all present, of the journey of the prisoners to Ohio, the escape and return home of Mrs. Ingles, the writer is largely indebted to the authentic, pathetic account by the late Dr. John P. Hale, of Charleston, West Virginia, in his book "Trans-Alleghany Pioneers." Just why the Indians did not disturb the families of Adam Harman and Philip Lybrook, whose settlements were imme- diately on the river and along the trace the Indians must have traveled in going to and returning from Drapers Meadows, cannot well be explained. These Indians with their prison- ers passed down New Biver, crossing at the ford above the mouth of Bluestone, thence across what is called White Oak Mountain, the northeastern extension of the Flat Top, by way of where Beckley, in Baleigh County, is now situate, the old 1654-1753 21 Indian trail passed at what is now the junction of the prin- cipal streets of the town, and on to the head of Paint Creek and down to the Kanawha. Thus it will be seen that they passed over the territory of Mercer County. This trail up Paint Creek, and either by Pipe Stem Knob or mouth of Big Bluestone, was one of their frequently traveled ways to the Bast River and New River settlements. Paint Creek took its name from several trees standing thereon painted by the Indians as one of their guides or land marks on their maraud- ing expeditions into the white settlements and on their re- turn they by marks on these trees would indicate the number of scalps taken. Governor Dinwiddie had on August 11th, 1755 been inform- ed of the death of Colonel Patton and the destruction of the Drapers Meadows settlement, as he refers to same in a letter of that date to Captain Andrew Lewis. Mrs. William Ingles who was captured by the Indians at Drapers Meadows, and carried by them to their town North of the Ohio, and later to Big Bone Lick, in Kentucky, escaped in the fall of the same year with an old Dutch woman, and they made their way up the Ohio, Kanawha and New Rivers to the settlements. Evidently, from what subsequently hap- pened. Captain William Ingles, the husband of Mrs. Ingles, very shortly after her return, went to Williamsburg to lay before Governor Dinwiddie the situation of affairs on the border. Governor Dinwiddie writes on December 15th, 1755, to Colonel Stuart and to Captains Hogg, Preston, Smith, Rich- ard Pearis and Woodson, of the intention to take the Shaw- nee towns on the Ohio River, and in his letter to Preston and Smith he refers to the bearer thereof as Mr. Ingles, who evidently was Captain William Ingles, who, while at Wil- liamsburg with the Governor, originated and planned the Sandy expedition against the Shawnees whose towns were situated on the lower side of the Scioto on the North bank of the Ohio opposite the present city of Portsmouth. In about 22 New Eivbe Settlements 1767 a great flood in the Ohio overran their towns and they moved up to Chillicothe. Governor Dinwiddie in a letter to Major Andrew Lewis, dated February 6th, 1756, and which seems to have been writ- ten but a few days before the starting of the Sandy expedi- tion, says : "The distance by Evans' map is not two hundred miles to the upper towns of the Shawnees, however, at once begin your march." This map was made by Lewis Evans, a copy of which can be found in the Library of Congress, and the distance estimated by Governor Dinwiddie from the far- ther settlements to the Shawnee towns on the Ohio River, at the mouth of the Scioto, was not far from correct. Richard Pearis was a captain of militia of Augusta County and further had charge of a company of friendly Cherokee Indians. He is often referred to in the letters of Governor Dinwiddie. On page 266 of "The Dinwiddie Papers," note 161, Richard Pearis is described as an Indian trader, located on Holstein River, who acted as interpreter, and was after- wards commissioned a captain to command a company of Indians. The name is spelled in other instances, "Paris", and has respected representatives in Augusta County today. In a letter of Governor Dinwiddle's to Major Andrew Lewis, dated February 16th, 1756, he says : "I am glad the Cherokees are in so high spirits. I desire that you show proper regard and respect to the High Warrior and take care that Mr. Pearis behaves well and keeps sober." It is undoubtedly true that Mrs. Ingles on her return from captivity in November, 1755, made known to her husband and others, the position of the Indian towns on the Ohio and of the expressed determination of the savages to destroy the white settlements along the New River valley. This led to Captain Ingles' visit to the Governor at Williamsburg to forestall the Indian plans by sending a force of troops to de- stroy them before they could strike a blow at the settlements. Mrs. Ingles was not willing to remain on the New River nor even at Vaux's fort, on the Roanoke, nearby where 1654-1753 23 Shawesville now stands, but insisted that her husband should carry her to a place of greater safety for she was well aware that the Indians would repeat their visits to the settlements and that she and her friends would again be exposed to dan- ger of death or capture. The fears of Mrs. Ingles were well grounded, for on the very next day after the departure of herself and family from Vaux's fort, in the summer of 1756, it was attacked by the Indians, and the inmates were destroyed or captured and car- ried away, but two or three afterwards escaped. The incursions made by the Indians into the frontier set- tlements and their depredations immediately after Braddock's defeat, led to the organization of the Sandy expedition, under the order of Governor Dinwiddle, and suggested and planned by Captain William Ingles, who accompanied the expedition. Colonel Washington sent Major Andrew Lewis from Winches- ter to take charge of the forces, which were to attack the In- dian towns on the Ohio. Major Lewis' forces rendezvoused at Fort Prince George on the Eoanoke, near where Salem, Vir- ginia, now stands. The fprce consisted of about 340 men. Among the oflScers were Captains Peter Hogg, John Smith, William Preston, Archibald Alexander, Robert Breckinridge, Obediah Woodson, John Montgomery and Dunlap, together with a company of friendly Indians under Captain Richard Pearls. The company commanded by Captain Hogg failed to attend at the appointed time, and Major Lewis after delaying a week for its arrival, marched forward, expecting to be overtaken by it. It was important to the success of the expedition that it should not be discovered by the Indians until it was too late for them to take measures to thwart it; therefore, instead of taking the more public route by way of the Great Kanawha, Major Lewis selected the route most likely to keep his move- ments concealed from the enemy. While it would seem im- portant, yet Major Lewis made no report of the expedition; if so it has not been published. Yet we are not without fairly 24 New River Settlements full information on the subject. The author being so fortu- nate as to get a copy in part of Captain William Preston's journal, kept by him on this expedition, which will be here- inafter copied. The route by which Lewis with his men reached the mouth of the Sandy, has been stated by different writers, no two agreeing, and none strictly correct. See With- ers. Bord. Warf. Hale's Trans-Alleghany Pioneers. Peyton's His. of Augusta. Lewis' His. of W. Va. His. Southwest Va. by Summers. We will let Captain William Preston tell the story as writ- ten down by him at the time. "Monday, ye 9th day of February, 1756, "In persuance to ye orders of Major Lewis, dated the 4th inst, I marched from Fort Prince George, with my two Lieu- tenants, 2 Serjeants, 3 Corporals, and 25 Privates. We had one waggon load of dry beef, the wt. 2000 lbs. We traveled 15 miles the first day and lodged at the home of Francis Cyphers, on Eoanoke, and early on Tuesday morning, being the 10th, we proceeded on our journey as far as Richd. Hall's, about 15 miles. "Wednesday, the 11th, marched to New Eiver; informed that Capt. Hog's compy was but a little behind us. As we marched by the Cherikee Camp we saluted them by firing off guns, which they returned in seeming great joy, and afterwards honored us with a war dance. "Thursday, 12th, heard a sermon preached at Capt. Wood- ston's Camp, by Rev. Mr. Brown. "Friday, 13th: reviewed by Major Lewis. The number re- viewed was about 340, Indians included, being the Companies of Capt. C. Hog, Preston, Smith, Overton, Woodston, and Pearis, with the Cherikee Indians. Rev. Mr. Craig preached a military sermon, text in Deuteronomy. Two Captain's com- missions given by Major Lewis to two head Cherokee War- riors named Yellow Bird and Round O. 1654-1753 25 "Sat. 14. A company of volunteers, 25 in number, under Capt. Delap (The name is indistinct in the Mas.) joined us. "Sunday 15th, James Burk brot word that Robert Looney was killed nigh Alex Sawyers, and he had himself one horse shot and five taken away by the Shawnee Indians. "Monday 16, 40 Indians and 60 white men under command of Capt. Smith and Woodston marched from fort in order to range the woods about Eeed Creek; they are to march to Burke's Garden. "Tuesday 17, Mr. Paul returned from the horse guard (This guard had been left to protect the crossing of New Kiver.) "Wednesday 18, Capt. Hog's company and Major Lewis march in afternoon. "Thursday 19, Left Fort Frederick at 10 o'clock: 27 loaded pack horses, got to William Sawyer's: camped on his barn floor. "Friday 20, Switched one of the soldiers for swearing, which very much incensed the Indian chiefs then present. Ad- vanced to Alex Sawyers, met the Indians who went out with the first division, and Lieutenant Ingles who informed us of the burial of Robt. Looney. Some of our Indians deserted. Sat. 21, Major Lewis, Capt. Pearls and the interpreter went to Col. Buchanan's place, where they met the Indians who had deserted us, and induced them to return, which they did. "Sunday 22, Marched to John McFarland's. "Monday 23, Marched over the mountain to Bear Garden, on North Fork of Holston's river. Lost sundry horses. "Tuesday 24, Crossed two mountains and arrived at Burke's Garden. Had plenty of potatoes which the soldiers gathered in the deserted plantations. "Wednesday 25, Remained in Camp. "Burke's Garden is a tract of land of 5000 or 6000 acres, as rich and fertile as any I ever saw, as well watered with many beautiful streams, and is surrounded with mountains almost impassible. 26 New Eiver Shttlbmbnts "Thursday 26, Marched early, crossed three large mount- ains, arrived at head of Clinch. Our hunters found no game. "Friday 27, Lay by on account of rain. Hunters killed three or four bears. "Saturday 28, passed several branches of Clinch and at length got to head of Sandy Creek, where we met with great trouble and fatigue, occasioned by heavy rain, and driving our baggage horses down said creek, which we crossed 20 times that evening. Killed three buflfalos and some deer. "Sunday 29, In 15 miles passed the creek 66 times. Sundry horses were left, not being able to carry loads any further. Encamped at a cane swamp. This creek has been much fre- quented by Indians both traveling and hunting on it, and from many late signs I am apprehensive that Starnicker — the prisoners taken with him were carried this way. "Monday 1st, of March (1756) "Marched at 9 o'k. In 4 miles left the Creek to Eastward, passed a gap in high ridge, and came upon a branch, where we camped in a large bend in a prominent place. Sent Abrim Bledsher to hunt. "Tuesday 2, Discovered recent signs of enemy Indians hunt- ing camp : our Cherikees ranged the woods. Moved down the branch and came to the main creek where we camped. Put on half rations. Came into the Cole (Coal) land: crossed the river 8 times. "Wednesday 3. Marched only 9 or 10 miles being much re- tarded by the river and mountains which closed in on both sides, which made our marching very difBcult, and more so as each man had but half pound of flour and no meat but what we could kill and that was very scarce. "Thursday 4, Lost many horses that wandered off and could not be found. Marched 6 miles. Hunters had no suc- cess, and nothing but hunger and fatigue appears to us. "Friday 5, With great difficulty marched 15 miles : the river being very deep and often to cross, nearly killed the men, as 1654-1753 27 they were in utmost extremity for want of provisions. My fourth horse expired. "Saturday 6, As we encamped nigh the forks of the river, we only crossed the S. E. fork and encamped. The Cherikees made bark canoes to carry themselves down the river. Major Lewis had a large canoe made to carry the amunition and small remnant of flour. The men murmured much for want of provisions and numbers threatened to return home. "Sunday 7, Marched to a place 6 miles below the forks of the river. Mountains very high and no appearance of level country, which greatly discouraged the men. The men were faint and weak with hunger and could not travel the mount- ains and wade the river as formerly, there was no game in the mountains, nor appearance of level country, and their half pound of flour would not support them, and that would soon be gone, and they intended to leave next morning and go home. I proposed to kill the horses to eat, which they refused. They said that might do to support them if they were on their way home, but it was not a diet proper to sustain men on a long march against the enemy. They flnally agreed to make one more trial down the river. "Monday 8, Proceeded down the river about 3 miles, where the mountains closed so nigh the water that we could not pass: went up a branch, crossed a very high mountain, and down another branch to the river, where we met a party of men who had been at the river and could not get down any further. Crossed another mountain to the head of another branch which we followed several miles to the river and camped. Some of the volunteers killed two elk, which they divided with us. "Tuesday 9, The volunteers killed two bufltalos and an elk, which helped us some, but the men are very faint and con- tinue to murmur. Did not move this day waiting for Major Lewis, and the rest of the men who were left at the forks of the river, supposed 15 miles. 28 New Eivbe Settlements "Wednesday 10, Sent a messenger with a letter to Major Lewis to come at once, as the men were determined to desert and go home. "Thursday 11th, 8 of Capt. Smith's men went off and Bled- sher and . "Friday 12, 8 or 10 of my Company being ready to leave, I was obliged to disarm them and take their blankets from them by force. Capt. Woodson arrived, with some of his company, and informed us that his canoe overset, and lost his tents and every thing of value. Major Lewis' canoe was sunk in the river and he and Capt. Overton and Lieut. Gun had to swim for their lives: they lost every thing of value, •particularly 5 or 6 guns. "Major Lewis, Lieut. McNeal and Mr. Chen arrived, and informed us of their shipwreck. He had seen Bledsher and 9 other men going off. "Saturday 13th, Major Lewis ordered each Capt. to call his company together immediately, which was done. He made a speech to them, but they were obstinate. "Major Lewis stepped off some yrads, and desired all that were willing to share his fate, to go with him. All the oflScers, and some privates, not above 20 or 30, joined him. Then Mont- gomery's volunteers marched off, and were immediately fol- lowed by my company and Smith's: i private men and my lieutenants stayed with me. "Major Lewis spoke to Old Autocity, who was much griev- ed to see the men desert, who said that he was willing to pro- ceed, but some of his warriors and young men were yet be- hind, and he was doubtful about them. Mr. Dunlap's volun- teers went off in the afternoon. "An account of miles marched each day on our journey to the Shawnees' towns. 1654-1753 29 "From F. P. George to Cyphers' 15 2nd day to R. Hall's 15 3rd day to F. A. Frederick 15 19th Feb. to Wm. Sawyers 20 20th Feb. to McCaul's 13 Sunday 22, to McFarland's 7 Monday 23 to Bear Garden 10 Tuesday 24 to Burke's Garden 9 Thursday 26, to head of Clinch 10 Saturday 28, to head of Sandy Creek 10 Sunday 29, down Sandy Creek 12 Monday 1st, March Sandy Creek 6 Tuesday 2, Sandy Creek 3 Wednesday 3rd, Sandy Creek 10 Friday 5, Sandy Creek 15 Saturday 6, Sandy Creek 2 Sunday 7, Sandy Creek 7 Monday 8, (Here the journal ends M,) 7 It will appear by a close examination of this journal by one fully acquainted with the territory from the head waters of the Clinch to the mouth of the Dry Fork of the Tug Fork of Sandy, where the Station of laeger on the line of the Norfolk and Western Railway now stands, over which territory the expedition passed, that it proceeded by way of one of the North branches of the Clinch through the farm of the late W. G. Mustard in Tazewell County, thence through Maxwell's Gap on to the waters of Horse Pen Creek, thence down the same to Jacob's Fork, and down the same to the Low gap or Cane Brake in the ridge dividing the waters of Jacob's Fork from Dry Fork, and a little South and West of the residence of Rev. R. B. Godbey, on Jacob's Fork, thence down the Dry Fork to its junction with the Tug or main fork. Captain Hogg and his company finally overtook Major Lew- is. At the same time a messenger arrived directing the return 30 New Eivee Settlements of the expedition. It however proceeded to the mouth of the Sandy, and Bome of the oflBcers urged the crossing of the Ohio river, but it was finally decided to obey the summons to re- turn. The weather was extremely cold, snow having fallen the march was a difficult one, and the men stopping at Burn- ing Spring (Warfield) took strips of the hides of the buffalos and broiled them in the burning gas. They cut them into strips or thugs, hence the name of Tug Eiver. On leaving the spring they scattered through the mountains and many of them perished, either frozen to death, starved or killed by the Indians. They left however, some marks by the way, cutting their names on trees on the route pursued by them, notably at the forks of Big Coal and Clear Fork of that River, but these trees have been destroyed in recent years. As already stated, if Major Lewis ever made any written report of this expedition, the author has been unable to find it or any trace of it, and therefore we are without information as to the number of men lost on the expedition. The Indians had discovered that Lewis and his men were on the Sandy or about the mouth of it, and some of them fol- lowed the whites for a distance on their way homeward. A second Sandy expedition seems to have been contemplat- ed, but for some reason abandoned. Reference has already been made to that splendid body of land situate in the southeastern part of the present County of Tazewell, about fourteen miles from the Court House there- of and known as Burke's Garden. Colonel William Preston, as we have seen from his journal, gives a short description of this body of land. It appears that Lewis and his men saw this Garden within less than three years after Burke had dis- covered it. Whether between 1753 and 1756 Ingles and Pat- ton were therein surveying lands for the Loyal Company does not certainly appear. Burke moved with his family into the, Garden in 1754, (1) (1) A white thorn bush, sprout from an older bush, at a spring, near to the residence of Mr. Rufua Thompson, in Burke's Garden, is pointed out as the spot where Burke spent his first night in the Garden. 1654-1753 31 cleared up some land, and planted a crop, including potatoes, and in the fall of 1755 was driven out on account of fear of Indians, and left his crop of potatoes in the ground which Lewis' men found the next spring and appropriated. Burke had killed a large number of deer, elk and bear, and had tan- ned a number of the hides, which he took with him when he left in the fall of 1755. On his way out with his family he camped one night in an old hunter's cabin near what is now Sharon Springs in the now County of Bland, Virginia. The Indians followed him, and on their way killed two hunters in their camp. On approaching Burke's cabin and seeing sev- eral horses, and the tanned hides rolled up in the cabin, they came to the conclusion that there were too many people for them to attack, and contented themselves with the cutting of the throat of one of Burke's horses. One of the evidences adduced that Burke had removed with his family to this Gar- den, and lived there in 1755, is, that no mention of him or of his family is made in the history of the destruction of the Drapers Maedows settlers by the Indians on the 8th day of July, 1755, while all the other settlers are accounted for. Burke was not killed in the Garden. He was living and seen by Captain Preston and his men on the 15th day of February, 1756, when he reported to Major Lewis the killing by the Indians of a man by the name of Robert Looney near Alexan- der Sawyer's. Burke with his family never returned to the Garden to live, first, because the Loyal Company claimed tte land and had Ingles and Patton to survey it. Second, Burke got not one foot of it, and, third; he removed South where he died. Many of his descendants, among them the Snidows, of Giles County, still reside in the New River Valley, and they seem never to have heard of the story that Burke was killed in the Garden. Again Morris Griffith, the step son of Burke, who is reputed to have first seen the Garden, was captured at Vaux's Fort in the Summer of 1756, but escaped. The failure of the Sandy expedition gave encouragement to the Indians and they prepared to assault more fiercely the 32 New Rivbe Settlements border white settlements during the Spring, Summer and Fall months of 1756. Vaux Fort situated on the Roanoke near where Shawesville Station on the line of the Norfolk and Western Railway Com- pany now stands, was built prior to 1756, and destroyed in the early Summer of that year. On September 8th, 1756, Governor Dinwiddie, (Dinwiddie Papers) writes to Captain Hogg as follows : "I received yours of the 25th ult, and observe you have made a beginning to build a fort near Vass's plantation, which is well. I am of the opinion that three forts are necessary, as the one you are constructing may be suflBcient, as I hear Col. Washington is with you, counsel with him thereon." This letter shows that Colonel George Washington was with Captain Hogg on the Roanoke at Vass's Fort when the above letter was written. From the beginning of the French and Indian war in 1753 up to the close of the war in the year 1763, the border country from the lakes to the mountains of North Carolina was scourg- ed by Indian forays and incursions, and the few inhabitants were kept in almost constant fear. Preston's Journal shows that several settlements had been made along Peak, Reed and other Creeks West of New River prior to 1756. Among the parties he names are William Saw- yers, Alexander Sawyers, and John McFarland, and Dr. Walk- er mentions Samuel Stalnaker as on the Holston on the 24th of March, 1750, when he and Mr. Powell helped him to raise a house. Hale in his Trans Alleghany Pioneers states that seven fam- ilies were settled West of New River in 1754, but gives the names of but two, Reed and McCorkle. The New River lead mines were discovered by Colonel Chis- well in 1757. About the year of 1758 Joseph Howe, and a little later James Hoge settled in the Back Creek Valley. In 1760 an Indian marauding party penetrated the New River settlements, and passing over into what is now Bedford 1654-1753 33 County, committed murders and other depredations and on its return, reaching the vicinity of Ingles' Ferry, was attacked by Captain William Ingles, Captain Henry Harman, (Har- man Ms.) and others. One white man and six or seven In- dians were killed, and this was the last Indian foray that ever succeeded in penetrating so far into the interior. Captain Henry Harman was a German, born in the Isle of Man, and first settled in Forsythe County, North Carolina, where he married Miss Nancy Wilburn, and removed to the New River Valley about 1758, and settled first on Buchanan's Bottom (the Major James R. Kent farm, below the present town of Radford, Virginia) ; and from thence removed to Walker's Creek in what is now Bland County, and shortly thereafter to the Hollybrook farm on Kimberling in the same County. This name Harman being German, was originally Herman, and the family of this name that settled in the New River Valley, except Adam Harman, and in Tazewell County, Vir- ginia, were all from the State of North Carolina. Adam Har- man and his family and all by that name that settled on the Jackson River and in Western Virginia came from the Valley of Virginia. In the Fall of the year 1763, about fifty Indian warriors ascended the Great Sandy, and passed over the present terri- tory of Mercer County on to New River, where they separated, forming two parties, one going towards the Jackson River, and the other towards the Roanoke and Catawba settlements. Pitman, Pack and Swope, trappers on New River, discovered the trail of these Indians and the route they had taken, sus- pecting that they were preparing to attack the settlements just mentioned, they set out, Pitman for Jackson's River and Pack and Swope for Roanoke, but the Indians reached both places ahead of them. After killing some people in the Jack- son's River settlement and taking some prisoners, the Indians began a hasty retreat towards the Ohio, pursued by Captain Audley Paul with a company of twenty men from Fort Din- widdie, and who followed the Indians up Dunlap's Creek over on to Indian Creek and New River, to the mouth of Piney 34 New Rivee Settlements Creek without discovering them, and Captain Paul started on his return. The party that had crossed over on to the Eoanoke and Catawba committed some depredations and murders, and cap- tured three prisoners, a Mrs. Katharine Gun, a man by the name of Jacob Kimberline (who was taken from a creek now called Kimberling, a branch of Walker's Creek) and another whose name is not given. This party was being pursued by Captain William Ingles, Captain Henry Harman and their men. On the night of the 12th of October, the Indians pur- sued by Ingles and Harman were discovered by Captain Paul and his men about midnight, encamped on the North bank of the New Eiver opposite an island at the mouth of Turkey Creek (now Indian Creek) in Summers County. Paul's men fired on them, killed three and wounded several others, one of whom threw himself into the river to preserve his scalp, the rest of the party fled hurriedly down the river. The Snidows came in 1766 and settled in the neighborhood of Philip Lybrook, near the mouth of Sinking Creek; however settlements had been made in the Greenbrier section of coun- try by Marlin and Sewell in 1750, and some families came in 1762, but they were massacred by Indians in 1763, and reset- ' tlements did not begin in that section until the year of 1769. The Snidow family mentioned above, were Germans, and came from Pennsylvania. John, the father, and head of the family, had in 1765 visited the New Eiver section, and Philip Lybrook, whom it is supposed had been his neighbor in Penn- sylvania. He returned for his family and started with them for his new home in 1766, but on the road was taken suddenly and violently ill, from which illness he died. His widow, Elizabeth, with her children, made her way to the New Eiver home which had been selected and fixed upon by her husband. This family later suffered from an Indian attack in which a part of its members were killed and a part captured. This family became one of the largest and most influential of the settlers of the New Biver Valley. 1654-1753 35 Settlements began on the head waters of the Clinch in 1766- 1767, but as there will be a chapter in this work devoted ex- clusively to the history of Tazewell County, in which these settlements were made, a statement in full in regard thereto is reserved to be stated in said chapter. CHAPTER III. 1766-1774. Formation Botetourt County from Augusta in 1769 — Cooks, Keeneys and others on Indian Creek and the Greenbrier — Building Forts — Cooks on Indian Creek and Keeneys at Keeney's Knobs — Fort at Lewisburg built — John and Richard Chapman and McKensey settle at mouth of Walk- er's Creek — Snidows, Lybrooks and Chapmans build fort at the Horse Shoe — Absalom Looney from Looney's Creek explores upper Bluestone waters — Other settlers on the head of Clinch — John McNeil from the Virginia Valley locates at Little Levels — Accompanies General Lewis to the battle of Point Pleasant — Captain James Moore, Sam- uel Ferguson, the Peerys and others in the battle of the Alamance May 16th, 1771— In 1772 Evan Shelby at King's Meadows, and John Sevier from the Valley, on the Noli- chucky — Refugees from the Alamance, from Fairfax County, Virginia, on the Watauga — Over mountain men — Back water men — Peace men — Fincastle County creat- ed and courts held at Lead Mines — Daniel Boone, family and party from the Yadkin— Squire Boone a Baptist min- ister, with the party— On their way to Kentucky are at- tacked by Indians and party scattered— Daniel and Squire winter near Castleswoods— Dunmore's War begins in the Spring of 1774 — Daniel Boone in command of the fron- tier — Captain William Russell's company from the Clinch — Reece and Moses Bowen with Russell — Evan Shelby, his son Isaac and John Sevier also lead a company — Se- vier from North Carolina but supposes he lives in Vir- ginia — Governor Dunmore raises an army and commands northern division — General Andrew Lewis the southern division — March to the mouth of the Kanawha and battle of Point Pleasant— August 7th, 1774, Indians attack the Lybrooks and Snidows at Sinking Creek— Harman's fort —Shannons settle at Poplar Hill, 1774— Grant of Clover Bottom to Mitchell Clay. 36 New River Settlements Up to and including the year of 1769 the territory covering the New River Valley and the section of the country West thereof, was within the County of Augusta, but in November of that year a county called Botetourt was created, the act to be in effect January 31st, 1769. The following are the boundary lines of the county of Bote- tourt as given in the Act: "That from and after the 31st day of January next ensuing, the said parish and county of Au- gusta be divided into two counties and parishes by a line be- ginning at the Blue Ridge, running north 55 deg. West to the confluence of Mary's Creek (or of South River) with the North branch of the James River; thence, up the same to the South of Kerr's Creek (Carr's Creek) thence, up said creek to the mountain; thence, North 45 deg. West as far as the courts of the two counties shall extend it." By reference to the map of Virginia it will be seen that a line 45 deg. West extended from the mountain at the head of Kerr's Creek will reach the Ohio river at some point not far from the present city of Wheeling, and will cover largely that vast territory which had formerly belonged to Augusta County. Between the years 1769 and 1774, settlements had been made by the Cooks from the Virginia Valley on Indian Creek (one of their number, John, being killed by the Indians), the Woods on Rich Creek, the Grahams on the Greenbrier, and others near Keeney's Knobs. Cook's Fort was on Indian Creek about three miles from New River, Wood's fort on Rich Creek on a farm recently owned by the family of John Karnes, and about 4 miles East of the present village of Peterstown in the County of Monroe. The Keeneys built Keeney's fort near Keeney's Knobs. The Snidows, Lybrooks, Chapmans and Mc- Kensey built Snidow's fort at the upper end of the Horseshoe farm on New River, in what is now Giles County. The Hat- fields built Hatfield's fort on Big Stony Creek in the now county of Giles on the farm belonging to the late David J. L. 1654-1753 37 Snidow. The fort at Lewisburg was built in 1770. The Bar- gers built Barger's fort on Tom's Creek in the now County of Montgomery. Colonel Andrew Donnally built Donnally's fort. Colonel John Stuart built Fort Spring, and Captain Jarrett the Wolf Creek fort, the three last named on the Greenbrier waters. In 1771 came John Chapman, Richard his brother, and their brother-in-law Moredock O. McKensey with their families from Culpepper County, Virginia, and located at the mouth of Walker's Creek on the New River. The Chapmans and Mc- Kensey, the latter a Scotsman, who had married Jemima, the only sister of the Chapmans, left their Culpepper home in November, 1768, crossed the Blue Ridge into the Valley of Virginia, and remained for more than two years on the Shen- andoah (then called the Sherando) River, and at some time in the year of 1771 fell in with the emigrant bands making their way further West, and even across the Alleghanies. John Chapman erected his cabin on the Northwest side of Walker's Creek at the base of the hill and near the bank of the creek. Richard Chapman and McKensey built on the river bottom above the mouth of the creek. An adventurer by the name of Absalom Looney in 1771 left his home on Looney's Creek, now in the Rockbridge country, and came over the Alleghanies and explored the upper Blue- stone country, particularly a beautiful valley now in Taze- well County, Virginia, and which in part bears the name of its discoverer, being called "Abb's Valley." Looney remained in this valley and adjacent territory for two or three years, and had for his refuge and hiding place from the savages and wild beasts a cave or rather an opening in the limestone rocks, for it was not deep under ground. This hiding place was pointed out to the author by William T. Moore, Esq., whose grandfather settled nearby in 1777. The cave referred to is a few yards south of the spot whereon now stands Moore's Memorial Methodist Church. On Looney's return to his home he gave such glowing description of this valley that 38 New River Settlements one of his neighbors, Captain James Moore, was induced to make a journey to see it. He came in 1776 or 1777 alone, from Ms home with no companians nor weapons, save his rifle gun, tomahawk and butcher knife,- the hunter's usual weapons of offense and defense. Looney had furnished him such a de- scription of the valley as to enable him to find the way with- out difficulty. Further description of Captain Moore's jour- ney and settlement in this valley, and the destruction of his family by Indians will be related in the Chapter on the his- tory of Tazewell County. In 1773 John McNeil from the lower Virginia valley, set- tled in the Little Levels on the waters of the Greenbrier, now in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. McNeil accompanied General Lewis' army to the battle of Point Pleasant, and was a participant therein. John Sevier of French extraction, who established and gave name to the town of New Market in the Valley of Virginia, and kept a store in that town, having made the acquaintance of Evan Shelby of King's Meadows, now Bristol, Tennessee- Virginia, made in 1772 a visit to Shelby, and went with him to the waters of the Watauga, finding there among the settlers persons who had fought in the battle of the Alamance, and some from the County of Fairfax, Virginia. These people later, together with settlers on the Holstein, were called by some. Backwater men, Over mountain men, and Peace men, as some of them at least opposed the war with Great Brit- ain. But when the tug of war did come, they were almost without exception found on the American side, and many of them served in the patriot army. Sevier made up his mind to locate in this section, and accordingly did, fixing his res- idence upon the Nolichuckey, and he was afterwards known as, and called "Nolichuckey Jack." He was a brave, cour- ageous and intelligent man, and figured extensively in the bor- der wars, and in the formation of the State of Franklin, of which he was the Governor four years; and was afterwards Governor of the State of Tennessee for a number of years. 165d-1753 39 Owing to the remote settlements west of the Alleghanies and along the New Kiver waters and farther to the west, and the difficulties the inhabitants had of reaching the courts held at Pincastle in Botetourt County, the inhabitants peti- tioned the Legislature of Virginia for the formation of a new county, the prayer of which petition was granted in February, 1772. The county of Fincastle was created out of Botetourt; with the following boundary lines as given in the act creating same. "That from and after the first day of December next, the said county of Botetourt shall be divided into two distinct Counties, that is to say all that part of said county within a line to run up the east side of New River to the south of Culbertson's Creek, thence, a direct line to the Catawba road, where it crosses the dividing ridge between the north of the Eoanoke and the waters of New Eiver; thence, with the top of the ridge to the Bent, where it turns eastwardly; thence, a south course to the top of Blue Eidge mountains, shall be established as one distinct county and called and known by the name of Pincastle; and that the other part thereof, which lies to the east and north east of the said line, shall be one distinct county and retain the name of Botetourt. Daniel Boone from the Yadkin Eiver, North Carolina, vis- ited the Holstein settlements in 1760 and again in 1773, and engaged in hunting along the waters of the Tennessee, per- forming his usual feat of "Cilling a bar," and proclaiming the fact by inscribing it on a beech tree. Several trees are said to have been found with similar inscriptions. A brief sketch of the life of Boone is given by Dr. John P. Hale, in the Trans Alleghany Pioneers. It may be well to add, how- ever, that in the fall of 1773 the Boones, with five other families set out from their home on the Yadkin to go to Kentucky, and were joined in Powell's Valley by William Bryan, their brother-in-law, and forty other people. That while this body of emigrants was leisurely traveling through, the Valley, a small company under James Boone, Daniel's eldest son, left 40 New Eiver Settlements the main body and went to the home of William Russell to procure provisions, and on the 9th of October James Boone and his company, among the number being Russell's son, Hen- ry, and two slaves, encamped a few miles in the rear of the main body. At this point they were the next day waylaid by a small party of Shawnee and Cherokee Indians, who were supposed to be at peace with the white settlers. On the morning of the 10th James Boone and his entire company were captured, and after cruel torture were slaughtered. Af- ter this occurrence Daniel Boone's company broke up and re- turned to the settlements, and Daniel and his family returned to the home of William Russell near Castleswoods on Clinch river, and spent the winter of 1773-1774 in that neighborhood. "Summers' His. South West Va." In addition to these state- ments made by Summers, it may be added upon well authen- ticated testimony that Squire Boone, a brother of Daniel, with his family were with this party of emigrants and remained over the same winter in the neighborhood of William Russell, and his brother Daniel and his family. Squire Boone was a Missionary Baptist minister, and during his stay at or near Castle's-woods, planted the germ from which sprang Castle's- woods Baptist church which exists to this day. Again it is known that Squire Boone married the first white couple that were married in Kentucky. With the opening of the Spring of 1774 the Indians began their depredations upon the border, and Governor Dunmore began the raising and mobilizing of a Virginian army to pun- ish the savages. The army was divided into two divisions, the northern division was commanded by Dunmore himself, the southern division commanded by Brg. General Andrew Lewis, and its appointed place of rendezvous was at Camp Union (now Lewisburg, West Virginia). To this southern division belonged Colonel William Christian's regiment of Fincastle men, to which was attached a company from the lower Clinch commanded by Captain William Russell, which in August, 1774, marched for the place of rendezvous, joining en route 1654-1753 41 on New River the regiment to which it belonged. It is be- lieved that the line of march of Russell's company was up the Clinch and down the East river, passing the site of the present city of Bluefleld, West Virginia. In Russell's Com- pany were Reece Bowen, Moses Bowen, the latter dying from small pos on the expedition, and otiiers from their neighbor- hood in the Cove, in the now County of Tazewell. Daniel Boone was left in command of Russell's fort and the border in the absence of Russell and his men. At this time Reece Bowen had a fort at Maiden Spring, which was located on the farm of Mr. Reece Bowen, a great grand son of the Reece Bowen, first above mentioned. In the absence of Captain Russell and his company, the neighbors of Reece Bowen had gathered in his fort, they were principally, if not altogether, women and chil- dren. Mrs. Bowen went out in search of her cows, and in a marsh she discovered Indian signs, immediately returned to the fort, and dressed up in male attire a negro woman, gave her a rifle gun, and caused her to walk to and fro in front of the door or gate to the fort. The ruse succeeded, and the fort was not attacked. Between the years of 1765 and the Spring of 1774 there had been peace along the border -between the whites and the In- dians. A difference of opinion exists as to the causes which led to Dunmore's War. Some have asserted that it had its ori- gin in the murder of some Indians on the Ohio river both above and below Wheeling in the Spring of the latter mentioned year. Others suppose it to have been produced by the instigation of the British emissaries and the influence of Canadian traders. It it certain, however, that numerous outrages were committed upon the Indians by the whites, and the war was the natural outgrowth of the strained relations which had long existed be- tween the Savages and the white colonists in their midst. Also immediately after the perpetration of the outrages, Indians in numerous bands and marauding parties attacked the border settlements and bloodshed and murder were the results. 42 New Rivbe Settlements One of these marauding parties left the north bank of the Ohio river making their way up to the settlements of the Ly- brooks, Chapmans and Snidows, and after prowling around several days it was discovered by some of the settlers that they were in the neighborhood, and thereupon most of the families took refuge in the forts for safety. The family of John Chap- man abondoned their house and went to the fort. The Indians burned his house which was the second they had destroyed for him. It has already been stated that the Chapmans, Lybrooks, McKenseys and Snidows had a fort on the bank of New river, at the extreme upper end of the farm now known as the Horse shoe, and that Adam Harman had a fort or block house at Gun- powder Spring, in which his family and perhaps others had ta- ken shelter. Philip Lybrook and a man by the name of Mc- Griff had built their cabins in a little bottom just below the mouth of Sinking creek on the farm lately known as that of Croft or Hale, and were engaged in the cultivation of a small crop of corn on the bottom lands. Mr. Lybrook had built a small mill on the spring branch. As was the custom in that day, when people were few in the country, for the young people to assemble or get together on Sunday, and so it happened that on Sunday the 7th day of August, 1774, that some of the chil- dren of Mrs. Elizabeth Snidow, who has heretofore been men- tioned, and a young woman by the name of Scott went on a vis- it from the fort to Lybrook's and McGrifE's. Mr. Lybrook was busy about his mill, McGriff was in the house, and the young people and the smaller children were at the river. Two of the young men, a Snidow and Baltzer Lybrook, were out some dis- tance in the river bathing, and three or four of the little boys were playing in the water near the bank, and a young woman, the daughter of Lybrook, was out in the river in a canoe with some of the small children therein, when an Indian was dis- covered on the high bank overlooking the brink of the river, and the alarm was given. The two young men in the river made for the opposite shore, the Indians in the mean time began to shoot at tiiem. Being expert swimmers they turned upon their 1654-1753 43 backs their faces being turned to the Indians, enabled them to watch their movments. The four small boys playing in the wa- ter near the edge of the river, were, viz. Theophilus Snidow, Jacob Snidow, Thomas McGriff, and John Lybrook. There were some deep gullies washed down through the banks of the river, by way of which wild animals had made their way to the river to get water, and when the little boys discovered the In- dians, they attempted to escape by way of these breaks in the bank, and as they did so the Indians would head them off. Fi- nally an Indian stooped down and placed one hand on his knee as a rest for his gun, and attempted to shoot one of the young men in the river, and at this moment John Lybrook, a boy only eleven years old, ran under the muzzle of his gun and made for the house. So soon as the Indian fired, he pursued John. and coming to one of the gullies which had washed out to about the width of twelve feet, the Indian close upon him, John leap- ed the gully, and the Indian finding he could not, threw his lariat at him, striking him on the back of the head, at the same time tumbling into the gully. By this time the two young men in the river had reached the opposite shore, and were hidden behind the trees, and discovering that John had safely crossed the gully, they cried out to him,"Run John run,"and John ran, and safely reached the house. While this was transpiring Miss Lybrook, who was standing in the rear end of the canoe, was pushing the same to the shore, when an Indian, who was hid- den in the weeds on the bank of the river came to the water's edge and reached out as the canoe touched the bank, and pull- ed the front end of it to the bank, and stepping therein, with his war club began striking the little children over their heads and taking their scalps. The rear end of the canoe being down stream, and having floated near to the bank Miss Lybrook sprang out and started to the house, the Indian pursuing her. Her cries brought to her assistance a large dog, which seized the Indian and finally threw him, but the Indian succeeded in getting to his feet, and striking the dog with his club, but in the meantime, the young woman made her escape. While a 44 New Hivee Settlements part of the Indians were on the river shooting at the young men in the river, capturing the boys, and killing the children, a part of them had gone to the mill and the house. One shot Mr. Lybrook, breaking his arm and Mr. McGrifiE shot and mortally wounded one of the Indians, whose remains were years after- wards found under a cliff of rocks not far away from the scene of the tragedy. Three of the little boys, Theophilus Snidow, Thomas McGrifiE and Jacob Snidow were captured by the In- dians and carried away by them, and after traveling with them for some two or three days, they formed a plan of escape, and that was to slip away at night. They reached Pipestem Knob, now in Summers County, and there camped for the night. During the night, and after all things had gotten quiet, two of the boys, Jacob Snidow, and Thomas McGrifiE slipped away from the camp, not being able to arouse the third boy without awaking the Indians, and thus they were compelled to go with- out him. After they had gotten a few hundred yards from the camp, knowing that they would probably be pursued, they crawled into a hollow log. In a few minutes thereafter the Indians discovering their absence raised an alarm and went in search of the runaways, and even stood on the log in which the boys were hidden, and in broken English cried "Come back, get lost." Not being able to find the boys, they gave up the hunt and returned to the camp. So soon as everything was quiet, the boys came out of their hiding place, struck through the woods, and made their way to Culbertson's bottom on the New Eiver, where they were afterwards found by some of the scouts from the settlement, and who were in pursuit of the In- dians. In this attack Mr. Philip Lybrook was wounded, three of his children, and a young woman by the name of Scott, two of the children, (small girls) of Mrs. Snidow were killed, and the three boys captured. The two young men who were in the river when the attack began, and had reached the farther bank ran across the ridges to the Gunpowder Spring, Harman's fort and halloed across the river to the people in the fort to bring a canoe and' take them over, but the people being afraid they 1654-1753 45 were Indians refused to go. After waiting some time, the young men being afraid of pursuit by the Indians, plunged in- to the river,and a young woman, seeing this insisted that they were white men, ran to the river, jumped into a canoe, and pushed into the river to met the swimmers, just in time to save one of them, who was sinking the third time, and who no doubt had taken a cramp by reason of exertion and overheating in his run across the ridges. She carried them safely to the fort. Who this young woman was, inquiry fails to disclose, and now will never be known, but she deserves a place in history. Col- onel William Preston was at the time of this attack, the com- mandant of the military district of Fincastle, and was then at Draper's Meadows fort, then called Preston's fort, and writes a letter about this incident on the 13th day of August, 1774, which is as follows : "This summer a number of our people have been killed and captured by the northern Indians. Thomas Hogg, and two men near the mouth of the Great Kanawha, Walter Kelly with three or four other persons below the falls of that river, William Kelly on Muddy creek, a branch of the Greenbrier river, and a young woman at the same time made prisoner. One of the scouts, one Shockley, was shot in this county and on Sunday the 7th of this inst., a party attacked the house of one Laybrook (Lybrook), about 15 miles from this place. Old Laybrook was wounded in the arm, three of his children, one of them a sucking infant, a young woman, a daughter of one Scott, and a child of one widow Snide (Sni- dow) were killed. They scalped the children, all but one, and mangled them in a most cruel manner. Three boys were made prisoners, two of whom made their escape the Wednesday fol- lowing, and were found in the woods by the scouts. The Indians were pursued by the militia, but were not overtaken." The number of Indians in this marauding party numbered six, and all this mischief was done by them in a very few minutes. The Indians escaped with their prisoners though they were pursued by a company of men under a Captain Clendenin. The night of the 7th of August was a sad one at the fort. Mrs. Snidow and 46 New Eivek SErrLBMBNTS Mrs. Lybrook walked the floor throughout the night, weeping and wringing their hands, and saying that "they knew where the dead children were, but their hearts went out for the little boys, captives." The pursuing party followed the Indians down the New Eiver until they met the escaped captives, and after listening to the story of their escape and calculating that the Indians were too far ahead to be overtaken, returned with the boys to the settlement, reaching there on the Wednesday after their capture on Sunday, much to the delight and joy of their mothers and friends. Theophilus Snidow, the other captive boy, was carried by the Indians to their towns north of the Ohio, and when he had reached his manhood returned to his peo- ple, but in delicate health with pulmonary troubles from which he shortly died. (Lybrook and Snidow Mss.) Poplar Hill on Walker's creek in the now County of Giles was settled in the year of 1774 by Samuel Shannon, who came from Amherst County, Virginia. After a few years residence at that place Mr. Shannon removed to the vicinity of where Nashville, Tennessee, is now situated, leaving behind him his son Thomas, who is the ancestor of the Shannons of Giles Coun- ty. This Thomas Shannon became one of the most prominent citizens of his day in the district in which he lived, both in civil and military affairs. Occasion will be presented to refer to him again as 'a captain in command of a company in the Revolutionary war. In the Spring of 1773 a few individuals had begun to make improvements on the Kanawha river below the falls, and some land adventurers were making surveys in the same section. To these men Captain John Stuart, of Greenbrier, in the spring of 1774, had by direction of Colonel Charles Lewis, sent a mes- senger to inform them that apprehensions were entertained of serious trouble with the Indians and advising them to remove from that section. When Stuart's messenger arrived at the cabin of Walter Kelly at the mouth of Kelly's Creek on the Kanawha, twelve miles below the falls, he found Captain John Field Culpeper engaged in making surveys. Kelly at once sent 1654-1753 47 his family to the Greenbrier valley under the care of a young- er brother, but Captain Field, regarding the apprehension as groundless, determined to remain with Kelly. Very soon after Kelly's family had left the cabin and while yet within hearing of it, a party of Indians approached unperceived and shot Kel- ly, and rushed to the cabin where they killed a negro woman, and took prisoner a young Scotsman. Captain Field escaped and on his way to the Greenbrier settlement met Captain Stu- art with a body of men, who on being informed of what had oc- cured decided to return to the settlements and prepare them for defense. In a few weeks after this another party of Indians came to the settlements in the Greenbrier section and killed Mr. Kelly, the brother who had conducted the family from Kanawha, and captured his neice. These outrages along the border impell- ed the Virginia government to take action to repress them, and to punish the Indians by the destruction of their towns north of the Ohio; and it was determined to raise an army for that purpose. The army destined for this expedition was composed of volunteers and militia, mostly from the counties west of the Blue Ridge, and consisted as already stated of two divisions. Lord Dunmore in person took command of the troops raised in Frederick and Dunmore (the latter now Shenandoah), counties and the southern division composed of different companies raised in Botetourt, Augusta and Fincastle with one company under Captain Field from the County of Culpeper, east of the Blue Ridge, and two companies from the Holstein and Watauga settlements under Captains Evan Shelby and Herbert, and a company under Captain William Russell from the Clinch, and an independant company from Bedford under Captain Buford. These latter companies formed a part of the forces to be com- manded by Colonel William Christian. Near the first day of September the troops commanded by General Lewis rendez- voused at camp Union, now Lewisburg, and consisted of two regiments commanded by Colonel William Fleming of Boter- tourt, and Colonel Charles Lewis of Augusta, and numbering 48 New Eivbr Settlements about four hundred men each. The third regiment, under Col- onel William Christian, was composed as above stated. The force under General Lewis consisted of about eleven hundred men, and set out on its march to the mouth of the Kanawha on the eleventh day of Sepetember, 1774. The northern division of the army composed as herein before stated was under the im- mediate command of Colonel Adam Stephens. With this di- vision was Lord Dunmore and Major John Connoly. Taking into consideration the forces already in the field under Major Angus McDonald and Captain William Crawford,this northern division numbered some twelve hundred (1200) men; along with which as scouts, were George Rogers Clark, Simon Kenton and Michael Cresap. The country between Camp Union and the mouth of the Kanawha river was a trackless forest so rough, rugged and mountainous as to render the march of the army exceedingly tedious and laborious. Captain Mathew Ar- buckle, who had been on the Kanawha some years previous, be- came the guide for Lewis's army and after a march of several days it reached the Ohio river on the sixth day of October, and fixed its encampment on the point of land between that river and the Great Kanawha. Owing to some difference between General Lewis and Colonel Field as to priority of rank, and Field being in command of an independant volunteer company not raised by the order of Governor Dunmore, but brought in- to the field by his own exertion, after his escape from the In- dians at Kelly's, induced him to separate his men from the main body of the army on its march and to take a different route or way than the one pursued by it, depending largely on his knowledge of the country to lead him by a practicable route to the river. While Field's company was encamped on the banks of the Little Meadow river, a branch of the Gauley, two of his men. Clay and Coward were sent out to hunt deer for the company and were attacked by the Indians, Clay was killed, but Coward made his way back to camp, first having killed one of the Indians. No doubt these Indians were simply spies watching the movements of Lewis's army and the one 1654-1753 49 who escaped was able to make report to his fellows on the Ohio. Early on the morning of Monday, the tenth (10) day of Oc- tober, two soldiers left the camp and proceeded up the Ohio in quest of deer. When they had gone about two miles from the camp, they unexpectedly came in sight of a large number of Indians rising from their encampment, and who discovering the two hunters fired upon them and killed one. The other es- caped unhurt, and running to the camp communicated the in- telligence, "that he had seen a body of the enemy, covering four acres of ground as closely as they could stand by the side of each other." There is a difference in authors who have wrjtten upon the subject as to who these two men were. Withers in his Chronicles says, that they were James Mooney, of Russell's company, and Joseph Hughey, of Shelby's company, and that Hughey was killed by a shot fired by Tavenour Buss, a white renagade in Cornstalk's party; while, Haywood the author of the Civil History of Tennessee says, these men were James Ro- bertson and Valentine Sevier, of Shelby's company. Both ac- counts may be correct in this, that there may have been four men out hunting deer, instead of two. The main part of the army was immediately ordered out by General Lewis, one wing commanded by Colonel Charles Lewis and the other by Colonel William Fleming. Forming in two lines they had proceeded for a short distance when they met the Indians, and the fierce combat began which lasted throughout the day and finally resulted in the withdrawal of the Indian army. The loss on the part of the Virginians was severe in of- ficers and men, being seventy five (75) killed and one hundred and forty (140) wounded. The following gentlemen with others of high reputation in private life, were officers in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Genferal Isaac SheJby, the first Governor of Kentucky, and after- wards secretary of war; General Evan Shelby one of the most favorite citizens of Tennessee;- Colonel William Fleming, and 50 New River Settlements acting governor of Virginia during the revolutionary war;- General Andrew Moore, of Eockbridge, the first man ever elec- ted in Virginia from the country west of the Blue Ridge to the senate of the United States; Colonel John Staurt, of Green- brier; General Tate, of Washington county, Virignia; Col- onel William McKee, of Lincoln county, Kentucky; Colonel John Steele, at one time governor of the territory of Mississip- pi; Colonel Charles Camron, of Bath; General Bazeleel Wells, of Ohio, and General George Mathews, a distinguished oflScer in the war of the Revolution, the hero of Brandywine, German- town and Guilford, Governor of Georgia, and a senator from that state in the Congress of the United States. The salvation of the American army at Germantown is ascribed in Johnston's life of General Greene, to the bravery and good conduct of two regiments, one of which was commanded by General, then Col- onel Matthews. In this battle of Point Pleasant was John Sevier, who be- came a most distinguished citizen of Tennessee, and who upon entering upon the expedition to Point Pleasant regarded and believed himself to be a citizen of and living in Virginia, when in fact, he at that time was within the territory of North Caro- lina. Another distinguished man in this battle was Captain Wil- liam Russel, in whose company was Reece Bowen, who distin- guished himself in the battle at King's Mountain in which he laid down his life for his country. The battles of the Alamance and Point Pleasant were in re ality the opening battles of the American revolution, but be hind the battle of Point Pleasant, and which urged it on and brought it about were British emissaries, who had doubtless urged the Indians on to deeds of bloodshed and murder with the view and set purpose of destroying the colonists. No attempt has been made herein to give full details of this last mentioned battle as this has been fully done by others. Although a short respite occurred after the battle, the years fol- lowing 1774 were filled with horrors beyond description. All 1775-1794 51 along the border settlements the savages made repeated forays, attacking the defenseless inhabitants, killing, plundering, burn- ing and ravaging the country. On the twenty fifth day of April, 1774, there was granted by Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia, to Mitchell Clay assig- nee of Lieutenant John Draper, a tract of eight hundred acres of land on the Bluestone creek in Fincastle county; this tract was then known and is still known as the "Clover Bottom," sit- uated about five miles north of Princeton the present county seat of Mercer county. It is a very beautiful, rich body of bot- tom land, and one of the most valuable tracts to be found in this section of the country. By the terms of this grant, a copy of which is on file in the clerk's office of the county court of Mercer county, the grantee was to take possession of this tract of land within three years from the date of the grant. Mitchell Clay, at the date of the grant, lived in the county of Franklin, Virginia, and exchanged a negro woman and her children to John Draper for this land and took from Draper an assign- ment of the plat and certificate of survey, upon which the grant was Issued to Clay as the assignee. The land script or warrant upon which the survey was based, was issued to Lieu- tenant John Draper for services rendered by him in the French and Indian war. CHAPTER IV. 1775-1794. Mitchell Clay and family settled on Clover Bottom — Mathew French and family settle on Wolf Creek— Declaration of the Fincastle men — Fincastle County abolished and Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky Counties creat- ed — Captain James Moore visits Abb's Valley— Peter Wright, the hunter, in the northern valleys of Peter's and East Eiver Mountains — Greenbrier County created and its bounaries— Eev. John Alderson in the Greenbrier Val- ley—Joseph Cloyd settles on Back Creek— The family of 52 New Rivbe Settlements Colonel James Graham attacked by Indians — Donnally's Fort attacked — Moredock O. McKensey and family at- tacked by Indians — Captain Thomas Burke, Michael Woods, John Floyd, and John Lucas in command of the Forts 1777-78 — Lybrooks, Chapmans, Snidows and others on the frontier — Edward Hale and Joseph Hare in New Kiver Valley 1779 — Tory uprising on upper New River suppressed by Cloyd, Campbell, Crockett and Cleveland — David Johnson and family, from Culpeper County, settles in the New Kiver Valley — Illinois County created — Thom- as Ingles locates in Wright's Valley and removes to Burke's Garden — In September 1779 John Pauley and wife and others attacked by Indians on East River — 1780, John Toney and family, from lower Virginia, settle at the mouth of East River — Family by name of Christian settle on East River — John G. Davidson and Richard Bailey with their families settle at Beaver Pond — William Wilburn and Da- vid Hughes, from North Carolina, and John and Benjamine White, from Amherst County, Virginia, settl.e on Sugar Run — Major Joseph Cloyd in October 1780 leads troops to North Carolina and fights battles at Shallow Ford of Yad- kin, Captain Geo. Pearis wounded — Battle of King's Moun- tain, part of Montgomery county men killed in this battle under Lieutenants Reece Bowen and James Moore, Bow- en killed in action — Battles of Wetzel's Mill and Guilford court house — Captain Thomas Shannon leads a company of New River Valley men in these battles — Captain Geo. Pearis settles on New River in the spring of 1782 — Adam Caperton killed at Estill's defeat — The country alarmed by the attack on Thomas Ingles, military called out — Swarms of emigrants cross tie Alleghanies in 1782-3-4 and settle in part in New River Valley, and others go to Kentucky — Peters, Walker, Smith, Stowers and others come in 1782 — Indian raiding pary penetrate the Blue- stone and upper Wolf Creek section, steal horses and es- cape — Mitchell Clay's family attacked by Indians at Clo- ver Bottom in 1783 — Captain Geo. Pearis kills an Indian on New River — James Moore, Jr., captured by Indians in Abb's Valley — New State of Franklin , effort to en- large its boundaries by Campbell and others — Russell county created in 1785 — Captain James Moore and his family attacked by forty Shawnee Indians in 1786 and killed, captured and destroyed — 1787, Federal Convention assembles in Philadelphia, frames a Constitution and sub- mits it to the States — 1788, November 12th, Captain Henry Harman and his sons fight a battle with the Indians on the banks of the Tug — Harman's battle song — 1789, William 1775-1794 53 Wheatley killed by Indians — Family of James Roark de- stroyed — 1789, October, Mrs. Virginia Wiley captured — Indian marauding band on head of Clinch and Bluestone in 1790— Birth of Jonathan Bailey — Wythe County crea- ted — Family of Andrew Davidson captured by the Indiana in 1791, Davidson's long search for his wife and her rescue — Upper Clinch and Bluestone raided by Indians in July, 1792, pursued by Major Robert Crockett, Gilbert killed and Lusk captured — Lusk and Mrs. Wiley escape in the fall of 1792 — John G. Davidson murdered by Indians and a white man, one Rice, on the 8th day of March, 1793 — In- dians pursued, overtaken at Island of Guyandotte, skir- mish follows — Petition of Robert Crockett, Joseph David- son and fifty others to the Governor of Virginia — Alarm in the New River section and Governor calls out a military company under Captain Hugh Caperton which is stationed on the Kanawha, Daniel Boone the commissariat — Ma- rauding party of Indans in 1793, the last on the waters of the upper Clinch and Bluestone — Wayne's great victory over the United Indian Tribes in Ohio on August the twen- tieth, 1794, brings peace to the Virginia Border — Swarms of land speculators and surveyors on the Ohio Waters, north and west of the settlements— Numerous and large grants of land to Robert Morris, the patriot and finan- cier—Grants to Pollard, Hopkins, Young, McLaughlin, Moore and Beckley, Bliss, Dwight and Granger, Rutter and Etting, Dr. John Dillion, Dewitt Clinton, Robert Mc- Cullock, Wilson Gary Nicholas, WilsoUj. Pickett, Smith and others — Manners and customs of the border people, their religious life — Early Ministers. Mitchell Clay (1) settled on the Clover Bottom tract of land hereinbefore referred to in the year of 1775. Save one, this was the first white settlement made within what is now the present territorial limits of Mercer County. Andrew Culbertson's settlement on Culbertson's Bottom, which was once a part of the territory of Mercer County, was made twenty years prior to that of Clay on the Clover Bottom. Clay and his family remained on this land undisturbed for a period of about eight years, but were finally attacked by the Indians, (1) Richard Bailey, son of the elder Richard, the Settler, made about 1790 the first settlement at the mouth of Widemouth Creek on Bluestone, a few miles above where Clay settled in 1775. 54 New Rivee Settlements part of the family killed, and one captured, a full account of which will be given herein later on. In the year 1775 Mathew French and his family, from the County of Culpeper, Virginia, settled on Wolf Creek, about six miles from its mouth, now in Giles County, on what is known as the Boyd farm. Settlements were made by the Bromflelds on New Kiver about the mouth of Big Stony Creek, in 1776, and the same year by the Hatfields on said Creek, on what is now known as the David J. L. Snidow place, where the Hatfields erected a fort. On Lick Branch, flowing into Big Stony Creek from the north, In the early days, there was a deer lick, and on an occassion it happened that a Bromfield and Hatfield went the same night to watch this lick, neither knowing that the other was there, or to be there. One took the other for a bear moving around in the brush and shot and killed him. On the 20th day of January, 1775, the Freemen of Fincastle County assembled at Lead Mines, and made a declaration which was the precursor of that of July 4th, 1776, mad^ by the Con- gress at Philadelphia. This declaration of the Fincastle men foreshadowing American independence was the first one made in America, and it so fully breathes the spirit of independence and freedom that it is here inserted in full : "In obedience to the resolves of the Continental Congress a meeting of the freeholders of Fincastle County, in Virginia, was held on the 20th day of January, 1775, and who, after ap- proving of the association formed by that august body in behalf of all the colonies, and subscribing thereto, proceeded to the election of a committee, to see the same carried punctually into execution, when the following gentlemen were nominated: The Reverend Charles Cummings, Colonel William Preston, Colonel William Christian, Captain Stephen Trigg, Major Ar- thur Campbell, Major William Ingles, Captain Walter Crock- ett, Captain John Montgomery, Captain James McGavock, Captain William Campbell, Captain Thomas Madison, Cap- 1775-1794 55 tain Evan Shelby and Lieutenant William Edmondson. After the election, the committee made choice of Colonel William Christian for their chairman, -and appointed Mr. David Campbell to be clerk. The following address was then unanimously agreed to by the people of the County and is as follows : To the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esquire, Kichard Hen- ry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Junior, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison and Edmund Pendleton, Esquires, the delegates from this colony who attended the Continental Congress held at Philadelphia: Gentlemen: Had it not been for our remote situation, and the Indian war which we were lately engaged in, to chastise these cruel and savage people for the many murders and depredations they have committed amongst us, now happily terminated under the auspices of our present worthy Governor, his Excellency, the Right Honour- able Earl of Dunmore, we should have before this time made known to you our thankfulness for the very important services you have rendered to your country, in conjunction with the worthy delegates from the other provinces. Your noble efforts for reconciling the mother country and the colonies, on rational and constitutional principles, and your pasifick, steady and uniform conduct in that arduous work, immortalize you in the annals of your country. We heartily concur in your res- olutions and shall, in every instance, strictly and invariably adhere thereto. We assure you, gentlemen, and all our countrymen, that we are a people whose hearts overflow with love and duty to our lawful Sojvereign, George the Third, whose illustrious House for several successive reigns have been the guardians of the civil and religious rights and liberties of British subjects, as settled at the glorious revolution ; that we are willing to risk our lives in the service of his Majesty for the support of the Protestant Religion, and the rights and liberties of his subjects, as they have been established by compact. Law and Ancient Charters. We are heartily grieved at the differences which now subsist 56 New Bivee Skttlkmbnts between the parent state and the colonies, and most urgently wish to see harmony restored on an equitable basis, and by the most lenient measures that can be devised by the heart of man. Many of us and our forefathers left our native land, consid- ering it as a Kingdom subjected to inordinate power ; we cross- ed the Atlantic and explored this then wilderness, bordering on many Natives or Savages and surrounded by mountains almost inaccessible to any but those various Savages, who have insistantly been committing depredations on us since our first settling the Country. These fatigues and dangers were patient- ly encountered, supported by the pleasing hope of enjoying these rights and liberties which had been granted to Virginians, and denied us in our native country, and of transmitting them inviolate to our posterity; but even to this remote region the hand of enmity and unconstitutional power hath proceeded ub to strip of that liberty and property with which God, Nature, and the Eights of Humanity have visited us. We are ready and willing to contribute all in our power for the support of his Majesty's Government if applied to considerately, and when grants are made by our own Representatives, but cannot think of submitting our liberty or property to the power of a venal British Parliament, or the will of a greedy ministry. We by no means desire to shake off our duty or allegiance to our lawful Sovereign, but on the contrary shall ever glory in being the royal subjects of the Protestant Prince, descended from such illustrious progenitors, so long as we can enjoy the free exercise of our religion as Protestants, and of our liberties and properties as British subjects. But if no pacific measures shall be proposed or adopted by Great Britain, and our enemies will attempt to dragoon us out of these inestimable privileges which we are entitled to as subjects, and to reduce us to a state of slavery, we declare tliat we are deliberately determined nev- er to surrender them to any power upon earth but at the ex- pense of our lives. These are real though unpolished sentiments of liberty, and in them we are resolved to live or die." 1775-1794 57 We are, gentlemen, with the most perfect esteem and re- gard, Your most obedient servants," From the American Archives,4th Series, 1st Volume, page 1166 The men who made and promulgated this declaration were then, and afterwards became among the most distinguished cit- izens who crossed the Alleghanies, and were first and foremost in fomenting and sustaining our glorious revolution. Evidence is not wanting that between 1755 and 1758 some of these men, viz., the Crocketts, McGavocks and others, among them the Gra- hams, Tates and Sawyers had located in the section of country now in Pulaski and Wythe counties, but on account of Indian incursions were driven back into the Rockbridge country from whence they came, and that later they came again and remain- ed permanently. It is generally understood that the Crocketts McGavocks, Grahams and Sawyers were all of Scotch-Irish ex- traction. Among these people were found the bravest and most valiant soldiers in all our wars. In October, 1776, the general assembly of Virginia by an act abolished the county of Fincastle, and out of its territory crea- ted the counties of Kentucky, Washington and Montgomery. The following is the boundary lines of said counties as given in said act, viz : "That from and after the last day of December next ensuing, the said county of Fincastle shall be divided into three coun- ties : that is to say, all that part thereof which lies to the south and westward of a line beginning on the Ohio at the mouth of the Great Sandy Creek and running up said creek and the main line beginning at the Cumberland Mountain where the line of north or northeasternly branch thereof to the Great Laurel Kidge or Cumberland Mountain thence, south-westardly along the said mountains to the line of North Carolina, shall be one district County called and known by the name of Kentucky: And all of that part of the County of Fincastle included in the line beginning at the Cumberland Mountain where the line of 58 New Eivke Settlements Kentucky County intersects the North Carolina line to the top of Iron Mountain, thence along the same eastwardly to the source of the South Fork of the Holstein River: thence, west- wardly along the highest part of the highlands, ridges and mountains that divide the waters of the Tennessee from those of the Great Kanawha to the most easterly source of the Clinch Kiver : thence, westwardly along the top of the mountains that divide the waters of the Clinch from those of the Great Kan- awha and Sandy Creek to the line of Kentucky County, thence along the same to the beginning, shall be one other district County and called and known by the name of Washington, and all the residue of the County of Fincastle, shall be one other distinct County and shall be called and known by the name of Montgomery. The Justices to meet and hold Court for Kentucky County at Harrodsburg : Washington at Black's fort : for Montgomery at Fort Chiswell." The Representatives of Fincastle County in the Convention which assembled at Williamsburg, and which adopted the first republican constitution ever adopted in America, were Arthur Campbell and William Russel. Arthur Campbell was born in the valley of Virginia and William Russell in Culpeper County, Virginia, the latter in 1748 and died in Fayette County, Ken- tucky, July 23rd, 1825. He was a captain at the battle of Point Pleasant, member of the Virginia legislature of 1789, member o!f the Kentucky legislature from the foundation of the State to 1808, again in 1823, colonel of the Seventh United States Infan- try in 1811, and commanded on the frontiers of Indiana, Illi- nois and Missouri. Colonel William Christian was the Representative of Fin- castle County in the year of 1776, in the House of Delegates. In the year of 1776 John McComas and Thomas H. Napier with their families came from western Maryland and settled on the New River below the mouth of Walker's Creek, but sub- sequently removed to the neighborhood of where Pearisburg, Virginia, is now situated, and they, together with the Hall's, 1775-1794 59 built Fort Branch on the land lately owned by Charles D. French, Esq. Peter's Mountain was named for Peter Wright, an old back- woodsman who about 1776 explored and hunted along the val- leys at its northern base, as well as along the valley at the base of East River Mountain, in which latter valley the present city of Bluefield, West Virginia, is located, and this valley ia still called Wright's valley, for the same Peter Wright. John Alderson, senior, born in England, came to New Jersey about 1737 and married Miss Curtis. Mr. Alderson became a Baptist minister, and finally removed to Kockingham County, Virginia. He had a son John, who also became a Baptist min- ister, and who married Miss Carroll of Rockingham County. John Alderson, Junior, visited the Greenbrier section of coun- try in 1775, and selected a body of land on the Greenbrier river, which he had surveyed, covering the site of the present town of Alderson in Monroe County. He returned to Rockingham, and in 1777 removed to his land on the Greenbrier and built his cabin where the Alderson Hotel now stands. He was a man of great intelligence and indomitable will and energy, and wan the first Baptist preacher who carried the Gospel into that re- gion ; he organized the Greenbrier Baptist Church in 1781, and through his instrumentality a number of other churches and the Greenbrier Association were organized. His life was a long and useful one, and made an impress on the people in the section in which he lived that will be felt by generations yet unborn. On the west bank of the Greenbrier River in the now county of Summers, in the year of 1777 lived Colonel James Graham with his family. One night in the early autumn of that year after the family had retired, a knock was heard at the door, and a voice called in broken English "open door" saying at the same time by way of assurance, "Me no Injun." At the time there was in the house only Colonel Graham and his wife, their children, Elizabeth and a young brother occupied an attached cabin off from the main building. Being refused admittance. 60 New Rivbe Settlements the Indians withdrew a short distance and began firing through the door with their rifles, and finally discovered in the detach- ed cabin the presence of the two children, they fired through the clapboards and shattered the little boy's leg with a rifle ball, and then proceeding into the house, they took both chil- dren, and started oft seemingly well satisfied with their success, and went into camp a short distance away. The next morning the little boy being unable to travel they dashed his brains out against a tree. The little girl, Elizabeth, only about eight years old was carried by them into captivity, where she remained about eight years, and was finally ransomed by her father in 1785. She came home and married a man by the name of Stodghill, and lived to a ripe old age. The name Stodghill is called by the people of Monroe and Greenbrier Valley, "Stur- geon." The Legislature of Virginia in October, 1777, created the County of Greenbrier, the act to take effect March first, 1778, which act reads as follows; "That from and after the first day of March next ensuing, the said county and parish of Bote- tourt, shall be divided by a line beginning on the top of the ridge which divides the eastern from the western waters, where the line between Augusta and Botetourt crosses the same, and running, thence the same course continued N. 55 W. to the Ohio, thence beginning at the said ridge at the said line of Botetourt and Augusta, running along the top of said ridge, passing the Sweet Springs to the top of Peter's Mountain, thence along the said mountain to the line of Montgomery County, thence along the same mountain to the Kanawha or New Eiver, thence down the said river to the Ohio." Colonel William Preston some time previous to the month of August, 1774, removed from his estate at Greenfield, near Amsterdam on the James, to Draper's Meadow, the name of which as before stated, he changed to Smithfleld. There came with him or shortly thereafter, a young man by the name of Joseph Cloyd, the son of David Cloyd, whose wife and son John were murdered by the Indians in March 1764, about five 1775-1794 61 miles west of the present town of Pincastle, Virginia. As stat- ed in a letter from Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell Adams, of Radford, Virginia, to the author, the maiden name of the wife of David Cloyd, was Miss Margaret Campbell. It had been stated by writers, and perhaps believed by his family that Joseph Cloyd settled on Back Creek in what is now the County of Pulaski, Virginia, about the year of 1775. This is believed to be a mis- take as to the year, as the declaration of the Fincastle men was made on the 20th day of January, 1775, and Mr. Cloyd would certainly have been at that meeting unless sick or absent from the country, and it is most likely therefore that had Mr. Cloyd been at home or at the residence of Colonel William Preston he would have been among the men who signed that declaration. The absence of his name indicates in the ab- sence of explanation that he did not settle so early as 1775 on Back Creek, as has been stated. Mr. Cloyd became one of the most highly honored citizens of the county, both in civic and military affairs. He left be- hind him wealthy, highly honored, and respected descendants. A full sketch of Joseph Cloyd and his civil and military re- cord will be given in the Appendix to be added to this work. From the date of the building of Port Chiswell by Colonel William Byrd in 1758 and from 1759 and after, on and along the upper waters of the New River and on the Holstein, settle- ments were made by the McGavocks, Campbells, McFarlands, Howes, Hoges, and others, but of which little has been or will be said in this work, as being beyond its scope, and beside this, the history of this people has been so fully, clearly and in- terestingly presented by Mr. Summers in his "His. of South western Virginia and of Washington County," that he has left little, if anything, additional to be related. The chief, reason for mentioning Mr. Joseph Cloyd is, that his history, and that of his family in part, is so closely connected with the history of the Middle New River people that their history would not be complete without that of Mr. Cloyd. After the battle of Point Pleasant the Virginia government 62 New River Settlements built Fort Randolph at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, and there established a military post, in command of which was Captain McKee. In the month of May, 1778, a force of some two hundred Indians attacked this fort, but were finally beat- en off by the garrison and compelled to withdraw. The Indians proceeded up the Kanawha and Captain McKee being satisfied from the direction taken by them, that their objective point was the Greenbrier settlements, called for volunteers to go im- mediately to the settlements and warn the settlers of the ap- proach of the Indians. Phillip Hammond and John Pryor at once volunteered, and being rigged out as Indian Scouts, they reached the settlement safely, and their timely notice, no doubt, saved a terrible massacre. Before passing to the attack on Donnally'g Fort attention will be called to the dangerous situation along the border in the year of 1777. Outrages and murders were committed by the Indians upon the white settlers in many places, and the people found it necessary to flee to the forts for safety. Along the middle settlements on New River from Barger's Fort on Tom's Creek to Donnally's Fort on Rader's Run, and Cook's Fort on Indian Creek the settlers were kept huddled in the forts during almost the whole summer. At Barger's Fort Cap- tain John Floyd was in command of the military, Christian Snidow at the Snidow and Lybrook Fort at the mouth of Sink- ing Creek, Captain Thomas Burke at Hatfield's Fort on Big Stony Creek, Captain Michael Woods at Woods' Fort, Cap- tain John Lucas at Fort Field on Culbertson's bottom. In these Forts or some of them were John Lybrook, John Chap- man, Isaac Chapman and others and some of these people were with Captain John Lucas scouting along the New River about Culbertson's bottom, and stationed at Farley's Fort and Fort Field. Donnally's Fort was situated about ten miles west of the present town of Lewisburg, on Rader's Run. As soon as the in- telligence of the approach of the Indians was given to Donnally by the two scouts he had all the neighbors advised of it, and 1775-1794 63 in the course of the night they gathered into the Fort about twenty one men. He also dispatched a messenger to Captain John Stuart at the fort at Lewisburg advising him of the ad- vance of the Indians. Full preparation was made to resist the attack, which was begun the next morning at an early hour. Captain Stuart with Colonel Samuel Lewis went with sixty men to the relief of Donnally and succeeded in entering the fort without loss. During the attack four of the whites were killed, viz : Pritcher before the attack commenced, James Burhs and Alexander Ochiltree as they were coming to the house ear- ly in the morning and James Graham while in the fort. Seven- teen of the Indians lay dead in the yard, and others of their slain were carried off by them. Until the arrival of Stuart and Lewis, there were twenty one men in the fort which was aug- mented by their force to eighty seven, while the Indian army exceeded two hundred. The Indians failing in the attack with- drew and retreated. While this attack upon Donnally's Fort was being threatened and made, a number of men gathered at Jarrett's and Keeney's Fort, made up in part of men from Captain Joseph Eenfroe's company from Bedford County, among them Josiah Meadows who makes a full statement in regard thereto in his declaration for a pension before the Coun- ty court of Giles County in the year of 1832. From the Chapman Ms. in posession of the author it appears that Moredock O. McKensey, who came from Culpeper County with John and Richard Chapman and settled at the mouth of Walker's Creek in 1771, had removed in the spring of 1778 to the mouth of Wolf Creek, on New Biver, and built his cabin be- low and near the spring on the bottom, a few yards south of the house in which the late Joseph Hare recently resided. McKen- sey's family consisted of himself, his wife, his sons Isaac and Henley, and his daughters Sallie, Elizabeth, Margaret, Mary Anne, ,a nursing child and a hired girl— a Miss Estridge, a daughter of Eichard Estridge. The people who were beginning settlements had no enclosed boundaries in which to place their stock, and they belled their horses and turned them out into 64 New Eiver Settlements the woods. Mr. McKensey had done so with his horses, and on the morning of the day on which the attack was made upon his family by the Indians, which was in the month of May of 1778, they could not hear the bells, and supposing that the horses had attempted to go back to Walker's Creek, the place from which he had recently removed, he took with him his eldest son, Isaac, then about twenty years of age, and started to look for the horses. Henley, the next son, was close by the house, engaged in making hills in which to plant sweet pota- toes. Mr. McKensey and his son went up New Biver and when they had reached the top of what is known as Big Hill, near where Pearisburg station on the line of the Norfolk & Western Railway Company is now situated, they heard the report of the discharge of a gun in the direction of their home, and they immediately turned and ran rapidly back, meeting at Wolf Creek the Estridge girl, who gave them information as to what had occurred at the house. The Indians lying in wait and watching, had seen McKensey and his son go away from the house, and waiting long enough for them to get a suflScient distance not to interfere with their outrages, began their work by shooting young Henley dead on the spot. They then rushed to the house, but Mrs. McKensey and her oldest daughter, Sal- lie, closed and barred the door. They had no weapons inside save an axe. One of the Indians pressed against the door until he got his head and shoulders inside the same, when the daugh- ter, Sallie, with an axe struck him a blow on the shoulder giving to him a very dangerous wound. In the meantime another one of the Indians was also pressing against the door, and it yield- ed and flew open, and then began a scuffle between the Indian and Sallie, he attempting to take her as his prisoner. She is said to have been a most beautiful woman, with long flowing black hair, and it is supposed that the Indian did not desire to kill her, but to capture her. She was strong and athletic and succeeded in repeatedly throwing the Indian to the floor, but he being in nearly a nude condition, she could not hold him down. In the last struggle she discovered his butcher knife 1775-1794 65 in the sheathe in his belt and made an attempt to get it, but failing and the Indian discovering this, he drew the knife and stabbed her through the heart, and then killed the mother. The small child, Mary Anne, had been gathered up by the hired girl, Estridge, who had slipped into the shed of the house, and concealed herself in a large trough made for holding soap. The child began to fret and cry and the young woman fearing that this would disclose to the Indians her hiding place, let go the child, and it ran out into the room, and an Indian caught it by its ankles and feet, and dashed out its brains against the door facing. The babe though scalped, was found by the father when he reached the house still alive, and trying to nurse at the breast of its dead mother. The Indians took the two small girls, Elizabeth and Margaret, aged respectively eight and ten years, prisoners, and then ransacked the house, taking a gourd filled with sugar and a large loaf of bread, which had just been baked by the mother, and departed. As soon as the Indians left Miss Estridge came out from her hiding place, and ran up the river to Wolf Creek, where she met Mr. McKensey and his son as hereinbefore related. On this same morning these Indians had killed Philip Kavanah, and captured Fran- cis benny, a lad of about fifteen or sixteen years. The Indians did not fire McKensey's house for the reason no doubt, that the smoke would attract his attention or that of some of the settlers in the neighborhood, and cause rapid pursuit before they had time to get away with their prisoners and booty. Leaving McKensey's house they dropped down the river a few hundred yards to Perdue's Mill branch, up which they traveled to its source, crossing over the divide to the house of Mathew French at the Boyd place on Wolf Creek. In passing up Per- due's Mill branch the Indians took out their bloody knives and cut the loaf of bread offering a portion thereof to the little girls, who refused to take or eat it, until finally an Indian went to the branch and washed the knife. When they reached -the house of French they found it and the premises deserted, he, having learned that the Indians were in the neighborhood. 66 New Eiver Settlements had taken his family and fled to the McComas-Napier-Hall Fort, since known as Port Branch, situated as hereinbefore described. Mr. French had left home so hastily as to be un- able to take but little with him, leaving behind all of his house- hold furniture, his horses cattle and other stock. The Indians ripped up his feather beds, and scattered the feathers, threw down his corn cribs, and turned the stock on his corn, killed a horse and took off his hide, in which they carried away his table ware, which consisted of a few pewter plates and cups, and probably some knives and forks which becoming burden- some to carry, they buried beside a log on East River Mountain. They did not set fire to French's house for the same reason that influenced them not to Are McKensey's house. On leaving French's house they went directly over East Eiver Mountain, in- to what is now Mercer Coupty and dropped in at the mouth of East River, and thence down New River by way of the Blue- stone and to Paint Creek, Kanawha, the Ohio, and on to their towns in the neighborhood of Detrodt and the Lakes. The two McKensey girls remained in captivity for a period of eighteen years, and were not ransomed, and did not return until after Wayne's victory in 1794. Their father made two journeys for them, on the first, he succeeded in getting one of them, but had to make the second journey before he succeeded in getting the other. Margaret was transferred by the Shawnees to the Del- aware tribe. She was adopted by the Indian Chief Koothum- pum, and her sister Elizabeth in the family of Petasue, com- monly called "Snake." A few years before Margaret McKensey returned home, a young Indian chief made love to her and vehemently urged her to consent to marry him, which she peremptorily refused The young squaws frequently congratulated her on her fine oflfer. She at last became so annoyed by the solicitation of the young chief that she determined to escape to another village some seventy miles away, to which her foster sister and brother had removed. Early one morning she secured a very fine horse and mounted him and pushed off, making the distance that 1775-1794 67 day. She complained to her foster sister of the treatment she had received, who replied, "I will defend you with my life." The young chief, determined not to be defeated in this way, im- mediately pursued her and reached the village to which she had fled, the next day in the afternoon. He soon found her and told her if she did not immediately consent to become his wife, he would kill her, she refusing, he made a lunge at her with a long knife, but her sister threw herself between them and received a slight wound. The girl instantly seized the knife and wrenching it from his hand, broke the blade and threw it away. A furious fight ensued between the foster sis- ter and the Indian, the former telling Margaret to hide herself which she did. The young woman proved too much for the In- dian and gave him a sound whipping, thereupon he departed and was soon afterwards killed in Wayne's battle with the In- dians. Shortly after the return of Margaret and Elizabeth, the for- mer married a Mr. Benjamine Hall, and the latter Mr. Jonas Clyburn. Mr. Clyburn with his family removed to Chicago about the time that that city was being first laid out. Mr. Hall and his wife lived to old age, dying in Mercer County and are buried near Princeton. They left numerous and highly respected descendants among them Mr. David Hall, a lawyer who long practiced his profession in Mercer and adjoining counties, Mr. Luther Lybrook Chambers, the present judge of the circuit court of Mercer, McDowell and Monroe counties and who is the great grandson of the Margaret McKensey cap- tured by the Indians in 1778. Mr. L. A. Dunn an influential business man of Bluefield is also a great grandson of Margaret McKensey. In 1778 Josiah Meadows, herein before referred to, who was the great great grandfather of Hon. R. G. Meadows of Mercer County, marched with the expedition of George Rogers Clark to the Illinois country, and then marched by way of the Falls of the Ohio to his home in Bedford County, Virginia. In October of the year of 1778 the Legislature of Virginia o8 New Eivee Settlements created and erected into the county of Illinois all the north- west territory, being all the territory north of the Ohio, south of the Great Lakes, and east of the Mississippi. The county of Illinois continued as a Virginia County until the Deed of Cession of March, 1784. Joseph Hare, of North Carolina, and Edward Hale, of Frank- lin county, Virginia, came into the New River settlements in 1779, and located about the mouth of Wolf Creek. Both Hare , and Hale had been soldiers in the American army. Hare was with the patriot army at the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, now near Payetteville, North Carolina, fought on the 27th day of February, 1776. These two men performed important ser- vices in the years immediately following their settlement, not only in the battles with the Indians, but also in the battle of Whitsell's Mill and Guilford Court House, North Carolina, about which services more will be said hereafter. The upper New River valley, in what is now in part Bland, Wythe, Grayson and Carroll Counties in Virginia as well as some of the counties on the North Carolina side, were among the hiding places of the Tories, and they made frequent upris- ings and had to be repressed. Some of these uprisings took place in the years of 1779-80 and were suppressed by bodies of militia led by Colonel William Campbell, Major Walter Crock- ett, Major Joseph Cloyd and Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, the latter of North Carolina. The old court records now in the office of the Clerk of the County Court of Montgomery County, Virginia, abound with instances where numerous parties were summoned before the court on charges of being engaged in these uprisings, and were required to give bond and good se- curity to keep the peace and be of good behavior. Should any- one be curious enough to want the names of these people they can find the same by reference to records referred to. David Johnston with his family came from the county of Culpeper, Virginia, in 1778, and settled in the New River val- ley on the plateau between Big Stony Creek and Little Stony Creek, about one mile from the river, at the place now known 1775-1794 69 as the John Phlegar farm in the county of Giles. Johnston's family consisted of himself and wife, two sons, the third son being then absent in the American army, and five daughters, the eldest of the daughters, whose name was Sallie, and who had intermarried with Thomas Marshall, together with her husband, came with the family. David Johnston was the broth- er-in-law of John and Eichard Chapman who then lived at the mouth of Walker's Creek, about two miles from where Johns- ton settled. The first house built by David Johnston as his new dwelling place, was erected by him in 1778 and is at this writ- ing, 1905, still standing, forming a part of the Phlegar mansion house. A few years after the coming of David Johnston his brother-in-law. Elder James Abbott, a missionary Baptist min- ister, came. Johnston was, soon after making of his settleinent, appointed a constable for Montgomery county. He died in .1786, his wife in 1813, and they were both buried on the Phle- gar farm. Thomas Ingles, a son of the Captain William Ingles, one of the Drapers Meadows settlers, and who was captured and car- ried away with his mother, by the Indians, in 1755, having re- turned after thirteen years, and been sent to school at Doctor Thomas Walker's in Albemarle County, Virginia, from which place he went with the army of General Lewis to the battle of Point Pleasant, in which he fought as a lieutenant in a com- pany belonging to Colonel William Christian's regiment of Fin- castle men. After the battle young Ingles was in one of the companies left to garrison the fort at Point Pleasant during the winter following the battle. After receiving his discharge from the army in 1775 he returned to Albemarle, and married a Miss Grills. He came back to the New River valley, and in 1778 he located and settled in Wright's Valley, in which the city of Bluefleld, West Virginia, is now situated, and about two miles west of said city, at a spring near the mansion house of the late Captain Rufus A. Hale. Here Mr. Ingles remained some two years, but finding himself dangerously near the Indian trail leading from he head of Tug of Sandy southward across East- 70 New River Settlements river Mountain, to the Wolf Creek and Walker's Creek settle- ments, he determined to seek a place more remote from Indian lines of travel, and thence removed to Burke's Garden to a tract of land owned by his father. He however remained long enough in Wright's Valley to effect in a measure a change of name to "English's", as appears from the early land surveys and grants. His stay in his new home was not long a peaceful one, for in April, 1782, while he and a negro man were engaged at farm work some distance from the house, a large party of Indians captured his wife and children and two negro slaves, and after plundering and firing the house, they left the premises. Mr. Ingles, discovering the smoke from his burning house, ap- proached near enough to see that the trouble was caused by In- dians, and that he alone could do nothing, set off in quest of help, crossing the mountains southward, he fortunately met up with a goodly number of men assembled for muster and drill at a settlement in Rich Valley on the north fork of Holstein. A posse of fifteen or twenty men under the leadership of Captain Maxwell, to whose command was added an additional force of five or six men, whom John Hix, a neighbor of Mr. Ingles, had gotten together. This party pursued the Indians and on the fifth day they were discovered in camp in a gap of the Sandy Ridge which divides the waters of the Sandy from the Clinch This gap since that time, known as Maxwell's Gap, is a short distance west of the west end of Abb's Valley, and two or three miles north-northwest of the residences of the late William G. Mustard on the north fork of Clinch River in the county of Tazewell. Captain Maxwell divided his com- pany, he taking a part, and moving around their flank so as to get in their front, while Mr. Ingles remained with the other por- tion of the company in the rear, and the attack to be made at daylight the next morning. Unfortunately Maxwell, in order to escape detection, bore too far away and was not in position to make the attack at the appointed time. Mr. Ingles after waiting beyond the agreed hour, and seeing the Indians begin- ning to stir, began the attack. As soon as the first shot was 1775-1794 71 fired, some of the Indians began to tomahawk the prisoners, while others fought and retreated. Mr. Ingles reached his wife just as she had received a terrible blow on the head. They had already tomahawked his little daughter Mary, five years old, and his son William, three years old. The small infant in the arms of the mother was unhurt. In their retreat, the Indians passed close to Captain Maxwell and his party, and firing on them killed Captain Maxwell, who was the only one of the pur- suers killed. No dead Indians were found. The little wounded girl died, but the mother recovered. The above statements are taken from the Harman MS., which states that Captain Henry Harman was with this pursuing party. On September 23, 1779, Mrs. Margaret Pauley and her hus- band, John Pauley, together with James Pauley, wife and child, Robert Wallace and wife and Brice Miller set out from the Greenbrier section to go to Kentucky. They crossed New Eiver at the Horse Ford near the mouth of Rich Creek and then down New River and up East River, which was the shortest route to Cumberland Gap. Each of the men had his rifle. The women on the horses, on which were packed what household plunder they eould carry, were in front, the men in the rear driving the cattle. About noon of the day referred to, and when the party had reached a point on East River about one mile below the mouth of Five Mile Fork thereof, supposed to have been near the upper end of the old farm of Captain William Smith, they were attacked by five Indians and a white man by the name of Mor- gan, who was in company with the Indians. The first intima- tion that the party had of the presence of the savages, was the report of the discharge of a gun. The women, Mrs. John and James Pauley, were knocked from their horses by the Indians with their clubs, Wallace and the two children were killed and scalped, and John Pauley though fatally wounded, escaped and succeeded in reaching Wood's Fort on Rich Creek, where he died in a short time. The Indians took Mrs. John and James Pauley prisoners, and on leaving the scene of their atrocities, went up East River to the mouth of the Five Mile Fork, and 72 New Eivee Settlements thence up the same to the head, across the Bluestone and on to the Ohio, and to the Indian towns on the Miami. There the two women and the little boy of Margaret Pauley, born shortly after she reached the Indian towns remained prisoners for about two years. Finally Mrs. James Pauley escaped, and Mar- garet and her child shortly after this were ransomed. Mrs. Pauley's maiden name was Handley. After the return of Mar- garet Pauley she married a Mr. Erskine, and by whom she had a daughter who married Hugh Caperton, who became a dis- tinguished man, and who was the father of the late United States Senator Allen T. Caperton, of Monroe County. Adam Caperton, the father of the said Hugh, was killed in a battle with the Indians at Little Mountain, or Estill's defeat, near where Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, is now situated. Captain Estill and six of his men were killed, and seventeen of the Indians were killed. This battle was fought on the 22nd day of March, 1782. At the date of the attack on the Pauley party in September, 177-9, no settlements had been made along the East River, in fact none existed between Wood's Fort on Eich Creek and that of Thomas Ingles in Wright's Valley. The route being traveled by the Pauley party was along the hunters' trail leading from New Kiver up East River by the site of the present city of Blue- field in Mercer County, and across the Bluestone-Clinch divide to the Clinch, down the same and on by way of Powell's River to Cumberland Gap. This was the route usually pursued by emigrants from the Greenbrier-New River section to Kentucky. John Toney settled at the mouth of East River in the year of 1780, and gave to his place the name of Montreal and later when the line of the Norfolk & Western Railroad was being con- structed, the contractors engaged in that part of the work at the mouth of East River, or their employees called it, "Hell's Gate." It is now known as Glenlyn. In the year of 1780, or 1781 a family by the name of Chris- tain settled on the farm formerly owned by Mr. John L. Wool- wine on East River, about two miles above the mouth thereof. 1775-1794 73 and it was this family, or from it that the name "Christian's Ridge," was given to the high ridge land lying north of the place of the settlement. John Goolman Davidson, an Irishman, born in Dublin, Ire- land, a cooper by trade, from which he was generally called and known as "Cooper Davidson," came with his family from that part of the Valley of Virginia now known as Rockbridge Coun- ty, and with him came Richard Bailey and his family, from the Blackwater section, then in Bedford, now in Franklin County, Virginia, and settled in the year of 1780 at the Beaver Pond Spring, a branch of Bluestone, now in Mercer County. A fort was built which was called and known as the "Davidson-Bailey Port," the marks of the foundation of which may yet be seen near the residence of Mr. Harvey Bailey just west of the Beaver Pond Creek. Both Davidson and Bailey had considerable fam- ilies, the latter had eight sons and two daughters. Richard Bailey had been a soldier in the American army. These men as well as their sons and daughters, were a brave and coura- geous people, and maintained their position on the border at the settlement they had made from the day they came in 1780, until the close of the Indian wars in 1795. Often in battles with the Indians, frequently compelled to flee for their lives, and shut themselves up in their strong quarters, and finally loosing Mr. Davidson, whose tragic and brutal murder by the savages will be hereinafter related. At the time of the settle- ment- at Beaver Pond Spring by Davidson and Bailey, their nearest neighbors, were Captain James Moore in Abb's Valley, some twelve miles away, Mitchell Clay on Clover bottom, about the same distance, a man by the name of Compton on Clear fork of Wolf Creek, about eight miles away, and a man by the* name of Wright at a place now called Springville, on the head of the Bluestone about eight miles away. The American army under Washington, spent the winter of 1779-80 at Morristown New Jersey, not only suffering from se- vere cold, but even from lack of food. The British General Clinton was determined to capture Charleston, South Carolina, 74 New Rivbe Settlements and to that end toward the close of the year 1779, he embarked from New York with 7,500 men, leaving Knyphausen in com- mand of the city with a small force, for Washington had sent the bulk of his troops south, and consequently gave the enemy little trouble in the northern department. The British expedi- tion reached Charleston near the close of January, 1780. Gen- eral Benjamin Lincoln was in command of the Continental troops at Charleston and in the vicinity thereof. On May 5th, 1780, Fort Moultrie was surrendered to the British, and on the 12th of May, General Lincoln surrendered the city of Charleston and his army numbering 5,000. to be made prisoners of war. This capitulation on the part of Lincoln left the entire south virtually at the mercy of the British. General Horatio Gates had been placed in command of the American army in the southern department and marched rap- idly southward until he reached Camden, South Carolina, where on the 16th of August he met the British army under Lords Rawdon and Cornwallis, and a fierce conflict ensued, in which the American army was decisively defeated. Immediate- ly following organized resistance in the south, American rule ended. General Gates made his way to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was superseded by General Nathaniel Greene, one of the best ofiScers and fighters in the American service. The march of the British army northward into North Carolina not only encouraged the loyalists in the southern part of the state but they became very much emboldened in the north- ern and western part of the state as well as in the upper New River region in Virginia. In the latter part of the summer or in the early part of the autumn of 1780 there was a general tory uprising in Surry Coujity, North Carolina, which was so formidable in its char- acter as to alarm the friends of the American cause; who not only appealed to the American patriots in North Carolina, but in Virginia as well, for help. This was truly the crucial period in this great conflict, the American cause seeming to be at its lowest ebb. The western borders were harrassed bv the In- 1775-1794 75 dians. The country north and east of New Jersey was prac- tically in the hands of the British. General Arnold had be- trayed the American cause and agreed to surrender West Point to the enemies of America. The great body of the American army had been decisively defeated at Camden. The tories, the friends of the King, were in high glee and everything looked as if the American cause was lost. But a brighter day was near at hand, and the tide of affairs was to turn in favor of the Americans. Colonel Martin Armstrong, who was in command of the mili- tary district in and around Salem, North Carolina, sent his small son, Thomas T. Armstrong, then but little above twelve years of age, with an appeal for help to Major Joseph Cloyd, whose residence was on Back Creek, now in Pulaski County. To avoid suspicion, and to prevent his son from being inter- cepted, knowing that he had to pass the tory settlements to reach Major Cloyd, he dressed him in a full tory suit, and the manly and brave little fellow carried the message safely to Ma- jor Cloyd (this incident was related to the author by Mrs. Col- onel Napoleon D. French, the grand-daughter of Colonel Mar- tin Armstrong, and the daughter of Colonel Thomas T. Arm- strong, the lad who carried the message.) Joseph Cloyd was the Major of the Montgomery County mi- litia of which William Preston was the Colonel and Command- ant. Cloyd was directed to raise three companies of horsemen forthwith and to proceed to Surry County, North Carolina, and to aid in suppressing the tories. Among the companies detailed for this service, was one com- manded by Captain George Pearis, another by Captain Bryant, but the author has been unable to ascertain the name of the captain who commanded the remaining company. General Jethro Sumner in a letter to General Gates, dated Camp Mc- Goon's Creek, October 4, 1780, says, "That he encloses a copy of letter of Colonel William Preston, of Botetourt, Virginia, dated the 18th day of September, 1780, stating that a body of horsemen is in that section moving against the tories on the 76 New River Settlements Yadkin." General Sumner seemed not to have been aware of tlie presence of the Virginia troops in that neighborhood, ex- cept through the letter of Colonel Preston, and a conversation had by him with Colonel Armstrong. In his letter General Sumner j-efers to the forks of the Yadkin, and to the Shallow ford thereof, and states that he suspects the latter point to be the object of the enemy. This letter also refers to a conversa- tion in which Colonel Armstrong informs him of the approach of three troops of horsemen from Virginia. General William Small wood, writes to General Gates, (Colonial records in Li- brary of Congress,) from Moravian town, now Salem, under date of October 16, 1780, and states, "But upon return of my scouts last evening they informed me that the enemy had at- tempted to cross the Shallow ford the day before, 14th day of October, 1780, but they were attacked by Major Cloyd with one hundred and sixty of the Virginia and Carolina militia, and that fifteen of the tories were found dead and four wounded. (1) Our loss one captain killed, and four privates wounded. (Evi- dently the captain was Pearis, and he only wounded.) Captain Pearls received in this battle a very severe wound in the shoulder, which disabled him for further military duty. In this battle he killed with his own sword, a man by the name of Burke, his own cousin, from whom he took his sword and this with his own sword together with his uniform with the bullet hole in the shoulder thereof, were preserved in the family until the burning of Princeton, when the same were destroyed to- gether with the house of Mrs. Louisa A. Pearls, where they had been left for preservation. These men under Major Cloyd, were minute or emergency men, and were called out for only three months service, and returned to their homes about the first of January, 1781. Thomas Farley, who was a member of Captain Pearls' company, in his sworn application made before the County Court of Giles County in 1832, for a pension, states his enlistment was with Captain Pearls on the first of October, (1) The tory army numbered 310 and was commanded by Colonel Gideon and Captain Hezaklali Wright. — ^"Draper's Heroes of King's Mountain, page 483." 1775-1794 77 1780, and gives the details of the march under Major Cloyd to the Shallow ford of the Yadkin, and of the battle there, and that his captain, Pearis, was wounded in the battle and that he nursed him after he was wounded. Captain Henry Patton seems to have succeeded Pearis in command of the company which he led to the battle of the Shal- low ford of the Yadkin. General Cornwallis with the British was advancing into the very center of North Carolina, and he had pushed out Major Patrick Ferguson, one of his lieutenants, toward the western mountains of North Carolina, where he could rally and get to- gether the tories of that section. Ferguson had heard of the "Over-Mountain or Backwater men" who occupied the territory on the head waters of the Holstein, Clinch and the Watauga, and he determined to bring them to terms if possible. If they would not go to him and surrender, he would march across the mountain and destroy them. Ferguson then had in his cus tody a prisoner by the name of Samuel Philips with whom he agreed if he would carry a message from him to Generals Se- viers and Shelby, two of the leaders of the Over-Mountain men, he would release him. This message was, "that if they did not desist from their" opposition to the British arms, that he would hang their leaders, and lay their county waste with fire and sword." Philips true to his word crossed the mountains, and delivered the message entrusted to him to Shelby at King's ' Meadows, now Bristol, Virginia. Shelby was not a man to be alarmed by such threats, conscious that the Over-mountain or Back-watermen were an equal match for Ferguson's corps. Shelby mounted his horse, and rode rapidly some forty miles to the Nollichucky in search of John Sevier, who was not at home but at Jonesboro, attending the horse races. Shelby pushed on until he found him, and it is said that they went aside, and sat down upon a log and talked over the situation fully, and de- termined that the better plan was to rally the Over-mountain men both in Virginia and North Carolina, cross the mountains, and destroy Ferguson and his army. 78 New River Settlements By agreement between Shelby and Sevier, the latter was to rally the men of Washington County, North Carolina, and the former those of Sullivan County, and who was also to com- municate and interest Colonel William Campbell, of Washing- ton County, Virginia. Sycamore Ford on the Watauga, about three miles below the present town of Elizabethtown, was agreed upon as the place, and the 25th of September as the time for the rendezvous of these troops. Having succeeded in get- ting together one thousand men, they assembled as agreed upon at the time and place. This was the most remarkable gathering of Backwoodsmen that had ever occurred on the western border. Here was a body of men living as it were, beyond the confines of civilization, without law, being a law unto themselves, about to enter into a great campaign, and fight a great battle, not for revenge, plunder or booty, impelled only by their patriotism. No execu- tive authority had commanded them to assemble, they simply obeyed the commands of their local ofBcers. They marched rap- idly across the mountains, passing through Gillespie's gap in Blue Ridge, and on to the waters flowing south and eastward; and on the seventh day of October attacked the British forces under Ferguson at King's Mountain, in South Carolina, and won in less than an hour, a most decisive victory, which gave cheer and encouragement to the American cause, and made pa- triotic hearts throughout the land leap for joy. This was the turning point in the American revolution. These incidents are embodied herein because a part of the men who fought this bat- tle on the American side were Montgomery County men, from the headwaters of the Bluestone and the Clinch. Montgomery County at that time reached westward to the west end of Mor- ris' Knob, some eight miles beyond the present Court House of Tazewell County. Captain James Moore, from Abb's Valley, the Peery's and others from the upper waters of the Clinch, went with Lieuten- ant Reece Bowen's company, which belonged to Campbell's Washington County regiment. Moore was a lieutenant in Bow- 1775-1794 79 en's company, and when entering into the battle, hearing the British bugle sound charge, directed his men to dismount and give it to them Indian fashion — that is, take trees. The Americans in this battle captured more than six hun- dred prisoners, and brought them across the mountains. Gen- eral Gates, on October 17, 1780, wrote Colonel William Preston to prepare a stockade at Fort Chiswell in which to confine these prisoners, but Colonel Preston replied, "that it was not a safe place; that Montgomery County contained more tories than any other county in Virginia." A full, complete and con- nected history of the battle of King's Mountain, will be found in Draper's "Heroes of King's Mountain." On the 17th day of January, 1781, was fought the battle of the Cowpens, in which General Morgan defeated the British un- der Tarleton, the latter being utterly routed and pursued for twenty miles. The American loss was but seventy-two killed and wounded; while that of the British was more than three hundred, with five hundred prisoners, and an immense amount of supplies. This victory was a crushing one, and caused con- siderable consternation in the camp of Cornwallis, when the news reached him. Morgan crossed the Broad River with his prisoners, intending to make his way to Virginia; Cornwallis in the meantime started out in pursuit. He was confident of heading oflf the patriot army at the fords of the Catawba, but reached there two hours after Morgan had crossed. It was late in the afternoon when he reached the river, and he waited until morning to find that the fox had gone. A heavy rain had fallen) and so raised the stream as to prevent the British commander from crossing for several hours, during which Morgan marched rapidly, reached and crossed the Yadkin, where General Greene joined him, and left his troops at Cheraw under the command of General Huger. Greene having learned from Morgan that Corn- wallis was in pursuit, he sent orders to Huger to unite with Morgan at Salisbury or Charlotte. General Greene was mak- ing for Virginia, and Cornwallis chased him for two hundred miles. The pursuer had been held several hours at the Ca- 80 New Eivbe Settlements tawba, but crossing at last he renewed the chase after Morgan, and reached the bank of the Yadkin February 3rd, as the Amer- cans on the opposite side were forming in line to continue the march. The Yadkin was rising rapidly, but the impatient Corn- wallis had to linger until the next day while the Amer- cans leisurely marched off unmolested. They were joined at Guilford Court House by the troops from the Pedee, but being far inferior to their pursuers in number, they continued their retreat to the Dan, which was already rising, and on the 13th of February they crossed and entered Halifax County, Vir- ginia. When Cornwallis came again in view, he found himself again stopped by high water. This turn of afifairs disgusted him, and he wheeled about and marched back to Hillsboro, where he made his headquarters. General Greene rested and recruited his army, which now aggregated about five thousand men, and he determined to join battle with Cornwallis. Before proceeding to relate the movements of the military in the New Eiver Valley, the names of some of the settlers who came into the valley in 1780 will be mentioned. William Wil- burn and David Hughes from North Carolina, and John and Benjamin White from Amherst County, Virginia, settled on Sugar Run in 1780, and a little later, probably in the autumn of 1781, came William Tracy Sarver, James Kowe and others from North Carolina, who settled in Wolf Creek valley. These men had gone from Culpeper County to the Hawe Patch in North Carolina, where it apears they joined them- selves unto the King's men, and in Pyles' defeat on the Haw, on the 25th of February, 1781, James Rowe received from one of Lee's Legion a sabre wound which made him lame the rest of his days. The David Hughes referred to was also a Loyalist, and to escape military service in the American army hid him- self in the wilds of the flatwoods about the head of Pipestem Creek, and on the waters of the Bluestone and Guyandotte. A high knob situated about seven miles northeast of Athens in Mercer County, is still called "Dave's Knob," from this man David Hughes, who had a hiding place on the top thereof. 1775-1794 81 Hughes was a giant in size and strength and on one of his ex- peditions he caught a cub bear which by its outcries, brought its mother which fiercely attacked Hughes, seizing him by the left arm. He succeeded in dispatching the bear by striking it with his fist in the ribs. It may here be added that the' New River valley received a large number of inhabitants in the years of 1775-1782 from North Carolina, a large part of whom were tones, but from whom have descended a large number of highly honored and respectable people. Cornwallis' march into upper Carolina had greatly alarmed the "Virginians and General Greene wrote letters to Governor Jefferson and to the various commanders of detached bodies of troops in Virginia asking help, and among those to whom he addressed his urgent appeals were Preston, Sevier, Shelby and Campbell. Colonel William Preston on February 10, 1781, or- dered the militia of Montgomery County to assemble at the Lead Mines, and on the day appointed three hundred and fifty men assembled pursuant to the order of their commander. Ma- jor Joseph Cloyd, assembled and led the Middle New River men. It is to be regretted that the names of the men who went with Preston and Cloyd have not been preserved. One com- pany went from the Middle New River valley, which was com- manded by Captain Thomas Shannon, of Walker's Creek, and one of his lieutenants was Alexander Marrs. A few names only of the privates who went along have been secured. They were Matthew French, John French, Edward Hale, Joseph Hare, Isaac Cole and Thomas Farley. Preston began his march on the 18th day of February and reported to General Greene on the 28th day of that month, who assigned him to the command of General Andrew Pickens. On his way to report to Pickens he seems to have gotten between the American and British outposts, and camped for the night in close proximity to the British without knowing that they were near him. On the second day of March, 1781, Lee's Legion and Pres- ton's men had a spirited encounter with Tarleton, which Gen- 82 New Rivee Settlhmbnts eral Greene in a dispatch to General Washington thus notices : "On the Second, Lieutenant Colonel Lee with a detachment of riflemen attacked the advance of the British army under Tarle- ton and killed and wounded thirty of them." On the sixth of March at Whitsell's (Wetzell's mill) , North Carolina, Williams' men, Pickens and his command, including Lee's Legion and Preston's Backwoodsmen, met the British and a severe engagement took place. The Americans were com- pelled to retreat, and Preston's horse took fright and ran through a mill pond near the British, threw Preston oflf and escaped into the British lines. Colonel Preston, being quite a fleshy man, found it difficult to keep' up with the retreating army, and Major Cloyd seeing his condition dismounted and gave Preston his horse. On the eve of going into this battle John French, son of Matthew, and a member of Captain Shannon's company, was detailed as one of the guards to the wagon train. So soon as the firing began at the creek French left the train without orders — in fact against orders — and went to the fight, joined therein and shot one of the enemy. The oflScer in charge of the wagon train reported him for disobedience of orders, and demanded that he be court martialed. Major Cloyd remarked that as French ran not from the fight, but towards it, if they court martialed him for such a cause, he would never again draw his sword in behalf of the country. The Americans continued their retreat to Guilford Court House, where the main body of Greene's army had assembled to fight Cornwallis. In the meantime, Colonel William Camp- bell with about sixty men had joined General Greene, and Pres- ton's Montgomery men were placed under his, Campbell's, com- mand on the extreme left of Greene's army. Colonel Tarleton says, in his Southern Campaigns pp 241, "That in the battle of Guilford Court House he held the right of the British army and that his troops were badly hurt by the Backwoodsmen from Virginia, that they stood behind a fence until the British In- fantry with their bayonets climbed over the same." The Ameri- cans were defeated in this battle, and there were some critic- 1775-1794 83 isms as to the behavior of these Backwoodsmen or militia, and Colonel Preston in a letter to Governor Jefferson, written on the 10th of April, 1781, complaining of this criticism, and the injustice to his men, says, "that part of the men were in one action and all of the men were in two actions." Judge Schenk, in his "North Carolina 1780-81," credits Colonel Martin Arm- strong with leading a body of Surry County men in the battle of Guilford Court House. After the close of this battle the militia returned to their homes, which were then threatened by Indian incursions, their services being badly needed along the frontier to suppress the Indian forays and outrages. To the battle of Yorktown, fought in October, 1781, went Trigg's Battalion of artillery composed largely of New Eiver Valley men. The outrages commited by the Indians upon the family of Thomas Ingles in Burke's Garden in April, 1782, greatly alarmed the settlers along the more exposed portions of the border, and they pleaded for protection. The consternation produced along the frontiers from Powell's Valley to New Kiver was so great that the Governor of Virginia directed Col- onel William Preston to assemble the field oflScers of Mont- gomery and Washington Counties at Lead Mines at once to de- vise ways and means to protect the settlers from Indian depre- dations. The meeting of these offlcers took place on the 6th day of July, 1782. In the meantime Colonel Preston had ordered Major Joseph Cloyd to call out the militia, and to station them at David Doak's Mill. The field officers present at the July meeting from Montgomery County were William Preston, Daniel Trigg, Walter Crockett, John Taylor, Joseph Cloyd and Abraham Trigg; from Washington County, Arthur Campbell, Aaron Lewis, William Edmiston, James Dysart and Major Patrick Lockhart, District Commissioner. The board of offi- cers decided that two hundred men should be drawn out for the defense of the frontiers, to be disposed of into the following districts in Montgomery County, namely, "on New Eiver in the 84 New River Settlements neighborhood of Captain Pearis 30 men, Sugar Run 20, Cap- tain Moore's head of Bluestone 25, head of Clinch 25. In Washington, atRichlands 20, Castle woods 30, Rye Cove 20, Powell's Valley 30 men. The distances from Captain Pearis' to Sugar Run 10 miles, to Captain Moore's, head of Bluestone 30, to Captain Maxwell's, head of Clinch 16, which is nearest the Washington line, to Eichlands 24, to Castlewood's 30, to Rye Cove 28, to Powell's Valley Fort 26 miles, in all 164 miles." Upon the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, in Oc- tober, 1781, the war was regarded at an end. Many of the mili- tia men of Virginia and swarms of other people soon thereafter, came over the Alleghanies, seeking homes, and with them for the same purpose, came some of the French- and British sol diers. Vast throngs went to Kentucky. Among those who came in the years of 1782-3-4 and 5, and located in the New River Valley, and who had been soldiers in the American army, were John Peters, Christian Peters, Charles Walker, Isaac Smith and Larkin Stowers, and a little later came Josiah Meadows, Jacob Meadows, James Emmons, Charles Duncan, John Kirk, Peter Dingess and Tollison Shuemate. The Peters, Stowers, Walker, Jacob Meadows and Smith came from Rock- ingham County, Virginia, Peter Dingess, from Botetourt Coun- ty, Josiah Meadows from Bedford, James Emmons and Charles Duncan from Stokes County, North Carolina, John and Thos. Kirk, and Tollison Shuemate from Fauquier County, Virginia. Duncan and Emmons had first removed from Fauquier County to Stokes County, North Carolina. John Peters and his brother Christian came in 1783, the former located on the New River on the farm on which Mr. Charles D. French now resides, and the latter settled on Rich Creek, where the village of Peters- town is now situated, and he gave name to that village. Chas Walker settled on New River, opposite the mouth of Wolf Creek. Conner, Link and Lugar, who were Hessians — Germans — and who had belonged to the British army, came during one of the years referred to. John Conner was a courier or dispatch 1775-1794 85 bearer for Colonel Tarleton, the British commander on the bat- tlefield of the Gowpens, and had been sent with a message, be- came intoxicated on the way, failed to deliver the message, was court martialed and sentenced to receive, and did receive one hundred lashes, save one, on his bare back, lived, but fainted under the operation, though he had been heavily dosed with liquor and powder mixed. This whipping caused him to let the hated British do their own fighting thereafter, and thereupon he deserted to the Americans. Three or four Hessian regiments were surrendered as pris- oners of war by Cornwallis at Yorktown, and for safe keeping were sent into the valley of Virginia. Finding thwe a people who had come from their own country, spoke their own tongue and living in a goodly land, they settled down and became citi- zens of the country. The influx of population of the New River Valley, came prin- cipally from four directions, viz : the Virginia valley. Piedmont, Virginia, the upper waters of the James and Roanoke Rivers or their tributaries, and from North Carolina. From the valley came the Peters, Walkers, Stowers, Smiths; from the Pied- mont, Virginia, the Chapmans, Johnstons, McKensey, Lyttles, Garrisons, Kirks, Emmons, Duncans and Shuemates ; from the waters of the James and Roanoke Rivers, the Clays, Baileys, Belchers, Shannons and Whites; from North Carolina, the Harmans, Wilburns, Hughes and Hagers. It has already been stated that Captain George Pearls set- tled on the New River, where Pearisburg station on the line of the Norfolk & Western Railway is now situated, in the Spring ofl782. (l)He purchased a tract of land (204 acres) of Cap- tain William Ingles for seventy pounds sterling. It is altogeth- er probable that Mrs. Ingels had observed these lands on her way up New River in November, 1755, after her escape from the Indians, and had given information thereof to her husband, who in 1780 entered and surveyed this 204 acre, tract, as well, also. (1) George Pearis opened the first store In what is now Giles County. 86 Nhw Eivee Settlements the Chapman I. Johnston home tract, and the tract on which Chas. D. French resides. It has been noted that Mitchell Clay and family settled on the Bluestone at Clover bottom in the year of 1775, where he opened up a considerable farm. From the date of his settle- ment to near the autumn of 1783 he had not been molested by the savages, as he seems to have lived ofiE their lines of travel, but his peace was not long to continue. In the month of August, 1783, after Clay had harvested his crop of small grain, and desiring to get the benefit of the pas- tures for his cattle off the ground on which his crop had grown, he placed two of his sons, Hartley and Ezekiel, to build a fence around the stacks of grain, while he went but in the search of game. His older sons seem to have been away from home. It was in the afternoon, while these two young men were engaged at their work, and the older daughter with some of the younger girls were at the river washing, that a marauding party of eleven Indians crept up to the edge of the field and shot Bart- Ifey dead. The discharge of the gun alarmed the girls at the river, and they started on a run for the house, the pathway leading directly by where Bartley had been killed. An Indian attempted to scalp the young man, and at the same time to cap- ture the older girl Tabitha, who undertook to defend the body of her dead brother, and prevent his being scalped, and in the struggle with the Indian, she reached for his butcher knife, which hung in his belt and missing it, the Indian drew if and stabbed her repeatedly, she however, several times wringing the knife from his hand cast it aside, but he each time recovering it continued cutting her with the knife, and stabbing her until he had literally chopped her to pieces before killing her. ' The small girls during the melee, had escaped to the house, and the brother Ezekiel, a lad of some sixteen years had been captured by another Indian. The house of Mitchell Clay stood on a high point, or knoll about three hundred yards nearly due west, from the dwelling house now owned and occupied by Mr. Daniel Day. The old chimney, or rather the foundation stones of the 1775-1794 87 chimney of the Clay cabin can still be seen. About the time the attack was made by the Indian, a man by the name of Liggon Blankenship called at Clay'g cabin, and when Mrs. Clay discov- ered her daughter in the struggle with the Indian, begged Blankenship to go and shoot the Indian and save her child, in- stead thereof he took to his heela and ran to the New Eiver set- tlements and reported that Clay and all of his family had been killed by the Indians. This cowardly behavior of Blankenship has been handed down from generation to generation and per- haps will be to the end of time. The Indians, after securing the scalp of the young man Bartley, and his sister Tabitha, with their prisoner Ezekiel, left the scene. So soon as Mrs. Clay as- certained that the Indians had departed, she took her children and carried the bodies of the dead ones to the house and plac- ing them on a bed, left the cabin with her children and made her way through the wild woods six miles to the house of Mr. James Bailey (son of Eichard, of Beaver Pond) who lived at a place on Brush Creek waters about three fourths of a mile northwest from where New Hope Church now stands, and who had settled there in 1782, and was then Clay's nearest neighbor. Mr. Clay, the father, on his hunting expedition had wounded a deer and followed it until nearly dark, then retraced his steps home, littl e dreaming of the horrors that had been enacted there in his absence. When he reached the house he soon dis- covered from the dead bodies of his children and other evi- dence what had happened, and supposing that all of his family had been killed or were captives, he immediately left the cabin for the New Kiver settlements, following a blind path which led from his place to New Eiver at the mouth of East Eiver. On his way during the night he discovered that the Indians were in his rear, following him, and he left the path in order to evade them. He reached the settlements early in the morning, fol- lowed closely by the Indians who stole a number of horses and immediately began their retreat to the Ohio. Information was immediately conveyed to the various neighborhoods, and a party of men under Captain Matthew Farley, among them 88 New Kiver Settlements Charles Clay, Mitchell, Jr., James Bailey, William Wiley, Ed- ward Hale, Isaac Cole, Joseph Hare, John French and Captain James Moore, went to the Clay cabin and buried the bodies of Bartley and Tabitha. The pursuit then began. The Indians taking the old Indian trail from the Bluestone across Plat Top Mountain, and down the divide between Guyandotte and Coal river waters along the top of Cherry Pound Mountain, where the trail seperated, one branch thereof continuing down the west fork of the Coal River, and the other down the Pond fork of the same. When the whites reached the forks of this path or trail, they discovered that the tracks of the horses, which the Indians had stolen, led down the Pond fork, and not suspect- ing that some of the Indian party had gone down the west fork, they followed the tracks of the horses. It was late in the eve- ning when they reached a point near the mouth of Pond fork, and discovered smoke from fires started by the Indians where they had camped, and heard the shrill whistle of a fife. The party halted in order to confer as to the best method of attack. They decided to divide their party so as to place a portion of them below the Indians, and to attack at daylight the next morning, and to make this attack from above and below at the same time. The party crept as close up to where the Indians encamped as they thought safe to prevent discovery. All was quiet during the night, but just at the break of day, a large In- dian arose from his bed and walked out a short distance, and approaching Edward Hale, by whom he was shot and killed, and thereupon the attack began. Two of the Indians were killed outright, and one that was wounded attempted to escape to the hill, and in his broken English begged for his life, but Charles Clay, whose brother and sister had just been killed by them, and another brother in captivity, refused him quarter and killed him on the spot. The remaining Indians fled down the river. Mitchell Clay, Jr., was then quite a boy, and when the attack began one large Indian rushed down toward him. Young Clay had a large rifle gun, much too heavy for a boy of his size to 1775-1794 89 handle, and firing at the Indian he missed him. The Indian wheeled, and attempted to run oflf, but was killed by another of the party. The place where this fight occurred is in the now county of Boone, at the head of a little bottom on the Pond fork, on west side thereof, about one-half mile above the junction of the Pond with the West fork of Coal River, and on the farm formerly owned by the late Mr. L. D. Coon, who a few years ago in plow- ing near the base of the hill where the fight took place, found an Indian hatchet, which he gave to the author, and which he now has in his possession. The spot where this battle was fought is well marked by a large pile of heavy stones, carried by the Indi- ans from the adjacent mountain side, and piled over the bodies of their dead comrades. The white people recovered their horses, but not Ezekiel Clay, who was carried by the hunting party of Indians that went down the West Fork, and with this party the whites failed to come into contact. They took this unfortunate boy to their town at Chillicothe, and burned him at the stake. Both Edward Hale and William Wiley took from the backs of the two dead Indians strips of their hides, which they convert- ed into razor straps and which remained in their families for many years, as souvenirs of the battle, Mitchell Clay and his family removed to New River, and pur- chased from the executors of Captain William Ingles a part of the farm which is now owned by J. Raleigh Johnston, Esq., across the river from the Norfolk & Western Railway station at Pearisburg, Virginia, and Clay built his house on very nearly the same spot on which Mr. Johnston's house now stands. This Clay house was removed several years ago to a point on the same farm, about one-half mile north of where it originally stood. It still remains, and in the logs may yet be seen the port holes. A photograph of this house built in 1783, as it now appears will be inserted in the appendix to this work. Mr. Clay and his wife, whose maiden name was Phoebe Bel- cher of Bedford, later Franklin County, Virginia, had fourteen children. His sons were Henry, Charles, Mitchell, David, Wil- 90 New Kivkr Settlhments liam, Bartley, and Ezekiel; his daughters Tabitha, Rebecca, who married Colonel George Pearis, Patience, who married George Chapman, Sallie, who married Captain John Peters, Obedience, who married John French, Nannie, who married Joseph Hare, Mary, who married William Stewart, and whose descendants, now compose a large part of the population of Wyoming County, West Virginia. Mitchell Clay died on his New River farm in 1812, having sold his Clover bottom tract to Hugh Innes and to his son-in-law. Colonel Pearis. The facts and circumstances connected with this Clay tragedy and the battle fought with the Indians on Coal River is taken from the Clay MSS., written out by Mitchell C. and John Clay, grand- sons of the said Mitchell. In 1783 Captain George Pearis being out on his farm with his rifle and near the lower point of the island just north of his house discovered an Indian standing on the high cliflf of rocks opposite the lower point of said island. He fired at and killed the Indian. In the spring of 1782, a marauding party of Indians made an incursion into Abb's Valley, and attacked the house of James Poague, a brother-in-law of Captain Moore, at night, broke open the door, but finding there were several men in the house (there were three besides Mr. Poague) they did not attempt to enter the house, but after watching it for some time went off; and the next morning killed a young man by the name of Richards, who had been living for some time at Captain Moore's. This in- cident is related by Kercheval, the Historian of the valley. It seems that this party of Indians on entering the valley divided, a part going to Burke's Garden and attacking Thomas Ingles' family as hereinbefore related, and another part the Maxwell's and others. James Moore, a son of Captain James, and who was only fourteen years of age, was in September, 1784, captured by three Indians. The boy had been sent for a horse, by his father, to the plantation of Mr. Poague, which was now deserted, as Mr, Poague had left some time before. The boy was taken by the 1775-1794 91 Indians across the Ohio, and remained a prisoner for about five years, then returned, finding, in fact hearing before he reached home, that his father's family had been destroyed by the Indians. This James Moore was the father of the late Wil- liam T. Moore, of Abb's Valley, and who lived to about the age of ninety years, one of the most honored and respected citizens of Tazewell County, Virginia. Before his death he erected, largely at his own expense in Abb's Valley, near the place where his grandfather and family were destroyed by the In- dians, Moore's Memorial (Methodist) Church. Many important events transpired during the years of 1784-5. The border land or frontier was rapidly filling up with a rest- less, energetic people, largely free from governmental re- straints, with no other special duties to perform than that of preparing homes, providing food and clothing and fighting sav- ages. These people west of the AUeghanies, on the waters of Wautauga, Holstein and upper New Eiver section, seemingly dissatisfied with the state governments of North Carolina and Virginia, sought what they conceived to be better. The people living in Washington, Sullivan and Greene Counties, North Carolina, set up a new government, created and organized a new state which they named Franklin. The interests of the people living in these counties, as well as on the head waters of the Holstein and upper New Biver country, were so closely identi- fied, that a scheme was discussed to enlarge the territory of the new state, and to make a great independent Commonwealth. Colonel Arthur Campbell, of Washington County, Virginia, seems to have been at the head of the movement, and in 1785 he proposed the enlargement of the boundaries of the new state as follows, viz : "Beginning at a point at the top of the Alle- ghany or Appalachian Mountains so as a line drawn due north from thence will reach the banks of the New Biver, then called Kanawha, at the confluence of the little river, which is about one mile above Ingle's Ferry, down the said river Kanawha to the mouth of Eoncevert ( or Greenbrier ) Biver, a direct line from thence to the nearest summit of the Laurel Mountain, and 92 New River Settlements along the highest point of the same to the point where it is in- tersected by the parallel of thirty seven degrees north latitude ; west along that latitude to a point where it is met by a meridian line that passes through the lower part of the Eapids of Ohio ; south along the meridian to Elk Run, a branch of the Tennessee, down said run to its mouth, and down the Tennessee to the most southwardly part Of the bend in said river ; a line from thence to that branch of the Mobile, called Donbigbee ; down said river Donbigbee to its junction with the Cossawate River, to the mouth of that branch called the High tower, thence south to the top of the Appalachian Mountain at its highest land that divides the stream of the eastern from the western waters ; northwardly along the middle of said heights, and the top of the Appalachian Mountains to the beginning." This new state composed of the three counties mentioned, lived and lasted with John Sevier as its governor four years, and then ceased to further exist; its territory having been final- ly absorbed or embraced within the limits of the state of Tenn- essee. This brief mention of the state of Franklin is only made to show that if it had continued its existence with the enlarg- ed territory added as proposed by Colonel Campbell, the coun- ties of Mercer and Tazewell would have been embraced therein. A raiding party of Indians in 1785 entered the Upper Blue- stone and Wolf Creek sections, stole horses and gave great alarm to the settlers. The general assembly of Virginia in October, 1785, passed an act to take effect May first, 1786, dividing the county of Wash- ington by the creation of the county of Russell ; which Act reads as follows : "All that part of said county lying within a line to be run along the Clinch Mountain to the Carolina line, thence with a line to the Cumberland Mountain, and the extent of the county between the Cumberland Mountain, Clinch Moun- tain and the line of Montgomery County, shall be one distinct county, called and known by the name of Russell. Court to meet at the house of William Robinson in Castlewoods." In the early morning of July 14, 1786, a band of forty Shaw- 1775-1794 93 nee Indians attacked the family of Captain James Moore in Abb's Valley, killed Captain Moore, two of his children, a man by the name of Simpson, captured Mrs. Moore, and her four re- maining children, and a Miss Evans who was living with the family, plundered, and burned the house, and then made off to the Ohio with their prisoners and booty. Two men in the har- vest field just south of the house, one by the name of Clark, the other an Irishman, fled and gave the alarm. Clark ran directly to the Davidson-Bailey Fort at the Beaver Pond spring, the Irishman to a settlement on upper Bluestone. A messenger was forthwith dispatched to Major Joseph Cloyd, on Back Creek, who with a party of men reached the scene of the trag- edy the second day after its enactment, but too late to overtake the Indians. They secured the bodies of the dead and buried them. They found the body of Captain Moore about two hun- dred yards north of the house. His body had been horribly mu- tilated by the savages. It was buried where he fell and it still reposes there. The spot where the two small children were bur- ied, remained unknown to the Moores until about fifteen years ago Mr. Oscar B. Moore, the great grandson of Captain James, while plowing or having plowing done in a field near where the cabin had stood, turned up the bones of these children and not far away under the edge of a shelving limestone rock the bones of a man of very large frame was plowed up, supposed to be those of the Indian that the horse Yorick killed. The story of the destruction of Captain Moore and his family, has been giv- en by several writers, and it is not deemed necessary to repeat it here in full. The reader for further information is referred to "Abb's Valley Captives :" Kercheval's His. Val. : Trans Alle- ghany Pioneers : Summers His. South-west Virginia. The Federal Convention, which assembled at Philadelphia on the 17th day of September completed its work, and submit- ted the same to the states for their action. The Virginia con- vention convened to consider the ratification or rejection of this Federal constitution, assembled in the city of Richmond on the 2nd day of June, 1788. The representatives from the 94 New Eivke Ssttlimbnts county of Montgomery, of which the territory of Mercer was then a part, were Walter Crockett and Abraham Trigg. Wash- ington County was represented by Samuel Edmiston and James Montgomery. The opposition to the ratification of the constitution was vigorous, being led by Patrick Henry, while James Madison and Governor Eandolph earnestly supported ratification. It was ratified with sundry amendments, recom- mendations and conditions added, by a vote of 89 to 79, the rep- resentatives from west of the Alleghanies voting against rati- fication. And thus with perhaps two exceptions, the people liv- ing west of the Alleghanies have almost invariably opposed and voted against every constitution presented to them, and the last heard from they were still voting along the same lines. It is true they voted for the ratification of the Underwood consti- tution of 1869 but this was a matter of self-preservation, to avoid political disabilities, disfranchisement, and negro domin- ation, all of which had practically been incorporated into the constitution, but several of the obnoxious features thereof were by authority of President Grant voted on separately and de- feated. But the stronger reason that impelled them to vote for this constitution, was the fear of carpetbag and scalawagism, as well as negro domination. Captain Henry Harman, who was a German, but born on the Isle of Man, first settled in North Carolina near the Moravian town, Salem, and there married Miss Nancy Wilburn, and from thence removed about the year of 1758 to the New River valley, and settled on Buchanan's bottom, the Major James E. Kent farm. Some years later Captain Harman settled on Walker's Creek, but soon removed to the north branch thereof, known now as Kimberling Creek (the name believed to have been giv- en from Jacob Kimberline) . This farm on which he settled on the Kimberling, and now known as HoUybrook, remained in his family for long years. The last Harman that owned and occu- pied it was Colonel William N. Harman, a grandson of Captain Henry, a lawyer by profession, and who commanded a battalion of confederate calvery during our civil war. Colonel Harman 1775-1794 95 with his family recently removed to the territory of Oklahoma. Captain Henry Harman very early in the morning of Novem- ber 12th, 1788, started out on his usual fall hunt, taking with him two of his sons, George and Matthias, and a man by the name of George Draper. They had with them their bear dogs and pack horses, with the latter to transport their game. Starting early and traveling the mountain trails by the short- est route, they reached a point on the Tug Fork of the Sandy be- low the junction of the North and South forks thereof a little more than two miles below said junction on the right bank of the main Tug fork, where they selected their camp, the con- struction of which was left to the Captain, who desired it ar- ranged to suit his taste. George and Matthias had started to the woods to look for game, while Mr. Draper was looking af- ter the horses. A short distance from the stopping place George Harman found a camp in which fire was still burning and a pair of leggins, which Captain Harman decided from the odor had been with the Indians, and had formerly belonged to Captain James Moore, who had been killed and his house plun- dered by the Indians a little more than two years before. Cap- tain Harman satisfied that he was in near proximity to the In- dians, and night rapidly approaching, decided to retrace his steps, knowing if he remained he would be attacked, and to get out was safer, and would also enable him to give notice to the settlers ; he thereupon called in Matthias, caught up the horses and moved out; he and Mr. Draper in front, the horses next, and George and Matthias to bring up the rear. They had pro ceeded but short distance, when they were fired upon by the In- dians, some six or seven in number. Draper retired at the fire of the first gun, and hid himself in the branches of a fallen tree, a little to the rear of the scena of conflict, so that the Har- mans were left alone to contend with at least, if not more than double their own number. The fight was close and bloody, Captain Harman receiving one severe, and other slight wounds from arrows. George had a hand to hand conflict with one c)f the savages, whom with the help of Matthias, he succeeded in 96 New River Settlements dispatching. Two of the Indians being killed, and two wound- ed, those still unhurt with the wounded ones, beat a retreat, and the Harmans pursued their way safely homeward. Draper from his hiding place had observed the retreat of the Indians, crept out, hurried into the settlement, and reported the Har- mans killed. This brief account of the affair taken from a copy of the "Harman Ms ", in posession of the author. A much ful- ler account of this fight will be found in Hickley's History of Tazewell, and in Summers' History of Southwestern Virginia, to which the reader is referred, and attention is called to the correct date upon which the fight took place, the other publica- tions having the dates wrong by four years. About twemty years ago some gentlemen in McDowell County, West Virginia, (this fight took place in what is now the territory of McDowell County) , on a hunting tour over the side of the mountain near- by the battle ground and under a clifiE of rock, found the skele- ton of a human being, and brought away the skull, and pre- sented the same to Mr. Hiram Christian, of McDowell. It was very peculiarly shapped, and all who saw it pronounced it the skull of an Indian. Capt. Henry Harman wrote some verses on this battle which are herein inserted, which are as follows : HARMAN'S BATTLE SONG. "Come all ye bold heroes ■whose hearts flow with courage, With respect pay attention to a bloody fray Fought by Captain Harman and valiant sons. With the murdering Shawnees they met on the way. This battle was fought on the twelfth of November, Seventeen hundred and eighty and eight. Where God of his mercy stood by those brave heroes. Or they must have yielded to a dismal fate. Oh! nothing would do this bold Henry Harman But down to Tug River without more delay. With valiant sons and their noble rifles. Intending a number of bears for to slay. They camped on Tug River with pleasing contentment. Till the sign of bloodthirsty Shawnees appears. Then with brave resolution they quickly embark. To cross the high mountains and warn the frontiers. 1775-1794 97 Brave Harman rode foremost with undaunted courage Nor left his old trail those heathen to shun; His firm resolution was to save Bluestone, Though he knew by their sign there were near three to one. The first salutation the Shawnees did give them. They saw. the smoke rise from behind some old logs; Brave Harman to fight them then quickly dismounted, Saying, "Do you lie there you savage, murdering dogs?" He says, "My dear sons stand by me with courage. And like heroes fight on till you die on the ground;" "Without hesitation they swiftly rushed forward; They'd have the great honor of taking their hair. At first by the host of the Redskins surrounded. His well pointed gun made them jump behind trees; At last all are slain, but two, and they wounded, Cherokee in the shoulder, and "Wolf in the knees. Great thanks to Almighty for the strength and the courage. By which the brave Harmans triumphed o'er the foe; Not the women and children, they intended to slaughter. But the bloody invaders themselves are laid low. May their generation on the frontiers be stationed, To confound and defeat all their murdering schemes. And put a flustration to every invasion, And drive the Shawnees from Montgomery's fair streams." In the the early spring of 1789, James Eoark and family lived at a gap of the ridge, dividing the waters of Clinch and Sandy Elvers, and near the head spring of the Dry fork of Sandy, and on and near the line dividing the counties of Rus- sell and Mongomery. A raiding party of Indians had come up the Dry fork of the Sandy, and unexpectedly to them, quite a sno-w had fallen and they took shelter or camped under a large overhanging rock opposite the mouth of Dick's Creek, of Dry fork. It was while under this rock, waiting for the snow to disappear, that they discovered "William "Wheatley, who lived in Baptist Valley, in search of his lost dog, killed him, mutulated his body, tore out his bowels, stretched them upon the bushes, his heart being found in one place, his liver in another. On a large beech tree near the place where Wheatly was killed, the Indians cut the figure of a man, which was plainly visible a few years ago. After the killing of "Wheatley, and the snow had disappeared, they moved up Dry fork and fell 98 New River Settlements upon the family of Roark, killing his wife and several children and then retired down the Sandy. In the fall of this same year of 1789, a body of Indians came into the Bluestone and upper Clinch settlements, crossed the East River mountain on to the waters of the Clear fork of Wolf Creek, prowled around for several days to find, as afterwards ascertained, the home of George and Matthias Harman, they supposed they had killed Captain Henry Harman in the fight on the Tug the year before. Late in the evening of the first day of October, 1789, they suddenly appeared at the door of the cabin of Thomas Wiley, on Clear Fork, at what is now known as the "Dill's Place." Mr. Wiley was from home, they took his wife, Virginia, and five children prisoners, plundered the house, and moved off up Cove Creek, where they killed all of Mrs. Wiley's children, crossed the East River mountain by the farm owned by the late Walter McDonald Sanders, down Bea- ver Pond Creek, by where the town of Graham, Virginia, is now situated, striking Bluestone, and across Flat Top mountain by way of the Pealed Chestnuts, and down the north fork of the Tug fork to the Harman battle ground, (a part of the same In- dians that captured Mrs. Wiley, were in the fight with Har- man.) On the battlefield they gathered together some of the bones of their comrades who had fallen in the fight, and be- moaned and bewailed their loss, and finally the leader of the party said to Mrs. Wiley, "Here I killed Old Skygusty," the name they had given Captain Harman; Mrs. Wiley replied, "No you didn't for I saw him last week." The Indian, appar- ently nettled at her reply, said, "You lie, you Virginia Huzza, you lie, for when I shot him I heard him call on his God." Mrs Wiley was taken to the Indian town at Chillicothe where she remained until the last days of September, 1792, when she es- caped; a full history of which will be given later on when we narrate the events occurring in year of 1792. This incident is taken in part from a letter of Mr. Armstrong Wiley and from a report made by Colonel Robert Trigg to the Governor 1775-1794 99 of Virginia which will be found in the Virginia Calendar Pa- pers A marauding party of Indians entered the Bluestone and upper Clinch settlements, in the year of 1790, which greatly alarmed the settlers, who took prompt measures to repel and punish them. They committed no other outrage than to steal a large number of horses from the people, which they succeed- ed in getting away with. At the coming of the Indians in this year of 1790, an event happened in the neighborhood of the Davidson-Bailey Fort, which was deeply impressed upon the minds of those conversant with what is about to be related. John Bailey, son of Bichard, the settler, had married a daugh- ter of John Goolman Davidson, the settler, and the buildings at the fort being so crowded, and Mr. Bailey desiring to set out for himself, had on Boyer's Branch, about three-fourths of a mile north-east of the fort, erected him a fairly good one room log house to which he took his young wife, and there in the sum- mer of 1790, was born his first child and eldest son,Jonathan, who was only four days old when the Indians entered the neighborhood. The young mother seized her babe, mounted a horse and rode to the fort, from which she seemed to suffer no injury or inconvenience. If such were to happen in this our day there is at least a probability there would be a funeral or a heavy physician's bill to pay. Jonathan Bailey long lived, dying in 1770, leaving behind him a numerous progeny of as good people as live in any com- munity. The General Assembly of Virginia in October, 1789, created the county of Wythe within the following boundaries: All that part of Montgomery which lies south and west of a line beginning in the Henry line at the head of Big Eeedy Island, from thence to Wagon ford on Peek Creek, thence to the Clov- er bottom on Bluestone, thence to the Kanawha line, shall form one distinct county, and to be called and known by the name of Wythe. Court for Wythe to be held at the house of James McGavock." By this same act a part of the western 100 New Rivee Settlements part of the County of Botetourt was added to Montgomery. The western line of Wythe was the same as had been the west- ern line of Mongomery County viz : from the second ford of Holstein above the Eoyal Oak to the west end of Morriss' Knob and then to the head waters of the Sandy at Roark's gap. And this remained unchanged until the county of Tazewell was created in 1800. Andrew Davidson, son of John Goolman Davidson had mar- ried Rebecca Burke, granddaughter of James Burke, the re- puted discoverer of Burke's Garden, and had made his settle- ment at the head spring of the East River, less than a half mile from what is now the east limits of the city of Bluefield, West Virginia. The spring of 1791 being late, Andrew Davidson having some important business at Smithfield (Draper's Meadows) from which his father and family had removed about ten years before, set off from home in the early part of April leaving at home his wife, his three small children, two girls and boy, and two bound children, orphans, whose names were Bromfleld. Mr. Davidson had requested his brother-in law, John Bailey, to look after his family. Shortly after Mr. Davidson's departure, perhaps two or three days, and while Mrs. Davidson was gathering sugar water from sugar maple trees close by the house, there suddenly appeared several In- dians, who told her she would have to go with them to their towns beyond the Ohio. There was no alternative although she was in no condition to make such a trip, as she was then rapid- ly approaching motherhood. Taking such plunder as they could carry, they set fire to the house and with their prisoners departed ; the Indians helping along with the children. On the way, near where Logan Court House, West Virginia, now stands, Mrs. Davidson by i-eason of the exertion and anxiety of mind gave birth to her child. Only two hours relaxation from the march was allowed her and they again pushed on. The little stranger after a day's time, they drowned. On the fateful morning on which Mrs. Davidson and her chidren were captured, John Bailey being at the fort informed Ms people 1775-1794 101 that he must go over and look after Andrew Davidson's fam- ily, whereupon one of his sisters, (he had but two,) told him to get her a horse and that she would go with him, to which he assented and secured the horse for her. They set out on the journey, going up Boyer's Branch to the gap in the ridge, where the livery stable of Mr. J. C. Higgenbothen now stands inside the city limits of Bluefield, and which spot has now been selected for the site of the Federal building shortly to be erect- ed. On reaching this gap Mr. Bailey discovered a heavy smoke from the direction of the Davidson house, and thereupon told his sister to remain on her horse in the gap and watch while he went forward to a piece of ground in the valley, (the hill on which lately stood the Higgenbothen residence, but which hill has been recently removed) . He hurriedly returned, reporting the house on fire, and that evidently the Indians had been there and taken the people, as no one could be seen about the house. Mr. Bailey and his sister rode rapidly to the fort, gave the alarm to the neighborhood, and a party gathered as quickly as possible and pursued the Indians, but the leaves being dry the savages had left but few, if any marks, and the party was un- able to overtake them. On arriving at the Indian town, the little girls of Mrs. Davidson were tied to trees and shot to death before her eyes. The boy, her son, was given to an old squaw, who in crossing a river with him upset the canoe and the boy was drowned. As to what became of the two bound children, was by the white people never known. Mrs. Davidson was in captivity from April, 1791, until a date subsequent to Wayne's victory over the United Indian Tribes at Fallen Timbers in August, 1794. Mr. Davidson made the second trip in search of his wife before he found her. He had before his second trip received information through an old Indian which led him across the Canadian border, and stopping at a farm house to obtain a meal, observed a woman passing him as he entered the house, to whom he merely bowed and went in. Shortly the woman came in with a load of wood and laying it down, looked at the stranger for a moment, then 102 New Rivee Settlements turned to her Mistress, (for she had been sold as a servant to a Canadian French farmer), and said, "I know that man;" "Well, who is he?" said the French lady. "It is my husband! Andrew Davidson, I am your wife." Mr. Davidson was not only astounded, but joyfully and more than agreeably sur- prised, for when he last saw his wife, she was a fine healthy looking woman, her hair as black as a raven's wing, but had now turned to snowy white. Mr. Davidson returned, bringing with him his wife, and they settled at the mouth of Abb's Val- ley on a farm now owned by A. C. Davidson, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson raised another family of children, she long lived, and when she died, her remains were removed to and buried in the Burke burying ground at the Horse Shoe farm on New Eiver in the now county of Giles. At the time of the capture of Mrs. Davidson in April, 1791, the place where she was captured was then in that part of Wythe County, which is now Mercer County, West Virginia. Major Robert Crockett was for a number of years including 1791, and for some years later, the military commandant in Wythe County, and for a good part of the time made his head- quarters on the Clinch at Wynn's Fort. A band of Indians from the Ohio country, came in July, 1792, into the Bluestone and upper Clinch settlements and be- gan their depredations — stealing horses, which they had found to be a profitable business. They stole the horses of the set- tlers, and ran them over into Canada, where they sold them at remunerative prices. Major Crockett assembled forty men at the place where stands the residence of the late Captain Thomas Peery. Among the number who obeyed the call of Major Crockett were Joseph Gilbert and Samuel Lusk, the latter a youth of about sixteen years, but with quite an experience as an Indian spy and scout, having made a number of trips with the said Joseph Gilbert, who was a noted Indian scout and hunter. The late Captain James Shannon of the county of Wyoming, West Virginia, when about ninety three years of age, related 1775-1794 103 to the author, that he rode behind his father on a horse to the assembly ground, and well recollected Joseph Gilbert as an ac- tive atheletic young man, and that he also saw Lusk on the same occasion. Major Crockett moved off with his men to follow the Indians, having no time to prepare provisions for the journey. They took the route down Horse Pen Creek, and to the head of Clear fork, and down to the Tug and on to the mouth of Four Pole, then crossing the dividing ridge between the waters of the Sandy and Guyandotte Rivers. They sent Gilbert and Lusk forward to a Buffalo lick on a creek flowing into the Guyan- dotte, to secure if possible a supply of game. It appears by the report of Major Crockett, found in the Virginia Calendar Pa- pers, that this was on the twenty fourth day of July that Gil- bert and Lusk set out for and reached the lick, where they found and killed a deer and wounded an elk, which they fol- lowed, some distance ; being unable to overtake it they returned to the lick to get the deer they had killed. On passing along the BufiEolo path, near which they had left the deer, Gilbert in front, discovered a stone hanging by pawpaw bark over the path. Gilbert in an instant discerning what it meant called on Lusk to look out. He had scarcely uttered the words, when the Indians fired, a ball from one of their guns penetrating the hand of Lusk, in which he carried his gun, which caused him to drop the same. The Indians immediately began to close in on them, Gilbert putting Lusk behind him, and holding the In- dians off by the presentation of his gun. Gilbert and Lusk kept retreating as rapidly as they could with safety. Lusk's wound- ed hand was bleeding freely, and he became sick from the loss of blood, and begged Gilbert to leave him and get away ; this Gilbert refused to do, saying, that he promised his, Lusk's mother, to take care of him. Finally the Indians got close enough to knock Gilbert down with their tomahawks, which they did, and an Indian rushed up to scalp him, when Gilbert shot him dead, but another one of the Indians dispatched Gil- bert, and Lusk became a prisoner. The Indians immediately hur- 104 New Eivbe Settlements ried with their prisoner down the creek to Guyandotte, and then down the river to the mouth of Island Creek, and went into camp behind a rocky ridge called Hog Back at the present day. Major Crockett instead of following the tracks of Gilbert and Lusk to the lick, had turned to the west, and crossed a ridge onto the right fork of Island Creek, and reached and camped at a point within two miles of the Indian camp, but without knowledge of his proximity to them. During the night Lusk suffered much with his hand until an Indian went off and brought some roots which he beat up into a pulp, made a poul- tice, and bound his hand which afforded relief. Early on the morning of the 25th the Indians took to their canoes, which they had left at this point on their way to the settlements, and rapidly descending the river to its mouth crossed the Ohio. On reaching the northern bank, they placed their canoes in charge of some of their party and taking Lusk with them crossed the country. The Indians had learned some things from their contact with white men, among them was to wear a hunting shirt, a loose garment which they fastened around the waist, leaving it open and loose above the waist. These Indians that had Lusk in charge had donned the hunting shirt. On the way across the country, on the evening they crossed the Ohio, and before halt- ing to camp, they passed through some prairie country, and Lusk observed that they kept now and then stooping down tak- ing something from the ground, and putting inside of their hunting shirts. When they had reached their camping place, and had built a fire, they went off and brought a large iron kettle, put on the fire, and put into it a considerable quantity of water, and when it began to approach the boiling point, the Indians gathered around the kettle and began to take some- thing from the inside of their hunting shirts and throw into the water, and seemed to be in high glee as indicated by their laughter. Lusk ventured up to see what it meant, and found it was dry land toads they had gathered on the route and were putting into the hot boiling water. They were preparing sup- 1775-1794 105 per, and when they had reduced the water and the toads to the consistency of a good thick mush, they took the kettle from the fire and permitted the mush to cool; they then took wooden spoons, offering one to Lusk, which he refused, and gathered around the kettle and began to eat. Finding that Lusk would not eat with them, one of their number went off and procured some jerked buffalo meat and furnished it to Lusk. The jour- ney was resumed the next morning, and during the day their town of Chillicothe was reached, where Lusk met and made the acquaintance of Mrs. Virginia Wiley, who had been captured on the first day of October, 1789, as herein befpre related. Lusk's wounded hand rapidly healed, and the Indians put him to work in their corn fields, and later to aid in building some new cabins for the winter. He appearing to be an expert at what is termed carrying up a corner, while so engaged and notching down a piece of timber, his axe threw off a lage chip of wood, which struck a stout young Indian about Lusk's size and age in the face, which made the young fellow very angry. Believing or pretending to believe, that Lusk had intentionally caused the chip to strike him, he thereupon challenged Lusk for a fight, which challenge Lusk accepted, came down from the house, and gave to his challenger a fearful thrashing. The other Indians stood by and praised Lusk, and made fun at the other fellow, who though whipped, was yet very angry. He went off and secured two large knives, came back offering one to Lusk, and challenged him to mortal combat. The older In- dians advised Lusk not to take the knife, but to keep out of his way, and at the same time shake his fist at him, which he did only adding insult to injury ; but finally by the interposition of the older heads the matter was adjusted. In September the In- dians planned and made ready for their annual fall hunt in the region of the lakes. It was towards the latter part of the month when the hunting party left Chillicothe going north, leaving only the squaws, the children, and an old Indian Chief in charge of the town, and the prisoners Lusk and Mrs. Wiley. Lusk determined to make his escape, and made known his in- 106 New Rivee Settlements tention to Mrs. Wiley, who declared that she would go with him. He sought to dissuade her as she could prabably not keep up with him in traveling, and might very much hinder and em- barrass him if they would be pursued. Up to the time of the departure of the hunting party, Lusk had made himself help- ful to his captors, but expressed himself as delighted with his new made acquaintances, and expressed a desire to remain with them, whereby he ingratiated himself fully into their confi- dence, so much so that they seemed not to have the slightest doubt of his sincerity. Not so as to Mrs .Wiley, who had fre- quently shown signs of uneasiness and inclination to go away; so that when the hunting party was about to depart Mrs. Wiley was placed in charge of the old Indian Chief with directions to keep close watch on her. In the course of events it so happened late one September evening near the last of the month, and just before the sun was setting, that the Old Indian Chief, who was lying on the ground, required Mrs. Wiley to sit down beside him ; he draw- ing the skirts of her dress far enough towards him that he could lie on the same which he did ; turning his face from Mrs. Wiley, he went to sleep. He had on his belt his scalping knife, the squaws were busy about their house work, when Lusk made known to Mrs. Wiley, that he was ready and about to go, and she determined to go with him, and reaching over the body of the old Chief she secured his scalping knife, cut that por- tion of her dress underneath him from the other portion on her body, and hurrying down to the bank of the Scioto, where Lusk had a light canoe in readiness, they entered the same and immediately and as quietly as possible set off swiftly and rap- idly down the river for the southern bank of the Ohio, fifty miles away, Lusk using the pole and Mrs. Wiley the paddle. They reached the southern bank of the Ohio about daylight the next morning where they abandoned their canoe, and immedi- ately set out up the Ohio. Lusk believing they would be pur- sued, and afraid to follow up the Sandy or Guyandotte waters for fear of either being overtaken, or meeting with some roving 1775-1794 107 bands of savages, he steadily kept his course up the southern bank of the Ohio to opposite Gallipolis, where a few French people lived, crossed over into the village and found a place of refuge, where he and Mrs. Wiley could hide away until the dan- ger of recapture had passed. In a few days a pursuing party of Indians reached Gallipo- lis, but failing to find the runaways soon departed. Mr. Lusk determined to take no risks by attempting to return through the Virginia Mountains, and finding some men passing up tiie Ohio in a push boat bound for Pittsburg, he secured passage with them, leaving Mrs. Wiley, who declined to go in the boat, with her kind protectors in Gallipolis. In a few days after Lusk's departure, Mrs. Wiley made up her mind to endeavor to make her way home by the Kanawha and New Rivers, which she did after many days, and a long tiresome, and dangerous journey, finally reaching her husband's brother and family at Wiley's Palls on New Eiver in the now county of Giles, Vir- ginia. Lusk made his way to Pittsburg, and from thence to Phila- delphia, where he accidently met Major Joseph Oloyd, of Back Creek, and came home with him some time in October, about one month after his escape from the Indians at Chillicothe. It was related to the author seve;'al years ago by Captain Wil- liam Stowers, of Bland County, Virginia, then a man above the age of eighty years, but very intelligent, that he well remem- bered Mrs. Virginia Wiley, who a number of years after her re- turn from captivity visited his father's house on Clear fork of Wolf Greet near the spot where she was captured, and that her mind was weak, that in fact she had had but little mind since her return from captivity, and that he heard her relate to his father and family the story of her capture, the killing of her children on Cove Creek, her journey to the Indian town, and her escape ; and among other things, her conversation with the Indian on the Harman battle field on Tug. A letter from Arm- strong Wiley to the author states that both Mrs. Wiley and her 108 New Rivee Settlements husband, Thomas Wiley are buried in the Wiley burying ground at Wiley's Falls in Giles County. John Goolman Davidson, to whom reference has heretofore been made, had with his family resided for some time preced- ing his removal to the Beaver Pond spring with Richard Bailey in 1780, at Smithfleld (Draper's Meadows). While living at Smithfleld, a man by the name of Rice had stolen a hog from Davidson, for which he was apprehended, convicted and sen- tenced to receive and did receive on his bare back well laid on forty lashes, save one. Rice was so enraged at Mr. Davidson, that he vowed he would have revenge, if he had to bring the In- dians upon him. We shall soon see how well Rice kept and per- formed his vow, and succeeded in having his revenge, al- though more than ten years had elapsed before the opportunity was afforded him. Mr. Davidson having some unfinished business at his former home in the valley of Virginia, Rockbridge County, among others, the collection of some eight hundred dollars due him, determined upon a visit to the valley to close up his business and get his money. As was not unusual when some one was going from the frontier into the settlements, it was noised throughout the neighborhood, that Mr. Davidson was going to make the journey. In the month of February, 1793, Mr. Dav- idson set out on horseback, reached his destination safely, set- tled his business, collected his money, and started on his way homeward, having with him an extra horse which he was lead- ing. He came over the usual route of travel to Rocky gap, was seen to pass south of that point by a family residing near the pathway. The spring of 1793 is said by the old people who then lived, to have been the earliest ever known by them, the timber putting forth its leaves the first of March, Richard Bailey, who has already been spoken of, had given to his youngest son, whose name was Henry, a small calf, which had been turned out with the other cattle in the range to make their living off the young twigs and leaves that had begun to shoot forth. The calf failing to come up to the fort with the 1775-1794 109 other cattle on the evening of the eighth day of March, 1793, Mr. Bailey told his son that it might have gotten mired in some swampy land down the creek, and that he must get up very early the next morning, which was on the ninth, and go look for his calf. The boy rose early, called his bear dogs, and set off down the Beaver Pond Creek in the direction of where Gra- ham, Virginia, is now situated. Not finding the calf on his outward trip, he on his return left the Buffalo trail and was passing up through the swampy bottom land, when his, dogs suddenly raised their bristles as if they were about to engage in combat with some wild animal; the boy supposing it was probably a wolf, rushed forward to see the fight, and looking along the path he saw a body of men and horses, which so alarmed him, that he fled to the fort and reported what he had seen. An older brother, Micajah, gathered his rifle and followed the party far enough, to discover that it was composed of a body of Indians. He immediately returned to the fort, spread the alarm, and Major Robert Crockett, then on the head of Clinch, gathered a party of men, and followed the Indians whose camp late one evening he discovered on the large island at the mouth of Island Creek, just across the river from where now stands Logan Court House, West Virginia. After carefully reconnoitering the position. Major Crockett decided to have the men lay on their arms that night, and make the attack at break of day the next morning. He had observed that the Indians had hobbled their horses and turned them out on the island to graze. It may be noted that this island con- tained originally, about one hundred acres, but after it was denuded of its timber and put in cultivation, the soil being of a sandy nature, has by the effect of high tides in the river been carried away until there remains now but a few acres of what was the original bottom. As it is said to have been, on the morning of the 15th of March, March, Major Crockett had his men up and arranged for the at- tack by the time it was light enough to see an object. He told his men that the Indians would be astir early, that while some were 110 New Rivee Settlements preparing breakfast, one or more would come out to round up the horses and drive them into camp. His instructions were for his men to wait for the horse drivers to start them toward the camp, and to then quietly follow them into camp and make the attack. Crockett had with him a man by the name of Gid Wright, who when the advance began, was thrown close to one of the Indians engaged in driving the horses, and who took a se- vere Buck Ague as the backwoodsmen term it, (extreme case of nervousness), and without obeying his orders fired at the In- dian missing him, but alarming the camp, so that the whole In- dian party took to flight. John Bailey, an active and quick man on foot, ran close enough as the Indians were leaving to kill one of them, the rest escaped, leaving their breakfast cook- ing, which the whites appropriated, and the stolen horses, all of which were recovered. Among the number of horses cap- tured was one recognized as belonging to Mr. Davidson, and the one which he had ridden from home, and on which was his saddle, with one stirrup, a brass one, missing. The party im- mediately determined that Mr. Davidson had been killed by this gang, and his horse taken, and after eating their breakfast, and gathering up the horses they started for their homes and to search for Mr. Davidson's body. Samuel Lusk was with Major Crockett's party, and on the return assisted in the search for the body of Mr. Davidson. So soon as the party reached the settlement, they sent out men along the path lead- ing through Bailey's gap in East River mountain, and on to the Laurel fork of Clear fork of Wolf Creek, and through Rocky Gap, finding on the path on the mountain a hat band recognized as belonging to Mr. Davidson's hat. On inquiry it was found, that Mr. Davidson had passed the settlements south of Rocky gap before noon on the 8th day of March, and it was discovered at an old waste place at the mouth of Clear fork, that he had there fed his horses. Further investigation at the point where the path left the Laurel fork starting up the moun- tain, evidence appeared of the blade of a hatchet having been struck into a white oak tree, and that a gun had rested on the 1775-1794 111 hatchet, and near by on the bark of a beech tree was freshly cut the name of "Rice," and under the root of the tree on the side of the creek, where the water had washed away the earth, the nude body of Mr. Davidson wag found, so far advanced in decomposition it could not be removed to his home, and was buried near by where it was found and where it still remains. The statement by some writers that the body was carried to his home and buried is incorrect according to the statements of Mr. Joseph Davidson and Captain John A. Davidson, two of his great grandsons. Col. Robert Trigg, in his report to the governor, dated on April 10th, 1793, states that Davidson was killed on the 8th day of March of that year, and that there were twelve Indians in the party, who stole a large number of horses and passed through the center of the Bluestone settlement. Colonel Robert Crockett had reported in October, 1789, to the governor, the capture of Virginia Wiley, and the killing of her four children by the Indians on October 1st of that year. On October 17th, 1793, Major Robert Crockett and fifty others, among them Joseph Davidson, John Bailey, James Bail- ey, Reuben Bailey, Richard Bailey, William Smith and John Peery, sent a petition to the governor of Virginia, informing him of the defenceless condition of the border, and asking for assistance, and stating the killing by the Indians of John Da- vidson on the 8th day of March 1793, and that of Gilbert on the 24th day of July 1792, and the capture of Samuel Lusk at the same time. The searching party for Mr. Davidson's body found eviden- ces on the ground that satisfied them that Mr. Davidson, had upon being shot from the tree where the blade of the hatchet had been buried, fallen from his horse which took fright and ran out into the brush and vines on the creek bottom, by which one of the brass stirrups had been pulled off. No doubt remains but that Rice and his party got the $800.00 which Mr. David- son had with him when killed. Several years after the killing of Mr. Davidson, Captain 112 New Rivee Settlements William Stowers, then a lad of some fifteen years, while plow- ing in the bottom where Mr. Davidson was killed, found a brass stirrup which was recognized by the family of Mr. David- son as one belonging to his saddle, and missing therefrom when his horse and saddle were recovered by Major Crockett and his men on the 15th day of March, 1793. This Indian incursion was the last made on the waters of Bluestone and the upper Clinch, but the troubles continued for a short while thereafter on the lower Clinch and the Hol- stein waters as well as along the valley of the Kanawha, where the Indians killed a man by the name of Harriman in the year 1794 ; he was the last person killed in the valley by Indians. Davidson and Bailey, the settlers at the Beaver Pond spring in the year of 1780, like all other provident settlers who desired to secure good land, each acquired valuable landed estates, Bailey along the valley of the mountain and around the head of Beaver Pond spring, and Davidson in Wright's Valley, reach- ing from where the town of Graham is now situated eastward along the valley for three or four miles, including the land on which the city of Bluefield is now located. So much alarm and consternation was created along the up- per Kanawha, and lower New River waters in the early part of the year 1793, by prowling bands of Indians, that the governor of Virginia ordered a company of soldiers to rendezvous at the mouth of Elk on the Kanawha, and to scout through the country to the Ohio. Captain Hugh Caperton, who lived in Greenbrier County, on the New River, and who was the uncle of the younger Hugh, later of Monroe, was ordered to raise and did raise a company of New Eiver Valley men for the service referred to. Captain Caperton with his men marched to the mouth of Elk, fixing his camp on the right bank of the river at its mouth. The celebrated Daniel Boone was the commissariat of this company. During the stay of these men on the Kanawha, they guarded the frontier, sending scouting parties to various points along the Ohio and protected the settlers then in the valley, 1775-1794 113 and their homes, by placing one or more men at each house. At this time there were but few settlers in the valley, among them George Clendenin, where Charleston now stands, Leon- ard Morriss, near where Brownstown now stands, and William Morriss at Kelley's Creek. Clendenin had removed from the Greenbrier section, Leonard and William Morriss from the County of Culpeper, Virginia. David Johnston, member of Caperton's company, was sent to guard the house of Leonard Morriss. He and Morriss came originally from the same county. Mr. Morriss had a block house for the protection of his family, and some slaves, among them a negro woman, who one day, while Johnston was guard- ing the house, went outside the stockade to pick up some wood, and was seized by two Indians and carried away. On another occasion, Mrs. Morriss went just outside the gate to milk her cow, the guard accompanying her. He discovered an Indian a little way off in the top of a tree endeavoring to get a view of the fort and its inmates. Mr. Morriss had a small patch of corn in the bottom along the river, which was about ready for cutting, and desiring to look at and to see if anything was troubling it took Johnston, the guard along with him; they agreeing to separate taking different directions so as to get a quick view of the situation and return, and further agreeing that the report of the discharge of a gun should be the signal for them to hasten to the fort. They had not long been out until the report of the discharge of a gun was heard. John- ston reached the fort, and Mrs. Morriss opened for him the gate, which was immediately closed, supposing Mr. Morriss was probably shot, and that the Indians would make a rush for the fort. There being several guns in the fort, Mrs. Morriss said, "Johnston I will load and you shoot." Mr. Morriss soon made his appearance unhurt. Neither he nor Johnston had fired their guns, and after waiting some time they ventured out again, and on going to the place from whence came the re- port of the discharge of the gun, they found that the Indians had shot a hog there and dressed it. These men of Caperton's 114 New Eivbe Settlements company had quite a number of skirmishes with the Indians, but no one was hurt save one man killed, who went across the Kanawha to kill a turkey, whose gobble he had heard. Very soon after crossing the river, the report of the discharge of a gun was heard, and soon thereafter the gobble of the turkey- was repeated; whereupon, another of the men remarked that he would get that turkey, and going a considerable distance up the river he crossed, and made his way to the place where he still heard the turkey, and on stealthily creeping up, he discovered the turkey to be an Indian hid in some sprouts that had grown up around a chestnut stump. He killed the Indian and scalped him, but found the Indian had first killed the other man and scalped him. Captain Caperton and Daniel Boone, his commissariat, had a diflSculty, and Boone left the camp, and was absent for some time. Some of the scouting parties met with him at the mouth of the Kanawha, and told him of the necessities of the company and that they needed food, and enquired of him why he had gone off and left them-; he replied, "Caperton didn't do to my liken." The following are the names of the men who belonged to Caperton's company, and were with him on the Kanawha in 1793: Samuel Henderson James Keely Mathias Meadows George Lake Isaac Cole John Conner John Cooke John Burton Edward Farley Drewry Farley William Smith Thomas Cooke William Lee Robert Lee William Graham Andrew Johnston James Montgomery John Garrison William Stowers Travis Stowers Andrew Hatfield Jonas Hatfield John Rowe David Marshall Francis Farley " Isaac Smith 1775-1794 115 David Johnston Moses Massey Henry Massey James Graham David French David Graham Matthew Farley James Sweeney Felix Williams Joseph Canterbury James Stuart John Scott James Abbott Noell Patrick Wilson Isaiah Calloway John Lewis William Wilson Joseph Abbott George Abbott On the 20th of August, 1794, General Wayne won his cele- brated victory over the Indians, at Fallen Timbers in what is now Lucas County, Ohio. This defeat completely broke the Indian power in the Ohio Valley, and a treaty of peace was soon after made, which gave perfect quiet to all the border set- tlements, at least south of the Ohio, and perfect peace reigned supreme for the first time in forty years. No sooner was the news of Wayne's victory received on the Virginia border, than the whole country north and west of the settlements, swarmed with surveyors and land speculators. Nearly if not quite the whole of the territory south of the Kanawha and the Ohio to the head waters of Holstein, were entered, surveyed, and car- ried into grant. Robert Morris, the patriot and financier of the American revolution, secured grants for about eight millions of acres of land. The territory comprised within the now counties of Mercer, Raleigh, Fayette, McDowell, Wyoming, Boone, Logan, Mingo, Wayne. Cabell, Lincoln, Kanawha and Putnam were almost completely shingled over with these large grants, and frequently they lapped upon each other. Commencing on the East River Mountain, on the south side, and then again on the north side, were two grants to Robert Pollard, one for 50,000 and the other for 75,000 acres, then came the grant of 80,000 acres to Samuel M. Hopkins, a grant of 50,000 acres to Robert Young, 40,000 acres to McLaughlin, 170,000 acres to Moore and Beckley, 35,500 acres to Robert McCullock, 108,000 acres 116 New River Settlements to Butter and Etting, 90,000 acres to Welch 150,000 acres DeWitt Clinton, 50,000 acres to Doctor John Dillon, 480,- 000 acres to Eobert Morris, 500,000 acres to the same, 150,000 acres to Robert Pollard, 500,000 acres to Wilson Carey Nich- olas, 300,000 acres to the same, 320,000 acres to Robert Morris, 57,000 acres to Thomas Wilson, 40,000 acres to George Pickett, and farther down Sandy, Guyandotte and Coal Rivers were large grants to Elijah Wood, Smith and others. Peace having been restored along the frontier settlements, and no further danger being apprehended from the Indians, there was a great rush of the people, not only from Eastern Virginia and Western North Carolina on to the New River waters, and on to Kentucky, but there was a vast throng of people from the New River Valley, that quickly penetrated the country between the New River settlements and the Ohio, and settled on the Sandy, Guyandotte and Coal River waters, even reaching to the Ohio; among them, the McComas', Chapmans, Lucas', Smiths, Coopers, Napiers, Hunters, Adkins, Acords, Aliens, Fryes, Dingess, Lusks, Shannons, Baileys, Jarrells Egglestons, Fergusons, Marcums, Hatflelds, Bromfields, Hald rons, Lamberts, Pauleys, Lawsons, Workmans, Prices, Cookes. Clays, Godbeys, Huffs, McDonalds, Whites, Farleys, Kezees Perdues, Ballards, Barretts, Toneys, Conleys, Stollings, Strat ons, Buchanans, Deskins, and many others, who largely peo pled, and left honored descendants throughout the section mentioned. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THESE BORDER PEOPLE. When these people left their homes for new ones in the wil- derness, they took with them the manners and customs of the people among whom they had lived, and upon their settling down in their adopted abode made such changes in these man- ners and customs as their new situation, surroundings and ne- cessities required. It often happened that the new emigrant on selecting his proposed future home, found himself very far re- 1775-1794 117 moved from any one he called neighbor. From whence he re- moved, he was occasionally honored with a visit of his friends and neighbors, who could come and go without hinderance or fear of molestation. In this wilderness country he must travel with his trusted rifle, even as against wild beast that filled the forest. Later on, after the country had began to settle up, new comers were joyfully received, and the young people on hear- ing of the approach of the new people coming to the neighbor- hood, would often go a day's journey in order to meet and welcome them. The young women would make this trip bare- foot, with their dresses so short they reached but little below their knees. A wedding was always a time of high glee. Usually the groom and his friends rode horseback to the house of the bride's father, where there was generally plenty of applejack, and every body would take a drink, even the ministers of that day thought it nothing a miss for them to take a toddy. At the bride's house and ceremony performed, came the dinner, after which the fiddling and the dancing, the songs and plays among the young folks of "Old Sister Phoebe," would begin : "I'll put this hat on your head to keep your head warm, I'll give you a sweet kiss, 'twill do you no harm." The neighbors soon gathered, chopped logs and erected a house for the young couple. At a log rolling and house raising there was generally a quilting, and at night a dance. It was no easy matter for the young people, who wished to get mar- ried to procure the license, for as a rule they lived a long dis- tance from the clerk's oflQce. For many years after the forma- tion of Giles County, it was the habit of Captain John Mc- Claugherty, who was both deputy clerk and deputy sheriff of that county, to go once, and occasionally twice a year down on to the waters of the Coal and Guyandotte, either to collect taxes or to serve process, and he made it a rule to fill his pock- et with blank licenses, in order to accommodate the young peo- ple, who had always to put off their weddings until the Captain put in his appearance, and when he did, it was soon noised 118 New River Settlements abroad and the young men about to be married hurried to the Captain to get the necessary papers. There were no schools in that day, and but few boys learned even to read or write. Afterwards, if a school teacher came into the neighborhood and was employed to teach school, he usually boarded around among the families; that is, after set- tlements had progressed far enough for him to do this. Each family was largely a little independent colony of itself. The father and sons worked with mattock, axe, hoe, and sickle. A loom in every house was a necessity, and almost every woman was a weaver, and wove the linsey-woolsey made from flax cul- tivated by her own hands, and from the wool of sheep — when they had any. The man tanned or dressed the buck skin, the woman was the tailor and shoemaker, made the deer skin sif- ters to be used instead of bolting cloths. For the table ware gen- erally wooden trenchers, platters, noggins, and bowls. The cradle of pealed hickory bark or a sugar trough, and plow- shares were made of wood, chaff beds if the man had been for- tunate enough to raise any small grain, otherwise leaves were substituted. Then there was the hand mill, and the hominy block with a hole burned in the top as a mortar where the p^tle was worked. Some times a gritting board was used, and later a pounding mill was invented which was operated by water in- stead of muscle. For sugar resort was had by tapping the su- gar maple trees, and boiling down the water. Salt and iron could not be had in the backwoods, and each family gathered up its furs and peltries, and later ginseng, which were carried out on horses to some coast town, and exchanged for salt and iron. Some, among them Captain James Moore of Abb's Valley, raised considerable number of horses, which they drove to the markets east of the AUeghanies. It was no common thing at that time, for a man on the New River waters to drive a two year old steer to Fincastle and exchange the same for a bushel of salt, and bring it back on a pack horse. Their horses were usually unshod. Captain William T. Moore, of Abb's Valley, told of a horse that the In- 1775-1794 119 dians had taken from his Grandfather, James Moore, but which had been recovered, and which he had plowed, and which lived to the age of thirty five years, and never had a shoe on its foot. After the backwoodsman had gotten to raising hogs, for at the beginning he could not do so on account of the bears de- stroying them, he would drive his hogs to market, selling and exchanging them for needed articles at home. The life of these people was a long and dangerous struggle, they had to fell the forests, encounter the forest fires, deep snows and freshets. Swarms of deer flies and midges rendered life a torment in warm weather. Rattlesnakes and copperheads were plentiful, and constant sources of danger and death. For an antidote for the bite of a poisonous serpent bear's oil was freely applied, and some times salt, when they had it. Wolves and bears were inveterate foes of the live stock, and the panther occasionally attacked a man. In the early settlement of the country near the mouth of Wolf Creek in what is now Giles County, the dogs of Mr. Landon Duncan drove a panther up a tree. Mr. Duncan being from home, his wife took his rifle gun and shot and killed the animal ; it measured nine feet in length. Every backwoods- man was a hunter, and the forests were filled with deer, tur- keys and pigeons, and out of these and the bear, buffalo and elk he made not only his meat, but largely his living. The black and grey squirrels were very numerous, sometimes de- stroying fields of corn, and at times in immense companies would migrate, and cross mountains and rivers. A race of men unused to war and ever present dangers, would have been help- less before such foes as these wild beasts and the Indians. People coming from the old world, no matter how thrifty and adventurous, could not hold their own on the frontier. They had to seek protection from the Indians by a bold living wall of American backwoodsmen. These border men were hunt- ers, wood choppers, farmers and soldiers. They built and man- ned their own forts, did their own fighting in their own way under their own commanders, when they had such, but general- ly every man was his own commander. There were no regular 120 New River Settlements troops along the frontier, and if the Indians came into the country, each border man had to defend himself, until there was time to arouse the country and gather help to repel the foe. Every man from his childhood was accustomed to the use of the rifle, and even a boy at twelve years was regarded old enough to have a gun, and was soon taught how to use it. He at least could make a good fort soldier. The war was never ending, for even the times of so-called peace were broken by forays and murders. A man might grow from boyhood to middle age on the border, and yet never recall a single year in which some of his neighbors were not killed by the Indians. As the settle- ments continued to grow they each had their various oflScers, who in fact exercised but little authority, as they had no way of enforcing orders, and all services rendered were merely vol- untary. When a group of families moved out into the wilderness, for protection they would build for themselves a block house or stockade, a square palisade of upright logs, and looped it with port holes, with a large gate that could be strongly barred in case of necessity. This fort or stockade was generally safe from any attack the savages might make upon it, unless they could take it by surprise. This backwoodsman was generally an American by birth and parentage, and of mixed race, but the dominant strain in their blood was that of the Scotch-Irish, so called. The Irish Presbyterians were themselves already a mixed people, tiiough mainly from Scotch ancestors, who came originally from both lowlands and highlands, for among both were Scotch Saxons and Scotch Celts. From this Scotch- Irish stock, came David Crockett, (1) John Robertson, Andrew Lewis, Andrew Jackson, Samuel Houston, the Prestons, Gum- mings, Johnstons, Shelbys, Campbells, Grahams, Banes, Gil- lespies, Georges, McDonalds, McKensey and McComas'. No great number of them came to America prior to 1730, but (1). David Crockett is said to have learned the hatter's trade at Christlansburg, Virginia. 1775-1794 121 by which time they came by multitudes; (2) for the most part, in two streams ; the larger to Philadelphia, the lesser to Charles- ton, South Carolina. Those from Philadelphia soon made their way southwest into the valley of Virginia and to the Piedmont region ; while those from Charleston soon pushed their way up to the mountains, and with those in Virginia became the ad- vanced posts of civilization. They were wholly a different peo- ple in manners, customs and temperament from the people of the tidewater region, in which there was a large admixture of Germans from Pennsylvania, especially so in the Virginia Val- ley. Some of this German population came across the AUe- ghanies, and settled in part, in what is now Montgomery Coun- ty, ^nd in the eastern portion of what is now Giles County, among them the Kinsers, Bargers, Highbarges, Shufflebargers, Hornbargers, Phlegars, Sibolds, Surfaces, Snidows, Straleys, Boltons, Clyburns, Noslers, Decks. Millers, Honakers, Keisters, Croys, Worleys and Woolwines. There came also some of the Scotch-Irish people into the same territory, among them the McDonalds, Blacks, McKenseys, Johnstons, Christians, Pres- ton,s Craigs, Triggs, McGavocks, Wileys, and Whitakers. (3) Some Hugenots also came into the territory of what is now Giles County, among them the Pearis' Hares and DeCamps; and in the same territory came some Hollanders, among them, the Lybrooks (Leibroch), Mosers, Walls, Decks and Douthats. Most of these people brought with them their Bibles, which was as a usual thing the guide of their lives, and although they at first had but few, if any ministers among them, yet as a rule they were religiously inclined, many of them coming from countries where they had been taught religious principles, but those coming direct from the old world did not comprehend what religious freedom and soul liberty meant in its fullest sense and its fullest extent, until they reached the wilderness country, where every man could worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. They had no church buildings, (2). Roosevelt's "Winning of the West." (3). The Willeys and Whittakers came from North Carolina. 122 New River Settlements but gathered in the groves, "God's first temples" and in dwell- ing houses to have worship. Captain James Moore, and also Zechariah Munsey, grand- father of the distinguished William E. Munsey, were christian men and had worship in their families. Munsey was an early Methodist Preacher. The first preachers that came into the wilderness country, and in fact all who came up to a period long after the close of the American Revolution, were Dissenters, who found perfect free- dom in the wilderness from molestation, interruption or ar- rest. The nearest church of England man to this wilderness country for many long, long years, was located at Pincastle, but so far as known he never ventured across the AUeghanies. Among the first, if not the very first, preachers of the Gospel that ever stood on or reached the banks of the New River were the two who accompanied Lewis' Sandy expedition in 1756. and whose names were Brown and Craig. (4) The first minister to permanently locate in this wilderness section, was the distin- guished and learned Presbyterian, Charles Cummings, who came to a place near the present town of Abingdon in 1772. Six years thereafter came Elder Tidence Lane, a Baptist Min- ister who is believed to have founded the Baptist church at St. Clair's bottom in 1777 or 1778, and who organized two churches on the Holstein waters, one on Buffalo ridge six miles east of Jonesboro, and Cherokee Baptist church four miles east of Jonesboro, both now in Tennessee. In 1773 came Squire Boone from the Yadkin in North Carolina, and whether he was regularly ordained Baptist Minister or not, he at least preached the Gospel. He spent the winter of 17734 in Castle's woods, now in Russell County. A little later came James Ab- bott, a Baptist Minister from Culpeper County, to the New River section. And in 1777 came John Alderson, a Baptist Minister from the Valley of Virginia- and located on Green- brier River, and a little later came a Mr. Johnston, Baptist preacher who subsequently went to the Kanawha Valley, and (4). They were Presbyterian ministers from the Valley. 1775-1794 123 then on to Kentucky. Later still came Josiah Osborn, Lewis Alderson and James Ellison, all Baptist Ministers who located in the Greenbrier section. The early Baptist preachers, in southwest Virginia, were El- ders Jonathan Mulkey, Andrew Baker, Edward Kelley, Bar- nett Eeynolds, John Bundridge, Colley, Jesse Senter, and Edwards. In the year of 1788. came the Rev. Fran- cis Asbury, the first Methodist Bishop of America. He rein- vigorated the itinerant system, and sent missionaries into wide ranges of country to preach and found new societies. And it is said of him that in 1785 he laid the foundation for the first Methodist College in America, and organized many so- cieties throughout the country. There were practically no church buildings in the wilderness in the days of Bishop As- bury and other early preachers; now the country is dotted over with numerous church buildings of nearly all religious denominations. Landon Duncan, born in Fauquier County, Virginia, re- moved from thence to Stokes County, North Carolina, and from there to what is now Giles County, about the close of the 18th century, became a Baptist preacher of the order of New Lights, but in 1818 changed his views, and united with the fol- lowers of those who adopted the doctrines taught afterwards by Alexander Campbell. Mr. Duncan was an earnest, faithful preacher during the greater part of his life, which ended about 1867. For many years of his young life he was a school teacher, having among his pupils the late General John B. Floyd, and others who became prominent in their day. Mr. Duncan was for many years, the Commissioner of the Revenue for Giles County. Except in portions of Greenbrier, Monroe, Montgomery and Tazewell, Presbyterianism had but little footing for many years. Methodism seemed to be well adapted to the soil, and took root quickly, sprang up and grew vigorously. Among some of the early preachers of that denomination was Rev. George Eaken, an Irishman, and most usually called "Father 124 New Rivee Settlements Eaken ;" quaint and peculiar was his style. There was held in the days of Methodism in its early beginnings in this section, near the residence of the late Colonel John S. Carr, in what is now Mercer County, a campmeeting, which Father Eaken at- tended year by year. Of those who came to the meeting, as regularly as the meeting was held, were people of the country, known and designated as "Todds," and so designated on ac- count of their foxey and frolicking disposition. That is they were drinkers, fighters, gamblers, horse racers and wits gen- erally. These Todds always got happy at campmeeting, and usually professed to have gotten religion. Father Eaken was an observant man, and having seen these same people engaged in drinking and general carousal shortly after the close of the meeting, he prepared himself for them at the next and while the meeting was well under way the Todds in a good way shouting, he suddenly arose, and cried out in a loud voice, "Would that the good Lord would take a liking to these Todds just now, for if they ever get to heaven it will be from a camp- meeting." The distinguished William G. Brownlow was once in the County of Tazewell and preached at Bluestone. Among the early Methodist Ministers who were highly esteemed in this section of the country were Thomas K. Catlett and Ja- cob Brillhart. The Methodist had class leaders and exhorters, among the latter was one Abraham Garretson, who lived on the East River and whose custom was to go on the Sabbath into the different neighborhoods in what is now Mercer Coun- ty and exhort. Garretson had a neighbor by the name of Blankenship, who though not a christian, yet a constant at- tendant at his Sunday Exhortations and who always took his position near the speaker and during the service frequently said "Amen! Amen!" On an early Sunday morning in the month of March, Mr. Blankenship rose early, and went out to feed his cow prepara- tory to be off to brother Garretson's meeting that day, to be held at a neighbor's. With Mr. Blankenship to feed his cow went his dog, which ran a raccoon up a tree, which Mr. Blankenship m5-nM 125 captured and took to his house, stripped off its hide, and while engaged in stretching the same on the side of his cabin there rode by in the direction of where Mr. Garretson wsa to hold his meeting a Mr. Elijah Peters, a Magistrate of the County. Mr. Blankenship hurried up his work, got his breakfast, took a shave and put off for the meeting. Mr. Garretson's subject for the occasion, was the violation of the Sabbath, working on Sunday; going "coon hunting." Mr. Blankenship squirmed and twisted as the speaker earnestly told his hearers of these various Sunday violations till finally Mr. Blankenship being impressed with the thought that Squire Peters had told Mr. Garretson that he had been coon hunting on Sunday, deter- mined that he would stand the scourging no longer, and rising from his seat and addressing the speaker said, "Brother Gar- retson, who told you I went coon hunting on Sunday?" To which Garretson replied: "My Lord and Master," whereupon Mr. Blankenship said in a loud voice: "Well Brother Garret- son if Squire Elijah Peters is your Lord and Master, mark my name off of your book." Zechariah Munsey was of a family of French extraction, lived in Giles County, and was a local Methodist Preacher, and went into various neighborhoods and held meetings. He was a peculiar, eccentric man with a strange drawling voice. In the early days, one of his preaching places was at Mechan- icsburg, a small hamlet on Walker's Creek. In his congrega- tion at this place were a number of young people who often became amused at his quaint and peculiar expressions and were often led into laughter thereby. Mr. Munsey had frequently reprimanded them, and on one occasion their con- duct so disturbed him that it called forth the following utter- ance from him: "No young gentleman nor young lady prop- erly trained will misbehave at Divine service, and you are in the habit of doing this, and if the people of Mechanicsburg had their just dues, they would have been dead and in hell forty years ago; it's the truth and you know its the truth." David Munsey, the father of the distinguished William E. 126 New River Settlements Munsey was a son of Zechariah, and was also a Methodist Preacher. William B. Munsey spent a part of his young life in or near that wild, rough section of Giles County known as Dis- mal. Eough as herein referred to means mountainous and thin- ly settled. At a campmeeting held at Wabash in the year of 1866 or 1867, William E. Munsey preached on Sunday at 11 o'clock a. m., on the subject of'Hell and the Lost Soul." A large and attentive audience heard him, among the number. Captain John A. Pack, who always had a vein of fine humor and wit. Captain Pack walked up to where was standing a small group of his acquaintances and friends, and inquired if they knew why Mr. Munsey had such clear conception of Hell. Some one inquired why, to which the Captain made answer, "because he was raised up on Dismal." Of this Munsey family there were several preachers, a doc- tor and two or more lawyers. The preachers were Zechariah, Nathaniel, David, and William E., the lawyers, Thomas J. Munsey and Thomas J. Munsey, Jr., and Doctor Munsey, a physician of note, who resides at Pearisburg, Virginia. Among the most remarkable eccentric, intinerant, yet local Methodist preachers that ever lived in the New River Valley, was Robert Sawyers Sheffey, who was born in the county of Wythe, Virginia, July 4, 1820, and died in Giles County, Vir- ginia, in 1902. He was a son of Henry Shefifey, of Wythe, and came into the New River Valley some time in 1859, where he married for his second wife a Miss Stafford in what is common- ly known as Irish settlement, in Giles County, where Mr. Shef- fey located. For reasons of his own, he never united with the Conference, but continued throughout his career as an itiner- ant, going from place to place, and wheresoever his inclina- tions led him. He was eccentric beyond description. That he was a pious devout christian and Godly man was never doubted. He was a man of wonderful faith in God, and was usually most eloquent in public prayer. When troubles and difficulties surrounded him his oft repeated statement was, "I'll go and talk to the Lord about it." One thing about this 1775-1794 127 good man which was most remarkable, that his prayers for spe- cific things were not only not in vain, but what he asked the Lord for, he in some way or some how always seemed to receive it. So often were his prayers answered, and his highest hopes and aspirations gratified, that people who knew him well and were disposed to do evil things were frequenly alarmed for fear he would call down vengeance from heaven upon their guilty heads, and many believed that if he should ask the Lord to smite them with pestilence or death it would be done. The ec- centricities of this man led numbers of people to express doubts as to his sanity. Some of these expressions reached Mr. Sheffey, and he often publicly repeated what he had heard, and his only comment thereon was, "Would to the Lord they were crazy on the same subject that I am." Many and interesting are the stories and anecdotes told of this preacher and of his conduct; some of which will here be related, and from which it will appear that while his eccen- tricities often appear therein, yet the great and strong faith of the man is also exhibited. Twenty-five or more years ago Mr. Sheffey had a regular preaching place on East Eiver in Mer- cer County, near the residence of Mr. Anderson Tiller, at whose house, when in the neighborhood, he made his stopping place, and where he was always carefully looked after and enter- tained. It was known that Mr. Sheffey was exceedingly fond of sweet things, and especially of honey. On an occasion, when on a preaching tour, he went to fill his appointment on East River, and became as was usual the guest of his brother, Tiller. Being on a Sunday morning and late in the summer season and while at the breakfast table, Mr. Tiller remarked to Mr. Shef- fey that he regretted that he had no honey for him, that his bees had done no good, had not swarmed and that he feared they had frozen out in the winter or that some insect had de- stroyed them, and that the season was too far spent to have any swarms. Mr. Sheffey arose from the table and went down up- on his knees, and told the Lord that the brother's bees had not swarmed, and that there was no honey in the house, and he 128 New Kivee Settlements implored the Lord to have the bees swarm. Scarcely had his petition ceased when the swarms came with such rapidity that Mr. Tiller was unable to procure rapidly enough sufficient gums to save the swarms. The truth of the incident is vouch- ed for by the best people in the neighborhood of where it oc- curred, and Mrs. James R. White the daughter of Mr. Tiller, and who still lives, and who was at home unmarried at the hap- pening of the incident, vouches for the truthfulness of the story. At a meeting being held by Mr. Sheflfey at Jordan's Chapel, now in Summers County, Dr. Bray, a physician in the neigh- borhood, together with his wife, was present at Sunday morn- ing service and had with them a nursing infant child, which was taken suddenly ill about the close of the service. The mother became alarmed and grief stricken about the condition of her child, and in her paroxisms she cried out that her child was dying. A large number of people were present and gath- ered around the mother and child supposed to be dying, when Mr. Shefifey appeared and being informed of the cause of the trouble, said, "Brother give me the little child," and taking it in his arms he fell upon his knees, and in a most earnest pray- er to God asked for the life of the little child and that it might be restored to its mother. Arising from his position on the ground, he handed the child to its father, remarking, "here brother is your little child well and all right ;" and so it was. Mr. Shefifey had a right good vein of humor In his makeup, and he occasionally exercised that faculty to the discomfiture of people. Some thirty years ago, there lived on the upper waters of Brush Creek, a christian gentleman by the name of Robert Karr, a member of the Methodist Church, at whose house Mr. Shefifey was entertained, when on his preaching tours in that neighborhood. He had a protracted service in the neighborhood of Mr. Karr, which had continued some weeks, and which Mr. Karr had not attended, and whose non- attendance Mr. Shefifey had observed, and taking his brother Karr to task about his want of interest in the meeting, enquir- 1775-1794 129 ed why he did not attend ; Mr. Karr replied that he had a good reason, and being pressed by Mr. ShefEey to give his reason, he finally said, "Well, I don't just exactly like your way;" whereupon Mr. Sheflfey with a ha ! ha ! said, "Neither does the Devil." On the occasion last mentioned or a similar one, while Mr. SheflEey was holding a meeting at Mr. Karr's, early one Sunday morning, a young man rode up to the house and delivered to Mr. Sheflfey a message from his wife that his little son, Eddy, was very sick, and that the doctors had said he could not live and for him to come home at once. Mr. Sheflfey made no re- sponse to the message, but went oflf a distance to some high granite boulders on the top of the highest of which he went to the Lord in prayer, and continued to pray until the time had arrived for him to meet his congregation at the church. On reaching the pulpit, he related to his congregation the message he had received, and then said, "I have talked to the Lord about this, and Eddy is not going to die." Eddy still lives, a bright, intelligent, useful and honored citizen. Mr. Sheflfey had wonderful faith in God's providences, his care for his people in providing for their wants, physical as well as spiritual. It is told of him that on one occasion he met a man in the road on a very cold day, and that the man had on no socks, and that Mr. Sheffey observing this took oflf his and gave them to the man. After riding some distance he stopped at a house to warm his feet, and that the lady of the house said to him that she had knit for him some nice pairs of socks which she wished to present him. Another thing may be mentioned of this man, and that was the tender care of his horse and of other animals. He could not bear to see them suffer, not even a bug if turned on its back, and he has been known to dis- mount from his horse and turn it over. If he found what ap- peared to him to be a hungry animal or dog, he would give it his lunch rather than eat it himself. The story is told of him and another preacher who were out in some wild mountain dis- trict, that on leaving the house where they had been entertain- 130 New River Settlements ed, the woman put a lunch in Mr. Shefifey's saddle-bags telling them that they were not likely to meet with their dinner, that day, and that she had provided a lunch that they might not suffer from hunger. Off the preachers went on along the moun- tain pathway during the morning hours and until about noon, when Mr. Sheffey's companion who being in front halted, and proposed to eat the lunch. Mr. Sheflfey informed him that he had no lunch, that he had just met two very hungry looking dogs to which he had given the lunch. If there was a man beyond any other that believed that the whiskey traflflc was one of the Devil's strongholds it was Mr. Sheffey. He assailed this traflSc when opportunity offered and often in public prayed for its overthrow and destruction. He was often appealed to by good people to pray the Lord to re- move stillhousee and liquor manufactures. On the upper wa- ters of the Bluestone, many years ago, was a whiskey distillery operated by a man and his son. Mr. Sheffey stopped in the neighborhood at the home of a good Methodist family. The good woman of the house told him of this distillery, and that it was ruining and wrecking the lives of many of the young men in the neighborhood, and requested him to pray for its re- moval, which he promised to do. The lady inquired "how long will it be before we may expect our prayers to be answered;" "about twelve months," was his reply ; and sure enough within the twelve months the distillery was closed up, and the owner and his son in jail on charge of defrauding the government. On another occasion he was on Wolf Creek, near Rocky gap, when he was informed by the mother of a family with whom he was stopping of the existence of a distillery in the neighbor- hood that was proving a great evil and requested Mr. Sheffey to pray for its removal. Mr. Sheffey then and there went to the Lord in prayer, and asked Him to destroy the evil, and if nec- essary send fire from Heaven to burn it up, and that very night an old dry tree near the distillery took fire, fell on the shanty and destroyed the whole thing. The whole neighborhood firm- 1775-1794 131 ly believed SheflEey's prayer brought down that fire, which rid the neighborhood of the evil. As has already been stated, Mr. Sheflfey went to the Lord about everything he did, even about small things, which some- times brought him into ridicule by some classes of people, but that did not in the least deter him. He believed that the Lord controlled the actions of animals as well as men, and in veri- fication and illustration thereof the following story is told by a gentlemen living a few miles south of Pearisburg, Virginia. Mr. Shefifey stopped at his house over night, and by Mr. Shef- fey's direction his horse was turned on pastura Mr. Sheffey having an appointment for the next day, and anxious to get off early requested the gentleman to have his horse ready for him. The man went out very early to get the horse which he was un- able to do, even summoning help, still the horse would not al- low himself to be caught, nor would he be driven into the stable yard or lot. Finally the man gave up the effort to secure the horse, went to the house and informed Mr. Sheffey of the situa- tion, and he went out with the man into the field where the horse was grazing, and requested the man to wait until he told the Lord about it. Down upon his knees he went and told the Lord of the inability of the man to bridle the horse and re- quested that He put it into the mind of the horse to stand and be bridled, and on rising from his knees he said to the man "you can now bridle the horse," which he immediately did. Many other such things occurred in the history of this man, which for want of space cannot here be related; there is how- ever, just one other incident of his life which will be related, as it shows that he was a man whose religion was pure and unde- filed and near akin to that of our blessed Saviour. Mr. Sheffey's hostility and open expression against the liquor trafflc and the traflSckers, often brought down upon him, not only the curses and imprecations of these people, but once at least, a pounding upon his head. He was preaching in Bland County, and dur- ing the service was interrupted by some unthoughted young men under the influence of ardent spirits, which led to their se- 132 New Eiver Settlements vere censure and arraignment by the preacher, which so offend- ed and enraged them that they took position at the outside of the church door, and as Mr. Shefifey went out they clubbed and beat him severely. These people were indicted in the Court of Bland County, and Mr. Sheffey summoned as a witness for the Commonwealth. He did not appear, and compulsory process was taken against him, and on his appearance in Court he en- deavored to avoid testifying. The young men were convicted, when Mr. Shefifey with tears in his eyes, and a prayer on his lips implored the court to allow them to go unpunished, that they knew not what they did; that he had forgiven them, that he had asked the Lord to forgive them, and now asked the Court to forgive them, which in a measure it did. Whatever may be said of this peculiar man and his ec- centricities, his like will never be seen again. He died in peace with God and man, and all who knew him revere his memory. CHAPTER V. 1795-1836. Marriages, by whom celebrated prior to the passage of Toler- ation Acts — Real civilization begun — Monroe County cre- ated, its boundaries, brief, history of — Formation of Taze- well County, its boundaries, brief history of-— Formation of Giles County, its boundaries, and brief history thereof. As has already been noticed, the early preachers who came across the AUeghanies, were Dissenters, and not authorized by law to celebrate marriages, and therefore all marriages solemn- ized by these Ministers were by law illegal, but by subsequent acts of the Legislature such marriages were not only legalized, but certain acts were passed authorizing a limited number of these Dissenters to celebrate the rites of matrimony. After the close of the Indian wars in 1794 the country not only filled up rapidly, but real civilization began in earnest, 1795-1836 133 the people built houses, opened farms and roads, elected offi- cers, prepared and carried on civil government without hinder- ance or molestation. The people living along the New River to the northeast there- of and north of the Narrows of said river, in what is now Giles County, were inhabitants of Greenbrier County and lived many miles from Lewisburg, their county town. They therefore de- termined to apply for the creation of a new county, and by an act of the Legislature of Virginia passed January 14th, 1799, the County of Monroe was created out of the territory of Greenbrier, with the following boundaries as set forth in the said Act, viz: "Beginning where the ridge dividing the east- ern from the western waters joins Peter's Mountain, and with said eastern ridge to the ridge which divides Howard's and Sec- ond Creek, thence with the said ridge westwardly, including the waters of Second Creek to the Wagon road at Eobert Knox's, thence with the said creek to Thomas Nichols' Spring branch, thence a straight line to Alderson's ferry landing on Greenbrier River, thence down the said river to the mouth of Muddy Creek, thence crossing the same to the ridge which di- vides the waters of Muddy Creek and Griffith's run, and with the said ridge to Keeney's Knobs and with said Knobs, includ- ing the waters flowing into Greenbrier River to New River, and up the same to where it breaks through Peter's Mountain, thence with said mountain an east course to the beginning." From Lewis' History of West Virginia the following infor- mation is given concerning the organization of said county. "At one mile east of the present town of Union at the house of George King on the 21st day of May, 1799, the first County Court was held. William Hutchinson, James Alexander, Isaac Estill, William Haynes, John Hutchinson, John Gray, John Byrnside, William Graham, James Hanley, and William Vaw- ter holding commissions from the governor of Virginia, com- posed the members of the first court. John Hutchison was ap- pointed clerk, and John Woodyard Commonwealth's Attorney. Isaac Estill having been by the Governor commissioned as sher- 134 New Eivee Settlements iflf, entered into bond as such, with James Alexander, William Haynes, and John Byrnside as his bondsmen. John Byrnside was recommended for appointment as surveyor of lands. John Arbuckle was appointed Deputy Sheriff. The second day of the term was taken up largely in putting the military establishment on a proper footing, whereupon James Graham was recommended for appointment as Colonel for the county ; John Hutchinson and John Hanley for Majors ; and for Captains, Isaac Estill, John Byrnside. James Jones, Robert Nickel, William Graham, Samuel Clark, Henry McDan- iel, and Watt Farley. For Lieutenants, Mmrod Tackett, John Hanley, Jr., George Swope, James Gray, William Maddy, Da- vid Graham, Tollison Shumate, and Thomas Wyatt; and for Ensigns, Alexander Dunlap, Charles Keenan, James Young, -James Byrnside. James Miller, James Gwin, James Thompson, and John Harvey. James Graham was recommended for appointment as Coro- ner, and Thomas Lowe, Robert Dunbar, John Cottrell, William Dison, George Foster, Enos Halstead, and Joshua Lewis were appointed Constables. On the 19th day of May, 1800, Honorable Archibald Stew- art, Judge of the District composed of the counties of Green- brier, Botetourt, Montgomery, Kanawha, and Monroe held the first court for the county, at Sweet Springs. John Skinner was appointed to prosecute for the Commonwealth, and Samuel Dew to discharge the duties of clerk. A grand jury was empaneled, composed of William Royal, foreman, Dennis Cochran, John Matthews, Samuel Todd, Hugh Oaperton, Joseph Snodgrass, Isaac Snodgrass, William How- ell, John Peck, Joseph Cloyd, (the latter two citizens of Giles County,) John Lewis, William Vawter, Jacob Persinger, John Byrnside, and James Byrnside. Two indictments found at the term, parties tried same term and acquitted. The second term of the court held at the same place on the 18th day of October, 1800, at which Judge Paul Carrington presided. 1795-1836 135 In 1799, the County Court selected the present site Union, for the County town on twenty-flve acres of land the property of James Alexander, and was laid off into lots and streets, and the same was subsequently, to wit: January 1800, established as a town by the General Assembly, and William Haynes, John Gray, John Byrnside, James Hanley, Michael Brskine, John Hutchison, and Isaac Estill constituted trustees thereof." The territory now embraced in Monroe County was visited by white people as early as 1760. John Alderson and William Morris visited the county about 1777. Christian Peters, an American Soldier, who served in General LaFayette's Corps at Yorktown, came to what is now Peterstown in 1783. In the year of 1770, came the Manns, Cooks, Millers, Alexanders, Nickels, Campbells. Dunsmores, Hokes, Lakes, Calloways, Sweeneys, Haynes, Erkines. Grahams, and Hutchinsons, large- ly from the Virginia Valley. The early history of this people is the same substantially as those of the Greenbrier and New Eiver Valleys, which has al- ready been given in this volume. The military history of the people of Monroe is in a measure written in the chapter devoted to that subject in this volume, as her citizen soldiers served largely with the New River Val- ley men, with the exception of one company, which was led to the war by Captain Hugh Snidow Tiffany, who fell in the first battle of Manasses. His company belonged to the 27th Vir- ginia Regiment of the Stonewall brigade. In both civil and military life, Monroe has furnished a num- ber of distinguished men, among them Hugh Caperton, An- drew Beirne. Allen T. Caperton, A. A. Chapman, John Echols, Frank Hereford, John M. Rowan, Judge A. N. Campbell, Rev. J. P. Campbell, and others. Among her valued citizens, are Campbells, Hansbargers, Swopes, Johnsons, Johnstons, Symns, Clarks, Ballards, Flesh- mans. Pecks, Aldersons, Nickels, Rowans, Becketts, McClaugh- ertys, Osborns, Harveys, Fences, Adairs, Packs, Thrashers, Karnes, Spanglers, Shanklins, Vawters, and numerous others. 136 New Rivee Settlements Its population is steady industrious, and as little crime is com- mitted in the county of Monroe as any county in the state. Adam Mann, Jacob Mann, and others as early as the year 1770, built a fort on Indian Creek, some ten miles west from the present town of Union. The Cooks, also built a fort on In- dian Creek some three miles from its mouth. This Mann family was of English origin — from Kent. They came at an early day to America, and that branch of the fami- ly, the ancestor of the present New River Valley families of that name was William, who settled in Augusta in 1778. It is a numerous family, some of them attained to prominence in the revolutionary, border and civil wars. From Mann MS. it ap- pears, that two of this family, Thomas and William, were sol- diers on the Ohio at fort Randolph shortly after the battle of Point Pleasant, and while there, on the south side of the Ka- nawha' appeared one Simon Girty, who gave to Thomas and William Mann the sign of distress, and urged them to cross for him as he was pursued by the Indians; yielding to his en- treaties, they with others crossed the river in a canoe, and as they approached the shore a party of Indians in hiding fired upon them, killing Thomas Mann, and badly wounding Wil- liam, who escaped but died in what is now Fayette County, while trying to make his way to Donnally's Fort, in Greenbrier (Mann MS.). Of this family are Isaac T. and Edwin Mann, prominent and successful business men of Mercer County. Mr. James E. Mann of this same family, a most useful, intelligei't citizen, and successful financier lived for a number of years in the city of Bluefleld, where his widow and children still reside. Mr. Mann died a few years ago, a highly respected and rs- teemed citizen. The territory of Tazewell County as it formerly and now ex- ists, has a history much in common with that of the Counties of Monroe, Giles and Mercer. It is not intended in this work to do more than give a general outline history of this county, for to write it in full and that of its people would within itself fill a volume. So far as can be ascertained, with anything like 1795-1836 137 accuracy, the first white man that put his foot on the soil of this county, was the man Castle hunting with the Indians in what is now known as the Castle's wood section, now in Russell County ; and the second white man in the territory referred to was the hunter Clinche. These two men traversed the Clinch Valley section prior to 1749 and from the latter the river Clinch took its name, a« hereinbefore related. The next in order was Doctor Thomas Walker of Albemarle, and his companions Ambrose Powell and others, who in 1750, traversed the ridge country, a few miles north of the present town of Tazewell, passing the site of the present town of Poca- hontas, and following the Water Shed dividing the waters of Bluestone, Sandy, Guyandotte, and Piney, to the New River near where the town of Hinton, in Summers County, is lo- cated. According to Summers' History So. W. Va., Christopher Gist, agent for the Ohio Company, on his return from the Ken- tucky section and the Ohio River, in 1751, came through what is now the county of Wise, giving name to a river, Gist's, and a station where he camped, called Gist's Station. (1) He also passed along the Water Shed above referred to. In the year of 1753, James Burke and stepson, Morris Grif- fith were in what is now known as Burke's Garden, situated in the south-eastern part of this county. Burke was one of the Draper's Meadow Settlers, who crossed the AUeghanies in 1748 and made settlement near the present town of Blacksburg in Montgomery County. His adventurous disposition and love of the forest led him to the vicinity of the spot called Burke's Garden, into which, through the gap since known as Hanshue's, he followed the Elk which he had wounded. The evidence is not only persuasive, but may be regarded as conclusive, that Burke removed with his family from Draper's Meadows into this beautiful land in the year of 1754. He had cleared out some land, and in the spring of 1755 had planted a crop of potatoes which were found in the ground unharvested (1). Now, Coburn, in Wise County, Virginia. 138 New Kivbr Settlements by Lewis' men in February, 1756. Colonel Preston in his Jour- nal, describing Burke's Garden says among other things that the soldiers gathered potatoes in the waste plantations ; there- fore it is certain that in February, 1756, the place was known as Burke's Garden, and that there were potatoes found there in "Waste Plantations." Again it is true, that neither Burke nor his family were at Draper's Meadows on the 8th day of July, 1755, when the settlers were attacked by the Indians, captured or destroyed, as no mention is made of Burke or his family, while all others are accounted for, and we see from Preston's Journal, that Lewis' men met Burke west of New Eiver in Feb- uary. 1756, hence it appears as most likely and no doubt true, that Burke for fear of the savages left Burke's Garden with his family in the fall of 1755, and the tradition that the Indians followed him to Sharon Springs is no doubt correct. At any rate Burke discovered a magnificent body of most valuable land which was appropriated by other people. Major Andrew Lewis with about 340 men on his way to the Ohio, in February, 1756, passed through the territory of Taze- well, camping in Burke's Garden, and on the head waters of the Clinch, and from there passed over the eastern and north ern branches of that stream near by or through the farm owned by the late William G. Mustard, Esq., and thence on to Horse- pen Creek of Jacob's Fork of Tug of Sandy. We hear nothing from 1756 to 1766 of any white people in the territory of the county ; this is accounted for from the fact that the French and Indian war was occurring during this period, and in fact did not end on the border until the year of 1765, after Johnson's Treaty — the result of Bouquet's expedition into Ohio that yeu'. It appears from Bickley's History of Tazewell, that two men, Butler and Carr with others from about Carr's or Kerr's Creek in the Kockbridge country, were in this territory about the head waters of the Clinch in 1766, engaged in hunting and trapping, and that all of said hunting party, except Butler and Carr, left on the close of the hunting season. Butler and Carr erected them a hunter's cabin at the Crab 1790-1836 139 Orchard, about three or four miles west of the present Court House of Tazewell. In the spring of 1767 they opened up a small field and planted a small crop of corn, the seed of which they obtained from the Cherokee Indians, and a new supply of ammunition of another company of hunters that came oiit to hunt with them. The territory of Tazewell, very much like that of Kentucky, was a kind of middle ground between the northern and south- ern Indian tribes, between whom a war was waging in 17f5G, and which was not finally ended until about the beginning of 1774. As stated by Bickley, in the early summer of 1768, a band of Cherokee warriors camped near the cabin of Butler and Carr; they had come to spend the season in hunting around and near the Lick. Very soon there appeared a large body of Shawnees, men and women. These had long been open and deadly ene- mies, and could not long remain near each other on terms of peace. The Shawnees ordered the Cherokees to evacuate, and to look for other hunting ground. This orri(?r, the latter re- fused to obey, and took position on the top of Eich Mountain, which they fortified with rude breastworks. The Shawnees at- tacked that evening, and continued the battle on the next day ; Butler and Carr furnishing the Cherokees with ammunition. The Shawnees were forced to retire, retreating to the head of what is now known as Abb's Valley, and there on the farm owned by the late Jonathan Smith, erected a rude stone fort, which stood until a few years ago. The place where they built this fort is the gateway to the head of the Tug fork of Sandy; the latter one of the highways when on their way out and re- turn from incursions into the white settlements along the up- per waters of the Clinch and the Bluestone. The dead left on the battlefield were buried in one common grave, and shortly the Cherokees departed for their homes in the south, leaving Butler and Carr lords of all they surveyed. Peace and quiet being restored, Butler and Carr separated, the latter making settlements on the Clinch about two mile* 140 New River Settlements east of the present county town, while Butler seems to have re- moved near the Elk Lick. More hunters coming out, and return- ing with glowing descriptions of the country, induced others desiring to make permanent settlements in this new wilderness country, to emigrate hither. In the spring of 1771 came Thomas, James and Jerry Witten (1) and John Greenup, the former from the Fredericktown sec- tion of Maryland. Thomas settled at the Crab Orchard, pur- chasing Butler's claim, whatever that was, but there were none to dispute it. James Witten and John Greenup settled on the Clinch near where Pisgah Church now stands, and Jerry Witten settled on Plum Creek. On the authority of James R. Witten it is stated that a son of this John Greenup became governor of Kentucky. In this same year of 1771 Absalom Looney, from Looney's Creek in the Virginia Valley, made his way into the section of this county now known as Abb's Valley, where he hunted and trapped for three or four years, having a cave near what is now Moore's Memorial Church, as his hiding place and refuge from the savages and wild beasts. Looney, on returning to Looney's Creek, met Captain James Moore, and so impressed him by his description of this wonder- ful valley which he had discovered as to induce Moore to make a journey to see it. The statement that Captain James Moore settled in Abb's Valley in 1772 is incorrect, for more reasons than one. Moore had gone /from the valley to the Alamance in North Carolina, to join his countrymen (the Scots), in their struggle against the tyranny of Governor Tyron, and having united with the Regulators, was in the battle of the Alamance fought on the 16th day of May, 1771, in which the Regulators were defeated and scattered by the forces of Governor Tyron. Captain Moore returned to his home on Moore's Creek in the Virginia Valley, now in Rockbridge County, where he remained (1). The Wittens first halted at a large spring on Walker's Creek, near where the late William B. Allen resided, in what is now Giles County, where they remained for one year before moving to the Clinch. 1795-1836 141 until 1775, when he raised a company of valley men, and march- ed at their head, joining General Washington's army then en- gaged in the seige of Boston. It was at the head of this com- pany of volunteers that he won his title of captain. He and his men had entered the service for one year, upon the expiration of which they returned to their homes. Their return was in 1776, and there is no evidence to be found that Captain Moore visited the territory of Tazewell prior to 1776, but in the fall of that year he came to spy out the land and prepared for the re- moval of his family, which took place the next year, together with the family of his brother-in-law Poague. Prior to the year of 1776 one Peter Wright, an old hunter, had traversed the valley known since his day as Wright's Val- ley, which no doubt led him into the present territory of Taze- well County. In the year of 1772 Mathias Harman, and his brothers Jacob and Henry, settled at Carr's on the Clinch, John Craven in the Cove, Joseph Martin, John Henry, and James King in Thomp- son's Valley, and John Bradshaw in the valley two miles west of the present county town. The Harmans came from North Carolina. In 1772 William Wynn, John Taylor and Jesse Evans settled on the upper Clinch waters, and Thomas Marshall, Benjamine Joslin, James Ogleton, Peter Harman and Samuel Ferguson on the upper Bluestone, William Butler on the south branch of the north fork of Clinch above Wynn's. William Webb about three miles east of the present Court House, Elisha Clary near But- ler, John Ridgel on the Clear fork of Wolf Creek, Reece Bowen at Maiden Spring, David Ward in the Cove, and William Gar- retson at the foot of Morris' Knob. Of the people who came in 1772 Thomas Maxwell, Samuel Ferguson and the Peerys, who were in the battle of the Ala- mance, came from the Virginia Valley, Eeece Bowen from Bote- tourt, near where Roanoke city now stands. He wai from west- ern Maryland, William Garretson from Culpepper county, from 142 New Eivee Settlements which the Wheatleys came about the same time, settling near the spot where Captain C. A. Fudge now resides. Thomas, John and William Peery settled where the present town of Tazewell is now located, and John Peery, jr. at the fork of Clinch one and one half miles east of the present county site. In the meantime a number of settlers, among them the Scaggs, Richard Peinberton, Johnson, jRoark, and bthers settled In [Bap- tist Valley, and Thomas Mastin, William Patterson, and John Deskins farther west in the same valley, Richard Oney and Oba- diah Paine in what is now known as Deskin's Valley. Thomas Ingles, son of Captain William Ingles of Draper's Meadows, settled in 1778, in what is now known as Wright's Valley at a spring near the residence of tiie late Captain Ru- fus A. Hale, about two miles west of the present city of Blue- field, and a few hundred yards north of the track of the Nor- folk & Western Railway. He remained here only about two years, when finding himself too near the Indian trail which led up the Beaver Pond Creek to Bailey's gap in East River Moun- tain, he removed to Burke's Garden, and occupied a tract of land which had been surveyed by his father, until 1782, when his family was captured, and in part destroyed by the Indians. At this date Ingles and a man by the name of Hicks were the only residents in Burke's Garden. In the meantime, that is between the date of the commence- ment of the settlements by the white people within what is now the territory of Tazewell and the breaking up of the Ingles fam- ily in 1782, Dunmore's war had broken out, (177-4), which in a measure halted emigration into the territory. In the year of 1773, in September, Daniel Boone and his brother. Squire, with their familes and a number of others, had left the Yadkin in North Carolina and started for Kentucky. The party with Boone had reached Powell's Valley, when needing provisions, Boone's son, with a party, had gone to the house of William Russell, in Castle's woods in search of food, and on its return on the second day after, and before overtak- ing the main party, were attacked by a band of Indians and 1795-1836 143 destroyed. This caused Boone and his party to halt and re- tire to the neighborhood of William Russell, in Castle's woods, where a part of his company wintered. Finding, in the spring of 1774, that the Indians were on the war path, and that Gov- ernor Dunmoore had ordered the raising of an army to punish the savages ; one wing, the northern, he proposed to command, and the other, the southern, to be commanded by Brigadier General Andrew Lewis, who was ordered to rendezvous his troops at Camp Union, now Lewisburg, in Greenbrier County ; and that call had been made upon the Fincastle men (this territory was then in Fincastle County,) Captain William Russell gathered the men of his company, and in August marched up the Clinch and down the East River to join his regi- ment, commanded by Colonel William Christian, then on the New River, and on its way to unite with General Lewis. To Russell's company belonged Reece Bowen and Moses Bowen, who marched with their company to Point Pleasant — Moses Bowen dying on the trip from smallpox. Daniel Boone was left in command of Russell's Fort, that of Bowen's, and of the Frontier, which he with his men faithful- ly guarded in the absence of Russell's men. Roving bands of Indians entered the Castle's woods and Maid- en Spring neighborhoods during the absence of Russell and his men. The neighboring women and children had gathered in the forts for protection. It was the opening of Dunmore's war that led the white people of this and adjacent sections to establish forts and blockhouses for protection. In Tazewell there was a fort erected by the Wynns on Wynn's Branch, at Crab Orchard by Thomas Witten, and one at Maiden Springs by Reece Bowen, and a little later, one at head of Beaver Pond by Bailey's and Davidson's, and later as stated by Bickley, between the years of 1780 and 1794, the Virginia Government occasionally kept a few companies of men along the border, who occupied these forts, and in the absence of such armed bodies of men, sent out by the state, the men within the territory threatened, gath- 144 New River Settlements ered in these places of refuge. The names of several of these people have been preserved, among them : James Bailey Samuel Lusk John Baily Robert Lesley Joseph Belcher James Martin Robert Belcher John Maxwell Thomas Brewster James Peery Edward Burgess John Pruett Chrisopher CaflSn Archibald Thompson James Conley John Ward John Crockett William Ward John Evans James Witten Joseph Gilbert Michael Wright Absalom Godfrey Oliver Wynn William Hall Hezekiah Wright David Lusk Robert Trigg was the military commandant while the terri- tory of what is now Tazewell was within the County of Mont- gomery, and Major Robert Crockett after the territory was erected into the county Wythe. The Indian depredations began in the territory of what is now the county of Tazewell, in the year of 1776. In the month of May of that year they destroyed John Henry, his wife and six children in Thompson's Valley, and carried one litte boy away a prisoner. In the same year they captured John Evans. In the year 1779 the family of Jesse Evans was attacked by eight or ten Indians, four of his children were killed, his wife with one child escaping to Major Taylor's. In the latter part of the summer and early fall of 1780. the British army under Lord Cornwallis was advancing north- ward through the Carolinas. One division thereof, under Col- onel Patrick Ferguson, had reached Piedmont, North Carolina. Ferguson had sent threats t o the Backwater men that if they did not come over and take the oath of allegiance to his Sover- eign he would cross into their country and lay it waste with 1795-1836 145 fire and sword. Evan Shelby and John Sevier planned an attack upon Ferguson's troops, calling on Colonel Campbell of Washington County, Virginia, for assistance. Camp- bell called out the military force of his county, including the company of William Bowen of the Clinch settlements, in which company Eeece Bowen, of Maiden Spring and James Moore of Abb's Valley were Lieutenants. Captain William Bowen at the date of the call being sick with fever, the com- mand of the company devolved on Lieutenant Eeece Bowen, who led it to the battle of King's Mountain, fought on October 7th, 1780. At the date of the call for and march of Bowen's company from the Clinch, the western boundary line of Montgomery County reached to Morris' Knob and Roark's Gap, and there- fore a part of the men who marched with Bowen from the up- per Clinch and Bluestone lived in Montgomery County, and were not within the military district of Colonel Campbell, but within that of Colonel William Preston, of Montgomery. Among the number of those who went from Montgomery terri- tory with Bowen, were James Moore, Samuel Ferguson, Henry Henninger, Thomas Peery, (the Distiller) Thomas Peery (the Blacksmith) William Peery and John Peery, the latter wound- ed a number of times, but recovering, and one of the Thomas Peerys killed, together with Henry Henninger and Eeece Bow- en. No attempt will be made here to describe the march to King's Mountain nor the battle and return home of the men, as the reader is referred to a very full and accurate account thereof given by Draper in his "King's Mountain and its Heroes." In the month of April, 1782, the family of Thomas Ingles, in Burke's Garden, was attacked by Indians and all who were at the house captured. They were pursued by Thomas Ingles and Captain James Maxwell, and a party of men, who overtook them in a gap of Tug ridge, since known as Maxwell's Gap from the circumstance that Captain Maxwell was there killed. 146 New Eivee Settlements On the opening of the fight the Indians attempted to kill their prisoners, and succeeded in tomahawking Mrs. Ingles, her lit- tle son William, and little daughter Mary, scalping the two latter from which the little boy soon died, the little girl a few days later, but Mrs. Ingles recovered. The Harman Ms. shows that Captain Henry Harman was one of the pursuing party. Another part of this marauding band at the same time kill- ed and scalped two daughters of Captain John Maxwell, and took nine prisoners, and also killed and scalped near the Clinch two sons of Captain Robert MofiEett. A part of this same band of Indians visited the home of James Poague, a brother-in-law of Captain James Moore, and who had come to Abb's Valley with him in 1777, and had set- tled and opened up some land on the farm recently known as that of Captain John W. Taylor. These Indians attempted to enter Mr. Poague's house in the night time but finding some three or four men in the house they left without doing any harm to Mr. Poague's family, but the next morning, near Poague's house they killed a young man by the name of Rich- ards, who had been working for Captain Moore. In 1783 Joseph Ray, living on Indian Creek, with a part of his family, together with a man by the name of Samuel Hughes, who happened at Ray's house at the time, were butch- ered by the Indians. Mr. Poague became so much alarmed for fear of the Indians that very shortly after their visit to his house on a night in April, 1872, and hereinbefore referred to, he left the settlement, and went back into civilization, and two years after the occur- rence at Poague's viz : in 1784, James, the son of Captain James Moore, was captured on this Taylor farm by Indians, and car- ried into captivity where he remained about five years. In the year of 1785 Robert Barnes, born in Ireland, (1) and coming to America about 1782, first halting in the valley of Virginia, then came on to the Cove in what is now Tazewell County, Virginia. (1) So stated by Capt. D. B. Baldwin. 1795-1836 147 From this man Robert Barnes, has descended all the people of that name now in the Tazewell section, and who are among the most respectable people to be found there or elsewhere. On April 11th, 1786, two men one Dials and Benjamin Thomas, were scalped by the Indians on the upper waters of the Clinch; Dials died in a few hours, Thomas lived several days. In 1785 an Act was passed by the General Assembly of Vir- ginia, to take effect 1786, creating the County of Russell out of the territory of Washington County. The eastern bound- ary line of Russell to be that of the western line of Montgom- ery County. Before describing the destruction of the family of Captain James Moore in Abb's Valley, reference will be made to the date of the first coming of Captain Moore to the valley refer- red to. William Taylor Moore, who has already been mentioned as the grandson of Captain Moore, stated to the author that Looney so accurately described the route from the Virginia Valley to Abb's Valley that his grandfather had no difficulty in traversing it, and that he described the roiite after leaving the New River to be up a large Creek, (Walker's Creek), to the mouth of its main north branch, (Kimberling), and thence up the same to its source, and through a gap, and down to a stream, to and through another gap through which said stream passed, and down the same to the mouth of a stream coming in from the north, (Laurel Creek,) and up the same and through a low gap of a high mountain to the north, and thence down the streams flowing west — northwest — to where the waters flowed over a very high rock, now called Falls Mills, where he would strike a Buffalo path, following which would lead him into the valley. (1) (1). Shortly after Captain Moore's settlement in the Valley a buf- falo bull came up to his home with the milch cows, and the Captain killed the animal. 148 New River Settlements On July 14th, 1786, Captain James Moore and his family, were attacked by a band of forty Shawnee Indians, and the Captain and a part of his family killed, and part captured and carried away. In 1788 in the month of August, a man by the name of Pem- berton, who lived in Baptist Valley, about five miles from the present County site of Tazewell, was attacked by a party of marauding Indians, but succeeded in beating them off, and making safe retreat to a neighbor's house. As has already been related. Captain Henry Harman and two of his sons, George and Matthias, on a hunting expedi- tion on Tug had, on the 12th day of November, 1788, a severe battle with seven or eight Indians, part of whom they killed and wounded, the remainder retreated. This fight took place on the bank of the Tug a short distance below the residence of the late Mr. Henry T. Peery. Captain Harman received several wounds from arrows shot into him by the Indians. In the month of March, 1789, a party of Indians came up the Dry Fork of the Sandy, and about the mouth of Dick's Creek were caught in a snow storm, and took shelter under a large shelving rock opposite the mouth of the above mention- ed creek, and while hiding there and sheltering from the storm, William Wheatley of Baptist "Valley, in search of a lost dog was killed by these Indians, who mutilated his body in a most horrible manner. They then proceeded to the gap at the head of Dry Pork and destroyed the wife and children of James Eoark. They were pursued by the whites but suc- ceeded in making good their escape. On the night of October the first, 1789, a body of Indians visited the house of Thomas Wiley, at what is now known as the Dill's farm, a little below the mouth of Cove Creek of Clear fork of Wolf Creek, and captured and carried away his wife, Mrs. Virginia Wiley, and her four little children whom they killed on their way up Cove Creek. Mrs. Wiley was car- 1795-1836 149 ried away a prisoner to their towns where she remained until September, 1792, escaping with Samuel Lusk. In the year of 1790 the county of Wythe was created out of the territory of Montgomery. The western line of Wythe by the Act of Creation, was the same as between Montgomery and Eussell Counties; that is, from the west side of Morris Knob to Eoark's gap and to the head waters of the Sandy. The eastern line running from Eeed Island Creek to the Kan- awha line, passing about one half mile west of the present town of Princeton, in Mercer County. In April, 1791, the wife and children of Andrew Davidson, with two bound children were captured by Indians at their home on the head wa- ters of East Eiver, near the present city of Bluefield, then in Wythe County. Mrs. Davidson was not recovered by her hus- band until after Wayne's Victory in, August, 1794. In the same year of 1791, Daniel Harman on a hunting expe- dition on the upper Clinch waters was killed by Indians. In the month of July, 1792, a band of Indians from the Ohio section entered the upper Clinch and Bluestone settlements, and stole horses. M£|,jor Eobert Crockett, the military com- mandant of Wythe County, gathered a force of men and fol- lowed the marauders. His scouts or spies, Joseph Gilbert and Samuel Lusk, were sent in advance to a lick on a creek flowing into the Guyandotte to kill some game for food for the men. They reached the lick on the 24th day of July, killed a deer and wounded an Elk, following the latter some distance and fail- ing to over take it they returned to the lick for the deer, and were suddenly attacked by the Indians, who were in hiding near by, and Gilbert killed, Lusk wounded and captured. Ma- jor Crockett's men failed to overtake them. In September of the same year, Lusk in company with Mrs. Virginia Wiley, escaped from the Indian town at Chillicothe, on the Scioto, and made his way home. On the 8th day of March, 1793, a body of twelve Indians, and a white man by the name of Eice, murdered John Goolman Davidson, usually called John or Cooper Davidson, at the 150 New Eivee Settlements mouth of a small branch of Laurel Creek of clear fork of Wolf Creek, and at the southern base of East Eiver Mountain at a point where the path leaving Laurel passes through Bailey's Gap. This party was pursued by Major Crockett and a com- pany of men, who overtook them at the Island of the Guyan- dotte River, where now stands Logan Court House. A skirm- ish followed in which one Indian was killed, the rest fled leav- ing their stolen horses and their breakfast, the latter the whites devoured, and among the recaptured horses was recognized that of Mr. Davidson, which led on the return of the party to a search of Mr. Davidson, whose dead nude body they found un- der the roots of a beech tree on the bank of Laurel Creek. This Indian incursion was the last ever made into the ter- ritory in what is now Tazewell County. The next year, 1794, General Wayne defeated the United Indian tribes at Fallen Timbers in Ohio, and this gave peace to the border, along which had been committed by the savages horrible barbarities for almost forty years. (1) With a full establishment of peace and quiet on the border new people came rapidly into the country, and settlements be- gan throughout the whole Clinch Valley section and on to the Sandy. In the winter of 1799 a bill was introduced into the General Assembly of Virginia, by Mr. Cottrell, the representative from Eussell County, providing for the creation of a new county out of the territory of Wythe and Eussell. The bill of Mr. Cottrell as stated by Bickley, met with formidable opposition from Mr. Tazewell, the representative from the county of Norfolk. Mr. Cottrell inserted in the bill Tazewell as the name of his pro- posed new county, which not only silenced the member from Norfolk, but secured his support for the bill. The following are the boundary lines of the county of Taze- (1) A family by the name of Sluss was destroyed by Indians near what is now known as Sharon Springs, but the date and circumstances are unknown. 1795-1836 131 well as set forth in the Act of its creation December 19th, 1799 viz: "Beginning on the Kanawha line, which divides Mont- gomery and Wythe Counties, thence to where said line crosses the top of Brushy Mountain, thence along the top of said mountain to its junction with Garden Mountain, thence along the top of the said mountain to the Clinch Mountain, thence along the top of said mountain to the mouth of Cove Creek, a branch of the Maiden Spring Fork of Clinch Eiver, thence a strait line to Mann's Gap in Kent's Ridge, thence north 45 west to the line which divides Kentucky from that of Virginia, thence along said line to the Kanawha line, and with said line to the place of beginning." On Feb. 3rd, 1835, the Legislature altered the line dividing the Counties of Russell and Taze- well, by running from Mann's gap in Kent's ridge north 45 deg. 45 minutes west the distance of 974 poles. In 1806 a portion of Tazewell was cut off into the county of Giles, and in 1837 another portion of the territory of Tazewell was stricken off into Mercer, and in 1858 the Counties of Buchanan and Mc- Dowell were created out of Tazewell territory, and in 1861 Tazewell also lost part of her territory by the formation of Bland county. The first court held for the county of Tazewell was at the house of Colonel John B. George, in the month of May, 1800. John Ward was elected clerk, and Maxwell made sheriff. The second court was held in June of the same year at the house of Harvey G. Peery, in which month Judge Brock- enborough held the first Superior Court of Law. He was suc- ceeded by Judge Peter Johnston. James Thompson was the first Commonwealth's Attorney for the county. Bickley in his history of Tazewell, gives the following as the names of the citizens of the county, who were in the battle of the Alamance and in the American Revolution, viz: 152 New Eivbe Settlements At the Alamance James Cartmell Samuel Ferguson James Moore William Peery Thomas Peery John Peery In the Revolution Eeece Bowen Low Bowen Thomas Harrison (2) John Lasley Archer Maloney Neal McGuire James Moore Solomon Stratton Isham Thomlinson And the following as soldiers in the war of 1812 viz : William Asbury Williams Barnes George Bamheart Isaac Bostic James Belcher Peter Gose Col. Henry Bowen James Brooks John Davidson Jeremiah Early Pleasant Franklin William Greene James Higginbotham William Higginbotham Isaac King David Lusk Capt. Thomas Peery Jonathan Peery David Robertson Mathew Stevenson William Smith Daniel Tabor Eeece B. Thompson Henry B. Thompson Charles Vandyke John Vandyke Joseph Walls Alexander Ward Hugh Wilson William Witten Peter E. Wynne Samuel Wynne Israel Young Nathaniel Young From 1800, the date of the formation of the county, to the beginning of the year of 1861, this county had within its bor- ders as pure a type of Americanism as any county within the (2). Thomas Harrison came from Birmingham, England, and was the son of a cutler. 1795-1836 153 Commonwealth. There were few, if any,^ of what might be deemed foreigners, that is, those who came direct from foreign countries. In politics this people was so thoroughly democratic that in the two presidential contests, 1828-1832, between Jackson and Clay, the latter in the first contest received in the county but one vote, and the second two votes. This solid democratic wall was shaken but once from 1800 to 1861, and that was in the contest for the State Senate in 1857, between Nathaniel Harrison, Democrat, and Napoleon B. French, Whig, the lat- ter succeeding in reducing the democratic majority largely in this county, which resulted in the defeat of Mr. Harrison in the district. The bitter fight and exciting contest for Congress in 1848, between Colonel John B. George and Fayette McMullen, both Democrats, in which the latter won by over 2,000 majority, is still remembered among the older people of the county. The contests for the Circuit Judgeship between George W. Hopkins and Joseph Stras, and again between Samuel V. Fulkerson and Mr. Stras were notable. The people of this county held but few slaves, the first of these were brought into the county by James Witten, about 1771, and the next by a man by the name of Hicks and Thomas Ingles in about the year of 1780. When the civil war period approached it found the people of this county as thoroughly united for the south, and the up- holding and vindication of its constitutional rights as the peo- ple of any county within the Commonwealth. In the elec- tion for delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1861, two of its most distinguished citizens — ^William P. Cecil and Samuel L. Graham — were elected. Both these men were above the average- and imbued with strong convictions in favor of resistance to further Federal aggression, and in favor of Se- cession if that step was felt to be absolutely necessary for the protection of the rights of the people of Virginia. These gen- tlemen voted for the Ordinance of Secession, came home, buck- 15'1 New River Settlements led on their armor, and went forth to do battle for their cause and country. The people of this county entered upon the war with zeal and earnestness, organizing and sending to the war above twenty companies. There was as little disloy- alty to the south and her cause among the people of Tazewell as in any county in the State, and when the war had ended her people were less annoyed with scalawags and carpetbag- gers thkn the people of any county west of the Alleghanies. After the close of the war and up to the agitation of the State debt question, the people still adhered to Democracy. This debt question divided them, and a large number of the most prominent, respectable and influential people of the county fell in with the Readjuster Movement, which finally landed them in the Republican party; since which time the county has been overwhelmingly Republican. This county is a little Commonwealth within itself, having within its borders, the most valuable agricultural, grazing and mineral lands to be found in this region of Virginia. Its peo- ple are among the most cultivated, lawabiding, and best in the world. Its lawyers among the most distinguished in the State; among the number may be mentioned Honorable Sam- uel C. Graham, Major R. E. Henry, J. W. Chapman, A. P. Gil- lespie, Samuel D. May, J. H. Stuart, S. M. B. Oouling, H. C. Alderson, J. N. Harman, Barnes Gilleepie- E. L. Greever, Thompson Crockett Bowen. There has been less change in the character of the rural pop- ulation of this county, than that of most any adjoining coun- ty. The building of railroads and the development of mines have had but little apparent effect upon the character of the population. These people are largely the descendants of the Wittens, Moores, Maxwells, Bowens, Barnes, Gillespies, Gra- hams, Orocketts, Peerys. Georges, Wards, Shannons, Harris- ons, Greever, Meeks, Higginbothams, Deskins, Thompsons, Da- vidsons, Wynns, Cecils, Spotts, Taylors, and Harmans, the most of whom were among the first settlers of the country. Matters connected with the Courts of this county, the names 1795-1836 155 of the judges and members of the House of Delegates, together with a list of the military organizations, or at least the names thereof, that entered the Confederate service will be found in the appendix to this volume; but before closing it will prob- ably not be out of place to relate an anecdote given to the au- thor by the late Major Rufus Brittain. Honorable Benjamin Estill, long the respected, honored judge of the Circuit Court of Tazewell, was a very grave and dignified gentleman, and was held in high respect by the bar and people. In the early years of his administration, in the trial of a case before him, there came a witness from lower Sandy country, who for the first time in his life was at his county town and his county Court House, and who had never testified as a witness in a court of justice. He was illiterate and meanly dressed. Having given his evidence and when he was about to leave the stand, the judge, apparently not impressed with the truthfulness of his story, leaned forward, and in a very quiet but earnest manner, said, "Mr. Witness have you told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" The witness looking straight into the face of the Judge replied, "Well, Mr. Jedge, I think I have and a little the rise." Prior to the formation of Giles County, in 1806, the people inhabiting the New River settlements and westward beyond in Montgomery County, when compelled to attend the court, had to travel many miles through the wilderness to reach their county Court House at Christiansburg. By the creation of Giles County, out of the territory of the counties of Mont- gomery, Monroe and Tazewell, the people along the lower New River settlements, and on the waters of the Bluestone, Guyan- dotte, and the head waters of the Goal Rivers were brought nearer to their County Court House. In January, 1806, the County of Giles (1.) was created with the following boundary lines described in the Act, viz : "Beginning at the end of Gan- ley Mountain on New River where the counties of Greenbrier and Kanawha intersect; thence, up the river with the Green- (1) Named for Hon. Wm. B. Giles. 156 New River Settlements brier and Montgomery County Line to the upper end of Pine's Plantation ; thence, a straight line to the mouth of Eich Creek, thence with the Montgomery and Monroe line to the intersec- tion of Botetourt County line, and with the line of Mongomery and Botetourt to the top of Gap mountain, thence along the top of said mountain to New River, crossing the same to the end of Walker's Creek Mountain, thence along the top of said mountain to the intersection of Wythe County line, thence northwestward with said line to the intersection of Tazewell County line, and with Tazewell and Montgomery County line to the top of Wolf Creek Mountain to a path leading from Round Bottom to Harman's Mill about three miles be- low the mouth of the Clear fork of Wolf Creek, thence a straight line to the mouth of Militon'a Fork, thence a direct line to the head of Crane Creek to the top of Flat Top Moun- tain, thence a direct line to the three forks of the Guyandotte, thence down said river until it intersects the Kanawha Coun- ty line, thence with said line to the beginning." There have been since the creation of the county of Giles four changes in the boundary lines thereof. The line between Giles and Monroe was altered in 1830, by running from a point on Peter's Mountain, opposite the Grey Sulpher Springs, down Rich Creek near Peterstown and to Wiley's Falls, taking from Monroe and adding to Giles this strip of territory. In 1841, by adding a small strip from the county of Mercer by running from Toney's Mill dam to Wiley's Falls. Again in 1851, on the formation of the county of Craig, by cutting off to that county a strip of the territory of Giles and, later in 1858, an- other strip to Craig ; and likewise in 1861, by the formation of Bland County, Giles lost a very considerable strip of her ter- ritory. The territory embraced in the now county of Giles is very mountainous, and of the most rugged character, covering at the period of its formation the New River Valley for a dis- tance of over one hundred miles in length with a mean width of about thirty miles, embracing not only waters which flow 1795-1836 157 into the New River proper, but also the head waters of the Guyandotte, which flows into the Ohio, and the headwaters of the Coal Kiver, which flows into the Kanawha. The names of the streams in the then territory of the county and flowing in- to New River are as follows : Spruce Run, Sinking Creek, Doe Creek, Big Stony Creek, Little Stony Creek, and Rich Creek on the northeast side of the river, and Walker's Creek, Wolf Creek, East River, Brush Creek, Bluestone, Piney, Big and Little Coal Rivers, and some of the branches of the Guyan- dotte on the west and northwest side of the river. The moun- tain ranges — ^Walker's Mountain, Angel's Rest, Great Flat Top, Guyandotte, Peter's Mountain, East River Mountain, Wolf Creek Mountain, Butt Mountain, Brush Mountain, and Salt Pond Mountain. Pursuant to the act creating the County of Giles, the first court was held on the 13th day of May, 1806, in a house adja- cent to the dwelling house of Captain George Pearls (1) on New River, near where Pearisburg station is now situated. The building in which the first court was held remained standing until two or three years ago, when it was destroyed by fire. The Governor of the Commonwealth, William H. Cabell, had issued commissions to the following named gentlemen as Jus- tices of the Peace of the new County, viz: George Pearls, Thomas Shannon, Christian Snidow, David French, David Johnston, (2) Edward McDonald, Isaac Chapman, John Kirk, John Peck, Christopher Champ, John Burke, and James Banfe. Thomas Shannon and Christian Snidow, the second and third named persons in the commission, administered the oath to George Pearls the first named, and he then administered it to the others. David Johnston produced a commission from the Governor of the Commonwealth as Sheriff of the new county, and qualified as such with Christian Snidow and Isaac Chap- (1) The first settler where Pearisburg station is now situated and the first merchant in what is now Giles County. (2). David and Andrew Johnston were the first merchants and opened the first tannery; Dr. John H. Rutter, the first resident phy- sician; W. C. Charlton, first tailor. 158 New Eivbr Settlements man as his sureties, giving bond in the penalty of $7,000, and James Hoge qualified as his Deputy. David French was elect- ed clerk, and at his request the court apointed John Mc- Taylor as his deputy. Captain George Pearls was elected pre- siding Justice, and also commissioner of the revenue. Philip Lybrook was appointed county surveyor, and afterwards gave bond in the penalty of f 3,000 with John Lybrook and David French as his sureties. Henley Chapman produced a license authorizing him to practice law in the courts of the Commonwealth, and on his motion was admitted to practice in the courts of the County. The second term of the court convened on the 10th day of June, 1806, at which term the first Grand Jury for the county was impaneled and was composed of the following named gentle- men : William Smith, foreman, Matthew French, John Peters, Charles Walker, Joseph Hare, Thomas Clyburn, Adam John- ston, William Wilburn, William Brown, John Chapman, Wil- liam Tracy; David Summers, William Law, John Sartin, Ed- ward Hale and Robert Clendenin. Two indictments were found by the jury at this term, to wit: one against Peter Dingess for retailing spiritual liquors, and one against William Stowers, for entering the whiskey house of John Toney without leave and making use of his liquors. George Pearis and John Toney were each granted a license to keep an Ordinary at their respective houses, they having given the required bonds. Thomas Lewis, an attorney- at-law, and who was afterwards, in 1816, near Christianburg, Va., killed in a duel with McHenry, was admitted to practice in the courts of the County. The following named persons were appointed constables for said County, viz : John Hale, Charles Stuart, Henry Clay, Jacob McPherson, Edward Lewis, Reu- ben Johnston, Noah Mullet and Delaney Sweeney, and Chris- tian Snidow and Isaac Chapman were recommended to the governor as being qualified to discharge the duties of the of- fice of Coroner. It was ordered that the next term of the court be held in 1795-1836 159 the house to be erected by James Aldridge on one of the pub- lic lots. Captain George Pearis donated fifty three acres of land to the County on which to erect its public buildings, and a town was established on this land, called Pearisburg in honor of Captain Pearis. Andrew Johnston agreeing to survey and lay off the town lots and public square for the consideration of 131.00, was appointed to do so. The first petit jury impan- eled in the County consisted of Patrick Napier, John Peters, Joseph Jackson, Isaac Jackson, William Clay, Colby Stowers, William Pepper, Nimrod Smith, Henry Billion, Charles Clay, Philip Peters, and Larkin Stowers. The second Grand Jury consisted of the following named persons, viz : Thomas Burke, foreman, John Peters Theodore Hilvey, Charles Walker, James French, John Martin, William Caldwell, William Wilburn, Thomas Clyburn, John French, John Sartin, John Lybrook, Thomas Farley, Reuben Johnston, James Johnston, Adam Taylor, and Michael Williams. On these early records of Giles County appear the names of Chapman, Johnston, Oney, Givens, Price, Farley, Straley, (1.) Hare, Lybrook, Burke, Copley, McKensey, Garrison, Gore, Solesbury, Roberts, Harman, Mustard, McDonald, Fry, French, Miller, Clay, Cooke, Eaton, Munsey, Canterbury, Mul- lens, Burgess, Maupin, Jones, Hall, Emmons, Little, Spangler, Clyburn, Blankenship, Snodgrass, Atkins, Bogle, Conley, Rowe, Epling, Cecil, Tracy, Sarver, Marrs, King, Smith, Bowl- ing, Hager, Lester, Meadows, Albert, Scott, Ford, White, Bane, Shannon, McClaugherty, Watts, Pearis, Sweeny, Snidow, Toney, Napier, McComas, Burton, and Rowland, the latter named family from Philadelphia, Pa. Before giving further history of the County notice will be be taken of some interesting matters appearing on the old court record of Fincastle and Montgomery Counties. Among the numerous orders of the County Court ordering parties sus- (1) David Straley and John Fillinger first blacksmiths. 160 New Eivbe Settlements pected of being Tories to appear in court, and either take the oath or give bond for their good behavior, is an order made up- on the petition of numerous citizens praying that the place for the holding of court be removed to Craig's, as it is a "bet- ter place for hitching horses." It must be remembered that the County Courts, for there were no others in this section at that date, constituted practic- ally, the legislative, executive and judicial authority and pow- er of the County, before the itinerant District Judge came along. On March 3rd, 1778, Benjamin Eogers was appointed a con- stable in Captain Pearls' company. In June, 1785, David Johnston was appointed a constable. On the 26th of April, 1785, an order was made by the County Court allowing a sum of money to George Pearis for provisions, bacon and Indian meal furnished to two spies, and to the militia in June, 1782. Thomas Shannon and George Pearis were appointed in 1785 to review a road down New Eiver on both sides to the Greenbrier County line, and the same year George Pearis and Snidow and Chapman had ferries established across New River. In 1787, September 8th, Mitchell Clay conveyed one half of the Clover Bottom tract of land to Hugh Innis, of Franklin County. On the 7th of April, 1788, George Pearis conveyed a tract of land on Sugar Eun to Joseph Cloyd, and in June of the same year, conveyed a tract on New Eiver to David McComas. June 1st, 1790, Mitchell Clay conveyed to George Pearis the remaining half if the Clover Bottom tract. In 1793 Colonel Christian Snidow erected his dwelling house on the east side of New Eiver, at the Snidow-Chapman Ferry, and Isaac Chapman settled on the opposite side of the river from Col. Snidow, and in 1794, George Chapman erected his dwelling house on the east side of New Eiver, about one mile below Colonel Snidow's, on land now belonging to H. B. Shelton and H. L. Phlegar. The following extracts are taken from the record of Fin- castle County Court. On January 6th, 1773, the Court recom- mended to His Excellency, the Governor, that he will be pleas- DWELLING HOUSE OF COL. CHRISTIAN SNIDOW Built in 1793, opposite Ripplemead, Va. 1795-1836 161 ed to establish a Court House for the County, at a piece of land commonly called McCaul's Place, near the property of Ross and Co., and the lands of Samuel Crockett, in lieu of the Lead Mines for the several reasons following: "that the said McCaul's Place and Crockett's lies on the Great road that pass- es through the county and that it is well watered, timbered, and level; that it is much more central than the Mines, and that it is in the neighborhood of a great deal of good land and meadows; that the Lead Mines are near the south line of the County, and there is no spring convenient, very scarce of timber, and in a neighborhood where there is very little pas- ture, and entirely off the leading road. To which order Ar- thur Campbell dissented." At March Court, 1773, John Aylett and John Todd qualified to practice law. John Aylett produc- ed a commission appointing him His Majesty's attorney. On the second day of April, 1775, appeared James Clevars agent for General Washington, and being first sworn as the law di- rects, produced to the court a valuation of the improvements on the lands situated on the lower or south side of the Great Kanawha, containing 10,990 acres, property belonging to Gen- eral Washington, with a certificate granted by William Rus- sell, Justice of the Peace for this County, and that Stevens, George Aubry, and John Clemonts, being first duly sworn to value the tax improvements, which said valuation of the im- provements amounting to 1,100 lbs., 15 sh. ly^ pence, together with the above mentioned certificate is ordered to be recorded according to law. The following extracts are taken from the records of Mont- gomery County Court : John French qualified as Lieutenant in the . eighty-sixth regiment. John Chapman appointed ensign at March Court, 1778, in Captain Lucas' company. On the eighth day of April, 1778, the following order was entered: "The court proceeded to vote for a place for the Court House. John Montgomery, Walter Crockett and James McGavock having made the several proposals and the question being put, a majority were of the opinion that it should be at Fort Chis- 162 New Rivee Settlements well, Mr. McGavock giving the county twenty acres of land on the hill above the house on the north side of the road to with- in ten poles of the mill, thence down the branch and binding thereon so as to make the same nearly square, with the use of the spring in common with himself; also twenty acres of wood land to begin at the corner near his and extend eastwardly along the line ninety poles, and then such course and distances as will include the said twenty acres; likewise the use of any quarries on the Port Chiswell tract for building, which lands and privileges he is to convey to the court for the benefit of the County in fee simple without any consideration other than the advantage of having a Court House located on his land; and a reservation of one half acre lot in said land, such as he shall choose after the ground for the public buildings is laid off." At September Court, 1785, John Chapman was appointed one of the Viewers to view a route for a road from Big Cross- ing of Walker's Creek by Thomas Shannon's and Sugar Run, at Taylor's land to Captain Pearls'. At November Court, 1790, John French was recommended for ensign and John Chapman for Lieutenant. At the June term, 1804, Isaac Chapman was recommended as Lieutenant in the eighty-sixth regiment and John French recommended as Captain in the second Battalion of the eighty-sixth regiment, and David French a Lieutenant in the same. At the October Court, 1795, William Dingess was ap- pointed Deputy Surveyor. At the June term, 1801 . the follow- ing order was entered : "Henley Chapman Gentl., having pro- duced a license under the signature of the Honorable Richard Parker, Paul Carrington, Jr., and Archibald Stewart permit- ting him to practice as attorney in the Superior and Inferior Courts within this Commonwealth, and having taken the oaths required by law, he was admitted to practice in this court. Our second war with England, usually called the war of 1812, drew from the population of Giles County a consider- able number of men, who served at different periods during its existence. Among those who served were James Straley, John Straley, Daniel Straley, Captain John Peters, Julius FIRST COURT HOUSE BUILDING FOR GILES COUNTY Erected in 1806. 1795-1836 163 Walker, Berry Blankenship, James Sarver, John Spangler, Capt. C. H. A. Walker, William Oney and many others whose names the author has not been able to secure. Near the close of the war Andrew Johnston, as Captain, marched with a com- pany of men from Giles County, who were ordered to report at Norfolk, Virginia. On their way thither, on reaching Lib- erty, now Bedford City, they received information that a treaty of peace had been signed and that their services were not needed, and they were ordered to return to their homes. There came into the County of Giles, at quite an early date, a family by the name of Lucas, who became very notorious on account of their crimes. There were other families of Lucas' in the New Eiver Valley, and some in the county of Giles, who were people of standing and repute, and in no wise related to this criminal gang generally known as the Randall Lucas Tribe. Jeremiah Lucas, a son of Eandall on May 28th,1814, was hang- ed in the public square of Pearisburg for the murder of Julius Walker, committed on the 9th day of the April preceding. Walker was a soldier of the war of 1812, and during his ab- sence, Lucas became intimate with his. Walker's, wife, and on his return Lucas determined to kill him, and in order to ac- complish his purpose he feigned friendship for him, and in- vited him home with him, and on their way along the New River Cliffs not far from the Eggleston Springs, Lucas struck Walker with a club and continued to beat him over the head until he supposed him dead and then hid him away, and went on to Walker's house and stayed that night, and as is not un- common with a murderer he went back the next morning to visit the spot where he had left his victim, and found him sit- ting upright against a tree, unable, however, to move or get away. Walker begged Lucas to spare his life and told him if he would not kill him that as soon as he was able to leave the country he would go and never return, and would say nothing about Lucas' assault upon him. Lucas was unrelenting-brute- Kke and clubbed the unfortunate man to death. So soon as the 164 New Kiver Settlements murder was discovered, the murderer fled, taking refuge in the great Butt or Salt Pond Mountain. There was snow on the ground at the time and a posse of citizens pursued Lucas and finally ran him down and captured him. His captor was John Marrs, who died only a few years ago in Fayette County, West Virginia. Lucas was promptly indicted in the month follow- ing his capture, quickly tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged on the 28th of the May following. The names of the jurors who tried Lucas are, viz: Joseph Canterbury, John Eaton, Joseph Hare, John Chapman, Isaac McKinsey, Philip Peters, Edward Hale, Isaac, French, Thomas Clark, James Emmons, William Tracey, and John, (name not legible.) Wil- liam Chapman, Deputy for John Chapman, Sheriff of the Coun- ty, carried the sentence into execution. After his sentence and while awaiting execution the jailor of the county, George John- ston, had confined his prisoner in what they call the dungeon, and on giving him food on one occasion, Lucas, who was a physical giant, struck Johnston over 'the head with his hand- cuffs, felling him to the floor, then sprang out and started on a run to escape; Johnston, the jailor, had an old musket load- ed with powder and buck shot, which he kept in an adjoining room, and as soon as he could recover himself he seized the musket and ran out into the street ; but by this time Lucas had gone more than 150 yards away, when Johnston pulled down on him and wounded him in one of his legs, which brought him to the ground, and the jailor soon had him back in the dun- geon. Michael Montgole and family, in 1821, lived on the end of the Little Mountain, just below the mouth of Wolf Creek, in a ■small hollow, a few hundred yards west of the late residence of the late Joseph Hare, Esq. Montgole was accused of the murder of his wife, by shooting her with a rifle gun, on June 16th, 1821. He claimed that the shooting was accidental, and' insisted upon his innocence. He was arrested and promptly in- dicted by the Grand Jury of Giles County. Feeling against him was so strong that he was enabled to procure a change of THOMAS BERRY FARLEY RiPPLEMEAD, Va. Born 1795, Died 1903, age 108 years when this photograph was taken. 1795-1836 165 venue to the Circuit Court of the County of Montgomery, wherein he was tried and convicted in May, 1822, and executed on the 21st of June, 1822. He died protesting his innocence. Dave Lucas, another son of Eandall's, was more than once in the Virginia penitentiary for larceny and other crimes, and finally, in 1841, he murdered John Poflf, of Franklin County, Virginia, and being suspected of the murder, he ran away into Botetourt County, where he was arrested and brought back, indicted and on the 13th day of May, 1842, was tried by a jury composed of Robert Farris, Robert Caldwell, Christian Simmonds, Olliver C. Peters, Tobias Miller, Edward Nelson, Reuben Hughes, St. Clair French, Samuel Thompson, Joseph Fanning, Charles Miller, and Hiram Pauley, who found him guilty of murder and on the 16th day of the same month he was sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was carried into execution June 24th, 1842, by Abalsom Fry, deputy for John Peck, SherifiE of the County. Mr. Fry often related the inci- dents connected with the execution of this man, and among others the funeral sermon preached by Rev. Mr. Harris, a Meth- odist minister, on the day of execution, and that the text from which he preached was "As the Lord liveth and my soul liveth there is but a step between me and death." Thomas Berry Farley was the principal witness against Lucas, and upon his testimony he was convicted. Farley was born in 1795, on Gatliff's bottom on New River, in what is now Summers County, West Virginia, and died in Giles Coun- ty, Virginia, in 1903. He was the grandson of Thomas Farley, who settled on Culbertson's bottom now in Summers County, about the year of 1755. John, a third son of Randall Lucas also killed a man and was tried for his life; the jury however found him guilty of murder in the second degree and fixed his punishment in the penitentiary at nine years. The only other execution for murder in Giles County (1) (1). On March 23rd, 1906, Morris Cremeans is to hang for the mur- der of one Kidd. 166 New Kivee Settlements was that of Mahala Mason, a negro woman who was hanged May 14, 1852, for the murder of Sallie, a negro woman the property of W. B. Mason. The murder was committed on the 15th day of January, 1852. The funeral of this colored woman was preached by a negro preacher by the name of Harry Chapman, from the text : "Put thine house in order, for thou must die and not live." In tlie early history of Giles County there were some very interesting characters, both wags and wits, among the num- ber one John Conley. On an occasion Mr. Conley was passing over the old County road across Cloyd's Mountain, and meet- ing Mr. Frank Wysor riding in a two wheeled vehicle, Conley accosted Mr. Wysor, who had a very large nose, saying to him, "Stranger turn your nose to one side until I can get by it." Mr. Wysor did as requested, and after he had passed Mr. Conley in the road, he stopped his horse and called to Conley, saying, "Old man, wouldn't you like to have a drink this morning?" to which Mr. Conley replied he would. Mr. Wysor dismounted from his vehicle, taking a bottle therefrom and placing it on the ground, told Mr. Conley to help himself, and as Mr. Conley stooped down to reach for the bottle Mr. Wysor with his fist struck him on the side of the head, knocking him over the brac- ing of the road, and when Mr. Conley recovered himself Mr. Wysor was in his vehicle and several hundred yards away. One Chrispianos Walker, a young man at that time who liv- ed with his father on New River, opposite the mouth of Wolf Creek, had fallen in love with a young lady, a Miss Peters, whose parents lived nearly two miles above Walker's, on the river. They were engaged to be married, but the match was vigorously opposed by the girl's parents, and Walker was for- bidden the house and the girl put under watch, but Mr. Walk- er succeeded through some one in informing his betrothed that at a given time he would be at his father's house, have the nec- essary papers and the preacher on hand, and for her to at- tempt to make her escape at the time he had indicated. So,early one morning, the young lady suddenly disappeared from her 1795-1836 167 home, her absence soon being detected she was pursued by two of her brothers, but out ran them, reaching Mr. Walker's house, and springing in at the door almost breathless she cried out to her lover "now or never." Her intended husband was still in bed when she reached the door, but he immediately sprang out, having on but one garment, and the preacher then and there said the ceremony, at the conclusion of which the brothers ap- peared, but too late. About the year of 1829, there appeared in Giles County (2) a quaint eccentric man, about thirty years of age, by the name of Norman Eoberts, who came from Massachusetts, and many interesting stories are told of his peculiar doings and sayings. A gentleman driving a wild cow met Roberts at the forks of a road, and the cow taking the wrong road, the one on which Eoberts was approaching, called out to Roberts: "head that cow." Roberts replied, "She is already headed." He then said to Roberts "Turn that cow," to which Roberta replied "She al- ready has the right side out," and the man then said to Rob- erts "Speak to that cow," whereupon Roberts said "Goodbye, cow." Roberts wore long hair, lived in caves, and often hid himself from his fellowmen. The young girls were afraid of him, as he pretended to make love to all he met with He died in Mercer County, West Virginia, about 1854. A brief history will be given of the general laws. Legisla- tive and Constitutional, bearing upon the subject of suflErage, which will lead up to the assembling and action of the Vir- ginia people in holding various Constitutional conventions. Sir George Yeardley, governor of Virginia, arrived in April, 1619, he was the first to summon a General Assembly to be held by the inhabitants, every free man voting, and which was to make laws for the government of the country. He issued his summons in June, and on July 30th, 1619, the first Legis- lative body that ever sat in America assembled at Jamestown, the then capital of Virginia. This was a notable event, and (2). The first newspaper, called "The Southwest," was puhlished by John Sower, about 1858, and the first picture gallery by Bushong, in 1860. 168 New Eivee Settlements portended radical changes in the form of government. Pop- ular right in America had entered on life and the long strug- gle to hold its own.. Whatever might be the issue, the fact re- mains that at least it had been born. Here commenced the question of popular and restricted suffrage which has agita- ted the body politic from that time to the present.. In 1670 suf- frage was restricted to free-holders and housekeepers. Prom the first years of the colony to 1655 all the settlers had a voice in public affairs, first in the daily matters of the Hundreds, and after 1619 in electing Burgesses. In the year 1655 the Burgesses declared that none but, "Housekeepers, whether freeholders, leaseholders or otherwise tenants should be capa- ble to elect Burgesses." In the year of 1656 the ancient usage was restored and all freemen were allowed to vote. In 1670, the first act restricting the suffrage was restored, and this, it seems, was thenceforth the determinate sentiment, with the ex- ception of the year, 1676, when Bacon's Assembly changed it and declared that freemen should again vote. This however, was swept away by the general abrogation of all Bacon's Laws, and the freehold restriction was thus restored, and was in operation when the Virginia convention assembled in 1776. That convention provided in the Constitution which it framed that "the right of suffrage in the election of members for both. Houses shall remain as exercised at present ;" and this remain- ed the law until the assembling of the convention of 1829-30. On the 5th day of October, 1829, a convention of delegates from the senatorial districts of the Commonwealth of Virginia began its session in the city of Richmond. James Monroe, Esq., ex-president of the United States, was elected presi- dent of the convention, but on account of ill health served only for a short time, being succeeded by Philip P. Barbour. Prom the 15th senatorial district, composed of the counties of Montgomery, Giles, Wythe and Grayson, the following gen- tlemen were elected as delegates to said convention, viz : Gen- eral Gordon Cloyd, of Montgomery, Henley Chapman, of Giles, John P. Matthews, of Wythe and William Oglesby, of Grayson. 1837-1861 169 The Constituion framed by this convention made many rad- ical changes in tlie organic law of the state, and enlarged or rather extended, the right of suffrage to persons who had not theretofore exercised the same; but it failed to give satisfac- tion to the people west of the Alleghanies. The vote in the convention on the adoption of the Constitu- tion as engrossed, and as a whole, was taken thereon on Jan- uary 14th, 1830, and stood 55 for and forty against. Of the forty votes cast against the adoption of the instrument, twen- ty were by delegates from west of the Alleghanies, and whose names are as follows, viz: Andrew Beirne, William Smith, Fleming B. Miller, John Baxter, William Naylor, William Donaldson, John B. George, Andrew McMillan, Edward Campbell, William Byars, Gordon Cloyd, Henley Chapman, John P. Matthews, William Oglesby, Edwin S. Duncan, John Laidley, Lewis Summers, Adam See, Alexander Campbell, and E. M. Wilson. The constitution was adopted by the people by a majority if 10,492 votes. About 1832 and for some years subsequently the incorpora- tion and building of turnpike roads gave great impetus to the trade of the century ; among these roads Price's Mountain and Cumberland Gap turnpike, Wythe, Raleigh and Grayson and Giles, Fayette and Kanawha. (1.) CHAPTER VI. 1837-1861 Formation of Mercer County — Its Boundaries, Etc. — Courts Organized — First Grand Jury empanneled — Popular elec- tion — Including election of Members of Secession Con- vention. In the election held in the county of Giles in 1836 for dele- (1) The "Va. & Tennessee Railroad extended west of New River about 1856 and the C. & O. Ry. about 1872. 170 New River Settlements gate for Legislature, Daniel Hale, Esq., of Wolf Creek, was chosen. The people living along the Flat Top Mountain, Bluestone and its upper waters and Brush Creek, partly with- in the territory of Giles and partly within the territory of Tazewell, finding themselves greatly inconvenienced by the distance they had to travel to their County seat, determined to have a new County, and so petitioned the General Assembly of Virginia. Among the petitioners were Captain George W. Pearis, Colonel Daniel H. Pearls, William White, Cornelius White, Captain William Smith, William H. Frjench, Joseph Davidson, (2) John Davidson ,James Calfee, Isaac Gore, Elijah Bailey, and various others, then living within the territory of the proposed new County. The bill was introduced, passed, and became a law on the 17th day of March, 1837. The act in so far as the boundaries of the new County is concerned is as fol- lows : "Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all that part of the counties of Giles and Tazewell contained within the following boundary lines, to-wit: Beginning at the mouth of East Eiver,in Giles County,and following the meanders thereof up to Toney's mill dam ; thence along the top of said mounain. East River Mountain, (the line from Toney's mill dam to the top of the mountain was evidently omitted in the act) ; to a point opposite the upper end of the old plantation of Jesse Bel- cher, deceased, thence a straight line to Peery's mill dam near the mouth of Alp's (Abb's) Valley, thence to a point well known by the name of the Peeled (Pealed) Chestnuts, thence to the top of the Flat Top Mountain, thence along said moun- tain to New River, thence up and along the various meander- ings of the same to the beginning, shall form one distinct and new County, and be called and known by the name of Mercer County, in memory of General Hugh Mercer, who fell at Prince- ton." The Governor was authorized to appoint eighteen per- sons as Justices of the Peace for the County, the Justices then (2) Made settlements in Wright's Valley, within what Is now the corporate limits of the city of Bluefield, "West Virginia, and built what is known as "Davidson's House," in Hick's Addition; was a son of John Ooolman Davidson. 1837-1861 171 in commission residing in that part of Giles and Tazewell Counties, which will be in Mercer County after the commence- ment of the act were to be of the number to be commissioned for the new County. The following are the names of those who held commissions as Justices of the Peace within the territory of the new County, viz : Captain William Smith, Captain C. H. A. Walker, Elijah Peters, John Davidson, John Brown, Robert Gore, Robert Lilley, Robert Hall. A court for the County was directed to be held on the second Monday of every month. The following named genlemen were by the act to locate the site of justice for the county, to- wit: Thomas Kirk, of the County of Giles, James Harvey, of the County of Tazewell, Joseph Stratton, of the county of Lo- gan, and Henry B. Hunter, of the County of Greenbrier. The first meeting of the justices for organization was to be at the residence of James Calfee, (Gladeville about one mile west of Princeton), on the second Monday in April, 1837. The County by the said act was attached to the same judicial circuit with the County of Giles ; the circuit superior Courts of Law and Chancery to be held on the first days of May and Oc- tober. Philip Lybrook, of the County of Giles, John H. Vawter, of the County of Monroe, and John B. George, of the County of Tazewell were named as commissioners to run and mark the lines between the Counties of Giles and Tazewell and County of Mercer, and make report to the County Courts of each Coun- , ty. It may here be noted that the line between Wythe and Montgomery crossed the County of Mercer from a point on East River near the present Ingleside station, and running northwest passed a little to the west of the public burying ground at Princeton, crossing Bluestone at the Clover Bottom. The Giles and Tazewell County lines crossed about three miles west of Princeton ; the Big Spring at Jarrell's being one of the points on this, line, and the mouth of Milton's fork on Bluestone, and head of Crane Creek another. The County Court met on the second Monday in April and 172 New Eivbe Settlements elected Moses E. Kerr, Clerk, and named Captain William Smith as Sheriff, who was afterwards duly commissioned as such by the Governor of the Commonwealth. Captain Smith named John Jarrell as his Deputy, and he was duly appointed. Eobert Hall was appointed Surveyor of the County. The Commissioners to locate the place on which to erect the public buildings for the County, did so on a plat of land donat- ed by Captain William Smith, and near the Glady fork of Brush Creek, about one mile east of Gladeville, and the same on which the present Court House of Mercer County now stands. The question of the name of the County town was debated, some wishing to call it Banesville for Mr. Howard Bane, one of the Commissioners, but finally as the more appropriate, they called it Princeton, inasmuch as the county was named in mem- ory of General Hugh Mercer, who fell at Princeton, that it was altogetlier proper to name the County town for the place where General Mercer fell mortally wounded. The first Circuit Court for the County was held on the 1st day of May, 1837, by Judge James E. Brown, of Wythe, who appointed John M. Cunningham Clerk, and Thomas J. Boyd, Attorney for the Commonwealth. The first grand jury empanneled for Mercer County was composed of the following named gentlemen: Eobert Hall, John Martin, Sr., Christian S. Peters, Green W. Meadows, John Walker, George W. Pearls, James M. Bailey, John David- son, Archibald Bailey, William Cooper, Eichard Eunion, Thom- as Maxwell, Joseph McKinney, Jr., Joshua L. Mooney, Wil- liam Ferguson, Achilles Fannon, Philip P. Bailey, Chrispianos Walker, Samuel Bailey, William Garretson, Lewis M. Wilson, Eobert B. Davidson and Josiah Ferguson. The following At- torneys were admitted to practice at the first and second terms of the Court: viz: Joseph Stras, Albert G. Pendleton, Thomas J. Boyd, A. A. Chapman, M. Chapman, A. T. Caper- ton and David Hall. A list of all the judges, attorneys, clerks, justices of the peace, including names of members of the house of delegates 1837-1861 173 will be found in the appendix to this work, covering as far as possible the period from the first organization of civil govern- ment within the territory of which Mercer County had formed a part down to the date of the completing of this work. Since the date of the act creating the County of Mercer there has been three changes in its boundary lines. Under an act au- thorizing it, the line between Mercer and Tazewell from the top of East River Mountain to Peery's mill dam, was run, throwing a small strip of the territory of Tazewell into Mercer. In 1841 on its eastern border, by an act of the Legislature, the line along New River at Wiley's Falls to the Toney mill dam was changed so as to run from said mill dam a straight line to Wi- ley's falls ; thus cutting off a small strip of territory from Mer- cer and adding it to Giles County. In 1871 the county of Sum- mers was created, and all that part of the territory of Mercer County lying east and northeast of a line drawn from Round Bottom on the west side of New River to Brammer's Gate on the top of Flat Top Mountain was stricken off to the County of Summers, leaving to Mercer about 420 square miles. Some of the men who aided in securing and organizing the County of Mercer had come over the Alleghenies a few years after the close of the American Revolution, and some were the sons and grandsons of men who had come prior to the Revolution. Those who came during the war for indepen- dence were called "Over Mountain or Peace men" for the rea- son that they were from over the mountains, and Peace men, because it was supposed that many of them were opposed to war with Great Britain, but this could not be true of all, be- cause many came before the Revolution began, and a large number of those who came fought gallantly in several battles ; notably. King's Mountain, Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, Wet- zell's Mills, and Guilford Court House. It is doubtless true that there were Tories in the New River Valley region, mostly however on the upper waters of the New River. Colonel Preston, when requested to secure the British and Tory prisoners captured at the battle of King's Mountain, 174 New Rivee Settlements in stockades to be built at Fort Chiswell answered, "that be did not regard the place as secure, as there were more Tories in Montgomery County than any other county of Virginia." It is certain that some among the most prominent families of tod^ in the New River Valley, and upon the Clinch waters are the descendants of Tory ancestors during the Revolution. For fear^of giving offense or wounding the feelings of the more sensitive, no names are here mentioned, but no just reason can be assigned why men of that day may not have well been on the Kin^s side. It was at least a question of opinion as to who was right and who was wrong. Returning to the organization of Mercer County it will be noted that the justices met and chose one of their number as Presiding Justice, and this was what had substantially been provided by former laws. Captain William Smith, who was born in the County of Rockingham, Virginia, in 1774, came to the New River Valley with his father and family when a small lad. He had often be- fore, as well as after 1837, been honored by his fellowmen. He was the Presiding Justice of Mercer County for twelve years, and although not a man of letters, without education in tlie common acceptation of the term, only able to write his name and that mechanically, for he could write nothing else, but his high sense of honor, coupled with his great native ability and common sense, commended him to the favor of his fellow citi- zens, who not only honored him by keeping him in the of- fice of Justice of the Peace and making him the presiding oflB- cer of the court for a long term of years, but the court had his portrait painted, framed and hung over the judicial bench in the Court House, where it remained until the destruction of that building on the 1st day of May, 1862. Captain Smith was several times elected to the House of Delegates of Virginia as the representative of the County of Giles, and of Mercer and Giles after the formation of Mercer. He was a candidate for the Legislature twelve times and was elected six times. 1837-1861 175 The first settler at the place where the town of Princeton is situated, was French 0. Smith, who was a son of one Ezekiel Smith, who went to Texas in the early thirties, was captured by the Mexicans and kept in confinement for five years. French C. Smith, the son, shortly after his father left the coun- try for Texas, also went there, and became quite a prominent figure in Texas politics, having been the Whig candidate for Governor against General Sam Houston, the Democratic can^ didate, and by whom Smith was defeated by a large majority, The first merchant to open a store at Princeton was Theo dore Jordan, who was followed by Captain William H. HowCj George W. and Daniel H. Pearis, Ward and Gibbony, John ston and Pearis, Pack and Vawter, John A. Pack & Co., Scott Emmons & Pearis, Pearis & Mahood, John W. Smith, Brown & Shumate. (1) The first hotel keepers were James M. Bailey and Charles W. Calfee, who were followed Ifiter by George W. and Daniel H. Pearis and J. H. Alvis. • Daniel Straley was the first Black- smith, followed later by George B. Newlee, and later by J. W. Dorsey. The first shoemaker was Isham Brinkley, followed by Crockett Scott, and the first tanners were Thompson & Chapman. The first Court House was built in 1839 by a man by the name of Ledbetter. Mercer County enjoys the distinc- tion of having had more Court Houses than any other county in the state and promises to build still more. The first Court House was so badly erected ttat it had to be taken down and rebuilt, and this was destroyed when the town of Princeton was burned in 1862. The third, in part built at Concord Church by George Evans, contractor, and abandoned after an expenditure of several thousand dollars ; the fourth built in 1874 by Andrew Fillinger was destroyed by fire in 1875, sup- posed to be the work of an incendiary; the fifth and present one with the additions thereto was built in 1876 by D. W. Mc- Claugherty in part and also later by John C. Darst; and it is now seriously proposed to build the sixth one at Bluefield, (1) Dr. R. B. McNutt was the first resident physician. 176 New Rivee Settlements that is, whenever the necessary vote of the people can be had removing the County seat to Bluefleld. For a number of years the Counties of Giles and Mercer sent a delegate to the Legislature. The political parties in the two counties were very closely and equally divided. The census of 1840, the first taken after the creation of the county of Mercer showed a population of 2,243 people. Many fierce political battles were fought in the two counties, from the year of 1840 to that of 1854. These spirited political con- tests were usually over two oflQoes, member of the house of Delegates and the office of Sheriff. In the year of 1841 Oscar F. Johnston defeated Captain William Smith for the House of Delegates. In the year of 1842 William H. French defeated Chapman I. Johnston for the House of Delegates. Before proceeding to relate incidents Occurring in later con- tests, it will here be mentioned that two quite distinguished gentlemen and members of the bar, viz: Albert G. Pendleton and Nathaniel Harrison, over a trifling matter came very near venturing out on the field of hohor to settle their dififeren- es; the interposition of mutual friends settled the difiSculty, and no blood was shed. In the year of 1843 the contest for the House of Delegates was between William H. French of Mercer, the Whig candidate and Albert G. Pendleton, of Giles, the Democratic candidate, in which contest French won by eleven votes. At that day there were only two voting places in the county of Mercer, one at Princton and the other at Pipestem. It was customary and usual in those days for the opposing candidates to get to- gether" at the Court House on the day of an election and sit in the polling room. The voting then was viva vocte, and when an elector cast his vote, the candidate for whom he voted express- ed his satisfaction by publicly thanking him. A very amusing little incident as well as a clever trick occurred at Princeton in the election between French and Pendleton, and is deemed worthy of relating here. French, the Whig candidate was at 1837-1861 177 Princeton on the day of the election sitting in the polling place. Captain George W. Pearls, a very ardent democrat, and known to be the special champion and friend of Colonel Pendleton, lived at Princeton and had charge of Mr. Pendle- tons interest at that place on the day of election. Only those could vote who had a freehold, and were assessed with some part of the public revenue and had paid the same. One Samuel Waldron, who lived about 1% miles southeast of where the city of Bluefleld is now located, but who under the law was not a voter, was present at the election at Prince- ton and expressed to Captain Pearis his desire to vote, and in- quired of Captain Pearis whether he, Waldron, was a legal vo- ter. Being informed by Pearis that he did not think he was, but that if he would vote for Pendleton he thought he could arrange the matter for him. Out of the three commissioners conducting the election, two of them were Whigs and known friends of French. Captain Pearis told Waldron to go in and offer his vote, and that when hia name was called he, Pearis, would suddenly appear at the Court House door and chal- lenge his vote, and that he had no doubt that the commission- ers would promptly decide that he was a legal voter. Wal- dron appeared before the commissioners and expressed his de- sire to vote, and the Crier called out "Samuel Waldron, who do you vote for?" Before he could answer Captain Pearia appeared at the door and shouted at the top of his voice, "I challenge that vote, that man is not a voter." From these cir- cumstances French's friends concluded that Waldron wanted to vote for him, and they promptly decided that he was a qual- ified voter, and being again inquired of as for whom he wished to vote, he replied, "Pendleton," much to the chagrin and dis- appointment of French and his friends. Another incident oc- curing at this same election is worth telling as Mr. Pendleton was the butt of the joke this time. Mr. Pendleton very early on the morning of election day on his way to Pipestem voting place, went several miles out of hia way to see Mr. John Com- er, who lived on Christian's Kidge and after a talk with Com- 178 New Rivee Settlements er, was led to believe that he was a friend and would vote for him, so he took him up on his horse behind him and rode to the polling place about ten miles away, and when Comer's name was called by the Crier at the polls, Comer shouted "French." A few years after this Cornelius White was elected to the House of Delegates from the counties of Mercer and Giles. Mr. White was a plain farmer, without much education, but a man of good native sense. After reaching Richmond and entering the House he introduced a bill of some local nature, touching some local matters connected with roads, and seem- ed to have taken no further interest in the bill until within a day or two of the close of the session, when he inquired of some friend if he knew anything of his bill and being answered in the negative, Mr. White inquired what he should do about it; his friend told him to call up the bill and ask for unani- mous consent to put the bill on its passage. The next morning at the opening of the session. Mr. White addressed the Speak- er telling him about the bill and how anxious he was to have it pass and then said "Mr. Speaker, if you will take up that bill and have it passed I promise you that I will show you the frog of my foot to-morrow morning." In the year of 1847 diflSculties growing out of relations be- tween the United States and Mexico brought on war between the two countries. No organized troops went from either of the two Counties of Giles or Mercer, though Col. Daniel H. Pearls, the commandant of the militia of the latter County, sought to obtain a commission as Colonel of the Virginia reg- iment then being organized for the field, but failed, the com- mission being given to Colonel John M. Hamptrampeh, and to John Randolph as Lieutenant Colonel, and to Jubal A. Early as Major. Captain James F. Preston, of Montgomery County, raised in that County a company which was attached to the Virginia Regiment. Many of these men who went with the Virginia Regiment to Mexico, became distinguished soldiers in our 1837-1861 179 late Civil War : viz : Jubal A. Early became a Lieutenant Gen- eral, Captain James P. Preston became Colonel of the Fourth Virginia Eegiment of the Stonewall Brigade, Robert D. Gard- ner succeeded Preston in command of the Fourth Regiment, Charles A. Ronald also became Colonel of this Regiment, and at one time commanded the Stonewall Brigade, Joel Black- ard became Captain of the first company from Giles County, and while such was killed in the battle of Frazier's farm in 1862, W. W. McComas, a prominent physician of Giles Coun- ty, as Captain led a company of artillery from that County, losing his life in the battle of South Mills, N. C. Judge Rob- ert A. Richardson, at one time a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, was a soldier in the Mexican war, and led the first company from Mercer County into the civil War, Andrew J. Grisby, who aided in the organization of the first company of volunteers that left Giles County, was made Ma- jor of the 27th Virginia regiment of the Stonewall Brigade, afterwards becoming Colonel of that regiment, and sfeveral times in command of the Brigade, was a member of Doni- phan's regiment of Missouri Cavalry in the Mexican war. Har- vey Wall, who long lived in Mercer County, was a member of Captain Preston's company, as well and Daniel H. Harman, of Boone County, West Virginia, Benjamin Linkous, another member of Preston's company, became a Colonel of a Confed- erate regiment, and Greenbury Chandler, who was with Pres- ton in Mexico, became a Confederate oflicer and was slain in the battle of Piedmont Virginia. Another step forward was to be taken by the Virginia peo- ple in the enlargement of the right to vote, and a convention assembled at Richmond on the 14th. day of October,1850, and framed a constitution which was adopted, whereby the re- strictions upon the right of suffrage were practically swept away ; excluding only persons of unsound mind, paupers, non- commissioned ofiflcers, soldiers, seamen, and marines in the service of the United States, and persons who had been con- victed of bribery in an election or of any infamous oflEense. 180 New River Settlements The representatives in this convention from the district in which Mercer County was included were Albert G. Pendleton of Giles, Allen T. Caperton and Augustus A. Chapman of Mon- roe. The Constitution framed by this convention was adopted as a compromise measure between the east and the west. In 1850 Lewis Neal defeated John Miller, of Sinking Creek, for the House of Delegates. In 1851 Captain George W. Pearls was elected to the House of Delegates over Alexander Mahood, and in 1852 Reuben Garretson defeated Colonel James M. Bailey. Under the Constitution of 1851 Mercer was accorded a delegate. The most remarkable and notable contest in the matter of an election, that ever occurred in Mercer County, was over that of a delegate to the Secession Convention. The contest was between two brothers, William H. French and Napoleon B. French. At the time of this election Napoleon B. French was serving as a senator in the Legislature of Virginia from the district of which Mercer County was a part, and was in Rich- mond at the time of this election. These men were and had for long years been prominent in politics, and were the two best known men not only in the County, but in this particular sec- tion of the state. Both brothers had been Whigs all of their lives and up to a short time prior to the beginning of the Civ- il war, when William H. left the Whig and united with the Democratic party. This action on his part so incensed his old political friends that they determined to get even with him the first opportunity, and when he announced himself a candi- date for the convention and made known his views, which tend- ed toward secession, his old political friends who had become his enemies, as well as the political friends of his brother. Na- poleon, at once named the latter as the opposing candidate. There was considerable feeling in this contest and some bit- terness. At this time a large majority of the people of Mer- cer County were strongly union in sentiment. The great political battle between these two brothers was 1837-1861 181 fought to the finish, and resulted in the election of Napoleon B. French by a majority of more than 300. On the assem- bling of the convention in February, 1861, Mr. French took his seat therein as the representative of the people of Mercer County. The next spirited contest was for the Legislature, a battle royal which took place between Captain Robert A. Richardson and Dr. Robert B. McNutt, in May, 1861. Richardson had rais- ed a company of volunteers for the Civil War, of which he had been elected Captain, and consequently had gathered to himself a very large following and was then on the eve of starting ofiE for the war, and the people of the County were very much ag- itated and excited. Dr. Robert B. McNutt had long lived in the County, was a very eminent physician, had quite a strong relationship, and a host of friends, personal and political. He was defeated by Richardson by a small majority. The Secession Convention which assembled in Richmond in February,1861, was composed of the ablest men in the state ; they were not only able but patriotic, and weighed well and carefully every step that was taken. A great deal of the time of the convention was taken up in considering the report of the committee on Federal relations. The report of this com- mittee recommended certain amendments to the Constitution of the United States fixing the limits of the slave territory, and the rights of slaveholders to take their slave property into the limits of such territory. There were a great many substitutes offered for this report, and it was evident from the various votes taken on these substitutes that in the beginning the larger number of the members of the convention were opposed to separation from the Union, and on the other hand the ma- jority thereof seems to have been unwilling to see the Federal Government coerce the states which had seceded. At last and when the point was reached and it became evident that the Federal authorities were determined to attempt to coerce the seceding states, it became necessary for the convention to take some decided step. It went into secret session on Tues- 182 New River Settlements day, the 16th day of April, 1861, and on that day Mr. William Ballard Preston, of Montgomery County, submitted an ordi- nance "to repeal the ratification of the Constitution of the United States by the state of Virginia, and to resume all the rights and powers granted under said Constitution." In the afternoon session of that day Mr. Eobert Scott, of Fauquier, offered a substitute for Mr. Preston's ordinance. This substitute recited that there were still eight slavehold- ing states within the Union, and some members of the conven- tion favored consultation and co-operation with these states, and that it was desirable to ascertain the preferences of the people of the state as to whether or not they desired co-opera- tion with the eight slave states or immediate secession, and to that end a vote of the people of the state be taken on the 4th Tuesday in May next thereafter. When a vote on this substi- tute was called for, Mr. Baldwin of Augusta moved an adjourn- ment, but the convention refused to adjourn by a vote of sixty- five to seventy- eight, Mr. French, the representative from Mer- cer, voting for adjournment. After the transaction of some other business another motion was made to adjourn, which was carried by a vote of seventy-six to sixty-five, French again voting for adjournment. On Wednesday, the 17th day of April, 1861, the convention resumed consideration of the ordinance submitted by Mr. Preston and the substitute offered therefor by Mr. Scott. The vote was first taken on the substitute which was lost by sixty-four to seventy-nine, French voting for the substitute, and casting his vote with John A. Campbell, of Washington, John J. Jackson of Wood, John F. Lewis of Rock- ingham, John S. Burdett of Taylor, Jubel A. Early of Frank- lin, Samuel Price of Greenbrier, Henry L. Gillaspie, of Ra- leigh, and other members from northwestern Virginia. The Monroe, Giles and Tazewell delegates voted against the sub- stitute. The substitute being lost, a vote was then taken on the ordinance proposed by Mr. Preston which was adopted by a vote of eighty- eight to fifty-five. On this final vote French voted for the ordinance as did almost all the members from the 1837-1861 183 southwestern part of the Btate, while the major part of the members from the northwestern part of the state voted against it. It is here noted in this connection that the Congress of the United States agreed to and submitted an amendment to the Constituion, which was approved March, 1861, touching the slavery question and known as amendment number "Thirteen," and which was ratified by the Legislature of the restored Gov- ernment of Virginia at Wheeling, the 13th day of February, 1862. The amendment is in the following words: "No amend- ment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere in any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of per- sons held to labor or service by the laws of the said state." The convention of Virginia provided for the submission of the OBdinance of secession to the people on the 23rd day of May, 1861, for ratification or rejection. It was ratified by a ma- jority of 96,750 out of a total vote of 161,018 votes. The Coun- ties of northwestern Virginia in a vote of 44,000 gave 40,000 majority against the ordinance. The vote in Mercer County on the ordinance was practically unanimous, only seven votes being cast against it. Giles County cast her 1033 votes solidly for the ordinance ; electing at the same time Captain William Eggleston to the House of Delegates over Dr. John W. Easly by 234 votes. As has been seen by reference to the vote of the delegates in the convention from the Counties west of the Alleghenies and north of the Kanawha, as well as the vote of the people of those Counties, that they were intently and earnestly opposed to secession, while all he Counties south of the Kanawha, and particularly those in the New River Valley and southwest Vir- ginia were almost a unit for it. Toward the closing days of the secession convention, a party of gentlemen from several Counties in the state — representative men, catching the spirit of the people at home, which seemed to be in advance of that of the convention, by self appointment met in the city of Eich- 184 New Kivee Settlements' mond with the view and purpose of influencing if possible the action of the convention in favor of immediate secession. What bearing if any the meetings of this self constituted body of men had on the action of the convention can only be con- jectured. Such was the intense feeling and excitement in Richmond, and in fact throughout the Commonwealth, that the represen- tatives in the convention from the northwestern and other parts of the state who opposed the action of the convention and refused to vote for the ordinance, became alarmed for their safety, some leaving and traveling incognito, while others thought it necessary to procure letters of safe conduct from the Governor of the Commonwealth in order to enable them to reach their homes. The news of the passage of the ordinance of secession, spread throughout the state like unto wild fire in a dry stubble on a windy day. The intelligence was greeted with shouts of ap- plause by the populace, bells were rung, cannons boomed, great gatherings of the people were had, and oratory dispensed without stint. Virginia had stood for peace, placed herself in the position of mediator between tlie contending sections. Her appeals on the one side were unheeded, and the threats and demonstra- tions on the other, did not move her. She did not intend to act in haste, and only decided to leave the Union when the Federal Executive called for seventy-five thousaud troops to coerce the Seceded States. History can scarcely furnish a parallel of the beginning of a revolution so orderly, peaceful, and without blood shed or ex- cesses of any kind, all accomplished in a quiet. Constitutional form and method — ^Virginia claiming nothing further than to be allowed to depart in peace, uttering as she withdrew from the Union the hope and prayer that war might be averted. Without waiting for the result of the vote on the ordinance, the people went to work with energy to organize and equip the whole military force of the state for defense, not for aggressive 1861-1865 185 war on the Federal Union, but to prevent if possible, the Fed- eral power from crushing the state and overthrowing Consti- tutional government therein, and to prevent further encroach- ments upon the rights of the state. Virginia had resumed her original sovereignty, and had withdrawn all the powers and rights that she had delegated to the Federal agent; she had re- voked the power of attorney that she had given that Federal agent, and did not propose to withdraw the revocation, but to maintain it by force of arms if necessary; that was all. The position of the south,and particularly of Virginia, seems not to have been well understood by the great bulk of the north- ern people, who were led astray by the cry for the Union, and that these people of the south were preparing to establish a government ba^sed upon slavery as its chief cornerstone, when in fact our southern people were attempting to escape from a government and power which sought to destroy their Consti- tional rights. It was not the establishment of a southern Con- federacy that our people sought and fought for, but it was to uphold and maintain the integrity and sovereignty of the state, and with no view of making war on the other States of the Union or on the Federal Government. CHAPTER VII. 1861-1865. The organization of Military Companies — The concentration of Armies — The War Begins — Great Union Uprising in Northwestern Virginia — Restored Government of Virginia — Formation of West Virginia — Various battles and en- gagements—Campaigns of 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865— The war ends — Peace restored — Eeconstruction in Mercer County. At the period of the organization of military companies re- ferred to above, the whole state of Virginia, in a measure, pre- 186 New River Settlements sented a fair picture of a grand military camp and the people, except those in the northwestern part of the state were aglow with enthusiasm for the defense of Virginia. Enlistments were rapidly going on in all theCounties, cities, towns and vil- lages within the Commonwealth, and the people of the New River Valley Counties were abreast with their sister Counties in this great movement. The change in public sentiment wrought in the minds of the people in a few short weeks was most remarkable. In the County of Giles Mr. Manilius Chapman, known to lean strong- ly towards separation from the Federal Union, was in Febru- ary elected to the convention by a majority of only about twen- ty votes over Mr. Charles D. Peck, an open and avowed Union- ist, and who declared itihat "he would give up his slaves rather than dissolve the Union." A little more than three short months, the solid vote of Giles County was cast for the ratification of the ordinance of Secession. The same is true of the people of Mercer county, where the Union candidate was elected by a vote of over two to one; yet in the same length of time the sen- timent of the people had been so revolutionized, that, save and except seven votes, the County went solidly for secession ; this, too, in County whose population was composed almost wholly of white people, there being but few slaves in the county. The ,f oUo wing companies were lorganized and sent to the war by the County of Giles, viz: Captain James H. French's com- pany of infantry attached to the 7th Virginia regiment; Cap- tain W. W . McComas' company of artillery attached to Sarke's battalion; Captain Andrew Gott's company (1) at- tached to the 36th Virginia regiment of infantry ; Captain Por- terfield's company attached to the 36th regiment of Virginia infantry; Captain William Eggleston's company attached to the 24:th Virginia regiment of infantry; Captain William H. Payne's company attached to the 27th Virginia battalion of cavalry. To these should be added numbers of Giles County Note 1. The officers of Captain Andrew Gott's company I, 36 Va. Infty., were, Capt. Andrew Gott, Lieuts. James K. Shannon, Leander Johnston and Jno. M. Henderson. 1861-1865 187 men who attached themselves to companies from other coun- ties, and also the Reserve forces composed of those between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years and forty-five and fifty years. (2) Mercer County organized and sent to the field ten companies as follows, viz: (3). Captain Robert A. Eichardson's company attached to the 24th regiment of Virginia infantry; Captain William B. Dorman's company attached to a regiment of the Wise Legion; Captain John A. Pack's company and Captain W. G. Kyan's company, both of which were attached to the 60th regiment of Virginia ; Captain Richard B. Foley's Independent company of infantry; Captain John E. Dunlap's company at- tached to the 23rd Virginia battalion of infantry; Captain William H. French's company attached to the 17th Virginia regiment of cavalry; Captain Napoleon B. French's company of artilery, unattached, and captured at Fort Donnelson, and afterwards divided, part going to the 17th regiment of Vir- ginia cavalry and the remainder thereof to Clark's 30th batta- lion of Virginia infantry; the companies of Captain Jacob C. Straley and Captain Robert Gore attached to the 17th regiment of Virginia cavalry. The company of Captain William B. Dor- man was captured in the battle of Roanoke Island, in 1862, and on the return of the members of said company they separated, some going to Captain Jacob C. Straley's company and some to a company commanded by Captain Thomas Thompson, who was succeeded by Captain James H. Peck, and this company was attached to the 26th Virginia battalion of infantry com- manded by Colonel George M. Edgar. It is not intended here, in fact it is not at all possible, as the information is not at hand, to present a list of the names of the men who composed these various companies, but the rolls of some of the companies from the Counties of Giles and Mer- (2). A company of Reserves commanded by Capt. Wm. H. Dulaney. (3). In addition to these ten companies, Mercer County also sent Capt. Alex. Pine's company of Reserves, attached to the 4th Va. Bat- talion. See Appendix G. 188 New Rivee Settlements cer, as far as they have been obtained, together with the names of the various company, offlcers will be found in the appendix to this volume. As has already been stated, when our people entered upon the war it was with brave determination and vigor — not count- ' ing the cost. It was to them simply the question of defending Virginia, and Virginia's soil from the threatened invasion of a Northern army; and to preserve our rights and liberties as free people, and for which our ancestors had shed their blood in our contest with Great Britain. It was not a war on the part of our people to preserve or perpetuate slavery, for thou- sands of our best and bravest soldiers, nor their ancestors had ever owned a slave. We were forced to the choice of which master we should serve — we could not serve both. We regarded our primary allegiance due to the state which, with the other states, had given life and existence to the Federal agent that now proposed to turn upon, crush and destroy its creators. These were the arguments and presentations of the question at that time. For these contentions our people stood ready to surrender their lives, their all, save honor, and fought to the finish, only yielding to overpowering and overwhelming force, but not surrendering an iota of the principles for which they so long, so faithfully and bravely battled. These principles are just as sacred today as they ever were, they were not lost by the results of the war, only the effort to maintain and estab- lish them by the arbitrament of the sword was a failure. In the months of May, June and the early days of July, 1861, the Federal Government had gathered two great armies in the East under the command of General Winfleld Scott; one at Washington and in that vicinity, which during the months re- ferred to had crossed the Potomac into Virginia, the other along the upper Potomac in the vicinity of Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry. The first named army under General McDow- ell as field commander, the second under General Patterson as commander in the field. The Confederate Government to oppose these hostile and in- 1861-1865 189 vading armies, had gathered and mobilized an army at and around Manassas Junction under General G. T. . Beauregard ; another to oppose General Patterson on the upper Potomac and in the Valley under General Joseph E. Johnston. During the month of May many of the companies from the New River Valley Counties marched away to their respective places of rendezvous, among them the companies of Captain James H. French, of Giles, and Captain Richardson, of Mercer, which left their respective Counties about the last days of May, 1861, and hastened to Lynchburg, Virginia, their appointed place of rendezvous, and on the first day of June thereafter joined General Beauregard's army, then being concentrated at and around Manassas Junction on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad and about twenty-five miles from the city 'of Wash- ington. The companies of French (1) and Richardson were assigned to the 24th regiment of Virginia infantry then com- manded by Colonel Jubal A. Early. The company of Captain McComas was assigned to duty with the Wise Legion, and did its first service in the Greenbrier-Sewell Mountain country, and was then transferred to the eastern department with the Legion to which it belonged. The other companies as organized, those from Giles as well as those from Mercer, went forward to their respective places of assignment. It is estimated that the Coun- ty of Giles sent into the Confederate service about eight hun- dred men, of whom nearly forty per cent, were lost, and that about fifteen hundred men went from the County of Mercer, of whom it is estimated that fully forty per cent were lost. These two Counties had their representatives on every important battlefield in the state of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and on some of the fields in Tennessee, Ken- tucky and North Carolina. General Beauregard's outposts were at Fairfax Court House, and on the morning of June 1st, 1861, a Federal scouting par- ty entered the town and a skirmish with the Confederates un- ci) French's company was subsequently and prior to the first battle of Manassas, transferred to the 7th Virginia Regiment. 190 New River Settlements der Major Ewell took place, in which Captain John Q. Marr, of Fauquier County, was killed. During the month of June and the early days of July, Gen- eral Beauregard was actively engaged in the organization of his troops and in preparing them for field service. The regi- regiment and place dunder the command of Colonel Jubal A. 24th Virginia regiments were brigaded with the 7th Louisiana regiment and placed under the command of Colonel Jubal A. Early. Rumors were afloat in the camps for several days previous to the Federal advance that we would soon be attacked by Gen- eral McDowell's army. Soldiers, even at that early stage of the war, seemed to have the peculiar faculty of finding out things that it was diflBcult to conceive how or where they got their information, — proba- bly a kind of intuition. In the early days of July our pickets on the outposts were required to be more vigilant, and orders were issued requiring the men not on picket to keep strictly within the camp. One night during this time a picket fired his gun at some object, real or imaginary; nevertheless the long roll sounded to arms. We had the guns but no animunition, and such confusion was scarcely ever seen, but we survived it — got straightened out, and became much more calm when we found no enemy was ap- proaching. Orders came to prepare three days rations and to be prepar- ed to march at a moment's notice. Everything transportable was packed and in readiness, the soldier's knapsack was full and heavy, and this together with his musket and forty rounds of cartridges, made a burden too heavy to be borne on a July day and we learned better later on, soon finding out how to re- duce our baggage to the minimum. The order to march came on the 17th day of July and we left our camp and proceeded to the high ground overlooking the valley of Bull Run, and Mitch- ell's, Blackburn's, and McLean's fords, where we remained that night and until about noon on the 18th, when we discovered a 1861-1865 191 cloud of dust rising beyond the stream, wMch indicated the ad- vance of a body of men, which proved to be the vanguard of the Federal army, which threw itself against General Long- street's brigade and was repulsed; but soon renewed the at- tack, when the seventh Virginia regiment was led into the ac- tion by Colonel Early, and this attack was repulsed. After a sharp cannonade of two hours or more, the enemy retired and some of our men crossed the stream, picked up hats, guns, blankets, and the enemy's wounded. The loss in the 7th regi- ment was small, a few slightly wounded, among them Isaac Hare and James H. Gardner, of the Giles company, struck with spent balls. Lieutenant Colonel Lewis B. Williams was in command of the regiment. Colonel Kemper being absent on detached service, but he joined us the next day We occu- pied the field that night, next day and until Saturday, when we were relieved and allowed to retire a short distance into a pine thicket to rest and recuperate. The enemy having sufiS- ciently felt of our position and of us to satisfy him that we were there and meant to stay as long as necessary, retired out of the range of our guns, and began the flank movement which culminated in the battle of Sunday afterwards. On Sunday morning, the 21st, we were lined up along the belt of pines and timber which fringed the southern bank of the stream, where we were subjected to a severe shelling from the enemy's guns posted on the heights beyond. On the day preceding, the companies of Kichardson, of Mercer, and Ly- brook, of Patrick, were eent to Bacon Kace Church to guard the road leading to our position from that direction, and these companies remained in their position throughout Sunday and did not participate in the battle. About 11 o'clock A. M. of Sunday, July 21st, Colonel Early led his brigade of three regiments, less the two companies above referred to, across Bull Kun at McLean's Ford and on to the hills beyond, forming in line of battle and prepared to advance, when he was recalled to take position in the rear of the troops at Mitchell's and Blackburn's ford. 192 New Eivbe Settlements About high noon could be heard distinctly the roar of battle far to the left and to the west. It was fully eight" miles away, and Colonel Early receiving an order to march to the field of contention, moved off rapidly, the 13th Mississippi, Colonel Barksdale, having been substituted for the 24th Virginia regi- ment, which had been placed in position at one of the fords. The movement of Early's brigade for the grater part of the dis- tance was at double quick through a broiling hot sun and many of the men were almost completely exhausted and fam- ished for water. The brigade reached the field of action about three o'clock and twenty minutes, P. M., the time consumed in the movement being about two hours and twenty minutes. In this rapid movement no roads were looked for or traveled, but the command was governed alone by the sound of the firing. On the arrival of this brigade the situation was anything but promising to the Confederates; the Federals were making an- other, and it was the last, swing around the Confederate left. The brigade of General E. Kirby Smith, which had just pre- ceded that of Early on the field, had passed through a strip of woods, behind which Early's command marched to the left, and into an open field beyond, and n^ar to the Chinn house, which was almost immediately on the left of the brigade. Here the deployment of the brigade began to meet the oncom- ing foe. The 7th Virginia regiment being in the advance made its deployment quickly, but not without serious loss from the enemy's fire, from which the regiment suffered in killed and wounded within a few minutes forty-seven men, of whom nine were killed and thirty-eight wounded. Colonel Early advanc- ed his regiments promptly against the enemy, who soon left the field in a panic, and were pursued as rapidly and as far as the broken down condition of the men would permit. The Fed- erals continued their retreat to the Potomac, and even beyond, some of them not stopping short of their homes ; and thus the first "On to Richmond" was a disastrous failure. General Johnston had eluded Patterson in the Valley, and with the greater part of his forces had united with General 1861-1865 193 Beauregard's army in time to win the great victory at Ma- nassas. The loss in company D, the Giles company, of the 7th regi- ment was as follows, viz: Killed, Joseph E. Bane, Wounded, Eobert H. Bane, A. L. Fry, Manilius S. Johnston, Charles N. J. Lee, Henry Lewy, John P. Sublet, and Samuel B. Shannon. In a few days after this battle, the army moved forward to Fairfax Court House, picketing along the Alexandria Leesburg and ofher roads leading in the direction of Alexandria and Washington. Late in the fall the main body fell back to Cen- terville and Bull Run, where it passed the winter. The 7th Virginia regiment was separated from the 24th Virginia and 7th Louisiana, and added to another brigade which for a while was commanded by Brigadier General Ewell, later by Briga- dier General Longstreet. In March, 1862, a brigade was formed of the first, 7th, 11th and 17th Virginia regiments, and placed under the command of Brigadier General Ambrose Powell Hill. General Henry A. Wise, in the early summer of 1861, had en- tered the Valley of the Kanawha with a considerable number of Confederate troops, among them a considerable number of New Eiver Valley men, and on the 7th day of July, 1861, had a successful fight at Scary Creek with the advanced troops of the Federal General Cox. Subsequently, in fact in a few days, General Wise being threatened by a force of Federal troops from the upper Gauley section under the command of General Eosecrans, was forced to retire towards Lewisburg. About the middle of August, 1861, General John B. Floyd with a bri- gade arrived in the vicinity of Lewisburg, and he assumed com- mand of all the Confederate troops operating in that section, and about the movements of which more will be stated herein- after. In all revolutions excesses are committed, and the same was true of our revolution in 1861. After the retreat of General Wise's forces from the Kanawha, a plain unlettered farmer of Mercer County, by the name of Parkinson F. Pennington, who 194 New River Settlements resided on the waters of Laurel Greek, in August of the year mentioned, took his team and wagon loaded with produce, and went to the Valley of the Kanawha, and purchased goods, salt, etc., returning to his home, and known to be a strong Union man in sentiment, and freely expressing his views, made him- self quite obnoxious to some of his southern neighbors, and was arrested without warrant and charged with being a spy. The party , arresting Pennington was headed by Captain James Thompson a strong resolute, bold southern man of quick tem- per, and when aroused became wholly unmanageable. Pen- nington's captors started with him to the Court House, and he on the way becoming very boisterous and insulting incensed the party that had him in charge, and they halted and put him to death by the road side, by hanging him by the neck, with a hickory withe, to a dog-wood tree that stood nearby. This was a very unfortunate affair for all the parties concern- ed, and the first act of the kind that had ever taken place in the County, and greatly shocked the community. Great regret was expressed by the people, as the act portended no good to the parties engaged nor to the southern cause. The civil authori- ties were powerless to punish the perpetrators, and the mili- tary would not. After the close of the war, the most of those engaged in hanging Pennington, except Captain Thompson,had either been lost in the war or left the country. Pennington's father, with a body of eighteen United States soldiers went to the house of Captain Thompson intending to arrest him, but Captain Thompson discovering their approach attempted to escape, but was shot by one of the party and killed. Notwithstanding the apparent unanimity of sentiment among the people of Mercer County in favor of Southern rights and armed resistence to Federal attempt at coercion, there were quite a number of good men in the County opposed to the war, and who remained steadfast in their convictions for the Union throughout theconfliot; amdngthem, Colone^ Thomas Little, George Evans, Andrew J. Thompson, John A. McKensey James Sarver, David Lilley, Sylvester Upton, Augustus W. 1861-1865 195 Oole, Augustus W. J. Caperton, James Bowling, William C. Honaker, W. J. Comer, Russell G. French, and many others. Some of these men, believing it unsafe to remain in the country, went within the lines of the Federal army, and there remained during the entire period of the war, others remained quietly at their homes, taking no part in the contest. There were a few, glad to say few, who enlisted in the Confederate army and then deserted to the enemy, and some of these became a set of outlaws, thieves and robbers, who respect- ed neither friend nor foe, and made incursions into the coun- try, plundering indiscriminately. The commands of Generals Wise and Floyd, being sorely pressed by the enemy, the militia brigades of General Alfred Beckley and Augustus A. Chapman were called into service in August, 1861, and sent to Cotton Hill, in Fayette County. A call had been made in the early part of the summer of 1861 for the services of the militia of the County of Mercer, and Colon- el Thomas Little, the then commandant thereof, declined, in fact refused to obey the call, and in a public meeting of the citi- zens held at Princeton he was fearfully denounced, and threat- ened with personal violence, so much so that he thought it prudent to immeWately retire within the Federal lines. The Mercer and Giles regiments of militia, belonged to Chapman's brigade. The Giles regiment was commanded by Colonel James W. English with Samuel E. Lybrook and J. C. Snidow as Majors. The Mercer regiment was commanded by Lieuten- ant Colonel John S. Carr, with Harman White and W. R. Bail- ey as Majors. H. W. Straley was the brigade Commissary. The militia brigades were disbanded in thfe fall of 1861, and later in the same fall the troops of Wise and Floyd were with- drawn from the Gauley and New River section; Wise going to the eastern coast of Virginia and North Carolina, and Floyd with his command, in which was the 36th Virginia regiment of infantry, composed in part of New River men, to Fort Don- elson, Tennessee. During the winter and spring of 1861-2, the 8th Virginia 196 New Eivbr Settlements regiment of cavalry under the command of Colonel Jenifer, occupied the territory of Mercer County, as a corps of obser- vation, with headquarters at Princeton. Before proceeding further with this narrative, it becomes im- portant and interesting to relate what is transpiring during this period among the people of the northwestern Counties of Virginia, who were so violently opposed to Secession. It is not proposed to discuss the military side of this rather novel situa- tion, but the civil. It is well known and need not here be re- lated, that Federal troops had largely occupied all of the ter- ritory of the northwestern counties north of the Kanawha, and mostly that west of the Alleghanies, in what is now the state of West Virginia. As already stated, that in the Secession Convention, which assembled at Eichmond in February, 1861, a majority of the members from the northwestern Counties of Virginia were earnestly, conscientiously and violently op- posed to Secession and a number of them voted against the ordinance. These men returned to their respective constituen- ces, and public meetings were held in many of the northwestern Counties for the purpose of determining what action should be taken by the people of these Counties. A large meeting of the people was held at Clarksburg on the 22nd of April, 1861, un- der the auspices of the Honorable John S. Carlisle, the late del- egate from that County to the convention. About twelve hun- dred people attended the meeting, and after reciting in a long preamble the means which had been resorted to by the Seces- sionists to transfer the state from its allegiance to the Federal Government to the Confederate states witiiout the consent of the people, and reciting many other grievances, recommended to tte people of all the counties composing northwestern Vir- ginia, to appoint not less than five delegates from each County to a convention to be held at Wheeling on the 13th day of May following, to consult and determine upon the course of action to be taken by the people of northwestern Virginia in the then fearful emergency. Delegates were accordingly selected from twenty-six counties, viz: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marion, Mo- 1861-1865 197 nongalia, Preston, Wood, Lewis, Eitchie, Harrison, Upshur, Gilmer, Wirt, Jackson, Mason, Wetzel, Pleasants, Barbour, Hampshire, Berkeley, Doddridge, Tyler, Taylor, Roane, Freder- ick, and Marshall. The convention met on the 13th day of May, and was organ- ized by the election of John W. Moss as permanent president. After a long and somewhat stormy session, this convention ended its work by recommending that in the event the ordi- nance of secession should be ratified by the people, the Coun- ties there represented, and all others disposed to co-operate, appoint on the 4th of June, 1861, delegates to a general conven- tion to meet on the 11th day of the same month at such place as should be designated by a committee to be afterwards ap- pointed by the convention. The convention was composed of about five hundred in num- ber, and from its close to the election which took place on the 23rd of the same month, the country was in a feverish state of excitement. On election day the people voted for the members of the House of Representatives to the Federal Congress from the three districts west of the Alleghanies. In twenty-five Counties, embracing a part of what is now West Virginia,there was a majority of over twenty-four thousand votes against the ordinance of Secession. There was great interest manifested in the coming election for delegates to the convention to be held on the 11th day of June. The County committees appointed persons to hold the election at the various precincts on the 4th of June. There was a very full vote polled, and delegates from twenty-one counties were reported elected, which number was subsequently augmented to thirty-five. The delegates met in Washington Hall, in the city of Wheeling, on the 11th day of June, 1861, and elected Arthur I. Boreman, of Wood County, President of the convention. On the 19th day of June the con- vention passed an ordinance for the reorganization of the state Government of Virginia ; and on the following day elected the following oflBcers : Francis H. Pierpont, of Marion, Governor, Daniel Polsley, of Mason, Lieutenant Governor, and James S. 198 New River Settlements Wheat of Ohio, Attorney General. The General Assembly met in pursuance of the ordinance of the convention at Wheeling on the 1st day of July. The session was held at the custom house, where the Governor had already, established his ofBce, and where the other ofScers of the Government were subsequently located. On the 9th of July the House on a joint vote elect- ed L. A. Hagans, of Preston, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Samuel Crane, of Randolph, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Campbell Tarr, of Brooke, Treasurer. On the same day John S. Carlisle and Waitman T. Willey were elected Senators to the Federal Congress. The convention was reinforced by the appearance of several members from the Kanawha Valley, which for some time previous thereto had been occupied by the Confederate Military forces. On the 20th of August the con- vention passed an ordinance providing for the formation of a new state out of a portion of the territory of the state of Vir- ginia, which included the Counties of Logan, Wyoming,Raleigh, Fayette, Nicholas, Webster, Randolph, Tucker, Preston, Mo- nongalia, Marion, Taylor, Barbour, Upshur, Harrison, Lewis, Braxton, Clay, Kanawha, Boone, Wayne, Cabell, Putnam, Ma- son, Jackson, Roane, Calhoun, Wirt, Gilmer, Ritchie, Wood, Pleasants, Tyler, Doddridge, Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock; thirty-nine in all, and the convention was em- powered to change the boundaries so as to include the Counties of Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Hampshire, Hardy, Morgan, Jef- ferson, and Berkeley, or either of them, and also all the Coun- ties contig-uous to the boundaries of the proposed state, or to the Counties just named, were to be added if the people there- of by majority of the votes given should express a desire to be included on the same day that the election was held in the oth- er Counties, and should elect delegates to the convention. Kanawha was proposed as the name for the new state, and the election was to be held on the fourth Thursday of October succeeding. Delegates to the convention were sent from all the foregoing enumerated Counties, except Webster and Berkeley. The convention met on the 26th day of November. 1861, com- 1861-1865 199 pleted its labors, and adjourned on the 18th day of February, 18G2, providing for the submission of its work to the people on the 3rd day of April, 1862, and was accordingly voted upon on that day and adopted by a vote of 18,862 in its favor to 514 against it. The Legislature of the reorganized Government assembled on the 6th day of May following, and gave its formal assent by the passage of a bill on the 13th of the same month, for the formation and erection of the state of West Virginia, within the jurisdiction of the state of Virginia. As has already been shown it was at first proposed to call the new state Kanawha, but the convention finally gave it the name of West Virginia. In the convention which framed this first constitution for the state of West Virginia, Captain Richard M. Gooke, of the County of Wyoming, was admitted as a delegate from Mercer County, by authority, as he claims, of a petition of a few peo- ple in the western portion of said County of Mercer. It is un- certain, under this first Constitution, how Mercer County be- came a constituent part of the state of West Virginia. Ee- search does not disclose that any vote was taken whereby the people of the County elected, authorized or commissioned any person to represent them in the said convention. And it is further certain that no election was held in the County of Mer- cer by the people thereof upon the question of the ratification or rejection of the said Constitution, and hence it would seem to follow that Mercer County was not legally a part of, or one of the Counties of the state of West Virginia prior to the adoption of the Consitution of 1872. In the ordinance adopted by the reorganized Government of Virginia, giving consent to the formation of the new state, it was provided; "that the new state should take upon itself a just proportion of the public debt of the Commonwealth of Vir- ginia prior to the 1st day of January, 1861, to be ascertained by charging to it all state expenditures within its limits, and a just proportion of the ordinary expenses of the state Govern- 200 New River Settlements ment since any part of it was contracted ; and deducting there- from the moneys paid into the treasury of the Commonwealth from the Counties included within the new state during the same period." This provision was duly assented to by the new state, and hence, the principle and basis upon which West Vir- ginia's part, part if any, of the anti-bellum debt of Virginia is to be ascertained, is fixed and determined. Francis H. Pierpont had been chosen as Governor of the re- organized government of Virginia, and Arthur I. Boreman as Governor of West Virginia, whose government went into oper- ation, on the 20th day of June,1863,in accordance with the pro- clamation of the President of the United States, under an act of Congress authorizing the admission of the state into the Un- ion. Upon the admission of the new state, the reorganized Government of Virginia under Governor Pierpont removed from Wheeling to Alexandria, Virginia. During the existence of the reorganized government at Wheeling, the formative peri- od of the new state and afterwards, all kinds of excesses, po- litical, military or otherwise were perpetrated. The Virginia Government at Richmond claimed and attempted to exercise jurisdiction over the same territory that the reorganized Gov- ernment at Wheeling and the new state claimed to exercise, and this led to the arrest of many citizens by both sides for al- leged political offenses, each government charging treason. It was more dangerous to life, liberty and property to live in the section refered to than to have been in the army of one or the the other of the belligerents. A peaceable non-combatant wai liable at any hour night or day to be arrested, carried away and incarcerated in prison without any charges preferred against him, and worse than all, he was frequently allowed to lie in prison and perish without knowing with what offense he was charged, if any. In partial illustration of this statement it is stated that one Augustus Pack, of Boone County,an old man and a non-combatant, who carried on trade between the lines, was frequently arrested, first by one side and then by the other, and carried to military prison where he remained some 1861-1865 201 times for months, and then released upon taking the oath of allegience to the Government that had him a prisoner. Gener- al Cox, the Federal commandant in the Kanawha Vall^, had had Mr. Pack so frequently before him that he had become very well acquainted with him, and so, as the story goes, on an occasion after Mr. Pack had been arrested by the Federal troops and was being carried to General Cox's headquarters, he was discovered by General Cox approaching his tent under guard, whereupon the General exclaimed, "Here you are again, Pack,"to which he replied,"Well,General,I am an old man and have nothing to do with the war, and try to remain at home a quiet, peaceable citizen, when along comes the Eebels who ar- rest and carry me within their lines and require me to take the oath of allegiance, and as soon as I return home I am picked up by your men and brought within your lines, and required to take the oath of allegiance, and this process has been going on for several months ; the truth is. General, that the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but as for me I have no where to lay my head." The Federal army of the Potomac under General George B. McClellan, began in the early spring of 1862 its movement to the Peninsula, and General Johnston's army, which in the last days of March had retired from Centerville behind the Kappa- hanock, commenced moving by way of Gordonsville and Rich- mond to the Peninsula. The brigade of General A. P. Hill left Richmond by steamer on the James River on April 10th, and disembarked at King's landing and from thence marched to a point within one or two miles of Yorktown, where and in the vicinity of which, it remained for about twenty days en- gaged in picketing and drawn out in line of battle in the swamps. The 24th Virginia regiment remained attached to the brigade of General Early. During the last days of April or the first days of May, at any rate before marching orders were received, the "Wiseacres" were telling us that we were to retire towards Richmond. The Confederate Soldier was the most remarkable of all the 202 New River Settlements soldiers that the world has produced, and that in many ways. He could seemingly know more, and in fact did, than the oflS- cers in immediate command, and he could know less than any soldier in an army when he wanted it that, way — or when so instructed, or when he found it necessary for his convenience or profit, he could forget his name, company, regiment, bri- gade, division or army commandant; could even forget where he was from or ^hither he was going. This same soldier could get farther from camp, get more rations, and get back quicker than any other fellow you ever met. When he was marching he could see more, laugh louder, brood less over his troubles, and when he wished, could carry more than any soldier any other army ever produced. He could march barefoot, go farther, complain less, eat nothing, never sleep, and endure more gen- uine suffering than any soldier that ever marched under the banners of Napoleon. When he reached camp after a long, toil- some march he could start a fire, find water, and go to cooking quicker than the best trained cook in the land. Such were these men who were being trained by the Lees, Johnstons, Long- street, Jackson, Pickett and the Hills. Befpre passing to the description of the retreat of the Con- federates from Yorktown, it will be noticed that in the fall of 1861 General Jackson with his division had marched from the lines in front of Washington to the Valley of Virginia ; where, the next spring, the most wonderful military campaign in re- corded history was conducted and directed by him, in which he defeated three Federal armies in succession, and then in June of that year stole away from his enemies and helped to de- feat the fourth one. In the month of January, 1862, the McComas Battery had gone with the Wise Legion to Norfolk, and was to have been sent from there with the command of General Wise to Roanoke Island, but owing to want of transportation, only a part of the company reached the Island. Those of the company who crossed over to the Island, together with Captain Dorman's 1861-1865 203 Mercer company, were captured, along with the other Confed- erate troops thereon. In the month of March this battery, under the command of its Captain,left Norfolk and went to Elizabeth City,North Car- olina, near where, shortly after its arrival, it engaged without loss in an artillery duel with the enemy. A short time there- after the company marched with the 3rd Georgia regiment of infantry, under the command of Colonel Wright, to the vicinity of South Mills, North Carolina, where on the 19th day of April it was engaged in a severe battle with the enemy, in which its gallant Captain was slain while behaving in the bravest man- ner. Sergeant James M. Peters, and Privates Oscar Blanken- ship and William Hern were wounded. The Federal troops 3,000 strong, with four pieces of artil- lery, led by General Eeno, attacked Colohel Wright's troops, composed of the 3rd Georgia infantry 585 strong, some North Carolina militia, Gillett's company of Southampton cavalry, and McComas' Battery of four guns; the whole Confederate force not exceeding 750 men. The fight lasted for three hours. Mr. D. H. Hill, Jr., in his Military History of North Carolina, in reporting this engagement says : "At last McComas, who had fought his guns manfully, was killed, and Colonel Wright fell back a mile to his supports. General Reno did not attempt to follow, and that night at 10 o'clock left his dead and wounded behind, and made a forced march to his boats." The Confederates lost 6 killed 19 wounded, the Federals 13 killed and 92 wounded. Captain McComas informed one of his company on the night preceeding this battle that he had or- ders to return with his company to western Virginia, but that he did not want to go until he had fought at least one battle. This company, after the capture of Norfolk by the enemy, under the leadership of its First Lieutenant, David A. French, marched to Petersburg. Its subsequent history will be stated later. In December, 1861, the 60th Virginia regiment of infantry commanded by Colonel William E. Starke, in which were the 204 New Eiver Settlements Mercer Companies of Pack and Ryan, was ordered and went to South Carolina where it remained under the command of General Robert E. Lee until it returned to Virginia about the last days of April, 1862, and was then attached to the brigade commanded by General Charles W. Field of A. P. Hill's div- ision. On the evening and night of the 4th of May, 1 862, General Johnston quietly withdrew his army from the Yorktown in- trenchments and hastened up the Peninsula as rapidly as the condition of the roads would permit. The Federal gunboats were passing up the James and York Rivers with an army corps on transports on the latter, having in view the cutting of General Johnston's line of retreat. The enemy pressed so hard and closely upon General John- ston's rear that in order to protect his trains he was forced to halt and oflfer battle. The Divisions of Longstreet and D. H. Hill were covering the retreat, and upon them fell the brunt of the battle which followed. The rear of the army had reached Williamsburg, twelve miles distant from the starting point about daylight on the morning of the 5th, amidst a drizzling rain. The skirmishing began at early dawn, and grew fiercer as the morning wore away ; so that by high noon it had drifted into regular volleys. The brigade of General A. P. Hill, in which was the 7th Vir- ginia regiment of infantry, passed from the grounds of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum, where it had encamped two hours previous, by William and Mary College to a point near Fort Magruder, and then by a flank movement to the right for a half mile or more, was brought face to face with the enemy, who were in line of battle in a wood. Hill's brigade being in an open field where it received a volley from the enemy which killed and wounded many men. The brigade pushed forward into the wood, getting close up to the enemy, and fired into them a destructive volley, and then charged, driving them rapidly for more than a quarter of a mile, when it met a fresh line of the enemy lying 1861-1865 205 down behind fallen timber. Here the battle raged for more than two hours, and until the men had exhausted nearly every round of ammunition ; whereupon General Hill ordered another charge, and the enemy was driven for some distance through and beyond this fallen timber. It was now growing dark, the brigade halted and returned to the position from which it had started in the charge, and where it remained for an hour or more after dark, and then resumed its line of march. The loss sustained in the 7th Virginia regiment was 77, and in company 1)., the Giles Company the loss was as follows, viz : killed, William H. Stafford, wounded, Lieutenant E. M. Stone, and the following men of the line, Allen M. Bane, Charles Wes- ley Peck, Andrew J. Thompson, John A. Hale, John W. East, Isaac Hare, George Knoll, Anderson Meadows, John Meadows, Demascus Sarver, William I. Wilburn, Edward Z. Yager, and David E. Johnston, a total of fourteen killed and wounded, be- ing about 25 per cent, of the number carried into action. Tap- ley P.Mays, of this company, was the color Sergeant of the reg- iment, and although he escaped unhurt, the flag which he bore was pierced with 23 balls and the staff severed three times. For his gallantry in this action Sergeant Mays was awarded a sword by the Governor of Virginia. On the evening of the same day General Early led two regi- ments of his brigade, the 5th North Carolina and 24th Vir- ginia regiments, against a fort held by General Hancock's Fed- eral brigade. While General Early's men fought with great steadiness and bravery, they were forced to retire with the loss of 190 men killed, wounded and prisoners. General Early was among the severely wounded; as was also Colonel Wil- liam R. Terry and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Hairston. The killed and wounded in Captain Richardson's Mercer Company G, 24th Virginia regiment were as follows: Killed, Isaac Al- vis, Edward Bailey, John A. Brown, John Easter, and Tobias Manning, and the wounded were Alexander East, James H. Mills, lost an arm, Stephen Prillman, Rufus G. Rowland, Gor- den L. Saunders, lost a leg, and A .J. Whittaker, Robert 206 New River Settlements Batchelor, Granvil F. Bailey, William Bowling, Jesse Bow- ling, L. A. Cooper, Jordan Cox, Marshall Foley, John M. N. Flick, Peter Grim, James T. Hopkins, Dennis Johnson, Addi- son Johnson, Isaac A. Oney, Theaddeus Peters, John M. Smith, Allen Smith, William Stewart and George W. Toney were captured, a total of twenty nine. As already related, the company of Captain Napoleon B. French, of Mercer, had gone with General Floyd's command to Fort Donelson, where it was engaged in the battle of the 13th day of February, 1862, losing William Oney killed by a shell from one of the enemy's guns, and the whole company with the other troops, except Floyd's brigade and Forrest's cavalry regiment, were surrendered as prisoners of war. Cap- tain French being absent in Virginia, the command of the compa-ny had devolved upon Lieutenant John J. Maitland. Later in the year of 1862, the company of Dorman, captured at Koanoke Island, and that of French, surrendered at Fort Donelson, were exchanged and returned home. The time of their enlistment having expired, they went into other organ- izations, a portion going to Captain Jacob C. Straley's com- pany of the 17th Virginia Cavalry regiment, another portion to Edgar's battalion of Virginia infantry, and another por- tion to the 30th battalion of Virginia infantry commanded by Colonel Clark, attached for part of the time to the bri- ga,des of Echols or Wharton. Captain William H. French having been commissioned Col- onel of the 17th Virginia regiment of cavalry, was energetic- ally at work during the early spring and early summer months of 1862, in getting together and organizing his regi- ment, which participated in many of the expeditions and skir- mishes along the outposts in Western Virginia up to the date of the advance of the Federal army of General Crook from the Kanawha Valley in May, 1864, when this regiment with others of Jenkins' cavalry brigade and the troops of Colonel William L. Jackson, under Colonel French, were stationed at the nar- rows of New River in Giles County to guard that point, and 1861-1865 207 to meet the forces of General Crook, should they move by that route, of which full statement will be made hereinafter. General Johnston's army, after defeating the Federals at Williamsburg and at White House on the York Eiver, retired behind the Chickahominy. By the middle of May and first of June the army of General McGlellan had made its approach very near to Eichmond, and had extended its right wing far up in the direction of the Vir- ginia Central Eailroad, leaving its left wing across the Chick- ahominy in front of Richmond. Brigadier General A. P. Hill had been promoted to Major General, and given the command of a Division, which included Field's brigade, to which was at- tached to the 60th regiment of Virginia infantry. Upon the promotion of General Hill to the command of a Division, Colonel James L. Kemper, of the 7th Virginia regi- ment, had been commissioned a Brigadier General, and assign- ed to the brigade previously commanded by Hill. For some time previous to and on the night of the 30th day of May, 1862, Kemper's brigade had been in camp at Howard's Grove, a few miles north of Eichmond. On the night of the 30th occurred a most remarkable, electric storm, accompanied by an exceeding heavy downpour of rain, which continued for many hours during the night, and so flooding our camp that we were compelled to stand on our feet in our tents dur- ing the long hours before the coming of daylight. This rain- fall had flooded the low lands of the Chickahominy, and caused such a rapid rise in that stream as to carry away or flood the bridges over the same, whereby General John- ston was led to attack the Federal troops then occupying the bank of that stream on the side next to, Eichmond. The Di- visions of Longstreet and D. H. Hill marched at an early hour on the morning of the 31st, encountering on the way to the battlefield streams so swollen as to greatly delay and impede the march. The 7th Virginia regiment with Kemper's brigade belonged to Longstreet's Division. The 24th Virginia regiment to Garland's brigade of Hill's Division. The former mention- 208 New Eiver Settlements ed Division marched down the White Oak swamp road, the latter down the Williamsburg road. Hill opened the battle a little after noon, and while it raged with great fury, the sound thereof, which was to be the signal for Longstreet's attack, was not heard by him for some time, on account of the condi- tion of the atmosphere, although he was scarcely two miles away. Finally, General Hill requested assistance, and Kemp- er's brigade was sent him. This brigade moved rapidly through swamps, water and mud until it reached the field of Hill's contention on the Williamsburg road, when about four o'clock,P.M.,it advanced in good order against the earthworks thrown up by the command of the Federal General Casey, and after a stubborn contest of a little more than half an hour it charged and carried the works, capturing the enemy's camp and a number of prisoners. The loss in company D, of the 7th regiment was A. D. Manning, killed ; Serjeant Elijah E. Walker, privates Tarvis Burton, John W. Hight and Joseph Lewy wounded. The total regimental loss was about 75. The 24th Virginia regiment was in this battle in the brigade of General Garland and suffered a loss of one hundred and seventeen killed and wounded, among them its Major, Eichard L. Maury, who was severely wounded. The Mercer company loosing G. H. Gore, killed, George P. Belcher, Hugh M. Faulk- ner, William H. Herndon, George A. Harris and Luther C. Hale wounded. On the evening and night of the day after this battle the troops returned to their former camps, wherein they for the most part remained until the opening of the "Seven Days Bat- tles." In the interim between the close of the battle of Seven Pines, which has just been referred to, and the opening of the "Seven Days Battles," the 24tibi Virginia had been detached from Gar- land's brigade, and attached to that of Kemper, now composed of the 1st, 7th, 11th, 17th, and 24th Virginia regiments. General Branch, of North Carolina, with a brigade of North Carolina troops and some others, was fiercely attacked on the 1861-1865 209 26th of June near Mechanicsville by a superior force of Feder- al troops under General Porter, and Branch defeated with se- rious loss, though after a brave and gallant defense on his part and that of his men. General A. P. Hill going to the support of Branch, and advancing with the remainder of his division, supported by Ripley's brigade, struck the Federals at Beaver Dam, and a bloody engagement followed lasting far into the night of the 26th, without any particular advantage to the Confederates. General Jackson, with his corps, having arrived from the Valley, joined Hill's left and swinging around the Federal right compelled General Porter to withdraw and retire to Cold Harbor, where he occupied an exceedingly strong position, but from which he was driven with heavy loss on the 27th, as here- inafter related. The movement of the troops of Hill and Jackson had uncov- ered the front of General Longstreet's Division on the Mechan- icsville Road, and he immediately crossed the Chickahominy and set out in pursuit of the retreating enemy, passing on the route immense piles of bacon, flour, wagons, tents, etc., which the Federals had sought to destroy to prevent them from fall- ing into the hands of the Confederates. About noon or a little past on the 27th, the head of Long- street's column reached the New bridge, in the vicinity of Cold Harbor or Gaines' Mill, where it halted and formed a line of battle behind a long range of hills, which hid it from the enemy's view. The enemy occupied a strong position be- hind a small creek on a range of hills in part fringed with timber. In front of the position of the enemy was a deep ra- vine, through which flowed a small branch or creek, this ra- vine he filled with his sharpshooters, and in his rear was a wooded bluflf on the side of which was a line of infantry pro- tected by log breastworks. Behind this line was another line of infantry, sheltered by the crest of the hill, and the high ground behind them crowned with artillery. To reach the po- 210 New River Settlements sition of the enemy, the Confederates must pass over an open space of some five hundred yards. Kemper's brigade was in line of battle behind the crest of a low ridge, and behind the brigades of Wilcox, Pry or, Pickett, and Featherstone. The battle raged for hours with great fury ; more than once was the charge repeated before the enemy's po- sition was carried. Kemper's brigade was not engaged, though exposed to the fire of shot and shell, but suffering little loss. The field had been won, and the day was ours. In this terrific engagement, as well as that of the day before, the 60th Virginia regiment was a participant, and suffered se- vere loss, its Colonel Starke being wounded in the engage- ment of the 26th, and the two Mercer Companies of Ryan and Pack losing a considerable number of men in killed and wounded. Colonel Starke in his report of the engagement of the 26th, says : "Our loss here was considerable. Lieutenant S. Lilley of Company I, Ryan's Company, being killed. Captain John L. Oaynor and Lieutenant P. M. Paxton of Company F, and Lieutenant S. D. Pack of Company A, being wounded, and many privates both killed and wounded. On the next day, the 27th, this regiment was again engaged, repelling a cavalry charge of the enemy, and losing many valuable oflScers and men. Colonel Starke, in commending its conduct and that of its oflBcers refers specially and by name to Lieutenant Colonel B. H.Jones, Major John C. Summers, Captain John M. Bailey, and Lieutenants R. A. Hale and George W. Belcher, the three last named Mercer County men, of Company H, and Lieuten- ants A. G. P. George, Stephenson, and Lilley, the latter killed the day before, and adds: "I desire to notice particularly the good conduct of Lieutenant A. G. P. George, not only through out all the engagements in which the regiment participated, but for months past while in charge of Company I,in faithfully discharging the responsible duties of his position * * * the high- est terms of praise apply with equal justice to Lieutenant R. A. Hale * * • upon whom owing to the wounds or sickness of his 1861-1865 211 Captain in particular engagements devolved the command of the company." The enemy having been driven from the field of Gaines' Mill with a loss of 6,837 men, retreated on the night of the 27th across the Chickahominy, followed on the next and- two suc- ceeding days to Frazier's Farm, where the divisions of Long- street and A. P. Hill had with almost the entire Federal army, a more than four hours bloody engagement, without decided results to either army. In this battle the brigade of General Kemper, together with that of General Field, was heavily en- gaged; the former brigade constituted the extreme right of the general line of battle, and was posted upon the rear edge of a dense body of timber and on the right of and nearly perpen- dicular to the road leading through Frazier's Farm, with the 17th Virginia regiment, under Colonel Montgomery Corse, oc- cupying the right ; the 24th Virginia under Lieutenant Colonel Peter Hairston the left; the 1st Virginia regiment under Ma- jor George F. Norton in the center ; the 11th Virginia regiment Captain Kirkwood Otey the right center, and the 7th Virginia regiment under Colonel Walter Tazewell Patton the left cen- ter. After suffering from a severe shelling for some time,about 5 o'clock P. M., the order to move forward came, and the bri- gade advanced steadily and in good order, notwithstanding the entangled undergrowth which filled the wood, and the raining of shot and shell from the enemy's guns directly in front of the moving column. Upon striking the enemy's skirmish line, the advance from a quickstep into a double-quick followed, with loud cheers, and by the time the brigade had cleared the wood and reached an open field at the farther side of which stood the enemy in full line of battle behind log breastworks with their batteries beside them and firing rapidly, the continuity of the line was lost and much confusion followed, but the impetuos- ity of the forward movement was not broken, and the brigade fired rapidly, and throwing itself upon the enemy's infantry and artillery swept them away like chaflE before a hurricane. General Kemper says in his oflScial report of this charge : "A 212 New Eiver Settlements more impetuous and desperate charge was never made than that of my small command against the sheltered and greatly superior forces of the enemy. The ground which they gained from the enemy is marked by the graves of some of my Veter- ans, who were buried where they fell ; and these graves marked with the names of the occupants, situated at and near the posi- tion of the enemy, show the point at which they dashed at the strong holds of the retreating foe." Continuing, General Kem- per says: "It now became evident that the position sought to be held by my command was wholly untenable by them, unless largely and immediately reinforced. The inferior numbers which had alarmed the enemy and driven him from his breast- works and batteries soon became apparent to him, and he at once proceeded to make use of his advantage. While greatly superior numbers hung upon our front, considerable bodies of the enemy were thrown upon both flanks of my command, which was now in imminent danger of being wholly captured or destroyed * * * no reinforcements appeared and the dire al- ternative of withdrawing from the position, although of obvi- ous and inevitable necessity, was reluctantly submitted to." Again, says the report: "Among those reported to me as de- serving notice for gallantry on the field are Captain Joel Blackard, Company D, and Lieutenant W. W. Gooding, 7th Virginia, who were both killed. Sergeant Major Tansill and Color Sergeant Mays, the latter of Company D, both wounded, and both of whom had distinguished themselves in the battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines, Lieutenant Calfee of Com- pany G, Mercer County, 2iih Virginia, who was killed within a few paces of the enemy's battery." The Federal General McCall, who was captured in this battle, says of this charge : "Soon after this a most determined charge was made on Randall's battery, by a full brigade, ad- vancing in wedge shape without order, but in perfect reckless- ness ; somewhat similar charges had as I have stated, been pre- viously made on Cooper's and Kern's batteries by single regi- ments without success, they having recoiled before the storm of 1861-1865 213 canister hurled against them. A like result was anticipated by Randall's battery, its gallant commander did not doubt his ability to repel the attack, and his guns did indeed mow down the andvancing host, but still the gaps were closed and the ene- my came in upon a run to the very muzzle of his guns; It was a perfect torrent of men, and tfiey were in his battery before the guns could be removed." General Kemper had ordered his brigade to retire, which it did, but not in good order, but soon railed again near the spot from which it had made the charge. The loss of the brigade was 414, of which 44 were killed, 205 wounded, and 165 missing; of which the 7th Virginia regiment lost in killed 14, wounded 66, missing. The 24th Virginia regiment lost 4 killed, 61 wound- ed and 14 missing. The loss in Company D, 7th Virginia regi- ment were killed, Captain Joel Blackard, wounded Joseph C. Shannon, Daniel Bish, Jesse B. Young, David C. Akers, Hugh J. Wilburn, Tim P. Darr, Francis M. Gordon, George A. Min- nich, T. P. Mays, John W. Sarver, Joseph Southron, Ballard P. Meadows, Lee E. Vass and Joseph Eggleston, and Allen M. Bane captured ; total killed, wounded and missing 16. The loss in Company G, Mercer Company, 24th Virginia was, killed, Lieutenant Harvey M. Calfee, wounded Thomas C. Brown, lost a leg, John Coebum, A. J. Holstein, Jeff Thomas, lost a leg, and Lieutenant Benjamin P. Grigsby. The 60th Virginia regiment, with its brigade and divi- sion, had a most distinguished part in this battle. Among oth- er things stated by Colonel Starke in his oflScial report of this battle, are the following: "On Monday evening the 30th, June, we were ordered to the support of General Kemper'? brigade then engaged near Frazier's Farm with an overwhelm- ing force of the enemy. The regiment advanced at a double quick nearly two miles to the brow of the hill where a battery of eight guns, Randall's Pennsylvania battery, was posted, which had been taken from the enemy and by them recaptured before we reached the ground. Delivering a few volleys, the regiment moved forward, charged the enemy, drove them into 214 New Rivee Settlements and through the woods for a considerable distance, killing wounding and taking many of them prisoners, and recapturing the battery. On reaching the wood, however, the enemy poured a heavy Are into our line, upon which the command was given to charge bayonets. This command was obeyed with alacrity, and very many of the enemy fell before the formidable weapon. I cannot close this report without noticing the conduct of Pri- vates George E. Taylor of Company E, and Robert A. Christian of Company I. Private Christian in the bayonet charge of the 30th was assailed by no less than four of the enemy at the same time. He succeeded in killing three of them with his own hands, though wounded in several places by bayonet thrusts, and his brother Eli W. Christian going to his aid dis- patched the fourth." Both Robert A. and Eli W. Christian belonged to Ryan's Mercer company. We again quote from the report of the Federal General McCall, in which he says: "It was here my fortune to witness one of the fiercest bayonet fights that perhaps ever occurred on this continent. Bayonet wounds, mortal or slight, were given and received. I saw skulls crushed by the butts of muskets, and every effort made by either party in his life or death struggle, proving indeed that here Greek had met Greek." The total loss of the 60th Virginia regiment in the engagements of the 26th, 27th and 30th day of June was 204. It ia regretted that the names in full of the killed and wounded in the two Mercer companies of the 60th regiment cannot be given further than already men- tioned, and to add to the list of the wounded Washington Hodges, Rufus McComas and Wesley Dillon, the latter mor- tally. In the headlong charge of the 60th Virginia regiment on June 30th, and as it reached the log breastworks of the enemy, John Hartwell, of Pack's Mercer Company, a man of about six feet six inches high, raw boned, big footed, clumsy and awk- ward, caught his foot in getting over the works and fell head- long over and among the enemy, exclaiming as he fell, "Get out of here, you d d Yankees, or we will kill the last one of 1861-1865 215 you." John got out safe and all of the enemy not killed, wounded or captured, took John at his word and ran away. On the next day, July 1st, the battle of Malvern Hill was fought, but neither Kemper's nor Field's brigades were engag- ed, though drawn up close to the firing line as supports and sub- jected to a severe shelling from the enemy's batteries in front and his gunboats in the river. On the night of the first the enemy withdrew from the Confederate front, and retired to a strong position at Harrison's Landing under the cover and pro- tection of his gunboats; and thus ended the second "On to Richmond," and the Confederates returned to the vicinity of Richmond and went into camp. The McComas Battery, now commanded by Captain David A. French, had been brought from Petersburg to the north of the James and was in position on the Confederate right at the battle of Seven Pines, and during the Seven Days Battles, but was not engaged. After the battle of Malvern Hill it was sent with some infantry down to Turkey Island on the James, and later to a position in front of Harrison's Landing. During the campaign of 1862 in Northern Virginia and Maryland, it re- mained as part of the forces left to guard the defenses of Richmond. A few weeks after the close of the battle around Richmond, August 5th, the 60th Virginia regiment was ordered to join General Loring in western Virginia. Captain William H. French, as senior Captain, with several companies of cavalry, also joined General Loring in his Kanawha Valley campaign. It now becomes necessary at this place to relate some of the incidents occurring in western Virginia. As has been related, in the summer of 1861, the Federal troops had advanced to Ka- nawha Falls and Gauley Bridge, General Wise retiring to the Big Sewell Mountain and Hawks Nest district of country, and General Floyd marching out from Lewisburg to reinforce him and to oppose the Federal advance. After some severe skirm- ishing by the troops of Wise with the Federal advance, and some maneuvering on the part of both armies. General Floyd 216 New Eivbe Settlements advanced to Cross Lanes, in the county of Nicholas, where, on the 26th day of August, 1862, he had a severe combat with the Federal troos, whom he routed. General Floyd after the bat- tle at Cross Lanes fell back to Carnifix Ferry on the Gauley and fortified his position, which was fiercely assailed by Fed- eral troops under General Eosecrans on the 10th day of Sep- tember, but they were finally beaten off, Floyd holding his po- sition until after nightfall and then retreating. In this en- gagement the Federals outnumbered the Confederates about three to one. These incidents are merely mentioned because some of the companies from the New River Valley were in the commands of Generals Floyd and Wise. After the withdrawal, in the fall of 1861, of the troops of Gen- erals Floyd and Wise from the Kanawha District, and the dis- banding of the militia brigades of Generals Beckley and Chap- man, the Federal troops under General Jacob D. Cox ad- vanced and occupied Fayetteville, the County town of Fayette County,and later Beckltey, the County town of Raleigh County at which latter place on the 22nd day of April, 1862, Colonel E. P. Scammon reports Colonel Thomas Little and W. J. Com- er as having arrived that evening from Princeton, and who gave as far as they knew statements of Confederate forces, etc., and adds, "Colonel Little confirms reports of intended destruc- tion of town and county property." In the last days of April the Federal advance reached Flat Top Mountain and encamp- ed at what is known as the Miller Tanyard, place on the turn- pike road about two miles south of the main top of the moun- tain. At this time the only Confederate troops in the County of Mercer were the small cavalry forces of Colonel Jenifer act- ing as a mere corps of obsei*vation, and the independent com- pany of Captain Richard B. Foley known as "Flat Top Cop- perheads." Foley was on the extreme outposts next the enemy, and in fact was the eyes and ears for Jenifer's command. General Cox's command consisted of two brigades of infan- try ; the first commanded by Colonel E. P. Scammon, made up of the 23rd, 30th and 12th Ohio infantry regiments and Mc- 1861-1865 217 Mullen's battery; the second brigade under Colonel A. Moor composed of the 28th,34th and 37th Ohio regiments of infantry and Simmond's battery, also one battalion of Colonel Boler's second Virginia cavalry, and Smith's Ohio cavalry troop, with a train of 250 wagons. On the last day of April the Federals had thrown forward, under Lieutenant Botsford, some seventy -five men of the 23rd Ohio regiment, who on the night of that day occupied the dwel- ling house of Henry Clark, which is situated on the west side of the Wythe, Raleigh and Grayson turnpike road, about eight miles from Princeton. Russell G. French acted as guide, as he was thoroughly familiar with the country, his home being in that neighborhood. Foley and his men, who were on the alert and hovering around the enemy's camp, discovering the least movement on their part, determined on an attack on the Fed- eral outpost at Clark's house. Lieutenant Botsford and his men had scouted all day of the 30th of April in search of Foley and his men, but were unable to find them ; had even gone to Cap- tain Foley's home and throughout the neighborhood on and along the waters of Camp Creek. They did not see Foley, but he saw them, and when late in the evening tired, and worn by their days tramp, they returned by way of Campbell's Mill and on the turnpike road at Clark's house they determined to camp for the night. Captain Foley immediately dispatched messen- gers to Confederate headquarters at Princeton advising of the situation, and an attack was determined upon. And so on that night Major Henry Fitzhugh, of Kanawha, with the border Rangers, Captain Everett, Kanawha Rangers, Captain Lewis, Mercer cavalry. Captain W.H. French, Lieutenant Graybeal in command, Tazewell troopers. Captain Thomas Bowen, Bland Bangers, Captain William N. Harman, Grayson cavalry, Cap- tain Boring, Nelson Rangers, Captain Fitzpatrick and Captain R. B. Foley's independent company of infantry, moved out to Clark's house reaching there a short while before daylight on May 1st, and took position near the house, some of the compa- nies not fully up. Mr. Clark was an ardent southern man, and 218 New Eivbr Settlements had been compelled to quit his home to keep out of the way of the Federals, but his brave and heroic wife with her small son and daughter remained at home and braved the storm of bat- tle that raged furiously around her for nearly an hour. Mrs Clark whose maiden name was Mize, was born and raised in Patrick County, Virginia, and was a woman of strong natural sense, and in her undying devotion to the southern people and their cause, she was excelled by no woman in the south. She lived to a ripe old age, and died an unrepentant, unrecon- structed, Confederate. It may well be said of her as Whittier, the poet, said of Randolph : "Too honest and too proud to feign A love she never cherished, Beyond Virginia's border line Her patriotism perished." At dawn on the 1st day of May the Federals came out of the house into the yard and fell into line for roUcall, apparently little suspecting that a lurking foe was so close at hand. The Confederates, that is Foley's, Harman's,Bowen's and French's companies now in position, immediately opened fire, the ene- my rushing quickly into the house, which is of hewn oak logs — equal to a block house, a secure fortress against rifle balls. The house as it then existed, since removed, was only one and one half stories high and had a rather flat roof covered with chestnut shingles. The position occupied by a portion of the Confederates was on high ground above the house, the Fed- erals occupying the second floor of the house and were exposed to the balls fired by the Confederates into and through the roof, and it was chiefly from these balls that the Federals suf- fered loss. It has already been stated that four of the Con- federate companies had taken their position before the firing began, but in point of fact this is not strictly correct. Foley's company was the only one in proper position, the others were moving to position and the remaining companies had not all gotten up. The intention of the Confederates was to sur- round the house, and compel the surrender of the Federal CLARK'S HOUSE, Mercer County, W. Va. Where eng-a^ement on May 1st, 1862, was fought between a Confederate force under Major Henry Fitzhugh, of Kanawha, and a portion of the Federal forces of Gen'l Jacob D. Cox, of Ohio, 1861-1865 219 troops that had taken shelter therein, but the unexpected ap- pearance of the enemy in the yard for rollcall prematurely precipitated the opening of the fight. The soldiers in the house displaced the filling between the logs, and utilized the space for placing their guns therein to fire, their bodies being in a great measure protected by the walls of the house. The Fed- erals boldly and bravely maintained the fight, and just as Ma- jor Fitzhugh had given the order to surround and charge the house, the head of a column of Federal reinforcements came in sight and immediately opened fire, advancing rapidly at a dou- ble quick, their cavalry at full speed. The Confederates were now greatly outnumbered, they beat a hasty retreat closely followed by the whole of General Cox's forces. The loss on the Confederate side was only eight wounded, viz: Captain R. B. Foley, James H. Fletcher, James Butler, Hugh Farmer, and Alexander Miller, severely, and Greene Bryson, and Mont- gomery Cox, mortally. Fletcher and Butler belonged to the Mercer Cavalry, Cox to the Tazewell Troopers, Bryson and Farmer to Foley's Company, and Miller to Harman's Bland Company. The Federal loss was 20, one killed and 19 wound- ed, among the latter, Russell G. French. Colonel R. B. Hayes, of the 23rd Ohio regiment, reporting this engagement to Col- onel E. P. Scammon, mentions Mr. French and says : "French will perhaps be crippled for life, probably die ; can't he be put in the position of a soldier enlisted or something to get his family the pension land, etc.? What can be done? He was a scout in our uniform on duty at the time of receiving his wound." French lived until recently, having died in Mercer County at the age of about eighty seven years. He was a great sufferer from the wound he received. He lived in Mercer County at the beginning of the war, and was on principle opposed to the war, and became an earnest, zealous, conscientious Union man. During, the retreat of the Confederates from Clark's house to Princeton, Cornelius Brown, an independent Confed- erate volunteer and a Mercer County man, was killed on Camp Creek, near the house formerly owned and occupied by Captain 220 New River Settlements Thomas J. George. The retreat which was continued through Princeton to Eocky Gap and beyond, waa covered by the Bland Eangers, commanded by Captain William H. Harman, and well and gallantly did this devoted body of men and officers perform this service. As before stated, Colonel Jenifer, whose headquarters when the fight took place, were at Princeton, was in the immediate command of all the forces then operating in Mercer County. He had won fame and reputation as a Lieutenant-Colonel of cavalry at the battle of Ball's Bluflf, on the Potomac, in Octo- ber, 1861, but now he was about to and did commit an act of vandalism almost, if not quite unparalleled in the annals of civilized war, and one which tarnished his fair name, and over- shadowed all the glory and laurels won by him at Ball's Blufif. To destroy the homes of non-combatant enemies in time of war is horrible enough ! What excuse can be offered for one who destroys the homes of his friends, especially of as devoted and self sacrificing a people as those of Princeton? Learning, for he was near the fight, that his forces were re- treating before the army of General Cox and that the latter would in a few hours occupy the village of Princeton, Colonel Jenifer, without warning or notice, ordered the burning of the village, which was accomplished under his own supervision, whereby old men, women and children were not only deprived of shelter, and of all their worldly goods, but were turned out into the highways in the mud and cold rains to flee whereso- ever they might, and to find food and shelter wheresoever they could. Not only did this man Jenifer have burned the houses in the village, including the public buildings, except the jail, but had the church buildings in the western and southern part of the County destroyed, and then fled to Wytheville and ad- vised the burning of that town. In volume 12, part 1, Rebel- lion Records 450, will be found the official report of Colonel Jenifer to General Heth concerning the burning of this village which is inserted herein and is as follows : "On April 30th it was reported to me at Rocky Gap, that the enemy waa advanc- 1861-1865 221 ing on Princeton from the direction of Raleigh. In conse- quence of this report I ordered out Lieutenant Colonel Fitz- hugh with about 120 dismounted cavalry and some 70 or 80 militia to meet the enemy and to detain him if possible until I could remove the few remaining stores from Princeton to Rocky Gap. I also ordered up the forty-flfth, Colonel Peters, to the support of Colonel Pitzhugh, but before this regiment could reach Princeton the "enemy had advanced so rapidly that fearing Colonel Peters would be cut ofif I ordered him back to his camp, and in returning his regiment was ambushed by the enemy and thrown into some confusion. In order to enable me to save stores and property at Princeton, it became necessary to engage the enemy's advance column, which Colonel Fitz- hugh, did, inflicting considerable loss on the enemy. The fight was kept up for thirteen hours and for a distance of 22 miles, was well contested by the small force under Colonel Fitzhugh. During the engagement we lost one killed, four or five serious- ly wounded, and eight or nine slightly wounded. The wounded were all brought ofif safe from the field; the few who were seriously wounded, were taken to houses near the field. The en- emy's loss is supposed to be 35 in killed, wounded and missing. I evacuated Princeton just as the enemy entered it, having first fired the town." The oflQcial report of the engagement at Clark's house on May 1st by Colonel E. P. Scammon, 23rd Ohio regiment is as follows : This morning at daylight the advance guard of Lieu- tenant Colonel Hays, a company of 23rd regiment under Lieu- tenant Botsford was surrounded and attacked by about 300 rebels at Camp Creek. Lieutenant Botsford reports one man killed and twenty wounded, all but three or four slightly; six or seven of the enemy killed; wounded not yet known. Six prisoners, three wounded, had been taken, and others being brought in when messenger left. The enemy fied and Lieuten- ant Colonel Hayes had reached Camp Creek." The turnpike road leading southward from Princeton to Rocky Gap was literally lined and thronged with soldiers and 222 New Rivbk Settlements civilians, the latter mostly of women, children and old men, fleeing from the vanguard of the Federal army which was en- tering Princeton as the last of these people were passing out. The Federal soldiers did what they could to save the burning buildings, and among these Federal soldiers were two who be- came Presidents of the United States, viz : E. B. Hayes and William McKinley. The Federals seemed satisfied when they reached Princeton, and did not immediately pursue the retreat- ing Confderates. By this time the Confederate authorities had become aroused by the gravity of the situation, and the threatened advance of the army of General Cox to the Virginia and Tennessee Rail- road, and they took prompt steps to gather a force to repel the invasion. Brigadier General Henry Heth collected a force at Dublin, consisting of the 36th, 22nd and 4:5th Virginia regiments of in- fantry, the 8th Virginia cavalry regiment, dismounted. Chap- man's, Otey's and Vawter's Virginia batteries of artillery. Colonel Gabriel C. Wharton commanding the 51st Virginia regiment of infantry, rendezvoused at Wytheville, and Gener- al Humphrey Marshall with the 5th Kentucky infantry under Colonel Andrew J. May, 54th Virginia infantry under Colonel Trigg, 29th Virginia regiment of infantry. Colonel Moore, and a small Virginia battalion of infantry under Major Dunn, a battalion of Kentucky cavalry under Colonel Bradley, and a battery of artillery under Captain Jeffries, at Tazewell Court House, Virginia. General Cox had sent forward to Pearisburg, Virginia, un- der Colonel E. B. Hayes, of the 23rd Ohio regiment of infan- try, from whence it was driven by a brisk skirmish, by General Heth's forces on the 10th day of May with a loss to the Confed- erates of two killed and four wounded, among the latter Col- onel Patton slightly ; the loss to the Federals was two men killed, and five or six wounded, among them, Colonel Hayes slightly. The Federal advance under Major Comly, of the 23rd Ohio 1861-1865 223 regiment, reached Pearisburg on May 6th. Major Comly in his report says: "arrived here and took the place completely by surprise. No houses burned — citizens all here. We have captured one Major, one Lieutennat Colonel, and fifteen or twenty other prisoners." Colonel Hayes with the remainder of his regiment arrived on the evening of the 7th. On the 8th in his report to Colonel Scammon he, among other things in speaking of Pearisburg and its people, says: "this is a lovely spot, a fine, clean village; most beautiful and romantic surrounding country, polite and educated secesh people." Between the 1st and the 10th days of May, General Cox had advanced with the main body of his forces to French's Mill, now called Oakvale, on East River, eleven miles south of Princeton and seventeen miles from Pearisburg. Having learned of the retreat of Hays' regiment from Pearis- burg and that Heth's forces were pursuing and that his rear was threatened by both Wharton and Marshall, Gen- eral Cox made up his mind to advance no further, but to return to Princeton; however, before doing so and to guard against an attack from Wharton's column moving north to- ward Princeton, he detached on the evening of the 15th and sent westward up the Cumberland Gap and Prices' turnpike road Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Von Blessing, with five com- panies of the 28th, four companies of the 37th and two com- panies of the 34th regiments of Ohio infantry ; but Von Bless- ing seems to have returned to his camp, and on the 16th moved up East Eiver again, camping about Mills' that night, and moving toward the cross roads on the morning of the 17th. General Wharton's regiment camped on the night of the 16th at the Peery-Gibson farm at the southern base of East River Mountain, breaking camp at a very early hour on the morning of the 17th. The men were in light marching order, encumbered with only one wagon containing medical stores, among which was a barrel of whiskey. Wharton's instruc- tions were to press forward to Princeton, this being the point 224 New Rivee Settlements of concentration for the three Confederate columns advancing upon General Cox, whose troops or a part of them had had quite a lively skirmish west of Princeton on the evening of the 16th with the vanguard of Marshall's forces. On reaching the top of East Eiver Mountain, early on the morning of the 17th, Colonel Wharton discovered some three miles away to the east, Colonel Von Blessing's command ad- vancing westward along the turnpike road. Wharton did not know, could only surmise who these people were. He did not stop to see; his orders were to go to Princeton, gallant, faith- ful soldier as he was, he performed his duty; that is, obeyed his orders. Without halting, but pressing forward, passing the junction of the road before Von Blessing's column reach- ed that point, and throwing out a rear guard he took the road to Princeton, Von Blessing following and taking the short route by the old mill of Calfee and Bailey and into the turnpike near the present residence of Mr. Estill Bailey; Von Blessing, ap- parently, in fact evidently, not knowing Wharton was in his front, or if he did he took it to be a very small force with which if he overtook, he would have no diflSculty in dealing. Colonel Wharton on reaching Pigeon Koost Hill, found him- self in full view of Princeton and only about one mile south thereof ; halting his regiment and reconnoitering, he discovered that instead of Princeton being in possession of the Confed- erates under General Marshall, as he had been led to suppose, that it was occupied by the Federal troops. In the meantime he had heard the sound of Marshall's guns west of Princeton on the New Hope road. He at once made disposition of his troops, placing Major Peter J. Otey, late an honored member of Congress from Virginia, but who died a short time ago, in command of three companies of infantry and one piece of ar- tillery under Lieutenant B. Langhorne, and with instuctions to Major Otey, the next in rank to himself to place a line of men on the front towards Princeton, and one facing to the rear with instructions for these lines to furnish support to each oth- er as necessity might require, he took a guide and started to 1861-1865 225 find General Marshall. At the place where Colonel Wharton made his formation the road winds around the hill in the form of nearly a double half circle. General Cox knowing that his Lieutenant was on the Wythe, Grayson and Ealeigh Turnpike road, and doubtless being ad- vised of Wharton's movements, with whom Von Blessing was likely to come to blows, sent forward a battalion of infantry to reenforce Von Blessing. This advance having been discovered. Major Otey threw forward to meet this force two companies of infantry, one of them the Grayson company under its fear- less and gallant leader Captain William A. Cooper, and one gun under Lieutenant Langhorne. This small force met the advance of the Federal battalion and repulsed it, thereby pre- venting its union with Von Blessing. The situation just then was critical for both sides. Von Blessing was cut off from his friends, and Wharton's regiment placed in a position to be at- tacked both front and rear at the same time. Von Blessing could not help hearing the sound of the contest between Lang- horne's gun. Cooper's men and the Federal's, and no doubt this caused him to hasten his steps, for he knew of the force he had been following from the cross roads, and had evidently made up his mind that they would soon be between two flres and killed or captured. Overtaking Wharton's medical wagon, causing Dr. J. M. Estill, the regimental surgeon, and his corps of assistants to hurriedly seek shelter behind the Confederate battle line, Von Blesing's men unloaded the barrel of whiskey heretofore mentioned, and soldier like they soon had out the head, and imbibing freely they got enough to make them large- ly forget their tiresome, worn out condition, and soon hurried on to the field of slaughter and death. Marching by the route step and at rapid gate, doubtless enthused by the whiskey, and perhaps also by the thought that they would capture the Confederates in their front, they approached without discover- ing Wharton's men in position as above described, and suddenly meeting a rapid and concentric fire were thrown into utter confusion and panic. Under orders from Major Otey the Con- 226 New Eivee Settlements federates charged, and the Federals fled, closely pursued by the exultant Confederates. Major Otey sprang over the fence in the bend of the road, and met face to face a large burly Ger- man Federal soldier, armed with a Belgian rifle, which he pre- sented at Otey, the latter firing at the German with his pistol striking the ground about his feet, and railing out at him, say- ing: "Why are you trying to shoot me when you know that your men are running?" to which the German replied, "Well, Mister, my gun ain't loaded." Retreating for about one mile on the road over which they had just advanced, and reaching Brush Creek Bridge, they were piloted by some one who knew the country, over a by-path through the farms of Bratton, Straley and others, to a point on the Princeton and Twelve-Mile Fork road, about two miles south of the first named place. Here they were within two miles of the town now occupied by General Cox, and why Col- onel Von Blessing did not move immediately into the town is unexplainable, except upon the supposition that General Cox was yet at French's Mill. There can be no sort of question that Colonel Von Blessing and his men were greatly demoral- ized, consequent upon their being suddenly attacked, in fact surprised. His loss according to his own report, was 18 killed, 56 wounded and 14 captured, while the Confederates lost but one man and he killed by accident, and nine wounded. The total Federal loss around Princeton during the two days of partial engagements, was 23 killed, 69 wounded, and 21 miss- ing. The total loss of the Confederates was three killed, 21 wounded, among them Captain Elliott of Kentucky, mortally and who soon died. Von Blessing on his march from the bridge over Brush Creek, two miles south of Princeton, and in passing through the farm of Mr. H. W. Straley, met him in the road on his horse on his way from the mill, whither he had been to get bread for his family. He took charge of Mr. Stra- ley, as also of his horse, and dismounting him, placed a wound- ed Federal soldier on the horse. The fight at Pigeon Boost Hill took place about 10 o'clock on 1861-1865 227 the morning of the 17th. Colonel Von Blessing, with his badly scared and demoralized men, did not reach the Princeton and Twelve Mile Fork road until towards the middle of the after- noon, and although only four miles away he did not reach the mouth of Twelve Mile Pork at Spangler's, until after dark. He halted at the mouth of the fork for several hours, and then re- traced his steps to the right-hand branch of that fork and up the same, passing out through the farms of Major Wm. M. Eeynolds and Charles Stinson, and directly across the front of General Heth's command occupying the Princeton and French's Mill roads, and on through the Gooch and Grigsby farms to the old Logan road near Pisgah Church. Before fair dawn on the morn- ing of the 18th they had reached the farm lately owned by T. K. Lambert, formerly by Captain William A. Cooper, and were in sight of the Princeton and Ked Sulphur roads, whereupon they discovered a troop of Confederate cavalry passing, which seemed to give fresh impetus to their fleeing capacity; in fact thew were so alarmed that they cried out, "Eebel Calvary! Eebel Cavalry!" and broke into panic and wild confusion, fled with all speed on and along the old Logan road, throwing away guns, cartridge boxes, indeed everything that could in any way impede their making a successful run ; which did not end until they had joined at Spanishburg, nine miles away, General Cox's column retreating from Princeton. The reader no doubt has asked himself the question, what became of Mr. Straley, his horse and the wounded man? So soon as the panic began at Lambert's farm the wounded man on Straley's horse dismounted and fled with his comrades. Mr. Straley seized his horse's bridle and attempted to mount, but his saddle turn- ed and the already affrighted horse became only the more frightened and simply kicked himself free from the saddle. Mr. Straley did not stop to gather up the saddle, but mounting the horse without the saddle, sped rapidly through the woods and swamps, until he reached home some four miles away. The Confederate column under General Heth had on the 17th advanced on and along the French's Mill and Princeton road 228 New Eivbe Settlements to the west side of the Adam Johnston farm and about four miles from Princeon; having ample time by continuing the march to have joined battle with General Cox before nightfall, but for some reason best known to General Heth, he halted his command at the point indicated until after night. A wagon and team belonging to General Cox's forces had driven out on this road in search of some baggage left at a farm house by the Federals retreating from Frenches Mill, and a Federal cou- rier was captured, from whom Heth got information which in- duced him to retire his forces to Big Hill, about two miles north of French's Mill. Whether the courier was sent specially to mislead General Heth no one on the Confederate side knew, but Heth's non-action and retrograde movement enabled Gen- eral Cox to retreat in safety, and he did so that night, in fact began his retreat before night, for Marshall's command occu- pied the village the next morning. As before stated, Marshall's column advanced on the New Hope Church road, and did not encounter resistance until it reached a point about one mile east of New Hope Church, where it met the Federal skirmishers. The 5th Kentucky regiment un- der Colonel A. J. May led the advance, and rapidly pushed the Federal skirmishers back upon their reserve at Princeton. General Marshall brought forward his battery, planting it on the high bluff just west of the dwelling house owned by the late Leander P. Johnston. The Federal battery in opposition to Marshall's, one parrot gun was posted on the cemetery hill about one half mile west of Princeton, and was supported by some companies of the 37th Ohio regiment under Col, Moore. The pressure from the columns of Marshall and Wharton from the south and west, and the threatening attitude of Heth's col- umn from the east, caused Gen. Cox to withdraw from Prince- ton and return to Flat Top. He began his retreat on the even- ing of the 17th, but all did not get away until in the early morning of the 18th, when the forces of Marshall occupied the village of Princeton about sunrise of the same morning. In the skirmish on the New Hope road between Marshall's forces 1861-1865 229 and the Federals, the loss of the former was a few men wound- ed, while the latter had two or three killed and several wound- ed. Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Von Blessing the commandant of the Federal force which was defeated by Wharton's Virginia regiment on Pigeon Eoost Hill, on the morning of the 17th of May, made to his superior ofiflcer his report, in which among other things, he states : "It is difBcult to give the force of the enemy against us in the fight of the 17th. They fired all sorts and all Calibers of balls, even with fire balls and hand grenades. The dead of the 37th regiment number 11, so many having been recognized, and 36 severely wounded have been transported to Princeton and left in the hands of the enemy. Seven slightly wounded have been brought back to the regiment, and 18 are still missing from the four companies engaged in the combat. The loss of the 28th regiment is 5 killed and 10 wounded ; from the companies of the 34th regiment 2 wounded." Except a few troops from Kentucky, and from the Virginia border along the Kanawha, Ohio and Sandy waters, the men who fought the battles around Princeton were chiefly New River Valley men. It may here also be noted that a number of companies of New Kiver Valley men served in General Jackson's corps. Pulaski, Wythe and Montgomery Counties furnished three or more companies to the 4th Virginia regiment of the Stonewall brigade, while Monroe furnished one company and the 27th regiment of the same brigade. Of the numbers Federals and Confederates engaged in this campaign, they were not far from equal, with perhaps a slight preponderance in favor of the Confederates. General Cox certainly out generaled the Confederates, and the military crit- ics will say in reviewing this campaign its management and re- sults, that the Confederates woefully blundered, and that their adversary took advantage of their blunders, escaping when within their grasp. It may be added here that of the fatally wounded on the Confederate side at Clark's house on the 1st of May, Greene Bryson died at the house of William Ferguson, 230 New Rivee Settlements on Wolf Greek, and Montgomery Cox reached his home in Wytheville, where he soon expired. In the little village of Princeton, out of near an hundred houses, only about nine or ten remained after the burning. The suffering of the non-combatants, the old men, women and chil- dren^ who were compelled to abandon their homes, and the county, and most of whom never returned, are beyond the pow- ers of description. After the close of the military operation around Princeton in the spring of 1862 General Heth moved across New River, and marched upon Lewisburg, then occupied by a Federal force, with which on the 23rd of May he fought a severe battle in which his troops were totally defeated with considerable loss. The Federal forces numbered about 1500, Heth's about 2,000. The Federal loss was 13 killed, 53 wounded and 7 missing ; the Confederate loss was 38 killed, 70 wounded and 100 captured together with four pieces of artillery. Among the Confederate oflScers captured was Major George M. Edgar. Captain Thomas W. Thompson, of Mercer County, commanding a company in Edgar's battalion, was permanently disabled by a severe wound. Between the close of this campaign and the advance of Gen- eral Crook's Federal army in the spring of 1864, no very con- siderable body of Federal troops entered the county of Mercer. There were numerous scouting parties and frequent small skirmishes between small bodies of Federals and Confederates during this period. There are some things and incidents to be related which occurred during this period along the border and in the county of Mercer which are reserved until the proper date is reached in which these events occurred; and a return will now be made to the movements of the army of Northern Virginia, which, as will be recollected, was left in camp in front of Richmond after the close of the Seven days battles. About the time of the close of the fighting around Richmond on the first day of July, 1862, the Federal General Pope mak- ing himself troublsome in Northern Virginia, Major General 1861-1865 231 Jackson with his corps in the latter days of July marched in the direction of Eapidan, and on the 9th day of August fought a fierce and hloody battle at Cedar Mountain, in Culpeper County, with a large part of General Pope's army, in which the latter was defeated and driven from the field, but that night and the next day being largely reenforced, and greatly out- numbering the troops under General Jackson, the latter re- treated across the Rapidan to await help from General Lee, who by this time believing himself and Richmond safe from any attack from the army of General McClellen at Harrison's Landing, on August 13th sent forward General Longstreet with his division, including Kemper's brigade, to the assistance of General Jackson; and on the 15th himself left for the Eapidan. General Lee prepared to strike Pope's left, but that distin- guished General took fright and retired behind the Rappahan- ock, whither General Lee closely followed; and for several days continual skirmishing and artillery duels were kept up at the fords along that river, until finally General Jackson had so far removed to the left and up the river as to allow General Longstreet to occupy his place on the river front, and so to speak pulled the bridle off Jackson and turned him loose after Pope. General Lee sent General Stuart with a portion of hia cav- alry to sever Pope's connection with Alexandria and Wash- ington, which he in some measure accomplished, but not fully on account of the terrific rainfall, and at the same time impelled General Jackson's corps on the 22nd and 23rd up the Rappa- hannock to Warrenton Springs ; Pope marching up on parallel lines, but not fully understanding the significance of the move- ment, rather supposing at the first that Jackson was making for the Valley. Jackson still pushing up the river on the 25th with his three divisions, crossed the upper Eappahanock and bivouaced that night at Salem, on the Manassas Gap Railroad, General Lee in the meantime occupying as far as possible Pope's attention 232 New Eivee Settlements on the Rappahanock with Longstreet's troops. General Jack- son continued his movement until he reached the rear of the Federal army, cutting its line of communications and captur- ing immense stores at Manassas Junction, appropriating so much thereof as he could use and get away with, destroyed the remainder. General Longstreet's corps soon followed, taking the same route pursued by Jackson's corps, and on reaching Thoroughfare Gap on the evening of August 28th found it held by the enemy. Next morning the forward movement began, Kemper's brigade following another, moving through the gap while some other Confederate troops by a flank movement had caused the enemy to withdraw from his strong position in the gap. As Kemper's men cleared the gap and reached the vicinity of Haymarket, they could distinctly hear the roar of the guns of the enemy and those of Jackson. The pace was quickened as the troops passed on and along the highway in clouds of dust and suffering for water. It was near high noon when Kemper's brigade reached the vivinity of the battlefield, and late that af- ternoon the roar of the battle on the left told us that Jack- son's men with a portion of Longstreet's were hotly engaged. Some skirmishing and artillery firing occurred in the forenoon of the 30th, and then for a while there was a calm ; in which both armies were preparing for the fray. General Kemper was placed in command of a division con- sisting of Jenkins', Hunton's and his own brigade, the latter commanded by Colonel Montgomery D. Corse of the 17th Vir- ginia regiment. The battle rolled along the left front of Kemper's brigade with fury, when about three o'clock, P. M., the order came to move forward, which was done at double quick, the men fix- ing their bayonets as they went. Through a strip of woods and into an open field a little to the south of the Chinn house, brought the brigade almost into the presence of the enemy, but in the direction of a right oblique from them ; and in order to face them a left half wheel was made which brought it in 1861-1865 233 full face to the enemy, only a few hundred yards away, stand- ing in line of battle in open ground across a small ridge or elevation beyond the Chinn house, and a little north and west of an old Virginia rail fence, with a five gun battery on top of the elevation in line with its infantry supports. Kemper's brigade went forward in good order at a quick step, until striking the Chinn house which compelled it to make a left oblique movement creating some confusion, which however was but momentary. Away it dashed at the enemy's line firing as it advanced, reached and crossed the rail fence and on to and over the Federal battery, scattering the canon- iers with their infantry support. A short distance beyond the brigade was halted; its supports coming up it was finally withdrawn to a pine thicket in the rear of the ground over which it had fought. After the brigade started on the charge every man was his own General, and there was no earthly pow- er could have stopped it until it had accomplished the object for which it had made the charge, viz, the capture of the Fed- eral guns and defeat of its infantry supports. In this charge the left of the 7th Virginia regiment became somewhat inter- mingled with the right of the 24th Virginia regiment, so that both regiments are entitled to claim credit for the capture of the guns. The colors of the 7th regiment having fallen, were seized by Lieutenant Colonel Flowerree, who upon the fall of Colonel Patton handed them to Lieutenant Stewart. In ad- dition to the five guns the brigade had captured, a flag from the enemy was also taken, but it had paid dearly in precious lives and blood for its victory. The enemy was beaten and was get- ting away, but night now upon us prevented successful pur- suit. The brigade loss was 33 killed, 240 wounded, and one missing. The 7th Virginia regiment lost 5 killed, and 48 wounded. The 24th Virginia regiment lost 11 killed and 67 wounded. Among the field oflBcers wounded were Colonel Corse commanding the brigade. Colonel Patton, Lieutenant Colonel Flowerree, and Major Swinler, the latter losing a leg as well also as Adjutant Hugh M. Patton and Sergeant Major 234 New Eiver Settlements Park of the 7th regiment. Company D, of the 7th regiment, lost the following members: killed, John Q. Martin; wounded Captain E. H. Bane and Lieutenant John W. Mullens, and pri- vates W. H. Carr, John S. Dudley, Elbert S. Baton, Adam Thompson, William C. Fortner, James H. Fortner, Francis H. Farley, J. Tyler Frazier, John W. Hight, Gordon L. Wilburn, Hugh J. Willburn, William I. Wilburn, James J. Nye, and Washington E. C. Vass, the latter two mortally; Vass dying that night and Nye in a day or two after. Out of about 57 men carried into action only 40 came out unhurt. The loss in officers in the 7th Virginia was 12. The loss in the Giles and Mercer companeis in the 24th regiment was severe. The names of those killed and wounded in the Giles company seems not to have been preserved. A partial list of those killed and wounded in the Mercer company shows that Lieutenant Bal- lard P. French was slain, and that Captain H. Scott and Pri- vate John Coeburn were wounded. In front of Kemper's brig- ade fell mortally wounded Colonel Fletcher Webster of Massa- chusetts, the only son of Daniel Webster. General Lee's skillful tactics compelled the enemy to fight at a disadvantage, and yet it was among the most fiercely contested open field battles of the war, and in scarce no other did the Con- federates acquit themselves with more honor. They had beat- en an enemy superior to them in numbers and equipment, in- flicting upon him heavy loss of men and guns. With Longstreet's division, Kemper's brigade occupied the field the next day and buried the dead, and cared for the wounded amid a heavy rain storm. Early on Monday the 1st day of September the division moved across Bull Eun and to the vicinity of Chantilly, reach- ing, there at night and in the midst of a pelting rain. On the 3rd it moved to and through Leesburg and to the banks of the Potomac at White's Ford, where it encamped on the night of the 5th. The enemy had taken shelter within his entrench- ments in and around Alexandria and Washington, and anoth- er "On to Eichmond" had come to grief. 1861-1865 235 At Leesburg all the men who were sick, broken down, bare- foot, lame and halt, were allowed to remain, and there were not a few of them, whose services were so sorely needed beyond the Potomac a few days later. A little after sunrise on Satur- day, the 6th day of September, 1862, Kemper's brigade crossed the Potomac and made its footprint on the sacred soil of Mary- land, my Maryland, and as the men wended their way across the Potomac, some one remembering Eandall's soulstirring and patriotic poem, began to sing : — "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland, my Maryland, His torch is on thy temple door, , Maryland, my Maryland, Avenge the patriotic gore. That flecked the streets of Baltimore, And be the battle queen of yore, Maryland, my Maryland." Thousands of voices joined in the song, while a bugler on the Northern bank took up and made the welkin ring, which was answered by long and gladsome shouts by the men. Halt- ing that night and camping a few miles out from the river; reaching the Monocacy River next day where it is spanned by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad bridge, where the command spent two or three days in resting and recuperating. The men were in light marching order, having learned to burden them- selves with as little as possible ; a cloth haversack, canteen and blanket were the sum total of a soldier's luggage at this period of the war. They had no change of clothing as a rule ; a grey cap, jacket, pants, and colored shirt, made up about all the clothing he had, and when he thought he would like to have a clean shirt, he took ofE the soiled one, went to the water and, generally without soap, gave it a rubbing, hung it out in the sun, hunted a shade and waited for the garment to dry suffi- ciently to put it on again. As for rations, especially on this campaign, if he could get a little green corn and fresh beef he counted himself fairly well provided for ; enough to march and fight on. He preferred a pair of shoes if he could get them and if he could not, he, like many on this campaign, marched bare- 236 New Eivee Settlements foot, and complained but little if it was light enough for him to see where to place his feet. Remaining at the Monocacy some three or four days, the command turned its face westward, passing through Freder- ick, Middletown, and Boonsboro to Hagerstown. It had be- come the custom for each regiment to have inscribed upon its flag the various battles in which it had been engaged. At that time the 7th Virginia regiment had inscribed on its flag among the names of battles, that of Seven Pines, and as the regiment marched through Frederick a lady among a considerable group catching sight of the words Seven Pines on the flag proposed, "Three cheers for the battle flag of Seven Pines," which were given with a hearty good will, and thereupon the regiment be- gan to sing: — Oh! have you heard the joyful news Virginia does Old Abe refuse. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Virginia joins the cotton states, Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! The glorious cry each heart elates. We'll live and die for Dixie." Longstreet's division reached Hagerstown on the 12th and went into camp on the southwest side of the town, where it remained until Sunday, the 14th as hereinafter related. Gen- eral D. H. Hill's division had been left to guard the passes through South Mountain, while General Jackson had led his troops for the reduction and capture of the Federal garri- son at Harper's Ferry. On the march of Kemper's brigade from Frederick through Middletown, it met with few smiles if any, but on the other hand strong exhibitions of Union feeling and sentiment, especially from the females, who seemed intent on saying bad things and in having the last word. The men took it in good part, said funny things to them and sung for them a part of the words of the beautiful southern poem : — (1) (1). The above arrangement of lines is a fac-simile of the original manuscript; and while incorrect, from the standpoint of arrangement, it is followed, as a matter of interest. The song is given line-for-line. 1861-1865 237 "We are a band of brothers and native to The soil, Fighting for the property we've gained by Honest toil. And when our rights were threatened the Cry rose near and far. Hurrah! for the bonny blue flag that bears The single star, Hurrah! Hurrah! For the southern rights Hurrah! Hurrah! for the bonny blue flag that bears The single star. As long as the Union was faithful To her trust. Like friends and like brothers, kind Were we and just. But now when northern treachery Attempts our rights to mar. We hoist on high the bonny flag that Bears the single star. Then here's to our Confederacy — strong are We and brave; Like patriots of old we fight our heritage To save; And rather than submit to shame, to Die we would prefer. So cheer for the bonnie blue flag that Bears the single star." In Hagerstown more signs of the southern sentiment were visible, even displayed, — for a young girl about fourteen stand- ing on the top of a gate post as the brigade passed, cried out, "Three cheers for Jeff Davis, why may not he be honored?" On Sunday the 14th about 11 o'clock, A. M., the long roll sounded and the men of Longstreet were quickly in line, and with faces turned eastward marched at a quickstep towards Boonsboro about 14 miles away. The roads were cleared of everything that would in any way delay the march, which was quickened by the continuous roar of guns east of or about Boonsboro Gap, where as was understood General D. H. Hill's division was closely engaged with the main portion of the Fed- eral army, now under the command of General McClellan, who was gradually pressing the Confederates back to the Mountain top. Longstreet's division, except one brigade left by him at Hagerstown, was pressing forward with all speed to the relief 238 New Eivbr Settlements of General Hill's command. It was near 3 o'clock, P. M., when Kemper's brigade reached the foot of the mountain east of Boonsboro. Turning to the right at the western base of the mounain, it was conducted to a point about half way up the mountain side in the direction of a gap, and thence to the left into the main gap through which the great highway passes. While being conducted from this gap up and along an arm of the mountain to the left, the movement was discovered by a Federal battery to the right rear, which at once opened fire throwing shot and shell into the ranks, one of which struck the head of the leading company of the 7th regiment, killing one man instantly. To dodge at the sound of a cannon shot, the whistling or singing of a minnie ball, was altogether natural with a soldier, no matter how strong and brave he might be and was no indication of cowardice. Dodging was one of the weak- nesses of John Meadows, of Company D, 7th regiment. John would always dodge, bu|t wouldn't run ; so on this occasion John began to dodge, which happened to be observed by John Craw- ford of the same company, who called out to Meadows, "What the devil is use of dodging now, the ball has gone by, the first thing you know you will dodge in the way of a ball." The brig- ade hastened its steps to the mountain top, on reaching which it found itself face to face with the enemy. Before describing the fight which ensued, a statement as to the situation and relative position of the Confederates at and near the place occupied by Kemper's brigade is necessary to a clear understanding of what had and was about to take place. Colquitt's Georgia brigade was occupying a line on both sides the turnpike road and perpendicular thereto, and from which the enemy had been unable to dislodge it. Eode's Alabama brigade, supported by that of Evans, of South Carolina, held the extreme Confederate left, and by whom a most gallant and unqualed struggle had been maintained for several hours, until the enemy by overpowering force of numbers had about sue ceeded in crowning the mountain, when Kemper's brigade ar- rived on the field of contention. General Pickett's brigade, 1861-1865 239 now commanded by General Garnett, was thrown forward and posted on the left of Colquitt's brigade ; and Kemper's brigade across the old road to fill the gap or space between the right of Evans and left of Pickett. These two brigades numbering not more than eight hundred men, and against whom was pit- ted not less than 5,000 Federals, bravely held their ground un- til long after nightfall, withdrawing from their position with- out molestation. The ranks of Kemper's brigade had been greatly depleted by sickness, the battles around Richmond, Second Manassas, and the barefoot, sick, lame men left at Lees- burg, and broken down men on the rapid march made from Ha- gerstown to Boonsboro ; so that the five little regiments of his brigade that reached the firing line on the evening of Septem- ber 14th, 1862, could not have exceeded in the aggregate 500 men rank and file. The 17th Virginia regiment occupied the right of the brig- ade, then 11th, 7th, 1st, and 24th regiments in the order named. It was near the hour of 4 :30 o'clock, P. M., when the brigade of General Kemper reached the crest of the mountain, and as stated met the enemy face to face, only a short distance away and seemingly intent on crowning the mountain if possible. Here for more than an hour and thirty minutes, the battle raged fiercely, the enemy at some points reaching almost up to the points of the Confederate bayonets. On the southeast side of the county road referred to were the 17th and 11th regi- ments, and partly in their front was a small field in which was a growing crop of com, through which, a little after dark, the enemy came up almost to the muzzles of the guns of the regi- ments referred to, when some one cried out "There they are, men ; fire on them !" The fire from the guns of the combatants was so near each other that it appeared to intermingle. It was at or about this time that Major John W. Daniel, Adjutant of the 11th regiment, now United States Senator from Virginia, received a ball in one of his hands. The enemy finding the ground so firmly held against them, a little after dark desisted, leaving the Confederates in possession of this part of the field, 240 New Kivee Settlements from which in about one hour later they very quietly departed, taking with them such of the wounded as were able to be re- moved without stretchers. Since the reports can be had of the strength of the Federal troops pitted against Garnett's and Kemper's brigades, on the evening of the 14th of September, it can now be stated that Gen- eral Hatch's division of 3500 men, reinforced by Christian's brigade of 1500, which was put into the fight, were unable to drive these two small brigades from their position, and this should be glory enough for these men, tired, broken down, foot- sore, half naked and starved. It is stated upon authority that in this battle the Federals had about 30,000 men, the Confed- erates about 9,000. Want of oflScial or other data prevents the statement of loses sustained by Kemper's brigade in this battle, except as to a single company, D, of the 7th Virginia, which company carried 21 men into the battle and lost T. P. Mays and James Cole, kill- ed, and George Knoll and John R. Crawford wounded; a pro- portionate loss throughout the companies of the brigade would indicate a loss of 28 in the 7th regiment and of 100 in the brig- ade, and may be set down as not far short of this number. Col- or Sergeant Mays died with his flag clutched in his hands. The command passed quietly down to the turnpike and through Boonsboro and the little village of Keedysville, cross- ing the Antietam and reaching Sharpsburg the morning of the next day, Monday the 15th, about 11 o'clock, A. M. Filing to the left, Kemper's brigade took position behind the range of hills between the road leading from the town to Harper's Fer- ry and the Antietam, where it remained in the afternoon and night of Monday. Being out of rations, nothing, however, un- usual. Sergeant Taylor of D company of the 7th regiment with a detail was sent in quest of the much needed food, which he did not succeed in getting to the regiment when the battle opened on Wednesday, though he had secured a quantity of beef and had it cooking in one of the houses in the town when the 1861-1865 241 battle began, but did not make delivery to the men until after night put a stop to the contest. Nothing of importance transpired during Monday evening beyond a partial artillery duel and some skirmishing with the rear guard. The artillery opened early on Tuesday morning, and as Kemper's brigade with others were shifted from place to place along the line, it was exposed to the shot from the enemy's guns across the Antietam. Later in the eve- ning the fire far to the left seemed to increase, which, however, ceased when night came. On this day and prepared for the morrow's fray, Kemper could not muster in his brigade but few more than 400 muskets. The 17th Virginia regiment num- bered but 55 officers and men, the 7th regiment 317, the 1st regiment was less than a half size company, the 24th regiment not exceeding 150 men and 11th regiment scarcely more than 100 men. On Kemper's left was Drayton's small brigade. of three regiments, one South Carolina and two Georgia. To the left of Drayton was Garnett's brigade reduced to a mere skele- ton, and beyond Garnett, and with its left resting on tjie turn- pike road, was Jenkins' South Carolina brigade, likewise much depleted. General D. E. Jones was in command of the division com- posed of the brigades mentioned, together with General Toombs' brigade of four small Georgia regiments and a Georgia battalion, numbering in all, about 600 men, which together with the other brigades could not have given General Jones' an aggregate of over 2,000 men to defend a line fully a mile in ex- tent, and threatened with a column of quite 15,000 of the enemy. General Toombs had been sent to defend a bridge over the An- tietam, and to prevent the enemy's crossing at that point. He had with him two small Georgia regiments and some artillery with which he held the bridge for several hours on the 17th, and only withdrew after inflicting heavy loss upon his assailants, and they had found a ford which enabled them to flank his posi- tion. Before daylight on the morning of Wednesday the 17th, the 242 New Eivbr Settlements artillery opened rapidly on the Confederate left, and very soon thereafter the crash of small arms began, and the battle on that part of the field raged with intense fury for hours, and rap- idly extended towards the Confederate center and right. Near or a little past noon, the 24th Virginia regiment was detached and sent some eight hundred or a thousand yards to and be- yond the Confederate right, to keep watch In the direction of some of the fords of the Antietam. A short while after this regi- ment was detached, the 7th Virginia under Capt. Philip Ashby was sent to a point from five hundred to six hundred yards to the right of the position it had been occupying in brigade line, leaving General Kemper with three small regiments, 1st, 11th, and 17th Virginia numbering not exceeding two hundred men. Skirmishers from the brigade had been thrown forward a few hundred yards, and had taken shelter behind a stone fence in part and behind a board fence, at the base of the hill occupied by the brigade. Upon the retirement of the regiments of Gen- eral Toombs from the bridge, the enemy under the command of General Bumside pushed over the creek, and after some de- lay deployed in line of battle. The creek was not large and contained but little water, and might have been crossed at any point the enemy might have chosen, except at the bridge de- fended by General Toombs. They seemed anxious to secure the bridge and they did after several hours bloody battle, and the loss of more than 300 men killed and wounded, and this only after they had flanked the position. About three o'clock, P. M., the columns of General Burnside's 9th Federal army corps, cov- ering its front with a cloud of skirmishers, advanced to the at- tack. The skirmishers were quickly repelled by those of the Con- federates lying behind the fences described. The Federal brigade that first came to the relief of their skirmish line, came near sharing a like fate; and this too from the Confederate skirm- ish line alone supported by a few pieces of artillery. There quickly came however other battle lines to the help of their friends, which by their very momentum, if nothing else, enabled them to bodily rush over the Confederate skirmish line, but 1861-1865 243 few escaping, and crowning the heights. Their seeming vic- tory was short lived, and was soon turned into a signal repulse and defeat. Generl Burnside's long sweeping lines advancing up the hill overlaped the right of Kemper's three little regi- ments by several hundred yards, brushing them away and cap- turing Mcintosh's South Carolina battery before it had fired a shot. Just then General Toombs with his small brigade that moment arrived from the bridge, threw his men on the Federal flank, and together with Kemper's handful, Drayton's, Gar- nett's and Jenkins' brigade renewed the fight with vigor with the Federal corps. Doubtless overpowering numbers would have soon won but for the good fortune of the Confederates in this unequal contest; General A. P. Hill's division, which had left Harper's Ferry that morning, having marched 17 miles, reached the field of contention at the opportune moment. Gen. Hill took in the situation at a glance, and threw upon the flank of the enemy's column of attack three of his brigades, Archer's Branch's and Gregg's, and in less than thirty minutes. Burn- side's whole corps was in full retreat towards the Antietam. The 24th Virginia regiment was not engaged, but suffered some loss, however, from the severe shelling to which it was sub- jected, while the 7th regiment was but slightly engaged, losing some men in killed and wounded. The three small regiments, viz : 1st, 11th and 17th regiments, especially the latter suffered severely in killed and wounded. Company D of the 7th regi- ment had but 15 men in the action, and lost Isaac Hare, slightly wounded, and John S. Dudley captured on the skirmish line. General Jones reports the strength of his division in this battle at 2430 men, far too high, and General A. P. Hill re- ports that he carried into action 2,000 men ; making 4430 men, against whom came Burnside's Federal corps of eight brigades of infantry numbering near 15,000 men, with seven batteries of field artillery, besides three companies of cavalry. The loss in Jones' division was 178 killed, 979 wounded, and 272 missing; total 1435. Hill's loss was 63 killed, 283 wounded; total 346. Aggregate loss of Jones' and Hill's divisions 1781 ; Burnside's 244 New Eiver Settlements loss was 2349. Brigadier General Branch, of Hill's command, was killed and General Gregg wounded. In Jones' division General Toombs was wounded. In front of Kemper's brigade, and on and over the ground over which it fought, lay 35 men of the 8th Connecticut regi- ment dead and mortally wounded. The loss in Kemper's brig- ade was 144. At the close of the contest, the 7th and 24th regi- ments returned to the brigade, which occupied that night and the next day the same position it had occupied at the beginning of the battle that morning. The 18th was spent in gathering up and caring for the wounded, burying the dead. Confederate and Federal. That night the Confederates quietly marched away, and crossed to the south side of the Potomac. Kemper's brigade going into bivouac about four miles from the river ; a few days thereafter removing to a large spring near Bunker's Hill. Here quite a number of additions were made, not only to the brigade, but to the whole army from the lame, sick, and shoeless men left at Leesburg. The battle of Sharpsburg may be said to have I)een gratuitous on the part of the Confederates, for they had ample time and opportunity after the fall of Harper's Ferry on Monday morning to have retired to the Virginia side, and there the better prepared to fight a successful battle. During the 15th day of September, General Lee did not have with him at Sharpsburg more than 12,000 men, though by his maneu- vering and shifting his men from place to place, he convinced the Federal General that he had a vast army ready for the fight. The Federal General McClellen in his oflacial report states that he put 87,500 men into the battle of Wednesday ; and it is more than doubtful if the Confederate army in this battle ex- ceeded more than 33,000 men. It has been truly said that this was the bloodiest one day's battle of the war ; and in none did Southern individuality and self reliance, noted characteristics of the Confederate soldier, shine more brilliantly, or perform a more important part. 1861-1865 245 After the close of the battle, and on the night of the 18th, the cries of distress of a wounded Connecticut soldier lying in the forty-acre cornfield, were heard by J. M. Norton, a Georgia soldier belonging to Toombs' brigade and he determined to reach and relieve the sufferer, if possible. Taking his canteen filled with water, he crept and crawled to the spot from whence came the cries, and found Mr. B. L. Burr, a badly wounded Fed- eral soldier famishing — dying for water. He supplied him with a canteen of water, and then made his way safely back to his regiment. Subsequently, the following poem written by A. W. Burkhardt, which is here inserted, was suggested by the read- ing of this incident. "FROM THE SAME CANTEEN." On Maryland's soil, by Antietam's clear stream, There was a clashing of sabres and bayonet-gleam. And booming of cannon and shrieking of shell. While the Angel of death plied the engines of Hell. Two vast armies met there, in stern battle array. And Antietam ran crimsoned with blood on that day; While death-dealing bullets were falling like hail. And the fate of a nation hung poised in the scale. In far-away homes many loved one shall weep. On that red gory field many warriors shall sleep; The mother shall watch, but her waiting is vain. Her brave soldier boy shall return not again. The wife, so devoted, so loyal and true, Has given her loved one a last long adieu; And now, when the sun shall sink low in the west, A fatherless babe she will clasp to her breast. The fair maiden betrothed, and dreaming of bliss, While on her lips lingers her lover's last kiss. The fond hope of her heart no more shall behold, He lies at Antietam, all lifeless and cold. The bright morning sun will rise in the sky. And look on the scene with a pitying eye. And weep for the loved ones, all bleeding and torn. Sad, wounded, forsaken, and dying forlorn. Earth quenches it's thirst with the blood of the slain, While the cyclone of death sweeps over the plain; And the war Demons dance in the moon's misty light, And mockingly laugh, as each soul takes its flight. 246 New Eivbr Sbitlements Oh, bloody Antietam! oh, death dealing day! When the North and the South met in battle array On the banks of thy stream — in the gloom of thy shade. Where widows and orphans by thousands were made. As line after line, with a firm, steady tread, O'er the gory field charged over wounded and dead. Through the smoke of the battle, and its sulphurous breath. Pressed onward — still on — to the harvest of death. The "Bridge" Is now taken — though fearful the loss. And Burnside advances his columns across; As forward and backward the battle tide flows, A part of the field is abandoned to foes. As the smoke of the conflict lifts over the scene Where the day's bloody struggle the hottest has been, And the red, gory field lies thickest— o'er spread With the wounded, and mangled, the dying and dead, 'Twas here, lying helpless, at ebb of the tide, A soldier was left, on the fearful divide, 'Twixt the camps of the foemen where battle raged hot And the sharp shooter's rifle commanded each spot. The day's work was done, and the din of the fight Gave place to the darkness and gloom of the night; The pickets were ordered strict vigils to keep. While the weary combatants attempted to sleep. But alas for the wounded! — deserted, alone. Their couch the red field, and their pillow a stone! No "touch of the elbow," no kind "comrade" near To inspire them with courage, or speak words of cheer. All bleeding he lay, 'mid the dying and dead. While the earth echoed back to the sentinels' tread; And the grief burdened air gave vent to a groan. As upward it wafted some comrade's last moan. He thought of his home, of his friends far away. As through the long night he awaited the day. At length the sun rose, but to add to his grief. No kind, friendly hand came to give him relief. Thus forty long hours, all helpless he lay; Day gave place to night, and night changed into day! With his life current ebbing — ^while weaker each breath. He sighed but for "Water!" — for water or death. The thirst of the wounded — not pencil nor pen Can portray half its horrors; nor language of men; It's pangs may be felt but no tongue can tell, 'Tis the acme of misery! — quintessence of Hell! For "Water!" — Oh Water!" — for Water the cry — While Antietam, her current rolls mockingly by. There faint and exhausted, in hopeless despair, He sniffs the foul stench of the war-burdened air! 1861-1865 247 What a glorious vision his eyes now behold! — A treasure, more precious than silver, or gold, He drinks at the fountain! — he bathes in the stream! He awakens — ^Alas! — it was only a dream! But a picket, a "Johnnie in Gray," it is true, Heard the cry of distress from the "Yankee in Blue," And all enmity vanished his soldierly heart As he quickly resolved kind aid to impart. But to give the relief, he must creep 'mong the dead Through the down trodden corn, where the earth was still red. Pull exposed to the sharpshooter's deadly aim. On his mission of mercy — ^he went and he came! Soon the Blue and the Gray, whilom enemies, met; From the "Johnnie's" canteen, the "Yank's" lips were made wet. And as kindness and gratitude readily blends. Two hearts were made happy, two foes became friends; And the angel of mercy looked down from above With a pitying eye, while a tear drop of love Cemented the friendship begun on that day. Where "Yankee" and "Reb" fought In hostile array. Of all the brave deeds, on that battlefield done. None exceeded in bravery and kindness that one; And from that day to this no friends were more true Than the "Johnnie in Gray" and the "Yankee in Blue." General McClellan's army began crossing the Potomac east of the Blue Eidge and at Harper's Ferry in the last days of October, which impelled General Lee to move to Culpeper, where he concentrated the major part of his army about the first day of November. While at Culpeper in the early days of November, Pickett's 'division was organized, and composed of the following Vir- ginia regiments, viz: 1st brigade ; Brigadier General James L. Kemper Regiments : 1st, 3rd, 7th 11th, and 24th Virginia, 2nd brigade : Brigadier General E. B. Garnett Eegiments : 8th, 18th, 19th, 28th, and 56th Virginia 3rd brigade Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead Eegiments : 9th, 14th, 38th, 53rd, and 57th Virginia 248 New Eivbr Settlements 4th brigade Brigadier General Montgomery D. Corse Eegiments : 15th, 17th, 29th, 30th, and 32nd Virginia And Jenkins' South Carolina brigade. To the division was at- tached Major James Bearing's battalion of artillery, and Cas- key's, Stribling's and Latham's batteries. In the last days of November the division marched from Cul- peper over the Orange plank road to the hills overlooking Fredericksburg, where on the 11th of December it was called to arms to resist the enemy reported as crossing or threaten- ing to cross the Eappahannock. The division stood to arms un- til early on the morning of the 13th, when it was marched to a position in the Confederate battle line on the right center of Longstreet's corps, where it remained until about 1 o'clock, P. M., when Kemper's and Jenkins' brigades were marched rap- idly to the relief of the Confederates holding Mayre's Hill, and who were being sorely pressed. The brigade of Kemper moved forward into the line about dark, taking the place of Cobb's Georgians and Cook's North Carolinians; remaining during the night of the 13th, the day and night of the 14th, engaged for most of the time in brisk skirmishing with the enemy, who de- camped and crossed the river on the night of the 14th. The loss in the brigade was 46, of which there were four in the 7th regiment, and seven in the 24th regiment. Lewis N. Wiley of company D, of the 7th was wounded. Another "On to Rich- mond" movement had been scotched. The enemy gone and the present danger having passed, the troops retired to their respective camping places on the hills, south of Fredericksburg. The winter was severe, the men were without tents, but few blankets and numbers still without shoes, and not one in a dozen with an overcoat, therefore poor- ly prepared for the winter blasts. Necessity, however, compels man to resort to almost any expedient to make himself com- fortable, and the men erected rude wooden shanties out of tim- ber, placing one end in the ground, and slanting the other for- 1861-1865 249 ward resting on poles held up by forks or against trees, and the top of the timber or slabs covered with eartti to the depth of several inches. In front they built their fires ; some rolling away the logs that had been burning during the day, made their bed on the warm ground. Eawhide moccasins were sub- stituted for shoes. The regiments by detachments did picket duty off the river beyond Hamilton's Crossing, while the cav- alry watched the fords of the upper Rappahannock. During that long, dreary, cold winter while in the bivouac amid privation and suffering, not exceeded by that of Washing- ton's army at Valley Forge, the men freely discussed the ques- tion touching the war, its conduct, prospects for peace, etc. An ever abiding confidence in the justice of our cause, and the be- lief in its final triumph, coupled with and backed by invinci- ble, unconquerable spirits ever ready to brave the storm of battle, caused the sufferings and hardships to be treated as trival as compared with the great issue at stake. On January 20th the men were called from their quarters and marched up the Eappahannock in the direction of Bank's Ford, where it was reported that a portion of the Federal army was threatening to cross. Eemaining out one night in the rain, snow and mud, returned to their camps, seeming to have marched up that hill for no other purpose than to march down again. At an early hour on the morning of Monday, February 16th, in the midst of snow, sleet and storm, Pickett's division took up its line of march heading towards Richmond. The march con- tinued to within about eight miles of that city, when a halt was made and the men rested for a few days, when they again marched, moving through the city to Chester station, on the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad. Here the command remain- ed until about the 1st of March, when it removed to a point about two miles south east of Petersburg, where it remained un- til March 25th, then was placed aboard a train of cars and pro- ceeded to Weldoii, then to Goldsboro, and from thence to Kins- ton, North Carolina. Here the command did some scouting and 250 New River Settlements picketing on the roads leading to Newberne. Leaving Kinston on April 9tli it moved by rail by way of Goldsboro to Weldon, and from thence marched to SuflEolk, Virginia, reaching there on April 12th, and joining the Confederate forces of General Longstreet, then investing that place. It was from a train of cars on this journey that Manley Keece, of the Mercer company of the 24:th Virginia regiment was knocked from the top of the train by an overhead bridge and killed. The principal object of the investment of the town of Suf- folk, seems to have been to keep the enemy closely confined within his lines immediately in and around that place and the city of Norfolk, and thus enable the Confederate Commissary Department to gather all available supplies for the army from the southeastern counties of Virginia, and to transport them into the interior for the use of our army. Beyond some severe skirmishes, nothing very important occurred during our stay around Suffolk. General Longstreet quietly withdrew his forces on the night of the 3rd of May, and marched to the vi- cinity of Chester Station, between Petersburg and Richmond. On our way from Suffolk to Petersburg we heard of the bat- tle of Chancellorville, the woundeing of General Jackson and later of his death. The command remained at Chester Station until about the middle of May, when Pickett's division march- ed through Richmond to Taylorsville and went into camp, where it remained and rested until the last of the month or the 1st day of June, when it marched across the Pamunkey into King and Queen County, returning in a day or two to its camp at Taylorsville. On the 2nd day of June the division was again in motion in the direction of Northern Virginia, and the move- ment continued until it reached, on the 10th, a point within about eight miles of Culpeper Court House, where it went into bivouac. Here had assembled, as was assembling, a large part of the army of Gen. Lee, including his cavalry corps under its matchless leader. General J. E. B. Stuart. The passionate ardor of our people for their country's cause had brought to the army nearly every man that was able to 1861-1865 251 perform active military duty in the field, so that but few addi- tions to the ranks could be hoped for. It was the largest num- ber of men, and composed of the best fighting material, that General Lee had yet, in fact ever led to battle. Most of them were men well inured to the service, and therefore well pre- pared to undergo the greatest hardship ; and by this time most of the cowards, of which there were few, had either gotten out of the army and gone home, or over to the enemy. As General Lee, at the head of this magnificent body of men, was passing through Clark County, in the Valley o,f Virginia, he dined with Dr. McGuire, and after dinner on mounting his horse and about to leave, the Doctor remarked to him, that he had never before felt confidence in the Southern cause, but was now en- couraged as he saw the army marching north. To which Gen- eral Lee quietly said, "Doctor, there marches the finest body of men that ever tramped upon the earth." This incident was re- lated to the author by Doctor Edwin McGuire of Kichmond. The usual orders to cook rations and prepare to move at a mo- ment's notice were given the men in their bivouac at Culpeper, and everything was bustle and confusion in preparation to move. Before proceeding to relate the movements of the army Northward it becomes necessary to go back to Western Vir- ginia and state what has been transpiring in that section. Af- ter the battle of Sharpsburg and the Confederates had retired south of the Potomac, General Stuart with a portion of his cavalry corps made a ride around the Federal army of the Po- tomac. On reaching his starting point about Cumberland, Maryland, he ascertained that the Federal General Cox with about 5,000 men had started for the valley of the Kanawha, to intercept or cut off General Loring, who was operating in the said valley with an army composed largely of New River Val- ley men. Loring being informed of this movement of General Cox, retired from the Valley of the Kanawha to the New River section. In Loring's command were a large number of men from the Counties of Giles, Mercer, Monroe, and Greenbrier. 252 New Eivbe Settlements These men belonged largely to the 36th and 60th Virginia reg- iments of infantry and to the 23rd, 26th and 30th battalions of infantry, and to William H. French's battalion, afterwards 17th regiment of cavalry. There was also along with General Loring two or more companies of Tazewell County men, one of which was that of Captain D. B. Baldwin, of the 23rd Virginia battalion. On Loring's return from the Valley of the Kana- wha, he was relieved by General John Echols, who soon there- after on account of ill health, was relieved by Major General Samuel Jones. During the winter of 1862-3 the 36th and 60th Virginia regiments with Otey's battery, and for a part of the time other troops,remained at Princeton, while another portion of the troops that had formed a part of Loring's command were stationed at the Narrows of New Kiver, and some wintered in Monroe, and Greenbrier Counties, while the cavalry of Jen- kins' brigade in part sent their horses farther south to be win- tered, the most of the men remaining on duty on the outposts. Colonel William H. French took his comand to the county of Floyd and adjacent counties, where it remained until towards the opening of the spring of 1863, when it removed to Koanoke County, where the Colonel succeeded in completing the organ- ization of his regiment, which was attached to General Jenkins' brigade of cavalry, and later moved into the lower Valley of Virginia in the early days of June, leading the advance of Gen- eral Lee's army into Pennsylvania. The cavalry brigade of Jen- kins was composed of the 8th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 19th regiments, and the 34th, 36th and 37th battalions of cavalry. The Vir- ginia batteries of Chapman, Bryant, Otey, and Stamp were also a part of the army operating in southwestern and western Vir- ginia, and were in part composed of New River Valley men from the counties of Giles, Monroe, and Mercer. From Octo- ber, 1862, to the spring of 1863, the southwest Virginia coun- try and western Virginia, from the Tennessee line at Bristol to Staunton in the Valley, was kept in an almost constant state of excitement and alarm, on account of the frequent incur- sions of Federal raiding parties, and the march of larger bodies 1861-1865 253 of Federal troops into that territory. Small parties of Feder- al scouts and patrols, even in the cold winter months, pene- trated far into the interior, even within the Confederate line of outposts, and the country was filled with Federal spies, who kept their friends along the lines referred to fully posted as to the strength and movements of the Confederates. To some ex- tent this was likewise true of the Confederate scouts, patrols, and spies as to the movements of the Federals. A large part of the territory referred to was, on account of bad roads and swollen streams, almost wholly impracticable for military op- eration in the winter season. We left the army of Northern Virginia in its bivouac near Culpeper Court House. Pickett's division left its bivouac at the point above mentioned on Mon- day, the 15th day of June, the head of the column directed to- ward the Blue Ridge and Snicker's Gap, through which it pass- ed on the 20th, and crossed the Shenandoah at Castleman's fer- ry. Here it was detained for two or three days as well as at Berryville, for the purpose of remaining in supporting distance of the cavalry operating east of the Eidge. The division march- ed from Culpeper left in front, that it might by facing into line, meet the enemy at any moment. Gen. Swell's corps in the ad- vance had routed Milroy at Winchester, and cleared the route for the rapid movement of the other troops following his corps. Longstreet's corps, which included Pickett's division, of which division only three of the brigades were on this march, contin- ued its movement through Martinsburg, by Falling Waters, and on the evening of Wednesday, June the 27th,it crossed the Poto- mac at Williamsport, and bivouaced a short distance out of the town, on the Maryland side of the river. The morale of the army was never better, officers and men alike were inspired with confidence in their ability to defeat the enemy wherever he might choose to offer battle. And never did an army move into an enemy's country in better fighting trim and spirit. It was doubtless this spirit of over-confidence that lost us the battle of Gettysburg. The men were in splendid condition, everything in firstclass order, no straggling, no desertion, no 254 New Eivbr Settlements destruction of private property, no outrages committed upon citizens ; the orders of the commanding General on this subject were as a rule, strictly observed. Here was a grand, magnifi- cent spectacle ; a great army of effective men, and every man a soldier in the true sense of the word, the heroes of victories on more than a dozen fields; marching through the country of their enemy unobstructed and unopposed. The corps of General Longstreet continued its march on the 25th to Hagerstown, where it halted to allow the corps of Gen- eral A. P. Hill, which had crossed at Shepherdstown, to pass to the front. On Saturday, the 27th, the march was continued to Ohambersburg, Pennsylvania, halting on the road on the outer edge of the town in front of the beautiful residence of Colonel McClure, where some ladies made their appearance and deliv- ered quite a spicy address or somewhat of a lecture, which was responded to with "Dixie" by the band of the 7th Virginia regi- ment. A few miles beyond the command halted and went into bivouac on the York road. During the 28th, 29th and 30th of June and 1st day of July the division of Pickett was engaged in the destruction of the track of the Cumberland Valley Rail- road. At near 2 o'clock, A. M., of Thursday, July 2nd, the long roll sounded and the men were soon under arms and in line, and moved promptly on the road leading to Gettysburg, the vi- cinity of which was, after a rapid and tiresome march of some tw'enty five miles, reached about 4 o'clock, P. M., and the divi- sioh went into bivouac about two miles from the town. The oth- er division of Longstreet's corps had preceded that of Pickett some hours, and had been in the fight the evening of the day of Pickett's arrival. A little before daylight on the morning of Friday, the 3rd, the division moved from its bivouac, on the road between Cashtown and Gettysburg, to the right and along the valley of Willoughby's Run, reaching its battle line about 7 o'clock, A. M. The usual inspection of arms and ammu- nition took place. The brigades of Corse and Jenkins having been left in Vir- ginia, Pickett had but Garnett's, Armistead's and Kemper's 1861-1865 255 present, consisting of 15 regiments — all Virginians, numbering on that morning about 4500 muskets; the aggregate effective strength, rank and file, was close to 4700, which will be under- stood as including the General and staff ofQcers. This division was composed of the flower of the Virginian army, many of them mere youths — schoolboys, of which a large number were from the New River Valley counties, viz : Montgomery, Carroll, Pulaski, Floyd, Giles and Mercer. In the division were com- panies from the counties of Campbell, Bedford, Franklin, Pat- rick, Henry, Craig, Madison, Culpeper, Orange, Rappahanock, Greene, Albemarle, Nansemond, Norfolk, Cities of Richmond, Lynchburg, Norfolk and Portsmouth. The first brigade was commanded by the gallant and impetuous General James L. Kemper, and was in front during the morning's march, and in battle line held the right, with Garnett's brigade on the left, and Armistead somewhat to the left and rear. Fencing and other obstructions were cleared away, and the line moved forward a short distance into a field on which was a growing crop of rye. Arms were stacked and instructions given that upon the report of two guns, which were to be sig- nals, the men were to lie flat upon the ground. In front of the division was massed the Confederate artillery, numbering about one hundred and fifty pieces. On the hills beyond and 1400 yards, or a little more, away and in front, were something like an equal number of Federal guns, prepared and ready for the fray. The heat was exceedingly oppressive, and several of the men had sunstroke, and all suffered more or less for water. It was past one o'clock when the report of the two signal guns rang out upon the air, and down upon their faces went the men, and then began and continued for nearly two hours the most terrific and destructive artillery duel that ever occurred on the face of the earth. The atmosphere was broken by the rush and crash of projectiles, solid shot, shrieking, bursting shells. The sun, so brilliant before, was now darkened by smoke and mist enveloping and shadowing the earth, through which came hissing and shrieking flrey fuses and messengers of 256 New Kivee Settlements death, sweeping, plunging, cutting, ploughing through the ranks, carrying mutilation, destruction, pain, suffering, and death in every direction. Whithersoever you might look could be seen at almost every moment muskets, swords, haversacks, human flesh and bones flying and dangling in the air or bounc- ing above the earth, which now trembled as if shaken by an earthquake. It was afterwards stated by the teamsters and cooks, who were two and three miles away, that the sash in the windows of the houses where they were shook and chattered as if caused by a violent wind. Over, behind, in front, in the midst, and through the ranks, poured shot and shell and the frag- ments thereof, dealing out death on every hand. The men remained in their places, except those knocked out by shot or shell, and when tibie firing ceased, at about a quarter past 3 o'clock, and the order came to fall in, the men sprang quickly to their places, ready to move at the word. General Pickett came dashing along calling out, "Up, men, and to your posts ; don't forget today that you are from Old Virginia." At the order forward, the three brigades moved up the hill by the batteries and across the open as steadily as troops ever moved under fire. The fresh batteries of the enemy now opened at short range, and from sheltered positions poured a destructive fire into these advancing columns, the Federal batteries on the Bound Top enfilading the Confederate line as it advanced. The enemy had covered his front by a heavy line of skirmishers, which withdrew as the Confederates advanced. Hancock's sec- ond Federal army corps, about 18,000 strong, held the lines which Pickett's division assailed, and as the line approached the stone wall behind which lay these men of Hancock's, it was met by a most scathing fire, which killed and wounded not less than twenty-five per centum of Pickett's men. Notwithsand- in^ this fire, not stopping, but with a rush they went over Han- cock's line : "Now they climb the mountain height And plant the flag of freedom's right." In the headlong rush over the Federal line they had captured 1861-1865 257 a large number of guns, and had effected a lodgment which only needed a strong helping hand for a short while and the Federal army would have been cut in twain, and must have rapidly retreated or been destroyed. Pickett's division had made a great and daring charge, but had been repulsed; and what remained had to retire to the point from which the advance be- gan. Here Generals Lee and Pickett rallied and reformed the men to meet what was supposed to be an advance of the enemy. It was while this rally and reformation was taking place that General Pickett complained so bitterly of the treatment of his division in not being properly supported and the fearful loss it had sustained; and which called forth the noble response of the great soul of Lee that "Its all my fault." It was here, at the same time, that a boy by the name of Belcher, from Franklin County, bearing the flag of the 24th Virginia regiment, address- ing General Pickett, said, "General, shall we charge them again ?" It was also at this moment that General Kemper was being carried by, dreadfully wounded, that Pickett's anguish was so great that he wept, and then it was that General Lee made the statement above, "It's all my fault." Noble words from a noble man ! It may be truthfully said that no commander of a great army so universally and deservedly enjoyed the perfect love, confidence and esteem of his men, and that no General had higher conception of the manliness and valor of his troops, and no body of men that ever tramped on the earth followed its leader with such supreme devotion as the men who followed General Lee ; it was akin to that expressed by Euth for Naomi : "Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest I will go ; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest I will die and there will I be buried." No higher earthly tribute could be paid to a man than that to General Lee by Senator Ben Hill, of Georgia, in which he said : "He was a foe without hate, a friend without treachery, a sol- dier without cruelty, and a victim without murmuring. He 258 New River Settlements was a public officer without vices, a private citizen without wrong, a neighbor without reproach, a Christian without hyp- ocrisy, and a man without guile. He was a Caesar without his ambition, Frederick without his tyranny, Napoleon without his selfishness, and Washington without his reward. He was as obedient to authority as a servant, and royal in authorily as a King. He was as gentle as a woman in life, pure and modest as a virgin in thought, watchful as a Roman Vestal, submissive to law as Socrates, and grand in battle as Achilles." No less deserving is the tribute of Mr. Charles Francis Adams, who said in seaking of General Lee: "He represented and individualized all that was highest and best in Southern mind and the Confederate cause, — the loyalty to state, the keen sense of humor and personal obligation, the slightly archaic, the almost patriarchal love of dependent family and home. He was a Virginian of the Virginians. He represents a type which is gone — ^hardly less extinct than that of the great English Noblemen of the feudal times, or the ideal head of the Scotch clan of a later period; but just as long as men admire courage, devotion, patriotism, the high sense of duty and per- sonal honor — all, in a word, which go to make up what we know as character — ^just so long will that type of a man be held in affectionate, reverential memory." Long since the close of our civil strife, numbers of ex-Fed- eral soldiers are beginning to pay just tribute to the gallantry and devotion of the Confederate soldier. Among the ex-Fed- erals who have written on the battle of Gettysburg is Mr. Charles A. Pacta, of Massachusetts, who not long since pub- lished an article in a newspaper, containing a description of the charge of Pickett's division at Gettysburg on July 3rd, 1863, in which he says : "In all great wars involving the destinies of nations, it is neither the number of battles, nor the names, nor' the loss of life, that remain fixed in the mind of the masses; but simply the one decided struggle which either in its immediate or re- 1861-1865 259 mote sequence closes the conflict. Of the one hundred battles of the great Napoleon, Waterloo alone lingers in the memory. The Franco-Prussian war, so fraught with changes to Europe, presents but one name that will never fade — Sedan. Even in our own country, how few battles of the Kevolution can we enumerate; but is there a child who does not know that Bunker's Hill sounded the death knell of English rule in the land? And now but twenty years since the greatest conflict of modem times was closed at Appomattox, how few can we readily recall of the scores of blood-stained battle fields on which our friends and neighbors fought and fell; but is there one, old or young, cultured or ignorant, of the North or of the South, than cannot speak of Gettysburg? But what is Get- tysburg, either in its first day's Federal defeat, or its second day's terrible slaughter around Little Bound Top, without the third day's immortal charge by Pickett and his brave Vir- ginians? In it we have the culmination of the rebellion. It took long years after to drain all the life-blood from the foe, but never again did the wave of rebellion rise so gallantly high, as when it beat upon the crest of Cemetery Eidge. The storming of the heights of Inkerman, the charge of the noble Six Hundred, the fearful onslaught of the Guards at Water- loo, the scaling of Lookout Mountain — ^tave all been sung in story, and perhaps always will be; but they all pale beside the glory that will ever enshroud the heroes who, with per- haps not literally Cannon to right of them and cannon to left of them, but with a hundred cannons belching forth death in front of them, hurled themselves into the center of a great army, and had victory almost within their grasp. "To describe this charge, we will go back to the evening of the 2nd of July, and recall upon what basis the cautious Lee could undertake so fearful a responsibility. The victorious Southrons, fresh from their triumphs at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, had entered the North, carrying consterna- tion and dismay to every hamlet, with none to oppose; their forward march was one of spoil, and it was not until the 1st 260 New River Settlements of July that they met their old foemen, the Army of the Poto- mac, in the streets of Gettysburg, and after a fierce conflict drove them back. The second day's conflict was a terrible slaughter, and at its close the Federal army, although holding its position, was to a certain extent disheartened. Many of our best Generals and commanding officers were killed or wounded, scores of regiments and batteries were nearly wiped out, Sickles' line was broken and driven in and its posi- tion was held by Longstreet. Little Bound Top, the key of the position, was held at a frightful loss of life, and Ewell upon the right had gained a footing upon the ridge. The Eebel army was joyful and expectant of victory. "The morning of the 3rd of July opened clear and bright, and one hundred thousand men faced each other, awaiting the signal of conflict; but, except the pushing of Ewell from his position, the hours passed on, relieved only by the rumbling of artillery carriages as they were massed by Lee upon Semi- nary Eidge, and by Meade upon Cemetery Eidge. At 12 o'clock Lee ascended the cupola of the Pennsylvania College, in quiet surveyed the Union lines, and decided to strike for Hancock's center. Meanwhile, Pickett with his three Virginia brigades had arrived from Chambersburg and taken cover in the woods of Seminary Eidge. What Lee's feeling must have been, as he looked at the hundred death-dealing cannon massed on Cemetery Hill, and the fifty thousand men waiting patiently in front and behind them, men whose valor he knew well in many a bitter struggle — and then looked at his handful of brave Virginians, three small, decimated brigades which he was about to hurl into that vortex of death — no one will ever know. The blunder that sent the Light Brigade to death at Balakava was bad enough, but here was five thousand men waiting to seek victory where only the day before ten thousand had lost their lives or their limbs in the same futile endeavor. "Leaving the college, Lee called a council of his Generals at Longstreet's headquarters, and the plan of attack was formed. It is said that the level-headed Longstreet opposed 1861-1865 261 the plan, and if so it was but in keeping with his remarkable generalship. The attack was to be opened with artillery fire to demoralize and batter the Federal line, and was to be open- ed by a signal of two shots from the Washington Artillery. At half past one the report of the first gun rang out on the still summer air, followed a minute later by the second, and then came the roar and flash of one hundred and thirty-eight Rebel cannon. Almost immediately one hundred Fedreal guns responded and the battle had begun. Shot and shell tore through the air, crashing through batteries, tearing men and horses to pieces; the very earth seemed to shake and the hills to reel as the terrible thunders re-echoed amongst them. For nearly an hour every conceivable form of ordnance known to modern gunnery hissed and shrieked, whistled and screamed as it went forth on its death mission, till, exhausted by excite- ment and heat, the gunners slackened their fire and silence reigned again. "Then Pickett and his brave legions stood up and formed for the death-struggle ; three, remnants of brigades, consisting of Garnett's brigade — ^the Eighth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twen- ty-eighth, Fifty-sixth Virginia; Armistead's brigade — the Ninth, Fourteenth, Thirty-eighth, Fifty-third, Fifty-seventh Virginia; Kemper's brigade — First, Third, Seventh, Eleventh, Twenty-fourth Virginia. Their tattered flags bore the scars of a score of battles, and from their ranks the merciless bullet had already taken two-thirds their number. "In compact ranks, their front scarcely covering two of Han- cock's brigades, with flags waving as if for a gala day. Gen- eral Pickett saluted Longstreet and asked, "Shall I go for- ward, sir?" but it was not in Longstreet's heart to send those heroes of so many battles to certain death, and he turned away his head — when Pickett, with that proud impetuous air which had earned him the title of the 'Ney of the Rebel army,' exclaimed: "Sir, I shall lead my division forward!" The orders now rang out, "Attention! Attention!" and the men realizing the end was near, cried out to their comrades : "Good- 262 New Eiver Settlements bye boys, good-bye !" Suddenly rang on the air the final order from Pickett himself, and his saber flashed from its scabbard — "Column forward, guide center!" And the Brigades of Kem- per, Garnett and Armistead moved toward Cemetery Ridge as one man. Soon Pettigrew's division emerged from the woods and followed in echelon on Pickett's left flank, and Wilcox with his Alabama division moved out to support his right flank — in all, about fifteen thousand men. The selection of these supports shows a lack of judgment which it would almost seem impossible for Lee to have made. Pettigrew's division was composed mostly of new troops from North Caro- lina, and had been terribly used up in the first day's fight and were in no condition to form part of a forlorn hope. Wilcox's troops had also received severe punishment in the second day's engagement in his attack on the Eidge, and should have been replaced by fresh, well tried brigades. But the movement had now begun, and Lee with his generals about him watched anxiously for the result. "It was nearly a mile to the Union lines, and as they ad- vanced over the open plain the Federal artillery opened again, plowing great lanes through their solid ranks, but they closed up to guide center as if upon dress parade; when half way over Pickett halted his division, amidst a terrible fire of shot and shell, and changed his direction by an oblique movement, coolly and beautifully made. But here occurred the greatest mistake of all. Wilcox paid no attention to this change of movement, but kept straight on to the front, thus opening a tremendous gap between the two columns and exposing Pick- ett's right to all the mishaps that afterward overtook it. To those who have ever faced artillery fire it is marvellous and unexplainable how human beings could have advanced under the terrific fire of a hundred cannon, every inch of air being ladened with the missiles of death; but in splendid formation they still came bravely on till within range of the musketry; then the blue line of Hancock's corps rose and poured into their rank a murderous fire. With a wild yell 1861-1865 263 the Rebels pushed on unfalteringly, crossed the Federal line and laid hands upon eleven cannon. Men fired in each other's faces; there were bayonet thrusts, cutting with sabres, hand- to-hand contests, oaths, curses, yells and hurrahs. The second corps fell back behind the guns to allow the use of grape and double canister, and as it tore through the Rebel ranks, at only a few paces distance, the dead and wounded were piled in ghastly heaps. Still on they came, up to the very muzzles of the guns ; they were blown away from the cannon's mouth, but yet they did not waver. Pickett had taken the key to the position and the glad shout of victory was heard ; as, the very impersonation of a soldier, he still forced his troops to the crest of Cemetery Ridge. "Kemper and Armistead broke through Hancock's line, scaled the hill and planted their flag on its crest. Just before Armistead was shot, he placed his flag upon a captured can- non and cried: "Give them the cold steel, boys," but valor could do no more, the handful of braves had won immortality, but could not conquer an army. Pettigrew's weak division was broken, fleeing and almost annihilated. Wilcox, owing to his great mistake in separating his column, was easily routed, and Stannard's Vermonters, thrown into the gap, were creat- ing havoc on Pickett's flank. Pickett seeing his supports gone, his generals, Kemper, Armistead, and Gamett killed or wound- ed, every field oflBcer of the three brigades gone, three-fourths of his men killed or captured, himself untouched, but broken- hearted, gave the order for retreat, but, band of heroes as they were, they fled not; but amidst that still continuous, terrible fire, they slowly, sullenly recrossed the plain — ^all that was left of them, but few of five thousand. "Thus ended the greatest charge known to modern warfare ; made in the most unequal manner against a great army, and midst the most terrible cannonade known in wars, and yet so perfect was the discipline, so audacious the valor, that had this handful of Virginians been properly supported they would perhaps have rendered the Federal position untenable, and 264 New Rivbe Sbttlbmbnts possibly have established the Southern Confederacy. While other battlefields are upturned by the plough and covered with waving grain, Cemetery Ridge will forever proudly uphold its monuments, telling of glory both to the Blue and the Gray, and our children's children, while standing upon its crest, will rehearse again of Pickett's wonderful charge." In the article just quoted, injustice is done to Pettigrew's North Carolinians, as it is known that one or more of his brigades, especially that of General Lane, behaved as gal- lantly and as bravely as any brigade in that charge, ai^d de- serve as much credit and praise. The army remained on the battlefield during the 4th, that night, and early on the morning of the 5th it withdrew through the passes of the mountain, retiring on Hagerstown and Williamsport, where it remained in battle line until the night of the 13th, not being able to cross the Potomac on ac- count of its swollen condition. Longstreet's and Hill's corps passed over the bridge, while Ewell's forded the river at Wil- liamsport; the three corps going into bivouac in the neighbor- hood of Bunker's Hill, where they remained for several days. Pickett's division on its retirement from the battlefield, and on its march to Winchester, Virginia, had charge of about 4,000 Federal prisoners, captured during the three days en- gagements at Gettyburg. The total loss of this division in the battle of the 3rd, was 2888, of which 224 were killed, 1080 wounded, and 1584 cap- tured or missing. The loss in Kemper's brigade was 729. The 7th Virginia regiment lost 67 killed and wounded, and the 24th Virginia lost 128 killed and wounded. The loss of the division in general and field ofBcers was frightful. Brig- adier General Garnett was killed, Armistead mortally and Kemper dangerously wounded. Of the whole complement of general and field officers, aggregating about 48, only one, Lieu- tenant Colonel was left unhurt. The color bearer of the 7th Virginia regiment, with his eight color sergeants and cor- 1861-1865 265 porals, went down in the battle, either killed or wonnded ; the colors falling into the hands of the 82nd New York Infantry, commanded by Captain John Darrow. There went into the battle of Company D, 7th Virginia regiment, 31 men, of which 17 were killed and wounded. The killed were, David C. Akers, Jesse Barrett, Daniel Bish, and John P. Sublett; the wounded. Lieutenant Elisha M. Stone, and Elijah E. Walker, Sergeants Thomas S. Taylor and David E. Johnston, the latter severely. Corporal J. B. Young, and privates William C. Fortner, James H. Fortner, leg amputated, John Meadows, and D. L. Sarver; John W. Hight was taken prisoner. No data is at hand as to the names of the killed and wounded in the Giles company of the 24th Virginia, but the names of the Mercer County com- pany in that regiment who were killed or wounded, are as fol- lows, viz: Killed, Charles Burroughs, Squire Cook, James Kinney, Jesse Parsons, B. W. Peck, and J. P. Thomas ; wound- ed. Captain H. Scott, H. French Calfee, mortally, Jordon Cox, Robert A. George, A. J. Holstein, Rufus G. Rowland, James Snead, and Levi Vermillion; total, fourteen. General Pickett was greatly distressed over the losses in his divison, and wrote his report, which contained matter which General Lee thought for the good' of the service ought not to be published, and hence returned the report to General Pickett, suggesting the omission of the objectional matter, and in his letter returning said report, says : "You and your men have crowned yourself with glory, but we have the enemy to fight, and must carefully at this critical moment guard against dissensions, which the reflections in your report would create. I will therefore suggest that you destroy both copy and original, substituting one confined to casualties merely. I hope all will yet be well." The report was never published. It is supposed that General Pickett had seriously reflected upon some one touching the disaster which befell his heroic and gallant veterans at Gettysburg, who so bravely and freely had sacrificed their lives upon the altar of their country. Well may it be said of them : 266 New River Settlements "Spartans at Thermopylae, Fought and died (or liberty. But no richer legacy Left posterity." General A. G. Jenkins' cavalry brigade led the advance of the army into Pennsylvania, and was at Gettysburg, but there does not appear any official report showing its losses, if it sus- tained any. French's battery remained around the defenses of Richmond during the Gettysburg campaign. Notice must now be taken of affairs in Western Virginia. Major General Samuel Jones was in command of this depart- ment, and in whose command were the brigades of Echols, Williams,' Wharton, and McGausland ; constituted as follows, viz : First brigade. General John Echols, 22nd, 45th, Virginia Regiment; 23rd and 26th Virginia battalions, and Chapman's Virginia battery. Second Brigade, General John S. Williams, 63rd Virginia regiment, 64th Virginia regiment, 45th Virginia battalion, 21st Virginia cavalry, Virginia Partisan Rangers, and Lowry's Virginia battery. Third brgade. General G. C. Wharton, 50th and 51st Virginia Regiments, 30th Virginia battalion,and Stamp's Virginia battery. Fourth brigade. Gen- eral John McGausland, 36th and 60th Virginia regiments, and Bryn's Virginia Battery; with Jenkins' cavalry brigade, con- sisting of the 8th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 19th Virginia regiments, and 34th, 36th, and 37th Virginia battalions of cavalry, to- gether with some unattached troops, viz: Trigg's 54th Vir- ginia regiment, two Virginia companies of Partisan Rangers, commanded by Captains Philip J. Thurmond and William D. Thurmond, respectively, and Otey's Virginia battery; number- ing in the aggregate about 10,000 men, and guarding the ter- ritory and border stretching from Bristol to Staunton. In the winter of 1862-3, and up to March of the latter year, these troops were in camp at various points in the district of coun- try mentioned. Wharton at the Narrows, Echols and Wil- liams in Monroe and Greenbrier section, later General Wil- 1861-1865 267 liams at Saltville, and General McCausland's command at Princeton. In March General Jones planned quite a formidable expedi- tion into Northwestern Virginia, and the Kanawha Valley, sending a portion of his troops into the Nicholas County sec- tion, and northward thereof. A portion of the cavalry of Jen- kins was sent from Tazewell through McDowell, and towards the Ohio; and General McCausland to Fayetteville, but the whole affair amounted to but little. In the early part of May the 26th Virginia battalion, under Edgar, defeated at or near Lewisburg a portion of the 2nd West Virginia cavalry regiment. Later the cavalry brigade of Jenkins, except the 8th regiment and Dunn's battalion, was withdrawn from the Western Virginia department, and sent to the Valley of Vir- ginia, preparatory to the march into Pennsylvania. And in July of this same year, 1863, the brigade of Wharton was also sent to the Valley of Virginia. About the middle of July the brigade of McCausland, stationed in Ealeigh County, at the crossing of Piney Eiver, was, by a force of the enemy, com- pelled to abandon its position, and retreat upon Princeton. This force which threatened McCansland was under the im- mediate command of the Federal Colonel Toland, who had with him the 2nd Virginia cavalry, the 34th regiment of Ohio vol unteer infantry, and a detachment of the 1st Virginia cavalry ; these troops had left the Kanawha and crossed onto Coal Eiver, and thence to Ealeigh Court House, and to the front and flank of McCausland's command which impelled his retreat. The Federals then returned to Coal Eiver, and marched by way of Wyoming Court House into Tazewell County, capturing at the head of Abb's Valley, Captain Joel E. Stolling and his company, which were re-captured on the next day by a bold charge made by Colonel A. J. May, at the head of his Kentucky cavalry. The Federals marched rapidly upon Wytheville, then virtually unprotected, entering the same on the evening of the 18th, when a sharp, brisk fight occurred between the enemy and about 130 men badly armed, under Majors Boyer and Bosang, 268 New Eivee Settlements and Captain Oliver with the aid of a few of the citizens of the town. The enemy after the loss of Colonel Toland, who was killed, Colonel Powell dangerously wounded and left a prisoner, and having some 75 or 80 men killed, wounded and captured, retired from the town, first setting it on fire. The Confederates lost three killed, seven wounded, and about 75 captured, including some of the citizens of the town. The Confederates endeavored to intercept and capture this raiding party, by sending troops on and along its most probable routes of retreat. Colonel May, with a portion of his 5th Kentucky regiment, together with Captain Henry Bowen, commanding a company of Tazewell County men of the 8th Virginia cav- alry, followed closely, having several collisions and smart skirmishing with its rear guard, but unable to force the party to halt and fight. They finally succeeded in eluding the Con- federates, by taking unfrequented paths through Crabtree's gap, over East Eiver Mountain by W. H. Witten's farm, Pealed Chestnuts and over the mountain which led them on to the Tug fork of Sandy, where they were virtually free from successful pursuit. The Federal Brigadier General Averill having set out from Winchester, Virginia, on the 5th day of August, 1863, with a large force of cavalry and mounted infantry, for the purpose of making a raid into the Greenbrier Valley, and of reaching the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, marched his command across the mountains into Pocahontas County, where he en- countered Colonel William L. Jackson with the 19th Virginia Cavalry, whose command he attacked and drove over the moun- tain toward Warm Springs. General G. C. Wharton's brigade, which had been so ordered came over by Staunton to the Jackson Eiver country to meet Averill, who rather suddenly turned back, changing his course toward Lewisburg, when on the 26th of August, about one and one-half miles east of the White Sulphur Springs, he rather unexpectedly encountered a Confederate force under the command of Colonel George S. Patton, consisting of the 1861-1865 269 22nd and 45th regiments of Virginia infantry, the 23rd and 26th battalions of Virginia infantry, the 8th regiment of Vir- ginia cavalry, the 37th battalion of Virginia can^alry and Chapman's Monroe County battery of four guns. General Averill had with him the 16th Illinois cavalry. Company C, 14th Pennsylvania cavalry, 3rd West Virginia cavalry, detach- ment 2nd West Virginia mounted infantry, 8rd West Vir- ginia mounted infantry, 8th West Virginia mounted infantry and two West Virginia batteries of six guns. The fight con- tinued from early in the morning on the 26th until about noon of the 27th, when the enemy drew off, blocking the roads be- hind him and rendering rapid pursuit impossible, and it had to be abandoned. The Confederate loss was 162; that of the enemy 218. The 23rd Virginia battalion of infantry lost three killed and 18 wounded. Mercer County had one company, Lilley's, in the 23rd battalion, and Tazewell County had one company in the 8th Virginia cavalry regiment, and Captain D. B. Baldwin's company in the 23rd battalion. Colonel Robert C. Trigg's 54th regiment of Virginia infantry and Colonel James M. French's 63rd Virginia regiment of infantry, served in the Chickamauga and other subsequent campaigns in the Southwest under Generals Bragg and Hood. In these two regiments were a large number of New River men, and they made records as good and brave soldiers, ac- quitting themselves with great credit in all the battles in which they were engaged. In the early days of November, 1863, General Averill start- ing out from Beverly with about three thousand men, passed over into Pocahontas County and attacked Colonel William L. Jackson's 19th Virginia regiment of cavalry near Mill Point, and compelled it to retire to Droop Mountain, where it was rein- forced by General Echols with the 22nd Virginia Regiment of infantry, the 23rd Virginia battalion of infantry, a part of the 14th Virginia regiment of cavalry, Lurty's and Chapman's bat- teries, aggregating about 1900 men. The command of General Averill consisted of the Brd Independent company of Ohio 270 New River Settlements cavalry, 28th Ohio infantry, 2nd, 3rd, and 8th West Virginia mounted infantry ,and the 10th West Virginia regiment of infantry. After a contest of about six hours duration, the Confederate left having been turned. General Echols with- drew from the contest and retired through Lewisburg and Union, crossing Salt Pond mountain. The Confederate loss in this engagement was 275; among the slain being the gal- lant Major R. A. Bailey of the 22nd regiment, and among the wounded was the brave and daring Captain John K. Thomp- son of the same regiment. The Federal loss was 119. While General Echols was engaged in the battle of Droop Mountain, a force of about 1,000 men under the Federal Brigadier Gen- eral A. N. DuflSe, was advancing upon the Kanawha road to Lewisburg, and which threatened to cut off or intercept Echol's retreat. The force from the Kanawha left Charleston on the 3rd of November, and entered Lewisburg on the morn- ing of the 7th, a few hours after the command of General Echols had passed that point. General DuflBe on his way from the Kanawha, was joined at Tyree's by Colonel White with two regiments of infantry, and on reaching Lewisburg joined General Averill's forces, bring- ing their aggregate up to about 5,000 men. The Federals fol- lowed the retreating troops of Echols to Second Creek in Monroe County, and then retraced their steps by way of Meadow Bluff, and in the direction of Beverly. General Averill, seemingly not satisfied with his previous attempts to reach the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, set out again for that purpose from New Creek on the 8th day of December with about the same command and same number of men that he had with him in the battle of Droop Mountain. This time he struck for Salem, Virginia, by the most obscure and mountainous routes he could find. He reached Salem on the 16th, destroyed some portions of the railroad track and small bridges, burned a considerable quantity of Confederate commissary stores, and retired beyond the mountains with a loss of 119 men. At the time of Averill's advance to Salem, 1861-1865 271 General Scammon from the Kanawha, had advanced to and occupied Lewisburg, but soon retired. Wharton's command had marched from about Covington late in 1863 to the Narrows, and from thence by way of Dublin to East Tennessee, where it joined General Longstreet's com- mand ; retiring with it to the neighborhood of Bristol, took up winter quarters at Saltville, where it remained until about the 1st of May, 1864, when it moved to the Valley of "Virginia. General McCausland's command, 36th and 60th Virginia regiments, and other troops, including Bryan's battery win- tered at the Narrows, while the brigade of Echols spent the winter in Monroe County. The cavalry brigade of Jenkins during the winter was for the most part on outpost duty in connection with the two Thurmond companies. A part, how- ever, of Jenkins' men were in East Tennessee, where on the 13th day of November, 1863, Corn's 8th Virginia cavalry had a spirited engagement with the enemy, in connection with Colonel Giltner's Kentucky cavalry, in which the enemy was defeated with loss; the 8th Virginia regiment losing one killed and three wounded, and capturing the enemy's wagon train and over 300 prisoners. In December, 1863, Colonel Slemp's 64th Virginia regiment, was driven with loss out of Jonesville, Vir- ginia, by the 16th Illinois cavalry. With the closing of these as the principal events the ca,mpaign in Western Virginia and in East Tennessee ended for the year of 1863. General Lee's army of Northern Virginia, on its return from Gettysburg, had encamped, as heretofore stated, at Bunker's Hill, and in that vicinity. On the 9th of July Pickett's divis- ion turned over the Federal prisoners, which were captured at Gettysburg, to the command of General Imboden, and reached camp at Bunker's Hill on the 15th, where it remained until the 19th, and then removed to Smithfield, in Jefferson County. On the 20th it marched to Millwood, and thence to Berry's Ferry on picket duty, and from here on the 21st marched through Front Koyal to Chester Gap. On the 22nd it marched all night, reaching Gaines' Cross-roads at daylight 272 New River Settlements on the 23rd, and that night bivouaced at Hazel Kiver. On the 24th it passed through Culpeper Court House and went into camp near the Rapidan. On A,ugust 4th Longstreet's and Hill's corps crossed to the South side of the Rapidan, and went into camp in the County of Orange. The Federal General Meade, in command of the Federal army of the Potomac, having advanced his troops into Cul- peper County, and thrown his vanguard out to the Rapidan; General Lee made up his mind to strike him by a flank move- ment, on his right, by way of Madison Court House, and set out with the army of Northern Virginia about the second week in October. The Federal General immediately withdrew north of the Rappahannock, and finally behind Bull Run, whither Lee followed, and then retired to his winter quarters in Orange. The principal fighting on this expedition was by the cavalry. Longstreet's corps, except Pickett's division, had, on the 9th of September, been detached from the army of Northern Vir- ginia and sent to General Bragg, in Tennessee, and therefore was not with General Lee in his advance against General Meade in October. On the return of General Lee's army to its quarters in Orange, Pickett's division was sent to Taylorsville, Virginia, to rest and recuperate. It spent the early part of the winter at this place. Captain David A. French, with a section of his battery, and other troops under the command of Colonel A. W. Starke, on August 5th, 1863, marched to Blake's farm, near Deep Bottom on James River, where quite a severe engagement took place with Federal gunboats, which were driven ofiE; after which the command marched to Pickett's farm at Turkey Island, where the attack was renewed on the Federal boats. In these engage- ments, the loss in French's company was three wounded, viz: Boston Bailey, Henley Clyburn, and Eustace Gibson, the lat- ter reported to have been mortally wounded, but he recovered and lived for many years, and became a prominent man in West Virginia politics, having served two terms in Congress from the Huntington district. 1861-1865 273 General Pickett having been assigned to the command of the department of North Carolina, Kemper's brigade, now com- manded by Colonel Joseph Mayo, Jr., (Kemper having been disabled at Gettysburg), on the 8th day of January, 1864, broke camp at Taylorsville, and took up its line of march through Richmond and on to Petersburg, where it was put aboard a railroad train and transported to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where it remained but a few days. On Saturday, the 29th, the brigade marched to Kingston on the Neuse, and thence through bo^, swamps, and mud, crossing the Trent to the vicinity of Newberne, where some Federal prisoners were taken and a gunboat blown up by Lieutenant Wood, of the Confederate Navy. Among the captured prisoners were some 35 of the 2nd Loyal North Carolina regiment, and who had been Confederate soldiers, but had deserted and joined the enemy. They were recognized, sent to Kinston, tried by Court Martial, condemned and hung. About the middle of February, 1864, the brigade moved to Goldsboro, where it re- mained until the 5th of March, when it was transported by rail to Wilmington, and from that place by steamer to Smith- fleld, at the mouth of the Cape Fear. The 24th Virginia regi- ment was sent to garrison Fort Caswell, the remaining regi- ments were in bivouac near the town of Smithfleld. Leaving the latter named place on Friday, March 25th, by steamer, the brigade reached Wilmington on the morning of the 26th, to find the ground covered with snow, which increased in depth as the train carrying the men receded from the coast. The brigade debarked from the cars at Goldsboro, where it went into bivouac, and remained until Friday, April 1st, when it again set off, marching through snow and mud to Tarboro, which was reached on the 3rd; the distance marched being fifty miles in less than three days. On the 10th orders were issued to be ready to move, and on the morning of the 15th the command began its march down the Tar through Greenville, and across to the Roanoke, to the vicinity of Plymouth, which was reached on the evening of the 17th. The Confederate 274 New EiVBR Settlements troops engaged in this enterprise were Ransom's and Hoke's North Carolina brigades and Kemper's Virginia brigade, all commanded by Brigadier General Robert F. Hoke. The Fed- eral troops holding the town of Plymouth, consisted of the 16th Connecticut regiment, 2nd Massachusetts heavy artillery, 2nd North Carolina, companies B and E, 12th New York cav- alry, companies A and F, 85th New York, 24th New York bat- tery, 101st Pennsylvania, and 103 Pennsylvania; aggregating 2834 men, all under the command of Brigadier General Wes- ells. The fight opened on the evening of the 17th, and con- tinued until 10 o'clock A. M. on the 20th, when General Wes- ells surrendered himself and troops to the Confederates as prisoners of war. The Confederate Ram Albemarle came down the Roanoke on the 19th and joined in the attack, greatly aid- ing in the success of the battle. The Confederates lost about 300 men. Colonel Mercer, of the 21st Georgia of Hoke's brigade, being among the slain. Company D of the 7th Virginia lost A. L. Fry, and John W. East, wounded. After only a few hours rest. General Hoke, on the evening of the same day on which Plymouth had fallen, turned the head of his column toward Washington on the Pamlico Sound, which point he reached that night, and immediately prepared to take it by assault; when on the next morning it was found that the enemy had evacuated the place and retired upon Newberne, whither General Hoke immediately marched, and made ready to assault that place; from which, however, he was recalled on the 6th day of May with hurry orders to go to the defense of Petersburg, now threatened, and about to be assailed by the Federal General Butler, who had landed at City Point on the James with a large army and was advanc- ing upon the city. General Hoke, at the head of his com- mand, left the front of Newberne on the 6th day of May, 1864, and by a rapid march passed through Petersburg before noon of Thursday, the 12th, a distance of nearly 175 miles by the route traveled. Mr. D. H. Hill, Jr., in his Confederate Military History of North Carolina, on page 248, speaking of this 1861-1865 275 march of General Hoke from Newberne to Petersburg, says: "This march of General Hoke's troops stands at West Point as the most rapid movement of troops on record." These troops of Hoke moved across the Appomattox and out to Swift Creek, and formed in line of battle, and lay upon their arms the night of the 12th. On moving forward on the morning of the 13th, it was found that the enemy had drawn his lines back towards Bermuda Hundreds, and the Confederates were al- lowed to pursue their way along the turnpike in the direction of Richmond ; halting, however, within the defences of Drury's Bluff. The armies of Lee and Grant were in a death grapple at Spottsylvania, and no help could come from Lee's army, proper, to meet General Butler's menace against Richmond and Petersburg. General Beauregard had hastened up from the South, with all troops from his military district that could be spared, so that by the 15th he had assembled an army in and around Petersburg and the defenses of Drury's Bluff, aggregating a little more than 13,000 men. Immediately organizing his troops into divisons, he prepared to attack the enemy, who had now drawn his lines closely up to and around the Drury's Bluff defenses. Beauregard's left division, under Major Gen- eral Robert Ransom, and which was to lead the attack, was composed of Gracie's Alabama brigade, Hoke's North Caro- lina brigade, commanded by Colonel Lewis, Barton's Virginia brigade by Colonel Fry, and Kemper's Virginia brigade com- manded by Colonel Terry. At two o'clock A. M. on Monday, the 16th, the various commands moved to the respective places assigned them. Among the batteries of artillery assigned to and which fought with General Ransom's division, was that of Captain David A. French, commanded in the early morning of that day by Lieutenant Daniel W. Mason. Its losses were as follows, viz: Wounded, Hugh Hurley, William Kelly, Charles E. Pack, D. C. Robinson, and William Woodyard. It may be here noted that this battery under the command of 276 New River Settlements Captain French, with Armistead's, and some infantry sup- ports, all under the command of Colonel Starke, on the 6th day of May, 1864, had quite a spirited engagement with the enemy's gunboats on the James, driving them off without loss to the Confederates. Before daylight on the morning of the 16th of May, 1864, Ransom's division of four brigades, 19 regiments, opened the battle on the Confederate left, which was immediately taken up along the whole line, and raged with varying fortune for several hours, but resulted in the defeat of the enemy, and his withdrawal and retirement within his fortified lines at Bermuda Hundreds, with a loss of about 4500, that of the Con- federates being 2827. The loss in Kemper's brigade of four regiments, the 3rd Virginia being on detached duty in North Carolina, and did not reunite with the brigade until the 28th of June, was 57 killed, 264 wounded; the loss in the 1st Vir- ginia was 12 killed, 25 wounded; in the 7th regiment 2 killed, 37 wounded; in the 11th regiment, 15 killed, 94 wounded; in the 24th regiment, 28 killed, 108 wounded; among the latter the gallant Lieutenant Colonel Richard L. Maury, seriously, and Major Joseph Hambrick, mortally, the former falling with- in a few steps of the enemy's line of works. Company D of the 7th lost John W. East and John S. Dudley, wounded; and the Mercer company of the 24th regiment lost James Callo- way, F. M. Mullins, Joseph Stovall, and George Smiley killed, and Harvey G. White, and others whose names the author has been unable to secure, wounded. Kemper's brigade captured four flags, and 458 prisoners, including Brigadier General Heckman, of New Jersey, who was captured by Sergeant Blakey of company F, 7th regiment. General Heckman surrendering his sword and pistols to Col: onel C. C. Flowerree, of the 7th regiment. An account of the charge of Kemper's brigade in this battle, the capture of the Federal General Heckman by Sergeant Blakey, and the flag of the 23rd Massachusetts regiment by the 7th Virginia regi- ment has been written and published by Mr. Tristram Griffith, 1861-1865 277 of a Massachusetts regiment, and who was a participant in this battle. He writes as follows: "During the night of the 15th General Beauregard moved Ransom's division from its position in reserve on the Turnpike, in rear of his center, to his left, crossed Kingsland Creek by the Old Stage Koad and by daylight of the morning of the 16th had them in a double line of battle in an open field with their left well overlapping the right of the Union line. At early dawn in a dense fog that made it impossible to distinguish friend from foe, Ransom's division moved forward and by a right half wheel attempted to crush Butler's right, get possession of the road to his base of supplies, and destroy his army. The 23rd Alabama bat- talion and the 41st Alabama regiment deployed as a heavy line of skirmishers well to the left of the line of advance, and the 60th Alabama on the left of the first line swung around the right of the Union line, took the seven companies of the 9th New Jersey posted on the right of the Old Stage Road in front and flank, killing and wounding ten ofBcers and 120 men, and drove them from their position to the rear. The 23rd Alabama battalion and the 41st Alabama regiment by this time massed into a strong line of battle, swung to the left, passed down the road nearly to the Gregory house, Heckman's headquarters, and halted. The 60th Alabama passed over the few logs thrown up during the night by the 9th New Jersey, and when the right touched the Old Stage Road they, too, halted. The 43rd and 59th Alabama on the right of the 60th struck the Federal line of battle in front of the 23rd and 27th Massachu- setts. Before reaching the edge of the woods they became demoralized, and General Grade, who commanded them, sent word to the line in rear for assistance. Kemper's brigade ad- vanced to the help of General Grade. The 24th and the 11th Virginia of Kemper's brigade passed over the 43rd and 59th Alabama, and went into the edge of the woods within a hun- dred feet of the Federal line, where they lost their organiza- tion, and lay down to escape the heavy fire. The 7th and the 1st of Kemper's brigade, on the left of the 24th and 11th Vir- 278 New River Settlements ginia, passed over about the same ground as did the 23rd Alabama battalion and 60th Alabama. The right flank of the 1st Virginia struck the two companies of the 9th New Jersey, who, unconscious that the seven companies of their regiment on the right of the road had been driven to the rear, and that their right flank was exposed, were bravely holding their posi- tion. Without obeying the order to surrender, and without sending word to the 23rd Massachusetts, across the little brook on their left they ran pell-mell down the road into the rear of the 41st Alabama, where in astonishment they surrendered. The 1st Virginia passing ovet the light log work built by the Jersey men, took a right half wheel through the woods and brush, crossed the little brook, when their right flank came unexpectedly among the men of Company G on the right flank of the 23rd Massachusetts. Captain Eaymond, who had just taken command of the 23rd, Colonel Chambers having been sent to the rear, mortally wounded, was near the right of the line. The flrst intimation he had that our right had been turned, was when he saw the Confederates among the men of his company, and heard them calling out, "surrender !" He instantly gave the order, "Change front to rear on left com- pany," but, in the thick wood and fog and the confusion of battle the order was not understood. The men broke back as they saw those on their right go, leaving all but two of their right flank company in the hands of the enemy. The color guard and colors kept together and about 150 feet in the rear of the line came in contact with the left of the 1st Virginia, who gave them a volley, killing and wound several of the men. Corporal Charles D. Fernald, carrying the State colors, moved back toward the old line of battle, and joined a group of the men of the regiment centered around Lieutenant Wheeler, of Heckman's stafl'. Lieutenant Wheeler being just then mortally wounded and some one calling out "Ralley on the 27th," Fernald and some others moved in that direction and joined the right of that regiment. Colonel Lee, of the 27th, had been informed that there was trouble on the right by several of the men and 1861-1865 279 offlcers of the 23rd who ran by him. Doubting the report, he passed to the right of his regiment to investigate, and about twenty feet beyond he found himself surrounded by the ad- vancing enemy, to whom he was obliged to surrender. "Let us now go back to the advance of Kemper's brigade to the assistance of General Gracie, and follow the course of the 7th Virginia, as this regiment played an important part in the capture of General Heckman, and the State flag of the 23rd Massachusetts. When the 1st Virginia entered the woods, passed up the Old Stage Eoad over the position vacated by the two companies of the 9th New Jersey, and wheeled to the right toward the right flank of the 23rd Massachusetts, the 7th Virginia advancing on their left, struck a bog that sepa- rated the two or three left flank companies from the rest of the regiment, and left them in the rear at the edge of the woods. When Colonel Flowerree was informed of the fact, he sent his Adjutant, John H. Parr, after them to return them to their places in line, while he continued to move forward with his regiment around the Federal right flank. In wheeling to the right and just after crosing the Old Stage Koad, this regiment captured General Heckman. The General, taking this advancing regiment for reinforcements, was about to order it to change front, when seeing his mistake, he tried to pass himself off for a rebel ofiBcer. Sergeant Blakey, of Com- pany G of the 7th Virginia, could not be fooled, and the General declining to surrender to anyone but a line officer, was marched by Blakey to Colonel Flowerree, to whom General Heckman gave up his sword. "To go back to John H. Parr and the two or three com- panies of the 7th Virginia, which he found stuck in the bog at the edge of the woods; he moved them to the left around the bog and led the way through the woods in an effort to overtake his regiment. Mistaking his course, he took a much shorter wheel, which brought him, with his two or three com- panies, around thei left flank of the 1st Virginia, and upon 280 New River Settlements the right rear of the 27th Massachusetts, just after the 23rd Massachusetts had broken to the rear, and at just the moment when the 11th Virginia, and detachments form- ing the 59th Alabama, who were lying down in the edge of the woods, and who noticing from the Federal line in their front that the firing had ceased, moved forward and joined the 1st Virginia, passing over the ground just vacated by the 23rd Massachusetts, upon the right flank of the 27th Massachusetts. It was these rebel regiments that Colonel Lee walked into when he stepped to the right of his regiment to see if the 23rd Massachusetts had fallen back. When Colonel Lee had surrendered. Adjutant John H. Parr, of the 7th Vir- ginia, who had led the two or three companies of his regiment around the Federal right flank, rushed forward and seized the staff of the State flag of the 23rd Massachusetts, carried by Corporal Charles G. Fernald." The morning succeeding the battle, Kemper's brigade, with other troops, pursued the enemy to Hewlett's house on the James, where there was an unfinished Confederate earthwork. The 1st and 7th regiments were sent to hold these earthworks. The enemy's gunboats in the river opened on the works, and continued the shelling throughout the evening and night. Dur- ing the shelling Major Howard, of the 1st regiment, and Sergeant Thomas Fox, of the same regiment, were seriously wounded. On the next morning, the 18th, Lieutenant John W. MuUins, of company D of the 7th, in command of the skirm- ish line, received a wound from which he died on the 22nd day of the succeeding month. Withdrawing on the evening of the 18th, the brigade march- ed to the neighborhood of Manchester, bivouaced for the night, and next morning marched through Richmond to the station of the Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad; placed aboard flat cars and moved to Milford station, debarked, moved across the Mattaponi and bivouaced. There were present of the brigade at Milford, on the morning of the 21st of May, 1861-1865 281 about 60 men of the 1st Virginia, seven companies of the 11th Virginia, numbering about 225, and the 7th Virginia, number- ing about 250, making an aggregate of 535. About ten o'clock A. M., there was a call to arms, and report of the approach of a body of Federal cavalry, supposed to be a mere raiding party, but, as subsequently developed, was the Federal cavalry divi- sion of General Torbett, leading the advance of General Grant's army from Spottsylvania Court House toward Rich- mond. After a spirited contest of more than an hour, in which the Federal cavalry charges were repeatedly repulsed, the troops under the command of Major George F. Norton, of the 1st regiment, were withdrawn across the river, dismantling the bridge to such an extettt as to prevent immediate and close pursuit by the enemy. The Confederate loss in this affair was about 70, mostly captured, being unable to reach the bridge in advance of the enemy. The loss sustained was mostly in the 11th regiment; numbers of the men escaping by swim- ming the river. The brigade continued its movement until it joined General Lee's army, en route from Spottsylvania to the North Anna. On reaching Hanover Junction, the com- mand joined the remainder of the brigade, and the other bri- gades of Pickett's divison. Here too, was Breckenridge's divi- sion from the valley, fresh from the victorious field of New Market. The division of Pickett, again united, marched with the army to Cold Harbor, taking position in the battle line on the left of Hoke's division, which on the 3rd of June, in co-opera- tion with Breckenridge's, bore the brunt of the Federal as- sault, in which General Grant lost about as many men in twenty minutes as Hoke and Breckenridge had in their com- mands. In this battle of Cold Harbor, Pickett's men had but little or no part, beyond severe skirmishing, and receiving a heavy shelling from the enemy. As a matter of fact, General Lee had succeeded in repulsing the larger part of General Grant's army with only a small part of his own. It is stated that the 282 New Bivbr Settlements Federal loss in the assault on June 3rd, was 12,737, while the Confederates lost less than 2,000 men. On the march from Milford station to Hanover junction, John A. Hale, of Company D, 7th regiment, with a comrade from the regiment, broke completely down, and found them- selves within the enemy's lines where they remained for two or three days. Hungry and starving, they ventured to a dwell- ing to obtain food ; finding there a Federal soldier on the same errand, they captured him and took him along with them, until they got within the Confederate lines. In this battle of Cold Harbor, there were in Breckenridge's division a number of New Eiver Valley men, belonging to com- panies of the 23rd Virginia battalion, 26th Virginia battalion and 30th Virginia battalion. Very considerable losses in killed and wounded was suffered by these commands, but in the ab- sence of ofiBcial data it cannot be given. Lieutenant James K. Peck, of the 23rd Virginia battalion, and a Giles County man, was killed; and Colonel George Edgar, commanding the 26th battalion, was wounded by a bayonet thrust and captured. Captain James Dunlap, of Monroe, and Lieutenant W. W. George, of Mercer, were also captured. In a few days after the battle of Cold Harbor, General Breck- enridge, with his division, marched for the Valley of Virginia, to meet the army of General Hunter, now endeavoring to reach Lynchburg. On the 12th of June General Lee detached his 2nd army corps under Lieutenant General Early, and pushed it to Lynchburg. The retreat of Hunter and the operations of Early's command and that of General Breckenridge, will be taken up in relating the campaigns of 1864 in Western Vir- ginia, Southwestern Virginia, in the Valley, and in Maryland. General Grant, convinced of his inability to enter Eichmond on the line he was traveling, on the night of the 12th of June changed his course, moving direct for the James, followed by the Confederates marching on parallel lines. The line of march of Pickett's division, carried it over the old battle ground of Gaines' mill, crossing the Chickahominy over Mc- 1861-1865 283 Clellan's bridge near Seven Pines, and halting near the bat- tle field of Prazier's farm; on the loth marched up Darby- town road a short distance and went into bivouac. Daybreak on the morning of the 16th found the division in line and on the march to the James at Caffln's Bluff, where it crossed the river on a pontoon bridge; passing over the battle field of Drury's Bluff on to the Turnpike road; and had reached a point near Walthall Junction, where the head of the column was unexpectedly fired into by the enemy, who had gained possession of the road. The division was quickly formed in battle line, and sending ahead a strong skirmish line, drove the enemy beyond the first line of earthworks, which had that morning been evacuated by the Confederate troops, who had been called to the defense of Petersburg. About four o'clock, P. M., the divison charged along the whole line, re- taking the whole outer line erected by. General Beauregard's troops before their removal to Petersburg. This assault was not without loss, and brought from General Lee to Major Gen- eral Anderson, the corps commander, General Longstreet hav- ing been severely wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, the following letter : "General: — I take great pleasure in presenting to you my congratulation upon the conduct of the men of your corps. I believe that they will carry anything they are put against. We tried very hard to stop Pickett's men from capturing the breastworks of the enemy, but couldn't do it. I hope his loss has been small." The brigade loss was about twenty killed and wounded. In the 7th regiment. Sergeant William Parrott, of Company I, Corporal J. B. Young, of Company D, were severely, and Wil- liam Davis, of Company C, mortally wounded. From the 16th day of June, 1864, until the 5th day of March, 1865, Pickett's division occupied the line from Howlett's house, on the James, to Swift Creek and Fort Clifton, on the Appo- mattox. The minor occurrences within this period, on, along, 284 New Eivee Settlements within and immediately without, the lines of the division would fill a volume. The enemy's advance on the north side of the James, and his capture of Fort Harrison, on the morning of September 29th, drew to that side of the river, among other Confederate troops, four regiments from Pickett's division, including the 24th Virginia regiment, all under the command of Colonel Montague. An unsuccessful assault was led by General Hoke against Fort Harrison on the morning of the 30th of Septem- ber, in which the 24th Virginia suffered severe loss. The battery of Captain David A. French was also engaged in this battle at Fort Harrison, and met with the following loss, viz: Killed, Adam Johnston; wounded. Lieutenant W. H. Smith, Privates E. W. Charlton, John M. Walker, John Burton, Joshua Day, Henry Hicks, John Ingrahan, and Eras- tus W. Peck. This company was engaged in the battle of Fus- sells' Mills, on the north side of the James, on the 19th of August, 1864, and its casualties were as follows: Killed, Henry Stover; wounded. Sergeant John N. Woodram, mor- tally ; H. C. Clyburn, and William J. Sarver. The Federal loss in and around Fussells' Mill was 2901, out of the 2nd and 10th army corps. During the months of .Tuly, August , September and October, the regiments and brigades of Pickett's division were frequent- ly shifted along the line it was holding, and which has been described. Frequent combats, in the shape of sharpshooting, took place, and occasionally the Confederate skirmishers, and- twice in larger body, made sallies against the enemy's rifle pits, gathering in large numbers of prisoners. On one of these expeditions they swept the Federal picket line for several hundred yards, bringing away without loss more than one hundred prisoners, including the Federal ofl3cers in command of the line. For the most part of the period between June, 1864, and March 5th, 1865, the pickets of the combatants on this line were on friendly terms ; so much so, that the Confed- 1861-1865 285 erate officers had to require the picket firing to be resumed in order to break up these friendly relations, which had been carried to the extent of regular traffic between the pickets in the way of barter and exchange of newspapers, tobacco, coffee and other articles. In many places along the line the pickets were near enough to each other that they could carry on con- versation in any ordinary tone of voice. The cold winter winds began to be felt in the close of the November days, and the men, in addition to their bomb proofs and mud houses in the earth, began to improve them as far as possible, in view of the approaching cold weather, by building flues or chimneys, and closing up all openings. The men were not only thinly clad, but some, at least, had but little clothing of any kind, and a large number were without shoes; and when the first blasts of winter came numbers could be seen shivering over the small fires they were allowed to kindle. Famine stared them in the face; the ration being from one- eighth to one-fourth of a pound of becan and one pint of unseived com meal per day, and occasionally a few beans or peas. With empty stomachs, naked bodies, and frozen fingers, these men clutched their guns with an aim so steady and dead- ly that the men on the other side were exceedingly cautious how they lifted their heads from behind their sheltered places. This was not altogether the worst part of the situation, for many a good brave Confederate soldier heard in his rear the cries of distrees of a mother, wife, or children at home, whose needs were as great for bread as his. What could he do? What should he do? This, with his own pitiable condition, was enough to break the strongest heart. It was too much for some, who broke away to look after the suffering ones at home. "How could the Government do any better?" was often said. Whatever food it had for the army was mostly in the far-off South, and could not be brought forward, either for lack of transportation or by reason of the enemy having cut or destroyed the lines of communication. The private soldier received |11.00 per month for his services 286 New Eiver Settlements — about enough to buy his tobacco. Confederate money had be- come worthless, and the price of provisions — ^that is, where any could be found for sale — was beyond the reach of the poor soldier. Flour was selling for $1500.00 per barrel ; bacon $20.00 per pound, beef $15.00 a pound, butter at $20.00 a pound; one chicken could be had for $50.00, soda $12.00 per pound, common calico $12.00 per yard; and at the date, Jan- uary and February, 1865, it took $100.00 in the currency to buy one dollar in gold. But this currency was all we had, good, bad or indiflferent — ^it was use that or nothing — and the soldier had but little of it, and did not have this little long. Some one wrote on the back of $500.00 Confederate note, about, or just after the surrender at Appomattox, the following lines : "Representing nothing on God's earth now. And naught in water below it. As a pledge of a nation that's dead and gone, Keep it, dear captain, and show it. Show it to those that will lend an ear To the tale this paper can tell Of liberty born, of the patriot's dream, Of a storm-cradled nation that fell. Too poor to possess the precious ore. And too much a stranger to borrow. We issue today our "promise to pay," And hope to redeem on the morrow. Days roll by, and weeks became years. But our coffers were empty still; Coin was so rare that the treasury quaked If a dollar should drop in the till. But the faith that was in us was strong indeed. And our poverty well we discerned. And these little checks represented the pay That our suffering Veterans earned. We knew it had hardly a value in gold. Yet as gold the soldiers received it; It gazed in our eyes with a promise to pay. And each patriot soldier believed it. But our boys thought little of price or pay. Or of bills that were over-due; We knew if it brought our bread today 'Twas the best our country could do. Keep it! It tells all our history over. From the birth of the dream to its last; Modest, and born of the Angel Hope, Like our hope of success, it passed." 1861-1865 287 Notwithstanding all these things, these heroic men, who loved their cause better than life, stood to their posts, and defied the enemy to the last. The enemy, by general orders and circular letters which they managed to send and scatter among the Confederate soldiers, offered all manner of induce- ments to have them desert their country; but, as a rule, such offers were indignantly spurned. The consecration of the Southern women to the cause for which their husbands, sons, brothers, and sweethearts struggled and suffered, is beyond the power of pen to describe. The hardships of these women were equal to, and often greater than that of the shivering, freezing, starving soldier in the field. They had not only given these men to the cause, but, in fact, themselves, too; for they remained at home and labored in the fields, went to mill, the blacksmith shops, lived on corn bread and sorghum molasses, and gave practicaly every pound of meat, flour and all the vegetables they could raise to the men in the army, whom they encouraged to duty in every possible way. They manufactured largely their own clothing, out of material that they had pro- duced with their own hands; and would have scorned any woman who would wear northern manufactured goods; and the thought, sentiment, and action is well expressed in lines written during the war: "Now northern goods are out of date. And since old Abe's blockade, We Southern girl's can be content, With goods that's Southern made; We send our sweethearts to the war. But girls ne'er you mind — Your soldier lover will not forget The girl he left behind. "And now young man, a word to you: If you would win the fair. Go to the field where honor calls And win your lady there; Remember that our brightest smiles Are for the true and brave. And that our tears are all for those Who fill the soldier's grave." Through this long, cold, dreary winter, Pickett's division — less than five thousand strong — held the line which, in length. 288 New Eiver Settlements was not less than four miles; being not many beyond one thousand men to the mile; only a good skirmish line; over which the enemy, by a bold, determined charge, could at any time have gone. It is certain that if the Federal line in front of Pickett's men had been as weak, and held by as few men as that of Pickett, they would have either been prisoners before the 1st day of January, 1865, or have been driven into the James and drowned. Every efifort was being put forth by the Confederate authori- ties to bring every available man to the field; the men from the division on detail or detached service were required to report to their respective regiments, and their places to be filled with those unable for active field service. This order gave great concern to many who had been out in good and easy places. Sergeant Charles T. Loehr in his "History of the 1st Virginia Regiment," tells of a Mr. Stegar, of Company D of that regiment, who did not relish his return to his com- pany, and who wrote: "THE BOMB-PROOF'S LAMENT." "With all my heart I hate to part. For I'm not happy to be free, And it will surely break my heart To send me back to company D. We had a snug detail together, But Uncle Bob has clipped our wings. And spring will be but gloomy weather If doomed to fight Old Grant in spring. Farewell, and when some sickly fellow Shall claim this bomb-proof I resign. And three miles in the rear discover What ease and safety once were mine." The new year was approaching; it was to bring nothing to cheer our aching hearts, but much to depress them. No hope for peace, nor settlement, or relief from our unfortunate stiua- tion. The men who were christians prayed earnestly every day for the return of peace to our distracted country; and in the dead hour of the night, often could be seen men on their knees, engaged in earnest appeals to God for our country and 1861-1865 289 for peace. Finally in the latter part of January, 1865, there was a rift in the dark cloud which overhung our sky, when it was announced that Confederate Commissioners were on their way to meet the Federal President, to attempt to adjust the unhappy diflferences. This was known throughout the army, and the men gathered in groups with faces all aglow with in- tense interest, to discuss the grave question. The one unani- mous voice was, settle it, if possible on any terms that are fair and honorable. The return of these Commissioners with the report that no settlement could be made other than down- right submission, cast a deep and heavy gloom over the faces of the men, who, but a few days before, had been happy in the hope of a peaceful and honorable termination of hostilities. Gloom and despair were plainly depicted on the faces of some of the men, while grim determination was to be seen on the faces of others. The situation is probably better expressed by telling first of an incident that happened with one of the men of the 7th Virginia regiment, and then the action taken by ia large part of the soldiers in the way of meetings and resolu- tions. This man of the 7th' regiment seemed very much de- jected and downcast, when he heard of the failure of the Com- misioners to make an adjustment of our troubles, and one of his comrades inquiring of him as to what was his trouble, he replied : "Well, the Peace Conference is a failure, Lincoln has called for more men, and President Davis says, 'war to the knife' ; what shall we do ?" The Federal soldier was as anxious for peace as the Con- federate could possibly be. About the time of the return of the Peace Commissioners it is told of a Federal soldier, that, in the presence of one of his officers, he remarked that he was anxious for the war to close and for the ifeturn of peace, and that he knew of a plan by which Richmond could be captured, and that would end the war and bring peace. His ofScer in- sisted upon his telling what the plan was that he had for the capture of Richmond; that General Grant ought to know of the plan if feasible. The soldier said he felt not only some 290 New Rivbe Settlements hesitancy, but a delicacy in stating it, but if the officer insisted he would tell him. Finally, the officer prevailed on the soldier to divulge his plan, which was this: "Swap Generals; bring General Lee over here and put him in command of this army, and he will have Richmond in twenty-four hours." As already stated, on the return of the Peace Commissioners with their report of the failure to settle matters, meetings of the soldiers were held in many of the companies and regiments throughout the army, to discuss the situation, in which reso- lutions were adopted expressive of their views. Among the companies which held such meetings was that of Captain David A. French, the minutes of which meeting are as follows : "Darby Town Road, February 6, 1865. At a meeting convened in the Stonewall Detachment, Cor- poral Charles E. Pack was called to the, chair, O. F. Jordan appointed secretary, and the following preamble and resolu- tions were adopted: Whereas, we believe that the Confederate authorities have taken appropriate measures to bring about an honorable peace to the Confederacy; And whereas, said measures have failed to bring about this most desirable result, owing to obstinacy and tyrannical dis- position of the Federal authorities; in this, that they refuse all offers of peace, and will listen to nothing save an humble submission on the part of the Confederates : We, the members of the Stonewall Detachment, Captain D. A. French's battery, do resolve: that we will listen to no terms the least degrading to brave men and free men. That come weal or woe, we will now fight it out at the cost of every drop of blood that flows in our veins ; that there is no sacrifice too dear, no danger too hazardous, no suffering too great, that we will not endure for our country and cause; and we pledge ourselves anew to stand by our flag and guns while the one waves, and there is room to work the other." C. E. Pack, Chairman. O. F. Jordan, Secretary. 1861-1865 291 During the fall of 1864, and the early part of the winter of that year, the country had reached such a condition that starv- ation was not only staring the army in the face, threatening its disintegration and disbanding, but the people at home, in many localities, were suffering for the very necessaries of life,and good people among them, some of even the leading men, had reached the conclusion that the contest could not longer be maintained; they, therefore, were for peace on any terms, and if the Confederate authorities were not willing to take immediate steps to that end, that the people would be placed in position to discourage the continuance of the contest by every means within their power. The Federal authorities, including the commanding officers of their armies, as well as their spies, emmissaries, and scouts, encouraged the peace feeling by holding out all manner of inducements to the people, and to the soldiers in the army; and by secret orders and organizations among our people and soldiers, sought to influence the people to withdraw their sup- port from the armies, and to encourage the soldiers to abandon the cause for which we had fought for nearly four years. Or- ganizations were found to exist in Southwestern and Western Virginia, known by the names of : "Heroes of America," "Red String," and "White String Party," which had regular signs and pass-words. Into these were drawn, as reported, some of the prominent and leading citizens, and had even partly per- meated the army, particularly the 22nd and 54th Virginia regiments of infantry. How far they affected these organiza- tions, and how far their influence reached, it is difficult to say ; but it alarmed the Confederate authorities and was made the subject of investigation by the Secretary of War, Mr. Seddon. For a full history of this matter with the names disclosed of persons connected therewith, the reader is referred to Rebel- lion Records, Series IV, Vol. 3, pp. 804-16. Returning to affairs in Western and Southwestern Virginia, and resuming the narrative of events at the close of 1863, we 292 New River Settlements find that in December of that year, the 16th Virginia cavalry, commanded by Colonel Milton J. Ferguson, spent the latter part of December, and a part of the following two months, in the Valley of the Sandy, penetrating to the Kanawha River, where a detachment of that regiment, in February of 1864, captured a steam boat on which was Brigadier General Scam- mon, of the Federal army, who was also captured, brought out and sent to Richmond in charge of Lieutenant E. G. Vertigan, his captor. On January 3rd, 1863, Brigadier General William E. Jones with his cavalry command, in which, at the time, was the 8th Virginia regiment, partly made up of Tazewell and Mercer County men, attacked a Federal force at Jonesville, Virginia, which he defeated, capturing 385 prisoners, killing 10, wound- ing 45, taking three pieces of artillery and a number of wagons. The 8th Virginia lost Lieutenant A. H. Samuels and four men killed and 7 wounded. Echols' brigade, with part of Jenkins' cavalry, spent the winter in Monroe and Greenbrier Counties. McCausland's bri- gade, with the 17th cavalry, wintered at the Narrows and at Princeton; while Wharton's brigade was in East Tennessee and about Saltville. The enemy in the Kanawha Valley, early in the spring, be- gan to assemble a force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, under Brigadier General George Crook, for the purpose of an advance towards the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad ; and at the same time a large force of the enemy was preparing to march up .the Valley of Virginia to Staunton. Major General Breckenridge, on the 5th of March, 1864, had relieved General Jones, in command of the department of Southwestern Virginia. In the latter part of April and the first days of May, these Federal divisions from the Kanawha, and in the Valley of Virginia, commenced their advance. Gen- eral Breckenridge was called to the Virginia Valley, drawing to him the brigade of Echols and Wharton. McCausland's brigade had also been ordered to the Valley, but the advance 1861-1865 293 of General Crook's column held him at Dublin, with Jenkins' cavalry brigade at Narrows, with Bryan's battery, Ringgold, and Botetourt artillery, under the command of Brigadier General Jenkins. The Federal cavalry leader in Western Virginia, Brigadier General Averill, with 2479 officers and men, left the Kanawha River above Charleston on the 1st of May, by way of Logan and Wyoming Court Houses, to Abb's Valley in Tazewell Cpunty, and from thence on the road to Wytheville, near which, on the 10th of May, he encountered a Confederate force under General William E .Jones, and was defeated. In this battle was the 16th Virginia cavalry regiment in part com- posed of Tazewell County men. The loss of General Averill was 100 in killed and wounded, himself among the wounded. He drew off his troops and passed down Walker's Creek by Shannon's and to Pepper's ferry, where he crossed New River, and from thence proceeded to Blacksburg and Christiansburg ; turning northward in an effort to follow General Crook, he encountered at Gap Mountain, near Newport in Giles County, Jenkins' cavalry brigade, and part of the troops of Colonel William L. Jackson, all under the command of Colonel Wil- liam H. French, of Mercer, by whom he was driven back, and forced to retreat by a bridle path over the mountains into Monroe County, where he joined General Crook, who was closely followed by Jackson's command; Colonel French's troops returning to the Narrows. General Crook left the Kanawha River on the second day of May, with eleven regiments of infantry, a part of two regi- ments of cavalry, and two battalions of artillery, aggregating 6,155 men. The march was made by way of Fayetteville, Raleigh Court House, Princeton, Rocky Gap, and Shannon's, to Cloyd's farm on Back Creek in Pulaski County; where on the 9th of May he found the command of General Jenkins, consisting of the 36th, 45th and 60th Virginia regiments and 45tb battalion of Virginia infantry, with Bryan's, Ringgold's and Douthat's Virginia batteries, drawn np in line of battle 294 New Eivbb Settlements to meet him ; with an aggregate force, then, and that of Major Smith, who joined after the retreat began, of less than 3,000 men. The battle was a fierce and bloody one, and lasted for several hours, and the men who fought this battle on the Confederate side were largely from the middle New Eiver Valley and from the upper Clinch waters; they were from Tazewell, Wythe, Pulaski ,Bland, Montgomery, Giles, Monroe, Greenbrier, Fayette, Raleigh, Mercer, Boone, Logan, Putnam, Cabell, Wayne, and perhaps some from other Southern West Virginia Counties. General Jenkins was mortally wounded and his command outflanked and driven from the field, with a loss of 76 killed, 262 wounded, and 200 missing. The loss was inconsiderable in comparison with the value of the slain, among whom were some of the bravest and most daring sold- iers in the army. Lieutenant Colonel Edwin H. Harman, a brave young oflScer of great promise, and Captain Robert R. Crockett, of the 45th regiment were killed. Lieutenant Colonel George W. Hammond, Major Jacob N. Taylor, and Captain Moses McClintic, of the 60th Virginia, were killed, and Cap- tain Rufus A. Hale, S. S. Dews, Lieutenants Larue, Austin, Bailey, and Stevenson, together with a number of others of the 60th and 36th Virginia were wounded, as was Major Thomas L. Broun, Post Quartermaster at Dublin, dangerously. (1) In this battle, in the 60th Virginia regiment, were two companies of Giles County men, one of which was commanded by that brave, fearless Irishman, Captain Andrew Gott, now of Mer- cer County. The men of Tazewell County in the 45th regiment suffered heavy loss in this battle, losing not only the gallant Lieutenant Colonel Harman, but numbers of others killed or wounded, among the latter the brave Captain C. A. Fudge. Bland County was also represented on this field as above stated; and her sons distinguished themselves in this fignt, (1). Rev. Mr. Hickman, a Presbyterian minister, wai killed on this field. Judge E. Ward and Hon. William Prince accompanied the Con- federate soldiers to this field and were under the enemy's fire. Prince, while acting as special messenger and courier, had his horse shot un- der him. 1861-1865 295 losing many of their best and bravest killed and wounded, among the latter that tall and heroic youth ,the flag bearer of the 45th, Andrew Jackson Stowers. There also fell on this field, near which was once the home of their ancestor, three remote cousins, viz: Lieutenant A. W. Hoge and his Brother M. J. Hoge of the Ringgold Virginia battery, and George D. Pearis of Bryan's Virginia battery. The Federal loss in this battle, in killed and wounded, was 688. The Confederates under the command of Colonel John McCausland, who succeeded to the command on the wounding of General Jenkins, retreated by way of the railroad bridge to the East bank of New River, and upon the crossing of the Fed- erals at Pepper's ferry, and their advance to Christiansburg, he continued his retreat to the head waters of the Roanoke. General Crook took fright, and fled across Salt Pond mountain into Monroe County. No braver or better fight was ever put up in an open field by a body of men so largely outnumbered. (1) The coolness and bravery of Colonel McCausland, and the skillful manner in which he conducted the retreat, with the timely arrival of Major Smith's troops on the field, saved the command from capture or destruction. Colonel McCausland was at once, and deservedly so, made a Brigadier General, and placed in com- mand of Jenkins' cavalry brigada General Breckenridge hurried down the Valley of Virginia, with the brigades of Echols and Wharton (2) and other troops, to New Market, where, on the 15th day of May, he met a Federal army some 6,500 strong, under General Sigel, and with less than 5,000 men defeated it with a loss of 831; the Confederate loss being 522. Sigel retreated, and Breckenridge, with his division, moved to Hanover Junction and joined Gen- eral Lee, leaving General Imboden in command in the Valley, who was shortly thereafter superseded by Brigadier General (1). The Federal General Crook says, in his report, says: "Th« enemy remained behind their works until battered away by our men." (2). Mostly New River Valley men. 296 New Kivbr Settlements William E. Jones, who took with him from Southwest Vir- ginia, McOausland's old brigade of infantry, by which his forces were augmented to about 5,000, including, however, some local bodies of militia, with which to meet about 8,500 Federal troops under the command of Major General David Hunter, who had displaced General Sigel. At Piedmont in the Valley, on the 5th day of June, Hunter's forces atacked the Confederates, and after a severe and bloody battle of more than five hours the Confederates were badly de- feated with heavy loss, and compelled to retreat in much dis- order, closely followed by the large body of the enemy's cavalry. General Jones was killed on the field, and the loss in his com- mand in killed and wounded was about 500, besides 1,000 men and several guns captured. (1) In this battle the men from the New Kiver Valley were engaged and suffered fear- fully. While the Confederates were engaged in this contest. Generals Crook and Averill, with 8,000 to 10,000 men, were rapidly aproaching Staunton from Buffalo Gap on the West, opposed by General McCausland with his brigade and that of Colonel William L. Jackson, who on the occupation of Staunton by Hunter's forces, were compelled to retire. Gen- eral Imboden assumed command of the Confederates after the fall of General Jones, and retired to Waynesboro. In this unfortunate engagement the men from Tazewell, Bland, Giles and Mercer Counties were heavily engaged, and it is to be regretted that the names of those who fell, killed or wounded, have not been preserved. Here fell the brave and manly Col- onel William Henry Brown, of Tazewell, at the head of the 45th Virginia regiment. The cause claimed no nobler sacrifice than this. He was born in Tazewell County, and had distin- guished himself in the many battles in which his regiment had been engaged. The loss of the enemy in this battle was 500 in killed and wounded. In the Giles companies in the 36th Virginia regiment, there were, among others, killed in the battle of Piedmont, W. S. Echols, B. Newton Snidow, (1). The Federal loss was about 500. 1861-1865 297 Hamilton Hare, G. B. Chandler; wounded, J. C. Stump, John Kerr, John H. Williams; James W. Hale lost an arm. Lieu- tenant Thomas G. Jarrell, of a Boone County company, a Mercer County man originally, the son of Mr. George Wash- ington Jarrell, was slain in this battle. The defeat of General Jones' command left the Valley to Staunton, in fact through to and South of the James River, open to the march of General Hunter's army, now numbering near 20,000 effective men. Hunter did not delay, but pushed on toward Lynchburg, with nothing to oppose save McCaus- land's cavalry command, which fought him closely and man- fully all along the route, and so delayed him that it took him more than a week to march over a good road from Staunton to the front of Lynchburg. It is true that he, Hunter, stopped along the route at Lexington and other points to repeat his acts of vandalism; having in the lower Valley caused the properties of some of his relatives to be burned and destroyed ; and after the close of the war it is said, he attempted to con- ciliate them, but they treated him with scorn and contempt as he deserved, for when his relatives, the females, plead with him to spare their homes he turned a deaf ear : "As well might you plead with the tiger to pause When his victim lies writhing and clenched in his claws." It was these acts of General Hunter, contrary as they were to usages of civilized warfare, that caused the burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in July of that year. In November, 1863, a straggling camp follower, or maraud- ing Federal soldier entered the home of Mr. David Creigh near Lewisburg, West Virginia, and attempted by force to enter the room of his daughter, when Mr. Creigh interposed and attempted to eject him ; he sought the life of Mr. Creigh, who believing himself in great danger killed the man. General Averill in the spring of 1864, on his retreat with Crook from Cloyd's farm, had Mr. Creigh arrested and tried by a drum- head court martial, which sentenced Mr. Creigh to be hanged, 298 New Rivejr Settlements which sentence was approved by General Hunter. See Aver- ill's Report, Vol. 37, Part 1, Rebellion Records, p. 145. The wife of General W. H. Smith has beautifully and fully told this story of the martyr Creigh' in verse, which is as follows : "He lived the life of an upright man. And the people loved him well; Many a wayfarer came to his door, His sorrow or need to tell. A pitying heart and an open hand, Gave succor ready and free; For kind and true to his fellowman And a Christian was David Creigh. But o'er his threshold a shadow passed, With a step of a ruflBan foe; While in silent words and brutal threats A purpose of darkness show; And a daughter's wild imploring cry Called the father to her side — His hand was nerved by the burning wrong, And there the offender died. The glory of Autumn had gone from earth, The winter had passed away. And the glad springtime was merging fast Into summer's ardent ray. When a good man from his home was torn — Days of toilsome travel to see — And far from his loved a crown was worn, And the martyr was David Creigh. Here where he lived, let the end be told. Of a tale of bitter wrong; Here let our famishing thousands learn. To whom vengeance doth belong. Short grace was given the dying man. E'er led to the fatal tree, And short the grace to our starving hosts. Since the murder of David Creigh. The beast of the, desert shields its young. With an instinct fierce and wild. And lives there a man with the heart of a man Who would not defend his child? So woe to those who call evil good — That woe shall not come to me — War hath no record of fouler deed Than the murder of David Creigh. As has already been noted, General Breckenridge with his division had, on the 10th of June, left Richmond to meet Hunt- er's forces and prevent their passage through the gaps of the Blue Ridge towards Charlottesville and Richmond. General 1861-1865 299 Breckenridge, finding Hunter's advance directed toward Lynchburg, instead of Eastward of the ridge, therefore pushed his division to the defense of that city, reaching there in ad- vance of Hunter's army, and holding the Federals at bay by severe fighting until the arrival of General Early with a por- tion of the 2nd corps of the army of Northern Virginia, on the 18th. Hunter ascertaining that Early had arrived, took fright and on the night of the 18th beat a hasty retreat by way of Liberty and Salem, and across the mountains into Western Virginia. At Hanging Rock, a Gap in the North Mountain, on the Salem and Sweet Springs turnpike, a portion of Early's cavalry struck the flank of Hunter's retreating army, capturing a portion of his train. In this encounter George Kahle, a brave young soldier from Mercer County, in a hand to hand conflict with a Federal soldier, was killed, and the latter slain on the spot by James O. Cassady, who was also a Mercer man. Hunter's army now sent in disastrous retreat across the moun- tains to the Kanawha, and the Valley free from the enemy, General Early directed the head of his column on the 23rd day of June towards Staunton, which he reached on the 26th. With Early was his own corps, to which was added Brecken- ridge's division, in which were the New Eiver Valley men, not only in the infantry, but as well in the cavalry and artillery. Crook's retreat from the New Kiver section had left the Con- federate lines along the Western and Southwestern Virginia border free from any considerable body of the enemy, and events in the East and in the Valley required the presence of nearly all the forces that had theretofore operated in Vir- ginia Westward of the Alleghanies. Eesuming his march on the 28th General Early, with hi» troops, reached and passed through Winchester on July 3rd. General McCausland, with his brigade of cavalry, attacked on July 4th, North Mountain depot on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, capturing 200 prisoners. A portion of Early's in- fantry under General Gordon, having crossed the Potomac on the 5th, McCausland's cavalry brigade advanced to Shepherds- 300' New River Settlements town, and on the 6th to the Antietam, in front of Sharpsburg, and on the 9th advanced to Frederick City, where he had a skirmish with the enemy. General Early's troops being fully up on the 9th, he attacked and defeated, after a fierce and bloody battle, a Federal army of 10,000 men at the Monocacy under General Lew Wallace. In this bloody engagement Gen- eral McCausland's cavalry brigade performed prodigies of valor and suffered severe loss. The Confederate loss was about 700 ; that of the Federals reported at 1968. In the 17th "Vir- ginia cavalry were three companies from Mercer County, com- manded by Captains Graybeal, Gore, and Straley, respectively. This regiment, as already heretofore stated, belonged to Mc- Causland's brigade and was in the thickest of the fight at the Monocacy and suffered severe loss. Lieutenant Colonel Tave- ner of the 17th Virginia being mortally wounded. Mr. Floyd A. Bolen has furnished to the author an itinerary of Company A of the 17th regiment, as well as of that regiment from the earliest organization of said company and regiment, down to the close of the battle at Monocacy, where Mr. Bolen was wounded so severely as to disable him from further ser- vice in the army. This itinerary is as follows : "Field officers of the regiment, William H. French, Colonel; W. C. Tavener, Lieutenant Colonel; Fred Smith, Major; H. B. Barbor, Adju- tant; with Doctor Isaiah Bee for a while as regimental Sur- geon, but afterwards promoted to brigade Surgeon. Three companies , from Mercer County belonged to this regiment : Company A, which was the first company of cavalry organized in Mercer County, had as its first officer William H. French, Captain; Philip Thompson, Robert Gore and William B. Crump, Lieutenants. At the reorganization of the company J. W. Graybeal was elected Captain and LaFayette Gore and Albert Austin Lieutenants. When Captain William H. French was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Captain J. W. Graybeal became Captain of company A and Judson Ellison and W. A. Reed became Lieutenants, together with Edward McClaugh- 1861-1865 301 erty, in the place of Ellison resigned. The oflScers of company D were Robert Gore, Captain; Erastns Meador, Albert White, and William R. Carr, Lieutenants. The officers of Company E were Jacob C. Straley, Captain ; William L. Bridges, Kinzie Rowland, and Ambrose Oney, Lieutenants. Company A was organized and entered the Confederate service about the 1st of June, 1861, and remained in the Counties of Mercer and Giles until about the 1st of the following October, when it marched with other troops to Guyandotte. This march was conducted through the Counties of Raleigh, Wyoming, Logan and Cabell. On the return of the company from this expedi- tion it went into camp on Flat Top mountain on the Miller farm, where it remained two or three weeks, then marched by way of Princeton arid Jeffersonville into Russell County, go- ing into camp near Lebanon, where it remained two or three weeks, and then moved over to the Holstein and went into camp. Here it remained about one month, and then moved Southwestward through Abingdon, Bristol and into Tennessee as far as Union Station, and then returned to Mercer County, going into camp at Princeton, where it spent the winter. Early in the spring of 1862, the company, in connection with other troops, met the enemy at Clark's house, on the Flat Top, in which a severe skirmish ensued, resulting in the repulse of the Confederates, and in a loss to said company of Cornelius Brown and G. H. Bryson, killed, and several wounded. The retreat continued by way of Princeton to Bland Court House, where the company remained for a few days and then was sent back to Rocky Gap, and a few days thereafter to the Cross Roads in Mercer County. A few days after reaching Cross Roads this company led the advance of Wharton's command against the enemy at Princeton, and on the 17th of May was engaged in the battle of Pigeon Roost Hill, with Wharton's command. These three Mercer companies accompanied Gen- eral Loring on his march to the Kanawha Valley, in Septem- ber, 1862. On reaching Charleston this company, with Gore's Company D and the Bland rangers, were thrown together, 302 New Biver Settlements forming a battalion, and placed under the command of Major Saliers. This battalion was then detached from Loring's troops and sent through Jackson County, driving the enemy across the Ohio. Returning from this expedition this battalion marched through the Kanawha Valley to Blue Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier, where the 17th regiment was finally gotten together with the field ofiicers hereinbefore stated. Shortly after its organization the regiment marched to Salem, where it spent the winter of 1862-3. About the 1st of May, 1863, the regiment broke camp and boarded the cars for Lynch- burg, and from thence to Staunton, where it went into camp and remained waiting for its horses to be brought forward. As soon as mounted the regiment marched down the Valley to Berryville, Virginia, where it joined and became a part of the cavalry brigade of Jenkins, which led the advance of Gen- eral Lee's army into Pennsylvania. On this march into Pennsylvania, at a point northeast of Gettysburg, this brigade of Jenkins encountered a regiment of the enemy, capturing 200 or more prisoners and a train of wagons. On the first day at Gettysburg, after the Federal line had been broken, Captain Robert Gore, of Company D, distin- guished himself by dashing in front of the Federal lines alone, and capturing 150 of the retreating enemy. After the first day's fight was over the 17th regiment took charge of and guarded the 5,000 prisoners captured on that day. On the retreat from Pennsylvania this brigade of Jenkins had quite a lively fight with the enemy near Boonesboro, in which Joseph H. McClaugherty of Company A, was wounded. Jenkins' brigade of cavalry covered the retreat of General Lee's army southward after it crossed the Potomac on its way from Gettysburg, and in the Valley had several skirmishes with the enemy, without any serious loss. Near Sperryville, in Rap- pahannock County, a part of the 17th regiment had a skirmish with a force of the enemy, in which John R. Newkirk and Jackson Anderson, of Company A, were captured. Shortly after this the brigade moved back into the Valley and marched 1861-1865 303 by way of Staunton into the Greenbrier section, where it re- mained for a short while, when the 17th regiment marched into Abb's Valley, and then remarched to Eed Sulphur Springs and subsequently a part of the regiment marched into Mercer County and went into camp near Spanishburg, where it win- tered in 1863-4. On the approach of the Federal army from the Kanawha, in the spring of 1864, the whole of Jenkins' brigade took post at the Narrows. While the battle of Cloyd's farm was about to be, or was being fought, this cavalry bri- gade, now under the command of Colonel William H. French, crossed New River at Snidow's ferry and marched to Gap Mountain, with the view of cutting off General Crook's re- treat; failing in this it succeeded in cutting General Averill's command off from that of Crook's, compelling Averill to escape by the mountain paths. Shortly after this General McCaus- land took command of the brigade, and marched it into the Valley of Virginia, where it skirmished from near Staunton, with Hunter's advance, until it reached Lynchburg. In a skirmish with the enemy near Lynchburg, Jack Hatcher, of Company A, was killed. On Hunter's retreat from Lynchburg, McCausland's brigade followed closely upon his rear, charg- ing into his wagOn train at Hanging Eock, capturing a num- ber of prisoners and two pieces of artillery. From here the brigade marched in advance of Early's command to Staunton, and from thence to the Monocacy, where it engaged in that battle, in which Company A of the 17th regiment lost William French, Thomas Thornley, and A. J. Fanning, killed, and several wounded, among them Mr. Bolen. In the same com- pany with Mr. Bolen was John H. Eobinson, who is now an eminent dentist of Mercer County, and who was wounded in the batle of Monocacy and captured and removed to Balti- more to the West Building Hospital, from which he escaped and finally made his way through Maryland into Virginia. The thrilling story of the escape of this brave soldier and his sufferings, is worth relating, but the manuscript furnished by him came too late to be inserted at length in this volume ; but 304 New River Settlements something further will be said in regard to it in the appendix to this work. Immediately upon the close of the battle at Monocacy Gen- eral Early continued his advance on Washington, MeCausland with his cavalry leading this advance, and having many severe combats with the enemy's cavalry, driving it before him. The enemy by this time had become thoroughly alarmed for the safety of the Capital, and poured into and around the city large bodies of troops, which induced General Early, on the night of the 12th, to retire toward the upper Potomac, crossing at White's Ford on the morning of the 14th of July, and camp- ing on the Virginia shore. By the 17th, Early's army had reached and crossed the Shenandoah, and went into camp near Castleman's ferry. On the 18th the enemy crossed the Blue Ridge at Snicker's Gap and made a heavy attack on the Con- federates, attempting to cross the river at Cool Springs, but were driven back with loss by the divisions of Rodes and Wharton. On the 19th, in a further attempt to cross the river at Berry's ferry, they were defeated with loss by the cavalry brigades of MeCausland and Imboden. On the afternoon of the 20th Early again marched, taking the route up the Valley toward Newtown, and during the night Breckenridge's corp^, made up of the divisions of Gordon and Wharton, followed by MeCausland, marched by way of Millwood and the Valley turnpike to Middletown. The whole army marched to the vicinity of Strasburg and went into camp. ' On the 24th Gen- eral Early turned back to meet the pursuing enemy, which he met at Kemstown and quickly defeated; the principal fight- ing being done by Gordon and Wharton's divisions of Brecken- ridge's corps. General Early pressed on to Bunker's Hill and Martinsburg. It was on July 27th that General MeCausland started on his raid to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He had with him his own and Bradley T. Johnson's brigades, and acting under and in obedience to the orders of Lieutenant General Early, 1861-1865 305 to demand of the citizens of Chambersburg a named sum of money as an indemnity for the wanton burning of private dwelling houses in th^ Valley of Virginia by the Federal soldiers, , and upon refusal to pay the money to burn the town. Eeaching the town on the 30th of July, General McCausland made demand for the money, which was refused, and there- upon the buildings were fired. Adjutant A. C. Bailey, of the 8th cavalry, was killed in Chambersburg by some infuriated citizens. McCausland, on his retreat into Virginia, halted at Moorefleld, where before daylight on the 6th day of August his command was surprised by that of the Federal General Averill and defeated with a loss of many killed and wounded; three flags, four pieces of artillery, and 400 captured. From the 10th of August to the 19th day of September, General Early's command marched and counter-marched re- peatedly over the territory between Winchester and the Poto- mac, with scarcely a day passing without a skirmish or small engagement of some kind. No army was better exercised, or inured to more active service. The Federal General Sheridan, with an army of more than 40,000 men, on September 19th at Winchester, attacked Gen- eral Early's troops, numbering not exceeding 12,000, and after an all-day close and bloody battle, the enemy's large body of cavalry turned the Confederate left flank, and compelled a rapid retreat of the army of General Early, with a loss to him of 1707 in killed and wounded ; more than 2,000 captured, and the loss of five pieces of artillery and nine flags. The loss of the enemy was 5018. Among those killed on the Confederate side was Major General Bodes, and the brave and magnificent Col- onel George S. Patton, mortally wounded; while Lieutenant Colonels Edgar and Derrick were captured. The Federals lost General Russel, killed ; and Generals Upton, Mcintosh and Chapman wounded. Among the New River Valley men, and those of adjacent territory, killed in this battle, were Captain George Bierne Chapman, commanding Chapman's battery; and Clinton Bailey, of the 8th Virginia cavalry, mortally 306 New Eivbe Settlements wounded ; and among the captured, were Captain Henry Bowen, and Private William H. Thompson, of the 8th cavalry; Cap- tain James B. Peck of Edgar's battalion; Lieutenant John A. Douglass, of the 30th Virginia battalion; Lieutenant J. N. Shanklin of Monroe County, and Captain Andrew Gott, of Mercer, who though wounded, succeeded in escaping a few days after his capture. General Early retired with his army to Fisher's Hill, where on the 22nd of September he was again attacked and defeated by General Sheridan; and only saved by the firm and brave resistance of a portion of Wharton's division, and some of the artillery brigade which continued the fighting until General Early ordered them to desist. General Early reports his loss in this engagement at 30 killed, 210 wounded, and 995 missing, and 12 pieces of artillery. General Sheridan reports his loss at 528. Getting his troops together and giving them a few days for rest and recuperation. General Early, on October 1st, again advanced down the Valley to the vicinity of Cedar Creek, skirmishing all the way. An examination of the enemy's posi- tion satisfied the Confederate command that a successful at- tack could be made, although his army did not number above 10,000 men, while that of the enemy was close to 50,000. A more daring enterprise, under the circumstances, with such disparity of numbers, was never conceived or attempted in modern warfare. It was plain that if he did not succeed the chances were that he would loose his whole army. Notwith- standing the difSculties that were presented, as the movement began on the early morning of the 19th day of October, the obstacles which seemed insurmountable disappeared, and by a movement of a part of his troops on the flank of the enemy under the gallant Gordon, and with Wharton's division on the main turnpike. General Early threw his troops with a bold rush upon the enemy, who were largely asleep in their tents, and in an incredibly short space of time the enemy's 8th and 19th army corps were in utter route and confusion, witli a large number 1861-1865 307 thereof prisoners, together with many pieces of artillery and camp equipage. By noon the entire infantry force of the enemy had been routed and driven for several miles. Unfortunately, however. General Early halted his men when in the full tide of a most brilliant success, thus giving the enemy time to get themselves together again, which they did, and later turning upon the broken and scattered Confederate battalions, with his immense cavalry corps some 10,000 strong, drove Early's troops from the field with serious loss ; although he had succeeded in getting off 1500 Federal prisoners, he lost most of the artillery he had captured and some of his own by the breaking down of the bridge over Cedar Creek. The Confederates retreated to New Market and there went into bivouac. The Confederate loss in this battle, including prisoners, is put down at about 2500; while that of the Federal army is oflQcially reported at 5665. The Confederates lost Major General Kamseur, killed; the Federal General Bidwell was killed, and Generals Wright, Grover, and Eicketts wounded. It is to be regretted that the casualties in Wharton's division, and McCausland's cavalry brigade cannot be given for want of oflScial or other informa- tion. Between August the 10th and November 16th, 1864, General Sheridan had so completely devastated the country in which his army operated, that it was made most manifest that his orders to destroy the Valley, "So that even a crow traversing it would have to carry a haversack," were almost literally com- plied with; about the only thing which he did not burn, destroy or carry away, being the stone fences. Scarce any such whole- sale pillage and wanton destruction ever followed in the wake of any army. To the people the losses amounted to millions of dollars. From the time of the battle of Cedar Creek, on the 19th day of October, to the 14th day of December, when Early's 2nd corps of the army, under General John B. Gordon, returned to the trenches around Richmond, there was a succession of marches and countermarches by General Early's troops, and 308 New Rivee Settlements many spirited skirmishes, and some pretty severe combats be- tween the cavalry forces of the two armies, one of which was an attack on General McCausIand's brigade, on the 12th day of November, near Cedarville, in which the enemy was several times repulsed, but finally drove McCausland back towards Front Eoyal, with a loss of two pieces of artillery, 10 killed, 60 wounded, and 100 captured. It is stated upon authority, that up to the 15th day of November, General Early's troops had marched since the opening of the campaign on the 13th day of June, 1670 miles, and fought 75 battles and skirmishes. On the 24th day of November McCausIand's brigade, with those of Jackson and Imboden, had a sharp contention with Tor- bett's two divisions of Federal Cavalry at Liberty Mills, north- west of Gordonsville. The troops became very much mixed up with the enemy in the dark night. The enemy's reported loss in this encounter was 258. General Early established his headquarters at Staunton, while a portion of General Wharton's division went into camp about the 1st of December at Fishersville. This was the end of the Valley campaign of 1864. Whatever may be said of Early's Valley campaign as to its conduct and final disastrous results, it is certain that no student of military history will withhold from that officer the credit of being a bold, daring, brave soldier and strategist, who with a small army of scarce more than 12,000 of the most heroic men that ever shouldered muskets for the defense of their country, baffled, beat back, defeated, harrassed, and kept employed for more than five months in an open country, and within a radius of not more than 100 miles, an army of quite five times its num- bers, inflicting upon it during that period losses almost equal to double its own numbers; and keeping during the period referred to the Federal authorities in a state of nervous tremor for fear that the bold "Captain of the Valley" might swoop down upon the Federal city. Lieutenant Colonel Vincent A. Witcher, on the 17th day of September, 1864, with his 34th Virginia battalion of cavalry, 1861-1865 309 left Tazewell Court House, and passing by way of Narrows of New River to Lewisburg, was there joined by the companies of the Thurmonds and those of Captain William H. Payne, J. Bumgards and J. W. Amick, raising his effective strength to 523 men, with which he moved northward across the mountains into the counties of Upshur and Lewis, making extensive cap- tures of horses, beef cattle, and 300 prisoners, and destroying large amounts of government stores, and returning without loss. (1) On October 20th, 1864, Captain William H. Payne, at the head of his command and while marching down Coal Eiver, in Raleigh County, against the enemy, was shot from his horse, falling mortally wounded. His left arm was broken, the ball passing through his body, from which wound he died on the next day. He was a young man of great promise, the son of Mr. Charles H. Payne, of Giles County. Had young Payne lived a month longer he would have become Colonel at the re- organization of his command. He was a man of exemplary habits, well educated, of dauntless courage, and was a strik- ingly handsome, fine-looking soldier. The officers of his com- pany at the time of his death were Lieutenant John Tabler and Charles E. Price. Major Nounan with a detachment of cavalry, in the month of October, penetrated the enemy's lines, and marched to the Kanawha River, doing some hurt to the enemy, and returned without serious loss. On the 2nd day of October, 1864, the enemy 2500 strong, in- cluding one negro cavalry regiment, under the command of the Federal General Burbridge, attacked Saltville, Virginia, de- fended by a small force under the command of Generals Echols, Vaughn and Williams; and were after an all-day contest re- pulsed and forced to retire, with a loss of about 350 men killed and wounded. In the December following, a Federal army about 6,000 strong, under the command of the Federal General (1) Witcher's command had, in 1863, a severe engagement at the mouth of Beech Creek, now Mingo County, with the 4th West "Virginia eavalry, under Col. Hall, in which Hall was killed and V/itcher badly wounded. 310 New River Settlements Stoneman, marched into Southwestern Virginia and was met by General John C. Breckenridge with some small remnants and fragments of Confederate commands, numbering less than 1,000 men. For several days frequent combats ensued, mostly in favor of the Federals, who penetrated the country as far east as Wytheville, destroying much of the railroad, especially bridges, and some Government stores in that town and at other points, also doing some damage to the lead mines. As stated, the first named Federal force had with it one regiment of negro cavalry, whose fighting qualities was the boast of the Federal officers, they even intimating that the negroes were better sold- iers than their white men. On the 20th of December a large Federal force attacked the command of Colonel Eobert T. Preston at the salt works, and after a brisk fight lasting until night, Colonel Preston, who had only 400 men — mostly old inen — reserves, withdrew his men, and the Federals entered and took possession, doing considerable damage, after which they, finding nothing further to destroy, returned to Kentucky and Tennessee. General Thomas L. Eosser, with his Virginia cavalry brigade, and the 8th Virginia cavalry regiment of Payne's brigade, on the night of — or rather before daylight on the morning of — the 11th day of January, 1865, attacked a Federal force at Beverley, West Virginia, capturing, killing and wounding 572, without loss to his command. The old brigade of Echols, of Wharton's division, which had been in quarters near Fishersville in December, on the 18th day of January left for Dublin Depot, in Southwestern Vir- ginia, and McCausland's brigade marched from east of the Blue Ridge, by way of Fishersville, en route to winter quarters in Alleghaney and Greenbrier Counties. By the last days of February all of the Confederate troops had departed from the valley, save a small force of cavalry under General Rosser, and the remnant of Wharton's division, numbering less than 1,000 men, badly clad and poorly fed. A force of 9,987 Federal Cavalry, with artillery, under the command of General Sheri- 1861-1865 311 dan, on the 2nd day of March, attacked Early's small force at Wayneshoro, completely demolishing it, capturing about 1600 prisoners, many of them citizens and convalescents, who were getting out of the country with General Early's troops. Early escaped to the mountains, finally reached Richmond, was sent to Lynchburg and from there to Southwestern Virginia to take command of the troops in that department. General Sheridan crossed the Blue Ridge, laid waste the whole country through which he passed, cut the James River canal, destroyed the Central railroad, and made his way down to the north of Richmond about the middle of March, where he was threatened with serious trouble and turned his course to the White House on the Pamunky, finally joining General Grant, at Petersburg, on March 27th. On March 5th Pickett's division was relieved by that of General Mahone, and marched to within two miles of Chester Station, near the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike, where it went into bivouac amidst a cold rain which continued for two days. On the 8th Pickett had a grand review of his division, after which and on the next day, the 9th, it marched to Man- chester, and on the following day, the 10th, through Richmond and halted in the outer line of works near the Brooke road; thence on the left along the line of works to the Nine Mile road, and the following day, the 12th, returned to the position near the Brooke road. On the 14th it marched to near Ashland, where it was halted in line of battle. On the 16th the 15th Virginia regiment of Corse's brigade had a sharp skirmish with Sheridan's cavalry at Ashland. Sheridan switching oflE towards the Pamunky, the division followed him to that river, built a bridge, but found it useless to attempt to follow the bold riders any farther, and from thence returned to the Nine Mile road. It marched on the 25th to Richmond and took the train for Dunlop's Station, where it rested until the evening of the 29th, when it was ordered to the right of General Lee's army. It marched to and crossed the Appomattox on a pontoon bridge five miles above Petersburg. Here the brigades of 312 New Rivee Settlements Stuart, Corse, and Terry took the cars for Sutherland's Sta- tion, on the Southside railroad, but there not being room on the train for all, the first and 7th Virginia regiments had to march, reaching that night Sutherland's Tavern, on Cox's road, in a drizzling rain. Before daybreak the next morning, the 30th, the march was resumed to Hatcher's Run and to the extreme right of the line near Five Forks, where the two last mentioned regiments, with some cavalry, were thrown forward to drive off some Federal cavalry, which they succeeded in do- ing, — Hunton's brigade was detached and serving with Bush- rod Johnson's division. At an early hour on the morning of the 31st the march was again taken up in the direction of Din- widdle Court House. Finding the Federals in heavy force at the crossing of Chamberlayne's Creek, engaged with Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry, Terry's brigade, led by the 3rd Virginia regiment, effected a crossing at an old mill dam, but with loss to the leading regiment, it having to wade the creek, which was waist deep, to dislodge the enemy posted on the opposite side. The division advanced rapidly in pursuit of the retreating enemy, who made several stands, and quite brisk fighting occurred. Within a mile of Dinwiddle Court House the enemy, with two cavalry divisions, made a bold stand, but were quickly driven with loss; the Confederate loss was small. General Terry suf- fered a severe injury by the fall of his horse, which was shot. The division occupied the field until 1 o'clock, A. M., of the 1st of April, and was then withdrawn and posted at Five Forks, where, with the brigades of Ransom and Wallace and the Con- federate cavalry, it was fiercely assailed about the middle of the afternoon by about 26,000 Federal infantry and cavalry. The Confederates did not number more than 7,000, yet manfully and bravely stood their ground until almost surrounded, and finally, about dark, was forced to yield the field with a loss of more than 3,000 of their number captured, with several pieces of artillery. No better fight was ever made under the circum- stances. In its close it was hand to hand. The day was lost simply because the Confederates had both flanks turned, were 1861-1865 313 in fact pushed off the field by weight of numbers. The repeated Federal assaults up to tlie last were repulsed with great loss to them. The Confederate loss in this battle is put down at between 3,000 and 4,000 prisoners, 13 colors and six guns ; and on the Federal side the loss of Warren's 5th infantry corps is put down at 634 in killed and wounded. The loss of General Grant's army from the 29th day of March to the 9th day of April, the date of Lee's surrender, is oflacially reported at 15,692, a number equal to about one-half the num- ber of men Lee had when he left Petersburg, and more than equal to the number that had guns in their hands on the day of the surrender. Company D of the 7th regiment lost in the Five Forks battle 6 men, viz : John K. Crawford, John S. Dudley, A. L. Sumner, and G. C. Mullens, captured, and William D. Peters and John A. Hale, severely wounded. No record is extant, as far as known, of the losses in the Giles and Mercer companies of the 24th Virginia regiment. An incident, however, occurring in the Giles company of the 24th regiment is worthy of note. Late in the afternoon, when Warren's Federal army corps had swung around the Confederate left and attacked Terry's brigade in the rear, three Federal soldiers attacked McCrosky of the Giles company, one of whom he killed, wounded another and escaped, with a wound in his face, from the third. The man he killed with the butt of his gun, braining him, breaking the gun off at the breach. Leaving the field the night of the battle, Pickett's division marched to Ford's depot on this Southside railroad, bivouacing, and joining, the next morning, the divisions of Heth and Wilcox, retreating from Petersburg. The division was now about 2200 strong, having lost more than half its num- bers in the battle of the day before. It continued its march, Hunton's brigade in the meantime having united with the divi- sion, on the 2nd of April, to Deep Creek, heavily pressed by the enemy's cavalry; especially was this true of the 4th and 5th, having occasionally to halt and form line of battle, and now 314 New Eivhr Settlements and then a square, to keep off the pursuers ; without food and living on corn shelled from the cob, which was eaten even with- out parching. In the early morning of the 6th the division reached Harper's farm, on Sailor's creek, where it encountered a heavy force of Federal cavalry with which it skirmished for several hours, and finally with a furious attack front, flanks and rear, and in a hand to hand contest, it was bodily picked up by the enemy, whose numbers were sufficient to have thrown down their guns and have captured every Confederate on the field and bound him hand and foot with ropes. A portion of the division escaped capture and got off the field with General Pickett and Brigadier General Stuart. Generals Corse, Hunton, and Terry were cap- tured, as was also Lieutenant General Ewell, Major General CuStis Lee, and perhaps others. The escaped portion of the division marched to Appomattox under the command of Gen- eral Pickett; Terry's brigade being commanded by Major W. W. Bentley, of the 2'lth regiment; that of Corse by Colonel Arthur Herbert ; that of Hunton by Major M. P. Spessard. On the 9th General Pickett surrendered 1031 officers and men. The men captured in the battle of Five Forks, as well also as those captured at Sailor's creek, were sent to prison at Point Look- out, Maryland, from whence they were discharged in the June and July following. Those surrendered at Appomattox were paroled and went home. Of McCausland's cavalry brigade there were surrendered at Appomattox 27 officers and men. Wharton's division, or what remained of it after the disaster at Waynesboro, with other troops in Southwestern Virginia, under the command of General Early, were, on learning of Gen- eral Lee's surrender at Appomattox, disbanded at Christians- burg, Virginia. General Early had been sick for some days previous to the surrender and was riding in an ambulance, and as said, when receiving reliable information of the surrender at Appomattox remarked, prefixing some expletives, "I wish Gabriel would now blow his horn." During the year of 1864, along the border of Western and 1861-1865 315 Southwestern Virginia, in Monroe, Mercer and other counties, many outrages were committed by bands of thieves and robbers who roamed over the country, regarding neither friend nor foe, but seeking their own gain and gratifying their own spleen against non-combatants. There lived on Flat Top mountain a staunch Southern man by the name of James Wiley, quietly at home and disturbing no one. He was attacked in his own house by one of the bands referred to, but succeeded in driving them off, being aided by his young son, Milton, and wounding one of the gang. A short time afterwards he and his son were again attacked by another one of these bands and killed. This occurred in the spring of 1862. On another occasion, in 1864, Mr. Albert B. Calfee, with his younger brother, John C. Cal- fee, and Mr. Elisha Heptinstall, were traveling from the resi- dence of Colonel William H. French, in Mercer County, to- ward the Court House, and were fired upon by a band of these marauders from ambush, and Heptinstall was killed and John C. Calfee mortally wounded. This occurred on the 8th day of August, 1864. About the same time a party of Confederate outlaws went to the house of Mr. Jacob Harper, in Raleigh County, and took him a prisoner, led him out into the woods and shot him. Harper was a plain, honest, upright, peaceable citizen and harmed no one. The war was now practically over and no malice existed be- tween those who did the actual fighting in the battle. The question of secession being one left open by the framers of the Federal Constitution, every man had a right to exercise his own opinion in regard thereto, and hence he had a right to fight on the one side or the other as to him might seem right and proper, provided he fought for his convictions. The Con- federate soldier fought for a principle as sacred to him as the one for which the Federal soldier battled. Again, this Con- federate soldier felt that he had discharged his duty and had nothing to ask forgiveness for and asked none. He had no apologies to offer or make; he had fought manfully the in- vaders of his soil, who came to kill and destroy. He did not 316 New River Settlements ask those who fought against him in the war to forget the strug- gle ; let them remember it if they might, but we would not for- get it if we could, and could not if we would. We intend to perpetuate the memories of the conflict, the battles won or lost we intend shall be remembered to latest generations. Will the world forget Marathon, Waterloo or Thermopylae? No more than it will forget Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chancelorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness or Spottsylvania. The contest was between Americans, and their deeds of heroism and valor are the common heritage of the American people. The story is told of the great and gifted preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, that in the early part of the year 1862 he visited England and was invited to make a speech. The crowd was exceedingly boister- ous and he was howled and hissed at so that he could not be heard, but finally a large brawny Englishman, with a broad, big mouth and stentorian voice, shouted: "You told us you would whip the Rebels in ninety days and you have not done it." The crowd becoming quiet for a moment, Mr. Beecher said : "If you will be quiet for a moment I will tell you why ; when we started out in the war and made the statement that we would whip them in ninety days, we thought we were fight- ing Englishmen, but we soon found out that we were fighting Americans." There will never be in the history of the world such soldiers as the Confederate — the Confederate Private. While it is true that the world has furnished few, if any, such men as Lee, Jackson, Johnston, Beauregard, Stuart, and many other Confederate Generals that might be mentioned; but it must not be forgotten that no Generals ever led forth such men to battle as the Confederate soldier. His like will never be seen again. Some one has written some lines in regard to the Confederate private, a few of which are here inserted : "From every home In the sweet Southland Went a soldier lad, at his heart's command, To fight in a cause both true and just. To conquer or to die, as a hero must. The hardships of war bravely bore, And proudly the shabby gray he wore, 1861-1865 317 T'was the only color on earth for him; Not hunger or thirst could his spirit dim. With every battle hope sprang up anew; He felt that the cause he loved was true, And surely the God who brave men led Would help and guide them, living or dead. Sometimes they won, then hope ran high; Again they lost, but it would not die. They were privates only, and theirs to obey; Nor theirs to command or lead the fray. But theirs to endure and follow and fight; To know that the cause they loved was right. And so to the end they followed and fought, With love and devotion which could not be bought." After the surrender at Appomattox arrangements were soon made by the Federal Government to release the Confederate prisoners in its hands, of whom there were many thousands. They began to return home during the months of June and July, and they were pitiable looking objects indeed. Peglegs, stub arms, sunken eyes, emaciated frames, teeth loose and falling out on account of scurvy, with health broken and hope almost gone; returning to the land of their nativity to find it prac- tically a waste place. Thousands of men on both sides of our great civil conflict perished in military prisons; charges, criminations and re- criminations of ill and inhuman treatment of prisoners by both sides were made. It may be here noted, that military prison life is horrible at any time and under any circumstances. A great body of men thrown and huddled together are not only difflcult to control and manage under the best system of dicipline that can be adopted, but such masses are always subject to disease in every form. The facts are too plain and manifest to admit of doubt, that the officials of the Federal Government were wholly to blame for all the ills and horrible results that befell these poor prisoners, their own as well as the Confederates, be- cause of, first, the obstacles they placed in the way of a fair exchange, and in the next place by their absolute refusal to exchange at all. That there were isolated cases of bad treat- ment of Federal prisoners by Confederate prison keepers is 318 New Rivee Settlements doubtless true, but if so, they were few in number and excep- tional cases, while on the other hand the keepers of Federal prisons were cruel and brutal in their treatment of Confeder- ate prisoners, and this with full knowledge on the part of the Federal authorities. The North was full-handed with provi- sions and medicines, while the South was impoverished. For those whom the fortunes of war had placed in their hands, the South did the very best it could, giving to them the same ra- tions that the soldiers in the field received ; while the Federal authorities in the midst of abundance willfully inflicted wanton deprivation on the Confederate prisoners. An examin- ation of the reports of the Federal Secretary of War made in 1866, shows tliat 22,576 Federal prisoners died in Southern prisons, and that 22,246 Confederate prisoners died in Northern prisons. The report of the Surgeon General of the United States shows that in round numbers, the Confederate pris- oners in the hands of the Federal authorities numbered 220,- 000, out of which 26,246 died. That out of 270,000 Federal prisoners held by the South, 22,576 died ; more than 12 per cent, of the Confederate prisoners, and less than 9 per cent, of Fed- eral prisoners died. The urgency of the Northern people at home, as well as many prominent Federal ofScers favoring ex- change of prisoners, drew from General Grant a letter to Gen- eral Butler, dated August 18th, 1864, in which he says: "It is hard on our men held in the Southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. Every man released on parole, or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us at once, either directly or indirect- ly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated. If we hold those caught,, they amount to no more than dead men. At this particular time to release all Rebel prisoners in the North would insure Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here." Among the men of Mercer County who perished in Northern prisons were Robert H. Brian, A. I. Golden, J. H. Godby, H. 1866-1905 319 F. Hatcher, William Keaton, W. J. Keaton and John W. Nel- son. These men died in Camp Chase, Ohio, during the latter part of the war. -o- CHAPTER Till. 1866-1905. Reconstruction in Mercer County, W. Va. — Constitutional Amendment Disfranchising Confederates. — Registration Law. — County Seat Agitation. — The "Committee of Safe- ty." — The Creation of Summers County. — The Restoration of the Elective Franchise. — Industrial Development. — The Flat Top Coal Field. — Railroad Construction. — The City of Bluefleld. The Confederate soldier, with the close of the war, returned to his country, where he had once had a place he called home, but now — at least in many instances — ^he found nothing but blackened ruins and utter waste places. As he had been brave and magnanimous in war, and had in good faith laid down his arms, he returned to engage not in war, but in peaceful pur- suits, build up and start anew and become a useful citizen of the young Commonwealth. He had no money or property, save perhaps a small piece of land, if he had been fortunate enough to own such before the war. In many instances, an arm or leg had been lost in battle, or his health greatly shattered. He was not the man he was when he entered tlie army ; and many of his nearest — dearest friends, relatives — had perished in the strife. His only trust was in God and his own good right arm, if he was fortunate to have that limb left. On all sides were gloom and despair, to a less braver heart and manlier spirit. He sought no quarrel with anyone, only asked to be free, not disturbed, and he would try and work his way through the remainder of his days as best he might. He neither wanted nor sought revenge for wrongs, real or imaginary. That for which 320 New River Settlements for four years he had struggled and suffered had not been ac- complished, and the effort to establish it had failed. Nothing was left him but to live for the future, in the consciousness of having faithfully discharged his duty in the past, and with a fixed determination to do this in the future. The Governor of his state (2), in a letter to the Federal Secretary of War, op- posed his return to his country, and a few in his midst desired to rob him of his rights as a citizen of the new Commonwealth. In time of profound peace, unarmed, perhaps with but one leg or one arm, broken in health and in purse he was as much feared as when he carried his musket with forty rounds of cartridges, marching beneath the "Stars and Bars." If he was found with an old, poor, crippled mule or horse, that General Grant had given him at Appomattox, trying to plow and make bread for his starving wife and children, he was robbed of this upon the plea that it was Government property, either Federal or Rebel. It was dig or die and his enemies preferred him to take the latter course. It is true that at that time he was a citizen of the state with all his rights as such guaranteed to him by the Constitution of the new Commonwealth, with no law in force that in any way deprived him of the privilege of full citizenship ; but the devil is always ready to aid the ingenuity of bad men to accomplish bad things, and hence the only way, in a measure, at least, to get rid of the ex-Confederate soldier, was to decitizenize him, and thereby either drive him from the state, or place him in a condition of political vassalage or serfdom. The political ma- chinery was put to work to accomplish the purpose in view by decitizenizing all ex-Confederates, as well also as all who had aided or sympathized with them. This could not be done under the then existing organic law of the state, and a change in this law was necessary to the accomplishment of the object in view; but be it said to the credit of the better class of the then domi- nant party, they took no part in this crime against liberty, and did not seek to fix manacles on the poor Confederate — it was (2). Boreman to Staunton Series II. Vol. VIII. Reb. Record p. 533 1866-1905 321 the other set, generally of the vile and vindictive; when "Prometheus was chained to the rock it was not the proud Eagle, but the miserable Vulture that came down and tore out his vitals." In all great revolutions, like in all the great floods of waters, it is the fllth and foul things that rise to the surface and float, while the gold lies at the bottom. It was late in the fall of 1865 before there was anything like the full restoration of Civil Government in Mercer County. All things in Government were new or novel to the people. They had always known, and their ancestors before them had known for more than a century, nothing but the old Virginia County Court system, with one or more magistrates in each magisterial district in the county, clothed with jurisdiction to try warrants for small claims, and to sit as a Court and administer county affairs. The Circuit Court trying all criminal and civil cases, as well as chancery causes. Now they found magisterial dis- tricts no longer in existence ; townships created in their stead, with a justice of the peace in each township, and he regarded the biggest man therein, although in some instances he could not write his name and perhaps did not know the way to the mill, with jurisdiction to try cases involving an hundred dol- lars, with the right to empannel a jury of six men. In lieu of the old County Court, a Board of Supervisors to administer county affairs, and this board, in part, at least, was composed of men who not only could not write their names, but whose honesty was not above par; however, this was only true for a short while, when better men were selected for this position, such as L. D. Martin, Silas T. Reynolds, William C. Honaker, and others. Judge Nathaniel Harrison, of Monroe County, having been made Circuit Judge very soon after the close of hostilities, appointed Benjamine White, Sheriff, and George Evans, Clerk and Eecorder of Mercer County. White had been a violent Secessionist at the commencement of the war, but had changed his views somewhat about the close thereof ; while Mr. Evans, being a Northern man by birth, was doubtless a Union man 322 New Riveh Settlements from the beginning. Judge Harrison (1) had been a Con- federate, and as late as 1862 had applied for appointment on the staff of Brigadier General Chapman. Thus it will be seen that men who started out on the Southern side, found out their mistake, as they claimed, in the latter part of the war or just about the close, were honored. They started out in the boat and as long as there was fair breeze and it floated well, they were willing to stay, but when adverse winds blew and it was threatened with wreck and disaster, they jumped out, pulled for the shore and left their friends to perish if they must. This was true of more than one man in Mercer County, even extending to those who had volunteered in the army and taken an oath to support the Confederate Government ; yet, disregard- ing their oaths, deserted and went over to the enemy, and this is not all, came back among their neighbors and friends and en- gaged in pillage in its worst form. These deserters were with- out honor among their own people and distrusted and despised by those to whom they deserted. In the fall of 1865 Judge Harrison rode into the town of Princeton ; that is, where it once stood, sat on his horse, no one inviting him to stop or alight ; he rode seven and one-half miles east to Concord Church on the Bed Sulphur turnpike road where he opened and held his court. The ex-Confederates who had been elected at the election that fall were arbitrarily re- fused permission to qualify, and others who claimed to have adhered to the Union were installed in their stead. The Legislature met at Wheeling in January, 1866, and in a contest Colonel William H. French, who had been elected to that body was unseated by Colonel Thomas Little, who had not been elected. By a joint resolution of the two Houses, an amendment to the Constitution was proposed, by which, if adopted, all ex-Confederates and their sympathizers would be decitizenized. At the session which provided for the submis- sion of the amendment to the Constitution, which had been pro- (1). Articles of Impeachment were exhibited against him In the Legislature and he was forced to resign the Judgship. 1866-1905 323 posed in the session of 1865, an Act was passed declaring that no one should be allowed to vote at the next succeeding elec- tion, except those who would take a prescribed oath known as the "Test Oath." The amendment referred to is in the follow- ing words and figures : "No person who since the 1st day of June, 1861, has given or shall give voluntary aid or assistance to the rebellion against the United States, shall be a citizen of this state, or be allowed to vote at any election held therein, unless he has volunteered in the military or naval service of the United States and has been or shall be honorably discharged therefrom." This was the first instance in the history of a free government, where the Legislature plainly and intentionally subverted the Constitution of a free state, and openly and de- liberately violated their oaths and the plain provisio_n of the Constitution, which provided that "The white male citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the election districts in which they respectively reside." The elec- tion at which this amendment to the Constitution was to be voted upon by the people, was held on the 24th day of May, 1866, and was ratified by a vote of 22,224 for, to 15,302 against the same. Only 75 votes were cast in the County of Mercer, of which 61 were for ratification and 14 for rejection, yet the vot- ing population at that time in Mercer County under the Consti- tution as it then existed, was not less than 1,000. Among those voting against this iniquity in Mercer will be found the names of Colonel Thomas Little, David Lilley, Sylvester Upton, and Russell G. French, the latter classed an ex-Federal soldier. Truly loyal officers were now elected to the various ofiBces, and finding so few regarded as qualified to discharge the duties of the same, it was found necessary to give two or three offices to one man ; in fact in one or more instances it was stated that one or more men held at least five offices each at the same time. The Legislature of West Virginia not only disfranchised men and kept them from voting, but passed numerous laws prevent- ing attorneys from practicing their profession, people from teaching school, men from sitting on juries, or from prosecut- 324 New River Settlements ing suits, unless they would take the "Test Oath." These laws against attorneys who had been engaged as soldiers in the Confederate army, or had sympathized with those engaged in armed hostility against the Government of the United States, brought to the Courts of the state, especially in the Southern border counties, swarms of ill pests, Northern carpet-bag lawyers, who without practice where they came from, and per- haps having left their country for their country's good, came to feast and to fatten on the miseries and sufferings of the poor, downtrodden, disfranchised, tax ridden Confederate peo- ple. The voice of the lawyer of the community, to whom the people looked for aid and were willing to trust their lives, property and honor in his hands, was, with few exceptions, re- fused a hearing in the court room. There were a few attorneys residents, or who became residents, who were Union men, fair- minded and just, among them Henry Jj. Gillispie, James H. McGinnis, Frank Hereford, J. Speed Thompson, Edwin Sehon, and Colonel James W. Davis ; the latter gentlemen had been a Colonel in the Confederate army, but had succeeded in persuad- ing the Legislature that he was a truly repentant rebel, sorry for his sins, and succeeded in getting that body, by special Act, to forgive his waywardness and restore to him the privilege of practicing his profession without taking the attorneys' "Test Oath." Shortly after Colonel Davis had been permitted to enter again upon the practice of the law, he was employed in a case in the Circuit Court of Mercer County, involving the title to a horse, which had been taken or stolen from Colonel John S. Carr during the war. On the other side of the case was the witty Irish lawyer, J. H. McGinnis, of Raleigh. In course of the argu- ment of Colonel Davis before the jury he took occasion to say how good and magnanimous the Legislature had been to him, by again conferring on him the privilege to earn a living for his family by the practice of his profession; he followed this by a bit of his war experience in the battle of Chapmansville, de- scribing the wounds he received by which he lost a finger, and 1866-1905 325 received a shot in the shoulder and back. The resourceful Mc- Ginnis, while listening to the Colonel's speech, had composed some verses which in his reply, and in his inimitable way, he repeated, much to the discomfiture of the Colonel, but to the joy of the bystanders; only one of which verses is recollected, and ran as follows : "On the battlefield I long did linger Where guns and cannons they did crack, Until by a cruel shot, I lost this finger, And got this hole in my back." In order to effectuate the purpose of the framers of the Con- stitutional amendment and disfranchisement law already ad- verted to, the Legislature enacted what was known as a Reg- istration law, providing for a registration of the voters and creating a Board of Registration composed of three members to be appointed by the Governor, and to hold their oflSce at his will and pleasure. This proved a powerful weapon in the hands of the party then in power, who evidently intended thereby to perpetuate themselves therein. It was almost the equal of the proposed "Force Bill" introduced into Congress a few years ago, if it had been wielded by wise and conserva- tive heads, and would have kept the then dominant political party long in power in the state; but like all other engines of oppression, originated and constructed in Republics for the destruction of the liberty of the Anglo-Saxon, they became a boomerang in the hands of ttiose who wielded them, finally effecting their own destruction. It is said, "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad." This was certainly true of the dominant party in West Virginia at that time, and espe- cially in Mercer County. Their apparent inordinate desire to punish those who differed with them about the great civil con- flict, and the quest of individuals for place and power, led them to extremes in the Legislature, and the enforcement of pro- Bcriptive laws. They very soon began to quarrel among them- selves, and the scramble for the public pap, and the crumbs which fell from the master's table engendered, as it always 326 New Bivbe Settlements does, bad blood. Very soon the better and more conservative part of the dominant party became disgusted and disposed to fall in with their neighbors — ex-Confederates — insisting upon according to them some rights, besides the payment of taxes and right to die. As already stated in this work, the County site had in the year of 1837 been fixed at a place called Princeton, but so soon as the Judge of the Circuit Court opened and held a term of court at Concord Church, some of the people in that and other sections of the county began the agitation of a removal of the County site from Princeton to Concord Church. Steps were very soon taken to have the Board of Supervisors order an election removing the seat of Justice from Princeton to Con- cord Church; and an election was held, but Concord Church failing to receive the requisite three-fifths vote, the removal- ists failed in their scheme. Very soon another election was held which also failed, but the Board was induced to declare the result in favor of removal. Colonel Thomas Little, the Delegate from the County to the TjCgislature at its session of 1867, procured the passage of an Act locating permanently the County site at Princeton, but at the session of 1868 George Evans, the Representative from Mercer County, procured the repeal of the Act of 1867; and so the fight continued both before the people and in the Courts. Injunctions were obtained first by one and then by the other party until the question was finally settled as will be herein- after stated. The litigation over the County Court House question ended with the disposition of the Bill, prepared by one Martin H. Holt, an attorney of Raleigh County, which was known as the celebrated "Bill of Peace," in which appeared the names of the Board of Supervisors of the County, a corpora- tion, plaintiff against a large part of the people of the county, who favored Princeton as the seat of Justice, as defendants. In this Bill was set forth the various steps, acts, doings and proceedings from which it was contended that the County site 1866-1905 32T had been removed from Princeton and located at Concord Church, and also setting forth the Acts of the Legislature touching the same as hereinbefore referred to; and alleging and charging in effect that all of the people of the county who were opposed to Concord Church as the lawful and proper loca- tion for the seat of Justice, were a lawless band and disturbers of the quietude of the people and of the public peace, and pray- ing an injunction inhibiting and restraining them from fur- ther action looking to the opening of the question. An injunc- tion was granted, but about as quickly dissolved, and as before stated, this was the end of all litigation concerning this trouble- some matter. In January, 1870, a few of the citizens of the little village of Princeton assembled and constituted themselves a Commit- tee of Safety, for the purpose of devising a plan by which the much vexed County site question might be finally settled. After a careful review and consideration of the situation in all its aspects, local, political, and otherwise, it was concluded that the first and best step to take was to have the Legislature of the State, then in session at Wheeling, pass a special Act sub- mitting to the people the question of the location of the seat of justice, to be settled by a majority vote. In order to get such a law passed, it was deemed necessary to send to the seat of government a man who was recognized as belonging to and a leader of the dominant party then in control of the Legisla- ture. The man was found in the person of Mr. Benjamine White, who had been and was still the Sheriff of the county. White was a man of influence and weight in the county with his party, and was fairly well known in the southern part of the state, and a man of fair address, and when aroused was a bold and plausible talker, and could make himself felt in any enter- prise or cause he chose to espouse. He was going on public business, but in the interest of Princeton; which neither he nor those in the secret let the public know. Once in Wheeling and the matter being put under way, on account of the irregu- larity and uncertainty of mails and the long time that it took 328 New Eivbe Settlements letters and papers to reach our section in mid-winter, it was felt that no intelligence of what was going on at the capitol was likely to reach Mercer County until the mission of the mes- senger had been accomplished and the Legislature adjourned; which would then be too late for any organized opposition to Mr. White's bill, should anyone wish to oppose so fair a mode of settlement of our local trouble. As before stated, Mr. White was going on public business, and it was not to be expected that he would be compelled to pay his personal expenses, there- fore a few persons raised and placed in his hands $100.00 to meet these expenses. There were no railroads in this immedi- ate section in that day and no public conveyances of any kind, so Mr. White, in the dead of winter, mounted his horse and pushed out over the mountains to the Kanawha, where he took passage on a steamboat to Wheeling by way of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. On his arrival at the capitol and meeting several of his acquaintances and political friends, and laying the matter in hand before them, he soon had his bill introduced, passed and was on his way home before the people of Mercer County knew what had transpired. The Committee of Safety was composed of Captain John A. Douglass, Mr. H. W. Straley, Major C. D. Straley, Mr. Joseph H. Alvis, Mr. William Oliver and this writer. To insure success perfect secrecy was neces- sary, and the Committee of Safety made and took a solemn pledge that nothing which was said or done touching this mat- ter should be divulged by them to anyone; and none were ad- mitted to their counsels, except those who gave the pledge to each other to keep within their own breasts whatever happened or was resolved upon. It soon became known where we held our meetings, at one of which, a slight disagreement or mis- understanding with our friend Mr. White took place, and he withdrew and we were afterwards termed by him the "Town Clique." We were not offended at this, however, as it is well known that all towns are said to have their "Cliques." At our first meeting after Mr. White's return from Wheeling, held at our place of general rendezvous, there was a very seri- 1866-1905 329 ous difference of opinion between members of the Committee. Mr. White was for calling the Board of Supervisors of the county together at once and having it order a special election on the question of the location of the seat of justice ; the other members of the Committee opposed it, and the vote of the majority was the law which governed its actions. Now it might be well to give some of the open reasons which were expressed for not being willing to hold the election under the new law and before the general election, which was to take place in the following October. First, the special law did not authorize a special registration of voters ; secondly, we had a board of registration and by law it could only revise the regis- tration lists at certain stated periods before each regular elec- tion; third, if we held the special election under this special law with a new registration, and succeeded, the question might again get into court, where it had already been for nearly five years, and in the end we might be defeated ; fourth, there was no reason for haste, as the election could be held before an- other Legislature would assemble and have opportunity to re- peal the Act. These, as have been stated, were the open rea- sons ; but beyond these was one which we dare not disclose to any but the truest — the trusted and the tried. Fully seventy-five per cent, of our people were proscribed and disfranchised by the provisions of our Constitution, and obnox- ious laws upon our statute books ; and civil and political liberty to our people were worth more than Court Houses, especially as Court Houses were not free to the proscribed; for to that class there were but four things free, viz: Air, water, pay- ment of taxes and death ; therefore the passage of the special Act, ostensibly to settle the Court House controversy, meant to those in the secret much more than appeared on the surface; it meant the breaking of the bonds of political slavery and de- citizenship, under which our people, probably twenty-five thou- sand or more in the state, had suffered and groaned for nearly five years. It also meant the again clothing of that part of our people who had been disfranchised, with' the right of citizen- 330 New Rivbe Sbttlbmbnts ship and of freemen, and restoring to them that liberty which had been torn and wrenched from them by a set of political pirates, most of whom were moved only by the spirit of revenge, but others by more sordid motives. By this proscriptive legis- lation honest men and women could not by law collect their honest debts, if the debtor had been truly loyal to the Union during the late unhappy strife. Professional men could not practice their profession for a livelihood ; and no man who had engaged in the war on the Confederate side, or had sympa- thized and given aid and comfort to the Confederates, could sit upon a jury or hold oflBce; nor could the poor young woman, the daughter of a Confederate soldier, teach school without subscribing to the "Test Oath." While these laws were pretty rigidly enforced for a period of nearly five years, the time was rapidly approaching when they would become a thing of the past. As has already been stated, the law provided for the appointfiaent by the Governor of a Board of Registration, con- sisting of three members, removable at his pleasure. This board possessed powers somewhat akin to that exercised by the Spanish Inquisition; they had power to send for persons and papers — a right to say who should vote and who should not — by a mere stroke of the pen (that is, such of them as could write), either to place a man's name on the list or strike it off at their pleasure, and in this they were protected by law, being exempt from civil suits or criminal prosecution for any derelic- tion or violation of law connected with the registration of voters, or any other outrages they chose to perpetrate touching the qualification of electors or the right to vote. The men composing the County Board of Registration of Mercer County for a good part of the period referred to, were in most part honest men and desired to do right as far as the law allowed them. It was not so much the fault of the men who composed the Board in the latter days of the life of the law, as it was the law and the District registrars, who were not always the cleanest birds that could be found, for it was an open secret that any man who would promise to vote the 1866-1905 331 Bepublican ticket, or for any particular candidate, perhaps for the registrar himself, could have his name enrolled as a voter without taking the oath prescribed by law for all voters, or to procure the registration of a voter by deceiving the registrar that the party registered would vote for him, when it was understood he was to vote for another. In this connection it may be mentioned that the court records of the county had been kept at Concord Church until the fall of 1869, when at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Mr. Benjamine White, who was then sheriff and lived at Princeton, made a motion before the Board to remove the records to Princeton for safe keeping, alleging that a threat had been made to destroy them, and in support of his charges produced the affidavits of one or more persons tending to show the truth of his charges. Mr. White's strong and boisterous speech and serious charges alarmed two of the members of the Board of Supervisors, and they actually gathered their hats and left the place, leaving three members only of the Board present, who voted for the motion and the records were immediately removed by wagons procured by Mr. White. The feverish excitement aroused over this removal of the records engendered bad blood, and nearly approached open collision. The fact, though not apparent to the public, was that the people in the interest of Princeton had made a bargain with Mr. George Evans, who, for a certain consideration, would aid in removing the records and abandon his fight for Concord Church as the County site, and espouse the cause of the people in the interest of Princeton ; how well this bargain was carried out and the manner of it« carrying out, will be fully hereinafter stated. As hereinbefore stated, the County Board of Eegistration exercised the right of revision of the list of voters, and the right to strike off the name of any person they chose, and thus de- prive him of the right to vote at the succeeding election; and woe to the man that was suspected of disloyalty, not to his country, but to the Eepublican party, for when the County Board met and it suspected, or some one reported, that a given 332 New Rivee Settlements man was not loyal in the sense above stated, a summons was issued requiring the suspect to appear and prove his loyalty; no charges preferred, none proved, but the party summoned must come prepared to prove his innocence — that is, that he was truly loyal to the Republican party and had always voted and still intended to vote with that party — but if he did not show up right on this he was adjudged not a legal or qualified voter. Very few instances of this kind occurred in Mercer County, but one such at least occurred in an adjoining county, in which a gentleman of the legal profession, being under sus- picion of disloyalty, was summoned before the County Board of Registration to show and prove that he was true to the grand old party ; appearing before the Board, inquiring what it want- ed, and being told he must prove his loyalty, he thereupon be- came very indignant, using some very rash, opprobrious epi- thets toward the Board and some of its members for their base- ness, meanness and ignorance. When he had finished his speech, one of the members of the Board raised his spectacles upon his brow and lifting his eyes said : "Well, sir, I am like the apostle of old, I thank God I am what I am," to which the legal gentle- man retorted: "Yes, and you are thankful for d — d small favors." This registration scheme was wholly political and one against liberty ; a plot to disfranchise honest, law-abiding people and to perpetuate the dominant party in power in the state, and well it succeeded for five years, but they pressed their advan- tage too far and the conservative element in their party finally revolted, and the plan that had been devised to ostracise their neighbors became a useful weapon in the hands of liberty- loving freemen for the political overthrow and destruction of the inventors, and resulted in hurling from power the party which had, as it supposed, firmly intrenched itself behind its registration disfranchising scheme, which it had theretofore regarded as impregnable. This registration law, together with the manner of its execution, became so oflfensive to the good people of the state and smelled so badly, that it was said that 1866-1905 333 "The man in the moon was compelled to hold his nose when he passed over" ; and by the close of the fourth and fifth years of its life, no one scarcely dared to do it reverence, or to publicly attempt to justify it. It was doomed and must go, and it was only a question of a short time when it would go ; the law itself was bad enough, but its abuses were ten fold worse. Quite a digression has been made from the consideration of the special law passed to settle the County site question, to let in the explanation of the operation and effect of this registra- tion law; for this very law played an important part, not only in the settlement of the local question, but influenced greatly the political results in the county and state at the general elec- tion held in October, 1870. The Committee of Safety on the part of the Princeton people could no longer have Mr. White in its counsels, and was com- pelled to go its way alone without the aid of this gentleman and his friendly advice. It was finally determined not to have a special election under the special statute until the new regis- tration could take place in the September following, but the plan was to get control of the Registration Board, not only to have such board friendly, but also favorable to a fair non- partisan registration, and this was a question of grave consider- ation, for the appointing power of this board was the Governor and he was an extreme, staunch Eepublican, who could be de- pended upon to appoint men that he at least believed would do what his party wanted done. This Committee could have no influence with the Governor, and therefore began to cast about as to how they might get control of this registration board, without raising a suspicion that it was engaged in some political intrigue against the Republican party. Mr. George Evans was a Eepublican of the Republicans, and no man could question his fealty to his party or his zeal for its success; he was a warm personal friend and admirer of the then Governor Stevenson, who was a candidate that spring for re-nomination and for re-election that fall, and as the Republican convention 334 New Eiver Settlements was to be held in the city of Parkersburg, it was not thought likely that any delegate except Mr. Evans would go to the con- vention and that he would not probably go without it was urged upon him and his expenses paid. The Circuit Court for the county was to be held at Concord Church in May, which was a short time prior to the meeting of the Republican convention at Parkersburg. The Safety Committee, supposing that the Republicans of the county would hold their convention at the Circuit Court in May and appoint their delegates to their state convention, a plan was hit upon to make known to Mr. Evans that it would be a good thing for the interest of Princeton, he having in the meantime changed his base from the support of Concord Church to that of Princeton, for him to keep in favor with the Governor, and to do this it would be well for him to go as the only delegate from the county of Mercer, and that if he would undertake to manage to hold his county convention during the court and have himself appointed a delegate, and to be sure to appoint men other than himself, none of whom would go, that the com- mittee would undertake to furnish the money to pay his ex- penses. The bargain was struck, the court came on, the Repub- licans held their meeting and Mr. Evans, among others, was appointed a delegate to the convention. The committee started out to raise the money, and among the men they came across and asked to contribute five dollars was Honorable Frank Here- ford, Democratic nominee for Congress; who inquired what was wanted with the money, and the answer came, "Never mind about that ; you will be informed this fall, after the elec- tion." Mr. Evans went to the convention ; Governor Stevenson was re-nominated, but his election was another question. For a number of years the people living in the lower district of Mercer County, on and along the New River, and the people of Greenbrier and Monroe Counties occupying the territory ad- jacent to the New River, near the mouth of Greenbrier, favored the formation of a new county, and the Committee of Safety conceived the idea that this was the favored time to encourage 1866-1905 335 the people to ask the Legislature to create the new county and to vote for a candidate who would be in favor of the project and would push it through the Legislature; and while this committee advised the people to secure the right man, it wanted to see and know that the man was right, not only on the new county question, and therefore on the County site question, but that he would pledge himself to use his best endeavors to secure the repeal of all proscriptive and obnoxious laws. Arrange- ments for a secret meeting were made between the representa- tives of Princeton and those in favor of the new county, and it was agreed that Sylvester Upton, a staunch Union man, a conservative Republican, but in every sense an honorable and upright gentleman, should be supported by the combination for the House of Delegates, and he was accordingly named as the candidate. Against Mr. Upton, the Concord Church people nominated or placed in the field Mr. Keaton. In this same com- bine Mr. George Evans was to be supported for Clerk and Recorder, David Lilley for Sheriff, L. M. Stinson for County Surveyor, and J. Speed Thompson for Prosecuting Attorney. The support for Mr. George Evans for Clerk and Recorder was the consummation of the arrangement entered into at the time he abandoned the interest of Concord Church and agreed to stand for Princeton; and this was to be in full settlement and discharge of any obligation to him by reason of the previ- ous arrangement for his abandonment of the interest of those favoring Concord Church. Before all the plans could be fully carried out some arrangement had to be made to control the Board of Registration; and in some way, if possible, non- partisan men, or at least the majority of such must be secured on this board, or there would not be the ghost of a chance for success. The board at this time consisted of L. M. Thomas, Silas T. Reynolds and Mr. Cox. Mr. Reynolds was a high- toned gentleman and liberal in his views, and while he would faithfully execute the law, he would not pervert it; the two others were narrow-minded partisans, and whose chief aim was party success. 336 New River Settlements The war had now been over for five years and many young men had attained, their majority, and they were almost uni- versally against the party in power. It v,^as hoped that by the aid of these voters and that of the liberal, conservative element of the Republican party, and with a non-partisan board of registration, to be able to overthrow and defeat the radical wing of that party; not only carry the county ticket, composed in part of liberal Republicans, but to also carry the Court House question for Princeton, and the measure in favor of the new county. But this dreaded Registration Board, like "Banquo's Ghost," would not down ; it was concluded, however, that down it must go, at all hazards. The committee knowing that its friends, Mr. Evans and L. M. Thomas, President of the Board, were close friends politically and otherwise, it was therefore thought possible for the sake of the local question that Mr. Evans could control Thomas, but he tried and failed, and the committee was again perplexed. While brooding over 4b.is apparent ill-luck, with nothing but what seemed a dark and dismal future, a little incident happened which opened the way of escape from the apparent difQculties. Mr. Thomas came to Princeton, and as he was quite fond of his drink and Mr. Joe Alvis had a little good liquor to give a man for his first drink, after which he always said he would then give him the bad and he could not tell the difference — furnished Thomas what he required along that line, after which he became exceedingly liberal, and took a tilt at what he de- nominated the "Cussed Registration Law," saying there was no reason to have such laws, and that the time had come for every body to register and vote. It is very doubtful whether Thomas meant what he said, for it was believed that he meant just the reverse, and that his talk was only a ruse to deceive the people as to his real intentions, and to cover up some dark thing that he had in view to aid the Republican party. Thomas had by this declaration in favor of liberalism furnished all the cause necessary for his removal as a member of the Board, for it was only necessary for a whisper of this declaration to reach the 1866-1905 337 ears of the Governor's best friend to accomplish his removal. No sooner had he uttered the declaration, than the Committee of Safety had a man getting up aflBdavits embracing Thomas' statements ; these were furnished to Mr. Evans, to whom it was made known that if Thomas carried out his declaration it would destroy the Republican party in Mercer County; and as no one wished to see Mr. Thomas disgraced by being removed from oflQce, it was deemed wise that Mr. Evans should pay a visit to Mr. Thomas, and show him the aflSdavits and ask him to place his resignation in his hands to be sent to the Governor. Mr. Evans made the visit and returned with the resignation of Mr. Thomas. This was in the last days of July, or in the first days of August and time was becoming most precious, as the commit- tee had determined to ask the Board of Supervisors to order a special election under the special Act, upon the question of the location of the County site and had planned to have this election take place within a period of less than ten days next preceding the day on which the state election would be held; the object of this being to prevent the Board of Eegistration from striking off the names of voters, who had been registered to vote on the local question, and thus allow them to vote at the state election; the law forbidding the striking off of the names from the registration books within ten days of any general election. The Committee being satisfied that there was a better showing for a fairer and fuller registration than could be had on state election, and it requiring thirty days' notice under the special Act before the people could vote on the local question, it was determined that this thirty days should expire within less than ten days of the state election, and thereby the people would have the benefit of the full registration in the state election. As soon as Thomas' resignation was made known to the com- mittee, the question as to who should be his successor arose. Various names were suggested, and finally that of Mr. Andrew J. Davis, and he was found agreeable to Mr. Evans, because he 338 New Rivbe Sbttlbmbnt3 had always been classed as a Republican, had held ofiBce as such, and no one belonging to that party doubted his being a Republican, although in fact he was a staunch Democrat. To carry out this plan and have Mr. Davis appointed was also a matter of delicacy and required secrecy; for the mails could not be trusted, none of the committee dare afford to go before the Governor on such a matter, it was therefore finally con- cluded that Mr. Evans was the only man that could or should be trusted with such an important mission. A sufficient fund was quietly raised, and Mr. Evans set off for the capitol, and succeeded in having Mr. Davis appointed as President of the Board of Registration. The secret of the appointment of Mr. Davis was so well kept by the committee, Mr. Evans, and the people at the Governor's office, that every one was surprised when Mr. Davis at the next meeting of the Board took his seat as a member thereof. Mr. Davis and Mr. Reynolds, a majority of this board, were known as friends of the Princeton interest in the local fight. The board appointed its District Registrars composed of liberal men ; and the Board of Supervisors met and ordered the election on the Court House question, and the fight opened with spirit and energy all along the line. So far, the plans of the committee had worked well and were successful, but in their zeal to succeed they came near commit- ting a serious bunder, which if they had, would have defeated the settlement of the vexed question. The District Registrars seemed to forget that they had any other duty than to get out, hunt up, and register all the male citizens of the county over the age of twenty-one years. This proceeding at once became known, and so loud was it noised abroad that it was heard in the gubernatorial office at Charleston, and gave alarm and great concern to the Governor and his friends. About the time the District Registrars had completed their list of voters, the September term of the Circuit Court of Mercer County be- gan its session at Concord Church; the Honorable Joseph M. McWhorter, of the Greenbrier Circuit, presiding. There was a great throng of people at the court to hear Honorable Frank 1866-1905 339 Hereford, Democratic nominee for Congress, make a speech. There happened to be also present on the occasion Major Cyrus Newlin, a Eepublican lawyer from Union, who also addressed the people on the political issues of the day. Newlin was a carpet-bagger of the lower sort and extremely partisan, and his abuse of the Democratic party, particularly of the Southern people, aroused such intense feeling and indignation towards him that it became necessary for his friends to take care of him, in order to prevent personal violence. The fact is, a crowd gathered that night with a rope, prepared to hang him, and but for the wise counsel of Colonel William H. French and others, who interposed, it would have been accomplished. On the Court day on which this public speaking took place, it was discovered by the people in the interest of Concord Church, as well as the Republicans, that the registration had been indis- criminate, and that in returning the books to the County Board, the one containing the names of persons registered in Plymouth District, the district in which Concord Church is situate, had been misplaced, and it was suspected by the Concord people that there was some trickery about it ; and they became aroused to such a pitch of feeling and excitement as to forget every- thing else except the local question, which not only absorbed their whole attention and interest, but some of them were willing to sacrifice their political interests and put in jeopardy the chances of shaking off their civil and political shackles; and therefore, in order to wreak vengeance on those opposing them on the local question, they imparted to Major Newlin what they supposed to be the plan for registering every person, with the view to the overthrow of the Republican party. No sooner had Major Newlin caught on to the supposed scheme than he wrote a letter to the Governor, containing the startling news, that eleven hundred rebels had been registered in Mercer County, all of whom would vote the Democratic ticket ; and strange, yet true, it seems that this letter received the approval and endorsement of Judge McWhorter. When this letter reached Charleston it, of course, very naturally, 340 New River Settlements aroused the fears of the Governor and his Republican friends for the safety of the party ; and in order to ascertain more fully the situation the Governor dispatched one A. F. Gibbons, armed with blank commissions to be filled if he, Gibbons, thought proper to do so, with the names of a new Board of Registra- tion. This letter had gone and was in the hands of the Gov- ernor before the committee discovered that the same had been written, and by this time it was too late to counteract the effect thereof at the capitol ; in fact, Mr. Gibbons had arrived in the county before anyone was aware that he had been sent, or what steps the Governor proposed to take. The committee was con- fronted by a new, formidable and serious danger; hitherto it had been equal to every emergency as it had arisen, but the question now was, would it be equal to this? Up to this time every movement of the committee's adversaries had been met and thwarted ; being always on the alert, and through informa- tion derived from its spies it was kept well advised, and before the blow was struck a counter one was given, and the arm of the adversary fell palsied at his side. The reader must not suppose that these things were idle dreams — they were stern realities — actual occurrences; and no question more certainly and effectually divided our people than did this local question. The war between the states had not more thoroughly estranged the people of the North and South, than this question had the people of the two sections of our county. Military lines were never better connected and more securely guarded and watched with greater vigilance, than were the lines between these contending factions; and both money and brains were at work on both sides, and the struggle throughout resembled that of two great armies on the battle- field maneuvering for positions and preparing to join in deadly struggle. Mr. Gibbons hM scarcely more than reached Concord Church, than the information thereof was brought to the Committee of Safety. A meeting was called and the situation discussed and the conclusion reached to watch Gibbon's actions and 1866-1905 341 await developments, wliich would doubtless show up in a few hours; and the committee was not mistaken in its conclusion, for Mr. Gibbons by some word or action had given offense to the Coficord people, and he left there in high dudgeon and came to Princeton. Now was the time for action, and the committee determined that Mr. Gibbons must be met with open arms and be fully assured that Governor Stevenson's interests should not suffer in the hands of the people who were espousing the cause of Princeton on the local question. To this end large numbersf of the pecrple visited Mr. Gibbons, and assured him of their strong friendship for Governor Stevenson, and of their inten- tion to vote for the Governor if the registration books were not blotched by erasure, and that the Governor had all to gain and nothing to lose by allowing the names then on the books to remain untouched. Mr. Gibbons heard these assurances with seeming delight and satisfaction, and his faith in the truth of these statements was strengthened from day to day by the action of and conversations had with our people; at length the adversaries of Princeton, seeing that its people had probably won Gibbons over to its side, and that he was a little too cred- ulous, whispered in his ear that he was being deceived, that the names of too many prominent ex-Confederates were on the registration list for the strong professions of these people to be true ; so Mr. Gibbons became a little wary and somewhat alarm- ed, stating that he thought the names of the more prominent ex-Confederates should be erased from the lists. The commit- tee was reluctantly forced to yield and compromise by the elim- ination of about two hundred names from the list of voters; yet enough remained to accomplish their purposes, for they knew that while the people had pledged themselves to stand by and vote for Governor Stevenson they had made no further pledges and Mr. Gibbons had not asked or demanded more. The opponents of Princeton were not without resources, and while these events were transpiring at Princeton they were not idle; for they formulated a plan which they supposed would prevent the people from holding the special election on the 342 New Rivee Settlements local question; and that plan was to get an injunction, pro- hibiting and enjoining the election oflQcers from opening the polls, holding the election and declaring the result; and with this view, a bill was prepared by Attorney Newlin and en- trusted to Attorney J. M. Killey to be taken to Charleston by him and to be presented to a Circuit Judge for an injunction, and if refused, then to be presented to Judge James H. Brown of the Court of Appeals. Mr. Killey had scarcely gotten away from Concord Church before the news of his leaving and that of his mission reached the Committee ; whereupon it determined that this last effort of the removalists must be headed off and defeated. It was now only ten days until the election was to be held on the local question. Mr. Killey started on Wednes- day, and a messenger was selected and directed to follow Kil- ley, and he started on Thursday morning ; however, before start- ing, Mr. Gibbons requested a little time to write some letters to be sent to the Governor and other friends in Charleston by the Princeton messenger, who took the letters and put off to Charleston, reaching there in less than two days, being only twenty-three and one-half hours in the saddle, and reaching there two hours ahead of Killey, although the latter had twenty- four hours the start and had traveled twelve miles of the dis- tance by steamer. Hurrying to the Governor's office, the Princeton messenger found no one there but Mr. Blackburn B. Dovener, now the Honorable Blackburn B. Dovener, member of Congress from the Wheeling district, private secre- tary to the Governor, to whom the letters of which he was the bearer were delivered, the Governor being absent in the north- ern part of the state, leaving Mr. Dovener in charge of his oflfice. The messenger made known to Mr. Dovener that it was necessary that he should see Judge Brown, and requested him to accompany and introduce him to the Judge, which he did. After stating to the Judge his mission and the character of the bill which would lijiely be presented to him for action, the Judge promised the messenger that if such bill was presented 1866-1905 343 that he should have opportunity to be heard. Mr. Killey pre- sented his bill to Circuit Judge Hoge, at Winfleld, who refused the injunction, and on Mr. Killey's return to Charleston, and on presentation of his bill to Judge Brown the injunction was also refused by him. The Princeton messenger at once started for home, reaching there on the Thursday evening preceding the Saturday on which the election was to be held ; and which passed oflE quietly, a full vote was polled, and the County Court House question was settled in favor of Princeton by a majority of over four hundred. The state election followed on the Tues- day week thereafter, and resulted in the election of the whole Democratic county ticket by an average majority of about three hundred, and a majority of nearly five hundred for Mr. Hereford for Congress; electing Mr. Upton to the House' of Delegates; and George Evans Clerk and Recorder over Mr. Green Meador — this was in fulfillment of the agreement of the Princeton interest with Mr. Evans. The county authorities im- mediately went to work and had erected on the old Court House foundation at Princeton a new building which was completed in 1875. This building was destroyed by fire, but another building was erected immediately thereafter. Mr. Upton, the Eepresentative from Mercer County, on the assembling of the Legislature in January, 1871, immediately introduced his bill for the creation of a new county out of the territory hereinafter described; and on the 27th day of Febru- ary, 1871, the bill was passed creating the county of Summers out of parts -of the counties of Mercer, Monroe, Greenbrier and Fayette, within the following described boundary, to- wit : "Beginning at the mouth of Round Bottom Branch, on New River, in Monroe County, thence crossing said river and run- ning N. 471/2 W. 5430 poles through the county of Mercer to a point known as Brammer's Gate, on the line dividing the coun- ties of Mercer and Raleigh ; thence with said county line in an easterly direction to New River; thence with a line between the counties of Raleigh and Greenbrier, down New River to the line of Fayette County; thence with a line dividing Raleigh 344 New Eivee Settlements and Fayette Counties, down said river to a station opposite Goddard's House; thence leaving the line of Raleigh County, crossing New Eiver and passing through said Goddard's house, N. 671/2 E. 3280 poles through said county of Fayette, to a station on Wallow Hole Mountain, in Greenbrier County; thence S. 55 E. 3140 poles to a station east of Keeney's Knob in Monroe County ; thence S. 9 E. 1320 poles to a station near Greenbrier Eiver, and running thence S. 32 W. 7740 poles to the beginning." The period between the close of the civil war and the settle- ment of the question of the location of the seat of justice of Mercer County, and the complete removal of all civil and polit- ical disabilities, under which our people had been laboring for a period of nearly seven years, was one of turmoil, trouble and unrest. Business in Mercer County during this time was large- ly at a standstill, no one knew what to do, many suits had been brought against the ex-Confederates for alleged wrongs and injuries done or committed during the civil war, and they, the ex-Conferedates, had little show in the courts, which had been organized, as a rule, in the interest of the dominant party and for oppression. The men who sat upon the juries of the county were the political enemies of the ex-Confederates and of the people who had espoused the Southern cause. No man who had served in the Confederate army or sympathized with the South, regarded his life, liberty, property or cause, whatever it might be, as safe in the hands of the Courts and Juries as they were then organized and existed. Hundreds of people who had owned valuable property before the beginning of the war and lived in opulence, were by its results reduced almost to beg- gary, and they had a long, hard struggle to earn even a liveli- hood. The expense of government — the taxes — ^had grown to such enormous proportions that the people had great diflS- culty in paying the same. The levies of taxes for local purposes were often outrageous, on account of the character and amounts of the claims and demands for which they were levied ; 1866-1905 345 and after the levies had been placed in the hands of the collect- ing oflScers they were often squandered and never accounted for. In the great struggle over the Court House question, a large amount of the ■public funds were squandered, stolen or wasted. A jail had been erected at Concord Church and the walls for a Court House had been about half way built, and the expenditures in this regard amounted to thousands of dol- lars, which was an entire loss to the taxpayers of the county. But, notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the people labored, toiled and struggled on in the hope of a better day coming, and it came at last when we had better government and lower taxes, and the end largely of all the diflQculties growing out of the civil war and the questions therein involved. The Board of Supervisors had power to lay and disburse the county levies, and to make all contracts touching county affairs. After the removal of the records and books from Concord Church to Princeton, the Board of Supervisors consisted of L. D. Martin, William C. Honaker, Silas T. Eeynolds, Thomas Keed, and, for part of the time, Washington Lilley. Mention has already been made of Mr. George Evans, who was of Welsh extraction or descent, and who came from Wilkes- barre, Pennsylvania. He was a man of fair education, good sense, and, although often roundly abused, was yet a very clever man, but in the days in which he ruled was a power among the Republicans, and ruled them generally with a rod of iron. He held as many as four or five oflQces at one and the same time, and did pretty generally as he pleased touching the con- trol and management of county affairs, civil and political. After the Board of Supervisors had adjourned its meetings from Concord Church to Princeton, a, proposition was made to it by Mr. Evans to sell to the county a small farm which he owned in the valley of East Eiver Mountain as a place on which to keep the paupers of the county. Mr. Evans was, in his political manipulation, always shrewd enough to control one man on each of the Board of Supervisors and Registration; 346 New Eiver Settlements this man was always a friend of Mr. Evans' — tis middle man or fifth wheel— and by and through whom he was generally able to carry out any measure he desired, or that he knew was to his interest or that of his party. The Board of Supeiwisors was generally divided politically, two Democrats and three Kepublicans, but Mr. Evans could not always rely upon his political friends to save his pet measures, but when necessary, he was sometimes compelled to call on the other side, and with the aid of his man carry his point. Mr. Evans' proposition to sell his farm to the county met with disfavor, not only from the two members who were in the Princeton interest, but espe- cially from the two men who were friends of the Concord inter- est, the two latter being exceedingly hostile to Mr. Evans on account of his desertion of their interests in the Court House controversy and his espousal of the interest of Princeton; therefore, when his proposition was submitted to the Board, not only the two men from the Concord section voted against it, but also the two men from the Princeton section, leaving only Mr. Thomas Eeed, the friend of Mr. Evans, to vote for his proposition. No sooner was the measure defeated than Mr. Eeed made a motion that the Board adjourn to meet at Concord Church on the next day, and his motion was promptly carried by his own and the votes of the two Concord men, who were highly elated at the prospects of the Board again holding its sessions at Concord Church, which would probably result in taking the records to that place, and that the Courts would again be held there. Mr. Eeed, with the two men that had voted with him, mounted their horses and took the road toward Concord Church, stopping, however, over night with Colonel William H. French, by whom they were very highly entertained and cared for, and who was greatly delighted with their ac- tion in adjourning the meeting of the Board to the place above named. The Board met the next morning at Concord Church with the two members from the Princeton section absent. Mr. Evans' proposition was again submitted and unanimously car- ried, but before the Board adjourned the two members from 1866-1905 347 the Princeton section arrived, and thereupon Mr. Reed moved that the Board adjourn to meet at Princeton ; the two members from Concord voting in the negative, but Mr. Eeed voting with the Princeton men, the motion was carried. This incident is re- lated here to show that this Court House controversy entered into every public and private transaction of whatever char- acter. The Legislature at its session of 1870 repealed the "Suitors Test Oath," and amended the oath of teachers and attorneys, and at the same session proposed an amendment to the Consti- tution commonly known and designated as the "Flick Amend- ment," which provided that: "The male citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the election district in which tliey respectively reside; but no person who is a minor, or of unsound mind, or a pauper, or who has been convicted of treason, felony, or bribery in any election, or who has not been a resident of the state for one year, and of the county in which he offers to vote for thirty days next preced- ing his offer, shall be permitted to vote while such disability continued." It will be seen that this amendment was intended, and in fact did, recitizenize and reenfranchise those who had been decitizenized and disfranchised by the amendment to the Constitution of May 24, 1866. The session of 1871 adopted the amendment, and provided by law for its submission to the people, and it was adopted by a large majority, on the fourth Thursday in April, 1871. This, however, did not satisfy the people of West Virginia, for they had determined to remodel the Constitution, or, rather, have a new one; and on the 23rd day of February, 1871, an Act was passed to take the sense of the people upon the call of a convention and for organizing the same, and providing for an election on that question to be held throughout the state on the fourth Thursday of August, 1871, and which election resulted in a majority of votes being cast for the call. The same Act provided that in the event of a ma- jority of the vote being cast in favor of the convention, that the Governor should make proclamation accordingly, and on the 348 New River Settlements fourth Thursday of October, 1871, that delegates to the said convention should be elected. There were to be elected two delegates from each senatorial district and one from each county and delegate district. From the Mercer County sena- torial district. Honorable Evermont Ward, of Cabell County, and Doctor Isaiah Bee, of Mercer County, were chosen over Honorable Mitchell Cook, of Wyoming County, and Mr. Harvey Scott, of Cabell County; and from the county of Mercer Elder James Calfee, a minister of the church of the Disciples, was chosen over Colonel William H. French. The members elected to this convention assembled at Charles- ton on the third Tuesday of January, 1872, and elected Hon- orable Samuel Price, of Greenbrier County, President. The convention sat from the 16th day of January to the 9th day of the following April, and having finished its work, adopted a schedule submitting the Constitution framed by it to the peo- ple to be voted on, on the fourth Thursday of August, 1872, and the same was ratified by the people by a majority of over 4,000. At the August election, 1872, Captain William L. Bridges, a Democrat, was elected to the House of Delegates from Mercer County, over Jno. H. Peck ; and a full set of Democratic county oflScers were also elected, but Mr. George Evans, a candidate for re-election for Clerk of the Courts received but thirty votes ; and this was his last appearance in the arena of politics in Mercer County. Honorable Evermont Ward was elected Cir- cuit Judge, over C. W. Smith, Ira J. McGinnis, Henry L. Gilles- pie, and I. S. Samuel ; David E. Johnston was elected prosecut- ing attorney, over R. C. McClaugherty, J. Speed Thompson, and Alonzo Gooch; E. B. Foley was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court, over E. H. Peck and J. C. Straley; Benjamine G. Mc- Nutt was elected Clerk of the County Court, over John H. Robinson. The people who had espoused the cause of Princeton in the Court House controversy were anxious to remove, as far as possible, the chagrin and disappointment of the people who had 1866-1905 349 striven to have the County site located at Concord Church; they induced Captain Bridges to introduce and have passed a Bill establishing a branch of the State Normal School at Con- cord Church (now Athens), and vrhich is today a most flourish- ing institution of learning, and of which Captain James H. French was the principal for nearly twenty years. The political shackles that had been forged by the extreme Republicans — radicals — and placed upon the ex-Confederates and tightly held for more than five years, had been snapped asunder and cast away, and the Confederate people with the Union Democrats took charge of the ship of state and guided her course safely for more than a quarter of a century, and only lost control when the state became flooded with criminal negroes. For a full twenty-five years or more the conservative Democratic people governed the state, during which time there was made more rapid material development than in any other period of her existence, before or since. (1) The whole policy of the state, and her wise laws and administration thereof, during the years referred to, were dictated and controlled largely by the old Confederate soldiers. It was through this influence that the Constitution of 1872 was framed and adopt- ed, and into which was incorporated the provision that no per- son on either side of the war should be held ,civilly or crimin- ally, liable for acts done according to the usages of civilized warfare. In the year of 1750, Doctor Thomas Walker and his party, on his return from his second visit to the Cumberland Gap and Kentucky section of country, passed by the site of what is now the city of Pocahontas, Virginia, discovering the outcrop of the great coal beds of the Flat Top region ; consisting of some thirteen measures of coal, one of which is known as the Poca- (1). George W. Anderson began, about 1876, the publication of the Princeton Journal, the first newspaper published in Mercer County. 350 New Bivee Settlements hontas or No. 3, and which is over ten feet thick. The next we hear about this coal field is in the report of Prof. Rogers, State Geologist of Virginia, who visited this section between the years of 1836 and 1840, and made an extensive examina- tion and a report of this coal formation ; however, this report seems to have excited no particular attention. General Gabriel 0. Wharton of Montgomery County, Virginia, who commanded during the late civil war a body of Confederate troops and marched at their head across the Flat Top Mountain, observed this coal formation, and was impressed with its commercial value. He having been elected, in 1871, to the Legislature of Virginia from the County of Montgomery, obtained on the 7th of March, 1872, a charter for the incorporation of "The New River Railroad, Mining and Manufacturing Company," with John B. Radford, John T. Cowan, James Cloyd, James A. Walker, William T. Yancey, William Mahone, Charles W. Stratham, Joseph H. Chumley, A. H. Flanagan, Philip W. Strother, John C. Snidow, Joseph H. Hoge, William Eggleston, G. C. Wharton, William Adair, James A. Harvey, A. A. Chap- man, Robert W. Hughes, A. N. Johnston, Elbert Fowler, David E. Johnston, John A. Douglass, William H. French, E. B. Mc- Nutt, James M. Bailey and A. Gooch, as incorporators. This charter was a very liberal one and gave to the company upon its organization the right and power to construct, maintain and operate a railroad from New River Depot in Pulaski County, Virginia, on the line of the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad, to such a point as might be agreed upon at or near the head of Camp Creek in the County of Mercer and State of West Virginia, with ample provision for the building of branch roads in Mercer and other counties; the capital stock not to exceed f2,000,000.00. The first meeting of the incorporators was held at Pearisburg, and Dr. John B. Rad- ford was elected President and Elbert Fowler Secretary. Vari- ous committees were appointed, among them Captain Richard B. Roane, who was authorized and directed to visit the coal fields and to secure grants and subscriptions in lands or money. 1866-1905 351 In part at least, through Captain Eoane, Colonel Thomas Gra- ham, of Philadelphia, became interested in the scheme, and finally with some of his friends succeeded in getting control of a majority of the stock of said company, and immediately went to work to secure all the coal land in what is now known as the Pocahontas region, and to push the building of the rail- road into that field. In 1875 experimental lines were run from New River Depot down the New Eiver to Hinton on the Chesapeake & Ohio road. Shortly thereafter Colonel Graham succeeded in secur- ing the Virginia State convicts and placed them on the line and commenced the construction of a narrow gauge railroad. In the year of 1881 Mr. F. J. Kimball, President of Norfolk & Western Railroad Company, met with Major Jed Hotchkiss, of Staunton, Virginia, and in a conversation insisted that his road must have coal. Major Hotchkiss pointed out to Mr. Kimball the Flat Top Field and its accessibility to his road and the wonderful value of the coal, which led Mr. Kimball to join Hotchkiss in a visit to the section. The coal and mineral leases and contracts taken by Captain Roane, together with those subsequently taken by John Graham, Jr., and Dr. James O'Keiffee were in the names of, J. D. Sergeant and others, or rather for their benefit. Some time prior to February, 1881, the mortgage on the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad had been foreclosed, and the road purchased by a Philadelphia syndicate, who changed the name to Norfolk & Western Railroad Company, which very shortly thereafter became the owner of the New River Rail- road, Mining and Manufacturing Company's charter, and on the 3rd day of August, 1881, the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company commenced the construction of its New River Branch. In the meantime a charter had been obtained from the state of West Virginia incorporating the New River Railroad in West Virginia, and also a charter for the East River Railroad, in West Virginia. On the 9th day of May, 1882, the New River Railroad Com- 352 New River Settlements pany of Virginia, the New River Railroad Company of West Virginia, and the East River Railroad Company were merged and consolidated. The work on this line of road was rapidly pushed, so that on the 21st day Of May, 1883, the same was com- pleted to Pocahontas, Virginia, the terminal point, and the first shipments of coal were made in the June following. The Messrs. Graham, Sergeant and others, in the meantime, had secured by option and purchase and had gotten together some 50,000 acres of valuable coal properties in the Pocahontas field. For ten years or more prior to 1882, Messrs. H. W. Straley, C. D. Straley, John A. Douglass, James D. Johnston, and this writer, had been securing coal properties along the north side of the Bluestone River in the Flat Top region, and from the Virginia and West Virginia state line eastward, had gotten control of some 20,000 acres. In the year of 1881, these lands of Straley and others were, through Echols, Bell and Catlett, of Staunton, Virginia, and Honorable Frank Hereford, of Union, optioned to Samuel Coit of Hartford, Connecticut; which options were finally taken by George M. Bartholomew and Samuel Coit, the land was surveyed, paid for and conveyed to said Bartholomew and David E. Johnston, trustees, and sub- sequently sold to E. W. Clark, of Philadelphia, and his asso- ciates, for 1105,000.00. The name given to the company by the parties who held these lands prior to the sale to Mr. Clark, was first, Bluestone-Flat Top Coal Company, and afterwards Flat Top Coal Company, but subsequently Mr. Clark and his associ- ates organized several joint stock companies, dividing up these lands and conveying portions thereof to each of said companies. Among the companies organized, were Bluestone Coal Com- pany, Crane Creek Coal Company, Indian Ridge Coal Com- pany, Widemouth Coal Company, Flat Top Coal Company, and Rich Creek Coal Company. While these companies were being organized, Mr. Clark and his associates, together with some other persons, organized the Trans-Flat Top Land Asso- ciation, for the purpose of acquiring coal lands north and west of the Flat Top Mountain, which association acquired a large 1866-1905 353 territory of lands in the Counties of McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Boone and Logan, including the Maitland survey, called 500,000 acres, the Dillon survey of 50,000 acres, and a large number of small tracts within these surveys held under junior grants. The holdings of the several joint stock com- panies above named, together with those of the Trans-Flat Top Association, aggregated 232,483 acres. On the first day of April, 1887, the Flat Top Coal Land Trust, which afterwards changed its name to Flat Top Coal Land Association, was organized by Edward W. Clark, Sidney F. Tyler, Everett Gray, Robert B. Minturn, Henderson M. Bell, Edward Denniston and Mahlon Sands, the objects and purposes of which were the purchase and acquisition of mineral and other lands and inter- ests in real estate in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina, and for the development, improvement and sale of the same, and the leasing thereof for the purpose of cutting and the carrying away of the timber, of coal mining for coal and coking purposes, for the purpose of mining iron ore, and the manufacturing of iron, or for any other purposes. The capital of the association was to consist of $40,000.00, with the right to increase the same to $10,000,000.00, and the stock to be divided into two classes, preferred and common shares, of equal amounts. These articles of association constituted E. W. Clark, S. F. Tyler, and H. M. Bell trustees, to whom was conveyed all of the aforesaid lands. Mr. Samuel A. Crozer of Upland, Pennsylvania, entered early into this coal field on the Elkhorn Creek, and purchased a body of several thousand acres, which he immediately proceeded to open up and develop. The major part of his holdings lie largely on and along the Ohio extension of the Norfolk & Western Railroad. These lands held by Clark, Tyler and Bell have been recently sold and conveyed to The Pocahontas Coal & Coke Company. It has already been stated that the first coal shipped from this field was in June, 1883, and, as shown by the statistics, the whole output of coal for the first year, 1883, was 55,522 tons. 354 New River Settlements and of coke 23,762 tons. A large number of collieries have been opened and are in operation in Mercer County, and there are a number of others opening up in the Widemouth Valley. The following are among the collieries in the County of Mercer, viz: Mill Creek Coal & Coke Co. Caswell Creek Coal & Coke Co. Booth-Bowen Coal & Coke Co. Buckeye Coal & Coke Co. Goodwill Coal & Coke Co. Louisville Coal & Coke Co. Coaldale Coal & Coke Co. Klondike Coal & Coke Co. The total output from these coal mines for the year of 1904 was 1,274,070 tons of coal, and of coke 190,132 tons. These coal operations are carried on in the northeast portion of Tazewell County, Virginia, the northwest portion of Mercer, and largely over the southern portion of McDowell County. When the railroad entered this region in May, 1883, there were no cities, towns or villages. There are now in this field and in the immediate vicinity, the city of Bluefield, in Mercer County, with a population of nearly 11,000 ; the city of Poca- hontas, in Tazewell County, with a population of about 5,000, and the towns of Graham, Coopers, Bramwell, Ada and Oak- vale. From the wildest, most rugged and romantic country to be found in the mountains of Virginia, or West Virginia, this has become the most rushing and thriving business center, with a population of perhaps 50,000, whereas, before the com- ing of the railroad and the developments referred to, the popu- lation was comparatively small. Many little thriving villages and towns have sprung up in different portions of the county, mostly, however, along the lines of railroad, and in the mining district Athens, formerly Concord Church, a few years ago but a very small village, is now quite a thriving town ; and Prince- ton, the county town, is now putting on city airs on account of the prospective building of the Deepwater Railroad. The people of the county are generally prosperous farmers, and have within the past few years greatly improved their farms, erected a better class of dwelling houses, and there has 1866-1905 355 been a general advance and improvement along the whole line. The city of Bluefleld has had a marvelous growth. In 1888 it was a mere flag station on the farm of John B. Higginbotham ; incorporated as a town in December, 1889, with Judge Joseph M. Sanders as its first Mayor. The city has four banks, viz: First National, Flat Top National, Commercial, and State Bank, with an aggregate capital of over |250,000.00, with a line of deposits of over $1,000,000.00; four hotels; four wholesale grocery houses, water works, electric light plant, electric rail- way line. It has two Methodist churches (white), two Metho- dist churches (colored), two Baptist churches (white) and two colored Baptist churches, one church of the Disciples, one Lutheran, one Presbyterian and one Catholic. It also has a large high school building, costing about $20,000.00, accommo- dating nearly 800 school children; a large Institute for the colored people, which was built on state account, and is sup- ported by state appropriations ; and also a large opera house. The city is built on the watershed between the head branch of East River and the waters of the Bluestone, in the extreme southwestern portion of Mercer County, and is about 2557 feet above tide, in a high and healthful location, and bids fair in a few years to have a population of more than double what it has at present. Mercer Cpunty has, including the railroad yard at Bluefleld, about 195.03 miles of trackage in the county, of which 74.3 miles are within the city of Bluefleld. The taxable values in the county for the year of 1880 were $676,009.00 and in the year of 1905 $4,103,568.00. APPENDIXES. o APPENDIX A. THE COURTS^ JUDGES, MAGISTRATES, ATTORNBTS, ETC. Deeming it of interest to the reader, a brief history of the organization of Courts of Justice for the states of Virginia and West Virginia, taken from the statutes and codes of said states is here inserted. (See Compilation in Code 1849.) An Act was passed in Virginia, in 1784, for the establishment of courts of Assize (Hen-State Vol. II, p. 422), but it never went into operation ; it was first suspended, and then repealed (Id. Vol. 12, pp. 45, 267, 497). It was succeeded by the Act establishing District Courts of law (Id. p. 532, Cb. 39, p. 644, Ch. 1, p. 730, Ch. 67). These District Courts, after being in operation about twenty years, were abolished in 1809, under the Acts establishing a Superior Court of law ib each county (1807-8, p. 5, Ch. 3; p. 10, Ch. 14; 1809, p. 9, Ch. 6). The sev- eral acts concerning Superior Courts of law were reduced into one by the Act of 1819 (1st Kev. Code, p. 227, Ch. 69). In 1777 an Act passed establishing a high court of Chancery for the state (Hen-Stat, Vol. 9, p. 389, Ch. 15). When first estab- lished it consisted of three judges, but the number was reduced to one by the Act of 1788 (Id. Vol. 12, p. 767) . The jurisdiction of this court extended over the whole state until 1802, when the state was divided into three districts, and a Superior Court of Chancery established for each district (1801-2, p. 12, Ch. 14). The places of holding these courts were Richmond, Williams- burg and Staunton. In 1812 the Staunton district was divided into four districts ; the judge, previously assigned to the Staun- ton district was to hold courts for these, to- wit: At Staunton 358 New Eivee Settlements and Wythe Court House, and a new judge waa to hold court for the two others, to-wit: at Winchester and Clarksburg (1811-12, p. 19, Ch. 15). In 1814 the Richmond and Williams- burg districts were divided into four districts ; the Judge previ- ously assigned to the Eichmond district was to hold courts for two of these, to-wit: at Richmond and Lynchburg, and the judge previously assigned to the Williamsburg district was to hold court for the other two, to-wit: at Williamsburg and Fredericksburg (1813-14, p. 44, Ch. 16). Under a subsequent Act of the same year, the judge of the Staunton and Wythe district was, for certain counties, to hold a court at Green- brier Court House (1813-14, p. 81, Ch. 33). The Acts concern- ing the Superior Court of Chancery were reduced into one by the Act of 1818 (1st Rev. Code, p. 196, Ch. 66). The Superior Courts of law held by fifteen judges, and the Superior Courts of Chancery held by four judges, were abolished by the Act of the 16th day of April, 1831, which divided the state into 20 circuits, held by that number of judges, and established a Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery for each county and in certain corporations (1830-1, p. 42, Ch. 11). Thus it will be seen that it was about thirty-five years from the date of the establishment of courts of Chancery in Virginia before one of such courts were authorized to be held west of the Alle- ghanies; therefore our people, having occasion to resort to a Court of Conscience to have their grievances settled, had to travel many miles towards the rising sun to find a law doctor, authorized to administer relief. As stated, the itinerant Cir- cuit Court system was not adopted until April, 1831, before that time the courts were held by the judges of the District and General court, who by allotment were assigned to the various districts as they then existed. The following judges of the districts and General courts and of the Circuit courts held terms of court in the territory now embraced in the counties of Montgomery, Giles, Tazewell, Monroe, and Mercer from 1809 to the present : Courts and Court Officers. 359 judges of the general court. Hon. John Goalter. Hon. Allen Taylor. Hon. Paul Carington. Hon. Peter Johnston. Hon. Archibald Stewart. Hon. James Allen. Hon. William Brockenborough.Hon. John J. Allen. CIRCUIT JUDGES. Benjamine Estill. John J. Allen. Edward Johnston. James E. Brown. George W. Hopkins. Andrew S. Fulton. Samuel G. Fulkerson. John A. Campbell. John W. Johnston. Edward B. Bailey. Robert M. Hudson. Tipton. Alexander Mahood. Evermont Ward. John H. Fulton. Randall M. Brown. D. W. Bolen. Samuel W. Williams. R. C. Jackson. Henry E. Blair. W. J. Henson. VIRGINIA CHANCELLORS. George Wythe. Creed Taylor. William Wirt. Henry St George Tucker. COUNTY COURT JUDGES FOR GILES COUNTY, P. W. Strother. George W. Easley. A. N. Heiflin. Martin Williams. Bernard Mason. COUNTY COURT JUDGES FOE TAZEWELL COUNTY. James P. Kelley. Sterling F. Watts. Samuel C. Graham. S. M. B. Couling. J. H. Stuart. The FOLLOWING are the names of the Circuit judges who have presided over the Circuit Court of Mercer County since its organization, viz: Honorable James E. Brown, Wytheville, Virginia. Honorable Edward B. Bailey, Fayetteville, Virginia. 360 New Eiveb Settlements Honorable Evermont Ward, Logan, Virginia and West Va. Honorable Nathanial Harrison, Union, West Virginia Honorable Henry L. Gillaspie, Beckley, West Virginia. Honorable David E. Johnston, Princeton, West Virginia. Honorable Robert C. McClaugherty, Princeton, West Va. Honorable Joseph M. Sanders, Bluefield, West Virginia. Honorable Luther L. Chambers, Welch, West Virginia. The following is a list of the names of the justices of the peace for the counties of Fincastle and Montgomery, serving on the courts of these counties from 1773 to 1805 : Arthur Campbell. Daniel Trigg. John Henderson. Adam Dean. Joseph Gray. William Christian. Andrew Lewis. Daniel Howe. James Charlton. James McGavock. James Thompson. Andrew Boyd. James Byrn. John Preston. James Craig. James McCorkle. Christian Snidow. William Ward. Walter Crockett. John Adams. James Eobertson. John T. Sawyers. Robert Moflfett. John Tavlor. John Kent. Henry Patton. John Hough. Flower Swift. Thomas Goodson. Joseph Cloyd. George Rutlege. William Love. James Taylor. Anthony Bledsoe. Jonathan Isan. George Pearis. James Eeaburn. James Newell. John Taylor. William Russell. James P. Preston. William Davis. James Woods. Thomas Shannon. James Barnett. William Preston. David French. County and District Officers. 361 The following is a list of the names of the sheriffs of Fin- castle and Montgomery counties from 1773 to 1806 : William Ingles. John Montgomery. Walter Crockett Andrew Lewis. James McCorkle. Charles Taylor. Daniel Trigg. Joseph Cloyd. James Barnett. Henry Patton. The following are the names of the gentlemen who repre- sented this New Eiver district of country in the various consti- tutional conventions of Virginia, viz : 1776, Arthur Campbell and William Russell, representing Fincastle County. 1788, the convention assembled to consider the ratification or rejection of the Federal constitution, viz : Walter Crockett and Abraham Trigg, from Montgomery County. 1829-30, Gordon Cloyd, Henley Chapman, George P. Mat- thews and William Oglesby. 1850-51, Albert G. Pendleton, Allen T. Caperton and A. A. Chapman. SECESSION CONVENTION OF 1861. Giles County — Manilius Chapman. Monroe County — Allen T. Caperton and John Echols. Mercer County — Napoleon B. French. Tazewell County — ^William P. Cecil and Samuel L. Graham. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1869. Giles and Pulaski Counties — Eustace Gibson. Tazewell and Bland Counties — James M. French. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1901-2. Giles and Pulaski Counties — Joseph C. Wysor. Tazewell County — Albert Pendleton Gillespie. Members of the House of Representatives of the United States, representing the territory in the now counties of Mont- gomery, Giles, Tazewell, Monroe and Mercer, from 1789 to the 362 New Rivee Settlements creation and organization of the state of West Virginia, June 20th, 1863, and also the names of those who have been members of Congress from the 9th Congressional District of Virginia since 1863 : 1789-1863. Andrew Moore. Hugh Caperton. .Robert Craig. A. A. Chapman. Fayette McMuUen. Francis Preston. John Floyd. William McComas. William B. Preston. W. R. Staples. Abram Trigg. Robert B. Craig. Andrew Bierne. Henry A. Edmundson. 1863-1905. Daniel Hoge, 1865-7. James K. Gibson, 1869-71. William Terry, 1871-73. Rees T. Bowen, 1873-75. William Terry, 1875-77. A. L. Pridemore, 1877-79. J. B. Richmond, 1879-81. Abram Fulkerson, 1881-83. Henry Bowen, 1883-85. C. F. Trigg, 1885-87. Henry Bowen, 1887-89. John A. Buckhannan, 1889-93. James W. Marshall, 1893-95. James A. Walker, 1895-99. W. F. Rhea, 1899-1903. - C. T. Slemp, 1903-1905. State Senators from the district comprising in part Mont- gomery, Giles, Monroe, Mercer and Tazewell counties from 1773-1863: William Christian. John Preston. James Hoge. Andrew Bierne. Manilius Chapman. Charles H. Greaver. A. A. Chapman. William Fleming. James Preston. Henley Chapman. William Thomas. William H. French. J. W. M. Witten. William Russell. John Chapman. Joseph Draper. Allen T. Caperton. William B. Preston. Napoleon B. French. Members of House of Delegates. 363 The following is a list of the names of the gentlemen who represented Montgomery County in the General Assembly of Virginia from 1785 to 1806, inclusive : 1785-6 — ^Robert Sayers and John Breckenridge. 1788 — Daniel Trigg and Joseph Cloyd. 1793 — Andrew Lewis and John Preston. 1795-6 — James Craig and James Barnett. 1797-8 — John Ingles and James Taylor. 1800 — Daniel Howe and James Craig. 1804 — John Ingles and John Gardner. 1805 — John Ingles and Andrew Lewis. Giles County, being created in 1806, and being entitled to two representatives, the following named gentlemen were elect- ed as her representatives : 1807-8-9-10 — Andrew Johnston and Thomas Shannon. 1811 — Andrew Johnston and Hugh Caperton, Sr. 1812 — John Chapman, Jr., and Christian Snidow. 1813-14 — David Johnston and John Chapman, Jr. 1815-16-17 — Andrew Johnston and William Smith. 1818-19— John Peters, Jr., and John Kirk, Sr. 1820-21-22— David Johnston and Christian Snidow. 1823-24— William H. Snidow and William Smith. 1825— Charles King and William Smith. 1826— William H. Snidow and Charles King. 1827— William H. Snidow and William Smith. 1828— William H. Snidow and Charles King . 1829 — Samuel Pack and George N. Pearis. 1830 — Samuel Pack and Charles King. Unher the Constitution of 1829-30 Giles County was en- titled to one delegate only, and the following named gentle- men were elected to the assembly from that county, to-wit : 1831— William Smith. 1835— Reuben F. Watts. 1832— William H. Snidow. 1836-37— Daniel Hale. 1833-34— Morton P. Emmons. 364 New Rivee Settlements Mercer County, created in 1837, and attached to the delegate district of Giles and Mercer, elected the following representa- tives to the assembly, to-wit : 1838— William Smith. 1846— Madison Allen. 1839— Manilius Chapman. 1847— Cornelius White. 1840— Charles King. 1848— Lewis Neal. 1841— Oscar F. Johnson. 1849— Elijah Bailey. 1842-3— William H. French. 1850— Albert G. Pendleton. 1844— Albert G. Pendleton. 1851— George W. Pearis. 1845— William H. French. Representatives from Giles County after adoption of the Constitution of 1850-1 : 1852-5— Thomas Shannon. 1869-71— F. W. Mahood. 1855-7— A. G. Pendleton. 1871-3— J. C. Snidow. 1857-9— Madison Allen. 1873-5— P. W. Strother. 1859-61— Samuel Lucas. 1875-7— S. E. Lybrook. 1861-»— William Eggleston. 1877-9— James D. Johnston. 1863-5— Absolom Fry. 1879-81— C. J. Mathews. 1866-8— A. G. Pendleton. 1881-3— S. E. Lybrook. Representatives from Pulaski and Giles : 1883-5— J. H. Darst. 1891-3— J. R. Caddall. 1885-7— J. E. Moore. 1893-7— James W. Williams. 1887-9— H. B. Howe. 1897-9— D. C. Pollard. 1889-91— S. E. Lybrook. 1899-01— J. R. StaflEord. Representatives from Bland and Giles : 1901-3 — George T. Bird. 1905— Martin Williams. Under the Constitution of 1851 Mercer County was entitled to a delegate of her own, and under that Constitution elections were held every two years, and the following are the names of the gentlemen who represented Mercer County after the adop- tion of this Constitution, viz : 1851-52— Reuben Garretson. 1855-56— William M. Meador. 1853-54— James M. Bailey. 1857-59— James M. Bailey. Constitutional Delegates and U. S. Senators. 365 1860-61 — ^Napoleon B. French. 1865 — ^Alexander Mahood ; elect 1862-64 — Robert A. Richardson. ed, but did not serve. West Virginia Constitutional Conventions, 1863-1872. Captain Richard M. Cook, of Wyoming County, claimed to have represented Mercer County in the West Virginia Consti- tutional convention of 1863, but no evidence can be adduced that he was ever legally elected as such representative, or had any legal authority to sit in that body as the representative of the people of Mercer County. In the convention of 1872 the Senatorial district delegates were Doctor Isaiah Bee, of Mercer, and Honorable Evermont Ward, of Cabell; and Elder James Calfee represented the County of Mercer. United States Senators from West Virginia from 1863 to the present: Peter C. Van Winkle, Parkerburg; December 7th, 1863, March 4th, 1869. Waitman P. Willey, Morgantown; December 7th, 1863, to March 4th, 1871. Arthur 1. Boreman, Parkersburg; March 4th, 1869, to March, 1875. Henry G. Davis, Piedmont; March 4th, 1871, to March 4th, 1883. Allen T. Caperton, Union; March 4th, 1875, to death July 26th, 1876. Samuel Price, Lewisburg; appointed August 26th, 1876; De- cember 4th, 1876, to January 30th, 1877. Frank Hereford, Union; January 31st, 1877, to March 3rd, 1881. Johnson N. Camden, Parkersburg; March 4th, 1881, to March 3rd, 1887. John E. Kenna, Charleston; March 4th, 1883, to March 3rd, 1895. (Died in 1893.) 366 New Eivee Settlements Charles J. Faulkner, Martinsburg; March 4th, 1887, to March 3rd, 1893. Johnson N. Camden ,Parkersburg; March 4th, 1893, to March 3rd, 1895. (Unexpired term of John E. Kenna.) Charles J. Faulkner, Martinsburg; March 4th, 1893, to March 3rd, 1899. Stephen B. Elkins, Elkins; March 4th, 1895, to March 3rd, 1901. N. B. Scott, Wheeling; March 4th, 1899, to March 3rd, 1905. Stephen B. Elkins, Elkins; March 4th, 1901, to March 3rd, 1907. N. B. Scott, elected January, 1905, for a term of six years. Congressional Elections, 1864-1904, in the 3rd and 5th Dis- tricts of West Virginia, which districts embrace Mercer County : 1864— K. V. Whaley, Eep., over John M. Phelps, Dem., by 1236 majority. 1866— Daniel Polsley, Eep., over John H. Oley, Dem., by 1471 majority. 1868 — ^John S. Witcher, Eep., over Charles P. T. Moore, Dem., by 1409 majority. 1870 — Frank Hereford, Dem., over John S. Witcher, Eep., by 1493 majority. 1872— Frank Hereford, Dem., over J. B. Walker, Eep., by 8884 majority. 1874 — Frank Hereford, Dem., over John S. Witcher, Eep., by 5779 majority. 1876 — Frank Hereford, Dem., over Benj. T. Eedmond, Eep., by 17,573 majority. 1878 — John E. Kenna, Dem., over Henry S. Walker, Gr. B., by 2827 majority. 1880 — John E. Kenna, Dem., over Henry S. Walker, Gr. B., by 5310 majority. 1882 — John E. Kenna, Dem., over E. L. Buttrick, Eep., by 4465 majority. 1883-4 — C. P. Snyder, Dem., over James H. Brown, Eep., by 1230 majority. OONGEESSMEN AND StATE SbNATOES. 367 1884—0. P. Snyder, Dem., over James W. Davis, Rep., by 2119 majority. 1886 — C. P. Snyder, Dem., over James H. Brown, Kep., by 815 majority. 1888 — John D. Alderson, Dem., over J. H. McGinnis, Rep., by 1293 majority. 1890 — John D. Alderson, Dem., over Theophilus Gaines, Rep., by 5014 majority. 1892 — John D. Alderson, Dem., over Edgar P. Rucker, Rep., by 1946 majority. 1894— James H. Huling, Rep., over John D. Alderson, Dem., by 4018 majority. 1896— Charles P. Dorr, Rep., over E. W. Wilson, Dem., by 3631 majority. 1898 — David E. Johnston, Dem., over William S. Edwards, Rep., by 765 majority. 1900 — Joseph H. Gaines, Rep., over David E. Johnston, Dem., by 6570 majority. 1902 — James A. Hughes, Rep., over David E. Johnston, Dem., by 4750 majority. 1904 — James A. Hughes, Rep., over Simon Altizer, Dem., by 6317 majority. State Senators from the senatorial district composed of Mercer and other counties from 1863 : Robert Hager. David E. Johnston. William Workman. Wayne Ferguson. Mitchell Cook. Jerome C. Shelton. Thomas B. Kline. John W. McCreery. I. E. McDonald. John B. Floyd. W. E. Wilkenson. William M. Mahood. Ira J. McGinnis. John A. Sheppard. Joel E. Stollings. W. H. H. Cook, C. V. White. James F. Beavers. Clark W. May. W. W. Whyte. 368 New Rivbe Settlements The following are the names of the representatives of Mer- cer County in the House of Delegates of West Virginia, from 1863 to 1905, inclusive: 1863-7— Thomas Little. 1868 — ^Regular and extra ses- sion, George Evans. 1869— William M. French. 1870 — George Evans. 1871 — Sylvester Upton. 1872— William L. Bridges. 1872-3— Isaac J. Ellison. 1875— William M. Reynolds. 1877— William B. Davidson. 1879— Carroll Clark. 1881-3— Isaiah Bee. 1885— A. C. Davidson. 1887— William M. Reynolds. 1889— R. G. Meador. 1891-93— H. M. Shumate. 1895— J. C. Pack. 1897— James A. White. 1899— Isaiah Bee. 1901 — James Hearn. 1903— D. P. Crockett and Thomas Reed. 1905— E. S. Baker and James_ Hearn. The following is a practice in the Circuit Henley Chapman. Thomas J. Boyd. David Hall. Sterling P. Watts. William P. Cecil. A. A. Chapman. John J. Wade. Henry L. Gillespie. Hugh S. Tiffany. James H. McGinnis. William A. Monroe. J. Speed Thompson. David E. Johnston. C. A. Sperry. R. C. McClaugherty. Alonzo Gooch. James H. French. J. W. Hale. list of the attorneys-at-law admitted to Court of Mercer County : Wirt A. French. Charles R. McNutt. Albert G. Pendleton. Nathaniel Harrison. James H. Ferguson. John A. Kelley. Alexander Mahood. Samuel Price. John Echols. James W. English. W. G. Ryan. Cyrus Newlon. John Phelps. J. M. Killey. Samuel C. Graham. S. S. Dinwiddle. M. M. Lowry. James M. French. Attorneys of Mercer County. 369 Martin Williams. D. W. McClaugherty. George E. Floyd. Edgar Eucker. A. J. May. S. M. B. Couling. Thomas L. Henritzie. Benjamine F. Keller. Thomas Bruce. Allen T. Caperton. Joseph Stras. Evermont Ward. James P. Kelley. Manilius Chapman. James D. Johnston. Kobert A. Richardson. Wade D. Strother. Frank Hereford. A. G. Tebbetts. James W. Davis. F. W. Mahood. James B. Peck. H. C. Alderson. W. W. Adams. Thomas J. Munsey. Samuel W. Williams. John W. McOreery. W. W. McClaugherty. S. D. May. John Osborne. Eobert L. French. James L. Hamill. Joseph S. Clark. A. W. Reynolds. A. 0. Davidson. M. T. Browning. George Evans. E. T. Mahood. Charles W. Smith. James W. St. Clair. W. L. Taylor. J. R. Fishburne. James E. Brown. H. A. Ritz. Joseph S. French. Z. W. Crockett. H. W. Straley, Jr. Hugh G. Woods. B. W. Pendleton. Jesse D. Daniel. John M. Anderson. James S. Browning. R. R. Henry. I. C. Herndon. R. Haden Penn. Martin H. Holt. John R. Pendleton. Frank M. Peters. J. Prank Maynard. Jas. French Strother. D. M. Easley. George Crockett. Jas. A. Strother. William M. Mahood. John M. McGrath. A. M. Sutton. J. W. Hicks. Wyndham Stokes. A. P. Gillespie. J. W. Heptinstall. Claude Holland. John Nininger. 370 New Rivbe Settlements (attorneys of mehcee countx — Cont'd.)- Okey Johnson. E. W. Hale. P. W. Strother. Bernard McClaugherty. J. W. Chapman. G. J. Holbrook. Joseph M. Sanders. Cyrus Martin. John R. Dillard. D. H. Johnston. Norman S. Allen. The following is a list of persons who have held the office of sheriff of Mercer County from 1837 to the present time : 1837 — William Smith was appointed by the Governor of Virginia. 1838— William Smith. 1839 — John Davidson. 1840 — John Davidson. 1841-2— John Brown. 1843— Robert Gore. 1844-6— Elijah Peters. 1847-&— H. A. Walker. 1849-50— Cornelius White. 1851— Robert Hall. 1852-3— Benjamine McNutt. 1854— Ralph Hale. 1856— Ralph Hale. 1858-60— John A. Pack. 1860-64— John A. Pack. 1866-70— Benjamine White. 1870-1— John T. Smith. 1872-6— George L. Karnes. 1876-80— John S. Carr. 1880-4— Jos. H. McClaugherty. 1884-8 — George L. Karnes. 1888-92— James A. White. 1892-96— R. C. Dangerfleld. 1896-1900— J. E. T. Sentz. 1904— L. B. Farley. David Lilley elected sheriff in 1870, but declined to qualify and John T. Smith was appointed in his place. SURVEYORS OF MERCER COUNTY. Robert Hall. Edward H. French. Andrew White. L. M. Stinson. W. J. Comer. John Bailey. George W. Caldwell. JUDGES OF THE CRIMINAL COURT OF MERCER COUNTY. Hon. James M. French. Hon. Charles W. Smith. Hon. John M. McGrath. Hon. Hugh H. Woods. Mercer County Officers. 371 The following is a list of the names of the Clerks of the County Court of Mercer County from 1837 to the present time : 1837 — Moses E. Kerr served seven years. 1844 — Charles W. Calfee served seven years. 1851 — ^William F. Heptinstall served for one year. 1852-65— Charles W. Calfee. 1865 — George Evans, recorder and clerk of Circuit Court. 1870-71— Joseph H. Alvis, Recorder and Clerk. 1872 — George Evans, Recorder and Clerk. 1873-9 — Benjamine G. McNutt, Recorder and Clerk. 1879-85— C. R. McNutt. 1885-91— Samuel P. Peatris. 1891-7— William H. H. Witten. 1897-1903— A. J. Hearn. 1903 — Estill Bailey, elected for six years. The following is a list of the names of the Clerks of the Circuit Court for Mercer County from 1837 to the present time : 1837-43 — James M. Cunning- 1871-3— George Evans. ham. 1873-9— R. B. Foley. 1843-55— Alexander Mahood. 1879-85— F. A. Bolin. 1855-59— Joseph H. Alvis. 1885-96— R. C. Christie. 1859-65— William A. Mahood. 1896-1902— W. B. Honaker. 1865-69— George Evans. 1902— W. B. Honaker. 1869-70— Joseph H. Alvis. The following is a list of the names of Justices of the Peace for Mercer County from 1837 to 1904 : 1837— Moses E. Kerr. 1850— George W. Pearis. 1837— William Smith. 1850— N. B. French. 1837— Josiah Meador. 1850— Elijah Peters. 1837 — Robert Lilley. 1854 — James Brammer. 1837— John Davidson. 1854— H. W. Straley. 1840— Henry Brooks. 1854 — William M. French. 1840 — James Shrewsbury. 1854 — John S. Carr. 1850— William Smith. 1854— Ralph Hale. 372 New Eivbe Settlements (meecer county 1855— Cornelius White. 1865— A. W. Cole. 1865— A. W. J. Caperton. 1865 — James Bowling. 1865— Joel Sloane. 1866— Kussell G. French. 1866— R. Hambrick. 1866— Joel Sloane. 1866— A. W. J. Caperton. 1866— William Meadows. 1867— A. W. Cole. 1867 — James Bowling. 1867— A. W. J. Caperton. 1868— Lorenzo D. Little. 1869— A. J. Davis. 1870— William C. Honaker. 1871 — John J. Hetherington. 1872 — Henry Davidson. 1872— Zachariah Fellers. 1872— A. J. Davis. 1872— A. W. J. Caperton. 1872— Eli Bailey. 1872 — ^Lorenzo D. Martin. 1872— Lewis Lilley. 1872— David B. Pendleton. 1872— A. G. Stovell. 1872— Andrew White. 1872— William A. Wiley. 1877— William Meador. 1877 — Henry Davidson. 1881— Elijah Bailey. 1881 — Joshua Day. 1881 — Henry Davidson. 1881— Harmon White. 1881 — Henry Higginbotham. OFFiCEEs — Cont'd.) . 1881 — Leonidas Goodwyn. 1881— A. I. Godfrey. 1881— Lewis Lilley. 1881 — John L. Johnston. 1881— L. D. Martin. 1881— T. J. Monroe. 1882— J. F. Holroyd. 1882— N. B. French. 1883— Gaston P. Walker. 1884 — John L. Johnston. 1884— John S. Carr. 1884— Lewis Lilley. 1885— George W. Belcher. 1885— H. F. Gore. 1885— Elijah Bailey. 1885— Leftwich Bailey. 1885— James F. Holroyd. 1885 — John L. Johnston. 1886— A. J. Young. 1887— A. W. Read. 1888— A. W. Read. 1888— L. C. Shrewsberry. 1888— R. C. Dangerfield. 1889— Z. T. Rodgers. 1889— W. F. Steele. 1889— George Burch. 1889— John T. Carr. 1889— William A. Cooper. 1889— A. I. Godfrey. 1889— H. F. Gore. 1889— L. L. Hearn. 1889— Lewis Lilley. 1890— D. E. Burgess. 1890— M. W. Franklin. 1890— James H. Bare.. Counties — When Formed, Etc. 373 1891— W. J. Clark. 1892— Willoughby Miller. 1894— H. G. Thorn. 1894— A. I. Godfrey. 1894— J .A. Chambers. 1894— David French. 1895— G. C. Bailey. 1895— William J. Clark. 1895— H. E. Thomas. 1895— John L. Biggs. 1896— Davis Thorn. 1896— T. C. Comer. 1896— W. J. Eumburg. 1896— L. L. Hearn. 1896— E. T. Oliver. 1897— C. S. Hedrick. 1897— F. J. Brown. 1897— G. C. Bailey. 1897— David French. 1897— Allen C. Wiley. 1899— C. W. Gore. 1900— C. W. Gore. 1900— James H. Brinkley. 1900— F. J. Brown. 1900— T. C. Hubbard. 1900— W. S. Harless. 1900— E. T. Oliver. 1900— Davis Thorn. 1903— Joshua Day. 1903— J. A. Chambers. 1903— Allen C. Wiley. 1903— George O. Tavor. 1903— J. D. Burkholder, 1903— John T. Carr. 1903— W. T. Eperly. 1903— W. A. Henderson. 1903— E. A. Glendy. 1903— J. M. Anderson . 1904— E. P. Godby. 1904— W. S. Harless. 1904 — James A. Lilley. 1904— J. A. Chambers. 1904— C. W. Gore. 1904 — George P. Danewood. 1904— Burk. APPENDIX B. COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA FORMED OUT OP THE TERRITORY OF AUGUSTA AND FREDERICK, AND HOW OR FOR WHOM NAMED. Prior to 1738 all that part of Virginia lying west of the Blue Eidge was included in the County of Orange, but in the fall session of that year this territory was divided into the counties of Frederick and Augusta. It may be of interest to the reader to present a list of the various sub-divisions of the territory 374 New Rivee Settlements referred to into counties, with the dates of formation and from whence the names of the counties were derived : Hampshire, 1754, from Hampshire, England. Botetourt, 1770, from Governor Botetourt. Berkeley, 1772, from Governor Berkeley. Dunmore, 1772, from Governor Dunmore, but name changed to Shenandoah in 1777. Fincastle, 1772, from English country home of Governor Bote- tourt. Montgomery, 1776, from General James Montgomery. Washington, 1776, from General George Washington. Kentucky, 1776, from Indian name, "Dark and Bloody Ground." Fincastle, abolished in 1776. Ohio, 1776, from Ohio Kiver. Monongalia, 1776, from Indian name. Youghiogeny, 1776, from Indian name. This county was abol- ished when line between Virginia and Pennsylvania was settled. Shenandoah, 1772, name Indian, from River Sherando, formerly Dunmore County; name changed in 1777. Greenbrier, 1777, from many Greenbriers along the river. Rockbridge, 1778, from Natural Bridge. Rockingham, 1778, from English name. Harrison, 1778, from Governor Benjamine Harrison, of Vir- ginia. Illinois, 1779, from Illinois Indians; this county passed from Virginia by her cession of the Northwest Territory. Hardy, 1786, from Samuel Hardy, a member of Congress. Russell, 1786, from General William Russell. Randolph, 1787, from Edmund Randolph. Pendleton, 1788, from Edmund Pendleton. Kanawha, 1789, from Indian Tribe, Canawhays. Wythe, 1790, from Judge George Wythe. Bath, 1791, from English name. Lee, 1792, from Governor Henry Lee, of Virginia. Grayson, 1793, from William Grayson, a member of Congress. Counties — When Formed^ Etc. 375 Brooke, 1797, from G6vernor Robert Brooke. Monroe, 1799, from Governor James Monroe. Tazewell, 1799, from Mr. Tazewell, member House of Delegates from Norfolk County. Wood, 1799, from Governor James Wood. Jefferson, 1801, from Thomas Jefferson. Mason, 1804, from Stevens Thompson Mason. Giles, 1806, from Governor William B. Giles. Cabell, 1809, from Governor William H. Cabell. Scott, 1814, from General Winfleld Scott. Tyler, 1814, from Governor John Tyler. Lewis, 1816, from Colonel Charles Lewis. Preston, 1818, from Governor James P. Preston. Nicholas, 1818, from Governor Wilson C. Nicholas. Morgan, 1820, from General Daniel Morgan. Pocahontas, 1821, from the Indian Princess. Alleghaney, 1822, from name of Mountain. Logan, 1824, from Mingo chief. Page, 1831, from Governor John Page. Fayette, 1831, from General LaFayette. Floyd, 1831, from Governor John Floyd. Smyth, 1831, from General Alexander Smyth. Jackson, 1831, from President Andrew Jackson. Marshall, 1835, from Chief Justice John Marshall. Braxton, 1836, from Carter Braxton. Clarke, 1886, from General George Eodgers Clarke. Warren, 1836, from General Warren. Mercer, 1837, from General Hugh Mercer. Eoanoke, 1838, from Indian name "Much Wampum." Pulaski, 1839, from Count Pulaski. Carroll, 1842, from Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. Marion, 1842, from General Francis Marion. Wayne, 1842, from General Anthony Wayne. Ritchie, 1843, from Thomas Ritchie. Gilmer, 1843, from Governor Thomas W. .Gilmer. Barbour, 1843, from Governor James Barbour. 376 New Eivbe Settlements (counties — WHEN FORMED, ETC.). Taylor, 1844, from John Taylor, of Caroline. Doddridge, 1845, from Philip Doddridge. Wetzel, 1846, from Lewis Wetzel. Highland, 1846, named from the High land. Boone, 1847, from Daniel Boone. Wirt, 1848, from William Wirt. Hancock, 1848, from John Hancock. Putnam, 1848, from Israel Putnam. Wyoming, 1848, from Wyoming Indian Tribe. Ealeigh, 1850, from Sir Walter Ealeigh. Upshur, 1850, from Abel P. Upshur. Craig, 1851, from Robert Craig, member of Congress from Montgomery County. Pleasants, 1851, from Governor James Pleasants. Calhoun, 1855, from John C. Calhoun. Wise, 1855, from Governor Henry A. Wise. Eoane, 1856, from Judge Spencer Eoane. Clay, 1856, from Henry Clay. Tucker, 1856, from Henry St. George Tucker. McDowell, 1858, from Governor James McDowell. Buchanan, 1858, from President James Buchanan. Webster, 1860, from Daniel Webster. Bland, 1861, from Theodoric Bland. Mineral, 1866, from mineral deposits found in that territory. Grant, 1866, from General U. S. Grant. Lincoln, 1867, from President Abraham Lincoln. Summers, 1871, from Judge Lewis Summers. Dickenson, 1880, from Mr. Dickenson of that county. Mingo, 1895, from Indian tribe of that name. APPENDIX G. BIOGRAPHICAL. THE BAILEY FAMILY. Richard Bailey the elder, was a soldier in the American army during the war of the Revolution, and his residence was on the Black water, in that portion of Bedford County, Virginia, which subsequently became a part of Franklin County. Rich- 'ard Bailey married Miss Annie Belcher, and their family con- sisted of ten children, eight sons and two daughters. The sons were John, James, Eli, Micajah, Archibald, Reuben, Richard, and Henry. Mr. Bailey came with his family to the Beaver Pond spring in the year of 1780, and together with John G. Davidson, built the block-house or fort near that spring which was afterwards known as the "Davidson-Bailey Fort." Aside from Mr. Davidson and his family, Mr. Bailey's neighbors were Captain James Moore, in Abb's Valley, some ten miles away; Mitchell Clay, on the Bluestone at the Clover Bottom, about twelve miles away; Joshua Day, at the mouth of Laurel Fork of Wolf Creek, about fifteen miles away; Hickman Compton, on Clear Fork of Wolf Creek, eight miles away, and Gideon Wright, at the head of the South Fork of Bluestone, twelve miles away. The sons of Richard Bailey, especially the elder ones, were great Indian scouts and fighters, and were splendid specimens of physical strength and manhood and of great per- sonal courage. John Bailey, the eldest son, married Nancy Davidson, the daughter of John G. Davidson, and, in 1789, he built a log house on the south side of Bowyer's branch, on the farm now owned by Thompson Calfee — this building is still standing at this writing — and in which Mr. Jonathan Bailey, their oldest son, was born in 1790, and when he was but four days old an Indian incursion into the neighborhood caused Mr. Bailey to 18 New River Settlements ike his wife and child on horseback to the fort at the Beaver ond. Henry Bailey, the youngest son of Richard the elder, married Miss Peters, daughter of John Peters, of New River. Among le sons of Henry were John P., Elijah, Colonel James M., hilip P., and Major William R. Bailey. John P. Bailey went I Texas in the forties. Elijah was quite a prominent citizen I his day, having been a member of the House of Delegates of irginia from the Counties of Giles and Mercer, and was after- ard sheriff of Mercer County and long a Justice of the Peace ' said county. Colonel James M. also represented Mercer ounty in the House of Delegates, and was a colonel of militia ; id William R. was likewise a major in the Mercer militia. Nancy, one of the daughters of Henry, married Charles W. alfee, who was long the Clerk of the Mercer County Court, lizabeth first married William Ferguson and subsequently the ev. Carroll Clark. Jane married Wilson D. Calfee, and Polly rst married James Bailey, and, after his death, married John alley ; she was a woman of strong good sense and intellect. From the elder Richard Bailey, the first settler, descended all le numerous families by that name, now scattered over several ' the counties of West Virginia, particularly Mercer, Mc- owell, Wyoming, and Logan, and in Tazewell County, Vir- nia. Robert H. Bailey, a great grandson of the elder Richard, has ;en prominent in county affairs. Estill Bailey, another great ■andson, is now the Clerk of the County Court of Mercer aunty. Many of this family are prominent citizens of ad- cent counties; among them may be mentioned Theodore F. alley, of Wyoming. Nearly all who bore that name, during ir great civil strife, were gallant and brave soldiers. THE BANE FAMILY OP NEW RIVEE VALLEY. This family is of Scottish origin. The founder thereof in merica — at least of those of the name who came across the The Bane Family. 379 Alleghanies — was James Bane, who came, in 1688, to New Castle, Delaware. He had left his country because of political ostracism, and sought shelter in the land soon destined to be free. He bought valuable lands of William Penn in what was then, or had been, Pennsylvania. James, one of the descendants of the first named James, came into the Virginia Valley about 1748, and there married, in 1751, Rebecca McDonald, a granddaughter of Bryan and Mary Combs McDonald, of New Castle, Delaware. It would seem most probable— as some of the McDonalds were settled between 1738 and 1744 in Beverly's Manor, near to where the present city of Staunton, Virginia, is situated — that he mar- ried his wife, Rebecca, in that neighborhood, and thence re- moved to the Roanoke section near where Salem now stands, about 1763, where he remained until a flood in the Roanoke River drove him to and beyond the summit of the Alleghanies, into what is now Montgomery County. He came, probably, about 1775 — at any rate he had frequently to take shelter from the Indians in Barger's Fort, on Tom's Creek. His son, James, married Bettie, the daughter of John Haven, of Plum Creek, in Montgomery, about 1776, and from thence he removed to Walker's Creek in 1793. He had a large family of children, viz : 12 ; Mary married John Henderson, Howard married Miss Hickman, and a daughter of Howard married Colonel Erastus G. Harman, of Bluestone; Colonel James married Mary Hend- erson December 31st, 1801 ; Annie married Wilson, Sara married John Carr, Rebecca married Burke, John married Mary Chapman, Jesse married Jane Carr, Ed- ward and Joseph died unmarried, Elizabeth married William Carr, William Haven married Sallie Snidow. Colonel James Bane and his wife, Mary Henderson Bane, had the following children : Sallie, who never married ; Elizabeth married Tobias Miller; Maria married Madison Allen, John H. married Nancy Shannon, Jane S. married John Crockett Graham, William married Jane Grayson, Nancy married Thomas Jefferson Higginbotham, and Samuel married Lucy 380 New Eivee Settlements B. Baker. A daughter of William Bane married John D. Snidow, and Mr. William Bane Snidow, a prominent lawyer of Pearisburg, Virginia, is their son. All of this family of Banes, who were in the war 1861-5, were good soldiers; a number of them were killed and wounded. Joseph Edward Bane was killed in the first battle of Manassas, and Major John T. Bane was a distinguished soldier in Hood's Texas Brigade. Of this family have come some of the very best citizens of Giles and surrounding counties. Donald Bane succeeded Malcolm III as King of Scotland between the years 1093-1153. THE BELCHER FAMILY. Isham Belcher married a Miss Hodges, in Franklin County, Virginia, and came to what is now Mercer County, then Wythe, in 1796, and settled on what is known as the Waldron farm, about two miles Southeast of the present city of Bluefield. He was a nephew of Phoebe Clay, the wife of Mitchell Clay, the elder. Isham Belcher and wife had a family of thirteen chil- dren, eleven sons and two daughters; the sons were Obediah, Isham, Jesse, Asa, Henry D., John, Micajah, Jonathan, Moses, James, and Robert D. From Isham Belcher, the elder, de- scended all the people of that name scattered over a number of the counties of Southern West Virginia. Captain George W. Belcher, a grandson of the elder Isham, Alexander Belcher and many of that name and blood were bold, courageous Confeder- ate soldiers in our civil war. THE FAMILY OP BLACK, OF MONTGOMERY. The Eev. Dr. Samuel Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church — of Scotch extraction — was bom in 1700; educated in Edinburg, Scotland, and licensed to preach at Glasgow; came to America in 1735, and first located at and had charge of the church in Brandywine Manor in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Later he removed to Albemarle County, Virginia, where he was The Baenes Family. 381 pastor of Joy and Mountain Plains Churches for the remainder of his long and useful life. His sons, John and William, came across the Alleghanies and settled nearby where the town of Blacksburg, in Mont- gomery County, is now situated. The year of their coming seems not definitely known, but it was during the border Indian wars. John had married Miss Jane Alexander, who, with an infant son, he brought with him into the wilderness, where with the aid of a servant he erected a dwelling house which was shortly thereafter burned by the Indians, he and his family escaping to the woods and finally to Augusta, where he left his family until he could erect another dwelling, which he turned into a fort for protection against the Savages. He served in the American army during our war for Indpendence, under General William Campbell, and was with him at the time of the treaty with the Indians, at Long Island, Tennessee. Two of his sons were in the war of 1812, and one of them, Matthew, died in the service. Five of his sons went to the state of Ohio, where their descendants now live. His daughter, Susan, who married Stephen McDonald, went to Missouri; Mary, another daughter, married Walter Crockett, and they went to the Pacific coast; while the son, Alexander, remained at Blacks- burg. John Black lived to the age of ninety-four years; his wife, Jane Alexander, was of the family of that name, some of whom settled in the county of Monroe. William Black gave the land on which the town of Blacks- burg, Virginia, now stands, and which was incorporated by the General Assembly of Virginia, in the year of 1798. By this act George Rutledge, John Black, James P. Preston, Edward Rut- ledge, William Black and John Preston were made trustees. William Black removed to the county of Albemarle in the year of 1800. THE BARNES FAMILY. Robert Barnes, born in Ireland in 1765, first settled in Mary- 182 New Eivee Settlements and, removed to Rockbridge County, Virginia, and from there o the Clinch Eiver section, now in Tazewell County, Virginia, le married Grace Brown, and they had two sons: William Jarnes, born 1790, and John Barnes, born 1793. William Jarnes married Levicie Ward. John Barnes married Lilly leldieth as his first wife, and as his second Eliza Allen. The names of the children of William Barnes are as follows : Robert, married Ella Gibson; Clinton, married Sarah Gilles- ie ; Oscar F., married Mary Gillespie ; John, married Margaret imith ; Mary, married William T. Moore ; Nancy, married James larrison; Amanda, married Moses Higginbotham ; Eebecca, ied unmarried; Sallie W., married Captain D. B. Baldwin; lliza, married A. J. Copenhaver. John Barnes had one son, William, who died unmarried, in ie Confederate army. John Ward, who married Nancy Bowen, was the father of levicie, who married William Barnes; and the children of the lid John Ward and Nancy Bowen are as follows: Levicie. larried Wliliam Barnes; Jane, married Robert Gillespie; ;ebecca, married William Crawford ; Lilly, married John Hill ; ancy, married Mr. Hargrave; Henry, married Sallie Wilson; eece, married Levicie Richardson; Rufus, married Elizabeth i''ilson; David and John, unmarried. THE BOWENS, OF TAZEWELL. This family is of Welch extraction, and the immediate an- istors of those that came hither were, long prior to the Amer- an Revolution, located and settled about Predericktown, in estern Maryland. Restive in disposition and fond of adven- ire, like all of their blood, they sought, fairly early after the rst white settlements were made in the Valley of Virginia, I look for homes in that direction. How early, or the exact ite, that Reece Bowen, the progenitor of the Tazewell family ' that name, came into the Virginia Valley from his western aryland home, cannot be named with certainty ; doubtless he The Bowens, op Tazewell. 383 came as early as 1765, for it is known tliat for a few years prior to 1772, when he located at Maiden Spring, he was living on the Roanoke River, close by where the city of Roanoke is now situated. In the Valley of Virginia, where Harrisonburg is now situated, then in Augusta County, he married Miss Louisa Smith, who proved to him not only a loving and faithful wife, but a great helpmeet in his border life. She was evidently a woman of more than ordinary intelligence and cultivation for one of her day and opportunity. She was a small, neat and trim woman, weighing only about one hundred pounds, while her husband was a giant in size and strength. It is told as a fact that she could step into her husband's hand and that he could stand and extend his arm, holding her at right angle to his body. Prize fighting was quite common in the early days of the set- tlements, by which men tested their manhood and prowess. The man who could demolish all who chose to undertake him was the champion, and wore the belt until some man flogged him, and then he had to surrender it. At some period after Reece Bowen had settled on the Roanoke, and after the first child came into the home, Mrs. Bowen desiring to pay a visit to her people in the Valley, she and her babe and husband set out on horse-back along the narrow bridle way that then led through the valley, and on the way they met a man clad in the usual garb of the day — that is, buck-skin trousers, moccasins, and hunting shirt, or wampus. The stranger inquired of Mr. Bowen his name, which he gave him; proposed a fight for the' belt, stating that he understood that he, Bowen, now wore or had the belt. Bowen tried to beg off, stating that he was tak- ing his wife and child, the latter then in his arms, to her people. The man would take no excuse ; finally Mrs. Bowen said to her husband: "Reece, give me the child and get down and slap that man's jaws." Mr. Bowen alighted from his horse, took the man by the lapel of his hunting shirt, gave him a few quick, heavy jerks, when the man called out to let him go, he had enough. B84 New Rivbe Settlements It is also related of Mr. Bowen, that in a later prize fight, at Maiden Spring, with a celebrated prize fighter who had, with his seconds, come from South Carolina to fight Bowen, and when he reached Bowen's home and made known to him Ills business, he, Mr. Bowen, did what he could in an honorable way to excuse himself from engaging in a fight; but the man was persistent and Bowen concluded to accommodate him and sent for his seconds — a Mr. Smith and a Mr. Clendenin. The Ight took place and the gentleman from South Carolina came aflf second best. Just when Eeece Bowen first saw the territory of what is now Tazewell County cannot be definitely stated. Whether he was ane of the large hunting party organized of men from the Virginia Valley, North Carolina and New River, which rendez- roused at Ingles' ferry in June, 1769, and hunted on the waters 3f the Holstein, Powell's River, Clinch, and in Kentucky, is act known; his name does not appear among the number, but the writer, "Haywood's Civil and Political History of Ten- [lessee," does not profess to give all the names of the party. Nevertheless it is highly probable that Bowen was along, or le may have gone out with the party the next year, or he may lave met with the Witten's, and others, on their way out in L771, and joined them. He seems not to have made his settle- nent at Maiden Spring until the year of 1772. He went with Daptain William Russell's company to the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774, leaving home in August of that year, and eaving Daniel Boone in command of that part of the frontier. !^s already stated in this volume, Boone had been forced to give ip his journey to Kentucky in September, 1773, on account of he breaking out of the Indian war, and had spent the winter )f 1773-4 in the neighborhood of Captain William Russell, near I!astleswoods. Captain Russell's company belonged to Colonel William Christian's Pincastle regiment, the greater part of which did lot participate in the battle of Point Pleasant, being in the •ear in charge of the pack horses carrying provisions for the The Bowbns^ of Tazewell. 385 army ; but Shelby's and Russell's companies went forward with the main body and took an active part in the conflict. Moses Bowen, a relative of Eeece, was with Eussell's company, but died on the journey, from smallpox. From 1774 to 1781, when Reece Bowen marched away to the battle of King's Mountain, the border on and along the Clinch was harassed by bands of marauding Indians, and in many of the skirmishes and troubles Reece Bowen took a hand. Dur- ing the period from the date of Bowen's settlement at Maiden Spring until his death, to procure salt, iron, and other neces- sary materials he had to travel across the mountains to Salis- bury, North Carolina, carrying them on a packhorse, and would be absent for weeks, leaving his wife and children alone. His trips, however, were always made in winter, when there was no danger from the Indians. He left rifle guns and bear dogs at home, and with these his wife felt safe from danger, for she was a good shot with a rifle, often exceeding the men in ordi- nary rifle practice. Mr. Bowen had selected a lovely country for his home, and around and adjacent thereto, prior to the fall of 1780, had surveyed and secured several thousand acres of that valuable land, of which his descendants today hold about twelve square miles. When it was known that Lord Cornwallis' army was march- ing northward through the Carolinas, and that Colonel Fergu- son, who commanded the left wing of his army, had sent a threat to the "Over Mountain Men" that if they did not cross the mountains and take the oath of allegiance to the King, that he would cross over and destroy with fire and sword, Evan Shelby, John Sevier, and William Campbell determined to checkmate Colonel Ferguson by crossing the mountains and destroying him and his army. Colonel Campbell commanded the Washington County military force, and William Bowen a company tiiat belonged to Campbell's command, though a part of his company lived on the Montgomery County side of the line. In this company Eeece Bowen was a first lieutenant, his son John a private, and James Moore a junior lieutenant. 386 New Eivee Settlements When the order came for Bowen's company to join the regi- ment it found its captain, William Bowen, sick of a fever, and this situation devolved the command of. the company upon Lieutenant Reece Bowen, who led it into the battle of King's Mountain, and there, together with several of his men, was killed and buried on the field. His remains were never re- moved, for the reason that when opportunity was offered for their removal the spot in which he was buried could not be identified. Campbell's regiment lost in this battle 35 killed and wounded; among the killed, other than Lieutenant Beece Bowen, were Captain William Edmondson, Eobert Edmond- son, Andrew Edmondson, and Henry Henninger, and among the wounded, Charles Kilgore and John Peery, the two latter and Henninger from the Upper Clinch waters. Reece Bowen has in Tazewell County many highly respected, prominent and infiuential descendants, among them Mr. Beece Bowen, Colonel Thomas P. Bowen and Captain Henry Bowen, all brave and distinguished Confederate soldiers; the latter. Captain Henry, being frequently honored by his people as a member of the Legislature of Virginia, and a Representative in Congress. The present Mr. Reece Bowen married Miss Mary Crockett, of Wythe ; Colonel Thomas P., Miss Augusta Stuart, of Greenbrier, and Captain Henry, Miss Louisa Gillespie, of Tazewell. THE BUEKB FAMILY. The Burke family of the New River Valley were among the early settlers west of the Alleghanies, having descended from James Burke, who came with the Draper's Meadow settlers in 1748. James Burke was the discoverer of that most magnifi- cent body of land now in Tazewell County, Virginia, known as Burke's Garden (but called by the Indians "Great Swamp"). It is said that he discovered this lovely spot in 1753 and re- moved thither in 1754, and in the fall of 1755 was driven away by the Indians. He had a family, and among his sons was The Calfeb Family. 387 Captain Thomas Burke, who became a very prominent man in the Indian border wars, and commanded a company of troops, which was at one time stationed at Hatfield's fort, on Big Stony creek. One of his daughters, Mary, married Colonel Christian Snidow, another, Rebecca, married Andrew David- son. He had a son, William, who at one time was the owner of the Red Sulphur Springs property, in Monroe County, and several of his family emigrated to the west at an early date. The Horse Shoe property in Giles County, granted to James Wood, subsequently became the property of Captain Thomas Burke, and finally that of Colonel William H. Snidow, his grandson. THE CALFEB FAMILY. This family is of German origin, came out of Pennsylvania into the Valley of Virginia and settled in the County of Shen- andoah, and from thence came, shortly after the close of the American revolution, to what was then Montgomery, now Pulaski County. The earliest of the Mercer County Calfees was James, who came to that county about 1829, and settled at Gladeville, one mile west of the present village of Princeton. He subsequently moved to Harman Branch, and later to Clover Bottom, on the Bluestone. He had five sons and five daughters. His sons were Charles W., who married Miss Nancy Bailey; Andrew J., who married Mrs. Brown ; Davis, William, French ; the daughters, Polly, Jane, Betsey, Virginia, and Cynthia, none of whom ever married. Charles W. Calfee and his wife, Nancy Bailey Calfee, had six sons and two daughters ; the sons, Albert B., William McHenry, George, Harvey M., John C, and William D. The daughters, Virginia, who married Dr. John H. Robinson, and Fannie, who married John Boggess. Charles W. Calfee was long clerk of Mercer County Court. Mr. Davis Calfee was a farmer, and lived for many years at New Hope Church, where he died in about 1879 ; he was a large man, weighing about 450 pounds. 388 New River Settlements A short time after James Calfee settled in Mercer County, came Samuel T., Wilson D., and James Calfee, Jr. ; the latter a minister in the church of the Disciples, a man of fine character and good ability, representing the County of Mercer in the Constitutional convention of 1872. Mr. Wilson D. Calfee and his wife, Jane Bailey Calfee, had a considerable family of children ; the sons are, Augustus B. Cal- fee, Kobert M. Calfee, R. Kohler Calfee, and Luther Calfee. Mr. H. Sayers Calfee, a brave Confederate soldier, is a son of Mr. Samuel T. Calfee, and Mr. Thompson Calfee, who resides near Bluefleld, is a son of Elder James Calfee; a daughter of James Calfee married Alexander W. Bailey; another daughter married Captain William A. Cooper. THE CAPERTONS. Partly from the manuscript of this family, furnished the author by the late Mr. John Caperton, of Louisville, Kentucky, it is learned that it was one among the early settlers of the New Eiver Valley, and was originally from the South of Scot- land, near Melrose, where they were called Claperton ; dropping the 1 they became Caperton; that they afterwards emigrated to Wales, and that John Caperton was the first, and probably the only one of the name, who came to America. He had three sons: Adam, Hugh, and William, and from these three sons descended the Capertons of Monroe County, West Virginia; the Capertons of the New Eiver in Giles County, Virginia, and Mercer County, West Virginia; and the Capertons of Rich- mond, Kentucky, and of Mississippi. Adam was the progenitor of the Monroe Capertons; Hugh of the New River Capertons, and William of the Kentucky and Mississippi Capertons. Hugh Caperton, the son of Adam, was born in Monroe County; was taken to Kentucky when an infant, where his father, Adam, in March, 1782, was killed at Mt. Sterling, by the Indians, in the battle known as Estill's Defeat, when his son, Hugh, was only two years old. Hugh The Chapmans. 389 returned to Virginia when twelve years of age, and in part was brought up by his uncle, Hugh, of New River. He lived in Ms native county until his death, which occurred in 1847. He was a self taught man, and represented his county in the State Leg- islature several years, one session in Congress (1816), was a member of the Board of Public Works of Virginia for many years and until his death. He amassed a large fortune for that day, his property being worth at his death |600,000.00. He stood guard against the Indians when only twelve years old. He married Miss Jane Erskine, and had a family of nine chil- dren. His son, Allen T., became a most prominent man, serv- ing often in the Legislature of Virginia, both in the House of Delegates and in the Senate, and in the Constitutional conven- tion of 1850-1; in the Confederate Congress, and was serving as United States Senator from West Virginia at the time of his death. Mr. Allen T. Caperton married Harriet Echols, of Vir- ginia, the sister of General John Echols. John Caperton, another son of Hugh of Monroe, was a promi- nent citizen of Louisville, Kentucky, and died recently at a very advanced age. Hugh, the progenitor of the New Kiver Capertons, was a man of much distinction, having served in the Indian wars as a Captain of a company, in 1793, at the mouth of the Elk River, on the Kanawha ; he served in the Legislature of Virginia much over one hundred years ago. William Caperton, the progenitor of the Kentucky and Mis- sissippi branch of the family, as an orator was without a rival. It is said that Henry Clay spoke of him as a very eloquent man. George and John Caperton, brothers of Hugh, settled in North- ern Alabama, where their descendants still reside. THE CHAPMANS. The Chapmans (1) were English people, and some of those ( 1 ) . It appears that the first place of eettlement of this family, after leaving England, was in the state of Connecticut. 390 New Eiver Settlements who emigrated to this country came from Connecticut to Charles County, Maryland, long prior to the American Eevolu- tion. After the settlement in Maryland, and before the begin- ning of the Revolution, some of them came to Culpeper County, Virginia, and settled. Among those who came was Isaac Chap- man, who married, in Culpeper County, Miss Sara Cole, by whom he had three sons and one daughter. The sons were Isaac, John, and Richard, the daughter, Jemima. Isaac went South, and finally located in Alabama, where his descendants still reside. His grandson. Honorable Reuben Chapman, was a member of Congress from Alabama in 1841. John married Sallie Abbott and Richard married Margaret Abbott, daughters of Richard Abbott of Culpeper County, Virginia ; the daughter, Jemima, married Moredock O. McKensey, (1) a Scotsman from the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Richard Abbott having died, his widow married a man by the name of Tracey, by whom she had two children, Bettie, who married James Rowe, and a son, William Tracey, the ancestor of the Traceys of Wolf Creek of New River Valley. In November, 1768, John Chapman, Richard Chapman, and Moredock O. McKensey removed from Culpeper County to the Shenandoah, in the Valley of Virginia, and from thence, in 1771, came to the New River Valley and settled at the mouth of Walker's creek, where John Chapman had two dwelling houses destroyed by the Indians ; his family being forced to flee to the Snidow fort for protection. In the spring of 1778 Mc- Kensey removed to the mouth of Wolf Creek, where his family, in May of that year, was attacked by the Indians, and a portion of them killed and another portion carried into captivity. Some years afterward, time not definitely known, Richard Chapman removed from Walker's Creek to Wolf Creek. The children of John Chapman were Isaac, who married Elian Johnston; George, who married Patience Clay; John, who married Miss Napier; Henley, who married Mary Alex- (1). McKensey died on Five Mile Fork of East River, in the year 1805. The Chapmans. 391 ander; Sallie, who married, first, Jacob Miller of Franklin County, Virginia,' and by whom she had a daughter and three sons : Jacob, who married Mrs. Polly Harman ; John, who mar- ried Sallie Peck; Tobias, who married Elizabeth Bane; Bar- bara, who married Morton P. Emmons. After the death of the elder Jacob Miller, his widow, Sallie, married David Johnston, and they had the following children: Oscar F., who married Elizabeth French ; Chapman I., who married Elian 0. Snidow ; Olivia, who married William M. Gillaspie, of Tazewell County, Virginia; Louisa A., who married Colonel Daniel H. Pearls, of Mercer, and Sallie C, who died unmarried. Jemima Chapman married Charles Hall and had the follow- ing children: Benjamin, who went to Cook County, Illinois, at an early date, and Chloe, who married John Brian. Annie Chapman, who married John Lybrook, had a numer- ous family, of whom was Philip Lybrook, the father of the present Major Samuel E. Lybrook, a great grandson of Philip, the settler. Isaac Chapman and his wife, Elian Johnston Chapman, had the following children : John, a lawyer of distinction and often a representative of Giles County in the Senate and House of Delegates, who married Ann Freel; Doctor David Johnston Chapman, who married Sallie Pepper; William Chapman, who married Nancy McDonald; Rachael, who married John Sni- dow; Priscilla, who married Doctor Thomas Fowler; Polly, who married John Bane ; Nancy, who married Joseph Mc- Donald; Sallie, who married William Kyle, and Rebecca, who married Samuel P. Pearls. John Chapman, the son of Isaac, had one daughter, Adeline, who married Colonel William H. Snidow, by whom she had three children, viz: John C, who married Anne Hoge; James P., who married Fannie Hale; Annie, who married Dr. Harvey G. Johnston. Doctor David J. Chapman had the following children, viz: John, drowned in his youth; William, who married Miss Mather ; James, who went west many years ago ; David J., Jr., 392 New River Settlements who now lives in Giles County and is unmarried, and who is the only Chapman in Giles County; Annie, who married Col- onel James W. English ; Jennie, who married Major Samuel E. Lybrook, and Malinda, who married Samuel S. Dinwiddle. William Chapman, who married Nancy McDonald, had the following children: Isaac E., who married Eliza Gillespie; John, who went to Texas and was drowned ; Louisa, who mar- ried Rev. Mr. Chanceleum; and Keziah, who married Isaac Chapman Fowler. John Snidow and Rachael, his wife, had the following chil- dren: Christian, who married Sylistine Goodrich; they had no children ; James H., who married Elvina Lucas and had the following children: John D., William R., Cornelia, who mar- ried Eugene Angel, and some daughters who are not married; David J. L., who married Malinda Pepper, but left no children ; Elizabeth, who married John Tiffany, and had the following children: Captain Hugh S., killed in the first battle of Ma- nasses; Charles C, who lives in Kansas, and Elizabeth, who married Andrew B. Symns; Mary B., who married John S. Peck, and had the following children : James P., killed in the battle of Cold Harbor in 1864; Hugh T., who lives in the State of Maryland; Chapman I., who lives in Giles County; John, who died a few years ago; Annie, who married John P. Peck; Elizabeth, who married Harvey Snidow, and Eliza, who mar- ried Williams. Elian Chapman Snidow, who married Chapman I. Johnston, had the following children: David Andrew, John Raleigh, Sarah Ellen, who married Honorable William A. French; An- nie C, who married Charles D. French; Rachael S., who is now dead, and who first married Daugherty, and secondly Joseph Alvis. Ellen J. Snidow, daughter of John and Rachael Chapman Snidow, is unmarried. Samuel P. Pearls and Rebecca Chapman Pearis, his wife, had three children : Dr. Robert A., who married Amanda Fowler ; Dr. Charles W., who married Electra Pearis; and Rebecca, who married Honorable Frank Hereford. The Chapmans. 393 The children of Joseph McDonald and Nancy Chapman Mc- Donald, his wife, were W. W. McDonald, of Logan; John C. McDonald, Isaac E. McDonald, Lewis McDonald, Floyd Mc- Donald; Sallie, who married John Sanders; Nancy, who mar- ried Lewis McDonald ; Elizabeth, who married John Anderson ; John C, Isaac E. and Floyd, who died unmarried. Dr. Thomas Fowler and wife had the following children: Thomas, Isaac C, Allen, Elbert; Mary, who married Captain James D. Johnston ; and Amanda, who married Dr. Eobert A. Pearls. Henley Chapman and his wife, Mary Alexander Chapman, had two sons and three daughters. The sons were General Augustus A. Chapman, who married Mary E. Bierne, and Manilius, who married Susan Bierne ; the daughters, Araminta D., married Captain Guy D. French; Elvina married Colonel Albert G. Pendleton, and Isabella married Major William P. Cecil. John Chapman, son of the settler, and brother to Isaac, George, and Henley, married Miss Napier; was killed by a horse, and his widow and children removed to Cabell County about the year of 1800, where his descendants now reside. Captain John Chapman, who was a son of Andrew Johnston Chapman, son of the above John, was a distinguished Con- federate soldier, and died only a few years ago at his home in Lincoln County, West Virginia. Colonel Albert G. Pendleton and his wife, Elvina Chapman Pendleton, had three children: Nannie, who married Judge Philip W. Strother; Sallie, who married Van B. Taliaferro, and Alberta, who married Samuel Crockett. Major William P. Cecil and his wife Isabella Chapman Cecil, had one child, Mary, who married Charles Painter. Captain Guy D. French and wife, Araminta Chapman French, had four sons: Henley C, who married Harriet Eas- ley; Captain David A., who married, first Miss Williams, sec- ond Miss Jennie C. Easley; William A., who married Nellie Johnston; Charles D., who married Annie C. Johnston; they 394 New Eiver Settlements had daughters Sarah M., who first married Dr. W. W. Mc- Comas, second, Captain F. G. Thrasher; Mary, who married William B. Mason; Fannie, who married J. H. D. Smoot, and Susan, who married Dr. E. T. EUett. John Chapman, son of Richard, married Jemima, a daughter of the Elder David Johnston, and they had a daughter who married William Wilburn, of Sugar Kun ; and James H. Wil- burn, whose photograph appears opposite this page, is a grand son of the said John Chapman, and a great grandson of the first William Wilburn, who came in 1780 to what is now Giles County, Virginia. James W. Chapman, a grandson of John, of Wolf Creek, is the only descendant of John Chapman bearing that name who now resides in this section of the country ; the remaining mem- bers of the Richard Chapman family went at an early date to the Big Sandy and Eastern Kentucky region, some of them removing to the State of Ohio. Some of the descendants of Richard Chapman still reside in the counties of Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, and Wayne, West Virginia. The Elder John Chapman, and his son, Isaac, were soldiers during the Indian wars on the border, and were stationed dur- ing the years of 1774 to 1779 in Snidow's, Hatfield's, and Barger's forts. The family of George Chapman, who married Patience Clay, consisted of three daughters and two sons. Sallie Chapman married Hugh Jordan, Elizabeth Chapman married Joseph Peck, and Lucretia Chapman married William McClure; the sons, Isaac and Archer, went to the state of Ohio at an early day. Opposite page 396 is presented the photograph of the dwelling house built by George Chapman, in 1794, on the East Bank of New River, near Ripplemeade, Virginia, and which house still stands and is on land now the property of Mr. Har- vey Phlegar and Mr. H. B. Shelton. J. H. WILBURN Grandson of the Settler. The Christian Family. 395 the christian family. This family came from the Isle of Man, and as early as 1732 Gilbert Christian, with his family, removed from Pennsylvania, where they lived in 1726, to a point near where Staunton, Vir- ginia, now stands, and on a creek to which they gave their name. The family of Gilbert Christian, which consisted of him- self, wife, three sons, John, Eobert, William, and a daughter, Mary, became near neighbors of the celebrated Lewis family. Captain Israel Christian settled in the Valley in 1740, where he married Miss Elizabeth Starke; removing later to what is now Botetourt County, he gave the land for the town of Fin- castle, and still later he came across the Alleghanies, and set- tled on the New River, near Ingles' ferry. The town of Chris- tiansburg was named from him. His son. Colonel William, was born near Staunton, in 1743; he married Anne, a sister of Patrick Henry. He was long a prominent figure on the border; representing the New River Valley district in the State Senate in 1781; was the Colonel and Commandant of the Fincastle troops, and led a regiment from that county to the battle of Point Pleasant, in October, 1774. Only two companies of his regiment participated in the battle; the remainder, with Col- onel Christian, were in charge of the supplies for the army of General Lewis. Colonel Christian, with a few men, in pursu- ing a marauding band of Indians across the Ohio, was, on the 9th day of April, 1786, killed on the spot whereon now stands Jeflfersonville, Indiana. A part of the same Christian family from near Stauntbn, in the Valley, settled on East River, in what is now Mercer County, in 1780. Some of these people served with great dis- tinction on the Confederate side in our civil war. THE CECIL FAMILY. The Cecils crossed over to England with William the Nor- man; and the family in the United States is said to be of the Lord Baltimore stock (Cal verts), descendants of Sir William 396 New River Settlements Cecil, of England (Lord Burleigh). Samuel W. Cecil and his two brothers came to America in 1700, and settled in Mary- land. Samuel W. married Rebecca White in Maryland, about 1750, and removed to the New River Valley in what is now Pulaski County in about 17G0. He died in 1785 and his wife in 1815. They left a family of seven sons and three daughters. The sons, William, born in 1752, married Nancy Witten, and set- tled in Tazewell; Thomas, born in 1755, married Nancy Gray- son, and went to Ohio ; James married Miss Wysor ; Benjamin married Priscilla Baylor and went to Kentucky; Zechariah married Miss Mitchell, and went to Kentucky ; Samuel married Mary Ingram, and went to Missouri; Rebecca married Jamra Witten, of Tazewell; Malinda married Samuel Mitchell; Eleanor married Thomas Witten, of Tazewell. Zechariah Cecil, son of Samuel W., married Julia Howe, daughter of Major Daniel Howe, from whom Daniel R. Cecil, of Giles County, Virginia, descends, and who married Ardelia Pearls, granddaughter of Colonel George Pearis, a soldier of the American Revolution, and first settler where Pearisburg station, N. & W. Ry. Co., is now situated. THE CLAY FAMILY. The Clays of Virginia and Kentucky, the descendants of their English ancestry by that name, emigrated to America and set- tled in Virginia prior to the American Revolution. One brother, the father of Henry Clay, of Kentucky, a Baptist min- ister, settled in the Slashes of Hanover; one, the ancestor of General Greene Clay, settled in Powhatan, and was the an- cestor of General Oden G. Clay of Campbell County, Virginia. The one who settled in Franklin County was the ancestor of the elder Mitchell Clay, who came from Franklin to the Clover Bottom on the Bluestone, in 1775. Mitchell Clay married in Franklin County, Virginia, in the year of 1760, Phcebe Belcher. In April, 1774, there was granted DWELLING HOUSE OF GEORGE CHAPMAN Near Ripplemead, Va., built in 1794. The Clay Family. 397 by Dunmore, the Eoyal Governor of Virginia, to Mitchell Clay, assignee of Lieutenant John Draper, 800 acres of land on Blue- stone Creek, Clover Bottoms, then Fincastle County, Virginia, now Mercer County. By the terms of this grant Clay was re- quired to take possesion of this land within three years, clear so much per year, and render so much ground rent to the King of Great Britain. A copy of this grant is on file in the Clerk's ofSce of Mercer County Court. In payment for this tract of land. Clay gave Draper a negro woman and her children, execut- ing to him therefor a bill of sale. Many years afterward, and after the death of Mitchell Clay, which occurred in 1812, this trade gave rise to two interesting law suits; one, by the negro woman and her children against Draper or his representatives for their freedom, which they succeeded in establishing; and thereupon the representatives of Draper sued the executors of Clay and their sureties, recovering a large decree against them, resulting in the bankrupting of Captain William Smith and the estate of Colonel George N. Pearis, sureties of the executors of Clay. Mitchell Clay and his wife had fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters. The sons were Mitchell, Henry, Charles, William, David, Bartley, and Ezekiel, the latter captured and Bartley killed by the Indians on Bluestone, in 1783. The daughters were Rebecca, who married Colonel George Pearis; Patience, who married George Chapman; Sallie, who married Captain John Peters, a soldier of the war of 1812 ; Obedience, who married John French, a soldier of the American Kevolu- tion; Nannie, who married Joseph Hare, also a soldier of the American Revolution; Mary, who married William Stewart, and Tabitha, who was killed by the Indians on Bluestone, in 1783. From Rebecca, who married Colonel George Pearis, descend- ed the family of Pearis of the New River Valley. From George Chapman and wife descended a numerous progeny, of whom Sallie married Hugh Jordan, of Giles County. From Mrs. Peters descended a large part of the family of that name now 398 New Eivee Settlements living in the New River Valley. From Mrs. French descended a numerous posterity, and among her descendants is Colonel James M. French, a distinguished lawyer and one of the brav- est soldiers that drew his sword for Virginia in our civil war. Mrs. Hare left no living descendants. Mrs. Stewart left a large number of descendants, many of whom are among the most respectable and prominent citizens of the county of Wyoming and adjacent territory. After the destruction, in part, of the family of Mitchell Clay, on Bluestone, he removed to New River, purchased a farm which is now owned in part by Mr. J. Raleigh Johnston, oppo- site Pearisburg station on N. & W. Ry. Co.'s railway line, and upon which he erected a dwelling house in 1783, which is still standing, a photograph of which will be seen opposite this page. THE CLOYD FAMILY. This family were Protestant Irish people, and some of that name were in the seige of Londondary in 1689. Some portion of the family emigrated to America, long prior to the Revolu- tion, and settled in Pennsylvania, where David Cloyd married Margaret Campbell, and from thence removed to James River, in the now county of Botetourt, where, in March, 1764, Mrs. Cloyd and her son John were killed by the Indians; Joseph,, another son, on the day of the killing of his mother and brother, was working in the field, and the Indians, by a ruse, succeeded in getting between him and the house. Perceiving that they were Indians that had attacked the house, he ran to a neighbor for aid, hastening back only to find that his mother had been tomahawked and his brother killed. Joseph Cloyd in about 1774 or 1775, when quite a young man, came with Colonel William Preston to the Draper's Meadows settlement. He subsequently married Miss Mary Gordon, and it is said, at her request, built a brick church near where Dublin, Virginia, is now situated, being the first church building erected 'Jt* 'j^ ^ i MITCHELL CLAY HOUSE Built in the Fall of 1783. The Cloyd Family, 399 west of the Alleghany mountains. Mary, a sister of Joseph Cloyd, married James McGavock. The children of Joseph Cloyd were David, Gordon and Thomas. David married Sarah McGavock, Gordon married Betsie McGavock, and Thomas married Mary McGavock. Joseph Cloyd, the elder, became possessed of a very large and valuable estate on Back Creek, now in Pulaski County, a portion of which is now owned and possessed by his great-grandson, David Cloyd. Joseph Cloyd was a soldier in the American army during the Revolution, and Major of the Montgomery County militia. In the year of 1780 there was a great tory uprising in the northern counties of North Carolina, consequent upon the advance of the British army into that state in October of that year. Major Cloyd raised three companies of horsemen, among them one com- manded by Captain George Pearis, and marched to the Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, being joined on his way by some North Carolina companies, raising his force to 160 men. On the 14th day of October he fought a severe battle with the Tories at the Shallow Ford, in which he defeated them with a loss on their part of 15 killed, and four found wounded and left on the field ; on the American side Captain Pearis and four privates were wounded. General Greene was retreating before the British army and was hard pressed, and not only called on the Governor of Vir- ginia for aid, but wrote letters to Colonels William Preston, William Campbell, Evan Shelby, and John Sevier for help. On the 10th day of February, 1781, Colonel William Preston ordered the assembling of the militia of Montgomery County at the Lead Mines, and on the 18th day of February he marched with Major Joseph Cloyd, at the head of 350 horsemen, and joined General Greene near Hillsboro, North Carolina, and was ordered to report to General Pickens, then in command of Gen- eral Greene's left wing, operating on the Haw and Deep Rivers. Preston marched to join General Pickens, but lost his way and camped the night preceding his joining Pickens between the out- posts of the two armies, almost within musket range of the 400 New River Settlements British pickets. On the 2nd day of March a part of Preston's men were engaged with Lee's cavalry in a brisk skirmish with the British outposts, in which the British came off second best, losing about thirty killed and wounded, the Americans losing but few men. On the 5th of March Preston proceeded across the country to Wetzell's (Whitsell's) Mills, where on the 6th a severe battle was fought with a portion of the British army commanded by Lord Cornwallis, the Americans being com- manded by Generals Pickens and Williams. In this battle Preston's men took a prominent part and fought bravely and gallantly, but were finally forced to yield the field to the Brit- ish. Near the close of the engagement Colonel Preston's horse took fright and ran with him into and across a mill pond in the very face of the British. He finally threw Colonel Preston, who made his escape into the American lines just as the retreat began, and being a very heavy, fleshy man, was unable to keep up with the retreating army, whereupon Major Joseph Cloyd dismounted and gave him his horse. Colonel Preston being in- jured by the fall from his horse, his troops were placed under the command of Colonel William Campbell. The retreat con- tinued until the forces engaged at Wetzell's Mills had reached Guilford Court House, where on the 15th of March the battle between General Greene's army and that of Lord Cornwallis was fought, resulting in the defeat of the Americans. In the battle of Guilford Court House Preston's men, under Colonel William Campbell, occupied the extreme left, which was as- sailed by the British infantry and cavalry under Colonel Tarle- ton, who in his book entitled "Southern Campaigns, 1780-81," says: "That the backwoodsmen stood their ground until the British infantry pushed them off the field, and that the great- est injury done to the British in that battle was by the Vir- ginia backwoodsmen." On receiving information at the Davidson-Bailey fort of the massacre of Captain James Moore and his family, in Abb's Valley, by the Indians, on July 14th, 1786, a messenger was at once dispatched to Major Cloyd, who immediately gathered The Davidson Family. 401 a body of men and marched to the Valley, reaching there, how- ever, two days after the Indians had departed with their booty and prisoners, and too late to overtake them . Major Joseph Cloyd was a representative from Montgomery County in the Legislature of Virginia in the year of 1788, and his son. General Gordon Cloyd, was a member of the Constitu- tional convention of Virginia, 1829-30; and his grandsons, Major Joseph Cloyd and Mr. James M. Cloyd, were prominent citizens of Pulaski County. THE DAVIDSON FAMILY. John Goolman Davidson, born in Dublin, Ireland, a cooper by trade, came to America about 1755, and settled in Beverly Manor, in what was then Augusta County. Subsequently he removed with his family to the Draper-Meadow's settlement, and from thence in the year of 1780, he removed and located at the head of Beaver Pond Creek, in what was then Mont- gomery County, Virginia, now Mercer County, West Virginia. During the same year he was joined by Richard Bailey and family, and they erected a block house, or fort, a short distance below the head of Beaver Pond Springs. From John Goolman Davidson has descended all of the people of that name now in this and the adjoining counties. A portion of the city of Blue- fleld is built on lands formerly the property of Mr. Davidson. His descendants, or quite a number of them, have been promi- nent in civil affairs in the counties of Mercer and Tazewell. Honorable A. C. Davidson (1), of Mercer County, is a great great grandson of John Goolman Davidson. THE EMMONS FAMILY. James Emmons (2), the ancestor of the New River and Giles County family of that name, was an American soldier, as shown (1). Died December 19, 1905. (2). This family is reputed to be of Sweedish origin. 402 New Eivhr Settlements by his declaration for a pension made in 1832. He enlisted in the County of Fauquier, and served under General Daniel Morgan in his Southern campaign; was in the battle of the Co'B'pens, and in many skirmishes in the Carolinas. In 1781 he substituted for his brother William and went in his place to Yorktown, was in that battle and after its close guarded the British prisoners who were there taken, to Winchester,, Virginia. At the close of the war he removed with his family,, and with Charles Duncan and others, to Stokes County, North Carolina, and from thence to the New River Valley about 1795,. where his son, Morton P. Emmons, intermarried with Barbara Miller, the daughter of Jacob and his wife, Sallie Chapman Miller. All of the people of the New River Valley of the name of Emmons descended from James Emmons. Morton E., who resides in Bluefleld, West Virginia, is a great-grandson of the said James, as well also as Morton Emmons, of Atlanta, Georgia. THE FRENCHES. The ancestors of this family lived in Scotland, thence re- moved to Wales, and from thence, long prior to the American Revolution, came across the Atlantic and settled in the North- ern Neck of Virginia — ^Westmoreland County, within the grant to Lord Fairfax. It was in Westmoreland, about 1735, that John French married a lady of Welsh extraction. Among the children born to them was a son, Matthew, in 1737. Settlers, were pressing across the Blue Ridge and on to the south branch of the Potomac, and on and along the Big and Little Cacapon. As information came back from these people of the wonderland they had found, others became interested and made up their minds to go ; among them John French and his family, in about 1750, made their way up the Rappahannock and over to the south branch of the Potomac, locating at a place since well known as French's Neck, a beautiful and valuable body of land on the south branch of the river mentioned. John lived but a The Frenches. 403 short while after reaching his new home, and his widow shortly after his death married Captain Cresap. The district in which John French settled soon became the County of Hampshire. There were several sons in the family other than Matthew, among them William and James, and a daughter Esther, who married John Locke. Matthew and his step-father soon had differences of such a nature as to lead to their estrangement and separation; Matthew, who had not yet attained his majority, sold out his interest in his father's estate to his stepfather, Captain Cresap, and went back over the mountains to Culpeper, where he married an Irish girl whose name was Sallie Payne. In 1775 Matthew, with his wife and seven children, four sons and three daughters, crossed the Alleghanies into the New River Valley, and settled at what is now known or called the Boyd place, on Wolf Creek, in Giles County, then Fincastle. The names of the sons of Matthew were John, Isaac, James, and David ; the latter, the youngest child, was born in Culpeper in 1772; the daughters were Martha, Mary and Annie. John, the son of Matthew, married Obedience Clay in January, 1787; Isaac married Elizabeth Stowers for his first wife; his second was a Mrs. Fillinger; James married Susan Hughes, a half sister to the elder William Wilburn; his second wife was Margaret Day; David married Mary Dingess. Martha, the daughter of Matthew, married Jacob Straley; Mary married Isaac Hatfield; Annie married General Elisha McComas. The following are the names of the children of John French and his wife Obedience Clay French, viz: William, Ezekiel, Charles C, James, George P., John, St. Clair, Hugh and Austin, and the daughters, Annie, Sallie, Orrie, Obedience, Nancy and Rebecca. Isaac French and his wife, Elizabeth Stowers French, had the following named children, viz: Sallie, Elizabeth, Docey, and Isaac. The children of James French, by his first marriage, were 404 New Eiver Settlements three sons, Isaac, Reuben, and Andrew; and five daughters, Mary, who married Daniel Straley; Sallie, who married Wil- liam Hare; Elizabeth, who married James Rowland; Isaac married Sallie Straley; Reuben married Miss Meadows, and Andrew L. married Miss Day; and by the second marriage James had two daughters, Esther Locke, who married Kinzie Rowland, and Martha, who married William Milan. The names of the children of David French and his wife, Mary Dingess French, are as follows, viz: Guy D., who mar- ried Araminta D. Chapman; Napoleon B., who married Jane Armstrong; Dr. David M., who married Miss Smoot, of Alex- andria, Virginia; Rufus A., William H., and James H., who died unmarried; the daughters, Cynthia, who married Judge David McComas ; Harriet, who married Samuel Pack ; Minerva, who married Colonel Thomas J. Boyd. Matthew French died on Wolf Creek, in Giles County, in 1814. Mrs. Sallie Fletcher, a grand daughter of Matthew French, and 95 years old in 1892, gave to the author in writing a personal description of Matthew French and his wife, whom she well recollected, being a married woman and about seven- teen years old at the date of the death of her grandfather. Mrs. Fletcher says: "Matthew French was a small, spare made man, light hair and blue eyes ; his wife was a very large woman, quite fleshy, fair complexion, light hair and blue eyes." Matthew French and his eldest son, John, were American soldiers in our war for independence, and served in Colonel William Preston's battalion of Montgomery County militia, of which Joseph Cloyd was Major, and Thomas Shannon the Captain of the company to which the Frenches were attached. They were with their company in the battle of Wetzell's Mills, March 6th, 1781, and again at Guilford Court House, on the 15th of the same month. The names of the children of Guy D. French and his wife, Araminta D., are as follows, viz: Henley C, who married Miss Harriet Easley (both now dead) ; Mary, who married William B. Mason (both now dead) ; Fannie, who married HON. Wm. a. FRENCH Great grandson of Matthew French. The Gillespies- i05 J. H. D. Smoot (the latter dead) ; Sarah, who first married Dr. W. W. McComas (killed in battle of South Mills), and secondly married Captain F. G. Thrasher; Susan, who married Dr. K. T. EUett (the latter dead). Captain David A. French first married Miss Williams, for his second wife Jennie C. Easley; William A. married Sarah E. Johnston ; Charles D. married Annie C. Johnston. Opposite this page is the photograph of Hon. William A. French, a great grandson of Matthew the Settler. William A. died in April, 1902. The descendants of Matthew French are scattered far and wide over the South and West. Among them were many bril- liant men and women ; the men have been magistrates, sheriffs, clerks, lawyers, judges, statesmen and soldiers. David Mc- Comas, one of the descendants of Matthew French, was an eminent jurist; William McComas, another, was a member of Congress from 1833 to 1837; Dr. W. W. McComas was a dis- tinguished physfcian and gallant Confederate soldier; Colonel James Milton French, now of Arizona, served his country with devotion and honor both in military and civil life. THE GILLBSPIES^ OF TAZEWELL COUNTY. These people are the descendants of Scottish ancestors who came to America prior to our war for independence, and set- tled first in Pennsylvania, and then removed to western North Carolina, from whence they traveled westward over the moun- tains into what is now the State of Tennessee, from which came the immediate progenitors of the family to the Clinch Valley section, about 1794. The Gillespies were quite a distinguished people in Scotland, especially in the affairs of church ; the Rev. Thomas Gillespie, a Presbyterian minister of Scotland, is men- tioned as being prominent in the affairs of his church in 1752. Gillespies' Gap is a well known pass in the Blue Eidge, in North Carolina; and Haywood, in his Civil and Political His- tory of Tennessee, at pp. 196-7, mentions a Captain Gillespie 406 New Eivbr Settlements as serving under Colonel John Sevier in 1779 in the Indian wars in that state, mentioning an incident in connection with this Captain Gillespie, which shows him to have been a man of great personal courage, firmness and magnanimity. It appears from information furnished the author by the Honorable Albert P. Gillespie, of Tazewell, that two brothers, James and Thomas Gillespie, came from the Cumberland country in Tennessee, about 1794, and that James settled near Chatham Hijl, in what is now Smyth County, and that some of his descendants still reside in that section, and some are residents of the County of Tazewell. Thomas Gillespie is the ancestor of the larger part of the family of that name in Tazewell County, and he left the following sons: John, Eees, B., Henry, William and Eobert; and daughters, one married James Harrison, and another mar- ried a Mr. Thompson. William M. Gillespie, son of the preceding William, married Olivia Johnston, of Giles County (he and his wife are both now dead), and they had the following children, viz : David J., who married Elizabeth Sanders ; Joseph S., who married Mary Higginbotham ; Albert P., who married Nannie Higginbotham ; and daughters, Sarah, who married Clinton Barnes; Margaret, who married Colonel Joseph Harrison; Mary, who married Oscar Barnes, and Ella, who married Dr. J. L. Painter. The daughter of Thomas Gillespie, who married James Harrison, was the mother of Colonel Joseph Harrison, now living near Tazewell, Virginia. THE HALES OF THE NEW RIVEE VALLEY. This family is of English origin, descendants of the Hales of Kent. The first American emigrant of the name coming in 1632, bore the coat of arms of the Kentish Hales— three broad arrows, feather white on a red field. The traditional story in the family of these New River Hales is, that the family was quite numerous in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and that some time prior to the beginning of our war for independence DR. JAMES W. HALE Great Grandson of Gapt. Edward Hale, the Settler. The Hales. 407 there were in one family of this name seven brothers, all of whom joined the American army ; a part of them served through the war under General Washington in and around Boston, in the Jerseys and in Pennsylvania ; that one of the older brothers, who had a family, drifted south to Virginia some years prior to the beginning of the Eevolution, and located in what is now Pranklin County, Virginia ; that this settler had a son Edward, who served in the American army in the early period of the Revolution, and later, in 1779, came across the Alleghanies into the New River Valley, and later married a Miss Patsy Perdue and settled on Wolf Creek. Edward Hale was born about 1750, was a man of rather small stature, fair complexion and blue eyes, was a man of information and intelligence, and became a prominent figure on the border in his day, engaging in the Indian wars, fights and skirmishes. He was with the party under Captain Matthew Farley, that followed the Indians in the summer of 1783, after their attack on Mitchell Clay's family, on the Bluestone at Clover bottom, and was in the skirmish had with a part of these Indians on Pond Fork of Little Coal river, in which he killed an Indian at the first fire. From the back of this Indian, killed by Edward Hale, William Wiley, who was in the party of pursuers, took a strip of the Indian's hide, which he gave to Hale and was used by him and a number of his family for many years as a razor strop. Op- posite this page is the photograph of Dr. James W. Hale, a descendant of the Captain Edward Hale above mentioned. Edward Hale marched with Captain Shannon's company to North Carolina, in February, 1781, and was in the engagement at Wetzell's Mills, on the 6th day of March, and at Guilford Court House on the 15th day of the same month. In 1785 Ed- ward Hale married Miss Patsy Perdue, a daughter of Uriah Perdue, then recently removed from what is now Franklin County, Virginia. Mrs. Hale was a sister of the wife of the elder Joseh Hare. The names of the children of Edward Hale and his wife are as follows, viz: Thomas, Isaiah, Charles, Jesse, Isaac, Daniel, Elias and William; and the daughters, 408 New Rivek Settlements Mary and Phoebe. Thomas married Miss Lucas, Isaiah married Margaret Lucas, Isaac married Miss Lucas, Jesse married Mar- garet Watts, Daniel married Elizabeth Watts, Elias married Nancy Peters, William married Miss Williams; Mary married John Williams, and they moved to the state of Missouri, and Phoebe married John McClaugherty, son of James. Thomas Hale had sons, Charles, Edward, Lorenzo D., Green, Thomas, and Ralph ; daughters, Priscilla, who married William H. French; Martha, who married, first, David F. Alvis, second William Shannon; Ehoda, who never married. Isaac had one son, Daniel P.; daughters, Eliza, who mar- ried Captain James F. Hare ; Martha, who married Russell G. French; Miriam, who married Isaac H. Day; Mary, who mar- ried Charles E. Hale; Sarah, who married, first, Rufus Brown, second, Luke Wells ; Daniel P., married Martha Shumate. Daniel had sons, Thomas, Charles E., John A., and Daniel F., and daughters, Elizabeth, who married William Shumate; Paulina, who married C. W. Tolley ; Linney, who married R. G. Rowland; Cornelia, who married William Brown. Charles had sons, John D., William H., and Isaac (the latter died young) ; daughters, Hulda, who married Andrew Fill- inger; Martha, who married John Walker. Isaiah had sons, Erastus (who died young), Luther C, who married Miss Alice Peck; the daughters, Charlotte married William Moser, Louisa married Jacob Snidow, Juliana married Wolf Crotching, Virginia married James Kinzie, Wilmoth mar- ried Andrew J. Hare. Isaiah Hale married a second wife, Mrs. Sallie Lybrook, whose maiden name was Hall ; they had daugh- ters, Lizzie, who married George Spangler; Sallie L., who mar- ried J. Harvey Dunn, and the son, Luther C, above mentioned. Jesse had sons, Hamilton J. (died during the civil war), Ed- ward C, who lives in Giles County ; daughters, Julia, who mar- ried Pettyjohn ; Martha, who died unmarried ; Mary, who married David French ; Eglentine, who married Henry W. Broderick (both dead) ; Newtonia, who married Erastus W. Charleton. The Hales. 409 For want of correct and sufficient information the names of the children of William Hale and his sister, Mrs. Williams (both of whom died in Missouri) cannot be given in this work. The children of Elias Hale and his wife, Nancy Peters Hale, are as follows, viz : John E., who married Miss Moore ; Charles A., who married Miss Bailey; Captain Rufus A., who married Julia Bailey ; Comrad married ; daughters, Mary, who married Calvin Harry; Ardelia, who married John T. Carr ; Julia, who died unmarried. Edward Hale died about 1820, and his descendants are among the most valued citizens of the country; they have occupied prominent and important positions in the civil and military affairs of the disteict of country in which they have lived. They have been farmers, physicians, lawyers, merchants, magistrates, members of the Legislature and judges. As soldiers they have always been the equals of any that the country has sent forth ; they fought, bled and died on nearly every important battlefield of our civil war. Dr. James W. Hale — formerly a distinguished physician — now an able lawyer, residing at Princeton, West Virginia, was a valiant Confederate soldier in the Civil war, los- ing an arm at the battle of Piedmont, Virginia, June 5th, 1864. He is a great-grandson of Edward Hale. Edward McClaiigh- erty, another great-grandson of Edward Hale, was a lieutenant in Company A, 17th Virginia regiment of cavalry, and died in the service. Honorable Robert C. McClaugherty, also a great- grandson of Edward Hale, is a prominent lawyer residing at Bluefield, West Virginia. He served four years as Prosecuting Attorney of Mercer County, and eight years as Judge of the 9th Jiidicial Circuit of West Virginia. The late Captain Rufus A. Hale, of Mercer County, was one of the bravest men in his regiment, serving throughout the war 1861-5 with distinction, and was more than once commended by his superior officers for his gallantry and good conduct on the battlefield. Charles A. Hale, a brother of Captain Rufus A., was a highly reputable citizen, made a good record and name as a valiant soldier of the 8th Virginia regiment of cavalry. 410 New Eivek Settlements James Perdue, who died in Mercer County in 1900, at the age of one hundred and one years, was a relative of Captain Edward Hale. JOSEPH HARB^ THE HUGUENOT. The ancestors of Joseph Hare left France in the days of the fearful religious persecution, and sought refuge for a short time in the Barbadoes, from which, about 1710, they came to South Carolina, where the family remained a number of years, and thence traveled northward until it reached the southern border of the State of North Carolina, not far from the present city of Fayetteville. The breaking out of the American Revo- lution found in this family eight boys and three girls, all bom in South Carolina, among them Joseph, who was born in 1749. The great tory or Loyalist uprising in the spring of 1776, in the neighborhood of Fayetteville, North Carolina, under the leadership of General McDonald, brought the patriot forces of that section together under Colonel Richard Caswell, to whose command Joseph Hare had attached himself. Colonel Caswell, learning that this body of Loyalists, 1500 strong, was preparing to march to Wilmington and would on their route have to cross Moore's Creek bridge, repaired thither with his troops, and prepared for action, which took place on February 27th, 1776, resulting in the complete overthrow and defeat of the Loyalists army, and the killing and capturing of a large number, includ- ing their commander. After the term of service of Joseph Hare had expired he came, in the year of 1779, to the New River Valley, and finally settled on Wolf Creek, in what is now the County of Giles. He became a very distinguished Indian fighter, spy and scout, and was in many of the skirmishes along the border, between 1779 and 1794, among them the skirmish with the Indians on Pond Fork of Little Coal river in the summer or early fall of 1783, in which several of the Indians were slain. The Indians killed in this action were a part of the band that had a few days previ- DR. JOS. H. HARE Great Grandson of Joseph Hare, the Settler. Joseph Hare. 411 ously attacked the family of Mitchell Clay, at Clover bottom, on the Bluestone, killing a son and daughter of Clay, and carry- ing away as a prisoner his young son Ezekiel. Joseph Hare was a member of Captain Thomas Shannon's company, with which he marched to the state of North Carolina in February, 1781, and with his company participated in the action of Wet- zell's Mills on the 6th day of March, and on the 15th of the same month in the battle of Guilford Court House. In April, 1789, he married Nannie Clay, a daughter of Mitchell Clay and his wife, Phoebe Belcher Clay, by whom he had two children, who, together with the mother, died young. He then married Phosbe Perdue, a daughter of Uriah Perdue, then lately re- moved from the County of Franklin. This Perdue family was of French extraction, and possessed of all the eccentricities, peculiarities and nervousness of their French ancestry. Joseph Hare had by his second marriage but one child, a son, William H., who married Sallie French, a daughter of James French and his wife Susan Hughes French. William H. Hare and his wife had the following named chil- dren : Joseph, who married Julia A. Duncan ; Andrew J., who married Wilmoth Hale; James F., who married Eliza Hale; Isaac, who first married Miss Rowland, second, Miss Kirk; William H., who married Miss Lambert; John D., who died unmarried ; and daughters, Phoebe, who married Eev. Elisha G. Duncan ; Susannah, who married James W. Rowland, and Sal- lie, who married William P. Shumate. The elder Joseph Hare died in 1855, at the age of one hundred and five years. Dr. Joseph H. Hare, a prominent physician of the city of Bluefield, is a great-grandson of the elder Joseph Hare, and his photograph will be seen on the page facing this. The descendants of Joseph Hare were bold and determined soldiers, among them Captain James F. Hare led a company in the 36th Virginia regiment of infantry. Hamilton, a son of the younger Joseph Hare, and a brother of Dr. Joseph H. Hare, was killed in the battle of Piedmont, Virginia, June 5th, 1864. 412 New River Settlements the hogbs. In addition to other sources of information, we gather from "Foot's Sketches of Virginia," and from a pamphlet entitled "Historical and Genealogical of the Cumberland Valley, Pa.," by William H. Egle, M. D., M. A., the following particulars in regard to the early history of the Hoge family. William Hoge, the first representative of this family, dis- tinguished in church and state, came to America in 1682 ; was the son of James Hoge, of Scotland, who lived in Musselburg, near Glasgow. On board the Caladonia, the vessel that brought him over, there was a family named Hume, consisting of father, mother, and daughter; they were Presbyterians, leaving Scot- land to avoid persecution. The Humes were from Paisley, Scotland, and the father was a Knight and a Baron; both father and mother died during the voyage to America, leaving their daughter, Barbara, in charge of young William Hoge, who placed her with her relations, the Johnstons, in the city of New York, whilst he decided to make his home at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on land owned by a Scotch company, at the head of which was Governor Berkeley, and of which he was a mem- ber. Subsequently William Hoge returned to New York, mar- ried the girl Barbara Hume, who had been his protege, and from this rather romantic marriage a long line of distinguished men and women have written their names on history's page. After the birth of their first son, John, William and his young wife made their home for some time in Chester County, Penn- sylvania, and John, when grown, married Miss Bowen, a Welch woman, and settled about nine miles west of Harris- burg and laid out the little village of Hogestown. From this marriage sprang a long line of descendants who have fitly adorned the history of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other western states, many of our country's most distinguished men being numbered among them, but the line is too long to trace these descendants, but rather of the father and remainder of the children, all of whom came to Virginia about the time John was establishing the little village of Hogestown. The Hogbs. 413 The children that came with William Hoge to Virginia, in 1735, were as follows: Solomon, James, William, Alexander, George, Zebulon, and Nancy, making their home about three miles from Winchester, in Frederick County. In the old grave- yard of old Opequon Church— the deed for the land on which the church stands was made by William Hoge on February 14th, 1745 — is buried William Hoge and Barbara, his wife, and many of their descendants. The first Pastor of this church was Rev. John Hoge, grandson of William, and son of John, his eldest son, who had remained in Pennsylvania. Solomon married a Quakeress and was the progenitor of that vast family of Hoges in Loudon and other lower Valley and Piedmont counties. Alexander was a member of the Constitutional Con- vention of Virginia that adopted the Federal Constitution, and was a member of the first Congress. James, the third son, of the descendants of whom this narra- tive will especially treat, and who has been said by one in writing of him, to be a "man eminent for his clear understand- ing, devout fear of God, and the love of the Gospel of Christ," was married twice; the name of the first wife was Agnes, the second Mary, their maiden names unknown; the records of Frederick County show that he and his wife Agnes join in a deed in 1748, and that he and his wife Mary in a deed in 1758. He and his wives are buried in old Opequon graveyard, he hav- ing died June 2nd, 1795. His first wife, Agnes, gave him two sons, John and James, and a daughter, who was the mother of General Robert Evans, founder of Evansville, Indiana, and of Mattie Evans, one of the captives of Abb's Valley. John, the eldest son, becoming dissatisfied with his father's marriage, left home and was never definitely heard from afterward, though he was supposed to have been killed in Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela. The younger brother, James, left home a few years after- wards to search for his brother John, but after reaching what is now Pulaski County, Virginia, gave up the search, and stopped with a new found friend. Major Joseph Howe, a gentle- 414 New River Settlements man of English descent, who had several years previous found a home in the then mountain wilds. After staying with him a short while young James Hoge married his daughter, Eliza- beth, in 1763, and they made their home near the father-in-law, and this is the old southwestern Virginia Hoge homestead, now owned by the late Governor James Hoge Tyler, a great-grand- son of the founder. James Hoge was born January 12th, 1742, and died April 5th, 1812, seventeen years after the death of his father, and is buried in the old Hoge burying ground. James Hoge and Elizabeth Howe Hoge, his wife, had five sons and six daughters: Joseph, John, Agnes, Martha, General James, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Daniel, and William; of the sons General James was a man of most marked characteristics, and attained very eminent distinction. He was a distinguished ofHcer in the war of 1812 ; served his county and district in the Senate and House of Delegates several terms; was five times Presidential Elector for his district on the Democratic ticket. He was born July 23rd, 1783, and died July 28th, 1861; is buried by the side of his wife, Eleanor Howe Hoge, in the old Howe burying ground. His wife was his first cousin. Joseph Hoge, the eldest brother, removed to Tennessee, and left a large number of descendants in that and other states. John and William both lived and died in Pulaski, Virginia, and are numerously represented in that and adjoining coun- ties. Daniel lived and died in Wise County, Virginia; he has descendants in southwest Virginia and some in the South; his sons were James, Stafford and Dr. John H. To briefly revert to the elder James Hoge, grandfather of General James and son of William Hoge and Barbara Hume, will state that by his second marriage there was several sons and perhaps daughters; the names of three of the sons were, Solomon, Edward and Moses, the latter a distinguished min- ister, was president of Hampden Sidney College and professor in Union Theological Seminary. He died in 1820, July 5th ; is buried in the church yard of the Third Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. He was the grandfather of the eminent Divine, The Howes. 41 r> Eev. Moses D. Hoge, of Eiclimond, Virginia, whose reputation is worldwide, and of the late William J. Hoge, D. D. Their father was Eev. Samuel Davies Hoge, who was brother to Eev. James Hoge, D. D,. late of Columbus, Ohio, and Eev. John Blair Hoge, father of Judge John Blair Hoge, of West Virginia. THE HOWES. There are diflBculties in the way of tracing back this family to its English origin. Tradition has to be largely relied upon, and this, as presented by different branches of the family, dif- fers as to the first of the family that crossed the Atlantic, and as to the place of first settlement. One statement is that a Joseph How, belonging to a family of that name long domiciled in the state of Massachusetts, enlisted and served as a soldier in the French and Indian war, in which he was supposed to have been lost, but was afterwards found in the New Eiver Valley, where later he added the letter "e" to the name, the original spelling of the name being How, afterwards Howe. How much of this statement is correct cannot be determined. The author has chosen to follow copies of the "Howe MSS.," furnished him by Honorable J. Hoge Tyler, late Governor of Virginia, who is a direct descendant of the Joseph Howe, a sketch of whose family here follows : The Howe family, not unlike the Hoge family, with which it is so nearly related, also commences with a little romantic episode in the lives of the first American representatives. Joseph Howe, an English gentleman, first cousin of Lord Howe and General Wayne of Eevolutionary fame, came to America in 1737. On board the vessel that brought him over was a beautiful and captivating girl by the name of Eleanor Dunbar ; the two young people fell in love with each other on the voyage and married soon after landing and settled near Boston, Mass., from which point they drifted southward and finally settled in the rugged regions of southwestern Virginia when the coun- try was quite a trackless wilderness. They made their home 416 New River Settlements on Back Creek, as nearly as can be established, in 1757 or 1758, and this old homestead, the scene of many pleasant revelries and charming reunions, is still in possession of one of the representatives of the family, Mrs. Agnes Howe DeJarnette, a great-granddaughter of its founder. Joseph Howe had three sons, Joseph, John and Daniel; of Joseph there is nothing known, he having left home in early life; John seems to have left no family. Daniel was an oflBcer in the Revolutionary war, was a man of strong mind and high character. He married Nancy Haven and had three sons, Joseph H., John Dunbar, and William H. ; and seven daughters, Ruth, Julia, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Lucretia, Nancy and Luemma. Joseph married Margaret Feely; John D. married Sarah Sheppard; William married Mary Fisher; Ruth married Thomas Kirk, and removed to Missouri; Julia married Zecharia Cecil ; Eleanor married General James Hoge ; Elizabeth married Colonel George Neeley Pearis; Lucretia married Colonel William Thomas; Nancy married Honorable Harvey Deskins, and Luemma married Dr. Jackson. The children of Joseph Howe and Margaret Feely were Eleanor, who married Reuben Sawers; Lucretia, who married Colonel William J. Jordan ; Eliza, who married Was- sam; Brown, who married William G. Farris; Ollie, who mar- ried D. P. Watson ; Sue, who never married. The children of John Dunbar Howe and Sarah, his wife, are as follows: Margaret, who married George Shannon; Susan, who married J. M. Thomas; Eliza Jane, who married Charles J. Matthews; Ellen Mary, who married J. G. Kent; John T., who married Sallie DeJarnette ; Samuel S., who died a prisoner of war at Point Lookout ; Haven B., who married Kate Cloyd ; Willie, who died in infancy, and Agnes, who married Captain E. G. DeJarnette and lived at the old place. The children of William H. Howe and Mary Fisher Howe are : Belle, who married Dr. Charles Pepper ; Lizzie, who mar- ried W. W. Minor; William G., who married Alice Brown, Augusta, who married Dr. Huflford; Sallie, who married Mr. The Howes. 417 Harmon; Alice, who married Charles Bumgardner ; Ellie, who is unmarried. A daughter of Thomas Kirk and Ruth, his wife, married a Mr. Peery. The children of Julia Howe, who married Zecharia Cecil, are: Russell, Giles, Daniel R., Zecharia and Nancy. The children of Eleanor, who married General James Hoge, are: Daniel, James, Joseph H., William; and Eliza, who married George Tyler, of Caroline, the father of Governor J. Hoge Tyler. The names bf the children of Elizabeth, who married Colonel George N. Pearis, are as follows : George W. Pearis, Daniel H. Pearis, Nancy, who married Archer Edgar; Rebecca, who married George D. Hoge; Ardelia, who married Daniel E. Cecil; ana Elizabeth, who married Benjamine White. The children of Lucretia, who married William Thomas, were Giles, William, Mary Anne and Julia. Nancy, who married Harvey Deskins, had no children. The children of Luemma, who married Dr. Jackson, are: Mollie, Sue, and Luemma. John Howe, son of the first Joseph and his wife Eleanor Dunbar Howe, was an active business man, engaged largely in the acquisition of wild land by survey and grant in the early years of the settlements along the tributaries of New River, in what is now Giles County, Virginia, and Mercer County, West Virginia. He made a survey and obtained a grant for a tract of four hundred acres of land on Brush Creek, near where the village of Princeton is now located. Major Daniel Howe, an officer in our war for independence, was often on detached service in search of Tories. The story is told that one John Haven, of Plum Creek, was suspected of being a Tory, and that Major Howe was sent on more than one occasion to arrest Haven, but was unable to do so, and that finally a pretty, blackeyed daughter of Haven, whose name was Nancy, caught the Major and she became his wife, as already stated. 418 New River Settlements the johnstons. In the 13th century, says Lieutenant Charles Johnston in his history of this family, "There lived in the mountainous district of Annandale, Dumbriesshire, Scotland, just north of Firth of Solway, a small but hardy clan of borderers, whose chief was called John. They were doubtless of Saxon origin, and up to this time were little known. Their clanbadge was the Red Hawthorne. As the clan grew stronger their Chieftain be- came ambitious to take his place among the chiefs of the larger clans. Their motto was : "Viva ut vivas." A little after the middle of the 13th century the chief of the clan applied to the Earl of Annandale, who was the grandfather of Robert Bruce, to purchase a tract of land near the center of the district; the deal was consummated, and it thereupon became necessary to give name to the tract in question ; Bruce, in the charter, called it Jonistoun (or Johnstoun), arid this chieftain, now Lord Jonistoun, was called Sir John de Jonistoun. His clan was thereafter known as Jonistown, or Johnistouns, the name now being spelled Johnstone or Johnston. Some writers have fallen into the error that the name is synonymous with Johnson, but a glance at the derivation of the names easily discloses the error; Johnson is derived from and means the son of John, while Johnston signifies John's Town; the one shows locality, .the other indicates descent. "The Johnstons were a prolific clan as well as hardy, and in the next two centuries after adopting the name, they became strong enough to excite the jealousy of their neighbors, the much stronger clan of Maxwell of Nithsdale, and many a bloody fight took place before the Johnstons established their supremacy at the battle of Dyfe-Sands, in 1593, in which the Maxwells were completely routed, leaving their chief. Lord John Maxwell, dead on the field. At this time the chief of the Johnstons was Sir James, who was succeeded by his son James, who was created Lord Johnston in 1633; both were of the Peerage and served in the English House of Lords. The John- stons and Scotts, it seems, were near neighbors in Scotland.. The Johnstons. 419 Sir Walter Scott, in his "Fair Maid of Perth," gives consider- able prominence to the Johnston clan, and adds some verses which run as follows : Within the bounds of Annandale The gentle Johnstons ride. They have been here a thousand year* And a thousand more they'll bide. The seat of the Johnston clan was at Lockerby, near the center of the district of Annandale." After the fall of Londondary, and religious persecution con- tinuing in their country, a large number of the Johnstons migrated to Ireland, settling in County Antrim and near Enis- killen, in County Fermanagh, mostly in the latter county. As early as 1700 several of these Fermanagh Johnstons came to America, locating in Piedmont, Virginia, along the base of the Blue Eidge, in what is now the Counties of Culpeper and Rappahannock, then probably Essex County. James Johnston, of Fermanagh, had two sons, James and David, the latter born about 1726. The father having died and the estate under the laws belonging to the older brother, James, the younger son David, seeing nothing favorable to his remain- ing in Ireland, at the age of about ten years, viz : about 1736 or 1737 sought an opportunity to join his kinsfolk in America and succeeded in hiring himself to a ship captain as a cabin boy, and finally landed at Norfolk, Virginia, and made his way across the country to his relations on the waters of the Rappa- hannock. He became the ancestor of the New River Johnstons. When about twenty- five years of age (1751), he fell in love with and married a pretty Irish girl by the name of Nannie (or Annie) Abbott, a daughter of Richard Abbott of Culpeper, and selected his home on Hazel River, near old Gourd Vine Church, in that county. John Chapman and his brother Richard, had also married daughters of Richard Abbott. Moredock O. McKensey, from Glasgow, Scotland, had married Jemima, the only sister of the Chapmans. In November, 1768, the Chapmans and Mc- 420 New River Settlements Kensey sold out their holdings in Culpeper, and crossed the Blue Ridge and settled on the Shenandoah, where they re- mained until the year of 1771, when they removed to the New River Valley, locating at the mouth of Walker's Creek, in the then County of Botetourt, now Giles. The peculiar spelling of McKensey's name will be noted ; the author examined the record of deeds in the clerk's office of the County Court of Culpeper County, finding a deed made by Mr. McKensey and wife in November, 1768, conveying a tract of land on Burgess's River, to which deed the name of McKensey is spelled "Moredock O. McKensey." Burgess's river has disappeared from all the maps, if it ever had a place thereon, and diligent inquiry of the Culpeper people failed to disclose its locality; it is believed, however, that the name has been changed to "Hedges' River." In September, 1758, Hennings' Virginia Statutes, the House of Burgesses made an appropriation to pay David Johnston, of Culpeper, a sum of money for food furnished by him to friendly Indians. David Johnston remained in Culpeper until 1778, and then came across the Alleghanies, settling on the plateau or territory between Big Stoney Creek and Little Stoney Creek at what is now known as the John Phleger farm, where he died in 1786, his wife in 1813, and they are both buried on this farm. The house which he built in 1778 is still standing and forms a part of the residence of the late John Phleger, and is no doubt the oldest structure in the County of Giles. David Johnston and his wife, Nannie, or Annie, Abbott John- ston, had eight children, three sons and five daughters, all born in Culpeper, the eldest,- Sallie, had married Thomas Marshall before the family left Culpeper. James Johnston, the eldest son of David, had visited the New River Valley in 1775, no doubt on a visit to the Chapmans and McKensey, and on his return to Culpeper, and in January, 1776, he enlisted in a volunteer company commanded by Cap- tain George Slaughter, which company was attached to the 8th regiment of Virginia infantry commanded by Colonel Muhlenberg. James Johnston served two years in the Ameri- The Johnstons. 421 can army; his first service or a part thereof was in South Carolina and Georgia; his command then marched north and was under the immediate command of General Washington. James was in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, marched through the Jerseys, and spent the winter at Valley Forge. David Johnston and Nannie Abbott Johnston had the fol lowing children: James, who married Miss Copley; Sallie, who married Thomas Marshall ; Elian, who married Isaac Chap- man; Jemima, who married John Chapman, of Wolf Creek; Virginia, who married Isaac McKensey; David, born in 1768, married Mrs. Sallie Chapman Miller, the widow of Jacob Miller; Andrew, born in 1770, married Jane Henderson of Montgomery County; Annie, the youngest daughter, married George Fry, Jr. This George Fry, Jr., was a son of George Fry who married the widow of the elder David Johnston, the Settler. Captain George W. Caldwell, of Mercer, is the grandson of Annie John- ston Fry, and the great grandson of the elder David Johnston. James Johnston and his wife, Copley, had several children; sons, Reuben and David. The family, except David, went to Indiana about the time of its admission into the Union. David married a Miss Peck, of Botetourt County, and resided on Sinking Creek, where his descendants still live. Thomas Marshall and his wife, Sallie Johnston Marshall, who settled near the present dwelling house of George L. Snidow, Esq., in Giles County, had four sons and two daughters; the sons: John, David, James and Thomas; the daughters, Nancy and Aggie. The family of Thomas Marshall removed at an early date to Powell's Valley, Virginia. John Chapman, of Wolf Creek, the son of Richard and Jemima Johnston Chapman, had quite a numerous family; one grandson, J. W. Chapman, residing on Wolf Creek, in Bland County, isthe only one of that family now bearing that name that lives in this country. John Chapman and wife had a daughter who married William Wilburn, of Sugar Run, and 422 New Eiver Settlements Boston and John Howard Wilburn are her sons. The late John Chapman Wilburn was also a grandson of the said John Chapman. Isaac McKensey and family went to Kentucky quite a hun- dred years ago. George Fry and his wife, Annie Johnston Fry, had a number of children, among them two sons, David and James, who went to Cabell County, Virginia, as early as 1820, and their descendants live in Cabell and Wayne, some of whom were men of prominence, among them Chapman Fry, grand- son of James, was long Clerk of the County Court of Wayne; William, another grandson, is a lawyer and now the Prose- cuting Attorney of Wayne County; Johnston Fry, a son of James, was for many years Deputy Sheriff of Wayne County. Some members of this family settled in Boone and Logan Counties, and their descendants still live there. Sallie, a daughter of George Fry, Jr., and Annie Johnston Fry, married David Croy; another daughter of George and Annie Fry, Eliza, married John Caldwell, who resided for many years in Mercer County, where he and his wife both died and are buried. They left a number of children, among them Captain George W. Caldwell, who was a faithful and brave Confederate soldier, and was for a number of years surveyor of Mercer County. The children of Isaac and Elian Johnston Chapman and who they married, will be seen by reference to the biographical sketch of the Chapmans. David Johnston and his wife, Mrs. Sallie Chapman Miller Johnston, had two sons and three daughters; the sons: Oscar Fitzalan Johnston, was born June, 1807, married Elizabeth French, daughter of Isaac and Sallie Straley French ; had three children, David E., who married Sarah E. Pearis; Sallie V. (1), who married, first, Jesse N. Simmons, second, George O'Eay- burn ; Oscar H., who died in 1879, unmarried. Chapman Isaac Johnston, born January, 1809, died December, 1891, married Elian Chapman Snidow, daughter of John and Rachel Chap- (1). Died December 2d, 1905. The Johnstons. 423 man Snidow; they had sons, David Andrew, who married Fannie Shumate; J. Ealeigh, who married Nona Peck; Sarah Ellen, who married William Augustus French; Annie Chap- man, who married Charles Dingess French; Rachel Snidow, who married, first, Daugherty, second, Joseph H. Alvis. Olivia Johnston married William M. Gillespie of Taze- well County; had three sons, David Johnston, who married Elizabeth Saunders, Joseph Stras, who married Mary Higgin- botham ; Albert Pendleton, who married Nannie Higginbotham ; the daughters, Sarah, who married Clinton Barnes; Margaret, who married Colonel Joseph Harrison; Louisa, who married Captain Henry Bowen; Mary, who married Oscar Barnes; Barbara, who married George W. Gillespie ; Ella, who married Dr. J. L. Painter. Louisa Adeline Johnston married Colonel Daniel H. Pearis; they had three children, two daughters and one son : Virginia, who died in 1860, unmarried ; George Daniel, who when little above the age of sixteen years, joined Bryan's Virginia battery and was killed in the battle of Cloyd's farm. May 9th, 1864; and Sarah E., who married David E. Johnston. Sallie Chapman Johnston died unmarried. Colonel Andrew Johnston and his wife, Jane Henderson Johnston, had five children; three sons and two daughters: James D., a lawyer of great prominence, married Mary A, Fowler, daughter of Dr. Thomas Fowler and his wife, Priscilla Chapman Fowler. Andrew Henderson Johnston married Mary McDaniel, and they had two children, Walter McDaniel, who married Annie Hays; Jennie, who married Honorable Thomas H. Dennis. Dr. Harvey Green Johnston married, first, Annie Snidow, by whom he had four children; secondly, he married Mrs. Mary Fowler Halsey, by whom he had four children. Mary Johnston married James M. Carper; they had two sons and three daughters. Eliza Jane Johnston married James Hoge, of Montgomery County ; they had a large family of chil- dren. The children of James D. Johnston and his wife, Mary Fowler Johnston, were: Roberta, who married Dr. John, 424 New Eivee Settlements Izard; Allene, who died unmarried; Sydney F. (now dead), who married Miss Hattie Carey; Mamie, who married Mason Jamison, and James D., a brilliant young lawyer of Roanoke Virginia. The children of Dr. Harvey Green Johnston are: Dr. Wil- liam A., who married Mrs. Dennis; Carrie, who married Mr. J. E. Triplett ; Jennie, who married Mr. William Black ; Loula, who married Mr. B. E. Bransford; Fowler, who died young; Harvey, Vivian and Ada are unmarried. Annie Hoge, daughter of James Hoge and Eliza Jane John- ston Hoge, married Major John Chapman Snidow; had two sons and two daughters; the sons, William and Walter; daughters, Florence, who married John T. S. Hoge; Annie C, who married John W. Williams, who was clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates. The sons of James Hoge and Eliza Jane Johnston Hoge are Dr. Robert, James, Joseph, Rev. B. Lacey and Tyler, and a daughter, Jane Nellie. The descendants of the Settler David Johnston, or many of them, together with the descendants of the Settlers John and Richard Chapman, have not only been prominent and influ- ential people in both civil and military afifairs in the New River Valley, but even in other sections of the country. In every Constitutional convention held in Virginia, except those of 1776, and the "Black and Tan," of 1869, this Johnston-Chap- man blood has had representatives. Henley Chapman was in the convention of 1829-30 ; his son. General Augustus A. Chap- man, was a member of the convention of 1850-1 ; his son, Man- nilius, a member of the Secession convention of 1861 ; a great grandson of David Johnston and John Chapman was a member of the late Constitutional convention of Virginia in the per- son of Honorable Albert Pendleton Gillespie, of Tazewell. The second David Johnston, Andrew Johnston, Isaac Chap- man, and his son, John, were frequently in the Legislature of Virginia ; and later, Oscar F. Johnston, Augustus A. Chapman, and Manilius Chapman were members of the Virginia Legisla- ture. A grandson and great-grandson of the Settler, John The Kieks. 425 Chapman, together with a great nephew, were members of the House of Representatives of the United States, in the persons of General A. A. Chapman, David E. Johnston, and Honorable Reuben Chapman, the latter of Alabama. Two great grandsons of the elder David Johnston and John Chapman have been Circuit Judges in West Virginia, and one of them, Honorable Joseph M. Sanders, has recently been elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Honorable James French Strother, a great-great-grandson of John Chap- man, is now a judge in West Virginia. Major Samuel E. Ly- brook and William A. French, great-grandsons of John Chap- man, represented Giles County in the Legislature of Virginia ; and Samuel Lucas, a great grandson of the elder David John- ston, was also a member of the Virginia Legislature. About the year of 1800 there came to what is now Giles County and settled in what is known as the Irish settlement, an influx of the Johnstons from Fermanagh County, Ireland. Adam Johnston married in Ireland Elizabeth Stafford, of County Tyrone. Adam and his wife, Elizabeth Stafford John- ston, had a numerous family, among them, John, Adam, James, Edward and others. John, James and Edward had large fam- ilies, who with their descendants mostly reside in Giles County. Adam is the ancestor of the larger part of the Mercer County Johnstons. Edward, usually called "Squire Neddy," was clerk of Giles County Court for several years. Some of the descend- ants of John and James Johnston reside in Mercer County, among them Dr. Charles A. Johnston, George S. Strader, and the family of Jacob L. Peters. Among these Scotch-Irish set- tlers who came about 1800 were the Eatons, Staffords, Eggle- stons and others. THE KIRKS. John Kirk, the ancestor of this family, came from Scotland, and had located, several years prior to the beginning of the American Revolution, in Piedmont, Virginia. John, the son 426 New River Settlements of this emigrant, came to the New River Valley at an early date, as shown by his written application, made in 1832, for a pension for military services rendered as an American soldier in the Revolution; he was born in the County of Fauquier, October 10th, 1754. He had a son, Thomas, who was also an American soldier, and had received, in one of the battles of the war of 1812, a severe wound in the hand. The Kirks, Dun- cans and Emmonses were neighbors in Fauquier. The John Kirk who came to Middle New River married Elizabeth O'Brien, and his son Thomas married Ruth Howe, a daughter of Major Daniel Howe. John Kirk enlisted in the spring of 1776, in the company of Captain John Chilton, of Fauquier County, which company was attached to the 3rd Vir- ginia regiment of infantry commanded by Colonel Hugh Mer- cer, of which Thomas Marshall, father of Chief Justice John Marshall, was the Major. This regiment, after its organiza- tion, marched to Alexandria, Virginia, then to Williamsburg, and from there to New York and was posted on Long Island. Colonel Mercer, having been promoted to Brigadier General and put in command of a brigade consisting of the 3rd, 7th, 11th, and 15th Virginia regiments. Colonel Weeden was placed in command of the 3rd regiment, Thomas Marshall becoming Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain Leak Major. In the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, Major Leak was killed and Captain Lee was promoted to Major. The brigade of Mercer marched to White Plains, then into New Jersey and on to Pennsylvania, camping on the banks of the Delaware, from whence on the evening of Christmas, 1776, the army crossed the Delaware through floating ice, and surprised the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey, capturing more than 1,000 prisoners, who were safely brought away. The army rested in the vicin- ity of the Delaware, where it was confronted by the British army, which, on the night of the day of January, 1777, it eluded and by a circuitous route attacked a British force at Princeton, which it defeated. The brigade to which John Kirk belonged opened this battle; its brigade commander, General The Lybrooks. 427 Mercer, fell mortally wounded. Mr. Kirk was also in the bat- tle of Brandywine, in September, 1777, in which, his Captain, Chilton, was killed, as was Major Lee, of his regiment ; he was likewise in the battle of Germantown and wintered at Valley Forge. His term of enlistment for two years expired in the spring of 1778, and he received his discharge. All the people of the New River Valley, who bear the name of Kirk, and many others who do not, are the descendants of this family. John Kirk represented Giles County in the House of Delegates of Virginia in the years of 1818-19, and was also Sheriff of that county. THE LTBROOKS. The progenitor of this family came from Holland (1) to Pennsylvania. The original name was Leibroch, but Anglicized into Lybrook. The first and only one of this name that sought and found a home in the New River Valley was Philip Lybrook, who came from Pennsylvariia between 1748 and 1755, locating at the mouth of Sinking Creek, in what is now the County of Giles, then Augusta. He did not come with the Draper's Meadows settlers in 1748, as he is not mentioned, nor does his name appear in connection with that settlement or the people who made it until August 7th, 1755, the day before the butchery of the Draper's Meadows settlers by the Indians, when young Preston had been sent by his uncle, Colonel Patton, over to Lybrook's to get him to help with the reaping of the grain. Mr. Lybrook is again mentioned by Hale, in his "Trans-AUe- ghany Pioneers," in connection with the retreat of the Indians with their prisoners, taken at Draper's Meadows, and the leaving of the head of Philip Barger at Lybrook's. It may be mentioned in connection with the remarkable escape and tramp of Mrs. Ingles from Big Bone Lick, in Kentucky, up the New River to Adam Harman's at the Gunpowder spring, that she (1). George Lybrook was killed by a runaway horse, about 1835, at a point about one half mile south of Pearisburg, Va. 428 New River Settlements would not have stopped two miles below at Lybrook's ; she had been taken to Lybrook's by the Indians on their retreat, and there would seem to be no reason why she should not have sought shelter at Mr. Lybrook's. The only reasonable conclu- sion is that either Lybrook had become fearful of the Indians and had gone away to a place of greater safety, or that Mrs. Ingles, in her worn and enfeebled condition, had lost all knowl- edge of the locality of Lybrook's cabin, lost her bearings, and that in avoiding the high cliff of rocks jutting into the river just below the mouth of Sinking Creek, had been compelled to leave the river, keeping, however, the general course thereof along the hills, and in this way reached the river at a point above Lybrook's without knowing exactly where she was. There is no information obtainable that Mr. Lybrook had abandoned his settlement between the dates referred to; in fact, there is no other mention of him until the year of 1774, though, beyond doubt, he had been visited by John Snidow, from Pennsylvania, in 1763, as Snidow's family settled near him in 1766. The Lybrook-Chapman- Snidow fort stood at the extreme upper end of what is known as the "Horse Shoe" farm, a short distance below the mouth of Sinking Creek. In the early days of August, 1774, there had been made known to the settlers that Indians were prowling around. John Chapman was away from home that day, Saturday, the 6th day of August, that informa- tion was conveyed to his family that Indians were in the neigh- borhood. Mrs. Chapman gathered her children and such of the household goods as they could carry, crossed the river and struck for the fort, and as they passed through the little bot- tom above the mouth of Little Stoney Creek they found the fresh remains of a hog that had just been killed by the Indians ; this tended to hasten their pace and they reached the fort in safety. Mr. Lybrook and an Irishman by the name of Mc- Griff were cultivating a small crop of corn at the mouth of Sinking Creek, had erected a couple of cabins in which their respective families resided; these men treated the statement that Indians were in the neighborhood as idle stories. On the MAJ. SAMUEL E. LYBROOK Great Grandson of Philip, the Settler. The Lybrooks. 429 morning of Sunday, the 7th, some of the young people from the fort, among them the Snidows, went up to Philip Lybrook's, where during the day six Indians attacked the young people in and about the river, and also Mr. Lybrook in his little mill on the Spring branch. They killed a young woman by the name of Scott, and five small children of Lybrook and Mrs. Snidow, wounded Mr. Lybrook in the arm, captured three small boys, and ran a foot race after John Lybrook, eleven years old, who escaped to his father's house. Mr. Philip Lybrook had a number of children, but it is only proposed to follow John and his descendants. Opposite this page is the photograph of Major Samuel E. Lybrook, a great grandson of the elder Philip, the settler, and grandson of John, who outran the Indian. John lived and grew tp manhood and old age. When he was about twenty-five years old he fell in love with Annie Chapman, daughter of John and Sal lie Abbott Chapman. Annie had another lover in the person of James French, son of Matthew, whom she had agreed to marry; the day of the wedding was fixed, the license procured and the wedding supper cooked, the minister present to perform the ceremony, all the invited guests had arrived, save one — and that was John Lybrook — who arrived, however, about dark. He rode up, hitched his horse, walked in and made enquiry for Annie, and having found her in a room with her bridesmaids, enquired, "Annie are you ready?" She replying in the affirma- tive, walked out with him, sprang on his horse behind him, and oflE they went for the home of John's father, leaving James weeping and disconsolate. John seems to have had a license also, at any rate he captured Jimmy's girl, and married her, as the marriage bond shows under the name of Annie Chapman. The marriage bond bears date January 11th, 1787, and the marriage bond authorizing her marriage to James French is dated January 1st, 1787. John Lybrook and Annie, his wife, had a number of children, among them Philip, the first sur- veyor of Giles County, and a man of prominence in his day„ He married Miss Marrs and they had quite a large family of 430 New Eiver Settlements sons and daughters ; of his sons, David Johnston Lybrook went to Australia at an early day, dying there some five or more years past; a son. Major Samuel E., who resides in Giles County, and who married Miss Jennie Chapman ; a son, John, of Montgomery County, who is the father of John Barger Ly- brook, of Washington, D. C, an employee in the ofiQce of the Inter-State Commerce Commission. John Lybrook, who escaped from the Indian in 1774, by jumping a ravine twelve feet wide, became a famous hunter and brave, bold Indian fighter; serving for several years in the various forts along the New Eiver Valley frontier under Cap- tain John Floyd, and Lieutenant Christian Snidow. Mr. Ly- brook lived to about the age of eighty years. THE m'CLAUGHEETYS- This family is of Scottish origin, and about 1688, with the large tide of emigration then moving from Scotland to Ireland, on account of religious persecution and other causes, emigrated to County Down, from whence sprang the American represent- atives of that family. James McClaugherty, of County Down, Ireland, married Agnes McGarre, and came with his family to America in the year 1786, settling at Sweet Springs (now Monroe County, West Virginia). In 1809 he started with his family to Tennessee, and on reaching New River found a heavy flood of water had carried away all the boats within reasonable reach, and he stopped at the New Eiver, settling where the late James Floyd McClaugherty and family resided for many years. The sons of James McClaugherty and Agnes, his wife, were James, John and Hugh, and one daughter, Jane. On May 8th, 1813, in crossing New Eiver, Mr. McClaugherty, his wife, Agnes, and daughter Jane were drowned. John, the son of James, married Miss Dingess, daughter of Peter Dingess, and they had a family of sons and daughters. James, the son of James, married Miss Sallie Mullins, and they had sons, James, John and William, and daughters. The McComases and Napieks. 431 Captain John McClaugherty became a prominent figure in the affairs of Giles County, and was for long years a magis- trate, Deputy Clerk, Sheriff, and Deputy Sheriff; lived a long life of usefulness, dying at the age of about ninety-three. John, son of James McClaugherty, married Phoebe Hale, a daughter of Captain Edward Hale, and they had sons, John, Joseph H., Nelson H., Edward, who died in the Confederate military ser- vice; D. W., and Eobert C, and a daughter, who married Dr. Evan H. Brown ; another, who married W. F. Heptinstall ; an- other who married Mr. Fillinger, and another, who married Charles A. Deaton. James Floyd McClaugherty, son of Captain John, married Miss Martha Cunningham, and had sons, John, George and Robert, and a daughter, Sallie, who married George Walker; John died young and unmarried. Charles W., son of Captain John, married first, Miss Anne Kyle, second, Mrs. Shanklin; by his first wife he had sons, Robert and J. Kyle; Robert died young; a daughter, Henri- etta, married Charles W. Walker, and Virginia married John Adair, of New River. THE MXOMASBS AND NAPIERS. In 1776 John McComas and his brother-in-law, Thomas h. Napier, came from western Maryland to the New River Valley. McComas was of that bold, adventurous, Scotch-Irish stock that feared no danger, and was always anxious to get away from restraints of all kinds, and to be free and happy. Mc- Comas and Napier first took up their abode at what is now known as Ripplemeade, but shortly removed to the territory where Pearisburg, Virginia, now stands, and as a protection against the Indians, built in connection with the Halls Port Branch on the land lately owned by Mr. Charles D. French, and which is about three-fourths of a mile to the southeast of Pearis- burg. McComas very soon afterward entered and surveyed some lands around or near the location referred to; and in 1782, 432 New Eivee Settlements the land where Judge Philip W. Strother now resides, or a part thereof, was taken up and surveyed by Moredock O. McKensey, and afterward conveyed to Thomas H. Napier. The first or elder David Johnston died in 1786 ; his will bears date in July of that year, and John McComas is one of the sub- scribing witnesses to that instrument. John McComas and his wife had a considerable family of children; among the sons were: Elisha, David, Jesse, John, William and Moses, and there were several daughters. John McComas, the elder, died in Giles County, Virginia. Elisha McComas, son of the elder John, and who is referred to as General Elisha, obtained his title after he went to Cabell County, being commissioned a Brigadier General of militia. He married in January, 1791, Annie French, daughter of Matthew, of Wolf Creek, and re- moved to Cabell County about 1809. His brothers, or some of them, preceded him by seven or eight years, and settled on the Guyandotte and Mud River waters, then in Kanawha County, Cabel not being created until 1809. It will be noted that Elisha was there in 1810, either in Guyandotte or vicinity, for he is made, by the act of the Legislature creating that town, one of the trustees, as well as a trustee of Barboursville in 1813. David McComas, son of the elder John, married Miss Bailey, a daughter of the elder Kichard. David died early, leaving a widow and one son, James, the latter the ancestor of the Mercer McComas', viz : Archibald, Eli and others. General Elisha McComas and his wife had sons, David, Wil- liam and James, and daughters, one of whom married John Shelton, and another married Keenan, from whom descended Patrick Keenan McComas, the eccentric lawyer of Logan County, West Virginia. David, the son of General Elisha, nfarried Cynthia French, daughter of Captain David and Mary Dingess French, and he became a distinguished Judge; was a member of the General Court of Virginia; Judge of the Kanawha Circuit Court, and was at one time a State Senator from the Kanawha District. He was born about 1795 and died in Giles County, Virginia, in The McComases and Napiees. 433 1864. He was a jolly man, full of wit and humor, but a most negligent man about his dress. Some good stories of his life as a judge have been preserved, and are worth relating. As has been said, he was Circuit Judge; his circuit was a large one, and his mode of travel was on horseback. Before he started on his circuit his wife made up and arranged his cloth- ing for the trip, which often lasted for weeks, and on his return his wife would search his saddle bags for his soiled clothes, frequently finding none; he had simply, by his forgetful ness, left them at his boarding houses. On one occasion, when he was about to start off for his courts, his wife prepared for him and packed in his saddlebags a dozen new shirts, and enjoined upon him that he should exercise prudence in taking care of the same. On his return, on examination by his wife of the saddlebags, she found not a single shirt, whereupon she said: "Just as I expected, Mr. McComas, you have brought back no stop throwing off shirts until he had unburdened himself of eleven. His wife and himself, while he was Circuit Judge and lived in Charleston, made a visit to his relations in Cabell County, and after they had made the rounds, he remarked to his wife, "Well, we must go and see old brother ," to which his wife inquiringly said, "Mr. McComas, isn't he in the poorhouse?" "Yes," said the Judge, "but there is no dif- ference between him and myself ; he is on the county and I am on the state." While Judge McComas was in the Senate of Virginia, it is said that he made the first straightout secession speech that up to that time had been made in Virginia. He and his wife left no children. William McComas, son of General Elisha, married Miss Ward, lived for some years at Maiden, in Kanawha County, and while living there in 1832 was elected to the Congress of the United States. He was a member of the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861. William McComas and his wife had the following children : Elisha W., Hamilton, William Wirt, Mat, and Benjamine Jefferson, and a daughter, Irene, who married Major McKendree. Elisha W. was in the Virginia Convention 434 New Eivbr Settlements of 1850-1, and was also Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, after- ward dying at Port Scott, Kansas. Hamilton, an eminent lawyer of St. Louis, Missouri, was killed by Indians in New Mexico; Benjamine Jefferson, a law- yer of distinction and a Captain in the Confederate service,, died at Barboursville, West Virginia, and George J. McComas, a prominent lawyer of Huntington, West Virginia, is his son. Dr. William Wirt McComas married Sarah M. French,, daughter of Captain Guy D., and Araminta Chapman French ; he was an eminent physician, and at the beginning of the Civil war raised in Giles County a company of artillery, which he led into the service, and at the battle of South Mills, North Carolina, April 19th, 1862, he was slain, leaving his widow and two small children, Guy F., and Minnie, surviving him. The Napiers removed from Giles County to Cabell about the time of the emigration of the McComases. THE MEADOWS FAMILY. Two representatives of this family came to the New Eiver Valley after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The exact date of their coming cannot be fixed with certainty, but was about 1782 or 1783. Jacob Meadows came from the County of Eockingham, in the Valley of Virginia, and was a neighbor of the elder John Peters, who came to the New Eiver Valley in 1782. It appears by the application of Jacob Meadows for a pension made in 1832, that in 1781 he served in the Virginia militia under Captain Coker, in the regiment commanded by Colonel William Noll; his first service was for three months, during which time he was engaged in a number of skirmishes with the British in and around Norfolk and Portsmouth; the last three months he served as a substitute for Adam Hans- berger, and was at the battle of Yorktown, serving in LaFay- ette's corps. John Peters, who gives his aflSdavit of the service performed by Jacob Meadows, shows that he saw him at York- town, serving as a soldier. Jacob Meadows settled on lower The Meadows Family. 435 East Eiver, and is the ancestor of the Meadows family in that vicinity. The other Meadows was Josiah, who came from the County of Bedford, Virginia. He, too, was an American soldier, having served for two or more periods; a part of the time on the frontier against the Indians, and another part in the American army against the British. The facts here stated are taken from his declaration made for pension in 1832, when he was seventy- four years of age. He enlisted in the early spring of 1778, under Captain Joseph Renfroe, and marched with his company to Jarrett's Fort, on Wolf Creek, now in the County of Monroe, where the company was divided, and part thereof, he among the number, was sent to Keeney's Fort, on the Greenbrier, where he was stationed at the time of the attack made by the Indians on Donnally's Fort. Upon the expiration of the term for which he enlisted he again entered the service in the com- pany of Captain Isaac Taylor, and with his company and regi- ment, the latter commanded by Colonel John Montgomery, marched through the Holstein country to the Indian town at Chicamauga, which they destroyed; from thence going to the Illinois country, under Colonel George Rogers Clark. After his return he was with a portion of the American army that had charge of the British prisoners captured at Yorktown. Mr. Meadows was a Baptist minister in the last years of his life; locating on the north of the Bluestone, and among his sons were Josiah and John Meadows. From this Josiah Meadows, the soldier, has descended the large family of that name in Mercer and adjoining counties. The name Meador came later, whether it originated from Meadows is not definitely known, but is altogether probable. Closely connected with this Meadows family is that of Lilley, whose first representative in the New Eiver Valley was Robert, who came from Franklin County, Virginia, and who lived for a few years about the mouth of East River, settling there in about 1790 ; then locating in the North Bluestone section where many of his descendants now live. He was long a magistrate 436 New River Settlements of Mercer County. The first Josiah Meadows, the American soldier, was the great-grandfather of Hon. R. G. Meador, of Mercer County. THE M DONALDS. The name suggests its Scottish origin, and Glencoe as the original home of the family. After the close of the Revolution of 1688 many of the Scottish clans continued in arms for King James against William and Mary. In August, 1691, the gov- ernment of William and Mary issued a proclamation offering amnesty to such insurgents as should take the oath of allegi- ance on or before the 31st day of December then next ensuing. All the chiefs submitted within the prescribed time, except the aged Macdonald of Glencoe, whose clan inhabited or lived in the pass of Glencoe. He went to Port William on December 31st and offered to take the oath, but the oflScer in command,, not having authority to administer it, referred the matter to the Sheriff, before whom Macdonald took the oath on January 6th, 1692; this, however, did not satisfy the adherents of King William, who determined to avail themselves of this uninten- tional delay to effect the destiniction of the clans. On Febru- ary 12th a body of 120 soldiers, commanded by Campbell, murdered Macdonald and two of his attendants, and so wound- ed his wife that she died the next day. About forty persons were killed that night. Detachments of soldiers sent to guard the outlets of the valley arrived too late, and many of the clans escaped half naked to the mountains, where a considerable number of the women and children perished of cold and hunger — ("McCauley's His. of England, Vol. IV"). Shortly after this massacre, supposed to have been between 1692 and 1700, Bryan McDonald and Mary Combs McDonald, with their family, having first migrated to Ireland, came from thence to America, and settled at or near New Castle, Delaware, then in the Province of Pennsylvania, and presently purchased of William Penn, the proprietor, a large and valuable tract of The McDonalds. 437 land. Bryan McDonald and family came, in 1756, to the Vir- ginia Valley, having been preceded some years earlier by two of his sons, Joseph and Edward. In a battle with the Indians, in 1761, near Amsterdam, in what is now Botetourt County, Edward, a bright and promising young lawyer, was killed. He left four daughters, two of whom married Campbells, one mar- ried Green way, and one a Russell. Their descendants are numerous, prominent and influential people ; one of them, David Campbell, was Governor of Virginia; William went to Ten- nessee; Dr. Edward McDonald Campbell and Judge John A. Campbell were their descendants. The Russells lived in south- west Virginia, and the, Greenways in Lynchburg and Baltimore. Joseph McDonald married Miss Elizabeth Ogle, whose an- cestors had come from Castle Ogle, Northumberland County, England. They, the Ogles, came to England with William the Norman. Joseph McDonald, who was born April 4th, 1722, after his marriage came, in 1763, over the Alleghanies and settled in what is now Montgomery County, then Augusta. He died in 1809. In the American Revolution he served in Captain Kirkpatrick's company. He had six sons in the American army ; Richard was a Major, Edward was a Captain, and Alexander served in Captain Thompson's company. Pow- der for the patriot army was manufactured on his farm, and a government tannery established, as well as provisions gathered there. All these supplies had to be largely, if not altogether, transported to the army on horses, and this proved a danger- ous business, on account of Indian forays. Captain Edward McDonald was in the border wars against the Indians, and in scouting expeditions toward the Ohio. Joseph McDonald had ten children in the following order as to ages : Bryan, who married Mary Bane ; John, who married, first Miss Sawyers, second Miss Cannaday; Joseph, who mar- ried Nancie Sawyers ; Edward, who married Keziah Stephens ; Richard, who married Mrs. Mary Martin ; Alexander, who mar- ried Elizabeth Taylor, niece of President Taylor ; William, who married Ursula Huflf, daughter of Dr. Huff; Elizabeth, who 438 New Rivee Settlements married Samuel Ingram ; Jonas, who married Elizabeth Foster ; James, who married, first Elizabeth New, second Mary Flour- noy. The descendants of Joseph McDonald have scattered over many states of the Union, and have held many prominent positions, many of them able and distinguished persons. A great many of them were slain, or died, in the war between the states. Joseph McDonald Sanders, a bright young lawyer of Mercer County, West Virginia, who served eight years as judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit of West Virginia, and who was recently ele- vated to the bench of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, is a great-great-grandson of Joseph McDonald, and great-grandson of Edward McDonald and Keziah Stephens Mc- Donald. During the American Revolution one David Hughes, form- erly of North Carolina, and a Tory, while scoutiog through the wilderness country toward the Ohio River, discovered that beautiful body of valuable land on the Clear Fork of Guyan- dotte, in the now County of Wyoming. He informed the above mentioned Edward McDonald of his discovery, with whom he agreed for one blanket and a rifle gun to show him this land, which he did, and in 1780 McDonald entered and surveyed the same ; and in 1802, together with his son-in-law, Captain James Shannon, removed to the Guyandotte Valley and took posses- sion of his valuable property ; his son-in-law. Captain Shannon, settling a few miles away on the Big Fork of the Guyandotte. When Captain Shannon took possession of his land he found still standing on the bottoms the Indian wigwams. Edward McDonald had several sons and daughters. The sons, Joseph, William and Stephen, settled on the lands given them by their father out of the homestead. One daughter mar- ried Captain James Shannon ; one Captain Thomas Peery ; one Augustus Pack; one William Chapman. Joseph McDonald married Nancy Chapman, daughter of Isaac Chapman and his wife, Elian Johnston Chapman, and their children were Sallie, who married John Sanders; Juliett, who married John Tif- '•GREEN HILL" The old MacDonald Homestead, built about the close of Revolutionary war. The Packs. 439 fany ; Elizabeth, who married John Anderson, and Nancy, who married Lewis McDonald. W. W. McDonald, of Logan, mar- ried Miss Scaggs ; Lewis, the son of Joseph, married, first Miss McDonald, second Miss Keffer. John C, Floyd and Colonel Isaac E. were never married; the two former died in the army during the Civil war. Colonel Isaac E. lived on the McDonald homestead, in Wyoming County, until 1876, when he purchased, by exchange, the valuable farm of Mr. George Pearls George, on Bluestone, in Tazewell County, Virginia. Colonel Isaac E. was a member of the Virginia Legislature in 1861, and of the West Virginia Senate for several years. The family of William McDonald, son of Edward, consisted of one son, Edward, who married a Miss Black, of Montgomery County, and daughters, of whom one married Harmon New- berry, one William G. Mustard, one Zachary T. Weaver, and one Captain Robert H. Bane. Stephen McDonald's family went west many years ago. He had two sons, Andrew McDonald and Crockett McDonald ; the latter married Miss Ellen Hall, then of Princeton, West Vir- ginia. He died several years ago, leaving three children, two sons and a daughter, who, with their mother, live in the state of Kansas. Joseph, William and Stephen all died about the beginning of or during the Civil war. Colonel Isaac E. died a few years ago, leaving the major part of his valuable estate to his nephew, Walter McDonald Sanders, who also died some two or three years ago, leaving a widow and three or four in- fant children, who, with their mother, reside on the Bluestone farm. Before closing this sketch of the McDonald family it is de- sirable to present a photograph of the oldest dwelling of that family now standing in Virginia, which is at Greenhill, in Montgomery County. THE PACKS. The progenitors of this family now in this section of the 440 New River Settlements country were on the New Kiver, about the mouth of Indian Creek, as early as 1763. Pack, Swope and Pittman, hunters, discovering Indian signs, started, one for the Jackson's Eiver, and the others for the Catawba settlements, to warn the people, but the Indians had traveled faster than the hunters and the warning did not reach them. The given name of this hunter. Pack, is not obtainable ; it is probable that he was the ancestor of the Samuel who was born in Augusta, in 1760, as members of this family, soon after 1764, are found along the New River between the mouth of the Greenbrier and Indian Creek. A history of this family, from the Pack MSS., is interesting and is here inserted : A Mr. Pack and several sons came to Jamestown, from Eng- land, with the early settlers on the James. Owing to the hard- ships encountered there they went back to England ; later, how- ever, three of the sons returned to this country; two of them went to the South, and the other remained in Virginia. There were bom to the last mentioned Pack two sons, one of whom was named Samuel, who was born in 1760, in Augusta County. He had seven sons, whose names were: John, Matthew, Samuel, Bartley, Lowe, William and Anderson; the daughters were: Betsey, who married Jacob Dickison; Polly, who mar- ried Joe Lively, and Jennie, who married Jonah Morriss. John and Bartley settled at Pack's Perry, now Summers County ; Matthew died on the west side of New River, opposite Pack's Ferry; Samuel settled on Glade Creek, in what is now Raleigh County; Lowe lived on Brush Creek, in what is now Monroe County ; William went West ; Polly Lively and Betsey Dickison lived in Monroe ; Jennie Morriss moved to Missouri. John, the son of the above named Anderson Pack, was taken prisoner on Flat Top Mountain during the Civil war, and Colonel Hayes, afterward President of the United States, claimed relationship with John and told him that his wife's mother was a Pack (this was Jennie, who married Jonah Mor- riss), and by reason of this John was allowed the privilege of the camp. The Packs. 441 John Pack, who lived at Pack's Ferry, had great trouble with the Indians; he frequently had to plow with his rifle strapped to his shoulder. After friendly relations were secured with the Indians, an old Indian came to John Pack's house one day and told him that on one occasion he conceived the idea to steal two of John's little girls, and when he saw them coming he hid in an old stump to capture them as they came by, but that they were in the course of a foot race when they came up, and they passed so quickly that he could not catch them. Alderman Pack, an ancestor of the above mentioned Packs, was a member of Parliament during Cromwell's time, and he moved that body to confer the title of Protector on Cromwell. There is authority for saying that a Mr. Pack, an English General, who fought in the Peninsula campaign and in France and Portugal against Napoleon, was one of the ancestors of the Packs who came to America and settled on New Kiver. Mrs. Emily Landgraff, who lived near Pack's Ferry, said that she had seen her grandfather, Samuel Pack, the first Samuel, and that he was an old gentleman of the English type, who dressed in the frock coat and knee breeches peculiar to the Eighteenth century and that he wore a cue. The aforesaid John Pack, who married Jane Hutchinson, was the father of the following named children : Samuel, who mar- ried Harriet French; Rebecca, who married Eobert Dunlap; Archibald, who married Patsey Peck ; Polly, who married Rich- ard Shanklin ; Eufus, who married Catharine Peters, and Julia, ▼ho married Elliott Vawter. Samuel Pack and his wife, Harriet French Pack, who was a daughter of Captain David French, had four sons and one daughter; the sons were: Captain John A., who married Miss Mary Gooch; Allen C, who married Miss Sue Lugar; Samuel, who married Miss Sallie Douthat; Charles D., who died un- married; the daughter, Minerva, married Dr. John W. Easley. Samuel Pack, who married Harriet French, was a lawyer by profession, and long practiced in Giles and adjoining counties. 442 New River Settlements the peck family. This family comes of German stock. Jacob Peck, born in Germany, in 1696, came to America, first locating in Pennsyl- vania, and then removed to the Valley of Virginia and settled in the neighborhood of where the city of Staunton is now situ- ated, prior to 1744. He married, about the year last mentioned, Elizabeth, a daughter of the elder Benjamine Burden, who had come to America as the agent of Lord Fairfax to look after his large landed estate in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Ben- jamine Burden, on his coming to the country, first visited the Virginia capitol at Williamsburg, where he met some of the sons of John Lewis, who had then recently located in the Valley, and he went with them to their home. On a hunting expedition with the sons of Lewis he captured a white Buffalo calf which he presented to Governor Gooch; whereupon the Governor ordered certificate to be issued to Burden, authoriz- ing him to locate 100,000 acres of land on the rivers James and Sherando, which he did, securing a large and valuable body of James River bottom lands, now in the County of Botetourt, then Orange. Benjamine Burden, the elder, died about 1743, and by his will he gave the James River lands to his five daughters, one of whom was Elizabeth, who afterward became Mrs. Jacob Peck. There was a long litigation over this land between Peck and wife and Harvey, a full history of which can be seen by reference to the reported case in the Court of Appeals of Vir- ginia, 1st Munford's B. 518-28. Jacob Peck and his wife died before the litigation ended, which was in 1810; the suit was decided for them, and their children received the land, moved to it, and became citizens of Botetourt County. The children of Jacob and Elizabeth Burden Peck were Jacob, John, Joseph and Hannah, the latter marrying Peter Holm. This name Burden is frequently spoken of as Borden or Burton. One of these three sons of Jacob Peck was the father of Benjamine Peck, who settled on the Catawba or Sinking Creek about 1785. This Benjamine Peck, grandson of the first The Peck Family. 443 Jacob, and great-grandson of the elder Benjamine Burden, had sons John, Jacob, Benjamine and Joseph. John married Eliza- beth Snidow, a daughter of Colonel Christian Snidow. Ben- jamine married Eebecca Snidow, also a daughter of Colonel Christian Snidow. Jacob married Malinda Givens, of Bote- tourt. This name Givens appears in the list of persons located between 1738-43, in Beverly Manor near Staunton. John Peck and his wife, Elizabeth Snidow Peck, had the following sons : William H., Christian L., Joseph • A., Dr. Erastus W. and Charles D., and daughters: Mary, who mar- ried Benjamine Burden Peck; Margaret, who married Charles L. Pearis; Clara, who married John H. Vawter; Josephine, who married Phillips ; Ellen, who married Dr. Robert B. McNutt; Martha, who married Judge John A. Kelley; and another daughter, who married Edwin Amos. William H. Peck and family removed to Logan County, West Virginia; Joseph A. and family removed to Texas; Christian L. died in Giles County, but left a family, among them a son, Charles Wesley, who died in the service of his country, and sons Erastus and John H., who were gallant Confederate sold- iers, receiving in battle severe wounds, from which the former has never recovered. Dr. Erastus Peck was thrice married and left some children, among them, Amos Peck, Miss Josie Peck and the wife of Walter V. Peck. Charles D., who married Miss Thomas, had but one son who attained his majority, John K. ; a daughter, Lucretia, who married Dr. D. W. McClaugherty ; another, Mag- gie, who married Judge Hugh G. Woods; another, Clara, who married J. Kyle McClaugherty ; another, Fannie, married John Adair, and Rachael married Mr. Pulton. Benjamine Burden Peck and wife had six sons : Pembroke P., Charles L., James H., Jacob A., Erastus H., and B. Wallace, the latter yielding up his life for his country in the battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Phillips and family went to Alabama. Judge John A. Kelley and family lived in Smyth County, Virginia. Charles L. Pearis and wife had but one child, a daughter, 444 New River Settlements Electra, who married Dr. Charles W. Pearis. Dr. Robert B. McNutt and wife had three sons, viz: John W., Joseph P., and Charles E. ; and daughters, Josie, who died young ; Mary, who married Colonel James B. Peck ; Neta, who married George B. Sinclair. John H. Vawter and wife had several children; ainong the sons are: Charles E. and Lewis A., and daughters, Josephine, who married B. Frank Sweeney; another who married Lewis Peck; Virginia, who married William Farrier. Benjamine Peck and his wife, Rebecca Snidow Peck, had four sons, viz: William H., Christian S., Frank, John S. and Andrew J., and daughters, Eliza, who married James Sweeney; Mary, who married William Farrier, and Margaret, who married John A. Calfee. Jacob Peck and his wife, Malinda Givens Peck, had the fol- lowing children, viz: Benjamine Burden, who married Mary Peck; Wm. G., who died unmarried; Elisha G., who married Margaret Peters ; Daniel R., who died unmarried ; George Har- rison, who married Sarah J. Handley; James Preston, who married Elizabeth Scott ; Jacob H., who married Ann Handley ; Patsey C, who married Archibald Pack; Rhoda E., who mar- ried James McClaugherty ; Louisa S., who married Lewis Payne, and Rebecca, who married John A. Peters. THE PBAEIS FAMILY. The ancestors of this family were Huguenots, who fled from France, stopping temporarily in Barbadoes, thence about 1710, to South Carolina, locating on an island about five miles from Port Royal, to which they gave the name "Paris Island." This name is sometimes spelled "Pearris," again "Paris," and "Pearis"; the modern spelling being Pearis. The settler was Alexander Pearis (Parris), who became quite a distinguished man in the early days of the history of South Carolina. Oppo- site this page is the photograph of the late Captain George W. GAPT. GEO. W. PEARIS Grandson of Col. Geo. Pearls, the Settler. The Peaeis Family. 445 Pearis, a grandson of the New River settler, Colonel George Pearis. Judge McCrady, in his History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government, 1670-1719, gives considerable promi- nence to Colonel Alexander Pearis, whom he shows to have been Commissioner of Free Schools, Commissioner for Build- ing Churches, Member of House of Commons, of which Colonel Wm. Ehett was Speaker; as a military oflScer and one of the judges to try pirates, and as commander of militia in the Revolution of 1719. Colonel Alexander Pearis had a son, Alex- ander, who made some conveyance of property in 1722-26. Alex- ander Pearis, Jr., had a son, John Alexander, who likewise had a son, John Alexander, as shown by his will probated August, 1752. The last mentioned John Alexander had a son, Robert, who spelled his name as did his father, John Alexander "Pearis." This Robert Pearis died about 1781 ; he had a daugh- ter, Malinda, who married Samuel Pepper, who removed to the New River Valley prior to 1770, and located at the place where, about 1780, he established a ferry, and which place has since been known as Peppers. His two brothers-in-law, George and Robert Alexander Pearis, sons of the preceding Robert, came, with him, or about the same time. At the date of the coming of Pepper and the Pearises, in fact, before that date, there lived in the neighborhood where Pepper located, a gentleman by the name of Joseph Howe, who had some pretty daughters, and it did not take long for these young Huguenots to fall in love with these girls, at least with two of them. An examination of the Pearis Bible discloses that George Pearis was born February 16th, 1746, and was married to Eleanor Howe February 26th, 1771. Robert Alexander Pearis was probably two years younger than his brother George. He married also a daughter of Joseph Howe, and about 1790 removed with his family to Kentucky and settled in what is now Bourbon County, and from whom it is said the town of Paris, in that county, is named. He had a son who in the early history of that state was a member of its Legislature. George Pearis remained in 446 New River Settlements the vicinity of Pepper's Ferry until the spring of 1782; prior to this time he had been made a Captain of one of the militia companies of the County of Montgomery. On the advance of the British army into the Carolinas, in the fall of 1780, there was a Tory uprising in Surry County, North Carolina, of such formidable proportion as to impel General Martin Armstrong, comanding that military district, to call on Major Joseph Cloyd, of the Montgomery County militia, to aid in its suppression. About the 1st day of October, 1780, Major Cloyd with three companies of mounted men, one of which was commanded by Captain George Pearis, marched to the State of North Carolina, where he was joined by some of the militia of that state, augmenting his force to about 160 men, with which he, on the 14th day of the month, attacked the Tories at Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, defeating them with a loss of fifteen killed and a number wounded; Major Cloyd had one killed and a few wounded, among them Captain Pearis, severely, through the shoulder. This fight cleared the way for the crossing of General Green's army at this ford, which the Tories were seeking to obstruct. Captain Pearis returned home wounded, and in addition to his suffering from his wound had the misfortune to lose his wife by death in a few days after his return, she dying on November 14th. Captain Pearis' wound disabled him from performing further military service, and having purchased from Captain William Ingles, about the year of 1779, for seventy pounds sterling (about |350.00), the tract of 204 acres of land on New River — whereon is now situ- ated Pearisburg station on the line of the Norfolk & Western Railway, and which land was known for years as the Hale and Charleton tracts — he, in the spring of 1782, removed thereto, erecting his dwelling house at a point nearly due south of the residence of Mr. Edward C. Hale, and a little to the southeast of where the road from Mr. Hale's house unites with the turn- pike. Two or three years after Captain Pearis made his loca- tion, he had a ferry established across the New River, and kept a small stock of goods, and later kept public (entertainment. The Peakis Family. 447 On October 5th, 1784, he married Eebecca Clay, daughter of Mitchell Clay. The children of Colonel George Pearls and his •wife, Rebecca Clay Pearls, were: George N., Robert Alex- ander, Samuel Pepper, Charles Lewis ; their daughters, Rebecca, Julia, Rhoda, Sallie and Eleanor. Colonel George N. Pearls married Elizabeth Howe, daughter of Major Daniel Howe ; Robert Alexander Pearls married Miss Arbuckle, of Greenbrier County; Samuel Pepper Pearls mar- ried Rebecca Chapman, daughter of Isaac and Elian Johnston Chapman ; Charles Lewis Pearis married Margaret Peck, daugh- ter of John and Elizabeth Snidow Peck ; Rebecca married John Brown, they went to Texas about 1836, leaving a son, George Pearis Brown, who lived for a number of years in Mercer County; Julia married Colonel Garland Gerald; Rhoda mar- ried Colonel John B. George ; Sallie married Baldwin L. Sisson, and Eleanor married Captain Thomas J. George. The children of Colonel George N. Pearis and his wife, Eliza- beth Howe Pearis, were : Captain George W., who never mar- ried, died in 1898 at the age of nearly eighty-nine years ; Colo- nel Daniel Howe, who married Louisa A. Johnston; Rebecca, who married George D. Hoge; Nancy, who married Archer Edgar; Ardelia, who married Daniel R. Cecil, and Elizabeth, who married Benjamin White. Robert Alexander Pearis and his wife had no children, and after the death of said Robert Alexander, his widow married Colonel McClung. The children of Colonel Garland Gerald and Julia Pearis Gerald, his wife, were : Sons, Thomas, Robert, Pearis, Garland T. ; a daughter, Rebecca, married Dr. Edwin Grant; Louisa married James M. Cunningham ; Mary married ; Fannie married a Mr. Yost; Virginia died in Texas, unmarried; Ophelia, married The children of Colonel John B. George and Rhoda Pearis George were: George Pearis George, who married Sarah A. Davidson; Jane, who married Judge Sterling F. Watts. The names of the children of Captain Thomas J. George and wife are as follows, viz: A. P. G. George, W. W. George, Robert, 448 New Kivee Settlements and John ; the daughters, Larissa, who married Jacob A. Peck ; Matilda, who married a Mr. Austin, and Rebecca, who mar- ried George W. Jarrell. Charles Lewis Pearls and his wife, Margaret Peck Pearls, had but one child, a daughter, Electra, who married Dr. Charles W. Pearls, and they had no children. As already stated, John Brown and family went to Texas prior to 1836 ; some of his older sons were soldiers in the Texan army. Brown settled in that part of the state that became Collin County. George Pearls Brown, the son of John, re- mained in Virginia; he married a Miss Mahood, a sister of the late Judge Alexander Mahood, and he and his wife left numer- ous descendants, among them the wife of Mr. Robert Sanders, the wife of Edward A. Oney, the wife of M. W. Winfree, a son, Cornelius, who was killed on the retreat of the Confederates from the battlefield at Clark's house, May 1st, 1862. The elder Colonel George Pearis, the settler, was long a magistrate of Montgomery and Giles Counties, and sat in the courts of both counties, and was for a term the Presiding Magistrate of the latter county. The first court of the County of Giles was held in a house belonging to him, and the land for the county buildings and town was given by him and the town of Pearisburg took its name from him. He died on November 4th, 1810, and his ashes repose in the burying ground on the farm on which he died, on the little hill just southwest of Pearisburg station. His widow married Philip Peters and she died April 15th, 1844. THE PETERS FAMILY. John and Christian Peters were of a German family of that name, who had located in the Valley of Virginia shortly after 1732. The place of the settlement was in the now County of Rockingham. The inscription on the tombstone of Christian Peters shows that he was born October 16th, 1760, and died October, 1837 ; it is possible that John was older. In 1781 the The Peters Family. 449 British army under Lord Cornwallis invaded Virginia, finally fixing its base of operation at Yorktown. In May of the year mentioned, the Governor of Virginia called out the militia of the state, placing them under the command of General Nelson, who joined and became a part of General LaFayette's corps, then operating against the army of Cornwallis. John and Christian Peters obeyed the call of the Governor and served through the campaign, and were at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, on October 19th; the militia was then disband- ed and returned to their homes. The war, now regarded as end- ed, and the services of the militia no longer needed, John and Christian Peters, with their families, together with their brother-in-law, Charles Walker, in the spring of 1782, left their Valley homes, crossed the Alleghanies, and located in the New Eiver Valley; John, on the farm on which Mr. Charles D. French now resides, and Christian where the village of Peters- town, named from him, is now situated. The two or three years immediately following the surrender of Cornwallis brought over the Alleghanies swarms of people, and while many of them went to Kentucky, a goodly number halted in the New River Valley. John Peters married Miss Simms, of that part of Rocking- ham that afterwards became Madison County. Christian Peters married Miss Katharine Belcher, of Rockingham, who soke the German language, and kept in her house her German Bible. The following are the names of the children of John Peters and wife: Elijah, Williain, John, Philip, Christian; and daughters, one who married Henry Bailey; and Frances, who married Captain Christianos H. A. Walker, son of Charles, heretofore mentioned. The families of Conrad Peters, Captain John Peters, of Peterstown, and that of the late James M. Byrnside are de- scendants of Christian Peters. John Peters, Jr., the son of the settler, and who married Sallie Clay, daughter of the elder Mitchell, was the Captain of 450 New Eivee Settlements a company in the war with Great Britain of 1812 ; was long a Magistrate, and represented Giles County in the Legislature. The names of the sons of Captain John Peters and his wife, Sallie Clay Peters, are as follows: Oliver C. Peters, long an honored citizen of Giles County, dying at a ripe old age; An- drew J. Peters, Thompson H. Peters, William P. Peters, Jacob Peters, Augustus C. Peters; and two daughters by the second marriage, one of whom married Andrew Johnston, and Miss Jane, who never married. The grandsons and descendants of Captain John Peters were among the best, truest and bravest Confederate soldiers that fought for the South, among them James M. Peters, William D. Peters, John D. Peters and Wil- liam H. Peters. THE SHANNONS OP NEW EIVEE VALLEY. The Shannons came from Ireland at a period anterior to the beginning of our war for Independence, and located in what is now the County of Amherst, in Virginia, then probably Albe- marle County. Samuel, the New River Valley settler, came with his family over the Alleghanies in 1774, and located at the place now called Poplar Hill, in the then County of Fin- castle, now Giles County. After a residence of ten years, and after the marriage of his oldest son, whose name was Thomas, he, in the spring of 1784 (Shannon MSS.), with his family, except Thomas and his wife, who remained, removed to a point near whereon now stands the city of Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas married Miss Agnes Crowe, and continued in posses- sion of the Poplar Hill property, which is still in the hands of his descendants. He became a man of prominence in civil and military affairs ; was long a Magistrate of Giles County, SheriflE thereof, and a Representative in the Legislature. In the month of February, 1781, the British army advanced north- ward through the Carolinas toward Virginia, and Colonel William Preston, the military commandant of the Montgomery troops, and of which Joseph Cloyd was Major, called out the The Shannons op New Kiver Valley. 451 forces to go to the help of the American army commanded by General Greene. Thomas Shannon was the Captain of the Middle New River Company, in which one Alexander Marrs was a Lieutenant, and among the members thereof were Thomas Farley, Isaac Cole, Matthew French, John French, Joseph Hare, Edward Hale, the Clays, and others. Captain Shannon and his company joined the battalion at the New River Lead Mines about the middle of February, 1781, and on the 18th day of that month the command under Colonel Preston and Major Cloyd, 350 strong, marched to the Haw River section of North Carolina, in the vicinity of which was the army of Gen- eral Greene, as was that of Lord Comwallis. Being in a strange country, and not being advised of the positions of the respective armies, Preston's men went into camp, finding them- selves the next morning between the combatants, and close by the British pickets. Colonel Preston had been ordered to re- port to General Pickens, and was on his way thither when he halted and camped between the armies. On the 2nd day of March Lee's Legion and Preston's battalion had a spirited en- counter with Tarleton's cavalry, inflicting upon it considerable loss. Again on the 6th of March, at Wetzel's Mills, Pickens' command, including Preston's and Cloyd's men, had quite a battle with the British advance. General Pickens retreated to Guilford Court House, where the troops of Preston and Camp- bell, under Colonel William Campbell, were posted on the American left, and put up a good fight. They were attacked by Colonel Tarleton, who led the British right wing, and he says in his "His. of His Southern Campaign," that his troops were badly hurt by the Backwoodsmen from Virginia; that "they were behind a fence, and stood until the British infantry, with their bayonets, climbed the fence." Captain Shannon lived to the age of ninety years, leaving a son, Thomas, who married Julia Allen, and their children are : Thomas, Joseph, James R., all three of whom are dead; William B., who mar- ried a Miss Bush ; Nancy, now dead, who married John Hender- son Bane ; Eliza, who married James B. Miller ; and Samuel B., 452 New River Settlements who resides on the old homestead. The second Thomas Shan- non served as a Magistrate in his county, and sat as a mem- ber of the County Court for long years, and was more than once a member of the Virginia Legislature. At the beginning of the Civil war in 1861 he was reckoned the wealthiest man in Giles County. His sons were all gallant Confederate soldiers. Opposite this page is seen the photograph of Mr. William E. Shannon, the great-grandson of the settler. THE SMITHS OF NEW RIVER. This family is here designated as of "New River," otherwise it might not be known to what family of Smiths reference is made, and hence, they are styled "The Smiths of New River." Isaac Smith was a soldier of the American Revolution, and served with the corps of LaPayette at Yorktown. He lived in that part of Rockingham County now embraced in Madison. The territory in which it is supposed and believed that he was born was then Augusta County, and was still Augusta when, in about 1770, he married Miss Simms. After the battle of Yorktown and the return of the Virginia militia to their homes Mr. Smith, together with several of his neighbors and rela- tions, in the year of 1782, passed over the Alleghanies into the New River Valley. Mr. Smith was brother-in-law to John Peters and Larkin Stowers, and they, together with Christian Peters, Charles Walker and others, came to New River. Smith settled on the Long Bottom on New River, nearly opposite the place of settlement of John Peters. Among the sons of Isaac Smith were : Ezekiel, Benjamine, and William, the latter bom in 1774. Ezekiel went to Texas before the war for its inde- pendence, was captured by the Mexicans and kept a prisoner for five years. His son, French C. Smith, a man of talent and brilliancy, followed his father to Texas, and became a promi- nent figure in that state, having been the Whig candidate for Governor, but was defeated by General Sam Houston, the Democratic candidate, by a large majority. Benjamine Smith wm. r. shannon Grandson of Thomas Shannon, the Settler. The Snidows of New Rivee Valley. 453 lived in the County of Mercer and had several sons — among them Theodore, who went West — Thomas, and Allen. Dr. French W. Smith, of Bluefleld, and Judge Charles W. Smith, of Princeton, West Virginia, are the grandsons of Benjamine Smith. Captain William Smith married a Mrs. Neal, whose maiden name was Dingess, a daughter of Peter Dingess, a Eevolution- ary soldier, who served in Trigg's battalion of Montgomery County artillery in LaFayette's corps at the battle of York- town. Opposite page 454 will be seen the photograph of Captain William Smith, taken when he was a very old man. He lived to about the age of eighty-four. Mr. John B. Smith, of Willow- ton, in Mercer County, is a son of Mr. Benjamine Smith, and was a heroic and devoted Confederate soldier. THE SNIDOWS OF NEW EIVER VALLEY. This family is of German origin and the first of the family to come to America was Christian Snyder, who landed at Phil- adelphia in 1727. The record kept at the port of Philadelphia of the arrival of emigrants does not disclose that Christian brought a family with him; if he had done so the same would have been recorded. He no doubt was a young man at the time, and had crossed the ocean to seek his fortune in the New World. The spelling of this name is no index as to who he was, as the original German spelling, is Schneider. It is spelled as originally also Snyder, Snider, Snido, and Snidow. There is, however, something in the use among these German people of the given name; as the same given names in families are handed down from one generation to another. In this family the name Christian seems to have been' handed down for more than a hundred years. When, or who Christian Snidow mar- ried is not now known, but there came in 1765 to New Eiver, from Pennsylvania, John Snidow, who had married Elizabeth Helm ; he came to see the country, and visited Philip Lybrook 454 New Eivee Settlements at the mouth of Sinking Creek. It is likely, in fact more than probable, that Lybrook had been his neighbor in Pennsylvania. The circumstances show that he had made up his mind to set- tle in the New River Valley, as he went back to Pennsylvania and the next year, 1766, started for the New Eiver with his family, and on the way was taken suddenly and violently ill and died. His widow, Mrs. Elizabeth, with her children, some of them very small, made her way to Philip Lybrook's, or to his neighborhood. The exact place of her settlement is diflScult to locate, but from circumstances it is believed that §he made her home near the mouth of Sinking Creek, in what is now Giles County. Mrs. Snidow's family consisted of five sons and three daughters; the sons, Philip, Christian, John, Theophilus, and Jacob; daughters, Barbara, and two small girls, killed by the Indians in 1774. Philip married Barbara Prillman, Christian married Mary Burke, Jacob married, first, Clara Burke, second. Miss Pickel- simon, and third, Mary Hankey ; John was killed, being thrown from a horse; Theophilus, when quite a lad, was captured by the Indians in 1774, and after being detained in captivity a number of years returned in bad health, and soon died; Bar- bara, the daughter, married Jacob Prillman, of Franklin County. Among the children of Barbara Prillman Snidow, was Christian, called the Blacksmith, to distinguish him from his uncle. Colonel Christian. The children of Colonel Christian Snidow and his wife, Mary Burke Snidow, were : Sons, John, Lewis, and William H. ; the daughters were, Elizabeth, Mary, Eebecca, Clara, Nancy and Sallie. John married Rachael Chapman, daughter of Isaac and Elian Johnston Chapman; their children were. Christian, James H., David J. L., Elizabeth, Mary, Elian C, and Ellen J. Lewis Snidow married Barbara, the daughter of the black smith. Christian, and his wife, Sarah Turner Snidow; their children are, William Henry Harrison and George Lewis; the latter married Josephine Snidow ; the former unmarried. After GAPT. Wm. smith Born 1?74, Died 1859. The Snidows of New Eivbe Valley. 455 the death of Lewis Snidow his widow, Barbara, married Jacob Douthat, by whom she had several children. William H. Snidow married Adeline Chapman, daughter of John Chapman; the names of their children are: John Chap- man Snidow, now dead; James Piper Snidow and Annie, the latter now dead, and who married Dr. Harvey G. Johnston. Elizabeth, the daughter of Colonel Christian Snidow, mar- ried John Peck, of Giles County; Mary married Major Henry Walker, of Botetourt, later of Mercer County; Rebecca mar- ried Benjamine Peck, of Monroe County; Clara married Con- rad Peters, of Monroe County; Nancy married James Harvey, of Monroe County ; Sallie married Haven Bane, of Giles Coun- ty. Among the descendants of John Peck and his wife,. Eliza- beth, are, in part the Pecks of Giles, the Vawters of Monroe, the Kelleys of Smyth, the McNutts of Mercer, and the Pecks of Logan County, West Virginia. Some of the descendants of Major Henry Walker and wife reside in Mercer County; the descendants of Benjamine Peck reside in Monroe, Mercer, Giles, and in the State of Kansas. The descendants of James Harvey and wife reside in Monroe County, among them, the Adairs of Bed Sulphur, and the fam- ily of the late Allen Harvey. Colonel Christian Snidow, when quite a young man, was a lieutenant in Captain John Floyd's company, and did service in Barger's, Snidow's and Hatfield's forts, and in scouts and skirmishes with the Indians. His father-in-law, Captain Thomas Burke, bom 1741 and died 1808, and whose wife's given name was Clara, was also a Captain in the Indian wars, and at one time in command at Hatfield's Fort. Colonel Christian Snidow was for long years a Justice of the Peace, in both Mont- gomery and Giles Counties; was Sheriff of Giles County, and frequently represented the same in the House of Delegates of Virginia. Among his descendants were some of the best and bravest soldiers in the Confederate army. 456 New River Settlements the new eivee stealeys. Jacob Straley (German, Strahle) was a German, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in Germany; his wife was Susan Bar- ber, whom he married in Germany, and came directly after his marriage to America, in 1758, and found his way to James River, where the city of Lynchburg now stands. Jacob Straley had a brother John, who came over to America with him, and they are supposed to have landed in New York; John had a wife and several children. Jacob came South with other emigrants to Virginia, and John went into Pennsylvania; separating, they lost sight of each other and seem never to have heard of each other after their separation. Jacob, as before stated, found his way to where Lynchburg now stands; there he bought land of his brother-in-law, Jacob Lynch, and here the children of Jacob Straley and his wife, Susan, were born, to-wit: Andrew, Elizabeth, Catherine and Jacob. Jacob Straley and his wife Susan both died and were buried at Lynchburg. Andrew was twice married, but had no family; he was a soldier of the American Revolution, and Jacob, his brother, a youth of about sixteen at the close of the Revolution, served in what was called the Reserves, or Home Guards. Elizabeth married a man by the name of Caldwell, by whom she had two or three children ; her husband died, she then married a man by the name of Marshall Burton, by whom she had a son called Isaac, who married a Snodgrass, and who left a son. Green, living now in Giles County, and three daughters, Lucretia, who married McCauley; Sallie, who married Albert, and the name of the husband of Jane is not known. Catherine Straley, daughter of the elder Straley, went to Kentucky. Jacob Straley, son of the elder Jacob, was a brickmason by trade, and about the year of 1782 came to New River, in what is now Giles County, and in June, 1785, married Martha French, daughter of Matthew and Sallie Payne French, by whom he had nine sons and two daughters. His sons were: James, Daniel, John, David, Charles, Jacob, French, Joseph and Leland; the The New River Stkaleys. 457 daughters were Sallie and Nancy. James married Betsey Vaught, Daniel married Mary French, John married Betsey Wilson, Charles married Betsey McOomas, Jacob L. married Eliza Bergen, French died unmarried; Joseph married Jane Brown, David married Elizabeth Perkins, Leland died young and unmarried, Sallie married Isaac French, and Nancy mar- ried Edward Morgan. James Straley and his wife had one son, Madison, and six daughters: Martha, who married Joseph Summers; Talitha, who married Hampton Brown ; Almira, who married George 0. Stafford; Rebecca, who married James H. Wilburne; Serilda, who married John Stafford, and Maharald, who married James P. Thorn. Daniel Straley and his wife, Mary, had two sons and two daughters ; the sons were James F. and Jacob C, both of whom died childless; Julia T. married Colonel James M. Bailey, of Mercer County, and by him had five children, two sons and three daughters. The sons, Gaston C. and Daniel M., and daughters, Lizzie, died unmarried; Belle, married James D. Honaker, and Alice married a Mr. Lee. Sallie F. married Elijah Bailey and had two children, Robert H. and Mary J. John Straley and Elizabeth, his wife, had two sons and six daughters; the sons, Charles D. and Harrison W.; the daugh- ters, Louisa, married Claudius Burdett; Araminta, married Elijah Bailey; Dorcas, married Benjamine Tinsley; Martha, married Andrew J. Davis; Harriet, married J. McThompson; Valeria, married John Q. Spangler. Charles D. Straley died in 1890, unmarried; Louisa has a large family; Dorcas, Ara- minta and Martha have no children ; Harriet has two children ; Valeria has three living children. Harrison W. Straley, now dead, married Delia A. Byrnside, who died in May, 1888, and by her he had four children who reached their majority. Charles Straley, by his wife Betsey, had nine children, and by his second marriage with Miss Warneck, whom he married 458 New EivEft Settlements in the State of Illinois, had one son, Hugh. Charles Straley removed to Texas, where he died. Jacob Lynch Straley and his wife, Eliza, had three children, all daughters. Margaret married a Mr. Eldridge, of Tennes- see; Caladonia married Joseph Taylor, and Sallie married David C. Straley, son of Joseph. Jacob L. Straley was a minister of the Methodist Church. Joseph Straley and his wife Jane had but two children, William D. and David C. David Straley and Elizabeth, his wife, had two sons and three daughters. The sons were: Granville P. and David B., the latter dying young; the former is a lawyer by profession, and lives in Maury County, Tennessee. The daughters, Martha T., married Dr. George A. Long, now dead; Mary, married Girard Willis, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, both being now dead. Sallie married Mr. Anderson, and they live in South Carolina. Sallie Straley married Isaac French, and had two children : Harvey and Elizabeth, both dead. Harvey never married; Elizabeth married Oscar F. Johnston. Nancy Straley, who married Edward Morgan, had four sons and three daughters; the sons are, Eufus, John, Newton, and Joseph; and the daughters, Martha, who married Mr. Noff- singer; Virginia, who married Richard Gilliam, and Sallie, who died young and unmarried. This Straley people have been quiet, law-abiding and unpretentious, never seeking public position, always ready and serving their friends, especially their relations. Three of the sons of Jacob Straley and his wife, Martha French Straley, served in the war of 1812; they were James, Daniel and John. Our Civil war, 1861-5, produced from their ranks some magnificent soldiers, among them Cap- tain Jacob C, son of Daniel, who led, as Captain, a company in the 17th Virginia regiment of cavalry; he was bold and fierce on the field of battle, and rode boldly into the thickest of the conflict and abreast the storm as if on parade. His courage was not exceeded by that of any man who ever drew sabre. HARRISON W. STRALEY Grandson of Jacob Straley, the Settler. The Wittbns of Tazewell. 459 There is presented opposite this page the photograph of Harri- son W. Straley, the great-grandson of the emigrant. THE WITTENS^ OF TAZEWELL- This was a Saxon family from Wittensburg, in Prussia, and a part of the family emigrated to America at a very early day and located in Maryland, about the time of the first white settlements therein. They were neighbors to the Cecils, with whom they married and intermarried for long years. A few years prior to 1771 Thomas Witten, whose wife was a Cecil, and who, with his family, had removed to the neighborhood of Fredericktown, Maryland, came along the Valley of Virginia and over the Alleghanies, living for a year or two at the large spring on Walker's Creek near what is now known as the Wil- liam Allen farm, and becoming close neighbors of Samuel W. Cedil, who had come from Maryland. The Wittens decided to move to the Clinch, and on the 16th day of March, 1771, they located on that stream; Thomas settled at the Crab Orchard, west of the present Court House of Tazewell ; James near what is now Pisgah Church, and Jerry at a point west of the Court House. James Witten, born near Fredericktown, in 1759, mar- ried Rebecca Cecil, and William Cecil married Nancy Witten. The Wittens are among the most prominent citizens of Taze- well County; several of them having been honored with im- portant civil positions. Mr. J. W. M. Witten was a Senator in the Virginia Legislature, and also represented Tazewell in the House of Delegates. Upon information derived from Mr. James E. Witten, Governor Greenup, of Kentucky, son of John, of the Clinch Valley, was born near what is now known as Pisgah Church, in Tazewell County. It is said that James Witten carried the first negro slaves into what is now Tazewell County. APPENDIX D. The following is a list of the persons who have represented Tazewell County in the House of Delegates of Virginia from 1800 to 1905, inclusive : 1800-1— Thomas Witten and David Ward. 1801-2— Thomas Witten and David Ward. 1802-3— Henry Bowen and John Grills. 1803-4 — Henry Bowen and James Thompson. 1804-5 — William Neal and James Thompson. 1805-6; — Andrew Peery and James Thompson. 1806-7 — Andrew Peery and James Thompson. 1807-8 — John Cecil and James Thompson. 1808-9 — John Cecil and James Thompson. 1809-10— John Ward and James Thompson. 1810-11 — John Ward and James Thompson. 1811-12— John Ward and J. D. Peery. 1812-13 — Eeece B. Thompson and James Thompson. 1813-14 — Eeece B. Thompson and James Thompson. 1816-17— John B. George and Eeece B. Thompson. 1817-18 — John B. George and Thomas Harrison. 1818-19 — Thomas Peery and John B. George. 1819-20 — Harvey P. George and William Gillespie. 1820-21 — Harvey P. George and William Shannon. 1821-22— John B. George and J. C. Davidson. 1822-23— John B. George and William Thompson. 1823-24— John B. George and John Ward. 1824-25 — John B. George and Thomas Peery. 1825-26— John B. George and Deskins. 1826-27— John B. George and Deskins. 1827-28— John B. George and John Ward. 1828-29 — Thomas J. George and William Barnes. 1829-30 — ^William Barnes and Thomas J. George. After 1830, one delegate every two years. 1831-33— Eobert Gillespie. 1833-34— Eobert Gillespie. Appendix E. 461 1834-35— Harvey George. 1835-36— J. W. M. Witten. 1836-37— Robert Gillespie. 1837-38— J. W. M. Witten. 1838-39— Addison Crockett. 1839-40— James C. Spotts. 1840-41— James C. Spotts. 1841-42— Henry Bowen. 1842-43— James C. Spotts. 1843-44 — Alexander Harrison. 1844-45 — Harvey G. Peery. 1845-46— Samuel Laird. 1846-47— Thomas H. Gillespie. 1847-48— Thomas H. Gillespie. 1848-49— Harvey George. 1849-50 — Harvey George. 1850-51— J. W. M. Witten. 1851-52— J. W. M. Witten. 1852-53— Robert Davidson. 1853-54 — Harvey George. 1854-55— William M. Gillespie. 1855-56— John M. Witten. 1856-57— Hamilton R. Bogle. 1857-58— George W. Deskins. 1858-59— Harvey George. 1859-60— Harvey George. 1860-65— Reese T. Bowen. 1866-68— George W. Deskins. 1869-73— Henry Bowen. 1873-77— William P. Cecil. 1877-83— James R. Witten. 1883-85— William G. Mustard. 1885-87— James Bandy. 1887-89— W. L. Moore. 1889-91— John W. Crockett. 1891-93— J. Howe Sawyers. 1893-95— Andrew M. Peery. 1895-97— James W. Smith. 1897-99— W. B. Spratt. 1899-1901— Joseph S. Moss. 1901-03— W. L. Moore. 1903-05— J. Powell Royal. APPENDIX E. A LIST of attorneys for the Commonwealth for Giles County from 1806 to 1905 : Henley Chapman. A. G. Pendleton. J. J. Wade. James D. Johnston. W. H. Stable. F. W. Mahood. James B. Peck. David J. Chapman. George W. Easley. Gordon T. Porterfleld. W. J. Henson. John W. Williams. James F. Ross. Martin Williams. William B. Snidow. APPENDIX F. The following is a list of field offlcers who commanded Con- federate organizations, in which were men from the New River Valley, upper Bluestone and Clinch : Fourth Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Stonewall Brigade) — Colonels : Lieutenant Colonels; Majors : James F. Preston. William Terry. Charles A. Runald. Lewis T. Moore. Robert D. Gardner. Albert G. Pendleton. Joseph F. Kent. Matthew D. Bennett. Seventh Virginia Regiment of Infantry — Colonels : James L. Kemper. Walter T. Patton. Charles C. Flowerree. Lieutenant Colonels : Walter T. Patton. Charles C. Flowerree. Lewis B. Williams. Majors : Walter T. Patton. Charles C. Flowerree. Aylett A. Swindler. Eighth Regiment, Virginia Cavalry — Colonels : Lieutenant Colonels; Albert G. Jenkins. James M. Corns. Albert G. Jenkins. Walter H. Jennifer. Henry Fitzhugh. Thomas P. Bowen. Alphonso W. Cook. Field Officees. 463 Majors: P. M. Edmundson. Henry Fitzhugh. Thomas P. Bowen. Fourteenth Regiment, Virginia Cavalry — Colonels: Charles Thorburn. James Cochran. Lieutenant Colonels: Robert Augustus Bailey. John A. Gibson. Majors: George Jackson. Frank B. Eakle. Sixteenth Regiment, Virginia Cavalry — Colonel : Milton J. Ferguson. Lieutenant Colonel : William Graham. Major: James H. Nounnan. Seventeenth Regiment, Virginia Cavalry — Colonel : William H. French. Lieutenant Colonel: William C. Tavener. Major: Frederick F. Smith. Twenty-second Regiment, Virginia Cavalry — Colonel : Henry S. Bowen. Lieutenant Colonel : John T. Radford. Major: Henry F. Kendrick. Thirty-fourth Virginia Cavalry Battalion — Lieutenant Colonel : Vincent A. Witcher. Majors: William Stratton. John A. McFarland. Twenty-second Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonels: C. T. Thompkins. George S. Patton. William A. Jackson. Andrew R. Barbee. 464 New River Settlements (field officers — Cont'd.) Lieutenant Colonels : John C. McDonald. Robert Augustus Bailey. Isaac N. Smith. Twenty-third Virginia Infantry Battalion — Lieutenant Colonels: Clarence Derrick. William P. Cecil. Majors : David S. Hounshell. William Blessing. Twenty-fourth Regiment, Virginia Infantry- Colonels: Jubal A. Early. William B. Terry. Peter J. Hairston. Lieutenant Colonels : Peter J. Hairston. Richard L. Maury. Majors: J. P. Hammett. J. A. Hambrick. W. W. Bentley. Twenty-sixth Virginia Infantry Battalion — Colonel: Charles A. Crump. Lieutenant Colonels : Powhatan R. Page. James C. Councill. George M. Edgar. Richard Woodrum. Patrick H. Fitzhugh. Joshua L. Garnett. Majors: William R. Perrin. William H. Wheelwright. Twenty-seventh Regiment, Virginia Infantry- Colonels : W. W. Gordon. Andrew J. Griggsby. Lieutenant Colonels : John Echols. James K. Edmundson. Field Officers. 465 Lieutenant Colonels : Charles Haynes. Daniel M. Shriver. Majors: Philip P. Frazer. Elisha F. Paxton. Twenty-eighth Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonels : Robert T. Preston. William Watts. Robert C. Allen. Lieutenant Colonels : William L. Wingfleld. Samuel B. Paul. Majors : Nathaniel C. Willson. Michael P. Spessard. Twenty-ninth Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonels: Alfred C. Moore. James Giles. Lieutenant Colonels: Alexander Haynes. William Leigh. Edwin R. Smith. Majors: Isaac White. Ebenezer Bruster. W. R. B. Hoone. Thirtieth Virginia Infantry Battalion — Lieutenant Colonel : J. Lyle Clark. Major : Peter Otey. Thirty-sixth Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonels: John McCausland. Thomas Smith. Lieutenant Colonels: William E. Fife. Reid L. Wiber. Benjamine Linkous. Majors: Thomas Smith. William E. Fife. 466 New Eivbe Sbttlbmbnts (field officers — Cont'd.) Forty-flftli Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonels: Henry Heth. William H. Brown. William E. Peters. Lieutenant Colonels: Edwin Harman. Benjamine F. Ficklin. William H. Werth. Majors: Gabriel C. Wharton. William Sanders. Fifty-first Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonels: Gabriel C. Wharton. Angustns Foresbei^ Lieutenant Colonels: John P. Wolf. James Massie. George A. Cunningham. Majors : William A. Yonce. Stephen M. Dickey. William T. Akers. David S. Hounshell. Peter Otey. Fifty-fourth Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonel: Robert C. Trigg. Lieutenant Colonels : John J. Wade. Henry A. Edmundeon. William B. Shelor. Majors: John S. Deyerle. Austin Harman. James C. Taylor. Sixtieth Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonels: William E. Starke. Beuhring H. Jones. Appendix G. 467 Lieutenant Colonels: John C. Summers. William A. Swank. William A. Gilliam. George W. Hammon. J. W. Spaulding. James L. Corley. Majors : Jacob N. Taylor. James W. Sweeney. William S. Eowan. Sixty-third Regiment, Virginia Infantry — Colonel: James M. French. Lieutenant Colonels: David C. Dunn. C. H. Lynch. John J. McMahon. Sixty-fourth Regiment, Virginia Infantry (moiinted)— Colonels i A. L. Pridemore. Campbell Slemp. Lieutenant Colonel: James B. Richmond. Major: Henry Gray. Beckley's Cavalry Battalion : Colonel, Henry Beckley. APPENDIX G. A ROLL of Company D, Seventh Regiment of Virginia In- fantry (Giles County company) : OFFICERS. Captains : James H. French. Joel Blackard. Robert H. Bane. Lieutenants. Eustace Gibson. William A. Anderson. Joel Blackard. John W. Mullens. E. M. Stone. ' E. R. Walker. Thomas S. Taylor. 468 New Eivee Settlements (company d, 7th regiment — Cont'd.) Non-Commissioned Officers. B. P. Watts. William D. Peters. T. N. Mustain. J. B. Young. Akers, David C. Akers, George W. Albert, William R. Bish, Daniel Bane, Allen M. Bane, Joseph E. Barrett, Jesse Bolton, Alexander Burton, Travis Carr, William H. Colling, James M. Crowford, John E. Croy, James B. Cole, James Dulaney, B. E. Dulaney, M. J. Darr, T. P. Dudley, John S. Douthat, William H. Davenport, Thomas Davis, David Eaton, E. S. East, E. D. East, J. W. Eggleston, Joseph Eggleston, James M. Farley, F. H. Fortner, William C. Fortner, James H. J. C. Hughes. A. L. Fry. J. W. Hight. Privates. Frazier, J. T. Frazier, William Frazier, Creed D. French, William A. French, A. J. French, J. S. W. Gardner, J. H. Gordon, Frances M. Griggsby, Andrew J. Hale, Charles A. Hale, John A. Hale, H. J. Hare, John D. Hare, Isaac Henderson, James B. Henderson, John Hoge, B. L. Hughes, James Hurt, James J. Hurt, George W. Jones, John F. Johnston, M. S. Johnston, George Johnston, David E. Knowl, George Lee, C. N. J. Lewy, Henry Lewy, Joseph Layton, W. H. Company D, 7th Regiment. 469 Lindsey, James Leffler, P. H. Meadows, Anderson Meadows, John Meadows, B. P. Morris, N. J. Minnich, George A. Minick, John H. Manning, A. D. Merrix, Kaleigh Mays, T. P. Martin, John Q. Martin, John H. Muncey, W. W. Mullins, George 0. Nye, James J. Pack, A. C. Palmer, John Peck, Charles W. Sarver, John W. Sarver, D. L. Southern, Josephus Shannon, S. B. Shannon, Joseph C. Snidow, W. H. H. Sublett, John P. Sublett, William T. Skeens, L. R. Skeens, Joseph Sumner, A. L. Stafford, Thomas J. Stafford, William H. Stafford, R. M. Thompson, A. J. Thompson, Adam Thompson, Alonzo Vass, W. R. C. Vass, Lee E. Wiley, Lewis N. Wilburn, G. L. Wilbum, H. J. Wilburn, William I. Yager, E. Z. Young, Thomas Young, Isaac Young, Jesse B. TABLE. Whole number of enlisted men 121 Number promoted to field oflQcers 1 Number killed in battle 13 Number died of wounds 4 Number wounded 52 Number wounded more than once 10 Number died of disease 13 Number discharged on account of wounds 27 Number on detached service 5 Number transferred to other companies 5 Number deserted 10 470 New River Settlements Captains : A ROLL of Company F, 24th Virginia Regiment of Infantry (Giles County company) : OFFICERS. William Eggleston. Thomas Haden. George A. Porterfleld. B. W. Hines. Lieutenants. James P. Snidow. William Haden. Lewis Bane. Non-Commissioned OflScers. J. H. Peck. Jacob Albert. Thomas Haden. Lloyd Hiden. James Surface. Edward Carter. Charles D. Peck. George H. Weiseger, W. H. Payne. Albert, Jacob A. Albert, George Albert, James Albert, Harvey Atkins, John Atkins, Robert Adams, Tim Adams, Jesse Angel, E. B. Beller, Andrew Beller, Daniel Barger, William Brewer, Jesse Blunt, James Dowdy, Absalom Doss, Zack Dimond, Thomas J. Epling, Anderson Epling, Floyd Privates. Echols, Henderson Echols, Jerimah Fisher, Daniel Harless, Russell H. Hutchenson, Joseph Hutchenson, Van Gerald, Robert Jeter, Henry Keister, John Kissinger, H. H. Lucas, Samuel L. Lucas, J. C. Lucas, Christian Lucas, William LaFon, Paris LaFon, Enoch Link, Henry Link, William H. Manning, James Company H, 36th Regiment. 471 Manning, John Manning, Tobias Munsey, Tunis Mnnsey, John Moser, Jacob Martin, George Martin, Shafer Meridith, Chapman McCroskey, Miles Morgan, Charles Price, Samuel Price, John Price, Robert: Price, James Price, George Payne, Jack Payne, Erastus Pare, Perrin Poole, John Poole, Alson Pori:erfield, George Porterfleld, David Porterfleld, Gordon Portierfleld, Lewis Rutlege, Harrison Smith, William Smith, Benjamine Smith, Emanuel Snidow, George L. Surface, Jack Surface, Christian Stanley, Henley Sanders, Henry Sanders, Gustavua Sanders, Joseph Sibold, Luther Stafford, J. G. Trainer, Van Trainer, Clell Webb, W. F. Webb, William Weiss, John Wingo, John K. Williams, J. M. Williams, Floyd S. Wysong, Joseph Weiss, Dock Captains : A EOLL of Company H, 36th Virginia Infantry (Giles County company) : OFFICERS. A. J. Porterfleld. James F. Hare. Lieutenants. T. W. Leftwich. Green B. Chandler. Non-Commissioned OflScers, Green B. Chandler. W. H. Beller. Absalom Kirk. James F. Hare. 472 New River Settlements (company Noah H. Criner. James H. Vaught. James A. R. Kirk. Atkins, Moses L. Albert, Ballard Benton, James Bishop, J. E. Booth, Abijah (1) Bradley, Andrew Burton, Henry Burton, A. D. Blankenship, James Blankenship, Daniel Blankenship, Ben Caldwell, F. H. Cumbee, G. M. Croy, Isaac CFoy, Michael Chapman, John Conley, John Chandler, M. Duncan, Joseph Darr, S. H. Dowdy, Edward Dowdy, E. F. Doss, John R. Dowdy, John Davis, Thomas Epling, Lewis Epling, Elias Epling, L. A. Echols, H. B. Echols, W. S. H, 36th regiment — Cont'd.) B. N. Snidow. James E. Rowlett. Thomas Hale. Privates. Farley, James French, Jerimah Ferrell, Michael Ferrell, E. J. Hupp, Perry Harless, George Hutchenson, Wm. Hunter, D. B. Hunter, Harrison Hale, Charles Hale, Daniel P. Hale, James W. Kindry, Peter Kindry, William Kerr, John Kerr, T. M. LaFon, D. V. LaFon, E. C. LaFon, J. C. LaFon, W. H. C. Lambert, James Lucas, George A, Long, Isaac Lucas, James E. Lucas, M. McCroskey, David Lucas, Samuel L. Martin, James A. Lucas, Thomas Martin, Richard (1). Abijah Booth died while a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio. McCoMAs' Battery. 473 Martin, Mitchell Terry, Joseph Mattox, George Terry, William McGinley, Michael Turpen, James P. Porterfleld, B. F. Vaught, C. L. Porterfield, C. C. Vaught, Henry Porterfleld, J. B. Vaught, John Porterfleld, W. L. Vaught, Kansom Price, David K. Vaught, Rufus Price, Christian Vaught, William R. Price, John K. Vaught, William T. Price, J. W. Wingo, A. G. Price, C. L. Wheeling, A. 0. Price, Jonathan Williams, A. E. Pool, Harrison Williams, James E. Pool, John Williams, John C. Rock, John Williams, J. A. Smith, A. J. Williams, F. G. Smith, J. H. Williams, G. H. Sarver, Henley Williams, John H. Sanders, G. W. Williams, W. D. Stump, J. C. Williams, John M. Tawney, William White, James Tabor, W. J. Worley, J. D. Total number oflBcers and men 123 Number killed 7 Number wounded 3 Number died ■ 5 A ROLL of McComas' battery (Giles County company) : OFFICERS. Captains: W. W. McComas. David A. French. Lieutenants. W. W. Powell. Thomas A. Mahood. W. J. Fizer. William H. Smith. Daniel W. Mason. 474 New Rivbe Settlements Woodram, J. N. Peters, James N. Wilburn, Gordon L, Francis, David (m'comas' batteey — Cont'd.) Non-Commissioned OflBcers. Charlton, E. W. Walker, J. M. Jordon, O. F. Anderson, W. A. Allison, J. C. Austin, George Broderick, H. W. Breen, M. N. Bailey, Benjamine Bailey, Harrison Bailey, John Bailey, Jdseph Bailey, Preston Bailey, Walker Bailey, Boston Bailey, James Brotherton, T. M. Barnett, A. M. Blankenship, Oscar Bean, John Burton, Isaac Burton, H. P. Burton, B. H. Burton, John W. Burton, Elias Boyd, John Crawford, Calvin C. Crawford, Isaac Crawford, James Croy, E. L. Charlton, J. W. Charlton, C. W. Privates. Glyburn, H. C. Caldwell, William Collins, Henry Collins, Hoge Collins, J. R. Carbaugh, William Conley, Isaac Crawford, D. M. Crawford, Charles Crawford, W. M. Carper, J. W. Chapman, A. A. Duncan, E. G. Douthat, C. T. Davis, Elijah Day, Joshua Davis, Landon Davidson, George F. Davidson, Daniel Dedamore, William Dennis, George C. Davenport, Isaac Easley, George W. Evans, Henry Ellis, Henry Ellis, James French, Rufus A. French, Isaac E. French, William A. McGoMAs' Batteet. 475 Fizer, Michael Fizer, H. K. Frazier, David M. Frazier, J. K. Farley, T. C. Foster, Berry Fortner, A. G. Foster, William K. Gibson, Eustace Gautier, Ballard Gitt, W. E. Hearn, William Haldron, James M. Hale, Edward C. Hicks, Henry Hurley, Hugh Hare, Joseph Hoback, J. T. Harman, William Harman, Lewis Hobbs, W. S. Ingrabam, John Johnston, James Johnston, O. P. Johnston, Adam Johnston, Isaac ^. Johnston, J. D. Jones, H. T. King, John King, Giles Kirby, Peter Kelley, William Kelley, Thomas F. Kelley, C. A. Lucas, M. K. Lambert, Charles Manning, G. A. Moye, Newton Moser, John E. Morgan, Luther McGlaugherty, Charles McDaniel, S. P. McDonald, Lewis Martin, George Meadows, John Mahood, F. P. McClanahan, D. M. McClanahan, Thomas McFadden, Charles Mahood, R. C. Mahood, E. T. Mahood, C. B. Nabors, John Overstreet, John O'Keeflfee, John O'Donald, John Oliver, Joseph Peters, Jacob L. Peters, Charles C. Peters, William H. Pack, Charles E. Pack, Samuel H. Pack, Allen 0. Perdue, James Perdue, McHenry Pauley, George Payne, John R. Peck, E. W. Phillips, J. R. Preston, John Rutlege, Charles Eutlege, David 476 New River Settlements (m'comas' battbey — Cont'd.) Repass, I. M. Underwood, Lindsey Rogers, Jacob Vass, W. A. Rice, John Vass, Thomas Robinson, D. C. Woodyard, W. S. Stafford, M. Woodyard, William Stafford, E. W. Woodyard, Milton Snidow, D. J. L. Woods, William P. Snidow, John D. Williams, J. W. Stover, Henry Williams, Charles Sarver, William J. Williams, Samuel Tucker, A. L. Watkins, James Tucker, Robert Weese, Jacob Thompson, Adam Watts, B. P. Thomas, John Walker, C. W. Underwood, Andrew Walker, George D. Underwood, H. Wade, W. C. table. Total number of oflBcers and men 176 Number killed 5 Number died of wounds and disease 7 Number wounded 13 Number discharged 31 Roll of Captain Andrew Gott's Company I, 36th Virginia Regiment of Infantry : OFFICERS. Captain Andrew Gott. Lieutenants. L. P. Johnston. J. M. Henderson. Sergeants. E. F. Starrett. A. J. Bane. James E. Bane. James K. Shannon, Wm. H. Stafford. Winton Eaton. John Ayers. Company I, 36th Kegimhnt. 477 Crockett Hughes. John Floyd Johnston. Bane, W. H. Bane, Wilson Bland, J. M. Bland, W. H. Burton, John Carr, Joseph B. Conley, John Carden, Andrew Eaton, Jos. C. Gott, Andrew Jr. Hedrick, John Hetherington, Christy Hetherington, Augustus Hodge, Harvey Hammon, John D. Hamlin, Johnston, Elbert J. Johnston, Joseph Johnston, Isaac Johnston, Stafford Johnston, Hugh Kirk, Harrison Kirk, Christian Lawson, Dotson Lee, John Miller, James B. Meadows, Samuel Meadows, John T. Meadows, Sampson Meadows, Willis Martin, James Corporals. Thomas Turner. Wm. Henderson. Privates. Martin, W. K. Oliver, John Price, Crockett Price, Stewart Robinson, Charles Robinson, George Rye, Hiram Shelton, W. J. Stafford, John R. Stafford, Plemming Stafford, James E. Stafford, David C. Stafford, Hugh J. Stafford, Mitchell Stafford, Floyd Stafford, Marcus L. Snidow, Ballard Sands, James Stinson, William Stephens, Daniel Shepherd, Henry Turner, Crockett Tickel, Peter Tickel, Solomon Wiley, John Wiley, Samuel Williams, Preston Williams, James Weisinger, R. B. Wilburn, J. H. Wohlford, Thomas 478 New River Settlements Incomplete list of Captain Wm. H. Dulaney's company of Giles County Reserves of the 4tli Battalion in Col. Robt. T. Preston's brigade: Captain, Wm. H. Dulaney. Lieutenants. W. W. Powell. Samuel Brown. Cunningham, George Caperton, Lewis Conley, Skidmore Dulaney, D. E. Dickinson, Gusler, James Lucus, Samuel Meadows, John McClaugherty, William Porterfleld, Harvey Simpkins, Thomas Privates. Simpkins, William Snidow, Christian Shumate, Anderson Thompson, Pearis Thompson, Frank Vest, William Woods, John Hudson Worley, John Wingo, James Wingo, Parker Captains : Roll of Company H, 60th Virginia Regiment of Infantry (Mercer County company) : OFFICERS. John A. Pack. John M. Bailey. RufuB A. Hale. Lieutenants. George W. Belcher. Leftwich Bailey. Daniel F. Austin. Sergeants. Thomas M. Shrewsberry. John M. Bailey. Rufus A. Hale. James M. Bailey. Oscar J. Emmons. Geo. D. Bailey. Council W. Bailey. Corporals. Andrew G. Belcher. Company H, 60th Regiment. 479 Absher, Samuel J. Bailey, Jamison Bailey, Allen C. Bailey, Geo. P. Bailey, Samuel J. Bailey, Edwin A. Bailey, Pembroke Bailey, Wm. 0. Bailey, Jonathan S. Bailey, Daniel M. Bailey, Uriah A. Bailey, Cornelius W. Bryant, Samuel Burton, Elias Belcher, Alexander Belcher, Henderson Belcher, Obediah J. Belcher, Middleton F. Boggess, Nimrod Carr, Jesse G. Caldwell, Madison A. Cooper, WuL A. Cooper, Jas. L. Crawford, W. H. Calfee, Henry Calfee, Jno. A. Caperton, O. H. Cooper, Alexander Carr, Jas. S. Deweese, Andrew Dillon, Ballard P. Dillon, Jesse Dillon, Jeff. Dillon, Wm. Farmer, W. H. Privates. Farmer, A. B. French, W. K. Fletcher, Anderson Farmer, Jno. D. Falkner, W. D. Falkner, Chas. L. Glen, Wm. Godfrey, Thomas Graham, David E. Gilmore, Chas. Grim, Jas. Hurst, Jas. H. Hurst, Armistead A. Helton, Jeremiah Hodge, Haywood Hodge, Wm. Hetherington, J. T. Hodge, Geo. W. Hager, Russell Herndon, W. H. Hartwell, Jno. L. Hale, Chas. A. Hubbard, Sam. G. Hudson, Jno. L. Jones, W. H. Jones, Jno. H. Johnston, Adam W. Johnston, Jas. E. Jones, Isaac ■ Jones, James Justice, Henry D. Kirk, W. H. Karr, Jas. S. Karr, Giles R. Karr, Jesse G. 480 New Rivee Settlements (company Karr, Jos. T. Kahle, Jno. B. Lnsk, Mathew E. Lusk, Reece T. Maxey, Augustus Martin, Samuel McComas, Eufus Martin, Jos. H. McPherson, Andrew Poe, Jesse Privett, Geo. E. Reed, Chas. A. Reed, Wm. A. Reece, Jno. H. Runyon, Richard Runyon, John Shannon, Samuel D. Shannon, Jno. R. Saddler, Jas. S. Saunders, Wm. I. Saunders, David N. Shrader, Samuel W. Shrader, Jas. McH. Shrader, Henry A. Shrewsberry, N. L. Shutt, Jno. W. Shrewsberry, T. M. H, 60th ebgiment — Cont'd.) Thompson, Gordon Taylor, Jno. Taylor, James Taylor, William Tracey, Edward G. Thornton, W. R. Tuggle, Lewis Tuggle, Jno. Trail, Lewis A. Underwood, J. A. Underwood, Jesse Williams, Jno. A. Walker, Underwood Walker, Burrill U. Whorley, Ghas. Whittaker, Byrd Whittaker, Jno. T. Whittaker, Franklin Whittaker, W. D. Wimmer, Jas. F. Wilson, Jesse P. Wilson, Jno. A. Wall, Henry D. Worrell, Fleming S. Walker, Geo. C. Wright, Jno. J. White, William F. Names of members of Company H, 60th Virginia Regiment Infantry, who were killed in battle, died of wounds or disease, to-wit : Dillon, Ballard P., Dillon, William, Crawford, Wm., Lusk, M. E., Oct. 1, 1861, of fever. Nov. 17, 1861, of fever. 1861, of camp fever. Nov. 2, 1861, of camp fever. Mbmbbes of Company H Killed, Etc. 481 Martin, Jos. H., Saddler, James, Shrewsberry, Logan T., Shrewsberry, N. L., Shrewsberry, Thos. M., Trail, Lewis A., Shrader, Samuel W., Wall, Henry D., Lusk, Eeece T., Eeade, Chas. A., Walker, Underwood, Dillon, Samuel W., Poe, Jesse, McComas, Eufus, Walker, George C, Bailey, James (Lieu't.) Helton, Jeremiah, Wilson, Jno. A., Gussler, Henry, Thompson, Gordon, Runyan, Richard, Bailey, Pembroke, Runyan, John, Belcher, Middleton F., Nov. 14, 1861, of camp fever. Oct. 30, 1861, of camp fever. Oct. 21, 1861, of camp fever. Oct. 25, 1861, of camp fever. Nov. 13, 1861, of camp fever. Oct. 27, 1861, of dysentery. Nov. 27, 1861, of fever. Dec. 4, 1861, of fever. Dec. 20, 1861, of fever. Dec. 5, 1861, of consumption. April 1, 1862, of consumption. July 10, 1862, from wounds re- ceived June 30th, 1862. July, 1862, from wounds re- ceived June 30th, 1862. July 9, 1862, from wounds re- ceived June 30th, 1862. Oct. 14, 1862, from wounds re- ceived June 30th, 1862. Dec. 15, 1861, of fever. June 12, 1863, of fever. May 9, 1864, killed in battle of Gloyd's farm. May 9, 1864, killed in battle of Gloyd's farm. May 9, 1864, killed in battle of Gloyd's farm. May 31, 1864, wounds received at Gloyd's farm. July 24, 1864, killed battle of Hernstown. Aug. 17, 1864, killed at Win- chester. Sept. 19, 1864, wounded at Win- chester. 482 New Rivee Settlements (members of company h killed^ etc. — Cont'd.) Sept. 19, 1864, killed at Win- chester. Sept. 19, 1864, killed at Win- chester. Oct. 9, 1864, wounds received battle Leetown,Aug. 25, 1864. Oct. 19, 1864, wounds received at Fisher's Hill, 22nd Sept., 1864. Oct. 19, 1864, killed battle of Cedar Creek. Oct. 26, 1864, wounds received battle Cedar Creek. Dec. 7, 1864, died of gastritis. Nov. 9, 1864, wounds received in battle of Winchester, Sept. 19th, 1864. Boggess, Nimrod, White, Wm. F., Peters, Thaddeus S., Wimmer, Jas. F., Bailey, Geo. D., Karr, Jos. T., Worrell, Flemming S., Hager^ Kussell, It appears that thirty-six of this company died of wounds, disease, or were killed in battle. The roll of this company is compiled from the original, made by Captain Eufus A. Hale, and on which appears the names of thirty-eight men marked as deserters, and whose names do not herein appear, as several of those so marked did not go over to the enemy, but united with other Confederate commands and served faithfully to the end of the war, and hence it would be wrong to brand and hand down to posterity their names as deserters. Roll of Captain Alexander Pine's company of Mercer County Reserves, composed of men between 45 and 50 years, and boys between 16 and 18 years. This company served for some time in the trenches around Richmond in the fall of 1864 : Bailey, Samuel J. Bailey, Daniel M. Bailey, Cornelius W. Belcher, Anderson A. Bailey, Enos Belcher, Daniel P. Company G, 24th Regiment. 483 Bailey, Uriah A. Calfee, William Calfee, Augustus B. Calfee, Houston Chatting, Geprge Carper, Ballard Clamore, James McBride, John Neeley, William Neeley, E. Oxley, Sanford (Lieutenant) Petrey, Jacob Phillips, John Stinson, Charles Ferguson, John (Orderly Sgt.) Stinson, Loraine (2d Lieut.) Hurst, Armstead A. Hearn, Levi Hubbard, Samuel G. Hutchinson, Allen Jones, Wm. H. Jones, Isaac Kahle, Jno. B. Mills, Benjamin Mills, George Miller, Floyd Shorter, James Shorter, Philip Stewjart, Vest Stovall, Levi (1st Lieut.) Shutt, Jno. W. Tracey, R. J. Trail, Jacob Trail, Samuel M. Weeks, Bert Walker, Burrill U. This company was attached to the 4th Battalion Virginia Reserves, commanded by Col. Wallace. A number of Capt. Pine's company were transferred to Company H, 60th Va. Regt. of Infantry. A ROLL of Company G, 24th Regiment of Virginia Infantry (Mercer County company) : OFFICERS. Captains : Robert A. Richardson. Hercules Scott. Benjamine P. Grigsby. Lieutenants. Rufus G. Rowland. Harvey M. Calfee. Benjamine G. McNutt. William Mc Calfee. John A. Douglass. Abshire, Winston Austin, R. T. Privates. Abshire, James A. Alvis, D. M. 484 New Rivee Settlements ( COMPANY G, 24th Bailey, Edward Bailey, G. C. Bailey, Eobert H. Bailey, G. F. Bailey, N. B. Bailey, Festus Bowling, William Burroughs, Charles Brown, John A. Brown, Thomas 0. Belcher, William McH. Belcher, George P. Bird, Blueford W. Batchelor, Robert Cooper, A. L. Cooper, R. C. Cooper, 0. W. Cook, Squire Coeburn, John Calfee, Milton H. Calfee, French Carbaugh, Wm. T. Calloway, James Cox, Jordon Deeds, John F. Douglass, John A. East, Alexander Easter, John French, B. P. French, David Fellers, Zechariah Foley, Marshall Faulkner, Hugh M. Farley, William Flick, J. M. N. EEGiMBNT — Cont'd.) George, Robert A. Grigsby, B. P. Grim, Peter Gore, G. H. Herndon, William H. Heptinstall, Leslie Holston, A. J. Hearn, Andrew Hearn, James Hopkins, James T. Hill, George Hambrick, Joseph Hall, James Harris, George A. Hale, Luther C. Johnson, James H. Johnson, Dennis Johnson, Addison Justice, Henry D. Kinney, James Karnes, Isaac McNutt, B. G. McNutt, John W. McClaugherty, M. H. McClaugherty, Albert Mahood, William A. Mahood, F. W. Motley, R. D. Mullins, F. M. Mills, James H. Manning, Tobias Monroe, James M. Oney, Isaac A. O'Daniel, William Peters, ThaddeuS Company I, 59th Regiment. 485 Peck, B. Wallace Parker, George W. Prillaman, Stephen Perkins, James A. Eeese, Manly Eeynolds, Wm. M. Eowland, E, G. Saundera, M. B. Saunders, Gordon L. Smith, Allen Smith, John M. Smith, Wm. N. Stovall, Joseph Smiley, George W. Shumate, E. H. Schmitz, George B. Snead, James Stuart, William Toney, George W. Thompson, J. M. Thompson, H. C. Thomas, John P. Thomas, Jefif Thomas, James Turner, Wm. H. Vermillion, Levi V. Vest, Crawford Wright, John White, H. G. White, H. M. ^Tiittaker, A. J. Whittaker, Boston A ROLL of Company I, 59th Eegiment of Virginia Infantry (Mercer County company) : OFFICERS. Captain, William B. Dorman. C. D. Straley. James M. McCue. Lieutenants. J. C. Straley. Non-Commissioned OflScers. William L. Bridges. D. H. Carr. J. W. Thompson. J. L. Walker. Ben j amine P. Grigsby. Bailey, John H. Bailey, A. C. Bailey, Daniel P. Bailey, Wilson L. Barbor, H. B. Thomas C. Gooch. J. H. Peck. W. W. George. James O. Cassady. Privates. Belcher, Hugh I. Belcher, Eufus K. Blankenship, Eobert Brian, Albert P. Brian, William H. 486 New River Settlements (company Bray, Thomas Brunty, Ransom Bowling, Lee Bowling, Thomas J. Bumside, A. J. Carper, William Calfee, George Calfee, Davis Calfee, Henry Caldwell, M. C. Caldwell, W. H. Caldwell, Andrew Davidson, Henry P. Dangerfleld, Owen Daniely, W. J. Davis, A. J. Davis, Gabriel French, Ballard P. French, James H. Fletcher, William H. Fletcher, Charles Gallier, Jack Gibson, James Godfrey, Thomas Gooch, Benjamine P. Grimm, Isreal Grimm, Peter Graley, Isaac Graley, Henry Heptinstall, W. F. Haden, J. E. Holly, Wm. H. Holly, W. S. Hall, Harris, Wm. A. I, 59th regiment — Cont'd.) Harless, N. B. Hudson, Robert M. Jones, Nathan Jones, Fleming King, Wm. R. Lavender, Henry Lilley, J. K. Lowman, John Martin, Hardin K. Martin, French Martin, H. W. Martin, John Martin, Wm. H. Martin, Henry Miller, George C. Miller, George W. McKenzie, Hiram Morgan, Wm. H. Murrill, Drury T. Oney, Ambrose Oney, Edward A. Parker, Giles Perkins, J. J. Peters, Elijah Robinson, John H. Robinson Rufus Rowland, Kinsie Rowland, Rufus G. Smith, Gaston Smith, Ballard P. Spade, Samuel Tabor, George O. Thompson, Syms Thompson, Samuel Underwood, Isham Company A, 17th Regiment. 487 Underwood, Jesse , Underwood, Peter Worrell, Fleming Walker, Wm. White, James White, Ballard P. Note. — This was the second company organized in Mercer County and united with the 59th Virginia regiment of Infantry, of the Wise Legion, under the command of General Henry A. Wise. This command served for some time in western Virginia about the Gauley Dogwood Gap and on Sewell Mountain. It was afterward transferred to eastern North Carolina and cap- tured at the battle of Roanoke Island. On the return of these men from captivity, their term of enlistment having expired, they joined themselves to various Confederate commands. A ROLL of Company A, 17th Virginia Cavalry Regiment (Mercer County company) : OFFICERS. William H. French. J. W. Graybeal. Lieutenants. W. A. Reid. Robert Gore. LaFayette Gore. Men of the Line. Bolin, F. A. Bolin, A. H. Bolin, G. S. Bolin, U. A. Barbor, H. B. Belcher, Floyd Brian, G. H. Brian, Robert Brian, Albert P. Batchelor, Robert Campbell, James Campbell, Henry Captains : Wm. B. Crump. Edward McClaugherty. Judson Ellison. Austin, A. G. Anderson, A. J. Anderson, David Alvis, B. Brown, William Brown, P. R. Brown, Joseph Burnside, Jackson Burgess, James Butler, Joel A. Boling, James Bolin, J. J. 488 New Rivhe Sbttlhmbnts (company a, 17th Campbell, Lewis Campbell, Wm. A. Clemmens, John Clemmens, James Crawford, G. W. Caldwell, G. W. Caldwell, Manilius Caldwell, Morton Calfee, A. J. Calfee, Albert B. Davis, P. Easter, James Easter, C. W. Fanning, A. J. French, Allen French, Milton H. French, Wm. Fletcher, Wm. H. Faulkner, Hugh Faulkner, George Foley, Marshall Foley, Barnet Flowers, John Foster, G. W. Foster, James Foster, Eobert Farley, Jackson Gore, H. S. Gibson, Leroy Hall, Wm. Holroyd, W. M. Hunt, Eli W. Hunt, G. W. Hunt, Arnold Haldren, Samuel REGIMENT — Cont'd.) Haldren, G. W. Haldren, Ballard Hatcher, Henry Hatcher, Jackson Hatcher, Green Higginbotham, Henry Higginbotham, G. L. Lowman, John Lane, Charles Means, Charles Martin, H. E. Martin, Daniel Martin, Francis Martin, Joseph Martin, J. D. Monroe, J. W. Massie, Thomas Meadows, Harry Massie, Jefferson McClaugherty, Joseph McClaugherty, John McClaugherty, Nelson Nash, Albert Neeley, William Newkirk, J. E. Newkirk, William Nelson, John Nelson, Lewis Pennington, Levi Pennington, G. L. Prince, Floyd Prince, Lee Pettry, William Pettry, H. F. Patton, French's Mercer County Battery. 489 Ratcliffe, Cook Reed, G. W. Reed, Clark Redman, Robert Redman, William St. Clair, William St. Clair, Daniel St. Clair, E. W. St. Clair, Bluford St. Clair, Green Shorter, W. A. Shorter, G. W. Snead, James Sweeney, William Stafford, W. H. Shrewsberry, Johnson Shrader, Robert Tucker, Thompson, Philip Thomley, Thomas Thompson, Joseph Thompson, Allen Thornton, William Virmillion, J. R. Virmillion, S. T. Walker, John Woodall, John R. Woodall, W. A. Woodall, M. F. Wright, John Wiley, Hugh Wiley, Bird Wiley, J. A. Wiley, James L. Weatherford, Samuel Williams, Andrew Wood, J. A. French's Mercer County Battery, officers. Captain, Napoleon B. French. Lieutenants. John J. Maitland. B. G. McComas. Edward G. Tracey. John A. Douglass. Theodore Smith. Charles R. Boyd. Chapman's Virginia Battery (Monroe County company) OFFICERS. Captain, Beirne Chapman. Lieutenants. Reed Smith Henderson Campbell Thrasher 490 New River Settlements (CHAPMAN^S VIRGINIA BATTERY — Cont'd.) Non-Commissioned Officers. Cephalis Black. William Dickerson. William T. Patton. J. G. Stevens. M. M. Balentine. Charles Heeney. R. Davidson. Dr. E. F. Raymond. Privates. Argabright, J. L. Arnett, Jesse Andrews, H. M. Andrews, William Andrews, Charles Armstrong, Henry Alderson, J. W. Briggs, Miles Bostic, James Burns, Matthew Boyd, Matthew Ballentine, Andrew Ballentine, John Burdett, James Beamer, Matthew Beamer, Bird Banks, Clem Bran, Robert Bennet, J. W. Bradley, George Clark, Aaron Coiner, John Christie, Allen Christie, Newton Cummings, Robert Davidson, Ferdinand Daugherty, John Daugherty, William Dickson, Charles Dickson, Robert Dungan, Robert Ellison, Charles Ellis, Jacob Ellis, W. H. Ellis, John Ford, James Poster, Jacob Groves, Alexander Gray, John Gray, Alexander Griffey, Robert Huffman, George Hoylman, Francis Hogsett, B. F. Hogsett, H. M. Hogsett, William Hogsett, Washington Halstead, Allen Halstead, Henry Hill, A. J. Hines, James Hines, J. W. Hamilton, Houston Hoke, J. H. Honaker, Ike Hicks, Samuel Chapman's Virginia Battery. 491 Humphrey, Berry Hurt, Garland Holderlee, W. H. Kirby, James Keaton, Cole Kiser, Bogle Layton, Frank Lynch, Hugh Lemon, Frank Lowe, John Lewis, Thomas Loudermilk, James Lee, Mason Lynch, Henderson McGhan, Mack McDowell, Andrew Mays, Robert Moran, James Matheney, George Mann, Thomas Mapn, Clark Mann, Kenley Mann, John Miller, Wilson McGee, John Morris, John McRay, William Meeks, H. A. Meeks, Harrison Morgan, John Minner, Dick McNeer, W. R. Neel, Henry Neel, A. A. P. Parker, J. N. Pyles, John Pyles, Henry Pharr, Dian Peck, Jacob Pitzer, Henry Pitzer, Wink Robison, William Robison, James Robison, Dick Robinson, Samuel Reed, Joseph RiflEe, John RiflEe, Samuel Swoope, Wm. L. Stevens, J. A. Smith, Wash Smith, Josiah Smith, Lorenso Shaver, William Shumate, William Shumate, Harry Saunders, William Selvey, William Stuart, James Sams, Andrew Sams, Dock Sams, Hugh Sawyers, Jesse Stull, Dan Spangler, John Simpson, Jacob Stickley, John Sively, Charles Tracey, J. J. H. Upton, J. H. Vance, Adam Vance, David 492 New Kiver Settlements (chapman's VIRGINIA BATTERY Cont'd.) Vance, Rice Vance, Henry Vance, Cape Vine, George Vans, Tavern H. Vaught, Miles Walters, J. W. Walker, Charles Walker, Newton Young, J. C. Young, George Young, William A ROLL of Bryan's Virginia Battery, in which a number of Monroe County and New Kiver Valley men served : OFFICERS. Captain, Thomas A. Bryan. Lieutenants. Giles A. Fowlkes. William H. Jennings. William Steele. Mosheim Tabler. Non- William A. Francis. John T. Simms. A. J. Patton. G. W. Branham. M. W. Humphreys. A. A. McAllister. Otho Crebbs. B. F. Irons. Alexander, Henry Alexander, M. J. Allen, G. W. Allen, Hugh Allen, John Allen, N. R. Alvis, Arnold, Alexander Arthur, Charles M. Bell, A. M. Commissioned OflScers. Judson Howell. Wm. A. Burdett. N. A. Dunbar. H. C. Campbell. John D. McCartney. George W. Earley. William R. Leach. George W. Wetzel. Privates. Beckett, Michael Bland, Alexander Boyd, George A. Boyd, F. A. Boyd, R. A. Branham, John H. Bryan, Walter Bugg, G. W. Burdett, John K. Burnes, James T. Bryan's Virginia Battery. 493 Bush, Harvey Calfee, J. A. Campbell, A. N. Campbell, Daniel Campbell, John E. Campbell, John P. Campbell, W. H. H. Campbell, Wm. P. Caperton, Hugh Carroll, James Carter, Wm. A. Sr. Carter, Wm. A. Jr. Chewning, Stephen Clark, James F. Clark, Preston Collins, Edward Collins, Philip Connell, M. S. Ceelican, Thomas McL. Croghan, Timothy Crosier, J. L. Crosier, J. M. Crosier, T. B. Crosier, W. B. Crowder, L. V. Cumins, Jack Davis, Charles M. Dehart, James R. Dehart, John Dehart, Michael & Dehart, William C. Debins, Daniel Doland, Andrew Doland, Mark Dooley, James A. Doswell, R. M. Duffy, John H. Dunbar, C. W. Dunbar, James M. Dunbar, John A. Dunbar, R. S. Dunbar, Thomas E. Dunbar, W. M. Dunn, B. P. Dunn, Rufus K. Dunsmore, J. A. Dunsmore, W. H. Erskine, Madison H. Fisher, James T. Fisher, John I. Foster, David W. Fox, I. L. Francis, John A. Fullen, Wm. H. Glover, John H. Glover, William P. Graves, John W. Hall, Joseph Hall, Robert Handley, J. A. Hebberman, Honaker, E. S. Huffman, G. S. Huffman, Tim L. Hughes, Humphreys, C. A. Humphreys, John W. Irons, William Y. James, W. H. H. Jennings, Petrie Kelley, Dennis Kershner, James H. 494 New River Settlements (BRYANTS VIRGINIA Kershner, M. M. King, William A. Kissinger, Erastus Knightstep, W. C. Kountz, Samuel Landridge, Thos. Lawhorn, James Lawhorn, Joseph Leach, A. U. G. Leach, Cornelius Leach, A. Y. Leach, Joshua Leach, Wm. E. Lewis, John E. Lewis, John T. Long, N. B. Lynch, John McClaugherty, George E. McClearn, Alexander McClowney, J. K. McCreery, W. H. McDowell, R. D. McMahon, A. J. Manning, Dennis Martin, Thomas Martin, Thomas S. Meadows, E. B. Meredith, L. D. Miller, T. J. Miller, Wm. G. Morgan, Thomas A. Mourn, G. W. Murdeck, James L. Murrill, Charles H. Murrill, Thomas B. BATTERY — Cont'd. ) Neal, A. P. Neal, John L. Nelson, John F. Nicholas, John Nickell, George T. Obenchain, C. E. Parker, D. R. P. Parker, R. Y. Parker, W. H. H. Patton, A. D. Patton, John C. Patton, John J. Patton, Napoleon Patton, Wallace Pearis, George D. Ramsey, James W. Ramsey, John Reabum, R. A. Reaburn, W. H. Riley, Timothy Ripley, J. L. Robertson, Frank Robertson, B. H. Robinson, Alexander Rusk, M. M. Russell, Walter Saunders, James Scott, William Shanklin, C. A. Shanklin, H. S. Sheppard, Joel G. Shields, Wm. H. Shumate, R. A. Smith, Alexander Smith, Pat Company D, 23ed Virginia Battalion. 495 Spade, Brice M. Spade, W. C. Stack, Thomas Steele, John Steele, Lewis M. Steele, M. G. Steele, Thomas B. Stephens, C. I. Snyder, Alexander Tabler, J. N. Teass, Thomas A. Thomas, D. R. Thomas, G. W. Thompson, George H. Tipton, W. H. Tolbert, Charles Tomlinson, A. N. Tomlinson, James P. Tomlinson, Joseph Tomlinson, W. C. Vance, Adam Vass, Charles Walker, C. W. Wallace, John A. Wallace, John J. Wallace, Wm. A. Watson, A. J. Weaver, Aylett Weaver, John C. Witten, Guy M. Wickline, J. A. Wickline, S. D. Williams, S. B. Williams, George W. Williams, James Williams, Wm. P. Wiseman, Charles A. Wiseman, John A. Woodson, A. A. Woolwine, A. P. Wiley, Perry Wiseman, John L. Young, George Young, Josiah A ROLL of Company D, 23rd Virginia Battalion of Infantry, commanded by Colonel Clarence Derrick (Tazewell County company) : officers. Captains: William P. Cecil, promoted to Major. D. B. Baldwin. Thomas W. Whitt. David J. Gillespie. W. M. Witten. James Gillespie. Lieutenants. Oscar F. Barnes. James H. Harding, Adjutant. Hugh Dillon, Fife Major. John Whetsel, Drum Major. 496 New Rivee Settlements (company d, 23rd Virginia battalion — Cont'd.) Orderly Sergeants. David J. Daugherty. David A. Edwards. Thomas P. Brewster. John W. Daniels. Fred Smiley. 2nd, 3rd and 4th Agner, William Ayers, Isaac Ayers, B. F. Asberry, John Asberry, Madison Brown, W. J. Bowman, Arch Bowman, Samuel P. Barnes, John Brown, Wm. Carter, John Carter, Smith Carter, James Cooley, Joseph Conley, Isaac Cook, B. K. Doughton, Enos DoTighton, Mitchell Doughton, George Doughton, Andrew Dillion, Henderson Dillion, Osborne Dillion, Thomas P. Dixon, John Dailey, W. W. Faddis, John George, James H. Flag Bearers. Benjamine White. A. J. Sweeney. Sergeants, Corporals and Privates. Gray, James Gillespie, Robert Gillespie, George W. Gillenwalters, James Hunter, James Hankins, Richard Higginbotham, M. N. Helton, Buch Hooker, Wm. Hall, John Hall, James Hall, Thomas Haldron, A. J. Hensley, Wm. Mathena, John Marrs, David W. Mitchell, Eli Moore, Robert M. Newton, James Newton, Wm. Pack, Jordan Puckett, James Price, Wm. Pack, John Quicksell, Harman Rollins, Davidson Rollins, Emsley Company H, 8th Virginia Cavalry. 497 Eedwine, Joseph Rollins, Wm. Eader, Wm. E. Ratclifif, Eichard S. Eatcliflf, Howard Eatcliff, Henderson Smith, C. D. Spotts, Campbell Spence, Jonas Spence, Wm. Spence, James Sparks, Jonas Sergent, Wm. Sergent, Johnston Shannon, Powell Steele, Montague Sweeney, I. J. Vest, James Vaughan, Jefif Waldron, M. A. Whitt, Alfred Witten, Thomas Whitt, Montague Whitt, Elias A. White, Benjamine White, James A. White, Osborne White, Joseph Whitt, James A. White, John White, Arch White, John Jr. Young, Charles Young, John B. Note. — This company was engaged in the following actions and battles: Cotton Hill, W. Va., Dickenson, McCoys, Fort Donelson (five days flght), Fayetteville, Montgomery's Ferry, Camp Piatt, Charleston, Pack's Ferry, Lewisburg, New Market, Berryville, Shepherdstown, Dry Creek, Monocacy, Opequon, Winchester, Strasburg, Middletown, Fisher's Hill, Fort Har- rison, Cold Harbor, Snicer's Gap, Atlee's Station, Lacy Springs, Kernstown. This company had 33 men wounded, 10 killed, 10 captured, and 7 died of disease. Osborne Dillion was captured in McDowell County, West Virginia, and brought to a place now known as Roseville, near Pocahontas, Virginia, tied to a tree and shot. Company H, of the 8th Virginia cavalry regiment, command- ed by Captains George W. Spotts, John C. McDonald, Thomas P. Bowen and Henry Bowen, was composed in part of the fol- lowing named Mercer County men, to- wit: Lieutenant, Jacob A. Peck. 498 New Rivee Settlements (company h, Alvis, Fel Alvis, James Alvis, John Bailey, A. J. Bailey, Rufus K. Bailey, Rufus Bailey, Festus Bailey, Clinton Belcher, Henry D. Belcher, Philip Belcher, Waddy Blankenship, Wm. Calfee, H. S. Calfee, John Cassady, R. P. Glowers, Daniel Crawford, Reuben Deweese, Andrew Duncan, Wm. George, Robert A. Godfrey, John D. Hale, John E. Higginbotham, J. H. Higginbotham, Allen 8th VIRGINIA CAVALRY — Cont'd.) Privates. Hight, James H. Karnes, James A. Kesterson, Frank McClananhan, Charles McNutt, Joseph P. McPherson, Jacob McPherson, James McThompson, John Mills, James R, Painter, Wm. L. Reed, Hiram Shrader, Robert Smith, Wm. B. Stickleman, Thomas Stovall, John Q. Tiller, J. P. Thompson, H. B. Thompson, Patrick Thompson, Thomas W. Thompson, Wm. H. Underwood, Peter Walker, Wm. Wilson, John The following is a list of ofiBcers who commanded various organizations from Tazewell County which served in the Con- federate army: COMPANY D^ 23rd VIRGINIA BATTALION OF INFANTRY. Captains, Wm. P. Cecil, D. B. Baldwin; Lieutenants, James Gillespie, David J. Gillespie, Montague Whitt, Wm. M. Witten, Milburn W. Barrett, Thomas L. Whitt, Oscar F. Barnes, who served at one time Sergeant Major of said battalion. Captain Officers 4oth Regiment^ Etc. 499 Wm. P. Cecil was promoted to Major and commanded for a while the said battalion, and he was succeeded by Major David S. Hounshell. At the reorganization of the army, Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Derrick, a graduate of West Point, became Lieutenant Colonel and commander of said battalion. Captain Wm. Blessing, of Company A, was promoted to Major, and James A. Harding was appointed Adjutant. 45th VIRGINIA REGIMENT OF INFANTRY. Colonels, Henry Heth, Wm. E. Peters, Wm. H. Brown; Lieutenant Colonel Edwin H. Harmon; Captains, Joseph Har- rison, Charles A. Fudge, John H. Whitley, John Thompson, Henry Yost, T. V. Williams, James H. Peery. Lieutenants, B. W. Williams, Henry S. Higginbotham, Eobert Wingo, Robert A. Winston, Robert G. Baldwin, R. A. Taylor, Norman Bailey, Henry Davidson, Preston Croft, Joseph H. Bane, W. C. Wil- liams, Charles P. Gillespie, James P. Whitman, James W. Smith, John Thompson, and Henry E. Maxwell. derrick's battalion. Captains, George Gose, Frank Peery; Lieutenants, S. H. Skelton, H. G. Peery. 29th VIRGINIA REGIMENT OF INFANTRY. Captains, Archibald Peery, Rufus Britton, Ebb Brewster, the two latter afterwards promoted to Majors; Lieutenants, P. Barnes, P. Croft. 22nd regiment of Virginia cavalry. Colonel, Henry S. Bowen ; Lieutenant Colonel, Rad- ford; Captains, Bailey Higginbotham, W. W. Brown; Lieu- tenants, Samuel Brooks, Wesley Hall. 16th regiment of Virginia cavalry. Colonel, Milton J. Ferguson; Lieutenant Colonel, Wm. L. Graham; Captains, Jonathan Hankins, Robert Taylor, Wm. Edward Peery; Lieutenants, M. L. Linkous, Wm. Elswick, 500 New Eivee Settlements M. W. Barrett, Henderson Plummer, Wm. Bailey, W. H. H. Witten, John H. Wood, John Whitley, S. J. Thompson, Ferd S. Dunn. 8th regiment of VIRGINIA CAVALRY. Captains, George W. Spotts, John C. McDonald, Thomas P. Bowen, Henry Bowen ; Lieutenants, Joseph S. Moss, J. H. Ab- bott, A. J. Tynes (afterwards promoted to Captain). 34:TH VIRGINIA CAVALRY BATTALION. Colonel, Vincent A. Witcher; Cap'^ius, Elias V. Harman, David G. Sawyers, John Yost. 50th regiment of Virginia infantry. Captain, Frank W. Kelly. There were two companies of Tazewell County Reserves at the battle of Saltville, one com- manded by Captain Samuel L. Graham, and the other by Cap- tain Starnes. united states census, 1790 to 1900, showing the population OF the counties of MONTGOMERY, MONROE, TAZE- WELL, GILES AND MERCER. Counties 1790 18C0 1810 1820 1830 1840' 1850 18B0 1870 1880 1890 1900 Montgomery Monroe . . 13228 9044 4188 2127 8409 6444 3007 3745 8733 6620 3916 4521 12306 7798 5749 5274 7405 8422 6290 5307 2243 8359 10204 9942 6570 4222 10617 10757 9820 6883 6819 12556 11124 10791 5895 7064 16693 11501 12881 8794 7467 17742 12429 19899 9090 16002 15862 13130 Tazewell.... Giles 23384 10793 Mercer 23023 INDEX. A. Abbott, Rev. James 69, 122 Abb's Valley 37, 70, 90 Abingdon 8 Adams, Charles Francis, Tribute of, to Gen'l Lee 258 Adams, Elizabeth Campbell 61 Albemarle County 11, 14, 69 Alderson, Henry C 154 Alderson Hotel 59 Alderson, Rev. John 59, 122 Alderson, Rev. John Jr 59 Alderson, Rev. Lewis 123 Alderson, Town of 59 Alamance, battle of 50 Alexander, Arch 23 Alexander, .James 133, 135 Alexandria 17, 18 Alleghanles 7, 9, 12, 57 Alvis, Joe, gives Mr. Thomas a drink 336 Amendment XIII to U. S. Constitution 183 American Independence 54 Amhurst County, Va 46 Amsterdam, on the James 60 Anderson, Gen. R. H 283 Antietam, battle of 241 Appalachian Mountains 91 Appomattox, surrender at 313 Arbuckle 48 Arbuckle, John 134 Armistead, Gen. L. A 262 Armstrong, Col. Martin 75, 83 Armstrong, Thomas T 75 Asbury, Rev. Francis 1 123 Attorneys of Mercer County bar 368-70 Augusta 19 Averill, Gen. W. W 268, 293, 296 B. Back Creek Valley 32, 61,75, 107 New RivEB Settlements. Backwater Men 38 Backwoodsmen 82 Back-Mountain Men 78 Bailey Family, biography of 377 Bailey, Adj. A. C, killed at Chambersburg 305 Bailey, Harvey 73 Bailey, James 87, 88, 111, 144 Bailey, James M 175, 180 Bailey, John _ 99, 100, 111. 144 Bailey, Jonathan 99 Bailey, Capt. John M 210 Bailey, Micajah 109 Bailey, Major R. A 270 Bailey, Reuben Ill Bailey, Richard 73, 108, 111 Bailey's Gap 142 Baker, Elder Andrew 123 Baldwin, Capt. D. B 252, 269 Bane Family, Biography of 378 Bane, Howard ' 172 Bane, Capt. R. H 234 Bane, James 157 Bane, Jos. E 193 Bane, Robt. H 193 Baptist Preachers 59, 122 Baptist Valley '■ . 97 Barger's Fort 37, 62 Barnes Family, Biography of 381 Barnes, Robt 146 Barger, Philip 20, 37 Barrier, Casper 20 Batte, Henry 13 Batte, Thomas 13 Beauregard, Gen'l 189, 275 Beaver Dam, battle of , 209 Beaver Pond 109 Beckley 20 Beckley, Gen'l Alfred 195, 216 Bee, Dr. Isaiah 348 Beecher's reply to the Englishman 316 Bedford County 32 Belrne, Andrew 135 Belcher Family, Biography of 380 Belcher, Lieut. G. W 210 Belcher, Phoebe, wife of Mitchell Clay 89 Bentley, Major W. W 314 Beverly, battle of 310 Index. ill Bickley, Dr 96, 139 Big Bluestone 21 Big Bone Lick 21 Big Coal River 30 Big Stoney Creek 36, 54, 68 Biographical — Bailey Family, The 377 Bane Family, The 378 Belcher Family, The 380 Black Family, The 380 Barnes Family, The 381 Bowens, of Tazewell, The 382 Burke Family, The 386 Calfee Family, The 387 Capertons, The 388 Chapmans, The 389 Cecil Family, The 395 Clay Family, The 396 Cloyd Family, The 398 Davidson Family, The 401 Emmons Family, The 401 Frenches, The 402 Gillespies, The 405 Hales, The 406 Hare, Joseph 410 Hoges, The 412 Howes, The 415 Johnstons, The 418 Kirks, The 425 Lybrooks, The 427 Meadows Family, The 434 McClaughertys, The 430 McComases and Napiers, The 431 McDonalds, The 436 Packs, The 439 Peck Family, The 442 Pearls Family, The 444 Peters Family, The 448 Shannons, The 450 Smiths, The, of New River 452 Snldows of New River, The 453 Straleys, The New River 456 Wittens, The, of Tazewell 459 Blackard, Capt. Joel 212 Blackshurg 9, 137, 293 Black Family, Biography of 380 Black's Fort, County Seat of Washington County 58 New Rivee Settlements. Blakey, Sergeant 276 Bland County 33, 107 Bland, Richard 55 Blankenship, Mr 124 Bluefield, City of 41, 69, 355 Blue Ridge 36, 298 Bluestone River 11, 12, 72 Bolen, Floyd A., record of Itinerary of Co. A, 17th Rept 300 Bomb Proof's JLiament 288 Bonnie Blue Flag 237 Boone County 89 Boone, Daniel 39, 40, 112, 114, 142 Boone, James 39, 40 Boone, Squire 40, 142 Boonsboro, Battle of 238 Boreman, Gov 197, 200 Botetourt County, created 36 Botsford, Lieutenant 217 Bowen Family, Biography of 382 Bowen, Capt. Henry 306 Bowen, Moses 41 Bowen, Mrs. Reece 41 Bowen, Reece 41, 78, 141, 143 Bowen, Thompson Crockett 154 Boyd, Charles R 8 Boyd, Thos. J 172 Braddock, Gen'l 18 Bradshaw, John 141 Bray, Dr. Thomas 128 Branch, Gen'l 244 Breckenridge, Gen. J. C 281, 292, 295, 298, 310 Breckenridge, Robt 23 Bridges, Capt. Wm. L 348 Brillhart, Jacob 124 Bristol, Tenn 38 British Cabinet 18 British Emissaries . ., 41, 50 Broad River 79 Brockenborough, Judge 151 Bromfields 54 Broun, Major Thos. L 294 Brown, Judge James E 172 Brown, John , 171 Brown, Rev. Mr 24 Brown, Col. W. H 296 Brownlow, "William G 124 Brownstown 113 Index. v Bryan, William 39 Bryan's battery 293, 492 Bryant, Captain 75 Buchanan's Bottom 33, 94 Buchanan County 9 Buchanan, Col. John 11. 25 Buckingham County 9 Buford, Captain 47 Bull Run, Battle of 191 Bull Run, Second Battle of 232 Bundridge, Elder John 123 Burkhart, A. W., Poem by 245 Burdette, Jno. S 182 Burke's Garden 14, 30 Burke Family, The 386 Burke, James 14, 30, 137, 157 Burke, John 157 Burke, Rebecca, wife of Andrew Davidson 100 Burke, Capt. Thomas 62 Burning Spring 30 Burning of Princeton 220 Burns, James 63 Burr, B. L., a wounded Federal 245 Butler, Explorer .'. 138 Butler, William 141 Byrd, Captain 8 Byrd, Col. William 61 Byrnside, James 13, 134 Byrnside, John 133 C. Cabell, Wm. H 157 Calfee Family, The 387 Calfee, Albert B 315 Calfee, Elder James 348 , Calfee, John C 315 Calfee, Lieutenant H. M 212, 483 Campbell, Major Arthur 54, 58, 83 Campbell, Col. Charles H Campbell, David 55 Campbell, John A 182 Campbell, J. N 135 Campbell, J. P 135 Campbell, Miss Margaret 61 Campbell, Capt. William 54, 68, 78, 82 Camron, Col. Charles 50 Canadian Traders 41 New RrvEB Settlements. Canawhay Indians 8 Capertons, The 388 Caperton, Adam 72 Caperton, Allen T 72, 135, 180 Caperton, Capt. Hugh 112, 114 Caperton, Hugh 72, 135 Caperton, W. J 135 Caperton's Company 114 Carroll County 8, 68 Carrington, Paul 134 Carr, Col. John S 124 Carr, Early Explorer 138 Carlisle, Hon. J. S 196 Carnifax Ferry 216 Castle 10 Castle's Woods 10. 40 Catawba 34, 79 Catlett, Thos. K 124 Cecil Family, The 395 Cecil, Major William P 153 Cedar Creek, Battle of 306 Cedar Mountain, Battle of 231 Cedarville, Skirmish of 308 Centerville 201 Chamberlayne's Creek, Battle of 312 Chambers, Luther Lybrook 67 Chapmans, The 36, 42, 389 Chapman, A. A 135, 180, 195 Chapman, Capt. George B 252, 305 Chapman, Henley 158, 168 Chapman, Isaac 62, 157 Chapman, J. W 154 Chapman, John 37, 62, 63, 69 Chapman, Manilius 186 Chapman, Richard 37, 63, 69 Chapman's Virginia Battery 489 Champ, Christopher 157 Chambersburg, Pa 13, 297, 304-5 Charleston, S. Car 74, 121 Charleston, West Va 113 Chester Station 250 Cherokee Indians, 22 Cherry Pound Mountain .....* 88 Chew, Colby 11 Chickahominy 209 Chillicothe 22, 89, 107 Christian, Eli W 214 Index. vii Christian, Hiram 96 Christian, Robert A 214 Christian, Col. William 40, 47, 54, 58, 143 Christiansburg 293 Chiswell, Col 32 Clark, George Rogers 48, 67 Clark, Mrs. Henry 218 Clark, Samuel 134 Clark's House, Battle at 218 Clary, Elisha 141 Clay Family, The 396 Clay 48 Clay, Charles 88, 89 Clay, Hartley 86 Clay, David 89 Clay, Ezekiel 86, 89 Clay, Henry 89 Clay, Mitchell 51, 53, 73, 86, 89 Clay, Mitchell Jr 88 Clay, William 89 Clear Fork of Big Coal River 30 Clendenin, Captain 45 Clendenin, George -. 113 Cleveland, Col. Benjamin 68 Clerks of Mercer Circuit Court 371 Clerks of Mercer County Court 371 Clinche 29 Clinch River 29, 35 Clinton, Gen'l 73, 116 Clover Bottoms 51, 53 Cloyd Family, The " 398 Cloyd, David 60 Cloyd's Farm, Battle at 293-4 Cloyd, Gen. Gordon 168 Cloyd, John 60 Cloyd, Joseph 60, 68, 75, 81, 83, 93, 107 Clyburn, Jonas , 67 Coal River 11, 88, 155 ■ Cold Harbor, First Battle of 209 Cold Harbor, Second Battle of 281 Cole, Isaac 81, 88 Cole, Augustus W 195 Colonies 18 Colonial and British loss at Braddock's Defeat 18 Commonwealth's attorneys for Giles County 461 Compton, Hickman 73 Committee of Safety 328, 33S New River Settlements. Company A, 17th Va. Cavalry 487 Company D, 7th Regiment 467 Company' D, 23rd Va. Battalion 495 Company F, 24th Regiment 470 Company G, 24th Regiment 483 Company H, 8th Va. Cavalry 497 Company H, 36th Regiment 471 Company H, 60th Regiment 478 Company I, 36th Regiment 476 Company I, 59th Regiment 485 Concord Church 322, 326, 331, 354 Confederate Commissioners meet President of United States . . 289 Confederate Currency, depreciated 286 Confederate Private, The (poem) 317 Connolly, Major John 48 Connor, John 84 Constitutional Convention 347-8 Cooks, The 36 Cooks came to New River 36 Cook's Port 36 Cook's Fort on Indian Creek 62 Cook's Fort on Rader's Run 62 Cook, Hon. Mitchell , 348 Cook, Capt. Richard M 199 Cooke, John, killed 36 Coon, L. D 83 Cooper, Capt. William A 223 Cornwallis, Lord 74, 84, 144 Corse, Col. M. D 211, 232, 248, 314 Couling, S. M. B 154 Count de Villiers 17 Counties — when formed and how named 373-6 County Seat (of Mercer) removal, controversy, etc 326 Courts, History of, and OfBcers 357 Coward 48 Cowpens, Battle of 79 Cox, General 193, 216 Cox, Mr 335 Cox, Montgomery 219, 230 Craig, Rev. Mr 24 Cravan, John 141 Crawford, Capt. William 48 Crelgh, David 297 Cresap, Michael 48 Crockett's 57 Crockett, David 120 Crockett, Capt. Walter 54, 68, 94 Index. Crockett, Major Robert 102, 103, 109, 144 Crockett, Capt. Robt. R 294 Croft 42 Crook, Maj. Gen. George 206, 292-3, 296 Cross Lanes, Battle of 215 Crown Point 18 Crump's Bottom 12 Culbertson, Andrew 13, 53 Culbertson Creek 39 Culbertson, Samuel 13 Culbertson's Bottom 12, 44, 53 Cull, James 20 Culpeper County 37, 54, 68 Cumberland Gap 71 Cumberland Mountain 57 Cummlngs, Rev. Charles 55, 122 Cunningham, John M 172 Cyphers, Francis 24 D. Daniel, Major John W 239 Dave's Knob 80 Davidson, Andrew 100, 149 Davidson-Bailey Port 73 Davidson Family, The 401 Davidson, Jno. A Ill Davidson, John G 73, 108, 149 Davidson, John 171 Davidson, Joseph Ill Davis, Andrew J 337 Davis, Col. James W 324 Declaration of Fincastle Men 54-57 Deed of Cession, 1784 68 Delaware Indians 66 Denny, Francis 65 Depreciated Confederate Currency 286 Deskins, John 142 Detroit 66 Dick's Creek 97 Died in prison — number of men 318 Dingess, Peter 84, 158 Dinwiddle Court House 312 Dinwiddle Fort 33 Dinwiddle, Governor 17, 19, 21, 22, 32 Dinwiddle Papers 22, 32 Doak's Mill 83 Donelson Fort, Battle of 206 New River Settlements. Donnally, Andrew 37 Donnally's Fort 37, 62 Dorman, Capt. William B 187, 202, 206 Douglass, Capt. John A , 306 Douthat's Battery 293 Draper, George 95 Draper, Mrs. George 20 Draper, John 20, 51 Draper, Mrs. John 20 Draper's Meadows fort 45 Draper's Meadows Settlement 9, 10, 12, 19, 20, 21, 60 Droop Mountain, Battle of 269 Drury's Bluff, Battle of 275 Dry Fork 29, 97 Duncan, Charles 84 Duncan, Rev. Landon 123 Duncan, Mrs. Landon 119 Dunn, Luther A 67 Dunlap, Alexander 134 Dunlap, Capt. James 282 Dunlap, Capt. John R 187 Dunlap, Capt 23 Dunlap's Creek 33 Dunmore County 47 Dunmore, Governor 40, 47, 51 Dunmore's War 41 Dysart, James 83 E, Eaken, Rev. George 123 Early, Gen. Jubal' A 178, 182, 189, 282, 299, 304, 306, 314 Early's Valley Campaign '. 304, 308 Easly, Jno. W 183 East River 9 East River Mountain 66, 224 Echols, Gen. John 135, 266, 292, 309 Edgar, Major George M 230, 282, 305 Edmiston, Samuel 94 Edmiston, William 83 Bdmondson, Lieut. William 55 Eggleston's Springs 10 Bggleston, Capt. William 183 Ellison, Rev. James 14, 123 Ellison, Rev. Matthew 14 Elk River 112 Emmons Family, The 401 Emmons, James 84 Index. English, James W 195 "English's," early name of Wright's Valley 70 Erskine , 72 Estill, Judge Benjamin 155 Estill, Isaac 133 Estill, Dr. J. M 225 Estill's Defeat 72 Estridge, Richard, and daughter 63 Evans, George 175, 194, 321, 333, 335 Evans, Jesse , 141, 144 Evans, Lewis, map mentioned 22 Evans, Miss, captured by Indians 93 Ewell, Gen. R. S 264, 314 F. Fairfax County 38 Fairfax Court House, Skirmish at 189 Palls of the Ohio 67 Fallen Timbers, Battle of 101, 115 Farley's Fort 62 Farley, Capt. Matthew 87 Farley, Thos. Berry 165 Farley, Thomas , 13, 14, 76, 81 Farley, Watt 134 Fayetteville, W. Va 293 Fayetteville, N. C 68 Federal Convention at Philadelphia 93 Ferguson, Col. M. J 292 Ferguson, Major Patrick 77, 144 Ferguson, Samuel , 141, 145 Fernald, Chas. D 278 Fields, Capt. John 47, 48 Fincastle, Botetourt County '. 39 Fincastle County, created 39 Fincastle County, abolished 57 Fincastle Convention 58 Fincastle Regiment 40 Field Officers of Confederate Organizations 462-7 Field, Matthew . •. 19 Fisher's Hill, Battle of 306 Fitzhugh, Major Henry 217, 221 Five Forks, Battle of 314 Five Mile Fork of East River 71 Plat Top "Copperheads" ■ 216 Flat Top Mountain 11 Flat Top Region 12, 20, 349 Fleming, Col. William 47, 49 New Riveb Sbt*lem:ents. Floyd County 8 Floyd, Capt. John 62 Floyd, Gen. John B 193, 215 Flowerree, Col. C. C 233, 276 Foley, Capt. Richard B 217, 348 Forsythe County, N. C 33 Fort Branch 59 Fort Chiswell, County Seat of Montgomery County 58 Fort Donelson, Battle of 206 Fort du Quesne 15 Fort Field -. 62 Fort Frederick 25 Fort Harrison 284 Fort Necessity 17 Fort Prince George 23 Fort Randolph 62 Fort Spring 37 Franklin County 51 Franklin, State of 38, 91 Frazler's Farm, Battle of 211 Frederick County 47 Fredericksburg, Battle of 248 Freemen of Fincastle 54 French and Indian War 10, 16 Frenches, The 402 French, Chas. D 59 French, Capt. David A 215, 272, 275, 284, 290 French, David , 157 French, Capt. James H 186 French, Col. James M 269 French, John 81, 82, 88 French, Matthew 54, 65, 81 French, Capt. Napoleon B 153, 180 French, Russell G 217, 323 French, Col. William H 180, 206, 217, 252, 293, 322, 339, 348 French, William H 176 French's Mill, Battle of 224 French's Mercer County Battery 489 French vs. Loyal Company 16 "From the Same Canteen" 245 Fry, Col. Joshua 17 Fudge, Capt. C. A 142, 294 G. Gaines' Mill, Battle of 209 Galliapolis 107 Gap Mountain, Battle of 293 Index. xill Garnett, Gen. R. B 239, 262 Garrettson, Abraham 124 Garrettson, William 141 Gates, Gen. Horatio 74 . George, Lieut. A. G. P 210 George, John B 151, 153, 171 George the Third 55 Gettysburg, Battle of 255 Gibbons, A. P 340 Gibson, Eustace 272 Gilbert, Joseph 102, 149 Giles County 9, 10, 12, 36, 54, 155 Giles County, created 155 Giles Court House, action at 222 Gillaspie, Hon. H. L 182, 324 Gillespies, The 405 Gillespie, Hon. A. P 154 Gillespie, Barnes 154 Gillespie's Gap 78 Girty, Simon 136 Gist, Christopher 12, 137 Godby, Rev. R. B 29 Goldsboro, N. C 249 Gordonsville, Va 201 Gordon, Gen'l Jno. B 307 Gore, Robert 171 Gore, Capt. Robert 300 Gospel in Greenbrier 59 Gott, Capt. Andrew 294, 306 Grahams 36, 57 Graham, David 134 Graham, Elizabeth 59 Graham, Col. James 59, 63 Graham, John Jr 351 Graham, Hon. Samuel C 154 Graham, Samuel L 153 Graham, Col. Thomas 351 Graham, Wm 133 Graham, Va 98, 354 Grant 19 Gray, John 133 Gray, James 134 Grant, Gen'l 275, 282, 289 Grant, President 94 Grayson County 68 Great Meadows 17 Great Sandy "3 ilv New Rivee Settlements. Great Swamp 15 Greene, Nathaniel 74, 79, 82 Greenbrier 11 Greenbrier Association 59 Greenbrier Baptist Church 59 Greenbrier Company 16 Greenbrier County 16, 34 Greenbrier County created 60 Greenbrier River 16, 36 Greenfield 60 Greenup, John 140 Greever, B. L 154 Gregg, Gen'l 244 Grey Sulphur Springs 156 Griffith, Morris 81, 137 Griffith, Tristram 276 Grlgsby, Andrew J 179 Guilford Court House 68, 80, 82 Gun, Mrs. Catharine 34 Gunpowder Springs 10 Guyandotte Baptist Church 14 Guyandotte River 88, 104 Gwinn, James 134 H. Hales, The 406 Hale 42 Hale, Daniel 170 Hale, Edward 68, 88, 89 Hale, James W 297 Hale, Jno. A 282, 313 Hale, Dr. John P 20, 39 Hale, Lieut. R. A 69, 142 Hale, Capt. Rufus A 294 Halls, The 58 Hall, Benjamin 67 Hall, David 67 Hall, Richard 24 Hall, Major Robert 171 Halrston, Col. Peter 205, 211, 464 Hamptrampeh, Col. Jno. M 178 Hammond, Philip 62 Hammond, Lieut. Col. Geo. W 294 Hancock, Gen. W. S 205 Hanley, James 133 Hanley, John Jr 134 Hardesty's Geo. His 8, 9 Index. xt Hare, Isaac 191 Hare, Joseph 63, 68, 81, 88, 410 Harper, Jacob 315 Harnian, Adam 10, 20, 33, 42 Harman, Daniel H 179 Harman, Col. Edwin H 294 Harman, George 95, 98 Harman, Capt. Henry 33, 34, 71, 94, 95, 98, 141 Harman, Capt. Henry's Battle Song 96 Harman, J. N 141, 154 Harman, Mathias 95, 98, 141 Harman, Peter 141 Harman, Col. W. N 94, 217 Harrodsburg, County Seat of Kentucky County 58 Harrison, Benjamin 55 Harrison, Fort 284 Harrison, Nathaniel 153, 176, 321 Harrison, Thomas 152 Hartwell, John L 214 Harvey, James 171 Harvey, John 134 Hatfields 36, 54 Hatfield's Fort 36, 62 Hayes, Col. R. B 219 Haynes, Wm 133 Heckman, Gen. C. A 276 Henry, John 141, 144 Henry, Patrick Jr 55 Henry, Major R. R 154 Henshue's Gap 14, 137 Heptinstall, Blisha 315 Herbert, Captain 47 Herbert, Col. Albert 314 Hereford, Hon. Frank 135, 324, 339 Heroes of America 291 Hessians 8* Heth, Gen. Henry 222 Hickman, Rev. Mr 294 Hill, Gen. A. P 201, 204, 209, 243, 254 Hill, Gen. D. H 274 Hill, Senator Ben, eulogy of Gen'l Lee by 257 Hinton H Hix, John 70 Hoges, The 412 Hoge, James 32, 158 Hogg, Captain 18, 23, 29, 32 Hoke, Gen. Robt. F 274, 281 New RrvEB Settlements. Hollybrook 33, 94 Holstein, River 22, 38, 70 Hopkins, Samuel M 115 Hopkins, Geo. W 153 Horse Ford of New River 71 Horse Pen Creek 29, 103 Horseshoe 36 Hotchkiss, Major 8, 12, 351 House of Burgesses 17 Houston, Gen. Sam 175 Howard 9. H Howes, The 415 Howe, Joseph 32 Howe, William H 175 Howlett's House 280, 283 Huger, Gen'l 79 Hughes, David 80 Hughes, John 11 Hughey, Joseph 49 Hunter, Gen. David 282, 296 Hunter, Henry B 171 Hunton, Gen. Eppa 314 Hutchinson, John 133 Hutchinson, Wm 133 I. laeger 29 Illinois County 68 Imhoden, Gen'l 295 Indian Battle in Tazewell 139 Indian Creek 33 Indian Massacres at Sinking Creek 42-3 Indian Massacres in Tazewell 136, 149 Ingles-Draper 9, 10 Ingles-English's Valley 69-70 Ingles' Perry 8, 33 Ingles, Thomas 69, 72, 83, 142, 145 Ingles, Capt. William 21, 23, 30, 33, 34, 54, 69, 85 Ingles, Mrs. William 20, 22 Iron Mountain 58 Itinerary 17th Va. Cavalry 300 J. Jackson, Jno. J 182 Jackson, Gen. Thos. J 231 Jackson, Col. William L 268, 293, 296 Jackson's River 33 Index. xvii Jacob's Fork 29 James River 8, 204 Jarrett, Capt 37 Jarrett's Fort 63 Jefferson, Gov 81 Jefferson's Map 8 Jenifer, Col. Walter 220 Jenkins, Gen. A. G 293, 294 Johnstons, The 418 Johnston, Col. Andrew 157 Johnston, Chapman 1 176 Johnston, David 68, 113, 157 Johnston, David E 348 Johnston, George 164 Johnston, Gen. Joseph E 189, 204 Johnston, J. Raleigh 89 Johnston, Manilius S 193 Johnston, Oscar F 176 Johnston, Judge Peter 151 Johnston, Sallie, wife of Thos. Marshall 69 Jones, Gen. D. R 241 Jones, James 134 Jones, Gen. Samuel 252, 266 Jones, Gen. William E 292, 293, 296 Jonesville, Va 292 Jordan, O. F 290 Jordan, Theodore 175 Joslin, Benjamine 141 Justices of the Peace of Mercer County 371-3 K. Kahle, Geo 299 Kanawha, River 8, 21, 23, 66, 293 Karnes, John 36 Karr, Robert 128 Kavanah, Philip 65 Keenan, Charles 134 Keeney's Fort, and the Keeneys 36 Keeney's Knob 36 Kelly's Creek, Indian attack at mouth of 46 Kelly, Elder Edward 123 Kelly, Walter 45, 46 Kelly, William 45 Kemper, Gen. James L 207, 239, 262 Kent, Major James R 33, 94 Kenton, Simon 48 Kentucky 11, 12 New River Settlements. Kentucky County, created 57 Kercheval's History, quoted 13 Kerr's Creek 36 Kerr, Moses E 172 Kimball, F. J 351 Kimberllne, Jacob 34, 94 Kimberllng Creek 33, 94 King, George, Monroe County Court held at house of 133 King's Meadows 38, 77 King's Mountain 78, 79 Kinston, North Car 273 Kirks, The 425 Kirk, John , 84, 157 Kirk, Thomas 171 Knyphausen 74 L. Land Grants 16, 115 Lane; Rev. Tidence 122 Lead Mines 54, 81, 161 Lee, Gen. Custis 314 Lee, Richard Henry 55 Lee, Gen. Robert E 204, 231, 250, 257, 272, 282, 295 Lee's Legion 81 Leibroch 10 Leonard, Henry 20 Lewis, Gen'l Andrew 19, 22, 23, 29, 40, 138, 143 Lewis, Col. Charles 46, 47 Lewis, John 16 Lewis, John P 182 Lewis, Col. Samuel 63 Lewis, Thomas 158 Lewis, Hon. Virgil A., quoted 11, 24 Lewis, William 19 Lewisburg 40 Lexington 297 Lick Branch 54 Lilley, David 195, 323, 335 Lilley, Robert 171 Lilley, Lieut. S.' 210 Lincoln, Gen'l Benj 74 Lines written on Confederate bill 286 Linkous, Benj 179 Little, Col. Thos 194, 322 Little River 8, 91 Little Stoney Creek 68 Lockhart, Patrick 83 Index. xlx Loehr, Sergeant C. T 288 Logan C. H 293 Longstreet, Gen. James 254, 261, 271, 283 Lorlng, Gen. W. W 215, 251, 301 Looney, Absalom 37, 140 Looney, Robert 31 Looney's Creek 37 Louisa County, Va 9 Loyal Company 16, 30 Lucas, Capt. John 62 Lucas Family 163 LuSk, Samuel 102, 149 Lybrooks, The 36, 42, 427 Lybrook, Baltzer 42 Lybrook, John 13, 43, 62 Lybrook, Philip, first settler of that name 10, 20, 34, 42, 44 Lybrook, Philip 171 Lybrook, Samuel E 195 Lynchburg 297, 299 M. Maddy, Wm 134 ■ Madison, Capt. Thomas 54 Malvern Hill, Battle of 215 Manasses, first battle of 191 Manassas, second battle of 232 Mann, Adam 136 Mann, Edwin 136 Mann, Isaac L 136 Mann, Jacob 136 Mann, Jas. E 136 Mann, Thos 136 Mann, Wm 136 Manners and customs of the pioneers ' 116 Manning, A. D 208 Marlin, Jacob, early settler in Pocahontas County 16, 34 Marlinton's Bottom, surveyed by Gen. Lewis 16 Marriages, early, some anecdotes of 117, 166 Marrs, Alexander 81 Marshall, Thos 69 Martin, Joseph 141 Maryland Campaign of 1862 235 Mary's Creek 36 Mason, Lieut. Daniel W 275 Mastin, Thos 142 Matthews, Gen. George 50 Matthews, John P 168 New Riveb Settlements. Maury, Major R. L 276 Maxwell, Captain 70, 146 Maxwell, Thos 141 Maxwell's Gap 29, 70 May, Col. Andrew J 222, 228, 267 May, Samuel D 154 Mayo, Col. Joseph 273 Mays, Tapley P 240 Meade, Gen'l 272 Meador, Hon. R. G 67, 436 Meadow River 48 Meadows Family, The 434 Meadows, Jacob 84 Meadows, Josiah 63, 67, 84 Mechanlcsburg, Battle of 208 Members of Co. H, 6th Regt. killed, etc 480 Members of Congress (Virginia) 361 Members of Congress (West Virginia) 366 Mercer, Capt 18 Mercer Companies in Confederate Army 187 Mercer County 13, 21, 33, 51, 92, 187 Mercer County formed 169 Mercer County Reserves 482 Mercer County census 500 Mercer, Gen. Hugh 172 Methodist Ministers, pioneer 123-129 Middle New River, first white men to cross 11 Middle New River 61, 81 Milford Station 280 Miller, Brice 71 Miller, James 134 Miller, Joseph 180 Moffatt, Robt 146 Monocacy, Battle of 300 Monongahela River, boundary of Ohio Company's grant 16 Monroe County 36 Monroe County created 133 Montgomery County 37 Montgomery County created 57 Montgomery, James 94 Montgomery, Capt. John 23, 54 Montgole, Michael, tried and hung 164 Mooney, James 49 Moore, Gen'l Andrew 50 Moore, Capt. James 38, 73, 78, 88, 90, 93, 118, 140 Moore, James Jr 90, 145 Moore, Oscar B 93 Index. xxi Moore, William T 37, 118, 147 Moore's Creek Bridge, Battle of 68 Moore's Memorial Church 37 Morgan, Gen'l Daniel 79 Morgan, The Renegade 71 Morris, Leonard 113 Morris, Robert 115 Morris, William 113 Morris' Knob 78, 100, 145 Moss, Jno. W., president of convention of northwest counties. . 197 Mountain Lake, seen by Gist in 1751 12 Mulkey, Elder Jonathan 123 Munsey Family, The 126 Munsey, Dr. W. E 122, 125 Munsey, Zacharlah 122, 125 Mustard, William G 29, 70, 138 Mc. McCall, Gen 212 McCausland, Gen. John 266, 292, 299, 304 McClaughertys, The 430 McClaugherty, D. W 175 McClaugherty, John 117 McClellan, Gen. George B 201, 244 McClintic, Capt. Moses 294 McComas, Judge David 8 McComas, John 58 McComas, Capt. W. W 179 McComas' Battery ' 202, 473 McComases and Napiers, The 431 McCullough, Robt 115 McDonalds, The 436 McDonald, Major Augus 48 McDaniel, Henry 134 McDonald, Edward 157 McParland, John 32 McGavock, Capt. James 54, 99 McGinnis, Ira J 348 McGinnis, James H 324 McGriff, Thomas 42-44 McGuire, Dr. Edwin 251 McKee, Capt 62 McKee, Col. Wm : 50 McKenseys, The 63 McKensey, Moredock 36, 37, 42, 63 McKensey, Jno. A 194 McKinley, William 222 New Riveb Settlements. McLaughlin 115 McNeil, John 38 McMullen, Fayette 153 McNutt, Benj. G 348 McNutt, Dr. Robert B 181 McWhorter, Hon. Jos. M 338 N. Napier, Thomas H 58 Narrows of New River 29S Neal, Lewis 180 New Hope Church 87, 228 Newlin, Major Cyrus 339 New Market 38 New Market, Battle of 295 Newport 20, 293 New River, early names of 8 New River 11, 20, 21, 33, 34, 42, 62, 66, 71 New River lead mines discovered 32 New River Railroad, incorporated 350 Nicholas, W. Carey 116 Nickell, Robt 134 "New Water," early name of New River 8 Nolichuckey 38, 77 "Now Northern Goods are Out 'of Date" 287 North Carolina 32 Norfolk & Western Ry. Co 351 North Mountain Depot, Battle of 299 Norton, J. M 245 Norton, Major George F 211, 281 O. Oceana, location of Baptist church in 1812 14 Ochiltree, Alexander l 6S OflBcers Commanding — Company D, 23rd Va. Battalion 498 45th Virginia Regiment 499 Derrick's Battalion 499 29th Virginia Regiment , 499 2nd Virginia Regiment Cavalry 499 16th Virginia Regiment Cavalry 499 8th Virginia Regiment Cavalry 500 34th Virginia Cavalry Battalion 500 50th Regt. Virginia Infantry 500 Oglesby, William 168 Ogleton, James 141 Index. xxlii Ohio Company granted tract In present territory of West Vir- ginia 16 Ohio River 36, 66 Oney, Richard 142 Osborn, Rev. Josiah 123 Otey, Kirkwood 211 Otey, Major Peter J 224, 252 Over-Mountain Men 38, 77 P. Packs, The 439 Pack, Augustus 200 Pack, C. E 290 Pack, Capt. John A 126 Pack, Mr 33 Pacta, Charles A., description of Battle of Gettysburg by 258 Paine, Obadiah 142 Paint Creek 21, 66 Pamunkey 311 Patterson, Wm 102 Patton, Adj. H. M 233 Patton, Capt. Henry 77 Patton, Col. George S 268, 305 Patton, Col. James , 11, 20, 30 Patton, Col. W. T 211, 233 Pattonsburg 10 Paul, Captain Audley 33 Pauley, James, and wife 71 Pauley, John, and wife 71 Payne, Capt. W. H 309 Peace Conference 289 Peak Creek 32 Pealed Chestnut Mountain 98 Pearls Family, The 444 Pearis, Daniel H 175 Pearls, Geo. D 295 Pearis, George W 175 Pearis, Capt. George 75, 85, 157 Pearis, Capt. Richard 21, 22 Pearisburg, Va 159 Pearisburg, Battle of 222 Peck Family, The 442 Peck, Chas. D 186 Peck, Capt. J. B 306 Peck, Lieut. Jas. K ." 282 Peck, John 157 Peery, Harvey G 151 New Riveb Settlements. Peery, John Ill, 142, 145 Peery, Thos 142, 145 Peery, Wm 142, 145 Pemberton, Richard 142 Pendleton, Albert G 176, 180 Pendleton, Edmond 55 Peninsula, The 204 Pennington, Parkinson P 193 Perdue's Mill Branch 65 Peters Family, The 448 Peters, Christian 84, 135 Peters, Elijah 125, 171 Peters, Sergeant James M 203 Peters, John 84 Peter's Mountain 59 Petersburg 8 Peterstown 156 "Peyton's Augusta" 18 Philips, Samuel 77 Phlegar, John 68 Pickens, Gen. Andrew 81 Pickett, George 116 Pickett's Division organized 247 Pickett's Division in Battle of Gettysburg 261 Pickett's Surrender 314 Piedmont, Battle of 296 Pierpont, Gov. Francis H 197 Pigeon Roost, action at 226 Pine, Capt. Alexander 187, 482 Piney Creek 33 Pipestem Knob 21 Pitman, Mr 33 Pittsburg 107 Plymouth, N. C, Battle of 273-4 Poague, James 90, 146 Pocahontas, Va., site of, visited in 1750 11 Pocahontas, City of 349 Point Pleasant, Battle of 50 Polsley, Daniel 197 Pollard, Robt 115 Pond Fork, Battle of 88 Pope, Gen. John 230 Poplar Hill 46 Porter, early settler at mouth of East River 10 Porter, Gen'l ; 209 Porter, Mary, killed by Indians on New River 9 Porterfleld, Capt. A. J 471 Index. xxv Powell, Ambrose, early settler 11, 32, 137 Powell's Valley 83 Preston, James F 178 Preston, Col. Robt. T 310 Preston, Hon. W. B 182 Preston, Col. William, named "Smithfield" for his wife 9 Preston, Col. William 21, 23, 45, 54, 81, 83, 138 Preston, William Jr 20 Preston's Journal of Sandy Expedition 24-29 Price, Samuel 182, 348 Prince, Hon. William (foot note) 294 Princeton 293, 332, 326-7, 333, 354 Prisoners of war, number who died 318 Pritcher 63 Pryor, John 62 Q. Quebec, location of early French fort 15 R. Rader's Run 62 Radford, Dr. John B 350 Raleigh, C. H 293 Randolph, John 178 Randolph, Peyton 55 Ransom, Maj. Gen. Robt 275 Rappahannock 231, 249, 272 Rawdon, Lord 74 Ray, Joseph 146 Reconstruction in Mercer County 321 "Red String" Party 291 Reece, Manley, killed 250 Reed and McCorkle 32 Registration Board, created 325 Reid, etc., mention of litigation over land 14 Renfro, Capt. Joseph 63 "Representing nothing on God's earth now" 286 Resolutions of Resistance 290 Reynolds, Elder Barnett 123 Reynolds, Silas T 335 Rich Mountain, Indian battle of 139 Rich Valley 70 Richardson, Robt. A 179, 181 Richmond 93, 250 Ringgold's Battery 293 Roane, Richard B 351 Roanoke 24, 141 New Rivek Settlements. Roanoke Island 187, 202, 206 Roanoke River 34 Roark, James 97, 148 Roark's Gap 100, 145 Roberts, Norman 167 Robertson, James 49 Rockbridge County 37 Rogers, Benjamin 160 Rowan, Hon. John M •. . . . 135 Rowe, James 80 Russ, Tavener 49 Russell's Company 41, 49 Russell County, created 92, 147 Russell, Henry 40 Russell, William 40, 47, 50, 58, 142 S. Sailor's Creek, Battle of 314 Salem 94, 299 Salley, early explorer of New River Valley 9, 11 Sailing, John, early explorer of New River Valley 8, 11 SaltvlUe, Va 292 Saltville, Battle of 309 Samuels, Lieut. A. H 292 Sanders, Walter M 98 Sanders, Judge Jos. M 355 Sandy Expedition 21-23 Sandy River visited by explorers, 1750 12 Sarver, Wm. Tracey 80 Sarver, James 194 Sawyers, Alexander 31, 32 Sawyers, William 32 Scammon, Gen. B. P 216, 271, 292 Scary, Battle of 193 Schenck, Judge 83 Scott, Robt 182 Secession Convention , 181 Sehon, Edwin 324 Senter, Elder Jesse 123 Seven Days' Battle, beginning of 208, 215 Seven Pines, Battle of 208, 215 Sevier, John 38, 77, 92, 145 Sevier, Valentine 49 Sewell, Stephen, early settler of Pocahontas County 16, 34 Shallow Ford of Yadkin 76 Shannons, The 450 Shannon, Capt. James 102 IlTDEX. XXVli Shannon, Samuel 46 Shannon, Capt. Thomas 46, 81, 157 Shawsville 23, 32 Shawnees 19, 21, 66, 92 Sheffy, Eddy 129 Sheffy, Rev. Robert Sawyers, pioneer preacher 126-132 Shelby, Evan 38, 47, 49, 145 Shelby, Gen'l Isaac 49, 77 Sherando (now Shenandoah) * 37 Sheriffs of Mercer County 370 Sheridan, Gen. P. H 305, 306 Shockley's Hill 14 Shumate, ToUison 84, 1S4 Slgel, Gen'l 295 Sinking Creek 84, 42 Sinking Creek, Indian attack at 20, 42 "Skygusty," Indian name of Capt. Harman 98 Smallwood, Gen. William 76 Smiths, The, at New River 452 Smith, Ezekiel 175 Smith, Gen'l E. Kirby 192 Smith, French C 175 Smith, Isaac 84 Smith, John W 175 Smith, Major 294 Smith, Capt. "William 21, 71, 111, 171, 174, 176 Smith's, Mrs. W. H., poem 298 Smithfield, early name of Draper's Meadows 9 Snidows of New River, The 453 Snidows, the settlers 34, 36, 42 Snidow, Col. Christian 13, 62, 157, 454 Snidow, Christian (the blacksmith) 454 Snidow, D. J. L 36, 54 Snidow, Mrs. Elizabeth 34, 42, 44 Snidow, Jacob 43, 44 Snidow, John 34 Snidow, Theophilus 43, 46 Snidow, W. H. H 387, 454 Snidow's Fort 36 South Mills, Battle of 203 South River 36 Southern Poem 237 Spessard, Major M. P 314 Spottsylvania 275 Springville 73 Stalnaker, Samuel 82 Starke, Col. A. W 272 New RrvEE Settlements. Starke, Col. William E 203, 209 State of Franklin 38, 91 State Normal School at Athens 349 State Senators (West Virginia) 367 Staunton, Va 299 Steele, Col. John 50 Stephens, Col. Adam 48 Stephenson, Gov. W. B 341 Stewart, Archibald 134 Stinson, L. M 335 StoUings, Joel E 267 Stowers, A. J 295 Stowers, Larkin 84 Stowers, Capt. William 107 Straleys, The New River 456 Straley, Capt. Jacob C 300 Straley, Daniel 175 Straley, H. W 226 Stratton, Joseph 171 Stras, Joseph 153 Stuart, Hon. Archibald 134 Stuart, Col 21 Stuart, Col. John 50 Stuart, Capt. John 46, 63 Stuart, Gen. J. E. B 231, 250 Stuart, Hon. J. H 154 St. Clair, early explorer of New River Valley 9, 11 Suffolk 249 Sugar Run 80, 162 Summers County 13, 34, 44 Summers County, created 343 Summers, Major John C 210 Summers' History quoted 11, 40 Sumner, Gen. Jethro 75 Surry Co., N. C, Tory uprising in 74 Swope, Mr 33 Swope, George 134 Sweet Springs 299 Sycamore Ford 78 T. Tackett, Nimrod 134 Tarleton, Col 81, 82 Tate, Gen'l 50 Tates 57 Tavener, Lieut. Col 300 Taylor, John 83 141 Index. xxix Taylor, Major Jacob N 294 Taylor, Sergeant Thomas S 265 Taylorsville 272 "Test Oath" 323 Tazewell County 29, 33, 35, 37, 92, 354 Tazewell County, created 150 Tazewell County, men at the Alamance 152 Tazewell County, men in War of 1812 152 Tazewell members of House of Delegates 460 Terry, Gen'l 312, 314 Thomas, Benj 147 Thomas, L. M 335 Thompson, Andrew J 194, 205 Thompson, James 134, 151 Thompson, Capt. James 194 Thompson, Capt. John K 270 Thompson, J. Speed 324, 335 Thompson, Rufus (foot note) 30 Thompson, Capt. T. W 230 Thompson, W. H 306 Tiffany, Capt. Hugh Snidow 135 Tiller, Anderson 127 Tomlinson, "William, early explorer of New River Valley 11 Toney, John 72 Tom's Creek 37, 62 Toombs, Gen. Robt 241 Tory uprising in 1780 74 Tracey, William 164 Trigg, Abraham 83, 94 Trigg, Daniel 83 Trigg, Col. Robert C 98, 111, 144, 269 Trigg, Capt. Stephen 54 Trigg's Battalion 83 Tug River (Fork) 29, 30, 69 Turkey Creek , 34 Tyron, Gov 140 U. Upton, Sylvester 194, 323, 335 U. S. Census of Mercer County 500 U. S. Senators (West Virginia) 365 V. Vaux's Fort 22, 31 Vawter, Wm 133 Vawter, John H 271 Vertigan, Lieut. E. G 292 New Rivee Settlements. Virginia chancellors 359 Virginia Constitutional Conventions 361 Virginia Convention (of 1788) 93-4 Virginia Land OflSce, established 12 Virginia Regiments, Roll of Field Officers of the First, Third, Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nine- teenth, Twenty-eighth, Fifty-sixth, Ninth, Fourteenth, Thirty- eighth, Fifty-third and Fifty-seventh Regiments 462-7 Von Blessing, Col. Lewis 22S W. Waldron, Samuel 177 Walker, C. H. A 171 Walker, Charles 84 Walker, Chrispianos 166 Walker, Dr. Thomas, early explorer 9, 11, 12, 32, 137, 849 Walker's Creek 33, 34, 37, 69, 293 Wallace, Gen'l Lew 300 Wallace, Robert 71 Wall, Harvey 179 Walthall Junction "283 Ward, David 141 Ward, Judge Evermont 348 Warford, name of Thos. Farley's fort 14 Washington County, created 57 Washington, General 17, 19, 23, 32, 55 Watauga 38, 91 Wayne, Gen'l 115 Waynesboro 296, 311 Webb, Wm 141 Wells, Gen. Bazaleel 50 West Augusta, earliest name of county embracing territory of New River Valley 7 Wharton, Gen. G. C 222, 266, 268, 271, 292, 350 Wheat, James S 198 Wheatley, William 97, 148 Wheeling, City of 36 White, Benjamin 80 White, Benjamine 321 White, Cornelius 178 White, John 80 White Oak Mountain 20 "White String Party" 291 Whitsell's Mills (Wetzell's) 68, 82, 400 Wiley, Arpistrong 98 Wiley, James 315 Wiley, Thomas 98, 148 Index. xxxl Wiley, Mrs. Virginia 98, 105, 107, 148 Wiley, William 88, 89 Wilburn, Miss Nancy 33, 94 Wilburn, William 80 Willey, W. T 198 Williamburg 17 Williams, Gen'l John S 266 Williamsburg, Battle of 204 Wills Creek 17 Wilson ,Thos 116 Winchester, Battle of 305 Winn, Wm 141 Wise County, present territory explored in 1750 12 Wise, Gen. Henry A 193, 216 Witcher, Col. V. A 308 Wlttens, The, of Tazewell 459 Witten, James 140 Witten, Jerry 140 Witten, Thomas 140, 143 Wolf Creek of New River 65 Wolf Creek fort 37 Wood, Abraham, first man to enter New River Valley 8 Wood, Col. James, early explorer of New River Valley 11, 36 Woods, Capt. Michael 62 Wood's Fort 86, 71 Wood's River, supposed early name of New River 8 Woodson, Capt. 23 Woodyard, John 133 Woolwlne, John L 72 Wright, Col. Gideon (foot note) 76 Wright, Peter 59, 141 Wright's Valley 141 Wyatt, Thos 134 Wyoming County, Baptist Church organized in. In 1812 14 Wyoming Court House 293 Wythe County 68 Wythe County, created 99, 149 Wytheville, Battle of 293 Y. Yadkin 39 Yeardley, Sir George 167 York River 204 Yorktown 84 Young, Robt 115 Young, James 134