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A HISTORY

OF THE

\/alley of l/ir^ipia.

By Samuel Kercheval.

THIRD EDITION.

REVISED AND EXTENDED BY THE AUTHOR.

¦WOODSTOCK, VA :
W. N. GRABII^L, Power Pkess,
1902.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, in the Clerk's
Office of the Western District of Virginia.

DEDICATION.

TO GENERAI, JOHN SMITH.
Like Nestor of old you have lived to see ' ' two generations pass
away and now remain the example of the third." You saw Dun-
more's war with the Indians in 1774 ; you witnessed the war of the
Revolution, and the war of 181 2, with the haughty Briton. In all
these great struggles of our country, you have given the most con
clusive evidence of unbending virtue and uncompromising patriotism.
The author has had the gratification of knowing you for a full half
century. When a small boy he frequently saw you, though he was
then too young to attract your notice, and it was not until he
entered upon the active duties of life that he had the high satisfac
tion of a personal acquaintance.
The author disclaims every thing like insincere flattery, and feels
assured that your candor will readily pardon him for the freedom
he uses in his dedication of the History of the Valley to you. To
you, sir, is he indebted for much of the valuable information detailed
in the following pages. In you, sir, he has witnessed the calm,
dignified statesman and philosopher, the uniform and consistent
republican, the active and zealous officer, whether in the field or
councils of the country. He has witnessed more ; he has seen you
in high pecuniary prosperity ;. he has seen you in later years strug
gling with adverse fortune ; and in all, has discovered the calm,
dignified resignation to misfortune, which always characterizes the
great and the good man. Yes, sir, you have spent at least fifty
years of your valuable life in the service of your country ; and when
you go hence, that you may enter into the joy of your Lord, is the
fervent prayer of
THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTION.

ORIGIN OF THE INDIANS IN AMERICA.
From what particular part of the old world the aboriginals found
their way to this continent, is a question which has given rise to
much philosophical and learned disquisition among historians. It,
however, appears now to be the settled opinion that America first
received its inhabitants from Asia. Mr. Snowden, in his History of
America, advances many able and ingenious arguments in support of
this opinion. After citing many great revolutions which have from
time to time taken place in various parts of our globe, Mr. Snowden
states :
' ' In the strait which separates America from Asia, many islands
are found, which are supposed to be the mountainous parts of land,
' formerly swallowed up by earthquakes ; which appears the more
probable, by the multitude of volcanoes, now known in the peninsular
of Kamtschatka. It is imagined, however, that the sinking of that
land and the separation of the new continents, has been occasioned
by those great earthquakes, mentioned in the history of the Ameri
cans ; which formed an era almost as memorable as that of the
deluge. We can form no conjecture of the time mentioned in the
histories of the Taltecas, or of the year i, (Teepatl), when that great
calamity happened.
" If a great earthquake should overwhelm the isthmus of Suez,
and there should be at the same time as great a scarcity of historians
as there was in the first age of the deluge, it would be doubted in
three or four hundred years after, whether Asia had ever been united
by that part of Africa ; and many would finally deny it.
"Whether that great event, the separation of the continents,
took place before or after the population of America, it is impossible
to determine : but we are indebted to the above mentioned naviga
tors, (Cook and others) , for settling the long dispute about the point
from which it was effected. Their observations prove, that in one
place the distance between continent and continent is only thirty-nine
miles ; and in the middle of this narrow strait, there are two islands,
which would greatly facilitate the passage of the Asiatic into the
new world, supposing it took place in canoes, after the convulsion
which rent the two continents asunder.
' ' It may also be added, that these straits are, even in the summer,
often filled with ice ; in winter frozen over, so as to admit a passage
for mankind, and by which quadrupeds might easily cross, and stock
the continent. But where, from tjie vast expanse of the north-east-

vi INTRODUCTION.
ern world, to fix onthe first tribes who contributed to people the new
continent, now inhabited from end to end, is a matter that has baffled
human reason. The learned may make bold and ingenious conjec
tures, but plain good sense cannot alway accede to them.
' ' As mankind increased in numbers, they naturally protruded
one another forward. Wars might be another cause of migrations.
No reason appears why the Asiatic north might not be an efficina
vivorum as well as the European. The overteeming country to the
east of the Riphean mountains, must have found it necessary to dis
charge the inhabitants ; the first great increase of people were forced
forward by the next to it ; at length reaching the utmost limits of
the old world, found a new, with ample space to occupy unmolested
for ages ; till Columbus, in an evil hour for them, discovered their
country ; which brought again new sins and new deaths to both
worlds. It is impossible, with the lights which we have so recently
received, to admit that America could have received its inhabitants
(that is, the bulk of them), from any other place than Eastern Asia.
A few proofs may be added, taken from the customs or dress, com
mon to the inhabitants of both worlds. Some have been long extinct
in the old, others remain in full force in both.
' ' The custom of scalping was a barbarism in use among the
Scythians, who carried about them at all times this savage mark of
triumph. , A little image found among the Kalmucs,* of a Tartarian
deity, mounted on a horse, and sitting on a human skin, with scalps
pendant from the breast, fully illustrates the customs of the ancient
Scythians, as described by the Greek historians. This usage, we
well know by horrid experience, is continued to this day in America.
The ferocity of the Scythians to their prisoners, extended to the
remotest part of Asia. The Kamtskatkans even at the time of their
discovery by the Russians, put their prisoners to death by the most
lingering and excruciating torments ; a practice now in full force
among the aboriginal Americans. A race of ..he Scythians were
named Anthropophagi, from their feeding on human flesh ; the peo
ple of Nootka Sound still make a repast on their fellow ereatures.
"The savages of North America have been known to throw the
mangled limbs of their prisoners into the horrible cauldron, and de
vour them with the same relish as those of a quadruped. The
Kamtskatkans in their marches never went abreast, but followed one
another in the same track ; the same custom is still observed by the
uncultivated natives of North America. The Tungusi, the most
numerous nation resident in Siberia, prick their skins with small
punctures in various shapes, with a needle ; then rub them with
charcoal, so that the marks become indellible ; this custom is still
observed in several parts of South America. The Tongusi use canoes
made of bircji bark, distended over ribs of wood, and nicely put to
gether ; the Canadian, and many other primitive American nations,
* The Kalmuc Tartars now subjects of Russia.

INTRODUCTION. vii
use no other sort of boats. In fine, the conjectures of the learned,
respecting the vicinity of the old and new world, are now, by the
discoveries of late navigators, lost in conviction ; and in the place of
an imaginary hypothesis, the place of migration is almost incon-
trovertibly pointed out. ' '
SKETCH OP THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA.
Having given the foregoing brief sketch of the probable origin
of the Indians in America, the author will now turn his attention to
the first settlement of Virginia, a brief history of which he considers
will not be unacceptable to the general reader, and as a preliminary
introduction to his main subject, i. e., the history of the early settle
ment of the Valley of Shenandoah in Virginia.
On the loth of April, 1606, James I., King of England, granted
charters to two separate companies, called the ' ' London and Plym
outh Companies," for settling colonies in Virginia.* The London
Company sent Capt. Christopher Newport to Virginia, December 20,
1606, with a colony of one hundred and five persons, to commence a
settlement on the island of Roanoke, now in North Carolina. By
stress of weather, however, they were driven north of their place of
destination, and entered the Chesapeake Bay. Here, up a River
which they called James River, on a beautiful peninsular, they com
menced, in May, 1607, the settlement of Jamestown. This was the
first permanent settlement in the country.
Several subsequent charters were granted by King James to the
company for the better ordering and government of the colony, for
the particulars of which the reader is referred to Hening's Statutes
at Large. And in the year 16 19, the first legislative council was
convened in Jamestown, then called ' ' James City. ' ' This council
was called the General Assembly. ' ' It was to assist the Governor in
the administration of justice, to advance Christianity among Indians,
to erect the colony in obedience to his majesty, and in maintaining
the people in justice and christian conversation, and strengthening
them against enemies. The said governor, council, and two bur
gesses out of every town, hundred or plantation, to be chosen by the
inhabitants to make up a General Assembly, who are to decide all
matters by the greatest number of voices ; but the governor is to
have a negative voice, to have power to make orders and acts nec
essary, wherein they are to imitate the policy of the form of gov
ernment, laws, customs, manners of trial, and other administration
of justice used in England, as the company are required by their
latters patent. No law to continue or to be of force till ratified
by a quarter court to be held in England, and returned under
seal. After the colony is well framed and settled, no order of quar
ter court in England shall bind until ratified by the General Assem
bly."* — Dated 24th July, 1621.
?Hening's Statutes at Iiarge, Vol. i., p. 113, 114.

viii INTRODUCTION.
INSTRUCTIONS TO GOVERNOR WYATT.
"To keep up religion of the Church of England as near as may
be ; to be obedient to the king and to do justice after the form of
the laws of England ; and" not to injure the natives ; and to forget old
quarrels now buried ; * .
"To be industrious, and suppress drunkenness, gaming, and
excess in clothes ; not to permit any but the council and heads of
hundreds to wear gold in their clothes, or to wear silk till they make
it themselves. " Not to offend any foreign princes ; to punish piracies ; to build
fortresses and block-houses at the mouths of the rivers ;
"To use means to convert the heathens, viz.; to converse with
some ; each town to teach some children fit for the college intended
to be built ;
"After Sir George Yeardley has gathered the present year's
crop, he is to deliver to Sir Francis Wyatt, the hundred tenants be
longing tothe governor's place ; Yeardly's government to expire the
I Sth November next, and then Wyatt to be published governor ; to
swear the council :
' ' George Saudis appointed treasurer, and he is to put in execu
tion all orders of court about staple commodities ; to whom is allotted
fifteen hundred acres and fifty tenants. To the marshall. Sir
V/illiam Newce, to the same. To the physician five hundred acres
and twenty tenants ; and the same to the secretary.
' ' To review the commissions to Sir George Yeardly, governor,
and the council, dated i8th November, 1618, for dividing the colony
into cities, boroughs, &c.. and to observe all former instructions
(a copy whereof was sent) if they did not contradict the present ;
and all orders of court (made in England) ;
"To make a catalogue of the people in every plantation, and
their conditions ; of deaths, marriages and christenings.
' ' To take care of dead persons' estates for the right owners ; to
keep a list of all cattle and cause the secretary to return copies of the
premises once a year ;
" To take care of every plantation upon the death of the chief ;
not to plant above one hundred pounds of tobacco per head ; f to sow
great quantities of corn for their own use, and to support the multi
tudes to be sent yearly ; to enclose lands ; to keep cows, swine,
poultry, &c., and partictklarly kyne, which are not to be killed yet ;
"Next to com, plant mulberry trees, and make silk, and take
* It appears that at a very early period of the coloa)^, they were desirous
of cultivating a friendly understanding with the natives of the country.
Unfortunately, however, for our ancestors, and for the Indians themsel-^res,
this friendly disposition was never of long duration.
+ This order strikes the author as one of a singular character. It cer
tainly requires great judgment and experience of the planters to decide what
number of plants would make his 100 lbs. of tobacco, considering the casu
alties to which his crop was liable.

INTRODUCTION. ix
care of the Frenchmen and others sent about that work ; to try silk
grass ; to plant abundance of vines, and take care of the vignerors
sent ; ' ' To put prentices to trades, and not let them forsake their
trades for planting tobacco or any such useless commodity ;
' ' To take care of the Dutch sent to build saw-mills, and seat
them at the falls, that they may bring their timber by the current of
the water ;
' ' To build water-mills and block-houses in every plantation ;
"That all contracts in England or Virginia be performed, and
the breaches punished according to justice ;
' ' The tenant not to be enticed away ; to take care of those sent
about an iron work, and especially Mr. John Berkeley, that they
don't miscarry again, this being the greatest hope and expectation
of the colonies ;
"To make salt, pitch, tar, soap, ashes, &c., so often recom
mended, and for what materials had been sent ; to make oil of wal
nuts, and employ apothecaries in distilling lees of beer, and search
ing after minerals, dyes, gums and drugs, &c., and send small
quantities home. *
' ' To make small quantity of tobacco, and that very good ; that
the houses appointed for the reception of new comers and public
storehouses be built, kept clean, &c. , to send the state affairs quar
terly, and a duplicate next shipping ;
' ' To take care of Captain William Norton, and certain Italians
sent to set up a gla.ss-house ;
' ' A copy of a treatise of the plantation business and excellent
observances made by a gentleman of capacity is sent to lie among the
records, and recommended to the councillors to study ;
" Mr. William Clayborne, a surveyor, sent to survey the planters
lands, and make a map of the country.
' ' To make discoveries along the coa,st, and find a fishery between
James River and Cape Cod ;
" As to raising staple commodities, the chief officers ought to set
examples, and to aim at the establishment of the colony .'
' ' Chief officers that have tenants repremanded for taking fees :
but require that the clerks have fees set for passes, warrants, copies
or orders, &c.
' 'Governor and council to appoint proper times for administration
of justice, and provide for the entertainment of the council during
their session ; to be together one whole month about state affairs,
and law suits ; to record plants of consequence, to keep a register of
the acts of quarter sessions, and send home copies ;

* Sending things to England, was in the phase of the times, termed
sending things home. The mode of expression " going home or sending
home," was in use within the recollection ofthe author. In truth, the term
" going or sending home," was never abandoned until after the war of the
revolution.

X INTRODUCTION.
" If a governor dies, the major part of the council to choose one
of themselves within fourteen days ; but if voices be divided, the
Lieutenant-governor shall have the place ; and next the Marshal,
next the Treasurer ; and one of the two Deputies next ;
' ' Governor and chief ofiicers not to let out their tenants as usual :
"The Governor only to summon the council, and sign warrants,
and execute or give authority to execute council orders, except iu
cases that do belong to the marshal, treasurer, deputies, &c.
' ' The Governor to have absolute authority to determine and
punish all neglects, and contempts of authority, except the councils,
who are to be tried at the quarter sessions and censured. Governor
to have but the casting voice in council or court, but in the assem
bly a negative voice ;
"That care be taken that there be no engrossing commodity, or
forestalling of the market ;
" All servants to fare alike in the colony, and their punishment
for any offences is to serve the colony, in public works ;
" To see that the Earl of Pembroke's thirty thousand acres be
very good ;
' ' And lastly, not to let ships stay long, and to freight them with
walnut and any leas valuable commodity ;
' ' The Governor to administer the following oath to the council :
' ' You shall swear to be a true and faithful servant unto the
' king's majesty, as one of his council for Virginia. You shall in all
' things to be moved, treated, and debated in that council concern-
' ing Virginia or any of the territories of America, between the de-
' grees of thirty-four and forty-five from the equinoctial line north-
' ward, of the trade thereof, faithfully and truly declare your mind
' and opinion, according to your heart and conscience ; and shall keep
' secret all matters committed and revealed to you concerning the
' same, and that shall be treated secretly m that council, or this coun-
' cil of Virginia, or the more part of them, publication shall not be
' made thereof. And of all matters of great importance, or diffi-
' culty, before you resolve thereujon, you shall make his majesty's
'privy council acquainted therewith, and follow their directions
' therein. You shall to your uttermost bear faith and allegiance to
'the king's majesty, his heirs, and lawful successors, and shall as-
'sist and defend all jurisdictions, pre-eminences, and authorities,
' granted unto his majesty and annexed unto the crown, against all
' foreign princes, persons, prelates or potentates whatsoever, be it by
' act of parliament or otherwise ; and generally, in all things, you
' shall do as a faithful and true servant and subject ought to do. So
'help your God and the holy contents of this book." — Hening's
Stat, at Large, vol. i. p. 114-118.
It appears the foregoing instructions were drawn up by the
council, and intended as the general principles for the government of
the colony. The recommendation "not to injure the natives and forget old

INTRODUCTION. xi
quarrels now buried," goes far to prove that hopes are entertained
that the Indians were disposed to be at peace. ' ' To use means to
convert the heathen," is another evidence of this amicable state of
feeling towards the natives. But lo ! this state of peace and tran
quility, in less than one year after, was changed into one of devesta-
tion, blood and mourning. On the 2 2d of March, 1622, the Indians
committed the most bloody massacre on the colonists, recorded in the
annals of the country. *
In the following year, to-wit :, March, 1623, the colonial general
assembl}', by a statute, directed, " that the 22d of March be yearly
solemnized as a holiday. ' ' f This was done to commemorate the es
cape of the colony from entire extirpation. This bloody massacre
produced on the part of the whites, a most deadlj' and irreconcilable
hatred towards the natives. Accordingly we find that a long con
tinued and unabating state of hostilities was kept up, and in one
hundred years the Indians were driven from the countr5'- east of the
Blue Ridge. At the same session, to-wit :, 1623, the legislature en
acted several laws in relation to defending themselves against the
savages. In the series are the following :
' ' That every dwelling house shall be pallisaded in for defense
against the Indians ;
" That no man go or send abroad without a sufficient party well
armed ;
' ' That people go not to work in the ground without their arms
(and a sentinel upon them).
' ' That the inhabitants go not aboard ships or upon any other
occasions, in such numbers as thereby to weaken and endanger the
plantations ;
' ' That the commander of every plantation take care that there
be sufficient of power and ammunition within the plantation under
his command and their pieces fixed and their arms complete ;
" That there be due watch kept by night ;
' ' That no commander of any plantation do either himself or
suffer others to spend powder unnecessarily, in drinking or entertain
ment, &c.
" That at the beginning of July next the inhabitants of every
corporation shall go upon their adjoining salvages, as we did last
year." — Hen. Stat, at Large, vol. i., p. 127, 128.
In the year 1629, the legislature again ' ' ordered that every com
mander of the several plantations appointed by commission from the
governor, shall have power and authority to levy a party of men out

* This year (1622), says Mr. Gordon in his history of the American revo
lution (vol. i. p. 43), " was remarkable for a massacre ofthe colonists by the
Indians, which was executed with the utmost subtility, and without any re
gard to age, sect, or dignity. A well concerted attack on all the settlements
destroyed in one hour, almost at the same instant, 347 persons, who were
defenceless and incapable of making resistance."
f Hening's Statutes at Large, Vol. i, p. 123.

xii INTRODUCTION.
of the inhabitants of that place so many as may well be spared with
out too much weakening of the plantations, and to employ those men
against the Indians, &c. — Idem, p. 140.
" It was the opinion of the whole body of the Assembly th^t we
should go three several marches upon the Indians, at three seyeraT
times of the year, viz : first in November, secondly in March, thirdly
in July &c. — Idem, p. 141.
In 1631-32, " It is ordered that no person or persons shall dare
to speak or parley with any Indians, either in the woods or in any
plantation, if he can possibly avoid it by any means," &c. — Idem,
p. 67. The author considers the foregoing extracts sufficient to enable
the reader to form some opinion of the spirit and character of the
early settlers of our State, particularly as it relates to the sufferings
and difficulties with the Indian tribes. It is not deemed expedient or
necessary to go into a detailed history of the first settlement of our
country, as there are several general histories of Virginia now to be
obtained, written by authors, whose abilities and means of informa
tion the author could not expect to equal.
The author will close this brief sketch of the first settlement of
Virginia, with a few general remarks in relation to the first intro
duction of slavery. It appears from our early historians, that ne
groes were first introduced into our State from ' ' a Dutch ship in the
year 1620." O woful day for our country ! To use the language
of Mr. Snowden, this was ' ' an evil hour ' ' for our country — it truly
brought ' ' new sins and new deaths ' ' to the new world. The present
generation have abundant cause to deplore the unhallowed cupidity
and want of all the finer feelings of our nature, manifested in this
baleful and unrighteous traffic. It has entailed upon us a heavy
calamity, which will perhaps require the wisdom of ages yet to come
to remove. That it must and will be removed, there can be but little
doubt. History furnishes no example of any part of the human race
being kept in a perpetual slavery. Whether the scheme of sending
them to Africa will ultimately produce the desired effect, can only be
tested by time ; it is, however, most " devoutly" to be desired.
bacon's REBELLION IN VIRGINIA IN 1675-76.
The document which follows relates to one of the most singular
events which ever occurred in Virginia, and its interests are a suffici
ent inducement for its insertion in this work. It was published in
the Richmond Evangelical Magazine many years ago, but is now out
of print. The editor of that work, (the late revered and high es
teemed Dr. Rice), introducing it into his pages says : " It was taken
verbatim from a copy in the library now belonging to Congress, but
formerly the property of Mr. Jefferson. Who the author is we can
not discover. He was certainly a man of much cleverness and wrote
well. But our readers will judge for themselves. The name of

INTRODUCTION. xiii
Bacon is very little known to our citizens generally, and this part
of our history has been veiled in great obscurity. There are two
remembrances of this extraordinary man in the neighborhood of Rich
mond. A brook iu the northwest of the cit}', which bears the name
of " Bacon Quarter Branch," is said to have received its, name from
the fact that on that brook Bacon had his quarters. Buck says that
he owned a plantation on Chockoe Creek, of which the stream just
mentioned is a branch. One of the finest springs in Richmond, or its
vicinity, is in the east side of the city, and is called Bloody Run
Spring. Its name is said to be derived from a sanguinary conflict
which Bacon had with the Indians, on the margin of the streamlet
which flows from this spring.
The following account of the original from which this document
was taken, is given by Mr. Jefferson, in his own words :
" The original manuscript, of which the following is a copy, was
communicated to me by Mr. King, our late minister plenipotentiary
at the court of London, in a letter of Dec. 20, 1803. The transac
tion which it records, although of little extent of consequence is yet
marked iu the history of Virginia, as having been the only, rebellion
or insurrection which took place in the colony during the one hun
dred and sixty-eight years of its existence preceding the American
revolution, and one hundred years exactly before that event ; in the
contest with the house of Stuart, it only accompanied the steps of
the mother country. The rebellion of Bacon has been little under
stood, its cause and course being imperfectly explained by any au
thentic materials hitherto possessed ; this renders the present narra
tive of real value. It appears to have been written by a person
intimately acquainted with its origin, progress and conclusion, thirty
years after it took place, and when the passion of the day had
subsided, and reason might take a cool aud deliberate review of the
transaction. It was written, too, not for public eye, but to satisfy the
desire of minister Lord Oxford ; and the candor and simplicity of the
narration cannot fail to commend belief. On the outside of the cover
of the manuscript is the No. 3947 in one place and 5781 in another.
Very possibly the one may indicate the place it held in Lord Oxford's
library, and the other its number in the catalogue of the blookseller
to whose hands it came afterwards ; for it was at the sale of the stock
of a bookseller that Mr. King purchased it.
" To bring the authenticity of this copy as near to that of the
original as I could I have most carefully copied it with my own hand.
The pages and lines of the copy correspond exactly with those of the
original ; the orthography, abbreviations, punctuations, interlinea
tions and incorrectness, are preserved, so that it is a fac simile except
as to the form of the letter. The orthography and abbreviations are
evidences of the age of the writing.
"The author says of himself that he was a planter; that he
lived in Northumberland, hut was elected a member of the assembly
in 1676 for the County of Stafford, Colonel Mason being his colleague,

xiv INTRODUCTION.
of which assembly Col. Warner was speaker ; that it was the first
and should be the last time of his meddling vnth public affairs ; and
he subscribes the initials of his name T. M. Whether the records
of the time, (if they still exist) , with the aid of these circumstances,
will show what his name was, remains for further inquiry."
THE MANUSCRIPT.
To the right hono'ble Robert Harley esq'r. her Mag'ties Principal
Secretary of State, and one of the most honorable Privy Council.
S'R. The great honor of your command obliging my pen to step aside
from my habitual element of figures into this little treatise of his
tory ; which having never before experienced, I am like Sutor ultra
crepidam, and therefore dare pretend no more than (nakedly) recount
matters of ffact.
Beseeching yo'r hon'r will vouch safe to allow, that in 30
years divers occurrences are laps'd out of mind and others imper
fectly retained.
So far as the most solemn obedience can now be paid, is to pursue
the track of barefac'd truth, as close as my memory can recollect, to
have seen, or believed, from creditable ffriends with concurring cir
cumstances :
And whatsoever yo'r celebrated wisdom shall finde amiss in the'
composure, my entire dependence is upon yo'r candor favorably to
accept these most sincere endeavors of Yo'r Hon'rs
Most devoted humble serv't.
The 13th July, 1703. T. M.
The beginning , progress and conclusion of Bacon's rebellion in Vir
ginia in the year 16'j'j & j6j6.
About the year 1675, appear'd three prodigies in that country,
which from th' attending disasters were look'd upon as ominous
presages. The one was a large comet every evening: for a week, or more at
Southwest ; thirty-five degrees high streaming like a horses taile
westwards, until it reach'd (almost) thehorison, and setting towards
the North-west. Another was, flights of pigieons in breadth nigh a quarter of
the med-hemisphere, and of their length was no visible end ; whose
weights brake down the limbs of large trees whereon these rested at
nights, of which the ffowlers shot abundance. and eat 'em; this
sight put the old planters under the more portentous apprehensions,
because the like was seen, (as they said), in the year 1640 when th'
Indians committed the last massacre, but not after, until that present
year 1675.

INTRODUCTION. xv
The third strange appearance was a swarm of fflies about an
inch long, and big as the top of a man's Httle finger, rising out of
spigot holes in the earth, which eat the new sprouted leaves from the
tops of the trees without doing other harm, and in a month left us.
My dwelling was in Northumberland, the lowest county on
Potomack River, Stafford being the upmost, where having also a
plantation, servants, cattle, &c. my overseer had agreed with one
Rob't Hen, to come thither, and be my herdsman, who then lived
ten miles above it ; but on a sabbath morning in the sumer anno
1675, people on their way to church, saw this Hen lying thwart his
threshold, and an Indian without the door, both chopt on their heads,
arms & other parts, as if done with Indian hatchetts, th' Indian was
dead, but Hen when asked who did that ? answered Doegs, Doegs,
and soon died, then a boy who came out from under a bed where he
had hid himself, and told them Indians at come at break of day &
done those murders.
ffrom this Englismen's blond did (by degrees) arise Bacons
rebellion with the following mischiefs which overspread all Virginia
& twice endangered Maryland, as by the ensueing account is
evident. Of this horrid action Coll: Mason who commanded the militia
regiment of ffoot & Capt. Brent the troop of horse in that county,
(both dwelling six or eight miles downwards) having speedy notice
raised 30, or more men, & pursu'd those Indians 20 miles up
& 4 miles over that river into Maryland, where landing at dawn of
day, they found two small paths each leader with his party a separ
ate path and in less than a furlong either found a cabin, which they
(silently) surrounded. Capt. Brent went to the Doegs cabin (as it
proved to be) who speaking the Indian tongue called to have a
" Machacomicha woewhio " i. e. a council called presently such being
the usual manner with Indians the king came trembling forth, and
wou'd have fled, when Capt. Brent, catching hold of his twisted lock
(which was all the hair he wore) told him he was come for the mur
der of Rob't Hen, the king pleaded ignorance and slipt loos, whom
Brent shot dead with his pistoU, th' Indians shot two or three guns
out of the cabin, th' English shot into it, th' Indians throng'd out
at the door and fled, th' English shot as many as they cou'd, so that
they killed ten, as Capt. Brent told me, and brought away the kings
son of about 8 years old, concerning whom is an observable passage,
at the end of this expedition ; the noise of the shooting awaken 'd the
Indians in the cabin, which Coll: Mason had encompassed, who like
wise rush'd out & fled, of whom his coinpany (supposing from the
noise of shooting Brent's party to be engaged) shot (as the Coll : in
formed me) ffourteen before an Indian came, who with both hands
shook him (friendly) by one arm says Susquehanoughs netoughs i. e.
Susquehanough friends and fled, whereupon he ran amongst his men
crying out ' ' ffor the Lords sake shoot no more, these are our friends
the Susquehanoughs.

xvi INTRODUCTION.
This unhappy scene ended ;— Collo. Mason took the king of the
Doegs son home with him, who lay ten days in bed, as one dead,
with eyes and mouth shntt, no breath discern'd, but his body con
tinuing warm, they believed him yett alive ; th' aforenamed Capt.
Brent (a papist) coming hither on a visit and seeing his little prisoner
thus languishing .said " perhaps he is pawewawd i. e. bewitch 'd, and
that he had heard baptism was an effectual remedy against witch
craft wherefore advis'd to baptise him Collo. Mason, answered no
minister cou'd be had in many miles ; Brent replied yo'r clerk Mr.
Dobson may do that office, which was done by the church of Eng
land liturgy ; Collo. Mason with Capt. Brent godfather and Mrs.
Mason godmother, my over.seer Mr. Pimet being present, from whom
I first heard it, and which all the' other persons (afterward) affirm'd
to me ; the ffour men returned to drinking punch, but Mrs. Mason
stayed & looking on the child, it open'd the eyes, and breath'd
whereat she ran for a cordial, which he took from a spoon, gaping
for more and so (by degrees) recovered, tho' before his baptism, they
had often tryed the same means but could not by no endeavours
wrenched open his teeth.
This was taken as a convincing proof against infidelity.
But to return from this digression, the Susquehanoughs were
newly driven from their habitations, at the head of Chesepiack Bay,
by the Cinela Indians, down to the head of the Potomack, where
they sought protection under the Pa.ecataway Indians, who had a
Fort near the head of that river, and also were our ffriends.
After this unfortunate exploit of Mason & Brent, one or two
being kill'd in Stafford, boats of war were equipped to prevent excur
sions over the river, at the same time murders being likewise com
mitted in Maryland, by whom not known, on either side of the river.
both countrys raised their quota's of a thousand men, upon whose
coming before the ffort, the Indians sent out 4 of their great men,
who ask'd the reason of that hostile appearance, what they said
more or offered I do not remember to have heard ; but our two com
manders caused them to be (instantly) slaine, after which the In
dians made an obstinate resistance shooting many of our men, and
making frequent, fierce and bloody sallyes ; and when they were
call'd to, or offered parley, gave no other answer, than " where are
our four Cockarouses, i. e. great men ?
At the end of six weeks, march' d out seventy-five Indians with
their women, children &c. who by moonlight passed our guards hol
lowing & firing at them without opposition having 3 or 4 decripts
in the ffort.
The next morning th' Engli.sh followed, but could not, or (for
fear of ambuscades) would not overtake these desperate fugitives the
number we lost in that siege I did not hear was published.
The wall of this fort was high banks of earth, with flankers
having many loop-holes, and a ditch round all, and without this a
row of tall trees fastened 3. feet deep in the earth, their bodies from

INTRODUCTION. xvii
5. to 8. inches diameter, watled 6. inches apart to shoot through
with the tops twisted together, and also artifically wrought, as^ our
men could make no breach to storm it, nor (being low land) could
they undermine it by reason of water neither had they cannon to
batter itt, so that 'twas not taken, untill ffamine drove the Indians
out of it.
These escap'd Indians (forsaking Maryland) took their rout
over the head of that river, and thence of the heads of Rappahan
nock & York Rivers, killing whom they found of the upmost plan
tations until they came to the head of the James River, where (with
Bacon and others) they slew Mr. Bacon's overseer whom he much
loved, and one of his servants, whose bloud hee vowed to revenge if
possible. In these frightful times the most exposed small families withdrew
into our houses of better numbers, which we fortified with palisa-
does and redoubts, neighbours in bodys joined their labours from
each plantation to others alternately, taking their arms into the
ffields, and setting sentinels ; no man stirred out of doors unarm'd.
Indians were (ever & anon) espied, three 4. 5. or 6. in a party lurk
ing throughout the whole land, yet (what was remarkable) I rarely
heard of any houses burnt, tho' abundance was forsaken, nor ever,
or any corn or tobacco cut up, or other injury done, besides murders,
except the killing of a very few cattle and swine.
Frequent complaints of bloudsheds were sent to Sir William
Berkeley (then Govern' r) from the heads of the rivers, which
were as often answered with promises of assistance.
These at the heads of James and York Rivers (having now most
people destroyed by the Indians flight thither from Potomack) grew
impatient at the many slaughters of their neighbours and rose for
their own defense, who chusing Mr. Bacon for their leader, sent
oftentimes to the Govern' r, humbly beseeching a commission to go
against those Indians at their own charge which his hon'r as often
promised but did not send ; the misteryes of these delays, were won
dered at and which I ne'er heard coud penetrate into, other than the
effects of his passion, and a new (not to be mentioned) occasion of
avarise, to both which he was (by the common vogue) more than
a little addicted ; whatever were the popular surmizes & mur-
murins viz't.
" that no bullets would pierce bever skins.
' ' rebells forfeitures would be loyall inheritances &c
During these protractions and people often slaine, most or all of
the officers, civil & military with as many dwellers next the heads
of the rivers as made up 300. men taking Mr. Bacon for their com
mand' r met, and concerted together, the danger of going without a
commiss'n on the one part, and the continuall murders of their
neighbours on the other part (not knowing whose or how many of
their own turns might be next) and came to this resolution viz't to
prepare themselves with necessaries for a march, but interim to send

xviii INTRODUCTION.
again for a commission, which if could or could not be obtayned by
a certaine day, they would proceed commission or no commission.
This day lapsing & no com'n come, they marched into the wild
erness in quest of those Indians after whom the Govern' r sent his
proclamation, denouncing all rebells, who should not return within
a limited day, whereupon those of estates obey'd ; but Mr. Bacon
with 57. men proceeded until their provisions were near spent, with
out finding the enemy's when coming nigh a ffort of ffriend Indians,
on th' other side of a branch of James River, they desired reliefe
offering paym't, which these Indians kindly promised to help them
with on the morrow, but put them off with promises until the third
day, so as then having eaten their last morsells they could not re
turn, but must have starved in the way homeward and now
'twas suspected these Indians had received private messages from
the Govern' r & those to be the cause of these delusive procrastina
tions ; whereupon the English waded shoulder deep thro' that
branch of the ffort palisado's still entreating and tendering pay, for
victuals ; but that evening a shot from the place they left on th'
other side of that branch kill'd one of Mr. Bacon's men which made
them believe, those in the ffort had sent for other Indians to come
behind 'em & cut 'em off.
Hereupon they fired the palisado's, storm' d & burnt the ffort
and cabins, and (with the losse of three English) slew 150 Indians.
The circum.stances of this expedic'n Mr. Bacon entertain' d me with,
at his own chamber, on a visit I made him, the occasion hereof is
hereafter mentioned.
ffrom hence they returned home where writts were come up to
elect members for an assembly, when Mr. Bacon was unanimously
chosen for one, who coming down the river was commanded by a
ship with guns to come on board, where waited Major Houe the
high sheriff of James town ready to seize him, by whom he was
carried down to the Govern' r & by him receiv'd with a surprizing
civility in the following words ' ' Mr. Bacon you had for got to be a
gentleman." No, may it please yo'r hon'r answer' d Mr. Bacon;
then replyed the Govern'r I'll take yo'r parol, and gave him his
liberty ; in March 1675-6 writts came up to Stafford to choose their
two members for an assembly to meet in May ; when Collo. Mason
Capt. Brent and other gentleman of that county invited me to stand
as a candidate ; a matter I little dreamt of, having never had inclina-
c'ions to tamper into the precarious intrigues of Governm't, and my
hands being full of my own business ; they press' t severa'll coo-ent
argum'ts. and I having considerable debts in the county, besides'my
plantation concerns, where (in one & th' other), I had much more
severely suffered, than any of themselves by th' Indian disturbances
in the summer and winter foregoing. I held it not (then) discreet to
disoblige the rules of it, so Collo: Mason with myself were elected
without objection, he at time convenient went on horse back • I
took my sloop & the morning I arriv' d to James town after a weeks

INTRODUCTION. xix
voyage, was welcomed with the strange acclamations of All's Over
Bacon is taken, having not heard at home of the Southern com'o-
tions, other than rumors like idle tales, of one Bacon risen up in
rebellion, no body knew for what, concerning the Indians.
The next forenoon, th' Assembly being met in a chamber over
the general court & our speaker chosen, the Govern'r sent for us
down, where his hon'r with a pathetic emphasis made a short abrupt
speech wherein where these words.
' ' If they had killed my grandfather and my grandmother, my
' ' father and mother and all my friends, yet if they had come to treat
' ' of peace, they ought to have gone in peace, ' ' and sat down.
The two chief commanders at the aforementioned siege, who
slew the ffour Indian great men, being present and part of our
assembly. The Govern' or stood up againe and said "if there be joy in the
" presence of the Angels over one sinner that repented, there is joy
" now, for we have a penitent sinner come before us, call Mr. Bacon;
then did Mr. Bacon upon one knee at the bar deliver a sheet of paper
confessing his crimes, and begging pardon of god the king and the
Govern'r whereto [after short pause] he answered ' ' God forgive you,
I forgive you, thrice repeating the same words ; when Collo : Cole
[one of the council] said "and all that were with him. Yea, said the
Govern'r & all that were with him, twenty or more persons being
then in irons who were taken coming down in the same & other ves
sels with Mr. Bacon.
About a minute after this the Govern' or started up from his
chair a third time said ' ' Mr. Bacon ! if you will live civily but till next
Quarter court [doubling the words] till next Quarter court. He
promise to restore you againe to yo'r place, there pointing with his
hand to Mr. Bacons seat, he having been of the Councill before the
trouble, tho' he had been a very short time in Virginia but was de
posed by the aforesaid proclamac'on and in the afternoon passing by
the court door, in my way up to our chamber, I saw Mr. Bacon on
his quandam seat the Govern'r & councill which seemed a marvel
lous indulgence to one whom he had so lately prescribed a rebell.
The Govern'r had directed us to consider of means for security
from th' Indian insults and to defray the charge &c. advising us to
beware of two rogues amongst us, naming Laurence and Drummond
both dwelling in James town and who where not at the Pascateway
siege. But at our entrance upon business, some gentleman took this
opportunity to endeavour he redressing severaU grievances the coun
try then labor'd under, motions were made for inspecting the pub
lick revenues, the Collectors accompts &c. and so far was proceeded
as to name part of a committee whereof Mr. Bristol [now in London]
was and myself another, when we were interrupted by pressing mes
sages from the Govern'r to meddle with nothing until the Indian
business was dispatch' t.

XX INTRODUCTION.
This debate rose high, but was overruled and I have not heard
that these inspections have since then been insisted upon, tho' such
of that indigent people as had no benefits from the taxes groaned
under our being thus overborn.
The next thing was a Co'mittee for the Indian affaires, whereas
in appointing members, myself was unwillingly nominated having
no knowledge in martiall preparations, and after our names were
taken , some of the house moved for sending 2 of our members to in-
treat the Govern'r wou'd please to assign two of his councill to sit
with, and assist us in our debates, as had been usuall.
When seeing all silent looking at each other with many discon
tented faces, I ventured to offer my humble opinion to the Speaker
" for the co'mittee to form methods as agreeable to the sense of the
"house as we could, and report 'em whereby they would more clearly
"see, on what points to give the Govern'r and Councill that trouble
"if perhaps it might be usefull."
These few words raised an uproar ; one party urging hard ' ' it
had been customary and ought not to be omitted:" whereto Mr.
Presley my neighbor an old assembly man, sitting next me, rose up,
and [in a blundering manner replied] ' ' tis true, it has been custom-
" ary, but if we have any bad customs among us, we come here to
" mend 'em" which set the house in laughter.
This was huddl'd off without coming to a vote, and so the co'
mittee must submit to be overaw'd, and have every carpt at expres
sion carried straight to the Govern'r.
Our co'mittee being sat, the Queen of Pakunky [descended from
Oppechankenough a former Emperor of Virginia] was introduced,
who entered the chamber with a comportment graceful to admira
tion, bringing on her right hand an Englishman interpreter and on
the left her son a strippling twenty years of age, she having round
her head a plat of black & white wampum peague three inches
broad in imitation of a crown, & was clothered in a mantle of dress't
deerskins with the hair outwards & the edge cut round 6 inches
deep which made strings resembling twisted fringe from the shoul
ders to the feet ; thus with grave courtlike gestures and a majcstick
air in her face, she walk'd up our long room to the lower end of the
table, where after a few entreaties she sat down ; th' interpreter and
her son standing by her on either side as they had walk'd up, our
chairman asked her what men she would lend us for guides in the
wilderness and assist us against our enemy Indians, she spake to
th' interpreter to inform her what the chairman said, [tho' we be
lieve she understood him] he told us she bid him as her son to
whom the English tongue was familiar, & who was reputed the son
of an English colonel, yet neither wou'd he speak to or seem to un
derstand the Chairman but th' interpreter told us he referred all to
his mother, who being againe urged she after a little musing with
an earnest passionate countenance as if tears were ready to gush Out
and a fervent sort of expression made a harangue about a quater of

INTRODUCTION. xxi
an hour, often interlacing [with a high shrill .voice and vehement
passion] these words " Tatapatomoi Chepiack, i. e. Tatapamoi dead :
Col : Hill being. next me, shook his head, I ask'd what was the mat
ter, he told me all she said was too true to our shame, and that his
father was generall iu that battle, where diverse years before Tata-
patamoi her husband had led a hundred of his Indians to help in th'
EngUsh against her former enemy Indians, and was there slaine with
most of his men ; for which no compensation [at all] had been to
that day rendered to her wherewith she now upraided us.
Her discourse ending and our morose Chairman not advancing
one cold word towards asswaging the anger and grief of her speech
and demeanor manifested under her oppression, nor taking any no
tice of all she had said, neither considering that we (then) were in
our great exigency, supplicants to her for a favor of the same kind
as the former, for which we did not deny the having been so ingrate
he rudely pushed againe the same question ' ' what Indians will you
now contribute &c ? of this disregard she signified her resentment by
a distainful aspect, and turning her head half aside, s^te mute till
that same question being press' t a third time, she not turning her
face to the board, answered with a low slighting voice in her own
language "six, but being further importun'd she sitting a little while
sullen, without uttering a word between said, twelve, tho she then
had a hundred and fifty Indian men, in the town, and so she rose up
and gravely walked away, as not pleased with her treatment.
Whilst some dais past in settling the Quota's of men and arms
and ammunic'on provisions &c. each county was to furnish one
morning early a bruit ran about the town Bacon is fled Bacon is fled,
whereupon I went straight to Mr. Laurence, who (formerly) was of
Oxford university, and for wit learning and sobriety was equall'd
there by few, and who some years before [as Col. Lee tho one of the
councill and a friend of the Govern' rs informed me] had been parti
ally treated at law, for a considerable estate on behalf of a corrupt
favorite ; which Laurence complaining loudly of, the Govern, r bore
him a grudge and now shaking his head, said "old treacherous vil-
"lan, aud that his house was searcht that morning, at day break,
"but Bacon was escaped into the country, having intimation that
"the Govern' rs generosity in pardoning him and his followers and
' ' restoring him to his seat in the councill, were no other ..ban previ-
' ' ous wheadles to amuse him & his adherents & to circumvent them
"by stratagem, forasmuch as the taking Mr. Bacon again into the
"council was first to keep him out of the assembly, and in the next
"place the Govern'r knew the country people were hastening down
" with dreadful threatenings to double revenge all wrongs shoul'd be
"done to Mr. Bacon or his men, or whoever shou'd have had the
"least hand in 'em.,
And so much was true that this Mr. young Nathaniel Bacon
[not yet arrived at 30 years] had a nigh relation named Colo. Nath
aniel Bacon of long standing in the council a very rich politick man,

xxii - INTRODUCTION.
and childless, designing his kinsman for his heir, who [not without
much paines] had prevailed with his uneasy cousin to deliver the
forementioned written recantation at the bar, having compiled it
ready to his hand & by whose means it 'was supposed that timely
intimation was convey'd to the young gentleman to flee for his life,
and also in 3. or four dais after Mr. Bacon was first seiz'd I saw
abundance of men in town thither from the heads of the rivers, who
finding him restored & his men at liberty, return'd home satisfied ;
a few dais after which, the Govern'r seeing all quiet, gave out
private warrants to take him againe, intending as was thought to
raise the militia and so to dispose things as to prevent his friends
from gathering any more into a like numerous body and coming down
a second time to save him.
In three or ffour dais after his escape, upon news that Mr.
Bacon was 30 miles up the river, at the head of four hundred men,
the Govern'r sent to the parts adjacent, on both sides James river
for the militia and all the men that could be gotten to come and de
fend the town, expres's came almost hourly of th' army's approaches,
whom in less than four dais after the first account of 'm att 2, of the
clock entered the town, without being withstood, andform*d a body
upon a green, not a flight shot from the end of the State house of
horse and ffoot, as well regular as veteran troops, who forthwith'
possesst themselves of all the avenues, disarming all the town and
coming thither in boats or by land.
In half an hour after this the drum beat for the house to meet,
and in less than an hour more Mr. Bacon came with a file of ffusileers
on either hand near the corner of the State-house where the Gover
n'r, and councill went forth to him ; he saw from the window
the Govern'r open his breast, and Bacon strutting betwixt his two
files of men with his left arm on Kneebow fligning his right arm
every way both like men distracted ; and if in this moment of fury
that enraged multitude had fain upon the Govern'r and councill we
of the assembly expected the same imediate fate, I stept down and
amongst the crowd of Spectators found the seamen of my sloop, who
pray'd me not to stir from them, when in two minutes, the Govern'r
walk'd towards his private apartm'nt, a Coits cast distant at the
other end of the State-house, the gentlemen of the councill followino^
him, & after them walked Mr. Bacon with outraigous postures of his
head arms body & legs, often tossing his hands from his sword to
his hat afld after him came a detachment of ffusileers (musketts
not being then in use) who with their cocks bent presented their
ffusils at a window of the assembly chamber filled with faces re
peating with menacing voices "we will have it," we will have it "
half a minute when as one of our house a person known to many of
them, shook his handkerchief out at the window, "saying you shall
have it, you shall have it," 3 or 4 times; at these words they sate
down their fusils unbent their locks and stood still untill Bacon com
ing back, they followed him to their main body ; in this hubub a

INTRODUCTION. xxiii
ser\'ant of mine got so nigh as to hear the Govern 'rs words, and also
followed Mr. Bacon, and heard what he said, who came & told me,
that when the Govern'r opened his breast he said, "here ! shoot me,
foregod fair mark, shoot ; often rehearsing the same, without any
other words ; whereto Mr. Bacon answered " No may it please yo'r
"hon'r we will not hurt a hair of yo'r head, nor of any other
" mans, we come for a Co'mission to save our lives from th' Indians,
" which you have so often promised, and now we will have it before
"we go.,,
But when Mr. Bacon followed the Govern'r & Councill with the
forementioned impetuous (like delirious) actions whil'st that party
presented their ffusils at the window full of faces, he said ' ' Dam my
"bloud I'le kill Govern'r Councill assembly & all, and then I' le
"sheath my sword in my own hearts bloud ;" and afterwards 'twas
said Bacon had given a signal to his men who presented their fusils
at those gazing out of the window that if he should draw his sword,
they were on sight of it to fire, and slay us, so near was the massacre
of us all that very minute, had Bacon in that paroxism of phrentick
fury but drawn his sword, before the pacifick handkercher was
shaken out at the window.
In an hour or more after these violent concussions Mi . Bacon
came up to our chamber and desired a co'mission from us to go
against the Indians ; our Speaker sat silent, when one Mr. Blayton
a neighbor to Mr. Bacon & elected with him a member of assembly
for the same county (who therefore durst speak to him) made ans-
vper, " 'twas not in our province, or power, nor of any other, save
the king's viceregent our Govern'r, he press'd hard nigh half an
hours harangue on the preserving our lives from the Indians, in
specting the publick revenues, the exorbitant taxes and redressing
the grievances and calamities of that deplorable country, whereto
having no other answer he went away dissatisfied.
Next day there was a rumor the Govern'r and councill had
agreed Mr. Bacon shou'd have a co'mission to go as Generall of the
fforces, we then were raising, whereupon I being a member of Staf
ford, the most northern frontier, and where the war begun, con
sidering that Mr. Bacon dwelling in the most Southern ffrontier,
county, might the less regard the parts I represented I went to Coll:
Cole (an active member of the councill) desiring his advice, if ap-
plicac'ons to Mr. Bacon on the subject were then seasonable and
safe, which he approving and earnestly advising, I went to Mr.
Laurence who was esteemed Mr. Bacon's principal consultant, to
whom he took me with him, and there left me where I was enter
tained 2 or 3 hours with the particular relac'ons of diverse before re
cited transactions ; and as to the matter I speak of, he told me, the
Govern'r had indeed promised him the command of the forces, and
if his hon'r should keep his word (which he doubted) he assurod
me ' ' the dike care should be taken of the remotest corners in the
"land, as of his own dwelling-house, and pray'd me to advise him

xxiv INTRODUCTION.
' ' what persons in those parts were most fit to bear commands. ' ' I
frankly gave him my opinion that the most satisfactory gentlemen
to govern'r & people, wou'd be co'mandersof the militia, wherewith
he was well pleased, and himself wrote a list of those nominated.
That evening I made known what had passed with Mr. Bacon
to my colleague Coll: Mason [whose bottle attendance doubted my
task] the matter he liked well, but questioned the Govern's appro
bation of it.
I confess'd the case required sedate thoughts, reasoning, that
he and such like gentleman must either co'mand or be co'manded,
and if on their denials Mr. Bacon .should take distaste, and be con
strained to appoint co'manders out of the rabble, the Govern'r Him
self with the persons & estates of all in the land would be at their
dispose, whereb}' their own ruiue might be owing to themselves ; in
this he agreed & said " If the Govern'r would give his own c'mis-
' ' sion he would be content to serve under general Bacon [as now he
' ' began to be intituled] but first would consult other gentlemen in
the same circumstances ; who all concurr'd 'twas the most safe bar
rier in view against pernicious designs, if such should be put in
practice ; with this I acquainted Mr. Laurence who went [rejoicing]
to Mr. Bacon with the good tidings, that the militia co'manders were
inclined to serve under him, as their Generall, in case the Govern'r
would please to give them his own co' missions.
Wee of the house proceeded to finish the bill for the war, which
by the assent of the Govern'r and councill being past into an act,
the Govern'r sent us a letter directed to his majesty, wherein were
these words ' ' I have above 30 years governed the most flourishing
' ' country the sun ever shone over, but am now encompassed with
' ' rebellion like waters in eyery respect like to that of Massanello ex
cept their leader, and of like import was the substance of that letter.
But we did not believe his hon'r sent us all he wrote his majesty.
Some judicious gentleman of our house likewise penn'd a letter
or remonstrance to be sent his Maj 'tie, setting for the gradations of
these erupc' ,ons, and two or three of them with Mr. Mingo our clerk
brought it to me to compile a few lines for the conclusion of it, which
I did [tho not without regret in those watchfuU times, when every
man had eyes on him, but what I wrote was with all possible defer-
rence to the Govern'r and in the most soft terms my pen cou'd find
the case to admit.
Col. Spencer being my neighbor & intimate friend, and a preva
lent member in the council I pray'd him to entreat the Govern'r we
might be dissolved, for that was my first and should be my last
going astray from my wonted sphere of merchandise & other my
private concernments into the dark and slippery meanders of court
embarrassments, he told me the Govern'r had not [then] determined
his intentions but he would move his hon'r about itt, and in 2 or 3
days we were dissolved, which I was most heartily glad of, because
of my getting loose againe from being hampered amongst those per-

INTRODUCTION. xxv
nicious entaugleme'ts in the labyrinths & snares of state ambigui
ties, & which until then I had not seen the practice nor the dangers
of, for it was oserv'd that severall of the members had secret badges
of distinction fixt upon 'em, as not docill enough to gallop the future
races, that court seem'd disposed to lead 'em, whose maxims I had
oft times heard whisper'd before, and then found confirm'd by
diverse considerate gentlem'n viz't " that the wise and the rich were
' ' prone to ffaction & sedition but fools and poor were easy to be
governed. ' '
Many members being met one evening nigh sunsett, to take our
leave of each other, in order next day to return homewards, came
Gen' 11 Bacon with his handfull of unfolded papers & overlooking
us, round, walking in the room said " which of these Gentlem'n shall
I interest to write a few words for me, where every one looking
aside as not willing to meddle ; Mr. Laurence pointing at me saying
"that gentleman writes very well which I endeavoring to excuse
Mr. Bacon came stooping to the ground and said "pray S'r Do me
the hon'r write a line for me."
This surprising accostm't schockt me into a melancholy con
sternation, dreading upon one hand, that Stafford county would feel
the smart of his resentment, if I should refuse him whose favor I
had so lately sought and been generously promis'd on their behalf ;
and on th' other hand fearing the Govern' rs displeasure who I knew
would soon hear of it ; what seem'd most prudent of this hazardous
dilemma was to obviate the present impending peril ; So Mr. Bacon
made me sit the whole night by him filling out those papers, which
I then saw were blank co'missions sign'd by the Govern'r inserting
such names & writing other matters as he dictated, which I took to
be the happy effects of the consult before mentioned, with the com-
'anders of the militia because he gave me the names of very few
others to put into these com'issions, and in the morning he left me
with an hours work or more to finish, when came to me Capt. Carver,
and said he had been to wait on the Generall for a co'mission, and
that he was resolved to adventure his old bones against the Indian
rogues with other the like discourse, and at length told me that I
was in mighty favor  and he was bid to tell me, that whatever
I desired in the Generals power, was at my service, I pray'd him
humbly to thank his hon'r and to acquaint him I had no other boon
to crave, than the promis'd kindness to Stafford county, for besides
the not being worthy, I riever had been conversant in military mat-
t-ers.'afi'd'alsohaviUg lived tenderly, my service cou'd be of no bene
fit becausdthe hardships and fatigues of a wilderness campaigne
\^buld' put d speedy period to my dais : little expecting to hear of
mofe intestine broiles, I went home to Potomack, where reports were
afterwards various ; we had account that Generall Bacon was
march'd with a thousand men into the fforest to seek the enemy In
dians, and in a few dais after our next news was, that the Govern'r
had sum'oned together the militia of Gloucester & Middlesex coun-

xxvi INTRODUCTION.
ties to the number of twelve hundred men, and proposed to them to
follow & suppress the rebell Bacon, whereupon arose a murmur
ing before his face " Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, and all walked out of the
"field, muttering as they went Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, leaving the
Govern'r and those that came with him to themselves, who being
thus abandon'd wafted over Chesepiacke Bay 30 miles to Accomack
where are two counties of Virginia.
Mr. Bacon hearing of this came back part of the way and sent
out parties of horse patrolling through every county, carrying away
prisoners all of whom he distrusted might any more molest his Indian
prosecuc'on yet giving liberty to such as pledg'd him their oaths to
return home and live quiet ; the copies or contents of which oaths I
never saw, but heard were very strict, tho' little observed.
About this time was a spie detected pretending himself a de
serter who had twice or thrice come and gone from party to party
and was by council of war sentenced to death, after which Bacon
declared openly to him, ' ' that if any one in the army wou'd speak a
" word to save him, he shou'd not suffer," which no man appearing
to do, he was executed, upon this manifestation of clemency Bacon
was applauded for a mercifull man, not willing to spill Christian
bloud, nor indeed was it said, that he put any other man to death in cold
bloud, or plunder any house ; nigh the same time came Maj'r Lang-
ston with his troop of horse and quartered two nights at my house
who [after high compliments from the General] told me I was de
sired ' ' to accept the Lieutenancy for preserving the peace in the 5
Northern counties betwixt Potomack and Rappahannock River, I
humbly thank'd his hon'r excusing myself, as I had done before on
that invitation of the like nature at James town, but did hear he was
mightily offended at my evasions and threatened to remember me.
The Govern'r made 2d. attempt coming over from Accomack
with what men he could procure in sloops and boats, forty miles up
the river to James town, which Bacon hearing of, came againe down
from his fforest pursuit, and finding a bank not a flight shot long,
cast up thwart the neck of the peninsular there in James town, he
stormed it, and took the town, in whichattack were 12. men slaine
& wounded but the Govern'r with most of his followers fled back,
down the river in their vessells.
Here resting a few dais they concerted the burning of the town,
wherein Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Drumond owning the two best
houses save one, sat fire each to his own house, which example the
souldiers following laid the whole town with church and State house
in ashes, saying, the rogues should harbour no more there.
On these reiterated molestac'ons Bacon calls a convention at
Midle plantation 15. miles from James town in the month of August
1676, where an oath with one or more proclamations were formed,
and writts by him issued for an Assembly; the oaths or writts I never
saw, but one proclamation com'anded all men in the land on pain of
death to joine him, and retire into the wilderness upon arrival of the

INTRODUCTION. xxvii
forces expected from England, and oppose them until they should
propose to accept to treat of an accom'odation, which we who lived
comfortably could not have undergone, so as the whole land must
have become an Aceldama if gods exceeding mercy had not timely
removed him.
During these tumults in Virginia a 2d. danger menaced Mary
land by an insurrection in that province, complaining of their heavy
taxes &c where 2 or 3 of the leading malcontents [men otherwise of
laudable characters] were put to death, which stifled the further
spreading of the flame. Mr. Bacon [at this time] press't the best
ship in James river, carrying 20 guns and putting into her his Lieu
tenant Generall Mr. Bland [a gentleman newly come thither from
England to possess the estate of his deceased uncle late of the coun
cil] and under him the forementioned Capt. Carver, formerly a com-
'ander of Merch'ts ships with men & all necessaries, he sent her to
ride before Accomack to curb and intercept all small vessels of war
com'ission'd by the Govern'r com'ng often over and making depre
dations on the Western shoar, as if we had been fforeign enemies,
which gives occasion in this place to digress a few words.
Att first assembly after the peace came a message to them from
the Govern'r for some marks of distinction to be set on his loyal
friends of Accomack, who received him in his adversity which when
came to be consider'd Col: Warner [then Speaker] told the house
" Ye know that what mark of distinction his hon'r coud have sett
' ' on those of Accomack uqlesse to give them ear marks or burnt
"marks for robbing and ravishing honest people, who stay'd at
"home and preserv'd the estates of those who ran away, when none
"intended to hurt 'em."
Now returning to Capt. Carver the Govern'r sent for him to
come on shoar, promising his peaceable return who answer'd he
could not trust his word, but if he wou'd send his hand & seal, he
wou'd venture to wait upon his hon'r which was done, and Carver
went in his sloop well arm'd & man'd with the most trusty of his men
where he was caress'd with wine &c. and large promises, if he would
forsake Bacon, resigne his ship or joine with him, to all which he
answered that " if he served the Devill he would be true to his trust,
"but that he was resolved to go home and live quiet.
In the mean time of this recepc'on and parley, an armed boat
was prepared with many oars in a creek not far off, but out of sight,
which when Carver sail'd, row'd out of the creek, and it being al
most calm the boat out went the sloop whilst all on board the ship
were upon the deck staring at both, thinking the boats company
coming on board by Carvers invitation to be civilly entertained in
requitall for the kindness they supposed he had received on shoar,
untill coming under the stern, those in the boat slipt nimbly in at
the gun room ports with pistoUs &c. when one courageous gentle
man ran up to the deck, & clapt a pistol! to Blands breast, saying
you are my prisoner, the boats company suddenly following with

xxviii INTRODUCTION.
pistoUs swords &c. and after Capt. Lorimore (the com'ander of the
ship before she was presst) having from the highest and hindmost
part of the stern interchang'd a signal from the shoar, by flirting his
handkercher about his nose, his own former crew had laid hand
spikes ready, which they [at that instant] caught up &c. so as
Bland & Carvers men were amazed and yielded.
Carver seeing a hurly burly on the ships deck, would have gone
away with his sloop, but having little wind & the ship threat'ning
to sink him, he tamely came on board, where Bland & he with their
party were laid in irons, and in 3. or 4 dais Carver was hanged on
shoar, which S'r Henry Chichelly the first of the councill then a
prisoner, [with diverse other gentlemen] to Mr. Bacon, did after
wards exclaime against as a most rash and wicked act of the Gover
n'r he in particular expected to have been treated by way of repri-
zall, as Bacons friend Carver had been by the Govern'r. Mr. Bacon
now returns from his last expedic'on sick of fflux ; without finding
any enemy Indians, having not gone far by reason of the vexations
behind him, nor had he one dry day in all his marches to and
fro in the fforest whilst the planations [not 50. miles distant] had a
sum'er so dry as stinted the Indian corn and tobacco &c. which the
people ascribed to the Pawawings i. e. the sorceries of the Indians
in a while Bacon dyes & was succeeded by his Lieuten't Gen' 11 In
gram, who had one Wakelet next in com' and under him, whereupon
hasten'd over the Govern'r to York river, and with whom they arti
cled for themselves, and whom else they could, so all submitted and
were pardoned exempting those nominated and otherwise proscribed,
in a proclamac'on of indemnity, the principall of whom were Laur
ence and Dru'mond.
Mr. Bland was then a prisoner having been taken with Carver,
as before noted, and in a few dais Mr. Drumond was brought in,
when the Govern'r being on board a ship came im'ediately on shore
and complimented him with the ironical! sarcasm of a low bend, say
ing " Mr. Drummond 1 you are very unwelcome, I am more glad to
"see you, than any man in Virginia, Mr. Drumond you shall be
"hang'd in half an hour; who answered What yo'r hon'r pleases,
and as soon as a council of war cou'd meet, his sentence be dis-
patchat & a gibbet erected [which took up near two hours] he was
executed. This Mr. Drumond was a sober Scotch gentleman of ,goo^ i;e-
pute with whome I had not a particular acquaintance, nor dti I know
the cause of that rancour his hon'or had against him other than..his
pretensions in com'n for the publick but meeting hipi by accident
the morning I left the town, I advis'd him to be very wary, for he
saw the Govern'r had put a brand upon him, he [gravely expressing
my name] answered "I am in over shoes, I wil! be over boots,"
which I was sorry to heare & left him.
The last account of Mr. Laurence was from an uppermost plan.
tation, where he and four others desperado's with horses pistoUs &c

INTRODUCTION. xxix
march'd away in a snow ancle deep, who are thought to have cast
themselves into a branch of some river, rather than to be treated
like Drum'ond. Bacon's body was so made way, as his bones were never found
to be exposed on a gibbet as was purpos'd, stones being laid on his
coffin, supposed to be done by Laurence.
Near this time arrived a small fleet with a regiment from Eng
land S'r John Berry Admiral!, Coll: Herbert Jefferies com'ander of
the land forces and Collo: Morrison who had one year been a former
Govern'r there, all three joined in a com'ission with or to S'r Wil
liam Barclay, soon after when a generall court, and also an assem
bly were held, where some of our former assembly [with so many
others] were put to death, diverse whereof were persons of honest
reputation and handsome estates, as that the Assembly petitioned
the Govern'r to spill no more bloud, and Mr. Presley at his coming
home told me, he believed the Govern' or would have hang'd half the
country, if they had let him alone, the first was Mr. Bland whose
friends in England had procured his pardon to be sent over with the
ffleet, which he pleaded at his tryall, was in the Govern' rs pocket
[tho' whether 'twas so, or how it came there, I know not, yet did
not hear 'twas openly contradicted] but he was answered by Collo:
Morrison that he pleaded his pardon at swords point, which was
look'd upon an odd sort of reply, and he was executed ; [as was
talked] by private instructions from England the Duke of York hav
ing sworn ' ' by god Bacon & Bland should dye.
The Govern'r went in the ffleet to London [whether by com-
'and from his Majesty or spontaneous I did not hear] leaving Col.
Jefferyes in his place, and by next shipping came back a person who
waited on his hon'r in his voyage, and untill his death, from whom
a report was whisper'd about that the king did say "that old
"fool had hang'd more men in that naked country, than he had
done for the murder of his father, whereof the Govern'r hearing
dyed soon after without having seen his majesty ; which shuts up
this tragedy.

APPENDIX.

To avoid incumbering the body of the foregoing little discourse,
I have not therein mentioned the received opinion in Virginia, which
very much attributed the promoting these perturbac'ons of Mr. Laur
ence, & Mr. Bacon with his other adherents, were esteemed, as but
wheels agitated by the weight of his former & present resentments,
after their cholor was raised up to a very high pitch, at having been
[so long & often] trifled with in their humble supplications to the
Govern' or for his im'ediate taking in hand the most speedy meanes
towards stopping the continued effusions of so much English bloud.

xxx INTRODUCTION.
from time to time by the Indians, which com' on sentim'ts I have the
more reason to believe were not altogether groundless, because my
self have heard him [in his familiar discourse] insinuated as if his
fancy gave him prospect of finding (at one time or other) some expedi
ent not only to repair his great losse, but wherewith to see those
abuses rectified that the country was oppressed with through (as he
said) the forwardness averice & french despotick methods of the
Govern'r & likewise I know him to be a thinking man, and tho'
nicely honest, affable, & without blemish ; in his conversation and
dealings, yet he did manifest abundance of uneasiness in the sense
of his hard usages, which might prompt him to improve that Indian
quarrel to the service of his animosities, and for this the more
fair & frequent opportunites offered themselves to him by his dwell
ing at James town, where was the concourse from all parts to the
Govern' r and besides that he had married a wealthy widow who kept
a large house of public entertainm't into which resorted those of
the best quality and such others as business called to that town, and
his parts with his even temper made his converse coveted by per
sons of all ranks ; so that being subtile, and having these advantages
he might with less difficulty discover mens inclinations, and instill
his notions where he found those woud be imbib'd with greatest
satisfaction. As for Mr. Bacon fame did not lay to his charge the having run
out his patrimony in England except what he brought to Virginia,
and for that the most part to be exhausted, which together made
him suspecting of casting an eye to search for retrievement in the
troubled waters of popular discontents, wanting patience to wait the
death of his opulent cousin, old Collo: Bacon, whose estate he ex
pected to inherit.
But he was too young, too much a stranger there, and of a dis
position too precipitate, to manage things to that length those were
carried, had not thoughtfuU Mr. Laurence been at the bottom.

HISTORY

....OF....

THE VA^LLBY.

CHAPTER I.

INDIAN WARS.

From the best evidence the author'has been able to obtain, and
to this end he haS devoted much time and research, the settlement
of our fine and beautiful valley commenced in the year 1732, about
one hundred and twenty-five years from the first settlement of Vir
ginia. Before going into a detail of the first immigration and
improvement of the Valley, the author believes it will not be unin
teresting to the general reader, to have a brief history of the long
and bloody wars carried on between contending tribes of Indians.
Tradition relates that the Delaware and Catawba tribes were engaged
in war at the time the Valley was first known by the white people,
and that the war was continued for many years after our section of
country became pretty numerously inhabited by the white settlers.
I shall commence with a narrative of Indian battles fought on
the Cohongorution. * At the mouth of the Antietam, a small creek
on the Maryland side of the River, a most bloody affair took place
between parties of the Catawba and Delaware tribes. This was
probably about the year 1736. The Delawares had penetrated pretty

* Cohongoruton is the ancient Indian name of the Potomac from its
junction with the Shenandoah to the Alleghany Mountain. Lord Fairfax,
in his grants for land on this water course, designated it Potomac ; by which
means it gradually lost its ancient name, and now is generally known by no
other name. Maj. H. Bedinger writes the name of this River Cohongoruta.
It is, however, written in the act laying off the County of Frederick in 1738,
Cohongoruton.

32 INDIAN WARS.
far to the south committed some acts of outrage on the Catawbas,
and on their retreat were overtaken at the mouth of this creek, when
a desperate conflict ensued. Every man of the Delaware party were
put to death, with the exception of one who escaped after the battle
was over, and every Catawba held up a scalp but one. This was a
disgrace not to be borne ; and he instantly gave chase to the fugitive,
overtook him at the Susquehanna River, (a distance little short
of one hundred mik-s), killed and scalped him, and returning
showed his scalp to several white people, and exulted in what he
had done. *
Another most bloody battle was fought at the mouth of Cono-
cocheague, f on Friend's land, in which but one Delaware escaped
death, and he ran in to Friend's house, when the family .shut the
door, and kept the Catawbas out, by which means the poor fugitive
was saved. J
There is also a tradition, and there are evident signs of the fact, of
another furious battle fought at what is called the Slim Bottom on
Wappatomaka, § (the ancient Indian name of the Great South
Branch of the Potomac), about one and-a-half miles from its mouth.
At this place there are several large Indian graves, near what is
called the Painted Rock. On this Rock is exhibited the shape of a
man with a large blotch, intended, probably, to represent a man
bleeding to death. The stain, it appeared to the author, was made
with human blood. The top of the rock projects over the painted
part so as to protect it from the washings of the rain, and is on the
east side of the rock. How long the stain of human blood would
remain visible in a position like this, the author cannot pretend to
express an opinion ; but he well recollects the late Gen. Isaac Zane
informed me that the Indians beat out the brains of an infant (near
his old iron works) against a rock, and the stain of the blood was
plainly to be seen about forty years afterwards. In this battle it
is said but one Delaware escaped, and he did so by leaping into the
river, diving under water, continuing to swim until he crossed the
Cohongorution. ||
A great battle between these hostile tribes, it is said, was fought
at what is called the Hanging Rocks, on the Wappatomaka, in the
* This tradition was related to the author by Capt. James Glenn,. of Jef.-
ferson county, now upwards of 73 years of age, and confirmed by-the venera
ble John Tomlinson, near Cumberland, Maryland, now 92 years old.
f Mr. Tomlinson is of opinion this affair took place at the mouth of. the
t Capt. James Glenn, confirmed by Mr. Tomlinson, except as to the
place of battle.
§The name of this water course in Lord Fairfax's ancient gratits is
written Wappatomac ; but Mr. Heath and Mr. Blue both stated thatHhe
proper name was Wappatomaka.
[ Capt. James Glenn, confirmed by Mr. Garrett Blue, of Hampshire. In
deed, this tradition is familiar to most of the elderly citizens on the South
Branch, as also the battle of Hanging Rocks.

INDIAN WARS. 33
county of Hampshire, where the river passes through the moun
tain. * A pretty large party of the Delawares had invaded the ter
ritory of the Catawbas, taken several prisoners, and commenced
their retreat homewards. When they reached this place, they made
a halt, and a number of them commenced fishing. The Catawba
enemies, close in pursuit, discovered them, and threw a party of
men across the river, with another in their front. Thus enclosed,
with the rock on one side, a party on the opposite side of the river,
another in their front, and another in their rear, a most furious and
bloody onset was made, and it is believed that several hundred of the
Delawares were slaughtered. Indeed, the signs now to be seen at
this place exhibit striking evidences of the fact. There is a row of
Indian graves between the rock and public road, along the margin
of the river, from sixty to seventy yards in length. It is believed
that but very few of the Delawares escaped.
There are also signs of a bloody battle having been fought at the
forks of the Wappatomaka ; but of this battle, if it ever occurred,
the author could obtain no traditional account.
Tradition also relates that the Southern Indians exterminated a
tribe, called the Senedos, on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River,
at present the residence of William Steenbergen, Esq., in the county
of Shenandoah. About the year 1734, Benjamin Allen, Riley Moore,
and William White, settled in this neighborhood. Benjamin Allen
settled on the beautiful estate called Allen's Bottom. An aged In
dian frequently visited him, and on one occasion informed him that
the " Southern Indians killed his whole nation with the exception of
himself and one other youth ; that this bloody slaughter took place
when he, the Indian, was a small boy." f From this tradition, it is
probable this horrid affair took place some time shortly after the
middle of the seventeeth century. Maj. Andrew Keyser also in
formed the author that an Indian once called at his father's, in Lan
caster county, Pennsylvania, appeared to be much agitated, and
asked for something to eat. After refreshing himself, he was asked
what disturbed him. He replied, "The Southern Indians have
killed my whole nation."
There are also evident signs of the truth of this tradition yet to
be seen. On Mr. Steenbergen' s land are the remains of an Indian
mound, though it is now plowed down. The ancient settlers in the
neighborhood differ in their opinion as to its original height. When
they first saw it, some say it was eighteen or twenty feet high, others
that it did not exceed twelve or fourteen, and that it was from fifty
to sixty yards in circumference at the base. This mound was liter
ally filled with human skeletons ; and it highly probable that this
* As the author expects to give a detailed description of this extraordi
nary place, in his chapter of natural curiosities, he will barely mention the
fact, that this rock, on one side of the river, is a perpendicular wall of several
hundred feet high, and several hundred yards in length.
t Mr. Israel Allen related this tradition to the author.

34 INDIAN WARS.
was the depository of the dead after the great massacre which took
place as just related.
This brief account of Indian battles contains all the traditionary
information the author has been able to coUect, with one exception,
which will be noticed in -the next chapter. There is, however, a
tradition, that on one particular occasion, a party of thirty Delaware
Indians, having penetrated far to the South, surprised a party of
Catawbas, killed several, and took a prisoner. The party of Dela
wares, on their return, caUed at Mr. Joseph Perrill's, near Winchester,
and exulted much at their success. The next day a party of ten Ca
tawbas called at Mr. Perrill's in pursuit. They enquired when their
enemy had passed. Being informed, they pushed off at a brisk step,
overtook the thirty Delawares at the Cohongoruton, (Potomac),
killed every man, recovered their prisoner, called at Mr. Perrill's on
their return, and told what they had done. * But it is probable this
is the same affair which took place at the mouth of the Antietam,
though it is possible that it may be a different one. Mr. Tomlinson
is under the impression that there was an Indian battle fought at the
mouth of the Opequon.
The author has seen and conversed with several aged and re
spectable individuals, who well recollect seeing numerous war parties
of the Northern and Southern Indians, passing and repassing
through the Valley. Several warrior paths have been pointed out
to him. One of them led from the Cohongoruton, (Potomac), and
passed a little west of Winchester southwardly. This path forked a
few miles north of Winchester, and one branch of it diverged more
to the east, crossed the Opequon, very near Mr. Carter's paper mill,
on the Creek, and led on toward the Forks of the Shenandoah River.
Another crossed the North Mountain and the Valley a few miles above
the Narrow Passage, thence over the Fort Mountain to the South
River Valley. Another crossed the Cumberland, in Maryland, and
proceeded up the Wappatomaka or Great South Branch Valley, in
the counties of Hampshire and Hardy.
An aged and respectable old lady on Apple-pie Ridge, informed
the author that he had frequently heard her mother speak of a party
of Delaware Indians once stopping at her father's, where they stayed
all night. They had in custody a young female Catawba prisoner,
who was one of the most beautiful females she had ever seen. Maj.
R. D. Glass also informed the author that his father, who resided at
the head of the Opequon, .stated the same fact. It was remarkable
to see with what resignation this unfortunate young prisoner sub
mitted to her fate. Her unfeeling tormentors would tie her, and
compel her at night to lay on her back, with the cords distended
from her hands and feet, and tied to branches or what else they could
get at to make her secure, while a man lay on each side of her with the
cords passing under their bodies.

* Gen. John Smith communicated this tradition to the author.

INDIAN WARS. 35
Mr. John Tomlinson also informed the author, that when about
seven or eight years of age, he saw a party of Delawares pass his
father's house, with a female Catawba prisoner, who had an infant
child in her arms ; and that it was said they intended to sacrifice her
when they reached their town. *
Tomlinson also relates a very remarkable instance of the sacrifice
of a female Catawba prisoner by the Delawares. A party of Dela
wares crossed the Potomac near Old town, in Maryland, a short
distance from which they cruelly murdered their prisoner ; they then
moved on. The next day several of them returned, and cut off the
soles of her feet, in order to prevent her from pursuing and haunt
ing them in their march, f
Capt. Glenn informed the author that a Mrs. Mary Friend, who
resided on or near the Potomac, stated to him that she once saw a
body of four or five hundred Catawba Indians on their march to
invade the Delawares ; but from some cause they became alarmed,
and returned without success.
The same gentleman stated to the author that a Mr. James Hen
dricks informed him that the last sacrifice made by the Delawares,
of their Catawba prisoners, was at the first run or stream of water on
the south side of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here several prisoners
were tortured to death with all the wonton barbarity and cruelty
peculiarly to the savage character. Mr. Hendricks was an eye wit
ness to this scene of horror. During the protracted and cruel suffer
ings of these unhappy victims, they tantalized and used the most
insulting language to their tormentors, threatening them with the
terrible vengeance of their nation as long as they could speak.
This bloody tragedy soon reached the ears of the Governor of
Pennsylvania, and he forthwith issued his proclamation command
ing and requiring all the authorities, both civil and military, to
interpose, and prohibit a repetition of such acts of barbarity and
cruelty. The author will now conclude this narrative of Indian wars,
with a few general reflections.
It is the opinion of some philosophers, that it is inherent in the
nature of man to fight. The correctness of this opinion Mr. Jeffer
son seems to doubt, and suggests that " it grows out of the abuse and
not the natural state of man. ' ' But it really appears there are strong
reasons to believe that there does exist ' ' a natural state of hostility of
man against man."- Upon what other principle can we account for
the long and furious wars which have been carried on, at different
periods, among the aboriginals of our country ?

* Mr. Tolinson's father then resided about seven miles below the
mouth of Conococheague on or near the Potomac, on the Maryland side.
f Mr. G. Blue, of Hampshire, stated this tradition to the author.

36 INDIAN WARS.
At an immense distance apart, * probably little less than six or
seven hundred miles, without trade, commerce, or clash of inter
ests, without those causes of irritation common among civilized
states, we find these two nations for a long series of years engaged
in the most implacable and destructive wars. Upon what other
principle to account for this state of things, than that laid down, is
a subject for which the author cannot pretend to explain. It, how
ever, affords matter of curious speculation and interesting reflection
to the inquiring mind. That nations are frequently urged to war
and devestation by the restless and turbulent disposition so common
to mankind, particularly among their leaders, is a question of little
doubt. The glory and renown (falsely so termed) of great achieve
ments in war, is probably one principal cause of the wars frequently
carried on by people in a state of nature.

* The Catawba tribes reside on the river of that name in South Carolina.
They were a powerful and warlike nation, but are now reduced to less than
two hundred souls. The Delawares resided at that period on the Susque
hanna River, in Pennsylvania, and are now far west of the Alleghany
Mountains.

INDIAN SETTLEMENTS. 37

CHAPTER II.
INDIAN SETTLEMENTS.
The author deems it unnecessary to give a detailed account of
all the particular places which exhibit signs of the ancient residences
of Indians, but considers it sufficient to say that all our water
courses, evidences of their dwellings are yet to be seen. The two
great branches of the Shenandoah, and the South Branch of the
Potomac, appear to have been their favorite places of residence.
There are more numerous signs of their villages to be seen on these
water courses, than in any other part of our Valley.
On the banks of the Cohongoruton, (Potomac), there has
doubtless been a pretty considerable settlement. The late Col.
Joseph Swearengen's dwelling house stands within a circular wall or
moat. * When first known by the white inhabitants, the wall was
about eighteen inches high, and the ditch about two feet deep.
This circular wall was made of earth, is now considerable reduced,
but yet plainly to be seen. It is not more than half a mile from
Shepherdstown .
For what particular purpose this wall was thrown up, whether
for ornament or defense, the author cannot pretend to form an opin
ion. If it was intended for defense, it appears to have been too low
to answer any valuable purpose in that way.
On the Wappatomaka, a few miles below the Forks, tradition
relates that there was a very considerable Indian settlement. On
the farm of Isaac Vanmeter, Esq. , on this water course, in the Coun
ty of Hardy, when the country was first discovered, there was con
siderable openings of the land, or natural prairies, which are called
' ' the Indian old fields ' ' to this day. Numerous Indian graves are to
be seen in the neighborhood. A little above the Forks of the River
a very large Indian grave is now to be seen, f In the bank of the
River, a little below the Forks, numerous human skeletons have been
discovered, and several articles of curious workmanship. A highly
finished pipe, representing a snake coiled round the bowl, with the
head projected above the bowl, was among them. There was the
under jaw bone of a human being of great size found at the same
place, which contained eight jaw teeth, in each side, of enormous size;
* Maj. Henry Bedinger informed the author that at his first recollection
of this place, the wall or moat was about eighteen inches high, and the ditch
around it about two feet deep. The wall was raised on the outside of the
ditch, and carefully thrown up.
t William Seymour, Esq., related this fact to the author.

38 INDIAN SETTLEMENTS.
and what is more remarkable, the teeth stands transversely in the
jaw bone. It would pass over any common man's face with entire
ease. *
There are many other signs of Indian settlements all along this
River, both above and below the one just described. Mr. Garrett
Blue, of the County of Hampshire, informed the author, that about
two miles below the Hanging Rocks, in the banks of the River, a
stratum of ashes, about one rod in length, was some years ago dis
covered. At this place are signs of an Indian village, and their old
fields. The Rev. John J. Jacobs, of Hampshire, informed the author
that Mr. Daniel Cresap's land on the North Branch of the Potomac,
a few miles above Cumberland, a human skeleton was discovered,
which had been covered with a coat of wood ashes, about two feet
below the surface of the ground. An entire decomposition of the
skeleton had taken place, with the exception of the teeth, they were
in a perfect state of preservation.
On the two great branches of the Shenandoah there are now to
be seen numerous sites of their ancient villages, several of which are
so remarkable that they deserve a passing notice. It has been no
ticed, in my preceding chapter, that on Mr. Steenbergen's land, on
the North Fork of the Shenandoah, the remains of a large Indian
mound are plainly to be seen. It is also suggested that this was once
the residence of the Senedo tribe, and that that tribe had been exter
minated by the Southern Indians. Exclusively of this large mound, f
there are several other Indian graves. About this place many of
their implements and domestic utensils have been found. A short
distance below the mouth of Stony Creek, (a branch of the Shen
andoah) , within four or five miles of Woodstock, are the signs of an
Indian village. At this place a gun barrel, with several iron toma
hawks, were found long after the Indians left the county, J
On Mr. Anthony Kline's farm, within about three miles of
Stephensburg, in the County of Frederick, in a glen near his mill, a
rifle was found, which had laid in the ground forty or fifty years.
Every part of this gun, (even the stock, which was made of black
walnut), was sound. Mr. Kline's father took the barrel from the
stock, placed the britch on the fire, and it soon discharged with a
loud explosion. §
* William Heath, Esq , in the County of Hardy stated this fact to the
author, and that he had repeatedly seen the remarkable jaw bone.
•I- Mr. Steenberger informed the author, that upou looking into this
mound, it was discovered that at the head of each skeleton a stone was de
posited ; that these stones are of various sizes, supposed to indicate the size
of the body buried.
t Mr. George Grandstaff stated this to the author. Mr. G. is an acedand
respected citizen of Shenandoah county. ' '^
§ Mr. Anthony Kline related this occurrence to the author. No man who
is acquainted with Mr. Kline, will for one moment doubt his assertions
This rifle was of a very large calibre, and was covered several feet below the
surface of the ground, and doubtless left there by an Indian

INDIAN SETTLEMENTS. 39
In the County of Page, on the South Fork of the Shenandoah
River, there are several Indian burying grounds and signs of their
villages. These signs are also to be seen on the Hawksbill Creek.
A few miles above Luray, on the west side of the River, there are
three large Indian graves, ranged nearly side by side, thirty or forty
feet in length, twelve or fourteen feet wide, and five or six feet high.
Around them, in circular form, are a number of single graves. The
whole cover an area of a little less than a quarter of an acre. They
present to the eye a very ancient appearance, and are covered with
pine and other forest growth. The excavation of the ground around
them is plainly to be seen. The three first mentioned graves are in
oblong form, probably containing many hundreds of human bodies,
and were doubtless the work of ages. *
On the land of Mr. Noah Keyser, near the moufh of the Plawks-
bill Creek, stands the remains of a large mound. This like that of
Mr. Steenbergen's, is considerably reduced by plowing, but is 3'et
some twelve or fourteen feet high, and is upwards of sixty yards
round at the base. It is found to be literally filled with hum.an
skeletons, and at every fresh plowing a fresh layer of bones are
brought to the surface. The bones are found to be in a calcarious
state, with the exception of the teeth, which are generally sound.
Several unusually large skeletons have been discovered in this grave.
On the lands now the residence of mj' venerable friend, John Gate-
wood, Esq., the signs of an Indian village are yet plainly to be seen.
There are numerous fragments of their pots, cups, arrow points, and
other implements for domestic use, found from time to time. Con
venient to this village there are several pretty large graves.
There is also evidence of an Indian town in Powell's Fort, on
the lands now owned by Mr. Daniel Munch. From appearance, this
too was a pretty considerable village. A little above the forks of the
Shenandoah, on the east side of the South Fork, are the appear
ances of another settlement, exhibiting the remains of two consider-
ble mounds now entirely reduced by plowing. About this place
many pipes, tomahawks, axes, homminy pestles, &c., have been
found. Some four or five miles below the Forks of the River, on the
southeast side, on the land now owned by Capt. Daniel Oliver, is
the site of another Indian village. At this place a considerable
variety of articles have been plowed up. Among the number were
several whole pots, cups, pipes, axes, tomahawks, homminy pestles,
&c. A beautiful pipe, of high finish, made of white flint stone, and
several other articles of curious workmanship, all of very hard stone,
have been found. Their cups and pots were made of a mixture of
clay and shell, of rude workmanship, but of firm texture.
There are many other places on all our water courses, to-wit :
Stony Creek, Cedar Creek, and Opequon, as well as the larger water
courses, which exhibit evidence of ancient Indian settlements. The
* These graves are on the land, now the residence of the widow Long,
and appears never to have been disturbed.

40 INDIAN SETTLEMENTS.
Shawnee tribes, it is well known were settled about the neighbor
hood of Winchester. What are called the " Shawnee cabins," and
"Shawnee Springs," immediately adjoining the town, are well
known. It is also equally certain, that this tribe had a considerable
village on Babb's Marsh, some three or four miles northwest of
Winchester. *
The Tuscarora Indians resided in the neighborhood of Mar-
tinsburg, in the County of Berkeley, f on the Tuscarora Creek. On
the fine farm, now owned by and the residence of Matthew Ransom,
Esq., (the former residence of Mr. Benjamin Beeson), are the re
mains of several Indian graves. These, like several others, are now
plowed down ; but numerous fragments of human bones are to be
found mixed with the clay on the surface. Mr. Ransom informed
the author, that at this place, the under jaw bone of a human being
was plowed up, of enormous size ; the teeth were found in a perfect
state of preservation.
Near the Shenandoah Springs, on the lands of Mr. Fairfax, an
Indian grave, some years since was opened, in which a skeleton of
unusual size was discovered. J
Mr. E. Paget informed the author, that on Fliqt Run, a small
rivulet of the South River, in the County of Shenandoah, a skeleton
was found by his father, the thigh bone of which measured three
feet in length, and the under jawbone of which would pass over any
common man's face with ease.
Near the Indian village described on a preceding page, on Capt.
Oliver's land, a few years ago, some hands in removing the stone
covering an Indian grave, discovered a skeleton, whose great size
attracted their attention. The stones was carefully taken off without
disturbing the frame, when it was discovered, that the body had
been laid at full length on the ground, and broad flat stones set
round the corpse in the shape of a coffin. Capt. Oliver measured the
skeleton as it lay, which was nearly seven feet long. §
In the further progress of this work the author will occasionally
advert to the subject of Indian antiquities and traits of the Indian
character. This chapter will now be concluded with some general
reflections on the seemly hard fate of the unfortunate race of peo
ple. It appears to the author that no reflecting man can view so
*Mr. Thomas Barrett, who was born in 1755, stated to the author, that
within his recollection the signs of the Indian wigwams were to be seen on
Babb's Marsh.
t Mr. John Shobe, a verj; respectable old citizen of Martinsburg, stated
to the author, that Mr. Benjamin Beeson, a. highly respectable Quaker, in
formed him, that the Tuscarora Indians were living on the Tuscarora Creek
when he (Beeson) first knew the country.
i Mr. George W. Fairfax gave the author this information.
§ Maximus, a Roman Emperor in the third century, "was the son of a
Tracian shepherd, and is represented by historians as a man of gigantic
statute and herculean strength. He was fully eight feet in height, and per
fectly symmetrical in form." Abridged U. History, vol. ii, p. 35.

INDIAN SETTLEMENTS. 41
many burying places broken up, their bones torn up with the plow,
reduced to dust, and scattered to the winds, without feeling some
degree of melancholy regret. It is to be lamented for another reason.
If those mounds and places of burial had been permitted to remain
undisturbed, they would have stood as lasting monuments in the
history of our country. Many of them were doubtless the work of
ages, and future generations would have contemplated them with
great interest and curiosity. But these memorials are rapidly disap
pearing, and the time perhaps will come, when not a trace of them
will remain. The author has had the curiosity to open several In
dian graves, in one of which he found a pipe, of different form from
any he has ever seen. It is made of a hard black stone and
glazed or rather painted with a substance of reddish cast. In all
the graves he has examined, the bones are found in a great state of
decay, except the teeth, which are generally in a perfect state of
preservation. It is no way wonderful that this unfortunate race of people re
luctantly yielded their rightful and just possession of this fine
country. It is no way wonderful that they resisted with all their
force the intrusion of the white people (who were strangers to them,
from a foreign country), upon their rightful inheritance. But per
haps this was the fiat of heaven. When God created this globe, he
probably intended it should sustain the greatest possible number of
his creatures. And as the human family, in a state of civil life,
increases with vastly more rapidity than a people in a state of nature
or savage life, the law of force has been generally resorted to, and the
weaker compelled to give way to the stronger. That a part of our
country has beea acquired by this law of force, is undeniable. It is,
however, matter of consoling reflection, that there are some honora
ble exceptions to this arbitrary rule. The great and wise William
Penn set the example of purchasing the Indian lands. Several re
spectable individuals of the Quaker Society thought it unjust to take
possession of this Valley without making the Indians some compen
sation for their right. Measures were adopted to effect this great
object. But upon inquiry, no particular tribe could be found who
pretended to have any prior claim to the soil. It was considered
the common hunting ground of various tribes, and not claimed by
any particular nation who had authority to sell.
This information was communicated to the author by two aged
and highly respectable men of the Friends' Society, Isaac Brown and
Lewis Neill, each of them upwards of eighty years of age, and both
residents of the County of Frederick.
In confirmation of this statement in a letter written by Thomas
Chaukley, to the monthly meeting on the Opequon, on the 21st of
May, 1738, is strong circumstantial evidence ; of which the follow
ing is a copy :

42 INDIAN SETTLEMENTS.

letter from mr. thomas chaukley.
Virginia, at John Cheagle's, 1
May 2ist, 1738. J
" To the friends of ihe monthly meeting at the Opequon:
' ' Dear friends who inhabit the Shenandoah and Opequon : —
Having a concern for your welfare and prosperity, both now and
hereafter, and also the prosperity of your children, I had a desire to
see you ; but being in years, and heavy, and much spent and
fatigued with my long journeyings in Virginia and Carolina makes
it seem too hard for me to perform a visit in person to you, where
fore I take this way of writing to discharge my mind of what lies
weighty thereon ; and
" First. I desire that you be very careful (being far and
back inhabitants) to keep a friendly correspondence with the native
Indians, giving them no occasion of offense ; they being a cruel
and merciless enemy, where they think they are wronged or
defrauded of their rights : as woeful experience had taught in
Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, and especially in New England,
&c. ; and
"Second. As nature had given them and their forefathers
the possession of this continent of America (or this wilderness),
they had a natural right thereto in justice and equity ; and no
people, according to the law of nature and justice and our own
principle, which is according to the glorious go.spel of our dear
and holy Jesus Christ, ought to take away or settle on other
men's lands or rights without consent, or purchasing the same
by agreement of parties concerned ; which I suppose in your case is
not yet done.
"Third. Therefore my counsel and christian advice to you
is my dear friends, that the most reputable among you do with
speed endeavor to agree with and purchase your lands of the native
Indians or inhabitants. Take example of our worthy and honor
able late proprietor William Penn ; who by the wise and religious
care in that relation had settled a lasting peace and commerce with
the natives, and through his prudent management therein hath been
instrumental to plant in peace one of the most flourishing provinces
in the world.
" Fourth. Who would run the risk of the lives of their wives
and children for the sparing a little cost and pains ? I am con
cerned to lay these things before you, under an uncommon exercise
of mind, that your new and flourishing little settlement may not be
laid waste, and (if the province of the Almighty doeth not intervene) ,
some of the blood of yourselves, wives or children, be shed or spilt
on the ground.

INDIAN SETTLEMENTS. 43
" Fifth. Consider you are in the province of Virginia, holding
what rights you have under that government ; and the Virginians
have made an agreement with the natives to go as far as the moun
tains and no farther ; and you are over and beyond the mountains,
therefore out of that agreement ; by which you lie open to the in
sults and incursions of the Southern Indians, who have destroyed
many of the inhabitants of Carolina and Virginia, and even now
destroyed more on the like occasion. The English going beyond the
bounds of their agreement, eleven of them were killed by the Indians
while we were traveling in Virginia. ' '
" Sixth. If you believe yourselves to be within the bounds of
William Penn's patent from King Charles the second, which will be
hard for you to prove, you being far southward of his line, yet if done,
that will be no consideration with the Indians without a purchase from
them, except you will go about it to convince them by fire and
sword, contrary to our principles ; and if that were done, they would
ever be implacable enemies, and the land could never be enjoyed in
peace. ' ' Seventh. Please to note that in Pennsylvania no new settle
ments are made without an agreement with the natives ; as witness
Lancaster county, lately settled, though that is far within the grant
of William Penn's patent from King Charles the Second ; wherefore
you lie open to the insurrections of the Northern as well as Southern
Indians ; and
" La.«tly. Thus having shown my good will to you and your
new little settlement, that you might sit every one under your own
shady tree, where none might make you afraid, and that you might
prosper naturally and spiritually, you and your children ; and hav
ing a little eased my mind of that weight and concern (in some
measure) that lay upon me, I at present desist, and subscribe my
self, in the love of our holy Lord Jesus Christ, your real friend.
T. C."
This excellent letter from this good man proves that the Quakers
were among our early settlers, and that this class of people were
early disposed to do justice to the natives of the country.
Had this humane and just policy of purchasing the Indian lands
been first adopted and adhered to, it is highly probable, the white
people might have gradually obtained possession without the loss of
so much blood and treasure.
The ancesters of the Neills, Walkers, Bransons, McKays,
Hakneys, Beesons, Luptons, Barretts, Dillons, and others were
among the earliest Quaker immigrants to our Valley'. Three Quak
ers by the name of Fawcett settled at an early period about eight or
nine miles south of Winchester, near Zane's old iron works, from
whom a pretty numerous progeny has4escended. They have, how
ever, chiefly migrated to the west.

44

INDIAN SETTLEMENTS.

Mr. Jefferson in his notes on Virginia says: "Thatthe lands
of this country were taken from them, (the Indians), by conquest,"
is not so general a truth as is supposed. I find in our historians
and records, repeated proofs of purchase, which cover a con
siderable part of the lower country ; and many more would doubt
less be found on further search. The upper country we know
has been acquired altogether by purchase in the most unexception
able form.
Tradition relates, that several tracts of land were purchased
by Quakers from the Indians on Apple-pie Ridge, and that the In
dians never were known to disturb the people residing on the land
so obtained.

I

Jjh,

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. 45

CHAPTER III.
first SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.
In the year 1732, Joist Hite, with his family and his sons-in-
law, viz : George Bowman, Jacob Chrisman and Paul Froman, with
their famiUes ; Robert McKay, Robert Green, WiUiam Duff, Peter
Stephens, and several others, amounting in the whole to sixteen fam
ilies, removed from Pennsylvania, cutting their road from York, and
crossing the Cohongoruton about two miles above Harper's Ferry.
Hite settled on Opequon, about five miles south of Winchester, on
the great highway between Winchester and Staunton, now the resi
dence of the highly respectable widow of the late Richard Peters
Barton, Esq., and also the residence of Richard W. Barton, Esq.
Peter Stephens and several others settled at Stephensburg, and founded
the town; James Chrisman at what is now called Chrisman' s Spring,
about two miles south of Stephensburg ; Bowman on Cedar Creek,
about six miles farther south ; and Froman on the same Creek,
eight or nine miles northwest of Bowman. Robert McKay settled
on Crooked Run, eight or nine miles southeast of Stephensburg.
The several other families settled iu the same neighborhood, wherever
they could find wood and water most convenient. From the most
authentic information which the author has been able to obtain.
Hite and his party were the first immigrants who settled west of the
Blue Ridge. They were, however, very soon followed by numer
ous others. In 1734,* Benjamin Allen, Riley Moore and William White,
removed from Monoccacy, in Maryland, and settled on the North
Branch of the Shenandoah, now in the County of Shenandoah, about
twelve miles South of Woodstock.
In 1733, Jacob Stover, an enterprising German, obtained from
the Governor of Virginia, a grant for five thousand acres of land
on the South Fork of the Gerando f River, on what was called
Mesinetto Creek. J
* Mr. Steenbergen informed the author that the traditionary account of
the first settlement of his farm, together with Allen's and Moore's, made it
about 106 years ; but Mr. Aaran Moore, grandson of Riley Moore, by refer-
ing to the family records, fixes the period jiretty correctly. According to
Mr. Moore's account, Moore, Allen and White, removed from Maryland in
1734. f This water course was first written Gerando, then Sheraudoah now
Shenandoah. X Mesinetto is now called Massinutton . There is considerable settlement
of highly improved farms, now called " the Massinutton settlement," in the
new County of Page, on the west side of the South River, on Stover's ancient
grant.

46 FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.
Tradition relates a singular and amusing account of Stover and
his grant.* On his application to the executive for his grant, he was
refused unless he could give satisfactory assurance that he would
have the land settled with the requisite number of families within a
given time. Being unable to do this, he forthwith passed over to Eng
land, petitioned the King to direct his grant to be issued, and in order
to insure success, had given human names to every horse, cow, hog
and dog he owned, and which he represented as heads of families,
ready to migrate and settle the land. By this disingenious trick he
succeeded in obtaining directions from the King and Council for
securing his grant ; on obtaining which he immediately sold out his
land in small divisions, at three pounds (equal to ten dollars) per
hundred, and went off with the money.
Two men, John and Isaac Vanmeter, obtained a warrant from
Governor Gooch for locating forty thousand acres of land. This
warrant was obtained in the year 1730. They sold or transferred
part of their warrant to Joist Hite ; and from this warrant eminated
several of Hite's grants, which the author has seen. Of the titles
to the land on which Hite settled, with several other tracts in the
neighborhood of Stephensburg, the originals are found on this
warrant. In the year 1734, Richard Morgan obtained a grant for a tract of
land in the immediate neighborhood of Shepherdstown, on or near
the Cohongoruton. Among the first settlers on this water course
and its vicinity were, Robert Harper, (Harper' s-Ferry), William
Stroop, Thomas and William Forester, Israel Friend, Thomas Shep-
hard, Thomas Swearengen, Van Swearengen, James Forman, Ed
ward Lucas, Jacob Hite, f John Lemon, Richard Mercer, Edward
Mercer, Jacob Vanmeter and brothers, Robert Stockton, Robert
Buckles, John Taylor, Samuel Taylor, Richard Morgan, John
Wright, and others.
The first settlers on the Wappatomaka, (South Branch) were
Coburn, Howard, Walker and Rutledge. This settlement com
menced about the year 1734 or 1735. It does not appear that the
first immigration to this fine section of country had the precaution to
secure titles to their land, until Lord Fairfax migrated to Virginia,
and opened his office for granting warrants in the Northern Neck.
The earliest grant which the author could find in this settlement
bears date 1747. The most of these grants are dated in 1749. This
was a most unfortunate omission on the part of these people. It left
Fairfax at the discretion of exercising his insatiable disposition for
the monopoly of wealth ! and instead of granting these lands upon
the usual terms allowed to other settlers, he availed himself of the
opportunity of laying off in mannors, fifty-five thousand acres, in
* Stover's grant is described as bein^ in the County of Spottsylvania, St.
Mark's Parish. Of course, Spottsylvania at that period i. e. 1733, crossed
the Blue Ridge.
t One of Joist Hite's sons.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. 47
what is called the South Branch manor, and nine thousand acres on
Patterson's Creek.
This was considered by the settlers an odious and oppressive act
on the part of his lordship, and many of them left the country. *
These two great surveys were made in the year 1747. To such
tenants as remained, his lordship, granted leases for ninety-nine years,
reserving an annual rent of twenty shillings sterling per hundred
acres ; whereas, all other immigrants only two shillings per hundred
was reserved, with a fee simple title to the tenant. Some further
notice of Lord Fairfax and his immense grant will be taken in a fu
ture chapter.
Tradition relates that a man by the name of John Howard, and
his son, previous to the first settlement of our Valley, explored the
country, and discovered the charming Valley of the South Branch,
crossed the Alleghany Mountains, and on the Ohio killed a very large
Buffalo bull, skinned him, stretched his hide over rims of wood, made
a kind of boat, and in this frail bark descended the Ohio and Missis
sippi to New Orleans, were they were apprehended by the French as
suspicious characters, and sent to France ; but nothing criminal ap
pearing against them, they were discharged. From hence they
crossed over to England, where Fairfax by some means got to hear
of Mr. Howard, sought an interview with him, and obtained from
him a description of the fertility and immense value of the South
Branch, which determined his Lordship at once to secure it in
manors, f Notwithstanding this selfish monoply on the part of
Fairfax, the great fertility and value of the country induced numerous
tenants to take leases, settle and improve the lands.
At an early period many immigrants settled on Capon (anciently
called Cacaphon, which is said to be the Indian name), also on
Lost River. Along Back Creek, Cedar Creek, and Opequon, pretty
numerous settlements were made. Two great branches of the
Shenandoah, from its Forks upwards, were among our earliest
settlements. An enterprising Quaker, by the name of Ross, obtained a war
rant for surveying forty thousand acres of land. The surveys on
this warrant were made along Opequon, north of Winchester, and
up to Apple-pie Ridge. Pretty numerous immigrants of the Quaker
profession removed from Pennsylvania, and settled on Ross's sur
veys. The reader will have observed in my preceding chapter, that
as early as 1738, this people had regular monthly meetings estab
lished in Opequon. J
The lands on the west side of the Shenandoah, from a little
below the Forks, were first settled by overseers and slaves, nearly

?William Heath, Esq., of Hardy, gave the author this information.
t Also related by Mr. Heath.
j; See Chaukley's letter to the monthly meeting on Opequon, May 21,
1738. page 42.

48 FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.
down to the mouth of the BuUskin. A Col. Carter, * of the lower
country, had obtained grants for about .sixty-three thousand acres of
land on this river. His surveys commenced a short distance below
the Forks of the River, and ran down a little below Snicker's ferry,
upwards of twenty miles. This fine body of land is now subdivided
into a great many most valuable farms, a considerable part of which
are now owned by the highly respectable families of Burwell's
and Page's. But little of it now remains in the hands of Carter's
heirs. Another survey of thirteen thousand acres was granted to an
other person, and lies immediately below and adjoining Carter's line,
running a considerable distance into the County of Jefferson. This
fine tract of land, it is said, was sold under the hammei at Williams
burg, some time previous to the War of the Revolution. The owner
had been sporting, lost money, and sold the land to pay his debt of
honor. General Washington happened to be present, knew the
land, and advised the late Ralph Wormley, Esq., f to purchase it.
Wormley bid five hundred guineas for it, and it was struck off to
him. It is also said that Mr. Wormley, just before or at the time of
the sale, had been regaling himself with a social glass, and that when
he cooled off, he became extremely dissatisfied with his purchase con
sidering it as money thrown away. Washington hearing of his
uneasiness, immediately waited on him, and told him he would take
the purchase off his hands, and pay him his money again, but ad
vised him by all means to hold it, assuring him that it would one
day or other be the foundation of an independent fortune for his
children ; upon which Wormley became better reconciled, and con
sented to hold on. And truly, as Washington predicted, it would
have become a splendid estate in the hands of two or three of his
children, had they known how to preserve it. But it passed into
other hands, and now constitute the splendid farms of the late firm
of Castleman & McCormick, Hierome L. Opie, Esq. , the honorable
judge Richard E. Parker, and several others. In truth all the coun
try about the larger water courses and mountains was settled before
the fine country about BuUskin, Long Marsh, Spot Run, &c.
Much the greater part of the country between what is called the
Little North Mountain and the Shenandoah River, at the first settl
ing of; the VaUey was one vast prairie, J and like the rich prairies of
the west, afforded the finest possible pasturage for wild mimals.
The country abounded in the larger kinds of game. The buffalo,
* Col. Robert Carter obtained grants in September, 1730, for sixty-three
thousand acres.
-f Mr. Wormley, it is believed, resided at the time in the connty of Mid
dlesex. t There are several aged individuals now living, who recollect when
there were large bodies of land in the Counties of Berkeley, Jefferson and
Fredeick, barren of timber. The barren land is now covered with the best
of forest trees.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. 49
elk, deer, bear, panther, wild.cat, wolf, fox, beaver, otter, and all
other kinds of animals, wild fowls, &c., common to forest countries,
were abundantly plenty. The country, now the County of Shenan
doah, between the Fort Mountain and the North Mountain, was also
settled at any early period. The counties of Rockingham and
Augusta also were settled at an early time. The settlement of the
upper part of our Valley will be more particularly noticed, and
form the subject of a second volume hereafter, should the public
demand it.
From the best evidence the author has been able to collect, and
for this purpose he has examined manj' ancient grants of land, fam-
ly records, &c., as well as the oral tradition of our ancient citizens,
the settlement of our Valley progressed without interruption from
the native Indians for a period of about twenty-three years. In the
year 1754, the Indians suddenly disappeared, and crossed the Alle
ghany Mountains. The year preceding, emissaries from the west
of the Alleghany Mountains came among the Valley Indians and in
vited them to move off. * This occurrence excited suspicion among
the white people that a storm was brewing in the west, which it was
essential to prepare to meet.
Tradition relates, that the Indians did not object to the Penn-
sylvanians settling the country. From the high character of
William Penn, (the founder of Pennsylvania), the poor simple na
tives believed that all of Penn's men were honest, virtuous, humane
and benevolent, and partook of the qualities of the illustrious founder
of their government. But fatal experience soon taught them a very
different lesson. They soon found to their cost that Pennsylvanians
were not much better than others.
Tradition also informs us that the natives held in utter abhorence
the Virginians, whom they designated ' ' Long Knife, ' ' and were
warmly opposed to their settling in the Valley.
The author will conclude this chapter with some general re
marks in relation to the circumstances under which the first settle
ment of the Valley commenced. Tradition informs us, that the oral
statements of several aged individuals of respectable character con
firm the fact that the Indians and white people, resided in the same
neighborhood for several years after the first settlement commenced,
and that the Indians were entirely peaceable and friendly. This
statement must in the nature of things be true ; because if it had been
otherwise, the white people could not have succeeded in effecting a
settlement. Had the natives resisted the first attempts to settle, the
whites could not have succeeded without the aid of a pretty consider
able army to awe the Indians into submission. It was truly fortun
ate for our ancestor that this quiescent spirit of the Indians afforded
them the opportunity of acquiring considerable strength as to num-

* Mr. Thomas Barret, an aged and respectable citizen of Frederick
county related this tradition to the author.
7

50 FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.
bers, the accumulation of considerable property and the improve
ments, before Indian hostilities commenced.
It has already been stated tViat it was twenty-three years from the
first settlement, before the Indians committed any acts of outrage on
the white people. During this period many pretty good dwelling
houses were erected. Joist Hite had built a stone house on the
Opequon, which house is now standing, and has a very ancient
appearance ; * but there are no marks upon it by which to ascertain
the time. In 175 1, James Wilson erected a stone house which is still
standing, and now the residence of Mr. Adam Kern, adjoining, or
near the village of Kernstown.
Jacob Chrisman also built a pretty large stone house in the year
1 75 1, now the residence of Mr. Abraham Stickley, about two miles
south of Stephensburg. Geo. Bowman and Paul Froman each of them
built stone houses, about the same period. The late Col. John Hite,
in the year 1753, built a stone house now the dwelling house of Mrs.
Barton. This building was considered by far the finest dwelling
House west of the Blue Ridge, f Lewis Stephens, in the year 1756,
built a stone house, the ruins of which are now to be seen at the old
iron works of the late Gen. Isaac Zane. It will hereafter be seen
that these several stone buildings became of great importance to the
people of the several neighborhoods, as places of protection and
security against the attack of the Indians.
The subject of the early settlement of the Valley will be resumed
in my next chapter.
* On the wall plate of a framed barn built by Hite, the figures 1747 are
plainly marked, and now to be seen.
t There is a tradition in this neighborhood that Col. Hite quarried every
stone in this building with his own hands.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. 51

CHAPTER IV,
FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. — ( Continued) .
Tradition relates that a man by the name of John Vanmeter,
from New York, some years previous to the first settlement of the
Valley discovered the fine country on the Wappatomaka. This
man was a kind of wandering Indian trader, became well acquainted
with the Delawares, and once accompanied a war party who marched
to the south for the purpose of invading the Catawbas. The Ca
tawbas, however, anticipated them, met them very near the spot
where Pendleton courthouse now stands, and encountered and de
feated them with immense slaughter. Vanmeter was engaged on
the side of the Delawares in this battle. When Vanmeter returned
to New York, he advised his sons, that if they ever migrated to
Virginia, by all means to secure a part of the South Branch Bottom,
and described the lands immediately above what is called ' ' The
Trough," as the finest body of land which he had ever discovered in
all his travels. One of his sons, Isaac Vanmeter, in conformity with
his father's advice came to Virginia about the year 1736 or 1737,
and made what was called a tomahawk improvement on the lands now
owned by Isaac Vanmeter, Esq. , immediately above the Trough, where
Fort Pleasant was afterwards erected. After this improvement Mr.
Vanmeter returned to New Jersey, came out again in 1740, and
found a man by the name of Coburn settled on his land. Mr. Van
meter bought out Coburn, and again returned to New Jersey ; and
in the year 1744 removed with his family and settled on the land. *
Previous to Vanmeter's final removal to Virginia, several immi
grants from Pennsylvania, chiefly Irish, had settled on the South
Branch. Howard, Coburn, Walker and Rutledge, were the first
settlers on the Wappatomaka." f
William Miller and Abraham Hite were also among the early
settlers. When the Indian wars broke out. Miller sold out his right to
500 acres of land, and all his stock of horses and cattle in the woods,
for twenty-five pounds, :|; and removed on the South Fork of the
Shenandoah, a few miles above Front Royal. The 500 acres of land
sold by Miller lie within about two miles of Moorefield, and one acre
of it would now command more money than the whole tract, includ
ing his stock, was sold for.
* Isaac Vanmeter, Esq., of Hardy, detailed this tradition to the author.
f Communicated by William Heath, Esq.
X Isaac Vanmeter, Esq., stated this fact to the author.

52 FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.
Casey, Pancake, Forman, and a number of others, had settled
on the Wappatomaka, previous to Vanmeter's final removal.
In the year 1740, the late Isaac Hite, Esq., one of the sons of
Joist Hite, settled on the North Branch of the Shenandoah, in the
County of Frederick, onthe beautiful farm called " Long Meadows. "
This fine estate is now owned by Maj. Isaac Hite, the only son of
Isaac Hite, deceased. *
About the same year, John Lindsey and James Lindsey,brothers,
removed and settled on the Long Marsh, between the BuUskin and
Berryville, in the County of Frederick ; Isaac Larue removed from
New Jersey in 1743, and settled on the same marsh. About the
same period, Christopher Beeler removed and settled within two or
three miles from Larue ; about the year 1744, James Hampton and
two sons came from the eastern shore of Maryland, settled on Buck
Marsh, near Berryville, and Uved the greater part of the year in a
hollow sycamore tree. They enclosed a piece of land and made a
crop preparatory to the removal of the family, f
In 1743 Joseph Carter removed from Bucks County, Pennsyl
vania and settled on Opequon, about five miles west of Winchester.
Very near Mr. 1 Carter's residence, on the west side of the Creek, was
a beautiful grove of forest timber, immediately opposite which a fine
limestone spring issued from the east bank of the Creek. This grove
was at the time of Mr. Carter's first settlement, a favorite camping
ground of the Indians, where numerous collections, sometimes two
or three hundred at a time, would assemble, and remain for several
weeks together. Mr. Carter was a shoemaker, and on one occasion
two Indians called at his shop just as he had finished and hungup a
pair of shoes, which one of the Indians seeing secretly slipped under
his blanket, and attempted to make off. Carter detected him, and
took the shoes from him. His companion manifested the utmost in
dignation at the theft, and gave Carter to understand that the culprit
would be severely dealt with. As soon as the Indians returned to
the encampment, information was given to the chiefs, and the unfor
tunate thief was so severely chastised, that Mr. Carter, from mo
tives of humanity, interposed, and begged that the punishment might
cease. J
Maj. Isaac Hite informed the author that numerous parties of
Indians, in passing and repassing, frequently called at his grand
father's house, on Opequon, and that but one instance of theft was
ever committed. On that occasion a pretty considerable party had
*Maj. Isaac Hite, of Frederick county, communicated this information
to the author.
t Col. John B. Larue and William Castleman, Esq., gave the author this
information. X The lateMr. James Carter gave the author this tradition, which he re
ceived from his father, who was a boy of twelve or thirteen years old at the
time, and an eye-witness of the fact. Opposite to this camping ground, on
a high hill east of the creek, is a large Indian grave.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. 53
called, and on their leaving the house some articles of inconsiderable
value was missing. A messenger was sent after them, and informa
tion of the theft given to the chiefs. Search was immediately made,
the articles found in the possession of one of them and restored to its
owner. These facts go far to show their high sense of honesty and
summary justice. It has indeed been stated to the author, that their
traveling parties would, if they needed provisions and could
not otherwise procure them, kill fat hogs or fat cattle m the woods
in order to supply themselves with food. This they did not con
sider stealing. Every animal running at large they considered law
ful game. The Indians charge the white people with teaching them the
knowledge of theft and several other vices. In the winter of 1815-
16, the author spent some weeks in the state of Georgia, where he
fell in with Col. Bamett, one of the commissioners for running the
boundary ,line of Indian lands which had shortly before been ceded
to the United States. Some conversation took place on the subject
of the Indians and Indian character, in which Col. B. remarked that
in one of his excursions through the Indian country, he met with a
very aged Cherokee chief, who spoke and understood the English
language pretty well. The Colonel had several conversations with
this aged man, in one of which he congratulated him upon the pros
pect of his people having their condition greatly improved, there
being every reason to believe that in the course of a few years they
would become acquainted with the arts of civil life — would be better
clothed, better fed, and erect better and more comfortable habita
tions — and what was of still greater importance, they would become
acquainted with the doctrine and principle of the Christian relig
ion. This venerable old man listened with the most profound and
respectful attention until the Colonel had concluded, and then with
a significant shake of his head and much emphasis replied ; that he
doubted the benefits to the red people pointed out by the Colonel ;
that before their fathers were acquainted with the whites, the red
people needed but little, and that little the Great Spirit gave them,
the forest supplying them with food and raiment ; that before their
fathers were acquainted with the white people, the red people never
got drunk, because they had nothing to make them drunk, and never
committed theft, because they had no temptation to do so. It was
true, that when parties were out hunting, and one party was unsuc
cessful and found the game of the more successful party hung up,
if they needed provision they took it; and this was not stealing, it was
the law and customs of the tribes. If they went to war they des
troyed each other's property ; this was done to weaken their enemy.
Red people never swore because they had no words to expre-ss an
oath. Red people would not cheat, because they had no temptation
to commit fraud ; they never told falsehoods, because they had no
temptation to tell lies. And as to religion, you go to your churches,
sing loud, pray loud, and make great noise. The red people meet

54 FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.
once a year, at the feast of new corn, extinguish all their fires, and
kindle up a new one, the smoke of which ascends to the Great Spirit
as a grateful sacrifice. Now what better is your religion than ours ?
The white people have taught us to get drunk, to steal, to lie, to
cheat, and to swear ; and if the knowledge of these vices, as you pro
fess to hold them, and punish by your laws, is beneficial to the red
people, we are benefitted by our acquaintance with you ; if not, we
are greatly injured by that acquaintance.
To say the least of this untutored old man, his opinions, relig
ion excepted, were but too well founded, and convey a severe rebuke
upon the character of those who boast of the superior advantages
of the lights of education and a knowledge of the religion of the
Holy Redeemer.
From this digression the author will again turn his attention to
the early history of our country.
About the year 1763, the first settlement were made at or near
the head of BuUskin. Two families, by the name of Riley andAUe-
mong, first commenced the settlement of this immediate neighbor
hood. At this period timber was so scarce that the settlers were
compelled to cut small saplings to enclose their field. * The prairie
produced grass five or six feet high ; f and even our mountains and
hills were covered with the sustenance of quadrupeds of every specie.
The pea vine grew abundantly on the hilly and mountainous lands,
than which no species of vegetable production afforded finer and
richer pasturage.
From this state of the country, many of our first settlers turned
their attention to raising large herds of horses, cattle, hogs, &c.
Many of them became expert, hardy and adventurous hunters, and
spent much of their time and depended chiefly for support and
money-making on the sale of skins and furs. | Moses Russell, Esq. ,
informed the author that hilly lands about his residence, near the
base of the North Mountain, in the southwest corner of Frederick,
and which now present to the eye the appearance of great poverty of
soil, within his recollection were covered with a fine growth of pea
vine, and that stock of every description grew abundantly fat in the
summer season.
Isaac Larue, who settled on the Long Marsh in 1743, as has
been stated, soon became celebrated for the numerous herds of horses
* Messrs. Christian Allemong aud George Riley both stated this fact to
the author. f Mr. George Riley an aged and respectable citizen, stated to the author
that the grass on the BuUskin barrens grew so tall, that he had frequently
drawn it before him when ou horseback, and tied it before him.
X The late Henry Fry, one of the early settlers on Capon River, upwards
of forty years ago, informed the author, that he purchased the tract of land
on which he first settled, on Capon River, for which he engaged to pay either
/"200 or £250, the author does not recollect which sum, aud that he made
every dollar of the money by sale of skins and furs, the game being killed
or caught with his own hands.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.

55

and cattle. The author was told by Col. J. B. Larue, who is the
owner of part of his grandfather's fine landed estate, that is grand
father frequently owned between ninety and one hundred head of
horses, but it so happened that he never could get his stock to count
a hundred. The Hites, Frys, Vanmeters, and many others, raised vast
stocks of horses, cattle, hogs, &c. Tradition relates that Lord Fair
fax, happening one day in Winchester to see a large drove of unusu
ally fine hogs passing through the town, inquired from v/hence they
came. Being informed that they were from the mountains west of
Winchester, he remarked that when a new county should be laid off
in that direction it ought to be called Plampshire, after a county in
England, celebrated for its production of fine hogs ; and this, it is
said, gave name to the present County of Hampshire.
The author will only add to this chapter, that, from the first
settlement of the Valley, to the breaking out of the war, on the part
of the French and Indians, against our ancestors, in the year 1754,
our country rapidly increased in numbers and the acquisi
tion of property, without interruption from the natives, a period of
twenty-two years.
In my next chapter I shall give a brief account of their religion,
habits and customs, of the primitive settlers.

56 RELIGION, HABITS AND CUSTOMS

CHAPTER V.
RELIGION, HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS.
A large majority of our first immigrants were from Pennsylvania,
composed of native Germans or German extraction. There were,
howevei, a number directly from Germany, several from Maryland
and New Jersery, and a few from New York. These immigrants
brought with them the religion, habits and customs, of their ances
tors. They were composed generally of three religious sects, viz :
Lutherans, Menonists* and Calvanists, with afewTunkers. They
generaUy settled in the neighborhoods pretty much together.
The territory now composing the County of Page, Powell's Fort,
and Woodstock Valley, between the West Fort Mountain and North
Mountain, extending from the neighborhood of Stephensburg for a
considerable distance in the County of Rockingham, was almost ex
clusively settled by Germans. They were very tenacious in the
preservation of their language, religion, customs and habits. In
what is now Page county they were almost exclusive of the Men-
onist persuasion ; but few Lutherans and Calvanists settled among
them. In other sections of the territory above described, there was
a mixture of Lutherans and Calvanists. The Menonists were re
markable for their strict adherence to all the moral and religious
observances required by their sect. Their children were early
instructed in the principles and ceremonies of their religion, habits
and customs. They were generally farmers, and took great care of
their stock of different kinds. With few exceptions, they strictly
inhibited their children from joining in the dance or other juvenile
amusements common to other religious sects of Germans.
In their marriages much ceremony was observed and great
preparations made. Fatted calves, lambs, poultry, the finest of
bread, butter, milk, honey, domestic sugar, wine, if it could be had ;
with every article necessary for a sumptous feast in their plain way,
were prepared in abundance. Previous to the performance of the
ceremony, the (clergymen attending at the place appointed for
the marriage), four of the most respectable young females
and four of the most respectable young men were selected as
waiters upon the bride and groom. The several waiters were
decorated with badges, to indicate their offices. The groomsman, as
they were termed, were invariably furnished with fine white aprons,
* Simon Meno was one of the earliest German reformers and the founder
of this sect.

OF THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS. 57
beautifully embroidered. It was deemed a high honor to wear the
apron. The duty of the waiters consisted in not only waiting on the
bride and groom, but they were required, after the marriage cere
mony was performed, to serve up the wedding dinner, and to guard
and protect the pride while at_ dinner from having her shoe stolen
from her foot. The custom of' steahng the bride's shoe, it is said,
afforded the most heartfelt amusement to the wedding guests. To
succeed in it, the greatest dexterity was used b)' the younger part of
the company, while equal vigilance was manifested by the waiters to
defend her against the theft ; and if they failed, they were in honor
bound to pay a penalty for the redemption of the shoe. This pen
alty was a bottle of wine, or one dollar, which was commonly the
price of a bottle of wine ; and as a punishment to the bride, she was
not permitted to dance until the shoe was restored. The successful
thief, on getting hold of the shoe, held it up in great triumph to the
view of the whole assemblage, which was generally pretty numerous.
The custom was continued among the Germans from generation to
generation, until since the War of the Revolution. The author
has conversed with many individuals, still living, who were eye-wit
nesses of it.
Throwing the stocking was another custom among the Ger
mans. * When the bride and groom were bedded, the young people
were admitted into the room. A stocking, rolled into a ball, was
given to the young females, who, one after the other, would go to
the foot of the bed, stand with their backs toward it, and throw the
stocking over their shoulders at the bride's head ; and the first that
succeeded in touching her cap or head was the next to be married.
The young men then threw the stocking at the groom's head, in
like manner, with the like motive. Hence the utmost eagerness
and dexterity were used in throwing the stocking. This practice,
as well as that of stealing the bride's shoe, was common to all the
Germans. Among the Lutherans and Calvanists, dancing and other amuse
ments was common, at their wedding parties particularly. Dancing
and rejoicing were sometimes kept up for weeks together, f
The peaceable and orderly deportment of this hardy and indus
trious race of people, together with their perfect submission to the
restraints of the civil authority, has always been proverbial. They
form at this day a most valuable part of our community.
Among our early settlers, a number of Irish Presbyterians re
moved from Pennsylvania, and settled along Back Creek, the North
Mountain and Opequon. A few Scotch and English families were
among them.
?Throwing the stocking was not enclusively a German custom. It is
celebrated by an Irish poet, in his " Irish Wedding." It is not improbable
but it was common to the Celtic nations also.
f Christian Miller, an aged and respectable man near Woodstock, related
this custom to fhe author.
8

58 RELIGION, HABITS AND CUSTOMS
The ancestors of the Glasses, Aliens, Vances, Kerfotts, &c.,
were among the earliest settles on the upper waters of the Opequon.
The ancestors of the Whites, Russells, &c. , settled near the North
Mountain. There were a mixture of Irish and Germans at Cedar
Creek and its vicinity ; the Frys, Newells, Blackburns, * Wilsons,
&c. , were among the number. The Irish, like the Germans, brought
with them the religion, customs and habits of their ancestors. The
Irish wedding was always an occasion of great hilarity, jollity and
mirth. Among other scenes attending it, running for the bottle
was much practiced. It was usual for the wedding parties to ride to
the residence of the clergyman to have the ceremony performed.
In their absence the father, or the next friend, prepared, at the
bride's residence, a bottle of the best spirits that could be obtained,
around the neck of which a white ribbon was tied. Returning from
the clergyman's, when within one or two miles of the home
of the bride, some three or four young men prepared to run
for the bottle. Taking an even start, their horses were put at full
speed, dashing over mud, rocks, stumps, and disregarding all im
pediments. The race, in fact, was run with as much eagerness and
desire to win, as ever was manifested on the turf, by our sporting
characters. The father or next friend of the bride, expecting the
racers, stood with the bottle in his hand, ready to deliver it to the
successful competitor. On receiving it, he forthwith returned to
meet the bride and groom. When met, the bottle was first pre
sented to the bride, who must taste it at least, next to the groom,
and then handed round to the company, every one of whom was re
quired to swig it.
The Quakers differed from all other sects in their marriage cere
mony. The parties having agreed upon the match notice was
given to the elders or oversees of the meeting, and a strict enquiry
followed whether there had been any previous engagements by either
of the parties or other individuals. If nothing of the kind appeared,
the intended marriage was made known publicly; and if approved by
all parties, the couple pa.ssed meeting. The ceremony was repeated
several times ; when, if no lawful impediment appeared, a day was
appointed for the marriage, which took place at the meeting-house
in presence of the congregation. A writing drawn up between the
parties, purporting to be the marriage agreement, witnessed by as
many of the bystanders as thought proper to subscribe their names,
concluded the ceremony. They had no priest or clergyman to per
form the rite of matrimony, and the whole proceeding was con
ducted with the utmost solemnity and decorum. This mode of mar
riage is still kept up, with but little variation.
Previous to the War of the Revolution, it was the practice to
publish the bands of matrimony, between the parties intending to
marry, three successive Sabbath days in the church or meeting-
* Gen. Samuel Blackburn, it is said, descended from this family.

OF THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS. 59
house ; after which, if no lawful impediment appeared, it was law
ful for a licensed minister of the parish or county to join the parties
in wedlock. It is probable that this practice, which was anciently
used in the English churches, gave rise to the custom, to the Quaker
Society, of passing meeting. The peaceable and general moral
deportment of the Quakers is too generally known to require partic
ular notice in this work.
The Baptists were not among the eary immigrants. About
fourteen or fifteen families of that persuasion migrated from the
state of New Jersey, and settled probably in 1742 or 1743 in the
vicinity of what is now called Gerardstown, in the County of
Berkeley. *
Mr. Semple, in his history of the Virginia Baptists, states that
in the year 1754, Mr. Stearns, a preacher of this sect, with several
others, removed from New England. ' ' They halted first at Ope
quon, in Berkeley County, Virginia, where he formed a Baptist
church under the care of the Rev. John Gerard." This was
probably the first Baptist church founded west of the Blue Ridge in
our State. It is said that the spot where Tuscarora meeting-house now
stands, in the County of Berkeley, is the first place where the gospel
was publicly preached and divine service performed west of the Blue
Ridge, t This was and still remains a Presbyterian edifice.
It is not within the plan of this work to give a general history
of the rise and progress of the various religious societies of our
country. It may not, however, be uninteresting to the general
reader to have a brief sketch of the difficulties and persecutions
which the Quakers and Baptists had to encounter in their first at
tempts to propagate their doctrines and principles in Virginia.
In Hening's Statutes at Large, vol. i, pp. 532-33, the follow
ing most extraordinary law, if indeed it deserves the name, was en
acted by the then legislature of Virginia, March, 1660 :

* Mr. McCowan, au aged and respectable citizen of the neighborhood,
communicated this fact to the author.
f This information was communicated to the author by a highly respect
able old lady of the Presbyterian church, in the County of Berkeley. She
also stated that in addition to the general tradition, she had lately heard the
venerable and reverend Dr. Matthews assert the fact. Mr. Mayers, now in
his eighty-seventh year, born and raised on the Potomac, in Berkeley, stated
his opinion to the author, that there was a house erected for public worship
at the Falling Water about the same time that the Tuscarora meeting-house
was built. Both these churches are now under the pastoral care of the Rev.
James M. Brown.

6o RELIGION, HABITS AND CUSTOMS

"AN ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSING THE QUAKERS.
" Whereas there is an vnreasonable and turbulent sort of peo
ple, commonly called Quakers, who contrary to the lawe do dayly
gather together vnto them vnlaw'U assemblies and congregations of
people, teaching and publishing lies, miracles, false visions, prophe
cies and doctrines, which have infiuence vpon the communities of men;
bothe ecclesticall and civil, endeavouring and attempting thereby
to destroy religion, lawes, communities, and all bonds of civil socie-
tie, leaving it arbitrarie to everie vaine and vitious person, whether
men shall be safe, lawes established, offenders punished, an govern-
ours rule, hereby disturbing the publique peace and just interest; to
prevent and restraine which mischiefe. It is enacted. That no master
or commander of any shipp or other vessell do bring into this col-
lonie any person or persons called Quakers, vnder the penalty of one
hundred pounds sterling, to be levied vpon him and his estate by
order from the governeur and councill, or the commissioners in the
severall counties where such ships shall arrive : That all such Quak
ers as have been questioned, or shall hereafter arrive, shall be ap
prehended, wheresoever they shall be found, and they be imprisoned
without baile or mainprize, till they do adjure this country, or putt in
security with all speed to depart from the coUonie and not tq. return
again : And if any should dare to presume to returne hither after
such departure, be proceeded against as cdhtemners of th6 lawes and
magistracy, and punished accordingly, 'ahd' caused againe to depart
the country, and if they should the third time be so audacious and
impudent as to returne hither, to be pfoc&ded" against as ffel.ons :
That noe person shall entertain any of the Qu'dkers that-H'S.'vfe 'Here
tofore been questioned, by the governour and councill, or whicfi%hall
hereafter be questioned, not permit in or near 'hi!^''housfe'£tn^ assem
blies of Quakers, in the like penalty of one hundred 'pounds Sterling:
That commissioners and officers are hereby required aud aiithoVized,-
as they will answer the contrary at their perill,to take notice of this
act, to see it fully effected and executed : And that no person do
presume on their perill to dispose or publish their bookes, pamplets
or libells, bearing the title of their tenents and opinions."
This high-handed and cruel proceeding took placfe in the tithe
of Oliver CromweU's usurpation in England, and at a time when
some glimmering or rational, civil, and religious liberty, manifested
itself in the mother country. The preamble to this act is contra
dicted b}' the whole history of Quakerism, from its foundation to the
present period. In all the writings and traditional accounts handed
down to us, the Quakers are represented as a most inoffensive, or
derly, and strictly moral people, in all their deportment and habits.
This unreasonable and unwise legislation, it is presumed, was
suffered to die a natural death, as, in the progress of the peopling

OF THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS. 6i
of our country, we find that many Quakers, at a pretty early period,
migrated and formed considerable settlements in different parts of
the State. It has already been noticed that the Baptists were not among
the number of our earliest immigrants, Mr. Scrapie says: "The
Baptists in Virginia originated from three sources. The first were
immigrants from England, who about the year 17 14 settled in the
southeast part of the State. About 1743 another party came from
Maryland and founded a settlement in the northwest. * A third
party from New England, 1754."
This last was Mr. Stearns and his party. They settled for a
short time on Capon River, in the County of Hampshire but soon
removed to North Carolina. Mr. Stearns and his followers inani-
fested great zeal and indtistry in the propagation of their doctrines
and principles. Their religion soon took a wide range in the Caro
linas and Virginia. They met with violent opposition from the
established Episcopal clergy, and much persecution followed. To
the credit of the people of our Valley, but few, if any acts of viol
ence were committed on the persons of the preachers we§t of the
Blue Ridge. This is to be accounted for from the fact that a great
majority of the inhabitants were dissenters from the Episcopal
church. East of the Blue Ridge, however, the case was widely dif
ferent. It was quite common to imprison the preachers, insult the
congregations, and treat them with every possible indignity and out
rage. Every foul means was resorted to, which malice and hatred
could devise, to suppress their doctrines and religion. But instead of
success'this' persecution produced directly the contrary effect. "The
first instance,'" says Mr. Semple, "of actual imprisonment, we be
lieve, that ever took plkce in Virginia, was in the County of Spotts
ylvania. On the 4th of June" 1768, John Waller, Lewis Craig,
James Childs, &c., were seized by the sheriff, and hauled before
three magistrates, who stood in the meeting-house yard, and who
bound them iu the penalty of ^f 1000 to appear at court two days
after; - At coUrt they were arraigned as disturbers of the peace, and
com'toitted? -to close j'ail." And in December, 1770, Messrs.
William Weber and Joseph Anthony were imprisoned in Chester
field jail.
The author deems it unnecessary to detail all the cases of perse
cution and imprisonment of the Baptist preachers. He will there
fore conclude this narrative with the account of the violent persecu
tion and cruel treatment of the late Rev. James Ireland, a very
distinguished Baptist preacher of our Valley.
Mr. Ireland was on one occasion committed to the jail of Cul-

*It is probable this is the party who settled in the neighborhood of Ger
ardstown. If so, Mr. Semple is doubtless misinformed as to the place of
their origin. The first Baptist immigrants who settled in Berkeley county
were certainly from New Jersey.

62 RELIGION, HABITS AND CUSTOMS
peper county, * when several attempts were made to destroy him.
Of these attempts he gives the following narrative :
"A number of my persecutors resorted to the tavern of Mr.
Steward, at the courthouse, where they plotted to blow me up with
powder that night, as I was informed ; but all they could collect was
half a pound. They fixed it for explosion, expecting I was sitting
directly over it, but in this they were mistaken. Fire was put to it,
and it went off with considerable noise, forcing up a small plank,
from which I received no damage. The next scheme they devised
was to smoke me with brimstone and Indian pepper. They had to
wait certain opportunities to accomplish the same. The lower part
of the jail door was a few inches above its sill. When the wind was
favorable they would get pods of Indian pepper, empty them of
their contents, and fill them with brimstone, and set them burning,
so that the whole jail would be filled with the killing smoke, and
oblige me to go to cracks, and put my mouth to them in order to
prevent suffocation. At length a certain doctor and the jailor formed
a scheme to poison me, which they actually effected."
Frcto this more than savage cruelty Mr. Ireland became ex
tremely ill, was attended by several physicians, and in some degree re
stored to health and activity ; but he never entirely recovered from
the great injury which his constitution received.
The author had the satisfaction of an intimate personal ac
quaintance with Mr. Ireland, and lived a near neighbor for
several years before his death. He was a native Scotchman ; of
course his pronunciation was a little broad. He had a fine com
manding voice, easy delivery, with a beautiful natural elocution in
his sermonizing. His language, perhaps, was not so purely classical
as some of his cotemporaries ; but such was his powerful elocution,
particularly on the subject of the crucifixion and sufferings of our
Saviour, that he never failed to cause a flood of tears to flow from
the eyes of his audience, whenever he touched that theme. In his
younger years he was industrious, zealous, sparing no pains to pro
pagate his religious opinions and principles, and was very successful
in gaining proselytes; hence he became an object of great resentment
to the established clergy, and they resorted to every means within
their reach to silence and put him down. But in this they failed.
He at length triumphed over his persecutors, was instrumental in
founding several churches.
ORIGIN OF THE METHODIST RELIGION IN OUR VALLEY.
About the year 1775! two traveling strangers called at the resi
dence of the late Maj. Lewis Stephens, the proprietor and founder of
* In the life of Ireland, no dates are given. The time of his commit
ment was probably about the year 1771 or 1772.
•j- The author is not positive that he is correct as to the time this occur
rence took place, but has been informed it was just before the commence-

OF THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS. 63
the town, now distinguished in the mail estabhshment as ' • Newton-
Stephensburg," and enquired if they could obtain quarters for the
night. Maj . Stephens happened to be absent ; but Mrs. Stephens,
who was remarkable for hospitality and religious impressions, in
formed them that they could be accommodated. One of them ob
served to her, ' ' We are preachers ; and the next day being Sabbath,
we will have to remain with you until Monday morning, as we do
not travel on the Sabbath." To which the old lady replied, "if you
are preachers, you are the more welcome. ' '
John Hagerty and Richard Owens were the names of the preach
ers. The next morning notice was sent through town, and the
strangers delivered sermons. This was doubtless the first Methodist
preaching ever heard in our Valley. It is said they traveled east of
the Blue Ridge, (before they reached Stephensburg) , on a preaching
tour, and probably crossed the Ridge at some place south of
Stephensburg. A number of the people were much pleased with them, and they
soon got up a small church at this place. The late John Plite, Jr.,
his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes, (then a widow) , John Taylor and
wife, Lewis Stephens, Sr., and wife, Lewis Stephens, Jr., and wife,
and several others joined the church, and in a few years it began to
flourish. The rapid spread of this sect throughout our country,
needs no remarks from the author.
The first Camp Meeting held in our Valley, within the author's
recollection, took place at what is called Chrisman' s Spring, about
two miles south of Stephensburg, on the great highway from Win
chester to Staunton. This was probably the month of August,
1806. It has been stated to the author, that the practice of Camp
Meetings originated with a Baptist preacher somewhere about the
James River. It is said he was a man of great abilities and trans-
cendant elocution ; he however became too much of an Armenian in
his doctrine to please the generality of his brethern, and they ex
communicated him from their church, and attempted to silence him,
but he would not consent to be silenced by them, and they refused
him permission to preach in their meeting-houses, and he adopted
the plan of appointing meetings in the forest, where vast crowds of
people attended his preachings, and they soon got up the practice of
forming encampments. The author cannot vouch for the truth of
this statement, but recollects it was communicated to him by a highly
respectable member of the Baptist church.
In the year 1836, the author traveled through the Southwest
counties on a tour of observation — he frequently passed places where
Camp Meetings had been held ; they are sometimes seen in dense
forests, and some of them had the appearance of having been aban
doned or disused for a considerable time. The author, however,
ment of the War of the Revolution. The later Dr. Tilden communicated
this information to the author — which he stated he learned from Mrs.
Stephens.

64

RELIGION, HABITS, CUSTOMS, ETC.

passed one in Giles county which was the best fixed for the purpose
he has ever seen. There is a large frame building erected, probably
spacious enough to shelter 2000 people or upwards, with a strong
shingled roof, and some twelve or fifteen log houses, covered also
with shingles, for the accommodation of visitors. A meeting had
just been held at this place some two or three days before he passed
it, at which, he was informed, several thousand people had attended.
It is situated very convenient to a most charming Spring of delight
ful water, and stands on high ground. Its location is certainly very
judicially selected for the purpose.

JSa

6)J£

BREAKING OUT OF THE INDIAN WAR. 65

CHAPTER VI.
BREAKING OUT OF THE INDIAN WAR.
It has been noticed in a preceding chapter, that iu the year
1753, emissaries from the Western Indians came among the Valley
Indians inviting them to cross the Alleghany Mountains, and that
in the spring of the year 1754, the Indians suddenly and unexpect
edly moved off, and entirely left the Valley.
That this movement of the Indians was made under the influ
ence of the French, there is but little doubt. In the year 1753, Maj.
Geo. Washington, (since the illustrious Gen. Washington), was
sent by Governor Dinwiddle, the then Colonial Governor of Virginia,
with a letter to the French commander on the western waters, re
monstrating against his encroachments upon the territory of Vir
ginia. This letter of remonstrance was disregarded b}' the French
man, and very soon afterwards the war, commonly called "Brad-
dock's War;" between the British government and France com
menced. In the year 1754, the government of Virginia raised an
armed force with the intention of dislodging the French from their
fortified places within the limits of the colony. The command of
this army was given to Col. Fry, and George Washington was
appointed a Lieutenant-colonel under him. This little army amount
ed to three hundred men. " Washington advanced at the head of
two companies of his regiment, early in April, to the Great Mea
dows, where he was informed by some friendly Indians, that the
French were erecting fortifications in the Forks between the Alle
ghany and Monongahela Rivers, and also that a detachment was on
its march from that place towards the Great Meadows. War had
not been formally declared between France and England, but as
neither was disposed to recede from their claims to the lands on the
Ohio, it was deemed inevitable, and on the point of commencing.
Several circumstances were supposed to indicate a hostile intention
on the part of the French detachment. Washington, under the
guidance of some friendly Indians, on a dark rainy night surprised
their encampment, and firing once, rushed in and surrounding them.
The commander, DumonvUle, was killed, with eight or nine others ;
one escaped, and all the rest immediately surrendered. Soon after
this affair. Col. Fry died, and the command of the regiment de
volved on Washington, who speedily collected the whole at the Great
Meadows. Two independent companies of regulars, one from South
Carolina, soon arrived at the same place. Col. Washington was now
at the head of nearly four hundred men. A stockade, afterwards

66 BREAKING OUT OF THE INDIAN WAR.
called Fort Necessity, was erected at the Great Meadows, in which
a small force was left, and the main body advanced with a view to
dislodging the French from Fort Duquesne,* which they had recently
erected at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers.
They had not proceeded more than thirteen miles, when they were
informed by friendly Indians that the French, as numerous as pig
eons in the woods, were advancing in an hostile manner towards the
English settlements, and also that Fort Duquesne had been strongly
reinforced. In this critical situation, a council of war unanimously
recommended a retreat to the Great Meadows, which was effected
without delay, and every exertion made to render Fort Necessity
tenable, before the works intended for that purpose was completed,
Mons. de Villier, with a considerable force, attacked the Fort. The
assailants were covered by trees and high grass, f The Americans
received them with great resolution, and fought, some within the
stockade, and others in the surrounding ditch. Washington con
tinued the whole day on the outside of the Fort, and conducted the
defense with the greatest coolness and intripidity. The engagement
lasted from lo o'clock in the morning till night, when the French
commander demanded a parley and offered terms of capitulations.
His first and second proposals were rejected, and Washington would
accept of none but the following honorable one, which were mutu
ally agreed upon in the course of the night : The Fort to be surren
dered on condition that the garrison should march out with the
honors of war, and be permitted to retain their arms and baggage,
and march unmolested into the inhabited parts of Virginia. J
In 1 755 the British government sent Gen. Braddock, at the head
of two regiments, to this country. Col. Washington had previously
resigned the command of the Virginia troops. Braddock invited
him to join the service as one of the volunteer aids, which invitation
he readily accepted, and joined Braddock near Alexandria. § The
army moved on for the west; and in their march out erected Fort
Cumberland. 1| The circumstances attending the unfortunate defeat

* Fort Duquesne, so called in honor of the French commander, was,
after it fell into the hands of the English called Fort Pitt, and is now Pitts
burg. ¦|- It is presumable that the grass here spoken of by Dr. Ramsey was of
the growth of the preceding year. It is not probable that the grass, the
growth of the year 1754, so early in the season, had grown of sufficient
height to conceal a man.
t Ramsey's Life of Washington.
§ Then called Bellhaven.
0 Fort Cumberland was built in the year 1755, in the Fork, between Wills
Creek and North Branch of the Potomac, the remains of whicn are yet to
be seen. It is about fifty-five miles northwest of Winchester, on the Mary
land side of the Potomac. There is now a considerable town at this place.
The garrison left as it was commanded by Maj. Livingston. Mr. John Tom
linson gave the author this information. On the ancient site of the Fort
there are several dwelling houses, and a new brick Episcopal church.

BREAKING OUT OF THE INDIAN WAR. 67
of Braddock, and the dreadful slaughter ot his armj^ near Pittsburg,
are too generally known to require a detailed account of this work ;
suffice it to say that the defeat was attended with the most disas
trous consequences tp our country. The whole western frontier was
left exposed to the ravages of the forces of the French and Indians
combined. After the defeat and fall of Braddock, Col. Dunbar, the next in
command of the British army, retreated to Philadelphia, and the de
fense of the country fell upon Washington, with the few troops the
colonies were able to raise. The people forthwith erected stockade
forts in every part of the Valley, and took shelter in them. Many
families were driven off, some east of the Blue Ridge, and others
into Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Immediately after the defeat of Braddock, Washington retreated
to Winchester in the County of Frederick, and in the autumn of
1755 built Fort Loudoun. The venerable and highly respectable
Lewis Neill, who was born on Opequon, about five miles east of
Winchester, in 1747, stated to the author, that when he was about
eight years of age his father had business at the Fort, and that he^
went with him into it. Mr. Thomas Barrett another aged and
respectable citizen states, that he has often heard his father say, that
Fort Loudoun was built the same year and immediately after Brad-
dock's defeat. Our highly respectable and venerable general, John
Smith, who settled in Winchester in 1773, informed the author that
he had seen and conversed with some of Washington's officers soon
after he settled in Winchester, and they stated to him that Wash
ington marked out the site of the Fort, and superintended the work ;
that he bought a lot in Winchester, erected a smith's shop on it, and
brought from Mount Vernon his own blacksmith to make the neces
sary iron work for the Fort. These officers pointed out to Gen.
Smith the spot where General Washington's huts or cabins where
erected for his residence while in the Fort. The great highway
leading from Winchester to the north, passes through the Fort pre
cisely where Washington's quarters were erected. It stands at the
north end of Loudoun street, and a considerable part of the
walls are now remaining. It covered an era of about half
an acre, within which area, a well, one hundred and three
feet deep, chiefly through a solid limestone rock, was sunk
for the convenience of the garrison. * The labor of throwing
up this Fort was performed by Washington's regiment ; so says
Gen. Smith. It mounted six eighteen pounders, six twelve pound
ers, six six-pounders, four swivels, and two howitzers, and contain
ed a strong garrison, f No formidable attempts were ever made
* The water in this well rises near the surface, and in great floods of rain
has been known to overflow and discharge a considerable stream of water.
The site of the fort is upon more elevated ground than the head of any
springs in the neighborhood. Upon what principle the water should here
rise above the suriface the author cannot pretend to explain.
t Gen- John Smith stated this fact to the author. The cannon were fe-

68 BREAKING OUT OF THE INDIAN WAR.
by the enemy against it. A French officer once came to reconnoi-
ter, and found it too strong to be attacked with any probability of
success. *
For three years after the defeat of Braddock, the French and
Indians combined, carried on a most destructive and cruel war upon
the western people. The French, however, in about three years
after Braddock's defeat abandoned Fort Duquesne, and it was im
mediately taken possession of by the British and Colonial troops
under the command of Gen. Forbes. Washington soon after re
signed the command of the Virginia forces, and retired to private
life. A predatory warfare was nevertheless continued on the people
of the Valley by hostile Indian tribes for several years after the
French had been driven from their strongholds in the west ; the par
ticulars of which will form the subject for my next chapter.
moved from Winchester early in the War of the Revolution. Some further
account of this artillery will be given in a future chapter. Mr. Henry W.
Baker, of Winchester, gave the author an account of the number of cannon
mounted on the Fort.
* William L- Clark, Esq., is now the owner of the land including this
ancient fortification, and has converted a part of it into a beautiful pleasure
garden.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 69

CHAPTER VII.
INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
After the defeat of Braddock, the whole western frontier was
left exposed to the incursions of the Indians and French in the spring
of the year, 1756, a party of about fifty Indians, with a French cap
tain at their head, crossed the Alleghany Mountains, committing on
the white settlers every act of barbarous war. Capt. Jeremiah
Smith, raised a party of twenty brave men, marched to meet this
savage foe, and fell in with them at the head of Capon River, when
a fierce and bloody battle was fought. Smith killed the captain
with his own hand ; five other Indians have fallen, and a number.
wounded, they gave way and fled. Smith lost two of his men. On
searching the body of the Frenchman, he was found in possession of
his commission and written instructions to meet another party of
about fifty Indians at Fort Frederick, * to attack the Fort, destroy
it, and blow up the magazine.
The other party of Indians were encountered pretty low down
the North Branch of the Capon River, by Capt. Joshua Lewis,
at the head of eighteen men ; one Indian was killed when the others
broke and ran off. Previous to the defeat of this party they had
committed considerable destruction of the property of the white set
tlers, and took a Mrs. Horner and a girl about thirteen years of age
prisoners. Mrs. Horner was the mother of seven or eight children !
she never got back to her family. The girl, whose name was Sarah
Gibbons the sister of my informant, f was a prisoner about eight
or nine years before she returned home. The intention of attacking
Fort Frederick was of course abandoned.

* Fort Frederick was commenced in the year 1755, under the direction of
Gov. Sharp, of Maryland, and was probably finished in 1776. It is still
standing on the Maryland side of the Conhongoruton. Its walls are entirely
of stone, four and a half feet thick at the base, and three at the top ; they
are at least twenty feet high, and have undergone but little dilapidation.
Dr. John Hedges and his son, Capt. John C. Hedges, aided the author in the
examination of this place, and measuring its area, height and thickness of
the walls. Its location is not more than twelve miles from Martinsburg, in
Virginia, and about the same distance from Williamsport in Maryland. It
encloses an era of about one and-a-half acres, exclusive of the bastions or
redoubts. It is said the erection of this Fort cost about sixty-five thousand
pounds sterling.
\ Mr. Jacob Gibbons was born the loth of September, 1745. Since the
author saw him, he has departed this life — an honest, good old man.

70 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
Those Indians dispersed into small parties, and carried the work
of death and desolation into several neighborhoods, in the counties,
now Berkeley, Frederick and Shenandoah. About eighteen or
twenty of them crossed the North Mountain at Mills Gap, which is
in the County of Berkeley, killed a man by the name of Kelly,- and
several of his family, within a few steps of the present dwelling
house of the late Mr. William Wilson, not more than half a mile
from Gerardstown, and from thence passed on to the neighborhood
of the present site of Martinsburg, the neighboring people generally
taking shelter in John Evans' Fort. * A small party of the Indians
attacked the dweUing house of Mr. Evans, brother of the owner
of the Fort ; but being beaten off, they went in pursuit of reinforce
ments. In their absence Mr. Evans and his family got safe to the
Fort. The Indians returned and set fire to the house, the ruins of
which are now to be seen from the great road leading to Winches
ter, three miles south of Martinsburg, at the head of what is called
the Big Spring.
The same Indians took a female prisoner on the same day at
John Strode' s house. A boy by the name of Hackney, who was on
¦his way to the Fort, saw her previously, and advised her not to go
to the house, saying that Strode's family had all gone to the Fort,
and that he suspected the Indians were then in the house. She,
however, seeing smoke at the house, disregarded the advice of the
little boy, went to it, was seized by the Indians, taken off, and was
about three years a prisoner, but finally got home. The boy went
to the Fort and told what had happened ; but the men had all
turned out to bury Kelly and go in pursuit of the Indians, leaving
nobody to defend the Fort but women and children. Mrs. Evans
armed herself, and called on all the women, who had firmness
enough to arm, to join her, and such as were too timid she ordered
to run bullets. She then made a boy beat to arms on a drum ; on
hearing which the Indians became alarmed, set fire to Strode's
house, t and moved off. They discovered the party of white men
just mentioned, and fired upon them, but did no injury. The
latter finding the Indians too strong for them, retreated into the
Fort. X
From thence the Indians passed on to Opequon, and the next
morning attacked Neally's Fort, massacred most of the people, and
took off several prisoners ; among them George Stockton and Isa
bella, his sister. Charles Potterfield, a youth about 20 years of age,
heard the firing from his father's residence, about one mile from the

* Evans' Fort was erected within about two miles of Martinsburg, a
stockade. The land is now owned by  Fryatt, Esq.
+ The present residence of the widow Showalter, three miles from Mar
tinsburg. X Mr. Joseph Hackney, Frederick county, states these facts to the au
thor. The little boy, mentioned above, grew up, married, was a Quaker by
profession, and the father of my informant.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 71
Fort, armed himself and set off with all speed to the Fort, but on his
way was killed. *
Among the prisoners were, a man by the name of Cohoon, his
wife, and some of his children.. Mrs. Cohoon was in a state of
pregnancy, and not being able to travei fast enough to please her
savage captors, they forced her husband forward, while crossing
the North Mountain, and cruelly murdered her ; her husband dis
tinctly heard her screams. Cohoon, however, that night made his
escape, and got safely back to his friends. George Stockton, and
his sLster, Isabella, who, were also among the prisoners, were taken
to the Indian towns. Isabella was eight or nine years of age, and
her story is as remarkable as it is interesting. She was detained and
grew up among the savages. Being a beautiful and interesting girl,
they sold her to a Canadian in Canada, where a young Frenchman,
named Plata, soon became acquainted with her, and made her a ten
der of his hand in matrimony, f This she declined unless her
parents' consent could be obtained ; a strong proof of her filial affec
tion and good sense. The Frenchman immediately proposed to con
duct her home, readily believing that his generous devotion and
great attention to the daughter would lay the parents under such
high obligation to him, that they would willingly consent to the
union. But such were the strong prejudices existing at the time
against everything French, that her parents and friends peremporily
objected. The Frenchman then prevailed on Isabella to elope with
him; to effect which she secured two of her father's horses. and
pushed off. They were, however, pursued by two of her brothers,
overtaken, at Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, and Isabella forcibly torn
from her protector and devoted lover, and brought back to her par
ents, while the poor Frenchman was warned that if he ever made
any further attempts to take her off, his life would pay the forfeit.
This story is familiar to several aged and respectable individuals in
the neighborhood of Martinsburg. Isabella afterwards married a
man by the name of McClary, removed and settled in the neighbor
hood of Morgantown, and grew wealthy. George, after an absence
of three years got home also.
A party of fourteen Indians, believed to be a part of those de
feated by Capt. Smith, on their return to the west killed a young
woman, and took a Mrs. Neff prisoner. This was on the South
Fork of the River Wappatomaka. They cut off Mrs. Neff 's petticoat
up to her knees, and gave her a pair of moccasins to wear on her feet.
This was done to facilitate her traveling ; but they proceeded no f ur-

* George Porterfield, Esq., now residing in the County of Berkeley, is a
brother of the youth who was killed, and stated to the author the particulars
of this unhappy occurrence. Capt. Glenn also stated several of the circum
stances to the author.
t Mr. Mayers, of Berkeley county, gave the author the name of this
young Frenchman.

72 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
ther than the vicinity of Fort Pleasant, * where on the second night,
they left Mrs. Neff in the custody of an old Indian, and divided
themselves into parties, in order to watch the Fort. At a late hour
in the night, Mrs. Neff discovered that her guard was pretty soundly
asleep, ran off. The old fellow very soon awoke, fired off his gun,
and raised a yell. Mrs. Neff ran between the two parties of Indians,
got safely into Fort Pleasant, and gave notice where the Indians
were encamped. A small party of men, the same evening came from
another small Fort a few miles above, and joined their friends in Fort
Pleasant. The Indians, after the escape of Mrs. Neff, had collected
into one body in a deep glen, near the Fort. Early the next morn
ing, sixteen men, well mounted and armed, left the Fort with a view
to attack the Indians. They soon discovered their encampment.
The whites divided themselves into two parties, intending to inclose
the Indians between two fires ; but unfortunately a small dog which
had followed them, starting a rabbit, his yell alarming the Indians ;
upon which they cautiously moved off, passed between the two par
ties of white men unobserved, and took a position between them and
their horses, and opened a most destructive fire. The whites re
turned the fire with great firmness and bravery, and a desparateand
bloody conflict ensued. Seven of the whites fell dead and four were
wounded. The little remnant retreated to the Fort, whether the
wounded arrived. Three Indians fell in this battle, and several were
wounded. The victors secured the white men's horses, and took
them off. t
Just before the above action commenced, Mr. Vanmeter, an old
man, mounted his horse, rode to a high ridge, and witnessed the
battle. He returned with all speed to the Fort, and gave notice of
the defeat. The old man was killed by the Indians in 1757.
After committing to writing the foregoing account, the author
received from his friend Dr. Charles A. Turley, of Fort Pleasant, a
more particular narrative of the battle, which the author will sub
join in the doctor's own words.
' 'The memorable battle of The Trough (says Dr. Turley) was pre
ceded by the foUowing circumstances. On the day previous, two In
dian strollers, from a large party of sixty or seventy warriors, under
the well-known and ferocious chief, Kill-buck, made an attack upon
the dwelling of a Mrs. Brake, on the South Fork of the South Branch
of the Potomac, about fifteen miles above Moorefield, and took Mrs.
Brake and a Mrs. Neff prisoners. The former not being able to

* Fort Pleasant was a strong stockade with a block-house, erected on the
land now owned by Isaac Vanmeter, Esq., on the South Branch of the Poto
mac, a short distance above what is called The Trough.
fThe battle is called the "Battle of the Trough." Messrs. Vanmeter,
McNeill and Heath, detailed the particulars to the author. A block house,
with port holes, is now standing in Mr. D. McNeill's yard, part of an old
Fort erected at the time of Braddock's war, the logs of which are principal
ly sound.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 73
travel from her situation was tomahawked and scalped, and the
latter brought down to the vicinity of Town Fort, about one and a
half miles below Moorefield. There, one of the Indians, under the
pretense of hunting, retired, and the other laid himself down and
pretened to fall asleep, with a view, as was believed, to let Mrs.
Neff escape to the Fort, and give the alarm. Everything turned out
agreeably to their expectations ; for as soon as she reached the Fort,
and related the circumstances of her escape, eighteen men from that
and Buttermilk Fort, five miles above, went in pursuit. They were
men notorious for their valor, and had been well tried on many
such occasions.
"As soon as they came to the place indicated by Mrs. Neff,
they found a plain trace left by the Indians, by occasionally breaking
a bush. Mr. John Harness, who was well acquainted with the man
ners and modes of warfare of the Indians, pronounced that the hun
ter Indian had not returned to his comrade, or that they were in
great force somewhere near and in ambush. They, however, pur
sued the trace, without discovering any signs of a large party, until
they arrived between two mountains, forming what from its resem
blance is called The Trough. Here, directly above a fine spring,
about two hundred paces from the river, which at that time was filled
to an impassible stage, by a heavy fall of rain, these grim monsters
of blood were encamped, to the number above stated. The western
face of the ridge was very precipitous and rough, and on the north
of the spring was a deep ravine, cutting directly up into the ridge
above. Our little band of heroes, nothing daunted by the superior
number of the enemy, dismounted unobserved, and prepared for bat
tle, leaving their horses on the ridge. But by one of those unfor-
seen and almost unaccountable accidents which often thwarts
the seemingly and best planned enterprises, a small dog which
had followed them, just at this juncture started a rabbit, and went
yelping down the ridge, givdng the Indians timely notice of their ap
proach. They immediately flew to arms, and filing off up the ravine
before described, passed directly into the rear of our little band,
placing them in the very situation they had hoped to find their ene
mies, between the mountain and the swollen river. Now came the
"tug of war," and both parties r ashed to the onset, dealing death
and slaughter at every fire. After an hour or two of hard fighting,
during which each of our little band numbered his man, and more
than half their number had fallen to rise no more, those that re
mained were compelled to retreat, which could only be effected by
swimming the river. Some who had been wounded, not being
able to. do this, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possi
ble ; and deliberately loading their rifles, and placing themselves
behind some cover on the river bank, dealt certain death to the first
adveisary who made his appearance, and then calmly yielded to the
tomahawk. ' ' We can not here pass over without, mentioning one of the
10

74 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
many despotic acts exercised by the then Colonial government and
its officers towards the unoffending colonists. At the time of which
we are speaking, there were quartered in Fort Pleasant, about one
and-a-half miles above the battle ground, and within hearing of
every gun, a company of regulars, commanded by a British officer
named Wagner, who did not only refuse to march a man out of the
Fort, but, when the inhabitants seized their rifles and determined to
rush to the aid of their brothers, ordered the gates to be closed, and
suffered none to pass in or out. By marching to the western bank
of the river, he might have effectually protected those who were
wounded, without any danger of an attack from the enemy. And
when the few who had escaped the slaughter, hailed and demanded
admission into the Fort it was denied them. For this act of
Captain Wagner's the survivors of our Spartan band called him
a coward ; for which insult he thought it his duty to hunt them
down like wolves, and when caught, to inflict corporal punLshment
by stripes. "The Indian Chief, Killbuck, afterwards admitted that al
though he had witnessed many sanguinary contests this was the
most so he had ever experienced for the number of his enemies,
Killbuck was a Shawnee, a savage of strong mental powers, and
well acquainted with all the families in the settlement before the war
broke out. Col. Vincent Williams, whose father was inhumanly
murdered by Killbuck and his party on Patterson's Creek, became
personally acquainted with him many years afterwards, and took
the trouble, when once in the state of Ohio, to vi.sit him. He was
far advanced in years, and had become blind. The Colonel informed
me that as soon as he told Killbuck his name, the only_answer he
made was. ' 'Your father was a brave warrior. ' ' The half brother of
Col. Williams, Mr. Benjamin Casey, was with him. Mr. Peter Casey
had once hired Killbuck to catch and bring home a runaway negro,
and was to have given him fourteen shillings. He paid him six shil
lings, and the war breaking out he never paid him the other eight.
At the visit spoken of, Killbuck inquired the name or his other
visitor, and when the Colonel told him it was Benjamin Casey,
'What, Peter Casey's son?' Yes.' 'Your father owes me eight
shillings ; will you pay it ! ' said the old chief. The Colonel at that
time got all the particulars of the tragical death of his father, as well
as the great heroism manifested by our little band at the battle of
The Trough."
Dr. Turley refers in the foregoing narrative to the murder of
Mr. WiUiams, on Patterson's Creek. This melancholy tragedy the
author is enabled to give, as it was related to him by Mr. James S.
Miles, of Hardy.
Mr. Williams lived on Patterson's Creek, on the farm now oc
cupied by his grandson, Mr. James Williams. Hearing of the
approach of the Indians, he repaired with his neighbors to Fort
Pleasant (nine miles) for security. After remaining here a few

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 75
days, supposing their houses might be revisited with safety, Mr.
Williams with seven others crossed the mountain for that purpose.
They separated on reaching the Creek ; and Mr. Williams went
alone to his farm. Having tied his horse to a bush, he commenced
salting his cattle, when seven Indians (as afterwards said by Kill-
buck) got between him and his horse, and demanded his surrender.
Mr. Williams answered by a ball from his rifle, which killed one of
the Indians, then retreated to his house, barricaded the door, and
put his enemy at defiance. They fired at him at random through
the door and windows, until the latter were filled with shot-holes.
For greater security Mr. Williams got behind a hominy block in
a corner, from which he could fire at his assailants through the
cracks of the building as opportunity offered. In this way he
killed five out of the seven. The remaining two, resolved not to give
up their prey, found it necessary to proceed more cautiously ; and
going to the least exposed side of the house, one was raised upon
the shoulders of the other to an opening in the logs some distance
above the level of Mr. Williams, who did not consequently, ob
serve the manoeuvre, from which he fired, and shot Mr. Williams
dead. The body was instantly quartered, and hung, to the four
corners of the building, and the head stuck upon a fence stack in
front of the door. This brave man was the father of the venerable
Edward Williams, the Clerk of Hardy county court, until the elec
tion of 1830, under the new constition, when his advanced age
compelled him to decline being a candidate.
Sometime after the battle of The Trough, at a Fort seven
miles above Romney, two Indian boys made their appearance, when
some of the men went out with the intention of taking them. A
grown Indian made his appearance, but was instantly shot down by
Shedrach Wright. A numerous party then showed themselves,
which the garrison sallied out and attacked, but they were defeated
with the loss of several of their men, and compelled to retreat to
the Fort. *
Killbuck, the chief before mentioned, used frequently to com
mand these marauding parties. Previous to the breaking out of
the war, he was well acquainted with many of the white settlers on
the Wappatomaka, and lived a good part of his time among them.
His intimate acquaintance with the country enabled him to lead his
band of murderers from place to place, and commit many outrages
on the persons "and property of the white inhabitants. In the
progress of his work, some further notice will be taken of this dis
tinguished warrior. There was another great Indian warrior called
" Crane ;" but the author not has been able to collect any particular
traditionary accounts of the feats performed by him.
In the year 1757, a numerous body of Indians crossed the AUe-

. * Mr. James Parsons, near Romney, Hampshire county, gave the author
this information.

76 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
ghany Mountain, and, as usual, divided themselves into small
parties, and hovering about the different Forts, committed many acts
of murder and destruction of property. About thirty or forty ap
proached Edward's Fort, * on Capon River, killed two men at a
small mill, took off a parcel of corn meal, and retreating along a path
that led between a stream of water and a steep high mountain, they
strewed the meal in several place on their route. Immediately
between this path and the stream is an abrupt bank, seven or eight
feet high, and of considerable length, under which the Indians con
cealed themselves and awaited the approach of the garrison.
Forty men under the command of Capt. Mercer, sallied out, with
the intention of pursuing and attacking the enemy. But oh ! fatal
day ! Mercer's party, discovering the trail of meal, supposed the
Indians were making a speedy retreat, and, unappraised of their
strength, moved on at a brisk step, until the whole line was drawn
immediately over the line of the Indians under the bank, when the
latter discharg-ed a most destructive fire upon them, sixteen falling
dead at the first fire. The others attempting to save themselves by
flight, were pursued and slaughtered in every direction, until, out
of the forty, but six got back to the Fort. One poor fellow, who
ran up the side of the mountain, was fired at by an Indian the ball
penetrating just above his heel, ranged up his leg, shivering the
bones, and lodging a little below his knee ; he slipped under the
lap of a fallen tree, there he hid himself, and lay in that deplorable
situation for two days and nights before he was found by his friends,
it being that length of time before the people of the Fort would
venture out to collect and bury the dead. This wounded man re
covered, and lived many years after, though he always was a
cripple from his wound. Capt. George Smith, who now resides
on Back Creek, informed the author that he was well acquainted
with him.
Some time afterwards, the Indians, in much greater force, and
aided, it was believed, by several Frenchmen in person, determined
to carry this Fort by storm. The garrison had been considerably
reinforced ; among others, by the late Gen. Daniel Morgan, than a
young man. The Indians made the assault with great boldness ;
but on this occasion they met with a sad reverse of fortune. The
garrison sallied out, and a desperate battle ensued. The assailants
were defeated with great slaughter, while the whites lost compara
tively few men.
The remains of a gun of high finish, ornamented with silver
mounting and gold touch-hole, were plowed up near the battle
ground about forty years ago. It was supposed to have belonged
to a French officer. Part of a bomb-shell was also found. Morgan

* Edward's Fort was located on the west side of Capon River, not more
than three-quarters of a mile above, where the stage road from Winchester
to Romney crossed the river.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 77
in this action performed his part with his usual intripidity, caution,
and firmness, and doubtless did much execution. *
Other parties of Indians penetrated into the neighborhood of
Winchester, aud killed several people about Round Hill ; among
others a man by the name of Flaugherty, with his wife. Several
inmates of a family by the name of M'Cracken, on Back Creek,
about twelve miles from Winchester, were killed, and two of the
daughters taken off as prisoners. They, however, got back, after
an absence of three or four years. Mr. Lewis Neill informed the
author that he saw and conversed with these women on the subject
of their captivity after their return home. Jacob Havely and
several of his family were killed near the present residence of Moses
Russell, Esq., at the eastern base of the North Mountain, fifteen or
sixteen miles southwest of Winchester. Dispennet, and several of
his family, and Vance and his wife, j were also severally killed by
the same party of Indians, in the same neighborhood.
The late respectable and intelligent Mrs. Rebecca Brinker, who
was born the 25th of March, 1745, and who of course was upwards
of ten years old when Braddock was defeated, related many inter
esting occurrences to the author ; among others, that of a family
of eighteen persons, by the name of NichoUs, who resided at the
present residence of Mr. Stone, a little west of Maj. Isaac Hite's were
attacked, the greater number killed, and several taken off as pris
oner's ; one old woman and her grandchild made their escape to a
Fort, a short distance from Middletown. This took place about
1756 or 1757, and is probably by the same party who killed Havely
and others. In the year 1758, a party of about fifty Indians and four French
men penetrated into the neighborhood of Mill Creek, now in the
County of Shenandoah, about nine miles south of Woodstock. This
was a pretty thickly settled neighborhood ; and among other houses,
George Painter had erected a large log one, with a good sized cellar.
On the alarm being given, the neighboring people took refuge in
this house. Late in the afternoon they were attacked Mr. Pain
ter, attempted to fly, had three balls shot through his body, and fell
dead, when the others surrendered. The Indians dragged the dead
body back to the house, threw it iu, plundered the house of what

* Mr. William Carlisle, now nine-five years of age, and who resides
near the battle ground, informed the author that he removed and settled on
Capon soon after the battle was fought. He also said that he had frequently
heard it asserted that Morgan was in the battle, and acted with great bravery,
&c. Mr. Charles Carlisle son of this venerable man, stated the fact of the
gun and part of a bomb-shell being found.
f Moses Russell, Esq., is under the impression that these people were
killed in the summer or fall of the year, 1756. The author finds it impossi
ble to fix the dates of the various acts of war committed by the savages.
After the most diligent inquiry, he has not been able to find any person who
committed to writing anything upon the subject at the time the several oc
currences took place.

78 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
they choose, and then set fire to it. While the house was in flames,
consuming the body of Mr. Painter, they forced from the arms of their
mothers four infant children, hung them up in trees, shot them in
savage sport, and left them hanging. They then set fire to a stable
in which were enclosed a parcel of sheep and calves, thus cruelly
and wontonly tortured to death the inoffensive dumb animals.
After these atrocities they moved off with forty-eight prisoners ;
among whom were Mrs. Painter, five of her daughters, and one of
her sons ; and a Mrs. Smith, and several of her children ; a Mr.
Fisher and several of his children, among them a lad of twelve or
thirteen years old, a fine well grown boy, and remarkably fleshy.
This little fellow it will be presently seen, vvas destined to be the
victim of savage cruelty.
Two of Painter's sons, and a young man by the name of Jacob
Myers escaped being captured by concealment. One of the Painters,
with Myers, ran over that night to Powell's Fort, a distance at least
of fifteen miles, and to Kellar's Fort, in quest of aid. They had
neither hat nor shoes, nor any other clothing than a shirt and trows
ers each. A small party of men set out early the next morning,
well-mounted and armed, to avange the outrage. They reached Mr.
Painter's early in the day ; but on learning their strength (from the
other young Painter, who had remained concealed all that evening
and night, and by that means were able to count the number of
the enemy), they declined pursuit, being too weak in numbers to ven
ture further. Thus this savage band got off with their prisoners and
booty, without any pursuit or interruption.
After six days' travel they reached their villages, west of the
Alleghany Mountains, where they held a council, and determined to
sacrifice their helpless prisoner, Jacob Fisher. They first ordered
him to collect a quantity of dry wood. The poor little fellow shud
dered, burst into tears, and told his father they intended to burn
him. His father replied, " I hope not ;" and advised him to obey.
When he had collected a sufficient quantity of wood to answer their
purpose, they cleared and smoother a ring, around a sapling, to
which they tied him by one hand, then formed a trail of wood around
the tree and set it on fire. The poor boy was then compelled to run
round in this ring of fire until his rope wound him up to the sap
ling, and then back until he came in contact with the flame, whilst
his infernal tormentors were drinking, singing and dancing around
him with "horrid joy." This was continued for several hours;
during which time the savage men became beastly drunk, and as
they fell prostrate to the ground, the squaws would keep up the fire.
With long sharp poles, prepared for the purpose, they would pierce
the body of their victim whenever he flagged, until the poor and
helpless boy fell and expired with the most excruciating torments,
while his father and brothers were compelled to be witnesses of the
heart-rendering tragedy.
After an absence of about three years, Mrs. Painter with her

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 79
son and two of her daughters. Mrs. Smith, who had the honor, if
it could be so deemed, of presenting her husband with an Indian
son, * by a distinguished war chief ; Fisher and his remaining sons ;
and several other prisoners returned home. Three of Painter's
daughter's remained with the Indians. Mary, the youngest, was
about nine years old when taken, and was eighteen years a prisoner ;
two of the daughters never returned. A man by the name of
Michael Copple, who had himself been a prisoner about two years
with the Indians, had learned their language, became an Indian
trader and traveled much among them, at length found Mary Pain
ter with a wandering party of Cherokees. In conversing with her,
he discovered who she was, that he was acquainted with her family
connections, and proposed to her to accompany him home, to which
she refused her assent. He then said that her brother had removed
to Point Pleasant, and were desirious of seeing her ; upon which she
consented to accompany him that far to see her brothers ; but
finding, on arriving at the Point, that he had deceived her, she
manifested much dissatisfaction, and attempted to go back to the
Indians, Copple, however, after much entreaty, and promising to
make her his wife, prevailed up on her to return home. He per
formed his promise of marriage, lived several years on Painter's
land, and raised a family of children. Mary had lost her mother
tongue, learned a little English afterwards, but always conversed
with her husband in the Indian language, f They finally removed
to the west.
The garrison at Fort Cumberland was frequently annoyed by
the Indians. There are two high knobs of the mountain, one on
the Virginia side of the Cohongoruton on the South, the other on
the Maryland side on the northeast, within a short distance of the
Fort. The Indians frequently took possession of these heights, and
fired upon the Fort. Although they seldom did any injury in this
way, yet it was disagreeable and attended with some danger. On a
particular occasion a large party of Indians had taken possession
of the knob on the Maryland side, and fired into the Fort. A
Captain (the author regrets that he was not able to learn his
name) and seventy-five brave fellows on a very dark night volun
teered . to dislodge the enemy. They sallied out from the Fort,

* Smith received his wife and never maltreated her on this account, but
he had a most bitter aversion to the young chief. The boy grew up to man
hood, and exhibited the appearance and disposition of his sire. Attempts
were made to educate him, but without success. He enlisted into the army
of the revolution as a common soldier, and never returned.
* The author deems a particular history of this woman necessary, be
cause it is one among many instances of young white children, when taken
prisoners, becoming attached to a savage life, and leaving it with great re
luctance. Mr. George Painter, an aged andrespected citizen in Shenandoah
county, who resides on the spot where this bloody tragedy was enacted, and
is a grandson of the man who was murdered and burnt, detailed these par
ticulars to the author.

8o INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
surrounded the knob, and cautiously ascending until they were
within reach of the foe, waited for daybreak to make the attack.
Light appearing, they opened a tremendous fire, which threw the
Indians into utter confusion, rendering them powerless for defense,
while the whites continued from all sides to pour in volley after
volley, spreading death and caranage. But few of the Indians es
caped. The knob is caUed "Bloody HiU " to this day. This tradi
tion the author received from several individuals in Cumberland ;
indeed, the story appears to be familiar with every aged individual
in the neighborhood.
Shortly after this occurrence. Kill-buck attempted to take Fort
Cumberland by stratagem. He approached it at the head of a large
force of warriors ; and under the guise of friendship, pretended to
wish an amicable intercourse with the garrison, proposed to Maj.
Livingston to admit himself and warriors. Some hints having been
given to the commander to be upon his guard, Livingston seemingly
consented to the proposal ; but no sooner had Kill-buck and his
chief officers entered than the gates were closed upon them. The
wiley chief being thus entrapped, was roundly charged with his in
tended treachery, of which the circumstances were too self-evident
to be denied. Livingston, however, inflicted no other punishment
upon his captives than a mark of humiliating disgrace, which to an
Indian warrior was more mortifying than death. This stigma was,
it is supposed, dressing them in petticoats and driving them out of
the Fort. *
It has already been stated, that, previous to the breaking out
of the war. Kill-buck lived a good part of his time among the white
settlers in the neighborhood of P'ort Pleasant. An Irish serv'ant,
belonging to Peter Casey, absconded, and Casej' offered a pistole f
reward for his recovery. Kill-buck apprehended the .servant, and
delivered him to his master ; but from some cause or other, Casey
refused to pay the reward. A quarrel ensued, and Casey knocked
Kill-buck down with his cane. When the war broke out. Kill-buck
sought every opportunity to kill Casey, but never could succeed.
Many years afterwards, Casey's son obtained a Lieutenancj', and
was ordered to Wheeling, where Kill-buck then being, young Casey
requested some of his friends to introduce him to him. When Kill-
buck heard his name, he paused for a moment, and repeating,
"Casey! Casey!" inquired of the young man whether he knew
Peter Casey. The Lieutenant replied, "Yes, he is my father.'^
Kill-buck immediately exclaimed, "Bad man, bad man, he once
knocked me down with his cane. On the young man's proposing- to
* The venerable John Tomlinson related this affair to the author. Mr.
Tomlinson does not recollect the particular mark of disgrace inflicted oii
these Indians. The Rev. Mr. Jacobs, of Hampshire, suggested this as the
most probable.
-j- The pistole is a piece of gold, equal to three dollars and seveniy-five
cents in value.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.

8i

make up the breach, the old chief replied, " WiU you pay me the
pistole?" Young Casey refused to do this, but proposed to treat
with a quart of rum, to which the old warrior assented, saying,
"Peter Casey old man — Kill-buck old man ;" and then stated that
he had frequently watched an opportunity to kill him, ' ' but he was
to lazy — would not come out of the Fort ; Kill-buck now friends
with him, and bury the tomahawk." * This Indian chief, it is said
was living about fourteen years ago, and had become blind
from his great age, being a little under, and probably over one hun
dred years.

"= This anecdote is related, somewhat differently, by Dr. Turley, page 72
of this work.

II

82 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.

CHAPTER VIII.
INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. — Continued.
In a preceding chapter the election of several stone dwelling-
houses are noticed. These houses are generaUy smaU stockade
forts about them ; and whenever an alarm took place, the neighbor
ing people took shelter in them, as places of security against their
savage foes. *
The men never went out of the Forts without their guns. The
enemy were frequently lurking about them, and at every opportuni
ty would kill some of the people. At the residence of Maj. Rob't
D. Glass, on Opequon, five miles southwest of Winchester, part of
his dwelling-house was erected at the time of the Indian war ; the
port-holes were plainly to be seen before the body was covered with
weather-boarding. The people were closely "forted" for about
three years. After the termination of hostilities between England'
and France, the incursions of the Indians were less frequent and
never in large parties ; but they were continued at intervals until the
year 1766 or 1767.
About the year 1758, a man bj' the name of John Stone, near
what is called the White House, in the Hawksbill settlement, was
killed by Indians. Stone's wife, with her infant child and a son
about seven or eight years old, and George Grandstaff, a youth of
sixteen years old, were taken off as prisoners. On the South Branch
Mountain the Indians murdered Mrs. Stone and her infant, and
took the boy and Grandstaff to their towns. Grandstaff was about
three years a prisoner, and then got home. The little boy. Stone,
grew up with the Indians, came home, and after obtaining posses
sion of his father's property, sold it, got the money, returned to the
Indians, and was never heard of by his friends afterwards.
The same Indians killed Jacob Holtiman's wife and her chil
dren, Holtiman escaping. They plundered old Brewbecker's house,
piled up the chairs and spinning wheel, and set them on fire. A
young woman who lived with Brewbecker had concealed herself in
the garret ; and after the Indians left the house, extinguished the
fire and saved the house from burning. Brewbecker's wife got in
formation that the Indians were coming, and ran off with her chil
dren to where several men were at work, who conveyed her across

* The late Mrs. Rebecca Brinker, one of the daughters of George Bow
man on Cedar Creek, informed the author that she recollected when sixteen
families took shelter in her father's house.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 83
the River to a neighboring house. Mr. John Brewbecker now re
sides on the farm where this occurrence took place. *
The foUowing singular tradition, as connected with this occur
rence, has been related to the author :
About dusk on the evening previous, Mrs. Brewbecker told her
husband and family that the Indians would attack them next morn
ing, saying, that she could see a party of them on the side of the
Massanutten Mountain, in the act of cooking their supper. She
also declared that she saw their fire, and could count the number of
Indians. She pointed to the spot ; but no other part of the family
saw it ; and it was therefore thought that she must be mistaken.
Persisting in her declarations, she begged her husband to remove
her and her children to a place of safety ; but she was laughed at,
told that it was mere superstition, and that she was in no danger. It
Was, however, afterwards ascertained that the savages had encamped
that night at the place on the mountain pointed out by Mrs. Brew
becker. It was about two miles off. f
These outrages of the Indians drove many of the white settlers
beiow the Blue Ridge.
Probably the same year, several Indians attacked the house of
a man named Bingaman, near the present site of New Market.
Bingaman, who was remarkably stout and active, defended his fam
ily with great resolution and firmness, and laid two of the assassins
dead at his feet ; they succeeded, however, in killing his wife and
children, Bingaman escaping with several wounds, from which he
finally recovered. The same party took Lewis Bingaman (a nephew
of the one spoken of) , a prisoner. He was a boy about thirteen
or fourteen years old, grew up with the Indians and became a
man of distinction among them.
About the same time the Indians forcibly entered the house of
Mr. Young, who resided on the farm now owned by William Smith,
Esq., not more than a mile from Zane's old iron works, and killed
several of his family. They took an infant, dashed its head against
a rock, beat out its brains, and left it dying on the ground. Two
of Young's daughter's, pretty well grown, were carried off prison
ers. Lieutenant Samuel Fry raised a force of between thirty and
forty men, pursued, and came in sight of them unobserved, at the
Short Mountain, near the Alleghany. Fry's party prepared to fire;
but unfortunately one of the white girls stepped accidentally before
their guns, the intention was frustrated, and Fry being discovered
the next moment, he ordered his men to charge. This was no sooner
done than the Indians broke and ran off, leaving their guns, prison-

* Mr. Brewbecker resides on the west side of ths South Fork of the
Shenandoah River, on Massanutten Creek, in the now county of Page,andhas
erected a large and elegant brick house on the spot where the Indians plun
dered his father's dwelling,
f This tradition was given the author by Mr. Andrew Keyser, Jr., who
married a granddaughter of the woman who saw the Indians.

84 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
ers and plunder ; the two young females were then rescued and
brought safely home.
Another family in the same neighborhood, by the name of Day,
were attacked, several killed and two of the daughters taken off. A
party of eighteen or twenty whites pursued them. The girls, as
they traveled through the mountains, expecting pursuit, took the
precaution (unobserved by their captors) to tear off and frequently
drop small scraps of white linen, as well as pluck off branches of
bushes, and drop them as a trail, by which means their friends could
readily discover their route. A brother of the girls, a young man,
was one of the pursuing party. The Indians were overtaken on the
South Branch Mountain, and as soon as seen, preparations were
made to give them a deadly fire. But the young Day, in his eager
ness to avenge the death of his father and family, prematurely fired,
killing the object of his aim, when the others precipitately fled, leav
ing everything behind them. They had cut off the girls' petticoats
at the knees, in order that they should be able to make more speed
in traveling. The girls were brought safely home.
There were several instances of the Indians committing murders
on the whites above the Potomac, and South Branch, several years
before Braddock's defeat. About the year 1752, a man by the name
of James Davis was killed, pretty high up the Potomac ; and in the
succeeding year, William Zane and several of his family were taken
prisoners on the South Branch, in the new County of Hardy. Isaac
Zane, one of his sons, remained during his life with the Indians.
The author saw this man at Chillicothe in the autumn of 1797, and
had some conversation with him upon the subject of his captivity.
He stated that he was captured when about nine years old ; was four
years without seeing a white person ; had learned the Indian tongue
quite well, but never lost a knowledge of the English, having learned
to spell in two syllables, which he still could do, although pretty
well advanced in years. He also said that a trader came to the In
dian village four years after his captivity, and spoke to him in Eng
lish, of which he understood every word ; that when he grew up to
manhood, he married a sister of the Wyandotte king, and raised a
family of seven or eight children. His sons were all Indians in
their habits and dispositions ; his daughters, four of them,
all married white men, became civilized, and were remarkably
fine women, considering the opportunities they had had for im
provement. This tnan possessed a great influence with the tribes he was ac
quainted with ; and as he retained a regard for his native countrymen,
was several times instrumental in bringing about treaties of peace.
The government of the United States granted him a patent for ten
thousand acres of land, which he claimed as his private property ;
and when the author saw him he was on his way to PhUadelphia to
apply for a confirmation of his title. He was a near relative to the
late Gen. Isaac Zane, of Frederick county, Virginia.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 85
About the same time that Mr. Zane's family were taken prison
ers, as just related, an Indian killed a white man near Oldtown, in
Maryland, but was, in return, killed by the late Capt. Michael Cres-
ap, then a boy, with a pistol, while he was in the act of scalping the
white man. *
About the year 1758. there were two white men who disguised
themselves in the habit of Indians, and appeared in the neighbor
hood of the present site of Martinsburg. "They were pursued and
killed, supposing them to be Indians, f It was no uncommon thing
for unprincipled scoundrels to act in this manner. Their object was
to frighten people to leave their homes, in order that they might
rob and plunder them of their most valuable articles. J The Indians
were frequently charged with outrages they never committed.
A man by the name of Edes, with his family, resided in a cave
for several years, about three miles above the mouth of Capon.
This cave is in a large rock, and when other people would take
shelter at a Fort in the neighborhood. Fades, would remain
in his cave. At length the Indians found them, by trailing the
children when driving up their cows, and took Fades and his family
prisoners. §
A Mr. Smith, a bachelor, resided on the west side of Capon
River, in a small cabin. Three Indians, one morning, entered his
house, split up the wooden bowls and trenches (plates made of
wood) destroyed his household goods generally and took him off
as a prisoner. They crossed the Cohongoruton, and halted at a place
called Grass Lick, on the Maryland side with the intention of steal
ing horses. Two of them went into a meadow for that purpose,
while the third remained to guard Smith. The two men soon hal
tered a young unbroken horse, delivered him tothe guard, and went
in pursuit of more. The fellow who held the horse discovered that
the animal was easily freightened, several times scared him for his
amusement, till at length he became so much alarmed that he made
a sudden wheel, and ran off with the Indian hanging to the halter,
dragging him a considerable distance. Smith took this opportunity
to escape, and succeeded in getting off. The next morning a party
of white men collected with the intention of giving pursuit. They
went to Smith's cabin and found him mending his bowls and tren
chers by sewing them with wax-ends. ||
At Hedges' Fort, on the present road from Martinsburg to
Bath, west of Back Creek, a man was killed while watching the
Spring. "IT

1" Jacob's Life of Cresap.
¦f Related by Captain James Glenn.
X Related by Lewis Neill.
§ Captain Glenn.
{ Related by Captain Glenn.
TfThe same.

86 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
On Lost River, there were two Forts, one on the land now the
residence of Jeremiah Inskeep, Esq., called Riddle's Fort, where
a man named Chesmer was killed ; the other called Warden's Fort,*
where WiUiam Warden and a Mr. Taft was kiUed, and the Fort
burnt down.
Just before the massacre on Looney's Creek (related on the
succeeding page), seven Indians surrounded the cabin of Samuel
Bingaman, not far distant from the present village of Petersburg, in
the County of Hardy. It was just before daybreak, that being the
time when the Indians generally made their surpises. Mr. Binga-
man's family consisted of himself and wife, his father and mother,
and a hired man. The first four were asleep in the room below, and
the hired man in the loft above. A shot was fired into the cabin,
the ball passing through the fleshy part of the young Mrs. Binga-
man's left breast. The family sprang to their feet, Bingaman seiz
ing his rifle, and the Indians at the same moment rushing in at the
door. Bingaman told his wife and father and mother to get out of
the way, under the bed, and called to the man in the loft to come
down, who, however, never moved. It was still dark, and the In
dians were prevented from firing, by a fear of injuring one of their
number. Bingaman unrestrained from any fears of this kind, laid
about him with desperation. , At the first blow his rifle broke at the
breech, shivering the stock to pieces ; but with the barrel he con
tinued his blows until he had cleared the room. Daylight now
appearing he discovered that he had killed five, and that the remain
ing two were retreating across the field. He stepped out, and
seizing a rifle which had been left by the party, fired at one of the
fugitives, wounded and tomahawked him. Tradition relates that
the other fled to the Indian camp, and told his comrades that they
had a fight with a man who was a devil — that he had killed six of
them, and if they went again would kill them all. When Binga
man, after the battle, discovered that his wife was wounded, he
became frantic with rage at the cowardice of the hired man, and
would have dispatched him but for the entreaties of Mrs. Bingaman,
to spare his life. She recovered from her wound in a short time, f
It was the practice of the settlers on the Wappatomaka in times
of danger to leave the Forts in numbers, and assist each other in
harvest. About the year 1756, a party of nine whites left the Fort
opposite the present village of Petersburg, to assist Mr. Job Welton

?Warden's Fort was at the present residence of Mr. Benjamin Warden,
a grandson of the man that was killed, about thirty-five miles southwest of
Winchester. -f The author received the particulars of this surprising adventure from
Job Welton and Aaron Welton, Esq., of Petersburg. Mrs. Blue, wife of
Mr. Garrett Blue, also told the author, that when she was a small girl Binga
man frequently stopped at her father's residence on Cheat River, and she
more than once heard him relate the circumstances of this affair, and say
there were seven Indians.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 87
to cut his father's meadow and hunt the cattle. They took their
rifles with them, as was inevitably the practice whenever they left
the Fort. After collecting the cattle, they turned in and cut a por
tion of the meadow. As night approached a proposition was made
by Mr. Welton to return to the Fort, which was rather opposed by
the rest of the party, who, not having been molested during the day,
were disposed to believe in their perfect security. They repaired to
the house of the elder Mr. Welton, fronting the meadow, and within
two hundred yards of the present residence of Aaron Welton, Esq.
Here they wished to remain, but the determination was resisted by
Job Welton, who again advised to return to the Fort. After some
consultation it was agreed on to repair to the shelter of a large elm
tree in the meadow where they had been mowing, and where they
concealed themselves in a winnow of the grass, and soon fell into a
sound sleep ; from which they were sometime afterwards aroused by
the crack of a rifle. Mr. Welton was lying with his brother Jona
than under the same blanket, and the latter was shot through the
heart. The party sprang to their feet and attempted to escape. In
his alarm, Mr. Welton forgot his rifle, and fled in company with a
Mr. Delay. They had proceeded about two hundred yards, pur
sued by an Indian, when Delay wheeled and discharged his rifle,
which brought his pursuer down. At the same instant that Delay
wheeled, the Indian threw his tomahawk, which sunk into the back
of Mr. Welton, severing two of his ribs. He fell to the ground,
supposing himself mortall} wounded by a rifle ball, while Delay con
tinued onward pursued by another Indian. Mr. Welton Jsoon re
covered from his surprise, and proceeded cautiously in a direction
towards the Fort, very weak from the loss of blood. He soon heard
Delay and the Indian in a parley ; the former being exhausted by
running and disposed to yield, and the latter demanding his surren
der. Delay agreed to give up on condition that his enemy would
spare his life, which being solemnly agreed to, he was reconducted
to the elm tree. Here a council was held, and Delay, with three
others who had been taken, were inhumanly scalped, from which
they died two or three days afterwards. Mr. Welton was able to
reach the Fort, where he laid three months before his wound healed.
Of the whole party, but three escaped, four were scalped and died,
and two were killed at the first surpiise. The escape of Mr. Kuy-
kendall was remarkable. It was a bright moonlight night, while
the shade of the elm rendered it quite dark under the tree. Mr.
Kuykendall being an old man, was unable to fly with speed, and
therefore remained still, while his companions fled across the mea
dow. The Indians passed over him, leaving the rear clear, when
Mr. Kuykendall retreated at his leasure, and reached the Fort in
safety, one and-a-half miles. *

* Messrs. Aaron and Job Welton related this tradition to the author. It
was thought that Delay would have recovered but for the unskillfulness of

88 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
On the day following, the whites left the Fort in pursuit, and
overtook their enemy late that night on Dunkard Bottom, Cheat
River, where they had encamped. The pursuers dismounted, and
the Captain ordered Bingaman (the same whose prowess is related in
a preceding page) to guard the horses. He, however, disobeyed,
and loitered in the rear of the party. To make the destruction of
the enemy more certain, it was deemed advisable to wait for day
light before they began an attack ; but a young man, whose zeal
overcame his discretion, fired into the group, upon which the In
dians sprang to their feet and fled. Bingaman singled out a fellow
of giant-like size, whom he pursued, throwing his rifle aside that his
speed might not be retarded— passed several smaller Indians in the
chase — came up with him, and with a single blow of his hatchet, cleft
his skull. When Bingaman returned to the battle-ground, the cap
tain sternly observed, "I ordered you to stay and guard the horses."
Bingaman as sternly replied, "you are a rascal, sir ; you intended to
di.sgrace me ; and one more insolent word, and you shall share the
fate of that Indian," pointing toward the body he had just slain.
The Captain quailed before the stern menace, and held his peace.
He and Bingaman had, a few days before had a falling out.
Several Indians fell in this affair, while the whites lost none of their
party. Dr. Turley stated to the author that he had often heard Mr.
John Harness, who was one of the party that followed the Indians,
'relate that Delay was taken to Dunkard Bottom, who when the In
dians were then surprised, he was shot, but whether by his captors,
or accidentally, was not known. Delay himself not being able to
tell. He was conveyed home on a litter, and died directly after
wards. There were, however, two Delay's, and the first relation may
be true. Mrs. Shobe an aged and respectable lady, living on Mill Creek,
in Hardy county, informed the author, that Delay was buried on the
banks of the South Branch, and some years afterwards his skele
ton was washed out by the rising of the River. She then heard Job
Welton say, that Delay had saved his life, and he would take care
of his bones.
To show the spirit of the times, the following anecdote is re
lated. Valentine Powers, and his brother, with two or three others,
left the Fort near Petersburg, * on a visit to their farms, when they
were fired upon by the Indians from a thicket, and the brother of
Powers killed. Valentine ran, but soon called to mind the saying,
current among them, that "it was a bad man who took bad news
home," he turned about, gave himself up and remained a prisoner
five or six years, f
the surgeon, (if he deserved the name), who attended him. The late Gen.
William Drake married his widow.
* Called Fort George. The land is now owned by Job Welton, Esq
t; Related by Aaron Welton, Esq. ' i >

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 89
Marion Peterson was taken a prisoner on the South Branch, and
carried to the Sandusky towns. He used to accompany the Indians
in their hunting excursions, and was permitted to have one load of
powder and ball each day, which he always discharged at the game
they met with. As he gained on the confidence of his captors, they
increased his allowance to two loads, and subsequently to three.
The same allowance was made to two other white prisoners. These
three, one day, after receiving their allowance, determined to at
tempt an escape, and left the towns accordingly. As they ventured
to travel only at night, guided by the north star, their progress was
exceeding slow and difficult. On the second day one of their num
ber died from fatigue, and Peterson took his ammunition. A day
or two afterwards, his remaining companion also gave out, and Peter
son taking his ammunition, left him to perish. He then pursued
his way alone, and after a succession of hardships, came at length in
sight of the Fort. But here, when within reach of his deliverance,
his hopes were well-nigh blasted ; for the sentry, mistaking him for
an Indian, fired ! Happily the ball missed its aim, and he was able
to make himself known before the fire was repeated. This Fort was
on the farm now the residence of Mr. John Welton, near Petersburg,
Hardy county. *
Seybert's Fort, f was erected on the South Fork of the South
Branch of the Potomac, on the land now owned by Mr. Ferdinand
Lair, twelve miles northeast of Franklin, the present county seat of
Pendleton. In the year 1758, a party of Indians surprised the Fort,
in which were thirty persons. They bound ten, whom they conveyed
without the Fort, and then proceeded to massacre the others in the

* Related by Aaron Welton, Esq.
t The author, on a visit to Franklin, obtained some additional particu
lars in relation to the attack on Seybert's Fort : The party of Indians was
commanded by the blood-thirsty and treacherous chief. Kill-buck. Sey
bert's son, a lad about fifteen years of age, exhibited great firmness and
bravery in the defense of the post. He had with his rifle brought down
two of his assailants, when Kill-buck called out to old Seybert, in English,
to surrender, and their lives should be spared. At that instant young Sey
bert, having charged his rifle, was in the act of presenting it at Kill-buck,
when his father seized the gun, and took it from him, observing : " We can
not defend the Fort, we must surrender in order to save our lives," confid
ing in the assurance of the faithless Kill-buck. The first salutation he
received, after surrendering the Fort, was a stroke on his mouth from the
monster. Kill-buck, with the pipe-end of his tomahawk, dislocating several
of the old man's teeth ; and immediately after he was massacred with the
other victims. Young Seybert was taken off among the prisoners. He told
Kill-buck he had raised his gun io kill him; but thai his father had wrested
ii front him. The savage laughed, and replied, "You little rascal, if you had
killed me you would have saved the Fort ; for had I fallen my warriors
would have immediately fled, and given up the siege in despair." It is said
there were three men in the Fort, not one of whom manifested a disposition
to aid its defense. Had they joined young Seybert, and acted with the same
intrepidity and coolness, the place might have been saved, and the awful
sacrifice of the inmates avoided.
12

90 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
following manner : They seated them in a row upon a log, with an
Indian standing behind each ; and at a given signal, each Indian
sunk his tomahawk into the head of his victim ; an additional blow
or two dispatched them. The scene was witnessed by James Dyer,
a lad fourteen years old, who, not having been removed without the
Fort, supposed that he was to be massacred. He was, however,
spared, and taken to Log Town, sixteen miles below Fort Pitt,
thence to the mouth of the Muskingum River, and thence to the
spot where Chilicothe now stands, where he remained a prisoner one
year and ten months. He had by this time gained the entire confi
dence of his captors, and was permitted to accompany them to Fort
Pitt on a trading expedition. When there he planned his escape,
and happily succeeded. Being sent out for some bread with an In
dian lad, he slipped into a hovel, unobserved by his companion, and
implored the protection of the poor woman who occupied it. She
told him to get behind a chest, the only furniture in the room, and
threw upon him a bed. The Indians, on missing him, spent the
afternoon in search, during which they looked into the very hovel
where he was, and left the place the next morning on their return.
Fort Pitt being then in the possession of the English, a trooper very
kindly conveyed him six or seven miles behind him, whence he
made his way to his friends in Pennsylvania, where he remained two
years longer, and then returned to South Fork. *
Another tradition says that Seybert's Fort was not surprised.
It had been invested for two or three days, and after two Indians
had been killed, the garrison agreed to surrender on condition that
their lives should be spared, which was solemnly pledged. The gate
was then opened, and the Indians rushed in with demoniac yells.
The whites then fled with precipitation, but were retaken, with the
exception of one man. The massacre then took place, as before re
lated, and ten were taken off as prisoners.
Another tradition says, that, on the- Fort's being given up the
Indians seated twenty of the garrison in two rows, all of whom they
killed except the wife of Jacob Peterson. When they reached her,
an Indian interposed to save her life, and some altercation ensued.
The friendl3' Indian at length prevailed ; and throwing her a pair of
moccasins, told her to march off with the prisoners. How long she
remained in captivity is not remembered, f
The Indians killed John Brake's wife on the South Fork of the
Wappatomaka. John Brake became conspicious in the war of the
revolution, which will be noticed hereafter. Frederick Jice had his
whole family killed, with the exception of himself and one son. A
man named Williams and his wife were also killed. Richard Wil
liams, and his wife and little daughter were taken prisoners ; the latter
* Related by Zebulon Dyer, Esq., Clerk of Pendleton county, and son of
the James Dyer mentioned.
\ Mrs. Shobe informed the author that she had heard the wife of Jacob
Peterson frequently relate this.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 91
was only eighteen months old when taken, remained with the In
dians until she was thirteen, and was then brought home. She had
learned the Indian language perfectly ; afterwards learned to speak
English, but there were some words she never could pronounce plainly.
She married Uriah Blue, on the South Branch.
About eight miles below Romney stood a Fort. In time of
harvest a Mrs. Hogeland went out abotit three hundred yards to
gather beans, two men accompanying her as a guard. WTiile gather
ing the beans, eight or ten Indians made their appearance. One of
the guards instantly fled ; the other, whose name was Hogeland,
called to the woman to run to the Fort, and placing himself between
her and the enemj^ with his rifle cocked and presented, retreated
from tree to tree until both entered it. Some old men in the Fort
fired off their guns to alarm the harvest hands, who ran into it, the
Indians from the side of the mountain firing upon them, but doing
no injury. The same day the harvest hands were waylaid as they
returned to their work, fired upon Henry Newkirk and wounded
him in the hip. The whites returned the fire, and wounded an In
dian, who dropped his gun and fled. The others also made off, and
the harvest hands proceeded to their work.
In 1756, while the Indians were lurking about Fort Pleasant
and constantly on the watch to cut off all communication therewith,
a lad named Higgins, aged about twelve years, was directed by his
mother to go to the spring, about a quarter of a mile without the
Fort, and bring a bucket of water. He complied with much trepi
dation, and persuaded a companion of his, of about the same age,
to accompany him. They repaired to the spring as cautiously as
possible, and after filling their buckets, ran with speed towards the
-Fort, Higgins taking the lead. VvThen about half way to the Fort,
and Higgins had got about thirt5^ yards before his companion, he
Heard a scream from the latter, which caused him to increase his speed
to the utmost. He reached the Fort in safety, while his companion
was captured by the Indians, and taken to the settlements, where
he remained until the peace, and was then restored. The young
Higgins subsequently became the active Capt. Robert Higgins in our
revolutionary army, and after raising a numerous family Virginia,
removed with them to the west. *
In the neighborhood of Moorefield a party of men were mowing
for Peter Casey. They had placed their guns under a large tree in
the edge of the meadow, and old Peter stood sentinel to watch and
give the alarm should the enemy make their appearance. In
a short time a party of Indians discovered the hands at
work ; and cautiously crept through the brambles and shrub
bery in order to get a position to make a deadly fire. One
of them was in front of the others, and had approached
very near old Peter before the latter saw him, when the old
* Related by Col. Isaac Vanmeter.

92

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.

man flew at him with his cane raised, crying out, ' ' By the Lord,
boys, here they come ! " The Indian, desperately frightened, took
to his heels ; the men flew to their guns ; and the skulking savages
retreated precipitately, without flring a single shot. It is not im
probable that Casey still used the same stick with which he ' ' knocked
Kill-buck down."*
The author flnding this chaper running to a tedious and per
haps tiresome length to the reader, will give his pen a short respite,
and resume his narrative of Indian outrages in the next chapter.

* Related by Col. Isacc Vanmeter.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 93

CHAPTER IX.
INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.  CojMnued.
On Stony Creek, five or six miles S. W. of Woodstock, there was
a Fort called "Wolfe's Fort," where the people took shelter from
the Indians for several years. Mr. Wolfe would venture out some
times for the purpose of killing game, and was always accompanied
by a favorite dog. On one particular occasion, this faithful animal
saved his master's life. Mr. Wolfe walked out with his gun and
dog, but had not proceeded far before the latter manifested great
alarm, and used all his ingenuity to induce his master to return.
He repeatedly crossed his path, endeavoring to obstruct his walk ;
would raise himself up, and place his feet against his master's breast,
and strive to push him back ; would run a few steps toward the fort,
and then return whining. From the extraordinary manifestations
of uneasiness on the part of the dog, Mr. Wolfe began to suspect
there was some lurking danger, of course kept a sharp look out, and
soon discovered an Indian at some distance behind a tree, watching
and waiting until he should come near enough to be a sure mark.
Mr. Wolfe made a safe retreat into the Fort, and ever after felt
the highest gratitude to his honest and faithful dog. The dog lived
to be twenty-one years of age, and probably more.* Ulysses's
dog "Argus" is much celebrated in history ; but it is very ques
tionable whether Argus ever rendered more important service to
his lord and master. Ulysses was one of the commanding generals
of the Greeks in the Trojan war, and was absent twenty years, it is
said from his home. The story of his dog is related by Homer
to the following beautiful poetical effusions : f
Thus near the gates conferring as they drew,
Argus, the dog, his ancient master knew ;
He, not unconscious of the voice and tread,
Lifts to the sound his ear, and rears his head ;

* Moses Russell, Esq., of the county of Frederick, gave the author a
detail of the particulars of this extraordinary story, and stated, that when
he was a young man he once called at Mr. Wolfe's house and saw the dog.
He appeared to be decript and suffering pain, and he asked Mr. Wolfe
if he had not better kill the dog, and put him out of misery. Mr. Wolfe
with much emphasis replied, " No, I would as readily consent to be killed
myself as to kill that dog, or suffer him to be killed ; he once saved my life;"
and Mr. Wolfe then related the above story. The dog was then twenty-one
years old.
t It is said that Argus was the only creature that immediately recognized
bis master on his return to his place from his twenty years' absence.

94 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES
Bred by Ulysses, nourish'd at his board,
But ah ! not fated long to please his lord !
To him, his swiftness and his strength were vain ;
The voice of glory called him o'er the main,
Till then in every sylvan chase renown'd,
With Argus, Argus, rung the woods around ;
With him the youth pursu'd the goat or fawn.
Or trac'd the mazy leveret o'er the lawn,
Now left to man's ingratitude he lay,
Unhous'd, neglected in the public way ;
And where on heaps the rich manure was spread.
Obscene with reptiles, took his sordid bed.
He knew his lord ; he knew and strove to meet ;
In vain he strove to crawl, ana kiss his feet.
Yet (all he could) his tail, his ears, his eyes.
Salute his master, and confess his joys.
Soft pity touch'd the mighty master's soul ;
Adown his cheek a tear unbidden stole.
Stole unperceiv'd, he turn'd his head, and dried
The drop humane ; then thus impassion'd cried ;
" What noble beast in this abaudon'd state.
Lies here all helpless at Ulysses' gate ?
His bulk and beauty speak no vulgar praise ;
If, as he seems, he was in better days.
Some care his age deserves, or was he priz'd
For worthless beauty, therefore now despised ?
Such dogs, and men there are, mere things of state.
And always cherish' d by their friends, the great."
"Not Argus so, (Enimteus thus rejoin'd)
But serv'd a master of a nobler kind,
Who never, never, shall behold him more !
Long, long since perish'd on n distant shore !
O had you seen him, vigorous bold and young.
Swift as a stag, and as a lion strong ;
Him, no fell savage an the plain withstood.
None scalp'd him, bosom'd in the gloomy wood ;
His eye how piercing and his scent how true.
To wind the vapor in the tainted dew ?
Such, when Ulysses left his natal coast.
Now years unnerve him, and his lord is lost.
The women keep the generous creature bare,
A sleek and idle race is all their care ;
The master gone, the servants what restrains ?
Or dwells humanity where riot reigns ?
Jove fix'd it certain, that whatever day
Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away."
This said, the honest herdsmen strode before.
The musing monarch pauses at the door.
The dog whom fate had granted to behold
His lord when twenty tedious years had roll'd.
Takes a last look, and baving seen him, dies ;
So clos'd forever faithful Argus' eyes !
There was no poet at the time to transmit the name and fame of
Mr. Wolfe's dog to posterity. European authors, in their prejudices,
have on various occasions endeavored to disparague every thing of
American production. The Count de Buffon is among the number
Englishmen delight in the disparagement of the American quadru-

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 95
peds. In the Family Encyclopedia, an English work, under the
article "dogs," it is asserted that "when English dogs are trans
ported to other countries, they degenerate, and become compara
tively worthless ! " It is believed the annals of the world may be
safely challenged to produce an instance of greater manifestation of
sagacity and faithful affection towards a master, than was ex
hibited by Mr. Wolfe's dog on the occasion spoken of. But to
return :
At the Forks of Capon stockade. The men who occupied it had
to go about four miles to cultivate a fine fertile field of low ground,
to produce bread for their support. In the 5'ear 1757 or 1758, two
men, one jiamed Bowers, the other York, walked to the field to see
how things were going on. On their retiirn in the evening they
were waylaid by seven Indians. Bov/ers v/as shot and fell dead ;
York ran, was pursued by three Indians, and took across a high
ridge. One of his pursuers tired before he reached the top ; the
others continued the chase. After running a considerable distance,
a second gave out. The third got so near that he several times
extended his arm to seize York, but failed, and York got safe into
the fort. *
On Patterson's Creek, at the present site of Frankfort, Ashby's
Fort was erected. It was at this place that the celebrated race took
place between the late Capt. John Ashby and three Indians. Capt.
Ashby had walked out from the Fort with his gun, and after pro
ceeding some distance discovered three Indians, who knew him, but
a little way off. He turned and ran ; two of the Indians fired, but
missed Him ; they all three then gave chase, but Ashby was too
swift for them ; and when they saw thej' could not overhaul him,
one of them called out, "Run, Jack Ashby, run!" He replied,
looking over his shoulder, " You fools, do you think I run booty ?"
(with boots) .
Near the Fort, Charles Keller was killed, the grandfather of
Mr. Charles Keller, the present proprietor of the Frankfort Hotel, f
About the year 1756, Daniel Sullivan, at nine years of age, was
taken prisoner by the Indians, with whom he remained nine years,
when he was brought home. For some time he manifested a desire
to return to the Indians, but at length became reconciled, and was
afterwards their determined enemy. In his last battle with them,
becoming desperately wounded, and his entrails falling out in his
way, he tore them off, and continued to fight until he fell and ex
pired. The Indians after this considered him something more than
man. J
At the Rev. Mr. Jacob's present residence, on North Branch, a
man by the name of Wade was killed.
* Related by Mr. John Largent.
-|- Mr. Keller stated this fact to the author.
X Isaac Kuykendall, Esq., of the South Branch, near Romney, stated
this fact to the author, and added that Sullivan was his near relation .

96 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
Logan, the celebrated Indian, killed Benjamin Bowman, and
took Humphrey Worstead prisoner. He compeUed the latter
to halter several of his own and Bowman's horses, and took
them off. *
At a battle at Oldtown, John Walker kiUed an Indian and
wounded another. Walker cut out a part of the dead Indian's
flesh from the thick part of his thigh, and threw it to his dog, who
ate it. He otherwise mutilated his body ; and thrust parts of it into
his moHth. Thomas Higgins was one of the earliest settlers on the Cohon
goruton. He lived about four miles from Bath, but was driven
thence, and removed to the neighborhood of Gerardstown in the
county of Berkeley. After His removal, three of his sons were taken
off as prisoners, and never returned. At the close of Dunmore's
war, one of them was seen at Wheeling by a man who was acquaint
ed with his family, and asked why he did not come home, since his
father had left him a good tract of land. He replied that he did not
wish to live with white people, they would always call him Indian,
and he had land enough, f
The wife of the late Walter Denny, of Frederick county, was
taken by the Indians when a small child , and grew up among them.
Her maiden name was Flaugherty. After returning from her cap
tivity she married Walter Denny, who resided some time after his
marriage in the neighborhood of Pittsburg. In 1774 the Indians
advised him to move off, as they intended to go to war with the
whites. Mr. Denny removed and settled in the county of Frederick.
The author recollects of frequently seeing this man. A Miss
Williams was also taken about the same time ; she, too, grew up with
the Indians. Those two female children were taken on Patter
son's Creek.
There is a tradition of a battle fought on Patterson's Creek, be
tween the whites and Indians, the Spring before Braddock's defeat ;
but the author has not been able to obtain the particulars, except
that the Indians were defeated.
The Indians killed Oliver Kremer, in Short Gap, and took his
wife prisoner.
In the year 1764, a party of eighteen Delawares crossed the
mountains. Furman's Fort was about one mile above the Hanging
Rock, on the South Branch. William Furman and Nimrod Ashby
had gone out from the Fort to watch a deer lick in the Jersey Moun
tain. X The Indians discovered and killed them both, and passed on
into the county of Frederick, where they divided into two parties.
One party of eight moved on to the Cedar Creek settlement ; the
other of ten to attack the people in the neighborhood of the present
* Related by Mr. Gerret Blue, of the North Branch.
f Related by Mr. James Higgins of the North Branch.
X So called from its being first settled by immigrants from New Jersey.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 97
residence of Maj. John White. On this place Dr. White, the ances
tor of the White familjr, had settled, and on his land a stockade was
erected. The people in the neighborhood had taken the alarm, and
were on their way to the Fort, when they were assaulted by these
ten Indians. They killed David Jones and his wife, two old people.
Some of Mrs. Thomas' family were killed, and she had one daugh
ter taken off. An old man by the name of Lloyd, and his wife, and
several of his children, were killed. Esther Lloyd, their daughter)
about thirteen years old, received three tomahawk wounds in the
head, was scalped, and left lying, supposed to be dead. Henry
Clouser and two of his sons were killed, and his wife and four of his
daughters taken. The j'oungest daughter was about two years old ;
and as she impeded the mother's traveling, when they reached the
North Mountain, the poor little innocent babe was taken by its
heels, its head dashed against a tree, and the brains beaten out, and
left lying on the ground. Mrs. Thomas was taken to the Wappato
maka ; but the river being pretty full, and deep fording they en
camped near Furman's Fort for the night. The next morning a
party of white men fired off their guns at the Fort, which alarmed
the Indians, and they hurried across the river, assisting all their fe
male prisoners except Mrs. Thomas, who being quite stout and
strong, was left to shift for herself. The current, however, proved too
strong for her, and she floated down the river — ^but lodged against a
rock, upon which she crav/led, and saved herself from drowning.
Before her capture she had concealed a half a loaf of bread in her
bosom, which, during her struggles in the water, washed out, and, on
her reaching the rock, floated to her again. In this instance, the text
of Scripture, ' ' Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it
after many days, "* might have some application. It was not ' 'many
days," but there appears to have been something providential in it,
for it saved her from extreme suffering. The next morning Mrs.
Thomas made her way to William's Fort, about two miles below the
Hanging Rock, on the South Branch, f
The author has received from Maj . John White, of Frederick,
another account of the foregoing outrages, which he will give in
Maj. White's own words :
"In July, 1763, information was received by the late Maj.
Robert White, (who had a small Fort around his house as an asylum
for the people in the neighborhood) , that the Indians had been seen
on that or the preceding day on Capon. He immediately went to
the several families living near the base of the North Mountain, as
far as Owen Thomas', five or six miles from the Fort, told them of
the report, and advised them to go into the Fort until the danger
should be over. It being harvest time, Owen Thomas was unwilling

?Ecclesiastics, 11: i.
t Mr. Gerrett Blue stated to the author that he was then a small boy, but
well recollects seeing Mrs. Thomas when she got into the Fort.
13

98 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
to leave home, and mounted a horse to go to his neighbor, Jacob
Kackley's, who- had several sons grown, to propose to arm themseves
and work together in their respective grain fields ; but on his way to
Mr. Kackley's he was shot dead and scalped, the Indians having
concealed themselves behind two logs that lay one across the other
near the road.
"In June, 1764, .similar information of Indians being seen was
received at the Fort. Maj. White, as on the former occasion, went
in the afternoon to warn the people of their danger ; when the widow
Thomas, Mr. Jones and Mr. Clouser, set off with their families for'
the Fort ; but night coming on when they reached Mr. Lloyd's,
(about two miles from the Fort), the3^ concluded to stay there all
night. In the morning, as soon as day appeared, they resumed their
journey ; but before they were out of sight of the house, the Indians
attacked them, and killed, vi?ounded, or took prisoners twenty-two
or twenty-three persons. Evan Thomas, a son of the man killed the
preceding summer, a boy of seven years old, ran back into the house,
and hid himself behind some puncheons that he placed across a cor
ner of the room, and remained concealed, notwithstanding the
Indians brought the prisoners into the house, among whom were his
mother and sister, both tied, and kept them there till they fried bacon
and ate their breakfast ; they then set fire to the house in two places,
and went away. Evan said he continued in the house as long as he
could, on account of the fire ; that he saw through a chink in the
wall the direction the Indians went ; and not knowing which way to
go, he concluded to take the contrary course from the one taken b}'
them. He rambled about all that day and the most of the next
before he found any person, the houses which he passed having been
abandoned by their owners going to their Fort. The Indians en
camped the first night at a spring on the Romney road, between the
North River and Little Capon ; and on the next day they stopped on
the bank of the South Branch, near where Romney now stands, to
eat their dinner. While thus engaged, a party who were stationed in
a Fort a mile or two lower down the river, and who had just returned
from a scout, discharged their guns in order to clean them, which
alarmed the Indians, and they hurried across the river, assisting all
their female prisoners except Mrs. Thomas, who being a large, fat
woman, it was supposed would perish, as the water was rapid and
deep. She floated down the stream, however, until almost exhaust
ed, when she had the good fortune to get on a rock, and saved her
self from drowning. She had put a piece of bread in her bosom the
morning she was taken, and lost it in the water ; but it happened to
float so near her while on the rock that she caught it and ate it ;
which, as she said, so revived and strengthened her that she plunged
into the water again, and providentially got out on the east side of
the river. She reached WiUiams' Fort, two miles below the Hang
ing Rock, on the same day. It was often remarked by Mrs.
Thomas' acquaintances, that after her return she would minutely

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 99
relate the circumstances attending the murder of her husband and
children, and her own sufferings, without shedding a tear. Either
five or seven of the persons wounded by the Indians, were taken to
the Fort of Maj. Robert White's, and attended by Dr. McDonald,
though but one recovered, Hester Lloyd, who had two scalps taken
from her. ' '
Mrs. Thomas' daughter, and Mrs. Clouser and her three small
daughters, were taken to the Indian towns, and after an absence of
about six months, were released from captivity, and all returned
home safely.
There is something remarkable in the history of the three Miss
Clouser' s, who were all prisoners at the same time. The eldest was
about ten years old, the next eldest about seven, and the youngest
between five and six. They all returned home from their captivity,
grew up, were married, raised families of children, and are now
widows, living in the same neighborhood, not more than five or six
miles apart. Two of them, Mrs. Shultz, and Mrs. Snapp, reside
about one and-a-half miles from the residence of the author, and the
third, Mrs. Fry, is not exceeding six miles.
Miss Lloyd, who was "tomahawked and scalped," was soon dis
covered not to be dead. The late Dr. McDonald was sent for, who
trepanned her in the several fractures in her head. She recovered
and lived many years after. There are several respectable individu
als now living who knev/ this woman. *
The other party of eight Indians committed several murders on
Cedar Creek. It is probable this party killed a Mr. Lyle, a Mr.
Butler, and many others. Mr. EUis Thomas, the husband of the
woman whose story has just been given, was killed the harvest pre
ceding. This party of eight Indians took off two female prisoners,
were pursued by a party of white men, overtaken in the South
Branch Mountain, and fired upon, when one of the Indians was
killed. The others fled, leaving their guns, prisoners and plunder.f
The prisoners and property were brought home. Two of the fugi
tives overtook the party in the Alleghany Mountain who had Mrs.
Clouser, her daughters, and other prisoners, in custody. The fugi
tives appeared in desperate ill-humor, and proposed to murder the
prisoners, but the others peremptorily objected, and would not suffer
their prisoners to be injured. X
The same year, 1764, a party of eight Indians, with a white
man, by the name of Abraham Mittchell, killed George Miller, his
wife and two children, within about two miles of Strasburg. They
also the same day killed John Dellinger, on the land now the resi-
* General Smith, Maj. R. D. Glass, Miss Susan Glass, Mrs. Shultz, and
Mrs. Snapp, severally stated to the author that they frequently saw this
woman after she recovered from her wounds. Mrs. Shultz states that it was
on the first day of June the outrage was committed.
f Moses Russell, Esq.
X Mrs. Shultz and Mrs. Snapp.

loo INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
dence of Capt. Anthony Spengler, adjoining the town, and took
Rachel Dellinger, with her infant child, prisoners. It was a male
chUd, very stout, and heavy of its age. In crossing Sandy Ridge,
west of Capon River, this chUd had its brains beaten out against a
tree. A party of white men pursued them, overtook them in the
South Branch Mountain, fired upon them, and killed one, when the
others fled, leaving everything behind. Rachel Dellinger was
brought home, and stated that the unprincipled scoundrel Mitchell
was with the Indians. About twelve months before, Mitchell had
been punished for a petty act of theft, while the people were at
Bowman's Fort. Miller and Dellinger inflicted the punishment. *
At the massacre of the people near White's Fort, one of Mrs.
Thomas' daughters, when the people were preparing to go to the
Fort, was requested by Mrs. Closer to take a bottle of milk, in her
hand, and carr}' it to the Fort. When the Indians assailed them,
this young woman concealed herself behind a tree, and finally es
caped. As soon as she could run off without being discovered, she
started and run eight or nine miles with the bottle of milk in her
Hand. She was met by two of the Fawcetts, near their residence,
informed them of what had happened, and thej' forthwith removed
their families to Stephen's Fort, f
A little son of Mrs. Thomas concealed himself under a pile of
flax, which the Indians set on fire. As the fire progressed, the little
fellow kept in a direction to avoid it, while the smoke concealed him
from the sight of the enemy, and he got safe to the Fort.
Thomas Pugh resided at the time on the farm, late the residence
of Mr. John M'Cool, eight or nine miles northwest of Winchester.
The same party of Indians who committed the outrage near White's
Fort, on the night after were lurking about Mr. Pugh's house. His
dog gave the alarm ; and from his singular behavior, and manifesta
tions of rage, (as if he were engaged in a furious battle), Mr. Pugh
cautiously looked out of a window, and although it was rather a
dark night, he discovered several Indians looking over a cluster of
briars, but a short distance from the house. He and his wife and
children immediately retreated through a back door, and pushed off.
They had not gone far, when Pugh recollected his money ; he turned
back, got into the house, secured his money, took it with him, and
saved himself and family from injury. During the whole time Pugh
and his family were making their escape, the dog continued his up
roar, and as soon as they were out of danger followed them. J The
*The late Mrs. Brinker related the particulars of these occurrences to
the author. Major Isaac Hite recollects when Miller and Dellineer were
killed. t Stephen's Fort was the spot where Zane's iron works were afterwards
erected on Cedar Creek. Mr. Elisha Fawcett, a near neighbor of the author,
a higly respectable and intelligent man, stated to the author that he had fre
quently heard his father and uncle speak of this occurrence.
X Ut. Joseph Hackney informed the author that he had frequently heard

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. loi
Indians broke into the house, robbed it of what they chose, and des
troyed the furniture, but they did not burn the building. It is said
they burnt but comparatively few houses, because they expected to
reconquor the country, and return to inhabit it ; in which event they
would have comfortable houses ready built to their hands ; hence
they generally spared the buildings.
About the year 1765, the Indians made their appearance in the
neighborhood of Woodstock, in the County of Shenandoah. On
Narrow Passage Creek , eighteen or twenty women and children had
collected together, in order to go to the Fort at Woodstock. An old
man by the name of George Sigler was with them. Five Indians
attacked them. Sigler, after firing, and wounding one in the leg,
clubbed his gun and fought to desperation. While he was thus en
gaged, the women and children made their escape, and got safe to
the Fort. Sigler broke his gun over the heads of the enemy,
wounded several of them pretty severely, and received himself
several wounds, but continued to fight UHtil he fell from the loss of
blood, when his merciless enemies mangled his body in a manner
shocking to behold. *
In 1766 the Indians made another visit to the neighborhood of
Woodstock. Two men, by the name of Sheets and Taylor, had
taken their wives and children into a wagon, and were on their way
to the Fort. At the Narrow Passage, three miles south of Wood
stock, five Indians attacked them. The two men were killed at the
first onset, and the Indians rushed to seize the woman and children.
The women, instead of swooning at the sight of their bleeding, ex
piring husbalnds, seized their axes, and with Amazonian firmness,
and strength almost superhuman, defending themselves and children.
One of the Indians had succeeded in getting hold of one of Mrs.
Sheet's children, and attempt to drag it out of the wagon ; but with
the quickness of lightning she caught her child in one hand, and
with the other made a blow at the head of the fellow, which caused
him to quit his hold to save his life. Several of the Indians received
pretty sore wounds in this conflict, and all at last ran off, leaving the
two women with their children to pursue their way to the Fort.
In the latter part of August, the same year, a party of eight
Indians and a worthless villian of a white man crossed Powell's Fort
Mountain, to the South Fork of the Shenandoah, at the late resi
dence of John Gatewood, Esq. , where the Rev. John Roads, a Men-
onist preacher Of the Gospel, then lived. Mr. Roads, his wife, and
three of his sons, were murdered. Mr. Roads was standing in his
door, when he was shot and fell dead. Mrs. Roads and one of her
sons were killed in the yard. One of the young men was at the

Mr. Pugh relate this occurrence. This is another instance of the extraordin
ary evidence of the sagacity and affection of the dog, and is little inferior to
the story of Mr. Wolfe's dog.
** Mr. Christian Miller, a very aged and intelligent man, gave the author
this narrative.

I02 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES
distance of about one hundred and fifty yards from the house, in a
corn field. Hearing the report of the guns at the house, he as
cended a pear tree to see what it meant, where he was discovered by
an Indian and instantly killed. The third poor young lad attempt
ed to save himself by flight, and to cross the river, but was pursued
and killed in the river. The place is called the Bloody Ford to this
day. The enemy demanded of the youth who was killed in the
yard, where his father kept his monej' ; and was told that if he did
not immediately point out the place, they would kill him ; but if he
would show them the money, his life would be spared. On his de
claring he could not tell them, he was instantly shot and felldead.
Mr. Road's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, caught up her little sister, a
child about sixteen or eighteen months old, ran into the barn, and
.secured the door. An Indian discovered and pursued her, and at
tempted to force the door ; but not succeeding, he with many oaths
and threats ordered her to open it. On her refusing, the fellow ran
back to the house to get fire, and while he was gone, Elizabeth
crept out of a hole on the opposite side of the barn, with her
little sister in her arms, ran through a field of tall hemp, crossed the
river, and got safe to a neighboring house, and thus saved herself
and si-ster. After plundering the house of such articles as they chose to
take, the Indians set fire to all the buildings, and left the dead
body of Mr. Roads to be consumed in the flames. * They then
moved off, taking with them two of the sons and two of the daugh
ters prisoners. The youngest prisoners was a weak, sickly little
boy, eight or nine years of age ; he of course was not able to stand
the fatigue of traveling, and crossing the head of Powell's Fort, they
killed him. His two sisters then refusing to go any farther with
them, were barbarously murdered, and their bodies left a prey to
wolves and other wild beasts. The other boy was taken off and re
mained about three years in captivity before he returned home. It
was generally believed at the time, that the white scoundrel who
was with the Indians, induced them to commit this horrid murder,
in order to rob Mr. Roads of his money ; but he missed his object.
Mr. Roads kept his money and title papers in a niche in the ceUar
wall, the dampness and coolness preserved them from injury. They
were all found safe.
It was quite a common thing with the Germans to have garners
fixed in their garrets to preserve their grain. There was a quantity
of rye aloft in the dweUing house, which was burnt to coal, and as

* Mrs. Stover, the mother of Daniel Stover, Esq., now of Page county
stated to the author that she was then about fifteen years old and dis
tinctly saw the houses in flames from her father's residense, about two
miles off, on the opposite side of the river ; and the next day the neigh
boring people collecting to bury the dead, found Mr. Roads' body about half
consumed.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 103
the floors gave way to the flames, the rye fell in a considerable body
into the cellar. At any time upon digging in the ruins of the cellar,
the grains of rye, or rather coal, can be found ; the shape of the
grain being as perfect as when in its natural state.
With this bloody tragedy ended the erruptions of the savages
upon the people of the Valley. This was the last great outrage of
savage warfare committed east of the North Mountain.
There are several other interesting occurrences which the au
thor overlooked and omitted to record in due order of time. They
are of a character too interesting to be lost in the history of our
country. He will therefore proceed to relate them.
About the year 1760, two Indians were discovered lurking in
the neighborhood of Mill Creek. Matthias Painter, John Painter
and William Moore, armed themselves and went in pursuit. They
had not proceeded far, before the}' approached a large fallen pine,
with a very bushy top. As they neared the tree, Matthias Painter
observed, " We had better look sharp, it is quite likely the Indians
are concealed under the tops of this tree. ' ' He had scarcely uttered
the words before one of the Indians rose up and fired. The ball
grazed the temple of John Painter. Moore and Painter fired at the
same instant; one of their balls passed through the Indian's body,
and he fell, they supposed dead enough. The other fellow fled, leav
ing his gun and everything else behind. The white men pursued
him some distance, but the fugitive was too fleet for them. Find
ing they could not overhaul him, they gave up the chase and re
turned to the pine tree ; but to their astonishment, the supposed
dead Indian had moved off with both guns and a large pack of skins,
&c. They pursued his trail, and when he found they were gaining
upon him, he got into a sink hole, and as soon as they approached
pretty near, commenced firing at them. He had poured out a
quantity of powder on dry leaves, filled his mouth with bullets, and
using a musket which was a self primer, he was enabled to load with
astonishing quickness. He thus fired at least thirtyjtimes before they
could get a chance to dispatch him. At last Mr. Moore got an
opportunity and shot him through the head. Moore and Painter had
many disputes which gave the fellow the first wound. Painter, at
length yielded, and Moore got the premium allowed by law for In
dian scalps. *
The fugitive who made his escape, unfortunately met with a
young woman on horseback, named Seehon, whom he tore from
her horse, and forced off with him. This occurred near the present
site of Newmarket, in the County of Shenandoah. After traveling
about twenty miles, chiefly in the night, and getting nearly opposite
Keisletown, in the County of Rockingham, it is supposed the poor
girl broke down from fatigue, and the savage monster beat her to
death with a heavy pine knot. Her screams were heard by some

* Mr. George Painter communicated this adventure to the author.

I04 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
people that lived upwards of a mile from the .scene of horror, and
who next day on going to the place to ascertain the cau.se, found her
stripped naked, and weltering in her blood. *
At the attack on George Miller's family, the persons killed were
a short distance from the house, spreading flax in a meadow. One
of Miner's little daughters was sick in bed. Hearing the firing, she
jumped up, and looking through a window and seeing what was
done, immediately passed out at a back Vi?indow, and ran about two
or three miles, down to the present residence of David Stickley,
Esq., and from thence to Geo. Bowman's, on Cedar Creek, giving
notice at each place. Col. Abraham Bowman, of Kentucky, then a
lad of sixteen or seventeen, had but a few minutes before passed close
by Miller's door, and at first doubted the little girl's statement. He,
however, armed himself, mounted his horse, and in riding to the
scene of action, was joined by several others who had turned out for
the same purpose, and soon found the information of the little girl
too fatally true.
The late Mr. Thomas Newell, of Shenandoah county, informed
the author that he was then a young man. His father's residence
was about one mile from Miller's house, and hearing the firing he
instantly took his rifle, and ran to see what it meant. When he
arrived at the spot, he found Miller, his wife, and two children,
weltering in their blood, and still bleeding. He was the first person
who arrived ; and in a few minutes Bowman and several others
joined him. From the scene of the murder they went to the house,
and on the sill of the door lay a large folio German Bible, on which
a fresh killed cat was thrown. On taking up the Bible it was dis
covered that fire had been placed in it ; but after burning through a
few leaves, the weight of that part of the book which lay upper
most, together with the weight of the cat, had so compressed the
leaves as to smother and extinguish the fire, f
In the year 1768, Capt. William White, a brave and active In
dian fighter, made a visit to Col. William Crawford, who had re
moved and settled at the Meadows, in the Alleghany Mountains.
White lived on Cedar Creek, and Crawford had lived on Bull-skin.
They had been out together on Indian expeditions ; of course were
well acquainted. Crawford had an Irish servant, a pretty stout and
active man, who was permitted to accompany White on an hunting
excurion. They had not been out long when they discovered two
Indians in the glades. The latter, the moment they discovered
*Mrs. Brenaman, an aged and respectable old lady near Pennybacker's
iron works, gave the author this information.
t This Bible is now in the possession of Mr. George Miller of Shenan
doah county, about one-half a mile south of Zane's old iron works The au
thor saw and examined it. The fire had been placed about the center of the
Second Book of Samuel, burnt through fourteen leaves, and entirely out at
one end. It is preserved in the Miller family, as a sacred relic or memento
of the sacrifice of their ancestors.

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 105
the two white men, flew behind trees, and prepared for battle.
White and his Irishman, however, soon out-generaled them, and
killed them both. They were soon after apprehended, and commit
ted to Winchester jail on a charge of murder. But White had ren
dered his neighbors too many important services, and was too popu
lar, to be permitted to languish loaded with irons in a dungeon for
killing Indians. Although the Indian hostilities had entirely
ceased, too many individuals were smarting under a recollection of
the outrages they had but recently experienced at the hands of
their merciless, savage and implacable foe. Soon after White and his
partner in the charge were committed to jail. Capt. Abraham Fry,
raised a party of fifty-five or sixty volunteers, well-armed and
mounted, to affect their rescue. They dismounted near the present
site of Mr. Isaac HoUingsworth's dwelling-house, where they had
left their horses under a guard of a few men, and marched into
Winchester about daybreak next morning. They repaired directly
to the jail door, knocked up the jailor, and demanded the keys.
The jailer hesitated, and attempted to remonstrate. Fry presented
his rifle, cocked it, and peremptorily demanded the keys, telling the
jailer he would be a dead man in one minute if he did not deliver
them. The jailer quailed under the fiery countenance and stern
menaces of Fry, and complied. Fry placed a guard at the door,
went in, knocked off their irons, and took the prisoners out. The
late Robert Rutherford attempted to harangue the mob upon the
impropriety and danger of their proceedings ; but he might as well
have addressed himself to so many lions and tigers. As Fry's
party marched into town, it created considerable alarm and excite
ment. The women, half dressed, were seen running from house to
house and calling out, "Well done, brave fellows, good luck to you
brave boys." This cheering of Fry's party at once convinced them
the public sympathy and good feeling were on their side. The
prisoners were taken off and set at liberty. Capt. White after
wards distinguished himself at the bloody battle of the Point, under
Col. Servier.
The author had heard something of this story more than forty
years ago. The late Capt. James Wilson, of the neighborhood of
Stephensburg, had stated some of the particulars, but not suffi
ciently connected to give to the world. The author was there
fore apprehensive that he would not be able, at this late period, to
collect the facts. Whilst engaged in obtaining materials for this
work, he called on the late Thomas Newell, of Shenandoah county,
and among other things inquired of him whether he had any know
ledge or recollection of the affair. This venerable man, then ninety-
three years of age, in his second childhood, and his recollection of
recent events entirely gone, the moment the inquiry was made, with
much animation and a cheerful countenance, replied, ' ' Yes, my
friend, I reckon I can tell you, when I was one of the very boys."
The author then asked the old gentlemen whether he would have
14

io6 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
any objection to his name being given as authority, and as one
of Fry's party. He replied with equal animation and emphasis,
" No, my friend, I always gloried in what I did." Moses Russell,
Esq., informed the author that his two elder brothers were of Fry's
party, and that if he had been old enough, he would, doubtless,
have been among them. But he had more than once heard one of
his brother's speak of this occurrence with great regret, and
lament the part he had taken in it. General Smith recollects hear
ing much said on this subject soon after he came to Winchester to
live. To say the least of it, it was a dangerous precedent in a
civilized society. There is another individual, now living in the
neighborhood of the author's residence, who was of Fry's party,
and is now about eighty years of age, who was an active and
useful character in the war of the revolution, and from him the
author obtained many particulars of this occurrence, but as he
never formally authorized the use of his name publiclj', it is with
held. It was from the information of this individul that the au
thor was enabled to find the year when this important occurrence
took place.
After the most diligent inquiry, the author could not ascertain
whether the murder of these two Indians was followed by any acts
of retaliation on the part of the Indians.
The same year (1768) a worthless character by the name of
John Price committed a most wanton and unprovoked murder on
the body of a popular young Indian chief. Price had resided sever
al years in the Hawksbill settlement. He went out to the Indian
country under the character of an Indian trader, and soon formed
an acquaintance with this young war chief. Price was an expert
marksman and experienced hunter, and soon acquired the confi
dence and attachment of the young warrior. They frequently
took hunting excursions ; in the last of which, having wandered
a considerable distance from the Indian habitations. Price shot
the young man dead, robbed him of his rifle, a few silver orna
ments and hunting dress, and left him bang in the wilderness ; then
pushed home, boasting of what he had done, and showed his ill-
gotten booty.
A few days after Price's return home, Lewis Bingaman, who
was taken prisoner when a boy, and who grew up and became a dis
tinguished man, (which has been heretofore noticed), came in at
the head of thirty warriors in pursuit of Price. He made himself
known to Frederick Offenberger, and told what Price had done ;
said that he would go to Price, and propose to take a hunt ;
that his warriors were concealed in the Massinutten Mountain ;
and if he succeeded in decoying Price into their hands, they
would be perfectly satisfied, and do no injury to any other person ;
but if they did not succeed in getting Price, they would revenge
the death of their young chief upon the first white person they
could find, and the lives of many innocent women and children

INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES. 107
would be sacrificed to appease their vengeance. Offenberger kept
Bingaman' s communication to himself, believing that Price de
served punishment. He was accordingly decoyed into the hands
of thirty warriors, and never heard from afterwards ; of course
he expiated his base and treacherous murder of the young Indian,
by the most lingering and painful death which savage instinct could
devise. Tradition relates a story of Mr. Hogeland, who on a certain
occasion killed an Indian in the following manner. Hogeland went
out in the evening from Furman's Fort, in pursuit of the milch cows.
He heard the bell in a deep glen, and from its peculiar sound, sus
pected some strategem. Instead of pursuing the hollow therefore,
he took up a high ridge, and passed the spot where the bell was
ringing ; then cautiously descending the hollow, he discovered an
Indian with the bell (which he had taken from the cow) , suspended
to a small sapling, which he shook gently to keep the bell in
motion. Whilst the savage was thus engaged with a view to decoy
the owner within tne reach of his rifle, Hogeland took deliberate
aim at him, and shot him through the body ; upon which another
Indian started up, ran, and got off. Thus this wily savage fell into
the snare he believed he had adroitly prepared for killing the owner
of the cattle. *
The author has heard another version of this story. It is said
there was a young man with Hogeland ; and when the Indian
was seen with the bell, Hogeland at the same instant discovered
the other Indian standing at a tree, with his gun raised ready to fire
at whoever should come for the cows. Hogeland pointed him out to
the young man, and observed, "Now take deliberate aim, whilst
I take the fellow with the bell." They both fired and both Indians
fendead."t Thus ends the author's narrative of the many important oc
currences and great events from the commencement of Indian hostili
ties, in the year 1754, until their final termination in 1766, a period
of twelve years.
From the termination of hostilities in 1766, until the com
mencement of Dunmore's war in 1774, the people of the Valley
enjoyed uninterrupted peace and tranquility, and the country set
tled and increased with great rapidity. Several families of distinc
tion removed from the lower country and settled in the Valley.
The ancestors of the Washingtons, Willeses, Throckmortons and
Whitings, severally settled in the neighborhood of Long Marsh and
Bull-skin. The author did not find it convenient to obtain the several
treaties made with the Indian tribes during the period from the

* Samuel Kercheval, Jr., of Romney, related this tradition to the
author. f William Naylor, Esq., gave the author this version of the story.

io8 INDIAN INCURSIONS AND MASSACRES.
commencement of Braddock's war until the final termination
of hostilities. Nor does he consider it to be very material, as
those treaties were no sooner made than broken. Should this
be deemed a material defect, he will endeavor to supply it in an
other edition.
The commencement and termination of Dunmore's war will
form the subject of the next chapter.

DUNMORE'S WAR WITH THE INDIANS. 109

CHAPTER X.
DUNMORE'S WAR WITH THE INDIANS.
In the year 1773, the Indians killed two white men on the
Hockhocking River, to-wit, John Martin and Guy Meek, (Indian
traders) , and robbed them of about ,^200 worth of goods. About
the ist of May, 1774, they killed two men in a canoe on the Ohio
River, and robbed the canoe of its contents. * There were other
similar occurrences, which left no doubt upon the minds of the west-
em people, thatthe savages had determined to make war upon them;
and of course acts of retaliation were resorted to on the part of the
whites. The late Col. Angus McDonald, near Winchester, and several
other individuals, went out in the spring 1774, to survey the mili
tary bounty lands, lying on the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers,
allowed by the King's proclamation to the officers and soldiers of the
army, for their services in a preceding war with the Indians, but
were driven off.
Col. McDonald forthwith waited on Gov. Dunmore in person,
and gave him an account of the hostile disposition of the Indians.
The governor authorized him to raise a regiment of four hundred
men, and immediately proceed to punish the enemy. He soon suc
ceeded in raising his little army ; in the month of June marched into
the Indian country, destroyed several of their villages, cut off their
corn, and returned. He had two or three running fights with the
Indians, but there was little blood shed on either side.
This act of war produced a general combination of the various
nations northwest of the Ohio ; and hence arose the necessity of
speedily raising a powerful army to save the western people from
being entirely cut off, or driven from their habitation.
Lord Dunmore issued his order to Col. A. Lewis, of Augusta
county, to raise a body of one thousand men, and immediately pro
ceed to the Ohio River, where he, (Dunmore) would join him with
an equal number, to be raised in the northern counties of Virginia.
Dunmore very soon raised the requisite number of men, principally
volunteers from the counties of Berkeley, Hampshire, Frederick and
Shenandoah, f Capt. Daniel Cresap went to South Carolina, and
brought in one hundred and twenty Catawba Indian warriors at his

• Mr. Jacob's Life of Cresap,
t General John Smith.

IIO DUNMORE'S WAR WITH THE INDIANS.
own expense and responsibUity, which he intended employing against
the western enemy. He soon after marched at the head of this band
of warriors, with the addition of sixteen white volunteers, with the
design of breaking up and destroying the Moravian Indian towns on
Cheat River. These people professed Christianity and neutrality in
the war then going on between the red and white people. But they
were charged b}' the white people with secretly aiding and abetting
the hostile Indians ; hence Cresap's determination to break up their
settlement and drive them off. In crossing the Alleghany Moun
tains seven Indians under the guise of friendship, fell in with Cresap's
party and in the most treacherous manner contrived to kill seven of
the white volunteers, and then fled. They were instantly pursued
by the Catawbas, and two of them taken prisoners and delivered up
to Cresap, who, after reproaching them with their base treachery,
discharged them, and retreated into the settlement with his Indians
and remaining white volunteers. The Catawba Indians soon after
left Cresap and returned to their nation. The late Generals, Daniel
Morgan and James Wood, were captains in Dunmore's campaign,
each of whom had served under McDonald as captains the preceding
spring. *
For farther particulars of this war, the author will give copious
extracts from Mr. Doddridge "Notes on the Wars West of the
Alleghany Mountain," and from Mr. Jacob's "Life of Cresap."
These two authors have detailed the causes which led to this disas
trous and destructive war, and are directly at issue on some of the
most important particulars. In this controversy the author of this
work will not partake so far as to express an opinion which of these
two divines have truth on their side ; but he considers it is his duty,
as an impartial and faithful historian, to give both these reverend
gentlemen's accounts, at full length, of the original cause and con
sequences of this war.
It appears, however evident, that the late Capt. Michael Cres
ap has had injustice done to his character, both by Mr. Jefferson and
Mr. Doddridge. Mr. Jefferson in his " Notes on Virginia," charges
Cresap with being ' ' infamous for his many Indian murders and mur
dering Logan's family in cold blood." Mr. Doddridge repeats the
charge of the murder of Logan's family, and adds the further
charge "that Cresap was the cause of Dunmore's war. How far
these charges are refuted by Mr. Jacob, an impartial world will
determine. It is to be regretted that Mr. Jacob's vindication of the charac
ter of his friend Cresap cannot have a circulation co-extensive with
Mr. Jefferson's charges against him. The celebrity of Mr. Jefferson's
character, together with the beautiful specimen of Indian oratory in

* Mr. John Tomlinson related the particulars of these occurrences to the
author, and added that he himself was one of Cresap's party, and that he was
then a youth of seventeen or eighteen years of age.

DODDRIDGE'S ACCOUNT iii
the Logan speech, 'has probably caused his work to be circulated and
read all over the civilized world.
The author will only add that he has obtained permission, from
the proprietors of these works, to use them as he deems proper.
The Hon. Philip Doddridge, shortly before his death, in a
letter to the author stated, that he considered there would be
no impropriety in appending any part of his brother's book to
this publication ; and Mr. Jacob's, in the most liberal and unquali
fied terms, permits him to append the whole, or any part of his
"Life of Cresap."

REV. MR. DODDRIDGE'S ACCOUNT OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
. After the conclusion of the Indian wars, by the treaty made
with the chiefs by Sir William Johnson at the German flats, in the
latter part of 1764, the western settlements enjoyed peace until the
spring of 1774.
During this period of time, the settlements increased with great
rapidity along the whole extent of the western frontier. Even the
shores of the Ohio, on the Virginia side, had a considerable popula
tion as early as the year 1774.
Devoutly might humanity wish that the record of the causes
which led to the destructive war of 1774, might be blotted from the
annals of our country. But it is now too late to efface it ; the
"black-lettered list" must remain, a dishonorable blot in our na
tional history. Good however may spring out of evil. The injuries
inflicted upon the Indians, in early times by our forefathers, may
induce their descendants to show justice and mercy to the dimin
ished posterity of those children of the wilderness, whose ancestors
perished, in cold blood, under the tomahawk and scalping knife of
the white savage.
In the month of April, 1774, a rumor was circulated that the
Indians had stolen several horses from some land jobbers onthe Ohio
and Kanawha Rivers. No evidences of the facts having been ad
duced, led to the conclusion that the report was false. This report,
however, induced a pretty general belief that the Indians were about
to make war upon the frontier settlements, but for this apprehen
sion there does not appear to have been the slightest foundation.
In consequence of this apprehension of being attacked by the
Indians, the land jobbers ascended the River, and collected in Wheel
ing. On the 27th of April, it was reported in Wheeling that a canoe
containing two Indians and some traders, were coming down the
River, and then not far from the place. On hearing this, the com
mandant of the station, Capt. Cresap, proposed to go up the River
and kill the Indians. This project was vehemently opposed by Col.
Zane, the proprietor of the place. He stated to the captain that the
killing of those Indians would inevitably bring on a war, in which

112 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
much innocent blood would be shed, and that the act in itself would
be an atrocious murder, and a disgrace to his name forever. His
good counsel was lot. The party went up the river. On being asked,
at their return, what had become of the Indians ? they coolly ans
wered, that ' ' they had fallen overboard into the River ! ' ' Their
canoe, on being examined, was found bloody, and pierced with bul
lets. This was the first blood which was shed in this war, and terri
ble was the vengeance which followed.
In the evening of the same day, the party, hearing that
there was an encampment of Indians at the mouth of the Captina,
went down the river to the place, attacked the Indians and killed
several of them. In this affair only one of Cresap's party was se
verally wounded.
The massacre at Captina, and that which took place at Baker's,
about forty miles above Wheeling, after that at Captina, was un
questionably the sole cause of the war of 1774. The last was perpe
trated by thirty-two men, under the command of Daniel Great-
house. The whole number killed at this place, and on the River
opposite to it, was twelve, besides several wounded. This hor
rid massacre was effected by an hypocritical stratagem, which
reflects the deepest dishonor on the memory of those who were
agents to it.
The report of the murders committed on the Indians near
Wheeling, induced a belief that they would immediately commence
hostilities ; and this apprehension furnished the pretext for the mur
der above related. The ostensible object for raising the party under
Greathouse, was that of defending the family of Baker, whose house
was opposite to a large encampment of Indians, at the mouth of the
Big Yellow Creek. The party were concealed in ambuscade, while
their commander went over the River, under the mask of friendship,
to the Indian camp, to ascertain their number. While there an In
dian woman advised him to return home speedily, saying that the
Indians were drinking and angry on account of the murder of their
people down the River, and might do him some mischief. On his
return to the party, he reported that the Indians were too strong for
an open attack. He returned to Baker's, and requested him to give
any Indians who might come over, in the course of the day, as much
rum as they might call for, and get as many of them drunk as he
possibly could. The plan succeeded. Several Indian men and
women came over the River to Baker's, who had previously been in
the habit of selling rum to the Indians. The men drank freely, and
became intoxicated. In this state they were all killed by Greathouse
and a few of his party. I saw a few of his party ; for it is but jus
tice to state, that not more than five or six of the whole number had
any participation in the slaughter at the house. The rest pro
tested against it as an atrocious murder. From their number,
being by far the majority, they might have prevented the deed ; but
alas ! they did not. A little Indian girl alone saved from the

DODDRIDGE'S ACCOUNT 113
slaughter, by the humanity of some of the party, whose name is not
now known.
The Indians in the camp, hearing the firing at the house, sent a
canoe with two men in it to inquire what had happened. These
two Indians were both shot down as soon as they landed on the beach.
A second and larger canoe was then manned with a number of In
dians in arms ; but in attempting to reach the shore, some distance
below the house, they were received by a well directed fire from the
party, which killed the greater number of them, and compelled the
survivors to return. A great number of shots were exchanged across
the River but without damage to the white party, and none of
whom were even wounded. The Indian men who were murdered
were aU scalped.
The woman who gave the friendly advice to the commander of
the party when in the Indian camp was amongst the slain at Baker's
house. The massacres of the Indians at Capitna and Yellow Creek,
comprehended the whole of the family of the famous but unfortun
ate Logan, who before these events had been a lover of the whites,
a strenuous advocate for peace ; but in the conflict which followed
them, by way of revenge for the death of his people, he became a
brave and sanguinary chief among the warriors.
The settlers along the frontiers, knowing that- the Indians would
make war upon them for the murder of their people, either moved
off to the interior, or took up their residences in Forts. The appre
hension of war was soon realized. In a short time the Indians com
menced hostilities along the whole extent of our frontier.
Express was speedily sent to Williamsburg, the then seat of
government of the colony of Virginia, communicating intelligence of
the certainty of the commencement of an Indian war. The assem
bly was then in session.
A plan for a campaign, for the purpose of putting a speedy con
clusion to the Indian hostilities, was adopted between the Earl of
Dunmore, governor of the colony, and Gen. Lewis, of Botetourt
county. General Lewis was appointed to the command of the south
ern division of the forces to be employed on this occasion, with or
ders to raise a large body of volunteers, and drafts from the south
eastern counties of the colony with all dispatch. These forces were
to rendezvous at Camp Union, in the Greenbrier country. The
Earl of Dunmore was to raise another army in the northern counties
of the colony, and in the settlements west of the mountains, and as
semble them at Fort Pitt, and from thence descend the River to
Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the great Kanawha, the place ap
pointed for the junction of the two armies, for the purpose of invading
the Indian country and destroying as many of their villages as they
could reach in the course of the season.
On the nth of September, the forces under Gen. Lewis, amount
ing to eleven hundred men, commenced their march from Camp
15

114 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
Union to Point Pleasant, a distance of one hundred and sixty Uiiles.
The space of country between these two points was at that time a
trackless desert. Captain Matthew Arbuckle, the pilot, conducted
the army by the nearest and best route to their place of destination.
The flour and ammunition where wholy transported on pack horses,
as the route was impassable for wheel carriages. After a painful
march of nineteen days, the army arrived, on the ist of October, at
Point Pleasant, * where an encampent was made.
Gen. Lewis was exceedingly disappointed at hearing no tidings
of the Earl of Dunmore, who according to previous arrangements,
was to form a junction with him at this place. He immediately dis
patched some scouts, to go bj' land in the direction of Fort Pitt,
to obtain intelligence of the route which the Earl had taken, and
then return with the utmost dispatch. On the 9th, three men, who
had formerly been Indian traders, arrived in the camp, on express
from the Earl, to inform Lewis that lie had changed his plan of
operations, and intended to march to the Indian towns by the way
of Hockhocking, and directing Gen. Lewis to commence his march
immediately for the old Chillicothe towns.
Very early in the morning of the loth, two young men set out
from the camp to hunt up the River. Having gone about three

*0f the battle of the Point, the author has obtained some further parti
culars, which may not be uninteresting to the reader. He saw and con
versed with three individuals who participated in that desperate struggle,
viz : Joseph Mays, Andrew Reed and James Ellison. The two first named
informed the author that Col. Lewis ordered out a body of three hundred
men to meet and disperse the Indians as they were approaching his encamp
ment. The detachment was overpowered by the numerical force of the In
dians, not less than a thousand strong ; the whites, contending, however, for
every inch of ground in their retreat. They were driven back several hun
dred yards, when Col. Lewis ordered a second detachment of three hundred
men, who rushed forward with impetuosity to the relief of the first, which
movement at once checked the savages, and partially changed the aspect of
the fight. Col. Chas. Lewis, who had arrayed himself in a gorgeous scarlet
waistcoat, against the advice of his friends, thus rendering himself a con
spicuous mark for the Indians, was mortally wounded early in the action ;
yet was able to walk back after receiving the wound, into his own tent,
where he expired. He was met on his way by the commander-in-chief, his
brother, Col. Andrew Lewis, who remarked lo him, " I expected something
fatal would befall you," to which the wounded officer calmly replied, "It
is the fate of war." About two o'clock. Col. Christie arrived iu the field at
the head of five hundred men — thejbattle still raging — a reinforcement which
decided the issue almost immediately. The Indians fell back about two
miles, obstinately fighting the whole distance ; and such was the persever
ing spirit of the savages, though they were fairly beaten, that the contest
was not entirely closed till the setting of the sun, when they relinquished
the field. Shortly after the battle, several traders. with the Indians, regard
ed as nutural in war, called at the Point, and informed Captain Arbuckle,
commandant of the station, that there were not less than twelve hundred
Indians in this memorable action. Constalk, confident of success, had placed
a body of some two hundred Indians on the opposite bank of the Kanawha,
to cut off the retreat of the whites ; and that the loss of the Indians in killed
and wounded was not short of three hundred men.

DODDRIDGE'S ACCOUNT 115
miles, thej' fell upon a camp of the Indians, who were then in the
act of preparing to march to attack the Camp of Gen. Lewis. The
Indians fired on them and killed one of them ; the other ran back to
the camp with the intelligence that the Indians, in great force would
immediately give battle.
Gen. Lewis immediately ordered out a detachment of the Bote
tourt troops under Col. Fleming, and another of the Augusta troops
under Col. Charles Lewis, remaining himself with the reserve for
the defence of the camp. The detachment marched out in two lines,
and met the Indians in the same order about four hundred yards
from the camp. The battle commenced a little after sunrise, by a
heavy firing from the Indians. At the onset our troops gave back
some distance, until met by reinforcement, on the arrival of which
the Indians retreated a little way and formed a line behind logs .and
trees, reaching from the bank of the Ohio to that of the Kanawha.
By this man(£uver, our army and camp were completely invested,
being enclosed between two Rivers, with the Indian line of battle
in front, so that no chance of retreat was left. An incessant fire
was kept up on both sides, with but little change of position until
sundown, when the Indians retreated, and in the night recrossedthe
Ohio, and the next day commenced their march to their towns on
the Scioto. Our loss in this destructive battle was sevent5^-five killed, and
one hundred and forty wounded. Among the killed were Col. Chas.
Lewis, Col. Fields, Captains Buford, Murray, Ward, Wilson and
McClenachan ; Lieutenants Allen, Goldsby and Dillion, and several
subaltern officers.
Col. Lewis, a distinguished and meritorious officer, was mortal
ly wounded by the first fire of the Indians, but walked into the camp
and expired into his own tent.
The number of Indians engaged in the battle of the Point was
never ascertained, nor yet the amount of their loss. On the morn
ing after the engagement , twenty-one were found on the battle-ground,
and twelve more were afterwards found in the different places where
they had been concealed. A great number of their dead were said
to have been thrown into the River during the engagement. Con
sidering that the whole number of our men engaged in th^ conflict
were riflemen, and from habit sharp shooters of the first order, it is
presumable that the loss on the side of the Indians was at least equal
to ours. The Indians during the battle were commanded by the Corn
stalk warrior, the King of the Shawnees. This son of the forest, in
his plans of attack and retreat, and all the manceuvers throughout
the engagement, displayed the skill and bravery of the consummate
general. During the whole of the day, he was heard from our lines,
vociferating, with the voice of a Stentor, ' ' Be strong ! be strong ! ' '
It is even said that he killed one of his men with his own hand for
cowardice.

ii6 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
The day foUowing the battle, after burying the dead, entrench
ments were thrown up around the camp, and a competent guard were
appointed for the care and protection of the sick and wounded. On
the succeeding day Gen. Lewis commenced his march for the Shaw
nee towns on the Scioto. This march was made through a track
less desert, and attended with almost insuperable difficulties and
privations. In the meantime the Earl of Dunmore, having collected a force
and provided boats at Fort Pitt, descended the River to Wheeling,
where the army halted for a few days, and then proceeded down the
River in about one hundred canoes, a few keel boats and perouges,
to the mouth of the Hockhocking, and from thence overland until
the army had got within eight miles of the Shawnee town Chilli
cothe on the Scioto River. Here the army halted, and made a
breastwork of fallen trees and entrenchments of such extent as to
include about twelve acres of ground, with an enclosure in the cen
ter containing about one acre, surrounded by entrenchmets. This
was the citidal which contained the markees of the Earl and his su
perior officers.
Before the army had reached that place, the Indian chiefs had
sent several messengers to the Earl asking peace. With this re
quest he soon determined to comply, and therefore sent an express
to Gen. Lewis . with an order for his immediate retreat. This order
Gen. Lewis disregarded, and continued his march until his lordship
in person visited his camp, was formally introduced to his officers,
and gave the order in person. The army of Gen. Lewis then com
menced their retreat.
It was with the greate-st reluctance and chagrin that the troops
of Gen. Lewis returned from the enterprise in which they were en
gaged. The massacres of their relatives and friends at the Big
Levels and Muddy Creek, and above all their recent loss at the bat
tle of the Point, had inspired these " Big-knives," as the Indians
called the Virginians, with an inveterate thirst for revenge, the
gratification of which they supposed was shortly to take' place, in
the total destruction of the Indians and their towns along the Scioto
and Sandusky Rivers. The order of Dunmore was obeyed, but with
every expression of regret and disappointment.
The Earl with his officers having returned to the camp, a treaty
with the Indians were opened the following daj'.
In this treaty, every precaution was used on the part of our peo
ple to prevent the Indians from ending a treaty in the tragedy of a
massacre. Only eighteen Indians, with their chiefs, were permitted
to pass the outer gate of their fortified encampment, after having de
posited their arms with the guard at the gate.
The treaty was opened by Cornstalk, the war chief of the Shaw
nees, in a lengthy speech, in which he boldly charged the white peo
ple with having been the authors of the commencement of the war,
in the massacres of the Indians at Captina and Yellow Creek. This

DODDRIDGE'S ACCOUNT OF DUNMORE'S WAR. 117
speech he delivered in so loud a tone of voice, that he was heard all
over the camp. The terms of the treaty were soon settled and the
prisoners delivered up.
Logan, the Cayuga chief, assented to the treaty ; but still in
dignant at the murder of his family, he refused to attend with the
other chiefs at the camp of Dunmore. According tol:he Indian mode
in such cases, he sent his speech in a belt of wampum by an inter
preter, to be read at the treaty.
Supposing that this work may fall iu the hands of some readers
who have not seen the speech of Logan, the author thinks it not
amiss to insert the celebrated morsel of Indian eloquence in this place,
with the observation that the authenticity of the speech is no longer
a subject of doubt. The speech is as follows :
" I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered Logan's
cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; if he ever came cold and
naked, and He clothed him not. During the course of the last long
and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for
peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed
as they passed, and said, ' Logan is the friend of the white man,' I
had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one
man. Col. Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked,
murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women
and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of
any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought
it ; I have killed many ? I have glutted my vengeance ; for my coun
try I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought
that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not
turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ?
Not one."
Thus ended the treaty of Camp Charlotte, in the month of No
vember, 1774, the disastrous war of Dunmore. It began in the
wanton and unprovoked murders of the Indians at Captina
and Yellow Creek, and ended in an awful sacrifice of life and
property to the demon of revenge. On our part we obtained at
the treaty a cessation of hostilities and a surrender of prisoners, and
nothing more.
The plan of operations adopted by the Indians in the war of
Dunmore, shows very clearly that their chiefs were by no means de
ficient in the foresight and skill necessary for making the most pru
dent military arrangements for obtaining success and victory in the
mode of warfare. At an early period they obtained intelligence
of the plan of the campaign against them, concerted between the
Earl of Dunmore and Gen. Lewis. With a view, therefore, to at
tack the forces of these commanders separately, they speedily col
lected their warriors, and by forced marches reached the Point before
the expected arrival of the troops under Dunmore. Such was the
privacy with which they conducted their march to Point Pleasant,
that Gen. Lewis knew nothing of the approach of the Indian army

ii8 JACOB'S ACCOUNT OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
untfl a few minutes before the commencement of the battle, and it
is very probable, that if Constalk,' the Indian commander, had had a
little larger force at the battle of the Point, the whole army of Gen.
Lewis would have been cut off, as the wary savage had left them no
chance to retreat. Had the army of Lewis been defeated, the army
of Dunmore, consistingof a little more than one thousand men, would
have shared the fate of those armies which at different periods have
suffered defeats in consequence of venturing too far into the Indian
countr}', in numbers too small, and with munitions of war inade
quate to sustain a contest with the united forces of a number of In
dian nations.
It was the general belief am^ong the officers of our army, at the
time, that the Earl of Dunmore, while at Wheeling, received advice
from his government of the probability of the approaching war be
tween England and the colonies, and that afterwards, all his meas
ures, with regard to the Indians, had for their ultimate object an'
alliance with those ferocious warriors for the aid of the mother coun
try in their contest with us. This supposition accounts for his not
forming a junction with the army of Lewis at Point Pleasant. This
deviation from the origin plan of the campaign jeopardized the army
of Lewis and well nigh occasioned its total destruction. The con
duct of the Earl at the treaty, shoft'S a good understanding between
him the and Indian chiefs. He did not suffer the army of Lewis to form
a junction with his own, but sent them back before the treaty was
concluded, thus risking the safety of his own forces ; for at
the time of the treaty, the Indian warriors were about his camp
in force sufficient to have intercepted his retreat and destroyed his
whole army. REV. MR. JACOB'S ACCOUNT OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
At this period, to-wit : in the commencement of the year 1774,
there existed between our people and the Indians, a kind of doubt
ful, precarious and suspicious peace. In the year 1773, they
killed a certain John Martin and Guy Meeks, (Indian traders),
on the Hockhocking River, and robbed them of about ;^200 worth
of goods. They were much irritated with our people, who were about this
time beginning to settle Kentucky, and with them they waged an
unceasing and destructive predatory war ; and whoever saw an In
dian in Kentucky, saw an enemy ; no questions were asked on either
side but from the muzzles of their rifles. Many other circumstances
at this period combined to show that our peace with the Indians
rested upon such dubious and uncertain ground, that it must soon
be dispersed with a whirlwind of carnage and war. And as I con
sider this an all-important point in the thread of our history, and an
interesting link in the causes combining to produce Dunmore's war, I
will present the reader with another fact directly in point. It is

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 119
extracted from the journal of a 'Squire McConnel, in my possession.
The writer says, that about the 3d of March, 1774, while himself
and six other men, who were in company with him, were asleep in
their camp in the night, they were awakened by the fierce barking
of their dogs, and thought they saw something like men creeping
towards them. Alarmed at this, they sprang up, seized their rifles,
and flew to trees. By this time one Indian had reached their fire ; but
hearing them cock their guns, he drew back, stumbled and fell.
The whole party now came up, and appearing friendly, he ordered his
men not to fire, and shook hands with his new guests. They tarried
all night, and appearing so friendly, prevailed with him and one of
his men to go with them to their town, at no great distance from
their camp ; but when they arrived he was taken with his compan
ion to their council, or war house ; a war dance performed around
them, the war club shook at or over them, and they were detained
close prisoners, and narrowly guarded for two or three days. A
council was then held over them, and it was decreed that they
should be threatened severely and discharged, provided they would
give their women some flour and salt. Being dismissed, they set out
on their journey to the camp, but met on their way about twenty-
five warriors and some boys. A second council was held over them,
and it was decreed that they should not be killed, but robbed, which
was accordingly done ; and all their flour, salt, powder and lead,
and all their rifles that were good, were taken from them ; and being
further threatened, the Indians left them as already noticed. This
party consisted of seven men, viz: 'Squire McConnel, Andrew Mc
Connel, Lawrence Darnel, William Ganet, Matthew Riddle, John
Laferty and Thos. Canady.
We have also in reserve some more material facts, that go to
show the aspect of affairs at this period and that may be considered
as evident precursors to an impending war. And it is certainly not
a trifling item in the catalogue of these events, that early in the
spring of 1774, whether preceeding or subsequent to Connoly's fam
ous circular letter, I am not prepared to say, having no positive
data ; but was, however, about the tim^that the Indians killed two
men in a canoe belonging to a Mr. Butler, of Pittsburg, and robbed
the canoe of the property therein. This was the ist of May, 1774,
and took place near the mouth of Little Beaver, a small creek that
empties into the Ohio River, between Pittsburg and Wheeling ; and
this fact is so certain and well established, that Benjamin Tomlin-
.son, Esq., is now living (1826) and who assisted in burying the
dead, can and will bear testimony to its truth. And it is presumed
it was this circumstance which produced that prompt and terrible
vengeance taken on the Indians at Yellow Creek immediately after
ward, to-wit : on the 3rd day of May, which gave rise to, and furn
ished matter for, the pretended lying speech of Logan, which I shall
hereafter prove a counterfeit, and if it was genuine, yet a genuine
fabrication of lies.

I20 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
Thus we find from an examination into the state of affairs in
the west, tliat there was a predisposition to war, at least on the part
of the Indians. But we may not suspect that other latest causes,
working behind the scenes and in the dark, were silently marching
to the same result ?
Be it remembered, then, that this Indian war was but a portico
to our revolutionary war, the fuel for which was then preparing, and
which burst into a flame the ensuing year.
Neither let us forget that the Earl of Dunmore was at this time
governor of Virginia ; and that he was acquainted with the views
and designs of the British Cabinet, can scarcely be doubted.
What then, suppose ye, would be the conduct of a man possessing
his means, filling a high, official station, attached tothe British gov
ernment, and master of consumate diplomatic skill ?
"Dunmore's penetrating eye could not but see, and he no doubt
did see, two all-important objects, that, if accomplished, would go to
subserve and promote the grand object of the British Cabinet, viz :
the establishment of an unbounded and unrestrained authority over
our North American continent.
These two objects were, first, setting the new settlers on the west
side of the Alleghany Mountain by the ears ; and .secondly, embroil
ing the western people in a war with the Indians. These two objects
accomplished, would put it in his power to direct the storm to any
and every point conducive to the grand object he had in view. But
as in the nature of the thing he could not, and policy forbidding that
he should, always appear personally in promoting and effecting these
objects, it was necessary he should obtain a confidential agent at
tached to his person and to the British government, and one that
would promote his views either publicly or covertly, as circumstances
required. The materials for his first object were abundant, and already
prepared. The emigrants to the western country were almost all
from the three states of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The
line between the two states of Virginia and Pennsylvania was un
settled, and both these states claimed the whole of the western coun
try. This motly mixture of men from different states did not
harmonize. The Virginians and Marylanders disliked the Pennsyl
vania laws, nor did the Pennsylanians relish those of Virginia. Thus
many disputes, much warm blood, broils, and sometimes battles,
cattled fisiicuffs , followed.
The Earl of Dunmore, with becoming zeal for the honor of the
"ancient dominion," seized upon this stage or things so propitious
to his views ; and having found Dr. JohnConnoly, aPennsylvanian,
with whom I think he could not have had much previous acquaint
ance, by the art of hocuspocus or some other art, converted him into
a staunch Virginian, and appointed him vice-governor and com
mandant of Pittsburg and its dependencies, that is to say of all the
western country. Affairs on that side of the mountain began to

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 121
wear a serious aspect ; attempts were made by both States to enforce
their laws ; and the strong arm of power and coercion was let loose
by Virginians. Some magistrates acting under tne authority of
Pennsylvania were arrested, sent to Virginia and imprisoned.
But that the reader may be well assured that the Hand of Dun
more was in all this, I present him with a copy of his proclamation.
It is, however, deficient as to date :
Whereas, I have reason to apprehend that the Governor of
Pennsylvania, in prosecution of their claims to Pittsburg and its de
pendencies, will endeavor to obstruct his majesty's government
thereof, under my administration, by illegal and unwarrantable com
mitment of the officers I have appointed for the purpose, and that
settlement is in some danger of annoyance from the Indians also ;
and it being necessary to support the dignity of his majesty's gov
ernment and protect His subjects in the quiet and peaceable enjoy
ment of their rights ; I have therefore thought proper, by and with
the consent and advice of his majesty's council, by this proclama
tion in his majesty's name, to order and require the officers of
the militia in that district to embody a sufficient number of men to
repel any insult whatsoever ; and all his majesty's liege subject with
in this colony are hereby strictly required to be aiding and assisting
therein, or they shall answer the contrary at their peril ; and I fur
ther enjoin and require the several inhabitants of the territories
aforesaid to pay his majesty's quitrents and public dues to such offi
cers as are or shall be appointed to collect the same within this
dominion, until his majesty's pleasure therein shall be known."
It is much to be regretted that my copy of this proclamation is
without date. There can, however, be no doubt it was issued in
1774 or early in 1775, and I am inclined to think it was issued in
1774 ; but it would be satisfactory to know precisely the day, be
cause chronology is the soul of history.
But this state of things in the west, it seems from subsequent
events, was not the mere effervescence of a transcient and momen
tary excitement, but continued a long season. The seeds of discord
had fallen unhappily on ground too naturally productive, and were
also too well cultivated by the Earl of Dunmore, Connoly, and the
Pennsylvania officers, to evaporate in an instant.
We find by recurring to the history of our revolutionary war,
that that awful tornado, if it had not the effect to sweep away dis
putes about state rights and local interests, yet it had the effect to
silence and suspend everything of that nature pending our dubious
and arduous struggle for national existence ; but yet we find, in fact,
that whatever concilitory effect this state of things had upon other
sections of the country, and upon the nation at large, it was not
sufficient to extinguish this fire in the west. For in the latter end
of the year 1776, or in the year 1777, we find these people petitioning
16

122 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
Congress to interpose their authority, and redress their grevances.
I have this petition before me, but it "is too long to copy ; I therefore
only give a short abstract.
It begins with stating that whereas Virginia and Pennsylvania
both set up claims to the western country, it was productive of the
most serious and distressing consequences ; that as each State per
tinaciously supported their respective pretensions, the result was, as
described by themselves, " frauds, impositions, violences, depreda
tions, animosities," &c., &c.
These evils they ascribe (as indeed the fact was) to the conflict
ing claims of the two States ; and so warm were the partizans on
each side, as in some cases to produce battles and shedding of blood.
But they superadd another reason of this ill-humor, namely, the
proceedings of Dunmore's warrant officers, in laying land warrants
on land claimed by others, and many other claims for land granted
by the crown of England to individuals, companies, &c., cover
ing a vast extent of country, and including most of the lands
already settled and occupied by the greatest part of the inhabi
tants of the western country ; and they finally prayed Congress to
erect them into a separate State and admit them into the Union as
a fourteenth State.
As the petition recites the treaty of Pittsburg, in October,
1775, it is probable we may fix its date (for it Has none) to the lat
ter part of 1776 or 1777. I rather think the latter, not only from
my own recollection of the circumstances of the period, but especially
from the request in the petition to be erected into a new State, which
certainly would not have been thought of before the Declaration of
Independence. But the unhappy state of the western country will appear still
more evident, when we advert to another important document which
I have also before me. It is a proclamation issued by the delegates
in Congress from the States of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and bears
date Philadelphia, July 25, 1775.
But the heat of fire, and inflexible obstinacy of the parties en
gaged in this controversy, will appear in colors still stronger, when
we see the unavailing efforts made by the delegates in Congress from
the two States of Virginia and Pennsylvania in the year 1775.
These gentlemen, it was obvious, under the influence of the best of
motives, and certainly with a view to the best interests, peace, and
happiness to the western people, sent them a proclamation, couched
in terms directly calculated ro restore tranquility and harmony
among them ; but the little effect produced by this proclamation,
their subsequent petition just recited, and sent the next year or year
after to Congress, fully demonstrates.
But as I consider this proclamation an important document and
as it is nowhere recorded, I give it to the reader entire :

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 123
" To the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania and Virginia, on the west side
of the Laurel Hill.
' ' Friends and Countrymen : — It gives us much concern to
find disburbances have arisen, and still continue among you, con
cerning the boundaries of our colonies. In the character in which
we now address you, it is necessary to inquire in the origin of those
unhappy disputes, and it would be improper for us to express our
approbation or censure on either side ; but as representatives of two
of the colonies, united among many others for the defence of the
liberties of America, we think it our duty to remove, as far as lies
in our power, every obstacle that may prevent her sons from co
operating as vigorously as they would wish to do towards the attain
ment of the great and important end. Influenced solely by this
motive, our joint and earnest request to you is, that all animosities,
which have heretofore subsisted among you, as inhabitants of dis
tinct colonies, may now give place to generous and concurring efforts
for the preservation of everything that can make our common coun
try dear to us.
" We are fully persuaded that you, as well as we, wish to see
your differences terminate in this happy issue. For this desirable
purpose we recommend it to you that all bodies of armed men, kept
under either province, be dismissed ; that all those on either side,
who are in co7ifinement, or under bail for taking part in the contest,
be discharged ; and that until the dispute be decided, every person
be permitted to retain his possessions unmolested.
' ' By observing these directions, the public tranquility will be
secured without injury to the titles on either side. The period, we
flatter ourselves will soon arrive, when this unfortunate dispute,
which has produced much mischief, and as far as we can learn no
good, wUl be peaceably and constitutionally determined.
"We are your friends and countrymen,
"P. Henry,
Richard Henry Lee,
Benjamin Harrison,
Thos. Jefferson,
John Dickinson,
Geo. Ross,
B. Franklin,
Jas. Wilson,
Charles Humphreys.
" Philadelphia, July 2Sth, 1775.
But to conclude this part of our subject, I think the reader can
not but see from Dunmore's proclamation, the violent measures of
his Lieutenant Connoly and the Virginia officers, and from the com
plexion of the times, and subsequent conduct of both Dunmore and

124 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
Connoly, as we shall see hereafter; that this unhappy state of
things, if not actually produced, was certainly improved by Dun
more to subserve the views of the British court.
We now proceed to examine the question, how far facts and
circumstances justify us in supposing the Earl of Dunmore himself
was instrumental in producing the Indian war of 1774.
It has already been remarked that this Indian war was but the
precursor to our revolutionary war of 1775 — that Dunmore the then
governor of Virginia, was one of the most inveterate and determined
enemies to the revolution — that he was a man of high talents, es
pecially for intrigue and diplomatic skill — that occupying the sta
tion of commander-in-chief of the large and respectable State of
Virginia, he possessed means and power to do much to serve the
views of Great Britain. And we have seen, from the preceding
pages, how effectually he played his part among the inhabitants of
the western country. I was present myself when a Pennsylvinia
magistrate, of the name of Scott, was taken into custody, and
brought before Dunmore, at Prestone old Fort ; he was severely
threatened and dismissed, perhaps on bail, but I do not recollect
how ; another Pennsylvania magistrate was sent to Staunton jail.
And I ha-\>e already shown in the preceding pages, that there was a
sufficient preparation of materials for this war in the predisposition
and hostile attitude of our affairs with the Indians; that it was con
sequently no difficult matter with a Virginia governor to direct the
incipient state of things to any point most conclusive to the grand
end he had in view, namely, in weakening our national strength in
some of the best and most efficient parts. If, then, a war with the
Indians might have a tendeny to produce this result, it appears per
fectly natural and reasonable to suppose that Dunmore would make
use of the power and influence to promote it , and although the war
of 1774 was brought to a conclusion before the year was out, yet
we know that this fire was scarcely extinguished before it burst into
a flame with tenfold fury, and two or three armies of the whites
were sacrificed before we could get the Indians subdued ; and this
unhappy state of our affairs with the Indians happening during the
severe conflict of our revolutionary war, had the very effect, I sup
pose, Dunmore had in view namely, dividing our forces and
enfeebling our aggregate strength ; and that the seeds of these
subsequent wars with the Indians were sown in 1774 and 1775, ap
pears almost certain.
Yet still, however, we admit that we are not in possession of
materials to substantiate this charge against the Earl ; and all we
can do is produce some facts and circumstances that deserve no
tice, and have a strong bearing on the case.
And the first we shall mention* is a circular sent by Maj.
*The remark, as it should seem incidently made, in Dunmore's procla
mation, as to the Indian war (see page 121), deserve notice, as it has no con
nection with the subject of that proclamation.

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 125
Connoly, his proxy, early in the spring of the year 1774, warning
the inhabitants to be on their guard — the Indians were very angry,
and manifested so much hostility, that he was apprehensive they
would strike somewhere as soon as the season would permit, and en
joining the inhabitants to prepare and retire into Forts, &c. It
might be useful to collate and compare this letter with one he
wrote to Capt. Cresap on the 14th of July following ; see hereafter.
In this letter he declares there is a war or danger of war, before the
war is properly begun ; in that to Capt. Cresap he says the Indians
deport themselves peaceably, when Dunmore and Lewis and Corn
stalk are all out on their march for battle.
This letter was sent by express in every section of the country.
Unhappily we have lost or mislaid it, and consequently are deficient
in a most material point in this date. But from one expression in
the letter, namely, that the Indians will strike when the season per
mits, and this season is generally understood to mean when the
leaves are out, we may fix it in the month of May. We find from
a subsequent letter from Pentecost and Connoly to Capt. Reece,
that this assumed fact is proved ; see hereafter.
Therefore this letter cannot be of a later date than sometime in the
month of April ; and if so, before Butler's men were killed on Little
Beaver ; and before Logan's family were killed on Yellow Creek,
and was in fact the fiery red-cross and harbinger of war, as in days
of yore among the Scottish clans. That was the fact I think, abso
lutely certain, because no mention is made in Connoly's letter of this
affair, which certainly would not have been omitted, if precedent to
this letter. This letter produced its natural result. The people fled into
Forts, and put themselves into a posture of defense, and the tocsin
of war resounded from Laurel Hill to the banks of the Ohio River.
Capt. Cresap who was peacebly at this time employed in building
houses and improving lands, on the Ohio River, received this letter,
accompanied, it is believed, with a confirmatory message from Col.
Croghan and Maj . McGee, Indian agents and interpreters ; * and he
thereupon immediately broke up his camp, and ascended the River
to Wheeling Fort, the nearest place of safelty from whence it is be
lieved he intended speedily to return home ; but during his stay at
this place, a report was brought in the Fort that two Indians were
coming down the River. Capt. Cresap, supposing from every circum
stance, and the general aspect of affairs, that war was inevitable, and
in fact already begun, went up the River with his party ; and two
of his men, of the name of Chenoweth and Brothers, killed these
two Indians. Beyond controversy this is the only circumstance in
the history of this Indian war, in which his name can in the remot
est degree be identified with any measure tending to produce this
war ; and it is certain that the guilt or innocence of this affair will

* I had this from Capt. Cresap himself, a short time after it occurred.

126 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
appear from this date. It is notorious, then, that those Indians
were killed not only after Capt. Cresap had received Connoly's let
ter, and after Butler's men were kUled in the canoe, but also after
the affair at Yellow Creek, and after the people had, fled into the
Forts. But more of this after, when we take Up Mr. Doddridge
and his book ; simply, however, remarking here, that is affair of
killing those two Indians has the same aspect and relation to
Dunmore's war that the battle of Lexington has to the war of the
revolution. But to proceed. Permit us to remark, that it is very difficult
at this late period to form a correct idea of these times unless we can
bring distinctly into view the real state of our frontier. The inhabi
tants of the western country were at this time thinly scattered from
the Alleghany Mountain to the eastern banks of the Ohio River, and
most thinly near that River. In this state of things, it was natural
to suppose that the few settlers in the vicinity of Wheeling, who had
collected into the Fort, would feel extremely solicitious to detain
Capt. Cresap and his men as long as possible, especially until they
could see on what point the storm would fall. Capt. Cresap, the son
of a hero, and a hero himself, felt for their situation ; and getting
together a few more men, in addition to his own, and not relishing
the limits of a little Fort, nor a life of inactivity, set out on what was
called a scouting party, that is, to reconnoiter and scour the frontier
border ; and while out and engaged in this business, fell in with and
Had a running fight with a party of Indians, nearly about his equal
in numbers, when one Indian was killed, and Cresap had one man
wounded. This affair took place somewhere on the banks of the
Ohio. Doddridge says it was at the mouth of Captina ; be it so — it
matters not ; but he adds, it was on the same day the Indians were
killed in the canoe. In this the doctor is most egregiously mistaken,
as I shall prove hereafter.
But may we not ask, what were these Indians doing here at
this time, on the banks of the Ohio ? They had no town near this
place, nor was it their hunting season, it was about the Sth or loth
of May. Is it not then probable, nay, almost certain, that the
struggling banditti were prepared and ready to fall on some parts
of our exposed frontier, and that their dispersion saved the lives of
many helpless women and children ?
But the old proverb, cry mad dog and kill him ! is, I suppose,
equally as applicable to heroes as to dogs.
Capt. Cresap soon after this returned to his family in Maryland ;
but feeling most sensibly for the inhabitants on the frontier in their
perilous situation, immediately raised a company of volunteers,
and marched back to their assistance ; and having advanced as
far as Catfish Camp, the place where Washington, Pa. , now stands,
he was arrested in his progress by a peremptory and insulting
order from Connoly, commanding him to dismiss his men and to re
turn home.

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 127
This order, couched in offensive and insulting language, it may
be well supposed, was not very grateful to a man of Capt. Cresap's
high sense of honor and peculiar sensibility, especially conscious as
he was of the purity of his motives, and the laudable end he Had in
view. He nevertheless obeyed, returned home and dismissed his
men, and with the determination, I well know from what he said
after his return, never again to take any part in the present Indian
war, but to leave Mr. Commandant at Pittsburg to fight it out as
he could. This hasty resolution was, however, of short duration.
For however strange, contradictory, and irreconcilable the conduct
of the Earl of Dunmore and his Vice-governor at Pittsburg, &c.
may appear, yet it is a fact, that on the loth of June, the Earl of
Dunmore, unsolicited, and to Capt. Cresap, certainly tmexpected,
sent him a Captain! s commission of the militia of Plampshire county,
Virginia, notwithstanding his residence was in Maryland. This
commission reached Capt. Cresap a few days after his return from
the expedition to Catfish Camp, just above mentioned; and inas
much as this commission, coming to him the way it did, carried
with it a tacit expression of the Governor's approbation of his
conduct — add to which, that about the same time his feelings
were daily assailed by petition after petition, from almost every
section of the western country, praying, begging, and beseeching
him to come of to their assistance — it is not surprising that his
resolution should be changed. Several of these petitions and Dun
more's commission have escaped the wreck of time and are now in
my possession. This commission coining at the time it did, and in the way and
under the circumstances above recited, aided and strengthened as it
was by the numberless petitioners aforesaid, broke down and so
far extinguished all Capt. Cresap's personal resentment against
Connoly that he once more determined to exert all the power and in
fluence in assisting the distressed inhabitants of the western frontier,
and accordingly immediately raised a company, placed himself under
the command of Maj. Angus McDonald, and marched with him to
attack the Indians, at their town of Wappatomachie, on the Musk
ingum. His popularity, at this time, was such, and so many men
flocked to his standard, that he could not consistently with the rules
of an anny, retain them in his company, but obliged to transfer
them, much against their wills, to other captains, and the result
was, that after retaining in his own company as many men as he
could consistently, he filled completely the company of his nephew,
Capt. Michael Cresap, and also partly the company of Capt. Han
cock Lee. This little army of about four hundred rnen, under Maj.
McDonald, penetrated the Indian country as far as the Muskingum ;
near which they skirmished with a party of Indians under Captain
Snake, in which McDonald lost six men, and killed the Indian chief
Snake. A little anecdote here will go to shov/ what expert and close

128 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
shooters v/e had in those days among our riflemen. When McDon
ald's little army arrived on the bank of the Muskingum River, and
whUe lying there, an Indian on the opposite shore got behind a log
or old tree, and was lifting up his head occasionally to view the
white men's army. One of Capt. Cresap's men, of the name of
John Harness, seeing this, loaded his rifle with two balls, and
placing himself on the bank of the River, watched the oppor
tunity when the Indian raised his head, and firing at the same in
stant, put both balls through the Indian's neck, and laid him dead ; *
which circumstance no doubt had great influence in intimidating the
Indians. McDonald after this had another running fight with the Indians,
drove them from their towns, burnt them, destroyed their provisions,
and, returned to the settlement and discharged his men.
But this affair at Wappatomachie and expedition of McDonald
Vi^ere only the prelude to more important and efficient measures.
It was well understood that the Indians were far from being
subdued, and that they would now certainly collect all their forces,
and to the utmost of their power return the compliment of our visit
to their territories.
The Governor of Virginia, whatever might have been his 'views
as to the ulterior measures, lost no time in preparing to meet this
storm. He sent orders immediately to Col. Andrew Lewis, of
Augusta county, to raise an army of about one thousand men,
and to march with all expedition to the mouth of the Great
Kanawha, on the Ohio River, where, or at some other point, he
would join him, after he had got together another army, which he
intended to raise in the northwestern counties, and command in
person. Lewis lost no time, but collected the number of men re
quired, and marched without delay to the appointed place of ren
dezvous. But the Earl was not quite so rapid in his movements, which
circumstance the eagle eye of old Cornstalk, the general of the In
dian army, saw, and was determined to avail himself of, foreseeing
that it would be much easier to destroy two separate columns of an
invading army before than after their junction and consolidation.
With this view he marched with all expedition to attack Lewis before
he was joined by the Earl's army from the north, calculating, con
fidently no doubt, that if he could destroy Lewis, he would be able
to give a good account of the army of the Earl.
The plan of Cornstalk appear to have been those of a consum
ate and skillful general, and the prompt and rapid execution of them
displayed the energy of a warrior. He, therefore, without loss
of time, attacked Lewis at his post. The attack was sudden, vio
lent, and I believe unexpected. It was nevertheless well fought,
very obstinate, and of long continuance ; and as both parties fought
* The Muskingum at this place is said to be about 200 yards wide.

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 129
with rifles, the conflict was dreadful ; many were killed on both sides,
and the contest was only finished with the approach of night. The
Virginians, however, kept the field, but lost many valuable officers
and men, and among the rest. Col. Charles Lewis, brother to the
commander-in-chief. Cornstalk and Blue Jacket, the two Indian captains, it is said,
performed prodigies pf valor ; but finding at length all their efforts
unavailing, drew off their men in good order, and with the deter
mination to fight no more, if peace could be obtained on reasonable
terms. This battle of Lewis' opened an easy and unmolested passage
for Dunmore through the Indian country ; * but it is proper to re
mark here, however, that when Dunmore arrived with his wing of
the army at the mouth of the Hockhocking River, he sent Capt.
White-eyes, a Delaware chief, to invite the Indians to a treaty, and
he remained stationary at that place until White-eyes returned, who
reported that the Indians would not treat about peace. I presume,
in order of time, this must have been just before Lewis' battle ; be
cause it will appear in the sequal of this story, that a great revolu
tion took place in the minds of the Indians after the battle.
Dunmore, immediately upon the report of White-eyes that the
Indians were not disposed for peace, sent an express to Col. Lev.'is to
move on and meet him near Chillicothe, on the Scioto River, and
both wings of the army were put in motion. But as Dunmore ap
proached the Indian town. He was met by flags from the Indians,
demanding peace, to which he acceded, halted his army, and run
ners were sent to invite the Indian chiefs, who cheerfully obeyed the
summons, and came to the treaty — save only Logan, the great ora
tor, who refused to come. It seems, however, that neither Dunmore
nor the Indian chiefs considered his presence of much importance,
for they went to work and finished the treaty without him — refer
ring, I believe, some unsettled points for future discussion, at a
treaty to be held the ensuing summer or fall at Pittsburg. This
treaty, the articles of which I never saw, nor do I know that they
were ever recorded, concluded Dunmore's war, in September or
October, 1774. After the treaty was over, old Cornstalk, the Shaw
nee chief, accompanied Dunmore's army until they reached the mouth
of the Hockhocking, on the Ohio River ; and what was more singu
lar, rather made his home in Capt. Cresap's tent, with whom he
continued on terms of the most friendly familiarity. I consider this
* A little anecdote will prove that Dunmore was a General, and also the
high estimation in which he held Capt. Cresap. While the army was
marching through the Indian country, Dunmore ordered Capt. Cresap with
his company and some more of his best troops in the rear. This displeased
Cresap, and he expostulated with the Earl, who replied, that the reason of
this arrangement was, because he knew that if he was attacked in front,
all those men would soon rush forward into the engagement. The reason,
which was by the by a handsome compliment, satisfied Cresap, and all the
rear guard. 17

I30 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
circumstance as positive proof that the Indians themselves neither
considered Capt. Cresap the murderer of Logan's family, nor the
cause of the war. It appears, also, that at this place the Earl of
Dunmore received dispatches from England. Doddridge says he re
ceived these on his march out.
But we ought to have mentioned in its proper place, that after
the treaty between Dunmore and the Indians commenced near Chil
licothe, Lewis arrived with his army, and encamped two or three
miles from Dunmore, which greatly alarmed the Indians, as they
thought he was so much irritated at losing so many men in the late
battle that he would not easily be pacified ; nor would they be satis
fied until Dunmore and old Cornstalk went into Lewis' camp to
converse with him.
Dr. Doddridge represents this affair in different shades of light
from this statement. I can only say I had my information from an
officer who was present at the time.
But it is time to remind the reader, that, although I have wan
dered into such a minute detail of the various occurrences, facts and
circumstances of Dunmore's war ; and all of which as a history may be
interesting to the present and especially to the rising generation ;
yet it is proper to remark that I have two leading objects chiefly in
view — first, to convince the world, that whoever and whatever might
be the cause of the Indian war in 1774, it was not Capt. Cresap;
secondly, that from the aspect of our political affairs, at that period,
and from the known hostility of Dunmore to the Amicrican Revolu
tion, and withal to the subsequent conduct of Dunmore, and the
dreadful Indian war that commenced soon after the beginning of our
war with Great Britain — I say, from all these circumstances, we
have infinitely stronger reasons to suspect Dunmore than Cresap ;
and I may say that the dispatches above mentioned that were re
ceived by Dunmore at Hockhocking, although after the treaty, were
yet calculated to create suspicion.
But if, as we suppose, Dunmore was secretly at the bottom of
this Indian war, it is evident that he could not with propriety ap
pear personally in a business of this kind ; and we have seen and
shall see, how effectually his sub-governor played his part be
tween the Virginians and Pennsylvanians ; and it now remains
for us to examine how far the conduct of this man (Connoly)
will bear us out in the supposition that there was also some foul play,
some dark intriguing work to embroil the western country in an In
dian war.
And I think it best now, as we have introduced this man Con
noly again, to give the reader a short condensed history of his
whole proceedings, that we may have him in full view at once.
We have already presented the reader with his circular letter, and
its natural result and consequences and also with his insulting letter
and mandatory order to Capt. Cresap, at Catfish Camp, to dismiss
his men and go home ; and that the reader may now see a little of

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 131
the character of this man, and understand him, if it is possible to
understand him, I present him with a copy of a letter to Capt.
Reece. " As I have received intelligence that Logan, a Mingo Indian,
with about twenty Shawnees and others, were set off for war, last
Monday, and I have reason to believe they may come upon the in
habitants about Wheeling, I hereby order, require and command
you, with all the men you can raise, immediately to march and join
any of the companies already out and under the pay of ihe government,
and upon joining your parties together, scour the frontier and be
come a barrier to our settlements, and endeavor to fall in with their
tracks, and pursue them, using your utmost endeavours to chastise
them as open and avowed enemies.
' I am, sir, your most humble servant,
"DoRSEY Pentecost, for JOHN CONNOLY,
" To Gapt. Joel Reece, use all expedition. May 27; 1774.
Now here is a fellow for you. A very short time before this,
perhaps two or three days before the date of this letter, Capt. Cresap,
who had a fine company of volunteers, is insulted, ordered to dismiss
his men and go home ; and indeed it appears from one expression in
his letter, namely, "the companies who are already out," that these
companies must have been actually out at the very time Cresap is
ordered home.
Now if any man is skilled in the art of legerdemain, let him un
riddle this enigma if he can.
But as so many important facts crowd together at this eventful
period, it may be satisfactory to the reader, and have a tendency
more clearly to illustrate the various scenes interwoven in the thread
of this history, to present to his view a chronological list of these
facts ; and I think the first that deserves notice is Connoly's circu
lar letter, which we date the 25th day of April ; secondly, the two
men killed in Butler's canoe we know was the first or second day of
May ; thirdly, the affair at Yellow Creek, was on the third day of
May ; fourthly, the Indians killed in the canoe above Wheeling, the
fifth or sixth day of May ; fifth, the skirmish with the Indians on
the Ohio River, about the eigth or tenth day of May ; after which,
Capt. Cresap returned to Catfish Camp about the twenty-fifth day
of May. Indeed, this first speaks for itself ; it could not be earlier,
when it is considered he rode home from the Ohio River, a distance
of about one hundred and forty miles, raised a company and
marched back as far as Catfish Camp, through bad roads, near
one hundred and twenty miles ; and all, agreeably to my statement,
in seventeen days ; then it is evident that he was not at Catfish
Camp sooner than the twenty-fifth day of May ; and if so, he
was ordered home at the very time when scouts were out, and the

132 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
settlement threatened with an attack from the Indians, as is manifest
from Connoly's own letter to Capt. Reece, dated May 27, 1774.
But the' hostility of Connoly to Capt. Cresap was unremitting
and without measure or decency ; for on the 14th day of July, of
the same year, we find one of the most extraordinary, crooked,
malignant. Grub Street epistles, that ever appeared on paper ; but
let us see it. "Fort Dunmore,* July 14, 1774.
' ' Your whole proceedings, so far as relate to our disturbances
with the Indians, have been of a nature so extraordinary, that I am
much at a loss to account for the caute : nut when I consider your
late steps ; tending directly to ruin the service here, by inveigling
away the militia of this garrison by your preposterous proposals,
and causing them thereby to embezzle the arms of the government,
purchased at an enormous expense, and at the same time to reflect
infinite disgrace upon the honor of this colony, by attacking a set of
people, which, notwithstanding the injury they have sustained by
you in the loss of their people, yet continue to rely upon the profes
sions of friendship which I have made, and deport themselves
accordingly ; I say, when I consider these matters, I must conclude
you are actuated by a spirit of discord, so prejudicial to the peace
and good order of society, that the conduct calls for justice, and due
execution thereof can only check. I must once again order you to
desist from your pernicious designs, and require of you, if you are
an officer of militia, to send the deserters from this place back with
all expedition, that they may be dealt with as their crimes merit.
I am, sir, your servant,
"JOHN CONNOLY."
This letter, although short, contained so many things for remark
and animadversion, that we scarcely know where to begin. It ex
hibits, however, a real picture of the man, and a mere superificial
glance at its phraseology will prove that he is angry, and his nerves
in a tremor. It is, in fact, an incoherent jumble of words and sen
tences, all in the adjunctive.
But it is a perfect original and anomaly in the epistolar}' line ;
and contains in itself internal marks of genuine authenticity.
The first thing in this letter that calls for our attention is the
language he uses towards the people he calls "tniliiia deserters."
That they may be dealt with, he says, as their crime merits. Now I
pray you who were those people ? Doubtless the respectable farm
ers and others in the vicinity of Pittsburg. And what does this
Mogul of the west intend to do with them ? Why hang them, to be
* During the government of Connoly in this place, he changed the
name from Pitt to Dunmore ; but subsequent events have blotted out
Dunmore's name.

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 133
sure ; for this is military law. But the true state of this case doubt
less is, that these militia considered themselves free men ; that they
were not well pleased either with Connoly or garrison duty ; that
viewing their country in danger, and their wives and children ex
posed to savage barbarity, they preferred more active service, and
joined the standard of Capt. Cresap. And is this a new thing, or
reprehensible ? How often do our militia enter into the regular army,
aud whoever dreamed of hanging them for so doing ?
But, secondly, we say it is possible Capt. Cresap did not know
from whence these men came ; and if he did, he deserves no cen
sure for receiving them ; and as to the charge of inveigling away
the militia from the garrison, we know this must be positively false,
because he was not in Pittsburg in the year 1774, either personally
or by proxy.
As to the general charge against Capt. Cresap, of attacking the
Indians, aud the great injury he had done them, I need only say
that this charge is refuted again and again in the course of this his
tory, and its unparalleled impudence especially, or the date of this
letter, merits the deepest contempt. But the most extraordinary
feature in this most extraordinary letter is couched in these words,
namely, ' ' That the Indians relied upon the expressions of friendship
he made them and deported themselves accordingly."
Be astonished, O ye nations of the earth, and all ye kindreds of
people at this ! For be it remembered that this the 14th day of July,
1774, when Connoly has the unblushing impudence to assert that
the Indians relied upon his expressions of friendship, and deported
themselves accordingly, when at this very time we were engaged in
the hottest part of Dunmore's war ; when Dunmore himself was
raising an army and personally on his way to take the command ;
when Lewis was on his march from Augusta county, Virginia, to
the Ohio River ; when Cornstalk, v/ith his Indian army, was in mo
tion to meet Lewis ; and when Capt. Cresap was actually raising a
company to join the Earl of Dunmore when he arrived. And it
was while engaged in this business, that he received this letter from
Connoly. Now, if any man can account for this strange and extraordinary
letter upon rational principles, let him do so if he can ; he has more
ingenuity and a more acute discernment than I have.
Soon after receiving this letter, Capt. Cresap left his company
on the west side of the mountain and rode home, where he met the
Earl of Dunmore at his house, and where he (the Earl) remained a
few days in habits of friendship and cordiality with the family. One
day while the Earl was at his house, Capt. Cresap finding him alone,
introduced the subject of Connoly's ill-treatment, with a view, I
suppose, of obtaining redress, or of exposing the character of a man
he knew to be high in the estimation and confidence of the Earl.
But what effect, suppose ye, had this remonstrance on the Earl?
I'll tell you ; it lulled him into a profound sleep. Aye, eye, thinks

134 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
I to myself, (young as I then was) , this will not do, captain ; there
are wheels within wheels, dark things behind the curtain between
this noble Earl and his sub-satellite.
Capt. Cresap, was himself open, candid and unsuspicious, and I
do not know what he thought, but I well remember my own
thoughts upon this occasion.
But let us, as nearly as possible, finish our business with Con
noly, although we must thereby get a little ahead of our history ;
yet, as already remarked, we think it less perplexing to the reader,
than to give him here a little and there a little of this extraordin
ary character. We find, then, that in the year 1775, Connoly, discovering that
his sheep-skin would not cover him much longer, he threw off the
mask and fled with his friend Dunmore, who also, about the same
time, was obliged to take sanctuary on board a British ship of war
in the Chesapeake Bay. From this place, i. e. Portsmouth, Vir
ginia, Connoly wrote the following letter to Col. John Gibson, who,
no doubt, he supposed, possessed sentiments congenial to his own.
It happened, however, that he was mistaken in his man, for Gibson
exposed him, and put his letter into the hands of the commissioners
who were holding a treaty with the Indians.
But let us see this letter : it is dated Portsmouth, Virginia,
August 9th, 1775.
Dear Sir : I have safely arrived here, and am happy in the
greatest degree at having so fortunately escaped the narrow inspec
tion of my enemies, the enemies of their country's good order and
government. I should esteem myself defective in point of friend
ship towards you, should I neglect to caution you to avoid an over-
zealous exertion of what is now ridiculously called patriotic spirit,
but on the contrary to deport yourself with that moderation for
which you have always been so remarkable, and which must in this
instance tend to your honor and advantage. You may rest assured
from me, sir, that the greatest unanimity now prevails at home, and
the innovating spirit among us here is looked upon as ungenerous
and undutiful, and thatthe utmost exertion of the powers in govern
ment (if necessary) will be used in convincing the infatuated people
of their folly.
"I would, I assure you, sir, give you such con-vincing proofs of
what I assert, and from which every reasonable person may con
clude the effects, that nothing but madness could operate upon a
man so far to overlook his duty to the present constitution, and to
form unwarrantable associations with enthusiasts, whose ill-timed
folly must draw down upon them inevitable destruction. His lord
ship desires you to present his hand to Captain White-eyes, (a
Delaware Indian chief) and to assure him, he is sorry he had ' not
the pleasure of seeing him at the treaty, (a treaty held by Connoly

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 135
in his name) , or that the situation of affairs prevented him from
coming down.
' ' Believe me, dear sir, that I have no motive in writing my
sentiments thus to you, further than to endeavor to steer you clear
of the misfortunes which I am confident must involve but unhappily
too many. I have sent you an address from the people of Great
Britain to the people of America, and desire you to consider it atten
tively, which will I flatter myself convince you of the idleness of
many determinations and the absurdity of an intended slavery.
' ' Give my love to George, (his brother, afterwards a colonel in
the Revolutionary War), and tell him he shall hear from me, and I
hope to his advantage. Interpret the inclosed speech to Capt.
White-eyes from his Lordship. Be prevailed upon to shun the popu
lar error, and judge for yourself, as a good subject, and expect the
rewards due to your services. " I am, &c.,
"JOHN CONNOLY."
The enclosed speech to White-eyes we shall see in its proper
place, after we have finished our business with Connoly. It seems,
then, that either a mistaken notion of his influence, or greatly de
ceived by his calculations on the support of Col. Gibson, his brother
and friends, or in obedience to the solicitations of his friend Dun
more, he undertakes (incog.) a hazardous journey from the Chesa
peake Bay to Pittsburg, in company, if I recollect right, with a cer
tain Doctor Smith ; but our Dutch republicans of Frederickstown,
Maryland, smelt a rat, seized and imprisoned him, from whence he
was removed to the Philadelphia jail, where we will leave him
awhile to cool.
But let us now look at these two characters ; Connoly uses
every effort to destroy us and subvert our liberties, and Cresap
marches to Boston with a company of riflemen to defend his coun
try. If then men's actions afford us the true and best criterion to
judge of their merit or demerit, we can be at no loss to decide on
this occasion. Nor can there be any doubt that this man, so full of
tender sensibility and sympathy for the suffering of the Indians,
when arrested with his colleague (Smith) in Frederick, had a Pan
dora's box full of fire-brands, arrows and death, to scatter among
the inhabitants of the west.
But it is probable the reader, as well as the writer, is weary of
such company ; we therefore bid him adieu, and once more attend
his excellency the Governor of Virginia, whom we left, I think, on
board a British sloop of war, in the Chesapeake Bay.
The reader has not forgotten, that we long since stated it is our
opinion, that it was probable, and that we had strong reasons to
believe, that Dunmore himself, from political motives, though act
ing behind the scenes, was in reality at the bottom of the Indian
war of 1774.
We have already alluded to several circumstances previous to

136 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
and during that war ; but we have in reserve several more evincive
of the same fact subsequent to the war.
It may be remembered that at the treaty of Chillicothe, it was
remarked that some points were referred to future discussion at Pitts
burg, in the ensuing fall ; and it appears that a treaty was actually
Held by Connoly in Dunmore's name, with the chiefs of the Dela
ware, and some Mingo tribes in tne summer ensuing. This is his
torically a fact, and matter of record, which I extract from the
minutes of a treaty, held in the autumn of thesame year, with sever
al tribes of Indians, by commissioners from the Congress of the
United States and from Virginia. *
But to understand this perfectly, the reader must be informed,
that previous to this treat, Capt. Jas. Wood, afterward governor of
Virginia, was sent to that State as the herald of peace, with the olive
branch in his hand, to invite all the Indian tribes bordering on the
Ohio River and its waters, to a treaty at Pittsburg, on the loth day
of September following. Capt. Wood kept a journal, which is in
corporated in the proceedings of the treaty, from which journal,
I copy as follows : "July the gth, I arrived (says he) at Fort Pitt,
where I received information that the chiefs of the Delawares and a
few of the Mingos had lately been treating with Maj. Connoly agree
ably to instructions from Lord Dunmore, and that the Shawnees had
not come to the treaty, ' ' &c.
Capt. Wood, however, acknowledges, in a letter he wrote tothe
convention in Virginia from this place, that this treaty held by
Connoly was ' ' in the most open and candid manner, that it was held
in the presence of the committee, and that he laid the Governor's
instructions before them." Very good. But why these remarks
respecting Connoly and Dunmore ? Does not this language imply
jealousy and suspicion, which Capt. Wood, who certainly was de
ceived, was anxious to remove ? But to proceed. He says :
"July lo. White-eyes came with interpreter to my lodging.
He informed me he was desirous of going to Williamsburg with Mr.
Connoly to see Lord Dunmore, who had promised him his interest
in procuring him a grant from the king for the lands claimed by the
Delawares ; that they were all desirous of living as the white people
do, and under their laws and protection ; that Lord Dunmore had
engaged to make him some satisfaction for his trouble in going sev
eral times to the Shawnee towns, and serving with him on the cam
paign, &c. , &c. He told me he hoped I would advise him whether it
was proper for him to go or not. I was then under the necessity of
acquainting him with the disputes subsisting Ijetween Lord Dunmore
and the people of Virginia, and engaged, whenever the assembly

*The original minutes of this treaty are in my own possession. They
were presented to me by my friend, John Madison, Secretary of the Com
missioners, with I think this remark, that they were of no use them, but
might be of some to me.

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 137
met, that I would go with him to Williamsburg, &c., &c. He was
very thankful, and appeared satisfied."
The reader must observe this is July loth, 1775, and he wiU
please refer to page 134 and 135, where he wiU see from Connoly's
letter of August gth, how much reliance was to be placed on his
candor and sincerity, as stated by Capt. Wood to the convention on
the gth day of July. Thus we find that about thirty days after
Capt. Wood's testimony in his favor, Connoly threw away the
mask, and presented himself in his true character ; and from his own
confession and the tenor of his letter to Gibson, it is plain that
the current of suspicion run so strongly against him that he
declared himself ' ' most happy in escaping the vigilance of his
enemies." We owe the reader an apology for introducing this man again ;
but the fact is that Dunmore and Connoly are so identified in all the
political movements of this period, that we can seldom see one with
out the other ; and Connoly is the more prominent character, especi
ally in the affairs of the west.
But we now proceed with Capt. Wood's journal. He tells us
that on the 20th of July, he met Gerritt Pendergrass about nine
o'clock ; that he had just left the Delaware towns ; that two days
before, the Delawares had just returned from the Wyandott towns,
where they had been at a grand council with a French and English
officer, and the Wyandotts ; that Monsieur Baubee and the English
officer told them to be on their guard, that the white people intended
to strike them very soon, &c.
July 21. At one o'clock, arriving at the Moravian Indian
town, examined the minister, (a Dutchman) , concerning the coun
cil lately Held with the Indians, &c. , who confirmed the account be
fore stated.
July 22. About ten oclock arrived at Coshocton, (a chief town
of the Delawares), and delivered to their council a speech, which
they answered on the 23d. After expressing their thankfulness for
the speech and willingness to attend the proposed treaty at Pittsburg,
they delivered to Capt. Wood a belt and string they said was sent to
them by an Englishman and Frenchman from Detroit, accompanied
with a message that the people of Virginia were determined to strike
them ; that they would come upon them two different ways, the one
by the way of the lakes, and the other by the way of the Ohio River,
and to take the lands, that they must be constantly on their guard,
and not to give any credit to whatever you said, as you were a
people not to be depended upon ; that the Virginians would invite
them to a treaty, but that they must not go at any rate, and to
take particular notice of the advice they gave, which proceeded
from motives of the real friendship.
Now by comparing and collating this with the speech sent by
Dunmore, enclosed in Connoly's letter, it will furnish us with a
18

138 OF DUNMORE'S WAR.
squinting at the game that was playing with the Indians by the
Earl of Dunmore and other British officers ; to be convinced of
which, read the following speech from Dunmore, which was enclosed
in a letter to Gibson :
"Brother Capt. White-eyes, I am glad to hear your good
speeches as sent to me by Maj. Connoly, and you may be assured I
shall put one end of the belt you sent me into the hands of our
great king, who will be glad to hear of his brothers the Delawares,
and will take strong hold of it. You may rest satisfied that our
foolish young men will never be permitted to have your lands ; but
on the contrary the great king will protect you, and preserve you in
the possession of them.
" Our young men in this country have been very foolish, and
done many imprudent things, for which they must soon be sorry,
and of which I make do doubt they have acquainted you ; but must
desire you not to listen to them, as they would be wUling you should
act foolLshly with themselves ; but rather let what you hear pass
in at one ear and out of the other, so that it may make no impres
sion on your heart, until your hear from m,e fully, which shall be as
soon as I can give further information.
" Capt. White-eyes will please acquaint the Cornstalk with
these my sentiments, as well as the chiefs of the Mingos, and other
six nations. (Signed) . "DUNMORE."
It is scarcely necessary to remark here, that the flight of Dun
more from Williamsburg, of Connoly from Pittsburg, this speech of
Dunmore's, and the speech of the Delawares to Capt. Wood, are all
nearly cotemporaneous, and point the reader pretty clearly to the
aspect of our affairs with the Indians at this period. Dunmore's
speech, as you have it above, although pretty explicit, as it
had to pass through an equivocal medium ; but he tells Captain
White-eyes he shall hear from him "hereafter," and this "here
after" speech was no doubt in Connoly's portmanteau when he was
arrested in Frederick.
But to conclude this tedious chapter, nothing more now seems
necessary than to call the attention of the reader to those inferences
that the facts and circumstances detailed in the foregoing pages seem
to warrant. The first circumstance in the order of events seems to be the
extraordinary and contradictory conduct of Dunmore and Connoly
respecting Captain Cresap. They certainly understood each other,
and had one ultimate end in view ; yet we find on all occasions Dun
more treats Cresap with the utmost confidence and cordiality, and
that Connoly's conduct was continually the reverse, even outrage
ously insulting him, while under the immediate orders of Dunmore
himself.

JACOB'S ACCOUNT 139
Second, we find Dunmore acting with duplicity and deception
with Col. Lewis and his brigade, from Augusta county. So says
Doddridge. Third, we find Capt. Cresap's name foisted into Logan's pre
tended speech, when it is evident, as we shall hereafter prove, that no
names were at all mentioned in the original speech made for Logan.
Fourth, it appears pretty plainly that much pains were taken
by Dunmore, at the treaty of Chillicothe, to attach the Indian chiefs
to his person, as appears from the facts that afterwards appeared.
Fifth, the last speech from Dunmore to Capt. White-eyes and
other Indian chiefs, sent in Connoly's letter to Gibson ; to all which
we may add, his Lordship's nap of sleep while Cresap was stating
his complaints against Connoly, and all Connoly's strange and un
accountable letters to Cresap.
I say, from all which it will appear that Dunmore had his
views, and those views hostile to the liberties of America, in his
proceedings with the Indians in the war of 1774, the circumstances
of the times, in connection with his equivocal conduct, leads us al
most naturally to infer that he knew pretty well what he was about,
and among other things, he knew that a war with the Indians at
this time would materially subserve the views and interest of Great
Britain, and consequently he perhaps might feel it a duty to pro
mote said war, and if not, why betray such extreme solicitude to
single out some conspicuous character, and make him the scape-goat,
to bear all the blame of this war, that he and his friend Connoly
might escape?

I40 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

CHAPTER XI.
WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
It is not within the plan of this work, to go into a general
detail of the War of the Revolution. The author will only give an
account of it so far as it is connected with the immediate History of
the Valley. At the beginning of the war the late Daniel Morgan was ap
pointed a captain, and very soon raised a company of brave and
active young men, with whom he marched to join Gen. Washington
at Boston. John Humphrey's was Morgan's first lieutenant. Mor
gan was soon promoted to the rank of major, and Humphrey's was
made captain. It is believed this was one of the first regular com
panies raised in Virginia, which marched to the north. Morgan
with his company was ordered to join Gen. Montgomery, and march
to the attack on Quebec ; in which attack Montgomery was killed,
and Morgan, after performing prodigies of valor, compelled to sur
render himself and his brave troops prisoners of war. Capt.
Humphreys was killed in the assault. The Reverend Peter Muhlen
burg, a clergyman of the Lutheran * profession, in the County of
Shenandoah, laid off his gown and took up the sword. He was
appointed a colonel, and soon raised a regiment, called the eighth,
consisting chiefly of young men of German extraction. Abraham
Bowman was appointed to a majorilty in it, as was also Peter Hel-
phinstine, of Winchester. It was frequently called the " German
regiment." Muhlenburg was ordered to the south in 1776, and the
unhealthiness of the climate proved fatal to many of his men.
James Wood, of Winchester, was also appointed a colonel. He
soon raised another regiment, marched to the north, and joined
Gen. Washington's main army.
Maj. Morgan, after several month's captivity, was exchanged
together with his troops, promoted to the rank of colonel, and again
joined his country's standard in the northern army. Muhlenburg
returned from his southern campaign, and in 1777 also joined the
northern army. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general,
and Abraham Bowman to the rank of colonel. Helphinstine con
tracted a lingering disease in the south, returned home on furlough,
and died in Winchester in the autumn of 1776. Col. Morgan, with
* The author is mistaken ; he was au Episcopalian.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 141
a picked regiment of riflemen, was ordered to join Gen. Gates, to
meet and oppose Gen. Burgoyne. It is universally admitted that
Morgan, with his brave and expert rifle regiment, contributed much
towards achieving the victory which followed.
After the capture of Burgoyne and his army, 17th of October,
1777, Morgan, for his great personal bravery, and superior military
talents displayed on all occasions, was promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general. He joined the standard of Washington, and soon
distinguished himself in harrassing the British army in the neigh
borhood of Philadelphia.
Numerous calls for the aid of the militia were made from time
to time to assist our country in the defense of its rights and liber
ties ; which calls were generally promptly obeyed. The spirit of
patriotism and love of country was the prevailing passion of a vast
majority of the people of the Valley ; and with one exception,
which will be noticed hereafter, our character was not tarnished
by anything like a tory insurrection. The author most de
voutly wishes, for the honor of his native country, that this
exception could be blotted out of our history, and consigned to etern
al oblivion. Our Valley, at the commencement of the war, was compara
tively thinly populated. The first official return, for the county of
Frederick, of the effective militia, to the Executive of Virginia,
amounted only to 923 ; the whole number of people in Winchester
was 800, probably a small fraction over. This return and enumera
tion was made in the year 1777.
In 1777 Gen. Sullivan " gained possession of some records and
papers belonging to the Quakers, which, with a letter, were for
warded to Congress, and referred to a committee." On the 28th of
August the committee reported, "That the several testimonies
which have been published since the commencement of the present
contest betwixt Great Britain and America, and the uniform tenor
of the conduct and conversation of a number of persons of consider
able wealth, who profess themselves to belong to the society of
people commonly called Quakers, render it certain and notorious
that those persons are with much rancor and bitterness disaffected
to the American cause ; that as those persons will have it in their
power, so there is no doubt it will be their inclination, to communi
cate intelligence to the enemy, and in various other ways to injure
the councils and arms of America ; that the enemy, in the month of
December, 1776, were bending their progress towards the city of
Philadelphia, a certain seditious publication, addressed ' To our
friends and brethren in religious profession, in these and adjacent
provinces,' signed John Pemberton, ' in and on behalf of the meeting
of sufferers, held in Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
on the 26th of the 12th month, 1776,' was pubhshed, and as your
committee is creditably informed, circulated amongst many mem
bers of the society called Quakers, throughout the different States ;

142 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
that the seditious paper aforesaid orginated in Philadelphia, and as
the persons' names who are under-mentioned, have uniformally
manifested a disposition highly inimcial to the cause of America ;
therefore. Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to the Su
preme Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania, forthwith to
apprehend and secure the persons of Joshua Fisher, Abel James,
James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, Israel Pemberton, John Pember
ton, John James, Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Wharton, Sr.,
Thomas Fisher, son of' Joshua, and Samuel Fisher, son of Joshua,
together with all such papers in their possession as may be of a po
litical nature.
' ' And whereas there is strong reason to apprehend that these
persons maintain a correspondence and connection highly prejudicial
to the public safety, not only in this State, but in the several States
of America ; Resolved, That it be recommended to the executive
powers of the respective States, forthwith to apprehend and secure
all persons, as well among the Quakers as others, who have in their
general conduct and conversation evinced a disposition inimical to
the cause of America ; and the persons so seized be confined in such
places, and treated in such manner, as shall be consistent with their
respective characters and security of their persons ; that the records
and papers of the meetings of sufferings in the respective States,
be forthwith secured and carefully examined, and that such parts
of them as may be of a political nature, be forthwith transmitted to
Congress. ' '
The said report being read, and several of the paragraphs con
sidered and debated, and the question put severally thereon the same
was agreed to. " Ordered, That the board of war remove under
guard to a place of security out of the State of Pennsylvania, the Hon.
John Penn, Esq., and Benjamin Chew, Esq., and that they give or
ders for having them safely secured and entertained agreeable to
their rank and station in life. ' ' A number of Quakers besides those
mentioned, and several persons of a different denomination, were
taken by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, concern
ing whom Congress resolved, on the 8th of September, " That it be
recommended to the said council to order the immediate depar
ture of such of said prisoners as refuse to swear or affirm allegi
ance to the State of Pennsylvania, to Staunton, in Augusta county,
Virginia." *
In conformity with the recommendation of Congress, a number
of Quakers, together with one druggist and a dancing master, were
sent to Winchester under guard, with a request from the Executive
of Pennsylvania, directed to the county lieutenant of Frederick, to
secure them. General John Smith was then the county lieutenant.
*See Gordon's History of the American Revolution, vol. ii. pp. 222,
223. It was at the instance of the late General Isaac Zane, of Frederick
County, 'Virginia, that the place of exile was changed from Staunton to
Winchester.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 143
When the prisoners were delivered into his custody, he proposed to
them, that if they would pledge their honors not to abscond, they
shotdd not be placed in confinement. Among the prisoners were
three of the Pembertons, two of the Fishers, an old Quaker preacher
named Hunt and several others, amounting in all to twelve, and with
the druggist and dancing master, fourteen. One of the Fisher's was
a lawyer by profession. He protested in his own name, and on be
half of his feUow prisoners, against being taken into custody by
Col. Smith{; stated that they had protested against being sent from
Philadelphia ; that they had again protested at the Pennsylvania
line, against being taken out of the State ; had repeated their pro
test at the Maryland line, against being taken into Virginia ; that
there was no existing law which justified their being deprived of
their liberty, and exiled from their native homes and families, and
treated as criminals. To which Col. Smith replied, " It is true that
I know of no existing law which will justify your detention ; but as
you are sent to my care by the supreme executive authority of your
native State, and represented as dangerous characters and as having
been engaged in treasonable practices with the enemy, I consider it
my duty to detain you, at least until I can send an express to the
Governor of Virginia for his ad-vice and direction what to do in the
premises. ' ' He accordingly dispatched an express to Williamsburg,
with a letter to the governor, who soon returned with the orders of
the executive to secure the prisoners. Col. Smith again repeated
that "if they would pledge themselves not to abscond, he would
not cause them to be confined." Upon which one of the Pem
bertons spoke and observed to Fisher, ' ' that his protest was un
availing, and that they must patiently submit to their fate."
Then addressing himself to Col. Smith, he observed, " they v/ould
not enter into any pledges, and he must dispose of them as he
thought proper. ' ' The colonel then ordered them to be placed under
guard. Shortly before this, three hundred Hessian prisoners had been
sent to Winchester; there was consequently a guard ready pre
pared to receive these exiles, and they remained in custody about
eight or nine months ; during which time two of them died, and
the whole of them became much dejected ; and is probable more of
them would have died of broken hearts, had they not been permitted
to return. Some time after the British left Philadelphia, the exiles em
ployed the late Alexander White, Esq. , a lawyer near Winchester,
for which they paid him one hundred pounds Virginia currency in
gold coin, to go to Philadelphia, and negotiate with the executive
authority of the State to permit them to return to their families and
friends ; in which negotiation White succeeded ; and to the great joy
and heartfelt satisfaction of these captives, they returned to their na
tive homes. In the absence of the exiles. Sir William Howe, the British

144 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
General, had taken up his headquarters in John Pemberton's dwell
ing house. It was a splendid building, and had been much abused
by the British, who also occupied several other houses belonging to
Pemberton, which were much injured. Pemberton owned an ele
gant carriage, which Sir William had taken the liberty of using in
his parties of pleasure. When Pemberton saw the situation of his
property, he obtained permission from the proper authority, and
waited on Sir William Howe, and demanded indemnification for the
injury done his buildings and carriage. The plain and independent
language he used to the British General on the subject, was remark
able for its bluntness, as it was for its fearless character. "Thee
has (said he) done gread damage to my buildings, and thee suffered
thy w****s to ride in my carriage, and my wife will not use it since;
thee must pay me for the injury, or I will go to thy master (mean
ing the king of England), and lay my complaint before him." Sir
William could but smile at the honest bluntness of the man and
thought it best to compromise and pay him a sum of money, which
the old Quaker was satisfied.*
In 1779 there was a considerable increase of British prisoners at
Winchester, and in 1780 barracks were erected about four miles west
of the the town, to which the prisoners were removed, and a regular
guard kept over them. In 1781 the number of prisoners increased
to about 1600.
It was in this year the month of January, that Gen. Morgan,
at the battle of the Cowpens, in South Carolina, gave the British
Col. Tarlton a most signal defeat. In this action Morgan displayed
the most consummate military skill and bravery. Whilst the two
armies were closely engaged, Morgan, discovering the enemy were
thrown into some confusion, called out in his usual stentorian
voice, " Hurrah, my brave boys ! another close fire, and the day is
ours. Remember, Morgan has never been beateii ! ' ' The author
cannot now recollect his authority for this statement, but he has re
peatedly heard it asserted by different individuals who were acquaint
ed with the fact.
In the year 1813 the author traveled through South Carolina,
and called to see Mr. William Calmes, with whom he had intimate
acquaintance when quite a youth, having been a school-fellow in this
county (Frederick). Mr. Calmes was well acquainted with Gen.
Morgan, and related the following anecdote, in relation to Morgan
and Tarleton. There were two brothers by the name of  , citizens of
South Carolina, men of considerable wealth and respectability, who
joined the British standard, and both obtained Colonel's commisions.
One of them was at Cornwallis's headquarters the day Tarlton set
out determined to take Morgan at all hazard. Meeting with Col.
 , he accosted him to the following effect : "Well, Colonel, if
*Gen. John Smith detailed the foregoing particulars to the author.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 145
you will be at his Lordship's headquarters, (naming the day) , you
shall have the pleasure of dining with the old wagoner. ' ' To which
Col.  replied, " I wish you success. Col. Tarlton, but permit
me to caution you ; you will find Morgan hard to take. ' ' On which
Tarlton flew into a passion, and threatened to arrest the Colonel for
using such language in the hearing of his officers. The latter calm
ly replied, " Col. Tarleton, I have staked everything dear to me in
this life upon the issue of the present contest. I own a fine estate.
My faipily and my personal liberty are in danger. If America suc
ceeds in establishing her independence, my estate will be forfeited,
my family reduced to beggary and the least I can expect, (if I es
cape with my life) , will be perpetual exile. Hence, sir, I most ar
dently wish you success. But permit me to again caution you.
Morgan is a cunning, artful officer, and you will find him hard to
take." Tarlton, however, pushed off in high glee, determined at
every risk to capture Morgan and his little band of warriors. The
result was soon known at his Lordship's headquarters ; and it so hap
pened, when Tarlton returned. Col.  was present. The
moment Tarlton saw him he apologized to him for the harsh lan
guage he used towards him, and exclaimed, " By  ! Morgan
is truly a great man ! ' ' This extorted praise from this haughty
British officer speaks volumes forthe high military talent of General
Morgan. At the close of the war this refugee colonel took shelter for
himself and family in the British dominions of Canada, and his fine
estate was confiscated. He, however, petitioned the government
of South Carolina ; and from his general good charcter in private
life, an act of pardon, together with the restoration of his estate,
was passed, an he returned to its enjoyment with all the privileges
of a free citizen. After his return Mr. Calmers became acquainted
with him, and received the above statement of facts from him.
The brother of this officer, from some acts of ferocious cruelty
practiced upon the friends of the American cause, had his estate also
confiscated. The government refused to restore it, and passed an
act of perpetual banishment against him.
In 1 78 1 Cornwallis entered Virginia at the head of a large army,
and in the month of June a party of tories raised the British stand
ard at Lost River, then in the county of Hampshire (now Hardy) .
John Claypole, a Scotsman by birth, and his two sons, were at the
head of the insurrection, * Claypole had the address to draw over
to his party a considerable majority of the people on Lost River, and
a number on the South Fork of the Wappatomaka. They first
manifested symptoms of rebellion by refusing to pay their taxes and
* Moses Russell, Esq., informed the author, that it was reported and
beUeved at the time that Claypole's two sons went to North Carolina, and
had an interview with Lord Cornwallis, who appointed and commissioned
them both captains in the British service, and sent the commissioB of colonel
to their father.
19

146 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
refusing to furnish their quota of men to serve in the militia. The
sheriffs, or collectors of the revenue, complained to Col. Vanmeter,
of the County of Hampshire, that they were resisted in their at
tempts to discharge their official duties, when the colonel ordered a
captain and thirty men to their aid. The insurgents armed them
selves, and determined to resist. Among them was John Drake, a
German of considerable wealth, who resided about fifteen miles
above Moorefield, on the South Fork of the River, and whose
house became the place of rendezvous for the insurgents. When
the Sheriff went up with the militia posse, fifty men appeared in
arms. The posse and tories unexpectedly met in the public road.
Thirty -five of the latter broke and ran about one hundred yards, and
then formed, while fifteen stood firm. The captain of the guard
called out for a parley, when a free conversation took place, in which
this dangerous proceeding on the part of the tories was pointed out,
with the terrible consequences which must inevitably follow. It is
said that Had a pistol been fired, a dreadful scene of carnage would
have ensued. * The two parties, however, parted without blood
shed. But instead of the tory party retiring to their respective homes
and attending to their domestic duties the spirit of insurrection in
creased. They began to organize, appointed officers, and made
John Claypole their commander-in-chief, with the intention of march
ing off in a body to Cornwallis, in the event of his advancing into
the Valley or near it.
Several expresses were sent to Col. Smith, requesting the aid of
the militia, in the counties immediately adjoining, to quell this re
bellion. He addressed letters to the commanding officers of Berke
ley and Shenandoah, beat up volunteers in Frederick, and in a few
days an army of four hundred rank and file were well mounted and
equipped. Gen. Morgan, who, after the defeat of Tarlton and some
other military services, had obtained leave of absence from the army,
and was now reposing on his farm (Saratoga) in Frederick, and
whose name was a host in itself, was solicited to take the command,
with which he readily complied. About the i8th or 20th of June the
army marched from Winchester, and in two days arrived in the
neighborhood of this tory section of Hardy county. They halted at
Claypole's house, f and took him prisoner. Several young men
fled, among them William Baker. As he ran across Claypole's mea
dow he was hailed and ordered to surrender ; but disregarding the
command, Capt. Abraham Byrd, of Shenandoah county, an ex
cellent marksman, raised his rifle, fired, and wounded him in the
leg. X He fell, and several of Morgan's party went to him to
* Isacc Vanmeter, Esq., then about eighteen years of age, was one of the
posse, and related these fact to the author.
t Claypole's former residence is now owned by Mr. Miller, and is about
forty-five or fifty miles southwest of Winchester, on Lost River in Hardy
county. X The spot was pointed out to the author, by Mr. Mr. Miller, -where Byrd

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 147
see the result. The ball had penetrated just above the heel,
ranged up the leg, and shivered the bone. As the poor fellow
begged for mercy, he was taken to the house, and his wound
dressed by the surgeon of the regiment. He recovered, and is still
living. They took from Claypole provisions for themselves and
horses ; Col. Smith (who was second in command) giving him a
certificate for their value.
Prom Claypole's the army moved up Lost River, and some
young men in the advance took a man named Matthias Wilkins
prisoner, placed a rope round his neck, and threatened to hang him.
Col. Smith rode up, saw what was going on, and ordered them in
stantly to desist. They also caught a man named John Payne, and
branded him on the posteriors with a red hot spade, telling him
they would make him a freemason. Claypole solemnly promised to
be of good behavior, gave bail and was set at liberty.
The army thence crossed the South Branch Mountain. On or
near the summit they saw a small cabin, which had probably been
erected bv some hunters. Gen. Morgan ordered it to be surround
ed, observing, " It is probable some of the tories are now in it. ' ' As
the men approached the cabin, ten or a dozen fellows ran out and
fled. An elderly man named Mace, and two of his sons, were among
them. Old Mace, finding himself closely pursued, surrendered.
One of the pursuers was Capt. William Snickers, an aid-de-camp of
Morgan, who being mounted on a fine horse, was soon alongside of
him. One of Mace's sons looking round at this instant, and seeing
Snickers aiming a blow with a drawn sword at his father, drew up
his rifle and- fi^-ed at him. The ball passed threw the crest of his
horse's neck ; he fell, and threw the rider over his head. Snickers
was at first thought by his friends to be killed ; and in the excite
ment of the moment, an Irishman, half drunk, who had been with
Morgan for some time as waiter, and had seen much tory blood shed
in the Carolinas, ran up to the prisoner (Mace) with a cocked pistol
in his hand, and shot the poor man, who fell and instantly expired.
Capt. Snickers soon recovered from the bruises received in the fall,
as did his horse also from the wound in his neck.
The army proceeded to pay their respects to Mr. John Brake,
an old German, who had a fine farm with extensive meadows, a mill,
large distillery, and many fat hogs and cattle. He was an exception
in his political course, to his countrymen, as they were almost to a
man, true whigs, and friends to their country. Brake, as before ob
served, had joined the tory band, and his house was their place of
rendezvous, where they feasted on the best he had. All this ap
pearing unquestionable, Morgan marched his army to his residence,
they halted, and spent two days and nights with his reluctant
host. His troops lived on the best in his fine firm, mill and dis-

stood when he fired at Baker, and where Baker fell. The distance is about
four hundred yards.

148 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
tillery afforded, feasting on his pigs, fatted calves, young beeves,
lambs, poultry, &c., while their horses, fared no less luxuriously
upon his fine unmowed meadows, oat fields, &c. As Brake had en
tertained and feasted the tories, Morgan concluded that he should
feast them in turn.
The third day, in the morning, the army moved on down the
river, passed by Moorefield, and returned to Winchester, where it
was disbanded, after a service of only about eight or ten days. Thus
was this tory insurrection crushed in the bud. The party them
selves became ashamed of their conduct, and in some degree to atone
for it, and wipe off the stain, several of the young men volunteered
their services and marched to aid in the capture of Cornwallis.
Within three or four days after these men were disbanded, two
expresses in one day arrived at Winchester, and informed Col. Smith
that Tarlton was on his way to rescue the British prison
ers at Winchester barracks. Col. Smith had again to call out the
militia, and ordered four hundred men as a guard, removed the
prisoners to Fort Frederick, in Maryland, at which place they re
mained to the end af the war. *
The summer of 1781 was emphatically the summer of militia
campaigns. There were frequent alarms that Tarlton and his legion
(of devils, some people termed them) , were on their way to visit our
Valley ; and sometimes it was reported that Cornwallis and his whole
army would be upon us. The militia was almost constantly march
ing and counter-marching.
It, however, pleased Heaven to so order things, that Cornwallis
and his large army should be entrapped and captured at York-
town, in Virginia. This put an end to the scourge of the war ; and
our people being permitted to enjoy the blessings of peace and agri
culture, commerce and the mechanical arts, improved in a most as
tonishing degree. The French and British armies circulated
immense sums of money, in gold and silver coin, which had the
effect of driving out of circulation the wretched paper currency
which had till then prevailed. Immense quantities of British and
French goods were soon imported ; our people imbibed a taste for
foreign fashion and luxury ; and in the course of tvvo or three years,
from the close of the war, such an entire change had taken place in
the habits and manners of our inhabitants, that it almost appeared
as if we had suddenly become a different nation. The staid and
sober habits of our ancestors, with their plain home-manufactured
clothing, were suddenly laid aside, and European goods of fine
quality adopted in their stead. Fine ruffles, powdered heads, silks
and scarlets, decorated the men ; while the most costly silks, satins,
chintzes, calicoes, muslins, &c., decorated our females. Nor was
their diet less expensive ; for superb plate, foreign spirits, wines,
* Gen. John Smith communicated all the particulars of the foregoing
narrative to the author, with the exception of branding Payne with the
spade ; this fact was stated by Mr. Chrisman on Lost River.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 149
&c., sparkled on the sideboards of many farmers. The natural re
sult of this change of the habits and customs of the people —
this aping of European manners and morals — was to suddenly drain
our country of its circulating specie ; and as a necessary conse
quence, the people ran in debt, times became difficult, and money
had to raise.
The sufferings and hard dealings with the Quakers deserve some
notice in this place. The unfortunate proceedings of the Philadel
phia Quakers drew down upon the whole order the strong preju
dices and even hatred of the friends to the American cause. The
treasonable proceedings of a few individuals ought not to have been
visited upon the whole order of Quakers. It must be admitted,
that this proceeding was a great blot upon Quaker character, and
stamped the individuals concerned in it, with base hypocrisy, and
gave the lie to their religious professions. Whilst they professed to
hold it unlawful to shed human blood ; whilst they disclaimed all
concern with the war ; they were secretly giving intelligence tO' the
enemy, and aiding and abetting them in every way they could ex
cept resorting to arms. But it is again repeated that it was unjust
with one fell sweep to condemn the whole order, for the malconduct
of a few individuals. The Quakers in the Valley, notwithstanding
their entire neutrality, were unquestionably the greatest sufferers
by the war. They refused to bear arms, they refused to pay war
taxes, and hence the sheriffs or collectors were compelled to destrain
and sell their property to raise their respective proportion of the pub
lic burdens. At the beginning of the war, attempts were made to compel
them to bear arms, and serve in the militia ; but it was soon found
unavailing. They would not perform any military duty required of
them ; not even the scourge would compel them to submit to discip
line. The practice of coercion was therefore abandoned, and the
Legislature enacted a law to levy a tax upon their property to hire
substitutes to perform military duty in their stead. This, with other
taxes, bore peculiarly heavy upon them. Their personal property
was sold under the hammer to raise these public demands ; and before
the war was over, many of them were reduced to great distress in
their pecuniary circumstances.
There is an amusing story told of James Gotharp, who resided
on Apple-pie Ridge. He was forced to march with a militia com
pany, and on one particular occasion was placed as sentry at a bag
gage wagon, with orders to suffer no man to go into the wagon
without a written order from the commanding officer. One of the
officers walked to the wagon to go in, Gotharp demanded his written
authority, the officer cursed him and stepped upon the houns of the
wagon. Gotharp seized him by his legs and pulled his feet off the
houns. The officer fell with his face upon the houns and had his
nose and mouth sorely bruised.
This selling of Quaker's property afforded great opportunity for

I50 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
designing individuals to make profitable speculations. They con
tinued to refuse to pay taxes for several years after the war, holding it
unlawful to contribute their money towards discharging the war
debt. This being at length adjusted, no' part of our citizens pay
their public demands with more punctuality, (except their muster
fines which they still refused to pay) . Owing to their industrious
and sober habits, they soon recovered from their pecuniary distress
produced by the war, and are generally speaking the most independ
ent part of our community. Vast numbers of them have migrated
to the western country and several of their meetings are entirely
broken up. There is, however, still a considerable number of them
in the counties of Frederick and Berkeley. They continue their an
cient practice of depending upon their household manufactures for
their clothing ; and it was a long time before they gave into the
practice of purchasing European goods. A few of them entered
into the mercantile business ; several others erected fine merchant
mills ; others engaged in mechanical pursuits ; but the great body
of them are farmers, and are generally most excellent cultivators of
the soil. The greater part of the Germans, also, were a long time de
pendent upon their domestic manufactures for their clothing;
but they, too, have imbibed a taste for foreign finery. They,
however, have managed to effect their purchases by bartering,
in a remarkable degree, their own household manufactures in ex
change. Some three or four years ago the author called at the house of
a farmer in the southwest part of Shenandoah county, where he
saw five spinning wheels at work. The old lady, three of her
daughters, and a hired girl, were busily engaged in spinning finely
prepared hemp. The author enquired of the old lady, whether she
sold any part of her domestic goods. To which she replied, ' ' Yes ;
when de gals wants to puy some fine dings in de sthore, dey bay for
it in linen und linsey ; und I puy sugar and goffee, und salt, and
any dings we wants, und I bay for it all in our own coods."
The author stopped at a neighboring house, and inquired of the
inmates how their neighbor I  got along. "O," replied the
man, " Mr. I. buys a plantation every four or five years, and always
pays the money down."

THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS. 151

CHAPTER Xn.
mode of living of the primitive settlers.
The first houses erected by the primitive settlers were log cabins,
'with covers of split clapboards, and weight poles to keep them in
place. They were frequently seen with earthen floors ; or if wood
floors were used, they were made of split puncheons, a little
smoothed with the broad-axe. These houses were pretty generally
in use since the author's recollection. There were, however,
a few framed and stone buildings erected previous to the war
of the revolution. As the country improved in population and
wealth, there was a corresponding improvement in the erection of
buildings. When this improvement commenced, the most general mode of
buildings was with hewen logs, a shingle roof and plank floor, the
plank cut out with a whip saw. As it is probable some of my young
readers have never seen a whip saw, a short description of it may
not be uninteresting. It was about the length of the common mill
saw, with a handle at each end transversely fixed to it. The timber
intended to be sawed was first squared with a broad-axe, and then
raised on a scaffold six or seven feet high. Two able bodied men
took hold of the saw, one standing on the top of the log and the
other under it, and commenced sawing. The labor was excessively
fatiguing, and about one hundred feet of plank or scantling was
considered a good day's work for the two hands. The introduction
of saw mills, however, soon superseded the use of the whip-saw, but
they were not entirely laid aside until several years after the War of
the Revolution. The dress of the early settlers were of the plainest material —
generally of their own manufacture; and if a modem "belle" or
' ' beau' ' were now to witness the extreme plainess and simplicity of
their fashions, the one would almost be thrown into a fit of histerics,
and the other frightened at the odd and grotesques appearance of
their progenitors.
Previous to the war of the revolution the married men generally
shaved their heads, and either wore wigs or white linen caps. When
the war commenced, this fashion was laid aside, partly from patriotic
considerations and partly from necessity. Owing to the entire in
terruption of the intercourse with England, wigs could not easily be
obtained, nor white linen for caps.

152 THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS.
The men's coats were generally made with broad backs, and
straight short skirts, with pockets on the outside having large flaps.
The waistcoats had skirts nearly half way down to the knees, and
very broad pocket flaps. The breeches were so short as barely to
reach the knee, with a band surrounding the knee, fastened with
either brass or silver buckles. The stocking was drawn up under
the knee-band, and tied with a garter, (generally red or blue) below
the knee, so as to be seen. The shoes were of coarse leather, with
straps to the quarters, and fastened with either brass or silver buck
les. The hat was either wool or fur, with a round crown not ex
ceeding three or four inches high, with a broad brim. * The dress
for the neck v/as usually a narrow collar to the shirt, with a white
linen stock drawn together at the ends, on the back of the neck,
with a broad metal buckle. The more wealthy and fashionable were
sometimes seen with their stock, knee and .shoe-buckles, set either in
gold or silver with brilliant stones. The author can recollect, when
a child, if he happened to see any of those finely dressed ' ' great
folk," as they were then termed, He felt awed with their presence,
and viewed them as something more than man.
The female dress was generally the short gown and petticoat
made of the plainest materials. The German women mostly wore
tight calico caps on their heads, and in the summer season they were
generally seen with no other clothing than a linen shift and petticoat
— the feet. Hands, and arms were bare. In hay and harvest time,
they joined the men in the labor of the meadow and grain fields.
This custom, of the females laboring in the time of harvest, was not
exclusively a German practice, but was common to all the northern
people. Many females were most expert mowers and reapers.
Within the author's recollection, he has seen several female reapers
who were equal to the stoutest males in the harvest field. It was no
uncommon thing to see the female part of the family at the hoe or
plow ; and some of our now wealthiest citizens frequently boast
of their grandmothers, aye mothers too, performing this kind of
heavy labor.
The natural result of this kind of rural life was to produce a
hardy and vigorous race of people. It was this race of people who
had to meet and breast the various Indian wars and the storms of
the Revolution. The Dutchman's bam was usually the best building on his farm.
He was sure to erect a fine large bam, before he built any other
dwelling-houses than his rude log cabin. There were none of our
primitive immigrants more uniform in the form of their buildings
than the Germans. Their dwelling-houses were seldom raised more
than a single story in height, with a large cellar beneath ; the chim
ney in the middle, with a very wide fire-place in one end for the
=* The Quakers were remarkable for their broad-brim hats. They were
sometimes called "Broadbrims," by way of distinguishing them from other
people.

MODE OF LIVING OF 153
kitchen, in the other end a stove room. Their furniture was of the
simplest and plainest kind ; and there was always a long pine
table fixed in one corner of the stove room, with permanent
benches on one side. On the upper floor, garners for holding grain
were very common. Their beds were generally filled with straw or
chaff, with a fine feather bed for covering in the winter. The author
has several times slept in this kind of a bed ; and to a person accus
tomed to it, it is attended not unfrequently with danger to the health.
The thick covering of the feathers is pretty certain to produce a pro
fuse perspiration, which an exposure to cold, on rising in the morn
ing, is apt to check suddenly, causing chillness and obstinate
cough. The author, a few years ago, caught in this way the most
severe cold, which was followed by a long and distressing cough, he
was ever afflicted with.
Many of the Germans have what they call a drum, through
which the stove pipe passes in their upper rooms. It is made of
sheet iron, something in the shape of a military drum. It soon
fills with heat from the pipe, by which the rooms become agreebly
warm in the coldest weather. A piazza is a very common appendage
to a Dutchman's dwelling-house, in which his saddles, bridles, and
very frequently his wagon or plow Harness are hung up.
The Germans erect stables for their domestic animals of every
species ; even their swine are housed in the winter season. Their
barns and stables are well stored with provender, particularly fine
hay ; hence their quadrupeds of all kinds are kept throughout the
year in the finest possible order. This practice of housing stock in
the winter season is unquestionably great economy in husbandry.
Much less food is required to sustain them, and the animals come
out in the spring in fine health and condition. It is a rare occur
rence to hear of a Dutchman's losing any part of his stock with pov
erty. The practice of housing stock in the winter is not exclusively
a German custom, but it is common to most of the northern
people, and those descended from immigrants from the north.
The author recollects once seeing the cow stalls adjoining a farmer's
dwelling. The German women, many of them, are remarkably neat house
keepers. There are some of them, however, extremely slovenly,
and their dwellings are kept in the worst possible condition. The
effluvia arising from the want of cleanliness is in the highest degree
disgusting and offensive to persons unaccustomed to such fare. The
same remarks are applicable to the Irish ; nay to some native Vir
ginians. The Germans are remarkable for their fine bread, milk
and butter. They consume in their diet less animal flesh, and of
course more vegetables, than most other people. Their "sour
krout. " * in the winter constitutes a considerable part of their

* " Sour krout " is made of the best of cabbage. A box about three
feet in length, and six or seven inches wide, with a sharp blade fixed across

20

154 THE PRIMITIVE SETTLERS.
living. They generally consume less, and seU more of the product
of their labor, than any other class of our citizens. A Dutchman is
proverbial for his patient perseverance in his domestic labors. Their
farms are generally small and nicely cultivated. In his agricultural
pursuits, his meadows demand his gravest care and attention. His
little farm is laid off in fields not exceeding ten or twelve acres each.
It is rarely seen that a Dutchman will cultivate more than about ten
or twelve 'acres in Indian corn in one year. They are of opinion that
the com crop is a great exhauster of the soil, and that they make
but little use of corn for any other purpose than feeding and fatten
ing their swine.
Previous to the War of the Revolution, and for several years
after, considerable quantities of tobacco were raised in the lower
counties of the valley. The cultivation of this crop was first intro
duced and pursued by emmigrants from the eastern counties of Vir
ginia. From the newly cleared lands, two crops of tobacco in suc
cession were generally taken, and it was then appropriated to the
culture of other crops. The crop of tobacco left the soil in the fin
est possible state for the production of other crops. Com, wheat,
rye, flax, oats, potatoes, and everything else, were almost certain to
produce abundant crops, after the crop of tobacco.
In the year 1794 the French revolution broke out, when bread
stuffs of every kind suddenly became enormously high ; in conse
quence of which the farmers in the Valley abandoned the cultiva
tion of tobacco, and turned their attention to wheat, which they
raised in vast quantities for several years after the commencement of
the French revolution, to sell his crops of wheat from one to two, and
sometimes at two and-a-half dollars per bushel, and his flour from
ten to fourteen dollars per barrel in our seaport towns.
In the year 1796, the Hessian fly first made its appearance in
Virginia. Its ravages that year was limited, and but little damage
was sustained in the crops of wheat. The crops of 1797, in the
counties contiguous to the Potomac, was generally destroyed, and
the same year partial injury was discovered in Frederick county.
The crop of 1798, throughout the County of Frederick, was nearly
destroyed. E\ er since which time the farmers have annually suffer
ed more or less from the ravages of this destructive destroyer. This
insect had prevailed in some of the Northern States for several years
before it reached Virginia. It is said it first appeared on Long Is-
the bottom, some thing on the principle of the jack plane, is used for cutting
the cabbage. The head being separated from the stalk, and stripped of its
outer leaves, is placed in this box, and run back and forth. The cabbage
thus cut up is placed in a barrel, a little salt sprinkled on from time to time,
then pressed down verv closely, and covered over at the open head. In the
course of three or four weeks it acquires a sourish taste, and to persons ac
customed to the use of it, it is a very agreeable and wholesome food. It is
eaid that the use of it, within the last few years, on board of ships, has
proved it to be the best preventive known for the scurvy. The use of it is
becoming pretty general among all classes of people in the valley.

MODE OF LIVING, &c.

155

land, and was believed to have been imported by the Hessian troops
in their straw bedding in the time of the War of the Revolution.
If this be true, it was a woful curse upon our country, of which it
probably will never be relieved. The present generation have
abundant cause to execrate the inhuman policy of our parent State
in bringing upon us this heavy calamity, and all future generations
will probably join in condemning the British ministry who forced
upon our ancestors that unrighteous war.

156 NORTHERN NECK OP VIRGINIA.

CHAPTER XHI.

northern neck of VIRGINIA.

Charles II. , King of England, granted to the ancestors of the
late Lord Fairfax all the lands lying between the head waters of the
Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers in the Chesapeake Bay. This
immense grant included the territory now comprising the counties
of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, Stafford,
King George, Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun, Farquier, Culpeper,
Madison, Page, Shenandoah, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley,
Jefferson and Frederick. It is said that the first grant to the an
cestors of Fairfax was only intended to include the territory in
the Northern Neck, east of the Blue Ridge ; and after Fairfax dis
covered that the Potomac River headed in the Alleghany Mountains,
he returned to England, and instituted his petition in the court of
king's bench for extending his grant into the Alleghany Motmtains,
so to include the territory composing the present Counties of Page,
Shenandoah, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson and
Frederick. A compromise took place between Fairfax and the
crown ; but previous to the institution of Fairfax's suit, several in
dividuals had obtained grants for large bodies of land west of the
Blue Ridge, from the Colonial government of Virginia. In the com
promise it was expressly stipulated that the holders of lands, under
what were then called the king's grants, were to be quited in their
right of possession.
Joist Hite and his partners had obtained grants for a large body.
Fairfax, under the pretext that Hite, &c., had not complied with
the terms of their grants, took it upon himself to grant away large
quantities of these lands to other individuals. This arbitrary and
high-handed proceeding on the part • of his Lordship, produced a
lawsuit, which Hite and his partners instituted in the year 1736, and
in the year 1786 it was decided. Hite and partners recovered a
large amount of money for the rents and profits, and a considerable
quantity of land. *
*In the year 1736, Fairfax entered a caveat against Hite, &c., alleging
that the lands claimed by them were within the bounds of the Northern
Neck, and consequently his property. This was the beginning of the con
troversy, and led to the suit instituted by Hite and partners against him.
All the parties died before the suit was decided. Hite in 1731 purchased
from John and Isaac Vanmeter their right or warrant for locating 40,000 '
acres ; Hite and McKay obtained a warrant for locating 100,000 acres more

NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA. 157
The immense Fairfax estate had passed out of the Hands of
Fairfax's heirs. The lands (as observed in a preceding chapter)
were granted by Fairfax in fee simple to his tenants, subject
to an annual rent of two shillings sterling per hundred acres.
This small sum amounted in the aggregate to a very large sum;
added to which Fairfax required the payment of ten shillings ster
ling on each fifty acres, (which he termed compasition money),
which was paid on issuing the grant.
About the year 1742, his Lordship opened his office in the coun
ty of Fairfax for granting out the land. A few years after, he
removed to the County of Frederick, and settled at what he called
' ' Greenway Court, ' ' about twelve or fourteen miles southeast of
Winchester, where he kept his land office during his life. He died
in the autumn of 1781, very soon after the surrender of Cornwallis.
It is said that as soon as he heard of the surrender of Cornwallis
and his army, he called to his servants to assist him to bed, observ
ing, "It is time for me to die ; " and truly the old man never again
left his bed until he was consigned to the tomb. His body was de
posited under the communion table in the then Episcopal church in
Winchester. *
In the year 1785 the Legislature of Virginia passed an act
which among other provisions (in relation to the Northern Neck) is
the following :
' ' And be it further enacted, that the landholders within the said
district of the Northern Neck shall be forever hereafter exonerated
and discharged from composition and quitrent, any law, custom or
usage, to the contrary notwithstanding. ' ' f This act of the State
freed the people from a vexatious and troublesome kind of taxation.
Fairfax's representatives soon sold out their interest in their private
estate in this country, and it is believed there is no part of this vast
landed estate remaining in the hands of any branch of the Fairfax
in their own names ; and in order to obtain settlers, took in Robert Green
and William Duff as partners. Hence the firm of Joist Hite, Robert McKay,
Robert Green and William Duff. Green and Dufi settled in Culpeper coun
ty, and are the ancestors of the families of those names in that county, and
of Gen. Duff Green of Washington City.
* Lord Fairfax made a donation to the Episcopal society, of a lot of land,
upon which a large stone building was erected as a place of worship. The
lot is in the center of the town, and, attached to the church, was a large
burial ground, in which a great number of bodies are deposited. The Epis
copal society lately sold at auction this ancient building and lot for twelve
thousand dollars. The purchasers caused the skeletons to be removed, and
there are now three elegant brick houses erected on the lot. With the
money arising from the sale, the Episcopal society purchased a lot on Bos-
cowen and Washington streets, and have built a splendid new church. It is
to be regretted that no account was taken of the number of skeletons re
moved. The author inquired of several persons, who were concerned in
the removal, no one of whom could give any account of the number. It is
probable there were not less than 1,000 ; the skeleton of Lord Fairfax among
them. f See Revised Code of the Laws of Virginia, vol. i, p. 351.

158 NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
family. Chief Justite MarshaU, the late Raleigh Colston, Esq., and
the late Gen. Henry Lee, purchased the right of Fairfax's legatees
(in England) to what is called the Manor of Leeds, * South Branch
Manor, Patterson's Creek Manor, and various other tracts of land
of immense value — the most of which had been leased out for long
terms of lives. This estate has been the cause of more litigation
probably than any other estate of Virginia. Suits growing out of
the case of Hite, &c., against Fairfax, are yet depending in our
courts — and some of the tenants in the Manor of Leeds have lately
taken it in their heads that the Fairfax title is defective, and refuse
to pay rents to the present claimants. This refusal has produced a
lawsuit, which will doubtless be a long time pending.
The profligate manner of granting away lands in immense bodies
was unquestionably founded in the most unwise and unjust policy.
Instead of promoting the speedy settlement and improvement of the
county, instead of holding out to the bulk of society every possible
encouragement to make the most speedy settlement and improve
ment in the new country, monopolies in several instances were given,
or pretended to be sold to a few favorities of the governing powers,
whereby these favorities were enabled to amass vast estates, and to
lord it over the great majority of their fellow men. Such are the
blessings of kingly government. But the people of this free and
Happy republic have abundant cause to rejoice and bless their God
that this wretched kind of policy and high-handed injustice is done
away, in the freedom and wisdom of our institutions, and that we
have no longer our ears assailed, nor our understandings outraged,
with the disgusting, high-sounding title of ' ' My Lord ! ' ' applied to
poor frail human beings.
Lord Fairfax was the county lieutenant for Frederick for several
years. On looking into the record of the proceedings of the court-
martial, the author found the following entry :
" At a council of war, held for regulating the militia of Fred
erick county, in order to take such steps as shall be thought most
expedient in the present critical conjuncture, the 14th day of April,
1756; present, the Rt. Hon. the Lord Fairfax, county lieutenant;
John Hite, major ; John Lindsey, Isaac Parkins, Richard Morgan,
Samuel Odell, Edward Rogers, Jeremiah Smith, * Thomas Caton,
Paul Long, captains.
' ' Proposals having been sent to the several captains of the mili
tia, signed by the commanding officer of the said militia, and dated

* The Manor of Leeds is located in the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier
and Frederick, and contains about 150,000 acres ; the South Branch Manor
in Hardy, 55,000 ; Patterson's Creek in Hampshire, 9,000 acres ; Goony Run
Manor, which adjoins the Manor of Leeds, contains about 13,000 acres, and
lies chiefly in Shenandoah county.
•f Capt. Jeremiah Smith, the same who defeated the party of fifty In
dians, and killed the French captain, noticed in a preceding chapter.

NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA. 155
the 7th day of April, 1756, to get what volunteers they could en
courage to go in search of the Indian enemy who are daily ravaging
our frontiers and committing their accustomed cruelties on the
inhabitants ; and the aforesaid officers being met together, and find
ing the number of men insufficient to go against the enemy, it is
considered that the men be discharged, being only fifteen. FAIRFAX."
From this it appears that Lord Fairfax, among others, was an
attentive officer in the time of the Indian wars. In truth it be-
hooved His lordship to be active. He Had more at stake, and the
command of greater funds, than any other individual member of
society. The Indian hostilities retarded the settlement of his large
domain, and of course lessened his revenue. It is said that his lord
ship was remarkable for his eccentricities and singularity of disposi
tion and character, and that he had an insatiable passion for hoard
ing up English gold. * He never married ; of course left no child
to inherit his vast estate ; but devised his property, or a large por
tion of it, to the Rev. Denny Martin, his nephew in England, ou
condition that he would apply to the parliament of Great Britain for
an act to authorize Him to take the name of Lord Fairfax. This
was done ; and Denny Lord Fairfax, like his uncle, never marrying,
he devised the estate to Gen. Philip Martin, who, never marrying,
and dying without issue, devised the estates to his two old maiden
sisters, who sold it to Messrs. Marshall, Colston and Lee.
He devised that part of his estate on which he resided, and
which he called ' ' Greenway Court Manor, ' ' (containing ten thou
sand acres, with a large part of his slaves, &c.), to another nephew,
the late Col. Thomas Bryan Martin, who had resided with him for
many years previous to his death. Col. Martin, like others, never
married. But he contrived to make a daughter by a Mrs. Craw
ford, who Lord Fairfax had employed as a housekeeper. After
Fairfax's death, Martin kept this woman as a mistress for several
years ; she died, and the daughter grew up and married the late
Francis Geldart, who was a captain in the British service in the War
of the Revolution. She died soon after her marriage without issue,
Martin gave Geldart about one thousand acres of land, part of
"Greenway Court Manor," with a number of slaves, &c. Col.
Martin, after the death of his daughter, employed a white house
keeper, a Miss Powers, to whom he devised Greenway Court, with
one thousand acres of land, a number of slaves, and all the residue
of his personal estate of every description, (with the exception of
part of his stock, slaves, and money). Miss Powers after the death
of Martin, married the late Mr. W. Carnagy, by whom she had an
* Some four or five years ago the slaves of the Rev. Mr. Kennerly, the
present proprietor of " Greenway Court," in quarrying stone, not far from
Fairfax's ancient dwelling-house, found about $250 worth of gold coin, sup
posed to have been hidden there by his lordship.

i6o FAULKNER'S REPORT.
only daughter, who is now the wife of Rev. Thomas Kennerly. Col.
Martin directed by his wUl the sale of all the residue of his estate,
and the money arising from the sale to be remitted and paid to his
two maiden sisters in England. * Shortly after his death an attempt
was made to escheat the landed estate, and the suit was depending
some sixteen or eighteen years before its final decision. The Court
of Appeals at length decided the question in favor of Martin's
legatees. It is proper, before the subject of Lord Fairfax's immense grant
is dismissed, to inform the reader, that a few years after the War of
the Revolution, an attempt was made to confiscate all that part of
his landed estate devised by his nephew Denny Martin (afterwards
Denny Lord Fairfax). But Messrs. Marshall, Colston and Lee,
having purchased the estate, a compromise took place between them
and the state government, for the particulars of which the reader is
referred to the first volume of the Revised Code of the Laws of Vir
ginia, pp. 352, 353.
The sale of the estate of Lord Fairfax by his legatees in Eng
land, and the devise and sale of the estate of the late Col. T. B. Mar
tin, is the last chapter in the history of the Fairfax interest in the
Northern Neck, a territory comprising about one fourth of the whole
of the present limits of Virginia.
The State of Maryland has lately set up a claim to a considera
ble tract of territory on the northwest border of Virginia, including
a part of the Northern Neck. As the claim was pushed with much
earnestness, the executive of our State appointed Charles James
Faulkner, Esq. , of Martinsburg, a commissioner, to collect and em
body the necessary testimony, on behalf of Virginia, on this inter
esting question. Mr. Faulkner's able report the author deems of
sufficient interest to his readers generally to insert in tnis work. It
follows :
REPORT of CHARLES JAMES FAULKNER, RELATI-VE TO THE BOUND
ARY LINE BETWEEN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND.
Martinsburg, Va. , November 6th 1832.
Sir : — In execution of a commission addressed to me by your
Excellency, and made out in pursuance of a joint resolution of the
General Assembly of this State, of the 20th of March last, I have
directed my attention to the collection of such testimony as the lapse
of time and the nature of the enquiry have enabled me to procure
touching "the settlement and adjustment of the western boundary
of Maryland." The division line which now separates the two
States on the west, and which has heretofore been considered as fixed
by positive adjudication and long acquiescence, commences at a point
where the Fairfax stone is planted, at the head spring of the Poto-
*The estate sold for about one hundred thousand dollars.

FAULKNER'S REPORT. i6i
mac River, and runs thence due north to the Pennsylvania line.
This is the boundry to which Virginia has held for nearly a century ;
it is the line by which she held in 1786, when the compact made by
the Virginia and Mar}dand commissioners was solemnly ratified by
the legislative authorities of the two States.
An effort is now made by the General Assembly of Maryland,
to enlarge her territory by the establishment of a different division
line. We have not been informed which fork of the South Branch
she will elect as the new boundary, but the proposed line is to run
from one of the forks of the South Branch, thence due north to the
Pennsvlvania termhttis. It is needless to say that the substitution
of the latter, no matter at which fork it may commence, would cause
an important diminution in the already diminished territorial area of
this State. It would deprive us of large portions of the counties of
Hamp.shire, Hardy, Pendleton, Randolph and Preston, amounting in
all to almost half a million of acres — a section of the commonwealth
which from the quality of its soil, and the character of its popula
tion, might well excite the cupidity of a government resting her
claims upon a less substantial basis than a stale and groundless pre
tension of more ''than a century's antiquity. Although my in
structions have directed my attention more particularly to the
collection and preservation of the evidence of such living witnesses
' ' as might be able to testify to any facts or circumstances in relation
to the settlement and adjustment of the western boundary," I have
consumed but a very incon.siderable portion of my time in any labor or
inquiry of that sort, for who indeed, now living, could testify to any
' ' facts or circumstances ' ' which occurred nearly a century since ?
And if such individuals were now living, why waste time in taking
depositions as to those "facts," in proof of which the most ample
and authentic testimony was taken in 1736, as the basis of a royal
adjudication ? I have consequently deemed it of more importance
to procure the original documents where possible, if not, authentic
copies of such papers as would serve to exhibit a connected view of
the origin, progress and termination of that controversy with the
crown, which resulted, after the most accurate and laborious sur
veys, in the ascertainment of those very ' ' facts and circumstances ' '
which are now sought to be made again the subjects of discussion
and inquiry. In this pursuit I have succeeded far beyond what I
had any ground for anticipation ; and from the almost forgotten
rubbish of past years, have been enabled to draw forth documents
and papers whose interests may survive the occasion which redeemed
them from destruction.
To enable your Excellency to form a just conception of the
weight and importance of the evidence herewith accompanying this
report, I beg leave to submit with it a succinct statement of the
question in issue between the governments of Virginia and Mary
land, with some observations showing the relevancy of the evidence
to the question thus presented.
21

1 62 FAULKNER'S REPORT.
The territory of Maryland granted by Charles I. to Lord Balti
more, in June, 1632, was described in the grant as "that region
bounded by a line drawn from Watkins' Point on Chesapeake Bay
to the ocean on the east ; thence to that part of the estuary of Dela
ware on the north which lieth under the fortieth degree, where
New England is terminated ; thence in a right line by the de
gree aforesaid, to ihe meridian of ihe fountain of ihe Poiomac ;
thence following its course by its farther bank to its conflu
ence." (Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i,chap 11, pp. 78-81,
I si ediiion. It is plain that the western boundary of this grant was the
meridian of the fountain of the Potomac, from the point where it
cut the fortieth degree of north latitude to the fountain of the river ;
and the extent of the grant depended upon the question, what stream
was the Potomac ? So that the question now in controversy grows
immediately out of the grant. The territory granted to Lord
Baltimore was undoubtedly within the chartered limits of Vir
ginia : (^See ist chapter of April, 1606, sec. 4, and ihe 2nd charier of
May, \6og, sec. 6, isi of Hen. Stat, ai Large, pp. 58-88. And Mar
shall says that the grant ' ' was the first example of the dismember
ment of the colony, and the creation of a new one vi'ithin its
limits, by the mere act of the crown;" and that the planters of
Virginia presented a petition against it, '"which was heard before
the privy council (of England) in July, 1633, when it was de
clared that Lord Baltimore should retain his patent, and the petition
ers their remedy at law. To this remedy they never thought proper
to resort." Whether there be any record of this proceeding extant, I have
never been able to learn. The civil war in England broke out about
ten years after, and perhaps the journals of the proceedings of the
privy council were destroyed. Subsequently to this, we are in
formed by Graham, the planters, " fortified by the opinion of emin
ent lawyers whom they consulted, and who scrupled not to assure
them that the ancient patents of Virginia still remained in force, and
that ihe grant of Maryland, as derogatory to ihem,, was utterly void,
they presented an application to the parliament complaining of the
unjust invasion which their privileges had undergone. " (Graham' s
Hisiory, vol. 2, p. 12) . But as the parliaments of those days were
but the obsequious niinisters of the crown, that application, it is
presumed, likewise shared the fate of their former petition to the
privy council.
The present claim of Maryland, then, must be founded on the
supposition that the stream which 'we call the Potomac was not; and
that the stream now called the South Branch of the Potomac, was
in fact ihe Potomac intended in the grant to Lord Baltimore. I
have never been informed which fork of the South Branch she claims
as the Potomac (for there is a North and a South Fork of the South
Branch) ; neither have I been able to learn what is the evidence, on

FAULKNER'S REPORT. 163
which she relies to ascertain that stream which is tiow called the South
Branch of the Potomac, but which at ihe date qf ihe grant io Lord
Baltimore was not known at all, but when known, known for many
years only as the Wappacomo, was ihe Potomac intended by Lord
Baltimore's grant. For this important geographical fact, I refer to
the numerous early maps of the chartered limits of Virginia and
Maryland, some of which are to be seen in the public libraries of
Washington and Richmond.
The question, which stream was the Potomac? is simply a
question which of them, if either, bore the name. The name is
a matter of general reputation. If there be any thing which de
pends wholly upon general acceptation, which ought and must
be settled by prescription, it is this question, which of these
Rivers was and is the Potomac? The accompanying papers, it is
believed, will ascertain this fact to the satisfaction of every impar
tial inquirer.
In the twenty-first year of Charles II, a grant was made to Lord
Hopton and others, of what is called the Northern Neck of Virginia,
which was sold by the other patentees to Lord Culpeper, and con
firmed to him by letters patent in the fourth year of James II.
This grant carried with it nothing but the right of soil and the inci
dent of ownership ; for it was expressly subjected to the jurisdic
tion of the government of Virginia. Of this earlier patent I believe
there is no copy in Virginia. The original charter from James II.
to Lord Culpeper accompanies this report, marked No. i. They are
both recited in the Colonial statute of 1736. (i Rev. Code, ch. 8g).
The tract of country thereby granted, was " all that entire tract,
territory and parcel of land, lying and being in America, and boun
ded by and within the heads of the rivers, Tappahannock alias
Rappahannock, and Quiriough alias Potomac Rivers, the course of
said Rivers as they are commonly called and known by the inhabi
tants, and description of their parts and Chesapeake Bay. ' '
As early as 1729, in consequence of the eagerness with which
lands were sought on the Potomac, and its tributary streams, and
from the difficulties growing out of conflicting grants from Lord
Fairfax and the crown, the boundries of the Northern Neck pro
prietary became a subject which attracted deep and earnest atten
tion. At this time the Potomac had been but little explored ; and
although the stream itself above its confluence with the Shenandoah
was known as the Cohongoroota, or Upper Potomac, it had never
been made the subject of any very accurate surveys and examina
tions, nor had it yet been settled, by any competent authority, which
of its several tributaries was entitled to be regarded as the main or
principal branch of the River. It became important, therefore, to
remove all further doubt upon that question.
In June, 1729, the Lieutenant-governor of Virginia addressed a
communication to the lords commissioners of trades and plantation
affairs, in which he solicits their attention to the ambiguity of the

1 64 FAULKNER'S REPORT.
lord proprietor's charter, growing out of the fact that there were
several streams which might be claimed as the head springs of the
Potomac River, among which he enumerates the Shenandoah, and
expresses his determination ' ' to refuse the suspension of granting
of patents, until the case should be fairly stated and determined ac
cording to the genuine con.struction of the proprietor's charter."
This was followed by a petition to the king iu council, agreed toby
the House of Burgesses of Virginia, in June, 1730, in which it is set
forth, among other matters of complaint, " that the head springs of
the Rappahannock and Potomac are not yet known to any of your
Majesty's subjects ; but much inconvenience had resulted to gran
tees therefrom, and praying the adoption of such measures as might
lead to its ascertainment to the satisfaction of all interested." Lord
Fairfax, who, by his marriage with the only daughter of Lord Cul
peper, had now succeeded to the proprietorship of the Northern
Neck, feeling it likewise due to his grantees to have the question re
lieved from all further difficulty, preferred his petition to the king
in 1733, praying that his Majesty would be pleased to order a com
mission to issue, for running out, marking, and ascertaining the
bounds of his patent, according to the true intent and meaning of
his charter. An order to this effect was accordingly directed to the
king ; and three commissioners were appointed on behalf of the
crown, and the same number on behalf of Lord Fairfax. The duty
which devolved upon them was to ascertain, by actual examination
and survey, the true fountains of the Rappahannock and Potomac
Rivers. To enable them more perfectly to discharge the important
trust confied to them, they were authorized to summon persons be
fore them, to take depositions and affidavits, to search papers, and
employ surveyors, chain-carriers, markers, and other necessary
attendants. The commissioners convened in Fredericksburg, on
the 26th of September, 1736, and proceeded to discharge their du
ties, by taking depositions, appointing surveyors, and making every
needful and requisite preparation for the survey. They commenced
they journey of observation and survey on the 12th day of October,
1736, and finished it on the 14th of December, of the same year ;
on which day they discovered what they marked and reported to be
the first fountain of the Potomac River. Separate reports were
made by the commissioners, which reports, with all the accompany
ing documents, papers, surveys, plans, &c., were on the 21st of
December, 1738, referred to the council for plantation affairs. That
board, after hearing counsel, made a report on the 6th day of April,
1745, in which they state, " that having examined into the several
reports, returns, plans, and other papers transmitted to them by the
commissioners appointed on behalf of the crown, as likewise of Lord
Fairfax, and having been attended by council on behalf of your
Majesty, as likewise of Lord Fairfax, and having heard all they
had to offer thereupon, and the question being concerning that
boundary which ought to be drawn from the first head spring of the

FAULKNER'S REPORT. 165
River Rappahannock to the first Head or spring of the River Poto
mac, the committee do agree humbly to report to your Majesty as
their opinion, that within the words and meaning of the letters pa
tent, granted by King James II, bearing date the 27th day of Sep
tember, in the fourth year of his reign, the said boundary ought to
begin at the first spring of the South Branch of the River Rappa
hannock, and that the said boundary be from thence drawn in a
straight line northwest io ihe place in ihe Alleghany Mountains
where thai pari of the Poiomac River, which is now called Cohongo
roota, first rises." The Cohongoroota is known to be the stream
which the Mayland writers term the North Braiich of the Potomac,
but which is recognized in Virginia, and described ou all the maps
and surveys which I have ever yet seen, as ihe Poiomac River, from
its fountain, where the Fairfax Stone is located, to its confluence
with the Shenandoah River ; there being, properly speaking, no
such stream as the North Branch of the Potomac River. This re
port of the council for plantation affairs was submitted to the king
in council on the nth of April, 1745, and fully confirmed by him,
and a further order made, directing the appointment of commission
ers to run and mark the dividing line agreeably to this decision thus
made. Commissioners were accordingly appointed, who, having
provided themselves with surveyors, chain-carriers, markers, &c. ,
commenced their journey on the i8th of September, 1746. On the
17th of October they planted the Fairfax Stone at the spot which
had been described and marked by the preceding commissioners as
the true head spring of the Potomac River, and which has continued
to be regarded, from that period to the present time, as the south
ern point of the western boundary between Maryland and Virginia.
A joint report of these proceedings was made by the commissioners
to the king, accompanied with their field notes ; which report was
received and ordered to be filed away among the records of His
Majesty's Privy Council. Thus terminated, after a lapse of six
teen years, a proceeding, which had for its object, among other
matters, the ascertainment of ihe first fountain of ihe Poiomac River,
and which resulted in the establishment of that " f act " by a tribu
nal of competent jurisdiction. This decision has now been acqui
esced in for near a century ; and aU topographical description and
sketches of the country have been made to conform to it. I say
acquiesced in, for it is impossible to regard the varying, fluctuating
legislation of Maryland upon the subject, at one session of her
general assembly recognizing the line as now established, (see
compact of 1785, Session Acts of 1803, 18 18, and others), at
another authorizing the appointment of commissioners to adju.d
the boundary, as a grave resistance of its conclusiveness, or such
a continual claim, as under the usages of international law, would
bar an application of the principles of usucapafion and prescrip
tion. (See Vattal, p. 251. Grotius. lib. 2, cap. 4. Wolfius Jus.
Nat. par. 3.

1 66 FAULKNER'S REPORT.
Jurisdiction in all cases relating to boundaries between provin
ces, the dominion aud proprietary government, is by the common
law of England exclusively vested in the king and council, (i Ves.
Sen. p. 447). And notwithstanding it maybe a question of bound
ary between the crown and the lord proprietor of a province,
(such that as between Lord Fairfax and the crown), the king is
the only judge, and is presumed to act with entire impartiality and
justice in reference to all persons concerned, as well as those who
are parties to the proceeding before him, as others not parties who
may not be interested in the adjustment. (Vesey, ib). Such is
the theory and practice of the English constitution ; and although
it may not accord precisely with our improved conceptions of juri
dical practice, it is nevertheless the law which must now govern and
control the legal aspect of the territorial dispute between Virginia
and Maryland. It does not appear by the accompanying papers that Charles
Lord Baltimore, the then proprietor of Maryland, deputed au agent
to attend upon his pari in ihe examination and survey of ihe Poiomac
River. It is possible he conceived his interests sufficiently pro
tected in the aspect which the controversy had then assumed be
tween Lord Fairfax and the crown. Certain it is, that it nowhere
appears that he ever considered himself aggrieved by the result of
that adjustment. That his government was fully appraised of what
was in progress, can scarcely admit of a rational doubt. For it is
impossible to conceive that a controversy so deeply affecting not
only the interests of Lord Baltimore, but all who were concerned in
the purchase of land in that section of the country, and conducted
with so much solemnity and notoriety, could have extended through
a period of sixteen years without attracting the attention of the
government of Maryland— a government ever jealous, because ever
doubtful of the original tenue by which her charter was held. But
had Lord Baltimore even considered himself aggrieved by the result
of that settlement, it is difficult now to conceive upon what ground
he would have excepted to its justice, or question its validity. Could
he have said that the information upon which the decision was
founded was imperfect ? Or the proceedings of the commissioners
were characterized by haste, favoritism or fraud ? This, the pro
ceedings of that board, still preserved, would contradict. For never
was there an examination conducted with more deliberation, prose
cuted with more labor, or scrutenized with a more jealous or anxi
ous vigilance. Could he have shown that some other stream ought
to have been fixed upon as the true head spring of the Potomac?
This, it is believed, is impossible ; for although it may be true that
the South Branch is a longer stream, it nevertheless wants those
more important characteristics which were then considered by the
commissioners, and have been subsequently regarded by esteemed
geographers as essential in distinguishing a tributary from the main
branch of a river. (See Flint's Geography, vol. 2, p. 88). Lastly,

FAULKNER'S REPORT. 167
would he have questioned the authority of the crown to settle the
boundaries of Lord Fairfax's charter, without having previously
made him a party to the proceeding ? I have before shown the fu
tility of such an idea. Besides, this would have been at once to
question the authority under which he held his own grant ; for
Baltimore held by virtue of an arbitrary act of the second Charles.
His grant was manifestly made in violation of the chartered rights
of Virginia, and carried into effect not only without the acquies
cence, but against the solemn and repeated remonstrance of her
government. Was Virginia consulted in the ' ' dismemberment' ' of
her territory ? Was she made a party to that proceeding, by which,
' ' for the first time in colonial history, one new province was created
within the chartered limits of another by the mere act of the crown."
But the fact is, that Charles Lord Baltimore, who lived for six years
after the adjustment of this question, never did contest the propriety
of the boundary as settled by the commissioners, but from all that
remains of his views and proceedings, fully acquiesced in its accu
racy and justice. (See the treaty with the six nations of Indians,
at Lancaster, in June, 1744).
The first evidence of dissatisfaction with the boundary as estab
lished, which the researches of the Maryland writers have enabled
them to exhibit, are certain instructions from Frederick Lord Balti
more (successor of Charles) to Governor Sharp, which was pre
sented by the latter to his council in August, 1753. I have not
been able to procure a copy of those instructions, but a recent his
torian of Maryland, and an ingenious advocate of her present
claim, referring to them, says, "His instructions were predicted
upon the supposition that the survey might possibly have been
made wiih the knowledge and concurrence of his predecessor, and
hence he denies the power of the latter to enter into any arrangem,ent
as to the boundaries, which would extend beyond his life estate, or
conclude those in remainder." (See McMahon's History of Mary
land, p. 53).
What where the precise limitations of those conveyances made
by the proprietors of Maryland, and under which Frederick Lord
Baltimore denies the power of his predecessor to enter into an ar
rangement as to the boundaries, which would extend beyond his
life estate, I am unable to say — my utmost researches have failed to
furnish me with a copy of them — ^but they were so far satisfactory
tohis lordship's legal conceptions, as to induce him to resist even the
execution of a decree pronounced by Lord Hardwicke, in 1750, (i
Ves. Sen. pp. 444-46) upon a written compact as to boundaries,
which had been executed by his predecessor and the Penns, in
1732. To enforce submission to that decree, the Penns filed a
bill of reviver in 1754, and after an ineffectual struggle of six
years. Lord Baltimore was compelled with a bad grace to submit,
and abide by the arrangement as to the boundaries which had been
made by his predecessor. To this circumstance, in aU probabUity,

i68 FAULKNER'S REPORT.
was Lord Fairfax indebted for his exemption from the further
demands of the proprietor of Maryland. For Lord Frederick, no
ways averse to litigation, had by this time doubtless become satis
fied that the power of his predecessor did extend beyond his life's
estate, and might even conclude those in remainder. Be that as it
may, however, certain it is that the records of Maryland are silent
upon the subject of this pretension, from September, 1753, until
ten years subsequent to the compact between Virginia and Maryland
in 1785. An opinion prevails among our most distinguished jurists,
resting solely upon traditionary information, that about 1761, Fred
erick Lord Baltimore presented a petition to the king and council,
praying a revision of the adjustment made in 1745, which petition
was rejected, or after a short time abandoned as hopeless. If there
ever -was such a proceeding, I can find nothing of it in the archives
of Virginia. Be that as it may, it is certain that ever since 1 745 Lord Fair
fax claimed and held, and the Commonwealth of Virginia constantly
to this day has claimed and held by the Cohongoroota, that is by
the Northern Branch, as the Potomac, and whatever Lord Baltimore
or his heirs, and the State of Maryland may have claimed, she has
held by the same boundary. There is no reason why Lord Fairfax,
being in actual possession, should have controverted the claim of
Lord Baltimore, or Maryland. If Lord Baltimore, or Maryland,
ever controverted the boundary, the question must, and either has
been decided against them, or it must have been abandoned as hope
less. If they never controverted it, the omission to do so, can only
be accounted for, upon the supposition that they knew it to be hope
less. If Maryland ever asserted the claim — seriously asserted it I
mean — it must have been before the revolution, or it least during it,
when we all knew she was jealous enough of the extended territory
of Virginia. The claim must have had its origin before the compact
between the two States, of March, 1785, (i Rev. Code, ch. 18).
We then held by the same boundary by which we now hold ; we
held to what we called and now call the Potomac ; she then held to
what we call the Potomac. It is possible to doulDt that this is the
Potomac recognized by the compact ? That compact is now forty-
seven years old.
I have diligently enquired whether, as the Potomac above the
confluence of the Shenandoah was called the Cohongoroota, the
stream now called the South Branch of the Potomac ever had any
peculiar name, known to and established among the English set
tlers — for it is well known that it bore the name of Wappacomo. I
never could learn that it was known by any other name, but that
which it yet bears, the South Branch of the Potomac. Now that
very name of itself sufficiently evinces, that it was regarded as a
tributary stream of another river, and that river the Potomac ; and

FAULKNER'S REPORT. 169
that the river of which the South Branch was the tributary, was re
garded as the main stream.
But let us for a moment concede that the decision of the king in
council was not absolutely conclusive of the present question ; let us
concede that the long acquiesence of Maryland in that adjustment
has not precluded a further discussion of its merits ; let us even sup
pose the compact of 1785 thrown out of view, with all the subse
quent recognition of the present boundary by the legislative acts of
that State, and the question between the two streams now for the
first time presented as an original question of preference ; what are
the facts upon which Maryland would rely to show that any other
stream, than the one bearing the name, is entitled to be regarded as
the main branch of the Potomac ? It were idle to say that the South
Branch is the Potomac, because the South Branch is a longer or
e-^en larger stream than the North Branch which Virginia claims to
hold by. According to that sort of reasoning, the Missouri, above
its confluence with the Mississippi, is the Mississippi, being beyond
comparison the longer and larger stream. The claim of the South
Branch, then, would rest solely upon its great length. In opposition
to this it might be said that the Cohongoroota is more frequently
navigable — that it has a larger volume of water — thai the valley of
the South Branch is, in ihe grand scale of conformation, secondary to
ihat of ihe Potomac — tliaithe South Branch has not ihe general direc
tion of thai River, which ii joins nearly at right angles — thai the val
ley of ihe Poiomac is wider than thai of the South Branch, as is also
ihe river broader than the other. And lastly that the course of the
river and the direction of the valley are the same above and
below the junction of the South Branch. (See letters accompany
ing this report No. 26). These considerations have been deemed
sufficient to establish the title to the " father of waters," to the
name which he Has so long borne. (See History and Geography of
Western States, vol. 2, Missouri). And as they exist in an equal
extent, so should they equally confirm to pre-eminence which the
Cohongoroota nas now for near a century so proud and peacefully
enjoyed. The claim of Maryland to the territory in question is by no
means so reasonable as the claim of the great Frederick of
Prussia to Silesia, which that Prince asserted and maintained, but
which he tells us himself he never would have thought of assert
ing, if his father had not left him an overflowing treasury and a
powerful army.
While this brief historical retrospect, presented as explanatory
of the accompanying testimony, I wiU now lay before your Excel
lency, in chronological order, a list of the documents and papers re
ferred to in my preceding observations.
No. I. Is the original grant from King James II. to Thomas
Lord Culpeper, made on the 27th of September, in the fourth year
of his reign. 22

I70 FAULKNER'S REPORT.
No. 2. Copy of a letter from Major Gooch, Lieutenant-gover
nor of Virginia, to the lords commissioners for trade and plantations,
dated at Williamsburg, June 29, 1729.
No. 3. Petition to the King in Council, in relation to the
Northern Neck grants and their boundaries, agreed to by the House
of Burgesses, June, 30, 1730.
No. 4. The petition of Thomas Lord Fairfax, to his Majesty
in Council, preferred in 1733, setting forth his grants from the crown,
and that there had been divers disputes between the governor and
council in Virginia and the petitioner and his agent, Robert Carter,
Esq., touching the boundaries of the petitioner's said tract of land,
and praying that his Majesty would be pleased to order a commis
sion to issue for running out, marking and ascertain the bounds of
the petitioner's said tract of land. •
No. 5. A copy of an orderof his Majesty to his privy council,
bearing date of 29th of November, 1733, directing William Gooch,
Esq., Lieutenant-governor of Virginia, to appoint three or more
commissioners, (not exceeding five), who in conjunction with a like
number to be named and deputed by the said Lord Fairfax, are to
survey and settle the marks and boundaries of the said district of
land agreeably to the terms of the patent under which the Lord Fair
fax claims. No. 6. Copy of the commission from Lieutenant-governor
Gooch to William Byrd, of Westover ; John Robinson, of Piscataway ;
and Johm Grymes, of Brandon ; appointing them commissioners on
behalf of his Majesty, with full power, authority, &c.
[I have not been able to meet with a copy of the commission of
Lord Fairfax to his commissioners — they were William Beverly,
William Fairfax and Charles Carter. It appears by the accom
panying report of their proceedings, that ' ' his lordship's commission
ers delivered to the king's commissioners an attested copy of their
commission," which having been found upon examinatiom more
restricted in its authority than that of the commissioners of the
crown, gave rise to some little difficulty which was subsequently
adjusted]. No. 7. Copy of the instructions on behalf of the right honor
able Lord Fairfax, to his commissioners.
No. 8. Minutes of the proceedings of the commissioners ap
pointed on the part of his Majesty and the right honorable Thomas
Lord Fairfax, from their first meeting of Fredericksburg, Septem
ber 25th, 1736.
No. 9. Original correspondence between the commissioners
during the year 1736 and 1737, in reference to the examination and
survey of the Potomac river.

FAULKNER'S REPORT. 171
No. ID. The original field notes of the survey of the Potomac
River, and the mouth of the Shenandoah to the head spring of said
Potomac River, by Mr. Benjamin Winslow.
No. II. The original plat of the survey of the Potomac
River. No. 12. Original letter from John Savage, one of the survey
ors, dated January 17, 1737, stating the grounds upon which the
commissioners had decided in favor of the Cohongoroota over the
Wappacomo, as the main branch of the Potomac. The former, he
says, is both wider and deeper than the latter.
No' 13. Letter from Charles Carter, Esq., dated January 20,
1737, exhibiting the result of a comparative examination of the
North and South Branches of the Potomac River. The North Branch
at its mouth, he says, is twenty-three poles wide, the South Branch
sixteen, &c.
No. 14. A printed map of the Northern Neck of Virginia,
situated betwixt the Rivers Potomac and Rappahannock, drawn in
the year 1737, by William Mayo, one of the king's surveyors, ac
cording to his actual survey in the preceding year.
No. 15. A printed map of the course of the Rivers Rappa
hannock and Potomac, in Virginia, as surveyed according to order
in 1736 and 1737, (supposed to be by Lord Fairfax's surveyors).
No. 16. A copy of the separate report of the commissioners
appointed on the part of the crown. [I have met with no copy of
the separate report of Lord Fairfax's commissioners] .
No. 17. Copy of Lord Fairfax's observations upon and excep
tions to the report of the commissioners to the crown.
No. 18. A copy of the report and opinion of the right honor
able the lords of the committee of council for plantation affairs, dated
6th April, 1745.
No. 19. The decision of his Majesty in Council, made on the
nth of April, 1745, confirming the report of the council for planta
tion affairs, and further ordering the Lieutenant-governor of Vir
ginia to nominate three or more persons, (not exceeding five) , who,
in conjunction with a like number to be named and deputed by Lord
Fairfax, are to mn and mark out the boundary and dividing line,
according to his decision thus made.
No. 20. The original commissioners from Thomas Lord Fair
fax to the Honorable William Fairfax, Charles Carter and WiUiam
Beverly, Esqrs., dated nth June, 1745.
[Col. Joshua Fry, Col. Lunsford Lomax, and Major Peter
Hedgeman, were appointed commissioners on the part of the
crown] .

172 FAULKNER'S REPORT.
No. 21. Original agreement entered into by the commission
ers, preparatory to their examination of the Potomac River.
No. 22. The original journal of the journey of the commis
sioners, surveyors, &c., from the head spring of the Rappahannock
to the headspring of the Potomac, in 1746. [This is a curious and
valuable document, and gives the only authentic narrative now ex
tant of the planting of the Fairfax Stone] .
No. 23. The joint report of the commissioners appointed as
well on the part of the crown as of Lord Fairfax, in obedience to his
Maje,sty's order on nth of April, 1735.
No. 24. A manuscript map of the head spring of the Potomac
River, executed by Col. George Mercer, of the regiment commanded
in 1756 by General Washington.
No. 25. Copy of an act of the General Assembly of Maryland,
passed Februray 19, i8ig, authorizing the appointment of commis
sioners on the part of the State, to meet such commissioners as may
be appointed for the same purpose by the Commonwealth of Vir
ginia, to settle and adjust, by mutual compact between the t'wro gov
ernments, the western limits qf that state of Commonwealth of
Virginia, io commence ai ihe most western source of ihe North Branch
of ihe Potomac River, and io run a due north course thence io ihe
Pennsylvania line.
No. 26. Letters from intelligent and well-informed individu
als, residing in the country watered by the Potomac and its branches,
addressed to the undersigned, stating important geographical facts
bearing upon the present controversy.
There are other papers in my possession, not listed nor referable
to any particular head, yet growing out of and illustrating the con
troversy between Lord Fairfax and the crown ; these are also here
with transmitted. * /
There are other documents again not at all connected with my
present duties, which chance Has thrown in my may, worthy of pres
ervation in the archives of the State. Such, for example, as the
original ' ' plan of the line between Virginia and North Carolina,
which was run in the year, 1728, in the spring and fall, from the sea
to Peter's Creek, by the Hon. William Byrd, Wm. Dandbridge and
Richard Fitzwilliams, Esqrs., commissioners, and Mr. Alex' r Irvine
and Mr. William Mayo, surveyors — and from Peter's Creek to Steep
Rock Creek, was continued in the fall of the year 1749, by Joshua
Fry and Peter Jefferson. ' ' Such documents, should it accord with
the views of your Excellency, might be deposited with "the Vir
ginia Historical and Philosophical Society," an institution of recent
origin, yet founded upon the most expanded views of public utility,
and which is seeking by its patrotic appeals to individual liberality.

FAULKNER'S REPORT.

173

to wrest from the ravages of time the fa.st perishing records and
memorials of our history and institutions.
With sentiments of regard, I am, very respectfully, your obedi
ent servant,
CHARLES JAS. FAULKNER.
To John Floyd, Esq., Governor of Virginia.
After perusing this masterly exposition, the reader will be at a
loss to conceive on what grounds Maryland can rest her claims to
the territory in question, and what authorities she can adduce to
support them. The controversy is still pending, and, in addition to
Mr. Faulkner, Col. John B. D. Smith, of Frederick, and John S.
Gallaher, Esq., of Jefferson, have been appointed commissioners on
the part of Virginia.

174 LAYING OFF THE COUNTIES.

CHAPTER XIV.

LAYING OFF THE COUNTIES.

The two counties of Frederick and Augusta were laid off at the
same session of the colonial legislature, in the year 1738, and in
cluded all the vast region of country west of the Blue Ridge. Pre
vious to that time the county of Orange included all the territory
west of the mountains. Orange was taken from Spottsylvania in
the year 1734, Spottsylvania having previously crossed the Blue
Ridge, and took in a considerable part of what is now the county of
Page. Previous to laying off the county of Orange, the territory
west of the Blue Ridge, except the small part which lay in Spott
sylvania, does not appear to have been included in any county.
Spottsylvania was laid off in the year 1720 ; the act for which is
worded as follows :
' ' Preamble. That the frontier towards the high mountains
are exposed to danger from the Indians, and the late settlements of
the French to the westward of the said mountains : Enacted,
Spottsylvania county, bounded upon Snow Creek up to the mill ;
thence by a southwest line to the River North Ann ; thence up the
said River as far as convenient, and thence by a line to be run over
the high mountains to the river on the northwest side thereof, * so
as to include the northern passage through the said mountains;
thence down to the said river until it comes against the head of the
Rappahannock River ; thence by a line to the head of the Rappa
hannock River, and down that River to the mouth of Snow Creek ;
which tract of land, from the first of May, 1721, shall become a
county, by the name of Spottsylvania county. ' '
Thus it appears that a little more than one hundred years ago
Spottsylvania was a frontier county, and that the vast region west
of the Blue Ridge, with its millions of people, has been settled and
improved from an entire wilderness. The country for more than a
thousand miles to the west has been within this short period rescued
from a state of natural barbarism, and is now the seat of the fine
arts and sciences, of countless millions of wealth, and the abode of
freedom, both religious and political. Judging from the past, what
an immense prospect opens itself to our view for the future. With-

* South Fork of the Shenandoah.

LAYING OFF THE COUNTIES. 175
in the last half century, our Valley has poured out thousands of
emmigrants, who have contributed towards peopling the Carolinas,
Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and other regions south and
west, and migrations still continue.
It has already been stated that Frederick county was laid off in
the year 1738. The first court of justice held in the county was in
the year 1743. This delay, it is presumable, arose from the want of
a sufficient number of Magistrates to form a quorum for the legal
transaction of business. The first court was composed of the fol
lowing justices, to-wit : Morgan Morgan, David Vance, Marquis
Calmes, Thomas Rutherford, William M'Mahon, Meredith Helm,
George Hoge and John White. James Wood, clerk. This court
sat the first time, on Friday, the nth day of November, 1743. At
this term of the court is to be found on record the following entry :
' ' Ordered, that the sheriff of this county build a twelve foot
square log house, logged above and below, to secure his prison
ers, he agreeing to be satisfied with what he shall be allowed him
for such building by two of the court, and he not to be answer
able for escape. This was the first jail erected in the county of
Frederick." The County of Hampshire was the next laid off, and was taken
from Frederick and Augusta. This was done in the year 1753.
The first court held in this county was in December, 1757. Thomas
B. Martin, James Simpson, William Miller, Solomon Hedges, and
Nathaniel Kuykendall, justices, composed the court, and Gabriel
Jones the clerk.
Berkeley and Dunmore were taken from Frederick in the year
1772. In October, 1777, the legislature altered the name of Dun
more county to Shenandoah. It does not appear, from the langu
age of the law, for what particular reason this alteration was made.
It had been named after and in honor of Lord Dunmore, the then
governor under the royal government. But his lordship took a most
decidedly active part in opposition to the American Revolution ; and
in order to have the liberty of wearing his head, took shelter on
board of a British armed vessel. His conduct is pretty fully related
in Mr. Jacob's account of Dunmore's war, given in the preceding
pages ; and it was doubtless owing to this cause that the name of
Dunmore county was altered to that of Shenandoah.
In the year 1769, Botetourt county was taken from Augusta.
In the act is to be found the following clause : " And whereas the
people situated on the Mississippi, in the said county of Botetourt,
will be very remote from the court house, and must necessarily be
come a separate county, as soon as their numbers are sufficient,
which probably will happen in a short time ; Be it therefore enact
ed, by the authority aforesaid, that the inhabitants of that part of
said county of Botetourt, which lies on the said waters, shall be ex
empt from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said county
court for the purpose of buUding a court house and prison for the

176 LAYING OFF THE COUNTIES.
said county." Thus it appears that Virginia, at that period , claimed
the jurisdiction and territory of that vast region of country westward
to the Mississippi.
In 1772 the County of Fincastle was taken from Botetourt ;
and in 1776 Fincastle was divided into the counties of Kentucky,
Washington and Montgomery, and the name of Fincastle became
extinct. In the year 1777 Rockbridge county was taken from Augusta
and Botetourt. Rockingham county, the same year, was taken from
Augusta, and Greenbrier from Augusta and Botetourt. The year
1776 and 1777 were remarkable for many divisions of the western
counties. West Augusta, in the year 1775, by the convention as
sembled for the purpose of devising a plan for resisting the oppres
sions of the mother country, among other proceedings determined,
that ' ' the landlords of the district of West Augusta shall be con
sidered as a distinct county, and have the liberty of sending two dele
gates to represent them in general convention as aforesaid. ' '
This is the first account which the author has been able to find
in our ancient statutes in relation to West Augu.sta as a separate dis
trict or county. In fact, it does not appear that we ever had a
county legally established by this name. It is presumable that it
acquired the name by general usage, from its remote and western
locality from the seat of justice. Be this as it may, it appears that
the district of West Augusta never had its bounds laid off and de
fined until the month of October, 1776, when it was divided into
three distinct counties, viz : Ohio, Yohogania, and Monongalia.
By the extension of the western boundary between Pennsyl
vania and Virginia, the greater part of the county Yohogania
falling within the limits of Pennsylvania, the residue v/as, by an
Act of Assembly, of 1755, added to Ohio, and Yohogania became
extinct. Harrison county was established in 1784, taken from Monon
galia. In 1785 Hardy county was laid off, taken from Hampshire.
In 1786 Randolph county was laid off, taken from Harrison. In
1785 Russell county was taken from Washington. In 1787 Pendle
ton county was taken from Augusta, Hard}' and Rockingham. In
1788 Kanawha was taken from Greenbrier and Montgomery. In
1789 Wythe county was taken from Montgomery, and a part of
Botetourt added to Montgomery. In 1790 Bath was taken from
Augusta, Botetourt and Greenbrier. In 1792 Lee county was taken
from Russell and in the same year, Grayson county was taken from
Wythe. The author has deemed it an interesting part of his work to
give a particular history of the establishment of our counties, be
cause it goes to show the rapid increase of our population, and im
provement of our country, since the termination of the War of the
Revolution. To an individual born and raised in the Valley, and
who is old enough to recollect the passing events for the last half

LAYING OFF THE COUNTIES. 177
century — ^who was acquainted with the state of our country fifty
years ago, its sparse population, rude log buildings, and uncultivat
ed manners and customs of our ancestors — the great improvement of
every thing calculated to better the condition of human life, the as
tonishing change in the appearance of our country, its elegant
buildings, finely cultivated farms, improved state of society, &c.,
calculated almost to raise doubts in his mind whether these vast
changes could possibly have taken place within his little span of ex
istence. The author's destiny when a youth, threw him into a busi
ness which gave him an opportunity of exploring a considerable part
of the lower counties of the Valley, and he has lately made it his
business again to explore the same counties ; and if he had been for
the last forty years, shut up in a dungeon, and recently set at liber
ty, he would almost doubt his own senses and believe himself in
another country. A great part of our Valley may be said to be ele
gantly improved. *

* Capt. James Russell, of Berkeley, some years ago built a brick barn
150 feet long and 55 feet wide. The late Mr. John Hite, in the year 1785,
built the first brick house ever erected west of the Blue Ridge. This is but
a small one-story building, and is now owned by the heirs of the late Mr. A.
Neill, at the north end of Stephensburg, in the County of Frederick. In
1787 Mr. Hite built a merchant mill, which was at that time considered the
finest mill in the Valley. It is now hardly considered a second rate mill

23

178 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS.

CHAPTER XV.

establishment of the TOWNS.

About the year 1738, there were two cabins erected near the
Run, in Winchester. * The author regrets that he has not been able
to ascertain the names of the first settlers in this town. Tradition
however relates that they were German families.
In the year 1752 the legislature passed " an act for the estab
lishing of the town of Winchester. " In the preamble are the follow
ing words :
"Whereas, it has been represented to the General Assembly,
that James Wood, gentleman, did survey and lay out a parcel of
land at the court house f in Frederick county, in twenty-six lots, of
half an acre each, with streets for a town, by the name of Winches
ter, and made sale of said lots to divers persons who have since set
tled and built and continue building and settling thereon ; but be
cause the same was not laid off and erected into a town by act of
Assembly, the freeholders and inhabitants thereof will not be entitl
ed to the like privileges enjoyed by the freeholders and inhabitants
of other towns in this colony. Be it enacted, &c., that the said par
cel of land lately claimed by the said James Wood, l^ing and being
in the County of Frederick aforesaid, together with^fty-four other
lots of half an acre each, twenty-four thereof in one or two streets
on the east side of the former lots, the street or streets to run par
allel with the street already laid off, and the remaining thirty lots to
be laid off at the north end of the aforesaid twenty-six with a com
modious street or streets in such manner as the proprietor thereof,
the right honorable Thomas Lord Fairfax, shall see fit, be and 'is
hereby constituted, enacted, and established a town, in the manner
already laid out, to be called by and retain the name of Winchester,
and that the freeholders of said town shall forever hereafter enjoy

* A very aged woman, by the name of Sperry, informed the author that
when she first saw the place where Winchester now stands, she was 22 years
of age, and from her age at the time the author conversed with her, (which
was in 1809), he found the year in which she first saw Winchester to be in
1738, at which time she stated there were but two small log cabins, and those
near the run.
f Mr. Jacob Gibson informed the author that he was in Winchester in
I755> and that the court house was a small cabin, and that he saw the court
sitting in this cabin.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS. 179
the same privileges which the said freeholders of other towns erected
by Act of Assembly enjoyed." This act further provides that fairs
may be held in the towns twice in each year.
Thus it appears that the late Col. James Wood was the founder
of Winchester, and not Lord Fairfax as has generally been believed.
The latter made an addition to the town. Tradition relates that
Fairfax was much more partial to Stephensburg than he was to
Winchester, and used all his influence to make Stephensburg the
seat of justice, but that Wood out-generaled his lordship, and by
treating one of the justices with a bowl of toddy secured his vote in
favor of Winchester, which settled the question, and that Fairfax
was so offended at the magistrate who thus sold his vote, that he
never after spoke to him.*
The late Robert Rutherford, Esq., opened the first store ever
established in Winchester. There was soon a mixed population of
Germans, Irish, and a few English and Scotch. The national preju
dices which existed between the Dutch and Irish promised much
disorder and many riots. It was customary for the Dutch on St.
Patrick's Day, to exhibit the effigy of the saint, with a string of
Irish potatoes around his neck, and his wife Sheeley, with her apron
loaded also with potatoes. This was always followed by a riot. The
Irish resented the indignity offered to their saint and his holy
spouse, and a battle followed. On St. Michael's day the Irish would
retort, and exhibit the saint with a rope of sour krout about his
neck. Then the Dutch, like the Yankee, "felt chock fuUof fight"
and at it they went pell-mell, and many a black eye, bloody nose,
and broken head, was the result, f The author recollects one of
these riots since, the War of the Revolution. The practice was at
last put down by the rigor with which our courts of justice punished
the rioters. In the month of September, 1758, the town of Stephensburg, in
the County of Frederick, was established. The town was founded
by Peter Stephens, who came to Virginia with Joist Hite, in the
year 1732. The ruins of Stephen's cabin are yet to be seen. Lewis
Stephen, the late proprietor of the town, was the son of Peter
Stephens. He laid out the town in form, and applied to the Gener
al Assembly to have it established by law, which was done in the
year 1758.
This town was first settled almost exclusively by Germans ; and
the religion, habits and customs, of their ancestors, were preserved
with great tenacity for many years. The German language was gen-

* The late John S. Woodcock, Esq., communicated this fact to the au
thor, and stated that he had the information from Col. Martin.
f Gen. Smith informed the author that this practice was kept up for
several years after he settled in Winchester, and that several very dangerous
riotos took place, in which he and other magistrates had to interpose, to
preserve the peace.

i8o ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS.
erally used in this village since the author's acquaintance with it,
which acquaintance commenced in the year 1784.
In the month of November, 1761, Strasburg, (commonly
called Stover's town), was established by law. This town was
settled entirely by Germans, and to this day the German language
is in general use, though the English language is now generally
Understood, and also spoken by the inhabitants. It was laid off by
Peter Stover.
Staunton, in the county of Augusta, was laid off by William
Beverly, Esq. , and established by the Act of the General Assembly
in November, 1761. The first settlers were principally Irish.
In March, 1761, Woodstock then in the County of Fred
erick, was established by law. Jacob Miller laid off twelve hun
dred acres of land, ninety-six of which were divided into half-
acre lots, making one hundred and ninety-two building lots, the re
mainder into streets and five acre lots, commonly called out-lots.
This town appears to have been originally laid out upon a larger
scale than any of our ancient villages. Like most of our towns it
was settled exclusively by Germans, and their religion, customs,
habits, manners and language, were for a long time preserved
and to this day the German language is generally in use by the
inhabitants. Mecklenburg (Sheperdstown), then in the County of Frederick,
now in Jefferson, was established by law in the month of Novem
ber, 1762. This village is situated immediately on the bank of the
Cohongoroota (Potomac) about twelve mUes above Harpers- Ferry.
It was laid off by the late Capt. Thomas Shepherd, and was first
settled chiefly by German mechanics. It is remarkable for its being
the place where the first steam boat was ever cbnstructed in the
world. Mr. James Rumsey, in the year 1788, built a boat, which
was propelled by steam against a brisk current. There are some of
the machinery now to be seen, in the possession of Capt. Haines,
in that place.
Romney, in the County of Hampshire, was laid off by the late
Lord Fairfax, and established by law in the month of November,
1762. His lordship laid off fifty acres into streets and half-acre lots ;
but the town improved but slowly. It does not contain more than
fifty families at this time. It is nevertheless a place of consid
erable business ; has a bank, printing office, several stores and
taverns. The new Parkersburg turnpike road passes through it,
which will doubtless, when completed, give it many great ad
vantages. In February, 1772, Fincastle, in the County of Botetourt, was
established. Israel Christian made a present of forty acres of land
to the justices of Botetourt court, for the use of the county. The
court laid off the said forty acres of land into lots, and applied to the
legislature to have the town established by law, which was done
accordingly.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS. iSi
In October, 1776, first year of the commonwealth, the town of
Bath, at the Warm Springs, in the County of Berkeley, (now the
seat of justice for Morgan county), was established, and laid off by
Act of Assembly.
Preamble. ' ' Whereas it has been represented to the General
Assembly, that the laying off of 50 acres of land in lots and streets fos
a town at the Warm Springs, in County of Berkeley, wUlbeof great
utility, by encouraging the purchasers thereof to build convenient
houses for accommodating numbers of infirm persons, who frequent
those springs yearly for the recovery of their health ; Be it enacted,
&c., that fifty acres of land adjoining the said springs, being part
of a large tract of land, the property of the right honorable Thomas
Lord Fairfax, or other person or persons holding the same by a
grant or conveyance from him, be and the same is hereby vested in
Bryan Fairfax, Thomas Bryan Martin, Warner Washington, the
Rev. Reverend Charles Mynn Thurston, Robert Rutherford, Thos.
Rutherford, Alexander White, Philip Pendleton, Samuel Washing
ton, William EUzey, Van Swearingen, Thomas Hite, James Ed
mundson and James Nourse, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or
any seven of them, laid out into lots of one quarter of an acre each,
with convenient streets, which shall be and the same is hereby es
tablished a town, by the name of Bath."
The author has been the more particular in making the fore
going extract from the Act of the Legislature, because this appears
to be the first instance under our republican government in which
the legislature took the authority of establishing and laying out a
town upon the land of private individuals, without the consent of
the owner of the land. It is possible Lord Fairfax assented to the
laying off of the town ; but if he did, there is nothing in the langu
age of the act which goes to show it.
In the month of October, 1777, Lexington, in the County of
Rockbridge, was established. Extract from the law : ' ' And be it
further enacted, that at the place which shall be appointed for hold
ing courts in the said County of Rockbridge, there shall be laid off
a town, to be called Lexington, thirteen hundred feet in length and
nine hundred in width. * And in order to make satisfaction to the
proprietors of the said land, the clerk of the said county shall, by
order of the justices, issue a writ, directed to the sheriff, command
ing him to summon twelve able and disinterested freeholders, to
meet on the said land, on a certain day, not under five nor over ten
days from date, who shall upon oath value the said land, in so many
parcels as there shall be sepearate owners, which valuation the
sheriff .shall return, under the hands and seals of the said jurors, to
the Clerk's office : and the justices, at laying their first county levy,
shall make provision for paying the said proprietors their respective
proportions thereof ; and the property of the said land, on the re-
* This was truly upon a small s"cale.

1 82 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS.
turn of the said valuation, shall be vested in the justices and their
successors, one acre thereof to be reserved for the use of the said
county, and the residue to be sold and conveyed by the said justices
to any persons, and the money arising from such sale to be applied to
wards lessening the county levey ; and the public buildings for the
said county shall be erected on the land reserved as aforesaid."
From this it appears that the name of the town was fixed by law be
fore the site is marked out.
Moorefield was also established in the month of October, 1777,
in the County of Hampshire, now the seat of justice for the County
of Hardy. Extract from the Act of the Assembly : "Whereas it
has been represented to this present General Assembly, that the
establishing a town on the lands of Conrad Moore in the County of
Hampshire, would be of great advantage to the inhabitants, by en
couraging tradesmen to settle amongst them ; Be it therefore enact
ed, &c., that sixty-two acres of land belong to the said Conrad
Moore, in the most convenient place for a town, be, and the same is
hereby vested in Garret Vanmeter, Abel Randall, Moses Hutton,
Jacob Read, Jonathan Heath, Daniel M'Neil, and George Renneck,
gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or any four of them, laid
out into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, which
shall be and the same is hereby established a town by the name of
Moorefield." Martinsburg was established in the month of October, 1778.
Extract from the law : ' ' Whereas it has been represented to this
present General Assembly, that Adam Stephens, Esq., had lately
laid off one hundred and thirty acres of land in the County of
Berkeley, where the court house now stands, in lots and streets for
a town, &c.; Be it enacted, &c., that the said one hundred and
thirty acres of land laid out into lots and streets, agreeably to a plan
and survey thereof made, containing the number of two hundred and
sixty-nine lots, as, by the said plan and survey, relation thereunto
being had, may more fully appear, be and the same is hereby vested
in James M'Alister, Joseph Mitchell, Anthony Noble, Jas. Strode,
Robert Carter Willis, William Patterson and Philip Pendleton,
gentleman, trustees, and shall be established a town by the
name of Martinsburg." The town was named after the late Col.
T. B. Martin.
Tradition relates that an animated contest took place between
the late Gen. Adam Stephen and Jacob Hite, Esq., in relation to
fixing the seat of justice for this county ; Hite contending for the
location thereof on his own land, at what is now called Leetown, in
the County of Jefferson, Stephen advocating Martinsburg. Stephen
prevailed, and Hite became so disgusted and dissatisfied that he sold
out his fine estate, and removed to the frontier of South Carolina.
Fatal remove ! He had not been long settled in that state before
the Indians murdered him and several of his family in the most

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS. 183
shocking and barbarous manner.* It is said that the evening before
this bloody massacre took place, an Indian squaw, who was much
attached to Mrs. Hite, f called on her and warned her of the in
tended massacre, and advised her to remove with her little children
to a place of safety. Mrs. Hite immediately communicated this
intelligence to her husband, who disbelieved the information,
observing, ' ' the Indians were too much attached to him to do him
any injury." The next morning, however, when it was fatally too
late to escape, a party of Indians, armed and painted in their usual
war dress, called on Hite, and told Hite they had determined to kill
him. It was in vain that he pleaded his friendship for them, and
the many services he had rendered their nation ; their fell purpose
was fixed, and nothing could appease them but his blood, and that
of his innocent, unoffending and helpless wife and children. They
commenced their operations by the most cruel tortures upon Mr.
Hite, cutting him to pieces, a joint at a time ; and whilst he was
thus in the most violent agonies, they barbarously murdered his wife
and several of her little offspring.. After Mr. Hite, his wife, and
several of the children were dispatched, they took two of his daugh
ters, not quite grown, and all his slaves as prisoners. They
also carried off what plunder they choose, and their booty was con
siderable. Mr. Hite kept a large retail store, and dealt largely with the
Creek and Cherokee tribes. It is said that a man by the name of
Parish, who went to Carolina with Hite, and to whom Hite had
been very friendly, growing jealous of Hite's popularity with the
Indians, instigated the savages to commit the murder. About the
year 1784 or 1785, the author saw the late Capt. George Hite, (who
had been an officer in the Revolutionary Army), aud who had just
returned from an unsuccessful search after his two young sisters,
who were taken captive at the time of the murder of their father.
He had traversed a great part of the Southern country, among the
various tribes of Indians, but never could hear anything of them.
Capt. Hite, some short time after the War of the Revolution, recov.
ered a part of his father's slaves, who had been taken off by the In
dians, one of whom is now owned by Maj. Isaac Hite, of Frederick
county. This woman brought home an Indian son, whom the au
thor has frequently seen, and who had all the features of an Indian.
A part of Hite's slaves are to this day remaining with the Indians,
and are kept in rigorous slavery. In the winter 1815-16, the au
thor fell in with Col. William Triplett, of WUkes county, Georgia,
who informed him, that in the autumn of the year, 1809 he was
traveling through the Creek country, and saw an old negro man
who told him he was one ot Jacob Hite's slaves, taken when his
* Col. James Hite, of Jefferson county, related this tradition to the
author. + Mrs Hite was the sister of the late Col. J. Madison, of Orange county,
Virginia, and of course aunt to ex-president Madison.

1 84 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS.
master and family were murdered in South Carolina. He further
informed Col. Triplett, that there were then sixty negroes in
possession of the Indians, descended from slaves taken from Hite,
the greater number of whom were claimed by the little Tallapoosa
king. In Octotber, 1778, the town of Abington was established in
Washington county.
In the month of May, 1780, the town of Harrisonburg, in the
county of Rockingham, was established. It appears that Mr.
Thomas Harrison had laid off fifty acres of land into lots and streets,
and the legislature simply confirmed what Mr. Harrison had done,
without appointing trustees for the town, as was the usual prac
tice. The privileges, however, granted by law to the citizens of
other incorporated town, were given to the inhabitants of Harri
sonburg. In the month of October, 1782, the town of Lewisburg, in the
County of Greenbrier, was established. The Act of Assembly ap
propriates forty acres of land at the court house, to be laid off into
half acre lots and streets. Samuel Lewis, James Reid, Samuel
Brown, Andrew DonnoUy, John Stuart, Archer Matthews, William
Ward and Thomas Edgar, gentlemen, were appointed trustees.
In October, 1785, Clarksburg, in the County of Harrison,
was established. William Raymond, Nicholas Carpinert, John
Myers, John M' Alley and John Davison, gentlemen, were appointed
trustees. In the same month and year, Morgantown, in the County of
Monongalia, was established. The act appropriates fifty acres of
land, the property of Zackquell Morgan, to be laid off into lots and
streets for a town ; Samuel Hanway. John Evans, David Scott,
Michael Keames and James Daugherty, trustees.
In October, 1786, Charlestown, in the County of Berkeley,
(now the seat of justice of the County of Jefferson) , was establish
ed. This town was laid off by the late Col. Charles Washington, a
brother to the illustrious Gen. George Washington, on his own
land. Eighty acres were divided into lots and streets ; and John
Augustine Washington, William Drake, Robert Rutherford, James
Crane, Cato Moore, Mangus Tate, Benjamin Rankin, Thornton
Washington, Wm. Little, Alex'r White and Richard Ranson, weer
appointed trustees. This town bears the christian name of its
proprietor. In the year 1787, Frankfort, in Hampshire county, was estab
lished. One hundred and thirty-nine acres of land were laid off into
lots and streets, with out-lots, by John Sellars. John Mitchell, An
drew Cooper, Ralph Humphreys, John Williams, Sr. , James Clark,
Richard Stafford, Hezekiah Whiteman and Jacob Brookhart,
as trustees. In the month of October, 1787, the town of West Liberty, in
the County of Ohio, was established. Sixty acres of land was laid

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNS. 185
off into lots and streets by Ruben Foreman and Providence Mounts.
Moses Chapline, George M'CuUough, Charies Willis, Van Swear
ingen, Zachanah Sprigg, James Mitchell and Benjamin Briggs
were appointed trustees.
In the same month and year, Middletown, in the County of
Berkeley, (commonly called Gerrardstown) , was established. This
town was laid off by the late Rev. David Gerrard, and contained
one hundred lots. William Henshaw, James Haw, John Gray, Gil
bert M'Kewan and Robert Allen, were appointed trustees.
The same year and month, the town of Watson, (commonly
called Capon Springs) , in the County of Hampshire, was established.
Twenty acres of land to be laid off in lots and streets. Elias Boston,
Henry Fry, Isaac Hawk, Jacob Hoover, John Winterton, Valentine
Swisher, Rudolph Bumgardner, Paul M'lvor, John Sherman Wood
cock and Isaac Zane, gentlemen, trustees.
In 1788, Front Royal was established, in the County of Fred
erick. Fifty acres of land, the property of Solomon Vanmeter,
James Moore, Robert Haines, William Cunningham, Peter Halley,
John Smith, Allen Wiley, Original Wroe, George Chick, William
Morris and Henry Trout, was laid out into lots and streets,
and Thomas Allen, Robert Russell, William Headly, William Jen
nings, John Hickman, Thomas Hand and Thomas Buck, gentle
men, trustees.
The same year and month, Pattonsburg, in the County of Bote
tourt, on James River, was established. Crowsville, in Botetourt,
was established at the same time.
In 1790, Beverley was laid off and established, a town in Ran
dolph court house.
Frontville, at the Sweet Springs, and Springfield in the Coun
ty of Hampshire, were severally laid off and established in Octo
ber, 1790.
In October, 1791, DarkviUe, in Berkeley, Keilstown in Rock
ingham, and Charlestown in Ohio Counties, were severally establish
ed. This concludes the author's account of the establishment of the
various towns west of the Blue Ridge, within the present western
limits of Virginia, from the earliest settlement of the country to the
year 1792 Inclusive.
The history of the establishment of the towns in Western
Virginia, from the earliest settlement of the country to the year
1792 inclusive, is gathered from Hening's Statutes at Large, which
brings the Acts of the Legislature no further than that period. To
continue the list to the present time, would require an examination
of the various session acts since 1792, which it would be difficult to
obtain, perhaps, except in Richmond, to which place it would not
suit the author's earliest convenience to make a joumey. As he
confidently anticipated a demand f6r a second edition of this work,
he wUl in the mean time make perfect the portion of the history of
our country for future insertion.
24

NOTES.

On ttje Settlement and lodian Wars of the Western
Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvaijia, prom the Year
Ooe Thousand Se'\/en Hundred and Sixty-three un
til the year Ooe Tbousand Sever) Hundred and
Eighty-three inclusive. Together with a View of tlje
State of Society ar)d Manrjers of the first Set
tlers of tbat Couotry.
Bx THE Rev. Dr. Joseph Doddridge

J^OTES. &c.

CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS OF THE CHARACTER OF
THE INDIAN MODE OF WARFARE, AND ITS ADOPTION
BY THE WHITE PEOPLE 
This is a subject which presents human nature in its most re
volting features, as subject to a vindicative spirit of revenge, and a
thirst of human blood, leading to an indiscriminate slaughter of all
ranks, ages and sexes, by the weapons of war, or by torture.
The history of man is, for the most part, one continued detail
of bloodshed, battles and devastations. War has been, from the ear
liest periods of history, the almost constant employment of individu
als, clans, tribes and nations. Fame, one of the most potent objects
of human ambition, has at all times been the delusive, but costly re
ward of military achievement. The triumph of conquest, the epithet
of greatness, the throne and the sceptre, have uniformly been pur
chased by the conflict of battle and garments rolled in blood.
If the modem European laws of waref are have softened in some
degree the horrid features of national conflicts, by respecting the
rights of private property, and extending humanity to the sick,
wounded and prisoners ; we ought to reflect that this amelioration is
the effect of civilization only. The natural state of war knows no
such mixture of mercy with cruelty. In his primitive state, man
knows no object in his wars, but that of the extermination of his
enemies, either by death or captivity.
The wars of the Jews were exterminatory in their object. The
destruction of a whole nation was often the result of a single cam
paign. Even the beasts themselves were sometimes included in the
general massacre.

igo INDIAN WARFARE.
The present war between the Greeks and the Turks is a war
upon the ancient model, a war of utter extermination.
It is, to be sure, much to be regretted, that our people so often
follow the cruel examples of the Indians, in the slaughter of prison
ers, and sometimes women and children ; yet let them receive a can
did hearing at the bar of reason and justice, before they are con
demned as barbarians, equally with the Indians themselves.
History scarcely presents an example of a civilized nation carry
ing on a war with barbarians without adopting the mode of warfare
of the barbarous nation. The ferocious Suwarrow, when at war
with the Turks, was as much of a savage as the Turks themselves.
His slaughter was as indiscriminate as theirs ; but during his wars
against the French, in Italy, he faithfully observed the laws of
civilized warfare.
Were the Greeks now at war with a civilized nation, we should
hear nothing of the barbarities which they have committed on the
Turks ; but being at war with barbarians, the principle of self-de
fense compels them to retaliate on the Turks the barbarities which
they commit on them.
In the last rebellion in Ireland, that of the United Irishmen,
the government party were not much behind the rebels in acts of
lawless cruelty. It was not by the hands of the executioner alone
they perished. Summary justice, as it was called, was sometimes
inflicted. How many perished under the torturing scourge of the
drummer forthe purpose of extorting confessions ! These extra-ju
dicial executions were attempted to be justified on the ground of the
necessity of the case.
Our Revolutionary War has a double aspect ; on the one hand we
carried on a war with the English, in which we observed the max
ims of civilized warfare with the utmost strictness ; but the brave,
the potent, the magnanimous nation of our forefathers had asso
ciated with themselves, as auxiliaries, the murderous tomahawk
and scalping knife of the Indian nations around our defenceless
frontiers, leaving those barbarous sons of the forest to their own sav
age mode of warfare, to the full indulgence of all their native thirst
for human blood.
On them, then, be the blame of all the horrid features of this war
between civilized and savage men, in which the former was compel
led, by every principle of self-defense, to adopt the Indian mode of
warfare, in all its revolting and destructive features.
Were those who were engaged in the war against the Indians,
less humane than those who carried on the war against their English
allies ? No, they were not. Both parties carried on the war on the
same principle of reciprocity of advantages and disadvantages. For
example, the English and Americans each take one thousand prison
ers ; they are exchanged ; neither army is weakened by this arrange
ment. A sacrifice is indeed made to humanity, in the expense of
taking care of the sick, wounded and prisoners ; but this expense is

INDIAN WARFARE. igi
mutual. No disadvantages result from all the clemency of modern
warfare, except the augumentation of the expenses of the war. In
this mode of warfare, those of the nation, not in arms, are safe from
death by the hands of the soldiers. No civilized warrior dishonors
his sword with the blood of helpless infancy, old age, or that of the
fair sex. He aims his blows only at those whom he finds
in arms against him. The Indians kills indiscriminately. Child
ren are victims of his vengeance, because, if males, they may
hereafter become warriors, or if females, they may become mothers.
Even the fetal state is criminal in his view. It is not enough that
the fetus should perish with the murdered mother ; it is torn from
her pregnant womb, and elevated on a stick or pole, as a trophy of
victory and an object of horror to the survivors of the slain.
If the Indian takes prisoners, mercy has but little concern in the
transaction. He spares the lives of those who falls into his hands,
for the purpose of feasting the feelings of the ferocious vengeance of
himself and comrades, by the torture of his captive ; or to increase
the strength of his nation by his adoption into an Indian family ; or
for the purpose of gain, by selling him for an higher price, than his
scalp would fetch, to his christian allies of Canada ; for be it knov.-n
that those allies were in the constant practice of making presents for
scalps and prisoners, as well as furnishing the means for carrying on
the Indian war, which for so many years desolated our defenceless
frontiers. No lustration can ever blot out this national stain. The
foul blot must remain, as long as the page of history shall convey
the record of the foul transaction to future generations.
The author would not open wounds which have, alas ! already
bled so long, but for the purpose of doing justice to the memor}' of
his forefathers and relatives, many of whom perishsd in the defense
of their country, by the hands of the mercil&ss Indians.
How is a war of extermination, and accompanied with such
acts of atrocious cruelty, to be met by those on whom it was in
flicted ? Must it be met by the lenient maxims of civilized war
fare ? Must the Indian captive be spared his life ? What advan
tage would be gained by this course ? The young white prisoners,
adopted into Indian families, often become complete Indians ; but in
how few instances did ever an Indian become civilized. Send a
cartel for an exchange of prisoners ; the Indians know nothing of
this measure of clemency in war : the bearer of the white flag for the
purpose of effecting the exchange would have exerted his humanity
at the forfeit of his life.
Should my countrymen be still charged with barbarism, in the
prosecution of the Indian war, let him who harbor this unfavorable
impression concerning them, portray in imagination the horrid
scenes of slaughter which frequently met their view in the course of
the Indian war. Let him, if he can bear the reflection, look at help
less infancy, virgin beauty and hoary age, dishonored by the ghast
ly wounds of the tomahawk and scalping knife of the savage. Let

ig2 INDIAN WARFARE.
him hear the shrieks of the victims of the Indian torture by fire, and
smell the surrounding air, rendered sickening by the effluvia of their
burning flesh and blood. Let him hear the yells, and view the hellish
features of the surrounding circle of savage warriors, rioting in all
the luxuriance of vengeance, while applying the flaming torches to
the parched limbs of the sufferers, and then suppose those murdered
infants, matrons, virgins and victims of torture, were his friends and
relations, his wife, sister, child or brother ; what would be his feel
ings ? After a short season of grief, he would say ' ' I will now think
only of revenge. ' '
Philosophy shudders at the destructive aspect of war in any
shape ; Christianity, by teaching the religion of the good Samaritan,
altogether forbids it ; but the original settlers of the western reg
ions, like the greater part of the world, were neither philosophers
nor saints. They were " men of like passions with others;" and
therefore adopted the Indian mode of warfare from necessity and a
motive of revenge ; with the exception of burning their captives
alive, which they never did. If the bodies of savage enemies were
sometimes burned, it was not until after they were dead.
Let the voice of nature and the law of nations plead in favor of
the veteran pioneers of the desert regions of the west. War has
hitherto been a prominent trait in the moral system of human nature,
and will continue such, until a radical change shall be effected in
favor of science, morals and piety, on a general scale.
In the conflicts of nations, as well as those of individuals, no
advantages are to be conceded. If mercy may be associated with
the carnage and devastation of war, that mercy must be reciprocal ;
but a war of utter extermination must be met by a war of the same
character, and by an overwhelming force which may put an end to
it, without a sacrifice of the helpless and unoffending part of the
hostile nation. Such a force was not at the command of the first in
habitants of this country. The sequel of the Indian war goes to
show that in a war with savages the choice lies between extermina
tion and subjugation. Our government has wisely and humanely
pursued the latter course.
The author begs to be understood that the foregoing observa
tions are not intended as a justification of the whole of the transac
tions of our people with regard to the Indians during the course of
the war. Some instances of acts of wanton barbarity occurred on
our side, which have received and must continue to receive the un
equivocal reprobation of all the civilized world. In the course of
this history, it will appear that more deeds of wanton barbarity took
place on our side than the world is now acquainted with.

WAR OF 1763. 193

CHAPTER IT.

WAR OF 1763.
The treaty of peace between his British Majesty aud the kings
of France, Spain and Portugal, concluded at Paris on the loth of
February, 1763, did not put an end to the Indian war against
the frontier parts and back settlements of the colonies of Great
Britain. The spring and summer of 1763, as well as those of 1764, deserve
to be memorable in history, for the great extent and destructive
results of a war of extermination, carried on by the united forces of
all the Indian nations of the western country, along the shores of the
northern lakes, and throughout the whole extent of the frontier set
tlements of Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.
The events of this war, as it relates to the frontier of Pennsyl
vania and the shores of the lakes, are matters of history already,
and therefore shall be no farther related here than is necessary to
give a connected view of the military events of tnose disastrous sea
sons. The massacres by the Indians in the southwestern part of
Virginia, so far as they have come to the knowledge of the author,
shall be related more in detail.
The English historian (Hist, of England, vol. 10. p. 3gg), at
tribute this terrible war to the influence of the French Jesuits over
the Indians ; but whether with much truth and candor, is, to say the
least of it, extremely doubtful.
The peace of 1763, by which the provinces of Canada were
ceded to Britain, was offensive to the Indians, especially as they very
well knew that the English government, on the ground of this
treaty, claimed the jurisdiction of the western country generally ;
and as an Indian sees no difference between the right of jurisdiction
and that of possession, they consider themselves as about to be dis
possessed of the whole of their country, as rapidly as the English
might find it convenient to take possession of it. In this opinion
they were confirmed by the building of Forts on the Susquehanna,
on lands to which the Indians laid claim. The forts aud posts of
Pittsburg, Bedford, Ligonier, Niagara, Detroit Presque Isle, St.
Joseph and Michilimackinac, were either built, or improved and
strengthened, with additions to their garrisons. Thus the Indians
saw themselves surrounded on the north and east by a strong line of
25

194 WAR OF 1763.
forts, while those of Bedford, Ligonier and Pittsburg, threatened an
extension of them into the heart of their country. Thus circum
stanced, the aboriginals of the country had to choose between the
prospect of being driven to the inhospitable regions of the north and
west, of negotiating vAth the British government for continuance of
the possession of their own lands, or of taking up arms for its de
fense. They chose the latter course, in which a smallness of their
numbers, and "the scantiness of their resources, ought to have taught
them, that although they might do much mischief, they could not
ultimately succeed ; but the Indians, as well as their brethren of the
white skin, are often driven by their impetuous passions to rash and
destructive enterprises, which reason, were permitted to give it coun
sels, would disapprove.
The plan resolved on by the Indians for the prosecution of the
war, was that of a general massacre of all the inhabitants of the
English settlements in the western country, as well as those on the
lands on the Susquehanna, to which they laid claim.
Never did military commanders of any nation display more
skill, or their troops more steady and determined bravery, than did
those red men of the wilderness in the j rosecution of their gigantic
plan for the recovery of their country from the possession of the
English. It was indeed a war of utter extermination on an extensive
scale ; a conflict which exhibited human nature in its native state, in
which the cunning of the fox is associated with the cruelty of the
tiger. We read the history of this war with feelings of the deepest
horror ; but why ? On the part of the savages, theirs was the an
cient mode of warfare, in which there was nothing of mercy. If
science, associated with the benign influence of the christian system,
has limited the carnage of war to those in arms, so as to give the
right of life and hospitality to women, infancy, old age, the sick,
wounded and prisoners, may not a further extension of the influence
of those powerful but salutory agents put an end to war altogether ?
May not future generations read the history of our civilized warfare
with equal horror and wonder, that with our science and piety we
had wars at all !
The English traders among the Indians were the first victims in
this contest. Out of one hundred and twenty of them, among the
different nations, only two or three escaped being murdered. The
Forts of Presque Isle, St. Joseph and Michilimackinac were taken,
with a general slaughter of the garrisons.
The Fortresses of Bedford, Ligonier, Niagara, Detroit and Pitt,
were with difficulty preserved from being taken.
It was a principal object with the Indians to get possession of De
troit and Fort Pitt, either by assault or famine. The former was at
tempted with regard to Detroit. Fort Pitt, being a considerable dis
tance from the settlements, were alone supplies could be obtained,
determined the savages to attempt its reduction by famine.
In their first attempt on Fort Detroit, the Indians calculated on

WAR'OF 1763. 195
taking possession of it by stratagem. A large number of Indians
appeared before the place under a pretence of holding a congress
with Maj. Gladwin, the commandant. He was on his guard and
refuse them admittance. On the next day, about five hundred more
of the Indians arrived in arms, and demanded leave to go into the
Fort, to hold a treaty. The commandant refused to admit a greater
number than forty. The Indians understood his design of detain
ing them as hostages, for the good conduct of their comrades on the
outside of the Fort, and therefore did not send them into the place.
The whole number of men in the Fort and on board two vessels of
war in the river, did not exceed one hundred and ten or twelve,
but by means of the cannon they possessed, they made shift to
keep the Indians at a distance, and convince them that they could
not take the place. When the Indians were about to retire Cap
tain Dalyel arrived at the Fort with a considerable reinforce
ment for the relief of the place. He made a sortie against the
breastworks 'which the Indians had thrown up, with two hun-
hundred and forty-five men. This detachment was driven back
with the loss of seventy men killed and forty-two wounded.
Capt. Dalyel was among the slain. Of one hundred men who were
escorting a large quantity of provisions to Detroit, sixty -seven were
massacred. Fort Pitt had been invested for some time, before Capt. Ecayer
had the least prospect of relief. In this situation he and his garri-
sion had resolved to stand it out to the last extremity, and even
perish of famine, rather than fall into the hands of the savages, not
withstanding the Fort was a bad one, the garri.son weak, and the
country between the F'ort and Ligonier in possession of the savages,
and his messengers killed or compelled to return back. In this
situation. Col. Bouquet was sent by Gen. Amherst to the relief of
the place, with a large quantity of provisions under a strong es
cort. This escort was attacked by a large body of Indians, in a
narrow defile, on Turtle Creek, and would have been entirely de
feated, had it not been for a successful strategem employed by the
commander for extricating themselves from the savage armj-.
After sustaining a furious contest from one o'clock till night, and for
several hours the next morning, a retreat was pretended, with a
view to draw the Indians into a close engagement. Previous to
thismovment, four companies of infantry and grenadiers were placed
in ambuscade. The plan succeeded. When the retreat commenced,
the Indians thought themselves secure of victory, and pressing for
ward with great vigor, fell into the ambuscade, and were dispersed
with great slaughter. The loss on the side of the English was
above one hundred killed and wounded ; and that of the Indians
could not have been less. The loss was severely felt by the Indians,
as in addition to the number of warriors who fell in the engage
ment, several of the most distinguished chiefs were among the slain.
Fort Pitt, the reduction of which they had much at heart, was

ige WAR OF 1763.
now placed out of their reach, by being effectually relieved and sup
plied with the munitions of war.
The historian of the western region of our country cannot help
regarding Pittsburg, the present flourishing emporium of the north
ern part of that region, and its immediate neighborhood, as classic
ground, on account of the memorable battles which took place for
its possession in the infancy of our settlements. Braddock's defeat,
Maj. Grant's defeat, its conquest by Gen. Forbes, the victory over
the Indians above related by Maj. Bouquet, serve to show the import
ance in which this post was held in early times, and that it was
obtained and supported by the English government, at the price
of no small amount of blood and treasure. In the neighborhood
of this place, as well as in the war-worn regions of the old world,
the plowshare of the farmer turns up from beneath the surface of the
earth, the broken and rustv implements of war, and the bones of the
.slain in battle.
It was in the course of this war that the dreadful massacre of
Wyoming took place, and desolated the fine settlements of the New
England people along the Susquehanna.
The extensive and indiscriminate slaughter of both sexes and
all ages by the Indians, at Wyoming and other places, so exasper
ated a large number of men, dominated the " Paxton boys, " that
they rivalled the most ferocious of the Indians themselves in deeds
of cruelty, which have dishonored the history of our country, by the
record of the shedding of innocent blood without the slighest provo
cation, deeds of the most atrocious barbarity.
The Conestoga Indians had lived in peace for more than a cen
tury in the neighborhood of Lancaster, Pa. Their number did not
exceed forty. Against these unoffending descendants of the first
friends of the famous William Penn, the Paxton V)ys first directed
their more than savage vengeance. Fifty-seven of them in military
array, poured into their Kttle village, and instantly murdered all
whom they found at home, to the number of fourteen men, women
and children. Those of them who did not happen to be home at the
massacre, were lodged in the jail of Lance.ster for safety. But alas !
this precaution was unavailing. The Paxton boys broke open the
jail door, and murdered the whole of them, in number about fifteen
or twenty. It was in vain that these poor defenseless people protested
their innocence and begged for mercy on their knees. Blood was
the order of the day with those ferocious Paxton boys. The death
of the victims of their cruelties did not satisfy their rage for slaugh
ter ; they mangled the dead bodies of the Indians with their scalp
ing knives and tomahawks in the most shocking and brutal manner,
scalped even the children and chopping off their hands and feet of
most of them.
The next object of those Paxton boys was the murder of the
christian Indians of the villages of Wequetank and Nain. Ffom the
execution of this infernal design they were prevented by the hu-

WAR OF 1763. 197
mane interference of the government of Pennsylvania, which re
moved the inhabitants of both places under a strong guard to
Philadelphia for protection. They remained under guard from No
vember, 1763, until the close of the war in December, 1764; the
greater part of this time they occupied the barracks of that
city. The Paxton boys twice assembled in great force, at no
great distance from the city, with a view to assault the barracks
and murder the Indians ; but owing to the military preparations
made for their reception, they at last reluctantly desisted from the
enterprise. While we read, with feelings of the deepest horror, the record
of the murders which have at different periods been inflicted on the
unoffending Christians Indians of the Moravian profession, it is some
consolation to reflect, that our government has had no participation
in those murders ; but on the contrary, has at all times afforded
them all the protection which circumstances allowed.
The principal settlements of Greenbrier where those of Muddy
Creek and the Big Levels, distance about fifteen or twenty miles
from each other. Before these settlers were aware of the existence
of the war, and supposing that the peace made with the French
comprehended their Indian allies also, about sixty Indians visited
the settlement of Muddy Creek. They made the visit under the
mask of friendship. They were cordially received and treated with
aU the hospitality which it was in the power of these new settles to
bestow upon them ; but on a sudden, and without any previous in
timation of anything like an hostile intention, the Indians murdered,
in cold blood, all the men belonging to the settlement, and made
prisoners of the women and children.
Leaving a guard with their prisoners, they then marched to
the settlements in the Levels before the fate of the Muddy Creek
settlement was known. Here, as at Muddy Creek, they were
treated with the most kind and attentive hospitality, at the house
of Archibald Glendennin, who gave the Indians a sumptuous
feast of three fat elks, which he had recently killed. Here a
scene of slaughter, similar to that which had recently taken place
at Muddy Creek, occurred at the conclusion of the feast. It
commenced with an old woman, who having a very sore leg,
showed it to an Indian, desiring his advice how she might cure
it. This requested he answered with blow of the tomahawk,
which instantly killed her. In a few minutes all the men belonging
to the place shared the same fate. The women and children were
made prisoners.
In the time of the slaughter, a negro woman at the spring,
near the house where it happened, killed her own child for fear
it should fall into the hands of the Indians, or hinder her from mak
ing her escape.
Mrs. Glendennin, whose husband were among the slain, and
herself with her children prisoners, boldly charged the Indians with

198 WAR OF 1763.
perfidity and cowardice, in taking advantage of the mask of
friendship to commit murder. One of the Indians exasperated at
her boldness, and stung, no doubt, at the justice of her charge
against them, brandishing his tomahawk over her head, and dashed
her husband's scalp in her face. In defiance of all his threats, the
heroine still reiterated the charges of perfidity and cowardice against
the Indians. The next day, after marching about ten miles, while passing
through a thicket, the Indians forming a front and rear guard,
Mrs. Glendennin gave her infant to a neighbor woman, stepped
into the bushes without being perceived by the Indians, and
made her escape. The cries of the child made the Indians in
quire for the mother. She was not to be found. "Well," says
one of them, "I will soon bring the cow to her calf;" and
taking the child by the feet, beat its brains out against a tree.
Mrs. Glendennin returned home during the course of the succeed
ing night, and covered the corpse of her husband with fence
rails. Having performed this pious office for her murdered hus
band, she choose, as a place of safety, a cornfield, where, as she
related, her heroic resolution was succeeded by a paroxysm of
grief and despondency, during which she imagined she saw a
man with the aspect of a murderer standing within a few steps
of her. The reader of this narrative, instead of regarding this
fit of despondency as a feminine weakness on the part of this
daughter of affiiction, will commisserate her situation of unpar-
ralleled destitution and distress. Alone, in the dead of night, the
survivor of all the infant settlements of that district, while all her
relatives and neighbors of both settlements were either prisoners
or lying dead, dishonored by ghastly wounds of the tomahawk and
scalping knife of the savages, her husband and her children among
the slain. It was some days before a force could be collected in the eastern
part of Botetourt and the adjoining country for the purpose of bury
ing the dead.
Of the events of this war, on the southwestern frontier of
Virginia, and in !the County of Holstein, the then western
part of North Carolina, the author has been informed, farther
than that, on the part of the Indians, it was carried on with the
greatest activity, and its course marked with many deeds of the
most atrocious cruelty, until late in the year 1764, when a period was
put to this sanguinary contest, by a treaty made with the Indian na
tions by Sir William Johnston, at the German Flats.
The perfidity and cruelty practiced by the Indians during the
war of 1763 and 1764, occasioned the revolting and singuinary
character of the Indian wars which took place afterwards. The In
dians had resolved on the total extermination of all the settlers of
our northern and southwestern frontiers, and being no longer under the
control of their former allies, the French, they were at full liberty to

WAR OF 1763.

igg

exercise all their native ferocity, and riot in the indulgence of their
innate thirst for blood.
[Next follows, in Dr. Doddridge's work, his account of Dun
more's war, which the author of this history has transferred to the
chapter under that head in the proceeding pages. The chapter
which follows relates to an event which occurred during that
war].

$^^^m^

200 DEATH OF CORNSTALK.

CHAPTER ni.

TKE DEATH OF CORNSTALK.

This was one of the most atrocious murders committed by the
white's during the whole course of the war. [Dunmore's war] .
In the summer of 1777, when the confederacy of the Indian na
tions, under the influence of the British government, was formed,
and began to commit hostilities along our frontier settlements. Corn
stalk, and a young chief of the name of Red-hawk, with another In
dian, made a visit to the garrison at the Point, commanded at that
time by Col. Arbuckle. He stated to the Captain, that, with the
exception of himself and the tribe to which he belonged, all the na
tions had joined the English, and that unless protected by the whites,
"they would have to run with the stream."
Capt. Arbuckle thought proper to detain the Cornstalk chief
and his two companions as hostages for the good conduct of the
tribe to which they belonged. They had not been long in this
situation before a son of Cornstalk, concerned for the safety of his
father, came tothe opposite side of the river and hallooed ; his father
knowing his voice, answered him. He was brought over the river.
The father and son mutually embraced each other with the greatest
tenderness. On the day following, two Indians, who had concealed them
selves in the weeds on the bank of the Kanawha River opposite the
Fort, killed a man of the name of Gilmore, as he was returning
from hunting. As soon as the dtad body was brought over the
river, there was a general cry amongst the men who were present,
' ' Let us kill the Indians in the Fort. ' ' They immediately ascended
the bank of the river with Capt. Hall at their head, to execute their
hasty resolution. On their way they were met by Capt. Stuart and
Capt. Arbuckle, who endeavored to dissuade them from killing the
Indian hostages, saying that they certainly had no concern in the
murder of Gilmore : but remonstrance was in vain. Pale as death
with rage, they cocked their guns and threatened the captains with
instant death, if they should attempt to hinder them from executing
their purpose.
When the murderers arrived at the house where the hostages
were confined. Cornstalk rose to meet them at the door, but instant
ly received seven bullets through his body ; His son and his other

DEATH OF CORNSTALK. 201
two fellow-hostages were instantly dispatched with bullets and
tomahawks. Thus fell the Shawnee war chief Cornstalk, who, like Logan, his
companion in arms, was conspicuous for intellectual talent, bravery
and misfortune.
The biography of Cornstalk, as far as it is now known, goes to
show that he was no way deficient in those mental endowments
which constitute true greatness. On the evening preceding the bat
tle of Point Pleasant, he proposed going over the river to the camp
of Gen. Lewis, for the purpose of making peace. The majority in
the council of warriors voted against the measure. "Well," said
Cornstalk, "since you have resolved on fighting, you shall fight,
although it is likely we shall have hard work tomorrow ; but if any
man shall attempt to run away from the battle, I will kill him with
my own hand," and accordingly fulfilled his threat with regard to
one cowardly fellow.
After the Indians had returned from the battle. Cornstalk called
a council at the Chillicothe town, to consult what was to be done
next. In this council he reminded the war chiefs of their folly in
preventing him from making peace, before the fatal battle of Point
Pleasant, and asked, "What shall we do now? The Long-knives
are coming upon us by two routes. Shall we turn out and fight
them?" All were silent. He then asked, "Shall we kill our
squaws and children, and then fight until we shall be killed our
selves ? ' ' To this no reply was made. He then rose up and stuck
his tomahawk in the war-post in the middle of the council house,
saying, "Since you are not inclined to fight, I will go and make
peace;" and accordingly did so.
On the morning of the day of his death a council was held in
the Fort at the Point, in which he was present. During the sitting
of the council, it is said that he seemed to have a presentiment of his
approaching fate. In one of his speeches, he remarked to the coun
cil, "When I was young, every time I went to war I thought it
likely that I might return no more ; but I still lived. I am now in
your hands, and you may kill me if you choose. I can die but once,
and it is alike to me whether I die now or at another time." When
the men presented themselves before the door, for the purpose of
killing the Indians, Cornstalk's son manifested signs of fear, on ob
serving which, his father said, " Don't be afraid, my son ; the Great
Spirit sent you here to die with me, and we must submit to his will.
It is all for the best."

26

202 WAPPATOMICA CAMPAIGN.

CHAPTER IV.

WAPPATOMICA CAMPAIGN.

Under the command of Col. Angus McDonald, four hundred
men were collected from the western part of Virginia by the order
of the Earl of Dunmore, the then Governor of Virginia. The place
of rendezvous was Wheeling, some time in the month of June, 1774.
They went down the river in boats and canoes to the mouth of Cap
tina, from thence to the shortest route to Wappatomica town, about
sixteen miles below the present Coshocton. The pilots were Jona
than Zane, Thomas Nicholson and Tady Kelly. About six miles
from the town, the army were met by a party of Indians, to the
number of forty or fifty, who gave a skirmish by the way of ambus
cade, in which two of our men were killed and eight or nine wound
ed. One Indian was killed and several wounded. It was supposed
that several more of them were killed, but they were carried off.
When the army came to the town, it was found evacuated. The
Indians had retreated to the opposite shore of the River, where
they had formed an ambuscade, supposing the party would cross
the River from the town. This was immediately discovered. The
commanding officers then sent sentinels up and down the River, to
give notice, in case the Indians should attempt to cross above or
below the town. A private in the company of Capt. Cresap, of the
name of John Harness, one of the sentinels below the town, dis
played the skill of a backwoods sharpshooter. Seeing an Indian
behind a blind across the river, raising up his head, at times, to look
over the river. Harness charged his rifie with a .second ball, and tak
ing deliberate aim, passed both balls through the neck of the In
dian. The Indians dragged off the body and buried it with
the honors of war. It was found the next morning and scalped by
Harness. Soon after the town was taken, the Indians from the opposite
shore sued for peace. The commander offered them peace on con
dition of their sending over their chiefs as hostages. Five of them
came over the River and were put under guard as hostages. In the
morning they were marched in front of the army over the River.
When the party had reached the western bank of the Muskingum,
the Indians represented that they could not make peace without the
presence of the chiefs of the other towns ; on which one of the chiefs

WAPPATOMICA CAMPAIGN. 203
was released to bring in the others. He did not return at the ap
pointed time. Another chief was permitted to go on the same errand,
and who in like manner did not return. The party then moved up
the River to the next town, which was a mile above the first, and on
the oppose shore. Here we had a slight skirimish with the Indians,
in which one of them was killed and one of our men wounded. It
was then discovered, that during all the time spent in the negotia
tions, the Indians were employed in removing their women and child
ren, old people and effects, from the upper towns. The tows were
burned and the corn cut up. The party then returned to the place
from which they set out, bringing with them the three remaining
chiefs, who were sent to Williamsburg. They were released at the
peace the succeding fall. •
The army were out of provisions before they left the towns,
and had to subsist on weeds, one ear of corn each day, with a very
scanty supply of game. The com was obtained at one of the In
dian towns.

204 GEN. MCINTOSH'S CAMPAIGN.

CHAPTER V.

GEN. MCINTOSH S CAMPAIGN.

In the spring of the ytar 1773, the government having sent a
small force of regular troops, under the command of Gen. Mcintosh,
for the defense of the western frontier, the general with the regu
lars and militia from Fort Pitt, descended the Ohio River about
thirty miles, and built Fort Mcintosh, on the site of the present
Beaver towns. This Fort was made with strong stockades, furn
ished with bastions and mounted with one 6-pounder. This station
was well selected as a point for a small military force, always in
readines to pursue or intercept and war parties of Indians, who fre
quently made incursions into the settlements on the opposite side of
the River in its immediate neighborhood. The Fort was well garri
soned and supplied with provisions during the summer.
Sometime in the fall of the same year. Gen. Mcintosh received
an order from the government to make a compaign against the San
dusky towns. The order he attempted to obey with one thousand
men ; but owing to the delay in making necessary outfits for the ex
pedition, the officers, on reaching Tuscarawa, thought it best to halt
at that place, build and garrison a Fort, and delay the further
prosecution of the campaign until the next spring. Accordingly
they built Fort Laurens on the bank of the Tuscarawa River.
Some time after the completion of the Fort, the general returned
with the army to Fort Pitt, leaving Col. John Gibson with a com
mand of one Hundred and fifty men to protect the Fort until spring.
The Indians were soon acquainted with the existence of the Fort,
and soon convinced our people, by sad experience, of the bad policy
of building and attempting to hold a Fort so far in advance of our
settlements and other Forts.
The first annoyance the garrison received from the Indians was
some time in the month of January. In the night time they caught
most of the horses belonging to the Fort, and taking them off some
distance in the woods, they took off their bells, and formed an am-
busade by the side of the path leading through the high grass of a
prairie at a little distance from the Fort. In the morning the In
dians rattled the horse bells at the further end of the line of the
ambuscade. The plan succeeded ; a fatigue of sixteen men went
out for the horses and fell in the snare. Fourteen were killed on the

GEN. MCINTOSH'S CAMPAIGN. 205
spot, two were taken prisoners, one of whom was given up at the
close of the war, the other was never afterwards heard of.
Gen. Benjamin Biggs, then a Captain in the Fort, being officer
of the day, requested leave of the Colonel to go out with the fatigue
party, which fell into the ambuscade. "No," said the Colonel,
' ' this fatigue party does not belong to a Captain's command. When
I shall have occasion to employ One of that number, I shall be
thankful for your services ; at present you must attend to your duty
in the Fort." Ou what trivial circumstances do life and death
sometimes depend !
In the evening of the day of the ambuscade, the whole Indian
army, in full war dress and painted, marched in single file through
a prarie in view of the Fort. Their number, as counted from one of
the bastions, was eight hundred and forty-seven. They then took
up their encampment on an elevated piece of ground at a small dis
tance from the Fort, on the opposite side of the River. From this
camp they frequently held conversations with the people of our gar
rison. In these conversations, they seemed to deplore the long con
tinuance of the war and hoped for peace ; but were much exasper
ated at the Americans for attempting to penetrate so far into their
country. This great body of Indians continued the investment
of the Fort, as long as they could obtain subsistence, which was
about six weeks.
An old Indian by the name of John Thompson, who was with
the American Army in the Fort, frequently went out among the
Indians during their stay at their encampment, with the mutual con
sent of both parties. A short time before the Indians left the
place, they sent word to Col. Gibson, by the old Indian, that they
were desirous of peace, and that if he would send them a barrel of
flour they would send in their proposals the next day ; but although
the Colonel complied with their request, they marched off without
fulfilling their engagement.
The commander, supposing the whole number of the Indians
had gone off, gave permission to Col. Clark, of the Pennsylvania
line to escort the invalids, to the number of eleven or twelve, to Fort
Mcintosh. The whole number of this detachment was fifteen.
The wary Indians had left a party behind, for the purpose of doing
mischief. These attacked this party of invalids and the escort,
about two miles from their Fort, and killed the whole of them with
the exception of four, amongst whom were the Captain, who ran
back to the Fort. On the same day a detachment went out from the
Fort, brought in the dead, and buried them with the honors of war,
in front of the Fort gate.
In three or four days after this disaster a relief of seven hun
dred men, under Gen. Mcintosh, arrived at the Fort with a supply
of provisions, a great part of which was lost by an untoward acci
dent. When the relief had reached within about one hundred yards
of the Fort, the garrison gave them a salute of a general discharge

2o6 GEN. MCINTOSH'S CAMPAIGN.
of musketry, at the report of which the pack-horses took fright,
broke loose and scattered the provisions in every direction through
the woods, so that the greater part of them could never be recov
ered again.
Among other transactions which took place about this time,
was that of gathering up the remains of the fourteen men for inter
ment, who had fallen in the ambuscade during the winter, and
which could not be done during the investment of the place by the
Indians. They were found mostly devoured by the wolves. The
fatigue party dug a pit large enough to contain the remains of all of
them, and after depositing them in the pit, merely covering them
with a little earth, with a view to have revenge on the wolves for
devouring their companions, they covered the pit with slender
sticks, rotten wood and bits of. bark, not of sufficient strength to
bear the weight of the wolf. On the top of this covering they
placed a piece of meat, as a bait for the wolves. The next morn
ing seven of them were found in the pit. They were shot and the
pit filled up.
For about two weeks before the relief arrived, the garrison had
been put on short allowance of half pound of sour flour and an
equal weight of stinking meat for every two days. The greater part
of the last week, they had nothing to subsist on but such roots as
they could find in the woods and prairies, and raw hides. Two men
lost their lives by eating wild parsnip roots by mistake. Four more
nearly shared the same fate, but were saved by medical aid.
On the evening of the arrival of the relief, two days' rations
were issued to each man in the Fort. These rations were intended as
their allowance during their march to Fort Mcintosh ; but many of
the men, supposing them to have been back rations, ate up the whole
of their allowance before the next morning. In consequence of this
imprudence, in eating immoderately after such extreme starvation
from the want of provisions, about forty of the men became faint
and sick during the first days march. On the second day, however,
the sufferers were met by a great number of their friends from the
settlements to which they belonged, by whom they were amply sup
plied with provisions, and thus saved from perishing.
Maj. Vernon, who succeeded Col. Gibson in the command of
Fort Laurens, continued its possession until the next fall, when the
garrison, after being, like their predecessors, reduced almost to star
vation, evacuated the place.
Thus ended the disastrous business of Fort Laurens, in which
much fatigue and suffering were endured and many lives lost, but
without any beneficial result to the country.

MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN. 207

CHAPTER VI.

THE MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN.

This ever memorable campaign took place in the month of
March, 1782. The weather, during the greater part of the month
of February, had been uncommonly fine, so that the war parties
from Sandusky visited the settlements, and committed depredations
earlier than usual. The family of a William Wallace, consisting of,
wife and five or six children were killed, and John Carpenter taken
prisoner. These events took place the latter part of February.
The early period at which these fatal visitations of the Indians took
place, led to the conclusion that the murderers were either Moravians,
or that the warriors had had their winter quarters at their towns on
the Muskingum River. In either case, the Moravians being in fault,
the safety of the frontier settlements required the destruction of their
establishments at that place.
Accordingly between eighty and ninety men were hastily col
lected together for the fatal enterprise. They rendezvoused and
encamped the first night on the Mingo Bottom, on the west side of
the Ohio River. Each man furnished himself with his own arms,
ammunition and provisions. Many of them had horses. The second
days march brought them within one mile of the middle Moravian
town, where they had encamped for the night. In the morning the
men were divided into two equal parties, one of which was to cross
the River about a mile above the town, their videttes having report
ed that there were Indians on both sides of the River. The other
party was divided into three divisions one of which was to take a
circuit in the woods, and reach the River a little distance below the
town, on the east side. Another division was to fall into the middle
of the town, and the third at its upper end.
When the party which designed to make the attack on the west
side had reached the River, they found no craft to take them over,
but something like a canoe was seen on the opposite bank. The
River was high with some floating ice. A young man of the name
of Slaughter swam the River and brought over, not a canoe, but a
trough designed for holding sugar water. This trough could carry
but two men at a time. In order to expedite their passage, a num
ber of men stripped off their clothes, put them into the trough, to
gether with their guns, and swam by its side, holding its edges with

2o8 MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN.
their hands. When about sixteen had crossed the River, their two
sentinels, who had been posted in advance, discovered an Indian
whose name was Shabosh. One of them broke one of his arms by a
shot. A shot from the other sentinel killed him. These heroes
then scalped at tomahawked him.
By this time about sixteen men had got over the River, and
supposing that the firing of guns which killed Shabosh, would lead
to an instant discovery, they sent word to the party designed to at
tack the town on the east side of the River to move on instantly,
which they did.
In the mean time, the small party which had crossed the River,
marched with all speed to the main town on the west side of the
River. Here they found a large company of Indians gathering the
corn which they had left in their fields the preceding fall when they
removed to Sandusky. On the arrival of the men at the town, they
professed peace and good will to the Moravians, and informed them
that they came to take them to Fort Pitt for their safety. The In
dians surrendered, delivered up their arms, and appeared highly de
lighted with the prospect of their removal, and began with all
speed to prepare victuals for the white men and for themselves on their
journey. A party of white men and Indians were immediately dispatched
to Salem, a short distance from Gnadenhutten, where the Indians
were gathering in their corn, to bring them into Gnadenhutten.
The party soon arrived with the whole number of the Indians from
Salem. In the mean time the Indians from Gnadenhutten were confined
in two houses some distance apart, and placed under guard ; and
when those from Salem arrived, they were divided, and placed in
the same houses with their brethern in Gnadenhutten.
The prisoners being thus secured, a council of war was held to
decide on their fate. The officers, unwilling to take on themselves
the whole responsibility of the decision, agreed to refer the question
to the whole number of the men. The men were accordingly drawn
up in a line. The commandant of the party. Col. David William
son, them put the question to them in form, " Whether the Mora
vian Indians .should be taken prisoners to Pittsburg, or put to death,
and requested that all those who were in favor of saving their lives
should step out of the line and form a second rank." On this six
teen, some say eighteen, stepped out of the rank, and formed them
selves into a second line ; but alas ! this line of mercy was far too
short for that of vengeance.
The fate of the Moravians was then decided on, and they were
told to prepare for death.
The prisoners, from the time they were placed in the guard
house foresaw their fate, and began their devotions by singing hymns,
praying and exhorting each other to place a firm reliance in the
mercy of the Saviour of men. When their fate was announced to

MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN. 209
them, these devoted people embraced, kissed, and bedewed each
others' faces and bossoms with their mutual. tears, asked pardon of
the brothers and sisters for any offense they might have given them
through life. Thus, at peace with their God and each other, on
being asked by those who were impatient for the slaughter, ' ' Whether
they were ready to die ? ' ' they answered ' ' that they had commended
their souls to God, and were ready to die."
The particulars of this dreadful catastrophe are too horrid to
relate. Suffice it to say, that in a few minutes these two slaughter
houses, as they were then called, exhibited in their ghastly interior,
the mangled, bleeding remains, of these poor unfortunate people, of
all ages and sexes, from the aged, gray-headed parent, down to the
helpless infant at the mother's breast, dishonored by the fatal
wounds of the tomahawk, mallet, war club, spear and scalping-
knife. Thus, O Brainard and Zeisberger ! faithful missionaries, "who
devoted your whole life to incessant toil and sufferings in your en
deavors to make the wilderness of paganism "rejoice and blossom
as the rose, ' ' in faith and piety to God ! thus perished your faithful
followers, by the murderous hand of the more than savage white
men. Faithful pastors ! Your spirits are again associated with
those of your flock, "where the wickedcea.se from troubling and
the weary are at rest ! "
The number of the slain, as reported by the men on ther return
from the campaign, was eighty -seven or eighty-nine ; butthe Mora
vian account, which no doubt is correct, makes the number ninety-
six. Of these, sixty-two were grown persons, one-third of whom
were women ; the remaining thirty-four were children. All these,
with few exceptions, were killed in the houses. Shabosh was killed
about a mile above the town, on the west side of the River. His wife
was killed while endeavoring to conceal herself in a bunch of bushes
at the water's edge, on the arrival of the men at the town, on the
east side of the river. A man at the same time was shot in a canoe,
while attempting to make his escape from the east to the west side
of the River. Two others were shot while attempting to escape by
swimming the River. A few men, who were supposed to be war
riors, were tied and taken some distance from the slaughter-house,
to be tomahawked. One of these had liked to have'made his escape
at the expense of the life of one of the murderers. The rope by
which he was led was of some length. The two men who were con
ducting him to death fell into a dispute who should have the scalp.
The Indian while marching with a kind of dancing motion, and
singing his death song, drew a knife from a scabbard suspended from
his neck, cut the rope, and aimed at stabbing one of the men ; but
the jerk of the rope occasioned one of the men to look around. The
Indian then fled towards the woods, and while running, dexter
ously untied the rope from his wrists. He was instantly pur
sued by several who fired at him, one of whom wounded him in the
27

2 ID MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN.
arm. After a few shots the firing was forbidden, for the men might
kill each other as they were running in a straggling manner. A
young man then mounted a horse and pursued the Indian, who when
overtaken struck the horse on the head with a club. The rider
sprang from the horse, on which the Indian seized, threw him down
and drew his tomahawk to kill him. At that instant, one of the
party got near enough to shoot the Indian, which he did merely in
time to save the life of his companion.
Of the whole number of Indians at Gnadenhutten and Salem,
only two made their escape. These were two lads of fourteen or
fifteen years of age. One of them, after being knocked down and
scalped, but not killed, had the presence of mind to lie still among
the dead, until the dusk of the evening, when he silently crept out
of the door and made his escape. The other lad slipped through a
trap door into the cellar of one of the slaughter-houses, from which
He made his escape through a small cellar window.
These two lads were fortunate in getting together in the
woods the same night. Another, lad, somewhat larger, in attempt
ing to pass through the same window, it is supposed stuck fast and
was burnt alive.
The Indians of the upper town were apprised of their danger in
due time to make their escape, two of them having found the mang
led body of Shabosh. Providentially they all made their escape al
though they might have been easily overtaken by the party, if they
had undertaken their pursuit. A division of the men were ordered
to go to Shonbron ; and finding the place deserted, they took what
plunder they could find, and returned to their companions without
looking farther after the Indians.
After the work of death was finished, and the plunder secured,
all the buildings in the town was set on fire and the slaugh
ter-houses among the rest. The dead bodies were thus con
sumed to ashes. A rapid retreat to the settlements finished the
campaign. Such were the principal events of the horrid affair. A massacre
of innocent, unoffending people, dishonorable not only to our coun
try, but Human nature itself.
Before making any remarks on the causes which led to the dis
graceful events under consideration, it may be proper to notice the
manner in which the enterprise was conducted, as furnishing evi
dence that the murder of the Moravians was intended, and that no
resistance from them was anticipated.
In a military point of view, the Moravian compaign was con
ducted in the very worse manner imaginable. It was undertaken at
so early a period, that a deep fall of snow, a thing very common in
the early part of March, in former times, would have defeated the
enterprise. When the army came to the River, instead of construct
ing a sufficient number of rafts to transport the requisite number
over the River at once, they commenced crossing in a sugar trough.

MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN. 211
which could carry only two men at a time, thus jeopardizing the
safety of those who first went over. The two sentinels who shot
Shabosh, according to military law ought to have been executed on
the spot for having fired without orders, thereby giving premature
notice of the approach of our men. The truth is, nearly the whole
number of the army ought to have been transported over the River ;
for after all their forces employed, and precaution used in getting
possession of the town on the east side of the River, there were
but one man and one squaw found in it, all the others being on the
other side. This circumstance they ought to have known before
hand, and acted accordingly. The Indians on the west side of
the River amounted to about eighty, and among them about
thirty men, besides a number of young lads, all possessed of guns
and well accustomed to the use of them ; yet this large number was
attacked by about sixteen men. If they had really anticipated re
sistance, they deserved to loose their lives for their rashness. It is
presumable, howyever, that having full confidence in the pacific
principles of the Moravians, they did not expect resistance ; but cal
culated on blood and plunder without having a shot fired at them.
If this was really the case, the author leaves it to justice to find, if
it can, a ndme for the transaction.
One can hardly help reflecting with regret, that these Moravi
ans did not for the moment lay aside their paciflc principles and do
themselves justice. With a mere show of defense, or at most a few
shots, they might have captured and disarmed those few men, and
held them as hostages for the safety of their people and property
until they could have removed them out of their way. This they
might have done on the easiest terms, as the remainder of the
army could not have crossed the River without their permission
as there was but one canoe at the place, and the River to high to
be forded. But alas ! these truly christian people suffered them
selves to be betrayed by hypocritical professions of friendship, until
' ' they were led as sheep to the slaughter. ' ' Over this horrid deed
humanity must shed tears of commisseration, as long as the record
of it shall remain.
Let not the reader suppose that I have presented him with a
mere imaginary possibility of defense on the part of the Moravians.
This defense would have been an easy task. Our people did not go
on that campaign with a view of flghting. There may have been
some brave men among them ; but they were far from being all
such. For my part, I cannot suppose for a moment that any white
man, who can harbor a thought of using his arms for the killing of
women and children in any case, can be a brave man. No, he is a
murderer. The history of the Moravian settlement of the Muskingum,
and the peculiar circumstances of their inhabitants during the
revolutionary contest between Great Britain and America, deserve a
place here.

212 MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN.
In the year 1772, the Moravian villages were commenced by
emigration from Friedenshutton, on the Big Beaver, and from Wya-
lusing and Sheshequon on the Susquehanna River. In a short time
they rose to a considerable extent and prosperity, containing up
wards of four hundered people. During the summer of Dun
more's War, they were much annoyed by war parties of the
Indians, and disturbed by perpetual rumors of the ill-intention
of the white people of the frontier settlements towards them ; yet
their labors, schools and religious exercises, went on without inter
ruption. In the Revolutionary War, which began in 1775, the situation
of the Moravian settlements was truly deplorable. The English had
associated with their own means of warfare against the Americans,
the scalping-knife and tomahawk of the merciless Indians. These
allies of England committed the mo,st horrid depredations along the
whole extent of our defenseless frontier. From early in the spring
until late in the fall, the early settlers of the western parts of Vir
ginia and Pennsylvania had to submit to the severest hardships and
privations. Cooped up in little stockade forts, they worked their
little fields in parties under arms, guarded by sentinels, and were
doomed from day to day to witness or hear reports of the murders or
captivity of their people, the burning of their houses, and the plun
der of their property.
The war with the English fleets and armies, on the other side
of the mountains, was of such a character as to engage the whole at
tention and resources of our government, so that, poor as the first
settlers of this country were, they had to bear almost the whole bur
den of the war during the revolutionary contest. They choose their
own officers, furnished their own means, and conducted the war in
their own way. Thus circumstanced, "they became a law unto
themselves, ' ' and on certain occasions perpetrated acts which govern
ment was compelled to disapprove. This lawless temper of our peo
ple was never fully dissipated until the conclusion of the whiskey re
bellion in, 1794.
The Moravian villages were situated between the settlements of
the whites and the towns of the warriors, about sixty miles from the
former, and not much farther from the latter. On this account
they were dominated "the half-way house of the warriors." Thus
placed between two rival powers engaged in furious warfare, the
preservation of their neutrality was no easy task, perhaps impossi
ble. If it requires the same physical force to preser\'e a neutral
station among belligrent nations that it does to prosecute a war, as
is unquestionably the case, this pacific people had no chance for the
preservation of theirs. The very goodness of their hearts, their
aversion to the shedding of human blood, brought them into diffi
culties with both parties. When they sent their runners to Fort
Pitt, to inform us of the approach of the war parties, or received,
fed, secreted and sent home prisoners, who had made their escape

MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN. 213
from tHe savages, they made breaches of their neutrality as to the
belligerent Indians, Their furnishing the warriors with a resting
place and provisions was contrary to their neutral engagements to
us ; but the local situation rendered these accommodations to the
warriors unavoidable on their part, as the warriors possessed both
the wiU and the means to compel them to give whatever tliey wanted
from them.
The peaceable Indians fell under suspicion v;ith the Indian
warriors and the English commandant at Detriot, to whom it was
reported that their teachers were in close confederacy with Ameri
can Congress, for preventing not only their own people, but also the
Delawares and some other nations, from associating their arms
with those of the British for carrying on the war against the Am
erican colonies.
The frequent failures of the war expeditions of the Indians was
attributed to the Moravians, who often sent runners to Fort Pitt to
give notice of their approach. This charge against them was cer
tainly not without foundation. In the spring of the year 1781 the
war chiefs of the Delawares fully appraised the missionaries and
their followers of their danger both from the whites and Indians,
and requested them to remove to a place of safety from both. This
request was not complied with, and the almost prophetic predictions
of the chiefs were literally fulfilled.
In the fall of the year 1781, the settlement of the Moravians
were broken up by upwards of three hundred warriors, and the mis
sionaries taken prisoners, after being robbed of almost everything.
The Indians were left to shift for themselves in the barren plains
of Sandusky, where most of their horses and cattle perished from
famine during the winter. The missionaries were taken prisoners
to Detroit ; but after an examination by the Governor, were permit
ted to return to their beloved people again.
In the latter part of February, a party of about one hundred
and fifty of the Moravian Indians returned to their deserted villages
on the Muskingum, to procure corn to keep their families and cattle
from starving. Of these, ninety-six fell into the hands of William
son and his party, and were murdered.
The causes which led to the murder of the Moravians are now to
be detailed. The pressure of the Indian -war along the whole of the western
frontier, for several years preceding the event under consideration,
had been dreadfully severe. From early in the spring, until the com
mencement of the winter, from day to day murders were committed
in every direction by the Indians. The people lived in Forts which
were in the highest degree uncomfortable. The men were harra.ssed
continally with the duties of going on scouts and compaign. There
was scarcely a family of the first settlers who did not, at some time
or other, lose more or less of their number by the merciless Indians.
Their cattle were killed, their cabins burned, and their horses car-

214 MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN.
ried off. These losses were severely felt by a people so poor as were
at that time. Thus circumstanced, our people were exasperated to
madness by the extent and severity of the war. The unavailing en
deavors of the American Congress to prevent the Indians from tak
ing np the hatchet against either side in the revolutionary contest,
contributed much to increase the general indignation against them,
at the same time those pacific endeavors of our government divided
the Indians amongst themselves on the question of war or peace
with the whites. The Moravians, part of the Delawares, and
some others faithfully endeavored to preserve peace, but in vain.
The Indian maxim was, "he that is not for us is against us."
Hence the Moravian missionaries and their followers were several
times on the point of being murdered by the warriors. They would
have been done it had it not been for the prudent conduct of some
of the war chiefs.
On the other hand, the local situation of the Moravian villages
excited the jealousy of the white people. If they took no direct
agency in the war, yet they were as they were then called, ' ' half-way
houses ' ' between us and the warriors, at which the latter could
stop, rest, refresh themselves, and traffic off their plunder. Whether
these aids, thus given to our enemies, were contrary to the laws of
neutrality between belligerents, is a question which I willingly leave
to the decision .of civilians. On the part of the Moravians they
were unavoidable. If they did not give or sell provisions to the
warriors, they would take them by force. The fault was in their
situation, not in themselves.
The longer the war continued, the more our people complained
of the situation of those Moravian villages. It was said that it was
owing to their being so near us, that the warriors commenced their
depredations so early in the spring, and continued them until late in
the faU. In the latter end of the year 1781, the militia of the frontier
came to a determination to break up the Moravian villages on the
Muskingum. For this purpose a detachment of our men went out
under the command of Col. David Williamson, for the purpose of
inducing the Indians with their teachers to move farther off, or
bring them prisoners to Fort Pitt. When they arrived at the vil
lages they found but few Indians, the greater number of them hav
ing removed to Sandusky. These few were well treated taken to
Fort Pitt, and delivered to the commandant of that station, who
after a short detention sent them home again.
This procedure gave great offense to the people of the country,
who thought the Indians ought to have been killed. Col. William
son, who, before this little campaign. Had been a very popular
man, on account of his activity and bravery in war, now became
the subject of severe animadversion on account of his lenity to the
Moravian Indians. In justice to his memory I have to say, that
although at that time very young, I was personally acquainted with

MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN. 215
him, and from my recollection of his conversation, I say with confi
dence that he was a brave man, but not cruel. He would meet an
enemy in battle, and fight like a soldier, but not murder a pris
oner. Had he possessed the authority of a superior officer in a
regular army, I do not believe that a single Moravian Indian would
have lost his life ; but he possessed no such authority. He was
only a militia officer, who could advise, but not command. His only
fault was that of too easy a compliance with popular opinion and
popular prejudice. On this account his memory has been loaded
with unmerited reproach.
Several reports unfavorable to the Moravians had been in cir
culation for some time before the campaign against them. One
was, that the night after they were liberated at Fort Pitt, they
crossed the River and killed or made prisoners a family by the
name of Monteur. A family on Buffalo Creek had been mostly
killed in the summer or the fall of 1781 ; and it was said by one
of them, who, after being made a prisoner, made His escape,
that the leader of the party of Indians who did the mischief was
a Moravian. These with other reports of a similar import, served
as a pretext for their destruction, although no doubt they were
utterly false.
Should it be asked what sort of people composed the band of
murders of these unfortunate people ? I answer they were not mis
creants or vagabonds ; many of them were men of the first stand
ing in the country ; many of them were men ,wHo had recently lost
relations by the hands of the savages. Several of the latter class
found articles which had been plundered from their own Houses, or
those of their relations, in the houses of the Moravians. One man,
it is said, found the clothes of his wife and children, who had been
murdered by the Indians a few days before ; they were still bloody ;
yet there was no unequivocal evidence that these people had any dir
ect agency in the war. Whatever of our property was found
with them had been left by the warriors in exchange for the provi
sions which they took from them. When attacked by our people,
although they might have defended themselves, they did not ; they
never fired a single shot. They were prisoners and Had been prom
ised protection. Every dictate of justice and humanity required
that their lives should be spared. The complaint of their villages
being "half-way houses for the warriors," was at an end, as they
had been removed to Sandusky the fall before. It was therefore
an atrocious and unqualified murder. By whom committed — by a
majority of the campaign? For the honour of my country, I hope
I may safely answer this question in the negative. It was one of
those convulsions of the moral state of society, in which the voice
of the justice and humanity of a majority is silenced by the
clamor and violence of a lawless minority. Very few of our men
imbrued their hands in the blood of the Moravians. Even those
who had not voted for saving their lives, retired from the scene of

2l6

MORAVIAN CAMPAIGN.

slaughter with horror and disgust. Why then did they not give
their votes in their favor? The fear of public indignation restrain
ed them from doing so. They thought well, but had not hero
ism enough to express their opinion. Those who did so, deserve
honorable mention for their intripidity. So far as it may here
after be in my power, this honor shall be done them, while the
names of the murders shall not stain the pages of history, from my
pen at least.

INDIAN SUMMER. 217

CHAPTER VII.

THE INDIAN SUMMER.

As connected with the history of the Indian wars of the western
country, it may not be amiss to give an explanation of the term
" Indian Summer."
This expression, like many others, has continued in general
use, notwithstanding its original import has been forgotten. A
backwoodsman seldom hears this expression without feeling a chill
of horror, because it brings to his mind the painful recollection of its
original application. Such is the force of the faculty of association
in human nature.
The reader must here be reminded, that, during the long con
tinued Indian wars sustained by the first settlers of the west, they
enjoyed no peace excepting in the winter season, when, owing to
the severity of the weather, the Indians were unable to make their
excursions into the settlements. The onset of winter was therefore
hailed has a jubilee by the early inhabitants of the country, who,
throughout the spring and early part of the fall, had been cooped
up in their little uncomfortable Forts, and subjected to all the dis
tresses of the Indian wars.
At the approach of winter, therefore, all the farmers, except
ing the owner of the Fort, removed to the cabins on the farms, with
the joyful feelings of a tenant of a prison recovering his release from
confinement. All was bustle and hilarity in preparing for winter,
by gathering in the corn, digging potatoes, fattening hogs, and re
pairing the cabins. To our forefathers the gloomy months of win
ter were more plea.sant than the zephyrs of the flowers and May.
It, however, sometimes happened, after the apparent onset of
winter, the weather became warm ; the smoky time commenced,
and lasted for a considerable number of days. This was the Indian
Summer, because it afforded the Indians another opportunity of
visiting the settlements with their destructive warfare. The melt
ing of the snow saddened every countenance, and the genial warmth
of the sun chilled every heart with horror. The apprehension of an
other visit from the Indians, and of being driven back to the detest-
•ed Fort, was painful to the highest degree, and the distressing ap
prehension was frequently realized.
Toward the latter part of February we commonly had a fine
28

2i8 INDIAN SUMMER.
spell of open warm weather, during which the snow melted away.
This was denominated the " pawwawing days," from the supposi
tion that the Indians were then holding their war councils, for
planning off their spring campaigns into the settlements. Sad experi
ence taught us that in this conjecture we were not often mistaken.
Sometimes it happened that the Indians ventured to make their
excursions too late in the fall or too early in the spring for their
own convenience.
A man of the name of John Carpenter was taken early in the
month of March, in the neighborhood of what is now Wellsburg.
There had been several warm days, but on the night preceding his
capture there was a heavy fall of snow. His two horses, which
they took with him, nearly perished in swimming the Ohio River.
The Indians as well as himself suffered severely with the cold before
they reached the Moravian towns on the Muskingum River. Iti the
morning after the first day's journey beyond the Moravian towns,
the Indians sent out Carpenter to bring in the horses, which had
been turned out in the evening, after being hobbled. The horse had
made a circuit, and fallen into the trail by which they came, and were
making their way homewards.
When Carpenter overtook them, and had taken off their fet
ters, he had, as he said, to make a most awful decision. He had a
chance and barely a chance to make his escape, with a certainty of
death should he attempt it without success ; while on the other hand,
the horrible prospect of being tortured to death by fire presented it
self. As he was the first prisoner taken that spring, of course the
general custom of the Indians, of burning the first prisoner every
.spring, doomed him to the flames.
After spending a few minutes in making his decision, he re
solved on attempting an escape, and effected it by way of Forts Laur
ens, Mcintosh and Pittsburg. If I recollect rightly, he brought
both his horses home with him. This happened in the year 1782.
The capture of Mr. Carpenter, and the murder of two families about
the same time, that is to say, in the two or three first days of March,
contributed materially to the Moravian campaign, and the murder
of that unfortunate people.

CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN. 219

CHAPTER VIH.
GEN. CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN.
This, in one point of view at least, is to be considered as a
second Moravian campaign, as one of its objpcts was that of finish
ing the work of murder and plunder with the Christian Indians at
their new establishment on the Sandusky River. The next object
was of destroying the Wyandotte towns on the same River. It was
the resolution of all those concerned in this expedition, not to spare
the life of any Indians that might fall into their hands, whether
friends or foes. It will be seen in the sequel that the result of this
campaign was widely different from that of the Moravian campaign
the preceding March.
It should seem that the long continuance of the Indian war had
debased a considerable portion of our population to the savage state
of our nature. Having lost so many relatives by the Indians, and
witnessed their horrid murders and other depredations on so exten
sive a scale, they became subjects of that indiscriminate thirst for
revenge, which is such a prominent feature in the savage character ;
and having had a taste of blood and plunder, without risk or loss on
their part, they resolved to go on and kill every Indian they could
find, whether friend or foe.
Preparations for this campaign commenced soon after the close
of the Moravian campaign, in the month of March ; and as it was
intended to make what was called at that time " a dash," that is,
an enterprise conducted with secrecy and dispatch, the men were all
mounted on the best horses they could procure. They furnished
themselves with their own outfits, except some ammunition, which
was furnished by the Lieut. -colonel of Washington county.
On the 25th of May, 1782, four hundred and eighty men mus
tered at the old Mingo towns, on the western side of the Ohio
River. They were all volunteers from the immediate neighboor-
hood of the Ohio River, with the exception of one company from
Ten Mile, in Washington county. Here an election was held for
the office of Commander-in-chief for the expedition. The candi
dates were Col. Williamson and Col. Crawford. The latter was the
successful candidate. When notified of his appointment it is said
that he accepted it with apparent reluctance.
The army marched along "Williamson's trail," as it was theu

220 CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN.
called, until they arrived at the Upper Moravian town, in the flelds
belonging to which there was still plenty of corn on the stalks, with
which their horses were plentifully fed during the night of their en
campment there.
Shortly after the army halted at this place, two Indians were
discovered by three men, who had walked some distance out of the
camp. Three shots were fired at one of them, but without hurting
him. As soon as the news of the discovery of Indians had reached
the camp, more than one-half the men rushed out, without com
mand, and in the most tumultuous manner, to see what happened.
From that time. Col. Crawford felt a presentiment of the defeat
which followed.
The truth is, that notwithstanding the secrecy and dispatch of
the enterprise, the Indians were beforehand with our people. They
saw the rendezvous on the Mingo Bottom, and knew their number
and destination. They visited every encampment immediately on
their leaving it, and saw from their writing on the trees and scraps
of paper, that "no quarters was to be given to any Indian, whether
man, woman or child."
Nothing material happened during their march until the 6th of
June, when their guides conducted them to the site of the Moravian
villages, on one of the upper branches of the Sandusky River ; but
here, instead of meeting with Indians and plunder, they met with
nothing but vestiges of desolation. The place was covered with
high grass ; and the remains of a few huts alone announced that the
place had been the residence of the people whom they intended to
destroy, but who moved off to Scioto some time before.
In this dilemma, what was to be done ? The officers held a
council, in which it was determined to march one day longer in the
direction of the Upper Sandusky, and if they should not reach the
town in the course of the day, to make a retreat with all speed.
The march was commenced on the next morning through the
plains of Sandusky, and continued until about two o'clock, when
the advance guard was attacked and driven in by the Indians, who
were discovered in large numbers in the high grass with which the
place was covered. The Indian army was at that moment about
entering a piece of woods, almost entirely surrounded by plains ;
but in this they were disappointed by a rapid movement of our men.
The battle then commenced by a heavy fire on both sides. From a
partial possession of the woods which they had gained at the onset
of the battle, the Indians were soon dislodged. They then at
tempted to gain a small skirt of wood on our right flank, but were
prevented from doing so by the vigilance and bravery of Maj . Leet,
who commanded the right wing of the army at that time. The fir
ing was incessant and heavy until dark, when it ceased. Both arm
ies lay on their arms during the night. But adopted the policy of
kindling large fires along the line of battle, and then retiring some
distance in the rear of them, to prevent being .surprised by a night

CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN. 221
attack. During the conflict of the afternoon three of our men were
killed and several wounded.
In the morning our army occupied the battle ground of the
preceding day. The Indians made no attack during the day, until
late in the evening, but were seen in large bodies traversing the
plains in various directions. Some of them appeared to be employed
in carrying off their dead and wounded.
In the morning, of this day, a council of the officers were held,
in which a retreat was resolved on, as the only means of saving their
army, the Indians appeared to increase in numbers every hour.
During the sitting of this council. Col. Williamson proposed taking
one hundred and fifty volunteers, and marching directly to Upper
Sandusky. This proposition the Commander-in-chief promptly re
jected, saying, " I have no doubt but that you would reach the town,
but you would find nothing there but empty wigwams ; and having
taken off so many of our best men, you would leave the rest to be
destroyed by the hosts of Indians with which we are now surround
ed, and on your return they would attack and destroy you. They
care nothing about defending their towns — ^they are worth nothing.
Their squaws, children and property, have been removed from them
long since. Our lives and baggage are what they want, and if they
can get us divided they will soon have them. We must stay to
gether and do the best we can."
During this day preparations were made for a retreat by bury
ing the dead and burning fires over their graves to prevent discov
ery, and preparing means for carrying off the wounded. The re
treat was to commence in the course of the night. The Indians,
however, became apprised of the intended retreat, and about sun
down attacked the army with great force and fury, in every direc
tion excepting that of Sandusky.
When the line of march was formed by the Commander-in-
chief, and the retreat commenced, our guides prudently took the
direction of Sandusky, which afforded the only opening in the In
dian lines and the only chance of toncealment. After marching
about a mile in this direction, the army wheeled about to the left,
and by a circuituous route gained the trail bv which they came, be
fore day. They continued their inarch the whole of next day, with
a trifling annoyance from the Indians, who fired a few distant shots
at the rear guard, which slightly wounded two or three men. At
night they built fires, took their suppers, secured the horses and re
signed themselves to repose, without placing a single sentinel or
vidette for safety. In this careless situation, they might Have been
surprised and cut off by the Indians, v/ho, however, gave them no
disturbance during the night, nor afterwards during the whole of
their retreat. The number of those composing the main body in the
retreat was supposed to be about three hundred.
Most unfortunately, when a retreat was resolved on, a difference
of opinion prevailed concerning the best mode of effecting it. The

222 CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN.
greater number thought it best to keep in a body and retreat as fast
as possible, while a considerable number thought it safest to break
off in small parties, and make their way home in different directions,
avoiding the route by which they came. Accordingly many at
tempted to do so, calculating that the whole body of the Indians
would follow the main army. In this they were entirely mistaken.
The Indians paid but little attention to the main body of the army,
but pursued the small parties with such activity, that but very few
of those 'who composed them made their escape.
The only successful party who were detached from the main
army, was that of about forty men under the command of a Capt.
Williamson, who, pretty late in the night of the retreat, broke
through the Indian lines under a severe fire and with some loss, and
overtook the main army on the morning of the second day of the
retreat. For several days after the retreat of our army, the Indians were
spread over the whole country, from Sandusky to the Muskingum,
in pursuit of the straggling parties, most of whom were killed on
the spot. They even pursued them almost to the banks of the Ohio.
A man of the name of Mills was killed, two miles to the eastward of
the site of St. Clairsville, in the direction of Wheeling from that
place. The number killed in this way must be very great ; the pre
cise amount, however was never fairly ascertained.
At the commencement of the retreat. Col. Crawford placed him
self at the head of the army, and continued there until they had
gone about a quarter of mile, when missing his son, John Crawford,
his son-in-law, Maj. Harrison, and his nephews, Maj. Rose and
William Crawford, he halted and called for them as the line passed,
but without finding them. After the army had passed him, he was
unable to overtake it, owing to the weariness of his horse. Fall
ing in company with Dr. Knight and two others, they traveled
all the night, first north, and then to the east, to avoid the pursuit
of the Indians. They directed their course during the night by the
north star.
On the next day they fell in with Capt. John Biggs and Lieut.
Ashley, the latter of whom was severely wounded. There were two
others in the company with Biggs and Ashley. They encamped
together the succeeding night. On the next day, while on
their march, they were attacked by a party of Indians, who made
Col. Crawford and Dr. Knight prisoners. The other four made
their escape ; but Captain Biggs and Lieutenant Ashley were killed
the next day.
Col. Crawford and Dr. Knight were immediately taken to an
Indian encampment, at a short distance from the place where they
were captured. Here they found nine fellow prisoners and seven
teen Indians. On the next day they were marched to the old
Wyandotte town, and on the next morning were paraded, to set

CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN. 223
off, as they were told, to go to the new town. But alas ! a very
different destination awaited these captives ! Nine of these prison
ers were marched off some distance before the Colonel and the Doc
tor, who were conducted by Pipe and Wingemond, Delaware chiefs.
Four of the prisoners were tomahawked and scalped on the way, at
different places.
Preparations had been made for the execution of Col. Craw
ford, by setting a post about fifteen feet high in the ground, and
making a large fire of hickory poles about six yards from it.
About half a mile from the place of execution, the remaining five of
the nine prisoners were tomahawked and scalped by a number of
squaws and boys.
When arrived at the fire, the Colonel was stripped and ordered
to sit down. He was then severely beaten with sticks, and after
wards tied to the post, by a rope of such length as to allow him to
walk two or three times around it, and then back again. This
done, they began the torture by discharging a great number of loads
of powder upon him, from head to foot ; after which they began to
apply the burning ends of the hickory poles, the squaws in the mean
time throwing coals and hot ashes on his body, so that in a little
time he had nothing but coals to walk on. In the midst of his suf
ferings, he begged of the noted Simon Girty to take pity on him
and shoot him. Girty tauntingly answered, ' ' You see I have no
gun, I cannot shoot ; ' ' and laughed heartily at the scene. After
suffering about three hours he became faint and fell down on his
face. An Indian then scalped him, and an old squaw threw a quan
tity of burning coals on the place from which the scalp was taken.
After this he rose and walked around the post a little, but did not
live much longer. After he expired, his body was thrown into the
fire and consumed to ashes. Col. Crawford's son and son-in-law
were executed at the Shawnee towns.
Dr. Knight was doomed to be burned at a town about forty
miles distant from Sandusky, and committed to the care of a young
Indian to be taken there. The first day they traveled about twenty-
five miles, and encamped for the night. In the morning, the gnats
being very troublesome, the Doctor requested the Indian to untie
him, that he might help him to make a fire to keep them off. With
this request the Indian complied. While the Indian was on his
knees and elbows, blowing the fire, the Doctor caught up a piece of
a tent pole which had been burned in two, about eighteen inches
long, with which he struck the Indian on the head with all his
might, so as to knock him forward into the fire. The stick how
ever broke, so that the Indian, although severely hurt, was not
killed, but immediately sprang up. On this the Doctor caught up
the Indians gun to shoot him, but drew back the cock with so much
violence that he broke the main spring. The Indian ran off with
hideous yelling. Dr. Knight then made the best of his way home,
which he reached in twenty-one days, almost famished to death.

224 CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN.
The gun being of no use, after carrying it a day or two he iett it
behind. On his journey he subsisted on roots, a few young birds
and berries. A Mr. Slover, who had been a prisoner among the Indians, and
was one of the pilots of the army, was also taken prisoner to one of
the Shawnee towns on the Scioto River. After being there a few
days, and as he thought, in favor with the Indians, a council of the
chiefs was held, in which it was resolved that he should be burned.
The fires were Icindled, and he was blackened and tied to a stake, in
an uncovered end of the council-house. Just as they were about
commencing the torture, there came up suddenly a heavy thunder
gust, with a great fall of rain which put out the fires. After the
rain was over the Indians concluded that it was then too late to
commence and finish the torture that day, and therefore postponed
it until the next day. Slover was then loosed from the stake, con
ducted to an empty house, to a log of which he was fastened with a
buffalo tug around his neck, while his arms were pinioned behind
him with a cord. Until late in the night the Indians sat up
smoking and talking. They frequently asked Slover how he would
like to eat fire the next day. At length one of them laid down and
went to sleep ; the other continued smoking and talking with
Slover. Sometime after midnight, he also laid down and went to
sleep. Slover then resolved to make an effort to get loose if possi
ble, and soon extricated one of his hands from the cord, and then
fell to work with the tug round his neck, but without effect. He
had not been long engaged in these efforts, before one of the In
dians got up and smoked his pipe awhile. During this time Slover
kept very still for fear of an examination. The Indian laying dowm,
the prisoner renewed his efforts, but for some time without effect,
and he resigned himself to his fate. After resting for awhile, he
resolved to make another and last effort, and as he related, put his
hand to the tug, and without difficulty, slipped it over his head.
The day v/as just then breaking. He sprang over a fence into a
corn field, but had proceeded but a little distance in the field, before he
came across a squaw and several children, lying asleep under a Mul
berry tree. He then changed his course for part of the commons of
the town, on which he saw some horses feeding. Passing over the
fence from the corn field, he found a piece of an old quilt. This he
took with him, and was the only covering he had. He then untied
the cord from the other arm, which by this time was very much
swollen. Having selected, as he thought, the best horse on the
common, he tied the cord to his lower jaw, mounted him and rode
off at full speed. The horse gave out about ten o'clock, so that he
had to leave him. He then traveled on foot with a stick in
one hand, with which he put the weeds behind him, for fear
of being tracked by the Indians. In the other he carried a bunch
of bushes to brush the gnats and mosquitoes from his naked
body. Being perfectly acquainted with the route, he reached the

CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN. 225
Ohio River in a short time, almost famished with hunger and ex-
haused with fatigue.
Thus ended this disastrous campaign. It was the last one
which took place in this section of the country during the revolu
tionary contest of the Americans with the mother country. It was
undertaken with the very worst of views, those of murder and plun
der. It was conducted without sufficient means to encounter, with
any prospect of success, the large force of Indians opposed to ours
in the plains of Sandusky. It was conducted without that subordi
nation and discipline, so requisite to insure success in any hazardous
enterprise, and it ended in a total discomforture. Never did an en
terprise more completely fail of attaining its object. Never, on any
occasion, had the ferocious savages more ample revenge for the
murder of their pacific friends, than that which they obtained on
this occasion. Should I be asked what considerations led so great a number of
people into this desperate enterprise ? — why with so small a force
and such slender means they pushed on so far as the plains of San
dusky? I reply, that many believed that the Moravian Indians,
taking no part in the war, and having given offense to the warriors
on several occasions, their belligerent friends would not take up
arms in their behalf. In this conjecture they were sadly mistaken.
They did defend them with all the force at their command, and no
wonder, for notwithstanding the christian and pacific principles, the
warriors regarded the Moravians as their relations, whom it was
their duty to defend.
The reflections which naturally arise out of the history of the
Indian war in the western country, during our revolutionary con
test with Great Britain, are not calculated to do honor to human
nature, even its civilized state. On our side, indeed, as to our infant
government, the case is not so bad. Our Congress faithfully en
deavored to prevent the Indians from taking part in the war on
either side. The English government, on the other hand, made
allies of as many of the Indian nations as they could, and they im
posed no restraint on their savage mode of warfare. On the con
trary, the commandants at their posts along our western frontier re
ceived and paid the Indians for scalps and prisoners. Thus the skin
of a white man's or even a woman's head served in the Hands of the
Indian as current coin, which he exchanged for arms and ammuni
tion, for the farther prosecution of his barbarous warfare, and cloth
ing to cover his half naked body. Were not these rewards the price
of blood ? of blood shed in a cruel manner, on an exhaustive scale ;
but without advantage to that government which employed the sav
ages in their warfare against their relatives and fellow-christians, and
paid for their murders by the peace !
The enlightened historian must view the whole of the Indian
war from the commencement of the revolutionary contest, in no other
light than a succession of the most wanton murders of all ages, from
29

226 CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN.
helpless infancy to decript old age, and of both sexes, without ob
ject and without effect.
On our side, it is true, the pressure of the war along our Atlan
tic border was such that our government could not furnish the means
for making a conquest of the Indian ilations at war against us. The
people of the western country, poor as they were at that time,
and unaided by government, could not subdue them. Our cam
paign, hastily undertaken, without sufficient force and means, and
illy executed, resulted in nothing beneflcial. On the other hand, the
Indians, with the aids their allies could give them in the western
country, were not able to make a conquest of the settlement on this
Side of the mountains. On the contrary, our settlements and the
Forts belonging to them became stronger and stronger from year to
year during the whole continuance of the wars. It was therefore
a war of mutual, but unavailing slaughter, devastation and revenge,
over whose record Humanity still dops a tear of regret, but that tear
cannot efface its disgraceful history.

ATTACK ON RICE'S FORT. 227

CHAPTER IX.
ATTACK ON RICE'S FORT.
This Fort consisted of some cabins and a small block-house,
and was, in dangerous times, the residence and place of refuge for
twelve families of its immediate neighborhood. It was situated on
Buffalo Creek, about twelve or fifteen miles from its junction with
the Ohio River.
Previous to the attack on this Fort, which took place in the
month of September, 1782, several of the men belonging to the Fort
had gone to Hagerstown, to exchange their peltry and furs for salt,
iron and ammunition, as was the usual custom of those times.
They had gone on this joumey somewhat earlier that season than
usual, because there had been "a still time," that is, no recent
alarms of the Indians.
A few days before the attack on this Fort, about three hundred
Indians had made their last attack on Wheeling Fort. On the third
night of the investment of Wheeling, the Indian chiefs held a coun-
cU, in which it was determined that the siege of Wheeling should be
raised, two hundred of the warriors return home, and the remaining
hundred of picked men make a dash into the country and strike a
hea-vy blow somewhere before their return. It was their determina
tion to take a Fort somewhere and massacre all its people, in re
venge for their defeat at Wheeling.
News of the plan adopted by the Indians, was given by two
white men, who had been made prisoners when lads, raised among
the Indians and taken to war with them. These men deserted from
them soon after their council at the close of the seige of Wheeling.
The notice was indeed but short, but it reached Rice's Fort about
half an hour before the commencement of the attack. The intel
ligence was brought by Mr. Jacob Miller, who received it at Dr.
Moore's in the neighborhood of Washington. Making all speed
home he fortunately arrived in time to assist in the defense of
the place. On receiving this news, the people of the Fort felt as
sured that the blow was intended for them, and in this conjecture
they were not mistaken. But little time was allowed them for
preparation. The Indians had surrounded the place before they were discov-
ed ; but they were still at some distance. When discovered, the
alarm was given, on which every man run to his cabin for his gun.

228 ATTACK ON RICE'S FORT.
and took refuge in the block-house. The Indians, answering the
alarm with a war-whoop from their whole line, commenced firing
and running towards the Fort from every direction. It was evi
dently their intention to take the place by assault ; but the fire of the
Indians was answered by that of six brave and skillful sharpshoot
ers. This unexpected reception prevented the intended assault,
and made the Indians take refuge behind logs, stumps and trees.
The firing continued with little intermission for about four hours.
In the intervals of the firing, the Indians frequently called out
to the people of the Fort, " Give up, give up, too many Indian ; In
dian too big ; no kill. ' ' They were answered with defiance, ' ' Come
on, you cowards ; we are ready for you ; show us your yellow hides,
we will make holes in them for you."
During the evening, many of the Indians at some distance from
the Fort, amused themselves by shooting the horses, cattle, hogs and
sheep until the bottom was strewed with the dead bodies.
About ten o'clock at night the Indians set fire to a bam about
thirty yards from the Fort. It was large and full of grain and hay.
The flame was frightful, and at first it seemed to endanger the
burning of the Fort, but the bam stood on lower ground than the
Fort. The night was calm, with the exception of a slight breeze up
the Creek. This carried the flame and burning splinters in a differ
ent direction, so that the burning of the bam, which at first was re
garded as dangerous, if not fatal occurrence, proved in the issue
the means of throwing a strong light to a great distance in every dir
ection, so that the Indians durst not approach the Fort to set fire to
the cabins, which they might have done at little risk, under the
cover of darkness.
After the bam was set on fire, the Indians collected on the side
of the Fort opposite the bam, so as to have the advantage of the
light, and kept up a pretty constant fire, which was as steadily ans
wered by that of the Fort, until about two o'clock, when the In
dians left the place and made a hasty retreat.
Thus was this little place defended by a Spartan band of six
men, against one hundred chosen warriors, exasperated to madness
by their failure at Wheeling Fort. Their names shall be inscribed
in the list of heroes of our early times. They were Jacob Miller,
George Lefler, Peter FuUenweider, Daniel Rice, George Felebaum
and Jacob Lefler, Jr. George Felebaum was shot in the forehead,
through a port-hole, at the second fire of the Indians, and instantly
expired, so that in realUy the defense of the place was made by only
five men. The loss of the Indians was four, three of whom were killed at
the first fire from the Fort, the other was killed about sundown.
There can be no doubt but that a number more were killed and
wounded in the engagement, but were concealed or carried off.
A large division of these Indians, on their retreat, passed with
in a little distance of my father's Fort. In following their trail, a

ATTACK ON RICE'S FORT. 229
few days afterwards, I found a large poultice of chewed sassafras
leaves. This is the dressing which the Indians usually apply to re
cent gunshot wounds. The poultice which I found having become
too old and dry, was removed and replaced with a new one.
Examples of personal bravery and hair breath escapes are
always acceptable to readers of history. An instance of both of
these happened during the attack on this Fort, which may be worth
recording. Abraham Rice, one of the principal men belong to the Fort of
that name, on hearing the report of the deserters from the Indians,
mounted a very strong active mare and rode in all haste to another
Fort, about three and-a-half miles distant from his own, for further
news, if any could be had, concerning the presence of a body of In
dians in the neighborhood. Just as he reached the place, he heard
the report of the guns at his own Fort. He instantly returned as
fast as possible, until he arrived within sight of the Fort. Finding
that it still, held out, he determined to reach it and assist in it defense,
or perish in the attempt. In doing this, he had to cross the Creek,
the Fort being some distance from it, onthe opposite bank. He saw
no Indians until his mare sprang down the bank of the Creek, at
which instant about fifteen of them jumped up from among the
weeds and bushes and discharged their guns at him. One bullet
wounded him in the fieshy part of the right arm above the elbow.
By this time several more of the Indians came up and shot at him.
A second ball wounded him in the thigh a little above the knee, but
without breaking the bone, and the ball passed transversely through
the neck of the mare. She, however, sprang up the bank of the
Creek, feU to her knees, and stumbled along about a rod before she
recovered. During this time several Indians came running up to
tomahawk him. Yet he made his escape, after having about thirty
shots fired at him from a very short distance. After riding about
four miles, he reached Lamb's Fort, much exhausted from the loss
of blood. After getting his wounds dressed and resting awhile, he
set off late in the evening with twelve men, determined if possible to
reach the Fort under cover of the night. When they got within
about two hundred yards of it, they halted ; the firing still continued.
Ten of the men, thinking the enterprise too hazardous, refused to
go any further, and retreated. Rice and two other men crept silent
ly along toward the Fort ; but had not proceeded very far before
they came close upon an Indian in his concealment. He gave the
alarm yell, which was instantly passed round the line with the ut
most regularity. This occasioned the Indians to make their last
effort to take the place and make their retreat under cover of the
night. Rice and his two companions returned in safety to Lamb's
Fort. About ten o'clock next morning, sixty men collected at Rice's
Fort for the relief of the place. They pursued the Indians, who
kept in a body for about two miles. The Indians had then divided

230

ATTACK ON RICE'S FORT.

into small parties and took over the hills in different directions,
so that they could be tracked no farther. The pursuit was of course
given up.
A small division of the Indians had not proceeded far after their
separation, before they discovered four men coming from a neigh
boring Fort in the direction of that which they had left. The In
dians waylaid the path, and shot two of them on the spot ; the others
fled. One of them being swift on foot, soon made his escape ; the
other being a poor runner, was pursued by an Indian, who after a
smart chase came close to him. The man then wheeled round and
snapped his gun at the Indian. This he repeated several times.
The Indian then threw his tomahawk at his head, but missed him.
He then caught hold of the ends of his belt which was tied behind
in a bow knot. In this again the Indian was disappointed, for the
knot came loose, so that he got the belt, but not the man, who
wheeled round and tried his gun again, which happened to go off
and laid the Indian dead at his feet.

<'^fe

4m^

EXPECTED ATTACK ON 231

CHAPTER X.
EXPECTED ATTACK ON DODDRIDGE'S FORT.
When we received advice, at my father's Fort, of the attack on
Rice's block-house, which v^as but a few miles distant, we sent word
to all those families who were out on their farms, to come immedi
ately to the Fort. It became nearly dark before the two runners
had time to give the alarm to the family of a Mr. Charles Stuart,
who lived about three quarters of a mile off from the Fort.
They returned in great haste, saying that Stuart's house was
burned down, and that they had seen two fires between that
and the Fort, at which the Indians were encamped. There was
therefore no doubt that an attack would be made on our Fort early
in the morning.
In order to give the reader a correct idea of the military tactics
of our early times, I will give, in detail, the whole progress of the
preparation which were made for the expected attack, and, as nearly
as I can, I will give the commands of Capt. Teter, our officer, in his
own words.
In the first place he collected all our men together, and related
the battles and skirmishes he had been in, and really they were not
few in number. He was in Braddock's defeat, Grant's defeat, the
taking of Fort Pitt, and nearly all the battles which took place be
tween the English, and the French and Indians, from Braddock's
defeat until the capture of that place by Gen. Forbes. He reminded
us, ' ' that in case the Indians should succeed, we need expect no
mercy ; that every man, woman and child would be killed on the
spot. They have been defeated at one Fort, and now they are mad
enough. If they should succeed in taking ours, all their vengeance
will fall on our heads. We must fight for ourselves and one another,
for our wives and children, brothers and sisters. We must make the
best preparations we can ; a little after daylight we shall hear the
crack of their guns."
He then made a requisition of all the powder and lead in the
Fort. The ammunition was accurately divided amongst all the men,
and the amount supposed to be fully sufficient, When this was
done, ' ' Now," says the Captain, ' ' when you run you bullets cut off
the necks pretty close, and scrape them, so as to make them a little
less, and get patches, one hundred, finer than those you commonly
use, and have them well oiled, for if a rifle happens to be choked

232 DODDRIDGE'S FORT.
in the time of battle, there is one gun and one man lost for the rest
of the battle. You will have no time to unbritch a gun and get a
plug to drive out a bullet. Have the locks well oiled and your flints
sharp, so as not to miss fire. ' '
Such were his orders to his men. He then said to the women,
"These yellow feUows are very handy setting fire to houses, and
water is a very good thing to put out fire. You must fill every
vessel with water. Our Fort, is not well stockaded, and these ugly
fellows may rush into the middle of it, and attempt to set fire to our
cabins in twenty places at once. ' ' They fell to work and did as he
had ordered. The men having put their rifles to order, "Now," says he,
"let every man gather in his axes, mattocks and hoes, and place
them inside of his door ; for the Indians may make a dash at them
with their tomahawks to cut them down, and an axe in that case
might hit, when a gun would miss flre."
Like a good commander, our captain, not content with giving
orders, went from house to house to see that every thing was right.
The ladies of the present day will suppose that our women
were frightened half to death with the near prospect of such an at
tack of the Indians. On the contrary, I do not know that I ever
saw a merrier set of women in my life. They went on with their
work of carrying water and cutting bullet patches for the men, ap
parently without the least emotion of fear ; and I have every reason
to believe that they would have been pleased with the crack of the
guns in the morning.
During all this time we had no sentinels placed around the Fort,
so confident was our captain that an attack would not be made before
daybreak. I was at that time thirteen or fourteen years of age, but ranked
as a Fort soldier. After getting my gun and all things else in order,
I went up into the garret loft of my father's house, and laid down
about the middle of the floor, with my shot pouch on and my gun
by my side, expecting to be waked up by the report of the guns at
daybreak, to take my station at the port-hole assigned me, which
was in the second story of the house.
I not did wake until about sunrise, when the alarm was all over.
The family which we supposed had been killed, had come into the
Fort about daybreak. Instead of the house being burnt, it was only
a large old log on fire, near the house, which had been seen by our
expresses. If they had seen anything like fire between that and the
Fort, it must have been fox fire. Such is the creative power of im
agination, when under the influence of fear.

COSPIOCTON CAMPAIGN. 233

CHAPTER XI.

COSHOCTON CAMPAIGN.

This campaign took place in the summer of 1 780, and was dir
ected against the Indian villages on the Forks of the Muskingum.
The place of rendezvous was Wheeling ; the number of regulars
and militia about eight hundred. From Wheeling they made a
rapid march, by the nearest route, to their place of destination.
When the army reached the River a little below Salem, the lower
Moravian town. Col. Broadhead sent an express to the missionary
of that place, the Rev. John Heckewelder, informing him of his
arrival in his neighborhood, with his army, requesting a small supply
of provisions, and a visit from him in his camp. When the mission
ary arrived at the camp, the general informed him of the object of
the expedition he was engaged in, and inquired of him whether any
of the Christian Indians were hunting, or engaged in business in the
direction of his march. On being answered in the negative, he
stated that nothing would give him greater pain than to hear that
any of the Moravian Indians had been molested by the troops, as
these Indians had always, from the commencement of the war, con
ducted themselves in a manner that did them honor.
A part of the militia had resolved on going up the River to des
troy the Moravian villages, but were prevented from executing their
project by Gen. Broadhead and Col. Shepherd, of Wheeling.
At White-eye Plains, a few miles from Coshocton, an Indian
prisoner was taken. Soon afterwards two more Indians were dis
covered, one of whom was wounded, both made their escape.
The commander, knowing that these two indians would make the
utmost despatch in going to the town, to give notice of the approach
of the army, ordered a rapid .march, in the midst of a heavy fall of
rain, to reach the town before them, and take it by surprise. The
plan succeeded. The army reached the place in three divisions.
The right and left wings approached the River a little above and
below the town, while the centre marched directly upon it. The
whole number of Indians in the village, on the east side of the River,
together with ten or twelve from a little village some distance above,
were made prisoners without firing a single shot. The River having
risen to a great height, o^iiig to the recent fall of rain, the army
could not cross it. Owing to this, the villages with their inhabi
tants on the west side of the River escaped destruction.
30

234 COSHOCTON CAMPAIGN.
Among the prisoners, sixteen warriors were pointed out by
Pekillon, a friendly Delaware chief, who was with the army of
Broadhead. A little after dark, a council of war was held to determine on
the fate of the warriors in custody. They were doomed to death,
and by the order of the commander were bound, taken a little dis
tance below the town, and dispatched with tomahawks and spears,
and scalped.
Early the next morning, an Indian presented himself on the
opposite bank of the River and asked for the Big Captain. Broad
head presented himself, and asked the Indian what he wanted. To
which he replied, "I want peace." "Send over some of your
chiefs," said Broadhead. " Maybe yon kill," said the Indian. He
was answered, "They shall not be killed." One of the chiefs, a
well-looking man, came over the River and engaged into conversation
with the commander in the street ; but while engaged in conversa
tion, a man of the name of Wetzel came up behind him, with a
tomahawk concealed in the bosom of his hunting shirt, and struck
him on the back of his head. He fell and instantly expired.
About eleven or twelve o'clock, the army commenced its re
treat from Coshocton. Gen. Broadhead committed the care of the
prisoners to the militia. They were about twenty in number.
After marching about half a mile, the men commenced kUling them.
In a short time they were all dispatched, except a few women and
children, who were spared and taken to Fort Pitt, and after some
time exchanged for an equal number of their prisoners.

CAPTIVITY OF MRS. BROWN. 235

CHAPTER XII.

CAPTIVITY OF MRS. BROWN.

On the 27th day of March, 1789, about teu o'clock in the fore
noon, as Mrs. Brown was spinning in her house, her black woman,
who had stepped out to gather sugar water, screamed out, ' ' Here
are Indians." She jumped up, ran to the window, and then to the
door, where she was met by one of the Indians presenting his gun.
She caught hold of the muzzle, and turning it aside, begged him not
to kill her, but to take her prisoner. The other Indian in the mean
time caught the negro woman and her boy, about four years
old, and brought them into the house. They then opened a chest and
took out a small box and some articles of clothing, and without
doing any further damage, or setting fire to the house, set off with
herself and son, about two and-a-half years old, the black woman
and her two children, the oldest four years old and the youngest one
year old. After going about one and-a-half miles they halted and
held a consultation, as she supposed, about killing the chil
dren. This she understood to be the subject of their gestures
and frequently pointing at the children. To one of the Indians
who could speak English, she held out her little boy and beg
ged him not to kill him, as he would make a fine little Indian
after awhile. The Indian made a motion to her to walk on with
her child. The other Indian then struck the negro boy with the
pipe end of his tomahawk, which knocked him down, and then dis
patched him by a blow with the edge across the back of the neck
and scalped him.
About four o'clock in the evening, they reached the River,
about a mile above Wellsburg, and carried a canoe, which had
been thrown up in some driftwood, into the river. They got into
this canoe, and worked it down to the mouth of Brush Run, a dis
tance of about five miles. They pulled up the canoe into the
mouth of the Run, as far as they could, then then went up the Run
about a mile, and encamped for the night. The Indians gave the
prisoners all their own clothes for covering, and added one of their
own blankets. Awhile before daylight, the Indians got up and put
another blanket over them.
About sunrise they began their march up a very steep hill„ and
about two o'clock halted on Short Creek, about twenty miles froni
the place whence they had set out in the morning. The place

236 CAPTIVITY OF MRS. BROWN.
where they had halted had been an encampment shortly before, as
well as a place of deposit for the plunder which they had recently
taken from the house of a Mr. Vanmeter, whose family had been
killed. The plunder was deposited in a sycamore tree. Here they
kindled a fire and put on a brass kettle, with a turkey which they
had killed on the way, to boil in sugar water.
Mr. Glass, the first husband of Mrs. Brown, was working with
a hired man in a field, about a quarter of a mile from the house,
when his wife and family were taken, but knew nothing of the
event until two o'clock. After searching about the place, and going
to several houses in quest of his family, he went to Mr. Well's Fort,
collected ten men beside himself, and the same night lodged in a cabin
on the bottom on which the town now stands.
Next morning they discovered the place from which the In
dians had taken the canoe from the drift, and their tracks at the
place of their embarkation. Mr. Glass could distinguish the track
of his wife by the print of the high heel of her shoe. They crossed
over the River and went down on the other side until they came
near the mouth of Rush Run ; but discovered no tracks of the In
dians, most of the men concluded that they would go to thejnouth
of the Muskingum River, by water, and therefore wished to turn
back. Mr. Glass begged of them to go to the motjth of Short
Creek, which was only two or three miles farther. To this they
agreed. When they got to the mouth of Rush Run, they found the
canoe of the Indians. This was identified by a proof, which goes
to show the presence of mind of Mrs. Brown. While going down
the River, one of the Indians threw into the water several papers,
which he had taken out of Mr. Glass' trunk, some of which she
picked out of the water, and under pretence of giving them to the
child, dropped them into the bottom of the canoe. These left no
doubt. The trail of the Indians and their prisoners up the Run to
their camp, and then up to the River hill, was soon discovered.
The trail, at the time, owing to the softness of the ground and the
height of the weeds, was easily followed.
About an hour after the Indians had halted, Mr. Glass and his
men came within sight of the smoke of their camp. The object then
was to save the lives of the prisoners, by attacking the Indians so
unexpectedly, as not to allow them time to kill them. With this
view they crept as slyly as they could, till they got within some
thing more than one hundred yards from the camp. Fortuuately,
Mrs. Brown's little son had gone to a sugar tree to get some water;
but not being able to get it out of the bark trough, his mother, had
stepped out of the camp to get it for him. The negro woman was
sitting some distance from the Indians, who were looking attentive
ly at a scarlet jacket which they had taken some time before. On a
sudden they, dropped the jacket, and turned their eyes toward the
men, who supposing they were discovered, immediately discharged
several guns, and rushed upon them, at full speed, with an Indian

CAPTIVITY OF MRS. BROWN.

237

yell. One of the Indians, it was supposed, was wounded the first
fire, as he fell and dropped his gun and shot pouch. After running
about one hundred yards a second shot was fired at him by Major
McGuire, which brought him to his hands and knees ; but there
was no time for pursuit, as the Indians had informed Mrs. Brown
that there was another encampment close by. They therefore
returned home with all speed, and reached the Beach Bottom Fort
that night.
The other Indian at the first fire, ran a little distance beyond
Mrs. Browu, so that she was in a right line between him and the
white men. Here he halted for a little to put on his shot pouch,
which Mr. Glass, for the moment, mistook for an attempt to kill
his wife with a tomahawk.
This artful manoeuver no doubt saved the life of the savage, as
his pursuers dare not shoot at him without risking the life of Mrs.
Brown.

*lf

't r-  JBfg«»gatJifel

238 LEWIS WETZEL.

CHAPTER XHI.
LEWIS WETZEL.
The following narrative goes to show how much may be effect
ed by the skill, bravery, and physical activity of a single individual,
in the partizan warfare carried on against the Indians, on the west
ern frontier. Lewis Wetzel was the son of John Wetzel, a German, who
settled on Big Wheeling, about fourteen miles from the River. He
was amongst the first adventurers in that part of the country. His
education, like that of his cotemporaries, was that of the hunter and
warrior. When a boy he adopted the practice of loading and firing
his rifle as he ran. This was a means of making him so destructive
to the Indians afterwards.
When about thirteen years old, he was taken prisoner by the
Indians, together with his brother, Jacob, about eleven years old.
Before he was taken he received a slight wound in the breast from
a bullet, which carried off a small piece of his breast bone. The
second night after they were taken, the Indians encamped at the
Big Lick, twenty miles from the River, on the waters of McMahan's
Creek. The boys were not confined. After the Indians had fallen
asleep, Lewis whispered to his brother, Jacob, that he must get no
and go back home with him. Jacob, at first objected, but after
wards got up and went along with him. When they had got about
one hundred yards from the camp, they sat on a log. "Well,"
said Lewis, " We can't go home barefooted ; I will go back and get
a pair of moccasins for each of us ;" and accordingly did so, and
returned. After sitting a little longer, " Now," says he, "I will
go back and get father's gun, and then we'll start." This he ef
fected. They had not traveled far on the trail by which they came,
before they heard the Indians coming after them. It was a moon
light night. When the Indians came pretty nigh to them, they
stepped aside into the bushes, let them pass, then fell into their
rear and traveled on. On the return of the Indians they did the
same. They were theu pursued by two Indians on horseback, whom
they dodged the same way. The next day they reached Wheeling
in safety, crossing from the Indian shore to Wheeling Island, on a
raft of their own making. By this time Lewis had become almost
spent from his wound.
In the' year 1782, after Crawford's defeat, Lewis went with a

LEWIS WETZEL. 239
Thomas Mills, who had been in the campaign, to get a horse, which
he had left near the place where St. Clairsville now stands. At the
Indian Springs, two miles from St. Clairsville, on the Wheeling Road,
they were met by about forty Indians, who were in pursuit of the
strugglers from the campaign. The Indians and white men discov
ered each other about the same moment. Lewis fired first and
killed an Indian, while the Indians wounded Mills in the heel, who
was soon overtaken and killed. Four of the Indians then singled
out, dropped their guns, and pursued Wetzel. Wetzel loaded his
rifle as he ran. After running about half a mile, one of the Indians
having got within eight or ten steps of him, Wetzel wheeled round
and shot him down, ran, and loaded his gun as before. After going
about three-quarters of a mile farther, a second Indian who came
so close to him, that when he turned to fire the Indian caught the
muzzle of the gun, and as he expressed it, "he and the Indian had
a severe wring." He however succeeded in bringing the muzzle to
the Indians breast, and killed him on the spot. By this time, he as
well as the Indians were pretty well tired ; yet the pursuit was con
tinued by the two remaining Indians. Wetzel, as before, loaded his
gun, and stopped several times during the latter chase ; but when he
did so, the Indians treed themselves. After going something more
than a mile, Wetzel took advantage of a little open piece of ground
over which the Indians were passing, a short distance behind him,
to make a sudden stop for the purpose of shooting the foremost, who
got behind a little sapling, which was too small to cover his body.
Wetzel shot and broke his thigh. The wound, in the issue, proved
fatal. The last of the Indians gave a little yell, and said, "No
catch dat man, gun always loaded," and gave up the chase, glad no
doubt to get off with his life.
It is said that Lewis Wetzel, in the course of the Indian wars
in this part of the country, killed twenty-seven Indians besides a
number more along the frontier settlements of Kentucky.

240 ADAM POE.

CHAPTER XIV.

ADAM POE.

In the summer of 1782, a party. of seven Wyandottes made an
incursion into the settlement some distance below Fort Pitt, and
several miles from the Ohio River. Here, finding an old man alone,
in a cabin, they killed him, packed up what plunder they could find,
and commenced their retreat. Among the party was a celebrated
Wyandotte chief, who, in addition to his fame as a warrior and
counsellor, was, as to his size and strength, a real giant.
The news of the visit of the Indians soon spread through the
neighborhood, and a party of eight good riflemen was collected in a
few hours for the purpose of pursuing the Indians. In this party
were two brothers of the name of Adam and Andrew Poe. They
were both famous for courage, size and activity.
This little party commenced the pursuit of the Indians, with a
determination if possible, not to suffer them to escape, as they usually
did on such occasions, by making a speedy flight to the River, cross
ing it, and then di-viding into small parties, to meet at a distant point
in a given time.
The pursuit was continued the greater part of the night after
the Indians had done the mischief. In the morning the party found
themselves on the trail of the Indians, which led to the River. When
arrived within a short distance of the River, Adam Poe, fearing an
ambuscade, left the party, who followed directly on the trail, to creep
along the brink of the River bank, under cover of the weeds and
bushes, to fall on the rear of the Indians, should he find them in
ambuscade. He had not gone far before he saw the Indian rafts at
the water's edge. Not seeing any Indians he stepped softly down
the bank with his rifle cocked. When about half way down, he
discovered the large Wyandotte chief and a small Indian within a
few steps of him. They were standing with their guns cocked, and
looking in the direction of our party, who by this time had gone
some distance lower down the bottom. Poe took aim at the large
chief, but his rifle missed fire. The Indians hearing the snap of the
gun lock, instantly turned round and discovered Poe, who being too
near them to retreat, dropped his gun and sprang from the bank
upon them, and seizing the large Indian by the clothes on his breast,
and at the same time embracing the neck of the smaller one, threw
them both down on the ground, himself being uppermost. THe

ADAM POE. 241
small Indian soon extricated himself, ran to the raft, got his toma
hawk, and attempted to dispatch Poe, the large Indian holding him
fast in his arm with all his might, the better to enable his fellow to
effect his purpose. Poe, however, so well watched the motions of
his assailant, that, when in the act of aiming his blow at His head,
by a vigorous and well directed kick with one of his feet, he stag
gered the savage, and knocked the tomahawk out of his hand. This
failure on the part of the small Indian, was reproved by an exclama
tion of contempt from the large one.
In a moment the Indian caught up his tomahawk again, ap
proached more cautiously, brandishing his tomahawk, and making a
number of feigned blows in defiance and derision. Poe, however,
still on his guard, averted the real blow from his head, by throwing
up his arm, and receiving it on his wrist in which he was severely
wounded ; but not so as to lose entirely the use of his hand.
In this perilous moment, Poe, by a violent effort, broke loose
from the Indian, snatched up one of the Indian's guns, and shot
the small Indian through the breast, as he ran up the third time to
tomahawk him.
The large Indian was now on his feet, and grasping Poe by a
shoulder and leg, threw him down on the bank. Poe instantly dis
engaged hiinself and got on his feet. The Indian then seized
him again, and a new struggle ensued, which, owing to the
slippery state of the bank, ended in the fall of both combatants into
the water. In this situation, it was the object of each to dro-wn the other.
Their efforts to effect their purpose v/as continued for some time
with alternate success, sometimes one being under the water and
sometimes the other. Poe at length seized the tuft of hair on the
scalp of the Indian, with which he held his head under water, until
he supposed him drowned.
Relaxing his hold too soon, Poe instantly found his gigantic
antagonist on his feet again, and ready for another combat. In this
they were carried into the water beyond their depth. In this situa
tion they were compelled to loose their hold on each other and swim
for mutual safety. Both sought the shore, to seize a gun and end
the contest with bullets. The Indian being the best swimmer,
reached the land first. Poe seeing this, immediately turned back
into the water, to escape, if possible, being shot, by diving. For
tunately the Indian caught up the rifle with which Poe had killed the
other warrior. ,
At this juncture, Andrew Poe, missing his brother from the
party, and supposing from the report of the gun which he shot, that
he was either killed or engaged iu conflict with the Indians hastened
to the spot. On seeing him, Adam called out to him to ' ' kill
the big Indian on shore." But Andrew's gun, like that of the
Indian's was empty. The contest was now between the white
man and the Indian, who should load and fire first. Very fortun-
31

242 ADAM POE.
ately for Poe, the Indian, on loading, drew the ramrod from the
thimbles of the stock of the gun with so much violence, that it slip
ped out of his hand and fell a little distance from him. He quickly
caught it up, and rammed down his bullet. This little delay gave
Poe the advantage. He shot the Indian as he was raising his gun
to take aim at him.
As soon as Andrew had shot the Indian, he jumped into the
River to assist his wounded brother to shore ; but Adam, thinking
more of the honor of carrying the scalp of the big Indian home as a
trophy of victory than of his own safety, urged Andrew to go back
and prevent the struggling savage from rolling himself into the River
and escaping. Andrew's solicitude for the life of his brother pre
vented him from complying with this request.
In the mean time, the Indian, jealous of the honor of his scalp
even in the agonies of death, succeeded in reaching the River and
getting into the current, so that his body was never obtained.
An unfortunate occurrence took place during this conflict.
Just as Andrew arrived at the top of the bank for the relief of his
brother, one of the party who had followed close behind him, seeing
Adam in the River, and mistaking him for a wounded Indian, shot
at him and wounded him in the shoulder. He, however, recovered
from his wounds.
During the contest between Adam Poe and the Indians, the
party had overtaken the remaining six of them. A desperate conflict
ensued, in which five of the Indians were killed. Our loss was three
men killed and Adam Poe severely wounded.
Thus ended this Spartan conflict, with the loss of three valiant
men on our part, and with that of the whole Indian party ex
cepting one warrior. Never on any occasion was there a greater
display of desparate bravery, and seldom did a conflict take place,
which, in the issue, proved so fatal to so great a proportion of those
engaged in it.
The fatal result of this little campaign, on the side of the In
dians, occasioned a universal mourning among the Wyandotte na
tion. The big Indian and his four brothers, all of whom were killed
at the same place, were among the most distinguished chiefs and
warriors of their nation.
The big Indian was magnanimous as well as brave. He, more
than any other individual, contributed, by his example and influence,
to the good character of the Wyandottes for lenity towards their
prisoners. He would not suffer them to be killed or ill-treated.
This mercy to captives was an honorable distinction of character of
the Wyandottes and was well understood by our first settlers, who,
in case of captivity, thought it a fortunate circumstance to fall into
their hands.
It is consoling to the historians to find instances of these endow
ments of mind which constitute human greatness even among savages.
The original stamina of these endowments or what is called genius,

ADAM POE. 243
are but thinly scattered over the earth, and there can be but little
doubt but that the lower grades of society possess their equal propor
tion of the bases of moral greatness, or in other words, that there
is as much of native genius in proportion to numbers, among sav
ages, as there is among ci'vilized people. The difference between
these two extremes of society is merely in the difference of education.
This view of human nature, philosphically correct, is well calculated
to increase the benevolence of even the good Samaritan himself, and
encourage his endeavors for the instruction of the most ignorant,
and the reformation of the most barbarous.
Had the aboriginals of our country been possessed of science to
enable them to commit to the faithful page of history the events of
their intercourse with us since the discovery and settlement of their
native land by the Europeans, what would be the contents of this
history ! Not such as it is from the hands of our historians, who
have presented nought but the worst features of the Indian charac
ter, as exhibited in the coarse of their wars against the invaders of
their country, while the wrongs inflicted on them by civilized men
have occupied but a very small portion of the record. Their suffer
ings, their private virtues, their bravery and magnanimity in war,
together with their individual instances of greatness of mind, hero
ism, and clemency to captives in the midst of the cruelties of their
barbarous warfare, must soon be buried with themselves in the tomb
of their national existence.

244 THE JOHNSON'S.

CHAPTER XV.
THE JOHNSON'S.
The following narrative goes to show that the long continuance
of the Indian war had inspired even the young lads of our coun
try not only with ah the bravery, but all the subtility of the Indians
themselves. In the faU of the year 1793, two boys by the name of John and
Henry Johnson, the first thirteen and the latter eleven years old,
whose parents lived in Carpenter's Station, a little distance from the
mouth of Short Creek, on the east side of the Ohio River, were sent
out in the evening to hunt the cows. At the foot of a hill, at the
back of the Bottom, they sat down under a hickory tree to crack
some nuts. They soon saw two men coming towards them, one of
whom had a bridle in his hand. Being dressed like white men, they
mistook them for their father and an uncle in search of the horses.
When they discovered their mistake and attempted to run off, the In
dians pointed their guns at them, told them to stop or they would
kill them. They halted and were taken prisoners.
The Indians, being in pursuit of horses, conducted the boys
by a circuitous route over the Short Creek Hills in search of
them, until late in the evening, when they halted at a spring in a
hollow place, about three miles from the Fort. Here they kindled
a small fire, cooked and ate some vitals, and prepared to repose for
the night. Henry, the youngest of the boys, during the ramble had af
fected the greatest satisfaction at having been taken a prisoner.
He said his father was a hard master, who kept him always at
hard work, and allowed him no play ; but that for his part he
wished to live in the woods and be a hunter. This deportment soon
brought him into intimacy with one of the Indians, who could
speak very good English. The Indians frequently asked the
boys if they knew of any good horses running in the woods.
Sometime before they halted, one of the Indians gave the largest of
the boys a little bag, which he supposed contained money, and made
him carry it.
When night came on the fire was covered up, the boys pinioned,
and made to lie down together. The Indians then placed their hop-
pis straps over them, and laid down, one on each side of them, on
the ends of the straps.

THE JOFINSON'S. 245
Pretty late in the night the Indians fell asleep, and one of them
becoming cold, caught hold of John in his arms, and turned him
over on the outside. In this situation, the boy, who had kept awake,
found means to get his hand loose. He then whispered to his
brother, made him get up and untie his arms. This done, Henry
thought of nothing but running off as fast as possible ; but when
about to start, John caught hold of him, saying, ' ' We must kill
these Indians before we go. ' ' After some hesitation, Henry agreed
to make the attempt. John then took one of the rifles of the In
dians, and placed it on a log with the muzzle close to the head of
one of them. He then cocked the gun, and placed his little brother
at the britch, with his finger on the triger, with instructions to pull
it as soon as he should strike the other Indian.
He then took one of the Indian's tomahawks, and standing
astraddle of one of the Indians, struck him with it. The blow,
however, fell on the back of the neck and to one side, so as not to
be fatal. The Indian then attempted to spring up ; but the little
fellow repeated his blows with such force and rapidity on the
skull, that as he expressed it, " the Indian laid still and began to
quiver. ' '
At the moment of the first stroke given by the elder brother
with the tomahawk, the younger one pulled the trigger, and shot
away a considerable portion of the Indian's lower jaw. This In
dian, a moment after receiving the shot, began to flounce about and
yell in the most frightful manner. The boys then made the best of
their way to the Fort, and reached it a little before daybreak. On
getting near the F'ort they found the people all up and in great agi
tation on their account. On hearing a woman exclaim, ' ' Poor little
fellows, they are killed or taken prisoners ! ' ' the oldest one ans
wered, " No mother, we are here yet."
Having brought nothing away with them from the Indian
camp, their relation of what had taken place between them and the
Indians was not fully credited. A small party was soon made up to
go and ascertain the truth or falsehood of their report. This party
the boys conducted to the spot by the shortest route. On arriving
at the place, they found the Indian whom the oldest brother had
tomahawked, lying dead in the camp ; the other Had crawled away,
and taken his gun and shot-pouch with him. After scalping the
Indian, the party returned to the Fort, and the same day a larger
party went out to look after the wounded Indian, who had crawled
some distance from the camp and concealed himself in the top of a
fallen tree, where, notwithstanding the severity of his wound, with
a Spartan bravery he determined to sell his life as dearly as possible.
Having fixed his gun for the purpose, on the approach of the men
to a proper distance, he took aim at one of them, and jJuUed the
trigger, but his gun missed fire. On hearing the snap of the lock,
one of the men exclaimed, ' ' I should not like to be killed by a dead
Indian ! " The party concluded that the Indian would die at any

246 THE JOHNSON'S.
rate, thought best to retreat, and return and look for him after some
time. On returning, however, he could not be found, having crawled
away and concealed himself in some other place. His skeleton and
gun were found sometime afterwards.
The Indians who were killed were great warriors, and very
wealthy. The bag, which was supposed to contain money, it was
conjectured was got by one of the party, who went out first in the
morning. On hearing the report of the boys, he slipped off by him
self, and reached the place before the party arrived. For some time
afterwards he appeared to have a greater plenty of money than his
neighbors. The Indians themselves did honor to the bravery of these two
boys. After their treaty with Gen. Wayne, a friend of the Indians
who were killed made enquiry of a man from Short Creek, what had
become of the boys, who killed the Indians? He was answered
that they lived at the same place with their parents. The Indian
replied, " You have not done right ; you should have made kings of
those boys. ' '

SETTLEMENT OF 247

chaptp::r xvi.
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY.
Having thus given to the reader, in the preceding pages, a con
nected history of the wars with the Indians, from the earliest settle
ment of the country until the treaty of peace made by Gen. Wayne,
in 1794, I will go back to the year 1772, and trace the various steps
by which our settlements advanced to their present vigorous state of
existence. The settlements on this side of the mountains commenced along
the Monongahela, and between that River and the Laurel Ridge, in
the year 1772. In the succeeding year they reached the Ohio River.
The greater number of the first settlers came from the upper part of
the then colonies of Maryland and Virginia. Braddock's trail,
as it was called, was the route by which the greater number of them
crossed the mountains. A less number of them came by the way of
Bedford and Fort Ligonier. the military road from Eastern Pennsyl
vania to Pittsburg. They effected their removal on horses furnished
with pack-saddles. This was the more easily done, as but few of
these early adventurers into the wilderness were encumbered with
much baggage.
Land was the object which invited the greater number of these
people to cross the mountain ; for as the saying then was, " it was
to be had here for the taking up. ' ' That is, building a cabin and
raising a crop of grain, however small, of any kind, entitled the
occupant to four hundred acres of land , and a pre-emption right to
one thousand acres more adjoining, to be secured by a land office
warrant. This right was to take effect if there happened to be so
much vacant land, or any part thereof, adjoining the tract secured
by the settlement right.
At an early period the government of Virginia appointed three
Commissioners to give certificates of settlement rights. These cer
tificates, together with the Surveyor's plat, was sent to the land
office of the State, where they laid six months, to await any
caveat which might be offered. If none was offered the patent then
issued. There was, at an early period of our settlements, an inferior
kind of land title, dominated a "tomahawk right," which was made
by deadening a few trees near the head of a spring, and marking the
bark of some one or more of them with the initials of the name of

248 THE COUNTRY.
the person who made the improvement. I remember Having seen a
number of those "tomahawk rights " when a boy. For a long time
many of them bore the name of those who made them. I have no
knowledge of the efficacy of the tomahawk improvement, or whether
it conferred any right whatever, unless followed by an actual settle
ment. These rights, however, were often bought and sold. Those
who wished to make settlements on their favorite tracts of land,
bought up the tomahawk improvements, rather than enter into quar-
rals with those who made them. Other improvers of the land with
a view to actual settlement, and who happened to be stout
veteran fellows, took a very different course from that of purchas
ing the tomahawk rights. When annoyed by the claimants under
these rights, they deliberately cut a few good hickories, and gave
them what was called in those days ' ' a laced jacket ' ' that is a sound
whipping. Some of the early settlers took the precaution to come over the
mountains in the spring (leaving their families behind) , to raise a
crop of corn, and then return and bring them out in the fall. This
I should think was the better way. Others, especially those v/hose
families were small, brought them with them in the spring. My
father took the latter course. His family were but small, and he
brought them with him. The Indian meal which he brought over
the mountain was expended six weeks too soon, so for that length
of time we had to live without bread. The lean vension and the
breast of the wild turkeys we were taught to call bread, and the flesh
of the bear was dominated as meat. This artifice did not succeed
very well ; for after living in this way for some time we became
sickly, the stomach seeming to be always empty and tormented with
a sense of hunger. I remember how narrowly the children watched
the growth of the potatoe tops, pumpkin and squash vines, hoping
from day to day to get something to answer in the place of bread.
How delicious was the taste of the young potatoes when we got
them ! What jubilee when we were permitted to pull the young
corn for roasting ears ! still more so when it had acquired a sufficient
hardness to be made) into johnny-cakes by the aid of a tin-grater!
We then became healthy, vigorous, aud contented with our situa
tion, poor as it was.
My father, with a small number of his neighbors, made their
settlements in the spring of 1773. Though they were in a poor and
destitute situation, they nevertheless lived in peace ; but their tran
quility was not of long continuance. Those most atrocious murders
of the peaceable inoffensive Indians of Captina and Yellow Creek,
brought on the war of Lord Dunmore in the spring of the year
1774. Our little settlement then broke up. The women and chil
dren were removed to Morris's Fort, in Sandy Creek Glade,'some
distance to the east of Uniontown. The Fort consisted of an assem
blage of small hovels, situated on the margin of a large and noxious
marsh, the effluvia of which gave most of the women and children

SETTLEMENT OF 249
the fever and ague. The men were compelled by necessity to re
turn home, risking the tomahawk and scalping knife of the Indians,
to raise com to keep their families from starvation the succeeding
winter. These sufferings, danger and losses, were the tribute we
had to pay to that thirst for blood which actuated those veteran mur
ders who brought the war upon us ! The memory of the sufferers
in this war, as well as that of their descendants, still looks back
upon them with regret and abhorence and the page of history
will consign their names to posterity with the full weight of infamy
they deserve.
A correct and detailed view of the origin of societies, and their
progress from one condition or point of wealth, science and civiliza
tion, to another, is always highly interesting, even when received
through the dusky mediums of history, oftentimes but poorly and
partially written ; but when this retrospect of things past and
gone is drawn from the recollections of experience, the impres
sions which it makes on the heart are of the most vivid, deep and
lasting kind.
The following history of the state of society, manners and cus
toms of our forefathers, is to be drawn from the latter source ; and
it is given to the world with the recollection that many of my co-
temporaries, still living, have, as well as myself, witnessed all the
scenes and events herein described, and whose memories would speed
ily detect and expose any errors the work may contain.
The municipal, as well as ecclesiastical institutions of society,
whether good or bad, in consequence of their long continued use,
give a corresponding cast to the public character of society whose
conduct they direct and the more so because in the lapse of time the
observance of them becomes a matter of conscience.
This observation applies in full force to that influence of our
early land laws which allowed four hundred acres and no more to a set
tlement right. Many of our early settlers seem to regard this
amount of the surface of the earth as the allotment of Divine Provi
dence for one family, and believed that any attempt to get more
would be sinful. Most of them, therefore, contented themselves
with that amount, although they might have evaded the law, which
allowed but one settlement right to any one individual, by taking
out the title papers in the names of others, to be afterwards trans
ferred to them, as if by purchase. Some few indeed pursued this
practice, but it was held in detestation.
My father, like many others, believed, that having secured this
legal allotment, the rest of the country belonged of right to those
who choose to settle in it. There was a piece of vacant land adjoin
ing his tract, amounting to about two hundered acres. To this tract
of land he had the pre-emption right, and siccordingly secured it by
warrant ; but his conscience would not permit him to retain it in
his family ; he therefore gave it to an apprentice lad whom he raised
32

250 THE COUNTRY.
in his house. This lad sold it to an uncle of mine for a cow and
calf and a wool hat.
Owing to the equal distribution of real property directed by our
land laws, and the sterling integrity of our forefathers in their ob
servance of them, we have no districts of "sold land," as it is
called, that is, large tracts of land in the hands of individuals and
companies who neither sell nor improve them, as is the case of Lower
Canada and the northwestern part of Pennsylvania. These unset
tled tracts make huge blanks in the population of the country where-
ever they exist.
The division lines between those whose lands adjoined, were
generally made in an amicable manner by the parties concerned,
before any survey of them was made. In doing this they were
guided mainly by the tops of ridges and water courses, but particu
larly the former. Hence the greater number of farms in the west-
em parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia bear a striking resemblance to
an amphitheater. The buildings occupy a low situation, and the
tops of the surrounding hills are the boundaries of the tract to which
the family mansion belongs.
Our forefathers were fond of farms of this description, because,
as they said, they are attended with this convenience, ' ' that every
thing comes to the house down hill. ' ' In the hilly parts of the state
of Ohio, the land having been laid off in an arbitrary manner, by
straight parallel lines, without regard to hill or dale, the farmers
present a different aspect from those on the east side of the River oppo
site. There the building frequently occupy the tops of the hills as
any other situation.
Our people had become so accustomed to the mode of ' ' getting
land for taking it up," that for along time it was generally be
lieved that the land on the west side of the Ohio would ultimately be
disposed of in that way.
Hence almost the whole tract of country between the Ohio and
Muskingum was parceled out in tomahawk improvements ; but
these latter improvers did not content themselves with a single four
hundred acre tract apiece. Many of them owned a great number of
tracts of the best land, and thus, in imagination, were as "wealthy
as a South Sea dream." Many of the land-jobbers of this class did
not content themselves with marking the trees, at the usual height,
with the initials of their names ; but climed up the large beech trees,
and cut the letters in their bark, from twenty to forty feet from the
ground. To enable them to identify those trees, at a future period,
they made marks on other trees around them as references.
Most of the early settlers considered their land of little value,
from an apprehension that after a few years' cultivation it would
lose its fertility, at least for a long time. I have often heard
them say that such a field would bear so many crops, and another so
many more or less than that. The ground of this belief concerning
the short-lived fertUity of the land in this country, was, the poverty

SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY. 251
of a great proportion of the land in the lower parts of Maryland and
Virginia, which, after producing a few crops, became unfit for use,
and was thrown out into commons.
In their unfavorable opinion of the nature of the soil of our
country our forefathers were utterly mistaken. The native weeds
were scarcely destroyed before the white clover and different kinds
of grass made their appearance. These soon covered the ground,
so as to afford pasture for the cattle by the time the wood range was
eaten out, as well as protect the soil from being washed away by
drenching rains, so often injurious in hilly countries.
Judging from Virgil's* test of fruitful and barren soils, the
greater part of this country must possess every requisity for fertili
ty. The test is this. Dig a hole of any reasonable dimensions and
depth ; if the earth which was taken out, when thrown lightly back
into it does not fill up the hole, the soil is fruitful ; but if it more
than fills it up, the soil is barren.
Whoever chooses to try this experiment will find the result in
dicative of the richness of our soil. Even our graves, notwith
standing the size of the vault, are seldom finished with the earth
thrown out of them, and they soon sink below the surrounding
surface.

* Ante locum capies oculis, alteque jubebis.
In solido puteum, demitti, omnemque repones
Rursus hnmum, et pedibus summas sequabis arenas.
Si deerunt ; rarum, pecorique et vitibus almis
Aptius uber erit. Sin in sua posse negabunt
Ire loca, et scrobibus superabit terra repletis,
Spissus ager : glebas cunctantes crassaque terga
Expecta, et validis terram proscinde juvencis. Vir. Geo. lib. 2,1. 230.

252 HOUSE FURNITURE AND DIET.

CHAPTER xvii.
HOUSE FURNITURE AND DIET.
The settlement of a new country in the immediate neighborhood
of an old one, is not attended with much difficulty, because supplies
can be obtained from the latter ; but the .¦settlement of a country
very remote from any cultivated region, is a very different thing ; be
cause at the outset, food, raiment, and the implements of husban
dry, are obtained only in small supplies and with great difficulty.
The task of making new establishments in a remote wilderness, in
time of profound peace, is sufficiently difficult ; but when, in addi
tion to all the unavoidable hardships attendant on this business,
those resting from an extensive and furious warfare with savages
are superadded , toil, privations and sufferings, are then carried to
the full extent of the capacity of men to endure them.
Such was the wretched condition of our forefathers in making
their settlements here. To all their difficulties and privations, the
Indian war was a weighty addition. The destructive warfare they
were compelled to sustain almost single-handed, because the revolu
tionary contest with England gave full employment for the military
strength and resources on the east side of the mountains.
'The following history of the poverty, labors, sufferings, man
ners and customs, of our forefathers, will appear like a collection of
" tales of olden times," without any garnish of language to spoil the
original portraits, by giving them shades of coloring which they did
not possess. I shall follow the order of things as they occurred during the
period of time embraced in these narratives, beginning with those
rude accommodations with which our first adventurers into this coun
try furnished themselves at the commencement of their establish
ments. It will be a homely narrative, yet valuable on the ground
of its being real history.
If my reader, when viewing, through the medium which I here
present, the sufferings of human nature in one of its most depressed
and dangerous conditions, should drop an involuntary tear, let him
not blame me for the sentiment of sympathy which he feels. Qn
the contrary, if he should sometimes meet with a recital calculated
to excite a smile or a laugh, I claim no credit for his enjoy
ment. It is the subject matter of the history, and not the his-

HOUSE FURNITURE AND DIET. 253
torian, which makes those widely different impressions on the mind
of the reader.
In this chapter it is my design to give a brief account of the
household furniture and articles of diet which were used by the
first inhabitants of our country. A description of their cabins and
half-faced camps, and their manner of building them, will be found
elsewhere. The furniture for the table, for several years after the settle
ment of this country, consisted of a few pewter dishes, plates and
spoons, but mostly of wooden bowls, trenchers and noggins. If
these last were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled squashes made up the
deficiency. The iron pot, knives and forks, were brought from the east side
of the mountains, along with the salt and iron, on pack-horses.
These articles of furniture correspond very well with the arti
cles of diet on which they were employed. " Hog and homminy "
were proverbial for the dishes of which they were competent parts.
Journey -cake and pone were, at the outset of the settlements of the
country, the only forms of bread in use for breakfast and din
ner. At supper, milk and mush were the standard dish. When
milk was not plenty, which was often the case, owing to the scarci
ty of cattle or the want of proper pasture for them, the substantial
dish of homminy had to supply the place of them. Mush was fre
quently eaten with sweetened water, molasses, bear's oil, or the
gravey of fried meat.
Every family, besides a little garden for the few vegetables
which they cultivated, had another small enclosure containing from
half an acre to an acre, which they called a " truck-patch," in
which they raised corn for roasting-ears, pumpkins, squashes, beans
and potatoes. These, in the latter part of the summer and fall,
were cooked with their pork, venison and bear meat, for dinner,
and made very wholesome and well-tasted dishes. The stand
ard dinner dish for every time log-rolling, or house-raising and
harvest-day came, was a pot-pie, or what in other countries is
called "sea-pie." This, besides answering for dinner, served
for a part of the supper also, the remainder of it from dinner being
eaten with milk in the evening, after the conclusion of the labor of
the day. In our whole display of furniture, the delf , china, and silver
were unknown. It did not then, as now, require contributions
from the four quarters of the globe to furnish the breakfast table,
viz : the silver from Mexico, the coffee from the West Indies, the
tea from China, and the delf and porcelain from Europe or Asia.
Yet o"ur homely fare, and unsightly cabins and furniture,. produced
a hardy, veteran race, who planted the first footsteps of society and
civilization in the immense regions of the west. Indeed to hardi
hood, bravery and labor, from their early youth, they sustained
with manly fortitude the fatigue of the chase, the campaign and

254 HOUSE FURNITURE AND DIET.
scout, and with strong arms "turned the wildness into fruitful
fields," and have left to their descendants the rich inheritance of an
immense empire blessed with peace and wealth.
I well recollect the first time I ever saw a tea-cup and caucer,
and tasted coffee. My mother died when I was about six or seven
years old, and my father sent me to Maryland with a brother of my
grandfather, Mr. Alexander Wells, to school.
At Col. Brown's, in the mountains, (at Stony Creek Glades), I
for the first time saw tame geese ; and by bantering a pet gander, I
got a severe biting by his bill, and beaten by his wings. I won
dered very much that birds so large and strong should be so much
tamer than the wild turkeys. At this place, however, all was right,
excepting the large birds which they called geese. The cabin and
its furniture were such as I had been accustomed to see in the back
woods, as my country was then called.
At Bedford everything was changed. The tavern at which my
uncle put up was a stone house, and to make the change more com
plete, it was plastered in the inside, both to the walls and ceiling.
On going into the dining room I was struck with astonishment at
the appearance of the house. I had no idea that there was any
house in the world which was not built of logs ; but here I looked
round the house and could see no logs, and above I could see no
joists ; whether such things could be made by the hands of man, or
had grown so of itself, I could not conjecture. I had not the cour
age to inquire anything about it.
When supper came on, " my confusion was worse confounded."
A little cup stood in a bigger one, with some brownish-looking stuff
in it, which was neither milk homminy nor broth. What to do
with these little cups and the little spoons belonging to them, I
could not tell ; and I was afraid to ask anything concerning the use
of them. It was in the time of the war, and the company were giving ac
counts of catching, whipping, and hanging the tories. The word
jail frequently occurred. This word I had never heard before ; but
I soon discovered its meaning, was much terrified, and supposed
that we were in danger of the fate of the tories ; for I thought as we
had come from the back woods, it was altogether likely that we
must be tories too. For fear of being discovered I dare not utter a
single word. I therefore watched attentively to see what the big
folks would do with the little cups and spoons. I imitated them,
and foundfthe taste of the coffee nauseous beyond anything I ever
had tasted in my life ; I continued to drink, as the rest of the com
pany did, with the tears streaming from my eyes, but when it was
to end I was at a loss to know, as the little cups were filled immedi
ately after being emptied. 'This circumstance distressed me very
much, as I dare not say I had enough. Looking attentively at the
grown persons, I saw one man turn his cup bottom upwards and put
his little spoon across it ; I observed that his cup was not filled

HOUSE FURNITURE AND DIET.

255

again ; I followed his example, and to my great satisfaction, the
result as to my cup was the same.
The introduction of delf ware was considered by many of the
backwoods people as a culpable innovation. It was too easily
broken, and the plates of that ware dulled their scalping and clasp
knives ; tea ware was too small for men, but might do for women
and children. .Tea and coffee were only slops, which in the adage
of the day, "did not stick by the ribs." The idea was, the}' were
designated only for persons of quality, who did not labor, or the
sick. A genuine backwoodsman would have thought himself dis
graced by showing a fondness for these slops. Indeed, many of
them have to to this day very little respect for them.

256 DRESS.

CHAPTER xviii.

DRESS.

On the frontiers, and particularly among those who are much
in the habit of hunting, and going on scouts and campaigns,
the dress of the men was partly Indian and partly that of civilized
nations. The hunting shirt was universally worn. This was a kind of
loose frock, reaching half way down the thighs, with large sleeves,
open before, and so wide as to lap over a foot or more when belted.
The cape was large, and sometimes handsomely fringed with a ravel
led piece of cloth of a different color from that of the hunting shirt it
self. The bosom of this dress served as a wallet to hold a chunk of
bread, cakes, jerk, tow for wiping the barrel of the rifle, or any other
necessary for the hunter or warrior. The belt, which was always
tied behind, answered for several purposes besides that of holding
the dress together. In cold weather, the mittens, and sometimes
the bullet-bag, occupied the front part of it ; to the right side was
suspended the tomahawk, and to the left the scalping knife in its
leather sheath. The hunting shirt was generally made of linsey,
sometimes of coarse linen, and a few of dressed deer skins. These
last were very cold and uncomfortable in wet weather. The shirt
and jacket were of the common fashion. A pair of drawers or
breeches, and leggings, were the dress of the thighs and legs. A
pair of moccasons answered for the feet much better than shoes.
These were made of dressed deer skin. They were mostly made of
a single piece, with a gathering seam along the top of the foot, and
another from the bottom of the heel, with gaiters as high as the
ankle joint or a little higher. Flaps were left on each side to reach
some distance up the legs. These were nicely adapted to the aukles
and lower part of the legs by thongs of deer skin, so that no dust,
gravel or snow, could get within the moccasons.
The moccasons in ordinary use cost but a few hours labor to
make them. This was done by an instrument denominated a moc-
cason awl, which was made of the back spring of an old clasp knife.
The awl, with its buckhorn handle, was an appendage of every shot
pouch strap, together with a roll of buckskin for mending the moc
casons. This was the labor of almost ever}' evening. They were
sewed together and patched with deer skin thongs, or wangs as they
were commonly called.

DRESS. 257
In cold weather the moccasons were well stuffed with deer's
hair or dried leaves, so as to keep the feet comfortably warm ; but in
• wet weather it was usually said that wearing them was ' ' a decent
way of going barefooted;" and such was the fact, owing to the
spongy texture of the leather of which they were made.
Owing to this defective covering of the feet, more than to any
other circumstance, the greater number of our hunters and warriors
were afflicted with rheumatism in their limbs. Of this disease they
were all apprehensive in wet or cold weather, and therefore always
slept with their feet to the fire to prevent or cure it as well as
they could. This practice unquestionably had a very salutory effect,
and prevented many of them from becoming confirmed cripples in
early life.
In the latter years of the Indian war our yonng men became
more enamored of the Indian dress throughout, with the exception
of the match coat. The drawers were laid aside and the leggins made
longer, so as to reach the upper part of the thigh. The Indian
breech clout was adopted. This was a piece of linen or cloth nearly
a yard long, and eight or nine inches broad. This passed under the
belt before and behind, leaving the ends for flaps, hanging before
and behind over the belt. These belts were sometimes ornamented
with some coarse kind of embroidery work. The same belts which
secured the breech clout, strings which supported the long leggings
were attached. When this belt, as was often the case, passed over
the hunting shirt, the upper part of the thighs and part of the hips
were naked.
The young warrior, instead of being abashed by this nudity,
was proud of his Indian-like dress. In some few instances I
have seen them go into places of public worship in this dress.
Their appearance, however, did not add much to the devotion of
the young ladies.
The linsey petticoat and bed gown, which were the universal
dress of our women in early times, would make a strange figure in
our days. A small home-made handkerchief, in point of elegance,
would illy supply the place of that prof usion of ruffies with which the
necks of our ladies are now ornamented.
They went bare footed in warm weather, and in the cold their
feet were covered with moccasons, coarse shoes, or shoe-packs, which
would make but a sorry figure besides the elegant morocco slippers
often embossed with bullion, which at present ornament the feet of
their daughters and granddaughters.
The coats and bed gowns of the women, as well as the hunting
shirts of the men, were hung in full display on wooden pegs around
the walls of their cabins, so that while they answered in some degree
the place of paper-hangings or tapestry, they announced to the
stranger as well as neighbor the wealth or poverty of the family in
the articles of clothing. This practice has not yet been wholly laid
aside among the backwoods families.
33

258

DRESS.

The historian would say to the ladies of the present time. Our
ancestors of your sex knew nothing of the ruffles, leghorns, curls,
combs, rings, and other jewels with which their fair daughters now
decorated themselves. Such things were not then to be had. Many
of the younger part of them were pretty well grown up before they
ever saw the inside of a store room, or even knew there was such a
thing in the world, unless by hearsay, and indeed scarcely that.
Instead of the toilet, they had to handle the distaff or shuttle,
the sickle or weeding hoe, contented if they could obtain their linsey
clothing and cover their heads with a sun bonnet made of a six or
seven hundred linen.

THE FORT. 259

CHAPTER XIX.
THE FORT.
My reader will understand by this term, not only a place of de
fense, but the residence of a small number of families belonging to
the same neighborhood. As the Indian mode of warfare was an
indiscriminate slaughter of all ages and both sexes, it was as requis
ite to provide for the safety of the women and children as for that
of the men.
The Forts consisted of cabins, block-houses and stockades. A
range of cabins commonly formed one side at least of the Fort.
Divisions, or partitions of logs, separated the cabins from each other.
The waUs on the outside were ten or twelve feet high, the slope of
the roof being turned wholly inward. A very few of these cabins had
puncheon floors ; the greater part were earthen.
The block-houses were built at the angles of the Fort. They
projected about two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabins and
way stockades. Their upper stories were about eighteen inches every
larger in dimensions than the under one, leaving an opening at the
commencement of the second story, to prevent the enemy from mak
ing a lodgment under their walls. In some Forts, instead of block
houses, the angles of the Forts were furnished with bastions. A
large folding gate made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed the
Fort. The stockades, bastions, cabins and block-house walls, were
furnished with port-holes at proper heights and distances. The
whole of the outside was made completely bullet-proof.
It may be truly said that necessity is the mother of inven
tion, for the whole of this work was made without the aid of a
single nail or spike of iron, and for this reason, such things were not
to be had.
In some places, less exposed, a single block-house with a cabin
or two constituted the whole Fort.
Such places of refuge may appear very trifling to those who
have been in the habit of seeing the formidable military garrisons of
Europe and America ; but they answered the purpose, as the In
dians had no artillery. They seldom attacked, and scarcely ever took
one of them.
The families belonging to these Forts were so attached to their
own cabins on their farms, that they seldom moved into
the Fort in the spring until compelled by some alarm, as they called

26o THE FORT.
it ; that is, when it was announced by some murder thatthe Indians
were in the settlement.
The Fort to which my father belonged, was, during the first
year of the war, three-quarters of a mile from his farm ; but when
this Fort went to decay, and became unfit for defense, a new one
was built at his own house. I well remember that when a little boy
the family where sometimes waked up in the dead of night by an
express with a report that the Indians were at hand. The express
came softly to the door or back window, and by a gentle tapping
waked the family ; this was easily done, as an habitual fear made us
ever watchful and sensible to the slightest alarm. The whole family
were instantly in motion ; my father seized his gun and other imple
ments of war ; my step-mother waked up and dressed the children
as well as she could ; and being myself the oldest of the children, I
had to take my share of the burdens to be carried to the Fort.
There was no possibility of getting a horse in the night to aid us
in removing to the Fort ; besides the little children, we caught up
what articles of clothing and provisions we could get hold of in the
dark, for we dare not light a candle or even stir the fire. All this
was done with the utmost dispatch and the silence of death ; the
greatest care was taken not to awaken the youngest child ; to the
rest it was enough to say Indian, and not a whimper was heard after
wards. Thus it often happened that the whole number of families
belonging to a Fort, who were in the evening at their homes, were
all in their little fortress before the dawn of the next morning. In
the course of the succeeding day, their household furniture was
brought in by parties of the men under arms.
Some families belonging to each Fort, were much less underthe
influence of fear than others, and who after an alarm had subsided,
in spite of every remonstrance would move home, while their more
prudent neighbors remained in the Fort. Such families were denom
inated "fool-hardy," and gave no small amount of trouble by creat
ing such frequent necessities of sending runners to warn them of
their danger, and sometimes parties of our men to protect them dur
ing their removal.

CARAVANS. 261

CHAPTER XX.
CARAVANS.
The acquisition of the indispensible articles of salt, steel and
castings, presented great difficulties to the first settles of the western
country. They had no stores of any kind, no salt, iron, nor iron
works ; nor had they money to make purchases were those articles
were to be obtained. Peltry and furs were their only resources,
before they had time to raise cattle and horses for sale in the At
lantic States.
Every family collected what peltry and fur they could obtain
throughout the year for the purpose of sending them over the moun
tains for barter.
In the fall of the year, after seeding-time, every family formed
an association with some of their neighbors for starting the little
caravan. A m.aster driver was selected from among them, who was
to be assisted by one or more young men, and sometimes a boy or
two. The horses were fitted out with pack-saddles, to the hinder
part of which was fastened a pair of hobbles made of hickory withs ;
a bell and collar ornamented his neck. The bags provided for the
conveyance of the salt were filled with feed for the horses ; on the
journey a part of this feed was left at convenient stages on the way
down, to support the return of the caravan. Large wallets, well-
filled with bread, jerk, boiled ham and cheese, furnished provision
for the drivers. At night, after feeding, the horses, whether put in
pasture or turned out in the woods, were hobbled, and the bells
were opened. The barter for salt and iron were made first at Balti
more. Frederick, Hagerstown, Oldtown and Cumberland in suc
cession, became the place of exchange. Each horse carried two
bushels of alumn salt, weighing eighty-four pounds to the bushel.
This, to be sure, was not a heavy load for the horses, but it was
enough considering the scanty substance allowed them on their
joumey. The common price of a bushel of alumn salt at an early period
was a good cow and calf ; and until weight were introduced, the
salt was measured into the half bushel by hand as lightly as possi
ble. No one was permitted to walk heavily over the floor while the
operation was going on.
The following anecdote will serve to show how little the native
sons of the forest knew of the etiquette of the Atlantic cities.

262 CARAVANS.
A neighbor of my father, some years after the settlement of the
country, had collected a small drove of cattle for the Baltimore mar
ket. Among the hands employed to drive them was one who had
never seen any condition of society but that of woodsmen.
At one of their lodging places in the mountain, the landlord
and his hired man, in the course of the night, stole two of the bells
belonging to the drove, and hid them in a piece of woods.
The drove had not gone far in the morning before the bells were
missed, and a detachment went back to recover the stolen bells.
The men were found reaping in the field of the landlord ; they were
accused of the theft, but denied the charge. The torture of sweat
ing, according to the custom of that time, that is, of suspension by
the arms pinioned behind their back, brought a confession. The
bells were procured and hung around the necks of the thieves ; in
this condition they were driven on foot before the detachment until
they overtook the drove, which by this time had gone nine mUes.
A halt was called and a jury selected to try the culprits. They were
condemned to receive a certain number of lashes on the bare back
from the hand of each drover. The man above aUuded to was the
owner of one of the bells. When it came to his turn to use the
hickory, "Now," says he to the thief, "You infernal scoundrel,
I'll work your jacket nineteen to the dozen. Only think what a
rascally figure I should make in the streets of Baltimore without a bell
on my horse." The man was in earnest ; having seen no horse used
without bells, he thought they were requisite in every situation.

*4y

HUNTING. 263

CHAPTER XXI.

HUNTING.

This was an important part of the employment of the early set
tlers of this country. For some years the woods supplied them with
the great amount of their subsistence, and with regard to some
families, in certain times, the whole of it ; for it was no uncommon
thing for families to live several months without a mouthful of
bread. It frequently happened that there was no breakfast until it
was obtained from the woods. Fur and peltry was the people's money;
they had nothing else to give in exchange for rifles, salt and iron,
on this side of the mountains.
The fall and early part of the winter was the season for hunt
ing the deer, and the whole of the winter, including part of the
spring, for bears and skinned animals. It was a customary saying
that fur is good during every month in the name of which the letter
R occurs. The class of hunters with whom I was best acquainted were
those whose hunting rangers were on the western side of the River
and at the distance of eight or nine miles from it. As soon as the
leaves were pretty well down, and the weather became rainy ac
companied with light snows, these men, after acting the part of
husbandmen, so far as the state of warfare permitted them to do so,
soon began to feel that they were hunters. They became uneasy at
home ; everything about them became disagreeable ; the house was
too warm, the feather bed too soft, and even the good wife was not
thought for the time being a proper companion ; the mind of the
hunter was wholly occupied with the camp and chase.
I have often seen them get up early in the morning at this sea
son, walk hastily out and look anxiously at the woods, and snuff
the autumnal winds with the highest rapture, then return into the
house and cast a quick and attentive look at the rifle, which was
always suspended to a joist by a couple of buck's horns or little
forks ; his hunting dog understanding the intentions of his master,
would wag his tail, and by every blandishment in his powerexpress
readiness to accompany him to the woods.
A day was soon appointed for the march of the little cavalcade
to the camp. Two or three horses furnished with pack-saddles were
loaded with flour, Indian meal, blankets, and everything else requi
site for the use of the hunter.

264 HUNTING.
A hunting camp, or what was called a half- faced cabin, 'was of
the following form ; the back part of it was sometimes a large log ;
at the distance of eight or ten feet from this two stakes were set in
the ground a few inches apart, and at the distance of eight or ten
feet from these two more to receive the ends of the poles for the
sides for the camp ; the whole slope of the roof was from the front
to the back ; the covering vi'as made of slabs, skin and blankets, or,
if in the spring of the year, the bark of hickory or ash trees ; the
front was left entirely open ; the fire was built directly before this
opening ; the cracks between the logs were filled with moss, the dry
leaves for a bed. It is thus that a couple of men in a few hours
will construct for themselves a temporary and tolerably comfortable
defense from the inclemency of the weather; the beaver, otter, musk-
rat and squirrel are scarcely their equals in dispatch in fabricating
for themselves a covert from the tempest !
A little more pains would have made a hunting camp a defense
against the Indians. A cabin ten feet square, bullet proof and furn
ished with port holes, would have enabled two or three hunters to
hold twenty Indians at bay for any length of time ; but this precau
tion I believe was never attended to ; hence the hunters were often
surprised and killed in their camps.
The site for the camp was selected with all the sagacity of the
woodsmen, so as to have it shelted by the surrounding hills from
every wind, but more especially from those of the north and west.
An uncle of mine, of the name of Samuel Teter, occupied the
same camp for several years in succession. It was situated on one
of the southern branches of Cross Creek. Although I have lived
many years not more than fifteen miles from the place, it was not
till within a few years that I discovered its situation, when it was
shown to me by a gentleman living in the neighborhood. Viewing
the hills round about it, I soon perceived the sagacity of the hunter
in the site of his camp. Not a wind could touch him, and unless by
the report of his gun or the sound of his axe, it would have been by
mere accident if au Indian had discovered his concealment.
Hunting was not a mere ramble in pursuit of game, in which
there was nothing of skill andcalculation ; on the contrary, the hun
ter, before he set out iu the morning was infonned by the state of the
weather in what situation he might reasonably expect to meet with
his game, whether on the bottoms, sides or tops of the hills. In
stormy weather the deer always seek the most sheltered places and
the leeward sides of the hills. In rainy weather in which there
is not much wind, they keep in the open woods on the highest
ground. In every situation it was requisite for the hunter to ascertain
the course of the wind, so as to get to the leeward of the game.
This he effected by putting his finger in his mouth and holding it
there until it became warm ; then holding it above his head, the
side which first becomes cold shows which way the wind blows.

HUNTING. 265
As it was requisite too for the hunter to know the cardinal
points, he had only to observe the trees to ascertain them. The
bark of an aged tree is thicker and much rougher on the north than
on the south side. The same thing may be said of the moss, it is
thicker and stronger on the north than on the south side of the
trees. The whole business of the hunter consists of a succession of in
trigues. From morning to night he was on the alert to gain the
wind of his game, and approach them without being discovered. If
he succeed in killing a deer, he skinned it and hung it up out of the
reach of the wolves, and immediately resumed the chase till the
close of the evening, when he bent his course towards his camp ;
when arrived there, he kindled up his fire, and together his fellow
hunters cooked their supper. The supper finished, the adventures
of the day furnished the tales for the evening ; the spike buck, the
two and three pronged buck, the doe and the barren doe, figured
through their anecdotes with great advantage. It should seem that
after hunting awhile on the same ground, the hunters became ac
quainted with nearly all the gangs of deer within their ranger,' so as
to know each flock of them when they saw them. Often some old
buck, by the means of his superior sagacity and watchfulness, saved
his little gang from the hunter's skill, by giving timely notice of
his approach. The cunning of the hunter arid that of the old buck
where staked against each other, and it frequently happened that
at the conclusion of the hunting season, the old fellow was left the
free uninjured tenant of his forest ; but if his rival succeeded in
bringing him down, the victory was followed by no small amount
of boasting on the part of the conqueror.
When the weather was not suitable for hunting, the skins and
carcasses ot the game were brought in and disposed of.
Many of the hunters rested from their labors on the Sabbath
day, some from a motive of piety, others said that whenever they
hunted on Sunday, they were sure to have bad luck all the rest of
the week.

34

266 THE WEDDING.

CHAPTER XXH.
THE WEDDING.
. For a long time after the first settlement of this country the in
habitants in general married young. There was no distinction of
rank, and very little of fortune. On these accounts the first impres
sion of love resulted in marriage, and a family establishment cost
but a little labor and nothing else.
A description of a wedding, from the beginning to the end, will
serve to show the manners of our forefathers, and mark the grade of
civilization which has succeeded to their rude state of society in the
course of a few years.
At an early period the practice of celebrating the marriage at
the house of the bride began, and it shouid seem with great pro
priety. She also had the choice of the priest to perform the
ceremony. In the first years of the settlement of this country, a weddin?
engaged the attention of the whole neighorhood, and the frolic was
anticipated by old and young with eager anticipation. This is not
to be wondered at, when it is told that a wedding was almost
the only gathering which was not accompanied with the labor of
reaping, log-rolling, building a cabin, or planning some scout or
campaign. In the morning of the wedding day, the groom and his attend
ants assembled at the house of his father, for the purpose of reach
ing the mansion of his bride by noon, which was the usual time
for celebrating the nuptials, which for certain must take place before
dinner. Let the reader imagine an assemblage of people, without a
store, tailor or mantuamaker, within an hundred miles, and an as
semblage of horses, without a blacksmith or saddler within an equal
distance. The gentlemen dressed in shoe-packs, moccasons, leather
breeches, leggins, and linsey hunting shirts, all home-made. The
ladies dressed in linsey petticoats, and linsey or linen bed-gowns,
coarse shoes, stockings, handkerchiefs and buckskin gloves, if any ;
if there were any buckles, rings, buttons or ruffles, they were the
relics of old times, family pieces from parents or grandparents.
The horses were caparisoned with old saddles, old bridles or halters,
and pack-saddles, with a bag or blanket thrown over them ; a rope
or string as often constituted the girth as a piece of leather.

THE WEDDING. 267
The march in double file, was often interrupted by the narrow
ness and obstructions of our horse-paths, as they were called, for we
had no roads ; and these difficulties were often increased, sometimes
by the good, and sometimes by the ill-will of neighbors, by falling
trees and tying grape-vines across the way. Sometimes an ambus
cade was formed by the way side, an unexpected discharge of sev
eral guns took place, so as to cover the wedding company with
smoke. Let the reader imagfine the scene which followed this dis
charge, the sudden spring of the horses, the shrieks of the girls, and
the chivalric bustle of their partners to save them from falling. Some
times, in spite aU that could be done to prevent it, some were thrown
to the ground ; if a wrist, elbow or ankle happened to be sprained,
it was tied with a handkerchief, and little more was thought or said
about it.
Another ceremony took place before the party reached the house
of the bride, after the practice of making whiskey began, which was
at an early period. When the party was about a mile from the
place of their destination, two young men would single out to run
for the bottle ; the worse the path, the more logs, brush and deep
hollows, the better, as these obstacles afforded an opportunity for
the greatest display of intripidity and horsemanship. The English
fox chase, in point of danger to their riders and their horses, was
nothing to this race for the bottle. The start was announced by an
Indian yell, when logs, brush, mud holes, hill and glen, were speed
ily passed by the rival ponies. The bottle was always filled for the
occasion, so that there was no use for judges ; for the first who
reached the door was presented with the prize, with which he re
turned in triumph to the company. On approaching them he an
nounced his victory over his rival by a shrill whoop. At the head
of the troop he gave the bottle to the groom and his attendants, and
then to each pair in succession, to the rear of the line, giving each
a dram ; and then putting the bottle in the bosom of his hunting
shirt, took his station in the company.
The ceremony of the marriage preceded the dinner, which was
a substantial backwoods feast of beef, pork, fowls, and sometimes
vension and bear meat, roasted and boiled, with plenty of potatoes,
cabbage and other vegetables. During the dinner the greatest hil
arity always prevailed, although the table might be a large slab of
timber, hewed out with a broad-axe, supported by four sticks set in
auger holes, and the furniture, some old pewter dishes and plates,
the rest wooden bowls and trenchers. A few pewter spoons, much
battered about the edges, were to be seen at som6 tables ; the rest
were of horn. If knives were scarce, the deficiency was made up
by the scalping knives, which were carried in sheathes suspended to
the belt of the hunting shirt.
After dinner the dancing commenced, and generally lasted until
the next morning. The figures of the dances were three and four
handed reels, or square with sets and jigs. The commencement

268 THE WEDDING.
was always a square four, which was followed by what was called
jigging it off, that is, two of the four would single out for a jig, and
were followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often accom-.
panied with what was called cutting out, that is, when any of the par
ties became tired of the dance, on intimation, the place was supplied
by some of the company, without any interruption of the dance ; in
this way a dance was often continued until the musician v>^as heart
ily tired of his situation. Towards the latter part of the night, if
any of the company through weariness attempted to conceal
themselves for the purpose of sleeping, they were hunted up,
paraded on the floor, and the flddler ordered to play "hang out
till morning. ' '
About, nine or ten o'clock a deputation of young ladies stole off
the bride and put her to bed. In doing this it frequently happened
that they had to ascend a ladder instead of a pair of stairs, leading
from the dining and ball-room to the loft, the floor of which was made
of clapboards lying loose and without nails. This ascent one might
think would put the bride and her attendants to the blush ; but as
the foot of the ladder was commonly behind the door, which was
purposely open for the occasion, and its rounds at the inner ends were
well hung with hunting shirts, petticoats and other articles of cloth
ing, the candles being on the opposite side of the house, the exit of
the bride was noticed but by a few. This done, a deputation of
young men in like manner stole off the groom and placed him snugly
by the side of his bride. The dance still continued, and if seats
happened to be scarce, which was often the case, every young man
when not engaged in the dance was obliged to offer his lap as a seat
for one of the girls, and the offer was sure to be accepted. In the
midst of this hilarity the bride and groom were not forgotten.
Pretty late in the night some one would remind the company that
the new couple must stand in need of some refreshments ; Black
Betty, which was the name of the bottle, was called for and sent up
the ladder. But sometimes Black Betty did not go alone. I have
many times seen as much bread, beef, pork and cabbage, sent along
with her, as would afford a meal for a half a dozen of hungry men.
The young couple was compelled to eat more or less of whatever
was offered them.
In the course of the festivity, if any wanted to help himself to
a dram and the young couple to a toast, he would call out, "Where
is Black Betty? I want to kiss her sweet lips." Black Betty was
soon handed to him, when, holding her up in his right hand, he
would say, "Here's health tothe groom, not forgetting myself, and
here's to the bride, thumping luck and big children!" This, so
far from being taken amiss, was considered as an expression of a
very proper and friendly wish ; for big children, especially sons,
were of great importance, as we were few in number and engaged in
perpetual hostility with the Indians, and the end of which no one
could foresee. Indeed, many of them seemed to suppose that

THE WEDDING. 269
war was the natural state of man, and therefore did not anticipate
any conclusion of it ; every big son was therefore considered as a
young soldier.
But to return. It often happened that some neighbors or rela
tions, not being asked to the wedding, took offense ; and the mode
of revenge adopted by them on such occasions, was that of cut
ting off the manes, foretops, and tails of the horses of tUe wedding
company. Another method of revenge, which was adopted when the chas
tity of the bride was a little suspected, was that of setting up a pair
of horns on poles or trees, on the route of the wedding company.
This was a hint to the groom that he might expect to be compli
mented with a pair of horns himself.
On returning to the infare, the order of procession and the race
for Black Betty was the same as before. The feasting and dancing
often lasted several days, at the end of which the whole company
was so exhausted with loss of sleep, that several days' rest were re
quisite to fit them to return to their ordinary labors.
Should I be asked why I have presented this unpleasant por
trait of the rude manners of our forefathers ? I in my turn would ask
my reader, why are you pleased with the histories of the blood and
carnage of battles ? Why are you delighted with the fictions of poe
try, the novel and romance ? I have related truth, and only truth,
strange as it may seem. I have depicted a state of society and man
ners which are fast vanishing from the memory of nian, with a view
to give the youth of our country a knowledge of the advantage of
civilization,' and to give contentment to the aged by preventing them
from saying, ' ' that former times were better than the present. ' '

270 THE HOUSE WARMING.

CHAPTER XXIH.

THE HOUSE WARMING.

I will proceed to state the usual manner of settling a young
couple in the world.
A spot was selected on a piece of land of one of the parents for
their habitation. A day was appointed shortly after their marriage
for commencing the work of building their cabin. The fatigue
party consisted of choppers, whose business it was to fall the trees
and cut them off at proper lengths — a man with his team for haul
ing them to the place, and arranging them, properly assorted, at the
sides and ends of the building — and a carpenter, if such he might be
called, whose business it was to search the woods for a proper tree
for making clapboards for the roof. The tree for this purpose must
be straight-grained, and from three to four feet in diameter. The
boards were split four feet long, with a large frow, and as wide as
the timber would allow. They were used without planing or shav
ing. Another division were employed in getting puncheons for the
floor of the cabin ; this was done by splitting trees about eighteen
inches in diameter, and hewing the faces of them with a broad-axe.
They were half the length of the floor they were intended to make.
The materials for the cabin was mostly prepared on the first day,
and sometimes the foundations laid in the evening ; the second day
was allotted for the raising.
In the morning of the next day the neighbors collected for the
raising. The first thing to be done was the election of four corner
men, whose business it was to notch and place the logs, the rest of
the company furnishing them with timbers. In the mean time the
boards and puncheons were collected for the floor and roof, so that
by the time the cabin was a few rounds high, the sleepers and floor
began to be laid. The door was made by cutting or sawing the logs
iu one side so as to make an opening about three feet wide ; this
opening was secured by upright pieces of timber about three inches
thick, through which holes were bored into the ends of the logs for
the purpose of pinning them fast. A similar opening, but wider,
was made at the end for the chimney. This was built of logs, and
made large, to admit of a back and jambs of stone. At the square
two end logs projected a foot or eighteen inches beyond the wall, to
receive the butting poles as they were called, against which the ends
of the first row of clapboards was supported. The roof was formed

THE HOUSE WARMING. 271
by making the end logs shorter until a single log formed
the comb of the roof. On these logs the clapboards were placed,
the ranges of them lapping some distance over the next below
them, and kept in their places by logs placed at proper distances
from them.
The roof and sometimes th« floor were finished on the same day
of the raising ; a third day was commonly spent by a few carpenters
in levelling off the floor, making a clapboard door and a table. This
last was made of a split slab, and supported by four round legs set in
auger holes ; some three-legged stools were made in the same man
ner. Some pins, stuck in the logs at the back of the house, sup
ported some clapboards which served for shelves for table furniture.
A single fork, placed with its lower end in a hole in the floor, and
the upper end fastened to a joist, served for a bedstead, by placing
a pole in the fork with one end through a crack between the logs in
the wall. This front pole was crossed by a shorter one within the
fork, with its outer end through another crack. From the front
pole, through a crack between the logs of the end of the house, the
boards were put on which formed the bottom of the bed. Some
times other poles were pinned to the fork a little distance between
these, for the purpose of supporting the front and foot of the bed,
while the walls were the support of its back and head. A few pegs
around the walls, for the display of the coats of the women and
hunting shirts of the men, and two small forks of buck's horns to a
joist for the rifle and shot pouch, completed the carpenter work.
In the mean time masons were at work. With the heart pieces
of the timber of which the clapboards were made, they made billets
for chunking up the cracks between the logs of the cabin and chim
ney. A large bed of mortar was made for daubing up the cracks ;
and a few stones formed the back and jambs of the chimney.
The cabin being finished, the ceremony of house warming took
place, before the young couple were permitted to move into it.
This was a dance of the whole night's continuance, made up of the
relations of the bride and groom and their neighbors. On the day
following, the young couple took possession of their new mansion.

272 WORKING.

CHAPTER XXIV.
WORKING.
The necessary labors of the farms along the frontiers were per
formed with every danger and difficulty imaginable. The whole
population of the frontiers, huddled together in their little Forts,
the country with every appearance of a deserted regiog ; and such
would have been the opinion of the traveler concerning it, if he had
not seen here and there some small fields of corn or some other grain
in a growing state.
It is easy to imagine what losses must have been sustained by
our first settlers owing to this deserted state of our farms. It was
not the full measure of their trouble that they risked their lives, and
often lost them, in subduing the forest and turning it into fruitful
fields ; but compelled to leave them in a deserted state during the
summer season, a great part of the fruits of their labors was lost by
this untoward circumstance. The sheep and hogs were devoured by
the wolves, panthers and bears. Horses and cattle were often let
into their fields, through breeches made in their fences by the
falling trees, and frequently almost the whole of a little crop of com
was destroyed by squirrels and raccoons, so that many famillies, even
after an hazardous and laborious spring and summer, had but little
left for the comfort of the dreary winter.
The early settlers on the frontiers of this country were like
Arabs of the desert of Africa, in at least two respects. Every man
was a soldier, and from early in the spring till late in the fall was
almost continually in arms. Their work was often carried on by
parties, each one of whom had his rifle and everything else belong
ing to his war dress. These were deposited in some central place in
the field. A sentinel was stationed on the outside of the fence, so
that on the least alarm the whole company repaired to their arms,
and were ready for combat in a moment.
Here again- the rashness of some families proved a source of
difficulty, instead of joining the working parties, they went out and
attended their farms by themselves, &nd in case of alarm, an express
was sent for them, and sometimes a party of men to guard them to
the Fort. Those families, in some instances, could boast that they
had better crops, and were every way better provided for in the win
ter than their neighbors ? in other instances their temerity cost them
their lives.

WORKING.

273

In military affairs, when eyery one concerned is left to his own
will, matters were sure to be badly managed. The whole frontiers
of Pennsylvania and Virginia presented a succession of military
camps or forts. We had military officers, that is to say, captains
and colonels ; but they in many respect were only nominally such.
The could advise, but not command. Those who choose to follow
their advice did so, to such an extent as suited their fancy or inter
est. Others were refractory and gave much trouble. These officers
would leave a scout or campaign, while those who thought proper to
accompany them did so, and those who did not remained at home.
Public odium was the only punishment for their laziness or coward
ice. There was no compulsion to the performance of military duties,
and no pecuniary reward when they were performed.
It is but doing justice to the first settlers of this country to say,
that instances of disobedience of families and individuals to the ad
vice of our officers, were by no means numerous. The greater num
ber cheerfully submitted to the directions with a prompt and faith
ful obedience.

35

274 MECHANIC ARTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

MECHANIC ARTS.

In giving a history of the state of the mechanic arts, as they
were exercised at an early period of the settlement of this country,
I shall present a people, driven by necessity to perform works of
mechanical skill, far beyond what a person enjoying all the advan
tages of civilization, would expect from a population placed in such
destitute circumstances.
My readers will naturally ask where were their mills for
grinding grain, where there tanners for making leather, where their
smith shops for making and repairing their farming utensils ? Who
were their carpenters, tailors, cabinet workmen, shoemakers and
weavers? The answer is, those manufacturers did not exist, nor
had they any tradesmen who were professedly such. Every family
were under the necessity of doing everything for themselves as well
as they could.
The hominy blocks and hand mills were used in most of our
houses. The first was made of a large block of wood about three
feet long, with an excavation burned in one end, wide at the top and
narrow at the bottom, so that the action of the pestle on the bottom
threw the corn up to the sides towards the top of it, from whence it
continually fell down into the centre. In consequence of this
movement, the whole mass of the grain was pretty equally subjected
to the strokes of the pestle. In the fall of the year, whilst the In
dian corn was soft, the block and pestle did very well for making
meal for journeycake and mush, but were rather slow when the corn
became hard.
The sweep was sometimes used to lessen the toil of pounding
grain into meal. This was a pole of springy elastic wood, thirty
feet long or inore, the butt end of which was placed under the side
of a house or large stump. The pole was supported by two forks,
placed about one third of its length from its butt end, so as to ele
vate the small end about fifteen feet from the ground. To this was
attached, by a large mortise, a piece of sapling about five or six
inches in diameter, and eight or ten feet long, the lower end of
which was shaped so as to answer for a pestle, and a pin of wood
was put through it at a proper height, so that two persons could work
at 'the sweeps. This simple machine very much lessened the labor
and expedited the work.

MECHANIC ARTS. 275
I remember that when a boy I put up an excellent sweep at
my father's. It was made of a sugar tree sapling, and was kept
going almost constantly from morning till night by our neighbors
for several weeks.
In the Greenbrier country, where they had a number of salt
petre caves, the first settlers made plenty of excellent gunpowder by
means of these sweeps and mortars.
A machine still more simple than the mortar and pestle was
used for making meal when the corn was too soft to be beaten. It
was called a grater. This was a half circular piece of tin, perforated
with a punch from the concave side, and nailed by its edges to a
block of wood. The ears of corn was rubbed on its rough edges
of the holes, while the meal fell through them on the board or block
to which the grater was nailed, which being in a slanting direction,
discharged the meal into a cloth or bowl placed for its reception.
This, to be sure, was a slow way of making meal, but necessity has
no law. The hand mill was better than the mortar and grater. It was
made of two circular stones, the lowest of which was called the bed
stone, the upper one the runner. These were placed in a hoop,
with a spout for discharging the meal. A staff was let into a hole
in the upper surface of the runner, near the outer edge, and its
upper end through a hole in a board fastened to a joist above, so
that two persons could be employed in turning the mill at the same
time. The grain was put into the opening in the runner by hand.
These mills are still in use in Palestine, the ancient country of the
Jews. To a mill of this sort our Saviour alluded, when, with reference
to the destruction of Jerusalem, he said, "Two women shall be
grinding at a mill, one shall be taken and the other left."
This mill is much preferrable to that used at present in upper
Egypt for making the dhourra bread. It is a smooth stone,
placed on an inclined plane, upon which the grain is spread,
which is made into meal by rubbing another stone up and down
upon it.
Our first water mills was of that description denominated tub
mills. It consisted of a perpendicular shaft, to the lower end of
which a horizontal wheel of about four or five feet in diameter is at
tached ; the upper end passes through the bed stone and carries the
runner, after the manner of a trundlehead. These mills were built
with very little expense, and many of them answered the purposes
very well. Instead of bolting cloths, sifters were in general use.
These were made of deer skins in the state of parchment, stretched
over a hoop and perforated with a hot wire.
Our clothing was all of domestic manufacture. We had no
other resources for clothing, and this indeed was a poor one. The
crops of flax often failed, and the sheep were destroyed by the wolves.
Linsey, which is made of flax and wool, the former the chain, and
the latter the filling, was the warmest and most substantial cloth we

276 MECHANIC ARTS.
could make. Almost every house contained a loom and almost every
woman was a weaver.
Every family tanned their own leather. The tan vat was a
large trough sunk to the upper end in the ground. A quanity of
bark wis easily obtained every spring in clearing and fencing
land. This, after drying, was brought in, and in wet days was
shaved and pounded on a block of wood with an axe or mallet.
Ashes was used in place of lime for taking off the hair. Bear's oil,
hog's lard and tallow, answered the place of fish oil. The leather,
to be sure, was coarse ; but it was substantially good. The opera
tion of currying was performed by a drawing knife with its edge
turned after the manner of a currying knife. The blacking for the
leather was made of soot and hog's lard.
Almost every family contained its own tailors and shoemak
ers. Those who could not make shoes could make shoe-packs.
These, like moccasons, were made of a single piece of leather, with
the exception of a tongue piece on the top of the foot, which was
about two inches broad and circular at lower end, and to which the
main piece of leather was sewed with a gathering stitch. The seam
behind was like that of a moccason, and a sole was sometimes added.
The women did the tailor work. They could all cut out and make
hunting shirts, leggins and drawers.
The state of society which existed in our country at an early
period of its settlement, was well calculated- to call into action
every native mechanical genius. There was in almost every
neighborhood, some one whose natural ingenuity enabled him to
do many things for himself and neighbors, far above what could
have been reasonably expected. With the very few tools which
they brought with them into the country, they certainly performed
wonders. Their plows, harrows with their wooden teeth, and
sleds, were in many instances well made. Their cooper-ware,
which comprehended everything for holding milk and water,
was generally pretty well executed. The cedar-ware, by having
alternately a white and red stave, was then thought beauti
ful. Many of their puncheon floors were very neat, their
joints close, and the top even and smooth. Their looms, although
heavy, did very well. Those who could not exercise the me
chanic arts were under the necessity of giving labor or barter to
their neighbors in exchange for the use of them, so far as their ne
cessities required.
An old man in my father's neighborhood had the art of turning
bowls, from the knots of trees, particularly those of the ash. In
what way he did it I do not know, or whether there was much mys
tery in his art. Be that as it may, the old man's skill was in great
request, as well-turned wooden bowls were among our first-rate
articles of household furniture.
My brothers and myself once undertook to procure a fine suit of
these bowls made of the best wood, the ash. We gathered all we

MECHANIC ARTS. 277
could find on our father's land, and took them to the artist, who
was to give, as the saying was, one-half for the other. He put the
knots in a branch before the door, when a freshet came and swept
them all away, not one of them being ever found. This was a
dreadful misfortune. Our anticipation of an elegant display of new
bowls was utterly blasted in a moment, as the poor old man was not
able to repair our loss nor any part of it.
My father possessed a mechanical genius of the highest order,
and necessity, which is the mother of invention, occasioned the full
exercise of his talents. His farming utensils were the best in the
neighborhood. After making his loom he often used it as a weaver.
All the shoes belonging to the family were made by himself. He
always spun his own shoe-thread, saying that no woman could
spin shoe-thread as well as he could. His cooper-ware was made by
himself. I have seeu him make a small, neat kind of wooden-ware,
called set work, in which the staves were all attached to the bottom
of the vessel, by means of a groove cut in them by a strong clasp-
knife and small chisel, before a single hoop was put on. He was
sufficiently the carpenter to build the best kind of houses then in
use, that is to say, first a cabin, and afterwards the hewed log-
house, with a shingled roof. In the latter years he became sickly,
and not being able to labor, he amused himself with tolerably good
imitations of cabinet work.
Not possessing sufficient health for service on the scouts and
campaigns, his duty was that of repairing the rifles of his neighbors
when they needed it. In this business he manifested a high degree
of ingenuity. A small depression on the surface of a stump or log,
and a wooden mallet, were his instruments for straightening the
gun barrel when crooked. Without the aid of a bow-string he could
discover the smallest bend in a barrel, and with a bit of steel he
could make a saw for deepening the furrows when requisite. A few
shots determined whether the gun might be trusted.
Although he never had been more than six week at school, he
was nevertheless a first-rate penman and a good arithmetician. His
penmanship was of great service to his neighbors in writing letters,
bonds, deeds of conveyance, &c.
Young as I was, I was possessed of an art which was of great
use, viz ; that of weaving shot pouch straps, belts and garters. I
could make my loom and weave my belt in less than one day. Having
a piece of board about four feet long, an inch auger, spike gimlet,
and a drawing knife, I needed no other tools or materials for making
my loom. It frequently happened that my weaving proved serviceable to
the family, as I often sold a belt for a day's work, or making an
hundred rails ; so that although a boy, I could exchange my labor
for that of a full grown person for an equal length of time.

278 MEDICINE.

CHAPTER XXVI.
MEDICINE.
This among a rude and illiterate people consisted mostly of speci
fics. As far as I can recollect them, they shall be enumerated, to
gether with the diseases for which they were used.
The diseases of children were mostly ascribed to worms ; for the
expulsion of which a solution of common salt was given, and the
dose ways always large. I well remember having been compelled
to take half a table spoonful when quite small. To the best of my
recollection it generally answered the purpose.
Scrapings of pewter spoons was another remedy for the worms.
This dose was also large, amounting, I should think, from twenty
to forty grains. It was commonly given in sugar.
Sulphate of iron, or green copperas, was a third remedy for the
worms. The dose of this was also larger than we should venture to
give at this time.
For burns, a poultice of Indian meal was a common remedy.
A poultice of scraped potatoes was also a favorite remedy withsome
people. Roasted turnips, made into a poultice, was used by
others. Slippery elm bark was often used in the same way. I
do not recollect that any internal remedy or bleeding was ever used
for burns. The croup, or what was then called the "bold hives," was a
common disease among the children, many of them died of it. For
the cure of this, the juice of roasted onions or garlic was given in
large doses. Wall ink was also a favorite remedy with many of the
old ladies. For fever, sweating was the general remedy. This
was generally performed by means of a strong decoction of Virginia
snake root. The dose was always very large. If a purge was used,
it was about a half a pint of a strong decoction of walnut bark.
This, when intended for a purge, was peeled downwards ; if for a
vomit, it was peeled upwards. Indian physics, or bowman root, a
species of ipecacuanha, was frequently used for a vomit, and some
times the pocoon or blood root.
For the bite of a rattle or copper-snake, a great variety of speci
fics v/ere used. I remember when a small boy to have seen a man,
bitten by a rattle-snake, brought into the Fort on a man's back.
One of the company dragged the snake after him by a forked stick
fastened to its head. The body of the snake was cut into pieces of

MEDICINE. 279
about two inches in length, split open in succession, and laid on the
wound to draw out the poison, as they expressed it. When this
was over, a fire was kindled in the Fort and the whole of the serpent
burnt to ashes, by way of revenge for the injury he had done.
After this process was over, a large quantity of chestnut leaves was
collected and boiled in a pot. The whole of the wounded man's leg
and part of his thigh were placed in a piece of chestnut bark, fresh
from the tree, and the decoction was poured on the leg so as to run
down into the pot again. After continuing this process for some
time, a quantity of the boiled leaves were bound to the leg.
This was repeated several times a day. The man got well ; but
whether owing to the treatment bestowed on his wound, is not so
certain. A number of native plants were used for the cure of snake
bites. Among them the white planton held a high rank. This
was boiled in milk, and the decoction given the patient in large
quantities. A kind of fern, which, from its resemblance to the
leaves of the walnut, was called walnut fern, was another remedy.
A plant with fibrous roots, resembling the Seneca snake root, of a
black color, and a strong but not disagreeable smell, was considered
and relied on as the Indian specific for the cure of the sting of a
snake. A decoction of this root was also used for the cure of colds.
Another plant, which very much resembles the one above mentioned,
but which is violently poisonous, was sometimes mistaken for it and
used in its place. I knew two young women, who, in consequence of
being bitten by rattle-snakes, used the poisonous plant instead of
the other, and nearly lost their lives by the mistake. The roots
were applied to the legs in the form of a poultice. The violent
burning and swelling occasioned by the inflammation discovered the
mistake in time to prevent them from taking any of the docoction,
which, had they done, would have been instantly fatal. It was
with difficulty that the part to which the poultice was applied
was saved from mortificatiou, so that the remedy was worse than
the disease. Cupping, sucking the wound, and making deep incisions which
were filled with salt and gun-powder, were also among the reme
dies for snake bites.
It does not appear to me that any of the internal remedies,
used by the Indians and the first settlers of this country, were well
adapted for the cure of the disease occasioned by the bite of a .snake
The poison of a snake, like that of a bee or a wasp, must consist of
a highly concenerated and very poisonous acid, which instantly
inflames the parts to which it is applied. That any substance what
ever can act as a specific for the decomposition of this poison, seems
altogether doubtful. The cure of the fever occasioned by this ani
mal poison, must be effected with reference to those general indica
tions which are regarded in the cure of other fevers with equal
force. The internal remedies alluded to, so far as I am acquainted

28o MEDICINE.
with them, are possessed of little or no medical efficacy. They are
not emetics, cathartics, or sudorifics. What then ? They are
harmless substances, which do wonders in all those cases in which
there is nothing to be done.
The truth is, the bite of the rattle or copper-snake, in a fleshy
or tendinous part, where the blood-vessels are neither numerous
or large, soon healed under any kind of treatment. But when
the fangs of the serpent, whicu are hollow, and eject the poison
through an orifice near the points, penetrate a blood-vessel of any
considerable size, a malignant and incurable fever was generally
the immediate consequence, and the patient often expired in the first
paroxysm. The same observations apply to the effects of the bite of ser-
j ents when infiicted on beasts. Horses were frequently killed by
them, as they were commonly bitten somewhere about the nose,
in which the blood-vessels are numerous and large. I once saw
a horse die of the bite of a rattle-snake ; the blood for some time
before he expired exuded in great quantities through the pores of
the skin. Cattle were less frequently killed, because their noses are of a
grizly texture, and less furnished with blood-vessels than those of a
horse. Dogs were sometimes bitten, and being naturally physicians,
they commonly scratched a hole in some damp place, and held the
wounded part in the ground till the inflammation alDated. Hogs,
when in tolerable order, were never hurt by them, owing to the
thick substratum of fat between the skin, muscular flesh, and blood
vessels. The hog generally took immediate revenge for the injury
done him, by instantly tearing to pieces and devouring the serpent
which inflicted it.
The itch, which was a very common disease in early times,
was commonly cured by an ointment made of brimstone and hog's
lard. Gun-shot and other wounds were treated with slippery-elm bark,
flaxseed, and other such poultices. Many lost their lives from
wounds which would now be considered trifling and easily cured.
The use of the lancet, and other means of depletion, in the treat
ment of wounds, constituted no part of their cure in this country, in
early times.
My mother died in early life of a wound from the tread of a
horse, which any person in the habit of letting blood might have
cured by two or three bleedings, without any other remedy. The
wound was poulticed with spikenard root, and soon terminated in an
extensive mortification.
Most of the men of the early settlers of the country were af
fected with the rheumatism. For relief from this disease the hun
ters generally slept with their feet to the fire. From this practice
they certainly derived much advantage. The oil of rattle-snakes,

MEDICINE. 281
geese, wolves, bears, raccoons, ground-hogs, and pole-cats, was ap
plied to the swelled joints, and bathed in before the fire.
The pleuri.sy was the only disease which was supposed to re
quire blood letting ? but in many cases a bleeder was not in the
section. Coughs and pulmonary consumption, were treated with a
great variety of syrups, the principal ingredients of which were
spikenard and elecampane. The syrups certainly gave but little
relief. Charms and incantations were in use for the cure of many dis
eases. I learned, when young, the incantation, in German, for the
cure of burns, stopping blood, tooth-ache, and the charm against
bullets in battle ; but for the want of faith in their efficacy, I never
used any of them.
The erysipelas, or St. Anthony's fire, was circumscribed by the
blood of a black cat. Hence there was scarcely a black cat to be
seen, whose ears and tail had not been frequently cropped off for a
contribution of blood.
Whether the medical profession is productive of most good or
harm, may still be a matter of dispute with some philosophers, who
never saw any condition of society in which there were no physi
cians, and therefore could not be furnished with a proper test for
deciding the question. Had an unbeliever in the healing art been
among the early inhabitants of this country, he would have been in
a proper situation to witness the consequences of the want of the ex
ercises of the art. For many years in succession there was no per
son who bore even the name of a doctor within a considerable dis
tance of the residence of my father.
For the honor of the medical profession I must give it as my
opinion, that many of our people perished for want of medical skill
and attention. The pleurisy was the only disease which was, in any consid
erable degree, understood by our people. A pain in the side .
called for the use of the lancet, if there was any to be had ; but
owing to its sparing use,tthe patient was apt to be left with a
spitting of blood, which sometimes ended in consumption. A
great number of children died with the croup. Remittent and
intermittent fevers were treated with warm drinks for the pur
pose of sweating, and the patients were denied the use of cold
water and fresh air ; consequently many of them died. Of those
who escaped, not a few died afterwards of the dropsy or consump
tion, or were left with paralytic limbs. Deaths in childbed were
not unfrequent. Many, no doubt, died of the bite of the serpent, in
consequence of an improper reliance on specifics possessed of no
medical virtue.
My father died of an hepatic complaint, at the age of about
forty-six. He had labored under it for thirteen years. The fever
36

282

MEDICINE.

which accompanied it was called the "dumb ague," and the swel
ling in the region of the liver, "the ague cake." The abscess
burst, and discharged a large quantity of matter, which put a period
to his life in about thirty hours after the discharge.
Thus I, for one may say, that in all human probability I lost
both my parents for want of medical aid.

#

SPORTS. 283

CHAPTER XXVH.

SPORTS.

These were such as might be expected among a people, who,
owing to their circumstances as well as education, set a higher value
on physical than on mental endowments, and on skill in hunting and
bravery in war, than on any polite accomplishments of fine arts.
Amusements are, in many instances, either imitations of the
business of life, or at least of some of its particular objects of pur
suits. On the part of young men belonging to nations in a state of
warfare, many amusements are regarded as preparations for the
military character which they are expected to sustain in future life.
Thus the war-dance of savages is a pantomime of their stratagems
and horrid deeds of cruelty in war, and the exhibition prepares the
minds of their young men for a participation in the bloody trage
dies which they represent. Dancing, among civilized people, is
regarded, not only as an amusement suited to the youthful period
of human life, but as a means of inducing urbanity of manners
and a good personal deportment in public. Horse racing is re
garded by the statesman as a preparation, in various ways, for
the equestrian department of warfare ; it is said that the English
government never possessed a good cavalry, until by the en
couragement given to public races, their breed of horses was im
proved. Games, in which there is a mixture of chance and skill,
are said to improve the understanding in mathematical and other
calculations. Many of the sports of the early settlers of this country were
imitative of the exercises and stratagems of hunting and war. Boys
are taught the use of the bow and arrow at an early age ; but al
though they acquired considerable adroitness in the use of them, so
as to kill a bird or squirrel sometimes, yet it appears that in the
hands of the white people, the bow and arrow could never be de
pended upon for warfare or hunting, unless made and managed in a
different manner from any specimens of them which I ever saw.
In ancient times, the bow and arrow must have been deadly in
struments in the hands of the barbarians of our country ; but I much
doubt whether any of the present tribe of Indians could make much
use of the flint arrow heads, which must have been so generally
used by their forefathers.
Firearms, wherever they can be obtained, soon put an end to

284 SPORTS.
the use of the bow and arrow ; but independently of this circum
stance, military, as well as other arts, sometimes grew out of date
and vanish from the world. Many centuries have elapsed since the
world has witnessed the destructiye accuracy of the Benjaminites
in their use of the sling and stone ; nor does it appear to me
that a dimination, in the size and strength of the aboriginals of
this country, has occasioned a decrease of accuracy and effect in
their use of the bow and arrow. From all the ancient skeletons
which have come under my notice, it does not appear that this sec
tion of the globe was ever inhabited by a larger race of human
beings than that which possessed it at the time of its discovery by
the Europeans. One important pastime of our boys was that of imitating the
noise of every bird and beast in the woods. This faculty was not
merely, a pastime, but a very necessary part of education, on account
of its utility in certain circumstances. The imitations of the gob
bling- and other sounds of wild turkeys, often brought those keen-
eyed and ever watchful tenants of the forest within reach of the
rifle. The bleating of the fawn brought its dam to her death in the
same way. The hunter 6ften collected a company of mopish owls to
the trees about his camp ; and while he amused himself with their
hoarse screaming, his howl would raise and obtain responses from a
pack of wolves, so as to inform him of their neighborhood, as well as
guard him against their depredations.
This imitative faculty was sometimes requisite as a measure of
precaution in war. The Indians, when scattered about in a neigh
borhood, often collected together, by imitating the turkeys by day,
and wolves or owls by night. In similar situations our people did
the same. I have often witnessed the consternation of a whole
neighborhood in consequence of a few screeches of owls. An early
and correct use of this imitative faculty was considered as an indica
tion that its possessor would become in due time a good hunter and
a valiant warrior.
Throwing the tomahawk was another boyish sport, in which
many acquired considerable skill. The tomahawk, with its handle
of a certain length, will inake a given number or turns in a given dis
tance- Say at five steps, it will strike witH the edge, the handle
downwards ; at the distance of seven and-a-half steps, it will strike
with the. edge, the handle upwards ; and so on. - A little experience
enabled the boy to measure the distance with :his eye, when walking
• through the woods, and strike a tree with his tomahawk in any way
he choose. The athletic sports of running, jumping and wrestling, were the
pastime of boys, in common with the men.
A well-grown boy, at the age of twelve or thirteen years, was
furnished with a small rifle and shot pouch. He then became a
Fort soldier, and had his port-hole assigned him. Hunting squirrels,
turkeys and raccoons soon made him expert in the use of his gun.

SPORTS. 285
Dancing was the principal amusement of our young people of
both sexes. Their dances, to be sure, were of the simplest forms —
three and four handed reels and jigs. Coutra-dances, cotillons and
minuets, were unknown. I remember to have seen, once or twice,
a dance which v/as called "The Irish Trot ;" but I have long since
forgotten the figure.
Shooting at marks was a common diversion among the men,
when their stock of ammunition would allow it, which, however,
was far from being always the case. The present mode of shooting
off-hand was not then in practice ; it was not considered as any trial
of the value of the gun, nor indeed as much a test of the skill of a
marksman. Their shooting was from a rest, and at as great a dis
tance as the length and weight of a barrel of the gun would throw a
ball on a horizontal level. Such was their regard to accuracy, in
those sportive trials of their rifles, and of their own skill in the use
of them, that they often put moss, or some other soft substance on a
log or stump from which they shot, for fear of having the bullet
thrown from the mark, by the spring of the barrel. When the rifle
was held to the side of a tree for a rest, it was pressed against it as
lightly as possible for the same reason.
Rifles of former times were different from those of modern
date ; few of them carried more than forty-five bullets to the pound,
and bullets of a less size were not thought sufficiently heavy for
hunting or war.
Dramatic narrations, chiefly concerning Jack and the Giant,
furnished our young people with another source of amusement dur
ing their leisure hours. Many of those tales were lengthy, and em
braced a considerable range of incident. Jack, always the hero of
the story, after encountering many difficulties, and performing many
great achievements, came off conqueror of the Giant. Most of those
stories were tales of knight-errantry, in which some captive virgin
was released from captivity and restored to her lover.
These dramatic narrations concerning Jack and the Giant bore
a strong resemblance to the poems of Ossian, the story of the Cy
clops and Ulysses in the Odyssey, of Homer, and the tale of the Giant
and Great-heart in the Pilgrim's Progress, and were so arranged as
to the different incidents of the narration, that they were easily com
mitted to memory. They certainly have been handed down from
generation to generation from time immemorial. Civilization has
indeed banished the use of these ancient tales of romantic heroism ;
but what then ? It has substituted in their place the novel and
romance. It is thus that in every state of society the imagination of man
is eternally at war with reason and truth. That fiction should be ac
ceptable to an unenlightened people is not to be wondered at, as the
treasures ot truth has never been unfolded to their mind ; but that
a civilized people themselves should, in so many instances, like
barbarians, prefer the fairy regions of fiction to the august treasures

286

SPORTS.

of truth, developed in the sciences of theology, history , natural and
moral philosopy, is truly a sarcasm on human nature. It is as much
as to say, that it is essential to our amusement, that, for the time
being, we must suspend the exercise of reason, and submit to a vol
untary deception.
Singing was another but not very common amusement among
our first settlers. The tunes were rude enough, to be sure. Robin
Hood furnished a number ©f our songs ; the balance were mostly
tragical, and were denominated "love songs about murder." As
to cards, dice, backgammon, and other games of chance, we knew
nothing about them. These are among the blessed gifts of
civilization.

WITCHCRAFT. 287

CHAPTER XXVm.
WITCHCRAFT.
I shall not be lengthy on this subject. The belief in Witch
craft was prevalent among the early settlers of the western country.
To the witch was ascribed the tremendous power of inflicting strange
and incurable diseases, particularly on children, of destroying cattle
by shooting them with hair balls, and a great variety of other means
of destruction, of inflicting spells and curses on guns and other
things, and lastly, of changing men into horses, and often bridling
and saddling them, riding them in full speed over hill and dale to
their frolics and other places of rendezvous. More ample powers of
mischief than these cannot be imagined.
Wizards were men supposed to be possessed of the same mis
chievous powers as the witches ; but it was seldom exercised forbad
purposes. The power of the wizards was exercised almost exclu
sively for the purpose of counteracting the malevolent influence of
the witches of the other sex. I have known several of these witch-
masters, as they were called, who made a public profession of
curing these diseases inflicted by the influence of witches ; and I
have known respectable physicians, who had no greater portion of
business in their line of their professions, than many of those witch-
masters had in theirs.
The means by which the witch was supposed to inflict diseases,
curses and spehs, I never could learn. They were occult sciences,
which no one was supposed to understand excepting the witch her
self, and no wonder, as no such arts ever existed in any country.
The diseases of children, supposed to be inflicted by withcraft,
were those of the internal dropsy of the brain, and the rickts. The
symptoms and cure of these destructive diseases were utterly un
known in former times in this country. Diseases which neither
could be accounted for nor cured, were usually ascribed to some
supernatural agency of a malignant kind.
For the cure of diseases inflicted by witchcraft, the picture of
the supposed witch was drawn on a stump or piece of board, and
shot at with a bullet containing a little bit of silver. This bullet
transferred a painful and sometimes a mortal spell on that part of
the witch corresponding with the part of the portrait struck by the
bullet. Another method of cure was that of getting some of the

288 WITCHCRAFT.
child's water, which was closely corked up in a vial and hung np in
a chimney. This complimented the witch with a stranguary, which
lasted as long as the vial remained in the chimney. The witch had
but one way of relieving herself from any spell inflicted on her in
any way, which was that of borrowing something, no matter what,
of the family to which the subject of the exercise of her witchcraft
belonged. I have known several poor old women much surprised at being
refused requests which Had usually been granted without hesi
tation, and almost heart broken when informed of the cause of the
refusal. When cattle or dogs were supposed to be under the influ
ence of witchcraft, they were burned in the forehead by a branding-
iron, or when dead, burned wholly to aishes. This inflicted a spell
upon the witch which could only be removed by borrowing, as above
stated. Witches were often said to milk the cows of their neighbors.
This they did by fixing a new pin in a new towel for each cow in
tended to be milked. This towel was hung over her own door, and
by means of certain incantations, the milk was extracted from the
fringes of the towel after the manner of milking a cow. This hap
pened v/hen cows were too poor to give much milk.
The first German glass-blower in this country drove the witches
out of their furnaces by throwing living puppies into them.
The greater or less amount of belief in witchcraft, necromancy
and astrology, serves to show the relative amount of philosophical
science in our country. Ignorance is always associated with super
stition, which, when presented an endless variety of sources of
hope and fear, with regard to the good and bad fortunes of life, keep
the benighted mind continually harrassed with groundless and delu
siveness, but strong and often deeply distressing impressions of a
false faith. P^or the disease of the mind there is no cure but that of
philosophy. This science shows to the enlightened reason of man,
that no effect whatever can be produced in the physical world with
out a corresponding cause. This science announces that the death
bell is but a momentary morbid motion of the nerves of the ear, and
the death watch, the noise of a bug in the waU, and that the howl
ing of the dog, and the croaking of the raven, are but the natural
languages of the beast and fowl, and in no way prophetic of the
death of the sick. The comet, which used to shake pestilence and
war from its fiery train, is now viewed with as little emotion as the
movements of Jupiter and Saturn in their respective orbits.
An eclipse of the sun, and an unusual freshet at the Tiber,
shortly after the assassination of Julius Caesar by Cassius and Brut
us, threw the whole of the Roman empire into consternation. It
was supposed that all the gods of heaven and earth were enraged,
and about to take revenge for the murder of the emperor ; but
since the science of astronomy foretells in the calendar the time and

WITCHCRAFT. 289
extent of the eclipse, the phenomenon, is not viewed as a miraculous
and portentous, but as a common and natural event.
That the pythouess and wizard of the Hebrews, the monthly
soothsayers, astrologers and prognosticators of the Chaldeans, and
the sybils of the Greeks and Romans, were mercenary imposters,
there can be no doubt.
To say that the pythoness, and all others of her class, were
aided in their operations by the intervention of familiar spirits, does
not mend the matter ; for spirits, whether good or bad, possess not
the power of life and death, health and disease, with regard to man
and beast. Pre-science is an incommunicable attribute of God, and
therefore spirits cannot foretell future events.
The afflictions of Job, through the intervention of Satan, were
miraculous. The possessions mentioned in the New Testament, in
all human probabUity, were maniacal diseases, and if, at their cures,
the supposed evil spirit spoke with an audible voice, these events
were also miraculous, and effected for a special purpose. But from
miracles, no general conclusion can be drawn with regard to the di
vine government of the world.
The conclusion is, that the powers professed to be exercised by
the occulf science of necromancy and other arts of divination, were
neither more nor less than impostures.
Among the Hebrews, the profession of arts of divination was
thought deserving of capital punishment, because the profession was
of Pagan origin, and of course incompatible with the profession of
theism, and a theocratic form of government. These jugglers per
petrated a debasing superstition among the people. They were also
swindlers, who divested their neighbors of large sums of money and
valuable presents without an equivalent.
On the ground then of fraud alone, according to the genius of
the criminal codes of the ancient governments, the offense deserved
capital punishment.
But is the present time better than the past with regard to a
superstitious belief in occult influences ? Do no trace of the poly
theism of our forefathers remain among their christian descendants ?
The inquiry must be answered in the affirmative. Should an al
manac-maker venture to give out the christian calendar without the
column containing the signs of the zodiac, the calendar would be
condemned as totally deficient, and the whole impression would re
main on his hands.
But what are those signs ? They are the constellations of the
zodiac, that is, cltisters of stars, twelve in number, within and in
cluding the tropics of Cancer and Capricon. These constellations
resemble the animals after which they are named. But what influ
ence do these clusters of stars exert on the animal and the plant ?
Certainly none at all ; and yet we have been taught that the north-
em constellations govern the divisions of living bodies alternately
from the head to the reins, and in like manner the southern from
37

290 WITCHCRAFT.
the reins to the feet. The sign then makes a skip from the feet to
Aries, who again assumes the government of the head, and so on.
About half these constellations are friendly divinities, and exert
a salutary influence on the animal and the plant. The others are
malignant in their temper, and govern only for evil purposes. They
blast during their reign the seed sown in the earth, and render medi
cine and the operation of surgery unsuccessful.
We have read of the Hebrew worshippers of the hosts of heaven
whenever they relapsed into idolatary ; and these same constellations
v,?ere the hosts of heaven which they worshipped. We, it is true,
make no offering to these hosts of heaven, but we give them our
faith and confidence. We hope for physical benefits from those of
them whose dominion is friendly to our interests, while the reign of
the malignant ones is an object of dread and painful apprehension.
Let us not boast very much of our science, civilization, or even
Christianity, while this column of the relics of paganism still dis
graces the christian calendar.
I have made these observations with a view to discredit the
remnants of superstition still existing among us. While dreams,
the howling of the dog, and the croaking of the raven, are prophetic
of future events, we are not good christians. While we are dis
mayed at the signs of heaven, we are for the time being pagans.
Life' has real evils enough to contend with, without imaginary ones.

MORALS. 291

CHAPTER XXIX.

MORALS.

In the section of the country where my father lived, there was,
for many years after the settlement of the country, " neither law nor
gospel." Our want of legal government was owing to the uncer
tainty whether we belonged to the State of Virginia or Pennsyl
vania. The line which at present divides the two States, was not
run until some time after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War.
Thus it happened, that during, a long period of time we knew
nothing of courts, lawyers, magistrates, sheriffs or constables.
Every one was therefore at liberty " to do whatsoever was right in
his own eyes. ' '
As this is a state of society which few of my readers have ever
witnessed, I shall describe it as minutely as I can, and give in detail
those moral maxims which in a great degree answered the important
purposes of municipal jurisprudence.
In the first place let it be observed that in a sparse population,
where all the members of the community are well-known to each
other, and especially in a time of war, where every man capable of
bearing arms is considered highly valuable as a defender of his
country, public opinion has its full effect, and answers the purpose
of legal government better than it would in a dense population in
time of peace.
Such was the situation of our people along the frontiers of our
settlements. They had no civil, military or ecclesiastical laws, at
leased none that were enforced ; and yet, ' ' they were a law unto
themselves," as to all the leading obligations of our nature in all the
relations in which they stood to each other. The turpitude of vice
and the majesty of moral virtue was then as apparent as they are
now, and they were then regarded with thesame sentiments of aver
sion or respect which they inspire at the present time. Industry in
working or hunting, bravery in war, candor, honesty, hospitality,
and steadiness of deportment, received their full reward of public
honor and public confidence among our rude forefathers, as well as
among their better instructed and more polished descendants. The
punishments which they inflicted upon offenders by the imperial,
court of public opinion, were well adapted for the reformation of the
culprit, or his expulsion from the community.
The punishment for idleness, lying, dishonesty, and ill-fame

392 MORALS.
generally, was that of " hating the offender out," as they expressed
it. This mode of chastisement was like the aiimea of the Greeks.
It was public expression, in various ways, of a general sentiment of
indignation against such as transgressed the moral maxims of
the commuity or banishment of the person against whom it was
directed. At house-raising, log-rollings, and harvest-parties, every one
was expected to do his duty faithfully. A person who did not per
form his share of labor on these occasions, was designated by the
epithet of " Lawrence," or some other title still more opprobrious ;
and when it came to his turn to require the like aid from his
neighbors, the idler felt his punishment in their refusal to attend
to his calls.
Although there was no legal compulsion to the performance of
military duty ; yet every man of full age and size was expected to
do his full share of public service. If he did not do so, he was
"hated out as a coward." Even the vvant of any article of war
equipments, such as ammunition, a sharp flint, a priming wire, a
scalping knife, or tomahawk, was thought highly disgraceful. A
man, who, without a reasonable excuse failed to go on a scout or
campaign when it came to his turn, met with a expression of indig
nation in the countenance of all his neighbors, and epithets of dis
honor were fastened upon him without mercy.
Debts, which make such an uproar in civilized life were but
little known among our forefathers at an early settlement of this
country. After the depreciation of the continental paper, they had
no money 6f any kind ; everything purchased was paid for in pro
duce or labor. A good cowand calf was often the price of a bashel
of alum salt. If a contract was not faithfully fulfilled, the credit of
the delinquent was at once ended.
Any petty theft was punished with all the infamy that could be
heaped on the offender.,, A man on a campaign stole from his com
rade a cake out of the ashes in which it was baking. He was im
mediately named " the Bread rounds. " This epithet of reproach
was bandied about in this way. When he came in sight of a group
of men, one of them would call, "Who comes there?" Another
would answer, ' ' The Bread rounds. ' ' If any one meant to be more
serious about the matter, he would call out, " Who stole a cake out
of the ashes ?' ' Another replied by giving the name of the man in
full. To this a third would give confirmation by exclaiming,
"That is true and no lie." This kind of " tongue lashing" he was
doomed to hear for the rest of the campaign, as well as for years
after his return home.
If a thief was detected in any of the frontier settlements, a
summary mode of punishment was always resorted to. The first
settlers, so far as I knew of them, had a kind of innate or heredi
tary detestation of the crime of theft, in any shape or degree, and
their maxim was that "a thief must be whipped." If the theft was

MORALS. 293
something of value, a kind of jury of the neighborhood, after hear
ing the testimony, would condemn the culprit to Moses's law, that
is, to forty stripes save one. If the theft was of small articles, the
effender was doomed to carry on his back the flag of the United
States, which then consisted of thirteen stripes. In either case,
some hands were selected to execute the sentence, so that the stripes
were sure to be well laid on.
This punishment was followed by a sentence of exile. He
then was informed that he must decamp in so many days and be
seen there no more on penalty of having the number of his stripes
doubled. For many years after the law was put into operation in the
western part of Virginia, the magistrates themselves were in the
habit of giving those who were brought before them on charges of
small thefts, the liberty of being sent to jail or taking a whipping.
The latter was commonly chosen, and was immediately inflicted,
after which the thief was ordered to clear out.
In some instances stripes were inflicted ; not for the punishment
of an offense, but for the purpose of extorting a confession from sus
pected persons. This was the torture of our early times, and no
doubt sometimes very unjustly inflicted.
If a woman was given to tattling and slandering her neighbors,
she was furnished by common consent with a kind of patent right
to say whatever she pleased, without being believed. Her tongue
was then said to be harmless, or to be no scandal.
With all their rudeness, these people were given to hospitality,
and freely divided their rough fare with a neighbor or a stranger,
and would have been offended at the offer of pay. In their settle
ments and forts, they lived, they worked, they fought and feasted,
or suffered together, in cordial harmony. They were warm and
constant in their friendships. On the other hand they werfe re
vengeful in their resentments ; and the point of honor sometimes
led to personal combats. If one man called another a liar, he was
considered as having given a challenge which the person who received
it must accept, or be deemed a coward, and the charge was gener
ally answered on the spot with a blow. If the injured person was
decidedly unable to fight the aggressor, he might get a friend to do
it for him. The same thing took place on a charge of cowardice, or
any other dishonorable action. A battle must follow, and the per
son who made the charge must either fight the person against whom
he made it, or any champion who choose to espouse his cause. Thus
circumstanced, our people in early times were much more cautious
of speaking evil of their neighbors than they are at present.
Sometimes pitched battles occurred, in which time, place, and
seconds were appointed beforehand. I remember having seen one
of these pitched battles in my father's Fort, when a boy. One of
the young men knew very well beforehand that he should get the
worst of the battle, and no doubt repented the engagement to fight ;

294 MORALS.
but there was no getting over it. The point of honor demanded the
risk of battle. He got his whipping ; they then shook hands, and
were good friend afterwards.
This mode of single combat in those days was dangerous in the
extreme. Although no weapons were used, fists, teeth and feet
were employed at will ; but above all, the detestable practice of
gouging, by which eyes were sometimes put out, rendered the mode
of fighting frightful indeed. It was not, however, so destructive as
the stiletto of the Italian, the knife of the Spaniard, the small sword
of the Frenchman, or the pistol of the American or English duelist.
Instances of seduction and bastardy do uot frequently happen
in our early times. I remember one instance of the former, in which
tlie life of the man was put in jeopardy by the resentment of the
family to which the girl belonged. Indeed, considering the chival
rous temper of our people, this crime could not then take place without
great personal danger from the brothers or other relations of the
victim seduced, family honor being then estimated at a high rate.
I do not recollect that profane language was much more preval
ent in our early times than at present.
Among the people with whom I am conversant, there was no
other vestige of the christian religion than a faint observance of
Sunday, and that merely a day of rest for the aged and play-day for
the young. The first christian service I ever heard was in the Garrison
church, in Baltimore county, in Maryland, where my father had sent
me to school. I was then about ten years old. The appearance of
the church, the windows of which were Gothic, the white surplice
of the minister, and the responses in the service, overwhelmed me
with surprise. Among my school-fellows in that place, it was a
matter of reproach to me that I was not baptized, and why? Be
cause, as they said, I had no name. Such was their notion of the
efficacy of baptism.

THE REVOLUTION. 295

CHAFTBR XXX.

THE REVOLUTION.

The American Revolution was the commencement of a new era
in the history of the world. The issue of that eventful contest
snatched the sceptre from the hands of the monarch, and placed it
where it ought to be, in the hands of the people.
On the sacred altar of liberty it consecrated the rights of man,
surrendered to him the right and power to govern himself, and
placed in his hands the resources of his country, as munitions of war
for his defense. The experiment was indeed bold and hazardous
but success has hitherto more than justified the most sanguine an
ticipations of those who made it. The world has witnessed, with
astonishment, the rapid growth and confirmation of our noble
fabric of freedom. From our distant horizon, we have reflected a
strong and steady blaze of light on ill-fated Europe, from time im»
memoral involved in the fetters and gloom of slavery. Our history
has excited a general and ardent spirit of inquiry into the nature of
our civil institutions, and a strong wish on the part of the people in
distant countries, to paticipate in our blessings.
But will an example, so portentuous of evil to the chiefs of des
potic institutions, be viewed with indifference by those who now
sway the scepter with unlimited power, over the many millions of
their vassals ? Will they adopt no measures of defense against the
influence of that freedom, so widely diffused and so rapidly gaining
strength throughout their empires ? Will they make no effort to
remove from the world those free governments, whose example
gives them such annoyance? The measures of defence will be
adopted, the effort will be made ; for power is never surrendered
without a struggle.
Already nations, which, from the earliest period of their his
tory, have constantly crimsoned the earth with each other's blood,
have become a band of brothers for the destruction of every germ of
human liberty. Every year witnesses an association of the mon
arch of those nations, in unhallowed conclave, for the purpose of
concerting measures for effecting their dark designs. Hitherto
the execution of those measures has been alas ? to fatally successful.
It would be impolitic and unwise in us to calculate on escaping
the hostile notice of the despots of continental Europe. Already
we hear, like distant thunder, their expressions of indignation and

296 THE REVOLUTION.
threats of vengeance. We ought to anticipate the gathering storm
without disriiay, but not with indifference. In viewing the dark
side of the prospect before us, one source of consolation, of much
magnitude, presents itself. It is confidently expected, that the
brave and potent nation, with whom we have common origin, will
not risk the loss of that portion of liberty, which at the expense of
so much blood and treasure, they have secured for themselves, by an
unnatural association with despots, for the unholy purpose of mak
ing war on the few nations of the earth, which possess any consid
erable portion of that invaluable blessing ; on the contrary it is
hoped by us that they will, if necessity should require, employ the
bravery of their people, their immense resources, and the trident of
the ocean, in defense of their own liberties, and by consequence
those of others.
Legislators, fathers of our country ! lose no time, spare no ex
pense in hastening on the requisite means of defense, for meeting
with safety and with victory the impending storm, which sooner or
later must fall upon us.

CIVILIZATION. 297

CHAPTER XXXI.
CIVILIZATION.
The causes which led to the present state of civilization in the
western country, are subjects which deserve some consideration.
The state of society and manners of the early settlers, as pre
sented in these notes, shows very clearly that their grade of civiliza
tion was indeed low enough. The descendents of the English caval
iers from Maryland and Virginia, who settled mostly along the rivers,
and the descendents of the Irish, who settled in the interior parts of
the country, were neither remarkable for science or urbanity of
manners. The former were mostly illiterate, rough in their man
ners, and addicted to the rude diversions of horse racing, wrestling,
shooting, dancing, &c. Their diversions were often accompanied
with personal combats, which consisted of blows, kicking, biting,
and gouging. This mode of fighting was what they called
rough and tumble. Sometimes a previous stipulation was made
to use the fists only. Yet these people were industrious, enter
prising, generous in their hospitality, and brave in the defense of
their country.
These people, for the most part, formed the cordon along
the Ohio River, on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ken
tucky, which defended the country against the attacks of the In
dians during the Revolutionary War. They were the janizaries of
the country, that is, they were soldiers when they choose to be so,
and when they choose laid down their arms. Their military service
was voluntary, and of course received no pay.
With the descendant of the Irish I had but little acquaintance,
although I lived near them. At an early period they were com
prehended in the Presbyterian church, and were more reserved in
their deportment than their frontier neighbors, and from their
situation being less exposed to the Indian warfare, took less part in
that war.
The patriot of the western region finds his love of country and
national pride augmented to the highest grade, when he compares
the political, moral, and religious character of his people, with
that of the inhabitants of many large divisions of the old world. In
Asiia and Africa, generation after generation passes without any
change in the moral and religious character or physical condition of
the people. 38

298 CIVILIZATION.
On the Barbary coast, the traveler, if a river lies in his way and
happens to be too high, must either swim it or wait till it subsides.
If the traveler is a christian, he must have a firman and a guard.
Yet this was once the country of the famous Carthagenians.
In Upper Egypt, the people grind meal for their dhourra bread,
by rubbing it between two flat stones. This is done by women.
In Palestine, the grinding of grain is still performed by an
ill-constructed hand-mill, as in the days of our Saviour. The roads
to the famous City of Jerusalem are still almost in the rude state
of nature. In Asiatic Turkey, merchandise is still carried on by caravans,
which are attended with a military guard ; and the naked walls of the
caravansera is their fortress and place of repose at nights, instead of
a place of entertainment. The streets of Constantinople, instead of
being paved, are in many places almost impassable from mud, filth,
and the carcasses of dead beasts. Yet this is the metropolis of a
great empire.
Throughout the whole of the extensive regions of Asia and
Africa, man, from his cradle to his grave, sees no change in the
aspect of anything around him, unless from the desolations of war.
His dress, his ordinary salutations with his neighbor, his diet and
mode of eating it, are prescribed by his religious institutions ; and
his rank in society, as well as his occupation, are determined by his
birth. Steady and unvarying as the lapse of time in every depart
ment of life, generation after generation beats the dull monotonous
round. The Hindoo would sooner die a martyr at the stake, than sit
on a chair or eat with a knife or fork.
The descendant of Ishmael is still "a wild man." Hungry,
thirsty and half naked, beneath a burning sun, he traverses the im
mense and inhospitable desert of Zahara, apparently without any ob
ject, because his forefathers did before him. Throughout life he
subsists on camel's milk and flesh, while his only covering from the
inclemency of the weather is a flimsy tent of camel's hair. His
.single, solitary virtue, is that of hospitality to strangers ; in every
respect he is a thief and robber.
The Chinese still retain their alphabet of thirty-six thousand
heiroglyphics. They must never exchange it for one of twenty let
ters, which would answer an infinitely better purpose.
Had we pursued the course of the greater number of the na
tions of the earth, we should have been this day treading in the foot
steps of our forefathers, from whose example in any respect we shoiild
have thought it criminal to depart in the slighest degree.
Instead pf a blind or superstitious imitation of the manners and
customs of our forefathers, we have thought and acted for our
selves, and we have changed ourselves and everything around us.
The linsey and coarse linen of the first settlers of the country,
have been exchanged for the substantial and fine fabrics of Europe
and Asia, the hunting-shirt for the fashionable coat of broad-cloth

CIVILIZATION. 299
and the moccason for boots and shoes of fanned leather. The
dresses of the ladies are equal in beauty, fineness and fashion,
to those of the cities and countries of Europe and of the Atlantic
America. It is not enough that persevering industry has enabled us to
purchase the "purple and fine linen" from foreigners, and to u.se
their porcelain and glassware, whether plain, engraved or gilt ; we
have nobly dared to fabricate those elegant, comfortable, and valu
able productions of art for ourselves.
A well-founded prospect of large gains from useful arts 'and
honest labor have drawn to our country a large number of the best
artisans of other countries. Their mechanic arts, immensely im
proved by the American genius, have hitherto realized the hopeful
prospect which induced their emigration to our infant country.
The horse paths, along which our forefathers made their labori
ous journeys over the mountains for salt and iron, were soon suc
ceeded by wagon roads, and these again by substantial turnpikes,
which, as if by magic enchantment, have brought the distant region,
not many years ago denominated "the backwoods," into a close
and lucrative connection with our great Atlantic cities. The jour
ney over the mountains, formerly considered so long, so expensive,
and even perilous, is now made in a very few days, and with accom
modations not displeasing to the epicure himself. Those giants of
North America, the different mountains composing the great chain
of the Alleghany, formerly so frightful in their aspect, and present
ing so many difficulties in their passage, are now scarcely noticed by
the traveler, in his journey along the graduated highways by which
they are crossed.
The rude sports of former times have been discontinued. Ath
letic trials of muscular strength and activity, in which there cer
tainly is not much of merit, have given away to the more noble
ambition for mental endowments and skill in useful arts. To the
rude and often indecent songs, but roughly and unskillfuUy sung,
have succeeded the psalm and hymn, and swelling anthem. To the
clamorous boast, the provoking banter, the biting sarcasm, thehorid
oath and imprecation, have succeeded urbanity and manners, and a
coarse conversation enlightened by science and chastened by mental
attention and respect.
Above all, the direful spirit of revenge, the exercise of
which so much approximated the character of many of the first
settlers of our country to that of the worst of savages, is now un
known. The Indian might pass in safety among those, whose
remembrance still bleeds at the recollection of the loss of their rela
tives, who have perished under the tomahawk and scalping knife of
the savages. The Moravian brethren may dwell in safety on the sites of the
villages desolated, and over the bones of their brethren and fore
fathers murdered, by the more than the savage ferocity of the

300 CIVILIZATION.
whites. Nor let it be supposed that the return of peace produced
this salutary change of feeling toward the tawney sons of the forest.
The thirst for revenge was not wholly allayed by the balm of peace ;
several Indians fell victims to the private vengeance of those who
had recently lost their relations in the war, for some years after it
had ceased If the state of society and manners, from the commencement of
the settlements in this country, during the lapse of many years,
owing to the sanguinary character of the Indian mode of warfare
and other circumstances, was in a state of retrogression, as was
evidently the case, if ignorance is more easily induced than science,
if society more speedily deteriorates than improves, if it be much
easier for the civilized man to become wild, than for the wild man
to become civilized ; I ask, what means have arrested the progress
of the early inhabitants of the western region towards the barbar
ism ? What agents have directed their influence in favor of science,
morals and piety ?
The early introduction of commerce was among the first means
of changing, in some degree, the existing aspect of the population
of the country, and giving a new current to public feeling, and in
dividual pursuit.
The huntsman and warrior, when he had exchanged his hun
ter's dress for that of a civilized man, soon lost sight of his former
occupation, and assumed a new character and new line of life, like
the soldier, who, when he receives his discharge and lays aside his
regimentals, soon looses the feeling of a soldier, and even forgets in
some degree his manual exercise.
Had not commerce furnished the means of changing the dresses
of our people and the furniture of their houses, had the hunting
shirt, moccasons and leggins, continued to be the dress of men, had
the three-legged stool, the noggin, the trencher and wooden bowl,
continued to be the furniture of the houses, our progress towards
science and civilization would have been much more slower.
It may seem strange that so much importance is attached to
the influence of dress in giving the moral and intellectual character
of society. In all the institutions of despotic gevernments we discover evi
dent traces of the highest grade of human sagacity and foresight.
It must have been the object of the founders of those governments
to repress to genius of man, divest the mind of every sentiment of
ambition, and prevent the cognizance of any rule of life, excepting
that of a blind obedience to the despot and his established institutions
of religion and government ; hence the canonical law of religion, in
all governments despotic in principle, have prescribed the costume of
each class of society, their diet and the manner of eating it ; and
even their household furniture is in like manner prescribed by la^v-
In all these departments, no deviation from the law and custom is
permitted or even though* of. The whole science of human nature.

CIVILIZATION. 301
under such governments, is that of a knowledge of the duties of the
station of life prescribed by parentage, and the whole duty of man
that of a rigid performance of them ; while reason, having nothing
to do with either the one or the other, is never cultivated.
Even among christians, those founders of religious societies have
succeeded best who have prescribed a professional costume for their
followers, because every time the disciple looks at his dress he is put
in mind of his obligations to the society to which he belongs, and he
is therefore the less liable to wander into strange pastures.
The English government could never subdue the esprit du cour
of the north of Scotland, until, after the rebeUion of '45, the prohi
bition of wearing the tartan plaid, the kilt and the bonnet among
the Highlanders, broke down the spirit to the clans.
I have seen several of the Moravian Indians, and wandered that
they were permitted to wear the Indian dress. Their conduct, when
among the white people, soon convinced me that the conversion of
those whom I saw was far from being complete.
There can be but little doubt but that, if permission should be
given by the supreme power of the Mussulman faith, for a change,
at the will of each individual, in dress, household furniture, and in
eating and drinking, the whole Mohammedan system would be over
thrown in a few years. With a similar permission, the Hindoo
superstition would share the same fate.
We have some districts of country where the costume, cabins,
and in some measure the household furniture of their ancestors,
are still in use. The people of these districts are far behind their
neighbors in every valuable endowment of human nature. Among
them the virtues of chastity, temperance and industry, bear
no great value, and schools and places of worship are but little
regarded. In general, every one "does what is right in his own
eyes." In short, why have we so soon forgotten our forefathers, and
everything belonging to our former state ! The reason is, every
thing belonging to our former state has vanished from our view,
and we meet with nothing in remembrance of them. The recent
date of the settlement of our country is no longer a subject of re
flection. Its immense improvements present to the imagination
the results of the labors of several centuries, instead of the work of
a few years ; and we do not often take the trouble to correct the
false impressions.
The introduction of the mechanic arts has certainly contributed
not a little to the morals and scientific improvement of the country.
The carpenter, the joiner and mason, have displaced the rude,
unsightly and uncomfortable cabins of our forefathers, by comforta
ble, and in many instances elegant mansions of stone, brick, hewen
and sawed timbers.
The ultimate objects of civilization are the moral and physical

302 CIVILIZATION.
happiness of man. To the latter, the commodious mansion house,
with its furniture, contributes essentially. The family mansion of
the nations of the earth furnish the criteria of the different grades
of their moral and mental condition. The savages universally live
in tents, wigwams, or lodges covered with earth. Barbarians, next
to these, may indeed have habitations something better, but of no
value and indifferently furnished. Such are the inhabitant of the
Russian Tartar and Turkish peasantry.
Such is the effect of a large, elegant, and well furnished house,
on the feelings and deportment of the famUy, that if you were to
build one for a family of savages, by the occupancy of it they would
loose their savage character ; or if they did not choose to make the
exchange of that character for that of civilization, they would for
sake it for the wigwam and the woods.
This was done by many of the early stock of backwoodsmen,
even after they built comfortable houses for themselves. They np
longer had the chance of "a fall hunt;" the woods pasture was
eaten up ; they wanted "elbow room." They therefore sold out,
and fled to the forest of the frontier settlements, choosing rather to
encounter the toil of turning the wilderness into fruitful fields a
second time, and even risk an Indian war, than endure the incon
veniences of a crowded settlement. Kentucky first offered a
resting place for those pioneers, then Indiana, and now the. Missouri ;
and it cannot be long before the Pacific ocean will put a final stop to
the westward march of those lovers of the wilderness.
Substantial buildings have the effect of giving value to the soil
and creating an attachment for the family residence. Those who
have been accustomed to poetry, ancient or modern, need not be
told how finely and how impressively the household gods, the blaz
ing hearth, the plentiful board, and the social fireside figure in
poetical imagery. And this is not "tying up nonsense for a song."
They are realities of life in its most polished state ; they are
among its best and most rational enjoyments ; they associate the
little family and community in parential and filial affection and
duty, in which even the well clothed child feels its importance, claims
and duties. The amount of attachment to the family mansion furnishes the
criterion of the relative amount of virtue in the members of a
family. If the head of the family should wander from the path of
paternal duty, and become addicted to vicious habits, in proportion
as his virtue suffers a declension, his love of his home and family
abates, until, any place, however base and corrupting it may be, is
more agreeable to him than the once duke domum. If a similar de
clension in virtue happens on the part of the maternal chief of the
family mansion, the first effect of her deviation from the part of
maternal virtue is, that "her feet abideth not in her own house."
The same observations apply to children. When the young man or
woman, instead of manifesting a strong attachment to the family

CIVILIZATION. 303
mansion, is "given to outgoing," to places of licentious resort, their
moral ruin may be said to be at no great distance.
Architecture is of no use even in the important province of re
ligion. Those who build no houses for themselves, build no tem
ples for the service of God, and of course derive the less benefit from
the institutions of religion. While our people lived in cabins, their
places of worship were tents, as they were called, their seats logs,
their communion tables rough slabs and hewen timber, and the cov
ering of the worshippers the leaves of the forest trees.
Churches have succeeded to tents with their rude accommoda
tions for public worship. The very aspect of these sacred edifices
fills the mind of the beholder with a religious awe, and as the most
believing and sincere, it serves to increase the ferver of devotion.
Patriotism is augmented by the sight of the majestic forum of jus
tice, the substantial public highway, and the bridge with its long
succession of ponderous arches.
Rome and Greece would no doubt have fallen much sooner, had
it not been for the patriotism inspired by the magnificent public edi
fices. But for these, their histories would have been less complete
and lasting than they have been.
Emigration has brought to the western regions the wealth,
science and arts of our eastern brethern, and even of Europe.
These we hope have suffered no deterioration in the western coun
try. They have contributed much to the change which has been
effected in the moral and scientic character of our country.
The ministry of the gospel has contributed no doubt immensely
to the happy change which has been effected in the state of our west
ern society. At an early period of our settlement three Presbyter
ian clergymen commenced their clerical labors in our infant settle
ments, the Rev. JosepH Smith, the Rev. John McMillan and the
Rev. Mr. Bowers, the two latter of whom are still living. They
were pious, patient, laborious men, who collected their people into
regular congregations, and did all for them which their circumstances
ViTould allow. It was no disparagement to them that their first
churches were the shady grove, and their first pulpits a kind of tent,
constructed of a few rough slabs, and covered with clapboards.
' ' He who dwelleth not exclusively in temples made with hands, ' '
was propitious to their devotions.
From the outset they prudently resolved to create a ministry in
the country, and accordingly established little grammar schools at
their own houses or in the immediate neighborhoods. The course
of education which they gave their pupils, were indeed not exten
sive ; but the piety of those who entered into the ministry more than
made up the deficiency. They formed societies most of which are
now large and respectable, and in point of education their ministry
has much improved.
About the year 1792, an Academy was established at Canons-
burg, in Washington county, in the western part of Pennsylvania,

304 CIVILIZATION.
which was afterwards incorporated under the name of Jefferson
College. The means possessed by the society for the undertaking were in
deed but small ; but they not only erected a tolerable edifice for the
Academy, but created a fund for the education of such pious young
men as were desirous of entering into the ministry, but were unable
to defray the expenses of their education. This institution has been
remarkably successful in its operations. It has produced a large
number of good scholars in all the literary professions, and added
immensely to the science of the country.
Next to this, Washington College, situated in the county town
of the county of that name, has been the means of diffusing much of
the light of science through the western country.
Too much praise cannot be bestowed on those good men who
opened tnese fruitful sources of instruction for our infant country,
at so early a period of the settlement. They have immensely im
proved the departments of theology, law, medicine and legislation
in the western regions.
At a later period the Methodist society began their labors in the
western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Their progress at first
was slow, but their zeal and perseverance at length overcame every
obstacle, so that they are now one of the most numerous and re-
.spectable societies in the country. The itinerant plan of the minis
try is well calculated to convey the gospel throughout a thinly scat
tered population. Accordingly their ministry has kept pace with
the extension of settlements. The little cabin was scarcely built,
and the little field fenced in, before these evangelical teachers made
their appearance among them, collected them into societies, and
taught them the worship of God.
Had it not been for the labors of these indefatigable men, our
country, as to a great extent of its settlements, would have been at
this day a semi-barbaric region. Hpw many thousands and tens of
thousands of the most ignorant and licentious of our population have
they instructed and reclaimed from the error of their ways !
They have restored to society even the most worthless, and made
them valuable and respectable as citizens, and useful in all the rela
tions of life. Their numerous and zealous ministry bids fair to carry
on the good work to any extent which our settlements and popula
tion may require.
With the Catholics I have but little acquaintance, but have
every reason to believe, that in proportion to the extent of their
flocks, they have done well. In this country they have received the
episcopal visitations of their bishops. In Kentucky they have a
cathedral, a college and a bishop. In Indiana they have a monas
tery of the order of St. Trap, which is also a college, and a bishop.
Their clergy, with apostolic zeal, but in an unostentatious man
ner, have sought out and ministered to their scattered flocks through
out the country, and as far as I know with good success.

CIVILIZATION. 305
The societies of Friends in the western country are numerous,
and their establishments in good order. Although they are not
much in favor of a classical education, they are nevertheless in the
habit of gi'ving their people a substantial English education. Their
habits of industry, attention to useful arts and improvements are
highly honorable to themselves are worthy of imitation.
The Baptists in the state of Kentucky took the lead in the minis
try, and with great success. Their establishments are, as I have
been informed, at present numerous and respectable in that state.
A great and salutory revolution has taken place in this com
munity of people. Their- ministry was formerly quite illiterate ;
but they have turned their attention to science, and have already
erected some very respectable literary establishments in different
parts of America.
The German Reformed and Lutheran churches in our country,
as far as I know of them, are doing weU. The number of the Luth
eran congregations is said to be at least one hundred ; that of the
Reformed, it is presumed, is about the same amount.
It is remarkable, that throughout the whole extent of the Unit
ed States, the Germans, in proportion to their wealth, have the best
churches, organs and graveyards. It is a fortunate circumstance
that those of our citizens who labor under the disadvantage of speak
ing a foreign language, are blessed with a ministry so evangelical
as that of these very numerous and respectable communities.
The Episcopalian church, which ought to have been foremost in
gathering their scattered flocks, have been the last, and done the
least of any christian community in the evangelical work. Taking
the western country in its whole extent, at least one-half its popu
lation was originally of Episcopalian percentage ; but for want of a
ministry of their own they have associated with other communities.
They had no alternative but that of changing their profession or
living or dying without the ordinances of religion. It can be no
subject of regret that those ordinonces were placed within their
reach by other hands, whilst they were withheld by those, by whom,
as a matter of right and duty, they ought to have been given. One
single chorea episcopus, or suffragan bishop, of a faithful spirit, who,
twenty years ago, should have ' ' ordained them elders in every
place" where they were needed, would have been the instrument of
forming Episcopal congregations over a great extent of country, and
which by this time would have become large, numerous and respecta
ble ; but the opportunity was neglected, and the consequent loss to
this church is irreparable.
So total a neglect of the spiritual interests of so many valuable
people, for so great a length of time, by a ministry so near at hand,
is a singular and unprecedented fact in ecclesiastical history, the like
of which never occurred before.
It seems to me, that if the twentieth part of their number of
christian people, of any other community, had been placed in Si-
39

3o6 CIVILIZATION.
beria, and dependent upon any other ecclesiastical authority in this
country, that that authority would have reached them many years
ago with the ministration of the gospel. With the earliest and most
numerous Episcopacy in America, not one of the eastern bishops has
yet crossed the Alleghany Mountains although the dioceses of two
of them comprehended large tracts of country on the western side
of the mountains. It is hoped that the future diligence of this
community will make up, iu some degree, for the negligence of
the past. There is still an immense void in this country which it is their
duty to fill up. From their respectability, on the ground of antiqui
ty among the reformed churches, the .science of their patriarchs,
who have been the lights of the world, from their number of great
resources, even in America, .«he ought to hasten to fulfill the just
expectations of her own people, as well as those of other communi
ties", in contributing her full share to science, piety and civilization
of our country.
From the whole of the ecclesiastical history, it appears, that,
with the exception of the Episcopal church, all our religious com
munities have done well for their country.
The author begs that it may be understood, that with the
distinguished tenets of our religious societies he has nothing to
do, nor yet with the excellencies nor defects of the ecclesiastical
institutions. They are noticed on uo other ground thau that of
their respective contributions to the science and civilization of the
country. The last but not the least, of the means of our present civiliza
tion, are our excellent forms of government and the administration
of the law.
In vain, as means of general information, are schools, coUeges,
and a ministry of the gospel of the best order. A land of liberty is
a land of crime, as well as of virtue.
It is often mentioned as a matter of reproach to England, that,
in proportion to her population, they have more convictions, execu
tions, and transportations, than any other country in Europe.
Should it be asked, what is the reason of the prevalence of crime in
England? Is it, that human nature is worse there than elsewhere?
We answer, no. There is more liberty there than elsewhere in
Europe, and that is the true and only solution of the matter in ques
tion. Where a people are at liberty to learn what they choose,
to think and act as they please, and adopt any profession for a liv
ing or a fortune, they are much more liable to fall into the commis
sion of crimes, than people who from their infancy have been
accustomed to the dull monotonous march of despotism, which
chains each individual in the rank and profession of his forefathers,
and does not permit him to wander into stranger and devious paths
of hazardous experiments.
In America; should a stranger read awhile our numerous publi-

CIVILIZATION. 307
cations of a religious nature, the reports of missionary and Bible
societies, at first blush he would look upon the Americans as a na
tion of saints ; let him lay these aside, and read the daily news
papers, he will change his opinion, and for the time being consider
them as a nation abounding in crimes of the most atrocious dye.
Both portraits are true.
The greater the amount of freedom, the greater the necessity of
a steady and faithful administration of justice, but more especially
of criminal justice ; because a general diffusion of science, while it
produces the most salutary effects, on a general scale, produces also
the worst of crimes, by creating the greater capacity for their com
mission. There is scarcely any art of science, which is not in some
hands and under certain circumstances made an instrument of the
most atrocious vices. The arts of navigation and gunnery, so
necessary for the wealth and defense of a nation, have often degen
erated into the crime of piracy. The beautiful art of engraving,
and the more useful art of writing, have been used by the fraudu
lent for counterfeiting all kinds of public and private documents of
credit. Were it not for the science and freedom, the impor
tant professions of theology and physic would not be so fre
quently assumed by the pseudo priest and the quack without previ
ous acquirements, without right, and for purposes wholly base and
unwarrantable. The truth is, the western country is the region of adventure.
If we have derived some advantage from the importation of science,
arts and wealth ; we have on the other hand been much annoyed
and endangered, as to our moral and political state, by an immense
importation of vice, associated with a high grade of science and the
most consummate art in the pursuit of wealth by every description
of unlawful means. The steady administration of justice has been
our only safety from destruction, by the pestilential influence of so
great an amount of moral depravity in our infant country.
Still it may be asked whether facts warrant the belief that the
scale is fairly turned in favor of science, piety and civilization,
whether iu regard to the important endowments of our nature, the
present time is' better than the past, whether we may safely consider
our political institutions as matured and settled, that our personal
liberty, property and sacred honor, are not only secured to us for
the present, but likely to remain the inheritance of our children for
generations yet to come. Society, in its best state, resembles the
sleeping volcano, as the amount of the moral evil which it always
contains. It js enough for public safety, and all that can reasona
bly be expected, that the good predominate over the evil. The
moral and political means, which have been so successfully em
ployed for preventing a revolutionary explosion, have, as we
trust, procrastinated the danger of such an event for a long time to
come. If we have criminals, they are speedily pursued and brought
to justice.

3o8

CIVILIZATION.

The places of our country, which still remain in their native
state of wilderness, do not, as in many countries, afford notorious
lodgments for thieves. Our hills are not, as in the wilderness of
Judea, " hills of robbers." The ministry of the holy gospel is en
lightening the minds of our people with the best of all sciences, that
of God himself, his divine government and man's future state.
Let it not be thought hard that our forums of justice are so
numerous, the style of their architecture so imposing, and the busi
ness which occupies them so multifarious ; they are the price which
freedom pays for its protection. Commerce, circulating through its
million channels, will create an endless variety of litigating claims.
Crimes of the deepest dye, spring from science and liberty them
selves, require constantly the vigilance and coercion of criminal jus
tice. Even the poorest of our people are solicitious.for the educa
tion of their children. Thus the great supports of our moral and
political state, resting on their finest bases, public opinion and at
tachment to our government and laws, promise stability for generaT
tions yet to come.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX.

The author of the History of the Valley Had intended to post
pone the subject of the following pages, and give the subject matter
thereof in a second edition ; but at the request of a highly respecta
ble subscriber, and on consulting the printer, it is found that this
addition to his work will not greatly increase the expense of the
present volume. It is therefore deemed expedient to gratify public
curiosity by giving the following sketches. If any one should be
found incredulous enough to doubt the correctness of this statement,
he can only say to such individuals, that they can have occular
proof of the truth of each by taking the trouble to examine for
themselves.

CHAPTER I.

FACE OF THE COUNTRY.

That portion of the Valley lying between the Blue Ridge and
Little North Mountain, is generally about an average of twenty-five
miles wide, commencing on the Cohongoruton (Potomac) and run
ning from thence a southerly course to the commencement of the
northern termination of Powell's Fort Mountain, a distance of about
forty-five miles.
This region, it has already been stated in a preceding chapter,
when the country was first known to the white people, was one
entire and beautiful prairie, with the exception of narrow fringes of
timber immediately bordering on the water courses. The Opequon,
(pronounced Opeckon) heads at the eastern base of the Little North
Mountain, and thence passing through a fine tract of limestone
country, seven or eight miles, enters into a region of slate. This
tract of slate country commences at the northern termination of
Powell's Fort Mountains, and is six or eight miles in width east and
west, and continues to the Potomac, a distance or about forty-five
miles. The Opequon continues its serpentine course through the

APPENDIX. 313
slate region, and empties into the Potomac about fifteen or sixteen
miles above Harpers-Ferry. It is thought by some individuals that
this water course is susceptible of navigation for small craft, twenty-
five mUes from its mouth. This slate region of country is compara
tively poor unproductive land ; yet in the hands of industrious skill
ful farmers, many very valuable and beautiful farms are to be seen
in it. About twenty years ago a scientific Frenchman suggested to
the author the opinion ' ' that this region of slate country was, at some
reinote period of the world, covered with a mountain, an abrasion of
which had taken place by some great convulsion of nature. This he
inferred from an examination of the base of the Fort Mountain, the
stratum of the slate at the foot of which being precisely similar
to that of the slate at the edges of the region of this slate
country." THe author will not venture an opinion of his own on
this subject, but has given that of an individual who it was said
at the time was a man of considerable philosophical and scientific
acquirements. East of this slate country commences another region of fine
limestone land, averaging ten or twelve miles in width, aud for its
extent certainly unsurpassed in point of natural beauty, fertility and
value, by any section of country in Virginia.
Powell's Fort presents to the eye much grandeur and sublimity.
Tradition informs us that an Englisman by the name of Powell, at
the early settlement of our country, discovered silver ore in the
West Fort Mountain, and commenced the business of money coin
age ; and when any attempt was made to arrest him, he would es
cape into the mountain and conceal himself. From this circum
stance it acquired the name of Powell's Fort. The late Capt. Isaac
Bowman, about thirty years ago, pointed out to the author the site of
Powell's shop, where it was said he wrought his metal, the ruins of
which were to be seen. Capt. Bowman also informed the author
that several crucibles and other instruments, which he Had frequent
ly seen, had been found about the ruins of this shop, so that there
is no doubt of the truth of the tradition that this man Powell was
in the practice of melting down some sort of metal, if he did not ac
tually counterfeit money.
The grandeur and sublimity of this extraordinary work of na
ture consist in its tremendous height and singular formation. On
entering the mouth of the Fort, we are struck with the awful height
of the mountains on each side, probably not less than a thousand feet.
Through a very narrow passage, a bold and beautiful stream of water
rushes, called Passage Creek, which a short distance below works
several fine merchant mills. After traveling two or three miles, the
valley gradually widens, and for upwards of twenty miles furnishes
arable land, and affords settlements for eighty or ninety familes,
several of whom own very valuable farms. The two mountains run
parallel about twenty-four or twenty-five miles, and are called the
East and West Fort Mountains, and are merged into one, anciently
40

314 APPENDIX.
called the Masinetto, now Massanutten mountain. The Massanut
ten continues its course about thirty-five or thirty-six miles souther
ly, and abruptly terminates nearly opposite Keiseltown, in the Coun
ty of Rockingham. This range of mountain divides the two great
branches of the Shenandoah River, called the South and North
Forks. This mountain, upon the whole, presents to the eye some
thing of the shai e of the letter Y, or perhaps more the shape of the
houns and tongue of a wagon.
The turnpike road from New Market, crossing Massanutten and
Blue Ridge in the County of Culpeper, is held as private property.
The dwelling-house where the toll is received stands on the summit
of Massanutten, from which each of the valleys of the North and
South Rivers present to the delightful vision of the traveler a most
enchanting view of the country for a vast distance. The little thrif
ty village of New Market, with a great number of farms and their
various improvements are seen in full relief. On the east side of the
mountain, on the River and Hawksbill Creek, are to be seen anum
ber of fine farms, many of them studded with handsome brick build
ings. Upon the whole, the traveler is amply rewarded, by the grati
fying sight, for his labor and fatigue in ascending the mountain,
which is said to be two miles from its base to its summit. There is a
considerable depression where the road crosses at this place, called
Massanutten Gap.
From the East Fort Mountain, at a point nearly opposite Wood
stock, the South River present to the eye precisely the appearance of
three distinct streams of water crossing the valley from the western
base of the Blue Ridge to the foot of the Fort Mountain. At the
northern end of the West Fort Mountain, from an eminence, Win
chester can be distinctly seen, at a distance of not less than sixteen
miles, air measure, and a great portion of the County of Frederick
can be overlooked from this elevated point. There is also an elevat
ed point about five miles south of Front Royal, on the road leading
from thence to Luray, from which there is a most ravishing
view of the eastern section of the County of Frederick, and
the tops of the mountains bordering on the north side of the
Cohongoruton. After leaving this eminence, and proceeding southerly towards
Luray, from the undulating form of the country between the South
River and Blue Ridge, for a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles, it
appears constantly to the traveler as if he were nearly approaching
the foot of a considerable mountain, and yet there is none to cross
his way The South River, for seventy or eighty miles on each side,
affords large propertions of fine alluvial lands, in many parts of it
first-rate high lands, which are generally finely improved, and owned
by many wealthy and highly respectable proprietors. The new
County of Page, for its extent, contains as much intrinsic
wealth as any county west of the Blue Ridge, with the exception of
Jefferson.

APPENDIX. 315
The valley of the North River, from the West Fort Mountain
to the eastem base of the Little North Mountain, is generally fine
limestone land, undulating and finely watered. It is also highly
improved, with a density of population perhaps unequalled by any
section of Virginia ; and it is believed there is more cash in
the hands of its citizens than in any part of the state for the same
extent. It is hardly Uecessary to state that the three counties of Jeffer
son, Berkeley and Frederick, contain a greater proportion of fertile
lands than any other section of the state ; but unfortunately, it may
with truth be affirmed that it is a badly watered country. There are
many neighborhoods in which nothing like a spring of water is to
be seen. It is however true, there are many fine large limestone
springs, remarkable for the great quantity of water which is dis
charged from them. But nature appears to have distributed her
favor in this respect unequally.
The counties of Morgan, Hampshire and Hardy, are remarka
ble for their mountains and fine freestone water. From the moun
tainous character of this section, it is but sparsely inhabited in many
parts of it. The South and North Branches of the Cohongoruton
(Potomac) afforded considerable quantities of as fine a fertile land
as any part of the U. S. Patterson's Creek also furnishes a consid
erable body of fine land. Capon River, Lost River and Back Creek,
furnished much fine land, and are all thickly populated.
The western part of Frederick, Berkely and Shenandoah, in
clude considerable portions of mountainous country. The Little
North Mountain commences near the Cohongoruton, having Back
Creek Valley on the west, which extends about thirty-five miles into
the interior, to the head waters of the Creek. This mountain runs
a southerly course, parallel with the Great North Mountain, pass
ing through the three counties just mentioned. This tract of moun
tain land is comparatively poor and unproductive. It is, how
ever, pretty thickly populated, by a hardy race of people. In our
mountains generally, wherever spots of arable land are to be found,
(which are chiefly in the glens), there scattered settlers are to be
found also.
East of the Shenandoah River, the Blue Ridge is thickly popu
lated, and many fine productive farms are to be seen. The vast
quanity of loose stone thickly scattered over the surface of the moun
tain, one would be ready to believe, would deter individuals from
attempting its cultivation ; but it is a common saying among those
people, that if they can only obtain as much earth as will cover their
seed grain, they are always sure of good crops.
The public road crosses the Blue Ridge, from the South River
Valley into the county of Madison. From the western base of the
mountain to the summit, it is said to be five miles. On the top of
the mountain, at this place, there is a large body of level land, cov
ered almost exclusively with large chestnut timber, having the ap-

3i6 APPENDIX.
pearance of an extensive swamp, and producing great quantities of
the skunk cabbage. But little of it has been reclaimed and brought
into cultivation. It produces fine crops of grass, rye, oats, pota
toes and turnips ; but it is said to be entirely too moist for the pro
duction of wheat, and too cool for the growth of Indian corn. The
people in its neighborhood say that there is not a week throughout
the spring, summer and autumn, without plentiful falls of rain, and
abundant snows in the winter. In the time of long droughts on each
side of the mountain, the elevated tract of country is abundantly
supplied with rains. It is also said, that from this great height
nearly the whole County of Madison can be seen, presenting to the
eye a most fascinating and delightful -view.
On the summit of the West Fork Mountain, about fifteen miles
south of Woodstock, there is also a small tract of land, remarkable
for its depth of fine rich soil, but inaccessible to the approach of
man with implements of Husbandry. The tract produces immense
quantities of the finest chestnut, though from the great difficulty of
ascending the mountain, but little benefit is derived from it to the
neighboring people.
In our western mountains small bodies of limestone land are to
be met with, one of the most remarkable of which is what is Called
the "Sugar HUls," pretty high up the Cedar Creek Valley. The
tract is said to contain four or five hundred acres, and lies at the
eastern base of Paddy's Mountain. It derives its name from two
causes ; flrst, when discovered it was covered chiefly with tne sugar
maple ; and secondly, several of its knobs resemble in shape the
sugar loaf. Its soil is peculiarly adapted to the production of wheat
of the finest quality, of which, let the seasons be as they may, the
land never fails to produce great crops, which generally commands
seven or eight cents per bushel more than any other wheat grown in
its neighborhood. The Hessian fly has not yet been known to in
jure the crops while growing.
Paddy's Mountain is a branch of the great North Mountain,
and is about eighteen or twenty miles long. It takes it name from
an Irishman, whose name was Patrick Black, who first settled at
what is now called Paddy's Gap in the mountain. This fact was
communicated to the author by Moses Russell, Esq.

APPENDIX. 317

CHAPTER II.
NATURAL CURIOSITES.
It would require perhaps several volumes to give a minute dis-
cription of all the natural and interesting curiosities of our country.
The inquisitive individual can scarcely travel more than a mile or two
in any direction among our mountains, but some sublime and grand
work of nature presents itself to the eye, which excites his wonder
and admiration. The author must content himself with a brief
description of comparatively a few of the most remarkable. He will
commence his narrative with Harpers-Ferry. The wonderful work
of nature has been so accurately described by Mr. Jefferson, that it
is deemed unnecessary to give a detailed description of it. Suffice it
to say, that no stranger can look at the passage of the waters of the
Potomac and Shenandoah, rushing through the yawning gap of the
mountain, v/ithout feeling awe at the grandeur and sublimity of the
scene, and ready to prostrate himself in adoration before the omnipo
tent God whose almighty arm hath made all things according to his
own wisdom and power.
It is much to be regretted that Capt. Henry, during the admin
istration of the elder Adams in 1799, when what was called the
provisional army was raising, and a part of which was stationed at
Harpers-Ferry, greatly injured one of the most interesting curiosi
ties of the place. A rock of extraordinary shape and of considerable
size stands on the brink of a high hill, on the south side of the
tongue or point of land immediately on the fork of the river. The
apex of this rock was a broad flat table, supported on a pivot, on
which Mr. Jefferson, during his visit to this place, inscribed his
name, from which it took the name of Jefferson's rock.
The years 1798 and 1799 were a period of extraordinary political
excitement. The two great political parties, federal and democratic,
of our country, were at this period completely organized, and an in
teresting struggle for which party should have the ascendancy was
carried on. This same Capt. Henry, whether actuated by the same
motive which impelled the Macadonian youth to murder Philip his
king, or whether he hoped to acquire popularity with his party, (he
called himself a federalist) , or whether from motives purely hostile
towards Mr. Jefferson and all the Democratic party, placed himself
at the of a band of soldiers, and with the aid of his myrmidons,
hurled off the apex of this rock, thus wantonly, and to say the least.

3i8 APPENDIX.
unwisely destroyed the greatest beauty of this extraordinary work
of nature. By this illiberal and unwise act, Capt. Henry has "con
demned his name to everlasting fame. ' '
CAVES IN THE COUNTY OF JEFFERSON.
About seven or eight miles above Harpers- Ferry, on the west
side of the Shenandoah, nearly opposite the Shannondale Springs,
from a quarter to a half mile from the river, a limestone cave has been
discovered, which contains several beautiful incrustations of stalac-
tities formed from the flltration of the water.
Near Mecklenburg, (Shepherdstown), another cave has been
found, out of which considerable quantities of hydraulic limestone is
taken, and when calcined or reduced to lime, is found to make a
cement, little of any inferior to plaster of paris. Out of this cave a
concreted limestone was taken, which the author saw in the posses
sion of Dr. Boteler, of Sheperdstown, which at first view presents to
the eye, in shape, a striking resemblance to that of a fish of consid
erable size. A smaller one was found at the same time, which has a
strong resemblance to a mink. Several intelligent individuals were
inclined to believe they were genuine putrifactions.
CAVES IN THE COUNTY OF FREDERICK.
In the County of Frederick are to be seen five or six of these
caves. Zane's cave, now on the lands owned by the heirs of the
late Maj. James Bean, is one described by the late Mr. Jefferson, in
his "Notes on Virginia." This cave the author partially explored
about eighteen months ago, but found it too fatiguing to pursue his
examination to any extent. The natural beauty of this place has of
late years been greatly injured from the smoke of the numerous pine
torches used to light it. All the incrustations and spare are greatly
darkened, giving the cave a sombre and dull appearance. The au
thor was informed, on his visit to that place, that Major Bean,
shortly before his death, cut out several of the spars, reduced them
to lime, sprinkled it over some of his growing crops, and found that it
produced all the effects of gypsum.
On the lands, late the residence of Capt. Edward McGuire, de
ceased, is another cave of some considerable extent ; but its incrus
tations and .spars are of a muddy yellowish color, and not considered
a very interesting curiosity.
Adjoining the lands of Mr. James Way, the former residence
of the late Col. C. M. Thurston, an extensive cave of very singular
and curious formation was discovered many years ago. On explor
ing it with the aid of a pocket compass, the needle was found run
ning to every part of it.
On the east side of the Shenandoah River, some two or three
miles below Berry's Ferry, at the base of the Blue Ridge, a cave of

APPENDIX. 319
considerable extent has been discovered, containing several curiosi
ties. About two miles below this cave on the same side of the river,
is to be seen what was anciently called Redman's fishery. At the
base of the rock a large subterraneous stream of water is discharged
into the river. At the approach of winter myriads of fish make
their way into the subterraneous stream, and take up their winter
quarters. In the spring they returned in the river. By placing a
fish-basket in the mouth of the cavern, great quanties of fine fresh
water fish are taken, both in the autumn and spring of the year.
The author recollects being at this place upwards of fifty years ago,
just after Mr. Redman had taken up his fish-basket, and can safely
affirm, that he drew out of the water from tw'o to three bushels of
fish at a single haul.
On Crooked Run, near Bethel meeting-house, on the lands now
owned by Mr. Stephen Grubb, is a limestone cave, which the author
has more thau once been in. It does not exceed one hundred yards
in length, and is remarkable only for its production of saltpetre, and
preserving fresh meats in hot weather.
The Panther Cave, on the north bank of Cedar Creek, owned by
Major Isaac Hite, about a half or three-fourths of a mile west of the
great highway from Winchester to Staunton, is a remarkable curi
osity. Nature here has formed a most beautiful and solid upright
wall of a gray limestone rock, of about one hundred yards in length,
near the west end of which is to be seen an elegant arch, of about
sixty feet in front, ten or twelve feet high in the center, and ex
tending twenty-five or thirty feet under the body of the wall.
There are two circular aperatures running into the body of the rock
from the arch, one about twelve inches in diameter, the other some
what smaller. Whether these openings do or do not lead into large
apartments or caverns in the body of the rock, is not and probably
never will be known. Tradition relates that at the early settlement
of the county this place was known to be the haunt and habitation
of the panther, from which it derives its name.
We have two natural wells in this county ; one at what is called
the Dry Marsh, a drain of the Opequon, about two miles east of the
Creek, not more than a quarter of a mile north of the road leading
from Winchester to BerryviUe. This natural weU in dry seasons
furnishes several contiguous families with water. It is formed by a
natural circular opening in an apparently solid limestone rock. Its
walls are undulating, and in times of dry seasons the water sinks
some sixteen or eighteen feet below the surface, but at all times fur
nishes abundant supplies. In the winter, no matter how great the
degree of cold, small fish are frequently drawn up with the water
from the well. In times of freshets, the water rises above the sur
face, and discharges a most beautiful current for several weeks at a
time. Tradition relates that this well was discovered at the first
settlement of the neighborhood.
The other natural well is the one described by Mr. Jefferson.

320 APPENDIX.
This natural curiosity first made its appearance on the breaking up
of the hard winter of 1789-90. All the old people of our country
doubtless recollect the great falls of snow and severity of this re
markable winter. The author was born, and lived with his father's
family until he was about thirteen years of age, within one and-a-
half miles of this natural well. The land at that period was owned
by the late Fielding Lewis, of Fredericksburg, Va., but is now the
property of the heirs of the late Mr. Thomas Castleman, in the
neighborhood of Berryville. Nature had here formed a circular
sink of a depth of some fourteen or fifteen feet, and fifty or sixty
feet in diameter at the surface. In the spring of the year 1790, the
earth at the bottom of this sink suddenly gave way and fell into the
cavity below, forming a circular aperature about the ordinary cir
cumference of a common artificial well. It was soon discovered that
a subterraneous stream of water passed under the bottom. There
being no artificial or natural means to prevent the earth immediate
ly about the well from falling in, the aperature is greatly enlarged,
forming a sloping bank, by which a man on foot can easily descend
within eight or ten feet of the water. THe current of water is quite
perceptable to the eye. The whole depth of the cavity is thirty or
thirty-five feet. CAVES IN THE COUNTY OF SHENANDOAH.
Within two or three miles of Woodstock, on the lands of the late
William Payne, Esq., is an extensive cavern, which it is said has
never yet been explored to its termination. It contains many curi
ous incrustations, stalactities, &c. From the mouth of this cave a
constant current of cold air is discharged, and the cavern is used by
its owners as a place to preserve their fresh meats in the hottest sea
sons of the year.
On the east side of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River,
three or four miles south of Front Royal, there are two caves but a
short distance apart, which, like all other caves, contain beautiful
curiosities. One of them many years ago was visited and explored
by the late celebrated John Randolph, of Roanoke ; but the author
has never been able to learn whether he committed to writing his
observations upon it. One of its greatest curiosities is an excellent
representation of the hatter's kettle.
Within about three miles northwest of Mt. Jackson, Shaffer's
cave is situated. It has been explored about half a mile. It is not
very remarkable for its production of natural curiosities. Tradition
relates an amusing story in connection with it. A large human
skeleton was many years ago found in this cavern, the skull bone
of which a neighboring man had the curiosity to take to his dwelling
house. This aroused the ghost of the dead man, who, not being
pleased with the removal of his head, very soon appeared to the de
predator and harrassed him until he became glad to return the skull

APPENDIX. 321
to its former habitation. The ghost then became appeased and
ceased his visits. It is said there are many persons to his day
in the neighborhood, who most religiously believe that the ghost
did really and truly compel the offender to return his skull. The
author saw in the possession of Dr. WitheraU, of Mt. Jackson,
one of the arm bones of the skeleton, that part extending from the
shoulder to the elbow, which was remarkable for its thickness, but
was not of very uncommon length. At that time he had not been
visited by the ghost to demand his arm ; but perhaps he was not so
tenacious of it as he was of his head.
In the County of Paee, within about three miles of Luray, a
cave, but little inferior to Weyer's cave, was some years ago dis
covered, a graphic description of which was written by W. A. Harris,
Esq., and -published in the Woodstock Sentinel of the Valley, and
copied pretty^ generally throughout the Union.
.">¦>.-
"'•"¦ • ¦ .'-.-'¦'¦EBBING AND FLOWING SPRINGS.
Pretty I hi^ttpiiBedar Creek there is a beautiful spring of clear
mountain y?ater,"'iSsuirtg from the western side of Little North
Mountain, tn 'tt fgleiK,' 'Which ebbs and flows twice in every twenty-
¦fbur hours. "^Ilt rise's "at .ee« o'clock in the morning, and ebbs at four
i*' the evenirlg.'J Iti Js"ln'a',perfect state of nature, has considerable
fell immediatSy froiniJita mouth, so that it cannot conveniently be
"ri^certained ptvedsely'wriati'ie.'its greatest rise and fall. When the
'•author saw it! it 'Wis dcmty; aufi'he could not conveniently spare the
^itime t9 waibandTsee it ris»sy":But'the author's informant (Mr. J.
fc'Bonli) ¦we'fl*i«vith' him to thie spring', and assured him that he had
repeatedly seen it rise. The author is also informed that there is a
salt sulphur spring on the land, late the property of Mr. John Lee,
but a short distance from where thg' Staunton stage road crosses
Cedar Creek, which has a dairy erected over it. The respectable
;^'fi*itiov^'8f MtJi'Lee'iinformed'the author thatt<>this spring ebbs and
' 'flows efeice in ever}»:*weirtft-f6ur hours, and thaf. if care is not prop-
'••fferf;f -Itttken at 'evi^'iiiiJw('u&J current is so strong as to overset the
'¦^"ve^eis'oflmilfcplfiSfiediiin tte<'\*ater.
¦-X '!>: '[:.•_;.' :: -. -bi; xj . jUj
v.. -1: - Hiiihfjii'i r ¦;;) -^pJSLL'lNitJiRUN.
¦If .viit'j 'w-f :. ;> rtr 10'] <!; •!;u'
it> SOMe'thiVflfen'fir fotirteen tuilesi southwest of Winchester, and
'''^ithin'ab<>6t twOR'fijiileS'&f' -the ¦residence- of Moses Russell, Esq., in
^hhe Co'tJilty Off^redfertek, igiito be seen what is called the Falling
Run. Beftveen 'iiibS.t -the neighboring people call Falling Ridge
¦¦^(^ the commencement of Paddy's Mountain) and the Great North
Mountain, pretty near the summit, on the east side of the mountain,
a fine large spring rises, forming a beautiful lively stream of suffi
cient force to work a grist mill. This stream pursues its serpentine
course through a glen several hundred yards in width, of gradual
41

322 APPENDIX.
descent, between the mountain and Falling Ridge. Pursuing its
course in a northerly direction from its fountain, for about one and-
a-half mUes, it makes a pretty sudden turn to the east, and shoots
over a solid granite rock probably not less than one hundred feet
high. The first eighteen or twenty feet of the rock over which the
water passes is a little Sloping, over which the water spreads and
covers a surface of fifteen or sixteen feet, from which the fall is en
tirely perpendicular, and strikes on a mass of solid rock ; it then
forms an angle of forty-five degrees, rushing and foaming over an
undulating surface of about ninety or one hundred feet ; from thence
is a third fall of about the same length, and then pitches into a
hole of considerable depth ; from thence it escapes down a more
gradual descent, and suddenly becomes a gentle, smooth, placid cur
rent, as if it is pleased to rest from the violent agitations and tur
moils through which it had just passed. At the first base reached
by the water, a perpetual mist arises, which, viewed on a clear sun
shiny day, presents to the eye a most interesting and beautiful
sight. The whole fall is little if any less than three hundred feet.
A short distance from the south of this place, at the junction of
the Falling Ridge with the North Mountain, is to be seen what the
neighboring people call ' ' the Pinnacle. ' ' The apex of this pinacle
is a flat, broad table, supported on a pivot, and can be set in motion
by the hands of a man, and will continue to vibrate for several min
utes. There are several small caverns in this rock, and is known
to be the abode of the turkey buzzards in the winter, where they
remain in a state of torpitude. Mr. Russell informed the author
that he once took out a torpid buzzard in the winter, laid it
on the sunny side of the rock, and it very soon regained life and
motion. TROUT POND.
In the County of Hardy, about eight or nine miles south of the
late residence of James Sterrett, Esq., deceased, and a little east of
Thombottom, is situated a most beautiful minature lake, caUed the
Trout Pond. A large spring rises near the summit of the Great
North Mountain, descending on the west side into a deep glen, be
tween the mountain and a very high ridge immediately east of
Thornbottom, in which glen nature has formed a receptacle of un
known depth for this stream of water. This stream forms an area of
about one and-a-half acres, nearly an oblong square. Nature never
presented to the eye a more perfectly beautiful sheet of water. It
is as transparent as crystal, and abounds with fine trout fish.
The late CoL Taverner Beale, upwards of forty years ago, de
scribed this place to the author, and stated that he could safely
affirm that he believed he had seen ten thousand trout at a single
view in this pond. Col. Beale also informed the author that him
self and a friend of his once made a raft, and floated to the center of

APPENDIX. 323
the pond, where they let down a plumb and line, (the author does
not now recollect the length of the line, though, it was certainly
not less than forty feet,) but did not succeed in reaching the bottom.
A Mr. Gochenour, who resides near this place, informed the author
that he had heard it was fathomed many years ago, and was found
to be sixty feet deep, but did not know the certainty or truth of
this report. The water is discharged at the north-east corner of the
pond, and after descending about two miles, works a saw mill, and
thirty or forty yards from the mill falls into a sink and entirely dis
appears. This sink is in the edge of Thornbottom, a pretty narrow
-strip of limestone land, which affords between the mountains a
residence for four or five families, each of whom has a fine spring
of water, all which, after running a short distance, also disappear.
The stream of water from the pond, doubtless considerably increas
ed by the waters of Thornbottom, again appears at the northern
termination of a very high ridge called "the Devil's garden." It
bursts out in one of the largest springs the author has ever seen. It
is said that this subterranean passage of the water is fully eight
miles in length. This spring is within about one-quarter of a mile
from Mt. Sterrett's dwelling-house, and forms a beautiful stream of
water called Trout run, which is a Valuable tributary of the Capon
River. " The Devil's Garden," is truly a wonderful work of nature.
Between two lofty ridges of the Sandy Ridge and North Mountain
a strip of ground about a mile in width, commences rising gently
from the head of Trout Run, and pursued its regular ascent for three
miles, when it abrutly terminates, at its southern extremity, in a
vast pile of granite rocks, having a perpendicular height of some
four or five hundred feet. This immense pile is entirely separated
from aud independent of its neighboring mountains, having a vast
chasm on its two sides and southern termination. At its south end
it is covered with nearly level rocks, forming a floor of about an acre.
This floor is curiously marked with fissures on the surface of various
distances apart. On the eastern side stands a statue, or perhaps
it may more appropriately be called a bust, about seven feet high ;
the head, neck and shoulders bear strong resemblance to those of a
man, and from the breast downwards it gradually enlarges in size
from two and-a-half to three feet in diameter. It is without arms.
It stands on a level table of rock, is of a dark color, and presents to
the eye a frowning terrific appearance. When this singular curiosi
ty was first discovered, some superstitious people concluded it was
the image of the Devil ; and hence the name of " The Devil's Gar
den." Near his satanic majesty anciently stood a four-square stone
pillar, about two and-a-half feet in diameter, and ten or twelve feet
high. This pillar is broken off at its base, crosses a chasm,
and reclines, something in the form of an arch against the oppo
site rock. About one hundred feet below the stand of the statue, a door

324 APPENDIX.
lets into the numerous caverns in the rock, the first of which forms
a handsome room of moderate size, the floors above and below being
tolerably smooth and level. From this room there is a handsome
flight of stone steps ascending into a room of larger size, until twelve
different apartments are passed through, and then reaches the top of
the rocks. The late Mr. Sterrett, in riding with the author to view
this extraordinary work of nature, said that it was difficult for an
old man to get access to the inlet, of course I did not attempt it.
Mr. Babb, who resides into its neighborhood, informed the author
that he had frequently explored the cavern ; and the young people
of the) neighborhood, male and female, frequently, iu parties of
pleapiure, visit and pass through its various apartments.
¦}V- I.'. '
,.-¦[¦)¦ LOST RI-VER.
-r'.' ¦
Here again the,(eye is presented with another evidence of the
all-powerful arm;o;f-fGod ! This river heads in several small springs,
onia ridg0of landion Brodk's QaPt which divides the waters of the
Noiffh Fork of thP- Shenandoah from the waters of the Lost River.
This iwaterfl^ursesr .meanders through a beautiful valley of fine.allu-
via]r'land,.a distaij^^eof aboutrtweuty-five miles. On the west side,
some ten or twelve miles below its head spring, is a cavern at the
eastern base^of -^ "_Lost River Mountain," whigh has been explored
about oiw. hnndred);5?ard$, (soitie say more) from its mouth. Over
the jnlet^.a handgom^ly tussipd arch liwelve jor, fourteen feet wide,
and,six.0r seven hji^/_. Fromitthis c^veru, is. discharged, a stream of '
beautiful] fnyater, reuj^gbajsle.ifor itS;<^^?f!e of cc^dness. It is called
' ' the cold spring c^p.' f i ¦. Tf^e^jmouth ©f thiscaye effectually preserves
fresh meats .<>f^V(ery kifld from injury in the hottest, seasons. This
cave exhibits. but few curiosities. .. •¦ i .: ¦
Some ten or twelve miles further ^wn, the river comes in con
tact with Lost River Mountain, (which is of considerable magni
tude), has cut its way through the-jnountain, and about two miles
further down has to encount^f.a second mountain called Timber
Ridge, through which it h^ fprced its way, and one and-a-half or
two miles further has tQ. contend with Sandy Ridge, a mountain of
considerable height and, width. Here the water and mountain appear
to have a mighty struggle for the ascendency. In flood times, Mrs.
River, despising all obstructions, forces her way through a yawning,
frowning chasm. But at times of low water, when her ladyship is
less powerful, his giantship, the mountain, defies all her power to
remove a large mass of adamantine rocks, which obstructs her pas
sage in the gap ; but to remedy this evil, Mrs. Rivers has adroitly
and cunningly undermined the mountain, formed for herself a sub
terraneous passage, and generously supplied her sister Capon with
all the water she has to spare. It is impossible for the inquisitive
eye to view this mighty work of nature without being struck with
the idea of the great obstruction and mighty difficulty this water had

APPENDIX. 325
to contend with in forcing a passage through this huge mountain.
The author viewed this place with intense interest and curiosity.
At the western base of the mountain, the water has found various
aperatures, one of which is under the point of a rock, of seven or
eight feet wide, which appears to be the largest inlet. For the dis
tance of about a quarter of a mile from the sink, not a drop of
water is to be seen in times of drought. There are several large
springs which issue from the mountain in the gap, forming a small
stream, which always runs through it. The water of the river has
a subterraneous passage of full three miles, and is discharged in
several very large springs at the eastem base of the mountain.
These several springs from the great fountain head of Capon River.
An old man and his son, (their names not recollected), whose
dwelling is very near the sink, related a very singular occurrence
which they represented as having happened a few days before the
author's visit to this place. They stated that several dogs were in
pursuit of a deer on the mountain, that the deer ran to the brink of
a rock, at least one hundred feet high, which is very near the sink,
and the poor animal being pretty closely pursued, leaped from the
rock, and falling on a very rough, stony surface, was terribly
crushed and bruised by the fall, and instantly expired. They im
mediately ran to it and opened the large veins in the neck, but little
blood was discharged. 'They took off the skin and cut up the flesh ;
but most parts of it were so much bruised and mangled as to be un
fit for use.
Capon River exhibits several great natural curiosities. Near
its head waters is a rock called "The Alum Rock," from which
exudes native alum, and forms a beautiful incrustation on
its face, which the neighboring people collect in rather small
quantities, but often sufficient for their domestic purposes of stain
ing their clothes.
About two miles above the Forks of this River is situated
' ' Candy's Castle, ' ' a most stupendous work of nature. It is said
by tradition that in the time of the wars between the white and red
people, a man by the name of James Caudy, more than once took
shelter on the rock from the pursuit of the Indians, from whence its
name. It consists of a fragment of the mountain, separated and in
dependent of the neighboring mountains, forming, as it were, a half
cone, and surrounded with a yawning chasm. Its eastem base,
washed by the Capon River, rises to the majestic height of four hun
dred and fifty to five hundred feet, while its eastem side is a solid
mass of granite, directly perpendicular. A line drawn round its
base probably would not exceed one thousand or twelve hundred
yards. From its western side it may be ascended by man on foot to
within about ninety or one hundred feet of its summit. From thence
the rock suddenly shoots up something in the form of a comb,which
is about ninety or one hundred feet in length, eight or ten feet in
thickness, and runs about north and south. On the eastern face of

326 APPENDIX.
the rock, from where the comb is approached, a very narrow undu
lating path is formed, by pursuing which, active persons can ascend
to its summit. The author called on Mr. John Largent, (from
whom he received much kindness and attention) and requested Mr.
Largent to be his pilot, which request was readily acceded to. Mr.
Largent' s residence is less than a half a mile from the spot. In his
company the author undertook to ascend this awful precipice.
Along the path a few laurel shrubs have grown out of the fissures of
the rock. With the aid of the shrubbery, the author succeeded in
following Mr Largent until they reached within twenty or twenty-
five feet of the summit, where they found a flat table, four or five
feet square, on which a pine tree of five or six inches in diameter
has grown some ten or twelve feet high. This afforded a convenient
resting place. By supporting myself with one arm around the body
of the tree, and a cane in the other hand, I ventured several times to
look down the precipice, but it produced a disagreeable giddiness
and painful sensation of the eyes. From this elevated situation an
extensive view of what is called the White Mountain presents it
self for a considerable distance, on the east side of Capon River.
The beautiful whiteness of this mountain is produced by a consider
able intermixture of fine white sand with rocks, which almost
exclusively form the west side of the Capon Mountain for several
miles. Nine or ten miles below this place, in a deep rugged glen three
or four miles east of Capon, on the west side of the mountain, the
' ' Tea Table' ' is to be seen, than which nature in her most sportive
mood has seldom performed a more beautiful work. This table pre
sents the form of a man's hat, with the crown turned downwards.
The stem (if it may be so termed) is about four feet in diameter and
about four feet high. An oval brim, some seven or eight feet in
diameter, and seven or eight inches thick, is formed around
the top of the stem, through which a circular tube rises twelve •
or fourteen inches in diameter. Through this tube a beautiful
stream of transparent water arises, and regularly flows over the
whole surface of this large brim, presenting to the eye one of the
most beautiful fountains in nature's work.
ICE MOUNTAIN.
This most extraordinary and wonderful work of God's creation
certainly deserves the highest rank in the history of the natural curi
osities of our country. This mountain is washed at its western base
by the North River, a branch of the Capon. It is not more than a
quarter of a mile north of the residence of Christopher Heiskell,
Esq. , at North River Mills, in the County of Hampshire, twenty-
six miles northwest of Winchester. The west side of this mountain,
for about one mile, is covered with loose stone of various size, many
of which are of a diamond shape. It is probably six or seven hun-

APPENDIX. 327
dred feet high, very steep, and presents to the eye a most grand and
sublime spectacle.
At the base of the mountain, on the. western side, for a distance
of about one hundred yards, and ascending some twenty-five or
thirty feet, on removing the loose stone, which is easily done with a
small prise, the most perfectly pure and crystal looking ice, at all sea
sons of the year, is to be found, in blocks from one or two pounds to
fifteen or twenty in weight. * At the base of this bed of ice a beau-
ful spring of pure water is discharged, which is by many degrees
colder than any natural spring water the author has ever seen. It
is believed that its natural temperature is not many degree sabove
freezing. , Near this spring the owner of the property has removed the
stone, and erected a small log dairy, for the preservation of his milk,
butter and fresh meats. When the author saw this little building,
which was late in the month of April, the openings between the logs
(on the side next the cavity from which the stone had been taken
out) , for eighteen inches or two feet from the floor was completely
filled with ice, and above, one-half the floor was covered with ice
several inches thick. This is the most remarkable from its being a
known fact that the sun shines with all its force from eight or nine
o'clock in the morning until late in the evening, on the surface cov
ering the ice, but the latter defies its power. Mr. Deevers, who is
the owner of the property, informed the author that milk, butter, or
fresh meats of every kind, are perfectly safe from injury for almost
any length of time in the hottest weather. If a fly ventured in, he
is immediately stiffened with the cold and becomes torpid. If a
snake in his rambles happens to pass over the rocks covering the ice,
he soon looses all his motion, and dies. Christopher Heiskell, Esq.,
informed the author that several instances had occurred of the snakes
being found dead among the rocks covering the ice. An intelligent
young lady at the same time stated that she had seen instances of
this character. In, truth it was upon her first suggesting the fact,
'that the author was led to make inquiry of Mr. Heiskill. Mr.
Deevers stated that he had several times removed torpid flies from
his dairy into a more temperate atmosphere, when they soon recov
ered life and motion and flew off.
Nature certainly never formed a better situation for a fine dairy
establishment. But it will probably be asked by some persons,
where is the milk to come from to furnish it ? The time will proba
bly come, and perhaps it is not very distant, when our mountains
* The neighboring people assert, that at the setting in of the winter sea
son, the ice commences melting, and soon disappears, not a particle of
which is to be found while the winter remains. If this be true, it renders
this place still more remarkable and extraordinary. The order of nature,
in this immediate locality, seems to be reversed ; for, -when it is summer all
around this singular spot, here it is covered with the ice of winter, and vice
versa. We cannot account for this effect, except the cause be some chemi
cal laboratory under the surface, operating from the influence of the extern
al atmosphere, but in opposition to it.

328 APPENDIX.
will be turned to good account. Their sources of wealth are not yet
known ; but the sjirit of enterprise and industry is abroad, and the
present generation will hardly pass away before most astonishing
changes will be seen in every part of our happy country.
THE HANGING ROCKS.
These, or, as they are sometimes called, "Blue's Rocks," are
another wonderful work of nature. They are situated on the Wap
patomaka, about four miles north of Romney, the seat of justice for
the County of Hampshire. The author has several times viewed
this place with excited feelings and admiration. The river has cut
its way through a mountain probably not less than five hundred- feet
high. By what extraordinary agency it has-been ablfe-tO'ido this,Liit
is impossible to conceive, unle3*A*e looktothatalmighty power -^viitfse
arm effects- all his greit object's afpkasure. On't&'east'of the fiver
4s ahiige mass ofl rclfeks-iftii^h'^fcftmis a perpendicula* wall several
yards in length, ^nd not l^is tfen -three Mnd red feet high. The
oj)p<3ftite point of'the mountain is m6r^ Sldp'ing, and-may tee ascended
by a man on f60t. -On t^e'ltop-ief t-hS'inoi*flit&in is''*ilev«i bench of
¦ land-,' pretty dear 6f"siSfone,^iidifiiie>ych scSlfi-tipVardsidf' ewel&un-
• d-reld yards'*^- width ;'bm', frdk tl[e"di-ffleiik«^JofwSpg«a4*e(bii:i^JB,-it
remMm'^ih'a state df'^Hturd-' '>It ¦-\WtfM-,^?t!'<eotiMiycb?8agl5:=ifoto
'¦ttlUivation, doubtlSSs vi&l fitvara^the*usbasfaiHaa-.-ffe Melsfc^J97"i
¦<\ The
Highwftjfy ^ „
-aatutdl-Wall'-foruifed by-the rodks. "The-Qawtr-ofiihe'ireeistfori&Mit
-^i^iity- 6r (bfae hund¥Sd yards','^is »d«>mp©^a;of- -''^^ ;g*«J»fliaseiSt«de,
¦whffle dn each side-affe'-the 'edhittibn'-gra»ite»iftibiifl»t444s s«Mi©;:"rnotnf
!'! The reader ¦tviUrec-Sllect tlySt~'thi^-.'iS't^"t)l»*'>A»he«^ 3t«(idst
bloodiy'bittle-'was-fcyu^ghf-f'betweteif coliteadiKga^itk^f^sf SB*ia2a-
tawba'aad Delaware ln(fifiii^J^tibti«:d fti aJpJlc^ding t:-liaptei«of:;^is
¦ volumie.-' " -' • /''f.-t^i(i- ...i oj iv.'i ¦ )i!j . .-n. .id.
One Other naturtfl 'fcU^id^ity-refiiaii*! to be ¦ tkbtieed, 'andtthatUs,
what IS caUed^the '''Buttef^5»"R6aks." rThese'fl-ock-s are to."b# ^fen
in Fry's Cap, on Cedar Creek, in the County df>FrMeriCk( "• fRie
whole mass' bf-'-ttffrk^'fere • intermixed vs^lfh fietHfied 'flieS;"A6 'Various
sizes. : The entire sMpe* bf .t^e^ingy, body,^4i^^s, h4ad,'!«fidi*<fen
the eyes of the flies, ai'e dfettfactly to-be diseovfcred. The rockSi'&re
of deep brown color, iiiid^of the slate species.''; •<- j^::'
The author will conclude this section with a brief notice of "an
avalanche or mountain slidje, wHiclLilS^.-hks oiuSited'^o'fabfic^^ ^c.'^^
proper place. In the month of June, in the remarkable wet spirvhg
and summer of the year 1804, during a most tremendous and awful
flood of rain, near the summit of the Little North Mountain, a vast
volume of water suddenly gushed from the eastem side, and rapidly
descending, with its tremendous current, tore away every tree, of
whatever size, rocks of eight or ten tons weight, hurling them into

APPENDIX.

329

the level lands below, and threatening desolation and destruction to
everything which was within the limits of the vortex. In its pas
sage down the mountain it opened a chasm from ten to fifteen yards
in width, and from eight or ten to twelve or fifteen feet in depth.
The farm of Mr. David Funkhouser, which the flood took in
its course, was greatly injured, and a beautiful meadow covered over
with the wood, stone, and other rubbish. The flood ran into the
lower floor of his dwelling-house, the foundation of which is elevat
ed at least three feet above the surface of the ground. This rent in
the side of the mountain, at the distance of five or six miles, pre
sented for many years the appearance of a very wide road. It is
now grown up thickly with young pine timber, and so crowded that
there is scarcely room for a man to pass between them.

42

330 APPENDIX.

CHAPTER III.
MEDICINAL SPRINGS — WATERING PLACES.
Our country abounds in medicinal waters. Numerous Sulphur
Springs exist, particularly in the slate lands and mountains.
Springs, of various qualities of water, are also to be seen, several of
which are remarkable for their superior virtues in the cure of the
various disorders of the human body.
It is not within the plan of this work to notice all the medicinal
springs which the author has seen and heard of. He will content
himself with a brief account of those deemed most valuable, begin
ning with Bath in the County of Morgan.
This is doubtless the most ancient watering place in the Valley.
Tradition relates that those springs were known to the Indians as
possessing valuable medical properties, and were much frequented by
them. They were anciently called the "Berkeley Warm Springs,"
and have aiways kept their character for their medical virtues. They
are much resorted to, not only for their value as medical waters, but
as a place (in the season) of recreation and pleasure. Bath has be
come a considerable village, is the seat of justice for Morgan coun
ty, and nas several stores and boarding houses. It is too publicly
known to require further notice in this work.
SHANNONDALE.
It is not more than twelve or fourteen years since this spring
was first resorted to as a watering place, though it was known for
some years before to possess some peculiar medicinal qualities. A
few extraordinary cures were effected by the use of the water, of ob
stinate scorbutic complaints, and it suddenly acquired a high repu
tation. A company of gentlemen in its neighborhood joined and
purchased the site, and forthwith erected a large brick boarding-
house, and ten or twelve small buildings for the accommodation
of visitors. For several years it held a high rank among our water
ing places. SALUS SPRINGS, COMMONLY CALLED BOND'S SPRINGS.
These are situated between the Little North Mountain and
Paddy's Mountain, forming the head fountain of Cedar Creek and

APPENDIX. 331
about twenty-eight or thirty miles southwest of Winchester, and
seven or eight miles northwest of Woodstock. These springs are
acquiring a high character for their valuable medical qualities, though
it is only four or five years since they have been resorted to. It is
well ascertained that the water from at least one of them has the
powerful qitality of expelling the bots from the horse.
Another of the springs is called " The Poison Spring," and it is
asserted by the people of the neighborhood that by drinking the
water freely, and bathing the part wounded, it will immediately cure
the bite of any poisonous snake.
There are five or six beautiful transparent springs within a cir
cumference of one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, several
of which are yet unimproved. Nature has seldom done more foran
advantageous watering-place than she has exhibited at these springs.
No place the author has ever seen presents more conveniences for the
construction of baths. One of the springs is discharged from an ele
vated point of a ridge, and has fall and water enough to construct
any reasonable number of shower baths. It is asserted by those
who attend the springs, that several great cures of obstinate scor
butic complaints have been made by the use of the water. One
remarkable instance was related to the author. A little boy, of
eight or nine years of age, had become dreadfully disordered by
eruptions all over his body, which formed large running ulcers.
The complaint baffled all the efforts of the most skillful physicians
in the neighborhood, and continued for about twelve months, when
the child's life was dispaired of. An uncle of the child, who was
acquainted with the valuable quality of these waters, took him to
the springs, and by repeatedly washing his body with the water of
the poison spring, and also has freely drinking it, in ten or twelve
days the child was perfectly cured, and has ever since remained in
fine health. Within one and-a-quarter miles from this place there
is a fine white sulphur spring, which is said to possess very active
cathartic qualities. It is also said that the water has a sweetish
taste, and is by some called the sweet sulphur spring. The water
has a pure crystal look, aud is discharged from a spring at the base
of Paddy's Mountain. Plunging baths may be multiplied at pleas
ure. The waters are pretty cool ; a handsome bath-house is erected,
and the visitors use it freely.
Sixteen neat looking dwelling-houses have been erected by as
many proprietors within the last four or five years ; but unfortun
ately there is no regular boarding-house established, which has here
tofore prevented much resort to this place. In the hands of a man
of capital and enterprise, it doubtless might be made one of the
most charming rural summer retreats west of the Blue Ridge. It
has the advantage of a most beautiful summer road much the greater
part of the whole route from Winchester ; what is called Frye's
Gap, within twelve miles of Winchester, being by far the worst part
of it ; and an excellent road can be made at inconsiderable expense

332 APPENDIX.
across the Little North Mountain. Travelers passing up and down
the Valley, would in the summer season find this a delightful rest
ing place, if it was put in a proper state of improvement for their
accommodation, nor is it more than seven or eight miles out of the
direct road. The present buildings are arranged so as to leave in the
center a beautiful grove of young oak and other timber, which af
fords a lovely shade in hot weather. Near Capt. J. Bond's dwelling-
house, within three hundred yards of the mineral springs, there is
fine large limestone spring.
ORKNEY SPRINGS, COMMONLY CALLED YELLOW SPRINGS.
These Springs are near the head waters of Stony Creek, about
seventeen or eighteen miles southwest of Woodstock. The waters
are composed of several lively springs, are strong chalybeate, and
probably impregnated with some other mineral besides iron. Every
thing the water passes through or over is beautifully lined with a
bright yellow fringe of moss. The use of this water is found very
beneficial for the cure of several complaints. There are ten or twelve
small buildings erected by the neighboring people for their private
accommodation. The author visited this watering place about four years ago.
A Mr. Kaufman had brought with Him, the day preceding, the
material for a small framed dwelling-house. He reached the
place early in the day, raised his house, and the shingles and
weatherboarding nailed on, the floor laid, and doors hung, and
ate his dinner in it the next day at one o'clock. The author had
the pleasure of dining with the old gentlemen and lady, when they
both communicated the foregoing statement of facts to him. A
free use of this water acts as a most powerful cathartic, as does
also a small quantity of the fringe or moss mixed with any other
kind of water. CAPON SPRINGS, MORE PROPERLY FRYE'S SPRINGS.
The late Henry Frye, of Capon, upwards of forty years ago,
informed the author that he was the first discoverer of the valuable
properties of this celebrated watering place. He stated that he was
hunting, and killed a large bear on the side of the mountain near the
springs, and becoming dry, he descended the glen in search of water,
where he found a large spring, but it was thickly covered with moss
and other rubbage ; on removing which, he drank of the water, and
found it disagreeably warm. It at once occurred that it possessed
some valuable medical qualities. The next summer his wife got into
bad health, and was afflicted with rheumatic and probably other de
bilitating disorders. He went and cleared out the spring, erected a
small cabin, removed his wife there, and remained four or five
weeks, when the use of the waters had restored his wife to a state

APPENDIX. 333
of fine health. From this occurrence it took the name of "Frye's
Springs," and was called by that name for many years. By what
whim or caprice the name was changed to that -of ' ' Capon, ' ' the
author cannot explain. It is situated four miles east of Capon River,
and with what propriety it has taken the name of that River, the
reader can as readily determine as the author. This place is too
publicly known to require a minute description in this work ; suffice
it to say, that it is located in a deep narrow glen, on the west side
of the Great North Mountain. The road across the mountain is
rugged and disagreeable to travel, but money is now raising by lot
tery to improve it. The trustees for several years past have imposed
a pretty heavy tax upon visitors for the use of the waters. This
tax is intended to raise funds for keeping the baths, &c., in
repair. There are seventeen or eighteen houses erected without
much regard to regtUarity, and a boarding establishment capable
of accommodating some fifty or sixty visitors, which is kept in ex
cellent style.
The waters at this place are a few degrees cooler than the
waters of Bath ; but it is believed by many that they possess some
qualities far more powerful. There is no fact better known, than
that exclusive use of the water for five or six days, (like the waters
of Salus) , will expel the bots from horses. The place is twenty-two
miles southwest of Winchester.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRING, HOWARD'S LICK.
This fine White Sulphur Spring lies about four miles west of
Lost River, in a most romantic retired glen in the mountains. It is
almost whoUy in a state of nature, the nearest dwelling-house to it
being about two miles, and is but little known and resorted to as a
watering place. The spring has been cleaned out, and a small cri-
cular wall placed around it, and a beautiful lively stream of water
discharged. It would probably require a tube of one and-a-half
inches diameter to vent the water. Every thing the water passes
over or touches is pretty thickly incrusted with pure white sulphur.
The water is highly impregnated as to be quite unpleasant to the
taste, and can be smelled thirty or forty feet from the spring. The
use of the water is found very efficacious in several complaints, par
ticularly in autumnal bilious fevers. The people in the neighbor
hood say, that persons attacked with bilious complaints, by a single
dose of Epsom Salts, worked off with this water, in three or four
days are entirely relieved and restored to health. The author can
not pretend to express his own opinion of the valuable properties of
this water, merely having seen it as a transient passenger. But he
has no hesitation in saying that it presents to the eye the appearance
pf by far the most valuable sulphur water he has ever yet seen.
There is level land enough around it for the erection of buildings
sufficient for the accommodation of a great many visitors. A fine

334 APPENDIX.
and convenient road can be had to it from Lost River, a gap in the
mountain leading to it being generally quite level, and wide enough
for the purpose. It is probably twenty-three or twenty-four miles
southwest of Capon Springs.
PADDY'S GAP, OR MAURER'S WHITE SULPHUR SPRING.
This is a small pure White Sulphur Spring, and is said to pos
sess valuable medicinal qualities. It lies in Paddy's Gap, about half
way between Capon and Salus Springs.
PEMBROKE SPRINGS.
These are situated about one mile south of the residence of
Moses Russell, Esq., seventeen miles northwest of Winchester. The
water are considered too cool to bathe in. A bath house has been
erected, but it is little used. The waters are pure and salubrious,
discharged from the base of the North Mountain, and if good accom
modations were kept, it would doubtless become a resting place for
travelers in the season for visiting the Capon Springs. Mr. George
Ritenour has lately erected a tannery at this place, and it will proba
bly become a place of business.
WILLIAMS'S WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, FORMERLY DUVALL.
These are situated about six miles northeast of Winchester. A
commodious boarding-house has been erected by Mr. Williams, who
is going on yearly with additional improvement, to meet the increas
ing popularity of the establishment.
There are three or four other sulphur springs which were form
erly places of considerable resort, but they have fallen into disre
pute. The author therefore considers it unnecessary to give them
any particular notice in this work. Many chalybeate springs are to
be met with in our mountains, but it is not deemed necessary to
describe them. GRAY EARTH.
The author will conclude with a brief notice of a light gray
earth of singular texture, and probably containing some highly
valuable properties. A considerable bank of this earth or clay is to
be seen about two miles below Salus Springs. When dissolved in
water it makes a beautiful whitewash, and is said to be more adhe
sive than lime. It is remarkably soft, being easily cut with a knife,
has an unctuous or rather soapy feel when pressed between the fing
ers, and when mixed with a small quantity of water, forms a tough
adhesive consistence, very much resembling dough made of wheat
flour.

APPENDIX.

335

The author, when he first heard of this bank of earth, conclud
ed it was probably Fuller's Earth, so highly prized by the manufac
turers of cloth, &c., in England ; but upon an examination of it, it
does not appear to answer the description given by chemists of that
earth. It is highly probable that it would be found a most valuable
manure, and in all likelihood would on trial make a beautiful ware
of the pottery kind for domestic use. It would in the opinion of the
writer, be well worth while for manufactures and others to visit
this place, and examine for themselves. The author Has uo preten
sions to a knowledge of chemistry, and therefore cannot give any
thing like an analytical description of the singular and curious kind
of earth.

S|Vp

) s- — » '

336 APPENDIX.

CHAPTER IV.
DESCRIPTION OF WEYER'S CAVE.
BY R. I.. COOKE, A. M.
Weyer's Cave is situated near the northern extremity of Augus
ta county, Va., seventeen miles northeast of Staunton, on the east
ern side of the ridge running nearly north and east parallel to the
Blue Ridge, and some what more than two miles distant from it.
The western declivity of this ridge is very gradual, and the visi
tor, as he approaches from the direction, little imagines from its ap
pearance that it embowels one of Nature's masterpieces. The
eastern declivity, hovi^ever, is quite precipitous and difficult of
ascent. The Guide's house is situated on the northern extremity of
this ridge, and is distant eight hundred yards from the mouth of
the Cave. In going from the house to the Cave, you pass the en
trance of Madison's Cave, which is two hundred and twenty yards
from the other. Madison's Cave was known and visited as a curi
osity, long before the discovery of Weyer's, but it is now passed by
and neglected, as unworthy of notice, compared with its more im
posing rival, although it had had the pen of a Jefferson of describe
its beauties. Let me remark here, that the incurious visitor, who goes because
others go, and is but slightly interested in the mysteries of Nature,
may retain his usual dress when he enters the Cave which I am at
tempting to describe ; but if he is desirous of prying into every re
cess, climbing every accessible precipice, and seeing all the beauties
of this subterranean, wonder, I would advise him to provide himself
with such Habiliments as will withstand craggy projections, or re
ceive no detriment from a generous coating of mud.
The ascent from the bottom of the hill to the mouth of the Cave
is steep, but is rendered less fatiguing, by the zigzag course of the
path, which is one hundred yards in length.
Before entering the Cave, let us rest ourselves on the benches
before the door, that we may become perfectly cool, while the
Guide unlocks the door, strikes a light and tells the story of its first
discovery. It seems that about the year 1804, one Bernard Weyer ranged
these hill as a hunter. While pursuing his daily vocation, he found

APPENDIX. 337
his match in a lawless Ground Hog, which not only eluded all his
efforts, but eventually succeeded in 'carrying off the traps which had
been set for his capture. Enraged at the loss of his traps he
made an assault upon the domicil of the depredator, with spade and
mattock. A few moments labor brought him to the ante-chamber of this
stupenduous Cavern, where he found his traps safely deposited.
The entrance originally was small and difficult of access ; but
the enterprise of the proprietor has obviated these inconveniences ;
it is now enclosed by a wooden wall, having a door in the center,
which admits you to the Ante-Chamber.
At first it is about eight feet in height, but after proceeding a
few yards, in a S. W. direction, it becomes contracted to the space
of three or four feet square. -
At the distance of twenty-four feet from the entrance, descend
ing at an angle of nineteen degrees, you reach the Dragon's Room,
so called from a stalactitic concretion, which the nomenclator un
doubtedly supposed to resemble that nondescript animal.
Above the Dragon's Room there is an opening of considerable
beauty, but of small size, called the Devil's Gallery.
Leaving this room, which is not very interesting, you proceed
in a more southerly direction, to the entrance of Solomon's Temple,
through a high but narrow passage, sixty-six feet in length, which
is by no means difficult of access. Here you make a perpendicular
descent of thirteen feet, by means of an artificial bank of earth and
rock, and you find yourself into one of the finest rooms in the whole
cave. It is irregular in shape, being thirty feet long and forty-five
broad, running at nearly right angles tothe main course of the cave.
As you raise you eyes, after descending the bank before mentioned,
they rest upon an elevated seat, surrounded by sparry incrustations,
which sparkle beautifully in the light of your candles.
This is not unaptly styled Solomon's Throne. Every thing in
this room, receives its name from the Wise Man, immediately to the
left of the steps, as you descend, you will find his meat-house, and
at the eastern extremity of the room, is a beautiful pillar of white
stalactitic, somewhat defaced by the smoke of candles, called by his
name. With strange inconsistency, an incrustation resembling fall
ing water, at the right of the steps, has obtained the name of the
Falls of Niagara.
Passing Solomon's Pillar here, you enter another room, more
irregular than the first, but still more beautiful. It would be im
possible adequately to describe the magnificence of this room. I
shall therefore merely observe, that it is thickly studded with beau
tiful stalactities, resembling, in form and color, the roots of radishes,
which have given the appellation of Radish Room to this delight
ful place. I cannot refrain from reprobating here, the vandal spirit of
some visitors, who regardless of all prohibitions, will persist in
43

338 ' APPENDIX.
breaking off and defacing, these splendid specimens of nature's
workmanship, forgetting that a single blow may destroy the work of
centuries. The main passage to the rest of the Cavern is immediately oppo
site the entrance to Solomon's Temple, and you reach it by an ascent
of twelve feet, to what is called the Porter's Lodge. From this
place, pursuing the same course, you pass along a passage varying
from ten to thirty feet in height, from ten to fifteen in breadth, and
fifty-eight in length, until you reach Barney's Hall, which receives
its name from the fancied resemblance of a prostrate stalactite, at the
base of one that is upright, to old Com. Barney, and the cannon that
he used at the ' ' Bladensburgh races. ' '
Near the center of the room, which is small and scarcely de
serves the name, an upright board points out to the visitor the main
path of the Cave, which runs to the right. Two passages run off to
the left, the first one to a large, irregular room, called the Lawyer's
Office, in which is a fine spring, or rather reservoir where the drop
pings from the ceiling have collected ; the other, through a passage
to what is called The Armory, from an incrustation that has received
the name of Ajax's Shield. Between the lawyer's office and the
armory, and communicating with both, is another large, irregular
apartment, which is named Weyer's Hall, after the original dis
coverer of the Cave, who together with his dog, stands immortalized
in one corner.
Before we get bewildered and lost in this part of the Cave,
which is more intricate than any other, let us return to the guide
board in Barney's Hall, and pursue the route usually taken by visi
tors. Following the right hand opening mentioned above, which is
rather low, being not more than five feet high, you pass into the
Twin Room, taking heed lest you fall into the Devil's Bake Oven,
which yawns close by your feet. This room is small, and communi
cates directly with the Bannister Room, which is fifty-nine feet from
the guide board. The arch here suddenly expands, and becomes
elevated to the height of thirty feet, and by dint of hard climbing
you may return to the Porter's Lodge, through a passage directly
over the one which you have just passed.
A descent of thirty-nine feet due west from the twin room,
brings you to the Tanyard, which contains many beauties. The
floor is irregular ; in some places sinking into holes somewhat re
sembling tan vats, which together with several hanging stalactities
resembling hides, have given a name to this immense apartment.
On the southeast side of the room, immediatety to the left of
the main path, is a large opening, which admits you at once into the
armory. It may be well to remark here, that a notice of many beautiful
appearances in the different rooms has been omitted, because they
are noted upon the map of the cave, lately published by the author
of this sketch.

APPENDIX. 339
Changing your course to the N. W. , you leave the tanyard by
a rough but not difficult ascent of twenty feet, at an angle of eigh
teen degrees, into what may be considered an elevated continuation
of the same room, but which has been desevedly dignifled with a
distinct appellation.
To your right, as you step upon level ground you will observe
a perpendicular wall of rock, rising with great regularity ; if you
strike upon it with your hand, it sends forth a deep mellow sound,
strongly resembling the tones of a bass drum, whence the room has
received the name of the Drum Room. Upon a close examination,
this apparent wall will be found to be only a thin stalactic partition,
extending from the ceiling to the floor.
You leave the drum room by a flight of natural steps, seven feet
in perpendicular height. A large opening now presents itself, which
expands to an extensive apartment, to reach which it is necessary to
make a nearly perpendicular descent of ten feet, by means of sub
stantial stone steps. This apartment is the far-famed Ball Room.
It is one hundred feet long, thirty-six wide, and about twenty-five
high, running at right angles to the path by which you entered it.
The general course of this room is from N. to S. , but the northern
extremity, there is a gradual ascent, bearing round to the east, until
you reach a precipice of twenty or thirty feet, from which you can
look down into the tanyard.
Near the center of the ball room, is a large calcareous deposit,
that has received the name of Paganini's Statue, from the circum
stance that it furnishes a good position forthe music, whenever balls
are given in these submundane regions. The floor is sufficient level
to admit of dancing upon it, and it was formerly common to have
balls here The ladies are accommodated with a convenient dress
ing room, the only opening to which communicates directly with the
ball room.
You leave this room by a gradual ascent of forty-five feet at the
southern extremity. This acclivity is called the Frenchman's Hill,
from the following circumstances : Some years since, a French gen
tleman visited the cave, accompanied only by the guide ; they had
safely gone through, and returning, had reached this hill, when by
accident both their lights were extinguished, and they were left in
Egyptian darkness without the means of relighting them. Fortun
ately, the guide, from his accurate knowledge of localities, con
ducted him safely to the entrance, a distance of more than five hun
dred feet.
Another gentleman by the name of Patterson, has immortalized
his name by attempting the same feat, although it was a complete
failure. Hearing of the Frenchman's adventure, he sent his com
pany ahead, and undertook to find his way back without a light,
from the ball room to the entrance. He succeeded in ascending the
steps, but had proceeded only a few paces further, when his feet
slipped from under him, and he was laid prostrate in an aperature.

340 APPENDIX.
where he lay unhurt until his companions, alarmed at his protracted
absence, returned for him. His resting place is called Patterson's
grave to this day.
From the French Hill, a long, irregular passage extends, in a
N. W. direction, which is denominated the Narrow Passage. This
passage is fifty-two feet long, from three to five feet wide, and from
four to eight high. It leads you to the brink of a precipice twelve
feet high. Natural indentations in the face of this precipice, afford a con
venient means of descent, and these natural steps have received the
name of Jacob's Ladder. To correspond with this name, as in Solo-
man's Temple, everything is named after the Patriarch ; a flat rock
opposite to the end of the Narrow Passage, is Jacob's Tea Table 1
and a deep, inaccessible perforation in the rock by its side, is Jacob's
Ice House ! Descending the Ladder, you turn to the left, and pass
through a narrow opening, still continuing to descend though
less perpendicularly to the center of a small apartment called the
Dungeon. This room communicates immediately with the Senate Chamber,
over nearly half of which stretches a thin flat rock, at the height of
six or eight feet from the floor, forming a sort of gallery, which
probably suggested the name which has been given to the room.
The senate chamber communicates with a high, broad opening,
with a much larger apartment, called Congress Hall, an appellation
bestowed rather on account of its proximity to the last mentioned
room than from anything particularly appropriate in the room it
self. It is long, and like the Ball Room runs at right angles
to the main pathb which winds to the left, as you enter. Its course
is nearly north and south, and a wall, perforated in many places,
runs through its whole length. Instead of pursuing the customary
route, we will turn to the right and explore the dark recess that pre
sents itself.
The floor of Congress Hall is very uneven, and at the northern
extremity rises somewhat abruptly. If you climb this ascent,
and pass through one of the perforations in the wall above mention
ed, you can see through the whole extent of the other half of the
room, but cannot traverse it, on account of two or three deep pits
that occupy the whole space between the western side of the room
and the wall.
Turning to the right of the opening through which you just
passed, your eye vainly attempts to penetrate the deep, dark abyss
that is presented to view, and you hesitate to descend. Its name.
The Infernal Regions ! does not offer many inducements to enter it;
in addition to this, the suspicion that it contained fixed air, for
many years deterred the curious from visiting it, and consequently it
has not until recently, been throughly explored.
In the spring of 1833, I determined at all hazards to explore
this room, for I doubt the existence of any bad air, as I had never

APPENDIX. 341
detected any in the course of extensive researches in almost every
part of the cave. My brother and the guide accompanied me, each
carrying two candles, and thus prepared we descended twenty feet
before we reached a landing place. Here our candles burned dimly
and great care was necessary to prevent them from going out entire
ly ; yet we experienced no difficulty of breathing, or any other ind-
cation of the presence of this much dreaded gas. The floor is not
horizontal, but inclined to an angle of fifteen or twenty degrees, and
when we emerged from the pit into which we first entered, our can
dles shone brightly, and displayed to our view a room more exten
sive than any that I have as yet described. Its greatest length was
from W. to E. , and it seemed to run nearly parallel to the path over
which have just traveled. From its length we are induced to be
lieve that it approached very near the ball room with which it might
communicate by some yet undiscovered passage. So strongly were
we impressed with this idea, that we determined, if practicable, to
ascertain how far we were correct. For this purpose I set my watch
exactly with my brother's, and requested him to go to the ball room
and pursue, as far as possible, a low passage that leads to the right,
from the foot of the Frenchman's hill, while I went to the eastern
extremity of this immense apartment. At an appointed moment I
fired a pistol, but the only answer was a- deafening reverberations of
the sound rolling like thunder along the lofty arches. I shouted,
but no return met my ear save the hollow echo of my own voice, and
I began to think we had been hasty in our opinion. At this mO'
ment a beautiful stalactite sparkled in the light of the candle, and I
forgot my desire to discover an unknown passage, in my anxiety to
secure this prize. Taking the butt of the pistol, I hammered gently
upon it to disengage it from the rock where it hung. I was sur
prised to hear the taps distinctly answered appearently from the
center of the solid rock, and a repetition of the blow brought a repe
tition of the answer. After comparing our impressions, we were
satisfied there could be but little space between the two rooms.
We have lingered so long in these Infernal Regions, * that we
must hasten back to the spot whence we diverged in the center of
Congress Hall. Our course now lies to S. W., up a perpendicular
ascent of seventeen feet to what is called the Lobby. From this
place, an expert climber may pass through secret passages and
bye rooms to the end of the cave, without once entering the main
path. You have ascended to the lobby only to descend again on the
other side, when you reach the most magnificent apartment in the
whole cave.
This is Washington's Hall, so-called, in token of respect forthe
memory of our Country's Father, and is worthy of bearing his
name. Its length, is two hundred and fifty-seven feet, its breadth

.* For an account of some recent interesting discoveries in this room,
see note on page 347.

342 APPENDIX.
from ten to twenty, its height thirty-three, and it is remarkably
level and straight through the whole length. Not far from the
center of this room, is an immense deposit of calcareous matter ris
ing to the hight of six or seven feet, which strikingly resembles a
statue clothed in drapery. This is Washington's Statue, and few can
look upon it as seen by the dim light of two or three candles which
rather stimulate than repress the imagination, without experiencing
a sensation of solemnity and awe, as if they were actually in the
presence of the mighty dead.
By ascending a bank, near the entrance, of five or six feet per
pendicular height, you enter another room called the Theatre, from
the fact that different parts of it correspond to the stage, gallery and
pit. I notice this room, which is otherwise uninteresting, for the
purpose of mentioning a circumstance, related to me by Mr. Bryan,
a former guide, which confirms an opinion that I have long enter
tained, that the whole cave is thoroughly ventilated by some un
known communication with the upper air. About six years
since, during a heavy protracted rain which raised the waters of the
South River that flows at the bottom of the cave-hill, to an unprese-
dented height, Mr. Bryan conducted a company through the cave.
As he ascended the stairs that led to the lobby, he heard the rush of
water ; fearing that the cave was flooding, he directed the visitors
to remain in Congress Hall, while he investigated the cause of the
unusual and alarming noise. Cautiously descending into Washing
ton's Hall, he followed the sound until he arrived opposite to the
entrance to the Theatre, in which he saw a column of water pouring
from the ceiling in the pit, and losing itself in the numerous crevices
that abound. When the rain ceased, the flood was stayed, and it
has never been repeated ; but even at the present time, small
pebbles and gravel, resembling that found on the top of the hill,
may be seen in the theatre. No aperature is visible from within,
neither has any perforation been discovered on the surface of the
hill, yet beyond a doubt, some communication with the exterior
does exist.
I have said that the breadth of Washington's Hall is from ten
to twenty feet ; this must be understood as applying to the lower
part of the room, for the arch stretches over a rock twenty feet high,
which forms the left wall, and embraces another room called Lady
Washington's room. The entrance to this apartment is opposite to
the Statue, and is on a level with the hall. The wall that separates the
two rooms is ten feet thick, and is named The Rock of Gibralter.
One or two candles placed upon this rock, produce a fine effect, par
ticularly if every other light is extinguished ; for it shows you the
arch, spreading out with beautiful regularity, until it is lost in the
surrounding darkness, and imagination, supplying the deficiency of
vision, peoples the dark recesses wjth hosts of matterless phantoms.
You leave this splendid apartment at the S. W. extremity, by a
rough and narrow, but high passage, running at the foot of the

APPENDIX. 343
Pyramids of Egypt and Cleopatra's Needle ! At the end of this
passage, in a recess to the right is another spring or reservoir, simi
lar to the one in the lawyer's office. A descent of eight or ten feet
brings you into the Diamond Room, which may be considered as
forming a part of The Church, a long, irregular room more lofty
than any that we have yet entered. Its length is one hundred and
fifty-two feet, its breadth from ten to fifteen, and its height fifty !
At the farthest extremity, a beautifui white spire shoot up to a con
siderable height, which is appropriately styled The Steeple, and has
no doubt suggested the name of the room. Nearly opposite to the
center of the church, is a recess of considerable extent and elevation,
which forms a very good galley ; in the rear of the gallery and in
full view from below, is a great number of pendant stalactities, sev
eral feet long and of various sizes, ranging like the pipes of an organ
and bearing a striking resemblance to them. If these stalactities are
struck by any hard substance, they send forth sounds of various
pitches, according to their sizes, and a stick be rapidly run along sev
eral of them at once, a pleasing variety of notes is produced. This
formation is called the organ.
Passing under the steeple, which rests on an arch elevated not
more than ten feet, you enter the Dining Room. This room is
named from a long natural table, that stands on the left, and is not
quite so large as the church, though its height is sixty feet. But
for the sort of wall which the steeple makes, it might be considered
as a continuation of the church. A little to the left of the table,
you will see a small uninviting opening ; if you are not deterred by its
unpromising appearance, we will enter and see whether it will lead
us. Proceeding only a few paces you will suddenly find yourself in
an immense apartment, parallel to the dining room, extending to the
gallery in the church, with which it communicates. This is Jack
son's Room, and is uninteresting on account of its irregularity, but
leads to one that deserves notice. Directly opposite to the little pas
sage which conducted you thither, is a large opening ; passing this,
the walls contract until only a narrow pass a few feet long, is left,
which conduct you, if not to the most magnificent, at least to one of
the most beautiful and interesting portions of the whole cavern.
There is but one apartment, and that is small, but the Garden of
Eden, for so it is called, derives its beauty from the singular ar
rangement of the immense stalactities, that hung from the roof, and
unite with the stalactities which have ascended from the floor to
meet them ; or in few words, it seems as if at some former period,
a sheet of water had poured down from the roof and by some won
derful operation of nature had become suddenly petrified. This
sheet is not continuous, but strongly resembles the fold of heavy
drapery, and you may pass among its windings as through the mazes
of a labyrinth, and the light of a candle shines distinctly through
any part of it. A large portion of the floor of this room is com
posed of beautiful fine yellow sand; the floor of most, if not all

344 APPENDIX.
other portions of the cave, is a stiff clay, with very few indications
of sand. We must now retrace our steps to the dining room, for there is
no other place of egress ; but as we return let us make a short di
gression to the left into a small passage, that does not appear to ex
tend very far. Be careful ! there is a deep hole just before you !
now hold your candle above your head and look through the opening,
which is large enough to admit the body of a man ; you will see a
deep unexplored abyss,
" Where the footstep of mortal had never trod."
No man as yet ever ventured into this forbidding place, for it
can be entered only by means of a irope ladder, but it is my intention
if my courage does not fail me, to attempt at no distant period, to
explore tbe hidden mysteries of the apartment.
Once more in the dining room, let us hasten to the completion
of our task. The main path pursues the same course from this
room, that it has done ever since you entered Washington's Hall ;
but your way now lies up a sort of a hill, in the side of which, is the
opening through which you are to pass. If you are adventurous,
you will follow me above the opening, up the nearly perpendicular
face of the rock, to the height of fifty feet, where a ledge of rock ex
tends itself, forming the left side of the dining room. From this
eminence, called the Giant's Causeway, you can look do-wn into the
dining room on one side, and Jackson's room on the other.
Great caution is necessai^ in climbing this height, lest too much
confidence be reposed in the projecting stalagmites, that offer a con
venient and seemingly a secure foothold to the incautious adventur
er. It must be remembered that they are formed from droppings
from the roof, and are generally based on the mud. By cautiously
descending the ledge a few feet on the opposite side to that which
we ascended, we shall be enabled to reach with ease, the room which
has already been attained by the rest of the company, who have been
less adventurous than ourselves and passed through tne opening
already pointed out, in ascending the Causeway.
This room, or perhaps it should be called passage, is denomin
ated The Wilderness, from the roughness of the pathway, and is
only ten feet wide, but it rises to the immense height of ninety or one
hundred feet ! As we come along the Causeway, we look down
upon our right, we shall see our company forty or fifty feet below
us, while our eyes can scarcely penetrate through the darkness,
to the ceiling above our heads. Upon the very verge of the rock on
which we are standing, are several beautiful white stalagmites, or
rather columns, grouped together,|among which one stands pre-emin
ent. This is Bonaparte with his body-guard, crossing the Alps !
The effect is peculiarly fine when viewed from below.
Without descending from our dangerous elevation, we will go
on our way a little further. Proceeding only a few paces from the

APPENDIX. 345
Emperor, you find yourself upon an arch under which your com
pany is passing, which is very appropriately called The Natural
Bridge ; but it should be crossed with great caution, if at all, for
foothold is insecure, and danger of being precipitated to the floor be
neath. Retracing our steps near to Bonaparte's statue, we will de-
send an inclined plane on the left, and by a jump of six feet, rejoin
our friends at the end of the Wilderness.
You are now upon the lowest level of the cave, and at the en
trance of the farthest room. This is Jefferson's Hall, an extensive
and level but not a very elevated apartment. Before I describe this
room, we must diverge a little and visit one or two rooms that branch
off from the main path. Directly to your right, as you emerge from
the Wilderness, there rises an immense mass, apparently of solid
stalagmite, thirty-six feet long, thirty feet broad, and thirty feet
high ; this mass is beautiful beyond description ; very much re
sembling successive stories, and is called the Tower of Babel ! The
most magniflcent portion of the Tower is on the back or northern
part, but it is difficult of access, for it is necessary to climb up the
surface of the rock to the height of flfteen or twenty feet ; the view
however amply repays you for the labor. For a few moments, you
can scarcely convince yourself that an immense body of water is not
pouring over the precipice, in a foaming torrent — so white, so
dazzling is the effulgence of the rock, and when this impression
is effaced, the words of the pious Bard rush into the mind, where
he describes the awful effects that will follow the consummation of
all things : " The Cataract, that like a Giant wroth.
Rushed down impetuously, as seized at once
By sudden frost, vpith all his hoary locks.
Stood still!"
One might almost imagine that Pollock had visited this wonder,
and caught the idea so forcibly expressed above, from viewing this
magnificent scene.
We have already so much exceeded our intended limits, that we
can only look into the large apartment that occupies the space be
hind the Tower, which is called Sir Walter Scott's Room, and then
hasten back to the main path.
Jefferson's room, that we left some time since, is very irregular
in shape, and is two hundred and thirty-five feet long, following the
various windings. What is commonly called the end of the cave, is
distinguished by two singular, thin, lamellar rocks, five or six feet
in diameter, united at their bases, but spreading out so that the
outer edges are several feet apart, this is called the Fly Trap 1 To
the left of the fly trap, is a large recess, where you will find a flue
spring of water, at which the weary visitor is glad to slake his
thirst, after the fatigues of his arduous undertaking.
Very many visitors have their curiosity satisfied long before
44

346 APPENDIX.
they have gone over the ground that we have, but I am writing for
those only, who like me, are not satisfied until everything is seen
that is worthy of notice. Such would not excuse me, did I not
mention one more curiosity, that few are inclined to visit. A few
yards beyond the fly trap, there is an opening in the solid wall, at
the height of about twelve feet, through which you are admitted by
a temporary ladder. By hard climbing, you soon penetrate to end
of the recess, where you find the source of the Nile 1 This is a beau
tiful, limpid spring, covered over with a then pellicle of stalagmite,
yet sufficiently strong to bear your weight ; in this crust, their is a
perforation that gives you access to the water beneath.
I have thus very curiously described, as far as it is practicable,
this wonderful cavern, but I feel convinced that no pen can ade
quately describe an object so extensive, so magnificent, and so varied
in its beauties. I shall only add a few remarks in explanation of
the motives that induced me to prepare this sketch, and some gen
eral facts that could not, with propriety, have been stated in the
description of individual portions of the cave. To settle a dispute
relative to its depth, I was induced to make a full and accurate sur
vey of the whole cavern, which I found had never been done. This
was undertaken solely for my own gratification, but the solicitations
of the proprietor, and others, have induced me to construct a sort
of Map, which is now before the public. This description there
fore, may be depended upon, as being as accurate as possible, for
the distances, heights, elevations, &c. , are given from actual meas
urement. The dotted line in the map, represents what has so often
been called the "main path," and if we measure this line the length
of the cave is one thousand six hundred ajid fifty feet. By follow
ing its windings, the distance may be more than doubled.
At all times, the air of the cave is damp, but the dampness of
the floor depends much upon the seasons ; if you except a moist
place near the fly trap, there is no standing water in all the cave.
The temperature remains invariably at fifty-six degrees, in all parts,
from which it follows that the air feels quite warm, to a visitor in
winter, and directly the reverse in summer, and it is therefore im
portant that in the summer he should become perfectly cool before
he enters, and in vi^inter, before he leaves it. The spring and fall
are the best seasons for visiting the cave, for then the atmosphere
without, is nearly of the same temperature with that within, and it
is more dry at these times.
The question is often asked, which of the two great curiosties
of Virginia is the greatest, Weyer's Cave or the Natural Bridge ?
This is not a fair question, neither can it be easily answered ; for they
are totally different in themselves, and in their effects upon observ
ers. You visit the Natural Bridge in the full blaze of noon-day,
and when you reach the object of your curiosity, it bursts upon your
view, in all its magnificence and grandeur, you comprehend at once
the magnitude of the scene, and you turn away, overpowered with

APPENDIX. 347
a sense of the majesty of Him who has spanned that gulf, and
thrown His arch across it. Visit it as often as you please, this feel
ing return upon you with unabated force, but no new impressions
are made, you have seen the whole.
You visit the cave by the dim light of a few caudles, of course
no impression will at first be produced, or if any an unfavorable one.
As successive portions of the cavern are presented to view, they pro
duce successive and varied emotions. Now you are filled with de
light at the beauty of the sparkling ceilings ; again, this feeling is
mingled with admiration, as some object of more than ordinary
beauty presents itself, and anon you are filled with awe at the magni
tude of the immense chambers, the hollow reverberations of the
lofty arches, and the profuse display of the operations of an omnipo
tent hand. Indistinctness of vision, allows free scope to the imagi
nation, and consequently greatly enhances your pleasure.
Many persons go away from the cave disappointed, they hear of
rooms and ceilings, and if they do not expect to see them plastered
and white- washed, they think at least that they will be mathemati
cally regular in form, and that they will be able to walk in them
with as much ease and see as many wonders as they would in a visit
to Aladin's palace. A visit to the cave is not unattended with fati
gue, but the pleasure you derive from it, is ample compensation.
[The author of this pamphlet has omited to notice what I con
sider one of the greatest and most beautiful of nature's curiosities
in this grand work of nature, i. e., what is called the rising sun. In
a dark recess, on the eastern side of the cave, this curiosity appears
in full relief. It is a very natural representation of the moon in her
last quarter, rising in the morning.]
(NOTE A).
Since the publication of the first edition of this description, a
discovery of great interest has been made in the Infernal Regions,
which deserves notice, on account of its extraordinary richness and
rarity. The floor of this apartment, until recently, has been sup
posed to be solid rock, but it is now ascertained to be a rich mine of
calcareous deposits, unsurpassing in beauty anything ever yet dis
covered in this or any other cavern. By perforating the floor with
a crow bar, it was found to consist of successive layers of brilliant
white crystal, to the depth of three feet, the layers being often in
terrupted, and varying in width.
The crystals are usually pendent from the lower surfaces of the
layers, though very many of them serve as pillars to support the
superincumbent mass. After penetrating through the layers, a
large geode or hollow space was discovered, extending many yards
horizontally, but only three feet deep, which was half full of limpid
water. In this cavity the crystals assume the form of well-defined
dog-tooth spar, and are unrivalled in brilliancy and beauty. In the

348 APPENDIX.
course of extensive and minute explorations in different caves in
this and other States, I have never met with a similar formation, or
with crystals of such transcendant beauty. By the kindness of the
proprietor, I have been enabled to make a choice collection of speci
mens, embracing almost every variety. For one of these I havq re
fused $ioo.
(NOTE B).
Much has been said of late, of another cave that has been dis
covered within two years, in the immediate vicinity of Weyer's. A
few words respecting it may not be uninteresting. You gain admit-
ance by a long flight of steps, and immediately find yourself in a
large apartment, the first view of which, (under the circumstances
in which I first saw it, by the light of several hundred candles) is
very imposing.
Pillars and enormous pendant stalactities impart an air of wild
ness and irregularity to the scene, that is not observed in the other
cave. There are few narrow passages ; the cavern seems to be com
prised in one immense room, its floor However being so uneven and
rugged, and the view so much curtailed by pillars and stalactities that
extend nearly to the floor, that the effect which otherwise would be
produced by its vastness, is very sensibly diminished. I have not
space to describe this cave more minutely, but will briefly give my
impressions of the comparative merits of these rival claimants of our
admiration. We are immediately struck with astonishment and
pleasure, at the general view that is presented tons in Weast'sCave,
as long as we look at it at a little distance, but our emotions are not
very varied ; and when we examine closely the objects of our ad
miration, our emotions subside, for their beauty is gone.
As we enter Weyer's Cave, we are not transported with those
violent yet agreeable emotions, but as we proceed, new and richer
beauties rise successively before us, and our feelings rise with them,
until they reach an almost painful degree of intenseness, nor is the
effect lessened by the most minute examination of the objects of our
admiration. Weast's Cave richly deserves a visit from all who love
to contemplete the works of nature, but in variety, in beauty, and
in general effect, it must yield the palm to Weyer's.

APPENDIX. 349

CHAPTER V.
ACCOUNT OF THE MEDICAL PROPERTIES
OF THE GREY SULPHUR SPRINGS 
The great reputation which the Mineral Springs of Virginia
have of late years acquired, causes them to be resort to, in great num
bers, not only by invalids from every section of the United States
and foreign parts, but also by individuals of leisure and fashion,
whose principal object is, to pass the summer in an agreeable man
ner. The properties of the Warm, Hot, Sweet, White Sulphur,
Salt Sulphur, and Red Sulphur Springs, are generally known.
Those of the Grey Sulphur having been ascertained only within
the two last years, have yet to be made public, aud in order to do so,
we are induced to give, in this form, an account of the situation and
medical properties, together with a statement of some of the cases
benefitted by the use of the waters.
The Grey Sulphur Springs are situated near the line, dividing
the Counties of Giles and Monroe, Va. , on the main road leading
from the court-house of the one to that of the other. They are
three-fourths of a mile from Peterstown, nine miles from Red Sul
phur, and by the county road, and twenty and a quarter miles from
the Salt Sulphur Spring. In traveling to the Virginia Springs, by
either the Main Tennessee or Goodspur Gap Road, and crossing the
country from Newbern, by the stage road to the Sulphur Springs,
,.he Grey Sulphur are the first arrived at. They are thirty miles
distant from Newbum. The location is such as to admit of
many and varied improvements, which, when completed, will ren
der their spot an elegant and desirable resort during the summer
months, independent of the high medicinal properties of the Mineral
Waters. The present improvement consist of a Brick Hotel ninety feet
long and thirty-two wide ; two ranges of cabins one hundred and
sixty-two feet long each, which, with other buildings in connection,
afford accommodation for from ninety to one hundred visitors.
There are two springs at this establishment, situated within five
feet of each other and inclosed in one building. Although rising so
near to each other, yet they differ most materially in their action on
the system. Both appear to be peculiarly serviceable in dyspeptic
cases, and in such as originate in a disordered state of the stomach,
the one in those, in which inflammation Exists, the other in such as

350 APPENDIX.
proceed from torpidity. They have hiterto been known as Large
and Small Springs ; but having succeeded towards the close of the
last season in procuring a much larger supply of water at the Small
Spring than is afforded by the Large, a change of names became
necessary. The large will hereafter be known as the Anti- Dyspep
tic, and the small as the Aperient, which name will serve to point
out their peculiar characteristics.
The Springs have been classed by Professor Shepard, as " Alka-
lino Sulphurous," a variety so rarely met with, that another is not
known in the United States. The waters are beautifully clear, and
highly charged with gas, wnich render them light and extremely
pleasant, especially that of the Anti-Dyspeptic Spring, which pro
duces none of those unpleasant sensations so frequently felt on the
first drinking of Mineral Waters.
When first purchased some of the water was submitted to a
chemist for analysis ; the quantity, however, was too small for him
to ascertain all its ingredients. A more recent examination has
been made by Professor C. U. Shepard, who has furnished us with
the following abstract of an article which appears in the April Num
ber (1836) of Prof. Silliman' s Journal of Science and Arts.
' ' The following is the most satisfactory view which my experi
ments enable me to present of the condition of these waters :
Specific gravity, 1,003.
SOLUBLE INGREDIENTS.
Nitrogen,
Hydro-Sulphuric Acid,
Bi-Carbonate of Soda, *
A Superb Carbonate of Lime,
Chloride of Calcium,
Chloride of Sodium,
Sulphate of Soda,
An Alkaline or earthly Crenate, or both.
Silicic Acid. INSOLUBLE INGREDIENTS.
Sulphuret of Iron,
Crenate of Per Oxide of Iron,
Silicic Acid,
Alumina,Selicate of Iron.
My experiments do not permit me to point out the differences
between the two Springs with precision. The new Spring appears
* It cannot be determined whether free carbonic acid exist in these
-waters, without going into a quantitative analysis. —C. IJ. S.

APPENDIX. 351
to give rise to a greater amount of Hydro-sulphuric acid, as well as
of iron and silicic acid. Probably it may differ in still other respects.
I have not examined it for Iodine or Bromine."
As no regular analysis was attempted the quantities in which
these several ingredients exist, still remain undetermined. That
they are in different proportions iu the two Springs, is evident not
only from their deposits, but also from their action on the system.
The action of the Anti- Dyspeptic Spring is diuretic and gently aperi
ent, tending to restore the healthy performance of the functions, and
reduce or diffuse the local irritation of disease. The Aperient Spring
while it possesses all the alkaline properties of the other, has an
aperient and alterative action. Possessing more iron, (of which the
other has but a trace) , it acts more powerfully as a tonic, whilst
its other ingredients causes it to act in some cases as a very powerful
aperient. As these Springs have been visited by invalids, only during the
two last seasons, it is reasonable to suppose that all their properties
have not yet been discovered, nor all the cases ascertained in which
they can be beneficially used. In fact, owing to the small quantity
of water furnished hitherto by the Aperient Spring, its qualities
have been but little tested, and there can be no doubt, (judging from
its constituents) that it will be found equally salubrious as the Anti-
Dyspeptic Spring, only better adapted to another class of cases. To
give a general idea of the properties of these waters, we might say
that they are peculiarly serviceable in these diseases which originate
in a disordered state of the stomach and bowels, and also in hepatic
affections. It is proper, however, to enter more into details, and we
therefore submit the following synopsis of the medical properties of
the Anti-Dyspeptic Spring. MEDICAL PROPERTIES.
I. It relieves nausia and headaches, arising from disordered
stomachs. 2. Neutralizes acidity, and if taken at meals, or immediately
after, it has a tendency to prevent those unpleasant sensations so
often experienced by invalids, from indiscretion in dieting.
3. Is an excellent tonic, exciting appetite and imparting
strength to digestion.
4. Quiets irritation to the alimentary canal.
5. Controls and lessons the force of the circulation when un
naturally excited by disease, and often in this way, is remedial in
internal inflammation of the organs.
6. It tranquilizes nervous irritability.
7. Is a mild and certain expectorant, often allaying dyspnose,
and promoting recovery from chronic ailments of the chest and
wind-pipe.

352 APPENDIX.
8. It alters the action of the liver, where this has been previ-
ou.sly deranged, in a manner peculiar to itself, and under circum
stances in which the ordinary alteratives are forbidden by reason of
their excitive or'otherwise irrelevent properties.
9. It is also sudorific or diaphoretic ; and
10. When taken at bedtime, often proves itself soporific ; ap
parently stilling that indescribable, but too well understood in
quietude which so frequently and unhappily interrupts or prevents
the repose of the invalid, and especially of the dyspeptic.
Having thus briefly stated the properties of this Spring, we sub
mit the following statement of cases, treated at the Grey Sulphur,
illustrative of the effect of the waters, and in corroboration of what
has been advanced. Except those which are noticed in their proper
places, all are either directly from the pen of the sufferers them
selves, or were immediately dictated by them in the form in which
they appear in the notes. The original are in our possession, signed
by the individuals whose cases are referred to.
No. I.
Dear Sir, — I take pleasure in stating that the waters of the
Grey Sulphur have proved quite beneficial, during a visit of ten
days, both to Mrs. S. and myself. We have both been suffering
with that distressing malady, Dyspepsia, for a long time, and in my
case with a general nervous debility, a weak and torpid state of the
stomach and bowels, and at times great distress of the head and
mind, and nervous excitement, even to spasms. After drinking
freely of the Anti- Dyspeptic Spring, even at meals, the water pro
duced a fine glow and perspiration, suspended the nervous irritation
and distress, and acted as a tonic for the stomach, created a strong
appetite and enabled me to partake, with impunity, of any or all the
solid and delicate dishes with which your table abounded. The
water of the Anti-Despeptic Spring, corrected and prevented acidity
of the stomach, and seemed to give activity and strength to that
organ, but we required a free use of the Aperient Spring, in the
mornings, to prevent a constipation of the bowls, which the Anti-
Dyspeptic Spring seemed to produce.* A glass or two of the Anti-
Dyspeptic Spring, on retiring, produced a glow, allayed nervous irri
tation, and induced a fine night's sleep ; and we have, as well as
our servant woman, who was in a debilitated state of health, ex
perienced more benefit here than from any of the waters we have as
yet -visited. Respectfully yours, &c..

* In a few instances this effect -was complained of, but -we found it was
only in those cases wrhere habitual costiveness existed, and this was easily
remedied by making use of the Aperient Spring before breakfast.

APPENDIX. 353
No. 2.
Dear Sir, — It gives me great pleasure to inform you of the
general effects of your Anti-Dyspeptic Spring, in my case. During
the three day's trial of the waters, I am convinced of its diuretic
and diaphoretic qualities, and in one instance it acted as an altera
tive on my liver, producing a free discharge of billions matter. My
general health has improved, the symptoms of my disease (Neural
gia) have mitigated, my appetite increased, my pulse has become
more tranquil and regular, and my sleep more continual and refresh
ing. I have also gained strength and weight, (three pounds in
three days), during my short sojourn with you.
Yours respectfully.
No. 3.
On the 6th of August, 1835, I arrived at the Grey Sulphur
Springs, in a state of much depression, accompanied by a fever and
rapid pulse, both arising from a complication of disorders belonging
to the throat, the stomach and bowels. In the afternoon I drank of
the Anti- Dyspeptic Spring, and immediate effect was to produce a
gentle moisture of the skin, and to reduce the pulse from an hundred
beats in a minute to about eighty. In the evening, my system gen
erally was relieved. On going to bed I drank of the same spring,
and on the following morning felt a continuance of the same agree
able influence, and an improved appetite. In the afternoon there
was a further reduction of pulse, and my fever entirely subsided,
but partially returned in the night, with quickness of pulse, but by
no means accelerated as it was when I came. In the course of the
second day, the pulse beat sixty per minute, but quickened again.
The first twenty-four or thirty-six hours experience was followed by
similar effects, the two following days, one of which I confined my
self to the Aperient spring, and perceived no difference. Neither of
them had the effect to move my bowels, but on the contrary to con
stipate them. I am much inclined to believe, that a continuance of
these waters might have a salutary influence upon my very singular,
very troublesome, and very obstinate case, if I can judge of their
agreeable effect upon my skin, my spirits and system generally, in so
short a time as three days. There was a continued reduction of the
pulse from accelerated action, produced at the  Sulphur
Spring, by drinking its waters ; but it varied, being considerably
quickened in the evening and during the night. The appetite was
much improved and continued uniform. I regret that I could not
remain long enough at the Grey Sulphur to test its effects upon my
chronic complaints.
No. 4.
Mr. H  had had frequent hemorrhages, accompanied with a
45

354 APPENDIX.
pain in the chest ; his cough was slight, but he suffered much from
phlegm. Twenty-four hours after being at the Grey Sulphur, on
examining his pulse, it was found to be about one hundred. Made
use of the Anti-Dyspeptic Spring, taking about three tumblers per
diem. Three days after, (about the same hour of the day), his
pulse was again examined and found to be reduced to seventy-six
beats per minute, and he felt much better. Having left Home for
 Spring, he thought it is duty to go there. About a month
after. He returned. He had gradually improved in health, and
looked much better, and was evidently so. His pulse, however, was
much too frequent, and he could not get it lowered. After leaving
the Grey Sulphur, it Had risen up, from eighty-five to ninety, and
in the afternoon was frequently at one hundred. In the afternoon
of the day he arrived, his pulse was counted, and found to be one
hundred. After remaining five days, he again left for the 
Spring, his pulse varied, during his stay at the Grey, from seventy-
five to ninety, but never reached as high as one hundred. His com
plexion became clearer, his spirits better, and his cough entirely left
him. It had been gradually lessening at the  Spring, but he
could not get rid of it altogether, and was, moreover, very annoying
to him early in the mornings. In reply to an enquiry, he stated,
after a little reflection, "that he had not coughed once, that he could
recollect, since his (recent) arrival at the Grey, and expectorated
with more ease the phlegm which collected in his throat. ' '
Note. — The above is extracted from notes we kept of a few
cases during last summer. Not intending, at first, to publish them,
we did not ask the consent of Mr. H., and we hope he will pardon
the liberty we have taken.
The three following cases, which occurred in 1834, we give
from notes made soon after, and while the circumstances were fresh
in our memory, and for the correctness of which we hold ourselves
responsible.
No. 5-
Mr. A. W., of Baltimore, arrived at the Grey Sulphur, in Aug.,
1834. His health had been feeble for some time, though in appear
ance he looked but little like an invalid. On the morning of the
second day after his arrival at the Grey Sulphur, he had, whilst
standing at the Spring house a considerable hemorrhage — a half
pint of blood, at least, was spit up in a very short time. A little
common salt was administered, which had the effect of stopping it.
It being deemed improper for him to move immediately, he was in
duced to lie down on one of the benches. About half an hour after
this occurrence, his pulse was felt for the first time. It then beat
one hundred and eighteen per minute ; nor did it vary for the next
half hour. He was persuaded to take some of the water of the Anti-
Dyspeptic Spring, which he was loth at first to do, lest a recurrence

APPENDIX. 355
of the hemorrhage should take place. He took about a half pint of
water, in small quantities at a time, with intervals of from fifteen to
twenty minutes between each. In about an hour from the drinking
of this portion of the water, his pidse was reduced to ninety-eight
beats per minute. Soon after, he was assisted up to his room and
put to bed. His pulse was not again examined until about four
o'clock in the afternoon, (the hemorrhage had occurred about ten
o'clock a. m.), it was then found to have fallen to eighty -six. In
the course of the day, he had taken about a pint of water, in quan
tities of about a half tumbler at a time. The next morning his
pulse was again examined, and found to have fallen to eighty-four
beats per minute. In the course of the day, he left his bed and came
down stairs, and the day following, he left the Grey for the Red
Sulphur, to obtain medical advice. His pulse was not examined
after he left his bed. No. 6.
Mr. M., of South Carolina, had been long a dyspeptic, and had
suffered, for many years, from Chronic Diarrhoea. Early in the
season of 1834, he visited the Saratoga Spring, the water proved in
jurious to him. From thence he visited the White Sulphur, Salt
Sulphur, and Red Sulphur Springs, without experiencing material
benefit. When he arrived at the Grey Sulphur Spring, he was ex
ceedingly feeble and had to be assisted about, and for several days
scarce ever left his chamber, except at meal times. His passages
were very frequent, from eight to teu during the night, and about
the same number during the day. He had entirely lost the power
of secreting urine, and all liquids which he drank passed through
his bowels mixed up with undigested food. His passages were thin
and of a whitish clay color, apparently made up of water and undi
gested food, the latter so little changed as to be easily recognized.
In three days, his passages were reduced to from two to three each
night, and about the same number during the day, the consistency
and color also changed. In a week's time the change was still
greater. The number of passages were about the same, but they
became of a bright yellow color, and similar to a child's in consist
ency. He moreover secreted urine free, and one occasion he in
formed us, that he had passed a large quantity of "pure bile." His
bowels remained nearly in this state, during the time he remained at
the Spring, (about a fortnight), but he improved greatly in bodily
health, walked out, was cheerful, and in every respect appeared bet
ter. The intended stoppage of the stage hurried him off earlier than
he wished. He left the Grey Sulphur with the belief that he had
derived considerable benefit from the use of the waters. It is proper
to remark, that his appetite was enormous, and that he did not re
strict himself in his diet.
Note. — There was several other cases of Diarrhoea at the Grey

356 APPENDIX.
Sulphur in 1834 ; all were materially benefitted by the use of the
Anti-Dyspeptic Spring. No. 7.
Mr. L., arrived at the Grey Sulphur Spring about four o'clock
in the afternoon. He had been for some time in a delicate state of
health and had suffered much during the day. Early in the morn
ing he had been seized with nausea, which brought on vomiting.
The irritation increased during the day, and the vomiting became
frequent and easily excited ; all food was immediately rejected, and
so irritable became the stomach, that two mouthfuls of water, taken
a short time before reaching the Grey Sulphur, were thrown up
before he could recline back in His carriage. He was very much ex
hausted when he arrived, but without sitting down, requested to be
shown to the Spring. We accompanied him down. He took a glass
of the Anti- Dyspeptic Spring, paused for a few seconds, then took
another. A minute or two elapsed, and he then drank several in
quick succession. The precise properties of the water had not then
been ascertained, and we felt bound to caution him against making
such free use of an untried water, although we then knew nothing
of his case. He laid down the glass and walked up to the house
with us. On the way, he mentioned the particulars already given,
in continuation, he stated, that on drinking the first tumble of water,
he experienced a slight nausea, as the first of it reached the coat of
the stomach, but that this wore off almost instantaneously. Being
much exhausted and exceedingly thirsty, he determined to venture
a second, although he firmly believed that both would be thrown
up. Not the slightest nausea was experienced on drinking the
second tumbler of water. Surprised at this effect he determined to
ascertain what would be the effect of taking it in large quantities,
and for this purpose he drank about four tumbles more, when he
was prevented from proceeding further by our remarks. The great
quantity he had taken, not only produced no unpleasant sensations,
but on the contrary, removed those he Had previously experienced,
and served to revive him. In the course of the afternoon, he took
two or three glasses more of the water. About seven o'clock, supper
was served, of which he partook freely, making choice of substan
tial food, such as broiled chicken, bread, rice, &c. Not the slight
est nausea was produced. Fearing a reccurrence the next morning,
he was advised to take some of the water before he left his bed. We
were informed, that a slight nausea was felt, but it immediately wore
off on drinking a glass of water. In similar attacks, which this gen
tleman had previously had, each was succeeded by such costiveness
that medicine had to be resorted to. In the present one, there was
no occasion for medicine ; the evacuations were large and the bowels
continued regular during the time he remained ; nor did he at any
time experience any nausea, with which we were made acquainted.

APPENDIX. 357
No. 8.
Extract of a Letter, dated New York, Jan. zr, 1836.
" It gives me great pleasure to inform you, that I fully realized all
the benefit I had been led to anticipate from the use of the waters
of the Grey Sulphur (Anti-Despeptic) Spring, with which you so
kindly provided me. On Monday morning, I was very sea sick, so
that I could not leave my berth without vomiting, but on taking a
half a tumbler of the water, I was sensibly relieved. I continued to
use it agreeably to your directions, taking half a tumbler at inter
vals of fifteen minutes, till the bottle was exhausted. By that time,
I had so far recovered as to be able to go about the deck with great
comfort, and took a hearty meal, both at dinner and supper. The
next morning, however, the weather having become more boistrous,
and the sea running high, I was again very sick, but my resources
had failed me, and I had only to yield myself quietly to the influ
ence of that most distressing affection. From the result of the ex
periment, I am satisfied that it is the best remedy for sea sickness
that I have ever heard of, and that, had not not the supply of water
failed, I should not have lost one meal during the voyage.
The following note which has been kindly furnished us, refers
to the same subject :
Dear Sir, — The following is an extract of a letter received by
me, from Mr. J. H., who went passenger by the steamboat Wm.
Gibbons, in January last, showing the very beneficial effects of the
Grey Sulphur Water, in relieving him from sea sickness.
" The effect of the water on me, were most beneficial, and while
the supply lasted, relieved me entirely of nausea, so that I was en
abled to eat heartily. ' '
Having been at sea with Mr. H. , I bear testimony that he is a
complete victim to sea sickness, and I do not know any one on whom
the effects of the water could be better tested.
No. 9.
Sir, — It affords me pleasure to bear testimony to the efficacy of
the waters of the Grey Sulphur Springs in my case. I have been
suffering from Dyspepsia, for at least fifteen years, during which
time it has made fearful inroads on a naturally delicate constitution.
The disease had progressed so far (a few years ago) that the slight
.stimulus of food, produced an immediate evacuation after every meal.
The state of things could not last, and a most violent inflammation
of the bowels ensued, which brought me to the borders of the grave,
and evenuated in the formation of afistala in anno. The sinusses
spread so far, and became so numerous, that I was forced to have
some of them laid open, but having a predisposition to pulmonary
affections, it was not deemed prudent to operate on all of them. My
digestive organs had not recovered their strength, and the irrita-

358 APPENDIX.
tion of undigested food, (though I had lived extremely low), kept
up the inflammation, aud at last extended to the neck of the blad
der, and became extremely distressing. To remove the inflamma
tion and obtain relief, I had recourse to mustard poultices and
opiates, but the relief was very temporary. Whilst suffering much
from this cause, I was induced to set off for the Virginia Springs.
At that time my bodily health was so much impaired, that I was al
most incapable of transacting business ; all employment, even read
ing, was irksome to me. My digestion was so bad that I scarcely
knew what to live on ; every thing, however plain, appeared to dis
agree with me, and I was at times truly wearied of life, for I looked
forward only to a life of pain and suffering. Such was my situation,
when in 1834, I left my home for the Springs. On my journey, I
did not improve in health, but on the contrary, had a slight attack
of diarrhoea. The irritation around the bladder continued, or rather
increased, so that I was obliged to make use of the opiates daily, and
sometimes, two or three times in the course of the day. The first
Spring I arrived at, was the Grey Sulphur. This I consider fortun
ate, as I found on trial, that all the others were too stimulating for
me, with the exception of the Red Sulphur, and from that, I am not
aware of experiencing 'any material benefit. Be this as it may, it
enabled me satisfactorily to ascertain that the waters of the Grey
Sulphur Spring was decidedly beneficial in my case. I can scarcely
describe my situation when I arrived at your Spring. I was weak,
feverish, and laboring under a kind of nervous excitement, whilst
the inflammation had evidently increased, and I suffered much from
it, especially towards evening. I have been thus particular, that the
action of the water may be more distinctly understood. The first
day of my arrival, I drank freely of the Anti-Dyspeptic Spring. I
took no note of the quantity, but drank whenever I felt thirsty, or
had an inclination, and I must confess, but with little expectation of
finding relief, or at least, not immediate, for your Spring had not
theu obtained that celebrity, which I am glad to find it has since
acquired. Judge, then, of my very agreeable surprise, at finding in
the evening, (the time when the paroxysms of pain were unsually the
most violent) , that they were so slight that I had no need of medi
cine. I retired to rest and slept soundly. The next day I was not
at all annoyed, and at the usual time, I scarcely perceived that there
was any irritation at all. The third day I was entirely relieved, and
had no return during my stay at the Spring, nor had I occasion once
to use any medicine.
Other changes not less important, also took place. The diar
rhoea ceased on the second day, and in the course of the week the
evacuations, from being thin and of a whitish clay color, became of
an orange color, and acquired considerable firmness, and in a short
time afterwards, acquired all the characteristics of healthy passages.
It is needless to say that my digestion had improved. One thing is
worthy of remark, and that is, that I found myself able to digest,

APPENDIX. 359
not only plain food, but also the richer kiuds, and even desserts ;
and this without suffering, and even without experiencing any un
pleasant feeling after meals. I should Here state, however, that I
invariably took from one to two tumblers of the water after each meal,
and I found this peculiarly serviceable after breakfast, when the
tea, or coffee, became (almost invariably at first) acid. During my
sojourn with you, I improved in every respect, and even the dis
charge from the fistulas ceased nearly altogether, and returned home
in, comparatively, excellent health, which I enjoyed, until unfor
tunately I was attacked with the influenza during the last winter.
From that time I began to retrograde, and when summer arrived, I
was in almost as bad condition as the year previous. The inflam
mation and irritation were quite as violent, and my digestion had
again become disordered. I had experienced too much relief at the
Grey Sulphur, to hesitate long as to the course proper to be pursued,
and again I had the pleasure of visiting them the last season. I
have only to say, that the same happy effects were produced, the
only difference I observed was, that these were not so immediate as
the year previous, but I amply compensated for this by their per
manency. And I have now the pleasure of staging to you, that I
have enjoyed, and am now enjoying (February 12th) better health
than I have known for the last ten or twelve years, and most happy
am I to state to you, that I have not had the slightest indication of
inflammation in those regions where I had suffered so much.
I remain. Dear Sir, yours, &c..
No. 10.
Mr. B. has had a bronchial affection for many years, which at
times were so distressing as to compel him to remain propped up in
a sitting posture, in bed, the whole night, and in this mode obtain
some sleep. To obtain relief from this affection, he now traveled.
When he flrst arrived at the Grey Sulphur, the cough was very
troublesome. Made use of the Anti- Dyspeptic Spring, which had
the effect of producing a gentle perspiration, especially at night, and
which effect was continued whenever the water was taken, during
the whole time of his stay. The cough gradually diminished, until
it almost disappeared altogether. At first there was considerable
difficulty in getting up the phlegm, but after drinking the water a
short time, it was expectorated with ease. During the time he was
at Grey Sulphur, he slept well, had an excellent appetite, and could
easily digest whatever he partook of. B.
The above statement of cases, was submitted to Professors Jas.
Moultrie, Jr., and S. Henry Dickson, of the Medical College of the
State of South Carolina. The following letters will show the opin
ion entertained by these gentlemen relative to the medical properties
of these waters.

36o APPENDIX. Charleston, Feb. nth, 1836.
Dear Sir, — I have overlooked your intended publication to
gether with the accompanying documents. I think the statements
furnished by the latter, fully authorizes you to put forth what you
propose. The amount of experience with the waters is very small, to
be sure, but such as it is, it is calculated to excite strong presumption
in their favor. Indeed, considering their analysis, jointly with the
facts furnished by your documents, I have confident expectations
that they will prove among the most useful discoveries of that sort,
yet made in our country. All thus early known to them, encour
ages us to look for future corroberation of the impressions you have
imbibed respecting their virtues. Considering their elements, they
cannot be nugator}^ and must therefore, be productive of benefit or
mischief. Rea.soning from what we already know, the evidence ap
pears to be altogether in favor of a salutary result.
Very truly yours,
Jas. Moultrie, Jr., M.D.
J. D. Legare, Esq.

Charleston, Feb. nth, 1836.
Dear Sir,— I have perused with attention and interest the papers
sent me, containing reports of cases in which the Water of your Vir
ginia Spring have been tried ; and do not hesitate to express the
opinion, that they fully justify the statements made in your proposed
publication. Prof. Shepard's analysis exhibits a singular combina
tion of ingredients, and prepare us to anticipate striking and grati
fying results from the use of Waters containing remedies of such
obvious efficiency. I confess, I am led to entertain sanguine expec
tations of benefit to a large class of patients, from these fountains, and
shall be much disappointed if the "Grey Sulphur Springs" do not
soon attain a high rank among the summer resorts of invalids, and
of the fashionable world.
With great regard, I remain. Dear Sir, yours faithfully,
S. Henry Dickson, M.D.
J. D. Legare, Esq.
We here close for the present, our account of the medical prop
erties of the Grey Sulphur Springs. The report of cases might have
been more extended, had we applied to all of the individuals, who
have been benefitted by the use of these waters. It was not deemed
necessary to do so. Invalids, with strongly marked cases, will in all
probability visit these Springs, during the next and succeeding sea
sons, and it is our intention to preserve a record of such as may be
communitated to us. John D. Legare.

APPENDIX. 361

CHAPTER VI.

WINCHESTER.

The reader will doubtless recollect that this flourishing town
was established by law in the year 1752. In 1738, there were but
two cabins erected near the run. It is now a very wealthy corpor
ate town, has its own court of justice, is the seat of justice for the
County of Frederick, is the place where the Supreme Courts of
Chancery and Law are held for the county, the residence of many
distinguished lawyers and physicians, has a flourishing academy and
numerous Classical and English Schools, many mechanical estab
lishments of first order, some thirty or forty retail stores, a number
of taverns kept in the best style, several confectionary shops, several
merchant tailors, and almost every variety of business done in our
seaport cities. Its buildings are many of brick of superior order.
Taylor's hotel is conspicuous for its great size and elegance oj
structure. Its front on Loudon street is ninety feet and runs its
wings one hundred and thirty feet back, contains seventy rooms,
is calculated to entertain numerous companies of visitors and
boarders, and is kept in superb style. This building is three
stories ; the basement story is divided into cellars and several rooms
furnished in the neatest manner ; the attic is divided into lodging
rooms, which are also furnished in neat style. It commands an im
mense business.
Within the last five or six years a railroad has been constructed
from Winchester to Harper's Ferry, on the Baltimore highway ; six
or seven spacious warehouses erected at the commencement of the
road, and is the place of deposit of vast quantities of merchandise
and produce of every variety. It now contains upwards of 4,000
inhabitants, and is a place of great business. Several gentleman,
descended from German ancestors, who have accumulated consider
able wealth, are among them. It has two Presbyterian edifices,
handsomely built, as places of public worship ; one Catholic chapel ;
two Methodist meeting houses, and a splendid Episcopal church
lately erected ; the Baptists have a meeting house, as also the Ger
man Lutherans ; and the Friends have a neat brick building. The
people are divided into various religious sects, and it is believed
much piety prevails. It is doubtless one of the finest watered towns
in the valley, and a place of general good health. Fine water is
conveyed through iron pipes to almost every part of the town ; there
46

362 APPENDIX.
are many hydrants erected in the streets ; and many of the citizens
have the water conveyed into their yards. This water is taken
from a fine limestone spring about half a mile west of the town.
There is a regular organized Fire Company, remarkable for their
excellent discipline and activity. But few houses have ever been des
troyed by fire. The author recollects seeing an old house on Lou
don street destroyed by fire upwards of thirty years ago ; the wind
blew a strong gale from the N. W., and notwithstanding the oppo
site side of the street was closely built with wooden houses, such
was the activity of the fire company and other citizens, that every
building was saved except the one which first took fire. Several
years afterwards, a fire broke out in a wooden building at the north
end of the town, and the flames spread with great rapidity. It was
said that twenty-two buildings took fire at the .same time, and but
two small buildings consumed ; those two beloneed to an old gentle
man by the name of Benjamin Rutherford, and stood about one
hundred and fifty yards apart. The astonishing exertions and ac
tivity of the fire company, together with the aid of every citizen,
and even ladies, saved twenty buildings on fire at the same
time ; and what was remakable, but little damage was done the
buildings were saved. A few years ago, there were three old
wooden buildings on Loudon street burned down, but the flames
were so kept under, that no other damage were done. About sixty
years ago, a framed building on Loudon street, which was called the
"Long Ordinary," was destroyed by fire, and an old building on
the west side of the town, called " The Brewery," was destroyed by
fire. The author recollects seeing this building on fire. It is be
lieved that the foregoing statements contains a true account of
all the houses destroyed by fire for the last sixty or seventy years.
So that it may truly be said, that Winchester has heretofore been
very fortunate. STAUNTON.
This town may with truth be said to be classical ground. In
the war of the Revolution, the Legislature had assembled at Rich
mond ; the enemy had advanced to the seat of government, and' the
assembly adjourned and met at Charlottesville, Tarlton pursued
them thither, and they again adjourned and met at Staunton,
here they finished their session. Tarlton did not dare interrupt
them there, for the best of all reasons ; the people of Augusta and
adjoining counties were a brave, hardy, and active race, well ac
quainted with the use of the rifle ; and if Tarlton had ventured to
pursue them to Staunton, he would in all probability have met with
another " Cowpen defeat." The citizens turned out manfully, well
armed, aud determined to contest his march to that place, and pro
tect their legislators in their deliberations.
Staunton, like Winchester, has incorporated privileges, its own

APPENDIX. 363
court of justice, is the seat of justice for Augusta county, and the
place for holding Superior Courts of Law aud Chancery for the
county, is the residence of several distinguished lawyers and physi
cians, and is the site of a Lunatic Hospital of great reputation. It
has several beautiful edifices erected for public worship, and fif
teen or twenty retail stores, with four or five taverns kept in a good
style. It is surrounded by many valuable farms, and a considerable
number of elegant brick dwelling houses, has several turnpike roads
leading to East and West, North and South, from which it derives
great advantages, and of course is a place of extensive business.
In all human probability, it is destined at some future day to become
the site of our State government. Its central situation, the fine
health of the country, its contiguity to the numerous mineral
springs, its safety from danger of invasion from a foreign enemy in
time of war, present most cogent arguments in its favor, and when
ever our western counties shairbe filled with population, we will
have a considerable majority of the free white population west of
the Blue Ridge, aud it appears to the mind of the author, that the
people of the west will not rest satisfied with their seat of govern
ment in its present situation.
Staunton has become conspicuous iu the history of our State
for other important reasons. It is the place where two large con
ventions of citizens were held some years ago, for deliberating on
the great question of reforming our State Constitution. The last of
which conventions was held in the month of July, 1825. In this
convention upwards of one hundred members attended. Their pro
ceedings were characterized by great temperance, but much energy.
A most solemn appeal was made to the Legislature on this vital
question, aud at the ensuing session, an act passed submitting this
question to the lawful voters of the State, which resulted in a ma
jority of the citizens in favor of the necessity of calling a conven
tion for the purpose of revising and amending the organic law of our
State. This body was elected in the spring of 1826, and assembled
at the capital in the city of Richmond, the ensuing autumn, and
drew up certain amendments to the original constitution, which
were submitted to the people for their first ratification or rejection.
There were many of our ablest statesmen opposed to its ratification,
but a majority of our citizens voted for its adoption.
LEWISBURG.
This is a thriving village in the County of Greenbrier, west of
the Alleghany Mountains. It is yet but a small village, but the
seat of justice for the county. There is a Superior Court of Law
and Chancery aud a Court of Appeals. It has become conspicuous
iu the history of the State, from the circumstance, that a conven
tion was lately held there of the citizens of the western common
wealth, by which resolutions were passed, recommending a further

364 APPENDIX.
amendment to the State Constitution so as to give a more
equal representation of the two great divisions of the State in the
General Assembly. Neither is it undeserving of celebrity on account
of its several religious edifices, among which the Presbyterian de-
ser^'es first to be named from its size and commodious internal ar
rangements. The Methodists and Baptists respectively, have also
chaste and convenient houses for public worship. There are sever
al elegant brick dwelling houses in the village, from six to seven
retail stores, and two public hotels, under excellent management.
From the locality of the village, situated in the midst of a produc
tive country, steadily increasing in population and wealth, it is des
tined to become a place of considerable business and importance.
The face of the country contiguous to and surrounding the village,
is beautifully diversified by hills aud valleys, woods and fertile fields,
and the town, with the whole of the circumjacent region, is remark
able for the salubrity and healthiness of climate.
the FINE ARTS;
From the youth of our Commonwealth, and the character of
our people, devoted almost exclusively, as they have been, to agri
culture and its collateral pursuits, we cannot as yet, nor is it yet
expected that we can, produce before the world, any Masters in the
fine arts comparable with the old Masters of Europe. Yet, notwith
standing the fact that we have as yet no representatives in sculpture
to stand by the side of Canova, nor in painting, a champion to com
pete with a Titian, a Guido, a Stuart, yet we have not yet been
wholly denied the genius of the pencil. Some ten years since, in
the County of Berkeley, a young man of the name of  McCau-
try, with the intuitive perception only exhibited by true genius,
commenced, first in playful sketches, and shortly after in more seri
ous efforts, the divine art of painting. Encouraged by this rapid
advancement, he subsequently took a trip to the hallowed ground of
Italy, there to perfect himself in the business of his choice. He
promised much from improvement ; but shortly after his return to his
native country, he died, and with him the hopes of his friends.
Six years ago, a Mr. Henry Bowen, of Frederick county, a self-
taught artist, commenced the business of a portrait painter, and
such was his proficiency in the art that it may be almost said of him
he was accomplished in it from the outset. He has since devoted
himself assidiously to his employment, and has earned thereby, from
the striking fidelity of his sketches to truth and nature, a well-mer
ited reputation. The author can bear the safest testimony to his
character, from the specimens of Mr. Bowen which he has seen.
CULTURE OF SILK.
The excellent lady of Mr.Amos Lupton, residing within two

APPENDIX. 365
and-a-half mies of Winchester, has met with very encouraging suc
cess in her efforts at producing silk from the cultivation of the trees
and the domestication of all the worm. She exhibited to the au
thor several pair of hose she had manufactured from this silk, and
stating her intention of having the residue of the raw material spun,
and wove into articles of wearing apparel. A hired woman, mean
time, was employed in spinning the silk from the cocoons upon the
common flax-wheel, and really made considerable headway in her
delicate task. We hope that Mrs. Lupton will persevere in the en
terprise ; for we cannot but believe that our soil and climate are
both well adapted for the culture of silk. Mr. Lupton has been
completely successful in the raising of the Morus Multicaulis, the
plants having grown very thrifty. HYBRIDOUS.
An animal was begotten between a buck and a young cow
about twenty years ago. The extraordinary and beautiful animal
was produced in the neighborhood of Zane's Old Furnace. The
owner intended selling it to a butcher to make a veal of it ; but the
late Maj. Bean purchased it, and intended to raise it by hand. He
kept it several weeks, but it died, and with it the hopes of Mr. Bean
and many of the neighbors. Mr. Bean flattered himself with high
expectations of having in his possession one of the most rare, beauti
ful, and extraordinary curiosities in nature's work. The author did
not get the opportunity of seeing this singular creature, but several
of his neighbors visited Mr. Bean for the express purpose of viewing
it, who reported the facts to the writer of this narrative. It was
said to exhibit the head, neck, shoulders and forelegs of its sire, and
hinder parts that of the dam, and promised to grow to pretty good
size. It was a male.
The author saw the skin of a double calf in the neighborhood
of Luray. The hide was carefully taken off and stuffed. It had a
double body, two distinct heads, and two tails, four perfect eyes, and
but four legs. This singular extra natural production was in pos
session of Capt. John Gatewood, jr.
A cow OF SIX LEGS.
Fifteen or sixteen years ago the late Samuel G. Sydnor owned
a cow with six perfectly formed legs, which the author frequently
saw. It had two extra legs formed on the shoulders, and when it
walked these legs made regular motions. They hung over on each
side, and were much smaller than the other legs.
SPLENDID IMPROVED FARM.
Bushrod B. Washington, Esq., a few years ago erected a very

366 APPENDIX.
large brick dwelling house, in the neighborhood of Charlestown,
Jefferson county, with all the necessary offices. This building with
other improvements cost upwards of thirty thousand dollars.
The building was finished in the most tasteful style of modern
architecture ; but unfortunately, some two or three years ago, it ac
cidentally took fire ; and all the interior works were consumed. But
the writer is informed Mr. Washington has lately rebuilt it. The
author obtained a sketch of its dimensions, but has unfortunately
mislaid the memorandum. Suffice it to say, it is one of the largest
and most elegant edifices in our country.
Judge Henry St. G. Tucker has erected in the neighborhood of
Leetown a most splendid stone building, rough cast, finished in
beautiful style, three stories high ; but the writer does not recollect
the exact size of the edifice, but it is a very large building. Jeffer
son county contains a great number of fine large dwelling houses,
with other capital improvements. In the County of Clarke, David
H. Allen, Esq., has lately erected a brick dwelling on a beautiful
eminence, from which there is a most enchanting view of the Blue
Ridge and adjacent country. It is sixty -six feet by fifty, with a
splendid portico, supported by a beautiful colonade twenty-flve feet
high of solid pine pillars.
In front of the house is an extended lawn, partly covered with
a sheet of transparent water, which adds greatly to the novelty and
beauty of the scenery. Mr. Allen informed the writer, that some
years ago the water course contained much dark alluvian mud, on
each side, very miry and difficult to cross. He hauled out six thou
sand wagon loads of the mud upon the adjoining high lands, which
so increased the fertility, that, for several years it was too rich for
the production of wheat.
Mr. Allen is pretty extensively engaged in the stock way. A
few years ago, he at one time owned one hundred and twenty head
of horses, and a large stockof improved black cattle, sheep and hogs.
Mr. Allen was bred to the law, but having married the daughter of
the late Col. Griffin Taylor, got this fine estate by her ; and his father
being also wealthy, he also abandoned the practice, and lived a re
tired and private life ever since.
Edward Jaquline Smith, Esq., has built a fine brick dwelling
house, large and tastefully finished, on an extensive farm in the
same neighborhood. He is a most judicious and successful farmer.
Col. J. W. Ware has erected a fine large brick building near
Mr. Smith's, is also a successful farmer, is remarkable for breeding
the very finest cattle ; and his stable has been the stand for several
years, of the very finest horses which have been imported into our
country. Col. Joseph Tuly, in the County of Clarke, has built a most
splendid and expensive mansion on his beautiful farm in the neigh
borhood of Millwood, which he has named "Tulyries." To give a
detailed account of this fine building, would be tedious and perhaps

APPENDIX. 367
tiresome to the reader. It is sufficient to say that this edifice is
sixty feet by forty, of the best of brick, finished from the base to the
attic in the most elegant style of modern architecture, and is covered
with tin. A spacious portico, supported underneath with massive
slabs, with pillars of solid pine, twenty-eight feet high, supporting
the roof, forming a most beautiful colonade, based on square marble
blocks ; the porch floor laid with white marble, and marble steps ; a
spacious entry ; a spiral stairway running from the passage to the
summit, on which there is a handsome cupola with a large brass ball
erected ; the fire-places decorated with the finest marble mantles ;
his doors and windows of the best mahogany ; with a green house
in which there is sheltered a great variety of the richest exotic
plants and flowers ; the yard decorated with a great variety of native
and imported trees and shrubbery, with several orange trees which
bear fruit handsomely. Adjoining the yard, an extensive park is
enclosed in the forest, within which enclosure there are a large num
ber of native elks and deer. The old buck elk will not suffer any
stranger to intrude on his premises. Col. Tuly's father was born
and raised in the State of New Jersey, learned the trade of tanner,
came to Virginia a young man, commenced business on a small capi
tal, and amassed a very considerable estate, the greater part of which
he devised to his only son Joseph. The Col. carries on the tanning
business extensively, and > has added considerably to the estate left
him by his father. He farms extensively and successfully, and
largely in the stock way.
Mr. John Kerfoot, twenty-five or thirty years ago, built a large,
comfortable brick dwelling, finished in plain style, with most of his
offices and all his slaves' houses of the same material. In approach
ing his residence it strikes the eye of the stranger as a sprightly vil
lage. Mr. Kerfoot is beyond question one of the most enterprising,
judicious, and successful farmers in our section of country. He has
acquired more wealth by his agricultural pursuits, than any indi
vidual with the author's knowledge ; has raised a large family of
sons and daughters, and provided handsomely for them all ; has
given each of his sons fine farms and every necessary to commence
business. His daughters as they have married and left him have
eachof them been handsomely portioned off. Mr. Kerfoot is, and
has been for many years a member of the Baptist church, a liberal,
consistent and most worthy member. He is rigidly punctual in his
pecuniary engagements ; it is said of him that he was never known
to fail in a single instance to pay or fulfill any engagement he has
entered into. Thus coming up to the golden gospel rule of ' ' doing
to others as he would they should do unto him."
Mr. John Richardson is now the owner of the fine tract of land
formerly owned by, and the residence of the late. Col. Warner Wash
ington, called " Fairfield," on which he has . established an exten
sive distillery. The house is built of brick, attached to which a
large yard is enclosed and nicely floored with the same material, for

368 APPENDIX.
the purpose of raising and fattening pork. About every two months
he sends off to the Baltimore market from eighty to one hundred
head of finely fattened hogs. Mr. Richardson is a man of great in
dustry and enterprise, farms extensively, and raises a fine stock of
improved cattle. He, like many of our citizens, is the builder of his
own fortune, having commenced on a very small capital.
The Rev. Thomas Kennerly has lately erected a beautiful, plain,
extensive brick mansion at ' ' Greenway Court, ' ' the ancient resi
dence of the late Lord Fairfax, now in the County of Clarke, near
the White Post village. James Madison Hite, Esq., resides in an
elegant brick mansion, contiguous to the stone bridge.
Doctor James Hay has lately built in the same neighborhood a
truly splendid edifice of considerable size and finished in the most
elegant manner.
Doctor Berkeley, previous to his death, was engaged in erect
ing a brick house near the Shenandoah, of very extensive dimen
sions, but before he had finished it he was most cruelly murdered by
his slaves, and his body consumed in a most tremendous fire. Hfe
was robbed of a large sum of money by them, which they scattered
about among their confederates, part of which was found ; but it
was said at the time, that a considerable part of it was lost. John
Rust, Esq. , has lately purchased a part of Doctor Berkeley's estate,
including this fine building, which he has had finished in plain neat
style. Doctor Berkeley was killed in 1818. Three of his slaves, one
female and two males, were tried and convicted of the murder, in
Frederick court, and all three executed at Winchester, in the month
of July, 1818. The representatives of the Doctor obtained an act of
assembly, authorizing them to sell off a number of the slaves who
were suspected with being concerned in the murder, and they
were sent to the South and sold. The estate now lies in the County
of Warren. Capt. Robert C. Burwell, just before the late war, erected an ele
gant brick mansion in the neighborhood of Millwood. At the com
mencement of the war he commanded a company of the militia, and
marched at the head of his company, and joined the standard of
his country at Norfolk. He fell a sacrifice to that unhealthy climate
and died. Previously to leaving home, he provided his last will, which he
devised his fine estate to Philip Nelson, Esq. , who married his sis
ter, and now owns this elegant property.
The late Col. Charles Magill commenced, shortly before his
death, on his fine farm about five miles south of Winchester, a very
large brick dwelling, but died before it was finished. Since his
death it has been finished, and now is the residence of John S. Ma
gill, Esq. , one of his sons.
Mr. William A. Carter is now erecting a splendid brick dwell
ing, about two miles west of Newtown, Stephensburg, on a beauti-

APPENDIX. 369
ful eminence which commands a most fasinating view of this village,
the adjacent country and mountains east and west, for a vast dis
tance. It is covered with English slate.
Joseph Neill, Esq., has erected a beautiful brick dwelling at the
north end of N. T. Stephensburg, plastered and neatly whitened on
the outside. His neat little farm on which the buildings are erected
adjoins the village.
Mr. Isaac HoUingsworth has erected a splendid brick dwelling
near Winchester, contiguous to his fine mills, his yard and curtilages
handsomely enclosed with first rate stone walls.
There are a number of other brick dwelling houses iu the several
counties named, exclusively of those particularly mentioned ; and
there are a considerable number of fine large stone buildings.
The residence of George H. Burwell; Esq., is most splendidly
improved with stone buildings. It adjoins the village of Millwood,
called ' ' Carter Hall. ' ' The main building is sixty-six feet by thirty ,
three stories ; with a wing at each end, twenty-one feet long, two
stories high ; the whole building finished in the most tasteful style
of modem architecture. This was the former residence of the late
Col. Nathaniel Burwell, a gentleman of great wealth. The build
ing stands on a beautiful eminence, and command a delightful view
of the Blue Ridge and the adjacent neighborhood. The water is
conveyed by force pumps from a fine spring to the dwelling house,
yards and stable, at a distance of about three hundred yards. This
fine farm may with truth be said to be among the most elegantly im
proved estates west of the Blue Ridge.
Maj. Seth Mason has lately built a spacious stone dwelling,
stone barn and stable, on the waters of Crooked Run, in the Coun
ty of Frederick. The buildings are erected on a beautiful eminence,
and command a fine view of the Blue Ridge a vast distance. From
the Major's yard about one hundred farms are to be seen in full re
lief on the west side of the mountain.
Capt. Phenias Bowen has lately erected a stone dwelling, three
stores high, near the Opequon, in Clarke county. The writer never
obtained ..he exact dimensions of this building ; but it is very large,
and covered with tin. It is not finished.
The late Maj. Isaac Hite, on his fine large farm, about the year
1792, built a stone dwelling, near the great highwaytrom Winches
ter to Staunton ; a most spacious and elegant building west of the
Blue Ridge. In point of taste, and beauty of symmetry, it is cer
tainly not exceeded by any country building the author has ever
seen. It still stands to be admired by every beholder.
In the County of Shenandoah, the late Messrs. Isaac Bowman,
Joseph Stover and Anthony Spengler, severally built large brick
dwellings, but a short distance from Strasburg, each on a fine large
farm. It is hardly deemed necessary for the author to proceed with
a further detail of particular dwelling houses. It would require a
large volume to contain an account of all the fine dwellings in our val-
47

370 APPENDIX.
ley. It is presumed that a sufficient number has been described to
enable the reader to from an estimate of the vast improvement of
our country within the last forty years. It is sufficient to say that
many counties in the valley are equally well improved.
The great number of first rate merchant mills and factories de
serve some particular notice, but it would swell this publication far
beyond all reasonable limits to attempt a detail. The author will
therefore content himself, and he hopes the reader will be content to
have a brief description of Mr. Valentine Rhode's mill on Cedar
Creek, the dividing line been Frederick and Shenandoah counties.
The author is induced to give a passing notice to the building from
the extraordinary and unparalleled labor performed by Rhodes, with
the assistance of one of his sons, a youth of about twelve or fourteen
years of age, in its construction and erection. Mr. Rhodes informed
the author, that when he had purchased and paid for the site, in
cluding a small tract of land, for which he paid in advance, he had
no more than ten dollars left. Mr. Rhodes is an ingenious me
chanic and first rate mill-wright. He determined, however, on
building his mill ; to enable himself to go on with it, that he would
undertake every job at his trade that he could engage, and if he
earned eighty or one hundred dollars, he would proceed with his
own building until his money gave out ; he would then engage in
work as opportunity afforded until he could gather one or two hun
dred dollars more, and so proceeded on, until he got his mill to run
ning. It was six years from the time he commenced until he got it
to grinding. But the most extraordinary, and the writer may truly say', won
derful circumstance attending this building, is the immense weight
of stone and timbers used in its construction. The first story is built
of stone of enormous size and weight, several of which are seven or
eight feet long and fifteen or eighteen inches thick, doubtless weigh
ing several tons each, all of which Mr. Rhodes worked into the
walls with his own personal labor. The only machine he used was
the mill screw. The wall on the west side is at least five feet thick,
and no part less than three. The first part of the mill-house was
twenty-eight feet square, or perhaps thirty, to which he added an
other building fifty feet in length and thirty in width, stretching
across the entire stream, excepting a small arm of the water-course
forming a small island, on which the first building is erected. The
south end of the building juts against a solid perpendicular limestone
rock twenty-five or thirty feet high, which form one of the walls ;
nature has formed niches in this, which receive. the ends of timbers
fifty feet long and from ten to twelve inches square, which Mr.
Rhodes raised and put into place with the aid of his son and mill-
screw, one end resting on the vvall of the first building and the oth^r
inserted in the natural niches in the stone wall. These powerful
timbers are elevated about ten feet above the waters. He receives
his customers' grain, at each end of his mill ; so that it may be said

APPENDIX. 371
it stands in the two counties. It is doubtful whether a simUar in
stance of extraordinary exertion, enterprise and successful persever
ance can be found in our country.
Mr. Rhodes certainly deserves a premium for his wonderful
diligence and successful enterprise and perseverance in the construc
tion of this extraordinary building. There have been several floods
in the Creek since the mill was erected ; but the immense strength
of the dam and walls has heretofore resisted the force of the waters,
and the mill sustained no injury. CHURCHES.
The Episcopal society have within a few years past erected
several beautiful houses of worship ; one at Berryville, one at Mill
wood, one in Winchester, (the latter a truly splendid building, with
first-rate organ), and another at Middletown, which is also a beauti
ful and chaste structure, and is truly creditable to the society. The
writer heard a minister of the gospel express the opinion, that it
presented to the eye precisely what a church edifice ought to ex
hibit, i. e., a ray of truth. The Roman Catholic Society have
erected several chapels in several places. They have built a superb
edifice at Harper's Ferry, with a beautiful pulpit, with the image of
the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus in her lap.
harper's ferry.
It is scarcely necessary to inform the reader that this is the lo
cation of the United States armory, and in the several shops are
generally employed about three hundred first-rate mechanics, en
gaged in the manufacture of arms for the purpose of war. There
are annually made about six or seven thousand muskets, two or
three thousand rifles, besides an immense number of swords, pistols,
and other side arms. The government employs at this establishment
a superintendent-general, a paymaster and a number of clerks. The
quantity of iron, steel, brass and other materials annually wrought
up, is immense. A vast number of strangers annually visit this
place to gratify their curiosity in seeing and inspecting the public
works and great mechanical operations, so extensively carried
on. The machinery of the musket factory is wrought by the waters
of the Potomac, and that of the rifle factory by the waters of the
Shenandoah. This site for the public works it is said was first marked out
or recommended by the immortal Washington, and is certainly evi
dence of his superior skill and judgment in all military matters.
A railroad from Winchester to Harper's Ferry has been lately
constructed, which has rendered Winchester a place of deposit for
the vast products of our valley, but little inferior to some of our sea-

372 APPENDIX.
port towns. A turnpike road from Winchester to Parkersburg, on
the Ohio River, a distance of about two hundred and eighty miles,
has lately been finished ; and another McAdamized turnpike road
from Winchester to Staunton, has just been put into operation, and
it is almost inconceivable what vast quantities of produce, now find
a ready way to Baltimore from the increased facilities of our im
proved roads to that market.
An improved road from Staunton across the Alleghany Moun
tains, is now going on to Parkersburg, which will still add great
facilities to valley trade to greatly enchance the value of real estate in
Western Virginia. There is also a turnpike from Harrisonburg by
way of the Warm Springs, Hot Springs and White Sulphur, across
the Alleghany and Whyandotte, by way of Kanawha. These sev
eral turnpikes are passable at all seasons of the year, and greatly ex
pedited the passenger's journey from east to west. These several
turnpikes have been made at vast expense to the State and Stock
holders, notwithstanding which, improvements are still going on.
A few years more and Western Virginia will vie with our northern
and si.ster States with her va.st improvements. Our valley is mak
ing great improvement and very great improvements of every agri
cultural pursuit. Copying after our great and good countryman,
Washington, immense improvements have already been made, and
are still making, in the rearing of fine animals of every variety.
Stage coaches travel all our turnpike roads, drawn by the most splen
did horses ; and most of our substantial farmers rare the finest cattle,
sheep and hogs, and are greatly improving the fertility of their lands.
Our valley furnishes the several markets with vast quantities of su
perior beef, pork, mutton, butter and the finest of breadstuffs. The
quantities of oats annually raised for market are incalculable. Im
mense crops of the finest timothy, clover, and orchard grass hay, and
corn fodder are annually consumed by our farmer's stock ; and not
withstanding the vast quantities raised, once in awhile there are sea
sons of great scarcity of provender for sustaining the vast stock of
animals kept on hand.
Our winters are frequently of great length and extremely
severe. The author will here notice one winter which was re
markable for its long and excessive severity. When a youth,
he frequently met with individuals who well recollected the hard
winter in the year of 1740. It was said that that remarkable
winter produced the greatest depth of snow ever known in our
climate. The snow fell to such an immense depth as to smother
vast numbers of horned cattle, sheep, hogs, deer, and many other
wild animals.
The author believes that it wiU not be uninteresting to the
reader to have a brief description of several remarkable works of
nature in our valley, together with a notice of some elegant build
ings and improvements on the farms of Jprivate individuals. He
will begin with

APPENDIX. 373
JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Washington's Masonic CAVE.^About two and-a-half miles
southeast of Charlestown in this county is to be seen in this cavern.
Tradition informs us that Gen. Washington and a number of other
gentlemen formed themselves into a Masonic Society and held their
lodges in this cavern. The writer saw and partially explored it. It
is not au extensive cavern, and is more remarkable from the fact of
its having been used as a lodge room by Washington and members.
It however has several different departments. The author was not
able to get into the lodge room. The entrance to which is quite
low and narrow. The proprietor, Mr. Clark, informed the author
that Washington's name, with the names of several others of the
lodge, is inscribed in the face of the rocks in the lodge room. A rock
of very hard stone, which lies near a very fine lime spring conveni
ent to the cave, has several inscriptions on it. The letters are the
plain Roman character ; but the author could not explain the mean
ing. They are probably masonic enigmas.
Having introduced the name "Washington," through a digres
sion from the general subject, it will be well enough to notice sever
al important anecdotes in the history of that great, heaven protected
man, which the writer has heard from respectable authority.
The late Maj. Lawrence Lewis, a favorite nephew of Washing
ton's, aud who resided with him at " Mount Vernon," for several
years, related the following remarkable anecdote of his uncle. In
the battle fought between Braddock and the Indians, it is well
known. Washington acted as one of Braddock's aids. After the
battle, Daniel Craig, then of Winchester, but afterwards settled iu
Alexandria, became acquainted with Redhawk, a distinguished
young Indian warror. In a conversation with the Doct., Redhawk
inquired what young officer (who was mounted on a fine young
horse) it was, who rode with great rapidity from post to post, dur
ing the action. The Doct. replied Col. Washington. Redhawk
immediately stated, ' ' I fired eleven deliberate shots at that man, but
could not touch him. I gave over any further attempt, believing he
was protected by the great Spirit, and could not be killed by a bul
let." Redhawk further added, that is gun was never known to miss
its aim before.
We have another tradition in this neighborhood iu relation to
this great mau. It is stated that when he was retreating before the
British army in New Jersey, he at once expressed to some of his
officers his determination, if he was still pursued, and unable to make
a stand, to continue his retreat until he reached Powell's Fort,
which he would fortify and defy all their forces. * This tradition
* Powell's Fort is in fact a natural fortress. The mountains on each side
are of immense higlit, and covered with loose stone ; at the entrance, they
come so close together that a few hundred men placed on the heights could
destroy ten times their number, by hurling stone down on the enemy^ If

374 APPENDIX.
was communicated to the author by a highly respectable gentleman
of this vicinity.
There was another tradition related to the author by an old lady,
Mrs. Elizabeth Mason, on Ro'anoke River, of great respectability.
She stated the following fact : Several old Indian chiefs had offered
considerable premiums to any warrior or set of warriors, who would
bring out Washington's scalp. Seven Indians who were living in
the neighborhood of Roanoke, got to hear that Washington was on
his way out to inspect the Fort very near the Roanoke River. There
were two roads leading to the Fort ; one across the point of the
mountain, and the other on level land. The one across the moun
tain was the shorter way ; the other on the level land the better.
The seven Indians placed themselves in ambush close to the side of
level road, and lay concealed two days and nights ; but Washington
did not pass. They grew impatient, and their chief, the third day,
stated that he vvould go to the other road, and ascertain whether
Washington had taken that route to the Fort, the two roads being
only one mile apart. He gave his men positive orders not to fire at
any person that might pass in his absence. WhUe he was gone,
Col. Washington, Col. Lewis and Col. Preston, all three passed close
by the enemy without being molested.
Another tradition informs us that Lord Fairfax appointed Wash
ington one of his surveyors. He boarded with Capt. Charles Smith,
within half a mile of Battletown. He kept his office in an upper
room in the spring house. This small log building is on the farm
owned by John B. Taylor, Esq., the only son of the late Col. Grif
fin Taylor, now in Clarke county.
THE INDIAN church.
This is said to be a most grand work of nature. It is a spaci
ous and beautiful . cavern, in a high rock, about four miles west of
Watkins' Ferry, on . the Virginia side of the Cohongoruton (Poto
mac) . It is a circular dome of considerable height, with a most ex
traordinary spiral opening in the arch, resembling the steeple of a
church. Seats are formed all around the interior ; the inlet is by a
large door. Tradition informs us that the Indians, when in posses
sion of the country, used to assemble in considerable numbers in
this place. For what particular object is not known ; but it is
probable they used it as a place of worship, or for holding their
councils. PROSPECT ROCK.
This splendid work of nature is in the county of Morgan, about

the enemy had attempted by a counter route to enter the Fort, a fe-w hun
dred active and brave riflemen, from the mountainous character of the coun
try, conld cut to pieces an army of almost any force.

APPENDIX. 375
three miles S. W. of Bath, immediately on the bank of Capon River.
It is certainly not less than one thousand feet perpendicular height.
Capon River viewed from this immense height presents to the eye a
most curious and interesting sight. The River running to consider
able distance to the west, makes a gradual turn around a point of
level land, thence returning an easterly course to the base of the
mountain, enclosing'some two or tnree hundred acres of fine, fertile,
alluvial land, constituting a most valuable farm. The River viewed
from this rock appears to the eye not to exceed fifteen or twenty
feet in width, and forms, as it were, the shape of a horse shoe. It
is at this place, not less than fifty or sixty yards in width. The
two points of the water are but a few poles apart at the base of the
mountain. There is an extensive view of the valley up the River ;
some say fifteen mUes. The top of the Alleghany mountain can be
distinctly seen from it. NEW CREEK GAP.
This is seen in the County of Hardy, about twenty miles S. W.
of Romney, and is too, a most tremendous work of nature. The
author viewed this place with considerable awe and tripidation.
The passage is quite narrow, between two mountains of stupendous
height, probably from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet high.
The points of the mountains are covered with numerous rocks, and
appears to be hanging over the travelers head. Through this pas
sage is a fine, lively stream of water, which, after leaving the moun-
tian, forms Patterson's Creek. At the west side of the mountain
there are two streams, one from the south and the other from the
north, which meet at the gap and unite their waters, and run through
the gap directly an east course. About midway the gap is seen
what is called the "spouting spring." This spring, it is said, is
formed by a stream of water which runs to the northern base of the
mountain, and has formed a subterraneous passway- under the
mountain, and bursts out in a large spring in the gap. Near the
eastern termination of the gap, nature has formed a natural dam of
solid rock, quite across the cavity, twenty-five or thirty feet high.
By the aid of this dam, Messrs. Harness & Turley convey the water
to their iron works on Pattei-son's Creek.
A LARGE CAVE IN BERKELEY COUNTY.
Near the mouth of the Opequon, in the County of Berkeley,
exists a large cave. In the year 1813, a man named  . called
in the evening at old Mrsi Furman's, staid till next morning, and after
breakfast, told the lady he would go|intothe cave andjexamiue it, in
order to ascertain whether he could or not obtain saltpetre clay, for
the making of powder. The old lady furnished him with candles,
and he left her house alone, promising to return in the evening. He

376 APPENDIX.
entered the cave, and was not seen or heard of that day. The
second day passed over, and no tidings was heard of him. The old
lady grew uneasy, apprehended he had lost himself in the cave, and
would perhaps perish. The third day his absence continued, and
the old lady proposed to two of her grown sons and another
young man who happened to be at her house, to go in search of him.
They at first objected, suggesting it was probable he had gone down
the Potomac in some of the trading boats to Georgetown. She de
clared if they would not go, she would go herself and make the
search. The young men then agreed to go, furnished themselves
with sufficient lights, and forthwith proceeded to make search. They
had not proceeded far before they found the poor fellow's hat, which
sati-sfied them that he was in the cave. They continued the search
and at length found him in a most perilous and distressing condi
tion. He stated to them, that he had not proceeded far into the
cave before his candle, by accident, became extinguished, and he
was left in morethan " Egyptian darkness. " The second day he
became distressed with thirst, but could fine no water. He con
tinued scrambling in the cave, in the hope of getting out, but instead
of finding the entrance, got farther from it. At length he heard the
dropping of water, and groping his way, he found the water was
dropping into a deep cavern. He contrived to get into the cavity,
and after reaching the bottom, the only chance he had to get the
water into his mouth, was by laying himself down on his back, and
letting the water drop into it. But after his thirst was assuaged,
he could not get out of the sink, and he had given out all hope of
relief, and reconciled himself to his fate, expecting to die in a very
little time.
The young men, in searching for him, frequently called aloud ;
he could hear them, but was so exhausted and weakened, that he
could not make himself heard by them untii they approached very
near his place of seclusion. They succeded in raising him out of his
confinement ; he soon recovered his strength, aud lived some fifteen
or eighteen years after this perilous experiment.
There is an amusing tradition related in connection with this
cavern. An old German, by the name of Bidinger, had ascertained
that by building a fire in the mouth of the cave, the smoke would
ascend and pass out at the small aperature in the rocks on the top
of the hill, about three hundred yards from the entrance. This
shrewd old man persuaded several young men that he could raise oid
Nick out of the cave, and invited them in the morning to go with
him, and see his experiment. He directed a negro man to go tothe
mouth of the cave and raise a large pine fire. The old gentleman
had ascertained about what time it would take for the smoke to
show at the top of the hiU ; they assembled near the aperature, and
he engaged in many incantations and juglings whilst watching for
the smoke to appear. The young men waited with trepidation and
fear. When the smoke burst out, the old man exclaimed, ' ' See

APPENDIX. 377
there he comes ! See his smoke ! " It was enough for the young
men ; they saw the devil's smoke, and precipitately took to flight,
leaving the old gentleman to make the best terms he could with his
Satanic majesty.
There is a most extraordinary cave a short distance from Shep
herdstown. The Rev. Mr. Hill informed the author, that he once
explored this cavern about one mile ; it passes under the Potomac
River, and reaching into the State of Maryland, contains a great
variety of stalactite formations and beautiful curiosities.
house cave.
This cave is on Apple Ridge, in the County of  . It is
remarkable for its vast depth and has a pretty good room near its
entrance. It is said this cave is not less than six hundred feet deep.
At its termination a most delightful stream of cold water runs across
its bottom. The author, several years ago, visited this place, and
partially explored it ; descending about one Hundred feet into it.
Two young men descended about one hundred feet below where the
author stopped.
In the County of Frederick exists a cave, on the land now
owned by Dr. Walker M. Hite, near the waters of Cedar Creek. It
is not so remarkable for its size as for its production of natural curi
osities. Several years ago the author explored this cavern, but had
abundant cause to regret his undertaking. He became so exces
sively fatigued that it was with great difficulty he was enabled to
get out. He was reminded of an anecdote of a Dutch woman : Two
men in the County of Shenandoah had missed their way in the night
and got- into the enclosure of a farmer, found the house, and asked
the way out. The woman of the house replied, " So you come in
so you can got out acain. ' ' There are several other caves the author
has heard of, but has not seen. There is one on the land of George
F. Hupp, Esq., the former residence of Mr. Joseph Stover, near
Strasburg. This is said to be pretty extensive, and contains much
stalactite matter.
On the land of Mr. Israel Allen, in the County of Shenandoah,
exists a most valuable cavity, forming one of the finest dairies the
author has ever seen. At the early settlement of the country, it
was discovered that a small cavity in the rocks, on a pretty high
hill, led to a charming stream of delightful water. But it was at
tended with some difficulty to descend and ascend the aperature to
get water. Mr. Allen built a handsome brick dwelling near the
mouth of the cavity, then dug a well so as to strike the stream of
water. At the depth of thirty-two feet below the surface, he came
upon a bed of black alluvian mud, in removing which he found a
very large human skeleton, which was greatly above the common
size of the human frame. Mr. Allen himself was rather upwards of
six feet high ; he stated that he placed one of the leg bones and
48

378 APPENDIX.
measured it by his own leg. It was between two &nd three inches
longer than his own leg. From this data, is is probable the indivi
dual owner of this skeleton was little under, if not full eight feet
high. Mr. Allen opened and improved the mouth of the cavern,
and constructed one among the most valuable places for preserving
milk, butter and fresh meats, in our country. The aperature from
the milk house to the water is still open, and in warm weather di.s-
charges a constant current of cool air into the dairy, and keeps it
perfectly cool. In winter the current of air is tipid and protects
everything iu the dairy from freezing.
HARRISON'S CIVE.
In the County of Rockingham, on the land of Mr.  Har
rison, on the turnpike road leading from Winchester to Staunton, is
to be seen a most beautiful cave, seven miles north of Harrisonburg,
the seat of..»justice for the county. Mr. Harrison has improved the
entrance in the cave with steps, so that it is very convenient to
enter it. This cave, which the author explored, presents several
most interesting works of nature. Near the center, a splendid
column of about twenty-five feet high, stalactite formation, stands
as if designed to support the arch. Pretty near this column is set
ting the bust of a very large old woman, covered over with beauti
ful white drapery, in numerous folds ; the walls generally covered
stalactite formations, several of which have a strong resemblance to
pipes of an organ. The whole length does not exceed three hun
dred yards. The floor is pretty level, and convenient to walk upon.
It is generally above twenty-five feet high from the floor to the arch,
and thirty-five or forty wide. The author heard of several other
caves in Rockingham, but did not visit them.

At the head of the South Branch a man by the name of Ruth-
ledge, was shot through the body by an Indian ; the ball penetrated
the left breast and passed out within an inch of the spine. This
man recovered and lived many years after. There were two female
children, daughters of John Moore, taken by the Indians and grew
up with them. The elder had two children by a white trader ; the
younger became the wife of the distinguished war chief Blue Jacket.
She left an Indian son with his father, was enceinte, when brought
home, and brought forth a daughter, who grew up and married a
man by the name of John Stuart. Her father. Blue Jacket, secured
her a tract of land on the waters of Lake Erie, to which Stuart re
moved aud settled.
Two of John Cartmell's daughters were taken by the Indians
and remained with them several years. Their brother went to the
Indian country, obtained their release and brought them home.
James Stuart was shot while crossing the Greenbrier River

APPENDIX. 379
reached the opposite shore, and died immediately. Se^^eral others
were killed the same summer, whose names are not recollected.
A few years ago, there was found on the banks of Greenbrier
River, in the cavity of a rock, a very large human skeleton, his bow
and arrov/s, mat aud tomahawk, and a deerskin was deposited with
the body at the time of its burial ; it was about ten feet below the
surface. Human skeletons have been frequently discovered on the mar
gin of the water courses. About thirty years ago, Samuel McDon
ald discovered a human skull on the bank of the Cowpasture River.
It was remarkable for its great size and thickness, had a visible
mark of a tomahawk wound on it, supposed to be head of a giant
like warrior. A walnut tree of immense size, which grew on the
bank of the Cowpasture River, was blown down in a violent gale of
wind, and a number of human bones were discovered in the cavity.
The author was informed that the body of this tree was not less than
six or seven feet in diameter. If so, it must have grown over
the bodies after they were buried, it was probably several hundred
years old.
But to return to this digression. Mrs. Sarah Erskine, in her
eighty-fourth year, was first married to John Pauly, they were remov
ing to Kentucky, and on the 23d of September, 1779, on the east
branch of New River, they were attacked by a party of five Shaw
nee Indians and a white man by the name of Morgan. Mr. Pauly
was killed, and his little child, about two years old, had its brains
dashed out against a tree and left a prey to wild beasts. This ven
erable and highly intelligent lady was once while a prisoner threat
ened with the most horrid destruction. An old chief who had a
favorite son killed in a battle in Kentucky, had determined to re
venge his son's death on her little son, who was born a few months
after captivity, and two young prisoners, Calway and Hoy. The
old savage monster had determined to enclose them all in Mrs.
Erskine's house and set fire to it. But Col. McKee, the British
agent, successfully interposed ; he called on Mrs. Erskine and told
her not to be alarmed ; that if he could not restrain the violence
of the old monster, he would immediately convey her off to Detroit;
but from the friendly interposition of Mr. McKee, a majority of the
Indians became opposed to the violent and vindictive revenge
of the old savage. She was upwards of three years a prisoner.
Her son, young Pauly, she brought home with her ; he grew up,
went west, became Secretary to the great Missouri Fur Company,
and was killed whUe engaged in that business. Mr. John Higgins
came out to the Shawnee towns and redeemed and aided her in get
ting home to her friends.
There was a brother of Mr. John Pauly, also a marjried man,
with his wife and one child, on his way to Kentucky. He was
killed at the same time, his infant killed and his wife taken prisoner.
She was taken to the Shawnee town, was claimed by two,squaws.

38o APPENDIX.
and taken to Detroit and sold, from whence she escaped, but never
got home to her friends.
Mrs. Erskine stated to the author, that she did work for the
men, making their garments ; that one particular occasion a warrior
called on her to make him a calico shirt ; the fellow informed her
that he had lately returned from a trip to the neighborhood of the
Sweet Springs, in quest of a box of red paint. * He obtained his
paint, and returning, he passed the house of a farmer, who left his
shot-pouch and powder horn hanging to the corner of his corn-
House. The Indian took off the pouch and horn, aud left his own
Buffalo horn, with a little powder, in place of it. He observed to
Mrs. Erskine, that " it was an even exchange, no robbery." But if
the owner had happened to discover the exchange at the moment, it
is highly probable the fellow might have paid for his even exchange
with his life.
Mrs. Erskine said that the Shawnee women, from the number
of white persons taken among them, had greatly improved in their
domestic arrangements, and several of them had become pretty good
housekeepers. Mrs. Erskine resided in Greenbrier county, near Lewisburg.
The author met with her at her son's in Lewisburg, who is a highly
respectable merchant of that place.
Tradition relates that the Sweet Springs was discovered by a
man who was passing near the Spring. A colt, which was follow
ing the horse he was riding, was bitten by a rattlesnake, when it
immediately ran into the spring, where it continued for some time,
nor could it be induced to come out until it had been entirely relieved
from the pain occasioned by the wound, f The man examined the
water and found that it possessed some valuable medicinal quality.
A man by the name of Robert Armstrong, in those troublesome
times had removed his family across the mountain to a place of
safety. He was on a visit to his family, accompanied by a young
man. Seven Indians approached his house, and were in the yard
before discovered. Armstrong told the young to jump into bed and
threw a blanket over him. The Indians pushed into the house, and
Armstrong went to the bed, raised the blanket, and asked the man
it he was better. He replied in the negative. An Indian immedi
ately asked, "Man very sick." "Yes, small pox, very bad."
They cried " Wough," and ran off, crying as they ran, " Small pox !
Small pox ! " as far as they could be heard. It is said the Indians
are dreadfully afraid of this disorder. Armstrong, by this stratagem,
saved himself and property from being touched by the enemy.
* It was stated to the author, -when in that section of country, that there
is a considerable bank of beautiful red paint in Peter's Mountain, five or six
miles from the spring.
-fDr. Lewis, the present proprietor, informed the author that he had had
a favorite dog bitten by a rattlesnake ; he immersed him in the spring, and
it entirely cured him of the bite.

APPENDIX. 381
In the year 1774, in the month of June, there were four white
families settled on the head waters of Greenbrier and apprehensive
of danger, removed their families into the settlement where they were
safe. A man by the name of John Johnson came in, and stated he
had seen fresh signs of Indians. The late Col. John Dickinson, a
brave and active Indian fighter, raised a party of twenty-seven men,
and marched out ; but it was two or three days before they found
any traces of Indians. They went to Jacob Riffle's house, found the
beds totally cut open, and the feathers scattered to the winds. The
Indians had kept themselves so completely concealed, that they could
not be discovered ; yet they contrived to kill one of Dickinson's
men, named Malone, and wounded Robert McClay. Col. Dickin
son was himself pretty severely wounded at the battle of the Point,
in the year 1774, under Col. Lewis. The ball penetrated high up
his shoulder aud came out very near his spine. Yet he soon re
covered, suffering but little from the wound. The Indians, after
a few days lurking about, and discovering Dickinson's party to be
too strong for them, fled. It is said there were only three Indians
in the party.
The warrant of Mr. Joseph Maye's land was issued in 1743,
surveyed in 1746, patent or grant issued in 1761. Joseph Maye,
Esq. , at about twelve years of age was taken prisoner by a part of
Indians ; but was rescued by his friends after five days of captivity,
and brought safely home. This venerable and intelligent man was
wounded at the battle of the Point. He was at the time preparing
to shoot the Indian that wounded him, who was standing behind a
tree that was rather small to protect him. It had a crook in the
body, below which Mr. Maye attempted to fire at him, for which
purpose he bent his right knee and stooped a little ; but the fellow
was too quick for him, fired at him and struck him very near the
cap of the knee. The ball ranged down the bones of his leg, shiv
ering them pretty much. He was not able to walk for three years
afterwards. He, however, so far recovered as to be able to use his
leg about twenty years or upwards ; but it frequently would inflame
and break out, and he was finaUy compelled to have it amputated
above the knee. When the author saw this highly respectable old
gentleman, he was eighty-four years of age, and appeared to enjoy
fine health. A story was told to the writer, of rather singular and extraor
dinary character. Seven Indians were lurking about one of the
Forts. A young woman had walked out, perhaps in search of wild
fruit. The seven Indians seized her and took her off. They pro
ceeded a few mUes, and halted for the purpose of terrifying and tor
menting the unfortunate girl. They stripped her, tied her hands
above her head to a sapling, and threw their tomahawks at her, try
ing how near they could pass their instruments by her body without
wounding her. A bold and enterprising hunter happened to be
within hearing of her screams, and ran to see what produced the

382 APPENDIX.
poor girl's terrors. As he approached he discovered the scene, and
with His rifle killed one of the party ; the other six fled, and the
hunter ran to the relief of the unfortunate suffer, instantly cut the
bandage from her hands, threw his hunting shirt around her, and
directed her to run to the Fort, and he instantly reloaded his rifle
and followed her. The remaining Indians, discovering there was
but one' man, gave chase. The hunter discovering this, slackened
His pace, and as they approached pretty near him, brought another
down. He was master of the art of loading as he ran. The
remaining five continued the chase until this brave and skillful marksr
man brought another down. The others continued the pursuit
until the whole number was killed. The author can not vouch for
the truth of this story, but has given it as he heard it related by
several respectable individuals ; the reader can take it for what it
is worth. George Kencade "was killed, and his wife and four children
taken off. An old Indian, soon after her arrival at the village, pro
posed to marry her, but she promptly refused the offer. The savage
monster threatened to burn her. A Frenchman told Her if she would
consent to marry him, he would take her off. She consented to his
offer, and he soon took her to Redstone, and married her. This
Frenchman kept a little store in the Indian village. Paul Leash
was the name of this Frenchman.
There were a number of people killed and taken prisoners by
the same Indians, at the big bend of Jackson's River. But Mr.
Byrd, my informant, could not recollect the precise number or name
of the sufferers.
There is an Indian grave near Man's Mills, on Jackson River,
thirty yards or more in diameter, and perfectly round. * The author
will Here remark, that in all his excursions through that country, he
never saw an Indian grave, f and heard of but two, the one just
spoken of, and another at Peter's Mountain. This is said to be in
circular form, and covered entirely with stone.
During the troublesome times with the Indians, a party of them
attacked the dwelling of Maj. Graham, on Greenbrier River, killed
some of his children and took off a young daughter. She remained a
prisoner for several years, and grew up with the savages ; a short
interval of peace took place with the tribes, and her father went out
to the Indian country and found his daughter, whom He had
believed was entirely lost to him, and brought her home. She soon
manifested great uneasiness, and expressed a desire to return to the
Indians. A small party of Indians came into the neighborhood of Muddy
Creek, and killed a man near her father's residence, and as soon as
she heard of the occurrence, made an attempt to run of to the In-
* Now entirely plowed down.
-|- There is a pretty considerable mound about two miles south of Frank
fort, in Pendleton county, noticed iu the first edition of this -work.

APPENDIX. 383
dians, but vv-as prevented from doing so by the family. She after a
while became better reconciled to remain with her connections, aud
married a worthy man, raised a respectable family of children, and
was living in the year 1836, in the county of Monroe. This is an
other among the many instances of white childeru, taken while
quite young, growing up with the savages, and becoming so much
attached to the manners and habits of the people in a state of nature,
as to leave them with the greatest possible reluctance.
In the autumn of 1797, the author traveled through the state of
Ohio. At Chillicothe he sav/ a young man named Williamson, who
was on his way to His residence at the three Islands of the Ohio
River ; he was returning with two of his brothers, one fourteen, the
other about twelve years of age, who had been taken about three
years before. He had found them near the lakes, with different
tribes, about sixty miles apart. The young man stated that it was
with considerable difficulty he could prevail on the little fellows to
leave the Indians ; and even after he had started with them, they
made several attempts to run off and get back to the Indians. He
was at length compelled to obtain a canoe and descend the Alleghany
River with them, and by this means, and vigilant watching, he pre
vented their making their escape from him.
It is remarkable, that those children should have so soou lost
their affection for their parents and brothers and sister, and to prefer
remaining with their savage captors. The author has been informed
by persons who have been prisoners, that natives never apply the
scourge to children, but treat them with the greatest indulgence.
It is probably owing to this cause that white childern become so
much pleased with them.
The author attempted to converse with the boys, but immedi
ately discovered that they had acquired all that coyness and diffi
dence so commonly manifested by the native Indians. They would
scarcely an.swer a question ; and before they answered yes or no,
they would look at their elder brother, and at each other, aud pause
before either would reply ; and that reply was only y s or no.
In the year 1774, there were four famUies, Ash, Bumgardner,
Croft and Hupp, who settled at a place caUed Tea Gardeu at Ten
Mile Creek, on Monongalia River. They had entered into a con
tract with the Indians for permission to occupy a certain quanti
ty of land, aud the privilege of hunting on the lands, for which
they agreed to pay a small annual rent. When Dunmore's war
commenced, a messenger was sent to them, warning them of their
danger, and advising them to remove immediately into the Fort
at Redstone. The messenger stated to them, that if they remained
they would be all killed. Several Indians were present, and their
chief replied to the bearer of the message : ' ' Tell your king he is
a d — d liar, the Indians wih not kiU them." And the people re
mained at their residence during the continuance of the war, with
out being disturbed by the enemy.

384 APPENDIX.
REGURGITARY SPRING.
This is a most singular and curious work of nature. The
writer did not see it, but it was described by several intelligent re
spectable gentlemen who had repeatedly examined it. On the sum
mit of a High mountain, in the County of Hardy, five or six miles
from Petersburg, a village on the main Fork of the South Branch
of the Wappatomaca, this spring makes its appearance. It ebbs
and flows every two hours. When rising, it emits a gurling noise,
simUar to the gurgling of any liquid running out at the bung-hole
of a hogshead, runs freely two hours, and then ebbs and the water
entirely disappears. At every fiow, sand and small pebbles are
forced out with the water.

Samuel McDonald was wounded at the battle of the Point, under
Col. Lewis. He belonged to the company commanded by Capt.
Dickinson. The ball passed through both his thighs, but neither
was broken. He recovered from his wounds, but continued a little
lame as long as He lived. Mrs. Ellen McDonald, his widow,
(eighty-three years of age, and still living), informed the author
that she once had two sisters taken by the Indians, one ten years
of age and the other seven. They were prisoners seven years, lost
their mother tongue, and spoke the Indian language perfectly. Two
of Mr. McDonald's sisters were taken by the Cherokees.
In the year 1764, the Indians killed, at the house of James
Clanahan, Edward Sampson and Joseph Mayes. They killed and
took prisoners all the families, except three individuals. A woman
seventy years of age had left the house, but returned and took
a small trunk, in which she kept her caps and money, and carried
it off, while the Indians were killing a number of persons around
her ; and finally made her escape. There were but two other per
sons who escaped.
The Indians then passing up the Cowpasture River, stopped at
the house of William Fitzgerald. Thomas Thompson was there at
the time. They barricaded the door, so that the Indians could not
force it open. The savages immediately set fire to the House, and
Fitzgerald and Thompson were burned to death. A little girl of
Fitzgerald's was cruelly burnt. They killed its mother the next day,
and took the child off. It was rescued by the whites aud brought
part of the way home ; but died at Marlow's Ford, Greenbrier River.
Mrs. Sampson and daughters were taken off by the Indians, and
when they found they could be overtaken by the whites, a young
warrior shot Mrs. Sampson through the body. She was found in a
languishing condition, and brought part of the way home, but died
on the way. Her daughters were never more heard of.
In 1779 a man by the name of McKeever, was killed and Thos.
Grening and George Smith were fired at by the party who killed

APPENDIX. 385
McKeever, but made their escape. Both their wives and children
were taken off as prisoners. , Mrs. Smith made her escape from the
savages, and on her way homeward was met by Col. John Hill,
now of Pocahontas county, and conveyed to her friends in North
Carolina. JOHN day's fort, now PRICE'S OLD FORT.
FORMERLY KECKLEy'S FORT 
About 1772 John McNeil settled in the Little Levels ; at that
period there were very few settlers in that neighborhood. Mrs.
Sarah Brown, the mother of Col. Brown in this neighborhood, at
the age of ninety-one years, was able to walk about the neighbor
hood, and rode by herself to visit some of her children, who lived
ten or fifteen miles off. Col. Brown stated to the author that a sugar
tree of immense size, at least six feet in diameter, stood in one of his
fields, and that it yielded him at least fifty pounds of sugar yearly.
The Indians did no mischief after the war of 1763, until they year
1774. There was some Buffalo and Elk to be seen in the country a..
this period. William Meeks, his wife, six children, and His mother, were
taken off four or five years after the battle of the Point. Capt.
Woods of the present County of Monroe, raised a party of seventeen
men, pursued the enemy and after several days march, overtook
them late in the evening. The Indians had halted and been en
camped three or four days. Capt. Woods and his party approached
within a short distance of them without being discovered. Early
the next morning, it being very foggy, the whites rushed in among
the enemy. Capt. Woods and the Indian Capt. fired at each other,
the muzzle of their guns almost touching ; but each of them spring
ing to one side, neither shot took effect. Woods knocked the Indian
down with his gun, and pursued the flying enemy. The fellow
knocked down soon recovered and ran off.
Not one of the Indians was killed, but the prisoners were all
rescued, and returned to their homes with the plunder all retaken,
and the Indians losing all their own property.
cook's fort, INDIAN CREEK.
In the year 1774, about the time of the attack on Donnally's
Fort, there were three hundred people sheltered in the Fortress. It
was oblong, and covered one and-a-half acres of ground. A Mrs.
Bradsbum was killed.
Shortly before Wm. Meeks was taken. Steel Lafferty waskUled
at the mouth of Indian Creek, three miles off from the Fort. Meeks
heard the report of his death, immediately mounted his horse, and
rode with all speed to his house, to the relief of two women ; as he
approached the house, he caUed to them to open the door, which was
49

386 APPENDIX.
immediately done, when he rushed into it, sprang to a port-Hole,
saw two Indians running across a small field, near the house, fired
at them, when one of them dropped his blanked and gun, increased
his speed and got off ; but it was believed he was shot through
the body ; he never could be found. However.
In 1 77 1, Mr. James Ellison removed from the State of New
Jersey, with his father, at which time he was about fifteen years of
age. On the 19th of October, 1780, a party of seven or eight In
dians attacked him, wounded him in the shoulder, the ball passing
under his shoulderblade and out very near his spine ; he was tied
and taken off a prisoner. The next day, when they Had traveled
about fifteen miles with him, while passing through a thicket he
suddenly escaped from them, and was pursued, but outran them and
got off. This old and intelligent man, was afterwards in the battle
of the Point, under Col. Lewis. The author saw Him and conversed
with him ; he was then about eighty years of age.
Mr. Ellison has been a great and successful hunter. There
were but very few buffalo and elk remaining in the country, but
abundance of bears, deers, panthers, wolves, wild cats, and a vast
number of turkeys and other small game. Mr. Ellison stated that
he might safely affirm that he had killed more than one thousand
deer, three or four hundred bears, a great many panthers, wolves,
&c. The wild game was the chief dependence of the first settlers,
for subsistence. There were a great many beavers, otters, and other
fured animals taken by hunters.
Mr. John Lybrook, born in Pennsylvania, aged seventy-three,
was too young to recollect when his father moved and settled on Nev/
River, at the mouth of Sinking Creek, this was in 1772, now living
in Giles county.
In the year 1774 the Indians commenced their outrages in this
neighborhood. The first act of murder was perpetrated by four In
dians near His father's house. Mr. Lybrook was then about ten or
eleven years old. About the first of July, my informant and several
of his brothers and sisters, and several of Mr. Snydow's children,
were at play on the edge of the River. They discovered the Indians
approaching. John went to the shore and ran some distance along
the margin of the water ; but he discovered that an Indian on the
bank had got ahead of him. The bank at that place was so precipi
tous that there was but one point that could be ascended. The In
dian stooped to fire at two lads swimming the river, and John took
this opportunity to ascend the bank by a narrow channel, worn in
it by the feet of wild animals, when they used it as a passage to and
from the water. He darted by the Indian, who instantly pursued
him. After running about one hundred yard^ he leaped across a
gully worn by a small stream of water in tne bank of the River. It
was at least twelve feet wide. At this place the Indian halted, but
would not try the leap, but threw a buffalo tug at the boy, which
he felt strike his head and back ; but the little fellow made his es-

APPENDIX. 387
cape, and got safely to the Fort at his father's house. Mr. Lybrook
stated this fact to the author, and most solemnly declared it was true.
Three of the Indians entered the canoe, aud kiUed and scalped five
of the children. A sister of my informant, a girl about thirteen
years of age, had the presence of mind to turn the canoe, which she
was in, with the other childern, stern foremost, while the Indians
were engaged in killing and scalping their victims, and jumped out
and ran. She was pursued by an Indian : her screams attracted the
attention of a remarkable fierce dog, which immediately ran with
the utmost speed to her relief. The Indian Had got so near her,
that he extended his arm to seize her, but the dog had approached
near enough to save her. He ran so close to her that he threw her
down ; then seized the Indian by one of his thighs just above his
knee, gave a violent jerk, and threw the fellow to the ground. The
girl escaped ; the dog hung on, tearing at him for a little time : but
letting go his hold, he sprang at the fellow's throat. The Indian
struck him a violent blow with a war club, and knocked him down.
The dog then ran to the canoe and guarded the dead children until
the people took them away for burial. The dog refused to follow
them, immediately ran off", and raised a most piteous howl. Some
of the party went to see what produced the distress of the dog,
and found a little boy about six years old, who had been violently
struck on the head with a war club, his skull severely fractured, and
his brains oozing out and his head scalped. He was a brother to my
informant. The little fellow breathed about twenty-four hours, and
then expired.
Mrs. Margaret Hall, sixty-nine years of age, when ten years
old, with a younger sister, and a little daughter of Richard Esty,
were taken by a party of Shawnee Indians, on New River. Her
mother, three sisters and brother, were killed at the time, and the
prisoners were taken to the Shawnee towns. The same morning
Philip Kavanah was killed, and a young lad fifteen or sixteen years
of age taken, named Francis Denny. Mrs. Hall was eighteen years
with thd Indians, and never returned home until after Gen. Wayne
defeated them. Mrs. Hall was transferred by the Shawnee to the
Delaware tribe. She was adopted by the Indian chief Koothumpun,
and her sister Elizabeth in the family of Petasue, commonly called
Snake. The Indians had a few cattle, and used some milk and but
ter. Their bread was commonly made with pounded corn meal.
The English, however, frequently furnished them with flour, which
they usually baked in the ashes. The bread ate very well when
fresh. They also made fritters and pancakes. The Shawnee women
were far better house-keepers than the Delawares. The Shawnees
lived better and more plentifully than the Delawares. A few years
before Mrs. Hall returned home, a young Indian made love to her and
vehemently urged her to consent to marry bim, which she peremptor
ily refused. He threatened her life if she would not consent. He
continued his visits to her, and her foster mother urged her to con-

388 ^ APPENDIX.
sent to the match. The young squaws frequently congratulated her
on her fine offer. She at length, by continued solicitations of
the young chief, became so annoyed that she determined to take
flight to another village, seventy miles off, to which her foster sister
and brother had removed. Early one morning she secured a very
fine horse, mounted him, and purshed off. She traveled briskly,
and reached her destination about sunset ; traveling the seventy
miles through a tractless wilderness. She found Her foster sister,
but her brother was out on a hunting excursion. She complained
to her foster sister of the treatment she had received, who replied,
' ' I will defend you with my life. ' ' The young warrior determined
not to be defeated in this way, without another effort to secure her
to himself or take her life. He pursued her immediately, and
reached the village to which she had fled, the next day in the after
noon. He soon found where she was, and called on her and told
her if she did not immediately consent to become his wife, he would
kill her. Her foster sister stood by her. She raised her hands and
protested that she never would. He made a lounge at her with a
long knife, but her sister threw herself between them, and received a
slight wound in the side, the point of the knife striking a rib. The
girl instantly seized the knife, and wrenched it from his hand, broke
the blade and threw it away. They quickly commenced a
furious fight, while she sat petrified, as it were, with fear. Her sis
ter told her to run and hide herself, exclaiming, ' ' He will kill me
and then kill you. ' ' She then ran and concealed Herself. But the
young woman proved too stout for the fellow, gave him a severe drub
bing, and drove him off. Her foster brother returned in about a
fortnight, from his hunting expedition. She complained to him.
He told her not to be uneasy ; called him a dog, (the worst epithet
they could apply to each other) , and said that if he ever made any
further attempts upon her, he would immediately kill him.
The fellow, however, never, never annoyed her again. He was some
time after kUled in Wayne's battle with the Indians. Mrs. HaU's
residence is in Giles county, about four miles from the Grey Sul
phur Spring. FIRE HUNTING.
Mr. John Lybrook has been a most enterprising and successful
hunter. He stated to the author that he had probably killed three
thousand deers, five or six hundred bears, hundreds of panthers,
wolves and wild cats ; and an innumberable number of turkeys and
smaU game. When he was about thirteen years of age, his father's
dog treed a panther of enormous size. He came to the house and
took down a rifle. His mother asked him what he was going to do
with the gun. He replied that he was going to see what the dog
had treed. She remarked that it was probably a panther, and
charged him, if it was, not to shoot it, but to get his father to shoot

APPENDIX. 389
it ; adding, if he wounded it and did not kiU it, it would tear Him to
pieces. He soon discovered that it was a huge panther, standing at
full lengh on a large limb of the tree, about twenty feet from the
ground. He knew himself to be a sure marksman, and would not
forego the temptation at firing at so fine a mark. Disobeying his
mother's injunction, he took a deliberate aim at his side, a little be
hind the shoulder, and the ball passed through the animals heart,
and it fell dead. His mother was near scourging for disobeying her
orders ; but he acquired great credit from his father and the neigh
borhood generally, for his bravery and firmess. It was the largest
animal of the kind ever known to be killed in that part of the coun
try. It measured upwards of fourteen feet from the end of his nose
to the end of his tail.*
The author had frequently heard that the western people, in
early times, practiced what they called "fire hunting," but never
knew exactly what it meapt, until Mr. Lybrook explained it to him.
The hunters made stone hearths in one end of their canoes, on which
they would raise large pine lights in the night, and set their canoes
to floating down the stream. The deers usually collected in consid
erable numbers in the rivers, in order to feed on the moss that grew
in them. As the light approached near the deer, it would raise its
head, and stare it ; and its eyes would shine as bright as diamonds.
When the shining of the eyes were seen, the hunter would consider
himself near enough to shoot. Thousands and thousands of deer were
killed in this way.
In 1778, grain grew scarce at the Fort. Old Mr. Lybrook and
the Snydows had several parcels of wheat standing in the stack, at
their respective farms. Ten men were sent to thrash out the wheat.
Mr. Lybrook, about fifteen years of age, was directed to take
charge of the pack horses, to convey the wheat to the Fort. (Pres
ton's Fort, about fifteen miles distant) . Two men were sent with
him. When they reached the wheat yard, the threshers had left
and gone to his father's house or Fort, and they, Mr. Lybrook and
the other two, went there also. Mr. Lybrook discovered a party of
Indians on a high hill, who also discovered Mr. Lybrook and his
companions, and attempted to intercept them. They had to
use great ingenuity and caution to elude the enemy, but got
safe to the Fort and gave information of the Indians skulking in
the woods. A brave and active man by the named Scott, went out and
killed one of the party of Indians, and the others immediately took
to flight. In the year 1775, peaceable times were had with the Indians.
But in 1776, they recommenced their warfare, and continued with
* The author would not have ventured to state this fact, lest it might be
suspected that he is disposed to deal in the relation of marvelous stories.
But he related this story to Col. 'Welton, on the South Branch, in Hardy
county, v?ho stated that he had himself killed one of enormous size.

390 APPENDIX.
unabated fury until 1780. The white people had extended their
settlements considerably to the west of New River ; this afforded
some protection to the settlers in this section ; but the enemy would
once in a while skulk into the neighborhood, commit murders and
robberies, and steal horses, and then push off. This state of things
continued for several years after the year 1780.
Mr. Lybrook, after his well managed trip for the conveyance of
the wheat to the Fort, was almost every year appointed * an Indian
spy, and after he grew up to manhood, he served regularly for three
years in that capacity. His brother Philip and a Mr. Phillips
generally served with him. It was an arduous and dangerous ser
vice, but they were fortunate enough never to get hurt by the
enemy. The last time the hostile Indians were known to be in Green
brier county, was in the summer of 1793. The three Indians came
into the settlement, stole several horses, and attempted to make their
escape, f .
Matthew Early, an intripid hunter, raised ten men and pursued
them. He came in sight of their encampment late in the even
ing, halted and remained until early next morning. Early divided
his men into two parties, and directed that each should fire separate
ly at an Indian. Two of them had risen, and setting quietly ; the
third was lying down. When the whites approached near enough
to fire, each party singled their object, fired, and the two Indians
were killed ; the third sprang to his feet, and ran up the side of the
Hill. Farly having reserved his fire, seeing the fellow endeavoring
to make his escape, fired at him, and broke his thigh. He fell,
rolled down the hill, and cried out "Enough, I give up." Farly
was desirous of saving his life, but Charles Clay and others, whose
friends had been massacred by the Indians, rushed upon him and
dispatched him.
THe Executive of Virginia rewarded this little company of men
by paying for their tour of service.
The author was informed that in the year 1795, there was an
outrage committed on the property of a farmer in Greenbrier coun
ty, charged to the Indians. The dwelling house, in the absence of
the family, and a new wagon which was drawn up close to the house,
were both set on fire and consumed together. But it is more proba
ble that it was iucendairy work, who had first robbed the house
and then fired it, with a view to conceal their villany. Every In
dian warrior was called home in the spring of 1794, when it was
known that Gen. Wayne was preparing to invade their country with
a powerful army. The Indians concentrated all their forces for
their own defense, and after the decisive defeat by Wayne, immedi-

* Near the mouth of Indian Creek, a branch of Greenbrier.
-|- The Indians -were overtaken on the marshes of Cole River.

APPENDIX. 391
ately entered into a treaty, which put a final end to further hostili
ties by the savages in Western Virginia.
Col. Stuart, the Clerk of Greenbrier court, expressed this opin
ion to the writer.
During the period of Indian Hostilies, four Indians came into
the settlement on the Head of the Wappatomaca. They were said to
belong to a tribe then at peace with the whites. One of them ob
jected to traveling down the South Branch Fork, saying they would
be in danger. The other three laughed at him. He separated from
them, and took down the North Fork. The three were pursued by
white men and killed on Mill Creek ; the fourth was seen by a negro
man belonging to Cunningham, and pursued seven or eight miles.
As he was crossing the river, the negro fired at him. He fell into
the water, but immediately sprang up and made His escape. His
blanket was folded up, and placed on his back ; the ball struck the
blanket, and penetrated through several folds, but remained in it.
When the Indian reached his tribe, he unfolded his blanket, and the
bullet was found iu it.
The men who committed the murder were apprehended and or
dered to jail, but their neighbors raised a party of men, and rescued
the prisoners, and set them at liberty. They were never brought to
trial for the offense. The father of my informant was one of the
party who effected the rescue. APP'S VALLEY.
This Valley is situated in the County of Tazewell, and took its
name from Absolom Looney, a hunter, who is supposed to have
been theffirst white man that explored it. It is about ten miles long,
and generally about fifty rods wide. There is no stream of water run
ning along it, nor across it. The branches that come down the
mountain hollows, and the springs, all sink at the edge of the flat
land and rise in a large spring at the lower end of the valley. When
first visited by the white man, it was overgrown by the crab-apple,
plum, and thorn, and covered with the most luxuriant herbage; af
fording the finest range for stock, and abundant with game.
In the autumn of 1775, Capt. James Moore removed with his
famUy from Rockbridge county to the Valley, having cleared some
land the preceding spring, and raised a crop of corn. A short time
afterwards, his brother-in-law, Robert Poage, settled near to Him in
the same Valley. The place was exceedingly secluded, and these
t-wo families were ten or twelve miles from any other settlement of
whites. As this has been a favorite hunting ground of the Indians,
they often visited it. Indeed, there was scarcely a year in which
these families were not compelled to leave the Valley and take shel
ter in a Fort in the Bluestone settlement.
In the spring of 1782, the Indians attacked the house of Robert
Poage at night. They burst the door open, but finding that there

392 APPENDIX.
were several men in the house, (there happened to be three besides
Mr. Poage) , they did not attempt to enter the house, but after watch
ing it for some time, went off ; and the next morning killed a young
man by the name of Richards, who had been living for a time at Capt.
Moore's. He had gone out early in the morning to put some deer
skins to soak in a pond about a quarter of a mile from the house ;
and whilst engaged at the pond, he was shot and immediately scalp
ed. At this time the families Forted again in the Bluestone settle
ment ; and soon afterwards Mr. Poage removed to Georgia.
In September, 1784, the Indians again excited great alarm.
The first that was known of their being in that part of the country,
was the capture of James, one of Moore's sons. After breakfast,
his father sent him to bring a horse from a waste plantation about
two miles from where he lived. Accustomed to go about aione, and
being out often after night, he was a fearless lad. But on this occa
sion, he had scarcely got out of sight of his father's house, before a
most distressing panic came over him. At the time he determined
to return, but feared his father's displeasure. When he got near
the field where the horses were, three Indians sprang out from be
hind a log near his path and captured him at once. They then en
deavored to catch some of the Horses, but failing in this, they started
with their captive to the Shawnee towns, situated on the head waters
of Mad River, in Ohio. This journey occupied twenty days. Soon
after reaching the towns, James was sold by the Indians who had
captured him to his sister, for an old horse. By her he was sent with
a party of the tribes on a winter hunt, in which he suffered great
hardships from hunger and exposure. In the following spring, at a
great dance held at a town near to the one in which he lives, he was
purchased by a French trader for fifty dollars, paid in goods. The
Frenchman was induced to purchase him, from seeing in the cap
tive lad striking likeness to one of his own sous. By Mr. Ariome and
his wife James was treated as a son. At the time when he was sold
by the Indians, James got an opportunity to communicate with his
father, through a trader from Kentucky, intelligence of his release
from the Indians, and that he had gone to the neighborhood of De
triot. The intelligence gave rise to hopes of seeing him again, hopes
which but two of the family realized. And when they met him, it
was at a place and in circumstances very different from what they
had anticipated. In 1785, the Valley was again visited by the Indians. On the
morning of the 14th of July, a party of between thirty and forty,
led to the place by one of those who had captured James, attacked
and destroyed Mr. Moore's family. At that time when it was
broken up Capt. Moore's family consisted of his wife, (who before
marriage was a Miss Poage, of Rockbridge county), seven children,
an old English servant by the name of Simpson, Martha Evans,who
was assisting Mrs. Moore, and two men hired laborers. On that
morning these men had gone out to reap wheat ; and Mr. Moore was

APPENDIX.

393

engaged about breakfast time in salting some horses that come up
from the range, and was some distance from the house. The In
dians who had been watching in a grain field about two hundred yards
from the house, raised a war whoop, and rushed on. Capt. Moore
ran towards the house, but seeing that the door was closed, aud that
the Indians would reach it as soon as he could, he ran across the
small lot in which the house stood, but when he got on the fence he
stopped and was shot with seven balls. He then ran about fifty
yards and feU. The Indians told one of the captives afterwards,
that he might have escaped if he had not halted on the fence. Mrs.
Moore and Martha Evans barred the door on the first alarm. The
old Englishman, Simpson, was also in the house, and there were
five or six rifles. Martha Evans took three of them upstairs to
Simpson and called to him shoot. He was in a bed ; aud on lifting
the clothes, she saw that he had been shot in the side of the head,
and was dying. There were two large fierce dogs that fought the
Indians at the door until they were shot down. The door was soon
cut down with tomahawks. Three children were killed before the
house was forced, two at the place where Mr. Moore was salting the
horses, and one in the yard near the house. The prisoners were
Mrs. Moore, John, Polly, Jane and an infant, and Martha Evans.
Whilst the Indians were cutting down the door, Martha and Polly
lifted a loose plank in the floor and got under it, taking the infant
with them. It, however, began to cry, and Polly unwilling to set
it out alone, went out with it. Martha remained concealed until
after the house had been plundered and set on fire, and whilst the
attention of the Indians was taken up in dividing the spoil, she
slipped out at a back way aud secreted herself under a log which
lay across a branch not far from the house. A short time before
they left the place, a straggling Indian seated himself on the log and
began to work with the lock of his gun. She supposing that he saw
her, and was going to shoot her, came out aud gave herself up.
After plundering the house of everything they choose to take,
and setting the buildings on fire, the Indians started for their towns,
which stood near the place on which the town of Chillicothe now
stands. John was sick and unable to travel, and was killed with the
tomahawk on the first day ; and the infant becoming fretful, was
killed on the second or third day.
The men who were in the harvest field at the time when the In
dians attacked the house, immediately took to flight and went with
speed to the Bluestone settlement ; and in the evening a party of
seven or eight men came to the place ; but seeing the indications of
a large party of Indians, after burying the three children and mak
ing a little search for the body of Capt. Moore, but without success,
they returned, an express was sent to Col. Cloyde, of Montgomery
county, a distance of sixty or seventy miles. He reached the place
with a company of thirty-five or forty men, on the fourth day after
the disaster. They made no attempt to follow the Indians. After
5°

394 APPENDIX.
searching for some time they found the body of Capt. Moore, and
wrapping it in a saddle blanket, they buried it at the spot where he
fell. His death was much regretted. He wasa christian, a patriot,
and a brave man. In the memorable battle of Guliford, he
commanded one of the companies of the Virginia riflemen with
great credit.
A short time after the Indians reached their towns with the
captives, a party of Cherokees halted there on their return from an
attack on some of the settlements iu Pennsylvania, in which they
had been unsuccessful, and had lost some of their party. They
laid a plan to avenge their loss, by murdering these captives. To
accomplish this, they commenced a drunken frolic, taking care to
get the Shawnees dead drunk, but to keep in some measure sober
themselves. They then accomplished their purpose, when those to
whom the captives belonged were unable to protect them. Mrs.
Moore and Jane were massacred. Polly Moore and Martha Evans
escaped through the timely care of the squaws belong to the famil
ies into which they had been adopted. When the drinking com
menced they suspected the design ; and secretly got these two off,
and carefully secreted them in a thicket, two or three milesfrom the
towns, until the Cherokees were gone. When they were brought
back, Polly was shown, in a pile of ashes, the half burnt bones of
her mother and sister. Whether they had been put to the torture,
or whether they had been tomahawked, and then burnt, she never
ascertained certainly. The former is more probable. With an In
dian hoe she dug a hole, and gathered the bones out of the ashes as
well as she could ; and having covered them, rolled a stone over
them. She was at the time in the tenth year of her age, an orphan,
and an orphan among savages. Her comforts were her fellow cap
tive and a copy of the New Testament, which she had. Her par
ents were pious. They had taught her to love and value the Bible.
When the Indians were setting fire to the furniture which they had
taken from her father's house, and which they had gathered into a
pile in the yard, she saw a copy of the New Testament in it, and
stepped up to the pile and took it, aud put it under arm. This
she carefully preserved, and the old chief into whose family
she had been adopted, often called her to him to read, al
though he could not understand a word of what he heard. He was
kind to her.
In the latter part of the following autumn, a detachment of
American troops attacked and destroyed the Indian towns; and burn
ing up their whole stock of winter provisions, reduced them to a
state of extreme want. As soon as they could, the Indians set off
for Detroit. In their journey they encountered great hardships.
The country was an unbroken wilderness, and snow often knee
deep, the weather cold, and the game very scarce. Their principal
food was the harkberry. They cut the trees down, gathered the
berries, and after breaking them in their mortars, made broth of

APPENDIX.

395

them. In the hardships of this journey, the captives had their full
Share. Sometime, about the middle of the winter, they reached De
troit ; and eariy in March, Martha was sold, and about the same
time Polly was sold, in a drinking spell, for a keg of rum, to a man
by the name of Stogwell,an American by birth, but an unprincipaled
man, a tory, and unfeeling wretch. While living with him, her suf
fering were greater than while with the Indians.
• , •'¦".^"^ *^^ ^r. Ariome's trading excursions, James, who was
with him, met with a Shawnee Indian whom he had known while
a captive, who informed him of the ruin of his father's family ; and
late m the winter after Polly had been purchased by Stogwell, he
learned where she was. The following spring Stogwell removed to
the neighborhood in which Mr. Ariome lived : aud James and his
sister met. The writer of this narrative, when he was a lad, has
often heard them talk over the scenes of that meetins. What their
feelings were, the reader must conjecture. James lodged a com
plaint against Stogwell for the cruel treatment of His sister, with
Col. McKee, the Indian agent at Detriot ; and endeavored to obtain
her release. In this he was unsuccessful, but it was decided that
as soon as an opportunity should offer for her return to Virginia,
she should be given up without any ransom ; but StogweU, from
motives of policy, became less severe in his treatment. Martha
Evans was also living in the same neighborhood, with a kind, inde
pendent farmer. These three were often together ; and the subject
of returning to their homes was often talked over. But seri
ous difficulties were in the way. In the meantime, the God
whose provience had protected them thus far, was preparing the way
for them. The father of Martha Evans lived in the Walker's Creek, set
tlement, in the County of Giles. After the peace which followed
Wayne's expedition, Thomas Evans, his sou, determined to find and
release his sister, or perish in the attempt. He was an active, ath
letic young man, a first-rate woodsman, cool, fearless and generous.
He prepared for his expedition by furnishing himself with a good
rifle, a full supply of ammunition, a suit of buckskin, and a suffici
ent sum of money in specie ; and set out to seek his sister amongst
the savages of the western wilderness. The enterprise was full of
hazards, but nothing daunted him. After various perils and unsuc
cessful attempts to get any tidings of her, he at length heard she
was near Detroit, and made his way thither. In the early part of
October, 1797, he set out on his return to Virginia with his sister
and James and Polly Moore. The two Moore's got a passage in a
trading boat down the lakes, about two hundred miles, to the Mora
vian towns. There Mr. Evans aud his sister met them with three
horses. Fortunately for them, a party of these friendly Indians
were just starting out on a winter hunt. With them they traversed
the hunting ground of several tribes less friendly, and were protect
ed in some situations which seemed full of danger. They reached

396 APPENDIX.
the neighborhood of Pittsburg, in the beginning of winter, and re
mained with an ancle of Thomas Evans until spring. In the early
part of spring they reached Rockbridge county, where the Moore's
met vnth their younger brother, Joseph, who at the time of the
breaking up of his father's family was in Rockbridge, at his grand
father Poage' s.
After some years, the Evans family moved to the west. James
Moore resides on the tract of land owned by his father. Joseph re
sides in the same neighborhood Each of them has raised a large
family, and each has been for many years a professing Christian.
Polly became a member of the church at au early period, and in 1798
was married to the Rev. Samuel Brown, for many years pastor of
New Providence church. Few have lived more generally beloved by
a large circle of acquaintances. She closed her eventful life in the
month of April, 1824, in the joyful triumphs of Christian faith. Her
remains rest beside those of her husband in the graveyard of New
Providence church. She became the mother of eleven childen ; of
these, one died in infancy and one in early youth. The nine who sur
vive are all professors of religion. Of her seven sons, five are min
isters of the gospel in the Presb} terian church ; one is a farmer, and
the youngest at this time, 1837, is at college. [Prepared for Ker-
cheval's History of the Valley, by J. M. Brown].
The author heard from Poage of Rockbridge county, a connec
tion of the young prisoner, some additional circumstances in rela
tion to the intended cruel treatment of the prisoner, by the savages.
Soon after reaching their village, they held a council, and determin
ed that James should run the gauntlet. They, as was their usual
practice, placed themselves in two lines, with their scourges, and or
dered the prisoner to run between them. James started and when
the first struck him, he wheeled around and made furious battle on
the fellow. All the Indians immediately gathered around him, pat
ting and caressing him, and pronounced him a good warrior.
The Rev. Mr. Brown, the author of the foregoing narrative,
stated to the author that He has no recollection of hearing this anec
dote ; but as Mr. Poage is a much older man than Mr. Brown, and
a manjof highly respectable character, and who certainly would have no
motive to induce him to misrepresent any of the facts connected with
this interesting story, the author has thought proper to give it to
the reader, without holding himself responsible for its truth.
weyer's cave, in AUGUSTA COUNTY.
The reader will find a particular description of this grand work
of nature in the appendix, written by a gentleman of scientific ac
quirements, and is a most graphic account of it. The author of it
resides in Staunton. The writer saw and explored this cave in the
year 1836.

APPENDIX. 397
NATURAL BRIDGE, IN ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY.
Mr. Jefferson has given a most graphical and beautiful descrip
tion of this stupendous work of nature. The author deems it
hardly necessary to attempt any additional description, except in one
or two instance. The author saw this place for the first time in the
month of June, 1819. He again called to see it in the month of
August, 1836. When he first saw it, he was alone, and had crossed
it before he knew he was near it. He inquired at a house very near
to it, and was informed by one of the inmates that he had just
crossed it, who then directed me the way to get to it. Descending
into a deep glen, I had to dismount my horse and walk up the mar
gin of a fine stream of beautiful clear water, until I approached with
in seventy or eighty yards of the arch, the view being obstructed by
a point of rocks, until within that distance. Passing the rocks, the
most grand, sublime, and I may add, awful sight that I had ever
looked upon, burst suddenly in full view. It was a very clear day,
the sun rather past meridian, and not a speck of cloud or anything
to obstruct the sight. The author was so struck with the grandeur
and majesty of the scene, as to become for several minutes, terrified
and nailed to the spot, and incapable to move forward. After re
covering in some degree from this, I may truly say, agonizing men
tal state of excitement, the author approached the arch with trem
bling and trepidation.
After some moments, he became more composed, and wrote the
following lines: O ! though eternal architect Divine,
All beautiful thy works do shine !
Permit me thus to sing ;
Who can this towering arch explore.
And not thy sovereign power adore,
Eternal King ?
Awed, at first sight, my blood was chill 'd.
My trembling limbs and nerves all thrill'd
Beneath this splendid pile.
My mind, howe'er, was soon on flame
To adore the great builders name,
¦Viewing the heavenly smile.
Did'st thou, O God ! this arch uprear.
To make us trembling mortals stare.
And humbly own thy name ?
Or did'st thou build it for thy pleasure.
To prove thy power without measure.
And spread eternal fame ?
¦Whate'er the motive or the plan,
It far exceeds the art of man ;
The grandeur of the scheme
Shows that the builder lives on high.
Beyond that Blue, ethereal sky.
And wields a hand supreme.

398 APPENDIX.
At the author's second visit to this place, he discovered on
viewing the arch attentively, the image of a very large eagle, as if
it was in full flight, with the image of a lion in chase of it. This
sight is near the eastern edge of the arch. The author, however.
Had heard of these images before he saw them.
There is a story told in the neighborhood, in connection with
this most wonderful work of nature, of a very extraordinary per
formance of one of the young students of Lexington college. Some
years ago, several of the students rode out to view the bridge. One
of them seeing the name of Washington inscribed in the face of the
rock, observed to one of his companions that he would place his
name above Washington's. He ascended the rock, and effected his
object ; when looking at the yawning gulf beneath, he was afraid to
attempt the descent, and requested his friends not to speak to him ;
then commenced climbing up the wall. Some of the young men ran
round on the bridge, and placed themselves in a position to assist
him, if he should get within their reach. The young man actually
succeeded in getting so near them, that they seized him and drew
him up ; * but the moment he was on the bridge, from the great
bodily exertion, and extreme mental excitement, he fainted, and lay
some moments before he recovered.
This individual in the year 1836, was residing in the village of
Wythe courthouse. The author intended to visit him and converse
with him on the subject, but was told by a friend that he conversed
on the subject with great reluctance. Of course, the author declined
his intended visit. SALT POND, IN GILES COUNTY.
This is a most beautiful work of nature. There are three moun
tains f of considerable magnitude, which meet at this place, the
several mountains at their terminations forms a considerable chasm ;
this affords a receptacle for the water. It presents to the beholder
the appearance of a minature lake of pure transparent water, and is
about one mile in length, and generally from one-quarter to a half
mile in width. From its head to its termination, it lies nearly a
northeast course. It is obstructed at its termination with vast piles
of Huge rock, over which it is discharged. When this place was
first known, the water found passage through the fissures of the
rocks. In the year 1804, the remarkable wet spring and summer,
which is doubtless recollected by every elderly person, it is supposed
the vast quantity of leaves and other rubbish that washed into it,
closed up the fissures of the, rocks; immediately after which
it commenced rising. An elder gentleman residing, in 1836, on New

* Prom the base to the top of the arch, is two hundred feet perpendicu
lar height. -[Peter's Mountain, the Salt Pond Mountain, and Baldnob Mountain.

APPENDIX. 399
River, a few miles from it. Col. Snydow, informed the author that
It had risen fully twenty-five feet since the year 1804. It is said to
produce but few fish, there having been a few fine trout caught in
it ; but va!3t numbers of the water lizard exist in it. Col. Snydow
informed the writer that when this place was first known to the
white people, vast numbers of buffalos, elks and deers resorted to it,
and drank freely of its waters ; from which circumstance it acquired
the name of "Salt Pond." The author tasted the water, but could
not discover that it had any saltish flavor.
Col. Snydow also informed the writer, that previous to the ris
ing of the water, a very large spring raised at the head, and sup
plied the lake with water ; but since its rise, that spring has disap
peared, and it is now fed by numerous small springs around its Head.
The author recollects seeing, (in a description of this place,
published in a northern magazine, some years ago) , the opinion ex
pressed that this wonderful work of nature had been formed within
the memory of man ; but this is doubtless a mistake. Messrs. Sny
dow and Lybrook both stated to the writer that it existed when the
country was first discovered. Col. Snydow particularly, stated
that he could recollect it upwards of sixty years, and that it had
not increased in length within that period but had risen as above
described. Near this pool of water stands a wild cherry, which these gen
tlemen described to be ninety feet high to the first limb, perfectly
straight, and not less than five feet in diameter.
THE ROYAL OAK.
This grand and majestic tree is within about one mile of Union,
a very sprightly village, the seat of justice for Monroe county. It
is of vast height, and is said to be eight feet in diameter. It has
acquired the name from its immense size ; towering over every other
tree in the forest in that section of country.
SOPIS KNOB.
This is a part of the mountain contiguous to the village. Union ;
and is the residence of Alexander Calder, Esq. , who has erected a
splendid brick dwelling house near the summit of the mountain. It
is two miles from the vUlage to Mr. Calder's house, a continued as
cent from the village to the house, and considerably steep in places.
Of course Mr. Calder's house stands on most elevated ground. Mr.
Calder is a resident of Charleston, South Carolina, and has improved
this place for his summer residence. The author rode to Mr. Cal
der's house for the purpose of viewing the splendid works of nature
and art combined at this extraordinary place.
Col. Andrew Beirne, the representative in Congress, resides near
Union, in Montgomery county, is said to be a man of great wealth.

400

APPENDIX.

and has erected a splendid brick dwelling house and other fine im
provements, on an extensive farm.
Col. Beirne informed the author that a tract of country for more
than one Hundred miles between Greenbrier county and the Ken-
awha, was inhabited ; that it is very mohntainous, but contains a
large proportion of fertile lands.
This gentleman also expressed the opinion that it is one of the
healthiest regions, both for man and beast, in all North America.
VALUABLE MINERALS.
Our mountains abound in valuable minerals. We Have three
manganese mines within about twenty miles of Winchester. The
price of the article is, however, so much reduced of late years, that
there is but little of it taken to the market. THe author is informed
that a rich copper mine has lately been discovered, and a company
formed for working it. It is said it yields well. Several lead mines
are said to have been discovered, but as yet, theyhave not been very-
productive. There have been several coal mines opened, of the an
thracite kind, one of which yields well. It is probable that on fur
ther research, sufficient quantities may be found to supply this sec
tion of country.
The people of our Valley have abundant cause to be humbly
thankful to the Great Author of our existence for the blessings he
has in his wisdom and benevolence provided for their happiness.

THE END.

I

NDBX

Page.
Attack on Rice's Fort  227
Attack on Doddridge's Fort  231
Adam Poe  240
Appendix  312
Bacon's Rebellion  12
Breaking Out of the Indian "War  65
Crawford's Campaign  '.  219
Coshocton Campaign  233
Captivity of Mrs. Brown  235
Caravans  261
Civilization  297
Culture of Silk  364
Churches  371
Cow with Six Legs  365
Cave in Berkeley County  375
Cook's Fort  385
Dedication  3
Dunmore's 'War  109
Doddridge's Notes  187
Death of Cornstalk  200
Dress  256
Establishment of the Towns  178
First Settlement of 'Virginia.  7
First Settlement of the "Valley  45
Faulkner's Report  160
Face of the Country  312
Fine Arts  364
Fire Hunting  388
Grey Sulphur Springs  349
House Furniture and Diet  252
Hunting  263
House Warming  270
Hybridous  365
Harper's Ferry  371
House Cave  377
Harrison's Cave  378
Indian 'Wars  34

INDEX. 403
Indian Settlements  37
Indian Incursions  69
Indian Summer  217
Jacob's Account of Dunmore's War  118
Lewis Wetzel  238
Lewisburg  363
Mode of Living of the Primitive Settlers  151
Mcintosh's Campaign  204
Moravian Campaign  207
Mechanic Arts  274
Medicine  278
Morals   291
Medicinal Springs  330
Natural Bridge  397
Northern Neck of Virginia  156
Natural Curiosities  317
New Creek Gap  375
Origin of the Indians in America  5
Origin of Methodists in the Valley  62
Prospect Rock  374
Religion and Customs, &c  56
Revolution  295
Regurgitary Spring  384
Royal Oak  399
Settlement of the Country  247
Sports  283
Staunton  362
Salt Pond  398
Sopsis Knob  399
Valuable Minerals  400
War of the Revolution  14°
War of 1763  193
Wappatomaca Campaign  202
Working  272
Witchcraft  287
Weyer's Cave  336*
Winchester  361
Washington's Masonic Cave  373

3 9002

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