USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, with reminiscences illustrative of the vicissitudes of its pioneer settlers (A Supplement) > Part 8
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"I commend my soul to God who gave it, hoping, through his mercy and the merits and intercession of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to be eternally happy. My body I commit to Providence, but if convenient to where I resign my last breath, to be buried at the Tinkling Spring, where my wife now lays. * I order ten pounds to be paid to the Rev. John Craig, minister at ye Tinkling Spring, as his stepans due from October, 1740, until October, 1750, out of the money now due me by y't congregation, which money I have advanced for them to build their meeting-house, &c. Providing I do not pay s'd £10 be- fore my death. I leave ten pounds out of the aforesaid debt when collected, to be layed out by the minister onley for a pulpit and pulpit cloth."
The testator divided his estate between his two daughters, Mary, wife of William Thompson, and Margaret, wife of Colonel John Buchanan, and their children. The Thompsons thus ac- quired Springhill and about 3,000 acres known as "Indian Fields," on the waters of Holston river. William Thompson and wife had a life estate in the property, with remainder to their
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son, James Thompson. The Buchanans appear to have had only one child, a daughter named Mary.
The executors appointed were John Buchanan, William Thompson, William Preston, and Silas Hart The last named declined to serve. Possibly he did not like the direction of the will, that any question arising between the executors about the estate should be finally settled by the minister and elders of Tinkling Spring congregation ! The inventory of the estate shows that the testator was wealthy, independently of his lands.
It is unnecessary to say that Colonel Patton's request as to his burial place, was not complied with. It was impossible at that day to transport a corpse from Smithfield to Tinkling Spring. He was buried near the spot where he " resigned his last breath," and his grave was covered with loose stones. There is no slab or inscription. An idle report arose that a large amount of money was buried with the body, and the grave was desecrated a few years ago by vandals in search of the treasure.
Let us now briefly relate the adventures of Mrs. Ingles. On the third night out she gave birth to a female child, but was able to proceed the next day on horseback. She and the other · prisoners were taken by the Indians to Ohio. Being a woman of extraordinary courage and tact, she ingratiated herself with the savages, making shirts for them and gaining their good-will in a hundred ways. Her two older children were, however, separated from her, and she then determined to escape, if possi- ble. The narrative of her courage and sufferings on her trip home is almost incredible. She was absent about five months, of which time forty-two days were passed on her return.
With an elderly " Dutch woman," captured on the frontier of Pennsylvania and detained in servitude, Mrs. Ingles was taken by a party of Indians to Big Bone Lick, now Boone county, Kentucky, to make salt. This place was so called from the large number of mastodon bones found there-some of the ribs and tusks were so long as to be used for tent poles. She pre- vailed upon the old woman mentioned, whose name is not known, to accompany her in her flight. Her infant could not be taken along. It was therefore deposited in a crib and aban- doned by its mother, whose grief may be imagined, but not described. Loading a horse with corn, the fugitives proceeded up the Ohio river. Before they reached the Big Kanawha the
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old woman became frantic from exposure and hunger. She afterwards made an insane attack upon Mrs. Ingles's life, and the latter only escaped by outrunning her pursuer and conceal- ing herself.
Mrs. Ingles finally came to the remains of some abandoned settlements and found a few turnips which had not been consumed by wild animals. She had now been out forty days and had traveled not less than twenty miles a day. Her clothing had been worn and torn by the bushes until few fragments remained. In this condition she reached a clearing made in the spring on New river by Adam Harman. He recognized her call, and hastened to meet and carry her to his cabin. Mr. Harman took her on horseback to a fort at Dunkard's Bottom, and there she was found the next day by her husband and her brother, John Draper, who had been making every effort in their power for the rescue of the captives.17
The old Dutch woman found her way to the settlements, and in course of time returned to Pennsylvania through Staunton and Winchester.
Mrs. Draper was released six or seven years afterward. George Ingles died in captivity while still a child. Thomas was . redeemed by his father when he was seventeen years of age. He was unable to speak English, and is said to have been a per- fect savage in appearance and manners. His father sent him to school, but he never became fully reconciled to civilized life.
But let us follow the fortunes of Mrs. Ingles somewhat further. As stated, she was taken on her return to a fort at Dunkard's Bottom, on the west side of New River, near Ingles's Ferry. Feeling insecure there, her husband took her twenty miles fur- ther east to Vass's fort, where the settlers of that region had gathered for safety. This fort was near the head of Roanoke river, about ten miles west of where Christiansburg now stands. Many of the forts, so called, were merely log pens, and others were log or stone dwellings, larger and stronger than ordinary, which, however, afforded shelter from savages unprovided with
17 Mrs. Judge Allen Taylor, of Botetourt, was a descendant of Mrs. Ingles. Other descendants, besides Dr. Hale, are the children of the late Mrs. William J. Gilkeson, and also Mrs. R. S. Harnsberger, Mrs. William D. Anderson, and others, of Augusta.
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artillery. Vass's fort was a small structure erected by the set- tlers as a place of temporary refuge.
Still fearing an attack by Indians, Mrs. Ingles prevailed upon her husband to take her east of the Blue Ridge. On the very day they left Vass's, that fort was captured by Indians, and every one in it killed or taken prisoner. John Ingles, a bachelor, and the wife and child of his brother, Matthew, were killed in the fort. Matthew was out hunting when the attack was made, and hearing the firing hastened back. He shot one Indian, and clubbed others with his gun, till it was wrenched from his hands. He then seized a frying pan that happened to be near, and belabored his foes with the handle till he was wounded and overcome. The Indians carried him off, but some time after, being released or escaping, he returned to the settlement. He never entirely re covered from his wounds, however, and died a few months after his return.
The fort is supposed to have been destroyed by the Indians. In 1756, however, a stronger fort was built there at public ex- pense, under the superintendence of Captain Peter Hogg, and the latter is the fort alluded to by Governor Dinwiddie in his correspondence as Vass's or Voss's fort.
From early in 1755 till he finally left the province and went "home," Governor Dinwiddie's letters flew thick and fast. On the IIth of August he wrote to Captain Andrew Lewis, recog- nizing him as next in command to Colonel Patton, in Augusta, and enclosing blank commissions for the officers of a company of rangers. He also sent him {200 to defray expenses. To Col- onel John Buchanan he wrote, recommending the employment of dogs for finding out the Indians. By the 25th of August he had four companies of rangers in Augusta. In another letter of the same date he speaks of five companies on the frontier of the county. He still had an eye to economy, however, and took time to advise Captain John Smith that forty shillings was too much to pay for a coat to be given to some friendly Indian war- rior. He never did get over the loss of the wagon which Colonel Patton had with him in his last expedition. In a letter to Wash- ington, dated December 14, 1755, the Governor complained of Captain Hogg's extravagance as follows : "Captain Hogg sent a messenger here for money to pay for provisions for his com- pany. The quantity he mentioned I think was sufficient for
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twenty months, and charged {10 for a trough to salt the meat in, besides the barrels."
In pursuance of measures adopted by the colonial government, Washington was commissioned as Colonel and Commander-in- Chief of Virginia troops. The officers next in rank to him, chosen by himself, were Lieutenant-Colonel Adam Stephen and Major Andrew Lewis.
The records of the County Court always indicate the state of the times. At August court, 1755, Joseph Carpenter, having supplied several Indians with ammunition, whom he thought to be friendly, the court fearing they might be " allied to the French king," ordered the accused into custody till he should give security.
At October term, 1755, many claims were allowed for patrol- ling, for provisions for Captain David Lewis's company of rangers, for going on express, and for guarding the arms and ammunition sent for the use of the county. At November court a number of persons qualified as officers of foot companies.
A new courthouse was completed in 1755, and first occupied by the court August 21.
In several letters, Governor Dinwiddie expressed disapproba- tion of the conduct of Captain Dickinson, of the Augusta rangers, in allowing certain Indians to slip out of his hands. They were called " Praying Indians," because they professed to be Christianized, but were supposed to be partisans of the French. Some friendly Cherokees were expected at Staunton to be employed against the Shawnees, and the Governor wrote to David Stuart and Robert McClanahan to treat these allies well.
By October IIth, Washington was in command at Winchester, and at that date wrote to the Governor giving an account of affairs there. The utmost alarm and confusion still prevailed. The militia refused to stir. No orders were obeyed which were not enforced by a party of soldiers or the com- mander's drawn sword. The people threatened to blow out his brains. On one day an express, spent with fatigue and fear, reported a party of Indians twelve miles off, the in- habitants flying, &c. A second express ten times more terri- fied than the former, arrived with information that the Indians had gotten within four miles of town, and were killing all before
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them. Only forty-one men could be mustered, and on leading them out the colonel found, instead of Indians, three drunken soldiers of the light horse on a carousal. A mulatto and a negro hunting cattle and mistaken for Indians, had caused the alarm at the further point. The inhabitants, however, pressed across the Blue Ridge, firmly believing that Winchester was taken and in flames. Captain Waggoner, who had arrived from Eastern Virginia, reported that he " could hardly pass the Ridge for the crowds of people who were flying as if every moment was death."
Washington had lately made a visit of inspection from Fort Cumberland, on the Potomac, to Fort Dinwiddie on Jackson's river. On the 14th of October Major Lewis arrived at Win- chester.
Badly as the Governor thought or wrote of our forefathers of Augusta county, he did not think more favorably of the people elsewhere. In October he condoled with Lord Fairfax, County Lientenant of Frederick, for having to live among such a set of people.
After so much strife and excitement, it is a relief to close this chapter and the year 1755 with a peaceful extract. At a meet- ing of the vestry of the parish, November 27th, it was "ordered that the Rev. Mr. John Jones preach at James Neeley's on Roan Oke; at John Mathews, Sn., in the forks of James river ; at Au- gusta Courthouse ; at Captain Daniel Harrison's, and at any place contiguous to Mr. Madison's, at such times as said Jones shall think proper." The forks of James river was in the pres- ent county of Rockbridge, and Captain Harrison and Mr. Madi- son lived in Rockingham.
CHAPTER IV.
INDIAN WARS, &C., FROM 1756 TO 1758.
Although the preceding chapter closed so peacefully, the war was not over. In fact the worst part of it was still to come, and for eight years longer there was no peace on the frontiers, and no feeling of security by any of the white settlers west of the Blue Ridge.
It is impossible to relate a tenth part of all the stories of ad- venture during these stirring times which have come down to us. Many of these are of doubtful authority, and others founded on fact are so marred by mistakes as to time, place, &c., that they have to be omitted. Nobody appears to have cared or thought at the time of making a record of passing events, and in the course of a few generations oral tradition became contra- dictory and unreliable.
Governor Gilmer and other writers relate that the house of Colonel John Lewis was assailed by Indians on one occasion when the sons and retainers of the family were absent. Though old and infirm, Colonel Lewis is said to have stationed himself at a port-hole and kept up a constant shooting at the Indians, whilst his wife reloaded the guns. His sons and servants hear- ing the report of guns returned home and drove the Indians off.
As related, this story is inconsistent with the authentic history of the times. It is not probable that any dwelling within two miles of Staunton was ever besieged or assailed by hostile Indians. We know, however, that before war had arisen, par- ties of Indians often traversed the country, calling at houses, and soliciting, and to some extent demanding, supplies, just as white "tramps" do now-a-days. Very likely, during this time, a party
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came to the house of Colonel Lewis, and becoming troublesome, the doors were closed, and guns fired to frighten them away.
Here we may give some particulars in regard to the sons of Colonel Lewis, all of whom were men of mark, and very con- spicuous in the early times of the county.
Of Andrew Lewis we have already said much, and shall say much more in these Annals.
Thomas Lewis, the county surveyor, was disqualified for mili- tary service by defective vision, but was a man of culture and influence, and held various important positions. He was a mem- ber of the House of Burgesses and of the State Convention in 1775, and commissioner in 1777 to treat with the Indian tribes on the Ohio. He died October 31, 1790.
William Lewis is said by some of his descendants to have been a physician [see Peyton's History of Augusta county], while others deny or question the statement. According to Governor Gilmer's testimony, he was as powerful in person and brave in spirit as any of his brothers, but less disposed to seek fame by the sacrifice of human life. Says Governor Gilmer : "He served in the army only when required. He was an officer under Braddock, and wounded at his defeat. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, of the old covenanting sort."
The fame of Charles Lewis, the youngest of the family, has come down to us as that of a hero of romance. From all ac- counts he was an admirable man, and if his life had not ended pre- maturely would have achieved great distinction. At an early age he was reported to be the most skillful of all the frontier In- dian fighters. Once, it is said, he was captured by Indians, whilst out hunting, and suffered the usual treatment at their hands, but made his escape. He was forced to go with the Indians many miles, barefoot, his arms pinioned behind him, and goaded on by knives. Upon coming to a high bank, he burst the cords which bound him and plunged down the steep into the bed of a stream. The Indians followed him, but when his strength failed he fell among some tall weeds, and his pursuers failed to discover him. Before he could rise and continue his flight, a new enemy was discovered. A rattlesnake was coiled near his face and appa- rently about to strike; but on his remaining still, the reptile glided away. A Captain Charles Lewis was a member of a gen- eral court martial at Winchester, May 2, 1756. Charles Lewis,
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of Augusta, was then only twenty years of age. There was, however, another person of the same name, living at the time in Eastern Virginia, and he may have been the member of the court martial referred to.
During December, 1755, or earlier, Governor Dinwiddie planned an expedition against the Shawnee town supposed to be on the Ohio river, at or near the mouth of the Big Sandy. This expedition has been known as the "Sandy Creek Voyage." Washington did not approve of it, but at the request of the Gov- ernor, appointed Major Andrew Lewis to command. The dis- tance from the settlements was too great ; supplies for a large body of men could not be transported such a distance over so rugged a route, and the army could not find subsistence in the wilderness, and, moreover, it was doubtful whether there was any Indian settlement at or near the Big Sandy. But the Governor was full of his plans, and could not be dissuaded: He entertained high expectations, and wrote on the subject to nearly every- body-to Major Lewis and his subordinate officers, and to public functionaries in America and England.
In a letter of January 2, 1756, Governor Dinwiddie speaks of his efforts to conciliate the Cherokees, and says: "It had its proper effect, for they took up the hatchet and declared war against the French and Shawnesse, and sent into Augusta county one hundred and thirty of their warriors to protect our frontier. These people proposed marching to the Shawnesse town to cut them off. I agreed thereto, and ordered four companies of our rangers to join them."
As much doubt remains in regard to many facts connected with this famous expedition, as surrounds the wars between the Greeks and Trojans. Various writers state that the expedition took place in 1757, and that the men were recalled, when near the Ohio river, by order of Governor Fauquier; but the Din- widdie papers show that it occurred early in 1756, and that the survivors returned home more than two years before Fauquier. became Governor of Virginia. To this day, however, the num - ber of men led out into the wilderness by Lewis is uncertain, and also how many companies there were, and who commanded them. Governor Dinwiddie, in his instructions to Major Lewis, not dated, says he had ordered Captain Hogg, with forty of his company, to march on the expedition; that a draft of sixty men
6
" One Capt. McMett and some others proposed some men on a voluntary subscription." "From the forementioned four com- panies," continues the Governor, "the Cherokee Indians and the volunteers, making in all 350 men, I think will be sufficient for the expedition; but if you should think more men necessary, I leave it to you." He appears never to have known the number of the men. In several of his letters he speaks of the Chero- kees under Pearis as numbering one hundred and thirty, and in
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ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
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ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
another as eighty; while his statements of the number of white men vary from two hundred to three hundred. Among the captains usually mentioned are, Peter Hogg, William Preston, John Smith and Robert Breckenridge, besides Captains Overton and Woodson. These were captains of rangers, then employed in guarding the frontier. Archibald Alexander commanded a volunteer company, and, it is said, that Captains Montgomery and Dunlap led other companies also raised for this special ser- vice. Certainly there was no scarcity of captains, but the size of the companies was small, and we are not sure that all the per- sons named accompanied Lewis. Captain David Stuart acted as commissary.
Of Peter Hogg and William Preston we have already spoken. John Smith was the ancestor of the late Judge Daniel Smith of Rockingham, Joseph Smith of Folly Mills and others.
Dr. William Fleming was a lieutenant, but in whose com- pany does not appear. From a letter addressed to him, Feb- ruary 6th, by Governor Dinwiddie, it seems that he acted also as surgeon of the expedition, and was to be paid for his "extra trouble." Medicines were furnished by Dr. George Gilmer, physician and apothecary in Williamsburg.
Captain Overton's company was raised in Hanover county, and was the first organized in the colony after Braddock's defeat. To this company the Rev. Samuel Davies preached, by request, August 17, 1755, from the text : " Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God," &c. 2 Sam. x, 12. The preacher asks: "Is it a pleasing dream ? Or do I really see a number of brave men, without the compulsion of authority, without the prospect of gain, volun- tarily associated in a company to march over trackless moun- tains, the haunts of wild beasts, or fiercer savages, into a hideous wilderness, to succor their helpless fellow-subjects, and guard their country ?" But the sermon is memorable chiefly on ac- count of a note by the preacher, in which he speaks of "that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom," he says, " I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a man- ner, for some important service to his country."
Archibald Alexander was the executor of Benjamin Borden, the patentee, and ancestor of the well-known Rockbridge family of that name, and the late Mrs. McClung, of Staunton.
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The person referred to by Governor Dinwiddie as " one Cap- tain McMett" was no doubt Alexander McNutt,18 a subaltern officer in Captain Alexander's company. He has been men- tioned as the purchaser of a town lot in Staunton. It is stated that Lieutenant McNutt kept a journal of the campaign, which he presented to Governor Fauquier when the latter came into office, and which was deposited in the executive archives at Williamsburg. In this journal the writer reflected upon the conduct of Major Lewis, which led to a personal affray between Lewis and McNutt in Staunton,
For some years McNutt resided in Nova Scotia, but the popular belief that he was Governor of that province is un- founded. After the Revolutionary war began he joined the American army at Saratoga, and was afterwards an officer under De Kalb in the south. He died in 1811, and was buried in the Falling Spring churchyard, Rockbridge.
Major Lewis's command rendezvoused at Fort Frederick, which is stated by some writers to have been on New River, and by others, on the Roanoke, near the site of the present town of Salem. While waiting at the fort for horses and pack saddles, the Rev. Messrs. Craig and Brown preached to the soldiers.
In his instructions to Major Lewis, the Governor is very minute. Among other things, he says: " You are to do every- thing in your power to cultivate morality among the men, and that they may have dependence on God, the God of armies and the giver of victory." He does not omit to "recommend fru- gality."
To several of the captains, the Governor wrote also. Captain John Smith, it seems, wanted biscuit furnished for the expedition, but is told he must provide corn-meal or flour. Money to the amount of {100 was sent to the Captain, which "you must ac- count for on your return," says the Governor. To one and all he recommended "care and diligence," "love and friendship." He sent {100 to Pearis, or Paris, reminding him, however, that it was to be accounted for, and enjoining "unanimity and friend- ship."
The Governor thought the expedition ready to start on Feb-
18 Ancestor of the Anderson, Glasgow, Paxton, and other prominent families of Rockbridge county.
.
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ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
-
ruary 6th, and so wrote to Governor Dobbs, of North Carolina, but in this he was premature ; and finding out his mistake, he rebuked Major Lewis for his tardiness. At the same time he charged the Major to " take care [that] Mr. Pearis behaves well and keeps sober." Tlie distance, he thinks, is 200 miles. He concludes as follows : "I have no further orders than desiring you to keep up good discipline and your people in good mo- rality, forbidding swearing and all other vices, and put your trust in God, the protector and disposer of all things."
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