USA > Virginia > Tazewell County > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
Evidently, it was the intention of the British Government to force the settlers from the regions west of the Alleghany mountains ; and, after bringing the colonies into subjection, turn over to Thomas Walpole and his associate Englishmen the extensive territory granted them by the Privy Council. The Revolutionary War first obstructed and then defeated Walpole's scheme. If the war had been won
359
and Southwest Virginia
by Great Britain, the pioneer settlers of the Clinch Valley, who had obtained no legal titles to their lands, would have been evicted from their holdings or forced to pay a price therefor to the English speculators.
Early in the spring of 1777, Hamilton collected his motley forces and dispatched them on their mission of bloodshed and devastation. War parties of Indians, accompanied by white leaders, crossed the Ohio, and began to make attacks upon the border settlements from the Monongahela and Kanawha to the Kentucky River. Scouting parties sent out by the whites gave due warning of the approach of the enemy. Though greatly alarmed for the safety of their fami- lies, the settlers did not flee from their threatened homes, but made the best preparation they could to repel the attacks of the Indians. The Tazewell pioneers placed their families in the neighborhood forts, several new forts were built, and nearly every strong log cabin was made a block-house with loop-holed walls, heavily barred doors, and other defensive arrangements.
The savages started out by Hamilton were fully supplied with guns, tomahawks, and scalping knives, and an abundance of powder and lead. These supplies had been sent from the British arsenals in Canada; and, thus equipped, the Indians made the year 1777 one full of horrors for the backwoodsmen. Roosevelt says:
"The captured women and little ones were driven off to the far interior. The weak among them, the young children, and the women heavy with child were tomahawked and scalped as soon as their steps faltered. The able-bodied, who could stand the terrible fatigue, and reached their journey's end, suffered various fates. Some were burned at the stake, others were sold to the French or British traders, and long afterwards made their escape, or were ransomed by their relatives. Still others were kept in the Indian camps, the women becoming the slaves or wives of the warriors, while the children were adopted into the tribe, and grew up pre- cisely like their little red-skinned playmates."
This, I believe, is the first recorded instance of the dishonouring of captive white women by the Indians. The awful fate that befell these white women was due, no doubt, to the bestial influence exer- cised over the savages by their vicious white leaders-the British,
.
360
History of Tazewell County
French, and renegade white Americans-who organized and led the Indians in their ferocious attacks upon the fronticr settlements.
The first settlers in Tazewell County had the good fortune to escape the frightful experiences that the inhabitants of Kentucky and the region east of the Kanawha had to pass through during the year 1777. There was but one invasion of the Upper Clinch Valley during that year by the Indians, at least, Bickley makes no mention of but one, and none others have been handed down by tradition. This escape of our pioneer ancestors from massacres was largely due to the rapid colonization of Kentucky, under the direction of Boone, Harrod, Logan and others.
The Kentucky settlements were so near to the Shawnees and other hostile western tribes, and the hunting grounds in that region being the finest on the continent, that it was the easiest and most attractive prize the Indians would win under their contract with the British Government. Moreover, the heavy and rapid emigration which was pressing on to the southern banks of the Ohio gave warn- ing to the Indians that the white men, if not obstructed, would very soon cross the Ohio and drive the red men beyond the Mississippi, or into Canada. Consequently, the Indians gave their first and most resolute attention to winning back from the whites the magnificent Kentucky region.
361
and Southwest Virginia
CHAPTER XIII.
KENTUCKY, WASHINGTON, AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES ARE FORMED.
The permanent settlers in Kentucky had increased to the num- ber of about six hundred by the spring of 1776, and they became ambitious, for sound reasons, to organize their settlements into a distinct county. They were completely detached from the Clinch Valley and Holston settlements in Fincastle County; and believed, or knew, they had no representation in the civil government of either Fincastle County or of the State of Virginia. The people who had refused to accept or recognize Henderson's Transylvania govern- ment determined to elect two delegates to the General Assembly of Virginia ; and send a petition to that body, asking that a new county be formed, to be called Kentucky. In pursuance of this plan, an election, which continued for five days, was held at Harrodsburg, in June, 1776. George Rodgers Clark, who was then abiding at Harrodsburg, and Captain John Gabriel Jones were elected dele- gates to the General Assembly. Without delay Clark and his col- league started for Williamsburg, carrying with them the certificate of their election and the petition for the new county.
In their petition the Kentuckians assailed the usurpations of Henderson and his company, and denounced their effort to establish Transylvania as a government independent of Virginia. The peti- tioners disputed the validity of the purchase made by Henderson and his associates from the Cherokees. They declared that they recog- nized the fact that the lands they occupied belonged to Virginia territory, and that they were justly entitled to enjoy the privileges and contribute to the support and defence of the State Government.
Upon arrival at Williamsburg, Clark found that the Legislature had adjourned; and he laid the petition of his constituents before Governor Henry and the Privy Council. He requested the council to furnish the Kentuckians five hundred pounds of powder to be used for protecting the border against the Indians. At first, the council declined to supply the powder, but later granted the request.
When the General Assembly convencd in October, Clark and his colleague, Captain John Gabriel Jones, were present and asked to be seated, and presented the petition of the Kentucky settlers to the
362
History of Tazewell County
Assembly. Clark and his colleague were very properly denied the privilege or right to sit as members of the body, but the petition was received and referred to the proper committee. At the same time the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That the inhabitants of the western part of Fincastle not being allowed by the law a distinct representation in the General Assembly, the delegates chosen to represent them in this House cannot be admitted. At the same time, the committee are of opinion. that the said inhabitants ought to be formed into a distinct county, in order to entitle them to such representation, and other benefits of government."
In the meantime the inhabitants of the Clinch, Holston and New River valleys, having heard of the plans of the Kentuckians to procure for themselves a separate county, prepared and forwarded petitions to the General Assembly, praying that the territory of Fincastle County east of Kentucky be divided into two distinct coun- ties. The petitions of the Holston, New River, and Clinch settlers were presented along with that sent from Kentucky. Henderson, as the representative of the bogus Transylvania government, attended the session of the General Assembly, and vigorously opposed the formation of Kentucky into a new county. And, from circumstances connected with the legislation, it may be presumed that there was opposition on the part of leading citizens of the New River Valley to the division into two counties of that portion of Fincastle situated east of Kentucky. The men of the New River and Reed Creek set- tlements had previously held and received the emoluments of the most desirable county offices, and in fact had dominated the affairs of the county. Finally, opposition of every kind was overcome, and on the 7th day of December, 1776, the General Assembly passed an act which provided for the division of Fincastle County into three distinct counties. In part, the act is as follows:
"Whereas, from the great extent of the county of Fincastle, many inconveniences attend the more distant inhabitants thereof, on account of their remote situation from the court house of the said county, and many of the said inhabitants have petitioned this present general assembly for a division of the same:
"Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the Com- monwealth of Virginia, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of
363
and Southwest Virginia
the same, That from and after the last day of December next ensuing the said county of Fincastle shall be divided into three coun- ties, that is to say: All that part thereof which lies to the south and westward of a line beginning on the Ohio at the mouth of Great Sandy creek, and running up the same and the main or north easterly branch thereof to the Great Laurel Ridge or Cumberland Mountain, thence south westerly along the said mountain to the line of North Carolina, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Kentucky; and all that part of the said county of Fincastle included in the lines beginning at the Cumberland Mountain, where the line of Kentucky county intersects the North Carolina line, thence east along the said North Carolina line to the top of Iron Mountain, thence along the same easterly to the source of the south- fork of Holstein river, thence northwardly along the highest part of the high lands, ridges, and mountains, that divide the waters of the Tennessee from those of the Great Kanawha to the most easterly source of Clinch river, thence westwardly along the top of the moun- tains that divide the waters of Clinch river from those of the Great Kanawha and Sandy creek to the line of Kentucky county, thence along the same to the beginning, shall be one other distinct county, and called and known by the name of Washington; and all the residue of the said county of Fincastle shall be one other distinct county, and shall be called and known by the name of Montgomery."
The act also provided that a court composed of justices should be held in each of the counties as follows: Kentucky, at Harrods- burg, on the first Tuesday in every month: Washington, at Black's fort (now Abingdon), the last Tuesday in every month: Mont- gomery, at Fort Chiswell, the first Tuesday in every month."
The act also provided a suffrage qualification for the citizens of the three counties as follows:
"And be it further enacted, That every free white man who, at the time of elections of delegates or senators for the said several counties, shall have been for one year preceding in possession of twenty five acres of land with a house and plantation thereon, or one hundred acres without a house and plantation, in any of the said counties, and having right to an estate for life at least in the said land in his own right, or in right of his wife, shall have a vote, or be capable of being chosen a representative in the county where his
364
History of Tazewell County
said land shall lie, although no legal title in the same shall have been conveyed to such possessers; and that in all future elections of senators, the said counties of Montgomery, Washington, and Ken- tucky, together with the county of Botetourt, shall form and be one district."
At the time this act was passed there had been no separa- tion of the Church and State in Virginia. Hence the act provided for dividing the parish of Botetourt, which embraced all the terri- tory in the then county of Botetourt and the three new counties, into four parishes, to be called, respectively, Montgomery parish, Ken- tucky parish, Washington parish, and Botetourt parish.
Thomas Jefferson was chairman of the committee to which the bill creating the new counties was referred. He was then recog- nized as the greatest advocate and exponent of the principles. of popular government living in Virginia, as lie was later to be acknowl- edged the greatest in America. No doubt, he was responsible for the peculiar suffrage qualifications imposed upon the men who were to be voters in the counties of Kentucky, Washington and Mont- gomery. The evident purpose of Mr. Jefferson and his associates was to extend to every free white citizen in these counties the right of suffrage. And the imposition of the freeholder's qualification was merely the application and interpretation of that part of the Vir- ginia Bill of Rights which says: "that all men, having sufficient cvi- dence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to the community, have the right of suffrage."
The line, as established by the act, between the counties of Washington and Montgomery was so uncertain as to location that it was found necessary to have it more clearly defined. In the month of May, 1777, the General Assembly amended the act of 1776, changing the line between Washington and Montgomery as follows:
"Beginning at a ford on Holston river, next above Captain John Campbell's, at the Royal Oak, and running from thence a due south course to the dividing line between the states of Virginia and North Carolina; and from the ford aforesaid to the westerly end of Morris' Knob, about three miles above Maiden Spring on Clinch, and from thence, by a line to be drawn due north, until it shall intersect the waters of the great Sandy river."
365
and Southwest Virginia
The line as located by the original act ran through the present Tazewell County about six miles east of the town of Tazewell, plac- ing the greater portion of the present Tazewell County in Washing- ton County. By the act of May, 1777, the line was located about six miles west of the town, and the larger part of the territory was in Montgomery. In other words, all the country west of the line which ran by Morris' Knob was in Washington, while all east of that line was in Montgomery.
Even after the new line was created by the General Assembly, frequent disputes arose between citizens of Washington and Mont- gomery as to the true location of the line. In the spring of 1782, the county courts of the respective counties selected Hugh Fulton to run the line. Fulton performed the work promptly and made a report thereof on the 6th of May, 1782, and the report was confirmed by the courts of the two counties. The courses, distances, and so forth, given in the report, are as follows:
"Beginning at a white walnut and buckeye at the ford of Hol- ston next above the Royal Oak, and runneth thence - N. 31 W. over Brushy mountain, one creek, Walker's mountain, north fork of Holston, Locust cove, Little mountain, Poor Valley creek, Clinch mountain, and the south fork of Clinch to a double and single sugar tree and two buckeye saplings on Bare grass hill, the west end of Morris' Knob, fifteen miles and three quarters. Thence from said knob north crossing the spurs of the same, and Paint Lick mountain the north fork of Clinch by John Hines' plantation, and over the river ridge by James Roark's in the Baptist Valley, to a sugar tree and two white oaks on the head of Sandy five miles, one quarter -- twenty poles.
"The beginning at said walnut and buckeye above the Royal Oak, and running south, crossing the middle fork of Holston, Campbell's mill creek, three mountains, the south fork of Holston above Jones' mill, his mill creek, four mountains, Fox creek to six white pines on the top of Iron mountain by a laurel thicket, eleven miles, three quarters and sixty poles.
"The distance of said line from the head of Sandy to the top of the Iron mountain is thirty three miles.
Executed and returned, May the 6th, 1783.
Hugh Fulton."
366
History of Tazewell County
When the Revolutionary War broke out the pioneer settlers of Clinch Valley were in such a perilous situation, on account of the threatened Indian invasions, that they could give no immediate sub- stantial aid to the colonists of the East and South who were resisting the British armies. All the vital energy of the sturdy men of the Clinch had to be conserved and used for the protection of their own settlements. In the previous war, that of 1774, they had to prac- tically take care of themselves; and they would have been compelled to endure many subsequent outrages from the Indians, if it had not been for the crushing defeat they helped to give the savages at Point Pleasant.
The Indians had been previously the only foes encountered by the Tazewell pioneers. In the great struggle for American freedom, begun in 1776, our ancestors had to grapple with the blood-thirsty savages led by the agents and officers of the British Government, the government for which the Virginians had fought so nobly in former wars. Not a man, however, who was living in the Upper Clinch Valley faltered in devotion to the cause of American freedom. There were some of the settlers who regretted to see the ties that bound them to kindred and the mother country rudely broken, but there were no Tories here. The Scotch-Irish, the German Hugue- nots, and the Englishmen who had come here from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Eastern Virginia had rapidly commingled and devel- oped into true Americans.
Our ancestors were so busily occupied with their home-making pursuits that they neglected to make any written record of their performances in the Revolution. They were extending their clear- ings into the depths of the forests, were enlarging and making their houses stronger, were building new forts, and block-houses, and get- ting ready to repel apprehended attacks from the Indians. We are almost entirely dependent upon tradition for knowledge of what transpired in the Clinch Valley during the progress of the Revolu- tion. Dr. Bickley was fortunate enough to write history at a date when a few of the sons and a number of the grandsons of the pioneers were still living. From these he gathered a minimum of valuable information, and, possibly, might have obtained much more, but for undue haste in collecting the data and writing his book. Writing of this intensely interesting period, Bickley says:
367
and Southwest Virginia
"Previous to 1776, the settlers were engaged in erecting suitable houses to protect their families from the inclemencies of the weather, as well as to render them more secure from the attacks of the Indians. Their lands had to be opened, and, consequently, they were much in the forest. As there was an abundance of game, and few domestic animals, their meat was taken mostly from the forest; this likewise took them from home. They were few, and to raise a house, or roll the logs from a field, required the major part of a settlement. This likewise left their families exposed; yet such work was usually executed during the winter months, when the Indians did not visit the settlements. To give further protection to the families of the settlers, in every neighborhood block-houses were, as soon as convenient, erected, to which the families could repair in time of necessity.
"After 1776, forts and stations were built, as it became neces- sary for many of the settlers to join the army. In these forts, and particularly at the stations, a few men were left to defend them. But the extent of country to be defended was so great, and the stations so few, that there was, in reality, but little safety afforded to the families of the settlers.
"De Hass has given correct descriptions of block-houses, forts, and stations, to which I beg to refer the reader. There was a fort erected by William Wynn, a strict old Quaker, and one of the best of men, on Wynn's branch; another at Crab orchard, by Thomas Witten, and one at Maiden Spring, by Rees Bowen-two men whose names will be cherished in the memories of the people of Tazewell for ages to come.
"There was a station on Linking Shear branch, containing a few men under the command of Capt. John Preston, of Montgomery; another on Bluestone creek, in command of Capt. Robert Crockett of Wythe county, and another at the present site of White Sulphur springs, in command Capt. James Taylor of Montgomery. It is also said, that there was a station in Burk's Garden; I imagine, how- ever, that it was not constructed by order of the Government.
"The following persons, citizens of the county, were posted in these forts and stations, viz :
Bailey, John Bailey, James Belcher, Joseph
Burgess, Edward Belcher, Robert Brewster, Thomas
368
History of Tazewell County
Chaffin, Christopher
Maxwell, John
Connely, James
Maxwell, Thomas
Crockett, John
Marrs - ?
Cottrell, John
Peery, James
Evans, John, Sr.
Pruett, John
Evans, John, Jr.
Thompson, Archibald
Gilbert, Joseph
Witten, James
Godfrey, Absalom
Wynn, Oliver
Hall, William
Wright, Michael
Lusk, David
Ward, John
Lusk, Samuel
Ward, William
Lusley, Robert
Wright, Hezekiah
Martin, James
"These men were to hold themselves in readiness to act as cir- cumstances might demand. To make them more efficient, spies were employed to hang upon the great trails leading into the settlements from the Ohio. Upon discovering the least sign of Indians, they hurried into the settlements and warned the people to hasten to the forts or stations, as the case might be. They received extra wages for their services, for they were both laborious and important, and also fraught with danger. For such an office the very best men were chosen; for it will be readily seen, that a single faithless spy, might have permitted the Indians to pass unobserved, and committed mueh havoc among the people, before they could have prepared for defense. But it does not appear that any "spy" failed to give the alarm when possible to do so. They always went two together, and frequently remained out several weeks upon a scout. Great caution was necessary to prevent the Indians from discovering them, hence their beds were usually of leaves, in some thieket commanding a view of the war-path. Wet or dry, day or night, these men were ever on the lookout. The following persons were chosen from the pre- ceding list, to act as spies, viz :
Burgess, Edward
Maxwell, John
Bailey, James
Martin, James
Bailey, John Wynn, Oliver
Crockett, John
Witten, James
"The last of whom, was one of the most sagacious and successful spies to be found anywhere on the frontier. His name is yet as
369
and Southwest Virginia
familiar with the people, as if he had lived and occupied a place among them but a day ago.
"Such as were too old to bear arms in the government service, usually guarded the women, children, and slaves, while cultivating the farms. Tazewell had but a small population at this time, yet from the number engaged in the regular service, we should be led to think otherwise.
"It is a little strange that the frontiers should have furnished so many men for the army, when their absence so greatly exposed their families. But when we reflect that no people felt the horrors of war more sensibly than they did, and that no people are readier to serve the country in the day when aid is needed, than those of mountainous regions, we shall at once have an explanation to their desire, and consequent assistance, in bringing the war to a close. Beside, the people of Tazewell have ever been foremost in defending the coun- try; showing at onee that determination to be free, which so emi- nently characterizes the people of mountainous distriets."
T.H .- 24
.
370
History of Tazewell County
CHAPTER XIV.
CLARK'S EXPEDITION TO ILLINOIS, AND BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN.
Another event of great moment to the pioneer settlers of Taze- well occurred in 1778. It was the invasion and conquering of the Illinois country by George Rodgers Clark with his small but intrepid army of Virginia frontiersmen. As hereinbefore related Clark had settled in Kentucky, and was one of the two delegates elected to represent that country in the Virginia General Assembly before it was erected into a county. After his return to Kentucky from Wil- liamsburg in 1777 he rendered valuable assistance to Boone, Harrod, Floyd, Logan, and the other settlers in their bloody struggles with the large Indian bands sent by Hamilton to drive the Virginians from Kentucky. Clark realized that the Kentuckians and other bor- der settlers of Virginia would have no rest or safety until the North- western Indians were subdued and the British garrisons in that region were captured or driven out. The country beyond the Ohio was occupied by numerous large and warlike tribes; and there were a number of military posts that had been taken from France at the conclusion of the French and Indian War and were still held by the soldiers of Great Britain. From these posts the British com- manders were continually equipping and sending out Indian bands to attack, kill, and scalp the settlers in Kentucky and the other border settlements of Virginia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.