USA > Virginia > Tazewell County > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 > Part 41
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There is no record obtainable that tells from whence William Wynne came when he moved to the Clinch Valley. Being a Quaker, it is reasonable to conclude that he came here from Pennsylvania, possibly by way of the Shenandoah Valley. His grave, which can be found in the Peery graveyard, immediately adjacent to the spot where his fort stood, is marked by a marble tombstone on which I recently found the following inscription :
"William Wynne Born August 10th 1729 Died July 8th 1808."
His will is recorded in Will Book No. 1 of Tazewell County and reveals the fact that he was twice married. By his first wife he had three daughters-Ruth, Orphy Edward, and Sallie Jane; and four sons-Jonah, Elkanah, Oliver and Harman. There is no record in Tazewell which tells the maiden name of his first wife. It may be possible that she was a Harman, as that name was given one of her sons; and William Wynne obtained the Locust Hill tract from the Harmans, who first settled there when they came to the Clinch.
In his will, the old Quaker mentions his second wife as "Phillis". Her maiden name was Whitley. By this wife he had eight sons, all of whom are mentioned in his will. There names were: John, William, Samuel, Robert, Harry, Peter, James and Miner; and a number of daughters. He must have been a thrifty and industrious man, as he accumulated a large estate, both real and personal ; and made ample provision, either by advancements before his death or by bequests in his will, for each of his numerous children, said to be thirty-two in number. To his son Miner, he gave his "land lying in Burk's Garden." The Burke's Garden Wynnes are the descend- ants of Miner Wynne. William Wynne in writing his name made 'e' the last letter of the name. Why his descendants dropped the "e" from the name is not known.
John Wynne married Olivia Peery, daughter of William Peery, the pioneer. She was the sister of 'Squire Tommie and Dr. Field- ing Peery. Nearly a hundred years ago John Wynne built the house which the late Captain Wm. E. Peery and his widow occupied
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as a residence for more than sixty years, located onc and a half miles east of Tazewell. In 1852, John Wynne sold the place to 'Squire Tommie Pcery, who gave it to his son, William Edward. Mrs. Kate Cecil Peery, the venerable widow of Captain Peery made it her home until her death on May 8th, 1919. Olivia Wynne, wife of John, is buried in the Peery graveyard. Her husband, with his remaining family, moved to Missouri in 1852, after he sold the
The above is the first brick house erected in Tazewell County. It was built for John Wynne over a hundred years ago; and in 1852 it became the home of the late Captain Wm. E. Peery. Perhaps it is the most noted place in the county, and many historic incidents cluster about the lovely old home. Wm. E. Peery, Jr., son of Captain Peery, now owns the property; and it is likely to remain a possession of the Peery family for many future generations.
Locust Hill traet. There are none of the Wynnes left in Tazewell, except the descendants of Miner and Oliver Wynne. The latter located in Burke's Garden after his father's death. William Wynne also owned six hundred and sixty acres of land in Powell's Valley in Lee County. These lands he bequeathed to his five sons, Samuel, Robert, Henry, Peter and James. The Wynns now living in Lee County are the descendants of William Wynne, the Clinch Valley pioneer. It is more than probable that William Wynne was the wealthiest man in Tazewell at the time of his death The appraise-
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ment of his personal estate amounted to the sum of $2,603.29; and he owned thousands of acres of the choicest lands in this county.
THE MAXWELL FAMILY.
One of the pioneer families that figured prominently in the early history of the Upper Clinch Valley, is the Maxwells. James Maxwell, who was of the Scotch-Irish blood, came from the prov- ince of Ulster to America and settled in Pennsylvania early in the cighteenth century. He married a Miss Roberts, and moved to that part of Augusta County, Virginia, now embraced in the county of Rockbridge. Three of his sons, Thomas, James and Robert, were among the first settlers in the present Tazewell County. Thomas and James settled on Blucstone, not very far from the present town of Graham; and Robert located near Plum Creek, about two miles west of present town of Tazewell. They came here about 1771 or 1772.
Thomas Maxwell has been so frequently mentioned in preced- ing pages of this book that it is hardly necessary to recount his deeds of daring. He not only had frequent encounters with the Indians, but was with Lieutenant Rees Bowen at the battle of King's Moun- tain, where he acted with such gallantry that he was made a cap- tain of militia in Washington County, he having located on the North Fork of Holston River, after his return from King's Moun- tain. The brave pioneer lost his life while assisting in the rescue of the wife and children of Thomas Ingles, who had been made captives in Burke's Garden by a band of Shawnee Indians. If Thomas Maxwell left any descendants, there is no record or tradi- tional evidence by which the author can locate them.
James Maxwell moved from the Bluestone settlements and located on Clinch River, somewhere westward of the present county seat of Tazewell. He did excellent service as a soldier and scout in the war with the Indians in 1774, and also in the Revolutionary War. When Tazewell County was organized in 1800, James Max- well was made the first sheriff of the county. The records of the county show that he was a very active and influential citizen. He had a family but it has been impossible to get any information about his descendants. It is probable that they all left the county.
Robert Maxwell, who settled on Plum Creek, had eight children. Their names were as follows: Robert, Mary, John, Margaret, James,
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Jennie, Mattie and Elizabeth. Jennie and Mattie were killed by the Indians when the savages were making one of their bloody attacks upon the Clinch settlements. Bickley says nothing about this tragic incident. Evidently the girls were very young, and the murder must have occurred in 1780 or 1781. The Indians made frequent visits to the Clinch settlements during those years, while numbers of the best fighting men were away, at King's Mountain in 1780, and at Guilford Court House in 1781. Robert Maxwell's cabin stood south of the road, and opposite the residence of the late Captain James S. Peery. Some of the stones of the cabin chimney still remain on the ground.
Margaret, daughter of Robert and Mary Maxwell, married David Whitley. He built a grist mill on the site now occupied by the Star Milling Company at North Tazewell; and he built the stone house for a dwelling that is now a part of the residence of John D. Peery at North Tazewell. Margaret Maxwell was the ancestress of all the Whitley's who have since resided in that vicinity.
James Maxwell, son of Robert, the pioneer, married Mary Wit- ten, who was a daughter of Jeremiah Witten, son of Thomas Wit- ten, the pioneer. He was a scholarly man, and died in 1866, aged eighty-six years. His wife, Mary Witten Maxwell, died in 1873 at the age of ninety-three years. They had three sons and two daugh- ters. Robert, one of their sons, married Margaret Bates, and he died in 1904, at which time he was in his ninety-seventh year. He was the father of the venerable James Maxwell who is now living at Maxwell, six miles west of the town of Tazewell. His residence is the stone house built by Burdine Deskins at about the same time David Whitley built his stone dwelling at North Tazewell.
TH .- 28.
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APPENDIX B TO PIONEER PERIOD
INDIAN MASSACRES
MASSACRES BY THE INDIANS-MANY HORRIBLE OUTRAGES INFLICTED UPON THE CLINCH VALLEY SETTLEMENTS.
For a period of eighteen years the Upper Clinch Valley settle- ments were greatly annoyed with repeated attacks by the Indians; and during that time a number of tragic incidents occurred to impair the contentment of the pioneer settlers. Beginning with the massacre of the Henry family, in 1774, the Indians continued, at intervals, until 1792, to make raids into the territory which was later formed into Tazewell County, in many instances inflicting horrible outrages upon the inhabitants. Dr. Bickley in his history has very graphically related all that he could gather from tradition, and from records, about the massacres committed in Tazewell by the red men; and the most diligent investigations on my part have failed to reveal but few other outrages of sufficient moment to warrant mention in this book. I have, however, from records inac- cessible to Bickley, found some of the errors and omissions of Taze- well's first historian, and will make the necessary corrections as occasion requires.
MASSACRE OF HENRY FAMILY.
As previously stated, John Henry and his family were the first victims of the hostile savages who invaded the Upper Clinch regions, in what is now known as Tazewell County. Bickley says that Henry settled in Thompson Valley in the spring of 1771, and that he and his family were killed in May, 1776. There are two errors in this latter statement. The tragedy took place on the 8th of September, 1774, and not in May 1776. Major Arthur Camp- bell, who was in command of all the military forces and stations in Fincastle County, west of New River, on the 9th of September, 1774, made a report to Colonel Preston, county lieutenant, in which he said the attack was made upon Henry and his family the day previous-that is on the 8th of September, 1774.
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John Henry was then living on the south side of Rich Mountain, in Thompson Valley, a short distance east of Plum Creek Gap. He had purchased a tract of land at that point from the Loyal Com- pany. In a recent examination of the Fincastle County records, that are kept in the clerk's office of Montgomery County, I found the following recorded on page 79 of "Plot Book No. 1."
"Surveyed for John Henry 167 acres of Land lying in Fincastle County on the north waters of the South Fork of Clinch River (agreeable to an order of Council of the 16th of Decr. 1773, being a part of the Loyal Company grant) & bounded as follows:
"Beginning at a black walnut at foot of Rich Mountain, running thence S 84 E 63 Poles to a Hicory S 36 W 70 to a Hicory on a Hill, S 7 E 57-to a Spanish Oak S 60 W 153-to a Chestnut N 30 WV 74 to a small Sugar Tree S 36 W 38-to a white Walnut and Sugar Tree N 40 W 28-to a Sugar Tree & Lynn N 621/2 E 276 Poles to the Beginning.
Daniel Smith asst. 5th May 1774
Wm. Preston S F C"
This survey shows beyond a doubt that tradition has located accurately the place where the first massacre by the Indians occurred in Tazewell County. In 1852, when Bickley wrote his history, the Henry land was owned by James S. Witten. It is now owned by Archie Thompson Bickley says:
"The circumstances attending this melancholy occurrence, are not sufficiently clear. The simple fact of the massacre is beyond doubt. But the old gentleman who furnished me with the circum- stances, showed such marked evidences of a decaying state of mind, that I fear the tale is not altogether as authentic as we might desire."
It seems that the attack was made by the Indians, who were lying in wait, just after daylight and Bickley details the circumstances as follows:
"Mr. Henry stepped to the door and unbolted it, with the inten- tion, no doubt, of looking abroad, and yawning in the open air. Stepping in the door, he stretched himself up to inhale the sweet odors of the morning breeze, when a party of Indians, who lay near, fired a gun, and he fell on his face in the yard. He wore on the waistbands of his pantaloons, a large metal button, which must have
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served as a target to the Indian's gun, as the ball passed directly through it, and into Mr. Henry's body."
The savages then rushed over the supposed dead body of Henry into the house, where they tomahawked and killed and scalped Mrs. Henry and all of her children, except one little boy, who was made a prisoner. Henry rose to his feet, and, knowing he could do noth- ing to relieve his family, ran into the woods and hid; and, according to Bickley, tried to make his way to the house of his nearest neigh- bor, a Mr. Martin. Bickley says that Martin had started to Rich Valley with his family, and met Mr. Henry, who was so desperately wounded that he was crawling on his hands and knees to warn his neighbors of the presence of the Indians in the community. Martin put Henry on a horse and took him to the Cove where he died in a few hours and was buried on the farm of William Barns, Esq. He further says that:
"A company was soon collected and preparations made to follow the Indians, who, it was supposed. had carried off the rest of the family. But when they arrived at the fatal spot, the family, con- sisting of a wife and six children, were found murdered, scalped, and piled up after the manner of a log heap, on a ridge a short dis- tance from the house. One child was not found, a little boy, whom it was supposed had been carried off. A large hole was opened, which became a common grave for the mother and her unoffending children.
"The identical spot on which Henry was buried, could not be marked for a number of years-a few years ago, a grave was opened near the supposed place, which accidently proved to be the very spot on which Henry was buried, which was known from the pres- ence of boards and puncheons, which had been substituted for a coffin, and the identical button through which the fatal ball passed. The button is now in possession of some one in this county."
"The old gentleman" who, from tradition, related to Dr. Bick- ley the circumstances connected with the massacre of the Henry family was pretty accurate as to what he told. He was mistaken as to the person who discovered the wounded man and played the part of the good Samaritan; and was mistaken in the name of the man who was taking his family to Rich Valley in the present Smyth County. Major Campbell reported the tragedy the day after it
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occurred. He reported "Old John Hamilton" as the person who found Henry after he was wounded; and named John Bradshaw as the man who had sent his family to Rich Valley. The report of Major Campbell has been very freely detailed in a preceding chap- ter, and it will be useless to repeat it here.
THE EVANS FAMILY.
From the time that John Henry and his family were killed, until eight years after the Revolution was ended, the settlers of the Upper Clinch Valley were in constant dread of attacks by the Indians. But, if Bickley is correct in the dates he gives, no other attacks were made upon the inhabitants of Tazewell after the mass- acre of the Henry family until the third year of the Revolution. There were two causes for the temporary immunity our ancestors enjoyed from attacks by the savages. One cause was the excellent preparation the inhabitants had made by building block-houses and forts, and the organization of a splendid corps of scouts that was kept constantly on duty to watch and report any invasion by the hostiles. The Tazewell men were known to be the best Indian fighters on the Virginia frontiers, and the savages dreaded and avoided encounters with them. Another cause for the temporary relief was the determined efforts of the Indians to drive the settlers from Kentucky, which compelled them to concentrate all their forces for the execution of that purpose. Occasionally small parties of the red men would slip in for robbery, and sometimes they would take a prisoner, but no other massacre occurred until 1779.
In 1773, John Evans and his son Jesse moved their families from Amherst County, Virginia, and settled at the head of the north fork of Clinch River, some eight miles northeast of the present town of Tazewell. John Evans located at the Locust Bottom and Jesse established his home about one mile east of his father's where Buze Harman afterwards lived, just west of the village of Tiptop.
In 1777, a small band of Shawnees came to the head of the Clinch and made John Evans a captive and took him to their towns in Ohio. From there he was sent to Canada, and either made his escape, or was ransomed, and went to Philadelphia. Jesse Evans heard of his arrival in Philadelphia and went there in the spring of 1778 and brought him home. Bickley says:
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"In the summer of 1779, Jesse Evans left his house with six or cight hired men, for the purpose of executing some work at a dis- tance from home. As they carried with them various farming implements, their guns were left at the house, where Mrs. Evans was engaged weaving a piece of cloth. Her oldest daughter was filling quills for her; while the remaining four children were either at play in the garden or gathering vegetables.
"The garden was about sixty yards from the house, and as no sawmills were in existence at that day in this county, slab-boards were put up in the manner called 'wattling' for palings. These were some six feet long, and made what is called a close fence. Eight or ten Indians, who lay concealed in a thicket near the gar- den, silently left their hiding places, and made their way unobserved, to the back of the garden; there removing a few boards, they bounded through and commenced the horrid work of killing and scalping the children. The first warning Mrs. Evans had was their screams and cries. She ran to the door, and beheld the sicken- ing scene, with such feelings as only a mother can feel.
"Mrs. Evans was a stout, athletic woman, and being inured to the hardships of the times, with her to will was to do. She saw plainly that on her exertions alone could one spark of hope be entertained for the life of her 'first born.' An unnatural strength seemed to nerve her arm, and she resolved to defend hier surviving child to the last extremity. Rushing into the house she closed the door, which being too small left a crevice, through which in a few seconds an Indian introduced his gun, aiming to pry open the door, and finish the bloody work which had been so fearfully begun. Mrs. Evans had thrown herself against the door to prevent the entrance of the savages, but no sooner did she see the gun-barrel than she seized it, and drew it so far in as to make it available for a lever in prying to the door. The Indians threw themselves against the door to force it open, but their efforts were unavailing. The heroic woman stood to her post, well knowing that her life depended upon her own exertions. The Indians now endeavored to wrest the gun from her; in this they likewise failed. Hitherto she had worked in silence; but as she saw no prospect of the Indians relin- quishing their object, she began to call loudly for her husband, as if he really were near. It had the desired effect; they let go the gun, and hastily left the house, while Mrs. Evans sat quietly down
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to await a second attack; but the Indians, who had perhaps seen Mr. Evans and his workmen leave the house, feared he might be near, and made off with all speed."
After the Indians left, a man by the name of Goldsby stepped up to the door, but as soon as Mrs. Evans told him of the attack by the savages he ran swiftly away through fear of the Indians. It was told that he exerted himself so violently in making his escape
The old house, that is partially shown behind the stack of wood, is near the spot where Major Taylor's cabin stood, to which Mrs. Evans and her daughter fled for refuge. This old house was built and occupied by Major Taylor after the Revolutionary War. It stands a short distance north of the residence of the late W. G. Mustard, now the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Henry S. Bowen. The persons shown sawing wood are Mr. Mustard and his grandson, Grat Mustard Bowen. The latter is now a grown man and voting citizen of the county.
that he brought on hemorrhage of the lungs, from which he was a long time recovering. Goldsby was one of the very few cowards that were among the pioneer settlers on the Clinch.
Mrs. Evans, armed with the gun she had taken from the Indians, determined to go with her little daughter to Major John Taylor's. He lived two miles west of the Evans home, at the location of the present home of Mrs. Henry S. Bowen, and about the same distance
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northwest of Witten's Mill. In a short while after Mrs. Evans and her daughter started to Major Taylor's, her husband returned to his house. He supposed his wife and children were somewhere about the premises, and began to read from a book, possibly his Bible. At last he became alarmed at the absence of his wife and children and went out into the garden, thinking it probable that his wife was gathering vegetables for their dinner. There he found four of his little ones that had been butchered by the Indians. Not finding his wife and eldest daughter, he thought they had been made captives by the Indians. He returned to the house, got his gun, and went to Major Taylor's to get assistance, where he was joyfully surprised to find his wife and daughter uninjured. The men of the surround- ing country were quickly notified of the occurrence, and the follow- ing morning a party of sympathetic friends accompanied the bereaved parents to their home to bury the murdered children. When the party reached the back of the house they saw Mary, a child only four years old, coming from the spring which was at the front of the Evans home. She had recovered during the night from the blow inflicted with a tomahawk, and had wandered around until daylight, and then gone to the spring to quench her thirst. Her scalp had been torn from her skull and was hanging over her face which was smeared and stained with her blood. Mary recovered entirely from the injury, grew up to womanhood, married and became the mother of a large family.
Bickley says that after the horrible calamity, Jesse Evans became dissatisfied with his home on the Clinch and moved to Ten- nessee. He must have lingered for several years in Wright's Val- ley after the massacre of his children. In the surveyors entry book of Montgomery County, I find that Jesse Evans in 1782 entered 400 acres of land in Wright's Valley on the headwaters of the North Fork of Clinch River, to include improvements. This was evidently the tract of land upon which Evans was living when his children were killed by the Indians.
MASSACRE OF ROARK FAMILY.
The year following the massacre of the Evans family another frightful tragedy was enacted in Baptist Valley, when the Roark family experienced a fate similar to that which befell the family of Jesse Evans. Tradition is very apt to err in fixing the dates
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of incidents similar to those of which I am writing, though it be accurate as to the locality where such events take place and the circumstances connected therewith. Bickley, who had to depend on tradition, places the massacre of the Roarks in the year 1789, when it actually occurred in 1780, as I have ascertained from existing records. The following account of the tragedy is given by Dr. Bickley:
"James Roark lived at the gap of the dividing ridge, between the waters of the Clinch and the Sandy rivers, through which passed the Dry Fork road, and which has since been known as Roark's Gap. Early in 1789, a band of Shawnee Indians left their homes in the west, and ascending the Dry fork, fell upon the defenseless family of Mr. Roark and killed his wife and several children. Two sons and Mr. Roark were from home and, it may be, thus saved their own lives, as the Indians were rather numerous to have been beaten off by them, even if they had been at home.
"This is the only instance that I have met with, of the Indians visiting the settlements of Tazewell before the winter had clearly broken. There was a heavy snow upon the ground at the time.
"From this time forward the Roarks became the deadly enemies of the Indians, and sought them, even beyond the limits of the county. Mr. Roark and one of his sons (John), were afterwards killed in a battle, fought at what was then known as the Station bottom, within the present limits of Floyd county, Kentucky."
In a publication of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, gotten out in 1917, I have found a report which shows that the Roark massacre occurred on the 18th of March, 1780. The report was made by Major John Taylor to Colonel William Preston, then county lieutenant for Montgomery County, and is official. The original report, now in the possession of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, was procured by the late Lyman C. Draper from the descendants of Colonel Preston. The report made by Major Taylor to Colonel Preston is as follows:
"Sir:
"The 18th Instant the Indians was In this Neighborhood and Fell in at James Roark's where they Scalped seven of his Children And his wife. They are all Dead only one Girl. They took Seven Head of Horses Five of which was the property of Wm. Patterson.
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