USA > Virginia > Tazewell County > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 > Part 43
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The shelving rock under which Martha Evans concealed herself when the Moore family was massacred. Believing she had been dis- covered by an Indian, who was sitting on a log that rested on the rock, and who was picking the flint on his rifle, she crawled from conceal- ment, was made a prisoner, and became one of the Captives of Abb's Valley.
she was discovered, and that he was preparing to shoot her, came out and gave herself up. At this he seemed much pleased. They then set out for their towns. Perceiving that John Moore was a boy, weak in body and mind, and unable to travel, they killed him the first day. The babe they took two or three days, but it being fretful, on account of a wound it had received, they dashed its brains out against a tree. They then moved on with haste to their towns. For some time, it was usual to tie, very securely, each of the prisoners at night, and for a warrior to lie beside each of them, with
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tomahawk in hand, so that in case of pursuit, the prisoners might be speedily dispatched. * *
"Shortly after they reached the towns, Mrs. Moore and her daughter Jane'were put to death, being burned and tortured at the stake. This lasted sometime, during which she manifested the utmost Christian fortitude, and bore it without a murmur, at intervals conversing with her daughter Polly, and Martha Ivins, and expressing great anxiety for the moment to arrive, when her soul should wing its way to the bosom of its Savior. At length an old squaw, more humane than the rest, dispatched her with a tomahawk.
"Polly Moore and Martha Ivins eventually reached home, as described in the narrative of James Moore.
"Several incidents, in this narrative, have been left out. When the Indians set fire to the house and started, they took from the stable the fine black horse Yorick. He was a horse of such a vicious nature, that no one could manage him but Simpson. The Indians had not proceeded far when one mounted him, but soon the horse had him on the ground, and was pawing him to death with his feet; for this purpose a few strokes were sufficient. Another mounted him and was served in like manner. Perfectly wild with rage, a very large Indian mounted him, swearing to ride him or kill him; a few plunges and the Indian was under the feet of the desperate horse, his teeth buried in his flesh, and uttering a scream as if he intended to avenge the death of his master; he had just dispatched the Indian, when another running up, stabbed him, and thus put an end to the conflict. 'Alas! poor Yorick.'
"It is said that Mrs. Moore had her body stuck full of lightwood splinters which were fired, and she was thus tortured three days, before she died.
"When Martha Evans and Polly Moore were among the French, they fared much worse than when among the Indians. The French had plenty, but were miserly, and seemed to care little for their wants. The Indians had little, but would divide that little to the last partiele.
"A song, in commemoration of the Moore captivity, is sung by some of the mountaineers to this day, but as it is devoid of poetical merit I omit its insertion. It may be seen in Howe's History of Virginia."
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HARMAN AND PEMBERTON BATTLES WITH THE INDIANS.
The story of the encounter of Henry Harman and his two sons with the Indians was obtained by Dr. Bickley from the Harman descendants; and the account of Richard . Pemberton's battle with the red men was given Bickley from tradition. There is nothing of record that I have been able to find to throw further light on these thrilling occurrences, and I will adopt Bickley's narrative thereof in full:
HARMAN AND PEMBERTON FIGHTS-BATTLE BETWEEN THE HARMANS AND SEVEN INDIANS.
"In the fall of 1784, Henry Harman and his two sons, George and Matthias, and George Draper left the settlement to engage in a bear hunt on 'Tug river. They were provided with pack-horses, independent of those used for riding, and on which were to be brought in the game. The country in which their hunt was to take place, was penetrated by the 'war-path' leading to, and from the Ohio river; but as it was late in the season, they did not expect to meet with the Indians.
"Arriving at the hunting-grounds in the early part of the even- ing, they stopped and built their camp; a work executed generally by the old man, who might be said to be particular in having it constructed to his own taste. George and Matthias loaded, and put their guns in order, and started to the woods, to look for sign, and perchance kill a buck for the evening's repast, while Draper busied himself in hobbling and caring for the horses.
"In a short time, George returned with the startling intelligence of Indians! He had found a camp but a short distance from their own, in which the partly consumed sticks were still burning. They could not, of course, be at any considerable distance, and might now be concealed near them, watching their every movement. George, while at the camp, had made a rapid search for sign, and found a pair of leggins, which he showed the old man. Now old Mr. Harman, was a type of frontiersmen, in some things, and par- ticularly that remarkable self-possession, which is so often to be met with in new countries, where dangers are ever in the path of the settlers. So taking a seat on the ground, he began to interrogate his son on the dimensions, appearances, etc., of the camp. When
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he had fully satisfied himself, he remarked, that "there must be from five to seven Indians," and that they must pack up and hurry back to the settlement, to prevent, if possible, the Indians from doing mischief; and, said he, "if we fall in with them, we must fight them."
"Matthias was immediately called in, and the horses repacked. Mr. Harman and Draper, now began to load their guns, when the old man observing Draper laboring under what is known among hunters as the 'Buek Ague,' being that state of excitement, which eauses excessive trembling, remarked to him, 'my son, I fear you cannot fight.'
"The plan of march was now agreed upon, which was, that Mr. Harman and Draper should lead the way, the paek-horses follow them, and Matthias and George, bring up the rear. After they had started, Draper remarked to Mr. H., that he would get ahead, as he could see better than Mr. H., and that he would keep a sharp lookout. It is highly probable that he was cogitating a plan of escape, as he had not gone far before he deelared he saw the Indians, which proved not to be true. Proceeding a short distance further, he suddenly wheeled his horse, about, at the same time ery- ing out, "Yonder they are-behind that log:" as a liar is not to be believed even when he speaks the truth, so Mr. Draper was not believed this time. Mr. Harman rode on, while a large dog, he had with him, ran up to the log and reared himself up on it, showing no signs of the presence of Indians. At this second, a sheet of fire and smoke from the Indian rifles, completely concealed the log from view, for Draper had really spoken the truth.
"Before the smoke had eleared away, Mr. Harman and his sons were dismounted, while Draper had fled with all the speed of a swift horse. There were seven of the Indians, only four of whom had guns; the rest being armed with bows and arrows, tomahawks and scalping-knives. As soon as they fired, they rushed on Mr. Harman, who fell back to where his two sons stood ready to meet the Indians.
"They immediately surrounded the three white men, who had formed a triangle, each man looking out, or, what would have been, with men enough, a hollow square. The old gentleman bid Matthias to reserve his fire, while himself and George fired, wounding as it would seem, two of the Indians. George was a lame man,
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from having had white swelling in his childhood, and after firing a few rounds, the Indians noticed his limping, and one who fired at him, rushed upon him thinking him wounded. George saw the fatal tomahawk raised, and drawing back his gun, prepared to meet it. When the Indian had got within striking distance, George let down upon his head with the gun, which brought him to the ground; he soon recovered, and made at him again, half bent and head fore- most, intending, no doubt, to trip him up. But as he got near enough, George sprang up and jumped across him, which brought the Indian to his knees. Feeling for his knife, and not getting hold of it, he seized the Indian's and plunged it deep into his side. Matthias struck him on the head with a tomahawk, and finished the work with him.
"Two Indians had attacked the old man with bows, and were maneuvering around him, to get a clear fire, at his left breast. The Harmans, to a man, wore their bullet-pouches on the left side, and with this and his arm he so completely shielded his breast, that the Indians did not fire till they saw the old gentleman's gun nearly loaded again, when one fired on him, and struck his elbow near the joint, cutting one of the principal arteries. In a second more, the fearful string was heard to vibrate, and an arrow entered Mr. Harman's breast and lodged against a rib. He had by this time loaded the gun, and was raising it to his face to shoot one of the Indians, when the stream of blood from the wounded artery flew in the pan, and so soiled his gun that it was impossible to make it fire. Raising the gun, however, had the effect to drive back the Indians, who retreated to where the others stood with their guns · empty.
"Matthias, who had remained an almost inactive spectator, now asked permission to fire, which the old man granted. The Indian at whom he fired appeared to be the chief, and was standing under a large beech tree. At the report of the rifle, the Indian fell, throwing his tomahawk high among the limbs of the tree under which he stood.
"Seeing two of their number lying dead upon the ground, and two more badly wounded, they immediately made off, passing by Draper, who had left his horse, and concealed himself behind a log. "As soon as the Indians retreated, the old man fell back on the ground exhausted and fainting from loss of blood. The wounded
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arm being tied up and his face washed in cold water, soon restored him. The first words he uttered were, 'We've whipped, give me my pipe.' This was furnished him, and he took a whif, while the boys scalped one of the Indians.
"When Draper saw the Indians pass him, he stealthy crept from his hiding-place, and pushed on for the settlement, where he reported the whole party murdered. The people assembled and started soon the following morning to bury them ; but they had not gone far before they met Mr. H. and his sons, in too good con- dition to need burying.
"Upon the tree, under which the chief was killed, is roughly carved an Indian, a bow, and a gun, commemorative of the fight. The arrows which were shot into Mr. Harman, are in possession of some of his descendants.
PEMBERTON'S FIGHT.
"Richard Pemberton, the hero of this battle, lived in the Bap- tist Valley, about five miles from Jeffersonville. In addition to a small farm around his cabin, he cultivated a field, now owned by William O. George, about one and a half miles from his dwelling.
"On a Sabbath morning late in August, 1788, he started to his field accompanied by his wife and two children, to see that his fences were not down, and to repair any breach that might have been made. According to the custom of the times, Mr. Pemberton had taken with him his gun, which was his constant companion. After satisfying himself that his crops werc safe, the little party started back. They had gone but a few hundred yards, however, when two Indians, armed with bows and arrows, knives, and tomahawks, came yelling toward them at full speed. In an instant the pioneer's gun was leveled and the trigger pulled; it missed fire, and in his hurry to spring the lock again, he broke it, and of course could not fire. Seeing him raise his gun to shoot, caused the Indians to halt, and commence firing arrows at him. Keeping himself between his wife and children and the Indians, he ordered them to get on as fast as possible and try to reach a house at which a Mr. Johnson lived, and where several men were living. This house was some half mile distant, but he hoped to reach it, and save those whom he held dearest-his wife and children. The Indians made every possible attempt to separate him from his family, all of which proved vain.
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They would retreat to a respectful distance, and then come bound- ing back like so many furies from the regions of indescribable woe. When they came too near, he would raise his gun as if he was really reserving his fire, which would cause them to halt and surround him. But at every attack they shot their arrows into his breast, causing great pain.
"For nearly an hour this running fight was kept up; still the blood-thirsty savages pressed on; at last, he was sufficiently near to Johnson's house to be heard, and he raised his powerful voice for succor; he was heard, but no sooner did the men at the house hear the ery of 'Indians' than they took to their heels in an oppo- site direction. At last he arrived at the house, closely pursued by the Indians, and entering after his family, barred up the door, and began to make preparations for acting more upon the offensive, when the Indians made a rapid retreat. Pemberton reached his own house the following day, where he resided many years, an eye- sore to those who had so ingloriously fled from his assistance. Many arrow points which entered his breast were never removed, and were carried to the end of life, as the best certificate of his bravery and devotion to his family."
DIAL AND THOMAS MURDERED BY INDIANS.
On the 11th of April, 1786, two men were killed by the In- dians within half a mile of William Wynne's fort at Locust Hill, and near the house of John Peery. Peery was living near the forks of the Clinch, one and a half miles east of Tazewell. Matth- ias Harman and Benjamin Thomas were returning from a scouting expedition, as there were reports current that Indians were prowl- ing around the neighborhood. The scouts stopped at John Peery's, near where a man by the name of Dial was living. Dial, it is said, had liquor for sale, and he and Harman and Thomas imbibed so freely that they became intoxicated. Harman and Thomas had come from their scouting expedition very hungry, and they requested Mrs. Dial to prepare dinner for them. She consented to do so, if the men would get wood with which she could cook the meal. Dial and Thomas started to the woods to get the fuel, and when they got to the end of the lane, about two hundred yards from the house, they were fired upon by six or seven Indians, who had been lying in ambush. Three balls entered Dial's body, but he was able to
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run to his house, pursued by one of the Indians, who was anxious to kill and scalp him. When they got near the house, the Indian saw other men there and he ran swiftly back to his compan- ions. Dial fell against the chimney corner from exhaustion and died in a few hours from his wounds. Only one of the Indians shot at Thomas and he was so close that Thomas struck the gun up when it was fired. The ball struck an oak tree several feet above Thomas' head. He was knocked down with a war club by one of the Indians, and was scalped and left for dead. Harman, a son of "old man Henry," and, like his father, a daring Indian fighter, seized his gun, ran out of the house, mounted his horse and pursued the Indians for some distance. He dared them to stop and fight; but they were too near Wynne's fort to accept the challenge, and made their escape as rapidly as possible.
Thomas was supposed by Harman to be dead, and was left where he had fallen until the next morning, when he was found by the kind old Quaker, William Wynne. Thomas was taken to Wynne's fort and every effort was made to save his life, but he died after lingering several days.
MASSACRE OF WILEY CHILDREN AND CAPTIVITY OF THEIR MOTHER.
Thomas Wiley, with his wife and four children, was living on Clear Fork, just half a mile above the mouth of Cove Creek. A party of Shawnees came up Tug River and on to the head of Blue- stone. On the 1st of October, 1789, they crossed over East River Mountain to Clear Fork. Late in the afternoon of that day the Indians suddenly made their appearance at the door of Thomas Wiley's humble cabin. Wiley was away from home, and the In- dians easily made captives of Mrs. Elizabeth Wiley and her four children. The savages first plundered the house of its scant con- tents and then destroyed it with fire. They then started back to- ward Bluestone; but, after proceeding a short distance up Cove Creek, they killed and scalped the four innocent children and left their mutilated bodies in the wilderness, a prey for the wolves and other carniverous animals that were then numerous in that region.
The Indians took Mrs. Wiley with them to their towns in Ohio, where she was held a captive for nearly three years. In Sep- tember, 1792, she made her escape in company with Samuel Lusk, a youth some sixteen years old. He had been made a pris-
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oner in July, 1792, when his scouting companion, Joseph Gilbert, was killed on the waters of the Guyandotte River.
The escape of Mrs. Wiley was nearly as thrilling as was that of Mrs. Ingles in 1755. Early in the night, late in September, 1792, Mrs. Wiley and Lusk slipped away from the Indian village, got in a canoe Lusk had placed ready for the escape; and traveled rap- idly down the Scioto River fifty miles to the southern banks of the Ohio, which they reached the morning following their escape from the village. They abandoned the canoe, and travelled as speedily as possible on foot up the southern bank of the Ohio. When they reached a point opposite the present Gallipolis, they crossed the river to a small village where they found some friendly French residing. These kind people gave them refuge, and when a party of pursuing Indians reached the village, they made such effectual con- cealment of the escaped captives that their pursuers failed to dis- cover them. A party of white men came along, traveling up the river in a push boat to Pittsburg, and Lusk joined them. He got to Pittsburg safely, then went to Philadelphia, and from there came back to Virginia, reaching his home in Wythe County about one month after he made his escape from the Indians.
A few days after Lusk left, Mrs. Wiley resolved to try to make her way home by traveling on foot up the Kanawha, and New River. She bravely started on the laborious and perilous journey. Weary and footsore she succeeded in reaching the home of her hus- band's brother, who was then living with his family at Wiley's Falls, in the present Giles County, Virginia.
INDIANS KILL JOHN DAVIDSON.
Some time in either 1789 or 1790, John Davidson, a man advanced in years, was killed by the Indians on the Clinch River, half a mile above the present town of North Tazewell. Mr. David- son had been on a business visit to Rockingham County, Virginia, and was returning to his home when the murder was committed at a point near the present residence of Charles H. Peery.
The circumstances connected with the tragedy were afterwards made known by white persons who had been in captivity, and who were told by the Indians, when they were prisoners, how, and why, Mr. Davidson was killed. He had stopped at a deserted cabin to feed his horse, and while thus occupied was shot to death. The
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Indians also said that a white renegade was with them when the horrible deed was done. It seems that the crime was a double one, as the Indians and their companion found a considerable amount of specie in the saddlebags of the old man which was stolen by the murderers. Bickley says :
"A few days after, his son, Col. Davidson, became uneasy on account of his absence, and raising a small company went in search of him. Luckily, when they got to the cabin, they found a hatband, which, being of peculiar structure, was recognized as that worn by Mr. Davidson. After considerable search, his body was found stripped of clothing, and somewhat disfigured by birds. As the Indians had too long been gone to be overtaken, Mr. Davidson was taken home and buried.“
ANDREW DAVIDSON'S FAMILY MADE CAPTIVES.
In the spring of 1791, Andrew Davidson was living at the head spring of East River, about a half mile below the eastern limits of the city of Bluefield, West Virginia. In addition to himself, his family consisted of his wife, Rebecca, his three small children, two girls and a boy, and a bound boy and girl named Broomfield. The bound children were very young, between seven and ten years old, and were more in the nature of proteges than servants. Mrs. David- son was a granddaughter of James Burke, from whom Burke's Garden received its name. Mr. Davidson had gone on a business trip to Smithfield, formerly Draper's Meadows, and now Blacks- burg, Virginia. It was the sugar making season, and a few days after her husband's departure for Smithfield, Mrs. Davidson was busily occupied gathering sugar water from sugar trees close to the house. While she was thus engaged, several Indians, who could speak English, came upon the scene. They told her that she and her children must go with them to their towns in Ohio. She was in a delicate condition, and unfit to undertake the long and fatiguing trip she was required to make.
The Indians went into the house, and took such plunder as they wanted to carry away, set fire to the cabin, and began their home- ward journey with their six prisoners. When they arrived at a point near where Logan Court House, West Virginia, is located, Mrs. Davidson gave birth to a child. After allowing the mother a rest of two hours, the march to Ohio was resumed. The birth of
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the child must have been premature, as it was drowned by the Indians the next day on account of its feeble condition.
Mrs. Davidson and the captive children were treated with such leniency while they were making the journey, that she became hopeful they would be kindly treated after their arrival at the Indian towns. In this, however, she was sadly disappointed. Soon after they arrived at their towns, the Indians tied the two daughters of Mrs. Davidson to trees, and shot them to death in the presence of their mother. Her son was given to an old squaw for adoption. While crossing a river the squaw upset her canoe, and the boy, who was with her, was drowned. What became of the Broomfield children was never known, and it is possible they shared the same fate of the little girls who were shot.
Mrs. Davidson was sold to a Frenchman, in Canada, in whose family she remained as a servant until she was found and rescued by her husband in the fall of 1794. Two years after her cap- ture Mr. Davidson made an unsuccessful trip to the Shawnee towns in search of his wife. On his second trip, in 1794, he received information from an old Indian as to her whereabouts, and was guided by the Indian to Canada. He stopped one day at a farm house to get dinner, and what followed is thus related by Dr. Bickley :
"When he got into the Canada settlements, he stopped at the house of a wealthy French farmer, to get a meal's victuals, and to inquire the way to some place where he had heard she was. He noticed a woman passing him, as he entered the house, but merely bowed to her and went in. Asking for his dinner, he seated him- self, and was, perhaps, running over in his mind, the chances of finding his wife, when again the woman entered. She laid down her wood, and looked at the stranger steadily for a moment, when she turned to her mistress and said: 'I know that man.' 'Well, who is he?' said the French lady. 'It is my husband! Andrew Davidson, I am your wife.' Mr. Davidson could scarcely believe his senses. When he last saw her, she was a fine, healthy-looking woman; her hair was black as coal, but now her head was gray, and she looked many years older than she should have looked. Yet it was her, though he declared nothing but her voice seemed to say she was Rebecca Davidson. Soon the French gentleman
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returned, and being a humane man, gave up Rebecca to her husband, also a considerable sum of money, and next morning sent them on their way rejoicing."
The happily reunited husband and wife returned as quickly as possible to the vicinity of their former home, and settled at the mouth of Abb's Valley on a farm which was owned some ten years ago by A. C. Davidson. They were so fortunate as to have and raise another family of children, and a number of their descendants are now living in Tazewell County, and in Mercer County, West Virginia.
OTHER MASSACRES RELATED BY BICKLEY.
There were other dastardly outrages inflicted by the Indians upon the Tazewell settlers, whereof the dates and circumstances were uncertain. Dr. Bickley wrote briefly about four of the occur- rences, and as I have been unable to get any further facts connected therewith I will reproduce what he said of them:
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