Chapter I (1)

At the time when Virginia became known to the whites, it was occupied by many different tribes of Indians, attached to different nations. That portion of the state lying north west of the Blue ridge, and extending to the lakes was possessed by the Massawomees. These were a powerful confederacy, rarely in amity with the tribes east of that range of mountains; but generally harrassing them by frequent hostile irruptions into their country. Of their subsequent history, nothing is now known. They are supposed by some to have been the ancestors of the Six Nations. It is however more probable, that they afterwards became incorporated with these, as did several other tribes of Indians, who used a language so essentially different from that spoken by the Six Nations, as to render the intervention of interpreters necessary between them.

As settlements were extended from the sea shore, the Massawomees gradually retired; and when the white population reached the Blue ridge of mountains, the valley between it and the Alleghany, was entirely uninhabited. This delightful region of country was then only used as a hunting ground, and as a highway for belligerant parties of different nations, in their military expeditions against each other. In consequence of the almost continued hostilities between the northern and southern Indians, these expeditions were very frequent, and tended somewhat to retard the settlement of the valley, and render a residence in it, for some time, insecure and unpleasant. Between the Alleghany mountains and the Ohio river, within the present limits of Virginia, there were some villages interspersed, inhabited by small numbers of Indians; the most [40] of whom retired north west of that river, as the tide of emigration rolled towards it. Some however remained in the interior, after settlements began to be made in their vicinity.

North of the present boundary of Virginia, and particularly near the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, and in the circumjacent country the Indians were more numerous, and their villages larger. In 1753, when Gen. Washington visited the French posts on the Ohio, the spot which had been selected by the Ohio company, as the site for a fort, was occupied by Shingess, king of the Delawares; and other parts of the proximate country, were inhabited by Mingoes and Shawanees.[1] When the French were forced to abandon the position, which they had taken at the forks of Ohio, the greater part of the adjacent tribes removed farther west. So that when improvements were begun to be made in the wilderness of North Western Virginia, it had been almost entirely deserted by the natives; and excepting a few straggling hunters and warriors, who occasionally traversed it in quest of game, or of human beings on whom to wreak their vengeance, almost its only tenants were beasts of the forest.

In the country north west of the Ohio river, there were many warlike tribes of Indians, strongly imbued with feelings of rancorous hostility to the neighboring colonists. Among the more powerful of these were the Delawares, who resided on branches of Beaver Creek, Cayahoga, and Muskingum; and whose towns contained about six hundred inhabitants--The Shawanees, who to the number of 300, dwelt upon the Scioto and Muskingum--The Chippewas, near Mackinaw, of 400--Cohunnewagos, of 300, and who inhabited near Sandusky--The Wyandots, whose villages were near fort St. Joseph, and embraced a population of 250--The Twightees, near fort Miami, with a like population--The Miamis, on the river Miami, near the fort of that name, reckoning 300 persons--The Pottowatomies of 300, and the Ottawas of 550, in their villages near to forts St. Joseph and Detroit,[2] and of 250, in the towns near Mackinaw. Besides these, there were in the same district of country, others of less note, yet equally inimical to the whites; and who contributed much to the annoyance [41] of the first settlers on the Ohio, and its tributaries.

There were likewise the Munsies, dwelling on the north branch of the Susquehanna, and on the Allegheny river--The Senecas, on the waters of the Susquehanna, Ontario and the heads of the Allegheny--The Cayugas, on Cayuga lake, and the Sapoonies, who resided in the neighborhood of the Munsies. In these tribes was an aggregate population of 1,380 souls, and they likewise aided in committing depredations on our frontiers.

Those who ventured to explore and occupy the south western portion of Virginia, found also in its vicinity some powerful and warlike tribes. The Cherokees possessed what was then, the western part of North Carolina and numbered 2,500--The Chicasaws, residing south of the Cherokees, had a population of 750--and the Catawbas, on the Catawba river in South Carolina with only 150 persons. These latter were remarkably adventurous, enterprising and courageous; and notwithstanding their remote situation, and the paucity of their numbers, frequently traversed the valley of Virginia, and even penetrated the country on the north branch of the Susquehanna, and between the Ohio river and lake Erie, to wage war upon the Delawares. Their success in many of these expeditions, is preserved in the traditions of the Delawares, who continue to regard them as having used in these wars, a degree of cunning and stratagem, to which other tribes have never approached.[3]

Such were the numbers and positions of many of the proximate Indians about the time settlements were begun to be [42] made on the Monongahela river and its branches. Anterior to this period, adventurers had explored, and established themselves, in various parts of the valley between the Blue ridge and the Alleghany mountain. That section of it, which was included within the limits of the Northern-Neck, was the first to become occupied by the whites. The facilities afforded by the proprietor for obtaining land within his grant, the greater salubrity of climate and fertility of soil near to the Blue ridge, caused the tide of emigration to flow rapidly towards the upper country, and roll even to the base of that mountain. Settlements were soon after extended westwardly across the Shenandoah, and early in the eighteenth century Winchester became a trading post, with sparse improvements in its vicinity.

About this time Thomas Morlin, a pedlar trading from Williamsburg to Winchester, resolved, in conjunction with John Salling a weaver also from Williamsburg, to prosecute an examination of the country, beyond the limits which had hitherto bounded the exploratory excursions of other adventurers. With this view, they travelled up the valley of the Shenandoah, and crossing James river and some of its branches, proceeded as far as the Roanoke, when Salling was taken captive by a party of Cherokees. Morlin was fortunate enough to elude their pursuit, and effect a safe retreat to Winchester.

Upon the return of the party by whom Salling had been captivated, he was taken to Tennessee where he remained for some years. When on a hunting expedition to the Salt licks of Kentucky, in company with some Cherokees to kill buffalo, they were surprised by a party of Illinois Indians, with whom the Cherokees were then at war, and by them Salling was again taken prisoner. He was then carried to Kaskaskia, when he was adopted into the family of a squaw whose son had been killed in the wars.

While with this nation of Indians, Salling frequently accompanied parties of them on hunting excursions, a considerable distance to the south. On several occasions he went with them below the mouth of the Arkansas, and once to the Gulph of Mexico. In one of those expeditions they met with a party of Spaniards, exploring the country and who needed an interpreter. For this purpose they purchased Salling of his Indian mother for three strands of beads and a Calumet. Salling attended them to the post at Crevecoeur; from which [43] place he was conveyed to fort Frontignac: here he was redeemed by the Governor of Canada, who sent him to the Dutch settlement in New York, whence he made his way home after an absence of six years.[4]

The emigration from Great Britain to Virginia was then very great, and at the period of Salling's return to Williamsburg, there were then many adventurers, who had but recently arrived from Scotland and the north of England. Among these adventurers were John Lewis[5] and John Mackey. Salling's return excited a considerable and very general interest, and drew around him many, particularly of those who had but lately come to America, and to whom the narrative of one, who had been nearly six years a captive among the Indians, was highly gratifying. Lewis and Mackey listened attentively to the description given of the country in the valley, and pleased with its beauty and fertility as represented by Salling, they prevailed on him to accompany them on a visit to examine it more minutely, and if found correspondent with his description to select in it situations for their future residence.

Lewis made choice of, and improved, a spot a few miles below Staunton, on a creek which bears his name--Mackey on the middle branch of the Shenandoah near Buffalo-gap; and Salling in the forks of James river, below the Natural Bridge, where some of his descendants still reside. Thus was effected the first white settlement ever made on the James river, west of the Blue ridge.[6]

In the year 1736, Lewis, being in Williamsburg, met with Benjamin Burden (who had then just come to the country as agent of Lord Fairfax, proprietor of the Northern Neck,) and on whom he prevailed to accompany him home. Burden remained at Lewis's the greater part of the summer, and on his return to Williamsburg, took with him a buffalo calf, which while hunting with Samuel[7] and Andrew Lewis (elder sons of John) they had caught and afterwards tamed. He presented this calf to Gov. Gooch, who thereupon entered on his journal, [44] an order, authorizing Burden to locate conditionally, any quantity of land not exceeding 500,000 acres on any of the waters of the Shenandoah, or of James river west of the Blue ridge. The conditions of this grant were, that he should interfere with no previous grants--that he should settle 100 families, in ten years, within its limits; and should have 1000 acres adjoining each cabin which he should cause to be built, with liberty to purchase any greater quantity adjoining, at the rate of fifty pounds per thousand acres. In order to effect a compliance with one of these conditions, Burden visited Great Britain in 1737; and on his return to Virginia brought with him upwards of one hundred families of adventurers, to settle on his grant.[8] Amongst these adventurers were, John Patton, son-in-law to Benjamin Burden, who settled on Catawba, above Pattonsburg[9]--Ephraim McDowell, who settled at Phoebe's falls--John, the son of Ephraim,[10] who settled at Fairfield, where Col. James McDowell now lives--Hugh Telford, who settled at the Falling spring, in the forks of James river--Paul Whitley, who settled on Cedar creek, where the Red Mill now is--Archibald Alexander, who settled on the North river, opposite Lexington--Andrew Moore, who settled adjoining Alexander--Sampson Archer, who settled at Gilmore's spring, east of the Bridge tavern, and Capt. John Matthews, who married Betsy Archer, (the daughter of Sampson) settled where Major Matthews lives, below the Natural bridge.

Among others who came to Virginia at this time, was an Irish girl named Polly Mulhollin. On her arrival she was hired to James Bell to pay her passage; and with whom she remained during the period her servitude was to continue. At its expiration she attired herself in the habit of a man; and with hunting shirt and mocassons, went into Burden's grant, for the purpose of making improvements and acquiring a title to land. Here she erected thirty cabins, by virtue of which she held one hundred acres adjoining each. When Benjamin Burden the younger, came on to make deeds to those who held cabin rights, he was astonished to see so many in the name of Mulhollin. Investigation led to a discovery of the mystery, to the great mirth of the other claimants. She resumed her christian name and feminine dress, and many of [45] her respectable descendants still reside within the limits of Burden's grant.[11]

When in 1752 Robert Dinwiddie came over as governor of Virginia, he was accompanied by many adventurers; among whom was John Stuart,[12] an intimate friend of Dinwiddie, who had married the widow of John Paul (son of Hugh, bishop of Nottingham.) John Paul, a partizan of the house of Stuart, had perished in the siege of Dalrymple castle in 1745, leaving three children--John, who became a Roman catholic priest and died on the eastern shore of Maryland--Audley, who was for ten years an officer in the British colonial forces,--and Polly, who married Geo. Matthews, afterwards governor of Georgia. Mrs. Paul (formerly Jane Lynn, of the Lynns of Loch-Lynn, a sister to the wife of John Lewis) had issue, by Stuart, John, since known as Col. Stuart of Greenbrier, and Betsy, who became the wife of Col. Richard Woods of Albemarle.

The greater part of those, who thus ventured "on the untried being" of a wilderness life, were Scottish presbyterian dissenters; a class of religionists, of all others perhaps, the most remarkable for rigid morality. They brought with them, their religious principles, and sectional prepossessions; and acting upon those principles acquired for their infant colony a moral and devotional character rarely possessed by similar establishments. While these sectional prepossessions, imbibed by their descendants, gave to their religious persuasions, an ascendency in that section of country, which it still retains.

They were also men of industry and enterprise. Hunting, which too frequently occupies the time, of those who make the forest their dwelling place, and abstracts the attention from more important pursuits, was to them a recreation--not the business of life. To improve their condition, by converting the woods into fertile plains, and the wilderness into productive meadows, was their chief object. In the attainment of this, they were eminently successful. Their individual circumstances became prosperous, and the country flourishing.

The habits and manners of the primeval inhabitants of any country, generally give to it a distinctive character, which marks it through after ages. Notwithstanding the influx of strangers, bringing with them prejudices and prepossessions, at variance with those of the community in which they come; [46] yet such is the influence of example, and such the facility with which the mind imbibes the feelings and sentiments of those with whom it associates, that former habits are gradually lost and those which prevail in society, imperceptibly adopted by its new members.

In like manner, the moral and religious habits of those who accompanied Burden to Virginia, were impressed on the country which they settled, and entailed on it that high character for industry, morality and piety, which it still possesses, in an eminent degree.

At the time of the establishment of this settlement, all that part of Virginia lying west of the Blue ridge mountains, was included in the county of Orange. At the fall session, of the colonial legislature, in 1738, the counties of Frederick and Augusta were formed out of Orange--The country included within the boundaries of the Potomac river, on the north, the Blue ridge, on the east, and a line, to be run from the head spring of Hedgman, to the head spring of Potomac, on the south and west, to be the county of Frederick; the remainder of the state west of the Blue ridge, to the utmost limits of Virginia to constitute Augusta. Within its limits were included, not only a considerable portion of Virginia as she now is, but an extent of territory out of which has been already carved four states, possessing great natural advantages, and the extreme fertility of whose soil, will enable them to support perhaps a more dense population, than any other portion of North America of equal dimensions. As the settlements were extended, subdivisions were made, 'till what was once Augusta county south east of the Ohio river, has been chequered on the map of Virginia, into thirty-three counties with an aggregate population of 289,362.[13]

[48] About the year 1749 there was in the county of Frederick, a man subject to lunacy, and who, when laboring under the influence of this disease, would ramble a considerable distance into the neighboring wilderness. In one of these wanderings he came on some of the waters of Greenbrier river. Surprised to see them flowing in a westwardly direction, on his return to Winchester he made known the fact, and that the country abounded very much with different kinds of Game. In consequence of this information two men, recently from New England, visited the country and took up their residence on the Greenbrier river.

Having erected a cabin and being engaged in making some other improvements, an altercation arose, which caused Stephen Suel,[14] one of them, to forsake the cabin and abide for some time in a hollow tree not far from the improvement, which was still occupied by his old companion. They were thus situated in 1751, when John Lewis, of Augusta and his son Andrew were exploring the country; to whom Suel made known the cause of their living apart, and the great pleasure which he experienced now in their morning salutations, when issuing from their respective habitations; whereas when they slept under the same roof, none of those kindly greetings passed between them. Suel however did not long remain in the vicinity of Martin, the other of the two adventurers; he moved forty miles west of his first improvement, and soon after fell a prey to Indian ferocity. Martin is said to have returned to the settlements.

There was no other attempt made by the whites, to improve the Greenbrier country for several years. Lewis and his son thoroughly examined it; and when permission was given to the Greenbrier company (of which John Lewis was a member) to locate 100,000 acres, on the waters of this river, they became agents to make the surveys and locations. The war between France and England in 1754 checked their proceedings; and when they, on the restoration of peace, would have resumed them, they were interdicted by a royal proclamation, issued in 1761, commanding all those who had made settlements on the western waters to remove from them; and those who were engaged in making surveys to desist. Sound policy requiring, that a good understanding should be maintained with the Indians (who claimed the country) to prevent a further cooperation on their part with France.[15]

Previous to the issuing of this proclamation, some families had moved to Greenbrier and made two settlements--the one on Muddy creek, the other in the Big-Levels. These, disregarding the command of his royal majesty and rather regardless of their own safety, remained until they were destroyed by the Indians, in 1763.[16] From this time 'till 1769 Greenbrier was altogether uninhabited. Capt. John Stuart and a few other young men, then began to settle and improve the country; and although attempts were subsequently made by the Indians to exterminate them, yet they ever after continued in possession of it.

[49] In the year 1756 settlements were also made on New river and on Holstein.[17] Among the daring adventurers who effected them, were Evan Shelby, William Campbell, William Preston and Daniel Boone, all of whom became distinguished characters in subsequent history. Thomas Walden,[18] who was afterwards killed on Clinch river and from whom the mountain dividing Clinch and Powel rivers derived its name, was likewise one of them. The lands taken up by them, were held as "_corn rights_" each acquiring a title to an hundred acres of the adjoining land, for every acre planted in corn.

Nearly cotemporaneous with these establishments, was that at Galliopolis, on the north western bank of the Ohio, and below Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kenhawa. This was made by a party of French Jesuits, by whom the Indians were incited to make incursions, and commit the most enormous barbarities on the then frontiers.[19] This place and the mouth of Great Sandy were the chief points of rendezvous for the Ohio Indians. From the former of these places they would ascend the Kenhawa and Greenbrier rivers, and from thence crossing the mountains enter into Augusta; or after having ascended the Kenhawa, go up the New river, from which they would pass over to the James and Roanoke. From the mouth of Great Sandy they would ascend that river, and by the way of Bluestone fall over on the Roanoke and New river. From those two points, expeditions were frequently made by the Indians, which brought desolation and death into the infant settlements of the south west, and retarded their growth very much. In the spring of 1757 nearly the whole Roanoke settlement was destroyed by a party of Shawanees, who had thus made their way to it.

That portion of the valley of Virginia in which establishments were thus begun to be made, was at that time one continued forest; overspreading a limestone soil of great fertility; and intersected by rivers affording extensive bottoms of the most productive alluvial land. Indeed few rivers of equal size, are bordered with as wide and fertile levels of this formation of earth, as those which water that section of country: the Roanoke particularly affords large bodies of it, capable of producing in great abundance hemp, tobacco and the different kinds of grain usually grown. In the country generally, every species of vegetable, to which the climate was congenial, grew with great luxuriancy; while the calcareous nature of the soil, adapted it finely to the production of that kind of grain, to which European emigrants were mostly used.

The natural advantages of the country were highly improved by the persevering industry of its inhabitants. Its forests, felled by untiring labor, were quickly reduced to profitable cultivation, and the weeds which spontaneously sprang from the earth, were soon succeeded by the various grasses calculated to furnish the most nutritious food, for the lowing herds with which their farmers were early stocked; these yielded a present profit, and laid the sure foundation [50] of future wealth. Some of the most extensive and successful graziers of Virginia, now inhabit that country; and reap the rich reward of their management and industry, in the improved and more contiguous market of Richmond.

In the infancy of these establishments, their only market was at Williamsburg. Thither the early settlers _packed_ their butter and poultry, and received in exchange salt, iron, and some of the luxuries of life; their beef and other stock was taken to the same place. In the process of time, as the country east of the Blue ridge became more improved, other markets were opened to them; and the facilities of communication were gradually increased. Their successors have already derived great advantage from those improvements; and the present generation will not only witness their farther extension, but most probably see the country first tenanted by Lewis and his cotemporaries, a great thoroughfare for the produce of several of the western states--a link of communication between the Chesapeak bay and the Gulph of Mexico.

-----
[1] King Shingiss was a famous village chief, "a terror to
the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania." A brother, and later
the successor of King Beaver, his camp was at the mouth of
Beaver Creek, which empties into the Ohio twenty-six miles
below "the forks" (site of Pittsburg). Christopher Gist visited
him November 24, 1750. In 1759, when Fort Pitt was built,
Shingiss moved up Beaver Creek to Kuskuskis on the Mahoning,
and finally to the Muskingum. The land about the mouth of
Beaver Creek is called "Shingis Old Town" in the Ft. Stanwix
treaty, 1784.--R. G. T.

[2] The numbers here set down and those given below, are as
they were ascertained by Capt. Hutchins, who visited the most
of the tribes for purpose of learning their population in
1768.

[3] A tradition among the Delawares says that formerly the
Catawbas came near one of their hunting camps and remaining in
ambush at night sent two or three of their party round the camp
with Buffalo hoofs fixed to their feet, to make artificial
buffalo tracks and thus decoy the hunters from their camp. In
the morning the Delawares, discovering the tracks and supposing
them to have been made by buffaloes, followed them some time;
when suddenly the Catawbas rose from their covert, fired at and
killed several of the hunters; the others fled, collected a
party and went in pursuit of the Catawbas. These had brought
with them, rattle snake poison corked up in a piece of cane
stalk; into which they dipped small reed splinters, which they
set up along their path. The Delawares in pursuit were much
injured by those poisoned splinters, and commenced retreating
to their camp. The Catawbas discovering this, turned upon their
pursuers, and killed and scalped many of them.

[4] John Peter Salling, sometimes spoken of as Peter Adam
Salling, was, if not of German birth, of German descent. With
his brother Henry, he early settled in the forks of James River
and North Branch, in the southern part of what is now
Rockbridge county, Va. The details of his early explorations in
the West are involved in doubt, but that he had such adventures
there seems no good reason to doubt. It will be noticed that
Withers omits the date; some writers have placed it at about
1724, but the probable time was 1738-40. His descendants told
Draper (about 1850) that the family tradition was, that Salling
and a son were employed by the governor of Virginia to explore
the country to the southwest; and when near the present Salem,
Roanoke county, they were captured by Cherokees and carried to
the Ohio River--one account says by way of the Tennessee,
another by the New (Great Kanawha), their boat being made of
buffalo skins. They appear by this tradition to have escaped,
and in descending the Mississippi to have fallen into the hands
of Spaniards. The son died, and the father was sent in a vessel
bound for Spain, there to be tried as a British spy; but the
Spaniard being captured by an English vessel, our hero was
landed at Charleston, whence he reached his frontier home after
an absence of over three years. This story differs in many
details from the one in Kercheval's _History of the Valley of
Virginia_, and also that in Withers's text, above. Salling kept
a journal which was extant in 1745, for in the Wisconsin
Historical Society's library is a diary kept by Capt. John
Buchanan, who notes that in that year he spent two days in
copying a part of it. In Du Pratz' _History of Louisiana_
(London, 1774), Salling and one John Howard are said to have
made this trip in 1742, and the authority is said to be a
_Report of the Government of Virginia_. But Salling must have
returned home by 1742, for his name is in the roll of Capt.
John McDowell's militia company, and he was probably in the
fight with the Indians (Dec. 14) that year, in which McDowell
lost his life. In 1746, we found Salling himself a militia
captain in the Rockbridge district of Augusta county. In
September, 1747, he was cited to appear at court martial for
not turning out to muster--and this is the last record we have
of him. Descendants, named Sallee, now live in Kentucky and
Tennessee.--R. G. T.

[5] John Lewis, the father of Gen. Andrew Lewis, was
probably of Welsh descent, and born in 1678 in County
Donegal, Ireland. About 1716 he married Margaret Lynn, of the
famous Lynns of Loch Lynn, Scotland. In a dispute over his
tenancy (1729), he killed a man of high station,--some say,
his Catholic landlord,--and fled to Portugal, whence in 1731,
after strange adventures, he emigrated to America, and was
joined there by his family. Fearing to live near a sea-port
he established himself on the frontier, in the Valley of
Virginia, two miles east of the present site of Staunton.
His house was of stone, built for defense, and in 1754 it
successfully stood an Indian siege. Lewis was colonel of
the Augusta county militia as early as 1743, presiding
justice in 1745, and high sheriff in 1748. In 1751, then 73
years of age, he assisted his son Andrew, then agent of the
Loyal Company, to explore and survey the latter's grant on
Greenbrier River. It was because the old man became entangled
in the thicket of greenbriers, that he gave this name to the
stream. He died at his old fort homestead, February 1, 1762,
aged 84 years. Some accounts state that he was a Presbyterian;
he was, however, an Episcopalian.--R. G. T.

[6] Lewis soon afterwards obtained leave from Governor Gooch
to locate 100,000 acres of land in separate parcels on the
waters of the Shenandoah and James rivers; and when he would go
out in search of good land to locate, Mackey would accompany
him to hunt buffalo. The former amassed a large estate, while
the latter lived and died in comparative poverty.

[7] As Col. John Lewis had no son Samuel, probably Thomas
Lewis, the elder brother of Andrew, though near-sighted, may
have engaged in buffalo hunting.--L. C. D.

[8] Of the origin of Benjamin Borden, Sr. (the name was
mispronounced Burden, on the frontier), little is known. He was
probably from New Jersey, and early became a fur trader on the
Virginia frontier; later he was in Lord Fairfax's employ as a
land agent. As such, he visited Governor Gooch and obtained
from him several valuable tracts--one of them (October 3,
1734), Borden Manor, on Sprout run, Frederick county; another,
100,000 acres at the head of the James, on condition of
locating thereon a hundred families. At the end of two years he
had erected 92 cabins with as many families, and a patent was
granted him November 8, 1739, for 92,100 acres. He died in
1742, before further development of his enterprise. His son
Benjamin succeeded to his vast estate, but died of small-pox in
1753. In 1744, he married the widow of John McDowell, mentioned
on the next page, who had been killed in the Indian fight of
December 14, 1742.--R. G. T.

[9] The daughter of John Patton subsequently became the wife
of Col. W. Preston, and the mother of James Patton Preston,
late a governor of Virginia.

------

_Comment by L. C. D._--This note of Mr. Withers, derived from
Taylor's sketches (mentioned below), is erroneous both as to
Patton and Preston. Col. Patton's first name was not John, but
James, as both the records and his own autograph sufficiently
attest. Neither did John Preston, nor his son Col. Wm. Preston,
marry Col. Patton's daughter, but John Preston married his
sister. Miss Elizabeth Patton, while crossing the Shannon in a
boat, met the handsome John Preston, then a young ship
carpenter, and an attachment grew out of their accidental
meeting. But as Miss Patton belonged to the upper class of
society, there was a wide gulf between their conditions, and a
runaway match was the only way out of the difficulty. Gov.
James Patton Preston was named after his grand-uncle. James
Patton was born in County Londonderry, Ireland, in 1692. For
many years he was a prosperous navigator, and crossed the
Atlantic twenty-five times with "redemptioners" for Virginia;
he was also an officer in the royal navy in the wars with the
Netherlands. Having obtained a grant of 120,000 acres above the
Blue Ridge, he himself settled in Virginia in 1735. A man of
wealth, enterprise and influence, he was a justice, sheriff,
Indian treaty commissioner, and finally county lieutenant of
Augusta. In 1755, he was killed by Indians while conveying
ammunition to the borderers.

[10] Capt. John McDowell was of Scotch descent, and born in
Ulster, Ireland, but in early manhood came to America, settling
first in Pennsylvania, and then the Virginia Valley (autumn of
1737). He at once became one of Benjamin Borden's surveyors,
and for five years made surveys on Borden's Manor. Becoming a
captain in the Augusta militia, he was ordered to go out
against a party of Northern Indians who, on the war-path
against the Catawbas, had taken in the Virginia Valley on their
way, and annoyed and plundered the white settlers. The savages
were overtaken on the North Branch of James River, some fifteen
miles from McDowell's place, and an engagement ensued (Dec. 14,
1742), in which McDowell and seven others lost their lives. The
Indians escaped with small losses. This was the first battle
between whites and Indians, in the Virginia Valley.--R. G. T.

[11] This incident is well authenticated. See the deposition
of Mrs. Mary Greenlee, preserved in the famous Borden land
suit, among the court records of Augusta county, Va. Mrs.
Greenlee was the sister of Capt. John McDowell, and among the
very earliest settlers of that part of Augusta, now Rockbridge
county. Mrs Greenlee's deposition is published in full in
Peyton's _History of Augusta County, Va._ (Staunton, Va.,
1882), pp. 69-74.--L. C. D.

[12] The late Charles A. Stuart, of Greenbrier, son of Col.
John Stuart, after the appearance of Hugh Paul Taylor's
sketches over the signature of "Son of Cornstalk," published in
the _Staunton Spectator_ of August 21, 1829, over the signature
of "Son of Blue Jacket," a brief criticism, in the nature of
some corrections regarding his own family, to this effect: That
Mrs. Jane Paul was no relative of Mrs. Margaret Lewis, wife of
Col. John Lewis; that her first husband, Mr. Paul--not John,
but probably Hugh Paul--was apparently from the north of
Ireland--their son Audley Paul was born before the migration of
the family to Pennsylvania; Mr. Paul, Sr., it is said, became
the pastor of the Presbyterian congregation of Chester, in that
province; but as Chester was a Quaker settlement, it is more
likely that he located in some Presbyterian community in that
region, and there must have died. Mrs. Paul, for her second
husband, married Col. David Stuart, also from Ireland, by whom
she had John Stuart and two daughters. Mrs. Stuart's
grandchild, Charles A. Stuart, resided many years in Augusta,
representing that county in the State senate, subsequently
removed back to Greenbrier county, where he died about 1850, at
the age of about sixty-five years. He was a man of sterling
qualities.--L. C. D.

[13] The following table exhibits a list of the several counties west
of the Blue ridge--the counties from which each was taken--when
established--their area in square miles--population in 1830, and
amount of taxation for the same year.

Counties. From what When Area. Population. Taxation.
taken. formed.

Augusta, Orange, 1738 948 19,925 6,734
Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt
and Monroe, 1822 521 2,816 526
Bath, Augusta,
Botetourt and
Greenbrier, 1791 795 4,068 865
[47] Brooke, Ohio, 1797 202 7,040 1,136
Berkeley, Frederick, 1772 308 10,528 3,356
Botetourt, Augusta, 1770 1057 16,354 3,809
Cabell, Kanawha, 1809 1033 5,884 629
Frederick, Orange, 1738 745 26,045 9,396
Greenbrier, Botet't &
Montg'ry, 1778 1409 9,059 1,716
Giles, Montgomery,
Monroe and
Tazewell, 1806 935 5,300 541
Grayson, Wythe, 1793 927 7,675 537
Harrison, Monongalia, 1784 1095 14,713 1,669
Hampshire, Augusta &
Fred'k, 1754 989 11,279 2,402
Hardy, Hampshire, 1786 1156 5,700 2,633
Jefferson, Berkeley, 1801 225 12,927 4,721
Kanawha, Greenb'r &
M'tg'ry, 1789 2090 9,334 1,453
Lewis, Harrison, 1816 1754 6,241 630
Logan, Giles, Kanawha,
Cabell &
Tazewell, 1824 2930 3,680 245
Lee, Russell, 1793 512 9,461 789
Monongalia, District of
W. A'g'ta, 1776 721 14,056 1,492
Monroe, Greenbrier, 1799 614 7,798 1,158
Morgan, Berkeley and
Hampshire, 1820 271 2,702 546
Montgomery, Fincastle, 1777 1089 12,306 1,666
Mason, Kanawha, 1804 904 6,534 915
Nicholas, Kanawha,
Greenbrier and
Randolph, 1818 1431 3,338 373
Ohio, District of
W. A'g'ta, 1776 375 15,590 1,968
Preston, Monongalia, 1818 601 5,144 441
Pendleton, Augusta, Hardy
and Rockingham, 1788 999 6,271 1,120
Pocahontas, Bath, Pendleton
and Randolph, 1821 794 2,542 405
Randolph, Harrison, 1787 2061 5,000 644
Russell, Washington, 1786 1370 6,717 739
Rockingham, Augusta, 1778 833 20,663 5,056
Rockbridge, Augusta &
Botetourt, 1778 680 14,244 3,276
Scott, Lee, Russell and
Washington, 1814 624 5,712 503
Shenandoah, Frederick, 1772 767 19,750 4,922
Tyler, Ohio, 1814 855 4,308 757
Tazewell, Russell & Wythe, 1799 1305 5,573 727
Washington, Fincastle, 1777 1754 15,614 2,918
Wythe, Montgomery, 1790 1998 12,163 2,178
Wood, Harrison, 1799 1223 6,418 1,257

Total, 378,293 76,848

[14] Little and Big Sewell mountains, dividing Fayette and
Greenbrier counties, seem to perpetuate the name and memory of
this early and adventurous pioneer. Col. John Stuart states,
that Sewell's final settlement was forty miles west of his
primitive one, and on a creek bearing his name originating in
Sewell mountain, and flowing into Gauley. Col. Preston, in his
_Register_, gives September, 1756, as the date of Stephen
Sewell's death by the Indians, and Jackson's River as the
locality.

Mrs. Anne Royall, in _Sketches of the History, Life and Manners
of the United States_, (New Haven, 1826), p. 60, who visited
the Greenbrier country in 1824, gives the name of Carver as
Sewell's companion. "These two men," says Mrs. Royall, "lived
in a cave for several years, but at length they disagreed on
the score of religion, and occupied different camps. They took
care, however, not to stay far from each other, their camps
being in sight. Sewell used to relate that he and his friend
used to sit up all night without sleep, with their guns cocked,
ready to fire at each other. 'And what could that be for?'
'Why, because we couldn't agree.' 'Only two of you, and could
you not agree--what did you quarrel about?' 'Why, about
re-la-gin.' One of them, it seems, was a Presbyterian, and the
other an Episcopalian."--L. C. D.

[15] An error as to date. King George's proclamation was
dated Oct. 7, 1763. For full text, see _Wisconsin Historical
Collections_, XI., pp. 46 et seq.--R. G. T.

[16] Thomas King, one of the ablest of the Iroquois chiefs,
related an incident at an Indian conference held at Easton,
Pa., Oct. 18, 1758, which may explain why the Indians evinced
so much hostility against the Greenbrier settlements. "About
three years ago," said Chief King, "eight Seneca warriors were
returning from war, with seven prisoners and scalps with them;
and, at a place called Greenbrier, they met with a party of
soldiers, not less than one hundred and fifty, who kindly
invited them to come to a certain store, saying they would
supply them with provisions. Accordingly they travelled two
days with them, in a friendly manner, and when they came to the
house, they took their arms from the Senecas. The head men
cried out, 'here is death; defend yourselves as well as you
can,' which they did, and two of them were killed on the spot,
and one, a young boy, was taken prisoner. This gave great
offense; and the more so, as it was upon the warrior's road,
and we were in perfect peace with our brethren. It provoked us
to such a degree that we could not get over it. He wished the
boy returned, if alive; and told his name, Squissatego." See
Hazard's _Penna. Register_, V., p. 373; and _Penna. Records_,
VIII., pp. 197-98.--L. C. D.

[17] There were settlers on both New and Holston rivers prior
to 1756--Vause, Stalnacker and others on New River; and Stephen
Holston, at least, on the river bearing his name, which was
known as such anterior to April, 1748, when Dr. Walker, in his
_Journal_ of 1750, refers to it by that designation. But
William Campbell did not settle on Holston until 1767; Wm.
Preston settled in 1769; Evan Shelby and family in 1771; and,
while Daniel Boone passed through that country as early, it is
believed, as 1760, he never "settled" there.

A further notice of Stephen Holston, or Holstein, seems fitting
in this connection. He was of an adventurous turn, and prior to
1748 had, during a hunt, discovered the river named after him.
It was after this discovery that he settled on the Little
Saluda, near Saluda Old Town, in South Carolina, where, in the
summer of 1753, a party of Cherokees returning from a visit to
Gov. Glen, at Charleston, behaved so rudely to Mrs. Holston, in
her husband's absence, as to frighten her and her domestics
away, fleeing several miles to the nearest settlement, when the
house was robbed of utensils and corn, and two valuable horses
were also taken. Holston and some of his neighbors settled on
Holston's River, in what subsequently became Botetourt county:
soon after this, they constructed canoes, and passed down the
Holston into the Tennessee River, through the Muscle Shoals,
and down the Ohio and Mississippi as far as Natchez. Returning
from this notable adventure, his name became fixed to the noble
stream which he discovered, and upon which he made the
primitive settlement. His location on Holston was at the head
spring of the Middle Fork; his log cabin was on the hill side
some thirty rods from the spring. In 1774, one Davis occupied
the place, and related that Holston had left several years
before that date. On the breaking out of the Indian war in
1754, he seems to have retired with his family to Culpeper
county, which was then not exempt from Indian forays; and
Holston, about 1757, was captured by the Indians. But in due
time he returned to the Holston country, served in the battle
of Point Pleasant in 1774, on Christian's campaign against the
Cherokees in 1776, and was reported in service in 1776 or 1777.
As we hear no more of him, he probably did not long survive
after this period.--L. C. D.

[18] The first name of Walden was not Thomas--Elisha
Walden was his proper name. He was a son-in-law of William
Blevins, and both Walden and Blevins lived, in 1774, at the
"Round-About" on Smith's River, two miles east of what is
now Martinsville, Henry county, Virginia. He was then about
forty years of age, nearly six feet in height, a rough
frontiersman, and a noted hunter. He and several others, in
1761, penetrated into Powell's Valley, naming Walden's Mountain
and Walden's Creek, and proceeded on through Cumberland Gap
to Cumberland River, and a few miles beyond to the Laurel
Mountain, where meeting a party of Indians, they returned. In
subsequent years, Walden settled on Holston, about eighteen
miles above Knoxville, where he was residing in 1796; a few
years later, he removed to Powell's Valley, but soon after
migrated to Missouri, where he lived hunting up to extreme
old age. Save what is related from Haywood's _Hist. of
Tennessee_ about the trip of 1761, this information was
communicated to the writer in 1849, by Maj. John Redd, of
Henry county, Va., who personally knew the old hunter very
well.--L. C. D.

[19] A curious misconception, this. Some of the founders of
Marietta acquired in 1788 a large tract west and north of their
own, and as a private speculation organized the Scioto Company.
Joel Barlow, the poet, was sent to Paris to negotiate the sale
of the lands. To the "Society of the Scioto," formed by him
there, he sold three million acres, and France was deluged with
rose-colored immigration pamphlets written by Barlow. In
February, 1790, six hundred Frenchmen--chiefly professional men
and small artisans from the large towns, with not an
agriculturist among them--arrived in Alexandria, Va., _en
route_ for the Scioto. They found that the Society, not having
paid for its lands, had forfeited its rights, and deeds granted
to the intending settlers were void. Five hundred finally went
west, and founded Gallipolis. Poor, not knowing how to work the
soil, and simple folk with no notions of independence, they
suffered from famine, Indians, and yellow fever. They finally
repurchased their lands, and upon the cessation of the border
war gained some strength; but Gallipolis was never more than a
weakling until Americans and Germans came in and put it on its
feet.--R. G. T.

[51] CHAPTER II.

The tract of country usually denominated North Western Virginia, includes the counties of Brook, Ohio, Tyler, Wood, Lewis, Randolph, Preston, Harrison and Monongalia, covering an area of 8,887 square miles, and having a population, according to the census of 1830, of 78,510 souls. These counties, with a portion of Pennsylvania then deemed to be within the limits of Virginia, constituted the district of West Augusta; and was the last grand division of the state, to become occupied by the whites. This was perhaps owing to natural causes, as well as to the more immediate proximity of hostile Indians.

The general surface of this district of country is very broken, its hills, though rich, are yet steep and precipitous, and the various streams which flow along their bases, afford but few bottoms; and these of too narrow and contracted dimensions to have attracted the adventurer, when more invited portions of the country, were alike open to his enterprise.--The Alleghany ridge of mountains, over which the eastern emigrant had to pass, presented too, no inconsiderable barrier to its earlier location; while the cold, bleak, inhospitable region, extending from the North Branch to the Cheat and Valley rivers, seemed to threaten an entire seclusion from the eastern settlements, and to render it an isolated spot, not easily connected with any other section of the state.

The first attempt on the part of the English to occupy the country contiguous to the Ohio river, was made in consequence of the measures adopted by the French to possess themselves of it. France had early become acquainted with the country, so far as to perceive the facility with which her possessions in the north, might, by means of a free communication down the valley of the Mississippi, be connected with those in the south. To preserve this communication uninterrupted, to acquire influence over the neighboring Indians and to prevent the occupancy and settlement by England of the country west [52] of the Alleghany mountains, the French were early induced to establish trading posts among the Indians on the Ohio, and to obtain and preserve possession of the country by the erection of a chain of forts to extend from Canada to Louisiana.[1]

To counteract those operations of the French, to possess herself of the country, to which she deemed her title to be good, and to enjoy the lucrative traffic which was then to be carried on with the Indians, England gave to an association of gentlemen in Great Britain and Virginia, (under the title of the Ohio Company,) liberty to locate and hold in their own right, 600,000 acres of land within the country then claimed by both England and France. In pursuance of this grant, steps were directly taken to effect those objects, by establishing trading houses among the Indians near the Ohio, and by engaging persons to make such a survey of the country, as would enable the grantees to effect a location of the quantity allowed them, out of the most valuable lands. The company endeavored to complete their survey with all possible secrecy, and by inducing the Indians to believe their object to be purely commercial, to allay any apprehensions, which might otherwise arise, of an attempt to gain possession of the country.

The attempt to accomplish their purpose of territorial aggrandizement, with secrecy, was fruitless and unavailing.--The Pennsylvania traders, fearful that they would lose the profitable commerce carried on with the Indians, excited their jealousy by acquainting them with the real motive of the company; while the French actually seized, and made prisoners, of their traders, and opened and secured, by detachments of troops stationed at convenient situations, a communication from Presq' Isle to the Ohio river.

The Ohio company sent a party of men to erect a stockade fort at the confluence of the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers, which had been recommended by General Washington as a suitable position for the erection of fortifications.[2] This party of men was accompanied by a detachment of militia, which had been ordered out by the governor; but before they could effect their object, they were driven off by the French, [53] who immediately took possession of the place, and erected thereon Fort du Quesne. These transactions were immediately succeeded by the war, usually called Braddock's war, which put an end to the contemplated settlement, and the events of which are, for the most part, matter of general history. It may not however be amiss to relate some incidents connected with this war, which though of minor importance, may yet be interesting to some; and which have escaped the pen of the historian.

In Braddock's army there were two regiments of volunteer militia from Virginia.[3] One of these was commanded by Col. Russel of Fairfax; the other by Col. Fry, and was from Shenandoah and James rivers. In this latter regiment there was a company from Culpepper, commanded by Capt. Grant, (afterwards known as a considerable land holder in Kentucky) and of which John Field (who was killed in the battle at Point Pleasant) was a lieutenant. There was likewise in this regiment, a company of riflemen, from Augusta, commanded by Capt. Samuel Lewis, (the eldest son of John Lewis, who, with Mackey and Salling, had been foremost in settling that country) who was afterwards known as Col. Samuel Lewis of Rockingham.[4] In this company was also contained the five brothers of Capt. Lewis. Andrew, afterwards Gen. Lewis of Botetourt--Charles, afterwards Col. Lewis, who was likewise killed at Point Pleasant--William, John and Thomas. Among their compatriots in arms, were the five sons of Capt. John Matthews, (who had accompanied Burden to Virginia) Elihu Barkley, John McDowell,[5] Paul Whitly, James Bell, Patrick Lockard, and a number of others of the first settlers of Augusta, Rockbridge and Rockingham.

From the time the army crossed the Alleghany mountain, its movements were constantly watched by Indian spies, from Fort du Quesne; and as it approached nearer the point of destination, runners were regularly despatched, to acquaint the garrison with its progress, and manner of marching.--When intelligence was received that Braddock still moved in close order, the Indians laid the plan for surprising him, and carried it into most effectual execution with but little assistance from the French.[6]

[54] At the place where the English crossed the Monongahela river, there are about two acres of bottom land, bounded by the river on the east, and by a ledge of high cliffs on the west. Through these cliffs there is a considerable ravine, formed by the flowing of a small rivulet--On the summit, a wide prospect opens to the west, of a country whose base is level, but surface uneven. On this summit lay the French and Indians concealed by the prairie grass and timber, and from this situation, in almost perfect security, they fired down upon Braddock's men. The only exposure of the French and Indians, resulted from the circumstance of their having to raise their heads to peep over the verge of the cliff, in order to shoot with more deadly precision. In consequence, all of them who were killed in the early part of the action, were shot through the head.[7]

The companies, commanded by Capt. Grant and Lewis,[8] were the first to cross the river. As fast as they landed they formed, and proceeding up the ravine, arrived at the plain on the head of the rivulet, without having discovered the concealed enemy which they had just passed. So soon as the rear of Braddock's army had crossed the river, the enemy raised a heart rending yell, and poured down a constant and most deadly fire. Before General Braddock received his wound, he gave orders for the whole line to countermarch and form a phalanx on the bottom, so as to cover their retreat across the river. When the main column was wheeled, Grant's and Lewis' companies had proceeded so far in advance, that a large body of the enemy rushed down from both sides of the ravine, and intercepted them. A most deadly contest ensued. Those who intercepted Grant and Lewis, could not pass down the defile, as the main body of Braddock's army was there, and it would have been rushing into the midst of it, to inevitable destruction--the sides of the ravine were too steep and rocky to admit of a retreat up them, and their only hope of escape lay in cutting down those two companies and passing [55] out at the head of the ravine. A dreadful slaughter was the consequence. Opposed in close fight, and with no prospect of security, but by joining the main army in the bottom, the companies of Grant and Lewis literally cut their way through to the mouth of the ravine. Many of Lewis's men were killed and wounded, and not more than half of Grant's lived to reach the river bank. Almost the only loss the enemy sustained was in this conflict.

The unfortunate result of the campaign of 1755, gave to the French a complete ascendency over the Indians on the Ohio. In consequence of this there was a general distress on the frontier settlements of Virginia. The incursions of the Indians became more frequent and were extended so far, that apprehensions existed of an irruption into the country east of the Blue ridge.[9] This state of things continued until the capture of Fort du Quesne in 1758, by Gen. Forbes.

In the regiment commanded by Washington in the army of 1758, Andrew Lewis was a Major. With this gentleman, Gen. Washington had become acquainted during the campaign of 1754, and had formed of him, as a military man, the highest expectations; his conduct at the defeat of Major Grant, realized those expectations, and acquired for him a reputation for prudence and courage which he sustained unimpaired, during a long life of public service.[10]