Chapter I (4)

At Loudon when they heard the news,
They scarcely knew which way to choose,
For blind rage and discontent;
At length some soldiers they sent out,
With guides for to conduct the route,
And seized some men that were travelling there
And hurried them into Loudon, where
They laid them fast with one consent.

But men of resolution thought
Too much to see their neighbors caught
For no crime but false surmise;
Forthwith they join'd a warlike band,
And march'd to Loudon out of hand,
And kept the jailors pris'ners there,
Until our friends enlarged were,
Without fraud or any disguise.

Let mankind censure or commend,
This rash performance in the end,
Then both sides will find their account.
'Tis true no law can justify
To burn our neighbors property,
But when this property is design'd
To serve the enemies of mankind,
Its high treason in the amount.

[9] The following extract from the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ of
November 2d, 1769, details the circumstances of this
transaction.

"James Smith, his brother and brother in law, were going out
to survey and improve their land, on the waters of the
Youghogany.--Expecting to be gone some time, they took with
them their arms, and horses loaded with necessaries; and as
Smith's brother in law was an artist in surveying, he had also
with him the instruments for that business. Travelling on
their way and within nine miles of Bedford, they overtook
and joined in company with one Johnson and Moorhead, who had
likewise horses packed with liquor and seed wheat--their
intentions being also to make improvements on their lands.
Arrived at the parting of the road near Bedford, they
separated, one party going through town for the purpose of
having a horse shod; these were apprehended and put under
confinement.--James Smith, Johnson and Moorhead taking the
other road, met John Holmes of Bedford, to whom Smith spoke
in a friendly manner but received no answer. Smith and his
companions proceeded to where the two roads again united;
and waited there the arrival of the others.

"At this time a number of men came riding up, and asked Smith
his name. On his telling them who he was, they immediately
presented their pistols, and commanded him to surrender or he
was a dead man. Smith stepped back and asking if they were
highwaymen, charged them to keep off; when immediately Robert
George (one of the assailants) snapped a pistol at Smith's
head; and that (as George acknowledged under oath) before Smith
had offered to [87] shoot. Smith then presented his gun at
another of the assailants, who was holding Johnson with one
hand, while with the other he held a pistol, which he was
preparing to discharge. Two shots were fired, one by Smith's
gun, the other by the pistol, so quick as to be just
distinguishable, and Johnson fell. Smith was then taken and
carried to Bedford, where John Holmes (who had met him on the
road, and hastened to Bedford with the intelligence) held an
inquest over the dead body of Johnson. One of the assailants
being the only witness examined, it was found that "Johnson had
been murdered by Smith," who was thereupon committed for trial.
But jealousy arising in the breasts of many, that the inquest
was not so fair as it should have been, William Deny, (the
coroner of Bedford county) thought proper to re-examine the
matter; and summoning a jury of unexceptionable men, out of
three townships--men whose candour, probity, and honesty are
unquestionable, and having raised the corpse, held a solemn
inquest over it for three days.

"In the course of their scrutiny, they found the shirt of
Johnson, around the bullet hole, blackened by the powder of the
charge with which he had been killed. One of the assailants
being examined, swore to the respective spots of ground on
which they stood at the time of firing, which being measured,
was found to be 28 feet distance from each other. The
experiment was then made of shooting at the shirt an equal
distance both with and against the wind, to ascertain if the
powder produced the stain; but it did not. Upon the whole the
jury, after the most accurate examination and mature
deliberation, brought in their verdict that one of the
assailants must necessarily have done the murder."

Captain Smith was a brave and enterprising man. In 1766, he, in
company with Joshua Horton, Uriah Stone, William Baker and
James Smith, by the way of Holstein, explored the country south
of Kentucky at a time when it was entirely uninhabited; and the
country between the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, to their
entrance into the Ohio. Stone's river, a branch of the
Cumberland and emptying into it not far above Nashville, was
named by them in this expedition.

After his acquittal from the charge of having murdered
Johnson, he was elected and served as one of the board of
commissioners, for regulating taxes and laying the county
levy, in the county of Bedford. [88] He was for several years
a delegate from the county of Westmoreland, to the General
Assembly of Pennsylvania; and in the war of the revolution was
an officer of merit and distinction. In 1781 he removed to
Kentucky and settled in Bourbon county not far from Paris;
was a member of the convention which set at Danville, to
confer about a separation from the state of Virginia, in 1788,
from which time until 1799, with the exception of two years, he
was either a delegate of the convention or of the General
Assembly of Kentucky.

------

_Comment by L. C. D._--It would seem from Col. Smith's own
statement, that his removal to, and settlement in, Bourbon
county, Ky., was in 1788.

[89] CHAPTER V.

The comparative security and quiet, which succeeded the treaty of 1765, contributed to advance the prosperity of the Virginia frontiers. The necessity of congregating in forts and blockhouses, no longer existing, each family enjoyed the felicities of its own fireside, undisturbed by fearful apprehensions of danger from the prowling savage, and free from the bustle and confusion consequent on being crowded together. No longer forced to cultivate their little fields in common, and by the united exertions of a whole neighborhood, with tomahawks suspended from their belts and rifles attached to their plow beams, their original spirit of enterprise was revived: and while a certainty of reaping in unmolested safety, the harvest for which they had toiled, gave to industry, a stimulus which increased their prosperity, it also excited others to come and reside among them--a considerable addition to their population, and a rapid extension of settlements, were the necessary consequence.

It was during the continuation of this exemption from Indian aggression, that several establishments were made on the Monongahela and its branches, and on the Ohio river. These were nearly cotemporaneous; the first however, in order of time, was that made on the Buchannon--a fork of the Tygart's valley river, and was induced by a flattering account of the country as given by two brothers; who had spent some years in various parts of it, under rather unpleasant circumstances.

Among the soldiers who garrisoned Fort Pitt, were William Childers, John and Samuel Pringle and Joseph Linsey. In 1761, these four men deserted from the fort, and ascended the Monongahela as far as to the mouth of George's creek (the site afterwards selected by Albert Gallatin, for the town of Geneva.) Here they remained awhile; but not liking the [90] situation crossed over to the head of the Youghogany; and encamping in the glades, continued there about twelve months.

In one of their hunting rambles, Samuel Pringle came on a path, which he supposed would lead to the inhabited part of Virginia. On his return he mentioned the discovery and his supposition, to his comrades, and they resolved on tracing it. This they accordingly did, and it conducted them to Loony's creek, then the most remote western settlement. While among the inhabitants on Loony's creek, they were recognized and some of the party apprehended as deserters. John and Samuel Pringle succeeded in making an escape to their camp in the glades, where they remained 'till some time in the year 1764.

During this year, and while in the employ of John Simpson (a trapper, who had come there in quest of furs,) they determined on removing farther west. Simpson was induced to this, by the prospect of enjoying the woods free from the intrusion of other hunters (the glades having begun to be a common hunting ground for the inhabitants of the South Branch;) while a regard for their personal safety, caused the Pringles to avoid a situation, in which they might be exposed to the observation of other men.

In journeying through the wilderness, and after having crossed Cheat river at the Horse shoe, a quarrel arose between Simpson and one of the Pringles; and notwithstanding that peace and harmony were so necessary to their mutual safety and comfort; yet each so far indulged the angry passions which had been excited, as at length to produce a separation.

Simpson crossed over the Valley river, near the mouth of Pleasant creek, and passing on to the head of another water course, gave to it the name of Simpson's creek. Thence he went westwardly, and fell over on a stream which he called Elk: at the mouth of this he erected a camp, and continued to reside for more than twelve months. During this time he neither saw the Pringles nor any other human being; and at the expiration of it went to the South Branch, where he disposed of his furs and skins and then returned to, and continued at, his encampment at the mouth of Elk, until permanent settlements were made in its vicinity.

The Pringles kept up the Valley river 'till they observed a large right hand fork, (now Buchannon),[1] which they ascended [91] some miles; and at the mouth of a small branch (afterward called Turkey run) they took up their abode in the cavity of a large Sycamore tree.[2] The stump of this is still to be seen, and is an object of no little veneration with the immediate descendants of the first settlers.

The situation of these men, during a residence here of several years, although rendered somewhat necessary by their previous conduct, could not have been very enviable. Deserters from the army, a constant fear of discovery filled their minds with inquietude.--In the vicinity of a savage foe, the tomahawk and scalping knife were ever present to their imaginations.--Remote from civilized man, their solitude was hourly interrupted by the frightful shrieks of the panther, or the hideous howlings of the wolf.--And though the herds of Buffalo, Elk and Deer, which gamboled sportively around, enabled them easily to supply their larder; yet the want of salt, of bread, and of every species of kitchen vegetable, must have abated their relish for the, otherwise, delicious loin of the one, and haunch of the others. The low state of their little magazine too, while it limited their hunting, to the bare procuration of articles of subsistence, caused them, from a fear of discovery, to shrink at the idea of being driven to the settlements, for a supply of ammunition. And not until they were actually reduced to two loads of powder, could they be induced to venture again into the vicinity of their fellow men. In the latter part of the year 1767, John left his brother, and intending to make for a trading post on the Shenandoah, appointed the period of his return.

Samuel Pringle, in the absence of John, suffered a good deal. The stock of provisions left him became entirely exhausted--one of his loads of powder, was expended in a fruitless attempt to shoot a buck--his brother had already delayed his return several days longer than was intended, and he was apprehensive that he had been recognized, taken to Port Pitt and would probably never get back. With his remaining load of powder, however he was fortunate enough to kill a fine buffalo; and John soon after returned with the news of peace, both with the Indians and French. The two brothers agreed to leave their retirement.

Their wilderness habitation was not left without some regret. Every object around, had become more or less endeared to them. The tree, in whose hollow they had been so [92] frequently sheltered from storm and tempest, was regarded by them with so great reverence, that they resolved, so soon as they could prevail on a few others to accompany them, again to return to this asylum of their exile.

In a population such as then composed the chief part of the South Branch settlement, this was no difficult matter. All of them were used to the frontier manner of living; the most of them had gone thither to acquire land; many had failed entirely in this object, while others were obliged to occupy poor and broken situations off the river; the fertile bottoms having been previously located. Add to this the passion for hunting (which was a ruling one with many,) and the comparative scarcity of game in their neighborhood, and it need not excite surprise that the proposition of the Pringles to form a settlement, in such a country as they represented that on Buchannon to be, was eagerly embraced by many.

In the fall of the ensuing year (1768) Samuel Pringle, and several others who wished first to examine for themselves, visited the country which had been so long occupied by the Pringles alone. Being pleased with it, they, in the following spring, with a few others, repaired thither, with the view of cultivating as much corn, as would serve their families the first year after their emigration. And having examined the country, for the purpose of selecting the most desirable situations; some of them proceeded to improve the spots of their choice. John Jackson (who was accompanied by his sons, George and Edward) settled at the mouth of Turkey run, where his daughter, Mrs. Davis, now lives--John Hacker[3] higher up on the Buchannon river, where Bush's fort was afterwards established, and Nicholas Heavener now lives--Alexander and Thomas Sleeth, near to Jackson's, on what is now known as the Forenash plantation. The others of the party (William Hacker, Thomas and Jesse Hughes, John and William Radcliff and John Brown) appear to have employed their time exclusively in hunting; neither of them making any improvement of land for his own benefit. Yet were they of very considerable service to the new settlement. Those who had commenced clearing land, were supplied by them with abundance of meat, while in their hunting excursions through the country, a better knowledge of it was obtained, than could have been acquired, had they been engaged in making improvements.

[93] In one of these expeditions they discovered, and gave name to Stone coal creek; which flowing westwardly, induced the supposition that it discharged itself directly into the Ohio. Descending this creek, to ascertain the fact, they came to its confluence with a river, which they then called, and has since been known as, the West Fork. After having gone some distance down the river, they returned by a different route to the settlement, better pleased with the land on it and some of its tributaries, than with that on Buchannon.

Soon after this, other emigrants arrived under the guidance of Samuel Pringle. Among them were, John and Benjamin Cutright, who settled on Buchannon, where John Cutright the younger, now lives; and Henry Rule who improved just above the mouth of Fink's run. Before the arrival of Samuel Pringle, John Hacker had begun to improve the spot which Pringle had chosen for himself. To prevent any unpleasant result, Hacker agreed that if Pringle would clear as much land, on a creek which had been recently discovered by the hunters, as he had on Buchannon, they could then exchange places. Complying with this condition Pringle took possession of the farm on Buchannon, and Hacker of the land improved by Pringle on the creek, which was hence called Hacker's creek.[4] John and William Radcliff, then likewise settled on this stream--the former on the farm, where the Rev. John Mitchel now lives; the latter at the place now owned by William Powers Esq.--These comprise all the improvements which were made on the upper branches of the Monongahela in the years 1769 and 1770.

At the close of the working season of 1769 some of these adventurers, went to their families on the South Branch; and when they returned to gather their crops in the fall, found them entirely destroyed. In their absence the buffaloes, no longer awed by the presence of man, had trespassed on their enclosures, and eaten their corn to the ground--this delayed the removal of their families 'till the winter of 1770.

Soon after the happening of this event, other settlements were made on the upper branches of the Monongahela river. Capt. James Booth and John Thomas established themselves on what has been since called Booth's creek--The former at the place now owned by Jesse Martin; and the latter where William Martin at present resides, and which is perhaps the [94] most valuable landed estate in North Western Virginia, off the Ohio river.

Previous however to the actual settlement of the country above the forks of the Monongahela, some few families (in 1767) had established themselves in the vicinity of Fort Redstone, now Brownsville, in Pennsylvania.[5] At the head of these were Abraham Tegard, James Crawford, John Province, and John Harden. The latter of these gentlemen afterwards removed to Kentucky and became distinguished in the early history of that state, as well for the many excellencies of his private and public life, as for the untimely and perfidious manner of his death.

In the succeeding year Jacob Vanmeter, John Swan, Thomas Hughes and some others settled on the west side of the Monongahela, near the mouth of Muddy creek, where Carmichaelstown now stands.[6]

In this year too, the place which had been occupied for a while by Thomas Decker and his unfortunate associates, and where Morgantown is now situated, was settled by a party of emigrants; one of which was David Morgan, who became so conspicuous for personal prowess, and for the daring, yet deliberate courage displayed by him, during the subsequent hostilities with the Indians.

In 1769, Col. Ebenezer Zane, his brothers Silas and Jonathan, with some others from the south Branch, visited the Ohio river for the purpose of commencing improvements;[7] [95] and severally proceeded to select positions for their future residence. Col. Zane chose for his, an eminence above the mouth of Wheeling creek, near to the Ohio, and opposite a beautiful and considerable island in that river. The spot thus selected by him, is now occupied by his son Noah Zane, Esq. and is nearly the centre of the present flourishing town of Wheeling. Silas Zane commenced improving on Wheeling creek where Col. Moses Shepherd now lives, and Jonathan resided with his brother Ebenezer. Several of those who accompanied the adventurers, likewise remained with Colonel Zane, in the capacity of laborers.

After having made those preparations which were immediately requisite for the reception of their respective families, they returned to their former homes. In the ensuing year they finally left the South Branch, and accompanied by Col. David Shepherd, (the father of Col. Moses Shepherd,) John Wetzel (the father of Lewis) and the McCulloughs--men whose names are identified with the early history of that country--repaired again to the wilderness, and took up their permanent abode in it.

Soon after this, other settlements were made at different points, both above and below Wheeling; and the country on Buffalo, Short, and Grave creeks,[8] and on the Ohio river, became the abode of civilized man. Among those who were first to occupy above Wheeling, were George Lefler, John Doddridge, Benjamin Biggs, Daniel Greathouse, Joshua Baker and Andrew Swearingen.[9]

[96] The settlement thus made constituting a kind of advance _guard_, through which an Indian enemy would have to penetrate, before they could reach the interior, others were less reluctant to occupy the country between them and the Alleghany mountains. Accordingly various establishments were soon made in it by adventurers from different parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia; and those places in which settlements had been previously effected, received considerable accessions to their population.

In 1772, that comparatively beautiful region of country, lying on the east fork of the Monongahela river, between the Alleghany mountains, on its south eastern, and the Laurel Hill, or as it is there called the Rich mountain, on its north western side, and which had received the denomination of Tygart's valley, again attracted the attention of emigrants.--In the course of that year, the greater part of this valley was located, by persons said to have been enticed thither by the description given of it, by some hunters from Greenbrier who had previously explored it. Game, though a principal, was not however their sole object. They possessed themselves at once of nearly all the level land lying between those mountains--a plain of 25 or 30 miles in length and varying from three fourths to two miles in width, and of fine soil. Among those who were first to occupy that section of country, we find the names of Hadden, Connelly, Whiteman, Warwick, Nelson, Stalnaker, Riffle and Westfall: the latter of these found and interred the bones of Files' family, which had lain, bleaching in the sun, after their murder by the Indians, in 1754.

Cheat river too, on which no attempt at settlement had been made, but by the unfortunate Eckarly's, became an object of attention, The Horse Shoe bottom was located by Capt. James Parsons, of the South Branch; and in his neighborhood settled Robert Cunningham, Henry Fink, John Goff and John Minear. Robert Butler, William Morgan and some others settled on the Dunkard bottom.

In this year too, settlements were made on Simpson's creek, the West Fork river and on Elk creek. Those who made the former, were John Powers, who purchased Simpson's right (a tomahawk improvement)[10] to the land on which Benjamin [97] Stout now resides; and James Anderson and Jonas Webb who located themselves farther up the creek.

On Elk, and in the vicinity of Clarksburg there settled Thomas Nutter, near to the Forge-mills--Samuel Cottrial, on the east side of the creek and nearly opposite to Clarksburg--Sotha Hickman, on the west side of the same creek, and above Cottrial--Samuel Beard at the mouth of Nanny's run--Andrew Cottrial above Beard, and at the farm now owned by John W. Patton--Daniel Davisson, where Clarksburg is now situated, and Obadiah Davisson and John Nutter on the West Fork; the former near to the old Salt works, and the latter at the place now owned by Adam Hickman, jr.

There was likewise, at this time, a considerable accession to the settlements on Buchannon and Hacker's creek. So great was the increase of population in this latter neighborhood, that the crops of the preceding season did not afford more than one third of the breadstuff, which would be ordinarily consumed in the same time, by an equal number of persons. Such indeed was the state of suffering among the inhabitants, consequent on this scarcity, that the year 1773 is called in the traditionary legends of that day, the _starving year_; and such were the exertions of William Lowther to mitigate that suffering, and so great the success with which they were crowned, that his name has been transmitted to their descendants, hallowed by the blessings of those, whose wants he contributed so largely to relieve.[11]

[98] These were the principal settlements begun in North Western Virginia, prior to the year 1774. Few and scattered as they were, no sooner was it known that they were commenced, than hundreds flocked to them from different parts; and sought there the gratifications of their respective predilections. That spirit of adventurous emigration, which has since peopled, with such unprecedented rapidity, the south western and western states, and which was then beginning to develope itself, overcame the fond attachments of youth, and impelled its possessors, to the dreary wilderness. Former homes, encircled by the comforts of civilization, endeared by the grateful recollections of by-gone days, and not unfrequently, consecrated as the spots where their tenants had first inhaled the vital fluid, were readily exchanged for "the variety of untried being, the new scenes and changes," which were to be passed, before the trees of the forest could be supplanted, by the fruits of the field, or society be reared in the solitude of the desert. With a capability to sustain fatigue, not to be subdued by toil; and with a cheerfulness, not easily to be depressed; a patience which could mock at suffering and a daring which nothing could daunt, every difficulty which intervened, every obstacle which was interposed between them and the accomplishment of the objects of their pursuit, was surmounted or removed; and in a comparatively brief space of time, they rose to the enjoyment of many of those gratifications, which are experienced in earlier and more populous settlements. That their morals should, for a while, have suffered deterioration, and their manners and habits, instead of [99] approximating those of refined society, should have become perhaps, more barbarous and uncouth, was the inevitable consequence of their situation, and the certain result of circumstances, which they could not control. When that situation was changed, and these circumstances ceased to exist, a rapid progress was made in the advancement of many sections of the country, to the refinements of civilized society.

The infantile state of all countries exhibits, in a greater or less degree, a prevalence of barbarism. The planting of colonies, or the formation of establishments in new countries, is ever attended with circumstances unpropitious to refinement. The force with which these circumstances act, will be increased or diminished in proportion to the remoteness or proximity of those new establishments, to older societies, in which the arts and sciences are cultivated; and to the facility of communication between them. Man is, at all times, the creature of circumstances. Cut off from an intercourse with his fellow men, and divested of the conveniences of life, he will readily relapse into a state of nature.--Placed in contiguity with the barbarous and the vicious; his manners will become rude, his morals perverted.--Brought into collision with the sanguinary and revengeful; and his own conduct will eventually be distinguished, by bloody and vindictive deeds.

Such was really the situation of those who made the first establishments in North Western Virginia. And when it is considered, that they were, mostly, men from the humble walks of life; comparatively illiterate and unrefined; without civil or religious institutions, and with a love of liberty, bordering on its extreme; their more enlightened descendants can not but feel surprise, that their dereliction from propriety had not been greater; their virtue less.

The objects, for the attainment of which they voluntarily placed themselves in this situation, and tempted the dangers inseparable from a residence in the contiguity of Indians, jealous of territorial encroachment, were almost as various as their individual character. Generally speaking, they were men in indigent circumstances, unable to purchase land in the neigborhoods from which they came, and unwilling longer to remain the tenants of others. These were induced to [100] emigrate, with the laudable ambition of acquiring homes, from which they would not be liable to expulsion, at the whim and caprice of some haughty lordling. Upon the attainment of this object, they were generally content; and made but feeble exertions to acquire more land, than that to which they obtained title, by virtue of their settlements. Some few, however, availed themselves of the right of pre-emption, and becoming possessed of the more desirable portions of the country, added considerably to their individual wealth.

Those who settled on the Ohio, were of a more enterprising and ambitious spirit, and looked more to the advancement of their condition in a pecuniary point of view. The fertile bottoms of that river, and the facility with which, by means of it, their surplus produce might be transported to a ready market,[12] were considerations which influenced many. Others, again, looking forward to the time when the Indians would be divested of the country north west of the Ohio river, and it be open to location in the same manner its south eastern shores were, selected this as a situation, from which they might more readily obtain possession of the fertile land, with which its ample plains were known to abound. In anticipation of this period, there were some who embraced every opportunity, afforded by intervals of peace with the Indians, to explore that country and select in it what they deemed, its most valuable parts. Around these they would generally mark trees, or otherwise define boundaries, by which they could be afterwards identified. The cession by Virginia to the United States, of the North Western Territory, and the manner in which its lands were subsequently brought into market, prevented the realization of those flattering, and apparently, well founded expectations.

There were also, in every settlement, individuals, who had been drawn to them solely by their love of hunting, and an attachment to the wild, unshackled scenes of a wilderness life. These were perhaps, totally regardless of all the inconveniencies, [101] resulting from their new situation; except that of being occasionally pent up in forts; and thus debarred the enjoyment of their favorite pastimes.

Although hunting was not the object of most of the old settlers, yet it was for a good part of the year, the chief employment of their time. And of all those, who thus made their abode in the dense forest, and tempted aggression from the neighboring Indians, none were so well qualified to resist this aggression, and to retaliate upon its authors, as those who were mostly engaged in this pursuit. Of all their avocations, this "mimickry of war" best fitted them to thwart the savages in their purpose, and to mitigate the horrors of their peculiar mode of warfare. Those arts which enabled them, unperceived to approach the watchful deer in his lair, enabled them likewise to circumvent the Indian in his ambush; and if not always punish, yet frequently defeat him in his object. Add to this the perfect knowledge which they acquired of the woods, and the ease and certainty with which they consequently, when occasion required, could make their way to any point of the settlements and apprize the inhabitants of approaching danger; and it will be readily admitted that the more expert and successful the huntsman, the more skillful and effective the warrior.

But various soever, as may have been their objects in emigrating, no sooner had they come together, than there existed in each settlement, a perfect unison of feeling. Similitude of situation and community of danger, operating as a magic charm, stifled in their birth those little bickerings, which are so apt to disturb the quiet of society. Ambition of preferment and the pride of place, too often lets and hindrances to social intercourse, were unknown among them. Equality of condition rendered them strangers alike, to the baneful distinctions created by wealth and other adventitious circumstances; and to envy, which gives additional virus to their venom. A sense of mutual dependence for their common security linked them in amity; and conducting their several purposes in harmonious concert, together they toiled and together suffered.

Not all the "pomp and pride and pageantry" of life, could vie with the Arcadian scenes which encircled the rude cottages of those men. Their humble dwellings were the abode of virtues, rarely found in the "cloud capt towers and [102] gorgeous palaces" of splendid ambition. And when peace reigned around them, neither the gaudy trappings of wealth, nor the insignia of office, nor the slaked thirst for distinction, could have added to the happiness which they enjoyed.

In their intercourse with others they were kind, beneficent and disinterested; extending to all, the most generous hospitality which their circumstances could afford. That selfishness, which prompts to liberality for the sake of remuneration, and proffers the civilities of life with an eye to individual interest, was unknown to them. They were kind for kindness sake; and sought no other recompense, than the never failing concomitant of good deeds--the reward of an approving conscience.

It is usual for men in the decline of life, to contrast the scenes which are then being exhibited, with those through which they passed in the days of youth; and not unfrequently, to moralize on the decay of those virtues, which enhance the enjoyment of life and give to pleasure its highest relish. The mind is then apt to revert to earlier times, and to dwell with satisfaction on the manners and customs which prevailed in the hey-day of youth. Every change which may have been wrought in them is deemed a deteriorating innovation, and the sentence of their condemnation unhesitatingly pronounced. This is not always, the result of impartial and discriminating judgment. It is perhaps, more frequently founded in prepossession; and based on the prejudices of education and habit.

On the other hand those who are just entering on the vestibule of life, are prone to give preference to the habits of the present generation; viewing, too often, with contemptuous derision, those of the past. Mankind certainly advance in intelligence and refinement; but virtue and happiness do not at all times keep pace with this progress. "To inform the understanding," is not always "to correct and enlarge the heart;" nor do the blandishments of life invariably add to the sum of moral excellence; they are often "as dead sea fruit that tempts the eye, but turns to ashes on the lips."--While a rough exterior as frequently covers a temper of the utmost benignity, happy in itself and giving happiness to all around.

Such were the pioneers of this country; and the greater part of mankind might now derive advantage from the [103] contemplation of "their humble virtues, hospitable homes and spirits patient, noble, proud and free--their self respect, grafted on innocent thoughts; their days of health and nights of sleep--their toils, by danger dignified, yet guiltless--their hopes of cheerful old age and a quiet grave, with cross and garland over its green turf, and their grand children's love for epitaph."

-----
[1] Now spelled Buckhannon.--R. G. T.

[2] Sycamores, which attain gigantic proportions, are given
to rotting in the lower portions of the trunk, and chambers
eight feet in diameter are not uncommon. In the course of a
canoe voyage down the Ohio, in the summer of 1894, I frequently
saw such cavities, with the openings stopped by pickets or
rails, utilized by small bottom farmers as hog-pens,
chicken-coops, and calf stalls.

L. V. McWhorter, of Berlin, W. Va., who has kindly sent me
several MS. notes on Withers's _Chronicles_ (all of which will
be duly credited where used in this edition), writes: "The aged
sycamore now (1894) occupying the site, is the third
generation--the grand-child--of that which housed the Pringles.
It stands on the farm of Webster Dix, who assures me that it
shall not be destroyed. A tradition held by his descendants has
it, that when John Pringle went back to the South Branch for
ammunition, Charity, the wife of Samuel, who was left behind,
started immediately for the wilderness home of her husband, and
found him by the path which John had blazed for his own
return."--R. G. T.

[3] This early and meritorious pioneer was born near
Winchester, Va., Jan. 1, 1743, figured prominently in the
Indian wars of his region, and served on Col. G. R. Clark's
Illinois campaign of 1778; he died at his home on Hacker's
Creek, April 20, 1821, in his 82d year.--L. C. D.

[4] Its Indian name signified "Muddy Water."--R. G. T.

[5] We have already seen (p. 74, _note_), that Gist settled
at Mount Braddock, Fayette county, in 1753, and that eleven
families joined him in January, 1754. There is a tradition that
settlers were in the district even before Gist. It has been
shown that the Gist settlements, and others in the lower
Monongahela, were burned by the French in July, 1754. The
English borderers fled upon the outbreak of disturbances, and
did not return until about 1760-61, when confidence had been
restored.--R. G. T.

[6] Both Van Meter and Swan afterwards served under Col. G.
R. Clark--at least, on the Kaskaskia campaign; Swan commanded a
company on Clark's Shawnee campaign of 1780, and Van Meter on
that of 1782. The latter moved to Kentucky in 1780; settled in
Hardin county, Ky., Nov. 16th, 1798, in his seventy-sixth
year.--L. C. D.

------

_Comment by R. G. T._--This note, written by Dr. Draper a few
days before his death (Aug. 26, 1891), was probably his last
stroke of literary work.

[7] These gentlemen were descendants of a Mr. Zane who
accompanied William Penn, to his province of Pennsylvania, and
from whom, one of the principal streets in Philadelphia,
derived its name. Their father was possessed of a bold and
daring spirit of adventure, which was displayed on many
occasions, in the earlier part of his life. Having rendered
himself obnoxious to the Society of Friends (of which he was a
member,) by marrying without the pale of that society, he moved
to Virginia and settled on the South Branch, where the town of
Moorfield has been since erected. One of his sons (Isaac) was
taken by the Indians, when he was only nine years old, and
carried in captivity, to Mad river, in Ohio. Here he continued
'till habit reconciled him to his situation, when he married a
squaw, became a chief and spent the remainder of his life with
them. He was never known to wage war against the whites; but
was, on several occasions, of infinite service, by apprising
them of meditated attacks of the Indians. His descendants still
reside in Ohio.

The brothers, Ebenezer, Silas and Jonathan, who settled
Wheeling, [95] were also men of enterprise, tempered with
prudence, and directed by sound judgment. Ready at all times,
to resist and punish the aggression of the Indians, they were
scrupulously careful not to provoke them by acts of wanton
outrage, such as were then, too frequently committed along the
frontier. Col. Ebenezer Zane had been among the first, to
explore the country from the South Branch, through the
Alleghany glades, and west of them. He was accompanied in that
excursion by Isaac Williams, two gentlemen of the name of
Robinson and some others; but setting off rather late in the
season, and the weather being very severe, they were compelled
to return, without having penetrated to the Ohio river. On
their way home, such was the extremity of cold, that one of the
Robinsons died of its effects. Williams was much frost bitten,
and the whole party suffered exceedingly. To the bravery and
good conduct of those three brothers, the Wheeling settlement
was mainly indebted for its security and preservation, during
the war of the revolution.

[8] Joseph Tomlinson surveyed a claim at the mouth of Grave
Creek, about 1770, but did not settle there until 1772. His
cabin was the nucleus of the present Moundsville, W.
Va.--R. G. T.

[9] John Doddridge settled in Washington county, Pa., on the
Ohio River a few miles east of the Pennsylvania-Virginia state
line, in 1773; his son, Joseph Doddridge, was the author of
_Notes on the Settlements and Indian Wars of the Western Parts
of Virginia and Pennsylvania_, 1763-83, a valuable antiquarian
work. The names of Greathouse and Baker became execrable
through their connection with the massacre of Chief Logan's
family, in 1774. Leffler and Biggs attained prominence in
border warfare.--R. G. T.

[10] "At an early period of our settlements, there was an
inferior kind of land title, denominated a tomahawk right. This
was made by [97] deadening a few trees near a spring, and
marking on one or more of them, the initials of the name of the
person, by whom the improvement was made. Rights, acquired in
this way, were frequently bought and sold."--_Doddridge's Notes
on Western Virginia._

[11] William Lowther was the son of Robert, and came with his
father to the Hacker creek settlement in 1772. He soon became
one of the most conspicuous men in that section of country;
while his private virtues and public actions endeared him to
every individual of the community. During the war of 1774 and
subsequently, he was the most active and efficient defender of
that vicinity, against the insidious attacks of the savage foe;
and there were very few if any scouting parties proceeding from
thence, by which the Indians were killed or otherwise much
annoyed, but those which were commanded by him.

He was the first justice of the peace in the district of West
Augusta--the first sheriff in the county of Harrison and Wood,
and [98] once a delegate to the General Assembly of the States.
His military merits carried him through the subordinate grades
to the rank of Colonel. Despising the pomp and pageantry of
office, he accepted it for the good of the community, and was
truly an effective man. Esteemed, beloved by all, he might have
exerted his influence, over others, to the advancement of his
individual interest; but he sought the advancement of the
general weal, not a personal or family aggrandizement. His
example might teach others, that offices were created for the
public good, not for private emolument. If aspirants for office
at the present day, were to regard its perquisites less, and
their fitness for the discharge of its duties more, the country
would enjoy a greater portion of happiness and prosperity, and
a sure foundation for the permanence of these be laid, in the
more disinterested character of her counsellors, and their
consequently, increased devotion to her interests.

[12] The Spaniards at New Orleans, from the first settlement
of the country west of the Alleghany Mountains, sought to
attach it to the province of Louisiana. Knowing the powerful
efficacy of gold, in producing such results, they dispensed it
with a liberal hand, to such as made New Orleans their market.
The attachment of the first settlers, to the free institutions
of our country, baffled every attempt to detach them from it.

------

_Comment by R. G. T._--The Spanish conspiracy was, in the main,
"baffled" by the prompt action of our general government.
George Rogers Clark and several other leading Kentuckians were
quite willing to be "detached," for a consideration. The fact
is, that at first the sense of national patriotism was weak,
west of the Alleghanies; the eighteenth century had closed
before efforts at separation from the East were commonly
regarded as treason. The interests of the Western people
apparently were centered in the south-flowing Mississippi; they
seemed to have at the time little in common with the East. So
long as Spain held the mouth of the river, many Western leaders
thought it not improper that the West should ally itself with
that power; when our government finally purchased the Spanish
claim, the Western men had no further complaint. See
Roosevelt's treatment of the Spanish conspiracy, in his
_Winning of the West_, III., ch. iii.--R. G. T.

[104] CHAPTER VI.

In the year 1774, the peace, which had subsisted with but little violation since the treaty of 1765, received an interruption, which checked for a while the emigration to the North Western frontier; and involved its infant settlements in a war with the Indians. This result has been attributed to various causes. Some have asserted that it had its origin in the murder of some Indians on the Ohio river both above and below Wheeling, in the spring of that year. Others suppose it to have been produced by the instigation of British emissaries, and the influence of Canadian traders.

That it was not caused by the murders at Captina, and opposite the mouth of Yellow creek,[1] is fairly inferrible from the fact, that several Indians had been previously murdered by the whites in a period of the most profound tranquillity, without having led to a similar issue; or even given rise to any act of retaliation, on the part of the friends or countrymen of those, who had been thus murdered.

At different periods of time, between the peace of 1765, and the renewal of hostilities in 1774, three Indians were unprovokedly killed by John Ryan, on the Ohio, Monongahela and Cheat rivers. The first who suffered from the unrestrained licentiousness of this man, was an Indian of distinction in his tribe, and known by the name of Capt. Peter; the other two were private warriors. And but that Governor Dunmore, from the representations made to him, was induced [105] to offer a reward for his apprehension, which caused him to leave the country, Ryan would probably have continued to murder every Indian, with whom he should chance to meet, wandering through the settlements.

Several Indians were likewise killed on the South Branch, while on a friendly visit to that country, in the interval of peace. This deed is said to have been done by Henry Judah, Nicholas Harpold and their associates; and when Judah was arrested for the offence, so great was the excitement among those who had suffered from savage enmity, that he was rescued from confinement by upwards of two hundred men, collected for that especial purpose.

The Bald Eagle was an Indian of notoriety, not only among his own nation, but also with the inhabitants of the North Western frontier; with whom he was in the habit of associating and hunting. In one of his visits among them, he was discovered alone, by Jacob Scott, William Hacker and Elijah Runner, who, reckless of the consequences, murdered him, solely to gratify a most wanton thirst for Indian blood. After the commission of this most outrageous enormity, they seated him in the stern of a canoe, and with a piece of journey-cake thrust into his mouth, set him afloat in the Monongahela. In this situation he was seen descending the river, by several, who supposed him to be as usual, returning from a friendly hunt with the whites in the upper settlements, and who expressed some astonishment that he did not stop to see them. The canoe floating near to the shore, below the mouth of George's creek, was observed by a Mrs. Province, who had it brought to the bank, and the friendly, but unfortunate old Indian decently buried.

Not long after the murder of the Bald Eagle, another outrage of a similar nature was committed on a peaceable Indian, by William White; and for which he was apprehended and taken to Winchester for trial. But the fury of the populace did not suffer him to remain there awaiting that event.--The prison doors were forced, the irons knocked off him and he again set at liberty.

But a still more atrocious act is said to have been soon after perpetrated. Until then the murders committed, were only on such as were found within the limits of white settlements, and on men & warriors. In 1772, there is every reason to believe, that women and children likewise became victims to the exasperated feelings of our [106] own citizens; and this too, while quietly enjoying the comforts of their own huts, in their own village.

There was at that time an Indian town on the Little Kenhawa, (called Bulltown) inhabited by five families, who were in habits of social and friendly intercourse with the whites on Buchannon and on Hacker's creek; frequently visiting and hunting with them.[2] There was likewise residing on Gauley river, the family of a German by the name of Stroud.[3] In the summer of that year, Mr. Stroud being from home, his family were all murdered, his house plundered, and his cattle driven off. The trail made by these leading in the direction of Bulltown, induced the supposition that the Indians of that village had been the authors of the outrage, and caused several to resolve on avenging it upon them.

A party of five men, (two of whom were William White and William Hacker,[4] who had been concerned in previous murders) expressed a determination to proceed immediately to Bulltown. The remonstrance of the settlement generally, could not operate to effect a change in that determination. They went; and on their return, circumstances justified the belief that the pre-apprehension of those who knew the temper and feelings of White and Hacker, had been well founded; and that there had been some fighting between them and the Indians. And notwithstanding that they denied ever having seen an Indian in their absence, yet it was the prevailing opinion, that they had destroyed all the men, women and children at Bulltown, and threw their bodies into the river. Indeed, one of the party is said to have, inadvertently, used expressions, confirmatory of this opinion; and to have then justified the deed, by saying that the clothes and other things known to have belonged to Stroud's family, were found in the possession of the Indians. The village was soon after visited, and found to be entirely desolated, and nothing being ever after heard of its former inhabitants, there can remain no doubt but that the murder of Stroud's family, was requited on them.

Here then was a fit time for the Indians to commence a system of retaliation and war, if they were disposed to engage in hostilities, for offences of this kind alone. Yet no such event was the consequence of the killing of the Bulltown Indians, or of those other murders which preceded that outrage; and it may be hence rationally concluded, that the murders on the Ohio river did not lead to such an event. If however, a doubt should still remain, that doubt is surely removed by the declaration of Logan himself. It was his family that was killed opposite Yellow creek, about the last of April; and in the following July (after the expedition against the Wappatomica towns, under Col. McDonald) he says, "the Indiens are not angry on account of those murders, but only myself." The fact is, that hostilities had commenced before the happening of the affair at Captina, or that near Yellow creek; and these, instead of having produced that event, were the consequence of the previous hostile movements of the Indians.

[107] Those who lived more immediately in the neighborhood of the scene of action at that time, were generally of opinion, that the Indians were urged to war by the instigation of emissaries from Great Britain, and of the Canadian traders; and, independently of any knowledge which they may have had of the conduct of these, circumstances of a general nature would seem to justify that opinion.

The relative situation of the American colonies and the mother country, is matter of general history, and too well known to require being repeated here. It is equally well known too, that from the first establishment of a colony in Canada, the Canadians obtained an influence over the Natives, greater than the Anglo-Americans were ever able to acquire; and that this influence was frequently exercised by them, to the great annoyance, and manifest injury of the latter. France and England have been long considered as natural enemies; and the inhabitants of their respective plantations in America, entertained strong feelings of jealousy towards each other. When by the treaty of Paris, the French possessions in North America (which had not been ceded to Spain,) were transferred to Great Britain, those feelings were not subdued. The Canadians still regarded themselves as a different people. Their national prejudices were too great to be extinguished by an union under the same prince. Under the influence of these prejudices, and the apprehension, that the lucrative commerce of the natives might, by the competition of the English traders, be diverted from its accustomed channels, they may have exerted themselves to excite the Indians to war; but that alone would hardly have produced this result. There is in man an inherent partiality for self, which leads him to search for the causes of any evil, elsewhere than in his own conduct; and under the operation of this propensity to assign the burden of wrong to be borne by others, the Jesuits from Canada and Louisiana were censured for the continuation of the war on the part of the Indians, after it had been terminated with their allies by the treaty of 1763. Yet that event was, no doubt, justly attributable to the erection of forts, and the location of land, in the district of country claimed by the natives, in the province of Pennsylvania. And in like manner, the origin of the war of 1774 may fairly be charged to the encroachments which were then being made on the Indian territory. To be convinced of this, it is necessary to advert to the promptitude of resistance on the part of the Natives, by which those encroachments were invariably met; and to recur to events happening in other sections of the country.--Events, perhaps no otherwise connected with the history of North Western Virginia, than as they are believed to have been the proximate causes of an hostility, eventuating in the effusion of much of its blood; and pregnant with other circumstances, having an important bearing on its prosperity and advancement.