Skaggs/Scaggs/Skeggs
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..., I 11-69 I SKAGGS/SCAGGS/SKEGGS No attempt has been made here to establish the earliest colonial generations of this Skaggs family. Many early Skaggs lineages constructed by researchers contain inconsistencies and are missing documentation. In an attempt to match up what has been written historically with what can be factually proven there appears to be some mixing of Skaggs families and/or generations. The research presented in "Skaggs," from Early Adventures on the Western Waters by Mary B. Kegley and F. B. Kegley is factual and falls short of claiming actual familial relationships. [See extract later in this compilation.] 1 A great deal has been written about the Skaggs families and about their exploits as Long Hunters and the enormous contributions they made in opening up the trans-Appalachian areas of Kentucky and Tennessee. 2 Combining the multitude of references to these early Skaggs individuals into cohesive family units is a daunting task. The challenge is complicated by the repetitiveness of given names coupled with the lack of records resulting from the primitive nature of the wilderness in which they lived. For example in the same area of early Virginia are found references to James Skaggs, James Skaggs, Sr., James Skaggs, Jr., James (Longman) Skaggs and Little James Skaggs. 3 Besides being Long Hunters some of the Skaggs men were Baptist preachers dedicated to establishing churches and bringing the word of God into the remote wilderness settlements. 4 There are few records of births or marriages among the early Skaggs families. 5 It may be that the ministers among them conducted the ceremonies and either failed to record the events or their records did not survive. Regarding the heirs cited in the Moses Skaggs estate case it was suggested that their marriages had not been solemnized, but rather were of the "common law" variety. 6 Also wills are scarce. In addition to their many exploits as frontiersmen, the Skaggs men had some exploits of a different nature. In a Washington County, Virginia, Court of 21November1781 Henry Skaggs was charged with adultery with Nancy Davis and Aaron Skaggs was charged with adultery with Sarah Lyon. 7 Between 1786 and 1791 a Jam es Skaggs was charged in Russell County, Virginia, with deserting his wife [not named] to cohabit with Leah Carter. 8 In another instance recorded in the Green County, Kentucky, equity case of Moses Skaggs in a deposition given by Frances Samples, a surviving partner of Jacob Skaggs, she stated she considered herself Jacob's legitimate widow.9 Meanwhile Jacob Skaggs, who was by then deceased, had previously moved on to Tennessee, taken a new wife and raised a second family.10 One of the first pieces of concrete evidence to use as a base on which to begin constructing this Skaggs family's genealogy is the 1836 Moses Skaggs circuit court case in Green County, Kentucky. Even this case contains a few instances of conflicting information and untruths. Basically the case was being brought to recover damages from individuals involved in the disposition of the assets of Moses Skaggs after the death of his widow Elizabeth, and who were alleged to have appropriated the assets for their own use. Moses and Elizabeth had no children. 11 In the 1836 equity case in answer to the question of when and where Moses Skaggs died William Ratliff stated in his deposition that he was uncertain of the time of Moses Skaggs's death 1 I 11-70 I (perhaps forty years ago), and that Moses died in his own house in Green County. Other deponents placed the death of Moses in 1801 and 1805. Although her date of death is unknown, Moses' widow outlived him by many years. 12 Also named in the equity case are the siblings of Moses Skaggs: Henry, John, James, Susanna, Lydia, Charles, Richard, Elizabeth, Jacob and Nancy. 13 A 1769 land transaction suggests that James Skaggs, Sr., and his wife Rachel of Augusta County, Virginia, were the parents of a Henry and a James Skaggs, Jr. 14 Despite the prevailing opinion that this Henry and James Skaggs, Jr., probable sons of James Skaggs, Sr. and Rachel, are the same as the Henry and James Skaggs, brothers to Moses, this is not proven. Here again the repetition of given names makes positive identifications difficult to achieve. James Skaggs [Sr] is found in Augusta County, Virginia, records in 1746 where he is conscripted to help build a road from Adam Harman's to the Roanoke River. 15 Later in 1749 he served as one of three appraisers of the estate of one John Elswick.16 James and his wife bought and sold land in the New River area of Virginia for the next thirty plus years. 17 James was probably dead when Rachel petitioned for a Montgomery County land survey in 1781, as he had opted out of service in Fincastle County in 1776 because of "the infirm state of his health."18 Rachel's date of death is not known. By the hearing of the equity case in 1836, all Moses's siblings were deceased and any benefits due from his estate would have accrued to their children. Moses's sister Nancy Skaggs was noted as having been married to William Meridy [Meredith] and their children named were John, James, Daniel, Mathias and William. Although the interests in the estate of some of the second generation Skaggs descendants were bought out by the persons pursuing the suit, it was noted that the Meredith brothers were no longer living in that jurisdiction (Green County) and apparently were never located. Neither birth nor death dates are known for William and Nancy (Skaggs) Meredith beyond the fact that Nancy outlived her brother, Moses. 19 It is the opinion of this compiler that William and Nancy's son Daniel is the same Daniel Meredith found living in the late 1820's and early 1830's in Weakley County, Tennessee, along with Jacob Skaggs of the Moses Skaggs equity case and Jacob's sons, Mastin and James.20 Jacob would have been Daniel's uncle (brother to his mother Nancy Skaggs).21 By 1840 Jacob's sons Mastin and James Skaggs were found living in Pulaski County, Missouri, as was Daniel Meredith.22 1Mary B. Kegley and F. B. Kegley, "Skaggs," Early Adventures on the Western Waters, 5 vols. (Orange, VA: Green Publishers, 1980-2004), 1:367-368. [See extract later in this compilation.] 2C. P. Cawthorn and N. L. Warnell, Pioneer Baptist Church Records ofSouth-central Kentucky and the Upper Cumberland of Tennessee, 1799-1899 ([United States: s.n.], c1985), pp. 62-63; Lyman Draper, The Life of Daniel Boone, ed. Ted Franklin Belue (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, cl988), pp. 268-269; and Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia (Hamilton, OH: Republican Publishing Co., 1915), p. 470. These represent only three of many applicable references. 3Mary B. Kegley, comp., New River Tithables 1770-1773 (Roanoke, VA: M. B. Kegley, 1972), pp. 3, 16 and 23. 4Pioneer Baptist Church Records ofSouth-central Kentucky, pp. 62-63 and others. 5Diary ofArchibald Thompson, William B. Harlin Memorial Library, Thompkinsville, KY; also found on the web site of Doug Moore http://www.public.asu.edu/-moore/Archibald. This source contains a smattering of Skaggs related birth records. 2 11-71 6Green County, KY, Circuit Court in Chancery, Case #3871, 1836. Green County Courthouse, Greensburg, KY. 7Lewis Preston Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800 (Abingdon, VA: L. P. Summers, 1929), p. 1091. 8Russell County, VA, Law Order Book 1786-1791, 1:103 . Russell County Courthouse, Lebanon, Virginia. 9Green County, KY, Circuit Court in Chancery, Case #3871, 1836. 10Weakley County, TN, Tax Lists, 1828-1832, County Court of Weakley County, TN, Film No. 988756, Family History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT [hereafter FHL]; and U.S. Census, 1830, Weakley County, TN, pp. 337 and 343, Series Ml9, Roll 183. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. [hereafter NARA]. 11 Green County, KY, Circuit Court in Chancery, Case #3871. 12Ihid. 13Ibid. 14Augusta County, VA, Deed Book 16:48-51, 17 August 1769. Augusta County Courthouse, Staunton, VA. All Augusta County civil records cited herein are found at this location. 15F. B. Kegley, Kegley 's Virginia Frontier: the Beginning of the Southwest; the Roanoke of Colonial Days, 1740-1783 (Roanoke, VA: Southwest Virginia Historical Society, 1938), p. 117. ' 16 Augusta County, VA, Will Book 1:276-278. Appraisement of the estate of John Elswick, 4 July 1749, 28 November 1750. 171bid., Deed Book 6:100, 11January1754 and 16:48-51, 17 August 1769. Also Montgomery County, VA, Deed Books A:36, 2 Mar 1773 and A:157, 26 Oct 1773, Montgomery County Courthouse, Christiansburg, VA. This is only a sampling, not a complete listing of the real estate transactions by James Skaggs. 18Mary Kegley and F. B. Kegley, Early Adventurers on the Western Waters, 1:367-368. Also Charles W. Crush, Montgomery County, Virginia: The First JOO Years, indexed by Frances Terry Ingmire (St. Louis: F. T. Ingmire, 1982 ), p. 12. 19Green County, KY, Circuit Court in Chancery, Case #3871. 20Weakley County, TN, Tax Lists, 1828-1832, County Court of Weakley County, TN, Film No. 988756. FHL; and U.S. Census, 1830, Weakley County, TN, pp. 337 and 343, Series Ml9, Roll 183. NARA. 21 Green County, KY, Circuit Court in Chancery, Case #3871. 22U.S. Censes, 1840, Pulaski County, MO, pp. 199, 223 and 232, Series M704, Roll 229. NARA. Compiled by: (Mrs. Sam) Elizabeth Meredith 1720 South Gessner Road Houston, Texas 77063-1118 April, 2008 Revised: December, 2017 3 I 11-n I w GREEN COUNTY i KENTUCKY -N- \ The James Skaggs' Station is described as being on a tributary of Big Brush Creek where I today's Jones Cemetery is near Highway Route 61 .