Trans—A11egheny Pioneers HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE First White Settlements West of the Alleghenies 1748 AND AFTER WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES OF HARDSHIP AND HEROISM OF THOSE WHO FIRST BRAVED THE DANGERS OF THE INHOSPIT­ ABLE WILDERNESS, AND THE SAVAGE TRIBES THAT THEN INHABITED IT. ‘BYJOHN P. HALE CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA ‘CINCINNATI THE GRAPHIC PRESS, I35 MAIN STREET 1886 iyémafl ¢s,.. I, a.“,..%.,,.._..M.._“\ - ‘ ENTERED ACdORDXNG TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 2896; ~ ' BY JOHN P. HALE, ‘ m -u-1:ovate: or ran Lmunxm or céxiannss,yr w4skm¢wo:fi. n.'e.‘:‘ , , . .. < . SYNOPSIS. Progressively advancing settlements along the entire Virginia border, from the New River-Kanawha and tributaries, iii the southwest, to the Monongahela and tributaries in the north­ west, the intervening country to the Ohio River and into Kentucky. the above-mentioned first settled western flowing streams, occurred, in after years, the desperate and bloody conflicts of Braddock’s Fields and Point Pleasant, for the possession Of,and supremacy in, this fair western country. To the New River-Kanawha, and tributaries, however, more especial attention is here given; all sandwiched throughout with collateral facts and incidents of more or less general or local historical interest. DraP81"sMeadows Massacre.—Destruction of the early Green­ ~briar Settlements.——Tragediesof Burke’s Garden and Ablfls Valley.——Origin of the American Cotton Trade.——,0ldtime Family Fall Hunt.——Re1narkableClock.—Progressive Changes within a Lifetime.——DavyCrockett and his Wise Motto. Battle of Point Pleasant.—Brief Outline of Events Leading to It.——TheFirstBlood of the Revo1ution.—A Pivotal Turning Point in American History.—ShortSketches of Someof Those Who Participated in It.—Brief Review of Lord Dunn1ore’s Relation to It.—Its Influence as a Developing Military High School, etc. ’ Murder of Cornstalk.—Desperate Fight at Donnally’s Fort.——-Short Sketch of Daniel Boone’s Life in Kanawha Valley.—Chron­ ological Table of Events, of more or less importance or in­ terest, that have occurred along the western border. Charleston, West Virginia.——ShortSketch of Its Early Settle­ ment and After History.——Dublin,Virginia.——Historyof Its Na1ne.——-AugustaCountyilts Original Vast Extent and Its Subdivisions. INTITRODUGYIYION. IONEFIR IIIL"l‘ORiY does not repeat itself. Our eonntr_y——andespecially our great VVestern trans­ allegheny eountr_y—hasbut recently passed through, and is hardly yet entirely emerged, in the far ‘Vest, from a period of intensely active, exciting and event­ ful history, which can never be repeated. The discovery, exploration, conquest, settlemellt and civilization of a continent, once aeeomplislied in this age, is done for all time; th.ere are no more con­ tinents to discover; no more worlds to conquer. T0 MeCaule_y’sililaginziry New Zealander who is to stand upon the broken arches of London Bridge, and speculate on the ruins of St. Paul and of London, the opportunity will never come; the ratehets of steam, electtrieity and printing, will hold the world 3.f1‘0n1everagain retrograding. The course of civil­ lzation is onward and upward, as that of Empire is Westward. The wilderness, to l)e settled by the pioneer Ingleses and Drapers, the Harmons and Burkes, the Gists and Tygarts, no longer exists. The occupations of the Boones and Kentons, the Zanes, MeCullochs, Bradys and Wetzels, as border settlers and Indian fighters,_ Passed away with them. There is no longer need for the Lewises and Clarkes, as transcontinental explor­ °1‘S- For the Fremonts and Kit Carsons as mountain Path finders and path makers. For the Sel’1o()l(-rafts 8 /utrodnrtiovz. and Catlins to study and portray, with pen and pen­ cil, unknown races and tribes; the Pontiacs and Cornstalks, the Logans and Tecumsehs, the Black Hawks and the Grirtys, have left the stage forever. The Andrew Lewises and Mad Anthony Waynes, the George Rogers Clarkes, and Williani Henry Harri­ sons, the daring frontier commanders, would have to mold their swords into pruning hooks and plow shares now. The martyrdoms of the Colonel.Craw­ fords, the Mrs. Moores, and the Flinns, can never occur again. The experiences of captive life and remarkable escapes of the Mary Ingleses, the Bettie Drapers, the Mary Moores, the Hannah Dennises and-the Rebecca Davidsons, are, thanks to advancing civilization, the last of their kind, and the Anne “Baileys and Bettie Zanes need fear no future rivals for their well-earned laurels. The history that the hundreds of brave actors—of whom these are but the types and exemplars—n1ade, in their day and generation, by their heroic deeds and sufferings, was a history unparalleled in the past, and that can never be repeated in the future; the conditions no longer exist, and can never exist again. For the present generation, born and reared in these days of safety, law and order, peace and plenty, ease and luxury, in these days of steam and elec­ tricity, of rapid transit, more rapid communication, _and all the nameless accompaniments of the latest civilization, it is diflicult to look back to the days of our grandfathers, and realize that, inrtheir day, all this vast Weste1'r1country from the Alleghenies even to the Pacific, now teeming with its many millions of busy, prosperous, and happy people, with their thriv­ /‘Ill/’0(I.’zzrlI'01z. - 9 ing cities, towns and villages, and productive valleys and plains, was then one unbroken expanse of wil­ derness, lying in a state of nature, roamed by herds of wild animals a11dtribes of savage men; unknown, or but vaguely known to the white man; never pen­ etrated by White men except by a few exceptionably adventurous Spanish and French explorers and traders, accompanied, as usual, by pious Monks and Jesuit Fathers, tempted by the love of God or gold, and the hope of gain or glory. Those who braved the dangers, privations, and hardships of pioneer life, and participated in the stir­ ring scenes arid events that attended the transform­ ation of this wilderness into hives of busy industry, and homes of comfort and luxury, seldom kept diaries, or left written records or histories of their wonderful achievements and thrilling eXperiences— the circumstances and surroundings 11otfavoring the writing or preserving of such rccords——nor,indeed, did the tastes of the hardy pioneers run in that direc­ tion, and, therefore, as the older generations passed away, many of them carried with them recollections and traditions that can never be recovered, and thus has been lost much of pioneer history probably as interesting as any that has been preserved As the histories of these exciting times will, no doubt, possess deeper interest and be more valued and prized the farther the period in which the events occurred recedes adown the stream of time, it should he the duty of every one who can, to collect and add whatever he can, from authentic and trustworthy I‘eeo1'dsand tr-aditions,.to the general fund of reliable history of this interesting period, for permanent preservation. 10 ’ I 71trod z¢a‘z'07z. The Ingh-s and Draper families——n1ymaternal ancestors—Were pioneers in the then great IV/Vestern wilderness. The history of these first transalle­ gheny settlements is full of interest, and some of their experiences, for daring adventure, terrible suffering, and heroic endurance, are not excelled by anything with which I am acquainted in all the annals of border life. As I am now one of the oldest surviving descend­ ants of those early pioneers, and having taken some pains to collect the family records and vanishing traditions relating to the settlements and the families, I have felt constrained to commit them to print to preserve them from the fate of so many others now lost in oblivion, for lack of timely record, and add them to the man_Vother interesting histories of the period. In connection with, and following these histories of the Ingles and Draper settlements and families, I shall endeavor to trace, in chronological order, the progressive frontier explorations and settlements along the entire Virginia border, from the Allghanies to the Ohio, from the New River—Kanawha and tributaties in the South-west, where settlements first began, to the Monongahela and tributaries, in the North—west,when they followed, and the intervening country, and along the Ohio, Where the frontier line of settlements was last to be advanced, but I shall give more especial attention to the early history of the region of the New River-Kanawha a11dtributaries, all sandwitched, throughout, with collateral facts and interest.incidents of 111oreor less local or general historical TRANS-ALLEGHENY PIONEERS. CHAPTER I. run INGLES FAMILY. HOMAS INGLES, according to ‘familytradition, was descended from a Scotch family, was born and reared in London, lived about 1730 to 1740, 111 Dublin, Ireland, was a large importing Wholesale merchant, Was wealthy, owned his own ships and traded with foreign countries, chiefly to the East­ Indies. ­ Sir VValterScott states that in the reig11of James L, there was a Sir Thomas Inglis who lived and owned baronial estates on the border of England and Scotland. He was much annoyed by the raids and border forays of those days, and, to escape them, exchanged his border estates called “Branx-Holin,” With a Sir William Scott, ancestor of the late Sir Walte1*,and of the Dukes of Buckcleu, for his Baroiiy of “ Murdiestonc,” in Lanarkshire, to which he re­ moved for greater peace and security. Branx—Holn1 or Branksome, in Tiviotdale, on the Scottish border, is still owned by the Dukes of liuckcleu. From the close similarity and possible original identity of the names both very rare——andnow only differing from i to e in the spelling, Thomas Ingles of Dublin, may have descended from the Sir Thomas of “T3ranx­ 12 Trans-Alleglzyeny /50726675.