The Skaggs Family in the Shenandoah Valley Early historians give us some accounts of the various Indians in Virginia. Opechancanough, a warrior chief from the East, went to war with Sherando, a member of the Iroquois tribe. Opechancanough in crossing the mountains on a foraging expedition was once attacked by Sherando who felt his tribe should not have to share its hunting grounds with anyone else and resented the invasion. A fierce battle took place, with no one victor. Opechancanough liked the country, so when he returned to his town below Williamsburg on the Chickahominy, he left his son and a few warriors to watch the hunting grounds which he had found so rich in game. This son, Shee-wa-a-nee, with his band soon had to fight the main body of the Iroquois and Sherando drove the Chief east of the mountains. Opechancanough left the lowlands as soon as the news was brought to him by runners. He gathered his warriors and set off with a large force. He fell upon Sherando and in the fierce battles which followed, he slowly drove him from his grounds, and he never returned from his home near the Great Lakes. Sheewa-a-nee was left again in charge of the Hunting Grounds and from that day the Shawnees held the lovely Valley until the coming of the white settlers. The settlers kept many of the Indian names for both mountains and streams. Opechancanough river was so called for the Great Chief. Legend and history tell us that in his later years he became blind and could no longer hunt in the lovely Shenandoah Valley. There were many tribes of Indians in the country and though they did not all speak the same language, they did have a common tongue and could understand each other. After 1710 all the lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains were spoken of as Indian Country. The different tribes evidently had understanding among themselves about certain boundary lines as individual tribes had certain domains. When one violated these rights, there was a war in which whole tribes sometimes would be completely wiped out. The Shawnees, the most powerful and warlike of all, claimed all the hunting grounds west of the Blue Ridge and as far west across the Alleghany as the Mississippi. They had three large towns in the Valley. One was near where Winchester stands today, one on the North River in Shenandoah County, and one on the South Branch, near where Moorefield is situated. They did allow other tribes to visit them in the Valley on condition they pay them tribute in skins or loot. The next tribe was the Tuscaroras, and they spent most of their time in what is now West Virginia. Another tribe was an offshoot from the Sherandos and were called Senedos. They were completely wiped out by the fierce tribe of Cherokees from the South, in 1732. The Catawbas were from South Carolina and had their towns along the river which still bears that name. The Delawares came from Pennsylvania and their villages were along the Susquehanna River. The Susquenoughs were a large and friendly tribe on the Chesapeake Bay and they were good to the white settlers until their enemies, the Cenela tribes, drove them away from Tidewater Virginia. Then they went to the upper Potomac River. The Cenelas soon followed them to the same region. Another tribe, the Piscataway, lived along the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. The Cherokees had their villages on the Tennessee River down in the Carolinas and Georgia and Alabama. This tribe was made up of the nations of the South, the Muscogluges, the Seminoles, Chickasaws, Choctaws and Creeks. At certain times, all these Indians made forages into the Valley. Besides these there were those from New York—the Senecas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas and Cayugas. These were called the Five Nations and they too claimed the right to hunt in the Valley. These Indians believed that the Great Spirit had given this Valley to all Indians and it is not surprising that they resented the coming of the white men who soon began to build homes, barns and fences and who claimed the right to shoot the Indians if they came on their property. Then the French about this time began to build forts along the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes and on down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. The French made every effort to make friends with the Indians and told them the British had no right to take their lands. The French said they would protect their rights if the Indians would let them. Consequently, they became allies of the French and they began to move their villages and towns toward the French lines. They continued to keep a part of their homes and to send back bands of hunters to look after the hunting grounds beyond the mountains. If the Indians had not been friendly to those pioneers who dared to build homes in the Valley, there would not have been any civilization there until a much later date. But as we have seen, many of them came from Pennsylvania where William Penn and his colonists had dealt so fairly with the Indians. Naturally then, the Indians thought all the settlers would be like those. Besides, there were so few of them, they did not at first realize that their hunting grounds were being taken from them. Consequently, the Delawares and Catawbas in hunting did no harm, though they were bitter enemies and the settlers often saw them with prisoners from the other tribes. There were Indian villages on the Potomac and on both branches of the Shenandoah. Numerous Indian mounds and graves are still to be seen in certain sections of the Valley. Many of these have been opened and skeletons found to be in a wonderful state of preservation; utensils, pipes, axes, tomahawks, pots and hominy pestles have been found. Their pots and utensils were made of a mixture of clay and hard shells, very crude as to workmanship but very strong. After twenty or more years of comparative peace, the Indians suddenly left the Valley. In 1753 messengers came from the Western Indians into the Valley and invited them to cross the Alleghany mountains. Historians claim this was done through the influence of the French and later consequences seem to establish the point. Raw-re-noke is an Indian word for money. The city of Roanoke was originally a land grant to Thomas Tosh, an old settler who came to Big Lick and settled there after King George II and King George III had granted him sixteen hundred acres of land along that fertile valley. Big Lick was a favorite spot for the wild game and for the Indians too, for there they found the salt so necessary to life itself. One of Toshs daughters married General Andrew Lewis and became the mother of Major Andrew Lewis and Thomas Lewis. Long ago Big Lick was known to a few. It was situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, surrounded by rolling valleys and watered by springs of crystal clear waters. Other streams made it an ideal place for the herds of buffalo and elk which roamed up and down the Valley of the Great Spirit. Indians came, too, to hunt them and thousands of smaller fur-bearing animals and birds for their feasts. When the sturdy settlers from Ireland and Scotland came to seek a new home in the wilderness, they chose to follow the Great Road which later was known as the Wilderness Road. This led them along the beautiful valleys and across the mountains; soon tiny cabins, churches and crude taverns were being built. Near where Fincastle stands today, there came a man years ago from Ireland, Thomas Skaggs. He had left behind his wife, three children. He had come to make a home for them in Fincastle County and ran a tavern near where Roanoke stands today. William Skaggs, had arrived in Philadelphia and was working for a merchant. He was peddling merchandise and liked the new country. Thomas saddled his own horse and led a pony all the miles down the long Valley trail. He passed such settlements as Staunton, Lexington, Winchester, Hagerstown, camping out or, stopping at some settlers house over-night. It took weeks for him to make the long trip. When the pioneers began going on farther down the Southwestern part of Virginia, Thomas Skaggs went as far as where Abingdon stands today. He sent William Skaggs back to Ireland for his mother and sisters. William now had a little money and he inherited some from his grandmother, so he not only brought his family over, but he paid for several other Scotch-Irish and charged a little extra as interest until they could repay him. Thomas liked the people and the lovely country around Abingdon and bought land and built himself a home there. He went to see the salt marsh a few miles away where Saltville is now. This land was owned by General Russell. William urged him to develop the marsh, for at one time Indians had come there to get salt to preserve their game. But General Russell did not think much of the plan, and agreed to sell it to William. The story of how he laughed, along with others, at William Skaggs when he dug and dug and did not find the salt spring . But when William had dug for one hundred and ninety feet the bottom dropped out and the salt water gushed forth. William made several dollars a year out of his salt business. Roanoke is the gateway through which the visitor continues down the famous Valley Pike, Route Eleven. From every curve in the road one sees the beauty of nature. One learns bits of early history from the numerous historic signs along the route—for every footstep of the brave pioneers was bitterly contested from here on. These first settlers were a remarkable race of people for intelligence, enterprise and hardy adventure. They had come partly from Botetourt, Augusta and Frederick counties and from Maryland and Pennsylvania. They wanted liberty and freedom to worship God as a mans conscience dictated. They were a strong, stern people, simple in their habits of life, God-fearing in their practices, freedom-loving and good neighbors, yet unmerciful in their dealing with their enemies. Who were the trail blazers for these Scotch-Irish and Germans? Dr. Thomas Walker qualified as a surveyor of Augusta County in 1748. He later set off with Colonel James Wood, Colonel James Patton, Colonel John Buchanan, and Major Charles Campbell, some hunters and John Finlay to explore southwest Virginia. They were followed as far as New River by Thomas Ingles (or Engles) and his three sons, a Mrs. Draper and her son George and her daughter Mary, Adam Harman, Henry Leonard and James Burke and James Skaggs Sr.. They were pioneers in search of new homes in the wilderness. Lands were surveyed for all of them on Woods River and they made the first settlement west of the Alleghany Divide. In 1748 Thomas Ingles and his three sons, Mrs. Draper, her children and James Burke moved westward to find a new home for themselves beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. They chose a lovely spot on a high level plateau in what is now Montgomery County. They called their new home, Drapers Meadow, and soon their new log cabins were built and their first crops were planted and such a harvest as they reaped that first year! Other neighbors and relatives from their old homes came to join them and for some time all went well in the little settlement. James Burke had been restless and had pushed on down into the southwest and settled in a valley enclosed for almost ten miles by the huge Clinch Mountain. This he called Burkes Garden and in telling others about it the old settler said I have indeed found the Garden of Eden. The Indians were very friendly and passed and repassed the settlement without molesting them. Then came the trouble with the French which has been referred to before. The Indians swooped down upon Drapers Meadow without warning and killed or wounded most of the settlers. Those whom they did not murder, they carried off into captivity. Among the latter were Mrs. William Ingles (née Mary Draper) some of her children and another woman. They were forced to march for days at a time until they finally reached the Indian towns on the Ohio River. During the trying days, Mrs. Draper did her best to keep in the good graces of the Indians. She tried to help them, even after they took her sons from her. When they reached Big Bone Lick she helped to make salt for the Indians and made shirts for them from cloth which had been bought from the French traders. She often thought of her home over seven hundred miles from the Indian towns and determined to make her escape. She confided her resolves to the other woman who at first objected to going. At last she convinced her the time was at hand, if ever, for them to leave. She left her infant son one night, and with her friend, stole away from the camp. They lived for days on berries and nuts. They finally killed small game and after many adventures reached the home of a settler forty long days later. Mrs. Drapers friend lost her mind, tried to kill her and then left her. Mrs. Draper reached the homestead of Adam Harmon on New River. There he heard her crying in his cornfield and went out to see who it was in such distress. He and his family cared for her and made her rest before she was taken back to her family. The Ingles families moved up higher on New River and built another fort near the present city of Radford, Virginia. This was at Ingles Ferry. Botetourt County was cut from Albemarle in 1770, and William Preston was made surveyor of the lands. This was a well-paying position. He had fallen in love with Miss Susannah Smith who lived in Eastern Virginia in Hanover County. He built a house for her and called it Smithfield in her honor. Soon the Pattons, Peytons, Prestons, the Thompsons and many others were coming to build homes near them. When the Prestons moved to Smithfield they took a young orphan boy with them, Joseph Cloyd. His father had died when he was very little and his mother had been killed by the Indians. He grew up with the other pioneer boys and girls and later settled on Back Creek. This home is near where Pulaski stands today and thus began another settlement. He was the father of General Gordon Cloyd and they founded a long line of honorable citizens in our country. Many strange tales of other explorers and settlers. For instance there is the sad story of Colonel John Chiswell who found rich lead mines near New River in what is now Wythe County. For some unknown reason, he had killed a man in a personal encounter and was put in jail to await trial.In the meantime, the Virginia Council decided to develop the mines and a fort was ordered to be built. Before the trial came off and before the fort was built, Colonel Chiswell died. Colonel William Boyd was made supervisor of the building of the fort and he named it for his friend, Colonel Chiswell. Soon settlers began building homes around it, for the climate and rich grazing lands made it an ideal spot for homesteads. The settlers pushing southwest from Roanoke built a fort and named it for a Mr. Vass. The Indians attacked them and several were killed. This was near where Christiansburg is now located. It was near Vasss Fort that General Washington, Major Andrew Lewis and Captain William Preston had a narrow escape from an attack by the Indians. Log cabin next to the New River, near present-day Radford, Virginia, where Mary Draper Ingles and her husband William lived out their lives Mary Draper Ingles (1732 – February 1815) was an American pioneer and early settler of western Virginia. She was abducted by Indians and later escaped, making a harrowing trek over hundreds of miles of rough terrain to return home. Mary Draper Ingles was born in 1732 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to George and Elenor (Hardin) Draper, who had immigrated to America from Donegal, Ireland in 1729. In 1748, the Draper family and others moved to the western frontier, establishing Drapers Meadow, a pioneer settlement near modern day Blacksburg, Virginia. Mary married fellow settler William Ingles in 1750, and gave birth to two sons, Thomas in 1751 and George in 1753. In July, 1755, during the French and Indian War, a band of Shawnee warriors (then allies of the French) raided Drapers Meadow, killing four settlers, one an infant, and taking five hostages, including Mary and her two sons, her sister-in-law Bette Draper, and a male neighbor. The Indians and their captives traveled for a month to a Shawnee village on the banks of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers. Here Mary was separated from her sons, after which she was brought to Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. Some sources suggest that Mary gave birth to a daughter while in captivity (Hale 1886). As a prisoner, Mary sewed shirts and was enslaved to make salt for the Indians. In October, Mary and another captive woman (referred to as the old Dutch woman in many sources) escaped from their captors, making their way on foot through the wilderness to return home. Their route followed the Ohio, Kanawha, and New rivers and they traveled as much as five to six hundred miles, and arrived home after more than 40 days. After recovering from her journey and reuniting with her husband, Mary went on to have four more children: Mary, Susan, Rhoda (b.1762), and John (b.1766). George died in Indian captivity, but Thomas was ransomed and returned to Virginia in 1768; he underwent several years of rehabilitation and education under Dr. Thomas Walker at Castle Hill, Virginia. William and Mary established Ingles Ferry across the New River in 1762, and she died there in 1815 at the age of 83. Capture and Rescue of the Ingles Family and Killing of Captain Thomas Maxwell From the unpublished manuscript, Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and Holston Rivers, pages 93-98. In Tazewell Co., VA, lies Burkes Garden, one of the most beautiful valleys in all of Southwest Virginia. The valley is a bowl 10 miles long by 5 miles wide, snuggled down between beautiful mountains on all sides, with a narrow outlet at one end. This was perhaps the earliest site of a settlement in Tazewell Co., with the Ingles brothers and son building a cabin there in 1749, although they did not make a settlement at this date, only a cabin. The Ingles and Patton families claimed all of Burkes Garden, and after the death of Col. James Patton, his grandson James Thompson seems to have taken over and most of the land eventually came into possession of James Thompson and Dr. Thomas Walker. In 1760 it was known as Ingles Crab orchard. Kegley, in his Virginia Frontier, , says: Thomas, John and William Ingles of Ingles Mill Creek of the North Fork Roanoke, were among the most interesting of the early settlers. Thomas and John were brothers, William and Matthew, (3) sons of Thomas. Thomas Ingles a grandson of William says, My great grandfather, Thomas Ingles, was a merchant of Dublin, Ireland, who, upon suspicion of entertaining liberal principles and engaging in a rebellion him and his two sons were sent as convicts to Wales from whence they made their escape to the United States, my grandfather William Ingles being one of the number, they came first to Pennsylvania and from there to this country. (Letter of Thomas Ingles of Lovely Mount, Montgomery Co., 1851). They were here as early as 1746 and were well established when Dr. (Thomas) Walker visited them in 1750. Thomas and his brother John entered land on the waters of New River and Clinch and William as heir to both, came into possession of it. John was killed at Vauses Fort and his wife, Mary, was carried into captivity. When this Mary Ingles returned she married John Miller and went to Carolina. William Ingles came to the Roanoke with his father and Uncle John before 1746. William in 1750 married Mary Draper, but he continued to live on the Roanoke until after 1753, when he purchased land at Drapers Meadows from Col. Patton. He was on the waters of New River in 1754 and 1755. A neighbor of Ingles, on the Roanoke River, James Burke sold his property there in 1753 and moved to Burkes Garden and lived there until the Indians saw fit to run him out. From Burkes Garden James Burke migrated to Cumberland Co., NC, and in 1760 he and his wife Lucretia, conveyed the remainder of the original Burke land on the Roanoke to Dr. Walker. This is the reason for calling the place Burkes Garden as James Burke seems to have been the first to actually make a settlement in the valley. At the Drapers Meadows massacre of July 30, 1755, the wife of William Ingles, Mary Draper Ingles, and her small son Thomas, then four years old, were taken captive by the Indians. Mrs. Ingles made her escape, and the details of which has become the classic Indian story of Southwest Virginia. Her son, Thomas, was held captive until ransomed by his father in 1768. He had spent thirteen years with the Indians, had grown to young manhood, spoke their language fluently, and had adopted Indian ways altogether. It is said that upon return he was very unhappy away from his Indian friends, and had much difficulty in readopting to civilized life. He was finally sent to Albemarle Co. By his father and while there married. William Ingles continued to live on in the area until his death in 1782, leaving at least five children (4), who were: Susannah who married Abraham Trigg; Rhoda who married Byrd Smith; Mary who married John Gills, and Thomas and John Ingles. Thomas Ingles eventually settled in Burkes Garden on the land he had inherited from his father. He was Commissary for the troops on the Point Pleasant expedition and his feelings were very strong for the Indians. On the 5th of April, 1782, the Shawnee, under the leadership of Black Wolf made a raid upon Burkes Garden and captured the family of Thomas Ingles. Pendleton, History of Tazewell County, gives the following: The Indians had concealed themselves until Ingles went out on his farm to work, and then surrounded his home; and made his wife, their three children and a Negro man and woman prisoner. After taking as much booty as they could carry the Indians started with their prisoners back to Ohio. The cries of the captives attracted the attention of Thomas Ingles and his Negro man while they were plowing in a field. Seeing the number of Indians, Ingles knew he could do nothing for his family. He and the Negro man, unhitched the horses from the plow and started to the nearest settlement for assistance. Knowing the Indians would make their way back to the head of the Clinch, Ingles crossed the mountains to the nearest settlement on the North Fork of the Holston.. It happened to be Muster Day for the Washington Co. militia and the settlers on the North Fork of the Holston River had assembled, and were being drilled by Captain Thomas Maxwell, who had formerly lived at the head of Bluestone, in Tazewell Co. Maxwell with a party of fifteen or twenty volunteers, went with Ingles to Burkes Garden to pursue the Indians. Joseph Hicks (Hix) (8), a single man and his Negro slave were the only other people who lived in Burkes Garden besides the Thomas Ingles family. The day the Indians attacked the Ingles family Hicks and his Negro man were on their way to the home of Ingles and saw the Indians with their captives. He and the Negro man immediately started across Brushy Mountain for help in Bland County. There they secured six or seven men and arrived back in Burkes Garden about the same time Maxwell and his party arrived. The two parties united under Maxwell and went in pursuit of the Indians. On the fifth day after the capture the advance scouts discovered the Indians, who were camped for the night in a gap of Tug Mountain. It was agreed that Maxwell should take half of the men, and during the night, get in front of the Indians, and Thomas Ingles should remain with the other half in the rear of the Indians, and at daybreak a simultaneous attack should take place. The night was very dark and the ground rough and brushy. Consequently the party with Maxwell lost their way and did not reach the front by daylight. Maxwell having failed to get to his appointed place on time, and the Indians beginning to rouse from their slumbers, Ingles determined to make an attack with his men. Dr. Thomas Hale, who was a great-grandson of William and Mary Ingles and who collected his information from the records of the Ingles family thus relates what transpired after the attack was made: So soon as a shot was fired, some of the Indians began to tomahawk the prisoners, while others fought and fled. Thomas Ingles rushed in and seized his wife just as she received a terrible blow on the head with a tomahawk. She fell covering the infant of a few months old, which she held in her arms. The Indians had no time to devote to it. They tomahawked his little five year old daughter, named Mary, and his three year old son, named William. His Negro servants, a man and woman, captured with his family, escaped without injury. Dr. Thomas Hale, in his Trans Alleghany Pioneers, says that shortly after this occurrence that Thomas Ingles, his wife, and infant daughter, moved to Tennessee and settled in succession on the Watauga River at Mossy Creek, and at Fort Knox, now Knoxville. There his daughter, Rhoda, who escaped death, grew up and married Patrick Campbell. Subsequent to the marriage of his daughter, Thomas Ingles moved to Mississippi, where he lived until he died. After tomahawking the Ingles children in making their escape the Indians ran close to Captain Maxwell and his party, and, firing on them, killed Captain Maxwell, who was conspicious from wearing a white hunting shirt. The whites remained on the ground until late in the evening burying Captain Maxwell, who was and the little girl were still alive, although badly wounded. Four days after the party arrived at William Wynns Fort at Locust Hill. On April 26, 1782, Col. William Preston, wrote Governor Harrison , a letter wherein he states: Enclosing a letter to himself from Col. Walter Crockett, dated April 15, 1782, giving account of the killing of Captain Moffets sons, and the whole family of Captain Ingles in Burkes Garden, - also of his having ordered Col. Cloyd to call out the militia to assemble at David Doacks Mill, to protect the settlements, as the people talk of breaking up unless help is afforded them. He calls also for provisions as they cannot be supplied on Clinch. Col. Preston adds, I wrote to your Excellency the 10th instant informing you of the damages the savages had done in Montgomery. I last night received the enclosed letter from Colonel Crockett. It appears that Captain ingles family were not burned in the house, as he imagined, but were taken prisoners. He raised a party of men and pursued the enemy; after some days march he overtook them and recovered his wife and one child, both tomahawked, but perhaps not mortally, and his slaves. One of his children they murdered, killed an officer of the party, and made their escape. The enemy attacked some other families, but were repulsed though, I believe without loss. They killed a man on Bluestone, and I am told a woman at Culbertsons Bottom on New River. Their signs have been seen in various parts of the country, which has given the greatest alarm to the inhabitants; and what is extraordinary that five houses they attacked, that four belonged to officers, and some of them a considerable distance within the frontier settlements, which induces me to believe they are conducted by Tories. I am at a loss what measures to fall upon for the defense of the distressed inhabitants. killed outright, and Thomas Ingles little son, who died from his wounds during the day. Mrs. Ingles (1) Statement of Matthias Harman in 1809, Maxwell vs Pickens, Augusta Court Causes Ended, O. S. 129; N. S. 45. Bill 1807. (2) Kegley, Virginia Frontier, pages 194-195. (3) Matthew was a seaman and died unmarried at sea. Statement of Samuel Wilson (born 23 February 1733) Augusta Court Causes Ended, Thompson vs. Ingles, O. S. 46; N. S. 16. Wilson married Rebecca, daughter of James Burke. (4) Statement William Wynn, Augusta Court Causes Ended, Wynn vs Inglishs heirs, O. S. 48; N. S. 16. (5) Perhaps the same John English who settled in 1772 on Sugar Hill in Wise Co., near St. Paul, VA, and whose family was murdered there in 1787 by Indians. The name is variantly spelled, Ingles, Inglis, Inglish and English. See story of John Englishs family in this volume. (6) Pendleton, History of Tazewell Co., VA, page 443. (7) David E. Johnson, History of Middle New River Settlements, page 146, says that Henry Harman was of this party also. (8) Joseph Hix was still in Tazewell Co., in 1809, when he made a deposition in the case, Maxwell vs Pickens, Augusta Court Causes Ended, O. S. 129; N. S. 45. Bill Filed 1807. (9) Killed on Tug River at a place still called Maxwells Gap. (10) Calendar Virginia State Papers, Vol. III, page 139. 1776 the Committee of Safety for Fincastle County recorded that Captain James SKAGGS was unable to serve any longer because of his infirm state of health, and Thomas INGLES was appointed to succeed him. Presumably this is James SKAGGS, Sr. (Harwell, Committee of Safety . . . p.76 From The Book Pioneer Families Of Eastern And Southeastern Kentucky by William C Kozee pub 1957 page 14 James SKAGGS, Jr. first appeared in the records in 1769 when he received lands from his father and mother, James Sr. and Rachel SKAGGS. He may be the one designated as Little James SKAGGS jr. who reported in 1774 that he had seen Indians between Ninian CLOYDs and Peter POORs (Chalkley, Chronicles, III, 490; Preston Papers, Draper Mss., 3 QQ 54). In 1779 he purchased the 100 acres which had been selected by John BUCHANAN in 1748 from his son, William BUCHANAN (August County Surveys; Montgomery Deed Book A, p.190). Here JAMES SKAGGS SR.operated a ferry across New River, and once in legal possession of the lands, SKAGGS petitioned the Montgomery County court to view the possibility of a nearer and better Road which may be had either by SKAGGs place commonly called the old ferry, or by Dunker Bottom, rather than the one presently occupied by William INGLES. Three months later in March 1779 no report had been forthcoming and men were chosen to meet and view the road by ??? This tablet commemorates the first white settlement west of New River, made in 1745 near here by Dunkers. In 1756 they built a fort for protection against Indians. In 1771 Col. William Christian built a home on this site. The stones in this monument are from the chimneys of that home. This marker erected 1937 by Count Pulaski Chapter D.A.R. Pulaski, VA.. Origanal Survey: #2483, 19 sep 1797, grant date: 6 aug. 1798. 150 acres East Fork Lynn Creek Camp Creek, transferred to Stephen Trigg. James Skaggs Sr. In 1776 the Committee of Safety for Fincastle County recorded that Captain James SKAGGS Sr. was unable to serve any longer because of his infirm state of health, and Thomas INGLES was appointed to succeed him. Presumably this is James SKAGGS, Sr. (Harwell, Committee of Safety . . . p.76). During the Revolutionary War, the Indian allies of the British waged war against the Kentucky settlers. Beginning in 1777 the fighting was bitter bringing much loss of life and hardships to the people. Several Skaggs were in the war, at least three of them being killed. Virginia and Kentucky Skaggs in the war included JAMES, JOHN, RICHARD, WILLIAM, ARCHIBALD, HENRY, CHARLES, MOSES, JACOB, JORRE AND AARON [SKAGGS] and a few with the same names as some of the above. MOSES and AARON [SKAGGS] are said to have been killed and also a PETER SKAGGS. Several of them received pensions later according to the records. Abner Lester--Militia of Montgomery Co., VA Added by Fiddlestix1224 on 7 Apr 2008 On pp 58, 59, 60 of Mary B. Kegleys Militia of Montgomery Co., VA may be found the following: Stephen Trigg took a list of those who swore allegiane in several companies, including McCorkles, Cloyds, Taylors, Drapers and Daniel Triggs, beginning on 6 Sept 1777 and ending on 1 April 1778 From McCorkles Company: James Patton, Robert Lyon, Joseph Mairs, Thomas Patton, Samuel Thompson, Josiah Baker, John Grayson, William Grayson From Joseh Cloyds Company: Capt. Joseph Cloyd, John Cloyd, Henry Thompson, Alexander Mairs, Henry Patton, Ninian Cloyd, Davis Patton, William Mairs, Hugh Mairs [twice], Matthew French, Nathaniel Christian, Robert Thompson, Lewis Reeling [Keeling], John Crum From Capt. Daniel Triggs Company: Edmund Vancell, Jacob Lorton, Thomas Alley, William Saunders, William Daniel, Archibald Thompson, Blackburn Akers, John Dispain, William Skaggs, Archibald Skaggs, Charles Skaggs, Solomon Akers, Samuel Lester, John Skaggs Sr., Solomon Davies, Abner Lester, Jeremiah Payte, Jonathan Elswick, William Lawson, John Harman, John Elswick, Moses Skaggs, John Hankins, Hezekiah Whitt, John Skaggs Jr., John Payte, Richard Hankins, Josuaw [Joshua] Pittman, Zachariah Skaggs, Volintine Akers, Henry Skaggs [son of Aaron], Samuel Rentfro, William Jennings, Abram Goad, Jr., Edmund Jennings, Abraham Goad, Peter Harman, Richard Whitt, James Skeggs Jr. [longman]. From other companies: Daniel Harman Ref: Ibid, pp 47, 48 Daniel Triggs Company 31 March 1781: Daniel Trigg, Capt., Israel Lorton, Lt., John Elswick, Sgt., Archibald Thompson, Sgt., William Lawson, Sgt. The following were listed as Privates: Blackburn Akers, Thomas Alley, Jonathan Elswick, Richard Hawkins [Hankins?], Hezekiah Whitt, Jacon Blackburn, Richd. Whitt, Thomas Pate, Anthony Pate, Jr., Barnet Farmer, Adam Pate, William Ratliff, Nathan Ratliff, Richd. Ratliff, Daniel Dobbins, Abram Hilton, William Hawkins [Hankins?], Thomas Pate, Jr., JAcob Pate, Henry Skeggs, John Dispain, Moses Skeggs, Abram Hankins, Cary ? Alley, Edmund Vancil, Richd. Henderson, Henry Skaggs, Jr., Benjamin Staycie, Wm. Combs, Mayson Combs, Bradley Meredith, Jr., Benjamin Dispain, Jos. Compton, Thompson Farmer, William Davis, John Pate, Jacob Skaggs. Notes on Daniel Triggs Company: Those [who] were not fit were: William Lawson, Blackburn Akers, Richd. Hawkins, Henry Skeggs, Thompson Farmer. Those who were under eighteen were: Barnet Farmer, Adam Pate, Thomas Pate, Jr., Abram Hankins, Cary ? Alley, Jacob Skaggs. Those above fifty were: William Ratliff. Additional information about this story Description Abner Lester and Samuel Lester on list of men in the militia. Also on same list are several Skaggs men, including John Skaggs Sr. Date 1777 - 1778 Location Montgomery Co., VA Attached to ABNER ALEXANDER LESTER (1750 - 1833) Other trees this object is saved to Lester Family Tree Chupin Family Tree Meyer Family Tree Cook,Sizemore/Glovier,Cunningham/Martin,Stoneman Ellison The Drakes Wells Family Tree Cox-Starks Blankenship Deposition of WIlliam Skaggs (27 April 1836 at the home of William Skaggs, Aleck Fork of Pitman Creek). I was acquainted with CHARLES SKAGGS of Green County, KY. He had 4 sisters, to wit: SUSANNAH, wife of RICHARD WHIT; LYDIA, wife of MATTHIAS HARMON, ELIZABETH Betsy, wife of JOHN HANKINS; and NANCY, wife of WILLIAM MERIDY. I was quite intimate with them in Virginia. I knew them before they married. MOSES had a brother named JOHN SKAGGS. . . I knew the brothers of MOSES SKAGGS. They were HENRY, JAMES, CHARLES, JOHN, RICHARD and JACOB SKAGGS. I knew them in Kentucky and they all raised large families. Lydia Skaggs was a sister to the Long Hunter Henry Skaggs. They had other brothers who were noted Long Hunters, also. The parents were of these hardy, adventurous men and women, James and Rachel Moredock Skaggs of Montgomery County, VA.. Colonel William Christian Christiansburg, Va., was named for this Revolutionary War leader and Virginia patriot Chairman of the Fincastle Resolutions Committee and brother-in-law of Patrick Henry About five miles southwest is Dunkard Bottom, where Dr. Thomas Walker found a settlement in 1750. The fort there was built about 1756 and was the first fort in Virginia west of New River. The first store and first mill were also there. Erected 1929 by Conservation and Development Commission. (Marker Number K-29.) Location. 37° 8.769′ N, 80° 36.046′ W. Marker is near Radford, Virginia, in Pulaski County. Marker is on Lee Hwy (U.S. 11), in the median. Click for mapLocated at a crossover. Marker is at or near this postal address: 741 Warden Court, Radford VA 24141, United States of America. 1745 James Skaggs listed on Augusta County Va. tithables 1745/1748 Humberston Lyon deposit that James Conley said Humberston Lyon stole 15 red deer skins and also 28 red deer skins which Conley left at the house of James Skaggs 1746 Nov. 19, Augusta County, Va. Settlement South West of Roanoke become important, four roads to be built, 2nd road was ordered from Adam Harmans on New River to North Branch of Roanoke, with workers including James Skaggs Virginia Historical Magazine 1746 James Skaggs Sr. appointed to work road from Adam Harmon of North branch of Roanoke. DR.THOMAS WALKER visited the Harmon’s on his journey. 1749 AUGUSTA CO. VA. JAMES SKAGGS on Meadow Creek. JAMES SKAGGS served as one of the appraisers of John Elswick’s estate. Archibald Thompson estate sale. 1749 July 4, James Skaggs, Ebenezer West coat and Thomas Ingles appraises land for John Elswicks, Augusta County Will book. 1750 AUGUSTA CO. VA. James Skaggs Reacquiring land from Col James Patton, he died 7/18/1755 killed by Indians he had 120,000 acres and died by beginning of French and Indian War. 1750 MAY, 1751 AUGUSTA CO. VA. DEED BK PG. 126 Francis Reilly to James Skaggs Sr.100 acres, Little River, branch of New Woods, New River, near Radford, Va. 1750 JAMES SKAGGS or SKEGGS and sons explored the Big Sandy Region entering through the Breaks naming places SKEGGS GAP, SKEGGS HOLE, SKEGGS BRANCH 1751-1752 KEGLEY’S BOOK ON VA. CHALKEY MAY 29 JAMES SKEGGS had land surveyed on Meadow Creek and New River, 82 acres, 100 acres on Little River from Frances Reilly on Woods River. 1751 James Skaggs listed on Montgomery County Va. tithables 1751 May 28, James Skaggs received 100 acres on Little River of Woods River from FrancisRiley Deed Book 3, page 226. 1753 JAMES SKEGGS received land deed from WILLIAM PELMAN for 134 acres on Meadow Creek. 1753 Feb. 17, James Skaggs is on the list of bills in the Estate of Col James Patton’s Bock 3, page 226. 1754 Jan. 11, James Skaggs received 104 acres patented to Samuel Ratliff from Daniel Ratliff, Deed Book 6, page 100. 1754 JAMES SKEGGS received deed from Samuel Ratliff for l94 acres on Meadow Creek, Pg. 127. ▼ Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA Acquisition of Land from Chalkleys: Page 226.--28th May, 1751. Francis Reiley to James Skeggs, farmer, 100 acres on Little River of Woods River. Page 100.--11th January, 1754. Daniel Ratcliff to James Scags, 104 acres patented to Samuel 22d August, 1753, on Meadow Creek of New River. Page 103.--11th January, 1754. William Pellum to James Scags, 134 acres patented to William 22d August, 1753, on Meadow Creek of New River. Disposition of Land from Chalkleys: Page 49.--26th April, 1769. James ( ) Scaggs (Skeggs), Sr., and Rachel ( ) to James Scaggs, Jr., £100, 104 acres patented to Samuel Ratlive 22d August, 1753, and conveyed to James, Sr., on Meadow Creek, a branch of New River. Teste: William Preston, Richard Whitt, James ( ) Skggs, John ( ) Skggs, Is. Christian, James Buchanan, W. Ingles. Page 51.--25th April, 1769. Same (James ( ) Scaggs (Skeggs), Sr., and Rachel ( )) to Henry Scaggs, £100, 100 acres by deeds from Francis Rieley to James, 29th May, 1751, on Little River, a branch of Woods River. [edit] ▼Records of James Skaggs in Augusta County, VA From Chalkleys Augusta County Records: Vol. 1 - ORIGINAL PETITIONS AND PAPERS FILED IN THE COUNTY COURT. 1745-1748. - Humberstone Lyon deposeth that James Conoly said Humberstone Lyon stole fifteen red deer skins and also twenty-eight red deer skins which Conoly had left at the house of James Scaggs. Also deposition by Samuel Stolucher, the same. Also deposition by Erwin Patterson. Mary Stern deposes that George Gabriel brought from Jacob Millers. John Blackwelder. Vol. 1 - November 19, 1746. - (130) Road ordered from Adam Harmons to the River and No. Branch of Roan Oak--Adam Harmon, overseer, with these workers: Geo. Draper, Israel Lorton and son, George Hermon, Thos. Looney, Jacob Hermon and three sons, Jacob Castle, John Lane, Valentine Harmon, Adren Moser, Humberston Lyon, James Shaggs, Humphrey Baker, John Davis, Fredk. Stering and two sons and all other persons settling in the precincts. Page 276.--4th July, 1749. John Elswicks appraisement, by Thomas Ingliss, James Scaggs, Ebenezer Westcoat. Page 203.--17th February, 1758. Colonel James Pattons estate; appraised by Thomas Stewart, John Ramsey, Edward Hall. List of bonds, bills, &c., due the estate: James Scaggs, 12th February, 1753. (listed among many others). (Note: the bond of James Scaggs due James Pattons estate is most likely for the land he acquired on the New River). ▼References 1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Kegley, Mary B, and F. B. (Frederick Bittle) Kegley. Early adventurers on the western waters. (Wytheville, Virginia: Kegley Books, c1995, 1998 (Marceline, Missouri : Walsworth Pub. Co.)), pp. 367-368. 2. Cawthorn, C. P, and N. L Warnell. Pioneer Baptist Church records of south-central Kentucky and the Upper Cumberland of Tennessee, 1799-1899. (C.P. Cawthorn], c1985). Sons of James and Rachel listed in 3. Kentucky Historical Society (Frankfort, Kentucky). Kentucky ancestors. (Frankfort, Kentucky: Historical Society, 1965-), Volume 6, page 80, October, 1970. James Skaggs, born 1700 in Open waters, on ship from homeland of Ireland to America; died 1798 in Green County, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas Skaggs. He married Rachel Moredock Bef. 1723 in Maryland. Rachel Moredock, born Abt. 1705 in Probably Fincastle, Virgina; died 1789 in Montgomery County, Virginia.2 March 1773, X 36, James and Rachel Skaggs, Fincastle County sold to John Plickinsarver, 82 acres, (Monetary terms mentioned), on New River, Botetourt County, Virginia on Meadow Creek. Witnessed by William Christian, Stephen Trigg, Jonathan Elswick, and William Lesley. 4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Family Tree at genopro Meadow Creek is in Radford area of Montgomery Co., VA (Augusta Co., VA in 1756) James Sr. Skaggs (son of Richard Skaggs and Mary Thear) was born 1700 in On board ship on route to America, and died 1798 in Green County, Kentucky. He married Rachel Susannah Moredock on 1720 in Maryland. Notes for James Sr. Skaggs: James Skaggs has been rumored to have been born on open sea on a ship bound from Ireland to the New World. Later searches could not establish any population of persons named Skaggs in Ireland. Ireland was not known as a transfer point for immigrants to the Colonies. March 2, 1773 - James and Rachel Skaggs, Fincastle County sold to John Plickensarver, 82 acres, on New River, Botetourt County, Virginia on Meadow Creek. Witnessed by William Christian, Stephen Trigg, Jonathan Elswick, and William Lesley. (Source: Kentucky Ancestors, Vol. 6, pg. 80) ( THE MEN MENTIONED BELOW WITH (**) ARE SONS OF JAMES) Dunmores War (commenced 10/10/1774 at Point Pleasant) General Andrew Lewis Army (Battle of Point Pleasant) Reuben Skaggs Zachariah Skaggs Captain James Roberts Company **Charles Skaggs, Sergeant Aaron Skaggs **John Skaggs John Skaggs ( two Johns here) Captain Joseph Cloyds Company Charles Skaggs Richard Skaggs Captain William Leftwichs Company Thomas Skaggs **Sergeant Henry Skaggs detachment (12 men, total) **Henry Skaggs, Sergeant **Aaron Skaggs **Richard Skaggs **Moses Skaggs Nine or more of the above were from Fincastle County, Virginia Early Skaggs Records... JAMES SKAGGS SR. 1745 James Skaggs listed on Augusta County Va. tithables 1745/1748 Humberston Lyan deposit that James Conley said Humberston Lyan stole 15 red deer skins and also 28 red deer skins which Conley left at the house of James Skaggs 1746 Nov. 19, Augusta County, Va. Settlement South West of Roanoke become important, four roads to be built, 2nd road was ordered from Adam Harmans on New River to North Branch of Roanoke, with workers including James Skaggs Virginia Historical Magazine Vol. 30, page 195 1748 History of Shenandoah Valley by J. Wayland page 538, Story on Mathais Tice, Harman-Heinrich Herrmann, his brothers Adam and Jacob Harman and their families were among the first settlers at Drapers Meadow (Blackstone). From this section Mathais Harman and associates, Michael Stoner, Casper Mansker, Henry Skaggs, James Skaggs and others operated into Kentucky and Tennessee, especially Kentucky and Harmans Station on the Louisa River established. _ 1749 July 4, James Skaggs, Ebanezer Westcoat and Thomas Ingels appraises land for John Elswicks, Augusta County Will book 1751 James Skaggs listed on Montgomery County Va. tithables 1751 May 28, James Skaggs received 100 acres on Little River of Woods River from Francis Riley Deed Book 3, page 226 1753 Feb. 17, James Skaggs is on the list of bills in the Estate of Col James Pattons Bokk 3, page 226 1754 Jan. 11, James Skaggs received 104 acres patented to Samuel Ratliff from Daniel Ratliff, Deed Book 6, page 100 1769 Apr 26, Deed Book 16, page 49, James Skaggs Sr .and wife Rachel sold land to James Skaggs Jr. land patented to James Skaggs Sr. on Medow Creek a branch of New River Patented Aug. 22, 1753 Deed Book 16, page 51 1770 James Skaggs on jury Botetourt County Virginia 1773 James Skaggs and Skaggs settled in Baptist Valley, Tazwell County 1773 Mar. 2, James Skaggs and wife Rachael sold to John Plickinstarver 78 acres for 40 lbs. land on the Medow Creek of New River, Fincastle Co. 1773 Oct. 26, James Skaggs and wife Rachael sold to Thomas Maston 78 acres on Medow Creek, New River, Fincastle Co. 1773 Dec. 16, A survey by order of council for James Skaggs being agreeable and being part of the Loyal Company Grant of 145 acres of land lying in a valley on the north waters of Clinch River and Bounded as follows: It goes on to list the boundaries 1775/1776 James Skaggs was listed in Fincastle County Committee for safety 1777 James Skaggs listed on Montgomery County Va. tithables 1778 Apr. 6, James Skaggs got 68 acres on Medow Creek a Branch of the New River in Montgomery County from the executor of John Buchannans estate 1778 Aug 18, James Skaggs appraises estate of James Fowler, Mary Skaggs is also listed 1778 Sept. 13, James Skaggs 100 acres to Albertus Bright on South Side Woods River below mouth of Little River 1779 James Skaggs Sr. is court for a suit against Peter Raffle 1779 Jan. 5, James Skaggs petitions for a new road to the Skaggs place, Old Ferry Place 1779 Jan.6, James Skaggs buys 100 acres for 650 pounds from William Buchannan on South side of woods on New River below the mouth of Little River 1779 May Deed Book A, page 193, Grantor James Skaggs to Richard Whitt Montgomery County Virginia 1779 June 1, James Skaggs sold to Richard Whitt 68 acres for 280 lbs. on Meadow Creek branch of New River 1781 June 1 - 16th James Skaggs listed as a guard detail commanded by Sargent Richard Lee, on a pay consisted of one Sargent and 8 men of Col Coxs regiment of Militia of Jefferson County stationed at Squire Boones station on Bashers Creek, in Commonwealth of Virginia in Virginia State Lib. 1782 Aug. 10, James Skaggs received from Albert Bright and wife Susannah 995 acres on Holston River and 100 acres south side Woods or New River below mouth of Little River 1782 Aug. 21, James Skaggs 100 acres to on South Side Woods River below mouth of Little River 1782 Nov. 5, James Skaggs witness will of William Ingles, Montgomery Co. 1783 Dec. 3, Jefferson County Virginia court, Minute book A, page 180, At a court held for the county of Jefferson. It appeared to the court the following persons are entitled by virtue of an act of assembly passed May last, to 400 acres of land each, each ordered that the county survey land to them accordingly James Skaggs on Brush Creek Land Grant and Henry Skaggs Pitman Creek land Grant 1785 Feb. 22, James Skaggs and Isaac Skaggs were in court, Fincastle Co. 1785 May 3, James Skaggs and wife Susannah to James McCorkel 120 acres both sides of New River 1786 Aug. 22, James Skaggs to Richard Whitt 100 acres Old Ferry Place- West side bank of New River 1787 Apr. 3, James Skaggs to Andrew Cassiday 30 acres 1787 Apr. 3, James Skaggs and wife Susannah to Hezekiah Whitt 50 acres a branch of New River 1787 Apr. 3, James Skaggs and wife Susannah to John Ingels 175 acres on west side of New River 1787 Apr. 3, James Skaggs and wife Susannah to Conrad Wall 271 acres on North side of New River 1787 May Deed Book A, page 193, Grantor James Skaggs to Richard Whitt 100 acres Montgomery County Virginia 1787 Apr. Deed Book A, page 426, Grantor James Skaggs to Hezekiah Whitt Montgomery County Virginia 1789 James Skaggs and Richard Whitt 68 acres on Meadow Creek 1792 May 8, James Skaggs gets 72 acres in Spotsylvania County from Alexander and Elizebeth Spotswood 1794 Apr. 14 James Skaggs and his wife Catherine (??? Johns wife) to William Drummond 72 acres in Spotsyvania County James C. Skaggs Rev. War Pen. # R.9628 D.A.R. List a James Skaggs as being born abt. 1760 and died Apr. 28, 1822 in Virginia. Married a Mary Brinker James Skaggs born Va. moved to Kentucky with 7 children, 6 sons 1 dau. William, Jeremiah, Henry, James, Frederick, Stephen_ dau. ????? married a Moses Atherton_ James and Ester Skaggs had land in the Loyal Land Company maybe around 1780 Monroe County Virginia History: Page 23, James Skaggs and his wife Susannah list children Joseph Davis Skaggs, Daniel Skaggs, Gidion Skaggs, Susannah Skaggs. (This is supposed to be the James and Susannah that go into Tenn. and up into Warren County, Kentucky) Nicholas County Virginia: James Skaggs Sr. and Jr., Margaret Skaggs, Joseph Skaggs, Elizebeth Skaggs and Richard Skaggs are listed in land dealing JEREMIAH SKAGGS More About James Sr. Skaggs and Rachel Susannah Moredock: Marriage: 1720, Maryland. Children of James Sr. Skaggs and Rachel Susannah Moredock are: i. Stephen Skaggs, d. date unknown. ii. Susannah Skaggs, d. October 04, 1797. iii. +Henry Skaggs, b. January 08, 1724, Maryland, d. date unknown, Green Co., Kentucky. iv. +Richard Skaggs, b. 1727, Virginia, d. 1821. v. +John Skaggs, b. 1728, Virginia, d. date unknown. vi. James Jr. Skaggs, b. Aft. 1728, d. date unknown. vii. +Elizabeth Skaggs, b. 1729, d. date unknown. viii. +Charles Skaggs, b. Abt. 1730, d. Bet. 1815 - 1816, Green Co., Kentucky. ix. Nancy Skaggs, b. 1732, d. date unknown. x. Moses Skaggs, b. 1733, Virginia, d. July 22, 1811, Green Co., Kentucky. xi. Lydia Skaggs, b. 1736, Strasburg, Virginia, d. October 02, 1814, Dry Fork, Tazewell County, Virginia. m. Mathias Harman xii. Aaron Skaggs, b. 1739, d. date unknown. xiii. +Jacob Skaggs, b. 1741, Virginia374, 375, d. October 1830, Weakley County, Tennessee375 (1) Statement of Matthias Harman in 1809, Maxwell vs Pickens, Augusta Court Causes Ended, O. S. 129; N. S. 45. Bill 1807. (2) Kegley, Virginia Frontier, pages 194-195. (3) Matthew was a seaman and died unmarried at sea. Statement of Samuel Wilson (born 23 February 1733) Augusta Court Causes Ended, Thompson vs. Ingles, O. S. 46; N. S. 16. Wilson married Rebecca, daughter of James Burke. (4) Statement William Wynn, Augusta Court Causes Ended, Wynn vs Inglishs heirs, O. S. 48; N. S. 16. (5) Perhaps the same John English who settled in 1772 on Sugar Hill in Wise Co., near St. Paul, VA, and whose family was murdered there in 1787 by Indians. The name is variantly spelled, Ingles, Inglis, Inglish and English. See story of John Englishs family in this volume. (6) Pendleton, History of Tazewell Co., VA, page 443. (7) David E. Johnson, History of Middle New River Settlements, page 146, says that Henry Harman was of this party also. (8) Joseph Hix was still in Tazewell Co., in 1809, when he made a deposition in the case, Maxwell vs Pickens, Augusta Court Causes Ended, O. S. 129; N. S. 45. Bill Filed 1807. (9) Killed on Tug River at a place still called Maxwells Gap. (10) Calendar Virginia State Papers, Vol. III, page 139. 1776 the Committee of Safety for Fincastle County recorded that Captain James SKAGGS was unable to serve any longer because of his infirm state of health, and Thomas INGLES was appointed to succeed him. Presumably this is James SKAGGS, Sr. (Harwell, Committee of Safety . . . p.76 From The Book Pioneer Families Of Eastern And Southeastern Kentucky by William C Kozee pub 1957 page 14 Prestons Station (Prestonsburg Kentucky) In 1787 a boundary of 100,000 acres of land on the head waters of the Big Sandy River was entered for Colonel John Preston of Montgomery County,Virginia, as is evidenced by contract between John Preston and John Smith, Mathias “Tice” Harmon and Henry Skaggs of record in the Floyd Co Kentucky Circuit Court. John Graham of Augusta County,Va a young surveyor,was employed to do the surveying of this vast tract of land: and in 1797 he made his first survey covering the present Prestonsburg, Floyd County. Shortly thereafter he surveyed for his own homestead a 2,000 acre tract embracing all the bottom land on both sides of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River from present Cliff to the mouth of Beaver Creek. In 1791 John Spurlock erected the first permanent house where Prestonsburg now stands and, although the temporary camps of John Graham and other Virginia surveyors had been built and occupied previously, to Spurlock belongs the credit of being the first to build his home in the vicinity. Spurlocks settlement being the first with respect to time, gives to Prestonsburg the distinction of being the oldest town on the Big Sandy River. The orginial cabin stood for many years as a land mark in the back-from-the-river part of Prestonsburg,near the residence of the late J.M. Davidson and around his cabin grew the settlement. Closely following Spurlock came a number of families and within a year of so the place became known as Prestons Station. It was so called in honor of Colonel John Preston for whom the large tract of land had been entered as heretofore mentioned. Colonel Preston was descended from a long line of notable Scotch-Irish ancestors,his father being Colonel William Preston of Virginia,of border-warfare fame, and his grandfather, Colonel John Preston,the Scotch -Irish immigrant who settled in Augusta County, Virginia, about 1740, and who was the ancestor of many distinguished families in Virginia,Kentucky and the South. Colonel Preston was born in Virginia about 1760:married,first, Mary Radford of Richmond,and second,Mrs. Mayo, formerly Miss Carrington. He had been a member of the Virginia Legisleture,general of the Virginia militia, surveyor of Montgomery County Virginia,and for many years treasurer of that State. Neither he nor any member of his immediate family to Floyd County or to Eastern Kentucky. Obviously he cared very little for his wilderness domain. He made Harry Stratton his agent in the Big Sandy Valley and subsequently transfered his principal surveys to John Graham, the surveyor. In 1799, when Floyd County was formed, Prestons Station became known as Prestonsburg which was made and has ever remained Prestonsburg which was made and the county seat of the County. In 1810 the town consisted of six families- those of James Cummings,Thomas Evans,Christian Jost,Benjamin Morris,Martin Simms and John Turman. It was incorporated as a town January 2,1818.
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