Person:Henry Skaggs (7)

Information from “Virginia/West Virginia Genealogical Data from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Records”, Vol. 5, compiled by Patrick G. Wardell, Lt. Col. U.S. Army Ret. :

Skaggs, Henry, born Spring 1759 in South Carolina; entered service 1779 in Botetourt County (area later Montgomery County), Virginia, in Virginia regiment; moved after revolutionary War to Kentucky for several months, then back to Montgomery County, Virginia, then in 1790 to Green County, Kentucky, thence in 1809 to Grayson County, Kentucky where received Pension in 1832; Archibald Skaggs (no kinship given) made affidavit then in Adair County, Kentucky, that he served 3 tours in Revolutionary War with soldier. F-S30701, R2193. (Note: Henry identified himself as the cousin of Archibald Skaggs in an affidavit in Archibald's Revolutionary War Pension file).

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Records in Virginia

177_ - Sept. 13. - A list of persons sworn to the States in Capt. McCORKLE's Company of Montgomery Co., VA, includes HENRY SCAGGS, son of AARON; James (longman); John (Gourd Head); John, Jr.; John Zachariah; and Moses SCAGGS. (Note: this record has been cited by many Skaggs researchers as the key record to prove that Aaron Skaggs was the father of Henry Skaggs and his brother Aaron Skaggs).

At a court held for Washington County November 21st, 1781. Present Arthur Campbell, John Kinkead, Robert Campbell, Gentlemen. The Grand Jury Present Alexander Smith for Adultry with Jane Gibson, Jacob Young for horse Raceing, James Douglas for same, Evan Evans for same, Thomas Gross for misprison, Daniel Young for Breach of the Peace, Col. John Smith for Breach of the Sabbath, Andrew Colvill for Horse Raceing, Henry Graham for same, John Young for same, Archibald Brumley for same, James Dysart for same, Joseph Snodgrass for same, Major David Campbell for same, Henry Skaggs for Audultery with Nancy Davis, Aaron Skagge for same with Sarah Lyon, Sarah Kennedy for Fornication, Mary Pierce for same, William Robinson for Neglect of the Road, Daniel Young for same, John Funchouser for same, James Piper for same, William Batie for same, Widow James for fornication, and they having nothing further to present are Discharged. Ordered that process issue against the Several persons this day presented. [Source: Annals of SouthWest Virginia 1769-1800, pg. 1091].

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Notes

1781 November 21, The Grand Jury of Washington Co., VA, charged "HENRY SKAGGS with adultery with NANCY DAVIS" and "AARON SKAGGS for same with SARAH LYON." Henry and Aaron are believed to have been brothers, and the women named with them are believed to have been their wives. Aaron's widow, Sarah, lived in Adair Co. and Edmonson Co., KY, ca. 1800-1820. Their dau., Mary "Polly," md. Henry's son, Martin, in 1809. This court record, our only clue to the identity of Henry's first wife, may not be what it appears on the surface, but may, instead, be an example of one of the principles for which we fought the Revolutionary War -- separation from England and its Church, and the eventual separation of church and state. I have heard it said that the courts did not recognize marriages that occurred outside the officially recognized church, i.e., the Church of England, and I'm searching for documentation for this. However, I'm puzzled by the choice of the word "adultery" because that word has always implied that one of the parties was married to a third person.

Regardless of the meaning of this court record in its time and place, note that Henry's son, James, named his first son, Abraham Davis, and that Henry's dau., Rebecca, named her first dau., Nancy, presumably for the mother she never knew. Nancy DAVIS SKAGGS may have been a dau. of Abraham DAVIS.

Note: The adultry charges in this record most likely meant that these couples, in 1781, had not been married by the Church of England and were therefore illegally married. It was not until a new law passed in May of 1783 that other clergy and laymen were allowed to perform legal marriages. (The Revolutionary War "officially" ended in 1783.) --Roseann Reinemouth Hogan, Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research, page 81

[1].

The identity of Henry's parents has not been discovered, at least not definitively. Evidence suggests that Henry's father could either be Aaron SKAGGS or Henry SKAGGS the Long Hunter, and there are logical arguments supporting both suppositions. It appears certain, however, that Henry was a grandson of James SKAGGS and wife Rachel (maiden name unknown) of the New River country in southwest VA.

The primary evidence is based on the 1832 depositions of Henry and his cousin, Archibald SKAGGS (son of Charles SKAGGS, one of the Long Hunters, and Lucy THOMPSON), in their respective pension applications for their service during the Revolutionary War. Additional evidence is based on the 1777 militia list of Capt. McCorkle's Company in Montgomery Co., VA, that identifies a Henry Skaggs as a son of Aaron. (The date of this 1777 militia list is crucial because our Henry, born in 1759, turned 18 in 1777.) Perhaps this Aaron d. leaving a young family, and perhaps Henry the Long Hunter raised Henry "son of Aaron." For whatever reason, it appears that our Henry (b. 1759) followed in his namesake's footsteps and settled on Russell's Creek in the Green River country of KY suspiciously near Henry the Long Hunter on Pitman's Creek. Or, perhaps the younger Henry was the first-born son of the elder Henry who gave his son his due inheritance in life, and therefore did not include him in his will (it is said that the elder Henry md. Mary THOMPSON ca. 1755, yet their eldest known child was b. Dec. 1762, seven years later; Lucy was a sister of Mary THOMPSON who md. Charles SKAGGS, Henry's brother). Henry the Long Hunter d. in 1809 or 1810, and it was in 1809 that the younger Henry moved from Green Co. to Grayson Co. However, other records (the THOMPSON diary and 1836-37 court documents) do not include a son named Henry which discounts Henry the Longhunter as the father of the Grayson Co. Henry.

[Source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thomaswilene&id=I0025].

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