Person:Joshua Renick (1)

Historical Marker

Moluntha Logan County, On Top of Ohio Inscription: Chief Moluntha, Grand Sachem of the Shawnees, lived near this place. His wife, the Grenadier Squaw, was a sister of Chief Cornstalk. In 1786 Col. Logan destroyed the town, and Moluntha was murdered by one of the soldiers.

Notes

Note: I am beginning to enter numerous sources that have "Grenadier Squaw" married to Joshua Renick AKA Chief Maluntha. It doesn't quite add up yet because I think we have the correct birthdate - 1718 - and that would make her marriage with two children born when she was in her 50s unlikely. Perhaps her birthdate is wrong? I will continue to find sources to see if this works out. user:cthrnvl

After his father's murder, he was adopted by the Shawnee family Pucksinwah Shawnee and Marguerite Ice, the parents of Tecumseh. ^S1

1. ↑ Harrison, J. Houston (John Houston). Settlers by the Long Grey Trail: Some Pioneers to Old Augusta County, Virginia, and Their Descendants of the Family of Harrison and Allied Lines. (Dayton, Virginia : J.K. Ruebush Co., 1935).

   "According to the Preston Register, July 25, 1757, Robert Renick and Thomas Moon at "Fork of James River" were killed, and Mrs. Renick and seven children, and a Mrs. Denis were taken prisoner."

2. ↑ Harlow, Benjamin Franklin. The Renicks of Greenbrier. (Lexington, Virginia: B.F. Harlow, 1951).

   Excerpt:"Joshua Renick . . . did not come back from captivity except for a short visit to relatives in Greenbrier. Waddell, quoting Dr. Draper in some unpublished notes, states on p. 165 that on arriving at the Indian towns on the Sciota the prisoners were divied among their captives and scattered. Joshua was taken to Piqua, reared in the family of Tecumseh's parents, and after the birth of Tecumseh he was the companion of that celebrated Indian and his brother the Prophet. Draper states that the family traditions were related to him by William Renick of Greenbrier, son of Robert Renick who was born in captivity. Joshua Renick took an Indian wife and became a chieftain among the Miamis. E. I. Renick says he died in 1783, but Draper says he died in Detroit in 1784, after amassing a fortune there. Two sons:
   
   III.1B. John Renick, of whom we have no record--age 12 at the death of his father.
   III.2B. James (Logan) Renick, who changed his name to Logan for his benefactor, Gen. Benjamin Logan, who took him to Kentucky and taught him to read and write. He carved his initials, J.L., on many trees in Ohio after his return there. He lost his life in a fight with a party of British Indians on the banks of the Maumee in November 1812. Claude Feamster tells me (B.F.H.) that a relative of his met Logan Renick in Canada in Nov. 1812, and that Logan sent messages to his relatives in Greenbrier. Dr. Draper says that before his death he had maintained familiar relations with the Renick of the Sciota Valley, who were relatives of his, tho not descended from any ot the captives. Excerpt of a letter dated at Camp Delaware, O. Nov. 9, 1812, from Maj. Jas. William Mathews to Dr. John Mathews, Atty-at-law, Greenbrier County, Va. (now W. Va.): 'I this morning got acquainted with Capt. Logan Renick. He is a very genteel man and speaks the English very well. I am told he is very rich. He lives in the Shawnee Nation, and is very much respected by the white people of this State. It is said he is a man of honor and may be depended upon. He asked very friendly for his relations in Greenbrier. He is very polite. He is very fond of horses and cattle. It is said he carries on a large farm. He desires to be remembered to his uncles in the county.' " Excerpt compiled by Ralph Jenkins at Genforum

3.   Roosevelt, Theodore. The winning of the West. (G.P. Putnam's sons).
4.   Peyton, John Lewis. History of Augusta County, Virginia. (Staunton, Virginia: Samuel M. Yost and Son, 1882).

   HANNAH DENNIS, THE QUEEN WITCH OR INVISIBLE PRINCESS.
   
   In 1 76 1, sixty Shawanese warriors penetrated east of the AUeghanies to
   the James river settlements, committing murders and carrying off prison-
   ers — among them Mrs. Renix and her four children. Mrs. Renix was,
   under Bouquet's treaty, brought to Staunton, in 1767, and redeemed, as also
   her son, afterwards Maj. Renix, of Greenbrier, and her other children,
   except her son Joshua, who became so enamored of savage life that he
   took an Indian wife, became a chief among the Miamis, amassed a con-
   siderable fortune, and died, at Detroit, in 18 10.
   
   Among the captives was Hannah Dennis, a clever and spiritual woman,
   who was sent to reside at an Indian town, near Chillicothe. Instead of
   giving way to grief at her bondage, she applied herself to learn the Indian
   language, performed such labor as they required of her with alacrity, pro-
   
   
   
   HISTOKY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 113
   
   fessed warm attachment to their ways of Hfe, painted her body Hke the
   squaws, and conformed to their manners and customs. She became very
   popular with the tribe, and in order to enhance her influence, professed
   a knowledge of medicine, of the properties of plants and herbs, and com-
   menced practice as a doctor among them. She soon discovered the super-
   stitious character of the Indians, and determined to take advantage of it
   to increase her power and position. Accordingly, she professed witchcraft,
   and affected to be a prophetess. Unlike most witches, Hannah was ex-
   ceedingly beautiful, and employed her charms of person and the seducing
   grace of her manners to enhance her influence. By cunning and craft, by
   pretending to tame horses and wild beasts by whispering in their ears ; to
   divine future events from the various indications that manifest themselves
   in fire, smoke, and in other ways ; by spells and incantations to communi-
   cate with the dead ; to foretell earthquakes, allay storms, drive away pes-
   tilence, cure disease by virtue of a few words pronounced over the sick
   person, — a quicker way than with snake-root or ginseng, — this marvelous
   woman acquired such a reputation among the savages that they not only
   gave her perfect liberty but looked upon her as a female deity, and hon-
   ored her as a Queen. Placing little value upon their homage, she deter-
   mined to escape, and in June, 1763, left Chillicothe, in search, as the Indians
   supposed, of herbs for medicinal purposes, as was her custom, and did not
   return, but, crossing the Scioto, set out for Virginia. Alarm spread
   among the tribe when her disappearance was known ; they ran to all parts
   on foot and on horseback, but she could not be found. The chiefs met ;
   the utmost consternation prevailed ; scouts were dispatched to scour the
   country. Finally the pursuing savages caught sight of her beyond the
   Scioto, forty miles below Chillicothe. They fired upon her but without ef-
   fect, and probably they did not expect to kill her, as their rifles were loaded
   with leaden instead of silver bullets. They forded the river and still pur-
   sued, but Hannah had disappeared as if the clouds had received her up,
   or she had been swallowed by the earth. Awed by the mysterious disap-
   pearance, they gave up the chase, lit their camp-fires, and passed the night
   on the spot. Next morning they set out on their return. When they had
   been gone some time, the invisible princess crept from a hollow log, in
   which she had concealed herself, and dressed a wound in her foot which
   had been received during her flight. Knowing enough of the Indian
   character to feel satisfied they would not return to look after one who had
   gone, in their opinion, to the spirit land, Hannah spent three days at this
   point, nursing her wound and recovering her strength, and then resumed
   her journey for the mouth of the Kanawha. She crossed the Ohio on a
   log of drift-wood, and after travelling for twenty nights, resting during the
   day in a cave or under the branches of trees, subsisting on fruits gathered
   in the forest with difficulty, she finally set down on the banks of a stream
   
   
   
   114 HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
   
   which supplied her drink, to die. In this condition, ahnost expiring from
   hunger and fatigue, she was discovered by a backwoodsman, relieved by
   the pioneers, and ministered to until restored, then supplied with a horse,
   and conducted to Jackson's river, and thence to her home and friends.

5. ↑ Renick Pioneers.

   Renick Pioneers
   by Tom and Betty Renick
   Publication date 1980
   available on internet archive archive.org