Talk:Edmondson Family of Rockbridge County Virginia

Watchers

Needful Things [21 March 2009]

a) This article seems a bit short on documentation. Its more of a summarization than anything. Pointers to other articles providing the documentaiton might be the way to handle this.

b) While Person:Robert Edmiston (2) and Person:John Edmiston (1) have been detailed to some extent, their brother William has not. I'm wondering if this William is the one who shows up in Washington County Person:William Edmiston (3) dying there in 1788.

c) James of Red Banks also needs an article.


Note from Waddell, 1902

Here's an interesting item from Source:Waddell, 1902. I'm not sure who this refers to but deep into the piece there's a reference to a Mrs. Edmondson who was captured by Indians in 1764, about the time of second Kerr Creek massacre. From clues in the discussion she was apparently the sister of William Kincaid. The setting for this is near Buffalo Gap and the North Mountain, west of Staunton. This suggests that her husband was a son of David Edmiston, the immigrant, who settled on Elk Creek. Which son? Was he killed in this attack? Note the mention of the McPheeters; this family married into the Moore's and Walkers who were principles in the better known captivity story "Captives of Abb's Valley".

At the moment I don't know quite where to put this. This is getting too far out on the ham-hock for my purposes, but it should be of interest for those more intimately interested in the family of David Edmiston. Q 19:28, 28 February 2009 (EST)

___________________________________________________________

Alexander Crawford and his wife were murdered by Indians, in October, 1764, it is believed. All we know certainly in regard to Crawford's latter days is, that he was alive February 18, 1762, when he became one of the securities of Thomas Gardiner, Jr., in a guardian's bond; and that he was dead by November court, 1764, when his administrator qualified.

His wife's maiden name was Mary McPheeters. He acquired an extensive tract of land in Augusta, covering a part of the Little North mountain, and extending far out into the plain. It embraced sixteen hundred and forty acres. His dwelling stood on a knoll, at the eastern base of the mountain, and looked out towards the rising sun on a wide tract of level land. It was "beautiful for situation." The spot is about two miles northeast of Buffalo Gap, and a hundred yards south of the present residence of Baxter Crawford, a great-grand-son of Alexander and Mary. The site of the house is now marked by a thicket, surrounding a pile of unhewn stones which composed the chimney.

Here Alexander and Mary Crawford had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. They had an abundance of all the good things the times and country afforded, and until the Indian wars arose, lived in peace and plenty. They belonged to a God-fearing race, and doubtless walked in the old ways of their pious ancestors. The father and mother, were, however, both slaughtered by savages, on their premises, with no human eye near enough to witness the tragedy.

Much uncertainty has existed as to the date of the occurrence. But at November County Court, 1764, William McPheeters qualified as administrator of Alexander Crawford, and, although some of the latter's descendants insist upon an earlier date, it seems highly probable, if not absolutely certain, that the slaughter was perpetrated in October of the year mentioned.

The rumor had gone abroad that an invasion by Indians was threatened, and all the Crawford family had taken refuge in a house at the Big Spring. This house was called a fort, being better able to resist an attack than most dwellings of the period, and was often resorted to by the people around in time of danger. It is probably the ancient stone house, still standing and used as a dwelling, on the south side of Middle river, two miles south of the present village of Churchville, and about three miles from Alexander Crawford's. It has long been known as the "old Keller house." The windows are few in number and very narrow, hardly more than a foot wide.

On the day of the slaughter, early in the morning, it is said, Alexander Crawford and his wife returned home to procure a supply of vegetables, while two of their sons, William and John, went upon the mountain to salt the horses which had been turned out to graze. From their elevation on the side of the mountain, the two youths saw the smoke and flames of the burning homestead.

We may imagine that the men of the neighborhood were somewhat slow to assemble. No one knew but his house would be attacked next, and every man felt it necessary to protect his own family if possible. When the people rallied and repaired to the Crawford place, the dwelling had been consumed by fire. The charred remains of Alexander Crawford were found in the ashes, showing that he had been killed in the house. His wife's body was found outside, and it was inferred that she had attempted to escape, but was overtaken and tomahawked. The remains of both were gathered up and buried in the Glebe graveyard.

The sale bill of Alexander Crawford's personal estate amounted to j£333, 17s, 9^, about $1,114, a larger sum than was common at that day. We mention as some indication of the state of the times. that among the articles sold by the administrator were a still and a wolf trap. All the family records and other household effects perished with the dwelling. In 1764, John Trimble lived on Middle river, two miles from Churchville, five from Buffalo Gap, and seven from Staunton, or thereabout. His white family consisted of himself and wife and his son James, a boy. His step-daughter, Mrs. Kitty Moffett Estill, was also with the family at the time of the occurrence to be related.

One writer puts the date as 1752; another 1758; a third 1770; and fourth, 1778.—The incident occurred, however, in 1764, during the last Indian raid into the county. All accounts agree in the statement that John Trimble was killed at the time of Mrs. Estill's capture, and the records of the county show that his death occurred in the fall of 1764.—The probability is that the Indians who murdered Alexander Crawford and his wife, proceeded down to Middle river a few miles and fell upon the Trimble family.

Besides the date of this occurrence, there is much diversity of statement in regard to many of the circumstances. The memoir of Mrs. Jane Trimble, wife of Captain James Trimble, written by her grandson, the Rev. Joseph M. Trimble, D. D., gives the most detailed account of the affair which we have seen. The author states that a white man named Dickinson, who had fled from Virginia to escape punishment for crime, entered the Valley at the head of thirty Indians, and encouraged them in their cruel work. They raided the dwelling of John Trimble, and killed him as he was going out in the morning to plow. James, then about eight years old, his half-sister, Mrs. Estill, and a negro boy were taken prisoners. Mr. Estill, according to this account, was wounded, but escaped. Where Mrs. Trimble and other members of the family were at the time, or how they escaped, is not stated. The Indians must have passed the old Keller house in coming from Alexander Crawford's to John Trimble's. The Trimble dwelling was stripped by the Indians of its most valuable contents, and then burned. Four horses were taken and loaded with the plunder. The Indians, with their prisoners and horses, retreated to a cave in the North Mountain, where they had arranged to meet two other divisions of their party. They traveled all night and met their comrades in the morning, who had secured prisoners and plunder in other settlements. The united bands prosecuted their retreat with great rapidity for five days and nights.

The statement that Trimble was going out to plow when the Indians assailed him is a local tradition.

The morning after the murder of John Trimble, Captain George Moffett, his step-son, and the brother of Mrs. Estill, was in pursuit of the enemy, with twenty-five men collected during the previous night. The Indians had fifteen hours' start, but Moffett and his party rapidly gained on them. The fact that the pursuers moved more rapidly than the pursued was a well known one in Indian warfare, the latter being generally encumbered and losing time in the effort to conceal their trail. In the morning of the fifth day, the whites in front of their party discovered the Indians on a spur of the Alleghany Mountain, and upon a consultation it was concluded to pause in the pursuit and make an attack after dark.

The Indians had stopped at a spring near the foot of the mountain. Their food was exhausted, and Dickinson had gone in search of game. Moffett's party were within a mile of the savages, and stealthily drawing nearer, when they were startled by the report of a gun. Supposing they had been discovered, the whites dropped their knapsacks and started in a run towards the Indians. They had gone only a few hundred yards when a wounded deer bounded across their path. One of the men struck the animal in its face with his hat, which caused it to turn and run back. Another report of a gun and a whoop, satisfied the whites that one of the Indian party had killed the deer, and that the whoop was a call for help to carry it into camp. An Indian on horseback was immediately seen approaching at a rapid pace. The whites, concealed in tall grass, were not discovered by him till he was in the midst of them ; and they dispatched him in an instant, before his companions in camp were aware of their approach.

Some of the prisoners were tied with tugs, while the women and boys were unconfined. Mrs. Estill was sitting on a log sewing ruffles on a shirt of her husband, at the bidding of the Indian who claimed her as his prize. James Trimble was at the spring getting water. The Indians had barely time to get their guns before the whites were upon them. At first, most of the startled prisoners ran some distance, and, becoming mingled with the Indians, it was impossible for the rescuers to fire ; but discovering their mistake, they turned and ran to their friends. Then the firing began on both sides. The negro boy was shot, and from the blood discovered on the trail of the flying Indians, it was evident that several of them were wounded.

Moffett and his party desisted from the pursuit, and collecting the stolen property and removing to a distance, spent the night. Early the next morning they began their homeward journey. The Indians, however, rallied, and getting ahead of the whites sought to ambush them in a narrow pass. In this they failed, as also in another attempt of the same kind, in a laurel thicket. They then fell to the rear and followed the whites for several days ; but being foiled in all their schemes, they turned off to an unprotected settlement, which was assailed in their usual manner. The Augusta men reached home unhurt, except one, who was wounded in the mountain pass, and was carried on a litter. The loss of the Indians was six killed and several badly wounded.

Such is the account given in the memoir of Mrs. Trimble.

In Collins' History of Kentucky (volume II, page 767), we find a sketch of Captain James Trimble, which gives a different version of the affair. The writer of this account states that the prisoners were captured by a party of nine Indians, led by a half-breed named Dick- son ; that immediately after the capture, James Trimble was adopted as a son by Dickson ; that Captain Moffett raised a party of eighteen men, and overtook the Indians near the present White Sulphur Springs; and that at the first fire all the Indians were killed, except Dickson, who escaped. The late John A. Trimble, of Ohi0, a son of Captain James Trimble, in one of his numerous and interesting communications to the Hilhboro Gazette, gave a third account of the affair. Describing a trip he made on horseback from Mossy Creek, in Augusta county, to his home in Ohi0, probably in 1827, Mr. Trimble said:

I was soon in the wild pass of the North Mountain, and approaching Buffalo Gap, in the vicinity of the early home of my father, when I overtook a venerable old gentleman on horseback, who gave me his name, William Kincaid.* and inquired my name and residence. He said the name was familiar; he had known a Captain James Trimble who was a native of Augusta. When informed that he was my father, the old gentlemen was startled; he stopped his horse and shook hands most cordially. ' Is it possible !' he exclaimed. ' Why, I was a young man of eighteen when your father was a prisoner, with his sister, young Mrs. Edmondson, afterwards Estill, and I was one of the twelve men who went with Colonel George Moffett in pursuit, and rescued the prisoners away across the Alleghanies. Why, it seems as fresh to my memory as of yesterday, and we are now within a few miles of where your grandfather was killed and his house pillaged by Dickson and his ferocious band of Shawnees. But we had our revenge, and Dickson, their leader, with a boy, were the only ones who escaped from our rifles, for we took them completely by surprise, feasting and sleeping around their campfire.'

  • This was a different person from the William Kincaid mentioned

elsewhere. The person encountered by Mr. Trimble, continued to live in Augusta and died here in 1827. The other removed to Kentucky, and died there in 1820.

" Mr. Kincaid said that " at one time Colonel Moffett seemed discouraged, having lost the trail, when, fortunately, one of the men found the blue-worsted garter of Mrs. Edmondson hanging on a bush, where she had placed it while traveling at night."

Kincaid and James Trimble were both members of Captain George Mathews' company at Point Pleasant, in 1774.

We may add that a family of " Edmistons" lived in the county as early as 1746, but we have no information other than the above that Kitty Moffett was the widow of one of them when she married Benjamin Estill. We have still another account of the killing of John Trimble and capture of his son and step-daughter, embraced in a letter written by Mr. John A. Trimble, March 28, 1843.

In this letter Mr. Trimble gives the date as 1770, an error of six years, his grandfather having been killed in 1764.* He says his father, James Trimble, and a negro boy named Adam, while plowing corn, were surprised by a party of Indians and made prisoners. [It is probable that the negro was plowing for wheat, as James Trimble was too young at the time to hold the plow, being only eight years old, and the season (October) was too late for corn.] The alarm was given at the house by the horses running off, and, suspecting the cause, the father, John Trimble, proceeded with his gun to reconnoitre. The Indians, having secured the prisoners and left them in charge of several lads, started to the house. On the way they encountered John Trimble in a strip of woods, and shot and scalped him. His wife escaped from the dwelling and concealed herself near enough to witness the plundering and burning of the premises. Mrs. Estill (so called here by Mr. Trimble) was enceinte, and being unable to fly was made prisoner. Nothing is said in reference to Mr. Estill.

While this was going on, the young Indians were amusing themselves by throwing their tomahawks at the tree to which James Trimble was tied, often just missing his head.

  • Statements on preceding pages show that the author was sorely

perplexed in regard to dates. From as full investigation as he can make, he thinks it probable that the second Kerr's Creek massacre occurred in October, 1764. He is satisfied that Alexander Crawford and John Trimble were killed in that month. Crawford owned a large amount of personal property, and his representative would naturally qualify as soon as possible to take care of the estate.—His administrator qualified at November court, 1764, as did Trimble's administrator. At first view it seems unaccountable that war parties of Indians should invade the settlements at the very time that Bouquet was on the march to assail their towns ; but probably small parties of raiders came with the hope of inducing Bouquet to turn back for the defence of the frontiers.

The account given by Mr. Trimble in this letter, of the retreat of the Indians, the pursuit by Captain Moffett, and the rescue of the prisoners, is substantially the same as that given by the Rev. Dr. Trimble. He, however, says nothing about "a cave in the North Mountain," or any other parties of Indians, and says the number of men with Moffett was fifteen or twenty. The number of Indians he puts at eight or nine.

Dickson is said to have been a renegade half-blood Indian, who was well-known to the white settlers, among whom he had lived for several years. When hostilities broke out he joined a band of Shaw- nees, and became a formidable leader. He had often been at John Trimble's house, and after scalping Trimble, exhibited the trophy to the boy James, saying: "Jim, here's the old man's scalp. Do you know it ? If you stay with me, I will make a good Indian of you; but if you try to run off, I will have your scalp." He treated Mrs. Estill with respect, walking constantly by her side as she rode on a horse through the passes of the mountains. Mrs. Estill's first child was born a few weeks after her return.

The negro boy Adam was a native African of recent importation, and spoke but little English. Mr. Trimble often heard him, in his old age, relate the incidents of his captivity. During the retreat of the Indians, Adam one day stirred up a " yellow jacket's nest," just as the sparsely-clad savages were filing along, and some of them were assailed and stung by the insects. This so pleased the simple-minded negro that he was about to repeat the act, when the Indian boys administered to him a sound beating.

Just before the arrival of the whites at the Indian camp, Dick- son sent James Trimble to the spring for water, which, being some- wliat muddy when presented, was thrown in the face of the boy, who wns threatened with the tomahawk, and ordered to bring another supply. He returned to the spring, and while waiting for the water to clear was startled by the report of rifles. Surmising that rescuers were at hand, he ran in the direction of the sound and placed himself among his friends.

At the moment of the firing, Dickson was standing by Mrs. Estill, leaning on his gun, and giving directions about ruffling a shirt she was making for him. She sprang to her feet and ran towards the whites, taking the precaution to snatch up a tin vessel and cover her head with it. Dickson pursued her, and hurling his tomahawk, knocked the vessel off without injury to her person. He almost immediately confronted Captain Moffett, at whom he fired, but missed, and then turned and fled, making good his escape. Moffett's gun was empty.

Adam had concealed himself during the firing behind a tree, and being mistaken for an Indian was shot at by one of the white men and wounded slightly in the arm.

Mr. Trimble states that, except Dickson, all the Indians fell at the first fire, either killed or mortally wounded. Dicksou followed the whites on their return, and fired upon and wounded one of them, named Russell, who was carried home on a litter. Russell encountered Dickson at the battle of Point Pleasant, and killed him in a hand-to-hand conflict.

It is said that the whole number of prisoners carried off by the Indians and rescued as described was six or eight; but who they were, besides those mentioned, is not stated.

In the meanwhile a general war between the whites and Indians was raging. Colonel Bouquet defeated the latter, August 6, 1763, at Bushy Run, in western Pennsylvania. This battle was the most protracted and decisive conflict of that era between Indians and white men. It lasted two days. Bouquet displayed great military skill, and, unlike Braddock, adapted his tactics to the mode of Indian warfare. Afterwards, while commanding at Fort Pitt, he issued a proclamation forbidding any British subject from settling or hunting west of the Alleghany mountains without written permission. But the war continued, and in the summer of 1764, Bouquet organized, in Pennsylvania, an expedition against the Indian settlements west of the Ohio river.