Family:Unknown Crouch and Unknown (1)

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The CROUCH brothers - John, Andrew and James had moved to America from Wales in the late 1740's. They are first found in Virginia in 1750 and settled on the North Branch of the Potomac River in far North Western Augusta County. The French and Indian War forced them to retire westward to the Pastures, where James and Elizabeth met and married. After the Treaty of 1764 the CROUCH's again headed west. settling this time in Tygart's Valley. The settlement had been founded in 1754 by David TYGART and Robert FOYLE on a branch of the Monongalia River that now bears the former's name - Tygart Valley River.

The war with France had temporarily destroyed the settlement, but as soon as the hostilities ceased the settlers returned. By 1772 nearly all of the land in the Valley was settled, but none of the occupants had clear title or official patents to their claims.

When Andrew CROUCH and his brothers moved to the area in the late 1760's his daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law James WARWICK came with them. Near the Old Brick Church in the Huttonsville District, present day Randolph County, West Virginia, James WARWICK cleared the land, built a cabin and planted his crops - by virtue of this he claimed the surrounding creek bottom. It seems that one John S. William WHITE also claimed the land.

The White brother's proposed to settle the matter by a "resort to a fight, fist and skull". James WARWICK, fearing the result, traded lands with his father-in-law, Andrew CROUCH, who was to clear his new title by attempting the challenge of the other claimants. Mr. CROUCH met and vanquished William WHITE who accepted the result with satisfaction. WHITE and CROUCH became close friends. John WHITE was killed in the battle of Point Pleasant. William WHITE fell a victim to Indians in what is now Upshur County, West Virginia.

In 1857, historian William T. Price interviewed one Major Andrew CROUCH, nephew of his above namesake. This aged man related: "When he was six years old (circa 1773) his father (John CROUCH) took him to the cornfield and while he worked the little boy sat on the fence. One of his uncles came up in great haste, bringing the news that Lewis KINNAN and three of his children had just been killed by Indians. The CROUCHs hurried their families to the home of James WARWICK, not far from where the old Brick Church stood. In their hurry the CROUCH brothers and WARWICK seized their guns to go help the families exposed to the Indians farther up the river, (but) they neglected to barricade the fort, and so the little boy and the two little girls went out to the branch. While the little boy was washing the blood from his face, caused by his nose bleeding, the little girls became frightened and without saying anything, ran back into the fort and left him alone. When his bleeding stopped he went back and found the fort barricaded. The CROUCH brothers had been met by some persons from the lower fort, took them along and so their wives their wives and children were left to themselves at WARWICK's to make out the best they could. When the boy came to the fort he heard his aunt in a loud voice giving orders as if there was quite a number of men in the fort. When in fact the force consisted of three white women, one black man & his wife and some children.

An Indian climbed to the roof of the fort building after night and set it on fire.

The black man put it out, then the stable was fired. The black man said they should not burn the horse, he went out and carefully approached the place, seeing an Indian by the light, shot at him and let the horse out and safely returned to the fort. He dared the Indians to come on and as there seemed to be but two or three that showed themselves it seems they were not disposed to storm the loud but little garrison. When the barn burned down and it became dark the black woman insisted on leaving the fort and giving the alarm farther down. She was allowed to do so and the next day the men came up and moved all farther down. Then the little boy and eight others went to bury the dead - Lewis KINNAN and his three children. After the burial, the men seeing no signs of Indians, believed they had withdrawn and so they disbanded. But late in the evening an Indian killed Frank RIFFLE near where the Brick Church stood and burned two houses not far away belonging to James LACKEY...".

The black man in WARWICK's fortified cabin that night of the siege was a slave of James WARWICK and according to the elderly Major CROUCH, James, "rewarded his faithful negro with his freedom for saving the fort".

The old Major CROUCH also related that his uncle James WARWICK was a small man and this was the reason he felt he could not take on the WHITE brothers in a fight. Others relate that James WARWICK was a school teacher and a very pious man. His early education was under the tutorage of the Rev. John CRAIG, the compassionate Presbyterian minister of the Western Virginia frontier. It is also said that the WARWICK brothers (sons of William) were converted to that faith by him.