Person:Mary Draper (12)

Mary Draper
b.1730 England
d.1815
  1. John Draper, of Peck Creek, Botetourt County, VAEst 1725 - Aft 1806
  2. Mary Draper1730 - 1815
m. 1750
  1. George EnglishAbt 1751 - 1756
  2. Thomas English, Sr1754 - 1829
  3. Susannah EnglishAbt 1759 -
  4. Mary 'Polly' EnglishAbt 1761 -
  5. Rhoda EnglishAbt 1763 -
  6. Col. John English1766 - 1836
Facts and Events
Name Mary Draper
Gender Female
Birth? 1730 England
Alt Birth[1] Bef 1732
Marriage 1750 to Col. William English
Other[3] Jul 1755 Blacksburg, Virginia, USAkidnapped by Shawnee Indians near modern day Blacksburg, Virginia
Other? Aug 1755 Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, USA she was separated from her sons and taken to Big Bone Lick
Other? Oct 1755 Blacksburg, Virginia, USAshe escaped from her kidnappers and returned home near present day Blacksburg, Virginia
Residence? Abt 1762 Radford, Montgomery, Virginia, United Statesshe and her husband, William, establish Igles Ferry[1] across the New River
Death? 1815
Burial[4] West View Cemetery, Radford City, Radford County, Virginia, USA
__________________________

Contents


Welcome to Old Augusta County!

Old Augusta

Early Settlers
Beverley Manor
Borden's Grant
Register
Data
Maps
Places
Library
History
Index

The Tapestry
Families Old Chester OldAugusta Germanna
New River SWVP Cumberland Carolina Cradle
The Smokies Old Kentucky

__________________________

Related

Indian Massacre at Draper's Meadow, Augusta County, VA (area is now in Montgomery County)
person:John Draper (8)

Overview

From: Wikipedia:Mary Draper Ingles

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 Draper's 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, a band of Shawnee warriors raided Draper's Meadow, (see Draper's Meadow massacre) 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). The couple abandoned their home at Draper's Meadow, settling instead a few miles to the south on the New River, where they operated Ingles Ferry. Their captive son George died while in Indian captivity, but Thomas was eventually ransomed and returned to Virginia in 1768; he underwent several years of rehabilitation and education under Dr. Thomas Walker at Castle Hill, Virginia.

From Peyton, 1882

The kidnapping of Mary (Draper) English by Indians in early Augusta County, Virginia is included in the following account:S2

MRS. INGLIS’ CAPTIVITY AND ESCAPE
One of the most remarkable incidents in the early wars was the capture of the Draper family. Geo. Draper, with his son, John, and wife, and his daughter, Mary, and her husband, Mr. Inglis, removed about 1750 from Pennsylvania to Southwestern Virginia, and settled where Smithfield, long the seat of the Prestons, now stands, in the present county of Montgomery. Here they resided in peace and quietness for six years, during which time many families were drawn to the settlement, and George Draper died. The Shawanese frequently passed the settlement on their expeditions against the Catawbas, but without molesting the inhabitants, till the year 1756. In the summer of this year, they made a descent upon the inhabitants while the men were all in the harvest-field. The savages surrounded the dwellings in which were the women and children and arms of the families, murdered the widow of George draper, and also Col. James Patton, of Augusta, who was on an exploring expedition, and sojourning a few days in the settlement. They took captive Mrs. John Draper, Mrs. Inglis, and her two sons, Thomas and George. The men, believing resistance ineffectual, concealed themselves until the departure of the Indians, who moved off towards New River. Reaching the river, they proceeded down the stream, on their way to their towns in Ohio. They were partial to Mrs. Inglis, whom they allowed to ride on horseback, carrying her two children. Mrs. Draper, who was wounded, and had her arm broken in the attack on the settlement, was less kindly cared for. Mrs. Inglis was permitted to search in the woods for herbs and roots to poultice the wounds of Mrs. Draper, the Indians trusting to her love for her children for her speedy return. She thus had opportunities of escaping, but would never avail herself of them, and leave her children behind.
On reaching the Kanawha salines, the Indians halted several days to make salt. About thirty days after leaving Montgomery, the party reached the Shawanese town at the mouth of the Big Scioto. Here the kindness of the Indians for Mrs. Inglis continued. She was not required to run the gauntlet, as was Mrs. Draper, though her wound was unhealed. When the captives were divided, Mrs. Inglis was separated from her sons. About this time, some French traders from Detroit came to the village, and Mrs. Inglis exercised her skill in making shirts of gaudy-colored calico for the savages, which greatly delighted them, and increased their admiration for her. After some time, probably six weeks, Mrs. Inglis was separated from Mrs. Draper, and taken, with an elderly Dutch woman, one hundred miles south of the Ohio to Big Bone Lick, to make salt. The cruelty of the savages, in thus separating her from her children, determined her to escape. She prevailed upon the Dutch woman to accompany her. Obtaining permission from the Indians to go into the woods to gather grapes, they left the camp in the afternoon, provided with a blanket each, a tomahawk and knife. They hastened to the Ohio, and proceeded up the left bank of the stream for five days to the mouth of the Scioto, opposite the site of an Indian village. Here they captured a horse, and both mounting, continued up the river unperceived. Being on the south side of the river, they were less exposed to observation by the Indians. The barbarians, missing them, made diligent search, but finding no trail, and never dreaming of such a thing as an attempt of the women to return to Virginia, gave up the pursuit, under an impression that they had become lost and been devoured by wild beasts. The fugitives continued up the river, subsisting on maize and wild fruit, and reached the Big Sandy river. In crossing the stream, they lost their horse. Their sufferings were so great before reaching the Kanawha, that the Dutch woman, frantic with hunger and pain, threatened to take Mrs. Inglis’ life for persuading her to the journey. On reaching the Kanawha, their spirits revived, and they continued up the river until within fifty miles of Mrs. I.’s home. Here the Dutch woman attempted to kill Mrs. I.

Mrs. Inglis escaped from her grasp, and outran her, and hid under the river bank. After a while, she left her concealment, and finding a canoe, crossed the stream. The following morning the old woman saw her, and begged her to recross and join company, promising future good behavior. Mrs. I. declined the invitation, and proceeded on her journey. Her clothes were worn and torn into fragments and her limbs swollen from the increasing cold (a slight fall of snow having taken place) and her exposure in wading streams, &c. After traveling forty-and-a-half days, she reached the cabin of Adam Harmon, on New River, and was treated in the kindest manner. After a few days rest, Mr. H. took her on horseback to the fort in Dunkard’s bottom, where, the next day, her husband and her brother, John Draper, came unexpectedly. The surprise of the meeting was mutual and happy. Thus ended the captivity and escape, embracing five months. While at Harmon’s, Mrs. Inglis entreated him to go or send for the old Dutch woman. He positively refused, on account of her bad conduct, but in a short time the wanderer found her way into the settlement.
In the Spring, Mr. Inglis, his wife being unwilling to live longer on the frontier, removed to Vause’s fort, on the Roanoke, and thence to Botetourt county. This was providential, for in the following Autumn a French and Indian force took the fort and murdered or made prisoners of all the inmates. Among the killed and captured were John and Mathew Inglis and their families. John Inglis was killed, and Mathew taken prisoner.
Mary and William Inglis had six children,—Thomas and George, born before the captivity, Susan, Rhoda, Polly and John afterwards. George died in captivity. The other five married and left large families. Thomas escaped from the Indians after thirteen years’ residence among them. He was, in 1774, at the battle of Point Pleasant, and after the victory and Lewis’ advance into Ohio, met many of his old savage comrades. On his return he married Miss Ellen Grills, and settled on Wolf creek, a water of New river. Here he lived a short time, and then removed to Burke’s Garden, where he was unmolested till 1782. In this year, the Indians attacked his house and burnt it, and took his family prisoners. They were soon pursued by the whites, who on the seventh day overtook the savages. As soon as the Indians saw Mr. Inglis and the whites they commenced, as was their custom, tomahawking their prisoners. Mr. Inglis rushed forward to rescue his wife and children, but was too late. All were tomahawked and all died but his wife. In the affair, Capt. Maxwell was killed. William Inglis removed to Tennessee, and thence to Mississippi. Susan, the elders daughter of William and Mary Inglis, married General Trigg; another daughter, Mr. Charles Taylor; and a third, Judge Allan Taylor, whose daughter, Sallie A. E. Taylor, married, in 1826, the late Col. William Madison Peyton, of Roanoke. Polly Inglis married a brother of John’s wife. The youngest son left eight children. Mrs. Inglis died in 1813, aged eighty-four. Her descendants are numerous, highly respectable, and contemplate with wonder and admiration her energy, boldness and endurance.

Historical Markers

  • KB56 Giles County, Virginia "Eggleston's Springs KB-56 Near here Adam Harmon, probably in 1750, established what is believed to be the first settlement in Giles County. Here, in 1755, he found Mary Ingles as she was making her way back to Draper's Meadows after her escape from the Indians. [3]
References
  1. Clark, Pat B. The History of Clarksville and Old Red River County. (Dallas: Mathis, Van Nort & Co., 1937)
    pp. 171-97.
  2.   Peyton, John Lewis. History of Augusta County, Virginia. (Staunton, Virginia: Samuel M. Yost and Son, 1882)
    p. 211.
  3. Drapers Meadow Few traces remain of the site of a bloody 1755 Indian attack, in The Roanoke Times. (Roanoke, Virginia, USA)
    [2], Sunday, May 01, 2005.
  4. # 7317240 , in Find A Grave.
  5.   Ingles Family Collection, Ms2002-021 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

    Ferry Hill Ledger (1797-1804) and 3 of 6 volumes of Ingles Family Bible (1823); first available documentation of Mary Draper Ingles (kidnapped at infamous Draper Meadows Massacre and later escaped from Shawnee Indian captivity) and William Ingles, operator of Ingles Ferry, Ingles Ferry Hill Tavern, and blacksmith shop. Documentation of the family's extraordinary history, its ferry, and related enterprises provides scholars with unparalleled material for the study of Southwest Virginia.