Transcript talk:Forks of the James Indian Raid, 1761

Forks of the James Indian Raid, 1761...or 1757? [9 July 2012]

It's not clear if this raid occurred in 1757 or 1761. There is confusion between sources. From my notes, which I date -- I am MBR:

1. Diehl, Dr. George West, Rockbridge County, Virginia, Notebook, Page 54, Capt. Audley Paul, Chapter VI

"In July, 1757, Captain Paul was absent from home. George Mathews, now almost 18 years old, Mrs. Paul's brother, was visiting at the Paul home. It was a sultry day and there was the promise of rain in the air However, young Mathews and two brothers, William and Audley Maxwell, who had come to the Rocky Spring home from their home in the nearby Maxwell settlement, decided to ride over to Thomas Smith's place, or it could have been the home of Robert Renick, who was Mathews' uncle. If it was the latter, they would pass by the Smith home.

Before they came in sight of the Smith house, they heard gunfire and supposed that Smith was having some target practice, maybe a shooting match. But riding up to the house, they saw two dead men lying in the yard whom they recognized as Smith and Renick. They halted their horses, paused for a moment uncertain as to what they must do, and then wheeled their horses to flee.

At that moment, Shawnee raiders, who had been concealed in the back of the house, rushed out and began firing at the fleeing horsemen. Audley Maxwell was slightly wounded in the arm and Mathews' club-shaped knot of hair behind his neck was shot away.

The young men made good their escape and gave the alarm as they passed other cabins. Before long the settlers gathered at Paul's Fort. Here the men formed plans for the defense of the post and the marching out to challenge the red invaders. Audley Maxwell's wound made it necessary for him to remain in the fort; he took charge of the five men who would garrison the fort. Young Mathews, acting as captain, led the 21 others back over the train to the Smith house.

Meanwhile, the Shawnee, led presumably by the famous Cornstalk, held a brief conference. So, they divided their party by sending 20 of the number back on the trail to the Ohio country with their loot and 11 captives -- Mrs. Robert Renick (husband killed) and her seven children, William, Robert, Thomas, Joshua, Betsy, Nancy and Peggy; Mrs. Hannah Dennis (husband killed), Mrs. Thomas Smith husband killed) and Sallie Jew, an indentured white girl. The remaining 40 Indians, bent on further depredations in the Fork of James area, would join the 20 later on the trail after bringing the red fury to more settlers on the Cedar Creek.

The advancing pioneers soon made contact with the Shawnee and a spirited skirmish took place, a little frontier battle. In spite of a summer rain the fight continued until the Indians felt the deadliness of the rifle fire of Mathews' men and, as a result, they took to flight back up the Renick's Run valley with the white men in close pursuit. The closing in of a rain-sodden night brought the engagement to a close and the pursuit closed on the dividing ridge near the present Mt. Joy Church of the Brethren, overlooking Purgatory Creek.

The last words on this page are "(To be continued)," but I haven't found the continuation. Judging by the way the articles are compiled, it should be on the next page, but it's not. MBR 7/9/2003

Would it have been the rest of the story that Withers documented in Chronicles of Border Warfare? See 1b.1. below. MBR 7/8/2012

1a. A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren Frederic Morton: http://books.google.com/books?id=NBE1AAAAIAAJ

"...George Mathews, Audley Maxwell, and William Maxwell,* who then were young men, were on their way to Smith's...

• This name should probably be Paul instead of Maxwell."

MBR 11/27/2007

1b. Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 [online]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Waddell, Joseph Addison,. Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871. Staunton, Va.: C.R. Caldwell, 1902, c1901, Chapter VI, p. 164: http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/BookView.aspx?dbid=10550&iid=dvm_LocHist000202-00089-0&sid=&gskw=audley+maxwell

"Withers states that in the summer of 1761...." This dates the incident 4 years later than Diehl's account.

"George Mathews, of Staunton, and William and Audley Maxwell were on their way to Smith's house at the time of the assault." No mention of William and Audley's relationship. Cousins seems more likely than brothers.

"The 'Preston Register' gives the date of the killing of Robert Renick and capture of his wife and children, as July 25, 1757. It mentions the capture of Mrs. Dennis at the same time, but says nothing about the killing of Joseph Dennis and child and of Thomas Smith [which Withers said occurred during the Renick incident]. The probability is that Withers confused a raid which occurred in 1757, with the one in 1761, in which George Mathews appeared as an actor. Mathews was only 18 years old in 1757."

MBR 5/28/2012

1b.1. Withers, Alexander Scott. Chronicles of Border Warfare or, a History of the Settlement by the Whites, of North-Western Virginia, and of the Indian Wars and Massacres in that section of the Indian Wars and Massacres in that section of the State. Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Co., 1895: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29244/29244-h/29244-h.htm

"This is a 1971 reprint edition of the 1895 edition of “Chronicles of Border Warfare.” The modern title page and verso have been relocated to the end of the text.

    The 1895 edition includes and expands on the original 1831 edition. Throughout this text, the pagination of the original edition is indicated by brackets, such as [54].
    Capitalization standards for the time (i.e. “fort Morgan,” “mrs. Pindall,” “Ohio river”) have been preserved.
    Variable hyphenation has been preserved.
    Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.
    Author’s punctuation style has been preserved.
    Typographical problems have been corrected as listed in the Transcriber’s Note at the end of the text.

... In the summer of 1761, about sixty Shawanee warriors penetrated the settlements on James river. To avoid the fort at the mouth of Looney’s creek, on this river, they passed through Bowen’s gap in Purgatory mountain, in the night; and ascending Purgatory creek, killed Thomas Perry, Joseph Dennis and his child and made prisoner his wife, Hannah Dennis. They then proceeded to the house of Robert Renix, where they captured Mrs. Renix, (a daughter of Sampson Archer) and her five children, William, Robert, Thomas, Joshua and Betsy––Mr. Renix not being at home. They then went to the house of Thomas Smith, where Renix was; and shot and scalped him and Smith; and took with them, Mrs. Smith and Sally Jew, a white servant girl.[12]

William and Audley Maxwell, and George Matthews, (afterwards governor of Georgia,) were then going to Smith’s house; and hearing the report of the guns, supposed that there was a shooting match. But when they rode to the front of the house and saw the dead bodies of Smith and Renix lying in the yard, they discovered their mistake; and contemplating for a moment the awful spectacle, wheeled to ride back. At this instant several guns were fired at them; fortunately without doing any execution, except the cutting off the club of Mr. Matthews’ cue. The door of the house was then suddenly opened; the Indians rushed out and raising the war cry, several of them fired––Audley Maxwell was slightly wounded in the arm.

It appeared afterwards, that the Indians had seen Matthews and the Maxwells coming; and that some of them had crowded into the house, while the others with the prisoners went to the north side of it, and concealed themselves behind some fallen timber. Mrs. Renix, after she was restored to her friends in 1766, stated that she was sitting tied, in the midst of four Indians, who laying their guns on a log, took deliberate aim at Matthews; the others firing at the Maxwells––The sudden wheeling of their horses no doubt saved the lives of all three.

The Indians then divided, and twenty of them taking the prisoners, the plunder and some horses which they had stolen, set off by the way of Jackson’s river, for the Ohio; the remainder started towards Cedar creek, with the ostensible view of committing farther depredations. But Matthews and the Maxwells had sounded the alarm, and the whole settlement were soon collected at Paul’s stockade fort, at the Big spring near to Springfield. Here the women and children were left to be defended by Audley Maxwell and five other men; while the others, forming a party of twenty-two, with George Matthews at their head, set out in quest of the enemy.

The Indians were soon overtaken, and after a severe engagement, were forced to give ground. Matthews and his party followed in pursuit, as far as Purgatory creek; but the night being very dark in consequence of a continued rain, the fugitives effected an escape; and overtaking their comrades with the prisoners and plunder, on the next evening, at the forks of the James and Cowpasture rivers, proceeded to Ohio without further molestation.

When Matthews and his men, on the morning succeeding the engagement, returned to the field of battle, they found nine Indians dead; whom they buried on the spot. Benjamin Smith, Thomas Maury and the father of Sally Jew, were the only persons of Matthews’ party, who were killed––these, together with those who had been murdered on the preceding day, were buried near the fork of a branch, in (what is now) the meadow of Thomas Cross sr.

In Boquet’s treaty with the Ohio Indians, it was stipulated that the whites detained by them in captivity were to be brought in and redeemed. In compliance with this stipulation, Mrs. Renix was brought to Staunton in 1767 and ransomed, together with two of her sons, William, the late Col. Renix of Greenbrier, and Robert, also of Greenbrier––Betsy, her daughter, had died on the Miami. Thomas returned in 1783, but soon after removed and settled, on the Scioto, near Chilicothe. Joshua never came back; he took an Indian wife and became a Chief among the Miamies––he amassed a considerable fortune and died near Detroit in 1810.

Hannah Dennis was separated from the other captives, and allotted to live at the Chilicothe towns. She learned their language; painted herself as they do; and in many respects conformed to their manners and customs. She was attentive to sick persons and was highly esteemed by the Indians, as one well skilled in the art of curing diseases. Finding them very superstitious and believers in necromancy; she professed witchcraft, and affected to be a prophetess. In this manner she conducted herself, ’till she became so great a favorite with them, that they gave her full liberty and honored her as a queen. Notwithstanding this, Mrs. Dennis was always determined to effect her escape, when a favorable opportunity should occur; and having remained so long with them, apparently well satisfied, they ceased to entertain any suspicions of such a design.

In June 1763, she left the Chilicothe towns, ostensibly to procure herbs for medicinal purposes, (as she had before frequently done,) but really to attempt an escape. As she did not return that night, her intention became suspected; and in the morning, some warriors were sent in pursuit of her. In order to leave as little trail as possible, she had crossed the Scioto river three times, and was just getting over the fourth time 40 miles below the towns, when she was discovered by her pursuers. They fired at her across the river without effect; but in endeavoring to make a rapid flight, she had one of her feet severely cut by a sharp stone.

The Indians then rushed across the river to overtake and catch her, but she eluded them by crawling into the hollow limb, of a large fallen sycamore. They searched around for her some time, frequently stepping on the log which concealed her; and encamped near it that night. On the next day they went on to the Ohio river, but finding no trace of her, they returned home.

Mrs. Dennis remained at that place three days, doctoring her wound, and then set off for home. She crossed the Ohio river, at the mouth of Great Kenhawa, on a log of driftwood, travelling only during the night, for fear of discovery––She subsisted on roots, herbs, green grapes, wild cherries and river muscles––and entirely exhausted by fatigue and hunger, sat down by the side of Greenbrier river, with no expectation of ever proceeding farther. In this situation she was found by Thomas Athol and three others from Clendennin’s settlement, which she had passed without knowing it. She had been then upwards of twenty days on her disconsolate journey, alone, on foot––but ’till then, cheered with the hope of again being with her friends.

She was taken back to Clendennin’s, where they kindly ministered to her, ’till she became so far invigorated, as to travel on horseback with an escort, to Fort Young on Jackson’s river; from whence she was carried home to her relations.

In the course of a few days after Hannah Dennis had gone from Clendennins, a party of about sixty warriors came to the settlement on Muddy creek, in the county of Greenbrier. That region of country then contained no inhabitants, but those on Muddy creek, and in the Levels; and these are believed to have consisted of at least one hundred souls. The Indians came apparently as friends, and the French war having been terminated by the treaty of the preceding spring, the whites did not for an instant doubt their sincerity. They were entertained in small parties at different houses, and every civility and act of kindness, which the new settlers could proffer, were extended to them. In a moment of the most perfect confidence in the innocense of their intentions, the Indians rose on them and tomahawked and scalped all, save a few women and children of whom they made prisoners.

After the perpetration of this most barbarous and bloody outrage, the Indians (excepting some few who took charge of the prisoners) proceeded to the settlement in the Levels. Here, as at Muddy creek, they disguised their horrid purpose, and wearing the mask of friendship, were kindly received at the house of Mr. Clendennin. This gentleman had just returned from a successful hunt, and brought home three fine elks––these and the novelty of being with friendly Indians, soon drew the whole settlement to his house. Here too the Indians were well entertained and feasted on the fruit of Clendennin’s hunt, and every other article of provision which was there, and could minister to their gratification. An old woman, who was of the party, having a very sore leg and having understood that Indians could perform a cure of any ulcer, shewed it to one near her; and asked if he could heal it––The inhuman monster raised his tomahawk and buried it in her head. This seemed to be the signal of a general massacre and promptly was it obeyed––nearly every man of the settlement was killed and the women and children taken captive.

While this tragedy was acting, a negro woman, who was [71] endeavoring to escape, was followed by her crying child.––To save it from savage butchery, she turned round and murdered it herself.

Mrs. Clendennin, driven to despair by the cruel and unprovoked murder of her husband and friends, and the spoliation and destruction of all their property, boldly charged the Indians with perfidy and treachery; and alleged that cowards only could act with such duplicity. The bloody scalp of her husband was thrown in her face––the tomahawk was raised over her head; but she did not cease to revile them. In going over Keeny’s knot on the next day, the prisoners being in the centre, and the Indians in the front and rear, she gave her infant child to one of the women to hold for a while.––She then stepped into the thicket unperceived, and made her escape. The crying of the infant soon lead to a discovery of her flight––one of the Indians observed that he could “bring the cow to her calf,” and taking the child by the heels, beat out its brains against a tree.

Mrs. Clendennin returned that night to her home, a distance of ten miles; and covering the body of her 95 husband with rails and trash, retired into an adjoining corn field, lest she might be pursued and again taken prisoner. While in the corn field, her mind was much agitated by contending emotions; and the prospect of effecting an escape to the settlements, seemed to her dreary and hopeless. In a moment of despondency, she thought she beheld a man, with the aspect of a murderer, standing near her; and she became overwhelmed with fear. It was but the creature of a sickly and terrified imagination; and when her mind regained its proper tone, she resumed her flight and reached the settlement in safety.[15]

These melancholy events occurring so immediately after the escape of Hannah Dennis; and the unwillingness of the Indians that she should be separated from them, has induced the supposition that the party committing those dreadful outrages were in pursuit of her. If such were the fact, dearly were others made to pay the penalty of her deliverance."

MBR 7/8/2012

1b.2 Bio of Alexander Scott Withers: http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1323.

      Synopsis of Chronicles of Border Warfare:  http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1176

MBR 7/8/2012--Mrichson 20:41, 8 July 2012 (EDT)