Windows Into Our Past: The Long Hunters
Mar.16,2018My Long Hunters
Roberts, Wallens, Bakers & Burkes in East TN & Southwest VA
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Category : Local History
Mar.16,2018
State Route 604 begins at State Route 421 in Duffield, Virginia, and runs through Pattonsville, Blackwater and Jonesville on its way to the Tennessee state line. On the Virginia side, it is named “Doctor Andrew Jackson Osborne Highway”. Those familiar with the area will know that there are many Osbornes from there. So why was this particular Osborne’s name given to the highway?
Dr. Andrew Jackson Osborne was born in Blackwater, Virginia, on February 14, 1869. He was the son of James Knox Polk Osborne and Elizabeth Robinette (another famous local name) Osborne. He had one sibling, Enoch Osborne born in 1877. He had two spouses, Polly Fisher Osborne, born in 1870, and Ollie J. Stacy Osborne, born in 1879. Through his two wives, he had 15 children. You can find their names here: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=82058132
Although his families were impressive, that isn’t what brought this man his fame. My father told me that he was one of the earliest DO’s, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. This form of medical care was founded in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, MD, who decided while serving as a physician during the Civil War that the “orthodox” approaches to medical care weren’t sufficient and were sometimes harmful. Osteopathy takes a “whole body” or “holistic” approach and focused on prevention more than treatment. The first school of osteopathic medicine was opened in Kirksville, MO, in 1892. This would have made AJ Osborne a pioneer in the new field. For a history of osteopathic medicine, go here: http://www.aacom.org/become-a-doctor/about-om/history
The following information is from the Moore Family of Virginia and Kentucky Genealogy site at http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/o/w/Peggy-C-Howell/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0554.html
Andrew Jackson (Doc) Osborne (son of James Knox Polk Osborne and Elizabeth Robinette)451 was born February 14, 1869 in Blackwater, Lee County, Virginia, U.S.A.451, and died April 08, 1937 in Blackwater, Lee County, Virginia, U.S.A.451.He married Polly Fisher.
Notes for Andrew Jackson (Doc) Osborne:
[osborne2[2].FTW]
He was a Blackwater, VA physician for more than 40 years. He trained under Dr. William ROBINETTE and made house calls on his horse ‘Old Joe’. He had a good treatment record for the flu epidemic of 1917-18. He was a Mason, Odd Fellow, and member of the Blackwater Lick (Big Door) Church. He served three months in the Atlanta penitentiary for prescribing morphine to a Mr. HOBBS; he was turned in by Mr. ELY.
He was born on the Caleb Hurd Farm.
Dr. William Robinette (on the left) and Dr. AJ Osborne (on the right)
Here is some more information from Janet Gover’s Blog-Stories within stories… within stories at http://janetgover.com/?p=4021
People would walk for miles to visit his (Dr. AJ Osborne’s) medicine house and he would also travel on horseback to see patients long distances away. It was said he often slept on that horse’s back. When he reached the medicine house, the horse would nudge the door to make enough noise to wake the doc.
He never charged his patients – but those who could pay something, did.
He was particularly distressed by the infant mortality rates in the mountains – and tragically ten of his own children died at birth or in early infancy.
Doc Osborne ministered to the people all his life and was poor all his life. When he died in April 1937 the Rev Frank Phipps had to find a suit for him to be buried in.
Janet found the information on Dr. AJ Osborne at the Museum of Appalachia in Clinton, Tennessee, where Dr. Andy’s entire office is on display. Here is their website: http://museumofappalachia.org
But the best website containing Dr. AJ Osborne’s story can be found at The Country Doctor and Natural Medicine Newsletter at http://www.jmcnaturalmedicine.com/dr-amjad-library-book-1.html. There’s simply too much information to put on my page. But I highly recommend reading it. He was quite a man.
Blackwater German Baptist Church of the Brethren
May.12,2013I remember Dad telling me that my great-grandpa, Elbert Roberts, attended a German Baptist Church in Blackwater. The German Baptist were also known as “Dunkers” since they believed in completely immersing a person three times during baptism. They are commonly known as the Church of the Brethren today.
I have tried to find a location for this church in Blackwater, Virginia without success. However, I did find the following reference to it at a very information Church of the Brethren website, http://www.cob-net.org/antietam/dunkers.htm :
“Slavery
What did the Dunkers believe concerning slavery, at the official denominational level? Since the Dunkers or Brethren had migrated from Pennsylvania into a few southern States (Maryland, Virginia) with significant slave populations, the issue of slavery would inevitably confront them denominationally at their Annual Conference. The earliest record of an official mention was in their Annual Conference minutes for 1797, held at Blackwater, Virginia: “It was considered good, and also concluded unanimously, that no brother or sister should have negroes as slaves; and in case a brother or sister had such he or she was to set them free.” [1] This had the effect of barring members from Communion and even disfellowshipping those who persisted in retaining slaves. Again the issue was similarly reflected in the minutes of the 1713 Conference held at Coventry, Pennsylvania.”
This is interesting since my direct ancestors fought for the Union although they were Southerners.
Here is another information web site: http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/who-were-the-dunkers.htm. Apparently, German Baptists played a big part in the battle of Sharpsburg.
German Baptists or Dunkers typically dressed similarly to the Amish and Mennonites. They could be easily identified by their beards with no mustaches. This reminds me of a story that Dad and Grandpa Baker told me when I was a kid. I’m not sure if it was based on a real story or just a joke, but here is how it goes:
A German Baptist was riding a train and noticed that the man sitting across from him kept staring at him. Finally, the man asked him, “Why do you wear your beard that way?”. The German Baptist replied that he was a Dunker. The man responded, “Well, I like to have a drink or two myself. But I still don’t understand why you wear your beard that way.”
I hope that I didn’t offend you. My Dad and Grandpa got tickled when they told that story.
If you have any more information on the German Baptist Church in Blackwater, I would love to hear it. I have found a possible former location on the Blackwater Creek. But I only have GPS coordinates for it.
1782 Land Taxes Pittsylvania County, Virginia
Sep.17,2010http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vapittsy/1782LandTaxes.htm
Name Acres
Joseph Bayes 350
William Beel 100
William Griggory 60
Clement McDaniel 300
James Caldwell 300
John Watkins 100
Samuel Brooks 125
Henry Blanks 175
Abednigo Tunner 50 Thomas James 100
John Onern 100
John Bayes Senior 96
John Bayes Junior 50
Stephen Coleman 800
Richard Brown 1166
Martha Stewart 400
Isham Farmer 445
John Terrill 400
William Hughes 200
Charles Irby 350
William Claibrook 400
Mary Dudgean 400
Richard Bayne 1000
Thomas Shields 80
Joseph Leak 100
Benjamin Brawner 160
John Wimbish 2556
Beverley Barksdale 324
Robert Mann 300
William Walron 670
Rawley White 460
Ambrose Hailey 225
David Terry 516
James Gray 880
Catherine Walker 800
Martha Lacy 400
Elijah King 434
Benjamin Terry 1000
Amos Thompson 900
Floyd Tanner 372
Reubin White 538
John Shackleford 112
Ambrose Corbin 100
Rubin Payne 1173
William Wright 255
Mark Hardin 200
John Martin 320
Thomas Corbin 130
Joseph Mottley 1512
Joseph Mottley 1512
William Willis 400
Braxton Mabrie 306
Daniel White 259
Joseph Mooreland 250
Webb Kidd 200
Tucker Woodson 400
David Mottley 500
James Tanner 300
Jeremiah Ellington 830
John Yates 100
Joseph Terry 550
Joab Meadows 100
William Terry 200
Enoch Ward Ellington 200
William Ragsdale 270
Lucy Williams 510
Henry McDaniel 200
Lewis Williams 95
Roger Atkinson 5254
Mattox Mayes 480
Joseph Mayes 320
Stephen Terry 202
Colo. Robert Williams 3866
Thomas Stratton 138
John Fox 1100
Abraham Murray 400
Francis Wisdom 485
Mark Shelton 200
William Handey 200
Benjamin Handey 400
James Conway’s Orphans 300
George Handy Senior 60
George Handy Junior 238
Charles Lewis 260
John Lewis 160
Henry Terry Jr 200
Thomas Shaw 200
James Haggard 200
Henry Terry Senior 356
Charles McLaughlin 200
John Fitzgerald 400
James Henry 5600
Gardner Mayes 400
William Hamblin 400
Thomas Hill 400
Samuel Slate 100
Jacob Chainey 720
Joseph Chainey 100
John Creel 260
John Atkinson 150
Nathanial Hughes 100
Hugh Kelly 200
Joseph Terry Senior 150
William Herring 870
John H Hendrick 400
Mathew Tanner 400
John Prestage 400
George Grubbs 200
Thomas Shelton 190
William Shelton 200
Thomas Dodson Senior 280
Nathaniel Gardner 50
Lazarous Dodson 450
Thomas Madding 100
John Farguson 400
Thomas Dodson Jr 150
William Ingrium 400
Mary Hodnett 200
Robert Martin 270
Allen Adams 100
Spencer Shelton 370
Daniel Shelton 400
Crispin Shelton 1070
Gabriel Shelton 415
Abraham Shelton 1352
Charles Lanier Jr 200
Vincent Shelton 356
David Irby 370
Thomas Jones 1266
William Warmock 270
Jeremiah White 908
Elijah Walters 188
William Bennett 200
Creed Tanner 200
John Wilson 192
John Spencer 188
Roberts Walters Senior 722
Robert Walters (son of Robert) 165
William Runnalds 204
Luke Miller 157
Robert Clopton 100
Gidion Shelton 500
Joshua Owen 100
James Diverson 100
Samuel Morris 100
Heath Garner 150
Matt Anderson 130
George Dodson 250
David Dodson 219
Joshua Dodson 150
Moses Hanks 220
Ezekiel Chaney 100
James Watson 100
John Hall 500
John Bennett 180
Thomas Bennett 100
Alexander Lee 100
Joseph Flipping 629
Capt John Walters 200
Jonathan Hill 303
John Walters 200
Robert Walters (Son of Thomas) 200
Chechester Matthews 200
Thomas Walters Senior 775
Joseph Slayton 400
Peter Martin 150
Nimrod Scott 163
William Richardson 76
Daniel Slayton 400
Robert Martin 130
James McMunday 300
Rhoderick McDaniel 100
William Madding 140
Faunious Dodson 100
James Madding 176
James Adams 374
Jonathan Weldons’s Orphans 250
Rubin Watkin’s Orphans 180
Pleasant Shields 230
John Hall Senior 175
Nathaniel Murry 230
William Murray 175
John Scott 175
Jeremiah Stimpson 192
Euramus Stimson 122
Robert Stimpson 123
Daniel Everett 275
George Cook Jr 100
John Waller 710
James Hollaway 97
Absalum Hindrick 295
Joseph Echolls Jr 440
Samuel Prunett 392
Abraham Murick 304
John Stamps 194
Edward Burgass 270
Thomas Wynne 915
William Harrison 249
William Durrott 300
Gabriel Richards 250
Moses Ayres 360
Joshua Handy 314
William Owen 200
Thomas Ayres 161
Colo. John Lanier (Bind) 1140
Cap William Thomas 2649
William Combs 320
John Woody 1000
Benjamin Stratton 375
Charles Payne 62
John Worsham 666
Samuel Jones 200
George Lumkin Jr 150
Nathan Jones 200
Jacob Stillwell 200
Jacob Stillwell Jr 200
George Allen Davis 300
Sythe Gowning 400
William Parr 400
Martain Beard 200
William Travis 109
Charles Wynne 600
Robert Wynne 150
John Wynne 208
Thomas Fearn 375
Robert Payne 200
William Dix 500
John Dix 903
James Dix 200
William Dennison 350
Daniel Worsham 63
Thomas Wilkinson 151
John Haskins 190
John Wier 300
Bezaliel Wier 286
Thomas Pistol 150
Gabriel May 400
James Nelson 100
William Tweddle 200
Robert Glascock 400
William Wilkinson 621
Joseph Jackson 335
Thomas Burgas Jr 400
Orlando Smith 739
John Kirby 350
William Price 600
William Stratton 213
Charles Cates 400
Jacob Farris 320
Charles Lewis Senior 240
Henry Snider 250
Simon Rowland 300
John Bird 200
Henry Mitchell 383
Benjamin Fambrough 70
Edm’d Taylor 195
Martha Clark 200
Peter Irby 800
John Thurston 300
John Shelton 225
Thomas Davis 257
John Cates 200
William Paine 500
Thomas Paine 240
Richard Keezee 300
John Waller 100
Beverley Shelton 396
Armistead Shelton 2457
Mary Wade 200
James Wade 391
Peter Legrand 800
Cain Adams 175
John Adams Senior 513
John Adams Jr 175
John Parks 255
Colo. Robert Wooding 800
John Davis Jr 100
Stephen Yates 50
Nathan Adams 266
George Rowland 100
Thomas Harkins 100
Allen Burton 100
Thomas Doss 370
William Tucker 810
William Pace 800
Newsam Pace 162
John Pace 280
Morrice Hamblett’s Orphans 130
James Parham 265
Mary Buford 235
Moses Childners 90
Thomas Burgass Senr 740
Theophelus Carter 1860
James Lawless Jr 200
John Wright 134
William Cotterall 396
Henry Hardin Senr 520
Henry Hardin Jr 188
Burwell Vadin 388
Thomas Chambers 182
William Summers 307
Peter J Bailey 150
David Tanner 150
Joseph Rogers 596
Ambrose Nelson 136
Ann Fallin 200
William Lynch 2396
Alexander Murray 1000
Samuel Bynum 200
Philip Adams 200
Ignatius N Tennerson 200
Samuel Harris 4890
William Duncan 138
Larkin Dix 165
Robert Lumkin 366
Henry Mickleberry 200
Moses Freeman 100
John Gee 100
James Burton 500
James Burks 318
David Lay Senior 150
Daniel Ragsdale 400
Jacob Whitworth 50
James McDaniel 100
Jasper Billings 100
William Runnalds 200
Thomas Clay 1000
Charles Clay 1000
Charles Smith 1700
Elizabeth McDaniel 400
John May 200
John Asher 120
John Harness’s Orphans 100
Joseph Hamblin 300
John Mullins 100
Josiah Cook 130
John Cook 100
John Long 162
Jasper Tomberlain 290
Mathew Clay 1000
Nathan Asher 500
Priscilla Hall 200
Richard Elliott 162
Starling Cates 677
William Quinn 152
Eliazar Clay 770
William Connar 100
William Munday 50
Francis Rose 100
Richard Ardin 100
Redmond Fallin 75
John Southerland 1252
George Southerland 1763
Hames Gwinn 400
George Homes Gwinn 190
William Astin Senior 318
Peter Wilson 599
William Wilson 1000
Charles Williams 75
Edwin Hammonds 250
John Stone Senr 85
John Stone Jr 130
John Ware 350
William Shelton 278
Sylvester Adams 4450
Jonathan Church 404
Richardson Whiteby 300
Colo. John Wilson 4070
Rich’d Gwin 730
Thomas Smith 2287
John Smith 4048
Hezekiah Smith 930
John McMillion 65
Thomas Drake 90
John Fulton 1140
John Vandegrief 400
Moses Vincent 150
Robert Cullum 100
James Fulton 890
Barnett McCullock 300
James Boaze 734
William Vincent 575
Shadrick Boaz 180
Thomas Boaz 3377
Robert Wooding 240
Edward Atkins 700
Moses Johnson 130
William Roberson 562
Thomas Roberson 470
William Astin 700
James Craine 312
John Poyner 480
William Rickett 185
Henry Cornwell 250
Jesse Carter 1300
John Chattin 492
Zachariah Waller 200
Henry Hall 100
William Jones 400
Phillmon Payne 170
William Parks 170
Edmund Payne 244
William Davis 700
Richard Farthing 300
Joseph Midkiff 296
William Hames 400
Moses Hurt 400
Wm Lightfoot’s Orphans 4400
Jacob Nicholas 400
Joseph Roberts 464
Benjamin Shelton 570
Joel Shelton 200
Daniel Jenkins 296
Jesse Hodges 380
John Ballinger 950
Edward Burton 245
Cornelius McHaney 1000
William Chick 400
Thomas East 342
John Pemberton 250
John H Patrick 800
Wm Luck 500
Joel Hurt 149
John Craddock 390
James Mitchell 400
Benj. Lankford 400
James Buckley 700
James George 597
William Alford 170
Charles Lynch Adams 500
George Allen 350
Edward Munford 400
John Barrott Jr 50
James Bruice 190
John Buckley 728
Thomas Collins 633
John Clements 533
Rich’d Chick 300
Charles Crenshaw 2500
Pleasant Thurman 300
William Doss 271
James Doss Senr 377
John Doss 135
Thomas Davis 410
James Dejarnett 100
Joseph Echolls 400
Joshua Abston 292
William Ervine 510
Joseph Harris Senr 300
Joseph Fanning Jr 100
Charles Fanning 100
Edward Flowers 400
Michael Gilbert 100
Benjamin Hendrick 100
Philip Perkins 150
Nathaniel Hendrick 407
Colo. Charles Lynch 614
James Hunt 200
James Henderson 492
David Hunt 1204
Nathaniel Hunt 400
Francis Irby 409
John Johnson 300
Samuel Lattamore 185
Thomas Mustein 340
Daniel Morgan 299
Thomas Musteen 570
Blanks Moody 400
James Moore 212
Haynes Morgan 658
Jesse Pattey 223
Edward Pryor 150
Thomas Robinson 200
John Robinson 100
Joel Short 70
Joshua Short 39
Misheck Tanner 1166
Richard Thurman 550
Robert Templeton 100
William Vaughan 300
John Vaughan 392
Thomas Vaughan Jr 396
Thomas Vaughan Senr 170
Odediah Hendrick 400
George Wilcox 168
Owen West 700
Absalum Ramey 170
Nathan Glenn 307
Benjamin Clements Exor 375
Capt. Isaac Clements 746
Thomas Carlton 370
John Short 186
Elizabeth Holden 50
Burwell Vadin 360
Thomas Adams 300
Robert Adams 400
Joseph Prunitt 50
Moses Hutchings 350
Ann Thompson 737
James Burks 218
Basdale Nelson 100
Christopher Hutchings 1022
Samuel Dillard 510
Elijah Parkham 267
Charles Clay 1300
Daniel Ragsdale 600
Joseph Richards 150
Jonas Lawson 600
Leonard Tunstall 700
Sylvanus Stokes 1537
George Hamblin 650
Edward Ware 490
Aaron Hutchings 540
Hezekiah Pigg 1800
Joshua Cantrill 987
Jesse Robinson 1941
James Bleakley 500
James Magabee 200
Jacob Isaac 300
Henry Rollins 410
Jonathan Thomas 250
Samuel Shields 775
James Garner 585
John Bowin 400
William Shields 473
Matthew Sparkes 796
James Young 150
John Harris 100
John Young 120
Shadrick Turner 200
Joseph Shields 651
Gilbert Burnett 96
James Denton 142
John Beggarley 100
Elizabeth Cunningham 100
Henry Burnett 261
Thomas Shields 70
Thomas Cunningham 157
John Shields 150
William Beck 600
Benjamin Crawley 488
Spencer Runnalds 200
Rich’d Tanner 150
John Cox 109
James Cox 437
Zachariah Sneed 150
James Burnett 400
Jacob Riger 210
Joseph Cunningham 916
Shadrack Scare 100
William Booker 100
John Gammon 409
Benjamin White 200
Edward Legg 60
John Owens 308
William Owens 100
Thomas Finley 113
Rich’d Gibson 100
Jiles Gibson 100
Richard Lay 100
Robert Payne 560
James Lyle 96
Thomas Duncan 200
Hal. Dixon 1200
John McLane 300
Samuel Bynum 200
William Barton 300
William Duncan 170
Robert Clements 300
William Thaxton 640
Elizabeth Yates 130
John Yates 270
William Harrison 1644
Nicholas Perkins 927
Constant Perkins 2598
Hardin Perkins 370
William Wodley 246
Jonathan Church 700
Nehemiah Trayham 236
Nathaniel McGufford 200
Robert Crockett 300
Nathan Watson 650
John Norton 140
William Sutton 375
Thomas Sparks 350
Thomas Hill 786
John Still 662
Jacob Norton 300
Nehemiah Norton 300
William Watson 366
Edward Givins 700
George Davis 180
John Davis 192
William Davis 350
George Conn 150
William Mitchell 150
Ignatious Wilson 164
Presley Thornton 150
Elizabeth Conely 40
Zadock Barnett 100
John Brown 134
Joseph Minter 190
Edward Cahall 217
Edward Warren 250
John Briscoe 250
Charles Oakes 221
Miss Clay & Company 4000
James Oakes 221
Joseph Conn 1337
Philip Jenkins 100
Butter Stone Street 150
Ellender Norton 100
William Oakes 75
Samuel Lewis 300
Samuel/Lemuel Smith 632
Daniel Dodson 700
Philip Perkins 300
Thomas Hampton 495
David Harris 100
William Southerland 100
Thomas Stephens 100
Isham Lansford 100
David Stephens 100
Henry Lansford 250
Joseph Harris 200
George Fuller Harris 200
David Scales 300
Mathew Nance 200
Sarah Watkins 223
Robert Bullington 400
Giles Nance 800
Minen Smith 112
William Mitchell 160
Zachariah Grooms 100
James King 200
George Young 200
Capt. Joseph Morton 1053
John Govin 400
John Pigg 900
Benjamin Burnett 440
Thomas Price 400
Rich’d Chamberlan’s Orphans 400
Pyrant Easley 205
Samuel Davis 150
William Short 800
George Prosize 100
Nathaniel Thacker 190
Joseph Thacker 60
George Miers 200
Thomas Wade 200
Thomas Hardy 700
Joshua Welch 230
David Weatherford 100
Wm Hardy’s Orphans 500
Charles Wright 100
Wyth Allen 180
Roger Atkinson 800
William Easley 715
William Parsons 50
Joseph Parsons 120
George Parsons 270
Samuel Parsons 50
William Moore 100
John Medkiff 400
Richard Pigg 40
Majar Willis 200
Major James Johnson 150
Thomas Armstead 1600
Edmund Hodges 750
John Hodges 137
Thomas Hodges 260
George Dyer 50
Abraham Allen 240
Watson Hindy 376
Joel Atkins 110
William Atkins 100
Nathanial Atkins 100
James Atkins 50
Joseph Hundley 250
Luther Hopper 300
John Martin 100
Elizabeth Mayes 50
Richard Atkins 100
William Prosize 300
William Lucas 100
Walter Lamb 800
Jesse Duncan 100
Epapa White 588
John Emmerson 400
Rich’d Prewitt 150
William Pigg 360
Robert Duncan 297
Samuel Emmerson 390
William Devin 731
William Leak’s Orphans 400
William Devin Jr 200
James Biggers 100
John White 349
John Biswell 800
Joseph Austin 702
John Morton 1885
Daniel Johnson 200
Joseph Ballinger 305
Martin Webb 200
Samuel Mosley 100
Arthur Nash 234
Daniel Hankins 7167
Jacob Cooley 270
Joseph Alsup 200
Thomas Johns 555
Thomas Searenton 740
John Stocktone 1546
Jacob Cleaverland 200
Arthur Fuller 105
Zachariah Fallin 200
John Warren 250
Benjamin Benie 500
John Peancey 100
Peter Fields Jefferson 1100
George Jefferson’s Estate 1561
William Matthews 200
John Wooton 130
Wm/Mr Hamblin 320
Abraham Aaron 220
James Brewer 1273
James Mitchell 200
Drury Oliver Estate 492
John Philpot 500
James Roberts 1386
William Roberts 546
Robert Onn 1000
Hugh Runnalds 65
Leonard Delosher 250
Benjamin Sampson 288
George Smith 894
William Nealley 50
Rebecca Mahan 250
Joseph Reynalds 260
Benjamin Duncan 100
Edward Jones 400
Samuel Martin 160
Thomas Read 200
John Ball 280
Samuel Calland 415
John Cheedle 280
James Dunough 400
John Cornwell 100
James Shockley 350
Elijah Watkins 500
Charlton Shockley 250
Harmon Cook 1052
Joseph Walker 100
John Watson 523
Simon Justice 220
William Wright 400
John Junley 302
Charles Rigney 200
William Wright 800
James King 130
John Swinney 100
Alexander Lackey 480
Colo. John Markham 1600
Robert Bruce 247
John Griggory 260
William Dunning 240
John George 1159
John Bailey 400
Samuel Hughes 633
James Lawless 611
John Dyer 333
Aaron McKenny 162
John Cleaver 250
Thomas Finny 260
Thomas Lackey 400
Joseph Maples 257
William Hopwood 400
George Murphy 238
William Goodman 582
Hugh Henry 400
James Taylor 271
William Bucknall 100
Samuel Crain 1200
Noton Dickinson 488
Jeremiah Worsham 338
Josiah Farguson 60
John Duncan 395
Thomas Watson Jr 466
Thomas Watson Senior 200
Humphrey Hendrick 700
John Pond 200
William Maples 163
William Griffith’s Estate 400
Frances More Petty 300
Killian Kreck 150
Thomas Black 498
Benjamin Leprad 430
Alexander Robinson 322
John Kirby 100
William Burdet 120
Robert Cowan 100
Sarah Davis 170
William Irving 150
Michael Gilbert 200
William Justice 266
Peyton Smith 612
Peter Finney 400
Henry Conway 1026
Lodowick Tuggle 600
George Peak 100
Joseph King 185
Thomas Ramey 200
William Young 1232
David Polley 673
William Sheilds 100
William Witcher 100
John Witcher 190
James Witcher 202
William Parker 50
Jeremiah Ward 431
Peyton Wade 50
Daniel Lovell 500
Richard Bennet 256
Thomas Bennett 75
Booker Smith 150
Jesse Keezee 250
James Kann 450
George Herndon 250
David Ross 6792
James Mitchell 546
William Mitchell 400
Bryant Ward Nowling 318
David Dalton 126
Robert Dalton 85
William Thompson 450
John Hensley 100
Abraham Goad 180
George Phillips 150
James Dalton 100
Benjamin Tarrant 645
John Dalton 270
William Bennet 275
Reubin Bennet 274
John Lawson 290
William Ward 1626
John Collin 300
John Wheeler 300
Richard Walden 1030
William Baber 224
Charles Callaway 500
Ralph Smith 898
John Talbot 570
William Smith 150
Nathan Thurman 700
Littleberry Patterson 400
Thomas Tunstall 1142
John Ward 1388
Thomas Barnett 100
Preston Gilbert 250
Thos Tunstall from Rich’d Brown 96
Jeremiah Keesee 450
Sarah Vaughan 149
Roger Atkinson 13000
Jonathan Phillips 400
Nottley Wheate 100
Charles Goad 200
Pattience Dalton 200
Gidion Shelton 170
James Downey 400
Edward Hampton 200
Arthur Keezee 200
Jesse Evins 160
Benjamin Shelton Jr 200
John Williams 200
John Doss 200
William McDuel 200
Jacob Barryer 240
Daniel Bates 200
Ambrose Hunt 120
Peter Perkins 1000
James Andrews 300
William Allin Senr 190
William Betterton 434
Henry Brown 210
Major Childres 200
Gilbert Hunt 637
John Kelly 50
Joshua Stone 1413
John Ward Jr 913
Joseph Cook 400
William Vason 300
Joseph West Senior 350
James Magbee 100
William Todd 600
Richard Todd 100
Robert Farguson 75
A Copy Teste
Jos. Akin D.C.P.C.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vapittsy/Oaths.html
copy done by Cynthia Hubbard Headen
source: The Magazine of VA Genealogy, v.23, #1 (Feb.1985),
transcribed by Marian Dodson Chiarito
These lists were taken from a typewritten copy found in the Clerk’s Office, Pittsylvania County, at Chatham, Virginia. The two following affidavits found attached to the copy are self- explanatory.
I, S. H. F. Jones, do hereby certify that about the year 1930 I personally copied and had checked the names of persons who took the oath of Allegiance in 1777 as shown by manuscripts then in the Clerk’s Office of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The writing was faded and a few names could not be deciphered. Every effort was made to transcribe the names as they appeared on the manuscripts. The names of the foregoing Lists are a true and correct copy of the aforesaid manuscripts to the best of my knowledge and belief. The lists were also checked by Mr. Langhorne Jones, atty.
Given under my hand and seal this 8th day of November, 1939.
S. H. F. Jones (Seal)
State of Virginia
Pittsylvania County, To-wit:
I, E. E. Friend, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, the same being a Court of Record, do hereby certify that Mrs. S. H. F. Jones whose name is signed to the foregoing writing bearing date 8th day of November 1939, personally appeared before me in my county, Office and State aforesaid and made oath that the foregoing statements are true to the best of her knowledge and belief. Given under my hand this 8th Nov. 1939.
E. E. Friend
Clerk Pittsylvania Circuit Court
Chatham, VA
List of George Carter
Beverly Barksdale
William Bennett
Jno. Campbell
Abrm. Chaney
Jacob Chaney
Joseph Chaney
Zekial Chaney
Chas. Chelton
Mark Chelton
Thos. Chelton
Jno. Chilton
William Chilton
Matthew Cox
Thomas Crain
James Craine
Thomas Creal
Jno. Creel
Jeremiah Deadman
Elisha Dodson
Geo. Dodson
Lazarus Dodson
Rolly Dodson
Thos. Dodson
John Fitzgerald
Daniel Gardner
Heath Gardner
Nath. Gardner
Sylvany Gardner
James Haggard
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Last name of next three unknown
Geo.–
James–
Joseph–
The Location of the Massacre of James Boone and Henry Russell
Filed Under : Local History by Jeff Roberts Aug.31,2010Originally posted at http://www.danielboonetrail.com/historicalsites.php?id=80.
AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK ON THE WILDERNESS ROAD BY THE AUTHOR
copyright November 2006
All rights reserved
Lawrence J. Fleenor, Jr.
Big Stone Gap, Va.
The site of the 1773 massacre of the son of Daniel Boone and of the son of William Russell – James Boone and Henry Russell – is the subject of a long and continuing controversy in Lee County. The state historical road side marker commemorating this event was originally placed along side US 58 in Eller’s Gap on Powell Mountain between Pattonsville and Stickleyville. A rival claimant later developed in western Lee County, and roadside marker was dug up in the middle of the night and replanted near Kaylor. In recent years a new road side marker was erected by the State in the center of Sticklyville.
Local traditions still abound, especially near the various springs that head up Wallen’s Creek north of Duffield and east of Stickleyville, and down Wallen’s Creek all the way to its mouth. The following is a review of the murders, and of the evidence on the location of the site.
The Great Warrior’s Path was the most significant of the numerous Indian trails in the eastern United States. It connected the Northeastern and Midatlantic regions with Kentucky and the region between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Daniel Boone’s name is indelibly stamped upon it, and it is also known by the names The Wilderness Road and the Great Kentucky Road.
There are several variations of this trail in western Scott County and eastern Lee County. The Hunter’s Trace skirted the southern face of Powell Mountain from Pattonsville to Blackwater, where it crossed Powell Mountain at Hunter’s Gap, and passed on a mile and a half west of the mouth of Wallen’s Creek on Powell River, which it crossed at White Shoals. Another route crossed Powell Mountain via Kane Gap between Duffield and the head of Wallen’s Creek, which it followed to Stickleyville. Here one version crossed Wallen’s Ridge to the head of Station Creek, and on to the west to the northern end of the White Shoals ford. Back at Stickleyville, another variation continued on down Wallen’s Creek for 2 ½ miles to Fannon’s Spring, and crossed Wallen’s Ridge via Slagle’s Gap to the mouth of Station Creek. The last version continued down Wallen’s Creek and for a mile and a half past its mouth, where it joined the Hunter’s Trace.
In 1773 the western extent of pioneer settlement was Castlewood in Russell Co. and the Blockhouse in Carter’s Valley in Scott County, near Kingsport, Tennessee. Daniel Boone had decided to move his family from the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina to Kentucky, and had persuaded Capt. William Russell of Castlewood to do so also. On September 25, 1773 the Boones and five other families sat out, and upon reaching Wolf Hills at present Abingdon, Daniel dispatched his seventeen year old son, James, and the Mendenhall brothers, John and Richard, to leave the main party and to go to Upper Castlewood to pick up Capt. Russell and his party at Russell’s Fort. Daniel continued on down the main Wilderness Trail to east of Kingsport, and then on up old US 23 to Duffield. There is no record of whether he accessed Powell Valley by way of Kane Gap, or of Hunter’s Gap. Once in Powell Valley the Boone Party joined the party of William Bryan, which contained about forty people. We know that he camped that night on the northern side of Wallen’s Ridge, which itself is north of Wallen’s Creek.
James followed present US Alt. 58 to Castlewood and found that Russell and his party of about forty pioneers were not ready to leave. To carry this news to Daniel, Russell’s seventeen year old son, Henry, and James Boone along with Isaac Crabtree, the Mendenhall brothers, and two slaves, Adam and Charles, were dispatched on Oct. 8th ahead of the main Russell party. Also among the emigrants from the Russell Party were the Hargis brothers – Samuel, Whiteside, William, James, John, Benjamin, and their families. They left Russell’s Fort with James Boone and his party, which traveled down the Clinch Valley branch of the Wilderness Trail until they regained the main Wilderness Trail just north of Natural Tunnel.
Daniel and his party camped along the Wilderness Trail on the north side of Wallen’s Ridge somewhere in Powell Valley, and waited for the Russell party to catch up. It was, of course, the party of James Boone that was trying to catch up with Daniel, and not that of Russell. Somewhere James’ party lost the trail, and night fall caught them somewhere on Wallen’s Creek, three miles east of Daniel’s camp.
James could have lost Daniel’s trail either at Duffield or at Stickleyville, depending whether Daniel had taken the Hunter’s Trace, or the Warrior’s Path over Kane Gap and then on to the head of Station Creek.
It is at this point that the speculation begins. The Wilderness Trail at this time was just a foot path. Horses were usually led as pack animals, and not ridden. The Trail from Kane Gap was a corridor rather than a single path, as it followed a branching network of buffalo trails. At times of low water the travelers tended to stay on the flat northern bank of Wallen’s Creek, but during muddy and wet times they took the ridge line further to the north of the creek bank.
There are three variations of the Wilderness Trail leaving Stickleyville to the west, and we do not know which versions were being traveled by James, and perhaps Daniel. All three versions enter Wallen’s Creek Valley via Kane Gap, and proceed down Wallen’s Creek to present Stickleyville. There is a fork in the trail at this point, with one following present US 58 on across Wallen’s Ridge into the Valley of Station Creek, which runs parallel to Wallen’s Creek, both emptying into Powell’s River.
Another variation of the Wilderness Trail continued on west down Wallen’s Creek to Fannon’s Spring, which is about two and a half miles west of Stickleyville. Implicit in the circumstances of this story is the fact that the party would have camped by a spring. The pioneers did not usually drink out of creeks anymore than we do. Fannon’s Spring lies between the road and the creek, and its flow is so great that it boils in a mushroom shape up out of the ground. Its fresh cold water attracts fish as it empties into the creek. It is simply the best spring for miles around. It was at this point that the trail began its ascent of Wallen’s Ridge on its way to Slagle’s Gap, and joined the trail on Station Creek at its mouth on Powell River.
A third version continued on down Wallen’s Creek to its mouth on Powell River, and crossed to the north side to rejoin the versions of the Wilderness Trail coming west from the ford at the mouth of Station Creek.
The militiaman John Redd, who had gone with Joseph Martin in 1775 to Martin’s Upper Station at Rose Hill by way of the Wallen’s Creek route, stated that “the old Kentucky Trace crossed Walden’s ridge at the head of Walden’s Creek”. This is the current route of US 58 west of Stickleyville. It implies that Redd believed that Daniel would have gone this way, but Redd admitted that his first trip to Kentucky was in 1780, some seven years after the massacre, a situation that gave plenty of time for the route of the trail to have changed.
Tradition does say that Daniel Boone changed the route of the trail after James was killed. In 1884, Col. Auburn Pridemore, CSA, of Jonesville, wrote a treatise entitled “Routes East”, and which now is MS 4.8.12 within the Draper Manuscripts. A transcription of a portion of this document is as follows:
“I have mentioned that Boone after this (the James Boone massacre) changed his rout, that was told me by Genl. Peter C. Johnston, brother of
General Joseph E. Johnston of Confederate memory, he had it from a Mr.
Fleener whose father Camped at the top of Walden’s ridge at Stickleyville;
when Boone and Gov. Dunsmore’s surveyors located the road, and he gave
the Killing of Boone’s Son as the reason for the change of route. This was
told me incidentially as Genl. Johnston (who had a great fund of Indian tales
and Border adventures) was relating a very thrilling story of a contest of the elder Fleener with an Indian at the same place.”
The location of the murder of James Boone depends on which version of the Wilderness Trail Daniel was traveling, and which route James took in the process of getting lost. We know that nightfall of October 8th caught the party of James Boone and Henry Russell still on Wallen’s Creek.
“Wolves” howled all night around the camp of the James Boone party. The Mendenhall brothers paced up and down all night. At dawn, a mixed party of Shawnee and Cherokee Indians attacked, and shot James Boone and Henry Russell through the hips so that they could not escape. They were tortured with knives. Boone recognized his torturer as Big Jim, a Shawnee who had been a guest at Daniel’s home in the Yadkin. Boone resisted for a while, but with his hands shredded from fending off the knife, he pleaded with Big Jim to kill him and to put him out of his misery.
Russell was clubbed, and his dead body shot full of arrows. The Mendenhalls, and Whiteside Hargis were also killed.
It is not clear how Crabtree made his escape, but he returned to the settlements in the east. Adam hid under a pile of drift wood on the bank of Wallen’s Creek, and witnessed the massacre, and later returned to the settlements where he spread the news. He and Crabtree were the sources of the information that was written into the dispatches of the Holston Militia that wound up as part of the Draper Manuscripts, which are today’s documentation of this event. Charles was carried away toward captivity.
The story varies somewhat at this point. One tradition says that the massacre was discovered by a deserter from Daniel’s party. Another source says that Capt. William Russell’s party came upon the scene, and dispatched a runner to Daniel. The party of Daniel Boone returned, and Rebecca, James’s mother, wrapped the bodies of James and Henry up together in a linen sheet, and they were buried in a common grave. The Boone and Russell parties returned to Castlewood.
The Indians, taking Whiteside Hargis’ wife, John and William Hargis, and John’s son who was named after his Uncle Whiteside, along with the slave Charles, made their way back up Wallen’s Creek to Dry Creek at Stickleyville, and thence to Kentucky, probably by way of Lovelady Gap, and either Olinger Gap or Eola Gap to the head waters of the Cumberland River. Somewhere along the trail, John Hargis and his wife and daughter made their escape, and settled back in Castlewood. Young Whiteside was adopted by the Shawnee, and later in life joined Chief Benge in his raids against the settlers in the area of his capture.
The Indians along their way began to argue about the ownership of Charles, and the issue was resolved by his being tomahawked.
These events are documented by the Draper Manuscripts 6 C 14; 6 C 7-20; 6 S 79-83; 11CC 12; 13C 133; which are well collated in the book Indian Raids and Massacres of Southwest Virginia by Luther F. Addington and Emory Hamilton. The Fannon’s Spring data is contained in an article in the “Powell Valley News” written by J. M. Moseley and published in 1958 or 1959. Moseley had frequented the Fannon home at Fannon’s Spring a little over a hundred years after the massacre, while the oral
traditions were still fresh and widely held. The Hargis information is obtained from Henrietta Hargis Reynolds’ article in The Heritage of Russell Co. vol II.
The most persuasive information concerning the location of the murders of the James Boone Party is the testimony of Adam, whose story was recorded by militia officers at the time. Adam said that he hid under a pile of driftwood beside Wallen’s Creek beside the Wilderness Trail. Wallen’s Creek is too small to build up such a large pile of driftwood much above Fannon’s Spring, so the reputed sites upstream from
Stickleyville are impossible. This is especially true of those sites at the head of Wallen’s Creek, which is so small there that it can be stepped across.
We know that Daniel and James took different trails, as James “got lost”. Since James was on Wallen’s Creek, and was lost from Daniel’s trail, this means that Daniel had taken either the Station Creek version of the trail, or the Hunter’s Trace. If the Russell Party was the one that discovered the massacre of the James Boone Party, and since we know from several sources that the massacre occurred on Wallen’s Creek, then it would seem that Russell had known to follow the parties of Daniel and of James down Wallen’s Creek. It is important to note that at its nearest point, the Hunter’s Trace passes 1 ½ miles to the west of the mouth of Wallen’s Creek. Therefore Russell in his following of the Boones had known that they were not to have traveled on the Hunter’s Trace.
If one discounts the Fannon’s Spring tradition, and discounts Russell having discovered the massacre, there are only two possibilities for these events to have unfolded. The first is for Daniel to have camped north of Powell River (which is north of Wallen’s Ridge) somewhere in the Flatwoods or White Shoals area, and for James to have camped near the mouth of Wallen’s Creek. The Wallen’s Creek Trail and the trail that had come from Station Creek come together at White Shoals. This would have placed James about three to four miles east of Daniel, and also would have allowed the deserter from the Daniel Party to have backtracked to the east on a different trail from the one he had followed with Daniel.
The other possibility is for Daniel to have camped at the mouth of Station Creek, and James to have camped at Fannon’s Spring. The distance between these two sites is also about three miles, and would have also allowed the deserter to have taken a different route back east and to have stumbled upon the massacre.
However, if one credits either the Fannon’s Spring tradition of Mosley, or the tradition that Russell discovered the massacre there is only one possibility. The preponderance of evidence points to Daniel’s having camped at the mouth of Station Creek, and James at Fannon’s Spring. It is, after all, about fifteen miles from Fannon’s Spring to the mouth of Wallen’s Creek and to the Flatwoods segment of the Wilderness Trail.
The Wallen’s Creek location documented by the Draper Manuscripts excludes the tradition locating the massacre in western Lee County near Kaylor. Also, the western Lee County site is over a hundred miles from Castlewood, easily twice the distance that the James Boone party could have made in the one day that they travelled.
After burying their dead, the Boone and Russell parties returned to Castlewood.