George and Margaret Edgington left Philadelphia around 1743/44 for the western frontier of Virginia. They were likely part of a larger group of settlers that were heading to the region.
The first part of their journey would have been on the “Philadelphia Waggon Road,” the country’s first major north south “highway.” They would have stopped at Frederick Town/Winchester (the red mark at the bottom of the map) to rest and buy needed supplies. Here they would turn westward onto a rutted, dirt track that had been used by hunters and fur trappers for passage through a gap in the mountains. After descending into the valley below, they would then proceed northward to a crossing point over the Cacapehon (Cacapon) River. It is here, somewhere between the Cacapehon River and the South Branch that George and Margaret found the land they would call home.
We don't know what legal right George had to settle here. Perhaps he rented or leased the land from a land speculator, of which there were many. Regardless, what we do know is that George and Margaret prospered and built a good life here. They built a house, planted and harvested crops, hunted and fished, acquired some livestock and communed with their neighbors. Five sons would be born to them over the next ten years: Thomas in 1744/45, Joseph in 1748, George in 1751, Isaac in 1752 and John in 1754.
Their lives were about to be thrown into a turmoil they could not possibly have anticipated however.
By the 1750s three nations lay claim to North America. The British claimed the areas shown in pink, the French claimed the areas shown in orange, and the Spanish claimed the areas shown in green. The areas with the hashmarks were in dispute between France and Britain. George and Margaret made their home in this disputed area.
We must, of course, acknowledge there was another nation that claimed ownership to these same areas. After all, Native American tribes lay claim to all of North America. Through various charters, treaties, and agreements with the British and with the French, they had signed over their right to some of these tribal lands.
The tribes actually benefitted from relations with the nations that were now intruding on their lands. They afforded the Indians the opportunity to acquire manufactured goods such as guns, knives, tools, pots and pans, dishes, clothing, etc. British traders offered lower prices and better quality goods. However they were aggressive about pushing settlements into tribal lands. The French were not as aggressive about encroaching on the Indian hunting grounds. The tribes were therefore divided in their loyalties. Their allegiances frequently changed, depending upon the current circumstances.
In the mid-1700s tensions rose between the British and the French as the French pushed south into the Ohio River Valley. In 1753, the governor of Virginia dispatched the young George Washington to the upper Ohio to warn the French away from the Valley. When the French declined to leave, Washington left and returned with troops determined to seize the region’s most strategic point, the Forks of the Ohio at modern Pittsburgh. His troops defeated a French detachment, but they were defeated in turn when the French and their Indian allies forced Washington’s surrender. After this success, the French constructed the fort they called Fort Duquesne.
It was during this contentious time between the British, the French and the Indians, that we find George caught up in the middle of the conflict.
There are at least three versions of the story I’m about to recount. I find the story that was told to Lyman Draper in 1845 by George Edgington, the son of Thomas and thus a grandson of George the subject of this story, to be the most credible. First I note that Thomas is the eldest of George’s sons. He would have been ten to thirteen years old when the events occurred and thus old enough to have a clear memory of them thus allowing him to then recount them to his son. Next, we see that George, the son of Thomas and the teller of this story, was born in 1769. He was therefore old enough to have a relationship with and to have likely met his grandfather and to hear the story directly from him. Thus, I present the story that was reported by George, the son of Thomas and grandson of George, the subject of this story:
George went to a tub mill [a form of grist mill] belonging to a man named Edwards. There he found a dozen or so Dutch boys and girls. Because there was Indian activity in the area, it was decided that everyone should stay overnight. At dawn the next morning the Indians attacked, tomahawking and killing everyone except George and two of the Dutch boys. The Indians then set the mill on fire and set out towards Fort Duquesne with the boys and George as their prisoners.
After going a short distance, the Indians killed the boys before continuing on with George. At one point, one of the Indians who was walking on a log as they crossed a stream was leading George who was wading in the stream. George slipped causing the Indian to fall into the water. When they reached the shore, the Indian cast a tomahawk blow at George which he dodged such that he only suffered a split to his nose and upper lip. Before the Indian could strike another blow, another Indian intervened and helped to tie up George’s wound. George was taken to Fort Duquesne and then up the Scioto River where he was kept for three years.
While it is not my intention to present a comprehensive history of the region, I think it’s important that we pause long enough to look at events that likely impacted George and Margaret.
George was captured at the outset of a war that would change the landscape of North America. The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was the North American portion of a worldwide war that pitted the British against the French over who had ownership of the disputed lands as displayed on the previous map. Both sides were supported by military units from their parent countries, as well as by their Indian allies.
The two nations declared war against each other in 1756 thus escalating what had begun as a regional affair into an intercontinental conflict that came to be known as The Seven Years War (1756-1763).
My focus here will only be on the French and Indian War which was fought in North America.
When George was captured in 1754, there were no nearby forts. Directly to their north, Joseph Edwards owned property near the mouth of the Capon River which was known to be a good place for military forces to camp as they passed through the region. Likely due to increased conflicts with Indians, it was upgraded to “Fort Edwards” in 1756.
It was here in April 1756 that the largest battle in Virginia was fought during the French and Indian War. The battle between British troops and Delaware Indians resulted in the death of 17 British officers and soldiers.
Two years later, after the fall of Fort Duquesne in November 1758, Fort Edwards appears to have been abandoned by the Virginia Regiment. The region was stabilized after the main avenue that raiding parties took to the Virginia frontier was shut off by British occupation at the Forks-of-the-Ohio.
With that being said, let’s return to the story about George:
George returned home after three years [1757/1758] to find that Margaret, believing he had been killed by the Indians, had remarried the year before. George and Margaret’s new husband agreed that Margaret should make the choice between them. She chose George, the father of their children. The other man left and was never heard from again.
At this point, it seems that George and Margaret settled back into their normal lives. Margaret gave birth to their son Jesse in 1759, followed by the birth of their daughters Hannah in 1760 and Jemima in 1765.
Next month we’ll continue with the rest of the story.
Part Four: The Rest of the Story
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How we’re related:
George Edgington I & Margaret Broome
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George Edgington II & Mary Naylor
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George Edgington III & Betty Lindsey
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Brice Viers Edgington & Margaret Gutridge
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Thomas Edgington & Isabel Walker
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Margaret Annabel Edgington & James Horatio Bladen
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Gertrude Ethel Blayden & James Iver Creger
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Helen Pauline Creger & John Robert Nielsen
References and Acknowledgements
- During the mid to late 1800’s, Lymon C. Draper interviewed and corresponded with three grandsons of George: George (son of Thomas), Jacob (son of Isaac) and Jesse (son of Jesse). The information obtained was collected and included in the 500 volumes that now comprise what is known as the Draper Manuscripts. Draper Manuscript, MSS, Series S, Volume 16, Page 271.
- Descendants of George Edgington and Margaret Broome, Volume I, Howard Edgington, Apple Valley, CA, self published (undated)
- West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, www.wvculture.org
- The West Virginia Encyclopedia, www.wvencyclopeida.org
- Frontier Culture Museum, State of Virginia, www.frontiermuseum.org
- Adamson, Greg "Battle of Fort Edwards." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 30 July 2012. Web. 28 September 2018.
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