Friday, December 14, 2018

George Edgington I (1707-1791) - The Immigrant - Part Five: The Rest of the Story

George Edgington built a sizable farm on Dillon’s Run in the backcountry of western Virginia. Here his wife Margaret gave birth to their eight children. Six of those children would wed and start families of their own there. Despite such deep roots, George, Margaret, their children and grandchildren would all move away.


In trying to tell George’s story, I found that there were long periods of time when there were no records nor any anecdotal stories about him. Thus, what follows is the rest of his story interlaced with a simplified accounting of some historical events and stories about his sons.

To set the stage, we start in 1754. What began as a conflict between the French and the British and their respective Indian allies over control of the Ohio River Valley, erupted into the French and Indian War (1754-1763).




Early on, George was captured not far from his home by French sympathizing Indians who took him northwest to Fort Duquesne, a French fort situated where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio River (known as “The Forks”), at present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From there, George was taken up the Scioto River where he was kept for three years. He would eventually return home in 1757.

The British defeated the French at Fort Duquesne and assumed control over the Forks. Prior to conceding defeat, the French destroyed their fort. The British soon built their own fort, Fort Pitt, at the same location.

This war would end in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris between the French and the British. The result was that France removed itself from North America and ceded control of Canada and most of the land east of the Mississippi River to the British.

The war would not, however, stop the conflicts between colonists and Native Americans.

Hoping to put an end to these hostilities, Britain’s King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which designated that all lands west of the Appalachian Divide (the Eastern Continental Divide) as an Indian Reserve and thus off-limits to settlers.

This angered colonists and land speculators who found themselves now barred from the fertile lands of the Ohio River Valley. Settlers living in the region were told they must leave their homes and move behind the boundary line while land speculators found their land was now worthless.

This led British representatives to enter into new negotiations with tribal leaders. As a result, several new treaties with Indian nations led to the Indian Reserve being moved west of the Ohio River. Thus, in 1768 the Ohio River Valley was reopened to settlers and land speculators.

User:Nikater [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) is located near the top right hand side of the dark green area which designates the Ohio Country. The 1763 line is seen in yellow and the 1768 boundary is marked in orange. The 1768 line follows the Allegheny River south to Pittsburgh before continuing southward along the Ohio River.
Southwestern Pennsylvania, what is today Washington, Greene, and Fayette Counties, was the first region to experience this westward expansion. Of special note is that all of George Washington's western lands were located here. In 1771, Washington bought 2,813 acres in present-day Washington County. 


In 1771, George's eldest son Thomas was among the early settlers of western Pennsylvania. He first moved his family 120 miles northwest of Dillon's Run to Redstone Fort on the Monongahela River near present day Brownsville, Pennsylvania.


While there, Thomas met Andrew Van Swearingen who sold him 700 acres at Catfish Camp on Little Chartier’s Creek just south of Fort Pitt in present day Washington County, Pennsylvania. By the Spring of 1772 Thomas had constructed a cabin and moved his family there.




There were tribes that lived and hunted in this area of the Ohio River Valley—Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, and Wyandot—that were not party to the signing of the treaties. 

The Shawnee believed that the Iroquois had sold their lands to the British. This led them to try to organize an alliance with other tribal leaders in hopes of regaining their tribal lands.
The British heard of the their plans and solicited their Iroquois allies to assist them in attaining an agreement with other Indian nations that would thwart the Shawnee plans.

Due to British efforts, when the Governor of the Colony of Virginia declared war (Dunsmore’s War) in 1774 against the Indian tribes, Virginians only faced off against the Shawnee and Mingo Indian nations.

Virginia won the war thus requiring all Indian nations to recognize the Ohio River as the boundary between their lands and the British colonies.

History tells us that skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord erupted in April 1775 resulting in the colonists starting a full-scale war for American independence. The Revolutionary War (1775-1783) was not just a war between the British and their colonies however. 
Leaders of the Indian nations understood that it would have consequences for their people as well. This prompted many tribes to side with the British in hopes that a British victory would stem the flood of western expansion.

Virginia attempted to defend its western border with militia garrisoned at three forts positioned along the Ohio River, Fort Pitt being the most northern. Constant incursions by Indians soon made them realize that this was an inadequate defense for the 200 mile long border thus prompting them to construct additional strategically placed forts and stockades.

One of these was Hollidays Cove Fort on Harmons Creek near where the creek flows into the Ohio River at present day Weirton, West Virginia. 

George's sons John and Jesse Edgington were among the soldiers from Fort Pitt who were tasked with constructing the fort in 1778. The first commander of this fort would be Colonel Andrew Van Swearingen, the man that had sold the land at Chartier’s Creek to Thomas Edgington. 

In the Spring of 1779, Colonel David Broadhead, commanding officer at Fort Pitt, was authorized to address the problem of the Indian raids. He tasked Captain Samuel Brady with forming an elite group of experienced men who would make regular patrols, give warning of approaching danger and face off against Indian attacks. Brady selected seven men to be members of this elite team. Thomas Edgington, at 35, would be the oldest of the group. This team would go down in history as the infamous “Brady’s Rangers.” 

In August 1780, Thomas moved his family onto land he’d secured under Tomahawk Rights near Hollidays Cove Fort. On this map, Thomas' land would be on the point of land that juts into the Ohio River directly under the words “Harmon Creek.” It was roughly 35 miles from Little Chartier's Creek. The vertical line under the highway marker "22" marks what was in 1780 the boundary between Washington County, Pennsylvania and Ohio County, Virginia. 


The following is a newspaper article which recounts Thomas’ family’s journey to their new home:

The logs for his home were cut at a Saw Mill Run, up near Fort PItt, and the boards were sawed for the puncheon floors. A huge raft was fashioned there and the Edgingtons, with their children, Jessie, Thomas Jr., Harriet, Sarah and George, their livestock, and other possessions came down the Ohio River. They put in at a place called Williams Rocks just above the mouth of Harmons Creek, and Edgington staked his claim north along the river front. The neighbors who, according to custom, came to help with his cabin, told of such Indian atrocities that no sooner was the home finished until they all turned to building of Edgingtons Fort.” source: newspapers.com, The Weirton Daily Times (Weirton, Hancock, WV) 15 Dec 1973

It is around this same time that George, Margaret and their sons George Jr., Joseph, and Isaac and their families, daughter Hannah and her husband William Engle, and daughter Jemima moved near Chartier’s Creek. Jemima wed Benjamin Reed there around 1781.

Isaac and George Edgington and William Engle are listed as married men in the 1781 and 1782 tax lists for Nottingham Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Jemima’s husband, Benjamin Reed is listed in neighboring Peters Township. 

George Sr. and his son Joseph do not appear on either tax list however we should not construe that to mean they weren’t living there. It may simply indicate that they didn’t then own any taxable property.

In the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War, Pennsylvania maintained a volunteer militia. Their duty was to guard against those Indians that had allied themselves with the British—Indians who were now being incited by the British to attack settlers in the outlying settlements.

George Jr., John, Joseph, Isaac and Jesse Edgington had all become part of the Pennsylvania Militia as members of Captain James Munn’s Company, 2nd Battalion, Washington County, Pennsylvania. 

In March 1782, Jesse Edgington was part of an expedition of approximately 160 Pennsylvania militiamen led by Colonel David Williamson that attacked Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio. The intent of the expedition was to retaliate for prior attacks and murders of settlers by members of the Delaware tribe. The result would be the tragic murder of 96 innocent Moravian Christian Indian men, women, and children.
This prompted the Shawnees and Delawares, who had previously been neutral, to ally themselves with the British.

In April 1782, while barely a mile from his home near Holliday’s Cove, Thomas was captured by a party of nine Wyandot Indians who were accompanied Simon Girty, a former British interpreter who had defected from Fort Pitt. Thomas knew Girty which may have led his Indian captors to treat him less harshly during his captivity. 

Not knowing whether Thomas was dead or alive, Thomas’ wife took their children and removed back to Washington County to be with the other Edgingtons. 

In May 1782, Jesse, Isaac and Joseph Edgington and about 500 other volunteer militia under the command of Colonel William Crawford, were led deep into Indian territory to destroy Indian towns along the Sandusky River in the Ohio Country, with the hope of ending the Indian attacks on settlers.. However, the Indians and their British allies had been alerted to the expedition by Simon Girty and had gathered a force to oppose the militia. 

The militiamen found themselves surrounded. During their retreat, Crawford and dozens of his men were captured. Crawford and some of his men were tortured in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre. Although wounded, Joseph Edgington, his brothers and an unknown number of other militia escaped.

Finally, in the Spring of 1783 Thomas returned from captivity. Though malnourished, he soon took his family back to their farm on the Ohio River.

This 1783 tax lists shows that George Sr. and his four of his sons, George Jr., Isaac, Jesse and John were living in Nottingham Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.



Norrid Edgenton is not a known member of our Edgington family. Attempts to find any records for a person of this name have come up empty handed.

The Final Chapter

Around 1783, George and Margaret, their sons George Jr., John, Isaac and Joseph and their families, and daughter Hannah and husband William Engle all moved to the Ohio River. 

Jesse and his family and Jemima and her husband Benjamin Reed stayed in Washington County.

Isaac, Joseph and their families built cabins at Hart’s Rock on Brown’s Island in the Ohio River a short distance north of Thomas’ place. In the prior map, Brown's Island can be seen in the River. After first being warned by Congress that no one could settle there except those who had purchased the land, the American military burnt their homes to the ground in 1785.
Following this, Isaac and his family returned to Washington County where he obtained a land patent for 107 acres in Strabane Township. 

Joseph drops off the radar until 1806 when records show him to be living in Ohio.
George Sr. and Margaret moved to Thomas' place which was now called Half Moon Farm.

George died there in 1791 at the age of 84 and was buried in the orchard. Lymon Draper later attested to having seen George's headstone there.

Although there is no record of it, I believe Margaret also died and was buried at Half Moon Farm.

I'm sure you can imagine my delight upon finding this postcard of Half Moon Farm on Ebay. 

George and Margaret must have enjoyed living here during the last years of their lives. It's hard to imagine a more beautiful place to spend your senior years after so many years of conflict.




George Edgington was a true frontiersman. He and along with his wife Margaret built a life for themselves and their children with their own hands. It's difficult for us to imagine all that they endured.

I am very proud to count George and Margaret among my ancestors. 

_____________________

How we’re related: 
George Edgington I & Margaret Broome
|
George Edgington II & Mary Naylor
|
George Edgington III & Betty Lindsey
|
Brice Viers Edgington & Margaret Gutridge
|
Thomas Edgington & Isabel Walker
|
Margaret Annabel Edgington & James Horatio Bladen
|
Gertrude Ethel Blayden & James Iver Creger
|
Helen Pauline Creger & John Robert Nielsen 


References and Acknowledgements
  1. Draper Manuscript, MSS, Series S, Volume 16, Page 271.  
  2. Highland Pioneer Sketches and Family Genealogies, Elsie Johnson Ayres, H.K. Skinner & Son (1971).
  3. Historical Collections of Adams County Ohio, Carl N. Thompson, Adams County Historical Society (1991)
  4. Further Materials on Lewis Wetzel and the Upper Ohio Frontier, part of the Draper Manuscript, edited by Jared C. Lobell, published by Heritage Books, Inc. (1994)
  5. Descendants of George Edgington and Margaret Broome, Volume I, Howard Edgington, Apple Valley, CA, self published (undated)
  6. West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, www.wvculture.org
  7. The West Virginia Encyclopedia, www.wvencyclopeida.org
  8. Frontier Culture Museum, State of Virginia, www.frontiermuseum.org
  9. National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/fost/learn/historyculture/1768-boundary-line-treaty.htm
  10. Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1742-1775. Vol. II (database online), Provo, UT, USA; ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2006.
  11. A History of the Milams in Virginia; http://www.milaminvirginia.com/glossary.html
  12. Virginia Source Book—Frederick County, by Charlou Dolan, https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/snodgrass/2350/
  13. “Virginia Baron: The Story of Thomas 6th Lord Fairfax “([database on-line], Provo, UT, USA; ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2006.
  14. “George Washington’s Professional Surveys,” Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-01-02-0004. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 1, 7 July 1748 – 14 August 1755, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983, pp. 8–37.]
  15. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillons_Run
  16. Stories from the Revolution, www.nps.gov
  17. The Native Americans' Role in the American Revolution: Choosing Sides, www.neh.gov
  18. Survey of Historic Sites and Building: Forks of the Ohio, www.nps.gov


5 comments:

  1. George Edgington is my 5 times great grandfather. Thanks for sharing this info. My great grandmother is Clemmie Edgington who married John Wesley Shelton. They lived in Manchester, Ohio. I was looking up her ancestry and found this amazing history of our family.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My maternal Grandfather James H.Shelton
    Was the son Of Clemmie Edgington and John W. Shelton
    George Edgington is my 5 times Great Grandfather

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you...I'm glad you enjoyed my post

    ReplyDelete
  4. George is also my 5th great grandfather, I am descended from his son John Edgington. This has been wonderful to read about my family history. Genealogy has been a great therapy. Thank you for this website

    ReplyDelete