William Scaggs, father of Joseph

Joseph and Martha Scaggs were listed in the 1810 and 1820 censuses for Montgomery County, Virginia.  They had the following children:
1) Polly Scaggs b. ca. 1795; m. 21 October 1813 Montgomery Co. VA to Samuel Brammer
2) Rutha Scaggs b. ca. 1798; m. 23 December 1817 Montgomery Co. VA to George Cooper
3) William Scaggs b. ca. 1800; m. 4 February 1825 Montgomery Co. VA to Miram Reed
4) Nancy Scaggs b. ca. 1805; d. 30 March 1878 Wise Co. VA; m. 6 November 1821 Montgomery Co. VA to George D. Reed
5) Lydia Scaggs b. December 1808; m. Andrew R. Altizer
6) Rhoda Scaggs b. ca. 1812; m. 10 August 1830 to Charles Akers
7) Stephenia Scaggs b. ca. 1813; m.____ Akers she was a widow by 1850

Darky Gothrin: A Relationship to Old Peter?

We know Dorcas (Darky) Gothrin was daughter of Ruth Skaggs Bishop, wife of John Bishop from Darky's marriage record:

1796, February 20 – Owen ODonald and Darkey Gothrin, surety Jacob Bishop; consent of parents John and Ruth Bishop; Jacob Bishop made oath that Darky Gothrin, daughter of Ruth Bishop the wife of John Bishop is of full and lawful age.
(source: Early Adventures on the Western Waters, Vol. II, by Mary Kegley.)

It's possible that Darky could be Ruth's daughter by an Indian if the legend of her Indian captivity is true.  Darky could also be an Indian orphan adopted by Ruth after her release from captivity.  These adoptions did happen after battles with the Shawnee and Cherokee during this time period.  Circumstances surrounding Darky Gothrin could provide a clue of a relationship between her mother, Ruth Scaggs Bishop, and Old Peter Scaggs.

The Mary Thear Myth

It is interesting how myths can develop and take on a life of their own.  For decades Skaggs researchers have been trying to fit a Mary Thear into their genealogies.  Mary Thear was supposedly the mother to a Richard and John Scaggs in Kent County, Maryland in the mid-1700s.  In 1928 a gentleman by the name of Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh published a volume of colonial Maryland records extracted from original sources.  One of these original sources was a list of the status of Maryland land leases in 1766, reported to the Lord Proprietor of Maryland, Lord Baltimore.  The Lord Proprietor owned the colony of Maryland and leased portions of it to Maryland residents.  A “land owner” in Maryland actually owned a lease and paid rent to the Lord Proprietor.  One of these lessees was listed as a Mary Thear by Brumbaugh.  Also listed were a Richard Scago and John Scago.  Many researchers interpreted this record as Mary Thear, mother of Richard and John Scaggs.  However, it appears that Brumbaugh had trouble reading the eighteenth century handwriting.  Robert W. Barnes and F. Edward Wright also read the handwriting and interpreted the record as follows:

Headrights in Virginia

Richard Scaggs entered the Virginia colony on a "headright."  In the seventeenth century headrights were a means for the colony to stimulate immigration to address a chronic labor shortage for the local planters.  Virginia headrights, as described by the Library of Virginia:

In order to encourage immigration into the colony, the Virginia Company, meeting in a Quarter Court held on 18 November 1618, passed a body of laws called Orders and Constitutions which came to be considered "the Great Charter of privileges, orders and laws" of the colony. Among these laws was a provision that any person who settled in Virginia or paid for the transportation expenses of another person who settled in Virginia should be entitled to receive fifty acres of land for each immigrant. The right to receive fifty acres per person, or per head, was called a headright. The practice was continued under the royal government of Virginia after the dissolution of the Virginia Company, and the Privy Council ordered on 22 July 1634 that patents for headrights be issued.

 

Richard Scaggs, Early Colonist

We have a lot of information about Richard Scaggs from the colonial records of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.  We don’t know when Richard was born, but we do know he died in Kent County, Maryland c. 1725.  He started in Virginia as a “headright” for 50 acres to a Thomas Dyer.  Richard later shows up as a landowner in Maryland and Delaware, even as a partner with a William Merritt in land in Delaware, William Merritt going on later to operate a ferry between Manhattan and Brooklyn and become the mayor of New York City.

The Draper's Meadows Massacre of 1755

The French and Indian War was underway in 1755 with colonial forces attacking the French in Nova Scotia, New York and on the Ohio River.  On the Ohio River, operations were conducted by General Edward Braddock who had arrived earlier in 1755 from England with two regiments of regular British army.  Braddock marched an army of British soldiers and colonial militia to Pennsylvania to attack the French at Fort Duquesne, however, his army was ambushed by the French and Indians and defeated.

Ruth Scaggs Bishop

Bishop family legend has it that John Bishop was married to a Ruth Skaggs (Scaggs), who was previously captured by Indians, possibly having 1 or 2 children by the Indian.  To my knowledge there isn't any proof of this Indian capture story, however there is evidence that Ruth Scaggs existed, came to the marriage with John Bishop with two children, Rachel Scaggs and Darky Gothrin, and had a child of her own with John Bishop, David Bishop.

Lord Dunmore's War

Many of the Scaggs family of Virginia were involved in the militia during Lord Dunmore's War in 1774.  Lord Dunmore was the Governor of colonial Virginia.  White settlers and the Indians were in conflict over land disputes on the Virginia frontier in present day West Virginia and Kentucky.  Lord Dunmore decided to put an end to this frontier conflict with an attack against the Indians using Virginia militia.

The Chickamauga Expedition of 1779

The Revolutionary War for the settlers of the frontier in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and the future states of Kentucky and Tennessee consisted of many battles against hostile Indian tribes led by British agents, military and Tories.  A major campaign in 1779 against the Cherokee was the Chickamauga Expedition.  The Virginia militia was involved in this mission to float down the Tennessee River to attack the Cherokee near present day Chattanooga.

John Skaggs, father of Zachariah?

Many researchers speculate that Zachariah Scaggs was related to Old Peter Scaggs in some way, either his father or his brother.  If so, we would like to know who Zachariah's father was.  There is evidence that Zachariah Scaggs likely had a father named John.

UPDATE: The Skaggs DNA Project has demonstrated that Zachariah Skaggs was NOT the father of Old Peter.

Zachariah Skaggs

Zachariah Skaggs is one of the more popular suggestions as father of Old Peter Skaggs, however, to my knowledge no-one has proven or even made a solid circumstantial case.  There does appear to be some relationship between the two men, however, a father/son relationship seems remote.  If so, why didn't Zachariah post surety of Peter's marriage like he did for his documented son Jerimiah's marriage earlier in the year?