What is interesting is the mention of the Catrons in Henry's pension application.
Preston called for Capt. Trigg [Captain Daniel Trigg] & his Company of New River Boys who were in good repute for integrity to go & assist in taking & dealing with the Tories & some deserters from the American Army who had crept in amongst them. He states that they marched to one Michael Price’s on a small creek near the head of Catawba in Bottetourt [County] or Montgomery [County] there they spent some time scouting & taking and trying deserters & Tories by a court martial held there under the direction of Colo. Preston having disposed of them they moved to Saml Peppers [Samuel Peppers] on New River & then caught & tried several more from there they crossed New River & went up a small creek called Reedy Creek a branch of New River to Staphal Catrans [Christoph Catron’s] where they took and tried several others from thence to Jacob Catrans [Jacob Catron’s] where they closed their labors they took and tried between 50 & 100 deserters & Tories & and compelled them to enlist in the American Army during the war or find a substitute to do it & made them take an oath of allegiance to the State of Virginia…
So Henry and the Montgomery County militia rounded up Tories and tried them at Christoph Catron's and Jacob Catron's homes. Remember, not only was the Revolution against the British, but in many places including Virginia there was a civil war going on as well, with the revolutionaries against the Tories. If you didn't take the oath of allegiance to Virginia, you had to pay double taxes, assuming they didn't hang you instead. What is interesting here is mention of the Catrons. Remember, Old Peter Skaggs' wife, Martha Cothron, may have been a Catron. Here we see Skaggs running around trying Tories at two Catron residences in Montgomery County. Some recent DNA testing finding relationships between Skaggs and Catron descendants makes things interesting as well. This is just another piece of circumstantial evidence of interaction between Skaggs and Catron families in Montgomery County, Virginia at the time of the Revolution.
Does Henry Skaggs pension application mention the year that Henry and Daniel Trigg's Co. marched through Montgomery Co. and dealt with the deserters/Tories ?
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Col. Preston's campaign against the Tories was in 1780. The historian Lyman Draper has a list of Tory confessions from 1780:
Delete"1780 5QQ68 Tories. Confessions of John Clifton, Toloman Harrison, Roger Oats,
Bryant Fanning, Robert Phristo, David Copeman, Jeremiah Lambert, Marcum Lovell,
Andrew Thompson, and Amos Johnson; others involved are John Bullock, John Wyley,
Joshua Jones, David Herbert, John Griffith, John Jenkins, Charles Devereaux, Evan
Williams, John Newton, Philip Dutton, the Vaults, Bronstetters, Moses Wells, Peter
Razor, Jink Williams, Ben Thomas, Griffith Lewis, John Morgan, N. Brittain, JOHN COX,
John Draper, Valentine Harmon, John Henderson, Colonel Ingles, Achilles Fanning,
Richard Oney, Thomas Potter, Jonathan Ingram, and Bernard Gullion."
There are some surprises in this list...the Cox referred to in Henry Skaggs' pension application probably was the John Cox in the list. John Cox was a militia captain apparently turned Tory. Also Colonel Ingles was in the list of Tories. And Valentine Harmon, who ended up in Whitley County, Kentucky. Bryant and Achilles Fannin were brothers, Bryant ended up in Lawrence County, Kentucky as one of the founding members of that Fannin family.
It makes you wonder if maybe Col. Preston was getting a little paranoid about the Tories, so he just started rounding up suspects and forcing confessions.
Very intriguing. And another surprise on that list is Colonel Ingles ? Is this Col. William Ingles ? Mary Ingles husband ?
ReplyDeleteWell, what I find so interesting with Henry Skaggs pension testimony is how accurate and detailed their movements were around Old Peter/Martha living area and close neighbors based upon the 1789/90 Tax list C Montgomery Co. The following names listed on Henry's pension testimony are documented on the 1790 Tax List with branches, creeks and tributaries.
1) Michael Price: Lived on Stoubles, Crab, Wall, Falling and Sinking Creeks.
2) Samuel Peppers: Lived on Crab, Plum, Craig, Johns and Sinking Creeks.
3) Staphal/Jacob Catrons (Kettering): Lived on both sides of Reed Creek and Cedar Run.
4) Captain Daniel Trigg: Live in the same areas as Peter Skeggs and John/Ruth Bishop: Both sides of Little River, Dry Branch, Sugar Run, South/West forks of Little River, Meadow/Mill creeks, Dunkard Bottom.
A few thoughts/questions concerning the above information........
* If Peter Skaggs was living in this area from 1780-1787, how could he not be apart of the Montgomery Co. Militia either in the final years of the Revolution or as a mandatory community defender from Indian attacks ?
* 1780-1790 gives us a minimum time table that the above families of Price, Peppers and Catrons(Kettering) lived in this area.
* If Old Peter's wife Martha was apart of this Catrons/Kettering family she would have been around 5-9 yrs old and maybe a witness at he time of these forced confessions/hangings.
* Can you think of any reason why no male Catrons/Kettering would not have signed/witnessed/posted bond for her marriage to Old Peter ?
Remember, we are still speculating here because we have limited evidence.
DeleteQ: If Peter Skaggs was living in this area from 1780-1787, how could he not be apart of the Montgomery Co. Militia either in the final years of the Revolution or as a mandatory community defender from Indian attacks ?
A: I keep asking myself this question. The simple answer is Peter wasn't 21 until 1782 or later, depending on when you believe he was born. By then the war was basically over since the Seige at Yorktown was in October 1781.
Q: Can you think of any reason why no male Catrons/Kettering would not have signed/witnessed/posted bond for her marriage to Old Peter ?
A: The easiest answer I have is that her father was either dead or left the area, similar to the Peter Skaggs situation. If you think Martha Cothron was a prisoner of the Indians along with Ruth and Rachel Skaggs and Darky Gothrin, then perhaps her parents left the area thinking she was dead. Three of the Montgomery County Catrons (Peter, Philip and Francis) show up as signatories to the Cumberland Compact in what would be Nashville in May 1780, so they left Virginia for Tennessee in Spring 1780. It would be interesting to research those Nashville Catrons.
Good points! Yet, even if Peter was to young to be apart of the Revolutionary War wouldn't he (Peter) be apart of the mandatory local Militia to protect against Indian attacks as suggested in the 1787 Montgomery Co. Tax Lists ?
ReplyDeleteIs there any family tree information on the Peter, Phillip, Francis Catrons/Kettering that suggest a missing daughter named Martha ?
I'm interested in whether any of those Nashville Catrons suffered any Indian attacks in Virginia.
DeleteIntresting about Valintine Harman. And Ingles. That is the only harman they metion when lots of Harmans in the area at the time. All patriots but one? Valitine did go to Kentucky earlier than most but dont here of him again except i think i read he was killed by the indians. There is a land suite that i should read up on.
ReplyDeleteDraper and Henderson also.
ReplyDeleteI back and read it. Half the people on the conffessed. The half draper,harman,ingles,henderson were suspected. Even boone was suspected a time or two
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of Tories in Virginia at the time though. I had an ancestor who was hanged in 1780 for being a Tory. He swore George Washington was a puppet of the French and he wasn't going to stab the English in the back just to help the French take over. However, I think a lot of people used Tory gossip just to get back at neighbors they were jealous of or had grudges against.
DeleteThere was more than one Valitine after looking into it futher.
ReplyDelete