Morgan County, Indiana Skaggs

The Morgan County, Indiana Gazette published a three-part series on the Skaggs family on April 22, 1971.  Part 1 is copied below.  Parts 2 & 3 are lengthy and can be obtained from the Morgan County Public Library in Martinsville, Indiana.

In Morgan County, Indiana there are at least two main branches of Skaggs - The Green Township Skaggs and The Jackson Township Scaggs. There are a few by that name who have not been identified as belonging to either branch as yet.

Several variations of the name are encountered: Skaggs, Skeggs, Scags, Scaggs, but despite these differences, all are believed to have a common ancestry.Even for any particular person, the spelling has often varied, depending on the scribe who might be writing the name as it sounded to him.The practice eventually has become pretty well established that the Green Township branch is spelled Skaggs while the Jackson Township branch is spelled Scaggs. There are many descendants of that name in Morgan and surrounding counties as well as many descendants of other names by marriage.

All these families have an interesting background.The first Skaggs in the New World is said to have been an Irishman, RICHARD SKAGGS, whose name appears in Virginia in 1658.He had a son, first name unknown, who was known in 1688 and a grandson, JAMES SKAGGS who was living from about 1700 to 1769.James married Rachel whose maiden name is not known.They had several sons in the Revolutionary War whose service was on the frontier where they engaged in scouting and skirmishes with the Indians who were allies of the British.

The early Skaggs descendants moved about considerably, it seems - some to Maryland, some to the Carolinas, some to southwestern Virginia; later to Tennessee or Kentucky and finally to Indiana about 1820 and thereafter.About 1828 they arrived in Morgan County, here it looked good - a garden spot midst verdant hills and fertile valleys - and here they stayed, few ever venturing elswhere unto this day!

Their story will be divided into three parts:Part 1. Skaggs Frontiersmen, Part 2. The Green township Skaggs, Part 3. The Jackson Township Scaggs.

Part I:

SKAGGS FRONTIERSMAN

From 1658 to 1761 very little has been found about the migrations of the Various Skaggs families. However, near the end of that period records of their living in southwestern Virginia begin to appear. After 1761 they are found in the vanguard of the slow but steady stream of pioneers into Tennessee and Kentucky.

Robert L. Kincaid,in his book, The Wilderness Road, tells about the Long Hunters who pushed farther and farther west after 1761, traveling long distances in unexplored country for months at a time in their quest for pelts which could be sold or traded at home. In the meantime it was up to their wives and children to do the farming and gardening.

One of the early leaders in these hunting expeditions was a man by the name of Walden. On one of his first trips he was accompanied by his father-in-law, William Blevins, his brother-in-law, Jack Blevins, HENRY SKAGGS, Walter Newman, Charles Cox and about a dozen other trained woodsmen. The party spennt about eighteen months on the trip and ranged as far as the vicinity of Cumberland Gap. The area was a hunter's paradise abounding in deer, buffalo, beaver, otter and mink and small game for their daily food supply. They brought home a large supply of pelts and hides.

In 1763, Walden and his party again went on a Long Hunt, passing through Cumberland Gap this time and going as far as the present town of Crab orchard, Kentucky.

The news of their successful hunts soon spread and led others to venture on similar trips. In June, 1769, a party of hunters gathered at Fort Chiswell as the starting point for their hunt. Among the leaders was RICHARD SKAGGS. They went as far as present Nashville, Tennessee. In the following year, 1770, a large party passed through Cumberland Gap, ranging as far as Green River and the Barrens in Kentucky where many Skaggs later settled.

In May, 1769, Daniel Boone and his party followed the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky but at Hazel Patch turned northward to the site of Boonesborough which he would later establish as a settlement. By the year 1775 the branch of the Wilderness Road that pointed toward Louisville, Kentucky was known as the SKAGGS TRACE and was named for three Irish brothers, HENRY, CHARLES AND RICHARD SKAGGS. Long Hunters who had spent much time in the region according to Kincaid, page 113. There is also a stream known as SKAGGS CREEK.

During the Revolutionary War, the Indian allies of the British waged war against the Kentucky settlers. Beginning in 1777 the fighting was bitter bringing much loss of life and hardships to the people. Several Skaggs were in the war, at least three of them being killed. Virginia and Kentucky Skaggs in the war included JAMES, JOHN, RICHARD, WILLIAM, ARCHIBALD, HENRY, CHARLES, MOSES, JACOB, JORRE AND AARON [SKAGGS] and a few with the same names as some of the above. MOSES and AARON [SKAGGS] are said to have been killed and also a PETER SKAGGS. Several of them received pensions later according to the records.

The Draper Manuscripts include a statement that "A number of Skaggs brother came to Green County, Kentucky, most of them very early, long before any settlement, and then they became the earliest settlers. JAMES, HENRY, JOHN, CHARLES AND RICHARD SKAGGS left records in Green County, while MOSES AND AARON [SKAGGS] were said to have been killed there." Note: In 1798 Barren County was split off Green County.

The Skaggs brothers, sons of JAMES AND RACHEL SKAGGS are believed to have been HENRY, CHARLES, RICHARD, JAMES,JR., AARON, MOSES and possibly JOHN SKAGGS. Many of their descendants still live in Kentucky but as early as 1820 there were three Skaggs in Indiana and at least one is known definitely to be from Kentucky.