Who was Old Peter Skaggs?: Cherokee

Showing posts with label Cherokee. Show all posts

Charles Skaggs: How the Dix River got its name

Lyman Draper wrote in The Life of Daniel Boone that in the autumn of 1770 the Long Hunters Joseph Drake and Henry Skaggs led a party of hunters from New River and Holston areas into Kentucky.

"Equipped with three pack-horses for each man, rifles, ammunition, traps, dogs, blankets and salt, dressed in hunting shirts, leggings and moccasins, they took their leave of friends and kindred..."

More Skaggs and the Chickamauga Expedition of 1779

A while back I wrote a post about the Chickamauga Expedition of 1779. Basically, it was a water-borne attack on hostile Cherokees by the Virginia militia. We know from his pension deposition that William Skaggs was a part of the expedition. Some family historians believe that kidnapped white Virginians were rescued from captivity, perhaps even Ruth Skaggs and daughters Rachel Skaggs and Darky Gothrin. Now we have evidence that the Skaggs Long Hunters, John, Aaron and James Jr. were junior officers or non-commissioned officers under Captain Thomas Mastin on this expedition.

William Scaggs, another Long Hunter?

I wrote a short post about the William Scaggs from Montgomery County, Virginia who was father of Joseph and husband to Esther. I've also speculated that this William may have been related to the Zachariah Scaggs who died in Virginia in 1818. Well, here's a new speculation. This William might have been another son of the James Skaggs, husband of Rachel and father of the famous Long Hunters.

The Catron Family and the Cherokee Indians

In previous posts here and here, I discussed the DNA evidence and circumstantial evidence pointing to the possibility of Old Peter's wife, Martha Cothon, actually being related to the Catron family. I have been referred to a valuable historical resource, The History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore by the Cherokee historian Emmet Starr. I have put a link to this book in the "Interesting Links" section of this site for convenience. The Catron family appears in this book as having married into an important Cherokee family.

James Elkins and the Chickamauga Expedition

In the comments to a previous post about the Chickamauga Expedition against the Indians, a commenter alerted me to a James Elkins who participated in that expedition to Tennessee. This James Elkins appears to have been a nephew of the legendary Ruth Elkins, the son of her brother Richard.

Will the real Hezekiah Whitt please stand up?

I wrote a previous blog entry about the relationship between the orphan Thomas Bailey Christian (TBC) and his adopted father Capt. Thomas Mastin. Old family stories that TBC was the son of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk appeared in conflict with DNA testing of his descendants. Well, things get even more confusing when a friend of Thomas Mastin, Hezekiah Whitt, is added to the mix. Hezekiah Whitt served in the American Revolution with the Virginia militia under Capt. Thomas Mastin as described in Hezekiah’s application for a military pension:

“… In the month of March and he thinks in the year 1770, he went as a volunteer under Captain Thomas Mastin upon the expedition against the Cherokee Indians to Tennessee, called the "Chickamaugy Expedition". The point of rendezvous was at Colonel Campbell's in the County of Washington, Virginia. The men were marched to the big Island of Holston, where they were incorporated into the regiment of General Evan Shelby. From thence they marched against the Indian towns, but found upon entering them that they had already been abandoned by the Indians. This declarant was three months in this service having left home in the early part of March and returning after the troops were disbanded sometime in June.”

DNA Testing: Thomas Bailey Christian, Indian or Not?

It’s a familiar situation for family historians researching Appalachian ancestors; an ancestor was historically described as “Indian” but modern DNA testing shows no indication of native American ancestry. This happened to descendants of a man some Skaggs researchers may be familiar with, Thomas Bailey Christian.

Patrick Brown: Indian Trader

We frequently see online genealogies that claim Old Peter Skaggs' wife, Martha, was the daughter of Patrick Brown, an Indian trader and an Indian wife. We have recently seen that DNA testing has challenged the common belief that Martha was an Indian by blood. Does the evidence support the belief that Martha was the half-Indian daughter of Patrick Brown?

Skaggs and the Cherokee War of 1759-60

The Cherokee War between the Cherokee Indians and the British was conducted separately but concurrent to the French and Indian War. The Cherokee were not really allies of the French, but fought the British at the same time as the French. Hostilities began in 1759 when the Cherokee declared open war against the British. The British colonists in Virginia and the Carolinas built and manned forts to defend themselves against the Indians. At least three Skaggs ancestors were involved in this war based on South Carolina records.

August 2015: Who was Old Peter Skaggs?

Do we know more about Old Peter Skaggs than we knew just a few years ago? I think so, but still not as much as we should know given how much research has been done: digitizing of public records, sharing of family history on the Internet, DNA testing, etc. Still, we have some accomplishments to celebrate:

Debunking the Mary Thear and Busell Skaggs myths - they are no longer big time-wasters for Skaggs family researchers
Separating the history of two famous James Skaggs and their wives from each other
Finding important DNA evidence that

Old Peter and/or Martha were not likely to have been Indians
Old Peter's Y-haplogroup appears to have been R1a1a; different from the descendants of Thomas Skaggs from West Virginia
Old Peter's descendants are related to descendants of Rachel Skaggs, daughter of Ruth Bishop, The Longhunter Skaggs and Joseph Skaggs - however, the specific relationships are still uncertain

Now for the interesting part...

DNA Testing: Old Peter and Martha Were Not Native American

An anonymous correspondent has informed me the results of an autosomal DNA test, and these results are important to descendants of Old Peter Scaggs who are interested in possible Native American heritage. Our correspondent is a documented direct descendant of Old Peter and Martha and the DNA test showed ZERO Native American ancestry. Not a trace. So the multi-generational rumor that Martha Cothron was Cherokee appears to be just a myth.

Ruth Scaggs Bishop and the Cherokee Kidnapping

I previously wrote about the Bishop family legend of Ruth Scaggs being captured by Indians. There is some new evidence that this legend may be based in fact. A Rev. William R. Belcher from Lewis County, Washington submitted an Eastern Cherokee Application #31073 in 1908 claiming his grandfather's grandmother was taken prisoner by a Cherokee chief.

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.

Who was Old Peter Skaggs?

More Skaggs Indian Stories: Affidavits, Petitions and Applications