John Skaggs and the Battle of King's Mountain

by General Joseph Graham

Published in The Southern Literary Messenger, September 30, 1845.

"The following account of the battle of King's Mountain is a copy of the original paper, drawn up by the late General Joseph Graham, father of the present governor of North Carolina, of Lincoln county, North Carolina, the county in which the site of the battle is located. The accompanying plan of the battle is a copy by a young lady of Carolina from the original taken by Gen. Graham on the ground. This graphic account, given by an uninterested individual, of the battle that led to the retreat of Cornwallis, then on his advance through Carolina, may afford interesting information to your readers, that love to dwell upon the scenes of the Revolution."

Lord Dunmore's War: Henry Sceggs' Detachment

Lord Dunmore's War was a confrontation between colonial Virginia and the Indians of the Ohio Country in 1774.  The war consisted of small skirmishes in present-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky culminating with the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774 near modern-day Point Pleasant, West Virginia.  You can read more about Lord Dunmore's War here.  Sergeant Henry Skaggs led a company of men from Fincastle County, Virginia consisting of several persons of interest for Skaggs researchers.

Lord Dunmore's War: Major Robertson's Company

Lord Dunmore's War was a confrontation between colonial Virginia and the Indians of the Ohio Country in 1774.  The war consisted of small skirmishes in present-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky culminating with the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774 near modern-day Point Pleasant, West Virginia.  You can read more about Lord Dunmore's War here.  Major James Robertson led a company of men from Fincastle County, Virginia consisting of several persons of interest for Skaggs researchers.

Who was John Stegg of Kent County?

There is evidence in the early historical records of Maryland that a John Stegg lived on Kent Island on the Eastern Shore in 1642 when Kent County was formed.  At this point in time there would have been less than 300 heads of household in the entire Maryland colony.  Past researchers noted that no John Stegg was found in early Virginia immigration records such as Cavaliers and Pioneers or the Virginia Historical Index, yet there he was in 1642 as you can see below the fold.

The Longhunters: An Historically Important Deed in 1769

In a recent post regarding the Long Hunters I referenced two deeds from 1769 where James Skaggs Sr. deeded land to two sons, Henry and James Skaggs Jr.  I think it's worth looking at one of these two deeds in detail since Skaggs ancestors were involved with several important historical figures from the New River area of Virginia when these deeds were signed.

The 1777 Loyalty Oath for Montgomery County, Virginia

During the American Revolution the Virginia legislature passed laws that required an oath of allegiance to the State.  Free men of age of majority were required to make the following oath:

"We whose names are hereunto subscribed do swear or affirm that we renounce and refuse all allegiance to George third King of Great Britain, his heirs successors and that, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia as a free and independent State and that I will not at any time do or Cause to be done any matter or thing that will be make known to some one Justice of the Peace for the said State all treasons or traitorous Conspiracies which I now or hereafter shall known to be formed against this or any of the United States of America."

In 1777 Montgomery County mustered the militia and required the oath.  The result is an interesting list of declared revolutionaries that is useful to family historians.

Skaggs Timeline in the New World before 1750

There's been a recent flurry of research activity for the Skaggs family in 17th century America.  I think it might be a good time to recap what has been discovered about the Skaggs family in the new world prior to 1750.  Below the fold is a chronological timeline for the Skaggs family in the new world.

The Hanging of John H. Skaggs and the Attempt to Resuscitate Him

From the vault of hideous medical experimentation: the hanging of John H. Skaggs and the attempt to use electrical current to return him from the dead.  This horrible story is a real historical Frankenstein episode from the backwoods country of the Missouri boot-heel of 1870.

The Legend of Isaac Skaggs of Salem County, New Jersey

There is a family legend amongst Skeggs that descend from Leonard of Frederick County, Maryland that Isaac Skaggs immigrated through the port of Salem, New Jersey from London, England sometime in the 1700s and settled in Salem County.  I never paid much attention to this legend since no evidence of Skaggs have been found to date from eighteenth-century New Jersey.  Until now.

The Manx Family History Website

There is an excellent website for persons interested in the Skaggs family history called Manx Family History.  It has a lot of great information about the various Skaggs family lines based on DNA testing.  For example, the Old Peter Skaggs line is described here.  Other Skaggs lines are shown below the fold.

Descendants of John B Floyd Skaggs Wanted for DNA Testing

John B Floyd Skaggs was born 18 May 1853 in the historical Rocky Station district of Lee County, Virginia.  It was the area across the Wallen Creek from the town of Pennington Gap.  His parents were Jeremiah and Mary Catherine Skaggs and he had five sisters.  John B Floyd Skaggs died in the same area 23 August 1929.  The Skaggs Y-DNA project has a gap in the testing that can be filled by male descendants of John B Floyd Skaggs.

Marker for Lawrence County, Kentucky Militia Company

Francis "Big Frank" Lemaster was militia captain in 1826 in Lawrence County, Kentucky.  Local residents want to commemorate their service by commissioning a stone monument to the men of that militia company, and they currently are raising funds on Facebook to fund the project.  Some interesting names will go on that monument.

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.

Absolom Elkins and His Ancestors

I know the Elkins aren't Skaggs but we can't ignore that one of the great remaining unproven Skaggs legends is that a Ruth Elkins firstly married John Scaggs and secondly John Bishop.  The Elkins and Scaggs lived nearby in Halifax County, Virginia in the 1760s and later in the 1770s on Little River in Montgomery County.  Absolom Elkins eventually inherited that property on Little River so let's hear what Elkins researchers have to say about him.

Wasting Time with the Long Hunters

I’ve avoided researching the Skaggs Long Hunter family since there has been extensive research done in the 100+ years since Lyman Draper’s work.  However, the internet has created an opportunity for a lot of “fake news” regarding the Long Hunters. People are posting trees without any evidence that create a dog’s breakfast of confusion for Skaggs family researchers.  Some folks are also ignoring well-documented prior research in their haste to tie their ancestors to famous Long Hunters like Henry Skaggs.

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.

Did Isabel "Belle" Skaggs ever exist?

This may be another instance of a Skaggs myth taking on a life of its own. Isabel "Belle" Skaggs was supposed by some to be a daughter of Old Peter, however, there appears to be no evidence to support this.  Nevertheless, Belle Skaggs is in many family trees as Old Peter's daughter and wife of a Joseph Fyffe.

Richard Scaggs, Early Colonist - Part 2

Previously, I posted a blog about Richard Scaggs, a founding colonist of Scaggs in America.  After studying the information in that blog and the results of subsequent DNA testing, I think that the Richard described may have been multiple individuals named Richard combined into one.

Zachariah Skaggs: You Usually Can't Find Someone to Marry You after You're Dead

In family history, frequently two or more historical figures get merged together into one.  We see this a lot in the Skaggs family because there were so many different John, James, Charles, etc. in the family, even in the same generation.  There is an irritating life to many of these merged individuals and it becomes harder to correct the record over time.  One such individual was Zachariah Skaggs.

A Family of Early Ohio Scaggs Pioneers

Most Ohio Skaggs settlers moved over from Kentucky sometime in the mid-1800s.  Many of these Ohio Skaggs are descendants of Old Peter.  I was recently shown a Scaggs family with a completely different and somewhat unexpected origin, apparently Maryland in the 1790s.