John Scaggs of Kent County, Maryland

Thanks to some recent digital transcription of records by the Maryland Historical Society we have discovered that a John Scaggs lived in Kent County, Maryland in 1749 and 1750.

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.

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: