Frontier Currents -- part 3

...  Chapter I   (continued from part 2) ...

Initially, life remained much as it had always been for the citizens of Southwest Virginia. Most citizens continued to work their farms dealing with Indian threats and other emergencies as they arose. A few, however, left their families to manage things at home and joined the colonial cause. Fincastle’s Committee of Safety answered a call for troops by sending a company of choice riflemen to join Virginia’s regiments east of the Allegheny Mountains. By early September of 1775, these Fincastle troops, under Captain William Campbell, were dispatched to assist in protecting Hampton, Virginia against a British attack. In response to the Virginians’ success in thwarting the British, Governor Dunmore issued a proclamation offering freedom to all slaves who would join the royal troops. In spite of the four hundred slaves who responded to this promise, in early December Dunmore’s men were once again defeated by the Virginia regiments at the Battle of Great Bridge. Captain Campbell and his troops continued to serve with those Virginia regiments east of the Allegheny’s for several more months. (1)

 

By the spring of 1776, families in the frontier settlements were once again threatened with aggressive Indian attacks. Agents for the Royal Government had enlisted the Creeks, Cherokee, Choctaws and Chickasaws as allies against American rebels who lived on the frontier borders. Traders and others who had close contact with Indian tribes were reporting this alliance to the settlers. As the Indians made plans to harass, backcountry families living in the Holston, Clinch and Powell River valleys of Virginia and present-day Tennessee, once again evacuated to the more settled areas north and east and to forts throughout the western lands. Militias were hastily formed and men serving with regiments east of the mountains, such as William Campbell, returned home to defend their families and neighbors. For the remainder of the Revolutionary War, the western settlements continued to be threatened by bands of Cherokee and Shawnee. Settlers who had not evacuated took shelter in their forts from early spring to late autumn. (2)

 

The Blackley family was living on the Middle Fork of the Holston River, north and east of the most intense Indian threats during this period. There is no evidence that they witnessed any attacks first hand, but threat of attack remained and news of the increased threat reached settlers throughout Fincastle County. Many of the families of the western frontiers (what is now eastern Tennessee, Kentucky and extreme southwest Virginia) had origins on the headwaters of the Holston and still had friends and family living there. For those who chose to evacuate from the western settlements, the Holston headwaters were a natural choice for their temporary relocation. Thus, any news of attack or new threats nearby or on the frontier fringe warranted heightened interest.  (3)

 

As the colonies declared their independence and began to form a fledgling nation, families along the frontier borders acted as agents of revolution in defending themselves against Britain’s Indian allies. By July 1776, Cherokees were considering plans to cut off people employed at the Lead Mines (in present-day Wythe County). In response to this information, the Virginia Council directed a stockade to be raised and garrisoned for the protection of the mines and ordered Colonel William Christian to march his troops into Cherokee country (Tennessee) to do what was necessary to stop future insults and ravages. A force of about 2,400 men, (Virginians, North and South Carolinians and Georgians) marched to the Cherokee towns along the Little Tennessee and Telico Rivers. After destroying their villages and property, Colonel Christian offered the chiefs a peace to be concluded in May of 1777 at Long Island on the Holston River. Although his offer was accepted and hostilities were to cease pending execution of the treaty, attacks (initiated by both Indians and white men) continued up to and beyond the conclusion of the treaty.  (4)

Fincastle’s population growth in the previous years in combination with the on-going threat presented by the Indians, intensified demands for government participation closer to the frontier farms. The county’s size posed hardships for backcountry families wanting to conduct government business. So, on January 1, 1777, as government shifted from its colonial origins to a government that derived its power from the consent of the governed, Fincastle County was broken into three counties: Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky. Following this reorganization, the Blackley family found themselves living in Montgomery County, presumably on 200 acres of land Charles had acquired in 1776. This property, on the middle fork of the Holston, adjoined that of James Davies (Charles’ father-in-law or brother-in-law), but it is unclear whether the property was acquired through Margaret’s family or purchased independently. The new land would be helpful in supporting a growing family; its proximity to kin made it convenient for sharing the joys and responsibilities of family life. One joyous occasion to be shared occurred on Christmas Day of 1777, when Margaret gave birth to another son, Jesse. Sarah, at nearly three years, was no longer the baby of the family. She, James, and Alexander had a new brother and the Blackley family now numbered six.  (5)

... to be continued in part 4 ...

Endnotes:

1.  Summers, History of Southwest Virginia and Washington County, 207, 208

2.  Ibid, 217, 219, 224.

3.  In 1769 Charles Blakely settled on 258 acres on Bare [Bear] Creek, a branch of the middle Fork of Holston: Kegley, Mary B. Early Adventures on the Western Waters, Vol. 2, The New River of Virginia in Pioneer Days, 1745-1800. (Orange, Virginia: Green Publishers Inc., 1982), 113.
Image captured from Google Maps online:  http://maps.google.com/

4.  Summers, History of Southwest Virginia and Washington County, 240 - 244. 

“Fort Patrick Henry”, The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.  Online:  http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=F045, [7 May 2006].

5.  Image of land near headwaters of the middle fork of Holston River:  photograph by Bonnie Starkey, October 2008.
Crush, Charles W. Montgomery County Virginia: The First 100 Years, (unknown publisher, 1986), 5. 
4 January 1782 record in Montgomery county Entry Book A and Commissioner’s Certificate record indicate Charles Blakely settled on 200 acres on a branch of the Holston in 1776: Kegley, Early Adventurers on the Western Waters, Vol 2, 31 & 105.
31 August 1781 Montgomery County Deed Book A entry for land transfer from James Davies to Joseph Davies describes location on Middle Fork of Holston adjoining Charles Blakely land, so it seems likely the land Charles acquired in 1776 was located on the middle fork of Holston River. More research is required to confirm this refers to the 1776 purchase, not the land on Bear Creek or another parcel. Douthat, James L. Montgomery County Virginia Deed Book A 1773-1789. ( Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1987), 62.
Jesse Blackley birth information from: Perry, The Charles Blackley family of Knox County, Tennessee, 13.
Supporting birth information for Jesse Blackley from: 1850 U. S. census, Gentry County, Missouri, Schedule I, Howard Township, page 242, dwelling 659, family 659, Jesse Blakely; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com. < http://www.ancestry.com> [accessed 17 June 2006].