U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: --------------------------------------------------------------------- History of Wetzel County, West Virginia by John C. McEldowney, Jr., 1901 Pages 163-165 AN INDIAN MASSACRE NEAR THE BORDERS OF WETZEL COUNTY. On the 5th of December, 1787, a party of Indians and one white man, Leonard Schoolcraft, came into the settlement on Hoker's creek, and meeting with the daughter of Jesse Hughes, took her prisoner; passing on they came upon an old man by the name of West. He was carrying some fodder to the stable, and they likewise took him captive and carried him to where Hughes' daughter had been left in charge of some of the party. Here the old man got down on his knees and prayed fervently that they would not deal harshly with him, on which he was answered by a stroke of a tomahawk, which sent him to death's eternal sleep. They then went to the house of the old man's son, Edmund West, where were Mrs. West and her sister, who was but eleven years old, daughter of John Hoker and a brother of West, a lad of twelve years. They forced open the door, Schoolcraft and two of the savages entered and one of them immediately tomahawked Mrs. West. The boy was taking some corn from under the bed and was drawn out by his feet and tomahawked. The girl was standing behind the door and one of the savages made toward her and aimed a blow at her head. She tried to evade it, but it struck her on the side of the neck, though not with sufficient force to knock her down. She fell, however, and lay as if killed. Thinking their work of death accomplished here, they took from a press some milk, butter and bread and placed it on the table and sat down to eat. The little girl observed all that was happening in silent stillness. When they had satisfied their hunger they arose, scalped the woman and boy, plundered the house, and departed, dragging the little girl by the hair about fifty yards from the house. They then threw her over a fence and scalped her, but as she evinced symptoms of life, Schoolcraft exclaimed, "That is not enough," when immediately a savage thrust a knife into her side, and they left her. Fortunately the point of the knife came in contact with a rib and did not injure her much. Old Mrs. West and her two daughters were alone when the old gentleman was taken. They became uneasy that he did not return, and fearing that he had fallen into the hands of the savages, they left the house and went to the house of one Alexander West, who was then on a hunting expedition with his brother Edmund. They told them of the absence of the old man and their fears of his fate, and as there was no man here they went over to the house of Jesse Hughes, who was also uneasy as to the absence of his daughter, and on hearing that West, too, was missing, he did not doubt Mrs. West's predictions, and knowing of the absence of the younger West he deemed it advisable to apprize his wife of danger and remove her to his house. On which he started toward the house, accompanied by Mrs. West and her two daughters. On entering the door a horrible spectacle was presented to their view. Mrs. West and the lad lay upon the floor welting in their blood, but not yet dead. The sight overpowered the girls, and Hughes had to carry them off. Seeing that the savages had just left them, and aware of the danger that they would be menaced with if the alarm be given to the Indians, Hughes guarded his own house that night and in the morning spread the sorrowful news of the massacre, and organized a company of men who went in pursuit of the Indians and to try to find the missing ones. Young West was found, standing in the creek about a mile from home, where he had been tomahawked. The brains were oozing from his head, yet he survived in extreme suffering for three days. Old Mr. West way found in the field where he had been tomahawked. Mrs. West probably lived but a few minutes after Hughes and her sisters-in-law had left there. The little girl (Hoker's daughter) was found in bed at the home of old Mr. West. She related the story to Edmund West, and said that she went to sleep, when she was thrown over the fence and was awakened by the scalping. After she had been stabbed, at the suggestion of Schoolcraft, and left, she tried to re-cross the fence to the house, but as she was climbing up she again went to sleep and fell back. After awakening she walked into the woodŽ and sheltered herself as good as she could in the top of a tree and remained until morning. Remembering that there was no person left alive at her sister's house, she proceeded to go to the house of old man West. She found no person at home, the fire nearly out, but the hearth warm. She laid down on it, but the ashes produced a sickening odor which caused her to get up and go to bed, where she was found. She recovered, grew up and was married, and gave birth to ten children. She died, as was believed by many, from an affection of the head, caused by the wound she received that night. Hughes' daughter was ransomed by her father the next year, and for a long time lived in sight of the theatre of those savage enormities. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other articles in this book by going to the following URL which contains a linked index for the book. http://www.us-data.org/wv/wetzel/history/mceldowney.html -------------------------------------------------------------------