Notes on the settlement and Indian wars of the western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania, from 1763 to 1783, inclusive : together with a view of the state of society, and manners of the first settlers of the western country

Preface

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A new edition of the valuable Notes of Dr. Doddridge having been long called for, his daughter, the late Narcissa Doddridge, had, prior to her death which occurred several years ago, written a Memoir of her father with a view of prefixing it to a new edition of the book which she - contemplated publishing. Her design having been interrupted by her death, the undersigned has now, at the request of her family, undertaken the task of supervising the publication of a new edition of the Notes, with the Memoir above referred to prefixed.

T The Notes of Dr. Doddridge have long been recog- % nized as an authentic and valuable authority as to matters relating to the pioneer history of the west. The work v being thus acknowledged as an original authority, the editor does not deem it advisable to encumber the pages of the work with notes, or illustrations derived from the investigations of later writers.

The ably written Memoir, in addition to particulars relating to the life of the author, will be found to contain many facts of interest concerning the early history of the west, and especially concerning the foundation of the Episcopal church in Western Virginia and Ohio.

IV

Preface .

I have added to the volume, by way of appendix, a number of interesting sketches illustrative of the pioneer history of the west, written by Miss Doddridge, and being a selection from a number found among her papers. She devoted many years of her life to inquiries of this character, and she exercised such good judgment in the selection of incidents for record, and such thoroughness and care in her investigations as to entitle her narrations to entire credit as to authenticity.

The Reminiscences of Judge Scott included in the appendix are republished as well deserving of preservation in a more accessible form than in a newspaper. The Dirge with which the volume closes is interesting as one of the earliest specimens of western poetry now extant.

Alfred Williams.

Circlevilley Ohio.

MEMOIR

OF THE

REV. DR. JOSEPH DODDRIDGE.

The author of the following Notes, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Doddridge, was the eldest son of John Doddridge of Maryland, of English descent, and of Mary daughter of Richard Wells, of the same state. He was born Oct. 14, 1769, in Friend’s Cove, a valley situated a few miles south of the town of Bedford, in Bedford county, Pennsylvania. His father having lost his estate in Bedford county, by neglecting to complete his title to a settlement right, in the spring of 1773 removed to the western part of Washington county, Pennsylvania, settling a short distance east of the line which divides that state from Virginia.

Thus in the fourth year of his age, the subject of this memoir became a resident of the western country, then an immense wilderness, and the greater part of it in the possession of its native inhabitants, the Indians. The opportunities afforded by his early and continued association with the pioneer settlers, assisted by a habit of close observation, a tenacious memory, and the interest he took in gathering up incidents indicative of the times and illustrative of the character of those among whom he lived, preeminently qualified him for giving an impartial and correct description of the country at its first settlement, as well as a truthful account of the manners, customs and wars of those who with himself labored to transform into fruitfulness and beauty its interminable forests.

From the picture which he has presented of the society in which he was reared we may justly conclude that his facilities for obtaining an education were very limited, and that to his own energy and perseverance he was mainly indebted for whatever intellectual culture he possessed. His views of life, its purposes and its duties, were just and liberal, drawn as they were from the Bible, general experience and observation. Regarding man as accountable to his creator for the due improvement and practical

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exercise of the talents committed to him, he endeavored by a life of active usefulness and uniform Christian effort to discharge his obligations to God and his fellow men.

Leaving his mother before he was eight years of age, his father sent him to Maryland to school, where he remained some years. After his return, until he attained the age of eighteen years, he was mostly occupied in labors on the farm. His father, a strict disciplinarian in the training and government of his family, was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist society, then in its infancy, and differing but little in its doctrines and public ritual from the Church of England, to which he had been attached in his native state. He was a man of intelligence and remarkable for firmness and decision of character, qualities which, as they were always exerted in favor of morality and religion, rendered his influence in the neighborhood in which he resided decidedly healthful and salutary. Shortly after identifying himself with the settlers in Washington county, he erected on his own premises a house for public worship, designed also for educational purposes. This memento of his piety and the interest he took in the moral and intellectual improvement of those around him is yet standing, though in a dilapidated condition, still retaining its original cognomen, Doddridge’s Chapel.

All the children of Mr. Doddridge’s first marriage, viz: Joseph, Philip, Ann, and Ruth, were at an early day brought under the influence of religious truth, and became members of the adopted church of their father, Joseph, the subject of this notice, according to the reminiscences furnished the writer by the Hon. Thomas Scott, late of Chillicothe, Ohio, labored several years as an itinerant in the Wesleyan Society. Mr. Scott, who was at the period referred to a traveling preacher of the Methodist church, says : My acquaintance with the Rev. J. Doddridge com-

menced at the house of Rev. JohnJ. Jacobin Hampshire county, Va., in July, 1788. He was then in company with Rev. Francis Asbury by whom he was held in high esteem. At a conference held at Uniontown, Pa., a short time previous, he had been received as a traveling preacher in the Wesleyan connection, was then on his way to the Holston circuit, and subsequently labored on the West River and Pittsburg circuits.”

At the request of the Rev. Mr. Asbury he studied the German language with a view to preaching in German settlements. His knowledge of this language, which was thorough, he found very

Dr. Joseph Doddridge.

useful to him in after life. In April, 1791, he was recalled from his field of labor to attend the death bed of his father, who had previously appointed him executor of his estate. The duties thus devolving upon him, together with the unprotected situation of his step-mother and the younger members of the family, which required his personal supervision, rendered it necessary for him to relinquish his duties as an itinerant preacher of the Methodist church, which, as his subsequent history will show, wer£ never again resumed.

After arranging the business entrusted to him by his deceased father, finding some available means at his disposal, he resolved to qualify himself more thoroughly for the responsible calling which he had chosen, by devoting a portion of time to the acquisition of learning, more particularly to perfecting himself in a knowledge of languages ; his education thus far, having been prosecuted under disadvantageous circumstances. Accordingly he entered Jefferson Academy at Cannonsburg, Pa. His brother Philip, who had been from childhood associated with him in efforts to acquire knowledge, both laboring by day in field or forest, and at night poring over books at the family hearth stone, became a student in the academy at the same time. Philip, who subsequently became very eminent as a jurist and a statesman, died in 1832 at Washington, D.C., while he was a member of congress.

The following extract from a letter written by a Presbyterian clergyman, the Rev. Robert Patterson, late of Pittsburg, shows the estimation in which the brothers were held in the institution at Cannonsburg.

Green Tree P. O., near Pittsburg, June, 1850.

It affords me pleasure to comply with your request respecting my early acquaintance with the Rev. Dr. Doddridge for whose memory I cherish the most profound regard. From 1791 until 1794 I was a student in Jefferson academy. During a portion of this time Dr. Doddridge was there. We were room mates, boarding in the family of Rev. Mr. Mercer. David Johnson, the principal, and the students generally, as is usual in literary institutions, soon determined the grade of his intellect, his moral character and his personal worth 5 and none, during my connection with the academy, stood higher than he in the estimation of those who knew him. Being his senior in years and science it was sometimes my privilege to give him explanations and help him through knotty passages in his lessons, in doing which, I soon discovered that it was not necessary to tell him the same thing twice, so retentive and comprehensive was his mind. His brother

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Philip was a student with him at the same time. Both of them were remarkable for original genius, intellectual strength, and close investigation of any subject that came before them. These qualities, combined with ingenuous, amiable dispositions and uprightness of deportment, endeared them to all who had the pleasure of knowing them.

It was probably about this time that the subject of this memoir resolved to take orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. This determination was not, we presume, the result of any diminution of his regard for the society with which he had been previously connected ; for through life, he manifested a warm attachment to that people, treated their ministers with the greatest courtesy and hospitality, and was ever ready to testify to their zealous and self-denying labors in the cause of their Lord and Master. In the absence of any direct information as to the cause of his withdrawal we have grounds to conclude that as his mind became more matured, and his reading more extended, his confidence in the Episcopacy of that body was lessened. We are, furthermore, well assured that his judgment and preferences were decidedly in favor of a precomposed ritual of public worship. The labors subsequently performed by Dr. Doddridge as a member of the Episcopal church were so extensive and valuable, and his devotion to that church so zealous, that we consider it proper to give our readers all the information upon the subject now attainable.

We therefore, in connection with this subject, give his views on these points as expressed in a letter written in 1822 to the Rev. John Waterman, a talented and highly respectable clergyman of the Methodist church. The letter was written in reply to one from Mr. Waterman, inviting him to attend a camp-meeting shortly to be held in the neighborhood of one of his parishes, and hinting that if he did not do so, he should conclude that he was deterred from so doing by the fear of offending a clerical brother who was supposed to hold extreme views on the subject of the apostolic succession of the bishops.

Dear Brother : Your letter inviting me to attend your camp-meeting is before me. I should be pleased to meet with you one day at least. But even this is uncertain. You live by the altar, Ido not. I must depend on my medical profession for a support. You are aware that the time of a physician is not at his own disposal. ***** I certainly would not do anything that would bring me into collision with a clerical brother, but not from a feeling of fear. I value consistency of character. ***** The

Dr. Joseph Doddridge.

first Christian service I ever heard was that of the Church of England in Maryland.

When I was a minister in your society a prayer book was put into my hands with an order to use it every Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Holyday 5 also on baptismal and sacramental occasions, which I did. So I may say, that in the main the forms of worship I now use have been those of my whole life, and I think I shall end as I began. If you have left the venerable church of your ancestors, and built an Episcopacy on the priesthood 5 if you have laid aside the prayer-book, and become presbyterial in your forms of worship, the faults, if any, are not mine. I am truly sorry that these events have happened. Glad should I be if we were still one people.

As to the apostolic succession of the bishops, to which you refer, it is a subject to which I have not devoted much attention, and probably never shall. The subject for reasons which I have mentioned to you is not agreeable to me j yet I respect the claim and feel satisfied that my ordination has descended through so valid and respectable a channel. From this claim, however, I will not conclude against the efficacy of the ministry in other hands. It is enough for me to know and feel that other societies are Christian too. Therefore, I will not curse whom God hath not cursed ; and I am willing to join in worship with them, so far as I can do so consistently with the duties which I owe to the church of which I am a member. * * *

As in the preceding letter Dr. Doddridge had adverted to the subject of apostolic succession, we deem it not amiss to give the reader a more extended expression of his views on this long controverted subject. The quotation is from a letter to a friend in the interior of the state of Ohio, who, hearing the subject much discussed there, desired to have his opinion.

Wellsburg, Va., Feby., 1823.

You ask my opinion on the subject of apostolic succession. A learned discussion of the question would be too lengthy for a letter. I respect and venerate the claim, and feel gratified that my ordination has descended through this valid and venerated channel, but whether this succession is essential to the efficacy of the ordinances, is an awful question and one which my feelings incline me to answer in the negative. If the mercies of our God, flowing from the labors and sufferings of the Redeemer, have been transmitted to a succession of generations for a period of nearly two thousand years, through limited, sometimes dubious, and often impure channels, what then is the value of a system so partial in its application ? If it be said that none but that small portion of mankind who have any shadow of claim to this succession are within the reach of mercy, how does the declaration comport with the extent of the mercy of Him, who, by the grace of God tasted death for every man. This is a point which we may safely leave to the Divine decision. It is a case not within our control, therefore we need not concern ourselves about it.

The annunciation of this claim on the part of our clergy, is a declaration

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of war against all other denominations. It has arrayed them all against us, and the result may easily be foreseen.

In March, 1792, being then a resident of Pennsylvania, Dr. Doddridge was admitted to the order of deacons, in the Episcopal church, in Philadelphia, by the Right Rev. Bishop White. By the same prelate and in the same city, he was in March, 1800, ordained a priest, having in the interval between his ordinations removed to Virginia. His reasons for preferring at this time to continue under the jurisdiction of Bishop White are thus given in a letter to Bishop Moore of Virginia, in 1819.

When I received deacon’s orders I lived in Pennsylvania, but previous to being admitted to the priesthood, I removed to Virginia. I stated the circumstance to Bishop White, at the time, urging that the residence of the bishop of Virginia was so far from my own that I could not hold the requisite correspondence with him without great inconvenience, and also that from what I had learned concerning our church in that state, I did not think that my uniting with its convention would be in any way satisfactory to myself, or beneficial to others 5 the church in Virginia, having at that period little more than a nominal existence. Therefore I preferred remaining in fact, though not canonically, under his jurisdiction. The bishop was satisfied with my reasons and accordingly all my communications have been made to him.

To the doctrines and formularies of the Protestant Episcopal church. Dr. Doddridge was devotedly attached, regarding them as promotive of piety and edification. And, although for nearly twenty-five years he occupied the cheerless position of an advanced guard in her ministry, yet he faltered not in his labors, but untiringly exerted himself to promote the growth and prosperity of the church, and to awaken an interest in the transmontane dioceses by appeals to their bishops in behalf of the scattered members of the fold, who, in the vast regions of the west were as sheep without a shepherd, destitute of that nourishment and fostering care essential to their spiritual growth and happiness. The convention which organized the diocese of Ohio was held at Columbus in 1818. For twenty years prior to that date Dr. Doddridge had been preaching frequently at various places in Eastern Ohio, and there formed a number of congregations which afterwards became members of the diocese of Ohio. Of his labors as a minister we now propose to give some details which will show how truly apostolic were the services which he rendered to the church.

Dr. Joseph Doddridge.

Early Churches in North Western Virginia and Ohio.

We shall now give a brief notice of the congregations formed by Dr. Doddridge during the early years of his ministry in the Episcopal church, and our authority for the same. We do not find among his papers any indicating that he entered into written agreements with his parishioners to perform clerical duties previous to the year 1800. He attended to such duties continuously from the year 1792, but probably, prior to 1800, all his receipts were from voluntary contributions, which we may conclude did not amount to much, from the fact that a few years after his entrance into the ministry he was under the necessity of combining with his clerical profession that of medicine in order to obtain a support.

His lovely and amiable wife, when speaking of this early period of her married life, would playfully say, that before her husband commenced the practice of medicine, he was too poor to buy himself a second suit of clothes, and when Saturday afternoon intervened, he was obliged to remain incognito, while she adjusted his habiliments for his appearance in the pulpit on Sunday. The labor of the laundress as well as the skill of the seamstress were frequently called into requisition on these occasions, knee breeches and long stockings being then in vogue.

Dr. Doddridge’s subscription papers for the year 1800, and for some years thereafter, show that in his country parishes, the remuneration promised him for clerical services was to be paid in cash, or wheat delivered in some merchant mill, or such other produce as might be agreed upon by the parties.

In Virginia he seems to have found many who desired to walk in the u old paths,” by worshiping God in the way of their fathers. As a matter of interest to their descendants, we shall give the names of the supporters of the church in several of these parishes built up in the wilderness, as they stand in the subscription book of their pastor for the year 1800. From these lists may be gleaned some knowledge of the number of their descendants who still adhere to the faith of their forefathers. They will also show that the number of those in the western regions who felt a decided preference for the Episcopal church at that early day was by no means small.

In the notes furnished the writer by Judge Scott he says: “In the year 1793, Rev. J. Doddridge had three parishes in

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Virginia, viz: West Liberty in Ohio county, St. John’s and St. Paul’s in Brooke county.”

St. John’s Church.

St. John’s parish, which is still in existence, was doubtless the first one organized by Dr. Doddridge in North Western Virginia. As early as 1793 it was provided with a small log church, since replaced by a handsome brick edifice. This parish continued under the charge of its first pastor for nearly thirty years, when declining health compelled him to sever a relation around which clustered many endearing and fondly cherished associations of his youthful and maturer years.

The names of subscribers in this parish in the year 1800, are as follows :

George Atkinson, Absalom Wells, Archibald Ellson, John Davis,

Charles M’Key, Charles Elliot, William Atkinson, John Strong,

George Swearengen, William Davis, Richard Wells,

Asel Owings, Andrew Maneally, Thomas Nicholson, John Myers,

John Foster,

Abel Johnson, William Baxter, James White, George Wells, George Mahon, Simon Elliot jun., Simon Elliot,

Daniel Swearengen, Anthony Wilcoxen, Andrew Morehead, Alex. Morrow, George Elliot, William Lowther, William Adams,

James Britt,

John Crawford, John Ellson,

Peter Hay,

John Hendricks, Richard T. Ellson, Israel Swearengen, Richard Ellson, Thomas Crawford, Jane Morrow.

Church at West Liberty.

In the summer of 1792, Dr. Doddridge collected a congregation at West Liberty, the seat of justice for Ohio county, Va. Hon. T. Scott says in his reminiscences of Dr. Doddridge that in this place Episcopal services were held in the Court House. This parish was much weakened by the removal of many of its members to Wheeling when the county seat was removed to that place. Dr. Doddridge, however, still held services in West Liberty every third Sunday in the year 1800. The supporters of the church there in that year were :

Moses Chapline, Nathan Harding, Isaac Taylor,

Benjamin Biggs, Charles Tibergein, Thomas Beck,

Dr. Joseph Doddridge.

Andrew Fout, Ebzy Swearengen,

Silas Hedges, William Griffith,

John Wilson, Christian Foster,

Abraham Roland, Ticy Cooper,

Thomas Dickerson, James Wilson,

John Cully, Jacob Zoll,

Nicholas Rogers, John Abrams,

Samuel Beck, John Kirk,

Thomas Wyman, Stephen G. Francis, William Dement, Zaccheus Biggs,

Benijah Dement, William Cully,

George G. Dement, John Willius, sen., William Willius.

Amount subscribed $98.

West Liberty, like many other places in the western country in the early part of the present century, presented a fine opening for Episcopal missionary labor, in the absence of which the field has been successfully cultivated by others, and at the present period there is probably not an Episcopalian in the place. It may not be amiss in this connection to call attention to the fact that the ritual of the Episcopal church was exceedingly popular among the rude pioneers of the west. The book of Common Prayer has always been found suited to all classes and conditions of mankind.

We have no means of posititively ascertaining when this primitive structure was erected. We presume, however, that it was prior to 1793, as Judge Scott in his reminiscences speaks of it as one of the churches of which Dr. Doddridge had charge in that year. It was located about five miles east of Charleston and the Ohio river. The building was of logs, and surrounded by noble forest trees, amid which in subsequent years might be seen the “ narrow houses ” of many of those who had worshiped within its walls. The list of names in this parish for the year 1800 is small, containing only the following :

Aaron Robinson, William Hendling, James Robinson,

Israel Robinson, John Harris, Peter Mooney.

Peter Ross, Benedict Wells,

At a later period St. Paul’s was principally sustained by the late George Hammond, Esq., and some of his relatives and friends, among whom we find the names of Gist, Hood, Crawford, Wells and others. In the summer of 1818, the writer was one of a large number of sympathizers who met in this humble

St. Paul’s Church in Brooke County, Va.

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edifice to hear from the lips of its rector, words of solemn import on the subject of death and eternity. The occasion which called us together was the sudden death, by accident, of an interesting youth, William eldest son of the late Charles Hammond, the distinguished editor of the Cincinnati Gazette. The sermon was preached in accordance with the request contained in the following letter from Mr. Hammond to Dr. Doddridge :

Belmont, July, 1818.

Rev. and Dear Sir: When I saw you I mentioned that I wished you to preach a funeral sermon for our son William, from Matthew, 19 : 13- 14. I had then shaped in my own mind, the various views in which I thought the subject might be profitably considered. I felt a repugnance to mention this, lest you should think I wanted to dictate a sermon for you. However, after mature deliberation, I have concluded, that to present you the following view, can give no just cause of offense to you. If you think proper to adopt it, I shall be much gratified, if you do not, there is, I trust, to me a common saying, u no harm done.”

1. This portion of scripture may justly be regarded as important, both as example and precept ; the transaction being very minutely detailed by three of the Evangelists, viz : Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

2. It illustrates the extent and character of the atonement — the child being incapable of doing anything as a means of salvation $ and, in the language of Dr. Clarke, it “ utterly ruins the whole inhuman diabolic system of what is termed 4 nonelect infant damnation ’ — a doctrine which sprang from Moloch, and can only be defended by a heart in which he dwells.”

3. It may be considered as asserting literally that a great part of the heavenly kingdom are infants.

4. It illustrates the character of the true Christian.

Like a child, he is open and generous in his feelings.

Like a child, he knows no distinctions among men.

Like a child, his wish is only to do good to his fellow-man.

Like a child, he feels universal good will for the whole world.

Like a child, he is devoid of guile.

Like a child, his heart is not set upon worldly wealth.

Like a child, he is not bent upon worldly ambition.

In short, like that of a child, his soul is unstained with folly or crime.

Our Lord was particular in defining the true character and final destination of infants, for wise and benevolent purposes j this condition of the child being a means of inducing the parents and other relatives to seek salvation, as the only course by which they can again rejoin the beloved object of which they have been bereaved j affording at the same time, a source of unspeakable comfort and consolation to the mourners, in the well grounded confidence that the child is in eternal rest. And here an occasion fairly offers to confound the predestinarian, by contrasting the dark horror which assails his mind upon the death of an infant, with the heavenly hope and comfort enjoyed by the true Christian.

In its application, the subject admits of a very strong appeal to the adult and more aged. * *

It is my wish that the sermon should be delivered in the old church This will be more necessary and will render the service the more solemn, if you join me in the idea of a direct, personal appeal from yourself to those who, twenty-five years ago, met to hear the gospel from you. * * *

I should not have intruded these hints upon you, had you not said that it was your intention to devote some time to preparing a sermon for the occasion, and, as it will be the last expense I shall incur for our dear boy, I contemplate having it printed. Yours sincerely,

C. Hammond.

George Hammond, mentioned above as one of the supporters of St. Paul’ s church, was the father of Charles Hammond, the editor and jurist. Charles Hammond represented St. James’s church, Jefferson county, as a lay delegate in the convention which organized the diocese of Ohio, at Columbus, in 1 8 1 8. With the talents, learning and reputation of Mr. Hammond as a writer and lawyer the public are familiar ; but it may not be so generally known that he was a diligent student of the Bible, as well as a firm believer in its truths.

Church in Steubenville, Ohio.

To David Moody, one of the early settlers of Steubenville, the writer is indebted for the following items of information respecting the introduction of the Episcopal church in that place. He says: “ The Rev. Dr. Doddridge was the first Christian minister who preached in our little village. As early as 1 796 he held monthly services in it, his congregation meeting in a frame building which stood on the south side of Market and Water streets. In 1 798 the first court house for the county was built, in which an upper room was reserved for religious purposes, free to all denominations. In this room the Episcopalians met for worship. With sbme intervals this early missionary of the church continued to officiate in Steubenville until Dr. Moore took charge of the parish in 1820.”

Trinity Church at Charlestown, now Wellsburg.

At Charlestown, now Wellsburg, Brooke co., Va., the residence of Rev. J. Doddridge, Episcopal services in 1800 were held in Brooke Academy. This town was at an early period of