Robert Francis wrote: > > FLEMING researchers, > > I hope this has been a wonderful holiday season for you. Speaking only for > myself, I've eaten way too much food, sat around and goofed off, and generally > have enjoyed myself immensely! > > As of today, our FLEMING surname discussion group has upwards of 135 members. > Isn't that amazing?!? While we are growing daily, I wonder from time to time > whether any of you have found connections with your roots. I'd love to hear > the good news as well as the notes of frustration. So, if you've connected, > please post. > > Some of you have become a bit discouraged because no one has responded to your > query. Take heart, it sometimes takes patience and a willingness to post your > query several times before someone responds with the information you need; > and, of course, there is a very real possibility that no one will respond. > > However, I must say that I have personally been rewarded by perseverence. For > example, I recently posted a query with a County genealogy web site and it sat > there for almost four months before someone responded to me. That one > response resulted in connecting with an ancestor line which now stretches all > the way back to Charlemagne! > > Okay, 'nuff "philosophizing." I'll start the "New Year" out by posting my > one-and-only FLEMING (actually, it was my desire to find her roots that > prompted me to start this discussion group). Her name is Agnes FLEMING. I > have a little information on her father also, so I'll include him in this post. > > I encourage everyone to brush off the dust from your old queries and repost > them to the list. Who knows who might be reading the query for the first time > and have that precious connection that you've been looking for? > > Happy Holidays! > > Bob Francis > FLEMING listowner > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > First Generation > _________________________________________ > > 1. William FLEMING. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. > > Col. William Fleming was an enfeebled Veteran of the Battle of Point Pleasant, > who was appointed by the Governor of Virgina in 1779 to go to Ky. to untangle > the land grants. He came from Scotland and was a Physician, and a surgeon on > George Washington's staff in the French and Indian Wars. He was also a State > Senator from Augusta Co. Virginia. > > William married UNKNOWN. > > They had one child: > 2 i. Agnes (1700-1785) > > > Second Generation > _________________________________________ > Family of William FLEMING (1) & UNKNOWN > > 2. Agnes FLEMING. Born in 1700 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Agnes died in Carnegie, > Pennsylvania in 1785; she was 85. > > Circa 1737 when Agnes was 37, she married Robert BELL, son of ---?--- BELL. > Born in 1700/1710 in County Tyrone, Ireland. Robert died in Romney, Virginia > in 1772; he was 72. Occupation: farmer. > > W. J. Winstein of Academy street furnished the following interesting story of > the early settlers in the Chartiers Valley. The paper was presented to Mr. > Winstein by descendants of Robert Bell, Sr., and for a number of years was > stored away in an old trunk, where it was recently found. The Bells were the > first settlers in the Chartiers Valley, staking out a claim in what is now > known as Rosslyn, in 1768. Many descendants of the original settlers are > still living in this vicinity. The paper follows: > Robert Bell, Sr., of Tyrone, Ireland, and wife, of Edinburgh, Scotland, > located four miles from Romney, Va., on the south branch of the Potomic river, > in the seventeenth century. Mr. Bell had many narrow escapes from the Indians > of that forest. In company with two other young men, named Vaughan and > Scisson, one day Robert Bell was in search of strayed horses, when the party > was surprised by an Indian ambushcade on a branch of __augherty Run, Va. > Vaughan was killed, a savage threw his tomahawk at Bell and wounded him. > Scisson turned on his horse and fled. After the fight Mr. Bell was able to > get on his horse, but he only went a short distance when he fell off. Mr. > Bells horse arrived home before Scisson did and a party at once was formed to > search for Bell. The party met Scisson at the Ohio river and he related what > had happened to Mr. Bell. They supposed he was dead and returned to their > homes. Within a week later they found Bell at Ft. Pitt, his wounds dressed by > Dr. Knight, who figured conspicuously at the burning of Crawford. Mr. Bell > served in the expedition of 1754, during the French and Indian War, and was > among the number who accompanied General George Washington on his first trip > on the Ka_awha. General Washington made a note in one of his diaries of those > who accompanied him in his canoe. > Mr. and Mrs. Bell had eight sons and two daughters. James Bell, Sr., the > oldest, was born in 1751. When he was a small lad of ten years, his father > went to Patterson Fort for a wagon load of wood. James and his brother went > along, their father wanted them to gather wood while he was hauling some home. > The two boys were busy gathering wood when the Indians attacked them. They > caught James but his brother ran and the Indians shot at him and he fell under > a log, the Indians thinking he was dead; he was not hurt, however, and later > went home and told that James was captured. The Indians took James to Indiana > and kept him there till he was returned by treaty. When his father went after > him he took two horses that James might ride home. When they met, James got > on the horse but had ridden only a short distance when he saw a woman and some > children who were also set free. James dismounted, letting the woman ride. > When he arrived home it was at night. His mother, hearing the wooden latch > lift with a string, called: Is that you, James? and his father answered, > yes. It was a joyful meeting. James had many stories to relate of his > capture. Among them, was that when the Indians took him the Ohio river they > made a canoe and put him in it and they had nothing to eat save what they > called cush meat. He always claimed they crossed into Pennsylvania and came > through Chartiers Valley, near Chartiers Creek. He told how they would have > two lines of Indians and would make him run between the lines. And of an old > Indian squaw who would be angry if they struck him, but he was a fast runner > and did not get struck often. They pulled all his hair out of the top of his > head and put rings in his ears. After he had been with them awhile the > Indians got very friendly with him and when he left the old Indian squaw cried. > In 1765 his father, Robert Bell, Sr., came from Virginia to Western > Pennsylvania. On returning as he was nearing home in Virginia, after > inspecting the land he intended to settle on in Pennsylvania, he was thrown > from his horse and killed. > In October, 1768, John and James Bell, Sr., came to Chartiers Valley, to what > is now Carnegie. The first night was spent in Chartiers Township, now east > Carnegie, and the second day they crossed Chartiers Creek, to what now is > Rosslyn. The second night they slept under a sycamore tree near the Fording. > When they awoke in the morning, James was alarmed at the noise of Indians > ringing bells to see if there were any horses in the neighborhood. The > Indians did not disturb the first settlers, and waded the creek at the rocks > near the Fording and continued on with their noise. The two Bell men, after > marking their respective claims, returned to their homes in Virginia. In the > following spring, 1769, they brought their mother and their families. The > mother remained with John Bell at East Carnegie, until she died. James Bell, > Sr., had marked for his claim at Rosslyn, some 400 acres and 151 perches. He > built his first log cabin near the present old Bell homestead, formerly owned > by Mrs. Morrow, a granddaughter of James Bell, Sr. Mr. Bell, Sr., erected a > family altar in his new cabin. > The Indians were quite numerous. His wife, Mrs. Mary Bell, (nee Newkirk), > would hang blankets around the wood fire place, then she would sit and mould > the bullets, while James Bell, Sr., would shoot out of a small window, > whenever the horses would come running from the spring near the oak tree. > Many an Indian rested in its shade. They knew to look and get ready for the > red man. James Bell, Sr., always carried his gun on his shoulder to church. > In 1772, James Bell, Sr., built a stone house. In that house he used to > relate his stories of his captivity by the Indians to his grandchildren. One > day he and his youngest son, James Bell, Jr., was in Pittsburgh. They met > some friendly Indians and some he knew. They presented James Bell, Sr., with > a bead belt and a small trunk. The bead belt is in the possession of one of > his sons descendants in Virginia. The small trunk is in the possession of > one of James Bell, Sr.s daughters descendants and is well preserved. James > Bell, Sr., died December 5th, 1836, and was buried in Chartiers cemetery. The > first burial plot was where the present Lead Works is located on the little > knoll in Rosslyn. > > Biography: Death date: 1772 {ES} > > Research: ROBERT BELL SR was born in Ulster, County Tyrone, Ireland between > 1700 and 1710. He was of Protestant ancestry. (The Bells in U.S.A. & Allied > Families, by Getha Gina Bell 1977.) ROBERT and AGNES FLEMING married about > 1737. She was born in Edinburgh, Midlothian County, Scotland between 1700 and > 1710. They lived near Belfast, Antrim County, Ireland. (Source; Dr. & Mrs. > J.H. Bell, Jr., 1110 Somerset Ave., Windber, Pennsylvania 15963. The FGS is > located in the Hampshire Co., West Virginia Public Library. ) > > They emigrated to America with their four children, all under the age of seven > in about 1744. This was during the Scots religious and political persecutions. > Tradition is that he arrived at tbe Port of Philadelphia, with two of his > brothers. One of the brothers went south and the other to Pennsylvania. (NOTE: > William Bell of Chester County, Pennsylvania, born about 1700, could be a > brother. His will was filed in 1774.) > > Robert and Agnes settled in the province of Virginia, on Patterson Creek, > which is on the south branch of the Potomac River, four miles from the present > town of Romney. This was an area known as the Manor of Patterson Creek, > Hampshire County, Virginia and is now West Virginia. (NOTE: Land Record; > Abstracts of Northern Neck Warrents & Surrveys, 1697-1784, Vol. 4, by Peggy > Shomo Joyner, pg. 24 shows Robert Bell as a chain carrier for a survey dated > 11 Dec. 1750 in Manor Patterson Creek. Page 38 he was a chain carrier 10 Oa. > 1752-20 Apr. 1753 etc.) There, they engaged in farming and stock-raising on > their 330 acre farm. (NOTE: Patterson Creek Manor Tax List of 1762.) > > After living in this county for ten years, Robert served in the French and > Indian War, under Colonel George Washington. He was a Private on the rolls of > Captain Stobo's Company and Captain Van Braam's Company. Robert was wounded in > the battle of Great Meadows 09 Jul. 1754 and retired with a small one time > disability. (NOTE: Library of Congress, Roll of Virgina Regiments, > Washington's Journal 29 Ju1.1754. Virginia County Records Vol. 11, (Va > Colonial Militia) 1651-1776. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. > 1982. Page ll3 &116. Virginia Colonial Soldiers, Page 46, 47, 49-51, > 128,131, 133,143,159. Journal of House of Burgess, 1752-58, Pagc 265 and > 273.) Their son, James age fourteen was taken prisoner by the Indians and > held for several years until he was returned as a consequence of a treaty. > (NOTE: Encyclopedia of Biography Vol. VII Pages 2540-41, by John L. Jordan, > LLD, N.Y. Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1916.) > > Their father, Robert signed a deed in 1771 in Romney. (NOTE: Hampshire Co., > Virginia Deeds, Bill of Sale: Book No.3, Page 17, 18,289-291 from Thomas B. > Martin 1771.) He owned a fine horse named Drednot, which was generally > regarded as swift and sure footed, though spirited and irnpetuos; but once > attemping to leap a brook, the settle girths burst and Mr. Bell Sr. was > instantly killed in 1772. (NOTE: Source; Barbara A. O'Callaghan, 8042 N.14th > Avenue, Phocnix, Arizona 35021. Thomas Jefferson Postlewait/Jane Mary (Bell) > Postlewait/John Bell "Squire"/Robert Bell Jr/J ROBERT BELL.) His estate was > sold by his heirs 09 Mar. 1773 to Okey Johnson. (NOTE: West Virginia > Settlements, by Ross R. Johnston 1977.) > > This unfortunate accident did not deter his sons from pursuing the occupation > in which they were already engaged, that of stock raising. Within a few years > after their father's death the eldest two sons, James and John set out from > home to seek more extended land ownership in the region west of the mountains, > which was the formation of the "Ohio Company". The French wars had rendered > this area familiar to many. They passed pass through Washington County and > followed the Chartiers creek to it's mouth, reaching a point just above the > borough of Mansfield on a evening in October where tradition says they passed > the night. A bear had been killed during the day, and a large chip was cut > from a swamp oak to afford means of cutting and preparing the meat. The > vitality was not impaired; it survived several generations of the Bell family, > and died of old age in October, 1873. They traveled by horseback to for the > purpose of exploration. On the next day they crossed Chartiers Creek and spent > the second night within Robison Township; and after marking the bounds of > their respective claims inthe customary mannor, they then returned to > Virginia,with the intention of removing their families to Pennsylvania and > there making his home. The following spring they brought their families. James > was the first permanent settler in Robison Township and John lived in > Chartiers Township until their deaths. (NOTE: History of Allegheny County, > Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, A Warner & Co. Publishers, Chicago, ILL. in 1889.) > > All of Robert's family then moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania (NOTE: > This area first settled in 1760 and became Alleghany Co., Pennsylvania in > 1786.) settling in the Old Sewickley Settlement on the Ohio River and in > Carnegie near Chartiers Creek. From there Agnes's sons and sons-in-law served > in the Revolutionary War. After the war, her children Robert, William, DAVID, > and Joseph moved to Harrod's Creek, Kentucky. They had not found the locality > as well adapted to stock raising as they had anticipated. Samuel moved to > Harrison Co., Indiana. James and John remained behind with their mother. > > Agnes was living with her son John near Chartiers Creek, in Carnegie, > Pennsylvania when she died in 1785. She was first buried on her son's > homestead in the Old Wood's Graveyard at Peter's Creek, Pennsylvania. Her body > was moved back to Hampshire County, Virginia. (NOTE: Hampshire County, > Virginia is now part of West Virginia.) > > The birth order of their children is uncertain. Dr. & Mrs. J. H. Bell Jr., > Windber, Pa. report it to be Robert Jr. 1736, Joseph 1738, Samuel 1740, > Margaret 1742, all born near Belfast, John 1743, Jane 1744, William 1746, > DAVID 1748, James 1750 and Charles 1752. > > ("Robert BELL," pp. 17-19) > > They had the following children: > i. Margaret Fry (1742-1795) > ii. James (1740-1836) > iii. John (1743-1833) > iv. Robert (1736-1826) > v. David (ca1755-) > vi. Samuel (1742->1820) > vii. Charles (1748-) > viii. Joseph > ix. William (-1816) > x. Jane "Jean" (1746-) unsubcribe Fleming