1. John Handley, born about 1746 in Augusta County, Virginia, married Mary Harrison, daughter of Colonel Benjamin Harrison of Cumberland County, Virginia, about 1768. died January 18, 1811. He became a prominent citizen of Monroe Co., where his name appears on record books associated with his cousins, Archibald Handley, James Handley and Alexander Handley. Surveys of Botecourt County show he purchased land on Indian Creek, now Monroe County, West Virginia., with his cousin, Archibald Handley, in 1774. He, also, owned land in Jefferson County, Virginia. His home in Monroe County was called Handley's Fort. This was not a government fort, but a fortified house, where his family lived and neighbors gathered for a place of safety during Indian raids. It is not known exactly when the fort was built, but the date was prior to 1779, as records show that the Pauley family set out on their ill-fated trip to Kentucky from this fort in the fall of 1779. The fort stood less than a hundred yards from where the County Infirmary of Monroe is now. In 1939 some of the old logs were still there with a great clump of rose bushes. John fought in Captain John Lewis's Company in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. He was a Lieutenant under General George Rogers Clark in 1782/1783. He died in Greenbrier County, West Virginia and is buried in Green Hill Cemetery at Union, Monroe County, West Virginia According to family history, Mary was a relative of President William Henry Harrison and of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mary was killed by a team of runaway oxen which she tried to stop and drive into .the barnyard gate on December 4, 1829. She is buried in the Guyandotte Cemetery near Charleston, West Virginia, where she had gone to make her home with her son, Isaac Handley, after her husband's death. John and Mary had twelve children. They were;