Hi, I'm looking for any information on William Bryant McKenny (1841-1889) who married Nancy Caroline Moss (1835-1919). I'm looking for his parents but any info would be appreciated. Thanks Ann Thomas Grant ----- Original Message ----- From: eytvwt@ftc-i.net To: scchest2@rootsweb.com Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 9:49:33 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [SCCHEST2] Thanksgiving - Robert Walker, Culp, McKinney, Brown, Steele, Ferguson, Melbury RE: Simpson's Shoals ?? does anyone know the exact 'present day' location of Simpson's Shoals and where the McKinney family lived?? Thanks, Virginia eytvwt@ftc-i.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bev E" <bepstein@sc.rr.com> To: <scchest2@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 5:43 PM Subject: Re: [SCCHEST2] Thanksgiving - Robert Walker, Culp, McKinney, Brown,Steele, Ferguson, Melbury > Hi Joy > I have a Robert Walker b abt 1740 married to Jane Ferguson b, abt 1740, the > daughter of James and Sarah Ferguson. This Jane Ferguson was the sister to > my 5th Great Grandmother Elizabeth Ferguson who married Peter Culp, the son > of Hans Casper Kolb/Kulp/Culp. I believe the name McKinney/McKenney is > generally spelled as McKinney now. Thanks, Bev > > Barbara Culp McKinney > > This expert taken from the book "Women of the American Revolution by > Elizabeth F. Ellet, Vol. III published in 1850 > > > > Chapter VI Katharine Steel starts on pg 83 > > from pages 88 - 95 .In a few years the little settlement had spread over the > rich lands on Fishing and Rocky Creeks, the dwellings being gathered into > clusters, of which there were some three or four within a short distance of > each other. Not a great way from Steel's and Taylor's Forts was another > settlement consisting of a few families, among which were those of William > McKenny and his brother James. These lived near Fishing Creek. In the > summer of 1761, sixteen Indians, with some squaws of the Cherokee tribe, > took up their abode for several weeks near what is called Simpson's Shoals, > for the purpose of hunting and fishing during the hot months. In August, > the two McKennys being absent on a journey to Camden, William's wife, > Barbara, was left alone with several young children. One day she saw the > Indian women running towards her house in great haste, followed by the men. > She had no time to offer resistance; the squaws seized her and the children, > pulled them into the house, and shoved them behind the door, where they > immediately placed themselves on guard, pushing back the Indians as fast as > they tried to force their way in, and uttering the most fearful outcries. > Mrs. McKenny concluded it was their intention to kill her, and expected her > fate every moment. The assistance rendered by the squaws, whether given out > of compassion for a lonely mother, or in return for kindness shown them, ? > proved effectual for her protection till the arrival of one of the chiefs, > who drew his long knife and drove off the savages. The mother, apprehending > another attack, went to some of her neighbors and entreated them to come and > stay with her. Robert Brown and Joanna his wife, Sarah Ferguson, her > daughter Sarah and two sons, and a young man named Michael Melbury, came in > compliance with her request, and took up their quarters in the house. The > next morning Mrs. McKenny ventured out alone to milk her cows. It had been > her practice heretofore to take some of the children with her, and she could > not explain why she went alone this time, though she was not free from > apprehension, it seemed to be so by a special ordering of Providence. While > she was milking, the Indians crept towards her on their hands and knees; she > heard not their approach, nor knew anything till they seized her. Sensible > at once of all the horror of her situation, she made no effort to escape, > but promised to go quietly with them. They then set off towards the house, > holding her fast by the arm. She had the presence of mind to walk as far > off as possible from the Indian who held her, expecting Melbury to fire as > they approached her dwelling. As they came up, he fired, wounding the one > who held Mrs. McKenny; she broke from his hold and ran, and another Indian > pursued and seized her. At this moment she was just at her own door, which > John Ferguson imprudently opening that she might enter, the Indians shot him > dead as he presented himself. His mother ran to him and received another > shot in her thigh, of which she died in a few days. Melbury, who saw that > all their lives depended on prompt action, dragged them from the door, > fastened it, and repairing to the loft, prepared for a vigorous defense. > There were in all, five guns. Sarah Ferguson loaded for him while he kept up > a continual fire, aiming at the Indians wherever one could be seen. > Determined to effect their object of forcing an entrance, some of the > savages came very near the house, keeping under cover of an outhouse in > which Brown and his wife had taken refuge, not being able on the alarm, to > get into the house. They had crept into a corner and were crouched there > close to the boarding. One of the Indians, coming up, leaned against the > outside, separated from them only by a few boards, the crevices between > which probably enabled them to see him. Mrs. Brown proposed to take a sword > that lie by them and run the savage through the body, but her husband > refused; he expected death, he said, every moment, and did not wish to go > out of the world having his hands crimsoned with the blood of any fellow > creature. "Let me die in peace", were his words, "with all the world". > Joanna, though in the same peril, could not respond to the charitable > feeling. "If I am to die", she said, "I should like first to send some of > the redskins on the journey. But we are not so sure we have to die don't > you hear the crack of Melbury's rifle? He holds the house. I warrant you, > that redskin looked awfully scared as he leaned against the corner here. We > could have done it in a moment." > > Mrs. McKenny, meanwhile, having failed to get into her house, had been > again seized by the Indians, and desperately regardless of here own safety, > was doing all in her power to help her besieged friends. She would knock > the priming out of the guns carried by the savages, and when they presented > them to fire would throw them up, so that the discharge might prove > harmless. She was often heard to say, afterwards, that all fear had left > her, and she thought only of those within the building, for she expected for > herself neither deliverance nor mercy. Melbury continued to fire whenever > one of the enemy appeared; they kept themselves, however, concealed, for the > most part, behind trees or the outhouse. Several were wounded by his cool > and well-directed shots, and at length, tired of the contest, the Indians > retreated, carrying Mrs. McKenny with them. She now resisted with all her > strength, preferring instant death to the more terrible fate of a captive in > the hands of the fierce Cherokees. Her refusal to go forward irritated her > captors, and when they had dragged her about half a mile, near a rock upon > the plantation now occupied by John Culp, she received a second blow with > the tomahawk which stretched her insensible upon the ground. When after > some time consciousness returned, she found herself lying upon the rock, to > which she had been dragged from the spot where she fell. She was stripped > naked, and her scalp had been taken off. By degrees the knowledge of her > condition, and the desire of obtaining help came upon her. She lifted up her > head, and looking around, saw the wretches who had so cruelly mangled her, > pulling ears of corn from a field near, to roast for their meal. She laid > her head quickly down again, well knowing that if they saw her alive, they > would not be slack in coming for finish the work of death. Thus she lay > motionless till all was silent, and she found they were gone; then with > great pain and difficulty she dragged herself back to the house. It may be > imagined with what feelings the unfortunate woman was received by her > friends and children, and how she met the bereaved mother wounded unto > death, who had suffered for her attempt to save others. One of the blows > received by Mrs. McKenny had made a deep wound in her back; the others were > upon her head. When her wounds had been dressed as well as was practicable, > Melbury and the others assisted her to a bed. Brown and his brave wife > having then joined the little garrison, preparations were made for defense > in case of another attack' the guns were all loaded and placed ready for > use, and committing the house to the care of the Browns, Melbury sallied > forth, rifle in hand, and took to the woods. He made his way directly, and > as quickly as possible, to Taylor's Fort at Landsford. The men there, > informed of what had happened, immediately set about preparations for > pursuing the treacherous Indians who had thus violated the implied good > faith of neighbors by assailing an unprotected woman. The next morning a > number of the, well armed, started for the Indian encampment at the shoals. > The Cherokees were gone; but the indignant pursuers took up the trail, which > they followed as far as Broad River. Here they saw the Indians on the other > side, but did not judge it expedient to pursue them further, or provoke an > encounter. > > In the meantime William McKenny had reason for uneasiness in his absence > from home; for he knew that the Indians had been at the shoals some time, > nor was the deceitful and cruel character of the tribe unknown to him. He > was accustomed long afterwards to tell of the warning conveyed to him while > on his road to Camden; two nights in succession he dreamed of losing his > hat, and looking upon this as an omen of evil, became so uncomfortable that > he could proceed no further. Taking one of the horses out of the wagon, he > mounted and rode homeward at his utmost speed. Reaching his own house a > little after dark, he was admitted by the women as soon as he made himself > known. The scene that greeted his eyes was one truly heart-rending; the > slain man, John Ferguson, still lay there, and in the same apartment the > dying mother and Mrs. McKenny, more like one dead than living, mangled > almost past recognition?the blood still gushing from her wounds, and > drenching the pillows on which she lay. No fictitious tragedy could surpass > the horrors of this in real life. The wounds in Mrs. McKenny's head never > healed entirely; but continued to break out occasionally, so that the blood > flowing from them stained the bed at night, and sometimes fragments of bone > came off; nevertheless, she lived many years afterwards and bore several > children. She was at the time with child, and in about three months gave > birth to a daughter?Hannah, afterwards married to John Stedman- and living > in Tennessee in 1827. This child was plainly marked with a tomahawk and > drops of blood, as if running down the side of her face. The families of > McKenny and McFadden residing on Fishing Creek, are descended from this > Barbara McKenny; but most of her descendants have emigrated to the West. > The above-mentioned occurrence is narrated in a manuscript in the > hand-writing of her grandson, Robert McFadden. > > > > The night succeeding this, preparations for hostile action were going on > also at Steel's Fort. The Cherokees had passed over to Rocky Creek, and > still intent on rapine and bloodshed, had stopped at the house of John > McDaniel, whom they killed, with his wife and carried away captive seven > children, the eldest a girl of fifteen years of age. The outraged settlers > were not slow in collecting a part of ten or twelve men to pursue them. > Thomas Steel, the leader, was well calculated for the service, having been > an Indian trader, and being acquainted with their language.* When he set > out, his little son John, a boy of eleven years old, wished to accompany > him. But the mother dissuaded the brave child by telling him it was his duty > to stay and man the fort, for the protection of herself and his sisters. > Steel's experience made him familiar with Indian wiles, and the party > followed the trail almost to the borders of the Cherokee nation. They came > upon the savages at length, in the dead of night, assaulted and completely > routed them. Killing nearly all, and rescuing the seven children. One of the > white men?Thomas Garett of Rocky Creek, chanced to kill the Indian who had > tomahawked Mrs. McKenny, and actually found the scalp in his shot bag. Other > bloody trophies were recovered, to carry back to the friends of the > murdered, and then, placing the children on their horses, the men retraced > their steps homeward. The joy of the poor little captives at the sight of > familiar faces, was more than reward enough for their deliverers. They had > no parents to welcome their return, but their uncle, Hugh McDaniels received > them. Such incidents were in those time of common occurrence, but this > encounter was the last, the Cherokees venturing on no more incursions. Mrs. > Steele had about this period some friends who lived on the Yadkin in North > Carolina, ninety miles from her home. When she wished to visit them she was > accustomed to take her child, a year old, twelve miles distance, to the > house of Robert Brown, the nearest neighbor she had in the direction of the > Yadkin. Leaving the infant in their care, she would proceed alone, on > horseback, making her way through the Catawba Nation, and traveling through > a wild country which might be called uninhabited, for so sparse was the > population that from Camden to the Catawba Nation?a distance of sixty miles, > there were but four houses of white settlers. She was unsurpassed in the > qualities of a horsewoman, nor was she impeded by trifling inconveniences of > dangers. > > * His granddaughter, Mrs. Jane Thompson, had in her possession a pile found > some fifteen years since near the for. The coiled stem is not more than ten > inches long, though the whole length is about ten feet. This was the well > know calumet of peace used among the savage tribes. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCCHEST2-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCCHEST2-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message