Jacob Parchment, scalped by Indians at the mouth of Lee Creek or the mouth of Parchment Creek in West Virginia (both places claim the legend) was the brother of my ancestor John Parchment/Parchman. There were 2 other brothers, Peter and Philip, all the presumed sons of Nicholas Parchman, first found on a list of Col George Washington's militia around Winchester, VA, during the French and Indian War in 1758. Nicholas was next found on a tax list in western PA in 1773, and then Nicholas and Peter were both on a tax list there in 1783. Peter Parchman/Parchment/Perchment was an Indian scout with Samuel Brady during Lord Dunmore's war with the Indians in 1774 and later a soldier with the Virginia Continental Line at Valley Forge, being wounded by an Indian Arrow in Ohio during a march to threaten the British at Detroit. Philip was also in the militia of western PA during the Revolution. The Parchman/Parchment/Perchment name (spelled differently by scribes for the military, tax roles, census, etc) is a rare one in colonial America, with no other families having the name before 1850. Philip and John went on to middle Tennessee by 1787, while Peter remained in Pittsburgh, where he is revered as an early pioneer of the area. His later descendants were surgeons in the Civil War and one married into the Mellon family. Peter and Philip probably knew Daniel Boone at Fort Pitt, and Phillip was acquainted with David Crockett in middle Tennessee. Philip and his children were also pioneers in northern Mississippi and eastern Texas, while John's descendants remained mostly in middle Tennessee. Philip's grandson, William Philip King, was the youngest defender (17 years old) to die at The Alamo in 1836, and has a county in Texas named for him. In the Draper manuscripts, Lyman Draper interviewed John Perchment, the son of Peter Perchment/Parchment in 1843, and John relates the story of the Indian scalping of his Uncle Jacob. He says (contrary to both legends in West Virginia, which say that a hunting-trapping party came down from Wheeling, that Jacob was scalped while HE went out to hunt) that Jacob remained at the camp alone while the others went out to hunt, and was scalped at the camp. When friendly Indians discovered the deed, they related the information to Peter and his party. Peter returned alone to get his brother's body (a heavy man", although the West Virginia legends say he was only 17) and carried it some distance for burial. At a later time, he heard 2 Indians (one drunk and the other sober) bragging about the murder, and he shot the sober Indian and wrestled with the drunk one, almost being overcome before killing him with his knife. The location of this scalping is not mentioned in the interview! , but there were no other Jacob Parchments in America at the time. In the interview, Peter was also a member of the famous rescue by Samuel Brady about 1783 of several white children captured by Indians in Westmoreland County after killing and scalping their mother. Peter was also a fellow scout with the famous Simon Girty, who had been raised by Indians, and said his bad reputation was not deserved. I am trying to find out what happened to Nicholas Parchman/Parchment, and why there are 2 versions of the story in West Virginia. Perhaps Jacob was killed at the mouth of Lee Creek as the legend for that community says, and Nicholas was the "old man" who settled with his sons "John and Jacob" at the mouth of what became Parchment Creek, which also claims the legend about Jacob. At any rate, they didn't stay long, and Nicholas may have died there, since his other 2 sons had moved on to Tennessee by 1787. I am trying to find any evidence of Nicholas or his family being or settling briefly in West Virginia about 1785-1787. Any information would be appreciated. Gerry Parchman Trenton, New Jersey

9I think I sent this to the Jackson County list by mistake instead of the Wood County list.) The whole area around Belleville was Kanawha County when Wood County was created from Kanawha in 1798, then Wood was extended further southwest when Mason was cut away from Kanawha in 1804. Jackson then took part of both Wood and Kanawha (along with part of Kanawha and Lewis) when it was formed in 1831. So the SAME Belleville has actually been in several different counties at different times. My ancestor's brother, Jacob Parchment, was scalped by Indians in 1785 while at the Garrison Stockade at Belleville. It was then just about on the border between Harrison County to the north (which covered the north central quarter of what became West Virginia) and Greenbrier to the south (which covered the south-central part of what became West Virginia). The counties then were mostly only on paper. Kanawha County was created from parts of Greenbrier and Montgomery (the southern quarter of the state) Counties in 1788. The border between Kanawha and Harrison was still the same until after Wood was created from Harrison in 1798. The southern boundary of Wood shifted down the river when Mason was formed in 1804. For a nice view of the changing boundaries of counties of Virginia (and other states) see http://www.genealogyinc.com/maps/uscf.htm This site also shows county boundaries for each census. Gerry Parchman Trenton, NJ