Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-01-08

his family prisoners. la)
4 Mr.. Smith, a bachelor, resided
on the west side OF CapOn river, in
a small cabin. Three Indians one
morning entered his house, split
M his wooden bowls and trenchers
(plates made of wood,) destroyed
his househ Id goods generally, and
took him of as prisoner. They
crossed the CohongorutOn, and
halted at a place called Grass lick,
on the Maryland side, with the
intention of stealing horses. Two
of them went into a meadow for
this purpose, while the third re-
mained to guard Smith. The two
men soon haltered young unbrOk-
en- horse. delivered him to the
guard, and went in pursuit Of more.
The fellow who held the horse dis
covering the animal was easily
frightened, several times scared
him for his amusement, till at
length he became so much alarmed
that he made n sudden wheel, and
ran off with the Indian hanging to
the halter, dragging him a consider
able distance. Smith took this OPP
portunity to escape, and succeeded
in getting of. The next morning
party of white men collected
with the intention Of giving pur-
suit. They went to Smiths cabin
and found him mending his bowls
and trenchers by sewing them up
with waX.cnds. (b)
At Hedges fort, on the present
road from Martinsburg to Bath,
west of Back creek, a man was
killed while watching the spring.(c)
On Lost river there were two
forts, one on the land now the resi-
dence of jeremiah lnskeep, Esq,
called Riddles fort, where man
named Chcsmer was killed; the
the other called Warden's fort, (d)
where William Warden and Mr..
Taft were killed, and the fort burnt
down.
Just before the massacre on
Looney's creek, seven Indians sur
rounded the cabin of Samuel
Bingaman, not far distant from the
present village of Petersburg, in
the county of Hardy. Ii was just
before daybreak. that being the
time when the Indians generally
made their surprises. Nj. BIS
family consisted of himself and
wife, his father and mother, and a
hired man. The first four were
asleep in the room below, and the
hired man IN the loft above. A
shot was fired into the cabin, the
ball passing through the fleshy
part Of the younger Mrs. Binga-
mans left breast The family
sprung to their feet, Bingaman
seizing his rifle, and the Indians at
| the same moment rushing in at tho
door. Bingaman told his wife and
father and mother TO get out of the
way, under the bed, and called to
/ the man in the loft to come down,
who, however, never moved. 1t
was still dark, and the Indians
were prevented from firing, by a
fear of injurng one of their number.
Bingaman, unreslrained by any
fears of this kind, laid about him
with desperation. At the first
blow, his rifle broke at the brecch,
shiveriug the stock to pieces but
| with the barrel he continued his
blows until he cleared the rOOm.-
Daylight now appearing, he dis
covered that he had killed five,
and that the remaining two were
re reatIng across the field. lie
stepped ont, and seizing n rifle
which had been left 10y the party,
fired at one Of the fugltives, wOun-
dcd, aud tOmahawked him. Ira
dition relates that the other fled to
the Indian camp, and told his
comrades that they had had fight
with a man who was a devil-thai
he had killed six Of them, and II
they went again, would kill them
all. When Bingaman, after the
battle, discovered that his wife was
wounded, he became frantic with
rage at the cOwardicc Of Mrs. B
TO spare his life. She recovered
from her wound in a short 'imr. tc
1t was tine practice of the set
tiers on the Wappatomaka, II
times of danger, to leave lhc fort
i'm numbers, and assist each Othe
in harvest. About the year l15G
= a party Of nine whites lett the for
=, opposite the present village o
Petersburg, to assist Mr.. Job Vel
ton TO cut his fathers meadow an,
y hunt his cattle. They took thei
i rifles with them, AS was invarlabl.
. the practice whenever they left th
Z fort. After collecting the cattle
they turned in and cut portion {
. the meadow. AS night approach
ed, proposition was made by NJ
VI Welton to return to the fort, whic
y was rather opposed by the rest
the party, who, not having bee
= > molested during the day, were dis
u posed to believed in their pcrfeC
T. security. They repaired to I'll
'S house of the elder Mr.. Weltor
I fronting the meadow, and with
u two hundred yards Of the presel