The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1895-08-10
UNWRITTEN HISTORY.
Some Hitherto Unpublished
Events.
That VIII be Read With Interest by
Many Of Our People-Something
About DIR. Dancers 'sHie Jackets
Early Settlers of Preston and Monon-
gala Counties.


gala Counties.
The incursion Of the Indians into the
county of Monongalia in 17SS and the
killing of the mother of William Nor
gan, her granddaughter Mrs. Dillon, /;
man by the name Of Brain-and the
capture of William Morgan's wife anC
child at or near the confluence of Nor
CANS run with Cheat river lin what ID
now Preston county, about a mile south
of the present site of Kingwood, is rela
lated In CHRONICLES of Border War
fare" In this same incursion l wai
told when boy by my grandfather snc
others of the early settlers of Monon
gala now Preston) of which no men
ton is made in the Border Warfare
Chronicles, /" the following story The
same band of Indians who killed VIM
Morgan's mother, Mrs Dillon and Brair
them went down Morgan's run, and &
Green's run which empties into Chea'
river about five miles by the river norti
OF the mouth of Morgan's run. John
Green, after whom the stream on which
he lived was subsequently named, re
sldtu Will Ills Nllt anu lilitt uduRubbTf
(the eldest grown to womanhood, tho
other two quite young) on the hill about
a third of a mile from the confluence Of
the southern and middle branches o.
Green's run, with its northern or Buffalo
branch, was engaged in preparing tc
erect grist mill and had dressed out
of sandstone the neither and upper
stones. While engaged In his work he
heard the report of gun in the direction
OF and ran to his house, entered it, anC
when in the act OF reaching for his gun
above the cabin door, was shot by the
Indians and his wife and two youngest
daughters taken captive by them. The
shot he had heard when he ran to his
home had wounded his eldest daughter
(who at the time was out in a corn patel
near the house, in the feshy part of the
arm; she fell with her wounded arm
uppermost and the blood flowing freely
over her body led theIndians to conclude
she was dead, and they fastened to the
house into which the father had Just en-
tered. At night fall the wounded CIR
made her way to Cheat river, about two
miles distant, and called until late in
the night, when she was heard by per
sons in Buffers Fort tnear Albright E
MILD and taken over to it. The widow
of John Green died in captivity. The
two young daughters remained with
their captors until 1875, and after the
treaty made by General Wayne with the
Indians the year before, when they re.
turned home. The elder married a mar
by the name of Moore, the younger
Sallie, married Andrew Johnson.
The following additional information
and knowledge in connection with this
story and in confirmation of its substan.
tial truthfulness | have from my grand.
parents apd others and from personal OBJ
servation when a boy. James Brown
my grandfather, migrated from London
derry, Ireland, where three years be
fore, he had married Rachel Hawthorn
and landed in Philadelphia in 1889 ac.
companied by his wife's two brothers
Alexander and Robert, and four sisters
Elizabeth, Jane, Isabella and Margaret
her eldest brother, John, having CONF
to America some years before. The
Hawthorn family Except john Will
my grandfather came to MorgantowI
some time in the year 1870. While il
Philadelphia my grandfather made the
acquaintance Of DIR. Thomas Bond whe
was the agent of some gentleman in the
east who owned land near where King
wood now is. DR.. Bond came to Mon
ongalia county and sold grandfather {
tract of woods land about mile nortl
of the site of Kingwood and adjacent t.
John Green's act. Grandfather in the
latter part of 1870 having no house OF
his own land moved temporarily into
the Green cabin; and grandmother, time
and again, in telling me of the events o
her early life, told me of their living il
the Green cabin until grandfather coulC
erect a house ON his newly purchased
land, and when they went there staini
of blood where Green fell when shot by
the Indians in his cabin were still upor
the puncheons of the floor, which sht
by soap and sand and hot water had of
ten tried to scrub out, and not beinl
able to do so, got grandfather to taxi
up the puncheons and hew the BLOOD
stains off with his broad ak. | learned
also from Samuel Trowbridge who live(
and died on the Green farm that JOIN
Green was buried there, and he pointed
out to me his grave among others, sub
sequently buried in an orchard nea
where Green's cabin had stood. TIL,
mill stones got out by Green laid in
large meadow on lands afterward owneC
by my father Robert Brown, and now b,
Hon. William G. Morley, of Kingwood
where | often saw them in my boyhoo(
and heard the story of the killing of JOIN
Green by the Indians told by the OLE
men substantially as / have related it
The mill stones | have recently Learned
have been taken to Kingwood and ar
preserved as a memorial OF this hithert,
unrecorded history.
Andrew Johnson who married Green
youngest daughter, Sallie, after her re
turn from captivity, owned grist mil
on Morgan's run south of Kingwood
where | often went to mill and it bein
considerable distance from my home
waited until my grist was ground. Oh
one occasion in cold weather-the mil
being rather uncomfortable, Mr.. Johnsol
told me to go to his house near by an,
sit by the fire until my grist was ground
| now wildly remember how l was the
impressed with the appearance, dres
and conduct of Mrs. Johnson, and onl
learned who she was and her relation
John Green by more detailed repeti
ton OF the story which had often hear
before of his having been killed by tn
Indians, and that she was his daughte
and captive for several years anon
them. | subsequently knew tlrat
daughter of Andrew Johnson and Salli
Green whose name was Rebecca, maj
ried man by the name of Castle VIII
removed to Monongalia county befor
the Confederate raid in April 1868 an
one of whose sons was killed by tn
Confederate soldiers in that raid soutl
of Morgantown on or near the indie
pendence road.
DIR. Thomas Bond, of whom my grand
father bought his land was buried unde
the old Presbyterian church in Morgan
town which was torn down and rebuilt
in 1868. Other persons were burie
there also but his was the only gray
that had an inscribed tombstone erect
ed to it. When a lad of some lively
years, | often saw it ard read the in
scription
''Hic jacet
DIR. Thomas Bond, &c.
In excavating for the foundation of tn
present church, one of our well know
citizens, Mr.. William Dancer, was EN-
ployed to exhume the dead bodies bur
led and transfer them to a permanen
cemetery. Mr. Dancer had not at tina
time rubbed his coat against a colleg
wall" as is known he afterwards di
and consequently was not then well u
in the ancient languages. After havin
removed all the bodies, as he supposed
in continuing his work of excavation
greatly to his surprise, he discovare
another body, and remembering the in
scription on DIR. Bonds tombstone, res
soned from the particular to the geners
in his nominal classification and desie
nation of the dead buried there, an
hence the amusing incident, familiar
all our citizens, of Billy Dancers HI
jackets. JOHN j. Brown.
Morgantown, w. Va 1
July 81, 1895.