Capt. John McDowell (1714-1742)

From Waddell’s Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, page 37:

“On the 28th of February 1739, John McDowell, who settled in Borden’s Grant, made oath at Orange Court that ‘he imported himself, Magdaline, his wife, and Samuel McDowell, his son, and John Rutter, his servant, at his own charge from Great Britain in the year 1737, to dwell in this colony, and that this is the first time of proving their rights in order to obtain land pursuant to the royal instructions’”.

Waddell further says, “Captain John McDowell, was a prominent Captain of a military force of Augusta County in 1742. Ephraim McDowell, then an old man, was a member of his son John’s company. All grown men were enrolled without respect to age.”

Augusta County, Virginia

The area that became Augusta County was settled primarily by the Scots-Irish in the early 1730s. Formed from Orange County, Augusta County was created in 1738 by an Act of the General Assembly which provided that its territory should remain a part of Orange County until there were sufficient inhabitants to support a local government. The first Court was held in 1745.

Borden's Grant, 1734

Benjamin Borden,* a native of New Jersey, and agent of Lord [Thomas] Fairfax in the lower Valley, obtained from Governor [William] Gooch a patent dated October 3, 1734, for a tract of land in Frederick county, which was called "Borden's Manor." At the same time he was promised 100,000 acres on the waters of James River, west of the Blue Ridge, as soon as he should locate a hundred settlers on the tract.

*His surname is sometimes found spelled "Burden" in early texts. Bordentown, New Jersey, was named for one of the extended family, James Borden.

(Source: Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871, by Joseph Addison Waddell, pub. 1902, C.R. Caldwell)

Andrew Jackson & his vocabulary

Early biographer James Parton [Life of Andrew Jackson, pub. 1859-60, 3 vols.], had this to say of Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, son of Scots-Irish immigrants:

"His ability in swearing amounted to a talent. Volleys of the most peculiar and original oaths, ejected with a violence that cannot be imagined, seared and overwhelmed the object of his wrath. Aware of his powers in this respect, he would feign a fury that he did not feel, and obtain his ends through the groundless terror of his opponents."

Frontier Forts

There were eight frontier forts in Scott County, Virginia territory built to provide protection against Indian raids and for use as stopping places for hunters and settlers:

Blackmore’s Fort, overlooking the Clinch River, was built by Capt. John Blackmore in 1772. It was attacked by Indians many times and several people were killed or captured near the fort. Daniel Boone was in command of Fort Blackmore and other forts on the Clinch in 1774 while the militia was engaged in the battle of Point Pleasant during Dunmore’s war.

Huston’s [Houston's] Fort was built in 1774 on the waters of Big Moccasin Creek by William Huston [Houston] on land assigned to him by Thomas McCulloch. McCulloch had established the first Scott County territory settlement there in 1769, but was forced out by Indians. In 1776 Fort Huston was attacked by an Indian force estimated to be near 300.

Porter’s Fort was built by Patrick Porter in 1775 on Falling Creek near present-day Dungannon. He built a grist mill there which was most likely the first mill in Scott County territory.

Other forts were Carter’s Fort located in Rye Cove, Duncan’s Fort on the Clinch River, Dorton’s Fort east of present Nickelsville, the Anderson Blockhouse located near the North Fork of the Holston River and Moccasin Gap, and Kilgore’s Fort built on the waters of Copper Creek west of Nickelsville.

(Source: Wilderness Road: Virginia's Heritage Migration Route)

A Koger Marries a Porter, GrandDaughter of the Western Waters

On November 26, 1818, in Floyd County, Kentucky, my great-great-great-grandfather James Koger married Sarah Walker Porter, aka "Sally". Tracing the Walker name in Sally's name led me to her paternal grandmother Susanna Walker (1739-1795), who married Sgt. Patrick Porter (1737-1805) around 1756 at Walker's Creek, Augusta County, Virginia.
Sgt. Patrick Porter and his father-in-law, John Walker, my 6x great-grandfather, relocated to southwest Virginia about 1770-1772, settling on the Clinch River in what became Russell County. Western lands in North Carolina had been closed to settlement by Colonial government policy until 1778. In Virginia, however, Indian Treaties of 1768 and 1770 opened the "western waters" for settlement. While there had been settlers in the area before these treaties, emigration into the area did not begin in earnest until 1769-70. The Walker and Porter families were likely part of this immigration.
In 1772, the Porters, along with others, moved from Castle's Woods, where they had first settled, to Patrick Porter's land survey at Falling Creek, near present day Dungannon, Virginia. They quickly set to building a fort, called Porter's Fort, nearby. In 1774 Porter added a mill, the first on the Clinch River, and gradually a settlement began to grow.
Daniel Boone lived in the Castle's Woods, Virginia area from 1773-1775. The Porters were friends with the pioneer. Patrick's son (my 5x great-uncle) Samuel Walker Porter travelled with Daniel Boone to Kentucky in 1773, and in 1778 answered Boone's request for assistance defending Boonesborough during the Shawnee siege.
At various times, Patrick Porter commanded part or all of the forts along the Clinch River and was in charge of monitoring and responding to hostile Indian activity over a wide area.

Counties of Virginia

1721: Spotsylvania County was established from Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties.

1734: Orange County was established from Spotsylvania.

1738: Formed from Orange County, Augusta County was created in 1738 by an Act of the General Assembly which provided that its territory should remain a part of Orange County until there were sufficient inhabitants to support a local government.

1744: The Virginia General Assembly created Albemarle County by taking the northern portion of Goochland County.

1761: Albemarle County was divided, forming Buckingham and Amherst counties, at which time the county seat was moved from the formerly-central Scottsville to a piece of newly-central land, christened Charlottesville.

1770: Botetourt County was formed from Augusta County.

1778: Rockbridge County was formed in 1778 from Augusta and Botetourt Counties. (The settlement within the bounds of present day Rockbridge, however, began in 1737 in Borden's Grant. The area was then a part of Orange County, Virginia. Augusta County began keeping records in 1745, and covered what is now many states.)

1786: Russell County was formed from Washington County.

1793: Lee County was formed from Russell County.

1799: Tazewell County was formed from parts of Wythe and Russell Counties.

1815: Scott County was formed from parts of of Russell and Lee Counties.

1855: Wise County was formed from parts of Lee, Scott, and Russell Counties.

1858: Buchanan County was formed from parts of Russell and Tazewell Counties.

1880: Dickenson County was formed from parts of Wise and Buchanan Counties.

John Walker III (1705-1778)

John Walker, the son of an immigrant of the same name came first to Augusta County [Virginia] and later to Rockbridge, where they settled and lived on a creek named for them and which still carries the name of Walker's Creek.
Leaving Rockbridge County, this John Walker arrived on the Clinch in the year 1773, and settled on a 300 acre tract of land at the "sink" of Sinking Creek between Castlewood [Castle's Woods] and Dungannon. This tract of land he named "Broad Meadows." He was born in 1705 in Ireland and had married, about 1734, Ann Houston, who may have been a sister of William who built Houston's Fort on Big Moccasin Creek in Scott County. Upon arrival on the Virginia frontier, John Walker was some 68 years old and had undoubtedly followed his children in their westward wanderings. Despite his advanced age, when he arrived on the Clinch he lived to see his son and daughter-in-law slain by the Indians, and his daughter and grandson carried into captivity and who had not returned at the time of his death. He died sometime between Sept 23rd and Nov. 17, 1778. His will bearing date of Sept 23rd, (no year given, but presumed) was probated Nov. 17, 1778.
The known children of John and Ann Houston Walker were: Susanna, Mary, Jane, Hetty, Ann, Martha, Margaret, John, and Samuel.

(Source: Pioneer Settlers of The Clinch, by Emory L. Hamilton, Clinch Valley Times, St. Paul, Virginia, Oct. 10, 1967)

John Snoddy, Daniel Boone & The Moores

The Filson Club Quarterly, July 1971, pg 256:

"John Snoddy, in a deposition, said 'I came to Kentucky with Daniel Boone in the year 1775 and came by the blue lick crost Silver Creek and went up Harts Fork and soon on to what is now Bonnesbourgh.'"

The Moore brothers assigned their land warrants to Captain John Snoddy when they left the Clinch, and since Captain Snoddy was a militia officer and at times was in command of Moore's Fort, as well as owning it, it was sometimes called Snoddy's Fort. Moore's Fort was the largest and most widely known of the Clinch chain of forts.

(Source: “Frontier Forts of Southwest Virginia”, by Emory L. Hamilton, Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Number 4, 1968)

Chief Logan & The Porters

Patrick and Samuel Porter were intimately acquainted with Cayuga Indian Chief Logan. Patrick Porter, while serving under General Lewis on the Ohio River, was approached by Chief Logan who, with a smile, extended his hand to Porter, at the same time saying, "I know you. You are Patrick Porter. I want to be your friend. You don't know me. I am Capt. John Logan. Many times I could have killed you, but would not."

He then asked Patrick about his son, Samuel, but at that moment, he saw Samuel coming towards them. When Samuel walked up, Chief Logan said: "I am Logan; and was your friend. Many times I could have killed you, but would not. You were too good a man. You guarded the women and children, which made me love you and your father." On being assured of their perpetual love and friendship, he then mentioned several occurrences that had taken place in the vicinity of Porter's Fort. One of the incidents recalled was concerning a large, fine horse that was hitched to the fort gate. By some chance, the horse was left there a great while, night coming on in the meantime. Logan, who was skulking near the fort, had watched the horse with covetous eyes. Taking advantage of the darkness, he tried to steal him. Covering himself with a shock of fodder, he began gradually to approach the horse. But just at the moment when he was nearly ready to lay hold of the horse, a child inside the fort fell out of bed, and made such a noise that Logan, fearing discovery, dropped the fodder, and left. "Did you ever notice that sock of fodder?" asked Logan. "Yes," replied Samuel Porter. "The breaking of that child's arm saved your life, Logan; I was on guard at the fortgate that night, and observing the fodder moving toward me, cocked my gun and was in the very act of firing when you dropped the fodder and ran away. I was within twenty feet of you, with as good a gun as was ever fired." Logan replied that the Great Spirit did not let one friend kill another.

(Source: Draper Manuscripts; Collection of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, WI)

Patrick Porter (1737-1805)

In 1769, Patrick Porter and his family, William and Edward Russell, and a party led by John Morgan (consisting of the Walker sisters and their husbands, William and Andrew Cowan, James Smith, William Trimble, James Wharton, Fredrick Fraley, Joseph Moore, James Anderson, three Dickenson brothers, and Col. John Snoddy) moved to the area called "Castle's Woods," which was settled earlier by Jacob Castle. The group soon built Snoddy's Fort, later called Moore's Fort, the largest on the Clinch River.
In 1772, Porter and his family, along with Raleigh Stallard, Capt. John Montgomery (Porter's son-in-law,) Samuel Porter, and Charles Kilgore moved to Porter's land survey at Falling Creek near present day Dungannon, Virginia. Shortly they set to building a fort, called Porter's Fort, nearby. In 1774 Patrick Porter added a mill, the first on the Clinch, where Falling Creek spills over a cliff near the river.

John Walker II (1677-1734)

John Walker and his wife, Katherine Rutherford, first lived at Wigton, Scotland, later moving to Newry, Ireland, from whence they sailed from Strangford Bay in May 1726, landing in Maryland in August of that year. Soon he was settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1734. His wife, Katherine, died the same year. Most of the family of John Walker, the immigrant, moved from Pennsylvania and settled in Augusta and Rockbridge Counties in Virginia, and from there they scattered westward.

(Source: Indian Tragedies Against The Walker Family, by Emory L. Hamilton, unpublished manuscript)