This info is taken from a tour book
called, "They Started It All, A Guide
to Hacker's Creek Historic Sites"; sold by the Hacker's Creek
Pioneer
Descendants, Inc. to use as you travel the area. It is written by Joy
Gregoire Gilchrist.
The defenses of the frontier may be classified into three general groups:
first, the fort, which was the strongest type of fortress, and generally but
not always erected under the direction of the Executive Council of the
State, and garrisoned in like manner; second, the stockade, which was
usually a large log house with a palisade around it, embracing enough ground
to shelter several families in time of need; and third, the blockhouse,
which was to be found of several types. Some had a second story overhung,
and others simply had provision made for rifle defense.
West's Fort was of the second type. Erected by Edmund West Sr., probably
with the assistance of his sons, Charles, Alexander and Edmund Jr., and
other settlers of the Hacker's Creek area, it stood exactly where that
yellow house stands today.
For a number of years, the fort offered some defense to the important
settlements on Hacker's Creek, which suffered more severely at the hands of
the Indians than any other region on the border.
In the spring of 1778, there was an Indian alarm; and the settlers of the
Hacker's Creek area scurried into West's Fort. In the middle of June,
Elizabeth Freeman, wife of John Freeman and sister to John Hacker, was
outside the walls of West's Fort with three other women, one of whom has
been identified only as "Mrs. Hacker". The women were gathering greens in
an adjoining field when they were attacked by four Indians. A
single gun was fired and the ball from it passed through the bonnet of Mrs.
Hacker. She screamed and ran for the fort. The others followed with the
Indians in close pursuit. One Indian carried a long staff with a spear
attached to the end. He thrust it at Mrs. Freeman with such violence that
it entered her back just below the shoulder and emerged at the left breast.
With his tomahawk, he cleft the upper part of her head, and carried it off
to save the scalp.
The screams of the women roused the men within the fort. They grabbed the
guns and fired upon the Indians, even while Mrs. Freeman was being scalped.
Their shots had no effect except to warn Jesse Hughes and John Schoolcraft,
who were outside the fort at the time, that danger was near.
Hughes and Schoolcraft, as they returned to the fort, spotted two Indians
near a fence. The Indians were so intent upon watching the happenings at
the fort that the two pioneers made their way safely to the fort. When
they reached the fort, they learned what had happened and assisted in the
retrieval of Mrs. Freeman's body. Immediately thereafter, Hughes organized
a party to "show them how near he has approached the Indians after the
alarm had been given, before he saw them." The party included Charles and
Alexander West, Charles Hughes, James Brown and John Sleeth. Before the
party reached the place, one of the Indians was heard to howl like a wolf;
the party moved in the direction of the sound and Hughes returned the howl.
He received an instant answer. The party ran to a point on a hill and was
two Indians coming towards them. Hughes fired and one of the Indians fell;
the other ran. The men pursued him but he escaped. While they were giving
chase to the second Indian, the wounded one also disappeared. They tracked
his bloody trail but lost him when a heavy shower of rain began to fall.
More incursions by the Indians continued throughout the next year and
caused the abandonment of the fort in the fall of 1779 and again in 1780.
It is not certain in which of these years the fort was burned by the
Indians.
PIONEER CEMETERY
This is probably the oldest community cemetery in present-day Lewis
County. Although no records exist to show the first burial, the cemetery
was started in conjunction with the original West's Fort which was located
less than 500 feet away.
The fort, built in 1773 or 1774, served as a gathering place for the early
settlers during Indian incursions as well as a meeting place during more
pleasant times; and, the first death of which we have record, that of Thomas
Hughes, Sr., occurred in May 1778. Although the Indians had come into the
frontier settlements in the bloody "year of the three sevens", plundering,
raiding and murdering on Rooting Creek, at Coon's Fort, on the Little
Kanawha River and at Tygart's Valley, they missed present-day Lewis County
settlements. These settlements did not escape the Indians' wrath for long;
in the spring of the following year, they had their turn.
However, it seems probable that there were deaths within the present
confines of Lewis County between its first settlement in 1769 and 1778, but
knowledge of who, when and where is unavailable to us; and, probably, in
most cases, interments would have been in single graves or small family
cemeteries throughout the settlement area.
Although Thomas Hughes was killed some distance from the fort, it is
probable that he was brought back to the fort for burial.
In the following month, June 1778, Elizabeth Freeman, wife of John Freeman
was killed outside the walls of the fort; she was probably buried in this
cemetery.
Two other graves in the sixty or so burials in the cemetery are identified
by markers - those of Edmund West Sr. and Mary Ann Hacker West. There is
also a marker for Alexander West. However, this is only a memorial marker;
West is buried in the Broad Run Church Cemetery.
While names of others interred in the cemetery may never be known, local
historians and genealogists believe that some may be: Margaret Bonnett
Waggoner and her four children: John Sleeth and his wife, Mary Ann Wallace
Sleeth, young Billy West who was killed with Edmond West Sr. and Mary Ann
West; Mrs. Edmond (sp) West, Sr.
One of the greatest tragedies on Hacker's Creek during border warfare days
was the slaying of the members of the West family.
The leader of the raiding party of Shawnee Indians was Leonard
Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft had been captured eight years before near Bushes
Fort at what is now Buckhannon. In a short period of time the Schoolcraft
family lost thirteen of its members to the Indians - either through capture
or massacre; some of the captured returned, others turned renegade. The
reason for this family's great loss to the Indians is open for conjecture;
some believe it was the tribes' way of reclaiming some of their own since
the mother of the children was a Miss Nyeswannan, said to be the daughter of
Chief Killbuck and a granddaughter of King Newcomer.
As was sometimes the case with captives, Leonard was adopted by an Indian
family who had lost either a son or husband. And, it has been shown time
after time, even to our most recent wars, that captives often take on the
attitudes of the captors and soon turn against family and friends. A recent
episode of this type comes to mind in the kidnapping of Patty Hurst, a few
years back, and her association with the Black Panthers. Such was the case
with Leonard Schoolcraft. He turned renegade.
Modern historians and genealogists believe it was with the specific
purpose of killing Mary Ann Hacker West and causing grief to the West family
that Leonard made the raid. A tradition passed down through various family
members suggests that Leonard knew Mary Ann before his capture and had
fallen in love with her. She refused his advances and married another.
The Indian raiding party first met the twelve year old Martha Hughes,
daughter of Jesse and his wife Grace, as she was coming down the creek from
John Hacker's where she had been given a new puppy. They captured her and
left her in charge of some of the party close by. They passed on down
Hacker's Creek and came upon Edmund West Sr. carrying fodder to his stable.
The Indians took the old gentleman captive and carried him to where they
were holding Martha. He fell to his knees and begged that they would not
deal harshly with him. His petition was answered by a stroke of the
tomahawk and he fell dead.
The party then "went" to the house of Edmund West, Jr., (within ten rods
of Mt. Hebron Methodist Church) where his bride of ten months, Ann, her
eleven year old sister Margaret, and his twelve year old brother, Billy,
were preparing a meal. As Schoolcraft and two of the Indians forced open
the door, Billy was under the bed getting some corn that was stored there.
They immediately tomahawked Mary Ann and drew Billy from under the bed by
his feet and sank the tomahawk twice in his head - above each eye.
Margaret was hiding behind the door. One of the Indians aimed a blow at her
and she tried to avoid it by raising her arm. The blow hit her neck but not
with sufficient force to knock her down. However, she fell and lay as if
killed. Schoolcraft and the Indians then took some food from the press and
sat down amidst the destruction and ate their fill. When they were done,
they scalped Billy and Mary Ann, plundered the house, and dragged Margaret
by the hair for or fifty yards from the house. They threw her over a fence
and scalped her.
Schoolcraft believed she was not dead and one of the Indians stabbed her
in the ribs. He struck a rib and she did not die.
Old. Mrs. West and her daughters, Ada and Mary, were alone at the West
cabin and became alarmed when Edmund Sr. did not return from his chores.
They feared that he had been captured and went to her son, Alexander's. Alex
was on a hunting trip with his brother, Edmund, so they proceeded to Jesse
Hughes' home. By now, Jesse was beginning to worry because Martha had not
returned from the Hackers with her puppy. He feared that old Edmund and
Martha had been captured. He knew that Edmund Jr. and Alex had gone hunting
so he decided that he had better warn Mary Ann of the danger. Taking the
West girls with him, he went to the cabin. They found Mary Ann and Billy
weltering in their own blood but not yet dead. The girls were so sickened
by the sight that Hughes carried them off and returned to his house. He
guarded his family and the West women until the next day when a company of
men was gathered to determine the extent of the damage.
The party found Billy standing in Hacker's Creek near the Jane Lew bridge,
about a mile from where he was towahawked. His brains were oozing
from his head. Somehow he had walked or crawled the mile and survived
for another three days. He is buried somewhere in this cemetery, probably
there near his father.
They found old Edmund in the field where he had been tomahawked.
They found Margaret Hacker in bed at the house of old Mr. west. She said
that she "went to sleep" when they threw her over the fence but was awakened
by the scalping. She tried to climb the fence and return to the house but
went back to sleep. She went into the woods and sheltered herself in the
top of a fallen tree. The next morning when the rooster crowed, she awoke and went
to the West's. There was no one home, of course, because Mrs. West and the
girls were at the Hughes'. The fire was nearly out, but the hearth was warm
and she lay down on it. The heat sickened her and she got up and went to
bed where she was found.
Margaret survived the scalping and wore a kerchief over her head for most
of her remaining days. She lived another 28 years, married Peter Hardman
from up on Jesse's Run, gave birth to ten children, migrated to Green
County, Ohio, and is buried at Mitman Cemetery overlooking Wright Patterson
Air Force Base.
Martha Hughes was returned home from the Sandusky Plains after the treaty
of Fort Harmer in January 1789. She was a captive for nearly three years.
Martha married Jacob Bonnett, had seven children, and died in 1855 at the
age of 77 years, 7 months, and 7 days.
