BUSH Family

Capture of Ann and Mary Bush
                 and Killing of William Dorton
                      By Emory L. Hamilton
                                
     From the unpublished manuscript,
Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and
Holston Rivers, pages 84-85.

     James Fraley in his Revolutionary war
pension statement filed in Floyd Co., KY, says:
     In April, the date has escaped him, 1780,
he enlisted for one year, in the County of
Washington and State of Virginia, as an Indian
Spy, under Col. Campbell, Capt. Snoddy and Lt.
Cowan, to spy in the same section. Early in June
the Indians made their appearance in his quarter
of Washington county (later Russell Co.). They
first stole many horses. In July they killed one
Dorton and stole two girls, to-wit: Ann and Mary
Bush, and made off for Canada. They succeeded
in getting down on the waters of Sandy with them
as far as Jenny's (1) Creek in Floyd County,
about twelve miles from the courthouse. At that
time there was not a single white person living in
Floyd County (Ky). It was certainly an Indian
country then. Our company came up to the
Indians when they were in the act of skinning a
buffalo they had just killed. Our men fired on the
Indians and they retreated to the camp about 200
yards distant, and as they ran by they tomahawked
Ann Bush. Mary jumped down the bank and
escaped any violence. Ann Bush got over it (the
tomahawking) and was afterwards tomahawked
again and still survived.
     Ann and Mary Bush were the daughters of
James and Mary Bush of Castlewood, Russell Co.,
VA. Ann Bush married Henry Neece, and by him
had the following children: James, Henry, Jane,
Austin, Jacon and John. That she was dead before
October 4, 1825, is evidenced by this order of the
court of Russell Co. (2): "Ordered that it be
certified to the Registrar of the Land Office, Mary
Bush, devisee of James Bush, deceased, and Polly,
James, Henry, Jane, Austin, Jacon and John, who
are all the heirs at law of Ann Neece, deceased,
devisee of the said James Bush, deceased, are
entitled to the land mentioned in the last will (3)
and testament of James Bush, deceased, which
have been surveyed, but not patented in this
county."
     Mary, the other daughter of James Bush,
who was captured by the Indians, was born in
1765, married a Mr. Turner, and was still living in 
Russell Co., VA, with her son, Hugh Turner in
1850 (4), at the age of 85 years.
     The "one Dorton" whom James Fraley
says the Indians killed, was probably old William
Dorton, who built Dorton's Fort, about one mile
southeast of Nickelsville, VA, in the present Scott
Co., on what was later known as the Combs Farm.
     The will (5) of William Dorton is recorded
in Washington Co., VA, but the date of will or
probation is not shown. He leaves his estate to his 
wife Elizabeth, and his children, William, Moses,
Edward, and Sally. One the 17th of June, 1783, the
will of William Dorton was produced in court and
proved by the oaths of John Damron and William
Dorton, Jr., and ordered to be recorded. That
William Dorton was dead prior to 1782 is proven
by the fact that his widow Elizabeth Dorton only
appears on the 1782 tithable list of Washington Co.
     William Dorton, Jr, was one of the party
who went in search of the Indians led by the half-
breed Benge when they murdered and captured the
Livingston family, the last raid on the Virginia
frontier in 1794.

(1) So named because Jenny Wiley crossed this
creek after her escape from the Indians in 1790.
(2) Russell Co., VA, Court Order Book B
(3) Russell Co., VA, Will Book 1, page 41, dated
June 20, 1801. Probated August 2, 1808.
(4) 1850 Census of Russell Co., VA.
(5) Washington Co., VA Will Book 1, page 40.

Contact: Rhonda Robertson at: rsr@mounet.com

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