Creswell Family

Killing of William Henry Creswell
                      By Emory L. Hamilton
                                
     From an unpublished manuscript,
Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and
Holston Rivers, pages 34-36.

     Charles B. Coale, in his book, "Wilburn
Waters," (1) gives the following story of this
tragedy:
     In the early settlement of the county there
was a blockhouse near Abingdon, where Frank
Findley's mill now stands, called Black's Fort,
into which the families of the scattered settlers
gathered when alarmed by Indians. The very year
of organization of the county, and upon the very
day of the promulgation of the Declaration of
Independence, the Indians made a stealthy march
into the settlement, caught a small party of
settlers on their way from the fort to the clearing
of Parson Cummings, two miles off, killed one of
them, and the grave in which his dust reposes,
marked by a rude stone with the inscription,
"Henry Creswell, killed July 4, 1776:, formed the
nucleus of the village cemetery, now people by the
dead of three generations.
     Creswell was slain when a party of
Creswell, a Negro slave, and James Piper, (who
had his finger shot off) and the Rev. Charles
Cummings were enroute to church. The Rev.
Charles Cummings had come to Black's Fort as
Pastor of the old Sinking Springs Church in 1772
upon petition of the settlers in that area, then
known as "Wolf Hills", now Abingdon, VA.
     There has been controversy about the
actual day in July that Creswell was slain. Militia
records show that he was paid for participation in
the Battle of Long Island Flats which was fought
on July 20, 1776.
     On July 11, 1845, Gov. David Campbell
of Abingdon, wrote to Dr. Lyman C. Draper, as
follows: (2)
     I have been endeavoring to procure Mr.
Howe's historical collections of Virginia, but have
not yet succeeded. I do not know who could have
furnished the account he has given of the skirmish
with the Indians near the Presbyterian burying
ground, but it is all wrong. The inscription given
by him is incorrect - the christian name of
Creswell is wrong - and no such occurrence took
place as Parson Cummings losing his wig. Today
I rode to the graveyard and examined the
tombstone. I could not make out the inscription. I
then rode into the county to see Mrs. Balfour
(Sarah, wife of John Balfour), a lady now about
75, and the eldest daughter of Parson Cummings.
She was with the family in Black's Fort when the
party started for Parson Cummings' plantation
and saw them return with Mr. Creswell dead and
Mr. James Piper with his forefinger shot off, and
from what she then saw and heard and from
subsequent conversations, she says she recollects
all the circumstances clearly.
     I asked what was Creswell's christian
name. She said Henry and said further that she
felt satisfied no such occurrence took place as her
father losing his wig - that she would not have
forgotten if it had taken place. She also
recollected the name of Logan (James) (3) as
being of the party.
     On my return home I took my niece with
me and went again to the graveyard. Her eyes
being better than mine, she made out the
inscription - and then I could read it - and it is as
follows - "Henry Creswell entered this place July
1776". If the particular day in July was ever
engraved it cannot now be perceived. The writing
on the enclosed scrap of paper is an exact copy.
No one was wounded but Piper - and Negro Tob
was the hero of the day.
     As Mrs. Balfour's account of this skirmish
is somewhat different from the one I have had
heretofore, I will her give it to you. She says the
party started to her father's farm for grain. Her
father, Tob, Mr. Piper, Mr. Logan and she thinks
some others were of the party, and all armed,
fearing Indians. She does not recollect which of
the them drove the wagon. They had passed
through the gap of the ridge north of the meeting
house spring (4) and were entering a deep valley
thickly covered with undergrowth, when the
Indians fired upon them and killed Creswell.
James Piper raised his rifle to shoot and his
finger was shot off. Some of the party ran. Mr.
Cummings, Tob, and Piper stood. Tob observed to
his master that he saw an Indian. His master told
him to fire. He did so and instantly the Indians
raised the war whoop and disappeared. This is
her account. You can compare it with Colo.
Sharps (5). Mrs. Balfour thinks that Creswell was
the first person buried in the graveyard and the
stone at the head of his grave is such as Mr. Howe
describes.
     The copy of the inscription Governor
Campbell sent to Dr. (Lyman) Draper of the
epitaph was as follows:
                           HENRY CRES
                          WELL ENTRED
                           THIS PLACE
                           JULY, 1776
     Rebecca Creswell, widow of Henry
Creswell was granted administration of his estate
by the court of Washington Co., VA, on February
26, 1777, with her securities being Samuel Newell
and Joseph Black of Black's Fort.

(1) Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia, page
1561.
(2) Draper Mss 10 DD 52
(3) Probably Nathaniel, a brother of Col. Benjamin
Logan. The Logans lived at Abingdon, prior to
emigration to Kentucky.
(4) This is the gap where the by-pass from the Sinking
Springs Cemetery meets the regular highway that
turns off from U. S. Route 11, at the Pet Milk plant in
Abingdon. Parsons Cummings lived about a mile north
of Abingdon on the road leading to Lebanon, VA.
(5) Benjamin Sharpe, born 1762, who was also in
Black's Fort at the time of the attack.

Contact: Rhonda Robertson at: rsr@mounet.com

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