Frazier Family

John Frazier's Son Taken Prisoner  
                      By Emory L. Hamilton
                                
     From the unpublished manuscript,
Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and
Holston Rivers, page 181.

     Henry Smith, County Lieutenant of
Russell Co., VA, in a letter to Governor Randolph,
dated July 4, 1790, (1) says:
     Last spring (1789), John Frazier, Esq.,
had his little son taken prisoner, and I am well
informed that unfortunate man has since had the
rest of his family killed on the Kentucky Road.
     John Frazier had settled in 1771 on
Moccasin Creek in present Scott Co., as a neighbor
to William Houston and Jonathan Wood. His wife
was named Mary, and he had sons, Joseph, born 16
September 1771, Solomon, born 1773, James,
George, and Squire. He may have also been the
father of William and Daniel, the latter was a
Lieutenant under General Shelby on the
Chicamauga Campaign, and was made a
Lieutenant permanently in Washington Co., Va, on
26th of March, 1782.
     It is hard to determine just what happened
from Henry Smith's letter, wherein he states that
John Frazier had the rest of his family killed on the
Kentucky Road. John Frazier made a deposition in
Russell Co., in a land suite (2) on February 15,
1810, as did Joseph and Mary Frazier. Perhaps
there may have been two John Frazier's living on
the Clinch, at the same period. I have found this to
be true in many instances along the Clinch in early
days where two men of identical first and last
names were living in the same area at the same
time. It will be remembered that the Clinch
settlements were a "jumping-off" place for
Kentucky, and literally hundreds passed through,
stopping on the Clinch for a short time, then
moving on, leaving behind them no records
whatever of their brief stay.

(1) Calender Virginia State Papers, Vol. V, page
180.
(2) Augusta Court Causes Ended, George Fugate
vs Mahon, O. S. 158; N. S. 56.

Contact: Rhonda Robertson at: rsr@mounet.com

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