This account appears on pages 389-390 of the History of Ross and Highland Counties, Ohio. The Jolly Massacre Near Fort Henry, Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia, Founded by Ebenezer Zane, Ancestor of Zane Gray
David Jolly was born in Ohio County, Virginia about the year 1767. In 1790 his mother, sister and two brothers were killed by the Indians. The second account of this story, told by William Jolly gives a date of June 3, 1791. "...David Jolly, Sr., was one of the earliest settlers in the neighborhood of Wheeling, West Virginia. His family, in 1790, consisted of himself, wife and six children and one grandchild. On the 8th of June, 1790, while Mr. Jolly was absent on a journey to the Monongahela, a war party of Shawnees fired into the house just at dinner time, when they thought all of the family would be assembled. Mrs. Jolly was killed at the first fire, and several of the children were wounded. The Indians then rushed in, tomahawked and scalped the wounded, and captured William Jolly and his cousin, Joseph McCune, both young boys, and the only inmates of the house uninjured. Pillaging and setting fire to the house, the Indians made a hasty retreat. At the time of the attack, two of the older sons were not in the house, but David Jolly, Jr. afterward a citizen of Hillsborough, was returning home, and distinctly heard the firing. Hastening forward, he arrived in time to drag the remains of his murdered relatives from the flames of the burning building. He immediately gave the alarm, and in a few hours, Lewis Wetzel, the noted Indian fighter, and a band of veteran scouts, were on the trail of the fleeing savages, but having the advantage of a few hours' start, and with the certainty of pursuit to hasten their flight, they escaped. The pursuing party found the body of the boy, killed it was believed, because being sickly he could not travel rapidly. William, being at the time of his capture, an active, lighthearted boy of 9 or 10 years, soon adapted himself to the Indian mode of life, and became a great favorite with the younger portion of the tribe. All efforts of his family, during the following 5 or 6 years, to learn his fate, were unavailing, owing to the continued hostilities. His brother David attended Wayne's treaty at Greenville, hoping to find him among the prisoners surrendered at that time by the Indians; but all his inquiries proving fruitless, the search was abandoned. Soon after the treaty of Greenville, Mr. David Jolly, Sr., with his remaining sons and their families, removed to Chillicothe. The winter following, information reached them through Colonel Whitely of Levington, Kentucky, who had been acting as government agent among the southern Indians, that William, the lost son and one brother, was living with the Cherokee Indians on the Coosa River in Alabama. In March, 1797, David set out on horseback to renew the search which hitherto had proved unavailing. Through the kind offices of Colonel Whitely, Colonel Zane of Wheeling, and the governor of Tennessee, he reached the point to which he had been directed, to find that his brother had gone still farther south, sometime before, with a party of Indians. The pass furnished his brother to take him and his companions through the Indian country, is still in possession of the family and reads as follows: "Permit David Jolly, a citizen of the United States, to pass undisturbed through the Cherokee nation, in pursuit of his brother, and treat him with respect.
David Henly, War Agent To the chiefs of the Cherokee Nation, and all whom it may concern. Knoxville, April 15, 1797. Determined not to turn back, the little party again pushed on through the unbroken wilderness, and at length found the party to which his brother belonged, near Pensacola, Florida. The Indians at first gave him little satisfaction. Said their younger men were all out hunting, but that no white man was among them. Mr. Jolly, determined not to seem uneasy, but to wait the return of the hunting party, and judge for himself. He and his companions were kindly treated, and on the evening of the third day, when the Indians returned from their hunt, he had the satisfaction of recognizing his brother from the family resemblance, although he was dressed in full Indian costume and looked and acted as much like an Indian as any of his comrades. When he addressed him in English, he seemed little inclined to talk, and at first positively refused to return with them, when the interpreter had explained the object of their visit. The Indians also seemed inclined to keep him by force, until the interpreter read the document of Colonel Henly and explained that they had the authority of government to bring William home. A new complication arose when it appeared that the young "paleface" had been adopted by an Indian woman as her son, in place of one killed in battle, and that a very tender attachment existed between them. When she learned that she must give him up, she was almost frantic; but at last she sorrowfully prepared him for his journey, bringing him all his ornaments, beaded leggings, moccasins, hunting pouch, and a plenty of jerked venison. A number of the young Indians followed him as far as the Tennessee River. During the first days of the journey, it was necessary to keep a constant watch over the recovered youth, to prevent his escape and return to the Indians. At Lexington, where some handsome young ladies were gratifying their curiosity by looking at him, his brother asked him how he would like for one of them for his wife. Shaking his head, he replied, 'Too much white, too much white.' After he had become somewhat settled in his new manner of life, he talked very freely in regard to his captivity. He had been transferred to a party of Cherokees visiting Sandusky, in the second year after his capture, and remembered seeing Mrs. Dick in one of the Shawnee camps into which he was taken. Her sad story had excited great sympathy about that time. It was a long time after his return to civilization before he was fully reconciled to the change, and he always retained the Indian love of hunting and fishing, if not their dislike of hard work. The summer following his return, two of his adopted Indian brothers paid him a visit, which he enjoyed greatly. They brought him his pony and presents from his Indian mother and when, after a visit of two weeks, they set out on their return, he accompanied them a day's journey and loaded them with presents for his Indian mother and other friends. His father, David Jolly, Sr., died in Chillicothe, and the brothers removed to the Rocky fork, south of the present town of Hillsborough, in 1805. William had married Mary Ann Warwick, and a few years later, preferring a newer country, he removed to Wisconsin, where he raised a most respectable family. Late in life, he went to Oregon with one of his sons, where he died at a ripe old age
SOURCE: History of the Early Settlement & Indian Wars of West Virginia by Wills De Hass.
Among the earlier settlers in the neighborhood of Wheeling were Daniel JOLLY. His improvement was on the hill, about 3 miles from the mouth of the creek. The land is, we believe, now occupied by Mr. MCENALL & the site of his cabin is still pointed out not far from the road which crosses the hill from the old toll-gate to the river. The family of JOLLY consisted of himself, wife & 4 children with 1 grandchild. On the 8th day of June, a small party of Indians who secreted themselves behind some gooseberry bushes in the garden, fired upon the family, killing Mrs. JOLLY instantly & wounding a son, daughter & grandson. Her eldest son John had just reached the house from the corn-field & was in the act of wiping the perspiration from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt as the ball struck him in the mouth. He fell, badly wounded & the next instant the savages were tomahawking him. Killing & scalping the other wounded ones & taking prisoner one son & a nephew of Mr. JOLLY named Joseph MCCUNE, they pillaged, then fired the house & made a rapid retreat. Joseph MCCUNE was killed after proceeding a short distance because he could not travel fast, as he suffered from phthisic.
Mrs. JOLLY was standing in the door at the moment she was shot, looking in the direction of the spring, to which she had sent one of her children. The boy at the spring, whose name was James, escaped, also another member of the family in the field. A daughter Mary, was absent at her uncle Joseph MCCUNE, who lived on the ridge road about 5 miles from the forks of Wheeling. Mr. JOLLY had gone on a journey to the Monongahela to receive payment for some property which he had sold previous to moving out. The boy made prisoner remained in captivity 7 years & was then regained by his brother at Pensacola. He was discovered trading at Nashville; & on being questioned, the facts of his captivity were elicited, whereupon a gentleman wrote to Col. ZANE, who communicated the intelligence to the boy's father. These particulars we have derived principally from Mrs. CRUGER, Mr. MCINTYRE & Mr. DARBY.
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