James Crockett

In 1777 James Crockett was taken prisoner at his home near today's Rogersville, Tennessee by Creeks and Chickamauga Cherokees led by war chief Dragging Canoe. He was held for seventeen years.

His parents, David and Elizabeth Crockett (grandparents of Davy Crockett who was killed at the Alamo) were killed in the skirmish. His brother Joseph was wounded. His brother John (father of Davy Crockett) was away as a militia volunteer at the time of the skirmish.

Davy Crockett wrote: “The Indians wounded Joseph Crockett, a brother to my father, by a ball, which broke his arm; and took James a prisoner, who was still a younger brother than Joseph, and who, from natural defects, was less able to make his escape, as he was both deaf and dumb. He remained with them for seventeen years and nine months, when he was discovered and recollected by my father and his eldest brother, William Crockett; and was purchased by them from an Indian trader.” (David the Elder Crockett, 1 (c. 1730-1777)— Davy Crockett’s Own Story p. 17.)