James Cunningham of Kerr’s Creek

James Cunningham (b Est 1705 - d July 17, 1763) was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia. According to accounts, including "Adam and 500 More Cunningham's in the Valley of Virginia", James Cunningham and his wife Margaret were both killed in the 2nd Kerr's Creek (formerly known as "Teas Creek") Massacre on 17 July, 1763.

• Parents seen as Alexander O Cunningham and Mary "Rebecca" Cunningham.
• Not the same as James W Cunningham, Sr..
• Not the father of Rebecca Daugherty

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The following story recounts the Indian Raids during which the Cunningham’s were among those killed, James’ three sons, Hugh, Jacob, Isaac, and some of his grandchildren were killed in the first raid. It is believed that James and Margaret were killed during the second Indian Raid.

https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/11354774?h=e63299

Family

https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:James_Cunningham_%2847%29

• Father: Unknown Cunningham (;Bef 1690 - )
• siblings: John Cunningham (Bef 1715 - Bef 1774) (wife Margaret Chrisman); _____ Cunningham Est 1720 - (seen as father of William "Bloody Bill" Cunningham is unknown. More research is needed to prove his parentage.); Hugh Cunningham
• W. Margaret Unknown (Est 1708 - 1763) m. Bef 1728

Children

1. Hugh Cunningham Bef 1728 - Bef 1772 . Married 1) unknown 2) Sarah McKee
2. Jacob Cunningham Abt 1732 - 1760. Married unknown.
3. Isaac Cunningham Abt 1735 - Bef 1760. Married Jane Bowen
4. Elizabeth Cunningham Est 1737 -
5. Mary Cunningham Est 1739 - . Married 1) Hughs 2) Malcolm Allen
6. Moses Cunningham Abt 1743 - . Married Hannah McCampbell
7. Agnes Cunningham Bef 1752 - Aft 1809. . Probably married George Daugherty

Will

• Last Will And Testament of JAMES CUNNINGHAM ~ p. 382
• ~ "In the name of God amen this the 16th Day of January 1760. ..."
• Names wife Margaret executor;
• sons Moses, Jacob, Isaac;
• daughters Elizabeth, Mary, Anne.
• Will proved Augusta county March the 19th 1765 by Malcolm Allen, Lilly Bowen.
• MARGARET is dead. MOSES qualifies with HUGH CUNNINGHAM, GEORGE DOUGHERTY.

See "timeline event" for will details.

Name: James Cunningham Given Name: James Surname: Cunningham Sex: M Birth: _1690 in Leinster, Dublin, Ireland Will: March the 19th 1765 Augusta County, Virginia Note:

• LAST WILL AND TESTATMENT
• Augusts County, Virginia, Will Book, 1760, p. 382, written 16 Jan 1761, proved 19 Mar 1765
• In the name of God amen this the sixteenth Day of January one thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty and in the Thirty Third year of his majesties Reign I James Cunningham of Augusta County Collony and Dominion of Virginia Being in an ordinary State of health praise to God But calling to mind the mortality of my Body and know that it is appointed for all men once to die *first of all I recomand my Soul to be Buried in Earth at the Descretion of my Executors
• and After all my Just & lawful Debts being paid I Shall Dispose of my rail & Personal estate in manner and form as followeth.
• Item I give and bequeath unto my will beloved wife all my rail & personal Estate during her natural Life or widowhood and my Son Moses to Live with her During life or widowhood & if my Son Moses should maray he’s to have the plantation and his mother Dowe’s not Like to live in the house with him he shall build or cause to be built a comoduis house with all Necessary convenances thereunto Belonging where She pleaseth upon the plantation and Likewise to find her a Suffecencey of flower meat malt & Salt to her Satisfaction and to cut and Lay firewood convenient to her Door and Likewise to keep two cows for her & one horse *and if my son Moses should Die before he comes to maturity all is to remain at the Disposile of my Margaret.
• I give and bequeath to Hugh Cunningham on English Shilling and
• likewise to my daughter Elizabeth
• and also to James Cunningham Son to my Son Jacob
• as also to John Cunningham Son to my Son Isaac
• as also to my Daughter Mary and
• Likewise to my Daughter Anne
• Each and Every of of them to have on English Shilling
• & I nominate constitute and appoint my wife and my Son Moses Cunningham to be executors of this my last will and test.
• I Doe hereby Revolke Disalow & Disannull all other wills and Test & testaments any where of
• I have hereunto Set my hand & Sale this Day and year first above written.
• N:B: The word underlined before Signing he is to have the plantation.
• Signed Sealed & Delivered
• In presents of Malcolm Alen James Cunningham (his mark), Robert Bowen [his mark], Sally Bowen [her mark]

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at a court held for Augusta County March the 19th 1765 This Last Will & Testament of James Cunningham deceased was proved by the oath of Malcolm Alen & Sally (Lilly?) Bowen two of the _________ thereto & ordered to be recorded and on the _________ of Moses Cunningham one of the Executors and Margaret Cunningham the Executor therein named being dead therein named who made oath according to Law Certificates granted him for obtaining a probate thereof in due form they having with Inventory Entered into and Acknowleged their bond according to Law.

Test

Know all men by these presents that we Moses Cunningham Hugh Cunningham Geo Daughety are held & formaley bound unto Alesander of Sayers Arch Alexander Saml Mc Dor______ Abraham Smigh _______ the commission of the peace for Augusta County for and in behalf of the justices and their successors to which payment will & truly to made all bind ourselves and each of us one & every of our ______ Exedl & Adminstrations jointyly & Severally firmly by these _______ Seated with our Seals & Dated this 19 day of March 1765.The condition of this obligation is Such what if the above bound Moses Cunningham Executor of the Said Will and Testament of James Cunningham deceased do make or cause to be made a true and perfect Inventory of all and Singular the goods chattels & credits of the said Deceased which have or Shall come to the hands Possession_____know _____ of the said Moses Cunningham or into the hands of possession of any _ Person or person for (him and the same do make _____ in the county court of August at such a time as he Shall be _____ required by the said court and the same good chattels & credits and all other the goods chattels & credits of the said deceased at anytime after Shall come to the hands & possession or knowledge of this Moses hands & possession of any other person or persons a just & true account of his _____ & doings therin when __ & required by the said court and also Shall will and truly pay & deliver all _____ and Specified in this Testament (as) far as the goods chattels and credits will _____ and th law Shall charge than this obligation _(behavior) and _____ effect or ____ to remain in fullforce and _____ Sealed and Delivered Moses Cunningham

in presence of Hugh CunninghamGeorge DaughteryAt a court held for Augusta county March the 19th 1765 Moses Cunningham with Hugh Cunningham and George Daughtery his Declaration Enclosed unto and acknowledged this their bond according to Law.

Massacres at Kerr’s Creek

The hostilities at Kerr's Creek (called "Teas Creek" in earlier Augusta County records before abt. 1750) between the Shawnee Indians and the Scotch-Irish settlers of early Augusta County came during the height of this conflict. The stories of the conflicts at Kerr's Creek have been passed down through generations and are still discussed by the current residents of modern-day Rockbridge County. As it was told, the Shawnee leader "Cornstalk" and many of his men viciously attacked, killed or kidnapped several early settlers in the Kerr's Creek (also called "Teas Creek") area on two occasions in 1759 and 1763. See more here: http://www.werelate.org/wiki/The_Kerr%27s_Creek_Massacres_%281759-1...

From The Indian massacre on Kerr's Creek, Rockbridge County, is republished from the "Rockbridge Citizens" of January, 1872, by courtesy and permission of it's successor, "The News-Gazette," Lexington, Virginia.

Very soon the Indians made preparation to leave the bloody ground. The prisoners were gathered in a group. We can give at this date only a very imperfect list of their names. Among them were the following: James Cunningham, Archibald Hamilton, Marion Hamilton, Mrs. Jenny Gilmore, her son John and two daughters, Betsy, Henry and Margaret Cunningham, the girl who was scalped two years before. I may in this connection give the names, as far as I can, of those killed in the two invasions. They are as follows: The whole family of Daugherty; Mrs. Jacob Cunningham; five of the Hamiltons; Thomas Gilmore and Elizabeth, his wife; William Gilmore; and Jennie McKee.
The most reliable account, which I could receive from aged people and from the descendants of the sufferers, states that in the two invasions from sixty to eighty persons were killed and from twenty-five to thirty were carried into captivity in the last invasion.

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Death 1765 in Kerrs Creek, Augusta, Virginia Note:

Massacre of 1763

When the Treaty of Paris ended the British and French struggled for Colonial domination, the French pulled out. The British claimed all the territory east of the Mississippi except for some French Caribbean islands. As the French retreated, tribes along the Great Lakes and through the Ohio Valley watched their chances shrivel. The British long advocated colonization and the Indian nations had felt the squeeze. Scarcely had the treaty ink dried before a powerful Ottawa chief named Pontiac began uniting the tribes throughout the Ohio. Said to have been instrumental in Braddock’s defeat near the opening of the French and Indian War, Pontiac had become a brilliant strategist who realized that without a united front the Native Americans were doomed. In a short time, he’d recruited from all the tribes from Lake Superior to Mexico. Each tribe in the confederation was to choose its best warriors. In May, 1763, the warriors were to attack 14 British garrisons along the frontier. Of those 14, all but four were captured. One of the four was Detroit, Pontiac’s personal goal. That summer, war raged up and down the frontier. Once again, the Shawnee Chief Cornstalk was assigned the area he knew well, the eastern Alleghanies, the Cowpasture and Jackson rivers, Botetourt, Kerrs Creek, Augusta. Small forts dotted the frontier from the French and Indian War. A confident Cornstalk knew he could take them all. As the warriors gathered supplies and weaponry and set their faces south and east, the Kerrs Creek farmers broke ground for the ’63 season. They’d rebuilt the last cabins burned in 1759. Families stowed empty chairs in lofts or along walls, and realized the frontier belonged to the living. In the little cemetery overlooking the spring, mounded graves sank level with the thick grass. But in many cabins, visions of death and destruction still replayed in the dark, woke children, sent shivers through the stoutest settler. June greened the young crops. July scattered fireflies among the trees at the edges of farm clearings. Nights hummed with cicadas. Atop North Mountain again, Cornstalk’s warriors lounged beside a spring and watched the comings and goings in the valley. Some historians believe they were waiting reinforcements. The final total of warriors is estimated between 40 and 60. Someone from the settlement saw moccasin tracks in a cornfield and told everyone what he found. Next, a hunter spied the Indian encampment from the top of a hill and rushed to spread the alarm. That’s when the warriors swooped toward Big Spring. July 17, a Sunday, marked special meetings at the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church. Many of the settlers had traveled there. But other accounts say the special church meeting was at Jonathan Cunningham’s cabin. Still others say the settlers had fled to Cunninghams and were saddling horses and organizing a flight to Timber Ridge where the men carried their guns to church. No one knows for sure, but other than the McKee cabin, which could have been attacked first, the Shawnees seemed intent on the Big Spring farm. Willia m Gilmore and another man turned toward the mountains to scout for Indians. Concealed nearby, the Indians shot the two men, and swooped upon the nearly 100 men, women and children milling around. Two or three younger men advanced toward the enemy, and lost their lives immediately. In one account, when the Shawnees sprang from cover, Mrs. Dale grabbed a stud colt that had never been ridden and swung onto its back. Managing to balance her baby and cling to the horse, she fled the pursuing Indians. Outrunning them, she dropped her baby in a rye field and hid herself in the brush, obviously sending the horse on. Later, she returned and found the baby unharmed in the rye. She said the terror-stricken people ran in every direction, trying to hide. The Indians chased first one, then another, killing everyone in their path. Another account says even the cattle were shot, bristling with arrows. Mrs. Dale recounts that some people threw up their hands, entreating for mercy. The Shawnees killed most, spared some. Any man resisting was shot immediately. Some whites fled for the spring pond, hiding both in the water and in the weeds along the banks. The warriors found them, killed them and tossed the bodies in the pond. Thomas Gilmore had died defending his family. His wife, Jenny, stood over his body, grappling with a tomahawk-wielding Indian. When a second ran up to kill her, the first threw up his hand, sparing her life for her bravery. She was led off, with her son James, and two daughters, into captivity. Before torching the Cunningham cabin, the Shawnees killed Jonathan Cunningham and his wife. Cunningham had a distillery, and the Shawnees carried off all the whiskey they could find. Margar et Cunningham, (Jacob’s daughter) the 10-year old girl who survived scalping in the first raid, was captured along with James, Betsy and Henry Cunningham. One account says when she arrived at the Shawnee town, a warrior brought out a scalp and sat it on her head, communicating that it was her hair.

Uncertain note

Father: Alexander Cunningham b: 1663 in Dublin, Ireland Mother: Mary Rebecca Burns b: 1668 in Scotland

Marriage 1 Margaret Graves b: 1690 in Church, Wetzel, West Virginia Married:

Children

• Has Children Rebecca Cunningham b: 1715 in Lagan Valley, Donegal, Ireland

References

• Source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cwillard&...
• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:James_Cunningham_%2847%29
• https://davisfamilypioneers.com/2019/04/06/davis-tragedy-at-the-ker...
• https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/11354774?h=e63299
• http://www.mydunlap.net/kerrs_creek_massacres.htm
• https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/166151/I5302/james-cunningham/individual
• https://lostintimeproject.com/kerrs-creek.html
• http://www.bigstonegappublishing.net/THE%20KERR%20CREEK%20MASSACRES... https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:James_Cunningham_%2847%29 “ James Cunningham received a patent for 400 acres "on Tees Creek of James, cor. Moses Cunningham and William Gilmer", according to the dispositions below. Based upon the processioning list of 1765 listed below, this tract was most likely located just across the Borden Tract line from John Gilmore (see Hildebrand Map above). (Note: since James Cunningham's land is not in the Borden Tract, it was not shown on Hildebrand's Map. Also, land of Hugh Cunningham, brother of James is located nearby to the east, just across the Borden Tract border)”