Jesse David Hughes, I

Jesse David Hughes BIRTH 1750 Hardy County, West Virginia, USA DEATH 29 Oct 1829 (aged 78–79) Ravenswood, Jackson County, West Virginia, USA BURIAL Ravenswood Cemetery Ravenswood, Jackson County, West Virginia

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13222952/jesse-david-hughes

Do not confuse him with Jesse Hughes, son of Robert Hughes and Ann Hartwell.

Lucullus V. McWhorter's The Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia. The following quotes from pages 33 to 35 give us an excellent, intimate look at an actual 18th century wilderness explorer, longhunter, and Indian fighter:

"With (Samuel) Pringle's band of prospectors of 1769, came a youth of about nineteen - Jesse Hughes. He was of Welsh extraction, slight in his proportions, and light and active in his movements. He possessed a form as erect as that of an Indian, and had endurance and fleetness of limb that no man of his day surpassed. His height was about five feet and nine inches, and his weight never exceeded one hundred and forty-five pounds. He had thin lips, a narrow chin, a nose that was sharp and inclined to the Roman form, little or no beard, light hair, and eyes of that indefinable color that one person would pronounce grey, another blue, but which was both - and neither. They were piercing, cold, fierce, and as penetrating and restless as those of the mountain panther. He was of an irritable, vindictive, and suspicious nature, and his hatred, when aroused, knew no bounds. Yet it is said that he was true to those who gained his friendship. "

More ...http://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives/vol5no2/articles/mbo52-3.shtml

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial by SmartCopy: Nov 24 2015, 23:15:53 UTC

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Jesse served in the Harrison County militia, was an Indian trader and became one of the most famous of the frontier scouts of his time. A payroll of Captain William Lowthers Company of VA militia credits Jesse with 132 days service in Lord Dunmore's Ohio Campaign in 1774.

In 1778, a party of Indians murdered Jesse's father, Thomas Hughes and in 1787, another party of Indians led by the white renegade, Leonard Schoolcraft, captured Jesse's daughter, Although Jesse was able to purchase his daughter's freedom the following year, the two incidents turned Jesse and his brother Elias into implacable enemies of the Indians.

He received an annual pension allowance of $100 beginning March 7, 1833 with a total of $300 received. Fluvana Co., VA. Private of Artillery, New York Militia

Sources

• William Elsey Connelley, John Patterson MacLean, The Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia from 1768 to 1795 (1915).
• Wills De Hass, History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia (1851).
• Cecil B. Hartley Life and Adventures of Lewis Wetzel, the Virginia Ranger'' (1860).
• Calhoun County Lines & Links - Oct 1999 p.17
• Find A Grave Memorial# 13222952. Note that the monument for Jessie Hughes in the Ravenswood Cemetery is a cenotaph (memorial without a body). He was buried in an unmarked grave near Turkey Run, near Ravenswood.
• Heritage of Braxton County WV 1995 pp 122, 123
• Roan County WV Family History 1989 p 337, 355, 367 Don Norman; Decendants of Nicholas Cain, & Descendants of William Hughes
• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Aug 6 2017, 17:18:17 UTC

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https://archive.org/stream/historyofritchie00lowt/historyofritchie0...
"Jesse Hughes, the eldest son, whose history is of more moment to us, was born in the "Old Dominion," in 1T50, and in early life, he was married to Miss Grace Tanner, sister of one of the pioneer settlers of Roane county, and near the year 1773, he came to Hacker's creek in Harrison county.

Two years after the discovery of the river that bears his name, we find him engaged in the awful struggle at Point Pleasant, but little else of value concerning his life is in our possession other than that he was a confirmed Indian hater, an intrepid leader, and a prominent border scout.

He resided near Jane Lew% in Lewis county, at one time on the small stream that still bears liis name, "Jesse's run," and in a rural burying-ground in this section, strangers have been pointed to a low mound which is said to cover his silent " dust, but this is in error. He died at the home of his son-in- law, George Hanshaw, at Ravenswood, in Jackson county, during the autumn of 1839, and near this town he lies in his last sleep." "Jesse Hughes' name was ever associated with that of courage and daring, and he "lived many years to enjoy the peace and quietude that the hardships of his early life had so dearly bought." And the beautiful nver that bears his name is a more fitting memorial than bronze or marble. "

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13222952/jesse-david-hughes

Children Photo Martha Hughes Bonnett 1773–1834

Photo Rachel Hughes Cottrell 1779–1860

William Jonathon Hughes 1785–1847

Photo Mercey Hughes Gandee 1787–1883

https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Jesse_Hughes_%286%29

Name[1][2][3][4][5] Jesse David Hughes Gender Male Birth? abt 1750 Elk Creek, Augusta County, Virginia Residence[1][4] 1771-1772 Augusta, Virginia (later Lewis, West Virginia) settled 400ac on Hacker's Creek, adjoining lands afterwards owned by Col. William Lowther Marriage 1775 Virginia to Grace Tanner Residence[1] 1797 or 1798 "moved to the Wabash" (not sure if they mean present day Indiana?) Residence[1] abt 1798 Kentucky, United States moved to eastern Kentucky Residence[1] abt 1799 Jackson, West Virginia, United States settled at the mouth of Turkey Run in what is now West Virginia Residence[1] aft 1799 Sandyville, Jackson, West Virginia, United States settled on Sand Creek near where Sandyville was afterwards built Death[1][4] 1 Oct 1829 Ravenswood, Jackson County, Virginia age abt 79 - died at the home of George Henshaw, his son-in-law, at the mouth of Turkey Run just above the town of Ravenswood Burial[1][2] Ravenswood Cemetery, Ravenswood, Jackson, West Virginia, United States Jesse Hughes (c. 1750 – c. 1829) was a frontiersman, hunter, and scout who was an early settler in the western region of Virginia that became West Virginia and Kentucky. Hughes was noted for his hatred of Native Americans, and is said to have killed many in battle, and murdered several others. "He was as savage as a wolf, and he liked to kill an Indian better than to eat his dinner", said the wife of one of his descendants in 1902. Hughes married Grace Tanner in 1771. They lived in a cabin on Hacker's Creek, near a stream that is now known as "Jesse's Run", located in present day Lewis County, West Virginia. Hughes is believed to have been one of the first American colonists to explore the Hughes River in West Virginia. It may have been named for him, or for others of the same surname residing in the area during roughly the same time period.3

Parents and Siblings (edit)

F. Thomas Henry Hughes abt 1717 - 1778 M. Mary Susanna Baker ABT 1723 - AFT 1773 m. ABT 1743

Sudna Hughes ABT 1743 - 1829

Charles Hughes ABT 1745 - ABT 1764

Deborah Hughes ABT 1746 - ABT 1813

Sarah Hughes ABT 1748 - 1821

Jesse David Hughes abt 1750 - 1829

Jonathan Hughes 1753 - 1845

Lt. Thomas Hughes, Jr. 1754 - 1837

James Hughes 1756 - 1825

Elias Hughes abt 1757 - 1844

Spouse and Children (edit)

H. Jesse David Hughes abt 1750 - 1829 W. Grace Tanner 1750-1756 - 1842 m. 1775

References ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Jesse Hughes, in McWhorter, Lucullus Virgil. The Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia from 1768 to 1795: Embracing the Life of Jesse Hughes and Other Noted Scouts of the Great Woods of the Trans-Allegheny. (Hamilton, Ohio: Republican Publishing Co., 1915), 1915. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jesse D Hughes, in Find A Grave. [Includes headstone photos]

↑ Jesse Hughes (frontiersman), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jesse Hughes, in Haymond, Henry. History of Harrison County, West Virginia: from earliest days of northwestern Virginia to the present. (Morgantown, West Virginia: Acme Publishing, 1910), 377. Jesse Hughes. Jesse Hughes the noted border and Indian scout was it is supposed born on the South Branch of the Potomac and came to the West in 1770 and located his 400 acres on Hacker's Creek adjoining lands afterwards owned by Colonel William Lowther. He participated in many expeditions against the Indians and was perhaps better known and had a wider reputation for daring that any man on the Upper waters of the Monongahela and he did much to protect the settlers from the forays of the savages. He had a fierce temper and bore an intense hatred to the Indians, and no one of that race was safe with him either in war or peace. Some of his exploits are mentioned in other parts of this volume. He lived to a great age and died at the house of his son-in-law George Henshaw in Jackson County, West Virginia, about 1830.

↑ 25. Jesse David Hughes, in Hackerscreek.com. Jesse David Hughes, a son of Thomas Henry and Susannah (Baker) Hughes, was born in VA about 1751 and died in 1829 on Turkey Run, Jackson County VA (WV). He married Grace Tanner in 1771 or 1772, the same year that he settled on Hacker's Creek in Harrison County VA (WV). Grace, a daughter of Edward and Rachel Tanner, was born in VA in 1753 and died in Roane County VA (WV) January 18, 1842. Jesse served in the Harrison County militia, was an Indian trader and became one of the most famous of the frontier scouts of his time. A payroll of Captain William Lowthers Company of VA militia credits Jesse with 132 days service in Lord Dunmore's OH Campaign in 1774. Order book No.1 of Harrison County VA records shows that Jesse was twice elected captain of Harrison County Militia and further shows that on May 17, 1786, "Jesse Hughes came into court and took the oath of allegiance and the oath of Capt. of Militia according to law". Jesse seems to have been paid for his militia services in the form of a land grant, for he transferred 164 acres of land to Peter Hartman and 200 acres to John Waggoner on July 11, 1791. This land was described as being part of "...a pre-emption warrant of 1,000 acres No. 2411 date March 20, 1783, lying and being on Jesse Hughes Run in the County of Harrison..." In 1778, a party of Indians murdered Jesse's father, Thomas Hughes and in 1787, another party of Indians led by the white renegade, Leonard Schoolcraft, captured Jesse's daughter. Although Jesse was able to purchase his daughter's freedom the following year, the two incidents turned Jesse and his brother Elias into implacable enemies of the Indians.

Folklore and popular historians, writers who were more interested in bloodshed and attention getting stories than in historical accuracy, have amplified Jesse's savagery beyond its actuality. An example is the accusation that Jesse and four other men of butchered an entire Delaware Indian town of "more than 100 people" in June of 1772. This massacre was first reported in A.S. Withers' "Border Warfare", published in 1831. Withers was not certain that the story was true and gave the names of only two of the alleged assassin, William White and William Hacker. L.V. McWhorter, in a footnote to the Withers story, added the names of Jesse Hughes and John Cutright. An anonymous writer of an article in "Awhile Ago Times", reprinted in "The Hacker's Creek Journal" states that Chief Bull and his Delawares had moved from Bulltown a month before the alleged massacre and terms the entire story "A Ridiculous Tale." The writer references a number of documents proving that the Delawares moved south to the lower Mississippi, where Chief Bull died. There are a number of incidents recorded where Jesse tracked down and killed Indians, but these seem to have been Indians who had attacked white settlements or who had ambushed white settlers. In short, Jesse seems to have treated the Indians in the same manner that they treated whites.