Zachariah F Green, Sr.

BIOGRAPHY: This story is contributed by Dan Williams, a Green descendant. It is part of the "oral history" that he grew up hearing as a child in the 1920's and 30's. This story and other information was published in 1994 in a book that Dan wrote on the Green and LeForce families of Harlan/Bell County.

Zach was out on Pine Mountain near present day Pineville hunting turkeys & shot a brace, which he put in his sack. Indians hearing the shots started hunting Zach. Zach ran around Pine Mountain, Grandfather naming all the creeks & branches as he ran. finally he doubled back and started to run over the trail where the Indians had first jumped him. He continued along this trail in the same direction as before until he came to a hollow tree just off the trail. Here he jumped off the trail into the tree, hoping the Indians would continue on down the trail for a ways, and in this way make his escape.

To Zach's surprise there was a bear in the hollow tree, deep in his winter's sleep. Zach quickly got his knife into the bear's heart, and this caused the bear to wake up, and more that a bit angry. Man and bear came out of the hollow tree in a rush. The bear, now awake, was inflicting terrible wounds on Zach. He had Zach's head in his mouth and was shaking him like a rag doll. Suddenly the bear dropped dead, and Zach lay beside him, to all appearances also dead.

The Indians came upon the scene about the time Zach and bear came out of the tree, and watched the fight as it raged. The Indians built a rack and placed Zach, his gun and turkeys on the Rack. They made a large fire and started to roast pieces of the bear after first eating the raw heart of the bear. They began to chant and praise Zach as a mighty hunter, a great warrior who could kill a bear with only a knife.

Zach came to himself on the rack. He was bleeding from deep claw wounds on his chest and arms, and teeth wounds on his head. He put turkey feathers on his wounds to stop the bleeding. After he gathered his strenght he loaded his gun and jumped down among the feasting Indians, with the intentions of surprising them and making a run for it. Before he could discharge his weapon the Indians were gone, sure that Zach was a man returned from the spirit world to avenge himself on them. They left the Cumberland not to return for several hunting seasons believing that Zach was waiting for them. Zach ate bear meat for several days until he got strong enough to return to camp, but when he got there his companions had left believing that the Indians had got him and were now hunting them.

After that the Indians called Zach the Turkey Man, because when he jumped from the rack he covered with feathers and they thought he had flown down from heaven to avenge himself on them. My Grandfather, also believed that when his wounds healed the feathers were under his skin, where they could be seen, and that for years the feathers would cause festers, and be expelled.

Washington Co., VA Surveys and Deeds

Page 149 - Zachariah Green, assignee of Robert Killgore...41 ac...Commissioners Certificate...on the south side of Clynch River...Beginning at the foot of a ridge...on the bank of the river and down the meanders...March 26, 1783 - Robert Kilgore, assignee of Lewis Green, Jr...41 ac...on Clynch River surveyed for Lewis Green, March 23, 1774...actual settlement made in 1772...August 14, 1781 - Assign to Zachariah Green by purchase on March 10, 1783 - Signed: Robert Killgore. Witness: Walter Preston

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 9 2016, 0:19:43 UTC

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MH:S33 5CD88EF41E5D537F0D43D7E188026358 Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. @R1@

GEDCOM Source

MH:SC8982 Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=52757565&pid...

GEDCOM Source

MH:S33 5CD88EF41E5D537F0D43D7E188026358 Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. @R1@

GEDCOM Source

MH:SC8970 Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=52757565&pid...

• Residence:

                           Sumner, Tennessee, United States - 1830                        

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Sep 13 2023, 16:50:46 UTC