He was Captured by Indians
and Living with Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief!
As the search for ancestors continues and we discover ancestors in the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains, from Virginia, Kentucky, and into Ohio, a keynote of the possibility of capture by the Indians. Taking white settlers as slaves was commonplace during the 18th century.
Two Moffett brothers were removed to Kentucky in 1783, with their half-brother, James Trimble. Robert Moffett settled in Jessamine County and had two sons, aged six and eight respectively, who were captured by Indians soon after their arrival. The boys were taken to the Indian town of Piqua on the Miami River in Ohio, and John Moffett was adopted by the family of Tecumseh’s mother. These prisoners were given up at Wayne’s Treaty in 1794, and their father was present with the Kentucky troops to receive back his long-lost sons. Note: This was the acclaimed event of General “Mad Anthony” Wayne’s victory over the Indians at this site in August 1794 which helped to open the Ohio country to settlement and brought temporary peace in the old Northwest.
John A. Trimble of Ohio, in a letter dated in 1881 to Dr. George B. Moffett of West Virginia, told how when he was a child (in 1807), he saw John Moffett upon his return from a visit to Kentucky. “He was in the vigor of manhood, dressed in Indian costume and traveling on foot.” Mr. Trimble saw him again in 1838, at his home near Piqua. “He had lived during his boyhood and youth with Tecumseh, the celebrated Indian Chief, and seemed much attached to him. At the time of Mr. Trimble’s visit, Moffett had recently married an elderly lady and settled down to civilized life. But in his early life, he had an Indian wife.”
The Battle of Piqua occurred on August 8, 1780, at the Indian village of Piqua along the Mad River in western Ohio Country between the Kentucky militia under General George Rogers Clark and Shawnee Indians under Chief Black Hoof. The Indians were driven off and the village and surrounding fields burned, but Clark suffered daunting casualties. Clark’s expedition was in response to Bird’s invasion of Kentucky earlier that summer by a combined force of Shawnee, Delaware, and Miami Indians.
Source: Annals of Augusta County 1726–1871 by Joseph A. Waddell, pg. 177–178
Some suggestions finding Ancestors not discovered in the 13 Original Colonies.
Use a map of the Wilderness Trail as a guideline of likely settlements from 1700–1800, and then research those counties and adjoining counties.
Use a map showing the locations of forts before and after the Revolutionary War.
Note: This is very important! Search Militia Records! Every male between the age of 21 and 50 was required to belong to the Militia. This is a forgotten resource, and you may have to search titles such as “Rosters, Military Affairs, US Correspondence, etc.”
New to GeorgiaPioneers.com = Georgia Military Affairs from 1775–1829. These records include Muster Rolls, accounting reports, correspondence among officers and individuals, and so on. Everyone did not serve in the Continental Army. Many militia companies from Georgia and the Carolinas fought battles and skirmishes with the British.
House of Burgess. The Colony of Virginia elected Burgesses from 1619. This is an excellent resource to find names of adventurers and immigrants. You can do this online by clicking on the link below
The Online Books Page
Browsing Titles : "Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1776 [microform]." to "Journals of the House of…
6. State Papers. Published accounts are found in some libraries. They include everything from correspondence to appeals from immigrants wishing to enter the Colony. https://archive.org/details/americanstatepap_c11unit
7. Diaries of persons taken as slaves.
https://gutenberg.org
8. A thorough exhaustion of research in county records. (also search adjoining counties) Inferior Court Minutes, deed records, marriage bonds. There is a likelihood that someone will name your ancestor in old documents, especially in old wills and estates. I found an old will in Virginia that mentioned the testator’s two daughters had been captured by the Indians, and that, should they ever return, he wanted them cared for.
9. Historical books of every description concerning Indian raids, etc.