| Indian Massacre in the Virginia Frontier On April 28, 1758 our ancestors took sanctuary at Fort Seybert during a raid by Shawnee Indians. The following are some of the details about our ancestors and the horror they went through at Fort Seybert. Pearl Hollingsworth�s G,G,G,G,G,G,G,-Grandparents Roger and Hannah Dyer moved from Lancaster County, PA to South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River in 1747. Roger Dyer and his son William purchased 1,160 acres of land and became some of the first permanent settlers. Their daughters Hester, Sara, and Hannah married men who owned or bought adjacent property. Sara was a widow. James was not married until after the massacre. The area is located on the west side of the Shenandoah Valley near the town of Brandywine in West Virginia. This was Virginia territory during the 1700s. Although Fort Seybert no longer exists, the site is now a small community called Fort Seybert. Parents Roger Dyer Killed by Shawnee Indians Hannah Britton Was away from fort during massacre Children Sara Captured by Shawnee Indians William John Killed by Shawnee Indians Hester Was away from fort during massacre Hannah Was away from fort during massacre James Captured by Shawnee Indians Hannah, child of Roger and Hannah Britton Dyer married Frederick Keister in 1755. Fortunately, Hannah, her husband, and sister Hester were away from Fort Seybert during the massacre. This was a blessing for us because she is Pearl�s G,G,G,G,G,G-Grandmother. Before the French and Indian War Native American tribes wandered freely in the area, hunting and trading, and did not bother the settlers. However, the Indians disliked them because the settlers bought the land, cleared and fenced it, and built houses. Settlements drove the game away. The Indians had to hunt farther west to provide for their tribes. 1753 The French and Indian War Begins The Indians were loyal to the French cause because the French used the areas they controlled in a way that didn�t threaten the Indian way of life. They hunted and trapped, traded with the natives, and often took Indian wives. When the Indian raids began in the northwest, George Washington ordered that two forts be built on the upper South Branch. One fort was to be built north of the Dyer�s farm and was named Fort Upper Tract. The second fort was Fort Seybert. This fort was named after the captain Jacob Seybert. He was commissioned the first captain of the militia. In case of an Indian threat, someone would ring the bell at the fort, warning all settlers to seek protection in the fort. Fort Seybert was where the Dyer family went in case of danger. Before the Attack on Fort Seybert One day before the attack, many of the men from the settlement left and crossed the Shenandoah Valley to a settlement in the east to sell their goods and buy provisions. Winter had passed, and this was the first time the weather would permit such a journey. Hannah Dyer and two of her daughters, Hannah and Hester, with their families, accompanied the group. Roger Dyer, two sons, William and James, and daughter Sara stayed at the settlement. No one knew of the pending Indian hostilities in the area. That afternoon, Captain Seybert received information that hostile Indians had been seen. He ordered his son Nicholas to ring the bell to warn the settlers and then sent a messenger to Fort Upper Tract for aid. Before long all of the settlers were safe inside the fort, including Roger Dyer and his family who stayed behind. The number in the fort was about 40 people, mostly women and children. However the fort was a large stockade with cabins, palisade walls, and blockhouses. The few men were well armed and positioned around the fort to give the best defense. They believed any Indian attack would surely be driven back until help came from Fort Upper Tract. That night was cold, but the settlers were warm inside the cabins. Men took turns on guard outside. However, nothing could be seen beyond the wall except for the black silhouetted mountain ridges and thousands of stars. Early Morning of the Attack on Fort Seybert Early that morning the settlers became more relaxed since there was no sighting of Indians. The gate was opened to the stockade so that the women could go to the spring for water and the men could hunt for food. They knew that danger was imminent but were unaware of the immediate presence of an enemy. Stealing stealthily upon them, concealed by fog and protected by forest, Chief Killbuck and his party of forty blood-thirsty Shawnee warriors approached. Killbuck was a treacherous and revengeful Shawnee chief who hated the settlers. Sarah Dyer and a young indentured servant named Wallace were outside the fort on their way to milk and shear some sheep. Two Shawnee braves accosted them. Sarah attempted to stab one of the men with her sheep shears. During the scuffle, Sarah pushed the brave over an embankment. The remaining Indians found the situation amusing, and in the midst of the laughter, Sarah and Wallace ran back to the fort. William Dyer, son of Roger Dyer, went out that morning to hunt. Not far from the fort he was shot and killed by a Shawnee and became the first casualty of that day. Nicholas Seybert heard the shot and fired at the Indians, hitting one brave who was the first Indian casualty. After hearing the shots, Captain Seybert rang the bell calling all back inside the fort. Women and children hid in the blockhouses, and the men took position on the walls. Nicholas, looking through a loophole at his position, saw an Indian peering over a ledge of a rock and fired his flint-lock. Young Seybert soon saw feathers floating down upon the stream below. He judged that his bullet had hit its mark, cutting loose the savage head-gear. Killbuck, not knowing how many men were in the fort, changed from attack strategy to negotiation. He called out to Captain Seybert in English that if the settlers would surrender they would be spared. If not, they would all be killed. Captain Seybert was now hoping that help would arrive from Fort Upper Tract. What he didn�t know was that when the messenger arrived at Fort Upper Tract the fort was in smoldering ruins and all the inhabitants were dead. Killbuck and his braves had already destroyed that fort before attacking Fort Seybert. After awhile, Captain Seybert realized that help was not coming and agreed to parley with Killbuck. Seybert agreed to surrender without further resistance and to relinquish the money and valuables in the fort. Killbuck agreed that the inmates of the fort should not be harmed. Some of the settlers favored this conditional surrender while others opposed it. Nicholas Seybert was bitter in his opposition and attempted by violence to prevent his father from making a surrender. Before the gate was thrown open, he took aim at Killbuck and would have shot him dead but his gun was knocked aside by his father. The bullet struck at Killbuck�s feet. Captain Seybert then ordered that the gate be opened and that the men lay down their guns. Killbuck and the warriors came through the gate. The Massacre Begins Killbuck greeted Seybert by striking his head with a tomahawk. Seybert fell to his knees; Killbuck pulled out his knife and scalped Seybert as he lay mortally wounded. This violent betrayal stunned the settlers, and confusion followed. The outnumbered men in the fort were quickly overpowered by the savages. The settlers, hands tied behind their backs, were led out of the fort. The Indians took their prisoners up the slope toward the South Fork mountain. After a quarter of a mile from the fort, the Indians divided the settlers into two groups. One group consisted of people whom they selected as desirable for captives. The object of the Indians in taking captives was to adopt them and thereby strengthen their tribe. Killbuck wanted no old people, no weaklings, and no cowards. He preferred brunettes to blondes because they resembled his swarthy complexion. The doomed group was to be killed. Roger, Sara, and James Dyer were part of this group. There were old men and women, young girls and boys, and the sick--about 30 settlers in all. They were ordered to sit on their knees with one Indian standing behind each one of them. Roger Dyer, realizing what was about to happen, stood up to protest. One of the Indians hit him in the face with a tomahawk, knocking out some teeth. The savages kept hacking Roger until he fell dead. Sara Dyer fainted as she watched what was happening; this saved her life. Others tried to escape, but the Indians went into a frenzy, killing and scalping. Small children were able to hide in the bushes. James Dyer, who was only 14 years old, managed to escape. As James ran, four warriors chased after him. James could hear the screams of the settlers echoing down the mountain. When he reached the river, the Indians recaptured him. Both Sara and James were spared; the Indians decided to adopt them into their tribe. About 17 settlers lay dead in the woods. Others were spared this massacre by hiding. Sara�s two children were among this group. The Shawnees led their captives north over the South Fork mountains that first day. On the way, an infant who was crying was killed and left hanging in the forked branch of a dogwood tree. Finally, they reached the Shawnee village near what is now Chilecothe, Ohio. For the most part, the Shawnees treated their captives relatively well. The Indians encouraged the captives to join the tribe and integrate into Indian life. When Hannah Dyer and the others returned from across the Shenandoah Valley with new supplies, they found the fort partially destroyed. The few that had survived the massacre had already buried the dead. Hannah Dyer, after hearing that her husband and son William were among the dead, and that both Sara and James had been taken prisoner by the Indians became very distressed. However, because she was a strong frontier women, she found Sara�s two daughters and comforted them. James Dyer Escapes from The Shawnee James became a trusted tribe member and was allowed to hunt and go on trading trips. After about two years, he went with the Indians to Fort Duquesne to trade. When his capturer�s were not looking, he slipped into a cabin. A woman inside hid him under a pile of fur. The Shawnees searched for him, removing some of the furs from the cabin but did not discover him. The fort was under French control, and most of the inhabitants were French/Indian mixed. James was blessed that the woman in the cabin didn�t turn him over. After the Shawnees left, James slipped out of the fort unnoticed. He made his way to Lancaster, PA, where he spent some time with family friends. Eventually he returned to Fort Seybert; there he made plans to rescue Sara. Rescue of Sara Dyer James returned to Ohio, and after two years, he found Sara living in a Shawnee village. James hid in the forest near a spring where the Indian women would come to wash and get water. Soon he saw Sara and made arrangements for her to escape. Sara gathered her few belongings, among them a spoon made from buffalo horn, which is still owned by her descendants. That night James waited by the spring with two horses he had borrowed from the Indians. When Sara came out of the dark, James at first thought that she was a Shawnee brave and raised his gun to fire. Sara called just in time. They then rode out of the area before the Indians discovered that she was gone. When Sara returned home to her daughters, they were terrified of her. Sara was dressed in Indian garb. Her mannerisms and tanned skin reminded them of the Indians that massacred the people at Fort Seybert. James and Sara continued to live in what is now Pendleton County, WV. Sara married Robert Davis, had seven more children and lived on a farm near Brandywine. The farm is still owned by their descendants. James married three times and had a total of 16 children. |
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