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I had been told by my mom that my Riddle side was related to Chief Doublehead (Tsaltsuska), but I have found this not to be true.
Now I find that Chief Doublehead was an uncle to Riddle Benge (I think). I figured that is where the confusion came from.
Now I find this showing them running aroun Wallen Creek in present-day Lee County, VA and near Wallen Ridge. Isn’t this right there next to Hawkins County, TN, where the Riddles and the Melungeons as a whole were said to have lived?
http://donchesnut.com/genealogy/pages/bobbenge.htm
June 29, 1785: The cabin of Archibald Scott and Fannie Dickenson Scott (of Castle’s Woods) on Wallen Creek in present-day Lee County, Virginia was attacked by thirteen Indians coming from Wallen Ridge. At nighttime the Indians broke down the door and shot Archibald who died. The Indians then tomahawked and scalped all four of the children. They carried Mrs. Scott outside, packed their booty and then burned the house. At this time she heard the name Benge spoken several times by some of the Indians. A white man with the Indians told her that he was Hargus [what is his last name?] and had taken up with the Indians (he had committed a crime and joined the Indians to escape punishment). During the night they headed north, crossed Wallen Ridge, and headed up the Powell River valley. By daybreak they entered Big Stone Gap and went up a tributary to the north flowing from Black Mountain near the present-day Kentucky-Virginia line. On the northern side of Black Mountain in present-day Kentucky, the chief divided the booty equally and sent a party of nine to head for the Clinch River settlements in order to steal horses. The other four traveled northward. On the eleventh day of the attack, the four Indians stopped at their rendevous to wait for the other nine. Three went hunting leaving Mrs. Scott with the oldest of the group. She escaped from the lone Indian and traveled through the rugged wilderness for many days traveling along the Big Sandy River, through the gorge at Pine Mountain and finally, on August 11, 1785 she broke through the wilderness at New Garden in the upper part of the Clinch River. [from Addington, 1966, p. 88-96; sources were: Virginia State Papers, vol. IV, p. 40; Freeman’s journal, Philadelphia [Dec. 15, 1785]; and Journal of Francis Asbury] [It is unknown whether Robert Benge was a member of this Indian party.]
Bob Benge’s story is interesting. He was a red headed Cherokee (mixed) who some referred to as Shawnee – probably because Shawnee were members of his raiding parties from time to time. Information on him and this area can be found not only in the Viriginia State Papers, as noted above, but in various documents collected in the DRAPER MANUSCRIPT and in various pension statements of Revolutionary War veterans from the area, I believe. In his day the Big Sandy and the Tug Fork area was still a heavily used corridor for Indian travel. Some of the details of his life are disputed [like exactly who was his mother and white relatives], but still I think his life can be seen as an example, along with Simon Girty, of some of the ethnic and identity issues that were part of the frontier. I personally think of the RW as a “civil” war and that, along with the border conflicts with the Indians who were resisting the Euro advance, I suspect may have produced some PTSD for all that makes “identity” an even more challenging area to research. Just my thoughts….
Brenda
Additionally, his father was a trader and so his life is an example of the trading culture on the frontier.
I don’t want anyone to take this personally, because we need to dig into every statement and even the basis for every published historical reference.
This is a “re-telling” of a “re-telling” of a “telling” whose ultimate source is not specified in the sources cited, which doesn’t mean it is not true….
but it does require more documentation to be accepted as fact.
“Annecdotal” historical accounts, recorded many years after the fact, may incorporate some, or all, facts of an event, but WE must exercise all due caution and ‘vet’ all assertions before posting those as fact to this site.
Bill
That does sound like it’s too strongly worded because it doesn’t pertain to Rockhound’s post – I also had saponitown up on my 2nd PC in an entirely different thread and replied on the other PC. My apologies.
Bill
Doing a search engine query for – “Vincent Hobbs” AND Benge -should produce a result for an account of the killing of Benge, as well as other information. I have read the account of his death in a few locations on the internet, I believe. One of my ancestors, well an uncle actually, is Vincent Hobbs…he’s the one that killed Benge. If I’m not mistaken, Benge was also (allegedly) a half-brother, or some relation, to Sequoayah. There are a good number of present day Cherokees with the Benge surname and I have met some of them. So, there should be a fair amount of info, including maybe some genealogical data on these Cherokee families and their relations. The death of Benge is widely attributed as being the end of the “Cherokee troubles” on the Southwest-Virginia frontier.
Randall
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