Woodstock, Virginia, 1758. The Indians traveled east of the Appalachian Mountains and began depredating upon the frontier settlements. The Painter family, along with a few others, had arrived from the Palatinate region of Western Germany in 1742, and they had helped create the small towns of Paintersville and Mill Creek.
For 16 years they lived in peace among their neighbors, but in 1758, the French and Indian War would come to them. In this episode, we will hear about what happens when a raiding party of 50 Shawnee warriors and four French soldiers attacked the settlements near Paintersville and Mill Creek, Virginia. One of George Painter’s sons was described as fleshy, and the Indians would choose him to be a special victim of their cruelty.
We will be reading from this book, History of the Early Settlements and Indian Wars of Western Virginia. This book was published by Wills De Hass all the way back in 1851. This book was written when West Virginia was still part of the state of Virginia. In addition to hearing about the massacres by this band of Shawnee Indians near Woodstock, Virginia, we will also hear about the attack on Fort Seybert, which is located about 50 miles west of Woodstock, just over the state line into modern-day West Virginia.
So, here is the tragic story of depredations, rapine, torture, and murder perpetrated on the German and English settlers of Western Virginia in 1758. During the year 1758, the Indians again reappeared east of the mountains and spread desolation and terror wherever they went. These visitations, doubtless for better security, were generally made in large parties, and their presence could not but create alarm among the sparsely populated settlements.
The following account of one of these marauding parties we take from the interesting local history of that region. A party of about 50 Indians penetrated the neighborhood of Mill Creek, about 9 miles south of Woodstock. This was pretty thickly settled, and among other houses George Painter had erected a large log one.
On the alarm being given, the neighboring people took refuge in this house. Late in the afternoon, they were attacked. Mr. Painter, attempting to fly, had three balls shot through his body and fell dead when the others surrendered. The Indians dragged the dead body back to the house, threw it in, plundered the house of what they chose, and then set fire to it.
While the house was in flames, consuming the body of Mr. Painter, they forced from the arms of their mothers four infant children, hung them up in trees, shot them in savage sports, and left them hanging. They then set fire to a stable containing sheep and calves. After these atrocities, they moved off with 48 prisoners, among whom were Mrs. Painter, five of her daughters, and one of her sons, a Mrs. Smith and several of her children, a Mr. Fisher and several of his children, among them a lad of 12 or 13 years old, a fine, well-grown boy, and remarkably fleshy. This little fellow, it will presently be seen, was destined to be the victim of savage cruelty.
Two of Painter’s sons and a young man by the name of Jacob Myers escaped. One of the Painters with Myers ran over that night to Powel’s Fort, a distance of at least 15 miles, and to Keller’s Fort for aid. A small party of men set out early the next morning, well mounted and armed. They reached Mr. Painter’s early in the day, but on learning the strength of the Indians, they declined going in pursuit, as they were too weak to follow.
After 6 days’ travel, they reached their villages and held a council, when it was determined to sacrifice their helpless prisoner, Jacob Fisher. They first ordered him to collect a quantity of dry wood. The poor little fellow shuddered, burst into tears, and told his father they intended to burn him.
His father replied, “I hope not.” and advised him to obey.
When he had collected a sufficient quantity of wood to answer their purpose, they cleared and smoothed a ring around a sapling, to which they tied him by one hand, then formed a trail of wood around the tree, and set it on fire. The poor boy was then compelled to run round in this ring of fire until his rope wound him up to the sapling, and then back until he came in contact with the flame, whilst his infernal tormentors were drinking, singing, and dancing around him with horrid joy. This was continued for several hours, during which time the wretches became beastly drunk, and as they fell to the ground, their squaws would keep up the fire. With long, sharp poles, they pierced the body of their victim whenever he slowed, until the poor and helpless boy fell and expired with the most excruciating torments, whilst his father and brothers were compelled to be witnesses of the heart-rending tragedy.
After an absence of about 3 years, Mrs. Painter, with her son and two of her daughters, Mrs. Smith, who had the honor, if it could be so deemed, of presenting her husband with an Indian son by a distinguished chief, Smith received his wife and never maltreated her on account of her Indian son, but he had a most bitter aversion to the young chief.
The boy grew up to manhood and exhibited the appearance and disposition of his sire. Attempts were made to educate him, but without success. He enlisted into the army of the Revolution as a common soldier and never returned. Fisher and his surviving sons, with several others, also returned home. Three of Mrs. Painter’s daughters remained with the Indians, one of whom, after many years of captivity, returned. The other two married and spent their lives with their swarthy companions. In connection with this, we may state that a most remarkable feature of the Indian life was the peculiar power of fascination which it exercised over those subjected to its influence.
Other instances are upon record which show that this attachment to the allurements of savage life was often astonishing. The following will serve as an illustration. About the year 1758, a man by the name of John Stone, near what is called the White House in the Hawksbill settlement, was killed by Indians.
Stone’s wife, with her infant child and a son about 7 or 8 years old, and George Grandstaff, a youth of 16 years old, were taken prisoners. On the South Side Mountain, the Indians murdered Mrs. Stone and her infant, but took the boy and Grandstaff to their towns. Grandstaff remained about 3 years a prisoner. The boy Stone grew up with the Indians, came home, and after obtaining possession of his father’s property, sold it, got the money, returned to the Indians, and was never heard of again.
There is no accomplishment which the Indian warrior more delights in than that of strategy. Studying from boyhood to excel in this particular, he often becomes so skillful as to outwit his more cautious and frequently less sagacious antagonists. Where in ancient or modern history do we find schemes better matured and more successfully executed than those of Pontiac? The capture of Mackinac never has been surpassed for ingenuity and skill, while the terrible catastrophe at Fort Massac stands without a precedent either among civilized or savage men. The framed wooden horse of old, from whose capacious body issued the armed foe against the astonished and bewildered Trojans, was but a dull idea compared with the admirable finesse of the American savage on the lower Ohio or northern lake. We premise this much to introduce a case of fatal subtlety in our own state.
The capture of a small frontier post known as Seybert’s Fort, which stood on the South Branch of the Potomac, about 12 miles west of the present town of Franklin in Pendleton County. It was a rude enclosure cut out of the heart of the forest, but sufficiently strong to have resisted any attack from the enemy, had the inmates themselves but been strong.
Our artist has given a very correct representation of this early and memorable fortress, the history of which fills such a dark page in the annals of Virginia. Seybert’s Fort served as a place of resort for the people of all the adjoining settlements. Into this they gathered in times of threatening danger, and remained during the seasons when the Indians were most troublesome.
In May 1758, a party of Shawnees invested the fort and demanded a surrender. Finding neither threatening words nor bullets of any avail, the cunning Indians, after 2 days’ trial, resorted to strategy, and unhappily with most fatal success. They made various propositions to the besieged to give up, and their lives should be spared.
If not, the siege should be continued and every soul massacred. The promise of safety lured the unfortunate victims from their line of duty, and they yielded quiet possession of the fort. There were 30 persons at the time within the enclosure, and these the savages proceeded to secure. Instantly, the whites realized the horror of their situation and saw the inevitable doom which awaited them.
In a moment of false security, they trusted to the promise of Indians, and now they were about to pay the folly with their lives. Of the whole number, all were massacred but 11. Various accounts of the mode of massacre have been given, but the following is most doubtless correct. 10 whom they wished to save were secured and removed from the fort.
The others were tied hand and foot and seated in a continuous line upon a log. Behind each of these unfortunates stood a stalwart savage, who, at a given signal, sunk his tomahawk through the skull of his quivering victim. The work was soon finished and the fort destroyed. This horrible scene was witnessed by a youth named Dyer who was spared, although not of the number removed from the limits of the fort.
He was taken to Logstown on the Ohio and thence to the Shawnee towns in the Scioto. After nearly 2 years captivity, he escaped and made his way home. Of the other 10 born office prisoners, nothing satisfactory is known. It was during this year, 1758, that an incident occurred near the present village of Petersburg in Hardy, which stands without a parallel in modern history.
A man named Bingaman lived with his family in a cabin remote from any neighbors. He had been cautioned against the Indians, but he was a man of most determined resolution and Herculean strength. He laughed at the idea of fear and said no cutthroat savages should ever drive him from his home. In the fall of this year, a party of eight Indians made a descent upon his cabin late at night while all the family were asleep.
Before Bingaman was aware of his danger, the Indians had forced the door and were in the house. Mrs. Bingaman was shot through the left breast, but not dangerously wounded. Bingaman got his parents, wife, and child beneath the bed and then prepared for battle. The hired man was called down, but refused to come.
The room was dark and having discharged his gun, he commenced beating about at random with his heavy rifle. In this manner, he fought with a desperation of a giant and terribly did his blows fell upon the enemy. One after another, he beat down before him until finally of the eight, but one remained and he, terror-stricken, made from the house and escaped to tell his tribe that he had met with a man who was a perfect devil.
The intrepid Virginian had actually killed seven of his foes, which certainly is unexampled in the history of single-handed combats. During the fight, the Indians frequently grappled their powerful antagonist, but were unable to keep him down. As early in the engagement, he had pulled off his shirt.
In the morning, when he found that his wife was wounded, he became so exasperated at the cowardice of the hired man that he would have killed him had not Mrs. Bingaman interposed to save his life. Bingaman afterwards moved to Natchez, where his son Adam, who was a lad at the time of the fight, had previously moved and there he, the elder Bingaman, died.
Most of these facts we have derived personally from the venerable William Darby of Washington City, who knew the Bingamans at Natchez and heard from each of them a recital of the incidents of that terrible fight. Kercheval gives a somewhat different version, but we have every reason to believe that our account is in the main correct.
We find in Kercheval another incident illustrative of the energy and courage of this man, which we give. A party of whites, of whom Bingaman was one, had started in pursuit of some retreating Indians. They were overtaken late at night and the pursuing party dismounting, the captain ordered Bingaman to remain with the horses whilst the rest made the attack.
This he refused and followed after the company. To make the destruction of the enemy more certain, it was deemed advisable to wait until daylight before they began the attack. But a young man whose zeal overcame his discretion fired into the group, upon which the Indians sprung to their feet and fled. Bingaman singled out a fellow of giant-like size, whom he pursued.
Throwing aside his rifle that his speed might not be [ __ ] passed several smaller Indians in the chase, came up with them, and with a single blow of his hatchet cleft his skull. When Bingaman returned to the battleground, the captain sternly observed, “I ordered you to stay and guard the horses.”
Bingaman as sternly replied, “You are a rascal, sir. You intended to disgrace me and one more insolent word and you shall share the fate of that Indian.”
Pointing towards the one he had just slain. The captain quailed under the stern menace and held his peace. The captain and Bingaman had a few days before had a falling out. Several Indians fell in this affair while the whites lost none of their party.
The Indian depredations during this and the following years were particularly fatal on the frontier settlements of Virginia. Many families suffered severely and terribly. So, that’s it for this episode from Western Virginia back in 1758. This last man we heard about, Christian Bingaman, his father had just been killed a few years before these events in 1755 in the Draper’s Meadow Massacre.
We did a video on that massacre about a year ago that I will provide a link for in the description. I’m now going to read parts of another account of the attack on the Painter household near Mill Creek that is from werelate.org, which is a genealogy website. This gives a little more insights into that community and the attack.
The Germans in the Shenandoah had lived in peaceful coexistence with the few remaining natives for a dozen years. Suddenly in 1753, the remaining natives withdrew over the mountains to the west. The settlers understood this was a bad omen. The French and Indian conflict exploded into war on March 28th, 1754.
3 years later, the natives who had vanished from the Shenandoah sent their warriors back to raid the settlements. The many steep, narrow canyons leading from the mountains into the valley made Mill Creek vulnerable. German immigrants George and John Bender made their homes in the canyon of Stoney Creek on the western slope of the Great Northern Mountains.
They tilled their lands without hired hands. They ran their own mills and did their own smithing, supplying the labor from within their large families. They began to use the Anglicized phonetic equivalent name Painter. In 1758, a raiding party of 50 Shawnee and four Frenchmen swooped down the canyon of Mill Creek toward George Painter’s log house.
George gathered his family of nine into his cellar. 40 of his frightened neighbors crowded in as well while two of his sons ran for the ridge to find a better hiding place. The attack was swift and brutal. George was shot in the back three times trying to escape. The others quickly surrendered and watched as the raiders stripped the dwellings of all the worthwhile items and tossed George’s body inside the house.
The rest of the family were pushed aside as the house was torched. Those who lived to tell the tale said that while the house burned, the warriors wrenched four infants away from their mothers and hung them in trees and held a marksmanship contest until all the babies had been shot dead. Then they set fire to the stables killing the sheep and calves, after which they rounded up 48 prisoners, including George’s wife, five daughters, and one son.
Later that night, one of the sons of George who had hidden crept out under the cover of darkness and along with a neighbor boy ran barefoot in shirt and trousers 15 miles to the nearest fort, Fort Keller, for aid. The fort had dispatched a small party to the rescue, but when they learned the size of the raiding party, they turned around and fled.
So, that is part of this additional story on werelate.org. The rest of the story tells of the brutal torture and killing of the Fisher boy and of the daughters who married Indians. One interesting thing about this story is that it says the whites and Indians did peacefully coexist until 1753. The Indians then went back west over the Appalachian Mountains and then later returned in raiding parties along with a few French soldiers.
From all the stories we have read on this channel, it seems like the Shawnee Indians attacked many of these settlements in Virginia while the Delawares, led by Tedious Skunk and others, seem to attack the Pennsylvania settlements to the north. This was a pivotal time in the formation of our country and it also seems to have been a pivotal time when relations with the Indians began to deteriorate.
After these Indians allied with the French and committed these terrible depredations during the French and Indian War, it was difficult to go back to peacefully coexisting with them. Let us know in the comments what you think about these events. This channel was begun because history like this is now viewed as unworthy of airtime on history channels on TV and unworthy of acknowledgements by those who frame our mainstream historical narratives.
One common narrative is that the European settlers simply came in and began killing the Native Americans. However, older books like this one that we read from today often paint a more nuanced picture of the past. In this part of Virginia, the white settlers had lived and traded with tribes like the Shawnee and Delawares until 1753 when these tribes turned on them and began brutally raiding their settlements.
So, here on this channel, our mission is to keep this true history of our ancestors alive by reading directly from old books.
Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
