Pre-Revolution Unrest on the Frontier

 Pre-Revolution Unrest

In October 1774, a battle erupted in the Ohio Valley between Virginia militiamen and Shawnee-led Native American forces near Fort Randolph. The engagement took place in the region that would later become Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Livia Nye Simpson Poffenbarger of the community was a newspaper editor and member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). At the turn of the 20th Century she led an effort to recognize The Battle of Point Pleasant as the first battle of the American Revolution. The original consideration for this was based upon local settlers' assertions that Lord Dunmore never intended to come to the aid of Colonel Andrew Lewis in a strategic maneuver to weaken the colony's citizen militia. 

Her proposal was successful and led to the creation of Tu-Endie-Wei State Park and a statue honoring the Battle. In her proposal she argued that: 

- The battle occurred in October 1774 during colonial unrest

- Lord Dunmore colluded with Natives to weaken militias

- General Lewis disobeyed Dunmore's orders

- Pacifying the Ohio Valley permitted those militia to participate in the rebellion against Britain.

An interesting set of personal family associations surrounds this region and specifically this battle. One of my sixth great grandfathers, James Ward, fought and died there. (I emphasize "one of", because every person has thirty-two of them if you can identify them). That James fought and died there is interesting enough, but the story becomes more interesting because James had two sons (which would be my uncles) who also fought in that battle. One was William Ward who later went on to be the founder of Urbana, OH. The other was John Ward who was also known as White Wolf.  John had been captured by Shawnee as a boy when he was three years old and was raised with them.  John fought with his adoptive family and culture against his father and brother in this battle. (Another son, who didn't fight at Point Pleasant but also has an interesting story is James Ward II.)

This story of White Wolf seems to have permeated the Ward family history for at least a couple generations. William Ward's grandson, John Quincy Adams Ward, sculpted The Indian Hunter that is displayed in New York City's Central Park. The work includes a native American walking alongside a dog - maybe his Uncle John was an inspiration for this work!