Alexander and Mary Crawford, killed 1764

In the fall of 1764 in Augusta County, Virginia, Indian war parties in the area had forced many residents to ban together in whatever houses in their neighborhood seemed most likely to withstand the attacks.

In the area of Buffalo Gap, the Keller house was made of stone and had narrow windows, so the settlers gathered together there for protection. Alexander and Mary Crawford and their eleven children were among the neighbors that took refuge within.  But provisions had to be occassionally brought in and their animals seen to, so settlers would sometimes leave the protection of the Keller ‘fort.’

One morning Alexander and Mary Crawford returned to their home on Little North Mountain to harvest vegetables from the garden. Their two oldest sons, William and John took horses to a salt lick farther up the mountain. Soon the boys saw smoke rising from their homestead below. By the time they reached their home, the Indians were gone. They found the remains of their father in the ashes of the burnt cabin and their mother’s body tomahawked in the yard.

Men from the community pursued the Indians as they continued their way down the valley burning and taking prisoners. In the battle that followed, most of the Indians were killed and the prisoners returned. This was the last Indian attack in Augusta County, Virginia.

Alexander and Mary were buried in the Glebe Cemetery. There are no markers today. The Crawford’s  son, William, became the head of the family, looking after his younger brothers and sisters.

Connection: Alexander and Mary Crawford were my 6th great grandparents. Their 4th great-grandson was Chester Acton my mother’s father.

Catherine Dubois, Indian captive 1663

Since our ancestors arrived in America early, many of  them had interactions with the Indians. Given the difference in cultures, attitudes toward the land, and the determination of both sides, it was inevitable that these interactions became violent and deadly. I can list the names of twelve ancestors that were killed in Indian attacks and thirteen that were captured. The next few posts will look at some of these stories.

In the early 17th century the Dutch gained a foothold in America with their settlement at New Amsterdam. Soon they were setting up trading posts and villages up and down the Hudson River.  Several small communities were established along the river about 60 miles north in Ulster County. The Dutch and Indians had skirmished for years, but by 1663 had reached a point of uneasy calm. On June 7  the town of Wyldwych opened their gates for peace talks and trade with the Esopus Indians. After the Indians had dispersed themselves through the community, they attacked, murdering the inhabitants and setting fire to the buildings. They took about 45 women and children captive before being driven away. For the next few months Dutch forces searched for the war party. Unable to locate the them, the Dutch burned Indian crops and towns. Frustrated and hungry, the Indians decided to punish the Dutch by burning some of their captives at the stake. Catherine Dubois and her baby daughter Sarah were chosen and placed in a stack of wood. The captives began to sing the 137th Psalm. “By the Rivers of Babylon we sat and wept as we thought of Zion, our home.” The Indians paused in their preparations to listen and then demanded more songs. Approaching Dutch soldiers heard the singing, surrounded and fought the Indians and freed the captives.

That’s the story that has been handed down. Perhaps it has grown and been embellished with retelling or maybe that’s just the way it happened.  The basic facts of the battle, capture and recapture of the captives are true.

Connection: Catherine Dubois was my 9th great grandmother and the baby Sarah was my 8th great grandmother.  Also among the captives was Maeijcken Van Meteren, her two children and her two nephews. Sarah grew up and married Maeijcken’s son Joost. Their great granddaughter Margaret married William Cook.  My grandmother Lelah Strange was Margaret Cook’s great-great-granddaughter.

Tex Sallee and the Reynolds Chinese Expedition

In the 6 June blog we met Tex Sallee who in 1947 was one of three men who set a record for flying around the world in 78 hours and 55.5 minutes.

A  year later the same three – Milton Reynolds, Bill Odom and Sallee – had another aviation adventure. This one is a bit more mysterious.

Amne Machin is the tallest peak in Tibetan China, one of the least explored areas in the world. A 1929 expedition incorrectly estimated that the mountain was 30,000 feet tall, or taller than Mt. Everest. Life magazine decided to mount an expedition to investigate. They joined with the Boston Museum of Science and then sought out Milton Reynolds, millionaire pen manufacturer, to help sponsor the project. Reynolds, always on the lookout for adventure and publicity, saw the expedition as an opportunity to open the Chinese market to his ballpoint pens.

The expedition went through channels, Chinese officials approved all the necessary documents. When the news of the project hit the Chinese papers, it met with some criticism. Some officials felt that too many Chinese resources were being delegated to the project. Others were suspicious that it was actually an American spy mission.

When Reynolds, Odom and Sallee arrived in China with a refitted  bomber, there were problems. The cameras had been installed in such a way that mapping was impossible. There were no flight suits, a lack of oxygen masks, no throat microphones — but 750 pounds of ink pens! While these problems were being corrected, Reynolds handed out the pens on Shanghai streets and talked to Chinese officials about setting up a factory.

On April 1 with the plane repaired, the expedition was ready. Odom turned the plane to taxi and ran a wheel off the runway. After hearing that the damage would take weeks to repair, Reynolds abruptly cancelled the expedition. But then the next day the plane was flown to another airport (with Reynolds leaving behind an unpaid hotel bill). Without informing the Chinese of his flight plan, the plane took off and returned 13 hours later. The plane was then impounded by the Chinese and a guard set. Reynolds and the crew were detained and told to return the next day for another round of questioning. Instead, Reynolds, Odom and Sallee took a taxi to the airport. They told the airport manager they needed to test the engines. Without contacting the control tower, the plane took off while Reynolds threw handfuls of pens out the door to distract the armed guards. Odom took off with cold engines and used only 2/3 of the runway. “We were either going to Tokyo or to jail,” said Odom. They landed in Japan where Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the military governor,  refused Chinese demands to return the crew and plane.

Reynolds had left the Life magazine, Boston Museum of Science and American officials behind to face the wrath of the Chinese. A science expedition had become an international incident.

The Chinese still wanted to know where the plane had gone on that 13 hour trip. According to a Life photographer, Tex Sallee admitted a few months later that they had attempted to fly over Amne Machin but was forced back by weather. Milton Reynolds’s family claimed that  he was looking for evidence of Chinese nuclear tests for the U.S. government.

Life Magazine took a sweet revenge on the publicity-loving Reynolds for the debacle. They refused to publish a single word about the expedition until after Reynolds’ death.

Connection: Thomas Carroll ‘Tex’ Sallee is my 5th cousin 3x removed.

Tex Sallee -Around the World in Record Time

It’s a small world. In 1947 three men proved that you could go around the world in 78 hours and 55.5 minutes – a new world record.

Milton Reynolds, Bill Odom and Thomas C. “Tex” Sallee flew a stripped down, retrofitted A-26 World War II bomber.  Bill Odom was the pilot, navigator and radio operator.  Tex was the co-pilot and flight engineer. Reynolds was, well, he was the millionaire passenger.

Reynolds had been an aviation enthusiast for years. He had made his money by introducing the first ball point pen to the U.S. market in 1945.  Now in 1947 with enough money to indulge his hobby, he bought the plane, hired Odom and Sallee and set his sights on a world record.

Sallee worked day and night for weeks before the flight getting the engines in shape. The weather cooperated but the flight path included Alaska and Canada where icing was a problem. “On the flight from Adak to Edmonton we were in the overcast and picking up ice when both engines stuttered and quit.” said Reynolds. “It was just a matter of getting the heat on and in a hurry and both engines picked up,” grinned Sallee.”

Another problem was the lack of radio aids from the ground. Over great stretches of land across India and China, there was no navigational help.  “We were the only plane in the air over Asia that night,” said Odom.”

In Calcutta they got a weather forecast for their flight path. Knowing there was no radio communication from China, Odom asked where the information had come from. “Right here, sahib,” said the forecaster and pulled out last year’s almanac and pointed to the average wind speed for April.

Their successful flight knocked 12 hours off the previous record set by Howard Hughes in 1938.  Milton Reynolds was pleased. A world record, newspaper coverage, a picture with the president – and it all quite coincidentally coincided with the release of a new product, the Reynolds Rocket –  a pen that wrote in two colors.

Sallee, Odom, President Eisenhower, and Reynolds, 17 April 1947

Connection – Thomas Carroll Sallee, Jr. (1917-1990) was my 5th cousin 3x removed. His 4th great grandfather, William Sallee,  was my 7th great grandfather.