David Edwards Killed by Indians

David Edwards Killed by Indians

"The area where they were living when Jesse and Andrew were born was called the District of West Augusta and when David was born it was known as Monongalia County (est. 1776)." Lela Lillian Lones, EDWARDS: PROGENITORS, SIBLINGS, DESCENDANTS OF ANDREW EDWARDS, p. 45, copyright 1985, 3400 Willis, Perry, Iowa 50220.

David Edwards, son of Thomas and Mary (Hiatt) Edwards, moved to the district of West Augusta [Virginia] where he was the last white man killed by the Indians in the fall of 1778. this David Edwards left three sons: Jessie, Andrew, and David." (Lones, Ibid, Preface, )

" Apparently feeling that the Indians would not return again, and that it was safe to make a trip, David Edwards, son of Thomas Edwards of Capon Valley, went to Winchester.

"'In that time those who resided on the frontier were in the habit of going on horseback to Winchester and other points in the Shenandoah Valley, for the purpose of securing salt, powder, lead, and other articles indispensable to pioneer life, and which could not be secured elsewhere. Late in the fall, David Edwards made a journey to Winchester and, having procured a load of salt and shot, began his return home. When he reached the Valley River, at (sic) point near the mouth of Big Sandy Creek, he was shot, tomahawked, and scalped. His body lay for some time before it was discovered and buried. He was the last person who fell victim to savage vengeance on Northwestern Virginia in the year 1778.' This account of the murder of David Edwards is from the Barbour Section of Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia, published in 1883."

"'David Edwards was killed by Indians along the Tygart Valley River, probably near Colfax, in 1778,' The Monongalia Story, Vol I. 1974, page 202."

"The three sons of David Edwards and Sarah Parke, m. c1772, were less than six years of age when the Indians killed their father. Jesse Edwards was born 2 September 1773, Andrew Edwards was born 5 August 1775, and David Edwards was born c1777."

Note: The British used the Indians to raid the outlying settlements on the Western frontier as part of their war campaign during the Revolutionary War.