Ohio County, West Virginia Biography of William McMechen, Sr. ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal represen- ative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ************************************************************************ WILLIAM McMECHEN, SR. William McMechen, Sr., one of the earliest pioneers who settled in the Pan-Handle, was descended from an ancestor, his grandfather, who migrated from the Highlands of Scotland to Wales, and there married a Welsh lady. His father came over from Wales to America, in colonial times, and settled at Wilmington, Delaware. William McMechen himself, just before the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, removed his family, and a number of negroes, to the left bank of the Ohio river, and settled nearly opposite the mouth of McMechen's creek-- improperly called McMahons creek-- as it derived its name from Mr. McMechen himself. He built his cabin on the bluff immediately south of McMechen's run and near its mouth, about a mile below the present town of Benwood, and six miles below Wheeling. About that locality, he acquired, by tomahawk right, a large body of land, consisting partly of river bottom and partly of the neighboring hill land, for which he subsequently obtained a patent from the State of Virginia. A few incidents connected with the settlement of this early pioneer, which have not hitherto been obtruded upon the public, will not be without interest. His cabins and out-buildings were twice burned by the Indians. On the day before the second burning he was warned by a party from Tomlinson fort, near the mouth of Grave creek, that the Indians were about, and told that he and his family must go to the fort. At first he refused to go, but consented that his family should do so. Towards evening, realizing the loneliness of his situation, and the probable dangers that surrounded him, he also left for the fort. next morning returning to his home, he observed a quantity of corn scattered along the road, and on his arrival, found his cabins and outbuildings burnt to the ground. Some time after this, the Indians becoming very troublesome, he deemed it prudent to remove his family from the theatre of strife which waged fiercely along the line of the settlements on the Ohio river, the Indians having allied themselves to the British cause, and under their direction continuing the conflict until after the close of the Revolutionary war. Mr. McMechen removed his family to Red Stone Old Fort, Brownsville, Pa., where they remained for two years. It was probably in the spring or summer of 1782, after his family had returned to their home on the Ohio river, that Mr. McMechen had several valuable horses stolen by the Indians. Following their trail, he pursued them to the Upper Sandusky, then the headquarters of the principal Indian tribes. He experienced no difficulty in finding his animals, but was unable to gain possession of them. During his stay among them, a friendly Indian chief came to him and told him of the murder of Logan, which had happened in his absence, that the Indians were very much incensed, and that they were determined to wage a general war against the white settlers on the Ohio river, advising him at the same time to leave the Indian quarters and go home. But Mr. McMechen was not inclined to go without his property, and so delayed his departure until the next day, when the same Indian came to him and said: "Me tell you go away once, me not tell you again." Mr. McMechen thought it would be prudent for him to take his leave, and he did so. He had not proceeded more than a mile towards his home, when he saw in advance of him a great cloud of dust, which he correctly supposed to be caused by hostile Indians coming in his direction. Hiding his horse in the woods, he turned into an Indian cabin and requested an Indian squaw to conceal him. She did so by directing him to the loft and covering him with deer skins, and different kinds of rubbish. Presently the Indians arrived and commenced searching the cabin for white men. They almost walked over him, but making no discovery passed on to their towns. On his leaving the squaw gave him a quart of cornmeal, on which, mixed with water, he subsisted for the remainder of his journey. He had not progressed more than half a mile from the cabin before he came to the body of a white man who had been killed and scalped by the Indians who had just passed. He then hastened on his journey toward Wheeling, and arrived in safety in about three days. Mr. McMechen had several sons and daughters, having been thrice married. David McMechen, the eldest son, never came to the west, but became a lawyer of distinction in the city of Baltimore, where he lived and died without marrying. James McMechen, the second son, settled on the left side of the Ohio river, about twenty-eight miles below Wheeling, became the owner of a large body of land, in what is now called Wetzel county, and the head of a numerous family. William McMechen the third son, at an early age, went to the city of Baltimore, and studied law with his brother David; he also became a distinguished lawyer and was subsequently made judge of the Municipal Court of the city. Most of his family died early, but a number of his descendants are now living in the neighborhood of Wheeling. Benjamin McMechen, the fourth son of the pioneer, and for whom the town of Benwood was named, became the principal heir of his father's estate, of whom more will be said hereafter. There were several daughters, viz: Sidney, Nancy, Sally and Jane. William McMechen, Sr., died in the year ----. His widow subsequently married Colonel Strickler, of Baltimore, his farm joining the McMechen farm on the north. One monument marks the spot where the three were buried. It stands on the left side of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, immediately south of McMechen's run. Dr. McMechen, a brother of William, the pioneer, came to the west, probably about the same time the latter did. He was the first clerk of the Ohio county Court. He was present when the Court was organized at West Liberty, that being then the county seat. The county seat was afterwards removed to Wheeling. An interesting incident is related of Dr. McMechen. On one occasion he and three other men went out from Fort Henry (Wheeling) to look for cows belonging to the people in the fort. Having gone for some distance up Wheeling creek, the Indians fired on them, and his three companions were immediately killed and scalped. Dr. McMechen having his leg broken, rolled over the bank among the high weeds and was not discovered by the Indians. He remained there until the next morning, when some men were sent out from the fort to search for the lost party. The Doctor heard them talking, but did not discover himself, supposing them to be Indians. The men finding his companions dead and scalped, and concluding that the Doctor had been taken prisoner, returned to the fort. The people in the fort and neighborhood becoming very much alarmed, retreated to Fort Catfish (Little Washington), about thirty-two miles northeast of Wheeling. The Doctor, as soon as he thought it safe, made his way back to the fort, but found it deserted. Nothing remained for him then but almost certain death, or to try and make his way as best he could to Firt Catfish, which he did successfully, applying herbs to his wounds, and overcoming as may well be supposed, almost insuperable difficulties. It is stated by De Hass; that Dr. McMcMechen was at Fort Henry on the morning of Simon Girty's attack, that he had become dissatisfied with the country and had determined to leave on that morning for the east, that a white man and a negro had been sent out to look for his horse, and that the white man being shot by the Indians, the negro made his escape to the fort; shortly after which the attack commenced, first on a reconnoitering party with fearful havoc, and then on the fort itself. The presumption is, therefore, that Mr. McMechen was in the fort during the siege. Shortly after that he returned to the east, settled in the state of Maryland, and became the ancestor of a numerous family. Samuel McMechen, a respected lawyer of Moorefield, Hardy county, West Virginia, was his son, and Samuel A. McMechen, a prosperous merchant, now of Moorefield, his grandson. This record will be continued in the name of Benjamin McMechen, the fourth son, and principal heir to the lands of William McMechen, the original settler. But before dong so, it will be proper to give some account of the Boggs family, with whom the McMechens, including Benjamin, were much intermarried. (Note: The bios of William Boggs & the other McMechens will be listed separately.) From HISTORY OF THE PAN-HANDLE, West Virginia, 1879, by J. H. Newton, G. G. Nichols, and A. G. Sprankle. Contributed by Linda Cunningham Fluharty.