and its rounds at the inner ends were well hung with hunting-shirts, petticoats, and other articles of clothing, the candles being on the opposite side of the house, the exit of the bride was noticed but by few. This done, a deputation of young men in like manner stole off the groom, and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. The dance still continued; and if seats happened to be scarce, which was often the case, every young man, when not engaged in the dance, was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls; and the offer was sure to be accepted. In the midst of this hilarity the bride and groom were not forgotten. Pretty late in the night, some one would remind the company that the new couple must stand in need of some refreshment; black Betty, which was the name of the bottle, was called for, and sent up the ladder; but sometimes black Betty did not go alone. I have many times seen as much bread, beef, pork, and cabbage, sent along with her, as would afford a good meal for half a dozen hungry men. The young couple were compelled to eat and drink, more or less, of whatever was offered them.

It often happened that some neighbors or relations, not being asked to the wedding, took offence; and the mode of revenge adopted by them on such occasions, was that of cutting off the manes, foretops, and tails of the horses of the wedding company.

On returning to the infare, the order of procession, and the race for black Betty, was the same as before. The feasting and dancing often lasted for several days, at the end of which the whole company were so exhausted with loss of sleep, that several days rest were requisite to fit them to return to their ordinary labors.

Should I be asked why I have presented this unpleasant portrait of the rude manners of our forefathers-I in my turn would ask my reader, why are you pleased with the histories of the blood and carnage of battles? Why are you delighted with the fictions of poetry, the novel, and romance? I have related truth, and only truth, strange as it may seem. I have depicted a state of society and manners which are fast vanishing from the memory of man, with a view to give the youth of our country a knowledge of the advantages of civilization, and to give contentment to the aged, by preventing them from saying, "that former times were better than the present."

Capt. SAMUEL BRADY resided at one time at Wellsburg. He was tall, rather slender, and very active, and of a dark complexion. When in the forest, engaged in war or hunting, he usually wore, instead of a hat, a black handkerchief bound around his head.

He bore towards the Indians an implacable hatred, in consequence of the murder of his father and brother by them, and took a solemn oath of vengeance. Gen. Hugh Brady, of the U. S. army, is either a brother or nephew of him. He was at the siege of Boston; a lieutenant at the massacre of Paoli; and in 1779-80-81, while Gen. Broadhead held command at Fort Pitt, was captain of a company of rangers. To fully detail his adventures would require a volume, and we have space but for a few anecdotes, drawn from various sources, illustrative of his courage and sagacity,

A party of Indians having made an inroad into the Sewickly settlement, and committed barbarous murders and carried off some prisoners, Brady set off in pursuit with only five men and his pet Indian. He came up with them, and discovered they were encamped on the banks of the Mahoning. Having reconnoitred their position, Brady returned to and posted his men, and in the deepest silence all awaited the break of day. When it appeared, the Indians arose and stood around their fires; exulting, doubtless, in the scalps they had taken, the plunder they had acquired, and the injury they had inflicted on their enemies. Precarious joy-short-lived triumph! The avenger of blood was beside them! At a signal given, seven rifles cracked, and five Indians were dead ere they fell. Brady's well-known war-cry was heard, his party was among them, and their guns (mostly empty) were all secured. The remaining Indians instantly fled and disappeared. Brady being out with his party, on one occasion had reached Slippery Rock Creek, a branch of the Beaver, without seeing signs of Indians. Here, however, he came on an Indian trail in the evening, which he followed till dark without overtaking the Indians. The next morning he renewed the pursuit, and overtook them while they were engaged at their morning meal. Unfortunately for him, another party of Indians were in his rear. They had fallen upon his trail, and pursued him, doubtless, with as much ardor as his pursuit had been characterized by; and at the moment he fired upon the Indians in his front, he was, in turn, fired upon by those in his rear. He was now between two fires, and vastly outnumbered. shot from his side, and the battle-yell was turned and repeated by those in his front.

Two of his men fell; his tomahawk was given by the party in his rear, and loudly reThere was no time for hesitation; no safety

in delay; no chance of successful defence in their present position. The brave captain and his rangers had to flee before their enemies, who pressed on their flying footsteps with no lagging speed. Brady ran towards the creek. He was known by many, if not all of them; and many and deep were the scores to be settled between him and them. They knew the country well: he did not; and from his running towards the creek they were certain of taking him prisoner. The creek was, for a long distance above and below the point he was approaching, washed in its channel to a great depth. In the certain expectation of catching him there, the private soldiers of his party were disregarded; and throwing down their guns, and drawing their tomahawks, all pressed forward to seize their victim. Quick of eye, fearless of heart, and determined never to be a captive to the Indians, Brady comprehended their object, and his only chance of escape, the moment he saw the creek; and by one mighty effort of courage and activity, defeated the one and effected the other. He sprang across the abyss of waters, and stood, rifle in hand, on the opposite bank, in safety. As quick as lightning his rifle was primed; for it was his invariable practice in loading to prime first. The next minute the powder-horn was at the gun's muzzle; when, as he was in this act, a large Indian, who had been foremost in the pursuit, came to the opposite bank, and with the manliness of a generous foe, who scorns to undervalue the qualities of an enemy, said in a loud voice, and tolerable English, Blady make good jump!" It may indeed be doubted whether the compliment was uttered in derision; for the moment he had said so he took to his heels, and, as if fearful of the return it might merit, ran as crooked as a worm-fence-sometimes leaping high, at others suddenly squatting down, he appeared no way certain that Brady would not answer from the lips of his rifle. But the rifle was not yet loaded. The captain was at the place afterwards, and ascertained that his leap was about 23 feet, and that the water was 20 feet deep. Brady's next effort was to gather up his men. They had a place designated at which to meet, in case they should happen to be separated; and thither he went, and found the other three there. They immediately commenced their homeward march, and returned to Pittsburg about half defeated. Three Indians had been seen to fall from the fire they gave them at breakfast.

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In Sept., 1782, immediately after the Indians had been defeated in their attempt to take the fort at Wheeling, they sent 100 picked warriors to take Rice's Fort, which was situated on Buffalo Creek, about 12 or 15 miles from its mouth. This fort* consisted of some cabins and a small blockhouse, and, in dangerous times, was the refuge of a few families in the neighborhood.

"The reader will understand by this term, not only a place of defence, but the residence of a small number of families belonging to the same neighborhood. As the Indian mode of warfare was an indiscriminate slaughter of all ages, and both sexes, it was as requisite to provide for the safety of the women and children as for that of the

men.

"The fort consisted of cabins, blockhouses, and stockades. A range of cabins commonly formed one side at least of the fort. Divisions, or partitions of logs, separated the cabins from each other. The walls on the outside were ten or twelve feet high, the slope of the roof being turned wholly inward. A very few of these cabins had puncheon floors, the greater part were earthen. The blockhouses were built at the angles of the fort. They projected about two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabins and stockades. Their upper stories were about eighteen inches every way larger in dimension than the under one, leaving an opening at the commencement of the second story to prevent the enemy from making a lodgment under their walls. In some forts, instead of blockhouses, the angles of the fort were furnished with bastions. A large folding gate, made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed the fort. The stockades, bastions, cabins, and blockhouse walls, were furnished with port-holes at proper heights and distances. The whole of the outside was made completely bullet-proof.

"It may be truly said that necessity is the mother of invention; for the whole of this work was made without the aid of a single nail or spike of iron; and for this reason, such things were not to be had. In some places, less exposed, a single blockhouse, with a cabin or two, constituted the whole fort. Such places of refuge may appear very trifling to those who have been in the habit of seeing the formidable military garrisons of Europe and America; but they answered the purpose, as the Indians had no artillery. They seldom attacked, and scarcely ever took one of them."-Dodridge's Notes.

The Indians surrounded the fort at night ere they were discovered, and soon made an attack, which continued at intervals until 2 o'clock in the morning. In the intervals of the firing the Indians frequently called out to the people of the fort, "Give up, give up, too many Indian. Indian too big. No kill." They were answered with defiance. "Come on, you cowards; we are ready for you. Show us your yellow hides and we will make holes in them for you." They were only six men in the fort, yet such was their skill and bravery, that the Indians were finally obliged to retreat with the loss of a number of their men.

"Thus was this little place defended by a Spartan band of six men, against 100 chosen warriors, exasperated to madness by their failure at Wheeling Fort. Their names shall be inscribed in the list of the heroes of our early times. They were Jacob Miller, George Lefler, Peter Fullenweider, Daniel Rice, George Felebaum, and Jacob Lefler, jun. George Felebaum was shot in the forehead, through a port-hole at the second fire of the Indians, and instantly expired, so that in reality the defence of the place was made by only five men."

BOTETOURT.

BOTETOURT was formed in 1769 from Augusta, and named from Gov. Botetourt. Its length is 44 miles, with mean breadth of 18 miles. The Blue Ridge forms its E. boundary, and much of the county is mountainous. The James River runs through the N. part. Much of the soil is fertile.

FINCASTLE, the county-seat, lies 175 miles west of Richmond. This town was established by law in 1772, on forty acres given for the purpose by Israel Christian, and named after the seat of Lord Botetourt in England. It is compactly built in a beautiful rolling country. It contains 5 mercantile stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 2 academies; 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Methodist church; and a population of about 700. The above view shows the principal part of the village as it appears from Anderson's or Grove Hill. The public building on the left is the Episcopal, and that on the right the Presbyterian church. The

North mountain, 5 miles distant, appears in the background. Pattonsburg and Buchanon lie immediately opposite each other, on the James River, 12 miles N. of Fincastle. They are connected together by a fine bridge, and in a general description would be considered as one village. They are beautifully situated in a valley, between the Blue Ridge and Purgatory mountain, at the head of navigation on James River, though in high water, batteaux go up as far as Covington in Alleghany co. These villages were incorporated in 1832-3, and contain at present 1 newspaper printing office, a branch of the Va. bank, 5 stores, a tobacco inspection, 2 tobacco factories; 1 Free, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Episcopal church; and a population of about 450. Eventually the James River Canal will pass through here to Covington, and probably a macadamized road from Staunton to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Dagger's Springs are situated in the northern part of the county, near the James River, 18 miles from Fincastle, 16 from Buchanon, 22 from Lexington. The scenery in the vicinity is very fine. Some years since extensive improvements were made there for the accommodation of the guests.

"The most active mineral ingredients in the water are carbonated alkalies. In this it differs materially from the White and Salt Sulphur, and is more nearly assimilated in its qualities to the Red and Gray Sulphur. It is, however, more decidedly alkaline than either of those springs. This peculiarity will ever recommend it to persons subject to acidities of the stomach, and to the other concomitants of dyspepsia, while the large quantity of hydrogen that it contains will render it useful in all of those complaints for which sulphur-water is usually prescribed."

At the small village of Amsterdam, 5 miles s. of Fincastle, there is a large brick church, lately built by the Dunkards. The Dunkers at Amsterdam are descendants of Germans who emigrated to Pennsylvania. The following, regarding the tenets and practices of this sect, is from a published account:

The Tunkers are a denomination of Seventh-Day Baptists, which took its rise in the year 1724. It was founded by a German, who, weary of the world, retired to an agreeable solitude, within sixty miles of Philadelphia, for the more free exercise of religious contemplation. Curiosity attracted followers, and his simple and engaging manners made them proselytes. They soon settled a little colony, called Ephrata, in allusion to the Hebrews, who used to sing psalms on the border of the river Euphrates. This denomination seem to have obtained their name from their baptizing their new converts by plunging. They are also called Tumblers, from the manner in which they perform baptism, which is by putting the person, while kneeling, head first under water, so as to resemble the motion of the body in the action of tumbling. They use the trine immersion, with laying on the hands and prayer, even when the person baptized is in the water. Their habit seems to be peculiar to themselves, consisting of a long tunic or coat, reaching down to their heels, with a sash or girdle round the waist, and a cap or hood hanging from the shoulders. They do not shave the head or beard.

The men and women have separate habitations and distinct governments. For these purposes, they erected two large wooden buildings, one of which is occupied by the brethren, the other by the sisters of the society; and in each of them there is a banqueting-room, and an apartment for public worship; for the brethren and sisters do not meet together even at their devotions.

They used to live chiefly upon roots and other vegetables, the rules of their society not allowing them flesh, except upon particular occasions, when they hold what they call a love-feast; at which time the brethren and sisters dine together in a large apartment, and eat mutton, but no other meat. In each of their little cells they have a bench fixed, to serve the purpose of a bed, and a small block of wood for a pillow. They allow of marriages, but consider celibacy as a virtue.

The principal tenet of the Tunkers appears to be this-that future happiness is only to be obtained by penance and outward mortifications in this life, and that, as Jesus Christ, by his meritorious sufferings, became the Redeemer of mankind in general, so each individual of the human race, by a life of abstinence and restraint, may work out his own salvation. Nay, they go so far as to admit of works of supererogation, and declare that a man may do much more than he is in justice or equity obliged to do, and that his superabundant works may, therefore, be applied to the salvation of others.

This denomination deny the eternity of future punishments, and believe that the dead have the gospel preached to them by our Saviour, and that the souls of the just are employed to preach the gospel to those who have had no revelation in this life. They suppose the Jewish Sabbath, sabbatical year, and year of jubilee, are typical of certain periods after the general judgment, in which the souls of those who are not then admitted into happiness are purified from their corruption. If any, within those smaller periods, are so far humbled as to acknowledge the perfections of God, and to own Christ as their only Saviour, they are received to felicity; while those who continue obstinate are reserved in torments, until the grand period, typified by the jubilee, arrives, in which all shall be made happy in the endless fruition of the Deity.

They also deny the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity. They disclaim violence, even in cases of self-defence, and suffer themselves to be defrauded, or wronged, rather than go to law. Their church government and discipline are the same with other Baptists, except that every brother is allowed to speak in the congregation; and their best speaker is usually ordained to be the minister. They have deacons and deaconesses from among their ancient widows and exhorters, who are all licensed to use their gifts statedly. The Tunkers are not so rigid in their dress and manner of life as formerly; still they retain the faith of their fathers, and lead lives of great industry, frugality, and purity.

In 1761, about sixty Shawanee warriors penetrated the settlements on James River, committed several murders, and carried off several prisoners, among whom were Mrs. Renix and her five children. The Indians were overtaken in their retreat by a party of whites, and nine of their number killed, after which they proceeded towards their villages without further molestation. The remainder of the story is given by Withers:

In Boquet's treaty with the Ohio Indians, it was stipulated that the whites detained by them in captivity were to be brought in and redeemed. In compliance with this stipulation, Mrs. Renix was brought to Staunton in 1767 and ransomed, together with two of her sons, William, the late Col. Renix, of Greenbrier, and Robert, also of Greenbrier-Betsy, her daughter, had died on the Miami. Thomas returned in 1783, but soon after removed, and settled on the Scioto, near Chilicothe. Joshua never came back; he took an Indian wife, and became a chief among the Miamies-he amassed a considerable fortune, and died near Detroit in 1810.

Hannah Dennis was separated from the other captives, and allotted to live at the Chilicothe towns. She learned their language, painted herself as they do, and in many respects conformed to their manners and customs. She was attentive to sick persons, and was highly esteemed by the Indians, as one well skilled in the art of curing diseases. Finding them very superstitious, and believers in necromancy, she professed witchcraft, and affected to be a prophetess. In this manner she conducted herself, till she became so great a favorite with them that they gave her full liberty, and honored her as a queen. Notwithstanding this, Mrs. Dennis was always determined to effect her escape, when a favorable opportunity should occur; and having remained so long with them, apparently well satisfied, they ceased to entertain any suspicions of such a design.

In June, 1763, she left the Chilicothe towns, ostensibly to procure herbs for medicinal purposes, (as she had before frequently done,) but really to attempt an escape. As she did not return that night her intention became suspected, and in the morning some warriors were sent in pursuit of her. In order to leave as little trail as possible, she had crossed the Scioto River three times, and was just getting over the fourth time, 40 miles below the town, when she was discovered by her pursues. They fired at her across the river without effect; but, in endeavoring to make a rapid flight, she had one of her feet severely cut by a sharp stone.

The Indians then rushed across the river to overtake and catch her, but she eluded them by crawling into the hollow limb of a large fallen sycamore. They searched around for her some time, frequently stepping on the log which concealed her, and encamped near it that night. On the next day they went on to the Ohio River, but finding no trace of her, they returned home.

Mrs. Dennis remained at that place three days, doctoring her wound, and then set off for home. She crossed the Ohio River, at the mouth of Great Kenawha, on a log of drift-wood, travelling only during the night for fear of discovery. She subsisted on roots, herbs, green grapes, wild cherries, and river mussels-and, entirely exhausted by fatigue and hunger, sat down by the side of Greenbrier River, with no expectation of ever proceeding further. In this situation she was found by Thomas Athol and three others from Clendennin's settlement, which she had passed without knowing it. She had been then upwards of twenty days on her disconsolate journey, alone, on foot; but, till then, cheered with the hope of again being with her friends.

She was taken back to Clendennin's, where they kindly ministered to her, till she became so far invigor ated as to travel on horseback, with an escort, to Fort Young on Jackson's River, from whence she was carried home to her relations.

Gen. ANDREW LEWIS resided on the Roanoke, in this county. He was one of the six sons of that Lewis who, with Mackey and Salling, had been foremost in settling Augusta co., and the most distinguished of a family who behaved so bravely in defending the infant settlements against the Indians.

In Braddock's war, he was in a company in which were all his brothers, the eldest, Samuel Lewis, being the captain. This corps distinguished themselves at Braddock's defeat. They, with some other of the Virginia troops, were in the advance, and the first attacked by the enemy. Severed from the rest of the army, they cut their way through the enemy to their companions, with the loss of many men. His conduct at Major Grant's defeat, in his attack upon Fort Duquesne, acquired for him the highest reputation for prudence and courage. He was at this time major. In this action, the Scotch Highlanders, under Grant, were surrounded by the Indians; when the work of death went on quite rapidly, and in a manner quite novel to the Highlanders, who, in all their European wars, had never before seen men's heads skinned. When Major Lewis was advancing to the relief of Grant with his 200 provincials, he met one of the Highlanders under speedy flight, and inquiring of him how the battle was going, he said they