John R Dotson (abt. 1778 - 1779)

Born about 1778 in Pennsylvania, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died Apr 1779 at about age 1 in Fairmont, Marion, Virginia, United States

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Biography

John Dotson died young.

John R Dotson

Notes

At the Smith homestead by Cheat River, present-day Fairmont, West Virginia account of Indian raid, including Richard Dotson being wounded and three of his children being killed.

In 1987, Gladys Pearl Cyphers Wilson of Fairmont West Virginia contributed a version of Richard's ancestry to the authors of "The Dodson (Dotson) Family of North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia." She also donated all her genealogical records to the Genealogical Library in Fairmont, West Virginia. Walter Dotson examined some of her documents in October 1999. Mrs. Wilson reported that Samuel Dotson born about 1675 married Sarah Smoot, sister of William Smoot. She says they came on the ship Assurance to America from England.

She also claimed Abraham Dotson born 1/13/1690 in England was his son and that Abraham married Elizabeth Dameron born 4/18/1692. Their son Thomas Dotson born 11/4/1731 married Frances Minor and they had two sons, Thomas and Richard.

She also stated "according to a Monongalia history, Richard Dotson had a family by his first wife, all of whom, except William who was away visiting, were killed by Indians. The first family of children were Peter, Sarah and John R killed by the Indians and William born 1777 Greene County, Pennsylvania who married Mary Franks.

Just before we moved to Deckers Creek, John Bozarth and family went down to Cheat River to visit Mrs. Bozarth's sister's family named Smith. The Bozarth's first owned the land where Fairmont is. They sold out to Tom Barns and moved to the head of the west fork river, but John's family still lived on there Fairmont land in the year I'm telling about, 1779. The Bad year for all of us around. George, John's boy, and I were good friends. Mrs. Bozarth was there at Smith's home when the Indians raided on Cheat. I heard uncle Dave say there was about thirty of them, broken in little bunches. Jacob Prickett had a brother settled in that country, and his boy Elias was at the Smiths' that day. He was about twenty years old I think.

The children were playing outside right after dinner, and yelled that the Indians were coming. Elias Prickett ran outside and was shot in the hip. He fell back into the door. The Indian ran inside. Dick (Richard) Dotson was in there, and he jumped the Indian and threw him down on the floor, yelling for something to kill him with. Mrs. Bozarth picked up an ax and chopped open the Indians head. Another Indian ran in yelling and shot Dick Dotson. It's been in the papers and in books, that Dotson was killed, but he wasn't. It's been in the papers and in books that the Bozarths lived on Dunkard Creek but they didn't. Just like about Uncle Dave's fight with the Indians here, a pack of lies has been told and printed about that trouble there on Cheat.

Mrs. Bozarth hit the Indian that shot Dotson, in the head and knocked him down and chopped his belly open and his entrails went dragging after him as he crawled out of the cabin. One of the Indians that was helping his friends murder the children in the yard, ran to help the hurt one and Mrs. Bozarth axed him, splitting his head open to the chin.

Elias Prickett became conscious and got a gun and ran to the door and shot at the Indians who were then running for the woods. If he did any damage, it wasn't known. I have read stories that say that the people stayed shut up in the house with the dead Indians and Dick Dotson for several days but this isn't true. The house was relieved within the hour, I've heard Uncle Dave and Jacob Prickett say, and John Ice was with those who relieved it, and helped bury the dead children of the Smith's, Dotson's and Bozarths, six in all.^[1]

It was in 1779 that, according to some versions of the story, Mrs. Bozarth traveled to what is now Monongalia County to visit her sister, a Mrs. Smith. Indians attacked the cabin. A colorful account from Hardesty's Early West Virginia history suggests that the property actually belonged to the Bozarth's rather than to the Smiths. About the first of April, when only Mrs. Bozarth and two men were in the house, the children, who had been at play, came running into the yard, declaring that some ugly red men were coming . One of the men, going to the door to ascertain the truth, received a glancing shot on the breast which caused him to fall back, and the Indian who had fired sprang in, and being grappled by the other white man, was thrown upon the bed. The savage's antagonist having no weapon, called Mrs. Bozarth for a knife; not finding one, she seized an ax, and with one blow, brained the prostrate Indian. At this time, a second savage entered the door and shot dead the white man who had just been having the encounter on the bed. With a well directed blow, Mrs. Bozarth disabled him; he bawled for help, and others of the party who were engaged in securing the children in the yard, came to his relief. The first who thrust his head in had it cleft by the ax in the hands of Mrs. B., and he fell lifeless to the ground. Another catching hold of his wounded companion, drew him out of the house, when Mrs. B., with the aid of the white man who had first been shot (and had somewhat recovered), succeeded in closing and barring the door. The children in the yard were all killed; but the heroic exertions of Mrs. Bozarth and the wounded white man, enabled them to resist the repeated attempts of the Indians to force open the door, until a party from the neighboring settlement came to their relief. At this point, as Richard's known children, we have: William Sr., Nancy, Emanuel, James, Richard Jr., Elisha, Joseph, Zachariah, Stacey, Ruth Dotson, Naomi, and Eliza Greggs Dotson. That makes 12 children that survived to adulthood. We have the three that are reported as having been killed at Bozarth's in 1779, allegedly named Peter, John and Sarah. This would make a total of 15 children.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ From Minnie Kendall Lowther's "History of Ritchie County"
2. ↑ [http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch 1799_Children of Richard killed by Indians 1779 Children of Richard killed by Indians 1779]

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 22 September 2017, 22:12), entry for John R Dotson(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LTRL-8X7); contributed by various users.