James Junken (1737 - abt. 1786)

Born 1737 in Scotland

Descendants

Died about 1786 at about age 49 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania

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Biography

From Frederic Speer research Speer-Aiken Family: James Junkin (5) was the first of our family to come to America.

He arrived in 1772 and settled in Western Pennsylvania, probably in Mercer County,

He was shot and killed in his own doorway by a band of raiding Indians about 1785 or 1786. He was roused at break of day by the sound of running horses and was shot as he opened the door. The Indians plundered the house and struck down and scalped the eldest daughter. She survived and lived to an old age. It is told that the raiders gathered feather beds and pillows, ripped them open, emptied the feathers into the fire. They carried off the ticks, destroying the feathers, which to white people seemed most valuable, and carried away the part which was worth but little. During the raid, two of the boys were sleeping in a trundle bed as their father was being killed. Before the older sister encountered the Indians, she pushed the two boys under a larger bed to safety.

Another brother, Noble Junkin (6) was born in Ireland in 1771 and came as an infant to this country. He was not molested by the Indians.

The Junkin family traces the name back to the outlawed border clan of MacGregor, made famous by the stories of Rob Roy. James I was so angry with this unruly clan that he forbade anyone even to use the name. Some of the names taken were Drummond, Grant, Stewart, Gregg, Junkin, and McJunkin. Rob Roy MacGregor took his mother’s name of Campbell.

Sources