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Sarah Whiter Wilson
One of the pioneers to remove to the
Cumberland Valley was Joseph Wilson, and he, like the others,
suffered great hardships and exposure. In the attack made by the
Indians on the 26th of June, 1793, upon the blockhouse erected
by the settlers, Mrs. Wilson showed her great courage in
insisting that her husband should attempt to escape and seek aid
from the other settlers, and that he should leave her and her
young children, believing the savages would spare them rather
than his life. The blockhouse had been set on fire and there
were but a few moments left for his escape. He and his son, a
young lad of sixteen years, made a rush through the line of
their assailants, but Wilson received a wound in his foot which
made it impossible for him to go on for relief, and his son went
on hoping to obtain a horse from some neighbor.
Immediately on the disappearance of her
husband, Mrs. Wilson, with her baby in her arms and followed by
five small children, walked slowly out of the fort. Her courage
made such an impression upon the Indians that the lives of
herself and children were spared. All the rest of the inmates of
the fort were killed. Young Wilson obtained relief and carried
his father to Bledsoe Station. A party of soldiers hastened to
the relief of Mrs. Wilson, but she and her children had been
carried off as captives into the Upper Creek Nation.
Through the efforts of Colonel Whiter
Mrs. Wilson's brother, after twelve months of captivity, she and
her family were restored to their homes. One young girl,
however, still remained a captive among the Creeks and it was
some time later before she was returned to her own people. She
had entirely forgotten her own language and every member of her
home circle.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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