William Ingles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Ingles
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| Born | 1729 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 1782 (aged 52–53) Ingles Ferry |
| Years of service | 1756, 1763-1782 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit |  Virginia Regiment |
| Battles/wars | Sandy Creek Expedition, Battle of Point Pleasant |
William Ingles (1729 - September, 1782), also spelled Inglis, Ingliss, Engels, or English, was a colonist and soldier in colonial Virginia. He participated in the Sandy Creek Expedition and was a signatory of the Fincastle Resolutions. He was eventually promoted to colonel in the Virginia Regiment. His wife, Mary Draper Ingles, was captured by Shawnee warriors and held captive for months before escaping and walking several hundred miles to her settlement. William Ingles established Ingles Ferry in southwestern Virginia.
Contents
Birth, family and early life
William Ingles was born in Dublin, Ireland (some sources say London, England) in 1729, to Thomas Inglis. Historian John P. Hale, a descendant, reports that William had two brothers, Matthew and John. John was killed by Indians in 1756. Matthew eventually became a sailor, never married and died at sea.
William's father Thomas was a wealthy merchant who owned a large, importing wholesale business and traded abroad with his own ships. He was born and raised in London and lived in Dublin between 1730 and 1740. Records show that Thomas and his sons were apparently imprisoned after a political dispute, but by the fall of 1744 all of them had crossed the Atlantic and journeyed to Augusta County, Virginia. Thomas's brothers John and William came with him to Virginia.
In November, 1746, "Thomas English" and "William English" are listed as members of a road construction crew in Augusta County, on the road “from the Ridge above Tobias Bright’s that parts the waters of New River from the branches of Roan Oak to the lower ford of Catabo Creek.” In 1749, William Ingles went to Burke's Garden to build a house with his uncle, John Ingles. In March, 1753, Thomas Ingles and his son William were listed in the Augusta County court records as workers on a road construction crew.
Draper's Meadow massacre, 1755
William Ingles was among the founders of Draper's Meadow (present day Blacksburg, Virginia) in 1748. The Ingles and the Draper families established the settlement with Colonel James Patton. William built and operated Ingles Mill, one of the first mills in western Virginia, at Draper's Meadow in 1750, when he was only 21 years old. He married Mary Draper in 1750, and their two sons Thomas and George were born in 1751 and 1753. In February, 1754, William purchased 255 acres from James Patton.
On 30 July 1755, Shawnee warriors attacked Drapers Meadow, killing Eleanor Draper and her daughter, as well as Colonel James Patton and another neighbor, Caspar Barger. Shawnee warriors captured Mary as well as her two sons, Betty Draper, and a neighbor, Henry Leonard. William Ingles and John Draper were harvesting wheat in the fields until they saw the smoke from the burning cabins, but they arrived too late to help. William was pursued by Indians, but tripped and fell in the forest, and the Shawnee warriors ran past him without seeing him.
Sandy Creek Expedition, 1756
William and John Ingles traveled to Williamsburg to try and persuade the government to launch an attack on Shawnee villages in southern Ohio, where they believed that Mary Draper Ingles was being held prisoner. They returned unsuccessful in late November, when they learned that Mary had escaped and had walked 500 to 600 miles, crossing numerous rivers, creeks, and the Appalachian Mountains to return home. William Ingles then went back to Williamsburg to try to convince Governor Robert Dinwiddie to order an attack on the Shawnee. Dinwiddie and Colonel George Washington, then commander of the Virginia Regiment, used information provided by Mary Ingles to plan an attack on Lower Shawneetown, a community where Mary Ingles was held captive for about two weeks. It was hoped that this would intimidate the Shawnee and prevent further attacks on English settlements.
In February, 1756, William Ingles joined a force of 220 militia and 130 Cherokee warriors as a lieutenant on the Sandy Creek Expedition to attack Lower Shawneetown in Ohio. On 13 March they were forced to turn back due to bad weather and lack of food. The expedition was a total failure, but it provided valuable experience for William and launched his military career.
Attack on Fort Vause, 1756
In June, 1756, William and Mary left their homestead in Draper's Meadow and moved to Fort Vause. Mary remained uneasy, however, and persuaded her husband to move again, this time to a fort near the Peaks of Otter, close to present day Montvale, Virginia. On 25 June, the same day that William and Mary left Fort Vause, French soldiers and Shawnee warriors under the command of François-Marie Picoté de Belestre attacked the fort, killing William's younger brother John and capturing John's wife Mary. William's younger brother Matthew was wounded and taken prisoner by the Shawnee, but later was released or escaped.
Rescue of Thomas Ingles
William and Mary made a home in Bedford County, Virginia, and had four more children: Mary, Susanna (b. 1759), Rhoda (b. 1762), and John (1766-1836). They sold their Draper's Meadow property to William Preston. William made several trips to Ohio to negotiate for the release of his sons George and Thomas, still in captivity among the Shawnee. After learning that his son George was dead, William was able to pay a ransom and bring Thomas back to Bedford County, but Thomas ran away and returned to his Shawnee family. Finally, in 1768, after thirteen years among the Shawnee, Thomas returned to Virginia at age 17. He had become fully acculturated and spoke only Shawnee, so William sent him for several years of "rehabilitation" and education under Dr. Thomas Walker at Castle Hill, Virginia. Thomas Ingles later served as a lieutenant under Colonel William Christian in Lord Dunmore's War (1773-1774) against the Shawnee. He married Eleanore Grills in 1775 and settled in Burke's Garden, Virginia. In 1782, his wife and three children were kidnapped by Indians. Thomas came to rescue them and in the ensuing altercation, the two older children were killed. Eleanore was tomahawked but survived. Thomas rescued her and their youngest daughter.
Ingles Ferry
As early as 1760, William Ingles was making money ferrying troops across the New River during the Anglo-Cherokee War. In 1762 he established Ingles Ferry, and in 1766 applied for license to operate an ordinary (tavern) there. Construction of the Ingles Ferry Hill Tavern and blacksmith shop on the Pulaski County side of the river was completed in 1772. Ingles was in charge of improving and maintaining the road leading to and from Ingles Ferry, known at the time as Ingle's Ferry Road or English Ferry Road. It later became a main thoroughfare and was part of as the Great Wagon Road, the Philadelphia Road, and the Wilderness Road. By 1780, William Ingles owned 907 acres, 67 cattle, and ten slaves, who ran his ferry, worked in his mills or in domestic capacities.
On 8 May, 1779, Lord Henry Hamilton, a British prisoner of war, was being escorted under guard to Williamsburg and spent the night at the home of William and Mary Ingles. In his journal, Hamilton described the Ingles' home:
- 8th. In the Evening crossed over in a ferry the new river or great Canhawa, and were kindly and hospitably received at the house of Colonel Ingles-- here we rested for an entire day...The Scenery about this house was romantic to a degree, the river very beautyfull, the hills well wooded, the low grounds well improved & well stocked, I thought...Mrs. Ingles had in her early years been carryed off with another young Woman by the Savages...however terror and distress had left so deep an impression on her mind that she appear'd absorbed in a deep melancholy, and left the management of household concerns, & the reception of Strangers to her lovely daughter.
Following William Ingles' death in 1782, his son Thomas Ingles took over the operation of Ingles Ferry.
Legal roles
William Ingles was appointed constable in 1750 and judge for Augusta County in 1769. He was a county sheriff in 1773, and served as a judge for Fincastle County, Virginia in 1777. The first county court was held at the Lead Mines (now Austinville, Virginia) on the 6th of January, 1778.
Military career
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Ingles served in the Virginia Militia and commanded a unit of Virginia Rangers in 1763. In September he reported to his commanding officer, William Preston, about a skirmish between Indians and his militiamen, who "all behaved like good soldiers." Several Indians were killed and the colonists captured thirty horses. Ingles sent Preston a shot pouch taken from one of the Indians as a "small trophee of our Victory." Ingles requested permission to continue serving on the frontier to protect settlers in Augusta and Halifax counties, even though powder and shot were in short supply.
On 10 October 1774, Ingles and his son Thomas participated in the Battle of Point Pleasant, William as a major and commissary under Colonel William Fleming, Thomas as a lieutenant under Colonel William Christian. On 6 October, William Ingles was setting up camp, and wrote jokingly to Preston that, as they had not seen any of the enemy, "we encamped on the forks of the river and looked on our Selves in Safe Possession of a fine Encampment and thought our Selves a terror to all the Indian Tribes on the Ohio and thus Luld in safety." On the battlefield, Ingles admired the courage of the Indians who "disputed the Ground with the Greatest Obstinancy, often Runing up to the Very Muzels of our Guns." He recalled seeing "many a brave fellow Waltirring in his Gore," In 1777 he was made colonel of the militia in Montgomery County, Virginia,
Fincastle Resolutions, 1775
On January 20, 1775, William Ingles was one of the 15 signatories of the Fincastle Resolutions, addressed to Virginia's delegation at the First Continental Congress, which expressed support for Congress's resistance to the Intolerable Acts, issued in 1774 by the British Parliament.
Land dispute
For many years Ingles attempted to patent his claim to his lands along the New River, the Holston River in Burke's Garden, Virginia, and along the Bluestone River, but he could not obtain ownership rights until shortly before his death in 1782. His son-in-law, Abraham Trigg, supported Ingles' claims and fought a lengthy legal battle on his behalf. Land disputes provoked resentments between newly arrived immigrant families and settlers who had lived on the frontier longer, and many Virginia colonists supported the Tory cause.
Trial, 1780
In August and September, 1780, 55 men were brought to trial over their alleged Loyalist activities. William Ingles was accused of being one of the leaders of a Tory plot. A committee headed by Ingles' friend William Preston found most of the accused men guilty. Some were imprisoned in the Augusta County Jail or had their property confiscated, and a few were whipped. Preston ordered many of them to pay fines of £100 or join the Continental Army. William Ingles was not convicted but he was ordered to put up a bond of £100,000, a massive sum of money for that time. It is unknown if Ingles actually put up a bond or not. Soon after this, he resigned from the military, citing "physical infirmity." In 1781, Ingles submitted a petition to the state legislature complaining about the surveying and land speculation practices of his former friend and military comrade William Preston.
Death, 1782
William Ingles died in 1782 (after the date of his will, 5 September) at age 53. Records indicate that he bequeathed some of his 907 acres of land to his youngest daughter, Rhoda, some to his daughter Susanna and her husband, Abraham Trigg, and some to Abraham's brother Daniel Trigg. Another portion went to Colonel William Christian, executor of Ingles' estate. Ingles is buried in the Westview Cemetery, Radford, Virginia.
Memorialization
Ingles Ferry was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, and the Ingles Bottom Archeological Sites in 1978. Reconstructions of the Ingles Ferry Tavern and of the Ingles home where William ingles died, with a stable and a family cemetery, can be seen at the Ingles Ferry historic Site in Pulaski County, Virginia.
