On this __ day of June 1834 personally appeared before the undersigned one of the
Commonwealth's Justice of the Peace for said county, James Fraley, resident of Lawrence County, Kentucky.
Aged seventy five years of age who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the
following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States and served under the following named officers as herein
stated - Col. William Camel, Captain Snody, for nine months as an Indian spy in the County of Washington,
and the State of Virginia, this was the 3rd of March, as he now recollects, 1779.
His employment was as a scout & spy. He served with no Continental Officers or Militia Regiment during the
period of his tour, and traversed and spied during that year on the frontiers of the state bordering on
the Clinch River settlements in the county aforesaid. We spies did not go all together, by two & by fours,
chiefly in twos. He marched and spied during the months of April, May, and June, not far from the fort
on the Clinch River known by Moore's fort situated about a mile from the Clinch River. In this fort
there was constantly about 20 families and 20 or 25 men besides the spies out. The Indians were not
so troublesome in the immediate vicinity of Moore's fort, but they were more troublesome lower down on
Clinch and Powell's Valley. In August the Wyandots from the north appeared in our vicinity. When out
he saw Indian sign. Three persons only were killed in his neighborhood, to wit: John English's wife,
Molly and two of her little boys. The Indians retreated down Sandy and they were pursued by the
spies as well as the others who remained in the fort to guard it. We were unable to overtake the Indians.
They had stole some horses. These are the particular circumstances that I now recollect of. The spies
had particular sections allotted to them, where the war paths of the Indians passed, and some time we
would not return unless Indian signs were seen for a month, but in August and September the Indians
were always most troublesome in stealing, murdering, and burning. The spies below had a running fight
with the Indians and they retreated. This was with the lower squads. He received his discharge sometime
about the 10th of Dec 1779 for nine months service, he thinks it was a kind of recommendation & stating
his service to get his pay. He has never seen it since. The man who spied with him this year as his
companion was Lazrus Damron.
2nd: In April, the date has escaped him, 1780 he enlisted for one year in the County of Washington and
State of Virginia as an Indian spy under Col Camel, Capt Snody again, and Lieut Cowan to spy in the
same section. The spies were be it recollected to find themselves. They lived on venison & bear meat.
Early in June the Indians made their appearance in his quarter of Washington County. They first
stole many horses. In July, they killed one Dorten, and stole two girls, to wit, Ann and Mary Bush,
and made off for Canida. They succeeded in getting down on the waters of Sandy with them as far as
Jurney's Creek in Floyd County, about 12 miles from the court house. At that time there was not a
single white person living in Floyd County. It was entirely Indian country then. Our Company came up
to the Indians when they were in the act of skinning a buffalo they had just killed. Our men fired on
the Indians and they retreated to the camp about 200 yards distant, and as they ran by they tomahawked
Ann Bush. Mary jumped down the bank and escaped any violence. Ann Bush got over it, and afterwards
married and was again tomahawked by the Indians after that time & still survived. Our Company lost
in the running fight only one man, James Coyle. When the Indians retreated from the camp he followed
and as he now recollects, shot only once. One Indian stopped behind a tree top, fired, & mortally
wounded him. He was carried back to Clinch and died in Moore's fort. The father of this applicant
was the surgeon that extracted the bullet. He served with no Continental Officers or militia companies.
He marched and spied in the same section of the county that he did the year previous. When the spies
enlisted they enlisted under this kind of arrangement, that they could be retained for one year or
discharged at 9 months. In January, at the end of 9 months, we were all discharged. The Shawnee Indians
had killed several persons down the river. The lower settlements were in a bad situation in that fall
as Col Camel had taken many of the frontier men with their rifles to King's Mountain. some
of which had to brake up their forts & come further up stream to the north fork of the Holstein. This
he believes are chiefly the circumstances as he now remembers them that occurred during the year 1780.
Col Camel was the Col of Washington County, but he was never in company with spies, but it was under
his orders his Captain acted. Camel was killed and Col Henry Smith succeeded him, as he now remembers.
During this service Lazarus Dameron who enlisted the 2nd time when said Fraley did, again spied as
his comrade. The spies were divided out in twos.
3rd - The first day of March 1781 he again enlisted for nine months in Washington County, Virginia to
spy that season under Col Smith, Capt Cowan, his range was changed. He and Samuel Auxier spied together
that nine months on the headwaters of the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers. The Shawnee came up there
the most frequent. A portion of the county he spied in is now Perry County, Kentucky & Harlan, Kentucky.
It was all Virginia then. This year the Shawnees done more injury than any year since 1775 or 1776
when the Cherokee attacked the Clinch forts in his neighborhood they killed Col Kindrick. They ran
him into Clinch River and shot and killed him in the river. The men from the fort sallied out then
got Kendrick's body in the river, and took him & buried him in Beckley's Fort. They also killed the
wife of John Cates and four of his children and set the house on fire and burnt them up in it. From
August till the leaves were pretty near all fallen down Indian signs was fresh and they killed, burnt
and scalped a great many persons that fall down Clinch and on Powell's river & valley. He thinks that
there was another murder that year committed by the Indians. One Ally's daughter, but it might have
been the year after. He received his discharged for nine months service.
He then in the month of May 1782 was again engaged for a spy for nine months in the same county &
state of ?. He was to get 5 shillings per day & spying was a good business, as the state paid her
spies in good money. Col Smith was still the Col and Capt Charles Beckley was the captain of the spies,
Cowan was made Major. He was transferred from Moore's Fort to Beckleys Fort but he served a portion of
his time at Blackamores Fort. His range this year was from Elk Garden down as far as Cove Creek. His
comrade was Austin Bush. He spied as usual in that section of the county. The Indians came more than
usually early and the circumstances of his service and the events that transpired during 1782 are about
these. He spied altogether on the Clinch waters and consequently altogether in Virginia. Our settlements
were attacked, and the Indians killed Thomas Osburn, and Minny his wife, which he states he helped bury
in the same coffin. They took two girls prisoner, to wit, Lucretia Osburn, the niece of Thomas Osburn,
and Betsey Wall. In spite of all that could be done they took off the girls to Canida and kept Lucretia
Osburn four years. Betsey Wall the Indians killed by beating her on the head as he learnt. Lucretia
Osburn was exchanged and brought to Detroit. She then married one Armstrong who brought her back to
Virginia, and from whom he learned the fate of Betsey Wall. About the same time or a few weeks after,
they killed Mary Hamlin, wife of Henry Hamlin, and one Isaac Newland. These are not half the murders,
only those in his range during the revolution. He states he is the identical man that killed the
celebrated plunderer and Indian Chief Bench, not Benji. He states that he fought the Indian in 1777
& 1778, but he is informed as it was under no organized corps, that the same need not be set forth.
He is now very infirm, in body and is unable to attend our court. He never took any care of his
papers, and therefore his discharges have been lost for a great while. He assigns as a reason for
submitting his declaration in Floyd County is that he would not get any person there to do his
business that knew him. That last fall was a year ago he employed a man to do it for me but he said
never got any forms.
2nd It's more convenient to attend at the Justices in Floyd than in Lawrence. He can establish his
three tours by many living witnesses. He has no documentary evidence in his favor. He has always
lived in the backwoods and a hunter. He never served with any Continental Officers, nor did he ever
see one to his recollection. He moved to this county many years since. He was born in North Carolina
in Rowan County. He hereby relinquishes every pension or annuity except the present & declares his
name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.
Sworn to and subscribed to me this 23rd day of June, 1834.
S/ James Fraley, X his mark
S/ Daniel C. Hager, Esq.
Note:
William Campbell (1745-1781) was a Virginia backcountry militia leader. He was appointed to lead the Whig forces at King's Mountain. He was also present at the Battle of Guilford County Court House and at Yorktown, where he fell ill with "camp fever" and died August 22, 1781. Boatner, Encyclopedia, 172-173.
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The following is added for historical accuracy. It is NOT in James Fraley pension application.
The Slaying of the Thomas Osborne Family
By Emory L. Hamilton
From the unpublished manuscript, Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and Holston Rivers, pages 199-201.
The foregoing story was related to me Saturday, October 31, 1964, by Audrey Banner and Mrs. Russell Harman,
of Castlewood, Russell Co., VA. Mrs. Banner lives on the land once owned by the Indian spy, James Fraley,
and also owns the site of the old Moore's Fort. Mrs. Harman lives on the property once owned by Thomas
Osborne and her house stands on the exact spot where the old Osborne home once stood. Both are descendants
of families that have lived in the area since the days when the events told here happened.
The attack on the Thomas Osborne home came early on a morning of a very foggy day. Upon arising some horses or cattle were missing and a "bound boy" by the name of Walls was sent to look for them. He is said to have been on a hill slightly to the northeast of the house when the fog lifted and saw the Indians approaching the house. He lay flat on the ground until the Indians were gone and thus escaped capture.
Thomas Osborne went to the door of the home and was shot while standing in the door. Lucretia Osborne, niece of Thomas, and daughter of his brother, James, was visiting in the Thomas Osborne home. She fled from the house and started for her home about a mile away across a hill. The Indians pursued her and she was captured in a cornfield just east of the house. Mrs. Osborne, and the "bound girl" Betsy Walls were apparently captured in the house.
The Indians quickly started with their captives up a narrow hollow in a southwesterly direction toward the present Bangor, where Clinch River is shallow and easily forded, which would have put the river between them and the settlement very quickly, and thus on a direct route to their towns on the Ohio river. After traveling only a short distance up the hollow they observed that Mrs. Minnie Osborne was lame, and couldn't keep up. They then and there, tomahawked and scalped her under a large honey locust tree that stood well into the memory of some of those living today in the area.
All the family of James Osborne had given Lucretia up for dead, except her mother, who it is said, looked every day toward a path where she would appear if she ever returned. She never gave up hope, and one day as she gazed longingly at the path, her great faith was rewarded, for walking along the path was her daughter Lucretia, and a man, who turned out to be her husband.
It is said that James Osborne was having a log rolling at his place the day his daughter returned and many of his neighbors were present. He told them to drop their log-hooks, rolled out a keg of whiskey, and celebrated his daughters return.
James Fraley, a militia soldier, and long an Indian spy and fighter on the frontier, lived about a
mile from the Thomas Osborne home. In his Revolutionary War pension claim filed in Floyd Co., KY,
in 1834, he has this statement:
Our settlements (Castlewood) were attacked and the Indians killed Thomas Osborne, and Minnie, his wife,
which he states he helped to bury in the same coffin, and they took two girls prisoners, to-wit:
Lucretia Osborne and Betsey Walls. In spite of all that could be done they took off the girls to
Canada, and kept Lucretia Osborne four years. Betsy Walls - the Indians killed by beating her on the
head. Lucretia Osborne was exchanged and brought to Detroit. She there married one Armstrong, who
brought her back to Virginia, and from whom he learned the fate of Betsy Walls.
Thomas Osborne lived on a 190 acre tract of land surveyed for him on the 14th day of November, 1782, although he had been living on the site some years prior to this survey.
That Thomas and Minnie Osborne were killed prior to August 17, 1790, is proven by this entry in Russell
County Court Order Book 1, page 207, which reads:
On motion of James and Stephen Osborne letters granted them for Administration of the estate of Thomas
Osborne, deceased...with Thomas Carter, Christopher Cooper and Robert Vicars, as securities, and William
Robinson, Samuel Porter, (of Castlewood) James Wharton and John Smith as Appraisers of the estate.
A letter written by Col. Walter Crockett, County Lieutenant of Wythe Co., to the Governor, dated September
3, 1790 (1), may be a reference to this particular massacre; wherein he states:
...A week or so ago, 5 or 6 persons were killed by the Indians on Clinch, in Russell County, which is very
near to us...
Regarding the children who were "bound" to Thomas Osborne, is this entry in Russell Co., VA, Order Book
1, page 29, dated 18th of April, 1787:
Two female children of James Walls "apprenticed" to Thomas Osborne.
If the above order is correct then it was a girl who was sent to look for the stray livestock instead of a boy.
(1) Virginia State Papers, Vol. V, page 205.
This file contributed by: Rhonda Robertson
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John Marshall an aged man being called on to state what he knows of the service of James Fraley who
is an applicant for a pension, states that he resided in the western part of Virginia during the
revolution and that he was well acquainted with Fraley during that period and that said Fraley
served as an Indian spy during the year 1780 and that he said Fraley had served the year before
1779, both nine months tours, and also nine months in 1782. The three last years service he knows of
from the fact of seeing the services or the most of them performed by the said Fraley. The other
service was rendered before he came from old Virginia. He states that Fraley was selected as an Indian
spy on consequences of his skills as a hunter and a dexterious use of the rifle. He states for a great
many years both, Fraley & himself, lived in the county & on the same water course. He has been
acquainted with him ever since. He states that said Fraley did kill an Indian as he was informed &
he saw the place stated by him in his declaration. There is no doubt but said Fraley served the
whole time by him and much longer. And further this deponent saith not.
25th day of June 1834
John Marshall
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I, John Ausborne of Floyd County, State of Kentucky, being called on to state what he knows of the
service of James Fraley of Lawrence County Kentucky as a soldier of the Revolution. During the
Revolution his father moved to Clinch in Washington County Virginia. We all had to fort from the Indians.
That he became acquainted with James Fraley during the Revolution. Fraley was a man grown but he (Osburn)
was not, but he well remembers Fraley's service and he thinks that he was in the same fort which he
protected for more than three years. He himself did not serve with Fraley, about that time he was too young,
but has a perfect distinct recollection of the performance of all services stated by him and much more
that he has not stated. He states that he wa forted in Moores fort and also in Thomas Ausborne's fort, who
was murdered by the Indians as stated by Fraley in his declaration. He has a perfect recollection of the
capture of Betsey Wall and Lucretia Ausborne, Lucretia was my own cousin. He states that said Fraley
killed the Indian Chief Bench. That was the Indians name as engraved on his powder horn, as he was informed,
when the Indian was killed. He then lived in the same county, where did & though he did not see Fraley kill
the Indian, yet he is well convinced of it as he could as of any thing he has saw the place. As to the dates
of Fraley's service, he cannot state but he was in the character of a spy before the Battle of Kings Mountain
and afterwards. The fact is that Fraley was engaged as a soldier and spy ever since he could recollect till
the close of the Revolution & afterwards, for the Indians did not know when the Revolution ended. I have
given this detailed statement because I was an eye witness to many of the scenes & knows from own
knowledge of his, Fraley's service, as stated as a soldier of the Revolution. I have hereunto set my hand and
seal & depose to the above this 22 day of August 1834.
John Osborn
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Dec 6th 1834
Dear Sir; In Sept I sent on claims to you to to great those of Maniard, Mims and Johnson and one from ?
all from Pike. I have recieved no answer on the subject and perhaps they were never recieved. In the case
of Fraley I send back without any amendment and since I recieved your. I learned that he is now in Cabel
County, Virginia at his son-in-laws and intends to remain & Cabel is one side of Sandy River and Lawrence
County on the other and Big Sandy is the line between the state of KY & VA, it's nearer to Lexington by
150 miles than Richmond and it will be more convenient to Lexington. The application may be ____ and from VA
& payments directed to either place. Send back to me C O Frankfort, KY.
H C Harris
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War Department, Pension Office, December 27, 1834
Sir; The papers of James Fraley have been again examined, and they are herewith returned. The testimony
in support of this applicant's statement is satisfactory, but it is very doubtful whether his services
were of that character which would bring his care within the provisions of the act of June 7 1832. If
the State of Virginia authorized by special act the employment of spies to serve as set forth by the
claimant, a copy of said act should be trandmitted to this Office with the enclosed papers. He alleges
that he enlisted to serve under the order of Col Campbell. The officer to whom he alludes belonged to
the militia, and the service under him was for short terms.
The cases of Robert Mims, James Manard and John Johnson were returned to you on the 4th, inst for amendment.
W Harris' letter is enclosed.
I have the honor to be
Very respectfully Your Obed Servt
J L Edward
Hon R M Johnson, House of Representatives