Mary Draper Ingles
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Mary Draper Ingles (1732 – February 1815), also known in records as Mary Inglis or Mary English, was an
American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nati ...
and early
settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
of western
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. In the summer of 1755, she and her two young sons were among several captives taken by
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
after the
Draper's Meadow Massacre In July 1755, the Draper's Meadow settlement in southwest Virginia, at the site of present day Blacksburg, was raided by a group of Shawnee warriors, who killed at least four people including an infant, and captured five more. The Indians brough ...
during the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
. They were taken to
Lower Shawneetown Lower Shawneetown, also known as Shannoah or Sonnontio, was an 18th-century Shawnee village located within the Lower Shawneetown Archeological District, near South Portsmouth in Greenup County, Kentucky and Lewis County, Kentucky. The population ...
at the Ohio and Scioto rivers. Ingles escaped with another woman after two and a half months and trekked 500 to 600 miles, crossing numerous rivers, creeks, and the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
to return home. Two somewhat different accounts of Mary Draper Ingles' capture and escape, one written by her son John Ingles,Pendleton, William Cecil. ''History of Tazewell County and Southwest Virginia: 1748-1920.'' W. C. Hill printing Company, 1920; pp 443-447
/ref> and the other by Letitia Preston Floyd,Floyd, Letitia Preston, "Memoirs of Letitia Preston Floyd, written Feb. 22, 1843 to her son Benjamin Rush Floyd," transcribed from the original by Jim Glanville and Ryan Mays; in ''Smithfield Review,'' vol. 20, 2016
/ref> an acquaintance, are the two primary sources from which the story is known. The story became well-known following the 1855 publication of William Henry Foote's account in ''Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical,'' based on Mary's son's manuscript. It was further publicized in 1886 with the publication of an embellished version in John P. Hale's ''Trans-Allegheny pioneers: historical sketches of the first white settlements west of the Alleghenies.''John P. Hale, ''Trans-Allegheny pioneers: historical sketches of the first white settlements west of the Alleghenies,'' Cincinnati: The Graphic Press, 1886.
/ref>


Biography


Early life

Mary Draper Ingles was born in 1732 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to George and Elenor (Hardin) Draper, who had immigrated to America from
Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in 1729. Between 1740 and 1744, the Draper family moved to the western frontier of Virginia, settling in Pattonsburg on the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
. According to John P. Hale, in 1744 George Draper went on an exploratory trip into what is now West Virginia, and never returned, although there is evidence that Draper was still alive as late as 1748.Ryan S. Mays, "The Draper's Meadows Settlement (1746-1756)," Part II, ''The Smithfield Review,'' Volume 19, 2015
/ref> By 1746 his family had established Draper's Meadow, a
pioneer settlement The Pioneer Settlement, in Swan Hill, Victoria, is Australia's first open-air museum, portraying life on the Murray in the era 1830-1930. It opened in 1966 as the Swan Hill Folk Museum, before being renamed, following a visit by the Queen in 197 ...
on the banks of Stroubles Creek near modern-day
Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of V ...
.Ryan S. Mays, "The Draper's Meadows Settlement (1746-1756)," Part I, ''The Smithfield Review,'' Volume 18, 2014
/ref> In 1750, Mary married fellow settler
William Ingles 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 ...
(1729-1782). They had two sons prior to Mary's captivity:
Thomas Ingles Thomas Ingles (1751 - 1809) was a Virginia pioneer, frontiersman and soldier. He was the son of William Ingles and Mary Draper Ingles. He, his mother and his younger brother were captured by Shawnee Indians and although his mother escaped, Thomas ...
, born in 1751, and George, in 1753. Three daughters and a son were born to them after Mary's return from captivity.


Draper's Meadow massacre

On July 30 (or July 8, according to John P. Hale and Letitia Preston Floyd), 1755, during the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
, a band of about sixteen
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
warriors (then allies of the French) raided Draper's Meadow and killed at least four settlers, including Colonel James Patton, Mary's mother and Mary's infant niece, and a neighbor named Caspar Barger. Paper presented at Northern Kentucky History Day, 2009. They took five captives, including Mary and her two sons, her sister-in-law Bettie Robertson Draper, and her neighbor Henry Lenard (or Leonard). Mary's husband was nearly killed but fled into the forest.


Captivity

The Indians took their captives, along with several horses loaded with items taken from the settlers' homes, northwest along the New River, then along the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
. They traveled for a month to
Lower Shawneetown Lower Shawneetown, also known as Shannoah or Sonnontio, was an 18th-century Shawnee village located within the Lower Shawneetown Archeological District, near South Portsmouth in Greenup County, Kentucky and Lewis County, Kentucky. The population ...
, located at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio rivers. Upon arrival at the town, the prisoners were made to undergo the ritual of
running the gauntlet Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...
:
When their Warriors arrive within half a Mile of their Towns, it is their custom to whip those who have been so unfortunate as to fall into their Hands, all the Remainder of the Way till they get to the Town, and that it was in this Manner our poor unhappy Neighbors from Virginia had been treated by them.Contemporary newspaper account of Mary Ingles' escape in the ''New York Mercury,'' 26 January 1756, p. 3, col. 1; in ''Early Documents Relating to Mary Ingles and the Escape from Big Bone Lick,'' transcribed by James Duvall, Boone County Public Library, Burlington, KY 2008
/ref>
According to her son, Mary was not required to do this. Mary was separated from her sons, who were adopted by Shawnee families. According to John P. Hale, Mary's oldest son Thomas was taken to
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, her sister-in-law Bettie was taken to what is now
Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Count ...
, and her youngest son George was taken to an unknown location and died soon afterward. One source states that another captive, Mary's neighbor Henry Leonard, later escaped, although no details are given. An article in the ''New-York Mercury'' of 16 February 1756, describing Mary's capture and escape, mentions that while in Lower Shawneetown she saw "a considerable Number of English Prisoners, who have been taken Captives from the Frontiers of Virginia." Letitia Preston Floyd and other sources state that, about "three months" after being taken prisoner, Mary gave birth to a daughter, although there is evidence to the contrary. As a prisoner, Mary sewed shirts using cloth traded to the Indians by French traders and, at the insistence of the traders, she was paid in goods for her work. The ''Mercury'' newspaper account states that Mary was also assigned "to attend he Indiansas Servant, to dress their Victuals, and stretch the Skins they might procure." In October 1755, about three weeks after reaching Lower Shawneetown, she was taken to the Big Bone salt lick to make salt for the Indians by boiling
brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
.


Escape and journey home

While working at Big Bone Lick, in late October 1755, Mary persuaded another captive woman, referred to as the "old Dutch woman" but who may have been German, to escape with her. The next day (probably 19 October) they asked permission of the Indians to go into the forest to gather wild grapes, and set off, retracing the route the Indians had followed after Mary was taken captive in July. They wore moccasins and carried only a
tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...
and a knife (both of which were eventually lost), and two blankets. As they were leaving the camp, they met three French traders from
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
who were harvesting walnuts. Mary traded her old dull tomahawk for a new one. The women went north, following the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
as it curves to the east (se
map
. Expecting pursuit, they tried to hurry at first. As it turned out, the Shawnee made only a brief search, assuming the two women had been "destroyed by wild beasts." The Shawnee told this account to Mary's son Thomas Ingles, when he met some of them many years later after the
Battle of Point Pleasant The Battle of Point Pleasant, also known as the Battle of Kanawha, was the only major action of Dunmore's War. It was fought on October 10, 1774, between the Virginia militia and Shawnee and Mingo warriors. Along the Ohio River near modern-day P ...
in 1774. After four or five days the women reached the junction of the Ohio and Scioto rivers, where they could see Lower Shawneetown in the distance, on the opposite riverbank. There they found an abandoned cabin, which contained a supply of corn, and an old horse in the back yard. They took the horse to carry the corn, but he was lost in the river when they tried to take him across what was probably Dutchman's Ripple. They followed the Ohio, Kanawha, and
New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
rivers, crossing the
Licking Licking is the action of passing the tongue over a surface, typically either to deposit saliva onto the surface, or to collect liquid, food or minerals onto the tongue for ingestion, or to communicate with other animals. Many animals both gro ...
, Big Sandy, and Little Sandy rivers,
Twelvepole Creek Twelvepole Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 26, 2011 river located in Wayne County, West Virginia. It is part of the Mississippi River watershed, by way of ...
, the Guyandotte and
Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
rivers, Paint Creek, and the
Bluestone River The Bluestone River is a tributary of the New River, 77 mi (124 km) long, in southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia in the United States.ndmade a raft" to cross a major river. They may have traveled as much as 500 to 600 miles, averaging between eleven and twenty-one miles a day. Once the corn ran out, they subsisted on black walnuts, wild grapes, pawpaws, sassafras leaves,
blackberries The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family (biology), family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus' ...
, roots and frogs but, as the weather grew cold, they were forced to eat dead animals they found along the way. On several occasions they saw Indians hunting and each time managed to avoid being seen. On one occasion they were able to obtain deer meat from a kill abandoned by an Indian hunter, having
...got very near an Indian before they saw him, but as he was busy in skinning a Deer, he did not see them, till they hid themselves behind a Log, towards which the Indian’s Dog kept a continual barking, which frightened the Indian as well as the Women, and having dispatch’d the skinning of his Deer, with as much speed as possible, he made off, leaving the Carcase behind him, which afterwards afforded an agreeable Repast to the starving Travellers, and after having satiated their Hunger, took as much of the Meat along as they could carry, and pursued their Journey, making the River their Guide, and feeding on Grapes and Nuts for their Support.
By now the temperature had dropped, it was starting to snow, and the two women were weak from starvation. At some point, the old Dutch woman became "very disheartened and discouraged", and tried to kill Mary. (Letitia Preston Floyd's account reports the two women drew lots to decide "which of them was to be eaten by the other.") Mary managed to "keep her in a good humor" by promising "a sum of money" to be paid to her by Mary's father-in-law upon their safe return to Draper's Meadow. Soon after they reached the mouth of the New River, the old Dutch woman made a second attempt on Mary's life, probably about 26 November, but Mary "got loose...and outran her." (The ''New-York Mercury'' article states that "the Dutch woman attempted to kill her...in order, as it was supposed, to Eat her; but aryafter a fierce struggle, released herself...and fled away.") She hid in the forest and waited until dark, then continued along the riverbank. Finding a
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...
, Mary crossed the New River at its junction with the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
near what is now
Glen Lyn, Virginia Glen Lyn is a town in Giles County, Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the East and New rivers. The population was 115 at the 2010 census, down from 151 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Blacksburg– Christiansburg Metropoli ...
. Mary continued southeast along the riverbank, passing through the present-day location of Pembroke. Four or five days after leaving the old Dutch woman, she reached the home of her friend Adam Harman on or about 1 December 1755, 42 days after leaving Big Bone Lick. Shortly afterward, a search party went back and found the old Dutch woman. Harman took her to the fort at Dunkard’s Bottom, where she joined a wagon party traveling to
Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...
, with the goal of returning to her home in Pennsylvania.


Aftermath

After recovering from her journey and reuniting with her husband, Mary and her husband resumed farming at Dunkard’s Bottom until the following spring. Concerned about continued Shawnee raids on neighboring settlements, they moved to Fort Vause, where a small garrison safeguarded the residents. Mary remained uneasy, however, and persuaded her husband to move again, this time to
Bedford County, Virginia Bedford County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is the town of Bedford, which was an independent city from 1968 until rejoining the county in 2013. Bedford County was c ...
. On June 25, 1756 Fort Vause was attacked by Shawnee Indians.Lewis Preston Summers, ''History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870,'' J.L. Hill Print. Company, 1903.
/ref> Mary's brother-in-law John was killed, and her brother-in-law Matthew was captured by the Indians. Mary very likely provided information about the location, size and layout of Lower Shawneetown to her husband, who then suggested to Lieutenant-Governor
Robert Dinwiddie Robert Dinwiddie (1692 – 27 July 1770) was a British colonial administrator who served as lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia from 1751 to 1758, first under Governor Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, and then, from July 1756 ...
that he organize an assault on the town in retaliation for Shawnee attacks on English settlements. William Ingles participated as a lieutenant in the
Sandy Creek Expedition The Sandy Creek Expedition, also referred to as the Sandy Expedition or sometimes the Big Sandy Expedition, (not to be confused with the Big Sandy Expedition of 1851) was a 1756 campaign of Virginia soldiers and Cherokee warriors into what is no ...
in early 1756, however the expedition was forced to turn back before reaching the town, due to harsh weather and lack of food.Johnston, David Emmons. ''A History of Middle New River Settlements And Contiguous Territory,'' chapter 2. Huntington: Standard Printing & Publishing Co., 1906
/ref> The Ingles had four more children: Mary, Susanna (b. 1759), Rhoda (b. 1762), and John (1766-1836). In 1762, William and Mary established the
Ingles Ferry Ingles Ferry is a historic tavern near the city of Radford in Pulaski County, Virginia, Virginia, United States. William Ingles and his wife Mary Draper Ingles began developing a farm on the eastern side of the New River a few years after Mary ...
across the New River, and the associated Ingles Ferry Hill Tavern and blacksmith shop. She died there in 1815, aged 83. The site of her former
log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...
, with a stable and a family cemetery, is protected as part of the
Ingles Bottom Archeological Sites Ingles Bottom Archeological Sites is a set of archaeological sites, and national historic district located along the New River near Radford, Montgomery County, Virginia. The district encompasses a variety of archaeological sites relating to ...
. Mary's son George probably died in Indian captivity, but
Thomas Ingles Thomas Ingles (1751 - 1809) was a Virginia pioneer, frontiersman and soldier. He was the son of William Ingles and Mary Draper Ingles. He, his mother and his younger brother were captured by Shawnee Indians and although his mother escaped, Thomas ...
, who was 4 when taken captive, was ransomed and returned to Virginia in 1768 at the age of 17; after 13 years with the Shawnee, he had become fully
acculturated Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and ...
and spoke only
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
. He underwent 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 Lord Dunmore's War—or Dunmore's War—was a 1774 conflict between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. The Governor of Virginia during the conflict was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore—Lord Dunmore. H ...
(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. In 1761, Mary Ingles' brother John Draper attended a gathering of
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
chiefs at which a treaty to end the
Anglo-Cherokee War The Anglo-Cherokee War (1758–1761; in the Cherokee language: the ''"war with those in the red coats"'' or ''"War with the English"''), was also known from the Anglo-European perspective as the Cherokee War, the Cherokee Uprising, or the Cherok ...
was prepared. He found a man who knew of his wife, Bettie Robertson Draper, who had been taken captive in 1755. At that time, she was living at Chillicothe with the family of a widowed Cherokee chief. She was ransomed, and John took her to
New River Valley The New River Valley is a region along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States. It is usually defined as the counties of Montgomery (including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg), Pulaski, Floyd, and Giles and the ...
. 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 noted that the trauma of Mary's captivity and escape still affected her, 24 years later: :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...Mrs. Ingles had in her early years been carryed off with another young Woman by the Savages, and tho carryed away into the Shawanes country had made her escape with her female friend, & wonderful to relate tho exposed to unspeakable hardships, & having nothing to subsist on but wild fruits, found her way back in safety, from a distance (if I remember right) of 200 miles-- 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.


Historical accounts of Mary Draper Ingles' journey

The three
primary sources In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...
of information are: :1) The 1824 written account by John Ingles (1766-1836, son of Mary and William Ingles, born after Mary's return); :2) Parts of an 1843 letter by Letitia Preston Floyd (1779-1852, wife of Virginia Governor John Floyd and daughter of Colonel William Preston, himself a survivor of the Draper's Meadow massacre) to her son
Benjamin Rush Floyd Benjamin Rush Floyd (December 10, 1811 – February 15, 1860) was an American lawyer and politician. Floyd was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, His brother was John B. Floyd, Governor of Virginia. Floyd went to Georgetown University in Was ...
. :3) An article published in the New York ''Mercury'' on 16 February 1756 based on a report from "a Traveller who lately came from New River in Virginia," which contains a few details not found in the two other accounts. Her escape journey is also referred to briefly in two other ''Mercury'' articles, on 26 January and 1 March. Differences between the first two narratives suggest that the Ingles and Preston families had developed distinct
oral traditions Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...
. They differ on the date of the massacre (July 30 vs July 8, according to Ingles and Floyd, respectively), the number of casualties, the ages of Mary Ingles' children, and several other aspects. John Peter Hale, one of Mary Ingles' great-grandsons, claimed to have interviewed Letitia Floyd and others who knew Mary Ingles personally. His 1886 narrative contains numerous details not cited in any previous account. There were some references to Mary Ingles' escape in contemporary reports and letters, which were gathered in later efforts to document people who had been taken captive by Indians.


In popular culture

The story of Ingles' ordeal has inspired a number of books and films, including: * A novel. *''Follow the River'' (1995). A television movie adaptation of the novel produced by
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
, starring
Sheryl Lee Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...
. *'' The Captives'' (2004), a film based on these events. *''The Long Way Home'', an outdoor historical drama produced each summer from 1971 to 1999, at the Ingles homestead, relating the history of Mary Draper Ingles and her family. The General Assembly identified it as the "official" outdoor drama. While it attracted thousands to the city, the production was finally closed. (Since 2010, other efforts have been made to develop aspects of tourism heritage related to the Ingles history.)


Memorialization

*On October 14, 2019, the Virginia Women’s Monument Commission dedicated seven statues, including one of Mary Draper Ingles. The other six statues are of Anne Burras Laydon,
Cockacoeske Cockacoeske (also spelled ''Cockacoeskie'') (ca. 1640 – ca. 1686) was a 17th-century leader of the Pamunkey tribe in what is now the U.S. state of Virginia. During her thirty-year reign, she worked with the English colony of Virginia, try ...
, Elizabeth Keckly,
Laura Copenhaver Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver (August 29, 1868 – December 18, 1940) was an American businesswoman. Copenhaver was a native of Marion, Virginia, where her father, the Reverend John Jacob Scherer, was the first president of Marion College. She wa ...
,
Virginia Randolph Virginia Estelle Randolph (May 1870 – March 16, 1958) was an American educator in Henrico County, Virginia. She was named the United States' first "Jeanes Supervising Industrial Teacher" by her Superintendent of Schools, Jackson Davis, and sh ...
, and Adele Clark. The monument is sited on Capitol Square grounds in
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
. *
Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...
, located near Draper's Meadow, has residence halls named Draper Hall and Ingles Hall in honor of Mary Draper Ingles. *A statue of Mary Ingles, identical to the one in front of the Boone County Public Library, was unveiled in the Radford Cultural Heritage Park near the
Glencoe Museum Glencoe Museum is located in a Victorian house in west downtown Radford, Virginia. The house was built in 1870 in the 19th century Victorian style, specifically Second Empire, and was the home of Confederate Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton ...
in October, 2016. *A monument dedicated to Mary Draper Ingles is located in West End Cemetery,
Radford, Virginia Radford (formerly Lovely Mount, Central City, English Ferry and Ingle's Ferry) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2020, the population was 16,070 by the United States Census Bureau. For statistical purposes, the Bureau ...
. It was built using stones from the chimney of a home where Ingles lived after her return in 1755. *Mary Ingles Elementary School in
Tad, West Virginia Tad is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Tad is east of Charleston. Tad has a post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter ...
is named for her. *An bronze statue depicting Mary Draper Ingles was installed outside the Boone County Public Library on route 18 in
Burlington, Kentucky Burlington is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 15,926 at the 2010 census. History Burlington was incorporated in 1824. Burlington marks the county seat of Boo ...
. *
Kentucky Route 8 Kentucky Route 8 is a east–west state highway divided into two distinct segments across northern Kentucky. The western terminus of the route is at KY 237 near Francisville. The eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 23 in South Portsmouth. ...
in
Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
,
Bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs ...
, and Mason counties is officially named "Mary Ingles Highway." *Ingles Ferry was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1969, and the
Ingles Bottom Archeological Sites Ingles Bottom Archeological Sites is a set of archaeological sites, and national historic district located along the New River near Radford, Montgomery County, Virginia. The district encompasses a variety of archaeological sites relating to ...
in 1978. *The
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
library hold
documents
once owned by Mary Draper Ingles. *Th
Mary Draper Ingles Bridge
crosses the New River and is located in Summers County, West Virginia.
Mary Ingles Cultural Heritage Park
adjacent to the Radford Visitors' Center, includes a bronze statue cast from the same mold as the one at the Boone County Public Library in Burlington, Kentucky. *The Mary Ingles Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is located in Fort Thomas,
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
.


See also

*
William Ingles 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 ...
*
Thomas Ingles Thomas Ingles (1751 - 1809) was a Virginia pioneer, frontiersman and soldier. He was the son of William Ingles and Mary Draper Ingles. He, his mother and his younger brother were captured by Shawnee Indians and although his mother escaped, Thomas ...
*
Draper's Meadow massacre In July 1755, the Draper's Meadow settlement in southwest Virginia, at the site of present day Blacksburg, was raided by a group of Shawnee warriors, who killed at least four people including an infant, and captured five more. The Indians brough ...
*
James Patton (Virginia colonist) James Lynn Patton, (1690 or 1692 - 30 July, 1755) was a merchant, pioneer frontiersman, and soldier who settled parts of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Between his immigration to Virginia in 1740, and his death there in 1755, he was a prominent fig ...
*
Lower Shawneetown Lower Shawneetown, also known as Shannoah or Sonnontio, was an 18th-century Shawnee village located within the Lower Shawneetown Archeological District, near South Portsmouth in Greenup County, Kentucky and Lewis County, Kentucky. The population ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Mary Draper Ingles
History and Culture, National Park Service website.
Mary Draper Ingles Trail Blazers website
an
The Mary Draper Ingles Trail
efforts to recreate the route taken by Mary Ingles.
Mary Draper Ingles' Return To Virginia's New River Valley
Blue Ridge Country website
"Mary Draper Ingles"
Boone County Public Library
John Ingles, "The Narrative of Col. John Ingles Relating to Mary Ingles and the Escape from Big Bone Lick," 1824
Transcribed and edited for clarity by James Duvall, 2008, Boone County Public Library, Burlington, KY
Scanned pages of the original John Ingles manuscript.


a primary source differing from John Ingles' account.
Mary Ingles and the Escape from Big Bone Lick
A detailed examination of Mary Ingles' story, with illustrations.
A map of northern Kentucky in 1796
showing "Bigbone Creek", the site of Mary Ingles' escape, and the Ohio River along which she traveled during the first half of her journey. *
The Making of the Mary Draper Ingles Statue
" Boone County Public Library, 7 Nov 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingles, Mary Draper 1732 births 1755 in the Thirteen Colonies 1815 deaths American people of Irish descent Blacksburg, Virginia Boone County, Kentucky Burials in Virginia Captives of Native Americans American captivity narratives American escapees History of Kentucky History of Virginia History of West Virginia People from Philadelphia People from Radford, Virginia Virginia colonial people People of the French and Indian War