Jane Logan McKee

Jane Logan, born in Cumberland, Pennslyvania, was married to John McKee, immigrant from Ireland, by the time she was fourteen.  The pioneer couple settled near Kerrs Creek in land later known as Rockbridge County, Virginia.  It was heavily populated with Native American tribes, most especially the warlike Shawnee.  Several other families settled in the rich valley farmland too, such as the Gilmores, the Hamiltons, the Logans, the Erwins, the Norwoods, the Martins and the Cunninghams.  The McKees had seven children relatively quickly until tragedy struck.

According to a number of historical references, as well as legend, the settlers of Kerrs Creek suffered a number of casualties from at least two distinct Shawnee raids led by the famous Shawnee Chief, Cornstalk.  These raids took place near or concurrently with the French and Indian War (1756-1763) which was raging from Canada to New Orleans.  The Ottawa Tribe Chief Pontiac was successful in uniting the Native American tribes with the French, who made promises not to settle their land, against the British and their colonists pushing ever westward.  

On July 17, 1763, a smaller band of 27 braves attacked the individual farmsteads of Kerrs Creek.  According to one account, Jane, known as “Jenny,” and her husband John had sent their children to safety at Timber Ridge before the attack occurred.   They tried to slip out the back of their log cabin up the ridge behind their place, but Jenny was burdened with pregnancy and couldn’t run fast enough.  The Indians gained on the couple, at which time she urged her husband to run on ahead because their “children would have no parents” if he didn’t escape.  John hid Jenny in a sink hole and ran on.  He turned around in time to see the tomahawk take his wife’s life.  He managed to evade the braves, and returned later to find that his wife had survived long enough to tie a kerchief around her head to stem the wound.  He buried her where she lay, and noted her death in the family bible.  Another account has it that John was at a neighbor’s house attending sick children when the attack on his cabin occurred.  He returned home to find Jenny slain and scalped.  

Whatever the true account, John raised their children, and remarried.  Cornstalk, a tall and commanding historical figure, went on to become the chieftain of all of the Shawnee.  However, he reportedly had a change of heart later and decried all forms of warfare.  He tried to dissuade his tribe from joining the British against the colonists during the American Revolution.  He was murdered in 1777 (some say by several settlers from Kerrs Creek) while in American protective custody.  Supposedly, he had a premonition of his murder, and when the attack came, he bared his chest, offering it to seven rounds of gunshot.  

Thanks to ninastewartharrison who shared this in 2007 on Ancestry.com

Jane Logan McKee was my 7th Great-grandmother:  Alice Louise Wicker, James Wesley Wicker, Macy Alice Williams, Mary Ann Pullam, Ally Vaughn, Nancy Dyer, Gracie McKee, James Logan McKee, Jane Logan.
ninastewartharrison