Location

Escape to Her Grandfather’s Ferry

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This photo is from “Album of Virginia, Plate 26, Kanawha Fall. Edward Beyer, 1858” –  the time period is very close to the time of this story, which refers to a period between 1847 (Nancy Montgomery Rigg’s birth) and 1852 (the death of her grandfather Henry Montgomery). Frances Folsom Farley (1886-1076), known as “Aunt Aggie” to … Read more

Keeney Cabin

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Catherine Lewis (1759-?) and Michael Keeney (1761-1790) were married on 11 January 1781 in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now WV). They are my 5th great-grandparents. This article about their cabin appeared in the Beckley Post-Herald on 09 October 1956. It tells a great story not only about the cabin but also about the lives of Michael … Read more

Chloe Flinn and Boone County

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Chloe Flinn (1781-1863) is my 5th great-grandmother, and her childhood rescue by Daniel Boone was the inspiration for the naming of Boone County, Virginia (now West Virginia). The 2nd paragraph on this website sums it up well:

Chloe Flinn Ballard Headstone
Chloe Flinn Ballard Headstone

In 1786, Shawnee Indians attacked the home of a young girl named Chloe Flinn. The father was killed. The six year old along with her mother, brother, and sister were taken to Ohio by the Indians. A few months later, Daniel Boone came across the group and traded meat, flour, and whiskey to the Shawnees in exchange for several white prisoners including Chloe. Boone brought the little girl to live with his family in Limestone (now called Maysville), Kentucky. He then located some of Chloe’s relatives and brought her to an uncle in the Charleston area. Sixty years later, Chloe Flinn’s son, St. Clair Ballard, was a House of Delegates member from Logan County (now Boone) and related that story to the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond. Ballard asked that legislators to name the new western Virginia county in honor of the man who rescued his mother.

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