Samuel Crowley
By Beverly Belcher Woody
Did you know that the first person killed in the Battle for American Independence was from Patrick County?
In honor of Memorial Day this coming Monday, we will remember Samuel Crowley, the long hunter who owned land on the banks of the Smith River. First, the clarifications: In 1774, the land that we know and love as Patrick was still part of Pittsylvania County, but Crowley lived in the Charity community, where he and his wife Elizabeth raised their seven children, Effie, James, Mary, John, Agnes, William, and Littleberry. Second, Crowley was not at the Battle of Lexington and Concord where the “shot heard round the world” was fired, but at Point Pleasant, which is now located in West Virginia.
In October 1774, Samuel Crowley and his brother Benjamin were assigned to Virginia Militia Commander Andrew Lewis to serve as scouts in what has traditionally been known as “Lord Dunmore’s War.” On October 9th, two great military forces converged on the banks of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. One thousand troops commanded by Andrew Lewis were gathered waiting for Lord Dunmore (the last royal governor of Virginia) and his group of British regulars (Redcoats). The plan was to attack the Shawnee, Mingo, and Delaware tribes led by Chief Cornstalk.
Early on the morning of October 10, Samuel Crowley, his brother Benjamin, and another scout named Robertson, were deployed to find the position of their enemy. The scouts were startled by the advancing Shawnee and fired upon. Samuel fell, mortally wounded, but the other men made it back to tell Commander Lewis that Chief Cornstalk was coming.
By the end of the day, Chief Cornstalk and his warriors retreated back across the Ohio River. Seventy-five Virginians lay dead. There was no way to determine the amount of Native American victims, but it is known that Tecumseh’s father, Pucksinwah, was among the casualties.
On February 21, 1908, the U.S. Senate passed bill No. 160, recognizing the Battle of Point Pleasant as a battle of the Revolution; however, the bill did not pass the House of Representatives.
Eight months after the death of Samuel, a petition was laid before the House of Burgesses calling upon them to provide funds for the maintenance and education of James, Effie and John (Crowley)…. On Saturday, 10 June 1775, as shown in the Journal of the House of Burgesses, the attempt at a remedy began. Here is the entry: A petition of Elizabeth Crowley was presented to the House, and read; setting forth that the petitioner’s husband, Samuel Crowley (sic), a soldier enlisted under the command of Colonel Lewis was killed in the engagement with the Indians, on the tenth of October last, leaving the petitioner and several small children in a helpless condition; and therefore, praying relief.”
“…Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, that the petition of Elizabeth Crowley (sic), whose husband was killed in the last Indian expedition, and who, with her children, is by his death reduced to great distress, is reasonable; and that the petitioner ought to be allowed the sum of twenty five pounds for the present relief, and the further sum of ten pounds per annum, during the term of ten years, for the maintenance and education of her children.”
After the American Revolution, most Samuel Crowley’s family left the Patrick area. Two of the children settled in Kentucky, while the other five traveled on to Missouri. One of the children, in particular, has many descendants in Patrick County to this day.
According to June Bork, (Crowley family researcher), Effaniah “Effie” Crowley was the first known child of Samuel Crowley and Elizabeth Strong. She was born about 1761 in Halifax County, Virginia and died in 1835 on Rock Castle Creek in Patrick County, Virginia. She married about 1785 in Henry County, Virginia to Jeremiah Burnett, III, who was one of her neighbors on Rock Castle Creek.
Some of Effie and Jeremiah’s children include Reverend Jeremiah Burnett, IV who married Elizabeth Cox, daughter of James Cox, Samuel Burnett who married Lavenia Cox, also the daughter of James Cox, Isham Burnett who married Anne Hall, daughter of John Hall and Sarah Clark, Rhoda Burnett who married William Harris, son of Reuben Harris and Margaret McAlexander, and Nancy Burnett who married William Reynolds. All of these children married into families from Patrick County.
Samuel Crowley rests in a mass grave beneath the powder magazine at Point Pleasant battlefield. I wonder if he could have imagined that someday, he would have descendants stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific?
Patrick County has many heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice and given their lives to protect others. On this Memorial Day, and every day, may we always remember and be grateful.
(Thank you to my Missouri cousins, John and Rosa Rogers, for contributions to this article. Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com.)
