Came to USA when he was about 8 yrs. old.
In 1730 two brothers and their wives came to America from County Donegal,
Ireland. They landed at Philadelphia, PA, and settled in Nottingham Township,
Chester Co., PA.
In 1736 William and his wife, Mary Stewart, moved to Stone Church, VA, and
later to Abbeyville, SC.
John, the immigrant ancestors of the Tipton County Baskins, and his
wife, Elizabeth, moved to the Paxton, PA, region, south of the Blue Mountains,
near Harrisburg. John died in Paxtton about 1740.
ABT 29 JUL 1756 in Killed by Indians
From wgreath760@aol.com
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:a23893&id=I164 5
!1744, APRIL 19TH, WILLIAM FIRST APPEARS ON THE LIST OF MEN WHO SEARCHED FOR
AND INVESTIGATED THE MURDER OF JOHN ARMSTRONG, INDIAN TRADER. HE WAS THEN AND
LIKELY HAD BEEN LIVING IN PAXTON FOR SOME TIME. IN 1747-48 HE WAS A MEMBER OF
THE MILITIA. IN 1750 HE APPEARED ON THE FIRST TAX LIST FOR THE NARROWS OF
PAXTON. WILLIAM SETTLED ON THE LOWER END OF DUNCAN'S ISLAND, WITH FRANCIS ON
THE BIG ISLAND TO THE EAST AND JAMES ON THE JUNIATA SHORE TO THE WEST. ALL
THERE WERE SURELY BROTHERS. IN THE FALL OF 1755 WILLIAM WITHJ THE OTHERS FLED
TO FORT HUNTER, BUT NOT UNTIL HE HAD PLANTED A CROP OF WHEAT ON THE ISLAND. HE
HAD IMPROVED THE FORMER AND EVIDENTLY CONSIDERED HIMSELF A RESIDENT OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
THE SPRING OF 1756 SAW THE START OF THE ERECTION OF FORT HALLIFAX. WILLIAM
BASKINS SUPPLIED 1660 FEET OF PINE BOARDS FOR THE FORT. THE FORT WAS COMPLETED
IN JULY. ON JULY 29 WILLIAM BASKINS WAS KILLED BY INDIANS WHOM HE THOUGHT TO
BE FRIENDLY. HE HAD RETURNED TO HARVEST GRAIN. HIS INVENTORY LISTS 9 BUSHELS
OF WHEAT AT L 1-13-9 (ABOUT $4). THE INDIANS MAY HAVE PICKED HIM OUT FOR
SEVERAL REASONS: HIS 1744 CONNECTIONS, HIS SUPPLYING THE FORT OR HIS PRESENCE
WHEN ALL OTHERS HAD FLED. HIS ESTATE WAS PROBATED IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, WITH
JAMES AS ADMINISTRATOR. THE BOND WAS ISSUED TO JAMES BASKINS AND ARTHUR
FORSTER AUG 28, 1756. THE 1762 MAP LISTS WIDOW BASKINS ON BUNCAN'S ISLAND.
THE ROSS PETITION SAYS THE ISLAND WAS UNOCCUPIED 1756-62 WITH ALL BUILDINGS AND
FENCES BURNED. THERE WAS NO ONE ON IT 1763-65.
THE NAME OF WILLIAM BASKINS' WIFE WAS MARY. SINCE SHE NAMED A SON MOSES,
SHE MAY HAVE NAMED HIM FOR HER FATHER. THE ONLY MOSES IN THE 1750 TAX LISTS IS
A MOSES WAYNE. IN 1762 THE "WIDOW BASKINS" APPLIED FOR 200 ACRES INCLUDING HER
IMPROVEMENT UP THE JUNIATA. IN 1766 JAMES BASKINS APPLIED FOR LAND ON LITTLE
JUNIATA CAREEK FOR THE WILLIAM BASKINS ESTATE. THE 1767 ROSS PETITIONS SHOWS
THAT SHE WAS THEN MARRIED TO FRANCIS ELLIS. MARY WAS PROBABLY MARRIED THREE
TIMES, FIRST TO WILLIAM BASKINS ABOUT 1744, SECOND TO ______FINDLEY, THIRD TO
FRANCIS ELLIS. REV JOHN C BUCHER ON 20 JUNE 1765, MARRIED FRANCIS ELLIS AND
MARY FINDLEY. A WILLIAM FINDLEY IS LISTED IN THE WILLIAM BASKINS ESTATE. MARY
BASKINS' OLDEST DAUGHTER MARRIED A FINDLEY. IN JAN 1771, JAMES BASKINS,
ADMINISTRATOAR OF THE WILLIAM BASKINS ESTATE ENTERED A JUDGMENT AGAINST FRANCIS
ELLIS AND HIS WIFE, MARY. MARY WAS LIKELY DEAD WHEN THE FRANCIS ELLIS ESTATE
WAS SETTLED IN 1784.
WILLIAM BASKINS HAD TWO SONS WHO ARE NAMED IN THE ESTATE SETTLEMENT, JOHN
AND MOSES (LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION IN LANCASTER COUNTY 25 APRIL 1777). MOSES
IS MENTIONED IN A RYE TOWNSHIP DEED IN 1774 AND IS ASSESSED THE SAME YEAR. HE
LIVED FOR A TIME ON HIS FATHER'S CLAIM ALONG THE JUNIATA. IN 1774 JOHN BASKINS
SOLD HIS SHARE IN THE LAND GRANTED TO HIS FATHER. HE WAS THEN A BLACKSMITH OF
DIST. 96, SC..(NOW THE ABBEVILLE REGION). THE DEED WAS ACKNOWLEDGED IN
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, SHOWING THAT JOHN HAD RETURNED TO PENNSYLVANIA. HE HAD BEEN
CAPTURED BY INDIANS IN 1768 IN THE SOUTH. HE WAS IN TENNESSEE AS EARLY AS 1781
AND WAS DEAD BY 1805. A THIRD SON OF WILLIAM IS INDICATED UNDER SMITH; ANN
(NANCY) MARRIED FIRST TO JOSEPH MARTIN, SECOND TO GILBERT MC COY. THE OLDEST
SMITH DAUGHTER AND THE OLDEST MARTIN DAUGHTER ARE NAMED MARY FOR THE
GRANDMOTHER.
!LAND RECORDS
1. DUNCAN'S ISLAND (OR HILL ISLAND).
1762-WIDOW SHOWN ON JULINGS MAP.
1764- DEC 10-11, ISLAND SURVEYED FOR PROPRIETARIES (305A).
1767- MAY 19, DAVID ROSS CLAIMED TO HAVE RENTED THE ISLAND FROM THE WIDOW
ABOUT 1762.
1805-ISLAND SOLD TO JOHN REED.
2. LITTLE JUNIATA CREEK.
1766, JAMES APPLIED FOR LAND FOR HEIRS OF WILLIAM 300 ACRES ADJOINING
JOHN MC COY, MC COWAN'S PATH AND DICKS MOUNTAIN.
1766, DEC 16, ORDER FOR 238 ACRES GRANTED TO HEIRS OF WILLIAM (LATER THE
SIGHT OF THE MONTIBELLO FURNACE, TITLE NOT ABLE TO TRACE.)
3. JUNIATA RIVER
1762 MAY 31, WIDOW BASKINS APPLIED FOR 200 ACRES INCUDING HER
IMPROVEMENTS 5 OR 6 MILES FROM THE MOUTH OF THE JUNIATA.
1775 APRIL 6, A WARRENT TO HUGH MILLER.
1774 SEPT 16, JOHN BASKINS (ELDEST SON) SOLD 2/5 SHARE OF THIS 200 ACRES
(WRONGLY ASSUMED TO BE 1766 GRANT), OCT 4TH TO HUGH MILLER.
1776, MARCH 26, JOSEPH AND ANN BASKINS MARTIN SOLD 1/5 SHARE TO HUGH
MILLER.
1791, MARCH 3, 25 ACRES WARRANT TO HUGH MILLER (BALANCE OF "200 ACRES".
!1756, JULY 29, THE INDIAN CAPTIVES. ON JULY 29, 1756 INDIANS ATTACKED THE
FAMILY OF WILLIAM BASKINS ON DUNCAN'S ISLAND. THE PA. GAZETTE TELLS HOW THEY
KILLED WILLIAM AND CARRIED OFF HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN.. THE VA. PAPERS COPIED
THE ACOUNT. THERE WERE FIVE BASKINS CHILDREN: JOHN 11, MOSES 9, MARGARET 7,
NANCY 5, AND A BOY 3. THE WIFE AND MARGARET AND THE 3 YEAR OLD WERE CAPTURED.
THE OTHER CHILDREN WERE NOT WITH THE PARENTS OR THEY ESCAPED.
THE WIFE, MARY, WAS RELEASED IN 1759; MARGARET IN 1765; THE BOY FOUND
LIVING NEAR DETROIT AS "TIMOTHEY MURPHY". THE JOURNAL OF GEORGE CROGHAN (PA
MAG 71, 352) READS: SEPT 19, 1759 PITTSBURGH-DELEWARES DELIVERED ME "MARY
BASKINS AND TWO WHITE BOYS". THIS WAS THE WIDOW. THE RECORDS OF COL. HENRY
BOUQUET LIST NOV 15, 1764-PEGGY BASKIN "TAKEN FROM THE ENGLISH CAMP AT THE
FORKS OF THE MUSKINGUM TO FORT PITT". THIS WAS THE DAUGHTER.
WOMEN DID NOT REMAIN WIDOWS LONG ON THE FRONTIER. ABOUT 1760 MARY BASKINS
MARRIED _____FINDLEY. A WILLIAM FINDLEY IS LISTED IN WILLIAM BASKINS' ESTATE.
MARGARET BASKINS, THE DAUGHTER ALSO MARRIED FIRST A FINDLEY. MARY'S HUSBAND
MUST HAVE DIED DURING THE PONTIAC WAR FOR ON JUNE 20, 1765, MARY BASKINS
FINDLEY MARRIED FRANCIS ELLIS. IN 1767 THE WIFE OF FRANCIS ELLIS IS CALLE THE
FORMER WIDOW BASKINS. IN 1771 JAMES BASKINS, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE WILLIAM
BASKINS ESTATE, ENTERED A JUDGMENT AGAINST FRANCIS AND MARY ELLIS. FRANCIS
ELLIS HAD A GRANDSON, ROBERT FINDLEY ELLIS. MARY DIED BEFORE 1784.
IT LOOKS AS IF MARY BASKINS WAS HELD CAPTIVE 3 YEARS, AND PEGGY 8 YEARS.
THE BOY CAME BACK YEARS LATER ON A VISIT FROM CANADA. HE WAS KNOWN AS TIMOTHY
MURPHY. THE OLDEST SON OF MARY, JOHN BASKINS, WHILE ON AN EXPEDITION IN THE
KENTURCKY-TENNESSEE AREA WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY THE KICAPOOS IN ILLINOIS IN JULY
1768. HE WAS TAKEN TO DETROIT AND LATER GOT TO FORT PITT. IN 1774 HE WAS IN
SOUTH CAROLINA, IN THE 1780'S IN TENNESSEE.
!WILLIAM BASKINS DEATH, THERE ARE 4 ACCOUNTS.
1. THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE, THURSDAY, AUG 5, 1756.
"WE HAVE ADVICE FROM CUMBERLAND COUNTY, THAT ON THE 22OND ULT. ABOUT 60
INDIANS APPEARED BEFORE FORT GRANVILLE, AND CHALLENGED THE COMMANDER OF IT TO
COME OUT AND FIGHT THEM; BUT THAT HE BEING BUT WEAK HANDED, DID NOT THINK
PROPER TO ACCEPT OF THE CHALLENGE; THAT THEY FIRED AT, AND WOUNDED, ONE OF THE
MEN THAT BELONGED TO THE FORT IN THE THIGH, WHO HAPPENED TO BA A LITTLE WAY
FROM IT, BUT NOT SO BADLY BUT THAT HE GOT SAFE IN; THAT THEY LURKED ABOUT THE
PLACE FOR SOME TIME, EXPECTING TO CATCH SOME OF OUR PEOPLE, BUT THEY BEING UPON
THEIR GUARD, WERE DISAPPOINTED; AND THAT THEN THEY WERE OFF, AFTER SHOOTING
DOWN ALL THE CATTLE THEY COULD IND. "WE HEAR FURTHER FROM THE SAME PLACE, THAT
THURSDAY LAST 12 INDIANS (PART OF THE THOSE THAT WERE AT FORT GRANVILLE) WENT
TO THE PLANTATION OF ONE BASKINS, NEAR JUNIATA, WHOM THEY MURDERED IN A CRUEL
MANNER, BURNT HIS HOUSE, AND CARRIED OFF HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN: THAT ONE HUGH
CARROLL AND FAMILY WERE MADE PRISONERS ABOUT THE SAME TIME BY SOME INDIANS, WHO
ASKED CARROLL A GREAT MANY QUESTIONS, PARTICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO THE STRENGTH
OF HARRIS'S, HUNTER'S AND MCKEE'S FORTS; AND SAID THEY WOULD SOON SHEW HIM A
GREAT NUMBER OF FRENCH AND INDIANS, WHO, THEY TOLD HIM, WERE COMING DOWN TO
FALL UPON THIS PROVINCE; BUT THAT HE, NOTWITHSTANDING THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD
TIED HIM VERY SECURELY, MADE SHIFT TO UNTIE HIMSELF IN THE NIGHT, AND MADE HIS
ESCAPE."
THIS DATES IT AS JULY 29, 1756. LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION IN CUMBERLAND
COUNTY WERE ISSUED TO JAMES BASKINS AND ARTHUR FORSTER IN WILLIAM BASKINS
ESTATE ON AUG 28, 1756.
2. RUPP'S HISTORY OF DAUPHIN AND OTHER COUNTYS, 1846, PAGE 338, AS REPORTED BY
MICHAEL STEEVER.
"AT ONE TIME WHEN MR. WILLIAM BASKINS, GRANDUNCLE TO CORNELIUS AND JAMES
BASKINS, HAVING A CRIP OF GRAIN ON WHAT IS NOW CALLED DUNCAN'S ISLAND (HAVING
HOWEVER PREVIOUS REMOVED HIS FAMILY TO FORT HUNTER FOR SECUARITY) RETURNED WITH
PART OF HIS FAMILY TO CUT THE GRAIN; AND WHILE ENGAGED, ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY
THEY WERE STARTELED BY A YELL OR WHOOPING OF INDIANS, WHO WERE HARD BY;
HOWEVER, ON DISCOVERING THEY WERE NEIGHBORS, THEIR ALARMS WERE QUIETED; BUT,
ALAS! THEY WERE DECEIVED; FOR THE BARBAROUS SAVAGES, AS SOON AS NEAR ENOUGH,
GAVE THEM TO DISTINCTLY TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR OBJECT WAS THEIR SCALPS! AT
THIS MOMENT THEY ALL FLED IN CONSTERNATION, HOTLY PURSUED, TOWARDS THE HOUSE,
AND WHEN THERE MR. BASKINS, IN THE ACT OF GETTING HIS GUN, WAS SHOT DEAD AND
SCALPED; HIS WIFE, A DAUGHTER OF ABOUT SEVEN, AND A SON THREE YEARS OLD, WERE
ABDUCTED.
"MRS. BASKINS AFFECTED HER ESCAPE FROM THE INDIANS SOMEWHERE NEAR
CARLISLE; THE DAUGHTER WAS TAKEN TO THE MIAMI COUNTRY, WEST OF THE OHIO, THEN
AN UNBROKEN WILDERNESS, WHERE SHE WAS DETAINED FOR MORE THAM 6 YEARS, WHEN IN
CONFORMITY TO A TREATY MADE WITH THE INDIANS, SHE WAS DELIVERED UP, AND
RETURNED. SHE WAS AFTERWARDS MARRIED TO MR JOHN SMITH, WHOSE SON JAMES IS NOW
RESIDEING IN NEWPORT, PERRY COUNTY, AND TO WHOM I AM INDEBTED FOR THIS
INTERESING TRADITION. THE LAD, THAT WAS ATAKEN AT THE SAME TIME, WAS CARRIED
TO CANADY, WHERE HE WAS RAISED BY SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, NOT KNOWING THE NAME OF
THE BOY, WHEN HE WAS BAPTISED BY A MISSIONARY, WAS NAMED TIMOTHY MURPHY. HE
WAS AFTERWARDS DISCOVERED BY ALEXANDER STEPHENS, MR. JAMES STEPHENS' FATHER,
WHO RESIDES IN JUNIATA TOWNSHIP, PERRY COUNTY, BY SOME PECULIAR MARK ON HIS
HEAD. HE HAS VISITED HIS FRIENDS IN PERRY. JAMES SMITH, HIS NEPHEW, WHEN AT
CANADA IN DEFENCE OF HIS COUNTRY, DURING THE LATE WAR (1812), VISITED HIM AND
FOUND HIM CONFORTABLY SITUATED NEAR MALDEN IN UPPER CANADA (ONTARIO), AND THE
OWNER OF A LARGE ESTATE."
3. JAMES SMITH'S DAUGHER, ISABELLA, WAS BORN FEB 16, 1814. ON JAN 29, 1898,
SHE WROTE:
"OUR GRANDMOTHER WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY THE INDIANS, WHEN 7 YEARS OLD, WAS 14
WHEN THEY GOT HER BACK. HER BROTHER WAS 5 YEARS OLD, HIM THEY NEVER GOT.
THEIR NAME WAS BASKINS. RACHEL FINLEY WAS HER FIRST HUSBAND'S CHILD. SHE WAS
A HALF-SISTER TO YOUR MOTHER AND MY FATHER. AGNES WAS MITCHELL'S GIRLS MOTHER.
MARY WAS YOUR MOTHER'S NAME. RACHEL DIED A MAIDEN LADY......JOHN SMITH WAS
THE YOUNGEST BROTHER, LIVED WITH HIS BROTHER, JAMES......IN LEWISTOWN."
4. ACCOUNT GIVEN BY WILLIAM BASKINS (BORN 1826) IN IOWA IN 1914, AS TOLD BY HIS
GRANDFATHER, GEORGE BASKINS (1761-1852), A NEPHEW OF WILLIAM WHO DIED IN 1756.
IN ERROR, WILLIAM OF IOWA THOUGHT IT WAS GEORGE'S FATHER, RATHER THAN UNCLE.
"WHEN A SMALL BOY HE AND HIS BROTHER WHO WAS ALMOST A YOUNG MAN WENT EARLY
ONE MORING INTO THE WOODS TO HUNT FOR THEIR HORSES. THEIR MOTHER HAD BEEN
CALLED TO ATTEND TO A SICK NEIGHBOR THE NIGHT BEFORE AND TOOK THE BABY, A
LITTLE GIRL, WITH HER. THE BOYS HEARD SHOTS FIRED AND CREPT TO THE EDGE OF THE
CLEARING TO SEE THEIR FATHER AND THE OTHER CHILDREN DRAGGED OUT BY INDIANS.
ALL BUT ONE OR TWO CHILDREN WERE KILLED AND THESE WERE CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE.
THEIR HOME WAS BURNED. THE BOYS HID IN THE BRUSH AND SO ESCAPED."
JOHN BASKIINS, WHOSE FATHER WAS KILLED IN 1756, WAS CAPTURED BY INDIANS IN
1768. THE ACCOUNT IS FROM UNPUBLISHED PAPERS IN THE ARCHIVES OF PENNSYLVANIA.
"SAMUEL BLACK AND JOHN BASKINS--ACCOUNT OF INDIANS WHEN PRISONERS.
MONDAY EVENING THE 26TH SEPT 1768 ABOUT 6 O'CLOCK SAMUEL BLACK AND JOHN BASKINS
ARRIVED HERE (?FORT PITT) VIA DETROIT AND INFORM AS FOLLOWS VIZ: THAT HAVING
BEEN IN COMPANY WITH JOHN HIGGINS AND ELEVEN OTHER MEN IN A LARGE BATTEAU ABOUT
300 MILES UP THE SHAWNEY RIVER ON OR ABOUT THE 28TH OF JUNE, THEY TWO SET OFF
ABOUT TEN MILES FURTHER UP THE SAID RIVER TO CHOOSE PROPER HUNTING GROUND WHERE
THEY CONTINUED FIVE DAYS AND THEN RETURNED TO THE PLACE WHERE THEY HAD LEFT THE
BOAT AND FOUND FOUR DEAD BODIES OF MEN LYING AT THE PLACE WHOM THEY JUDGED TO
BE DANIEL KENNEDY, JAMES WETHEN, FREDRICK MYER AND JOHN GILES. THEY THEN
DESCENDED THE RIVER ABOUT 40 MILES TO A PLACE WHERE THEY HAD LEFT SOME CORN AND
SALT AND THERE FOUND A LETTER FROM JOSEPH HOLLINSHEAD DATED 2OND JULY ORDERING
ANY MAN BELONGING TO ANY OF THE BOATS THAT WERE OUT TO FOLLOW HIM TO THE OHIO
WHENCE HE WOULD DELAY SOME TIME. IN CONSEQUENCE OF WHICH THEY STILL PROCEEDED
DOWN THE SHAWNEY AND OHIO RIVERS TILL THEY REACHED THE CHEROKEE FORT, WHICH
THEY
EFFECTED IN 5 DAYS WITHOUT OVERTAKING MR. HOLLINSHEAD OR ANY OTHER BOAT. FROM
THE CHEROKEES FORT THEY SET OFF FRO FORT CHARTRES BUT ON THE SECOND DAY WERE
ATTACKED AND TAKEN PRISONERS BY A PARTY OF 30 KICAPOOS WHO CARRIED THEM TO
DETROIT WHICH THEY REACHED THE 1ST OF AUGUST."
(NOTES: SHAWNEY=CUMBERLAND RIVER; FORT CHARTRES=12 MILES NORTH OF KASKASKIA,
ILLINOIS; CHEROKEE FORT=ON OHIO RIVER, SOUTH OF MOUTH OF THE CUMBERLAND; BLACK,
HIGGIN AND MYERS APPEAR IN SOUTH CAROLINA RECORDS.)
THIS JOHN BASKINS, SON OF WILLIAM, WAS A BLACKSMITH IN DIST 96, SC IN
1774, AS SHOWN BY A DEED AT CARLISLE, PA.. HE HAD COUSINS IN THIS PART OF SC..
DUARING THE REVOLUTION JOHN LIVED IN WASHINGTON CO. TENN. (THEN IN NC). HE IS
LISTED IN COURT RECOARDS IN 1781, 82, AND 84.
TIMOTHY MURPHY OF ONTARIO, CANADA.
WHEN WILLIAM BASKINS WAS KILLED BY THE INDIANS JULY 19, 1756, THE PA. GAZETTE
SAYS THE INDIANS "CARRIED OFF HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN" . THE WIFE WAS RELEASED
IN 1759, THE GIRL MARGARET (PEGGY) WAS RELEASED AT THE FORKS OF THE MUSKINGUM
IN OHIO IN 1764 AND RETURNED HOME. THE SETTLEMENT OF WILLIAM BASKINS' ESTATE
IN 1770 DOES NOT INCLUDE THE BOY, PRESUMED DEAD.
THE ACCOUNT GIVEN BY JAMES SMITH (NEPHEW OF TIMOTHY MURPHY) IS RUPP'S 1846
HISORY IS: THE LAD... WAS CARRIED TO CANADA, RAISED BY SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON,
BAPTISED AS TIMOTHY MURPHY. WAS AFTERWARDS DISCOVERED BY ALEXANDER STEPHENS,
MR. JAMES STEPHENS' FATHER, WHO RESIDED IN JUNIATA TOWNSHIP, PERRY CO, PA., BY
SOME PECULIAR MARK ON HIS HEAD. HE HAS VISITED HIS FRIENDS IN PERRYS; JAMES
SMITH, HIS NEPHEW, WHEN AT CANADA IN DEFENSE OF THIS COUNTRY, DURING THE WAR OF
1812, VISITED HIM AND FOUND HIM COMFORTABLY SITUATED NEAR MALDEN IN UPPER
CANADA, AND THE OWNER OF A LARGE ESTATE.
APPARENTLY THE BASKINS BOY WAS TAKEN BY A DIFFERENT TRIBE OF INDIANS AND
WAS CARRIED TO THE DETROIT AREA WHERE HE WAS RANSOMED BY A BRITISH OFFICER OR
TRADER. MOST OF THE SMITH ACCOUNT APPEARS TO BE CORRECT, EXCEPT SIR WILLIAM
JOHNSON (1715-1774) DID NOT LIVE IN CANADA. HE LIVED IN EASTERN NEW YORK.
HOWEVER, HE VISITED DETROIT IN 1761 AND HAD DEALINGS WITH INDIANS. ALEXANDER
STEPHENS, WHO DISCOVERED TIMOTHY MURPHY, HAD LIVED AS AN INDIAN TRADER AMONG
THE SHAWNEE INDIANS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. FROM 1758 FOR SEVERAL YEARS HE
TRAVELLED IN WESTERN PA.. HE WOULD HAVE HAD A VERY GOOD CHANCE OF LOCATING
BASKINS. HE MOVED TO GA. ABOUT 1786, AND BECAME THE GRANDFATHER OF ALEXANDER
H. STEPHENS. JAMES SMITH IN A814 WAS A SGT. UNDER CAPT. JAMES PIPER, IST
BRIGADE, 7TH DIV, CUMBERLAND CO.. IN 1814 PERRY WAS A PART OF CUMBERLAND CO..
THE AMERICAN TROOPS DURING THE WAR OF 1812, OCCUPIED THE FORT MALDEN AREA. A
ARCH OF MICHIGAN AND ONTARIO RECORDS SHOW THAT MURPHY LIVED NEAR MALDEN AS
EARLY AS 1787, AND DIED IN THE TOWNSHIP OF SANDWICH, COUNTY OF EXXEX, ON MAY 4,
1840. IF THREE WHEN CATURED IN 1756, HE DIED AT 87. HIS WIFE, ELEANOR FIELDS
MURPHY, DIED IN WINTER OF 1844-45. THE INDIANS RELEASED TIMOTHY MURPHY AFTER
THE BRITISH TOOK OVER DETROIT. HE WAS BROUGHT UP AS A BRITISH SUBJECT. WHEN
THE BRITISH GAVE UP DETROIT, HE MOVED TO CANADA. BEFORE 1809 HE MARRIED
ELEANOR FIELDS. MURPHY WAS A BLACKSMITH AS WAS HIS BROTHER, JOHN, OF SOUTH
CAROLINA. WAS THIS A COINCIDENCE? DID THEY MEET WHEN JOHN WAS IN DETRAOIT IN
1768?
THE DOCUMENTARY RECORD OF TIMOTHY MURPHY IS AS FOLLOWS:
1763-DETROIT GIVEN BY FRENCH TO BRITISH.
1787-BLACKSMITH AT FORT MICHILIMACKINAC, NOW MACKINAC, MICHIGAN.
1790-MENTIONED IN A LETTER.
1795-DEC 25, MURPHY, OF DETROIT, APPOINTED BLACKSMITH FOR INDIAN DEPT OF
AMHERSTBURG.
1796-DETRAOIT AND MICHILIMACKINAC CEDED TO US.
1796-SPRING, BOUGHT FARM IN ESSEX COUNTY.
1797-DEC 25, REAPPOINTED BLACKSMITH.
1798-SUMMER, RESIGNED AS BLACKSMITH.
1809-APRIL 4, TIMOTHY AND ELEANOR WITNESSESS AT BAPTISM OF SON OF FREDERICK
FISHER, INDIAN DEPT. EMPLOYEE.
1810-APRIL 1, WITNESS AT MARRIAGE OF GEORGE IRONSIDE, OF INDIAN DEPT, TO
ISABELLA, AN INDIAN, SISTER OF TECUMSEH (ST JOHN'S ANGLICAN
PARISH).
1812-13, TAXED AT MALDEN.
1813-15, MALDEN OCCUPIED BY AMERICANS.
1815-JUNE 15, MURPHY FROM AGE AND LONG SERVICES NO LONGER ABLE TO REPAIR THE
ARMS OF THE INDIANS.
1819-TIMPTHY MURPHY, A RESIDENT OF THE PETIT COTE, SOUTH SIDE OF DETROIT RIVER,
SAW TWO BRITISH SOLDEIRS DESERT TO AN AMERICAN SHIP IN THE
DETROIT RIVER.
1840-APRIL 9, WILL WRITTEN, EVERYTHING TO WIFE, INDIAN WITNESSES.
1844, MAY 4TH, DIED
1844-DEC 18, ELEANOR MURPHY IN WILL LEFT HER PROPERTY TO HER BROTHER, JAMES
FIELDS, AND HIS CHILDREN: 1000 ACRES IN FARMLAND, LOT AND HOUSE
ON BEDFORD ST, SANDWICH, NOW WINDSOR.