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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 1999-08 > 0934033850


From: "Lona's Mail" <>
Subject: Re: Murphys and Pattersons
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 08:50:50 -0500


Not my lines but have enjoyed reading the Murphys and Pattersons e-mails as
some of my lines were in the Pa. area at that time.

Private John Leech, Margaret, his daughter and a grandmother were killed, by
Indians, 2-26-1779 around Brush Creek, Westmoreland County, Pa. David, his
son, was never heard from again. Capt. James Leech, one of John's brothers,
was captured along with some of the other men in his command and taken to
Canada where the Indians turned them over to the English. Hadleman's papers
refer to James as a rebel. In 1784 James was released.

I think these men were ask to protect the settlers in the area north of the
Pennsylvania Road from Indians. Correct me, if I am wrong. I received this
information in the 1970's from Roy Leech, a cousin. He was in his 80's at
that time and spent years talking to family members and collecting family
stories and what data he could find. I appreciate all the work he did and
his willingness to share with me althought we never met.

Private John Leech was married to Jean Critchlow. My line comes through
Mary, their daughter. Roy's came through Robert, their son.

As far as giving La. back to France- at one time, I think, some Cajuns would
have wanted just that. One of my husband's grandfathers said he was French
and if his grandchildren wanted to talk to him they would have to learn to
speak French (Cajun French) which they did. The first time I visited my
husband's family I thought I had gone to another country. Just cross the
Sabine River and enter another time and place. Of course, that is south La.
North La I can't talk about.

My husband's Cajun lines suffered at the hands of the British and so did my
Scot-Irish lines.

Lona






>British during the American Revolution. In fact, after the war ended on
>the
>eastern front, the British remaining in Canada kept egging on their Indian
>allies along the western frontier in hopes of regaining an position of
>strength
>over the Americans. Contrary to popular belief, this, not the French and
>Indian War, was the time when most of our SI ancestors would have been
>engaged in Indian fighting activity.
>
>>He was captured by the Indians at the North fork of the Salt River in
>Kentucky and ran the gauntlet. He managed to escape.
>I think, but I won't swear to it, that there is a description of this
>particular
>event in Alan Eckert's book, "That Dark and Bloody River".
>
>>He was taken prisoner by the French in 1781 and put in prison on an island
>in Lake Champlain in New York. He and another escaped by swimming during
>the night.
>Again, this would have been the British, not the French. The French were
>on our side in this one. I believe by 1781, the only French government
>holdings in North America were in the Louisiana Territory. As a side note,
>I have spent a considerable amount of time in Louisiana and, should the
>French ever want it back, I suggest we jump at the deal.
>

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