CHRONICLES OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA

Valentine Felty Vanhooser, Senior arrived in Rowan County sometime after 1750. By the time of the American Revolution he had moved his family to Virginia. By 1795, his son Valentine Felty Vanhooser purchased 100 acres of land on Cobbs Creek in then Washington County, now Carter County Tennessee.

I am not sure of the exact location of Valentine Felty Vanhooser's land in Virginia.

The best recorded description is the "North Fork of the Clinch River near Flat Lick". (Lyman Chalkley's Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia, which in turn comes from the Superior Court records found in Augusta County, Virginia.)

The North Fork of the Clinch River runs through Powell Mountain, a 60 mile mountain which ranges from Norton, Virginia to Tazewell, Tennessee. Travelers made the route through  Powell Mountain at Kanes Gap. This was part of the Wilderness Trail that was blazed by Daniel Boone. Boone's Trail crosses Big Stony Creek, then out to Hunter's Valley through Rye Cove to Sunbright, near Duffield, and across Kane's Gap onto Wallen Creek. At Little Flat Lick all three traces became one before entering Kane's Gap, and thence down Powell Valley to Cumberland Gap. (Highway 23 on the map.)

See The Boone Trail and The History of the Daniel Boone Trail.

This is a summary of the pertinent portions of the CHRONICLES OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA; Vol 2, pp 220 - 229 by Lyman Chalkley that relate to the Vanhoosers.

West half of Virginia by Digital Topol Maps

A little background history is in order.

Dunmore's War

In 1774 Dunmore's War took place between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. Although the war ended soon after the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774, it did not end troubles with the Cherokee tribes who also claimed the land settlers were moving into.

In 1776, Fincastle County ceased to exist and was divided into three new counties — Montgomery County, Washington County, and Kentucky County (which later became the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  Augusta County, which also appears in many early records is located to the north and along the western border. Note also that these three counties were later reorganized into many other smaller counties. For instance, Tazewell County, which contains the area where Valentine settled, was not orgnized until 1799. By then Valentine Junior had moved into eastern Tennessee while other relatives continued to live in the area or migrated to other states. In searching for Vanhooser in Virginia, it is necessary to also use the spelling "Vanhouser".

During the Revolution, loyalties were divided. For example, Charles Cocke, who lived in the Cripple Creek area during the first half of the revolution. On 13 Sep 1777, he took the oath of loyalty in Montgomery County. According to his Pension Application, he served in the Company of Captain Henry Francis. This Company was composed of men from along Cripple Creek. Valentine Felty Vanhooser, on the contrary, remained loyal to the British side.

Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia

The Chronicles concerns a land lawsuit whose records are found in Augusta County, Virginia. I have not discovered the exact nature of the lawsuit, but it is most likely a question of disputed possession that arose in the year 1811, the date of the suit. The case was before the Superior court.

Starting at the top of page 227:

McKenney vs. Preston--O. S. 308; N. S. 110--John Montgomery of
Russel County, aged 47 years, deposes, 11th March, 1811, in 1778 Andrew
Cowan and Thos. Osborn went down to improve a piece of land on a creek
they called Black Water at the Flat Lick, and on their return they came by
Kooser's (Hoovers) cabin. Black Water is a north Branch of Clynch.

Note. This is most likely a reference to Valentine Vanhooser. There are then several references by witnesses deposed who acknowledge the Vanhoosers living in the area. Other reference are to Indian troubles which drove many settlers from their claims.

March, 1814, John Hooser, aged 67, deposes, came with
his father Felty and brother Abraham to this country 37 years ago. John
has a brother Jacob who was never out in this country...

Charles Carter deposes, in Lee County, remembers that Titus and John
Benton were killed by Indians in Rye Cove in spring of 1777. He remembers 
the family Hooser or Van Hooser, as they were called, who settled on
North Fork of Clinch near Flat Lick in 1775. The oldest Van Hooser
(deponent understood from his father) made the upper improvement, and
the old man's son John was the next oldest man and made an improvement
near the old man. Deponent remembers two other members of the family,
Abram and Isaac. Deponent lived with his father in the Rye Cove at the
time those improvements were made. Never heard of Jacob Hooser.

26th February, 1812, Doswell Rogers deposes, in Lee County, he settled on
North Fork Clinch the same year that the Hoosers settled. The settlement
was broken up by Indians for several years. 

29th May, 1811, Peter Fulkerson deposes, in Lee County, the country was 
unsettled and dangerous in 1785 on account of Indians.

Note. The real danger of the Indians raids on settlers is revealed in many historical records. One instance is, "John Carter was a brother to Dale Carter who was killed by Indians at Blackmore's Fort in 1774. John Carter settled on a farm down river from Fort Blackmore about 1772. In 1785, the Indians attacked his home, killed his wife and five children and set fire to his house burning the bodies of his slain family."

From THE FIRST MILITIA ROSTER OF THE CLINCH RIVER AREA OF RUSSELL COUNTY.

Continuing with the Chronicles:

Elisha Wallen, aged 27, of Lee County, deposes, 11th March, 1811, Samuel
Gullrie, aged 36, deposes, 11th March, 1811, Wm. Wallin, aged 50, deposes,
knew the land in 1778, names of Hoosers (Hoovers) were Felty, Jacob,
John.

...about 1774 or 5. Andrew Cowan came to the
western country and settled in now Russell County, when danger from
Indians was great.

Jacob Hoozer deposes, aged 64, at house of Roger Oats in
Wayne County, Ky., about 1775 or 6 his father, his brothers, John and
Abraham Hoozer, went to North Fork of Clinch to improve land and all
made improvements except himself. Deponent was not there until about
15 years after, was administrator of his father then. Abraham was about
18 or 19 years old.

There is no reference to the son Valentine Vanhooser. Presumably he would have accompanied his father. By 1795 the younger Valentine Felty Vanhooser had left for Tennessee.

The War of 1812

Mathias Van Huss

Mathias' widow Lavina Dugger applied for a war pension after her husband's death.  War of 1812 Widow's application #16562 and cert #9010, stating that Mathias served under Cpt. Solomon Hendrix's Company of the Tennessee Militia. Descendants of Daniel Dugger.

The War of 1812 began in 1812 and ended in 1815. Thus, Mathias was 17 years of age at the war's start and 20 by the time it ended. Andrew Jackson was the most famous Tennessean during the war. As a general in the Tennessee state militia he defeated the Creek Indians in 1814 near Tallapoosa, Alabama; and defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Captain Solomon Hendrix's company, in which Mathias served, was part of the 4th Regiment of East Tennessee Militia commanded by Colonel Samuel Bayless.This regiment was formed in November 1814 and was responsible for guarding the area near Mobile, Alabama.

Valentine Felty Van Huss

When the War of 1812 began, Valentine Felty Vanhooser, Jr. was living in eastern Tennessee near Fort Watauga.

He farmed 100 acres of land next to Cobbs Creek near Fort Watauga, in what was formerly Wahington County, North Carolina, and later Carter County, Tennessee. Valentine left the eastern side of the Appalachians and crossed to the Tennessee side in 1795, recording his deed 2 years later in the county courthouse at nearby Elizabethton. Joining Valentine in this new territory was his wife Catherine Worley. This Valentine was the thirteenth child of Valentine Felty Vanhooser Senior and his wife Maria Barbara Zerwe.

The rest of the article that follows is about young Valentine's older brother, and Mathias' uncle, Isaac.

Tennessee's participation in the war for the most part meant battling the Cherokees, Shawnees and other Indians the British had armed.

Another Tennessean, Andrew Jackson would form a militia of volunteers from Tennessee. In March of 1814 Jackson and the Tennessee Volunteers made their way into Alabama. Allied with the Cherokee and friendly Creeks, Jackson engaged in several conflicts with the warring Creeks of the region known as the Red Sticks. Finally, on the banks of the Tallapoosa River at Horseshoe Bend, Jackson and his forces would decisively defeat the hostile Creeks, opening up settlement of Alabama to later settlers. Later, in January of 1815, at New Orleans Jackson would again make history by defeating the British.

The is no record of Valentine's service during the War of 1812, but reference is made to his brother Isaac, who was four years senior. As Valentine was born in 1768, this would make Isaac 48 in 1812. As a note, there is not much to be made of the short period of enlistment by Isaac. Most enlistments in the Tennessee Militias were only for the short duration of three months. General Jackson, bu his oratory and demeanor, would often have to suggest that the troops re-up to finish a campaign.

Isaac served in the War of 1812 as a drummer.
The only complete muster roll found of 1812 was that of Capt. Asabel [Asahel] Rains. This company was a part of the Second Regiment, West Tennessee Militia, commanded by Col. Alexander Lowrey and Lieut. Col. Leroy Hammonds. Captain Rains, company was, with his regiment, mustered into service at Fayetteville, Tennessee on September 20, 1814 and served until December 31, of the same year.

Isaac Vanhooser 

Consulting the records of the Tennessee Militia, one finds the service record for the Second Regiment.

BRIEF HISTORY:
Part of General Nathaniel Taylor's brigade, this regiment was scattered throughout the Creek territory and the vicinity of Mobile to man the various forts in the region: Forts Jackson, Montgomery, Claiborne, and Pierce. 

Some of the companies participated in the taking of Pensacola (7 November 1814) from Spanish authorities that were accused by Jackson of supporting British troops there.

Loury resigned on 20 November 1814 and Lieutenant Colonel Leroy Hammonds took over as commander. The regiment was plagued by disease during its tenure in the Mississippi Territory. For example, a morning report of Captain Asahel Rains on 6 January 1815 shows twenty-seven on the sick list and twenty-seven additional men required to take care of the sick (totaling half the company).

Regimental Histories of the Second Regiment during the War of 1812.

Valentine Felty Vanhooser on the Clinch River, Virginia

This is just a draft that needs editing.

Valentine Velty Vanhooser and his wife Maria Barbara Zerwe arrived in western North Carolina somewhere between 1747 and 1754, settling in the Yadkin Valley close to the Virginia border. The area of their land holdings, in what is now Surry County, was originally called Anson county. Later, about 1753, Rowan County was formed from the western section of Anson County with a county seat at Salisbury. Still later, about 1771, Surry County was formed. For this reason, all of these counties will occasionally be referenced in records about the Vanhoosers.

Valentine and his wife lived for 20 years in North Carolina, producing thirteen children by some records, the last of whom, Valentine Felty Vanhooser, Jr., was born 1768 in Rowan County. This Valentine is Bob's ancestor. He would later migrate to Tennessee in 1795.

Valentine's oldest son John will be the subject of the deposition found in the Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Augusta Co., Va by Chalkey, Vol.2, pp. 227-8. In a deposition in 1814, John who was then 67 years old, testified that he and his family came to Virginia in 1777, as he recalled. Another deponent, Charles Carter remembered the family Vanhooser arriving in 1775 and settling along the North Fork of Clinch River near Flat Lick. By the time of this deposition, the elder Valentine had died, and his younger son Valentine Jr. had left Virginia for Tennessee, settling near Fort Watauga.

Valentine senior and his family prospered in North Carolina, as evidenced by the several land transactions in which he bought and sold land at a considerable profit. But, sometime around 1771, Valentine moved from North Carolina across the border to Virginia, first near Fincastle for several years, then to the North Fork of the Clinch River in what is now Tazewell County.

The North Fork of the Clinch River cuts across Powell Mountain on the extreme western edge of Virginia and crosses into Tennessee. Powell Mountain is crossed by U.S. Route 58, the "Daniel Boone Trail Highway", the Wilderness Road crossing the mountain nearby, at Kanes Gap. This is the route that Daniel Boone and a large party would take in September 1779, leaving the Yadkin Valley and crossing first to the area near Fort Watauga, in what is now eastern Tennessee, then to Kentucky.

Vanentine Vanhooser's reasons for leaving North Carolina after so many years are unknown. But many were fleeing the violence of North Carolina. These include the struggle between the so-called "Regulators" and the
taxing authorities. Indian troubles continued on occasion as Cherokees raided western settlements in North Carolina from time to time. The coming American Revolution also stirred up rival passions between those seeking independence and Tories who remained loyal to the British. One who left on this trek later recalled that the road out of North Carolina was so clogged with Tories leaving that a traveler "could hardly get along the road for them."

See Boone, a Biography by Robert Morgan, page 288.

In 1771, Lord Dunmore became governor of Virginia. He and others, including George Washington, were interested in land speculation west of the Alleghenies. His policy was to encourage settlement in the Shawnee Indians’ ancestral hunting grounds south of the Ohio River in what is today Kentucky and West Virginia. This led to what is known as "Dunmore’s War". In the summer of 1774, Lord Dunmore along with a militia from Augusta, Fincastle, and Botetourt Counties defeated the Shawnees at the Battle of Point Pleasant.  British and colonial success was overtaken by events at Lexington and Concord. The outbreak of the American Revolution divided loyalties between Tories and those seeking independence. Lord Dunmore would command the loyalists in Virginia during the war.

Later, the Virginia legislature, in 1779, passed a law that settlers who had taken up land in the western reaches of Virginia prior to January 1, 1778, might obtain 400 acres at a nominal price and preemption rights to another thousand acres at the usual price of forty pounds per hundred acres.

It is not known whether Valentine Vanhooser participated in Dunemore's campaigns. He had however moved to Virginia at about the time of the outbreak of hostilities. His move to the mountains of western Virginia would have traded troubles with the Cherokees for Dunmore's campaign against the Pawnees. And, Valentine Vanhooser's known Tory sympathies make his move to Virginia away from North Carolina more logical.The question of family loyalties during the Revolution was not always clear. Even a loyal patriot like Daniel Boone had members of his wife's family who had Tory sympathies during the war.

References and source:


Valentine Felty Vanhooser

About 1771 Valentine sold his land in Surry Co., NC and moved to Virginia, settling just across the border in what was then Fincastle (now Carroll) Co., Va. He lived there for about four years before moving north and west to the North Fork of the Clinch River in what is now Tazewell Co., Va. According to Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Augusta Co., Va by Chalkey, Vol.11, pp. 227-8, Valentine and his oldest son, John took up land in that area, but only lived there two years before they were driven out by Indian uprisings. They returned to their former piece of land which was located along New River and Little Reed Island which was then in Montgomery Co., which became Wythe Co. in 1789/90 and Grayson Co. in 1792 and finally Carroll Co. in 1842.

Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Augusta Co., Va by Chalkey, Vol.2, pp. 227-8

March 1814 John Hooser, aged 67, deposes, came with
his father Felty and brother Abraham to this country 37 years ago. John
has a brother Jacob who was never out in this country. 

March, 1811, Elisha Wallen, aged 27, deposes. Caveat, 12th August, 1799, by John
Mackenny and Elisha Adams against John Donnell, assignee of Andrew
Cowan and John Campbell, Jr., for 400 acres in Lee County on North
Fork Clinch. Donnell and Campbell were granted a certificate by the 
Commissioners 8th August, 1781. Caveators claim under an entry made by
James Dugless, 1780, and sold by him to John Balfour, who has sold to
caveators. Thos. Beelor was an early settler on the land. 29th May, 1811, 

Charles Carter deposes, in Lee County, remembers that Titus and John
Benton were killed by Indians in Rye Cove in spring of 1777. He remembers 
the family Hooser or Van Hooser, as they were called, who settled on
North Fork of Clinch near Flat Lick in 1775. The oldest Van Hooser
(deponent understood from his father) made the upper improvement, and
the old man's son John was the next oldest man and made an improvement
near the old man. Deponent remembers two other members of the family,
Abram and Isaac. Deponent lived with his father in the Rye Cove at the
time those improvements were made. Never heard of Jacob Hooser. 
Deponent's statement is founded on hearsay. 

14th May, 1814, James Dugless
deposes, at dwelling house of John Smith in Madison County, Ohio, shortly
after 1780 deponent moved from Washington County, Va., to Kentucky.
26th February, 1812, Doswell Rogers deposes, in Lee County, he settled on
North Fork Clinch the same year that the Hoosers settled. The settlement
was broken up by Indians for several years. The Wallens, Bentons, Wm.
Roberts and others named these streams as they went through hunting
lands. The Bentons were killed 35 or 36 years ago in April next. 

29th May, 1811, Peter Fulkerson deposes, in Lee County, the country was 
unsettled and dangerous in 1785 on account of Indians. Deed, 30th May,

page 227








1803, by William McCutchen of Carter County, Tenn., John McKinny
of Lee County, land in Lee County. Corner Nathaniel Taylors, 16,000
acres survey. Corner George Goff, 200 acres bought from Nathaniel 
Taylor. Recorded in Lee County, August, 1803. Deed, 31st May, 1803, by
Nathaniel Taylor of Carter County, Tenn., to John McKinney of Lee... 

See The Daniel Boone Trail for a discussion of the route that Daniel Boone took passing by Valentine Felty Vanhooser's holdings on the Clinch River.

The Gwinns, for a discussion of Augusta County, Virginia and Dunemore's War.

Buying Land in Kansas

On May 22nd, 1868, J. W. Van Hoesen purchased, for the sum of $1,000, from Adam and Rosamanda Hageman the following land: "southwest quarter of Section 28, township 24, Range 6". The deed is recorded with the Register of Deed in the El Dorado County Courthouse.

This record has me puzzled. Originally I assumed a direct connection to Valentine Worley Van Huss because of both the name and the location of the land. Now I believe that J. W. Van Hoesen was from a branch of the family that had settled in Ohio for a while. I will now have to go back to El Dorado to sort out the land transfers.

Additionally, there are the purchases of land by all five sons of Valentine Worley Van Huss over an extended period.