Five Sons Scalped

Typical Way Station - Google Image

By 1785, George H. Noaks (1736-1789) and his wife Diana Ditto Noaks (1739- ?) had ten children.  On January 1, 1785, five of those children – all sons – were killed and scalped and a daughter was wounded by a raiding party of Shawnee and Cherokee Indians at Crab Orchard. The boys ranged from 5 to 20 years of age, the daughter was 12 years old.

Before the Revolutionary War, the Nokes/Noaks/Noakes families are found in Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. George and Diana Noaks were married in Maryland in 1755 and moved to North Carolina.  In 1781, they moved to Kentucky where they settled a few miles southeast of Crab Orchard. Their “settlement” was called Noaks Station – a small-sized “station” of only a few cabins without a defensive block house like the one in Crab Orchard.  The larger settlements (way stations) were built for protection. Because of the dangerous travel westward, the larger way stations were built for protection and would have log blockhouses for defense.

As travelers reached the various way stations, whether defensive or non-defensive, some decided to stay. Perhaps they were tired of traveling. Perhaps they were tired of facing the dangers of the “road”: robbers, criminals, Indians. Whatever the reason, travelers stayed and constructed homes. The Noaks were one of those families.

 

Wilderness Trail and Logan's Trace - Google Image

Crab Orchard and Noaks Station were near the end of “Logan Trace,” a part of the “Wilderness Road” established by Daniel Boone. The “road” started in Virginia, went south to Tennessee, and then turned north to go through the Cumberland Gap and Kentucky. The Logan Trace was named after Colonel Benjamin Logan, a friend of Boone’s who came to the mountains with him in 1775. Logan’s Trace was a branch of the Wilderness Road; but instead of going north, it veered northwestward.

 

A part of the Wilderness Trail today - Google Images

The settlers at the various way stations were subjected to multi-tribal raiding parties. The most troublesome for the settlers were the Indian raids coming out of the north from Ohio—the Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, Wyandot, and Miami tribes. In general, Indian tribes were resentful of the takeover of their hunting lands. 

 

Daniel Boone leading travelers through the Cumberland Gap - Cumberland Gap Historical Park

The conflict between settlers and Indians continued well into the 1790s. There were ambushes, captures, horse stealing, murders, and raids. In 1785, about 100 travelers were killed while on the Wilderness Road. Because Noaks Station was “non-defensive,” George, Diana, and their children were easy targets. So unfortunately, in 1789, the Noaks family found themselves the target of a raid.

An interesting note: The name Noaks and its various spellings means "near the oaks." George and Diana Ditto Noaks are my biological 5th great-grandparents.

 

Sources: Material for this particular blog comes a variety of documents found on Ancestry.com.