Thursday, April 14, 2011

Polly Hawkins


Polly is very possibly a sister to our Giles Hawkins.  Shannon discovered this info in her "search".  It is located on Wikipedia.  It is good to know that the women were courageous and did good work.

"Bryan Station (also Bryan's Station, and often misspelled Bryant's Station) was an early fortified settlement in Lexington, Kentucky. It was located on present-day Bryan Station Road, about three miles (5 km) north of New Circle Road, on the southern bank of Elkhorn Creek near Briar Hill Road.




The settlement was established circa 1775-76 by brothers Morgan, James, William and Joseph Bryan from North Carolina. The occupants of this parallelogram of some forty log cabins withstood several American Indian attacks. The most important occurred in August 1782 during the American Revolutionary War, when they were besieged by about 300 Shawnee Indians and British Canadians under Captain William Caldwell and Simon Girty. The attackers lifted the siege after Indian scouts reported that a force of Kentucky militia was on the way. The militiamen pursued Caldwell's force but were defeated three days later at the Battle of Blue Licks, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast.



The Lexington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument in August 1896 to commemorate the importance of a nearby spring in helping preserve the fort from the attack by Indians and Canadians. The pioneer women, led by Mary "Polly" Hawkins Craig (wife of "Traveling Church" patriarch Toliver Craig, Sr.), fetched water from the spring to defend against the use of burning arrows by the attackers. If the fort had burned, the attackers could have reached the women and children sheltering there.

4 comments:

Steve Blood said...

I absolutely love these stories, I was born 200 years too late.

Elizabeth said...

Good story - If there is a link, it will show up. These battles were so important to the preservation of our nation - and the western part of the states held the people who helped the Revolutionary cause. Thanks.

Judy said...

I forgot to mention that I was delightfully surprised to see the familiar name of Simon Girty...I always thought he was fictional.

Ann said...

Great stuff! And an interesting potential connection. Keep digging.