Ingles Ferry

In the 1740’s, William Ingles and Mary Draper moved with their families to Virginia’s western frontier. They married and started a family at a settlement called Draper’s Meadow, which is now Blacksburg, Virginia. In July of 1755 the Shawnee Indians attacked the settlement. The men were in the harvest field, unarmed and too far away to render effective assistance. Several people were killed, including Mary’s mother. Mary, her sons Thomas and George, her sister-in-law Betty Draper, and others were taken captive. The house was burned and the Indians escaped with their bounty and prisoners.

Over the course of the next month, the captives were marched to the Shawnee Indian nation in present day Ohio. The journey was approximately 400 miles. At the nation the Indians divided the prisoners among themselves. Mary’s children were taken from her and she was not allowed to associate with them. After three weeks at the nation, Mary was taken to Big Bone Lick, Kentucky to help the Indians to make salt. She was distraught at being separated from her children and decided that she would try to escape and make it back to Virginia, or she would die trying.

She and another woman left the Indian camp and followed the Ohio River back to the Indian nation in Ohio, staying hidden from any Indians they saw. From there they followed the rivers, trudging sometimes for days up a tributary until they found a place they could wade across since neither could swim. The trek was arduous and the only food the women had was what they could gather. Their clothing was ripped to shreds by the heavy undergrowth. Eventually, the other woman became so crazed with hunger that she tried to kill Mary. Mary was able to escape and miraculously found a canoe that Indians had hidden. She managed to get to the other side of the river and there she continued on her journey.

An early snow had fallen when Mary, fatigued, starving and literally naked, came to a settlement owned by Adam Harman. She called to him and he recognized her voice, having been her neighbor at Draper’s Meadow. He carried her to his cabin where he and his sons tended to her, nursing her back from the brink of death. When she was well enough to travel, they took her to Dunkard’s Bottom where all the settlers had gathered. She and William were joyously reunited. Mary’s return journey took 42 ½ days and due to all the detours they made was estimated to be between 700 and 900 miles.

William and Mary stayed at Dunkard’s Bottom until the spring of 1756. Mary became worried that Indians would attack the settlement so William moved her to Fort Vause near present day Shawsville. Once again Mary became anxious that the Indians were going to attack, so William moved her to Bedford County. Some months later the Shawnee did attack Fort Vause and all persons in the Fort were killed, wounded or captured, including two of William’s uncles. Mary and William continued to live in Bedford County for several years.

Several years after her return, William and Mary settled on the New River at this present site. William established a ferry on his farm in 1762 and it became a well-known point along the “Great Wagon Road.”

William served as a Major in Andrew Lewis’ Army during the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774 and later was promoted to Colonel of the county militia. Due to failing health he died in 1782, but Mary lived for another 33 years after his death. She was left his plantation and lived the rest of her life there until she died in 1815. The original farm encompassed both the east and west side of the New River and by two surveys contained 455 acres. Today, the east side of the original farm lies within the city limits of Radford, Virginia and is still owned by a direct descendant of William and Mary Draper Ingles. Since the original Land Grant eight generations of descendants have lived on the property which still today operates as a working farm.

In 2003, work was begun in transforming and reconstructing the earliest part of the farm back to what it looked like during the 18^th Century. Based on archeological work performed in the 1970’s one of the site’s buildings was constructed. Since then we have acquired cattle and sheep from Colonial Williamsburg and Mount Vernon’s livestock programs in order to give vistors a glimpse of 18th Century rural life and to help preserve these critically endangered breeds. When open to the public, interpreters demonstrate everyday life that may include sheep shearing, flax processing, militia musters, and various 18th century farm activities.