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Archiver > KYBOURBO > 2000-09 > 0970267060


From: Bob Francis <>
Subject: [KYBOURBO-L] Cynthiana, Indiana, Part Four
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 18:37:40 -0400


(pp. 35, 37)

Three Daughters of Scotch Boy Kidnapped In 1707 Unite Jacquess, Casey,
Ferguson, Fraser Pioneer Area Families

On September 25, 1915 on the centennial of the arrival of the Cynthiana,
Kentucky settler! in this area, the descendants of many of the original
settlers held a celebration at the old Jacquess homestead, just west of
Poseyville on the Stewartsville Road.

It was a celebration of "The Fraser Clan". But the Frasers by 1915
included the Jacquess, the Casey and the Ferguson families, long
established in the Cynthiana area.

The centennial gathering families were all related to Hugh Fraser. As a
small boy of seven Hugh Fraser was walking to school in Paisley,
Scotland, in 1707. Two men invited him to go with them to buy candy. The
boy consented. One of the men picked him up and carried the struggling
boy under his cloak. The next thing the boy remembered was being on
board a ship, seasick, homesick and heartsick, bound for an unknown
port. After weeks at sea he was sold with other kidnapped persons in
America. Until he was twenty-one he served as an indentured servant.

But Hugh was fortunate to fall into the hands of a humane master in Kent
County, Maryland. At the age of 21, having served for 14 years like the
Biblical Jacob, he married the master's daughter, Miss Mary Cummings.

The three daughters of Hugh Fraser and his wife, Mary, were Elizabeth,
Rebecca and Mary. Rebecca married Jonathan Jacquess of French descent, a
distinguished soldier of the American Revolution. The centennial
celebration was held on their original farm. Jonathan and Rebecca
Jacquess are buried only a few feet away from where the celebration took
place.

Elizabeth Fraser married William Casey of Irish descent. His Irish wit
and humor were well known to his Posey County family and neighbors. Mary
Fraser, the youngest daughter, married Alexander Ferguson of Scotch
descent, whose name appears in the Scotch Clan book.

After living in Maryland after their marriages, the three daughters and
their husbands moved to Cynthiana, Kentucky. Here they lived until the
memorable migration across the Ohio to Cynthiana, Indiana, arriving
Sept. 25, 1815. The three brothers-in-law had bought nearly 2,000 acres
of land, paying $1.50 per acre. All deeds and legal transactions were
recorded in Vincennes.

The wives and children to which had now been added Joseph Endicott and
family, Stephen Eaton and family, both sons-in-law of William Casey,
were put on flatboats with their household goods. They floated down the
Ohio to Diamond Island, off the shore of West Franklin, Posey County.
There they were met by the men who had driven the livestock overland.

After several days they obtained teams to haul their household goods to
their respective places after taking the Red Banks Trail. They arrived
in their future homes on September 25. William and Elizabeth Casey
located on the homestead which at the time of the 1915 celebration was
owned by John Ramsey; Alexander and Mary Ferguson lived on the farm
owned in 1915 by Jasper Carroll; Jonathan and Rebecca Jacquess settled
on the Jacquess Homestead, site of the celebration.

The saga of the FRASER-FERGUSON-JACQUESS-CASEY Clan reviewed on that day
in 1915 included the accounts of the earlier settlement handed down by
one who made the journey, Asbury Cloud Jacquess.

The work of clearing and grubbing the land, preparing it for
cultivation, was long and laborious. The men went ten to twelve miles to
assist their neighbors at log-rollings and house raisings. Log-rolling
consisted of carrying great logs on wooden hand spikes, piling them on
heaps to be burned. The nearest mill was at Vincennes, where they took
their corn and wheat to be ground. The trip was made on horseback. A
trip to the mill took several days. For their salt they had to go to the
Saline, Illinois deposits near Equality, south of the Little Wabash,
along the pioneer "Salt Trail."

The women's work was no less laborious. Flax from the fields, wool from
the sheep’s' backs, must be spun into cloth, cut and made by hand into
household linens and garments for each member of the family. Each cabin
had a big and little spinning wheel and a loom on which the cloth was
woven.

However there were many compensations. Nearly every farm had its maple
sugar orchard. The stirring off in camp at night was a great affair. The
hollow trees contained the honey of wild bees. The nut-bearing trees,
walnuts, hickory nuts, and pecans stretched out their laden arms,
offering their store alike to all. The pigs grew fat on the acorn and
the chinquepin. Horses and cattle had a contented winter on the sweet,
tender cane harvested a few miles to the west.

Wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and grapes could be had for
the picking. Game was abundant-deer, turkey geese, ducks, squirrels and
quail. The streams furnished fish for whomsoever cared to cast a line or
net.

The religious concerns of the community ran deep. One fine Sunday
morning a herd of deer was seen feeding in one of the fields. One of the
boys ran for his gun, but his mother said: "No, my son, the life of no
dumb animal shall be taken here on the Sabbath day." The deer fed on
unmolested and unafraid.

Into the home of the Jacquess family came the Methodist circuit rider,
the Rev. John Schrader. He later married the daughter of Jonathan and
Rebecca Jacquess and was the founder of Cynthiana's Methodist Church.

Church and school were soon built of logs, to be followed by more
permanent structure. These were no foot-loose, irresponsible settlers.
They had found the lands they wanted and their descendants remain to
this day.

These people supported the growth of Cynthiana and Poseyville and soon
had built the mills and stores they needed. At one time inspired by the
Harmonist community of George Rapp in New Harmony, some of the families
formed themselves into a band for mutual benefit and welfare. The first
year was very satisfactory. They loaded a flatboat with produce and took
it down to New Orleans, disposing of the contents with profit. They
returned to Posey County by steamboat.

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