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From: "Ralph W. Cokonougher" <>
Subject: Hester Genealogy by M. Hester, 1752-1905, pp. 9 - 15.
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 22:49:02 -0000


Pages (9) through (15).
"HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE DESCENDENTS OF
JOHN LAWRENCE HESTER AND GODFREY STOUGH. 1752 - 1905."
Compiled by Martin M. Hester in 1905 at Norwalk, Ohio.
****************


18. COONRAD, unm., was a soldier of the war of 1812; d. on the march and
was buried near Stratford, O.
19. ELIAS, was a Presbyterian minister; m. Susan Barr, of Columbus,
O.; had one child; now all dead.
20. MATTHIAS, lived and died in Washington Court House, O. Had three
children.
21. CHARLES, lived and died on the home farm in Ross county, O.; had
three children.
22. JOSEPH, lived on the home farm till his children were grown, when
he moved to Kansas; had five children.
23. JOHN, lived on a farm near Indianapolis, Ind.; has a family, of
which one son is a Baptist minister.
24. NANCY, m. a farmer named McClain, in Ross county, O.
25. MARY, d. young, unm.

No. 4.

The following account of Matthias Hester, second son of John Lawrence
Hester, was prepared by his eldest son, Rev. Geo. Knight Hester, and
furnished from the original manuscript for this publication by Hon. M. C.
Hester, of Los Angeles, Cal., son of Rev. Geo. K. Hester:
"My father, Matthias Hester, was born in the kingdom of Hanover,
Germany, July 4, 1767. He emigrated to America A.D. 1771.
"His education was in the German language. He was brought up under
Protestant instruction and was received into the Lutheran Church in his
youth. After undergoing a regular catechetical training, but being thrown
by circumstances far from the watch-care of his church, he lost, to a great
extent, his moral and religious character. In the autumn of 1809 he was
powerfully arrested by divine truth under the preaching of Rev. Pain from
the words, 'Why stand ye here all the day idle?' Shortly afterwards he
joined the M.E. Church, although he had been for years a violent persecutor
of that denomination. He retained his membership in the Methodist Church
until the day of his death, which occurred on the 22nd of November, 1823.
"From the flattering description then given of the fertility and
richness of Kentucky, father was induced to emigrate to
Page (9).
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that state. When he was a little over nineteen years of age, he left the
family residence, then near Uniontown, Fayette county, Pa., for the far
west. He first stopped near the present site of Lexington, and then went on
to the neighborhood of Louisville. He remained in Kentucky about two years
and then returned to Pennsylvania on a visit to his friend with whom he
continued nearly one year. But he found Kentucky such a rich and beautiful
country that he resolved to return and make it his permanent residence.
Accordingly he again wended his way back through formidable difficulties to
his adopted state. His passage was by water. In descending the Ohio river
in those times it was no rare occurrence to meet with attacks from Indians
who were prowling along its shores for the purpose of murdering and
plundering all the whites that might fall into their power. While floating
carelessly one day down the Ohio river, near the mouth of the Kentucky river
(the portion of the country in which these attacks were the most frequent
and fatal), their boat neared the Ohio shore. A white man presented himself
on the shore, wearing a three-cocked hat, and called to them to land that he
might barter some of his bear meat with them for flour. Part of the company
were disposed to comply with his request. Father, suspecting it was a
stratagem to decoy them into danger, immediately sprang to the helm and
threw the boat in such a direction as led the savages to believe that danger
was apprehended by those on board. This white villain quickly concealed
himself behind a tree and a volley of rifle balls was poured in upon those
on the boat. Fortunately, none were injured, although twenty-nine bullets
were afterwards found buried in the sides of the boat. One struck just
above the head of my father, he having stooped down on seeing an Indian
leveling his piece to fire.
"They passed the remainder of the distance unmolested until they
reached Louisville. There he remained some time, engaged in teaming for a
citizen of that place. In this employment he was called on with another
teamster to remove two families from what was called the 'Pond Settlement',
about five miles below Louisville, to Shelbyville, Kentucky. At the end of
their first day's drive they arrived at what was called 'Benny Hughes
Station', on the road from
Page (10).
***********************

Louisville to Shelbyville. Early the next morning they proceeded on their
course and when about half a mile from the station they were fired on by a
party of Indians who had concealed themselves near the side of the woods.
Two of the company were wounded, father and a Mr. Leatherman, the head of
one of the moving families. Leatherman's horse ran with him and threw him
in a sink hole, where he remained undiscovered by the Indians. His wound,
being only a slight one in the hip, was not deemed serious and no surgical
means were resorted to in its care. He succeeded in having it healed up
outwardly, but in about two years afterwards it mortified and killed him.
"Father was shot with a rifle ball above the left eye from a distance
of only four paces. He was in the act of turning to the right, which
doubtless prevented the bullet from striking him in the center of his
forehead. However, it broke his skull, but as it was a glancing shot the
ball did not touch the brain. He instantly sprang over the off horse and
fell in the act. As he arose to his feet he saw two Indians approaching
him, one passing before his team, and the other around the rear part of his
wagon. His only possible chance of escape was to gain a thick grove of
timber and brush which lay to his right. The loss of the balance of his
person from the wound in his head and the obstruction of his sight by the
streaming blood, prevented him from pursuing the course he desired and
caused him to fall repeatedly to the earth. I often heard him say that if
he had not been wounded he would not have been afraid of their catching him,
as he was very fleet of foot. Even in his wounded and bleeding condition,
he ran about 170 yards, although falling three times in that distance,
before they overtook him.
" The last time he fell, which was in a small ravine, his pursuers
were so close upon him that he saw he could not possibly escape. He
instantly concluded that he would feign himself dead and receive without a
struggle all their butchery. The first Indian that came up drew his
tomahawk to sink it into his head, but giving a glancing stroke, it only
chipped up the skull bone. The second that came up saluted him in the same
manner, but as he struck with his Indian axe he slipped and fell, which
caused him to fail in his intended purpose. But this stroke also broke the
skull. They then
Page (11).
*************************

proceeded to remove the scalp from the back part of his head. This
operation was very painful, being done with no kind of mercy. A few nights
previous to his starting on this trip, father had had a peculiar and ominous
dream, which was that he had lost his whole team from some disastrous
circumstances. This dream was repeated in all its particulars three times
in the same night, and every time he awoke from it he found himself in a
state of perspiration. Regarding this dream as a kind of presentment and
fearing that some calamity would befall him on the journey he was about to
make, he had the barber, the day before he started, to cut off his hair
close to his head, remarking to him at the time that if he should fall into
the hands of the Indians he did not want them to have the conveniences of
his long hair in taking his scalp.
"Some time during this bloody tragedy, the Indians speared father in
the back with some sharp instrument. He often said he believed it was
thrown at him while he was running, for during the whole of the scene after
they came upon him he had the entire presence of his mind and he felt
certain they did not plunge it into his body then. This wound affected him
more severely than all the others together. It caused him to bleed inwardly
and the blood settled in his side. It was not observed until several days
afterwards, and when observed threatened fatal results, but by skillful
bleeding and frequent and profuse sweatings, the dangerous symptoms were
removed. He thought this wound impaired his breathing organs, for when in
afterlife he inhaled dust into his lungs, he labored under the same
difficulties in breathing as persons with the asthma, which was not the case
with him before. He never fully recovered from the effects of this wound
and it was finally the cause of his death thirty years afterwards.
"As soon as the Indians had completed their butchery of father, they
returned back to the wagons and began cutting and destroying the contents.
After they had destroyed to the utmost of their ability all they could not
carry off, they became perfectly quiet and remained so for some minutes.
Father, supposing they had left, arose from his prostration on the ground
and sat up, leaning upon one of his hands. In a little while he heard them
returning to him and he immediately threw himself back in the same position
in which they had left
Page (12).
**************************

him. They approached within a few paces of him, but seeming to regard him
as dead, they returned to the wagons. In a few moments the rattling of
chains and the thundering of the horses' feet indicated that they had taken
their departure. Each one selected a route for himself to avoid forming a
trail, that might be readily followed.
"When the attack had begun the families fled back to the station and
gave the alarm. The inmates rallied to repel the savages and to witness the
destruction of life and property. After hunting some time they found the
wounded. My father, having bled profusely, presented a shocking spectacle.
His body had become so feverish from the loss of blood and his terrible
sufferings that he was almost perishing with thirst. The only way they had
to get him water was to carry it in their hats. They attempted to convey
him back to the station by placing him on a horse and supporting him by
another person riding behind him on the same animal, but he soon fainted and
had to be taken down. They seemed to be at a loss for a plan to carry him.
Father suggested one himself, but they would not listen to him as they
thought it impossible for one in his condition to be sane. This intimation
of the unsoundness of his mind displeased father. To prove to them that he
still retained his mental powers, he referred them to a certain spot on the
route he had run from the Indians, where he had dropped his wagon whip.
They went to the place and found the whip as he had stated. Then they
adopted the plan suggested by him, which was for four men to carry him upon
a sheet fastened to two poles. When he was brought to the house of the
family residing at the station, the mistress of the house protested against
admitting him and positively forbade his remaining. Father became so
indignant at her inhuman course that he gathered up his outer garment, which
had been removed on account of its bloody condition, staggered out of her
house and sat down on a piece of timber in the yard, preferring to be
sheltered only by the spreading heavens rather than remain under the roof of
one so destitute of human sympathy. It was with much difficulty he was
afterwards prevailed upon to re-enter her dwelling.
"A physician was sent for, who arrived sometime in the night. This
was Dr. Knight, who lived about six miles west
Page (13).
************************

of Shelbyville and who had been a surgeon in Col. Crawford's regiment. He
had been taken prisoner by the Indians with Col. Crawford at the time of the
latter's defeat. The account of his captivity and escape is detailed in
Indian history. The doctor declared he could do nothing for father unless
he could have him at his own house. On the next morning, arrangements were
made to convey him to the doctor's residence, a distance of fourteen miles
through the woods. He was carried upon what was called a 'horse litter',
which was made of a sheet fastened to two poles, one end of the poles
attached to the horses' hames and the other borne by two men. In this way
he was jolted through the woods and brush until he was placed under the
immediate care of this humane physician and his family. There he remained
for fifteen months. Had it not been for the most skillful medical treatment
of Dr. Knight and the kind and attentive nursing of his family, he never
could have recovered from this brutal butchery. The Knight family became so
endeared to father on account of this attention, that when I was born, which
was on the 26th of September, 1794, he gave Mrs. Knight, near whom my
parents resided at the time, the privilege of naming me; hence, I bear the
name of George Knight. This name has become a family name with the Hesters,
almost every child and grandchild of my father having the name of Knight in
his family.
"Eighteen months after father was wounded and before he was entirely
well, he was married to Miss Susannah Huckleberry, to whom he was engaged
before his injury. Some time after his marriage, being pressed in pecuniary
matters, he was obliged to go to a place called Man's Lick, ten or fifteen
miles distant from his residence, to labor for salt for family use. This
was the plan usually adopted in those days to procure that article. While
engaged in hauling wood he suddenly discovered the glitter of two guns under
the rays of the sun, moving slowly along an oak tree that had recently
fallen. Behind this the two savages had concealed themselves and were then
seeking the most eligible position to level their rifles at father. He
instantly sprang between his horses, cut their hames strings and mounting
one, rode off at the top of their speed, in a quartering course to avoid
receiving a shot in
Page (14).
****************************

his back. He gave the alarm to his fellow-laborers and succeeded with them
in reaching the furnaces in safety. Having made such a narrow escape from
falling into the hands of the Indians a second time, he resolved to leave
the place and so returned to his family.
"A treaty of peace having been concluded with the hostile tribes,
father purchased a tract of land in the Illinois or Clark grant, adjacent to
the present site of Charlestown, Ind., and the same on which I now reside,
and removed to it in 1799.
"A French store was established about a mile and a half south from his
residence, which the Indians frequented for the purpose of trade. They
passed near his house and would frequently call and ask shelter for the
night. On one occasion two came with a jug of whiskey and demanded lodging.
Father never had much love for the Indians after the barbarous treatment
he had received from them. On this occasion he refused to permit the two
savages to stay under his roof. At this refusal they seemed to become quite
indignant. They called for a fire and erected a camp near his barn.
Fearing they might burn his barn, he went out and invited them into his
house. They accepted the invitation but did not seem to forget their first
rejection. Their displeasure increased with their intoxication. They spent
the greater part of the night in drinking and conversing together,
occasionally singing Indian songs. One of them, who could talk very good
English, would frequently interrupt my father by calling to him, 'White man,
you sleep?' He seemed to take particular pleasure in relating in English
the deeds of daring barbarity he had committed in the time of the wars. he
told how on one occasion he had taken no regular rest or sleep for five days
and nights in succession, being constantly engaged in destroying the
property and murdering the people of the settlements on the frontiers of
Kentucky. Their actions alarmed my father, and he arose from his bed and
awakened me, then about thirteen years old, and sent me to a near
neighbor's, Mr. Naylor, for some one to come and stay with us through the
remainder of the night. The Naylor family were all sick at the time, but I
succeeded in getting a Mr. Charles Beggs, who was there for the purpose of
waiting on the sick, to go home with me. While I was gone father had
Page (15).
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