ISAAC RUDDELL

Source: "Ruddle-Riddle Genealogy and Biography" by Pauline Ruddle Harman,
L.C. #84-52275, pp. 21-26

Isaac (2), the fifth son (of John Ruddell), has probably had more written
about him than all the other Ruddell brothers. In 1769 he disposed of 900
acres in Frederick County, Virginia and moved to Washington County on the
Virginia-North Carolina border where he organized a company of Militia and
attained the rank of Captain.


Captain Isaac Ruddell's company was paid to fight the British and Indians
under Colonel George Rogers Clark in Kentucky and Illinois. Possibly while
in Kentucky, he discovered the land was cheap and good, so he moved his
family and a number of relatives to what is today the rich bluegrass region
of Kentucky and established Ruddell's Station, also called Ruddell's Fort.
A station was a cluster of cabins arranged for defense against Indians.
Ruddell's Station also had a stockade to which the whole settlement could
flee for protection when threatened.


Built in the spring of 1779, it was located on the east bank of the South
Fork of the Licking River, about 7 miles from present-day Paris, the County
Seat of Bourbon County. In June of 1780 the fort was attacked and captured
by British Colonel Henry Bird along with Simon Girty and a force of 600
Canadians and Indians. Ruddell's Fort was built of wood and could only
withstand rifle fire, not the 6 cannons the enemy possessed, so the only
thing Captain Ruddell could do was surrender having made the condition that
the prisoners would be under the protection of the British and not turned
over to the Indians. The agreement was made, but once the gates were open
the Indians rushed in and Colonel Bird lost control. Many were killed on
the spot, but 470 men, women, and children were made captive and forced to
march 800 miles to Detroit, where they were divided among their captors,
some being taken on to Canada.


The records of the War Department show that Captain Isaac Ruddell' was
released two years later in an exchange of prisoners and returned to the
colonies in October 1782. He was treated well while in captivity in Detroit
because of his association with the British officer in charge, due to the
fact that they were both members of the Masonic Fraternity.


Two of Isaac's sons, Stephen (3), age 12, and Abraham (3), age 6, (also
called Abram) were captured and grown up as Indians. They did not see their
father again until 1795, 15 years later.


Stephen (3), although having married an Indian squaw, returned to
civilization, received some education and became a minister. He was a
missionary to the Indians and founded a church in Illinois, which
celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1983. His Indian wife returned to her
people and Stephen (3) had two other marriages. The movie Brave Warrior was
the story of his life.


Abram (3), because of his younger age when captured, never gave up his
Indian ways, but was very useful as a spy and interpreter in the War of
1812. He married, and in his later years settled first in Missouri and then
in Arkansas.


Although there are variances in the story as told by different authors, it
is "a true life drama of as absorbing interest as is to be found in
fiction." It is copied in part from Collins' History of Kentucky:


"In the summer of 1780, a formidable military force, consisting of 600
Indians and Canadians, under the command of Colonel Bird, an officer of the
British Army, accompanied by six pieces of artillery, made an incursion
into Kentucky. Such a force, accompanied by artillery was resistless to the
stockards of that state which were altogether destitute of ordinance. The
approach of the enemy was totally undiscovered by our people until on the
22nd day of June, 1780, the report of one of the field pieces announced
their arrival before Ruddle's Station. This station had been settled the
previous year on the easterly bank of the south fork of Licking River,
three miles below the junction of Hinkston and Stoner's branches of the
same stream. A summons was immediately made by Col. Bird; to which demand
Capt. Ruddle answered that he could not consent to surrender, but on
certain conditions, one of which was that the prisoners should be under the
protection of the British, and not suffered to be prisoners of the Indians.
To these demands Col. Bird consented and immediately the gates were thrown
open to him. No sooner were the gates opened than the Indians rushed into
the station and each Indian seized the first person he could lay his hands
upon and claimed him as his own prisoner. In this way the members of every
family were separated from each other, the husband from the wife, and the
parents from their children. The piercing screams of the children when torn
from their mothers, the distracted throes of the mothers when forced from
their tender offspring, are indescribable. Ruddle remonstrated with Col.
Bird against this barberous conduct of the Indians, but to not any effect.
Bird confessed that it was out of his power to restrain them, their number
being so much greater than the troops over which he had control, that he
himself was completely in their power.


"It may be said without hesitation that Isaac Ruddle acted with perfect
discretion and showed sound judgment in surrendering the fort without a
fight on being guaranteed the protection of the British. It must be
remembered that the stockade of Ruddles Station was built entirely of wood
and was made to withstand rifle fire only. Huddled within its walls were
not only the men but also all the women and children of the settlements.
Capt. Ruddle, besides being vastly outnumbered by the British and Indians,
had no cannons, whereas the enemy had six. To use the words of Collins,
'Such a force accompanied by artillery, was resistless to the stockades of
Kentucky.' To have held out against such odds would have courted certain
disaster because Col. Bird with his six cannons would have reduced the fort
in almost no time and brought needless slaughter to the women and children.
No one knew this better than Capt. Ruddle. As it turned out, however, even
this might have been preferable to the awful fate which overtook them after
the fort's surrender.


"The number of prisoners taken at Ruddle's Station is reputed to have been
470 in men, women and children. Most of the children and a large number of
adults were slaughtered by the Indians, but a few of the most promising
boys were adopted into the tribe. Of the fate of two of these boys you will
presently learn.


"It is at times very difficult to determine whether to regard the men taken
at Ruddle's Station as soldiers or as merely settlers in that region. But
that the British regarded them as Revolutionary soldiers is clearly shown
by the fact that they were held prisoners by the British till the close of
the war, some of them, including Capt. Isaac Ruddle himself having been
released earlier in an exchange of prisoners. It appears therefore that the
affair at Ruddle's Station may safely be regarded as an engagement of the
Revolution. As one historian puts it, at Ruddle's and Martin's Stations
both of which were taken at the same time, 'was waged the War of the
Revolution on Kentucky soil.' And this was only five years after the first
permanent white settlement had been made in Kentucky, at Herrodsburg.


"In all fairness to Col. Bird who commanded the British and Indians, it
must be admitted that he did all in his power to restrain his savage
allies. He did manage to recover a large number of the captives, including
all of the Ruddles, except Isaac's two young sons, Stephen and Abraham,
whom the Indians adopted. These he sent to Detroit and some of them across
the border into Canada. Col. Bird personally saw that they were treated
kindly and he himself married one of the captive women.


"The records of the War Department show that Capt. Isaac Ruddle was
released two years later in an exchange of prisoners and returned to the
Colonies, in October, 1782, from Canada by way of Lake Champlaine, Many of
the others did not gain their freedom till after nearly four years."


Following the treachery of Ruddle's Station the Indians decided to adopt
such of the boys as should prove to have the nerve and endurance of Indian
boys. So they rolled the captive white children one at a time down a steep
bank. If one cried, he was rejected as being unfit to become a member of
the tribe and was consequently put to the tomahawk. If he did not cry, he
was adopted. Subsequent events proved that at least two of Capt. Isaac
Ruddle's children, Stephen, then twelve years of age, and his Younger
brother, Abraham, had enough of the Ruddle hardihood and frontier prowess
to make them the equal, if not the superior of any Indian boy. They were
consequently accepted and became the regular members of the Indian tribe.
What eventually became of them I shall let Colonel Daniel Trabue, a
contemporary, acquaintance, and eye witness to many of the events connected
with them, tell you in his own words, just as he wrote it down in his
journal.


"In the summer of 1795 I was with General Wayne at Grunsvil at the Indian
Treaty. General Wayne hired some of the first Indians that came to the
Treaty to go to the other towns and get the Indians to come to the Treaty.


"The Indians were hard to persuade to bring in the prisoners, but gradually
they came in, and brought a large number of prisoners. A number of men and
women that came to the Treaty had been captured when children and they now
looked like Indians. I was at Fort Jefferson about six miles from
Grunsville and at a distance, in the parade we saw an Indian riding up
toward the Fort, and when he got to within the distance of about 200 yards,
he halted.


"Captain McColester beckoned to him, and told him to advance; so he came up
some higher and stopped. Captain McColester went out to meet him, and I
went with him. We took no arms with us, and the Indian told us he was a
Chief and he was willing to talk about the treaty.


"He could speak broken English. When he told us what Nation of Indians he
belonged to, Captain McColester asked him if he knew Stephen Ruddle and
Abraham Ruddle. He said he did, so Captain McColester told him that the
Father of these Ruddles was then at Grunsville, and wanted very much to see
his children. The old Captain Ruddle had given many presents to other
Indians to go to his children, and persuade them to come in.


"Captain McColester invited the Indian when he first came up, to come in to
the Fort and Drink some Whiskey. He refused, and after talking some time,
and asking more particularly about the Ruddles, he said "Me" and struck his
hand against his breast saying, "Me, Stephen Ruddle. "The Captain and I
immediately shook hands with him, and told him how glad we were, and we
knew his Father was not far off, and that he, the Captain, would send a
message for old Captain Ruddle.


"Captain McColester then went with the Indian Chief to where his company
were, and there found Abraham among them, Abraham Ruddle and Abraham's
adopted brother. They all alighted and came in, and all had the appearance
of Indians; silver trinkets hanging about their necks, and breasts, and
some brooches in their breech cloths and beads in the leggins and
moccasins, they were painted and very Dirty. I suppose they thought
themselves fine.


"We gave them something to eat, but none could speak English, but Stephen,
and he, in a very broken manner. He and his brother, Abraham Ruddle had
been taken prisoners at his Father's Fort in June, 1780. Stephen's squaw
was old and ugly.


"In the fort several of the soldiers had their wives with them, and
gathered together to see these Indians.


"When Capt. Ruddle came, Capt. McColester conducted him to his children.
Old Captain Ruddle cried out aloud, and fell down on the floor crying, and
bewailing his condition. Said he, "My children are Indians." Stephen took
hold of his Father, and said, "Hold your heart, Father, hold your heart."
The Indians, the white women, and some of the soldiers cried aloud, and
Capt. Ruddle continued crying aloud whenever he would look at his children.


"The next morning Capt. Ruddle gave his sons clean clothing, and got them
to wash off the Paint, and put on the clothes. I gave Abrams adopted
Brother a shirt, and he was very glad to get it. We told Capt. Ruddle he
ought to give Stephen's wife something, but he refused. As there was a
Store in this Fort, some of the soldiers got some calico and the white
women in a little time sewed it up, and when this was given her, she was
highly pleased.


"The next day Old Capt. Ruddle and his children, and the Indians who were
with him all went to Greensville, and after two or three days, old Mr.
Ruddle told me he knew I could be of benefit to him. He said his son,
Stephen, thought a great deal of me, and he wanted me to talk with him, and
persuade him to leave his squaw and go home with his Father. But Stephen
told me that although he was willing to go home he would not give up his
squaw for any woman in the world, she would do anything for him and was
mighty good to him.


"One night at Greenville, Stephen said that all of his company's horses had
run away. I asked him if we were going to hunt them, and he said no, his
squaw would go after them alone. After two or three days she brought them
all back from a distance of forty miles, five horses in number. I then
thought that she was worth all the rest of the company together."


John W. Wayland in his History of Shenandoah Count has the following to say
of Stephen:


"The Rev. Stephen Ruddle was born (in Frederick County, Va.) in 1768. He
met Tecumseh when both were 12 years of age and grew up in the same village
with him. Stephen was with the Indians in several fights against the
whites. After his return (from Indian captivity in 1795), he was converted
to Christianity, given some education, and became a Baptist preacher. From
1805 to 1811 he made yearly missionary visits to the Shawnees and Delawares
and introduced Christianity among them. He acted as interpreter for John
Johnson, Indian agent at Upper Piqua, during the War of 1812. He preached
in Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois, dying in the last named
state in 1845. Rev. Stephen Ruddle's son, John M. Ruddell, represented
Adams County, in the Illinois House of Representatives, 1846-48. The people
of Bourbon County, Kentucky, remembered with respect Rev. Stephen Ruddle."


Eckert, in his book The Frontiersmen writes:


"Sinnanatha - Big Fish - was in actuality Stephen Ruddell. It was in 1780
that he was taken and adopted into the Shawnee tribe. Since he was only 12
at the time, the same age as Tecumseh, they became extremely close
companions. Ruddell adapted to Indian life well. A bright, cheerful
youngster, he held his own with the other boys in the tribe. Stephen and
Tecumseh taught each the others language and by the end of their first year
together Tecumseh could speak English unusually well and Sinnanatha was
nearly as good in the Indian tongue."


Because of the fact that Abram was six years younger than Stephen when they
were adopted into the Indian tribe, the influence of the Indian association
was much more in evidence in him than in his brother. Wayland says that he
never became "civilized", but was always in manner an uncouth Indian.
Wayland further states that Abram was a spy and interpreter for Gen.
Harrison in the War of 1812.


Judge Asa C. Jeffrey of Batesville, Arkansas, a life long friend and
acquaintance of the Arkansas Ruddells wrote -1 short account of the family
which was published in the Melbourne (Arkansas) Clipper in 1877. He had the
following to say of Abraham:


"Old Abe Ruddell was captured by the Indians in the settling of Kentucky
while a small boy and was not changed or given up till nearly grown. He
talked very brokenly and always had a decided Indian appearance. He shunned
people except his intimate acquaintances. On one occasion he went to
witness a ball and when some compliments were paid to a young lady's dainty
foot and ankle while dancing, old Abe said, "Yes, looks jes like pins stuck
in a pumpkin seed."


Old Abe may not have been a connoisseur of dainty ankles and he may have
been in manner and mien an "uncouth" Indian, as contended by Wayland, but
he was a "grand old man" according to Trent Noland and he blazed the trail
of civilization in the State of Arkansas. He was among the very earliest
settlers in that territory and played no small part in wresting it from its
wildernes state."


On his release, Isaac (2) went back to Virginia to collect a debt of
several hundred pounds in order to get a fresh start, as he had lost
everything except his land in Kentucky. He gave his friends Colonel Abraham
Byrd and Captain Isaac Bowman, power of attorney in September 1783 so he
could go immediately to Kentucky. Here he located on his property and built
a gristmill, sawmill, and later a tobacco warehouse. Ruddell's Mills is a
small village today with a highway marker telling of the mills.


Isaac (2) lived to be 81 and died in February 1812. He is buried in the
Stonermouth Presbyterian Churchyard at Ruddell's Mills, for which he deeded
the land. His simple stone is lettered "Isaac Ruddle - Va. Mi. - Rev. War."


According to Transylvania Presbytery records, the Stonermouth Presbyterian
Church at Ruddell's Mills was first mentioned in October 1786, but it was
one year later that Isaac Ruddell deeded to Stonermouth Presbyterian Church
two acres of land in the forks of Stoner Creek. Hinkson Creek, and the
South Licking River for the purpose of building a meetinghouse and
establishing a cemetery. The sale was made for a price of five shillings.
Stonermouth was the oldest Presbyterian Church in Transylvania Presbytery
and Andrew McClure, pastor from 1786-1793, is believed to have organized
the church.


Isaac's wife was Elizabeth Bowman, daughter of George Bowman and Mary Hite,
and his will states in addition to other grants, that her grain is to be
ground toll free.


The names of his sons follow the pattern of his brothers: John (3), Isaac,
Jr.(3), George (3), Cornelius (3), Stephen (3), and Abraham (3). The girls
were Margry (3) and Elizabeth (3). The first two sons died without heirs,
so are not included in his will. Cornelius (3) was also deceased, but left
daughters, Polly (4) and Nancy (4) and they are given their father's share,
which is also true of Margry's (3) two sons.


Isaac (2) left many descendants in the west, some of whom are listed in the
work done by Dr. Barb. This branch of the family retain the Ruddell
spelling.


The following story about Isaac, Jr.' was found in a by Ridlon:


"Isaac was a great hunter and Indian fighter. He had a revolving rifle
before Colonel Colt, the celebrated inventor of the revolver, was born.
When hunting with a companion named Martin, on Kingston Creek, Isaac took
the right hand of a hill and Martin the left, to meet on the table-land
above, where they expected to see some bison or buffalo. Martin had
proceeded cautiously about a quarter of a mile when he heard the report of
Ruddle's rifle, and in a few seconds another report from the same
direction. He immediately ran to the top of the hill, and down to where
Ruddle was, and found him scalping an Indian. He asked Martin to load his
rifle while he scalped another Indian below. He had just time to get the
second scalp and grasp his rifle when he was hotly pursued by two Indians.
Ruddle knowing of a large oak ran round and through its forks where he
stopped and watched his pursuers. An Indian swung round a dogwood to look
for his victim, when Ruddle sent a ball through his feathered head. The
other Indian came running with raised tomahawk when Ruddle drew a heavy
horse-pistol from his belt, which caused the Indian to fly to the thick
woods below. It is said the lone Indian was asked by his tribe where his
companions were, and replied that they had seen the devil, who killed three
of them and would have shot him had he not run. This was the same tribe
that captured Daniel Boone."


As Cornelius (3), son of Isaac (2), was one of the subjects of Harriette
Simpson Arnow in two of her books, Seedtime On The Cumberland and Flowering
Of The Cumberland, it seems appropriate to give a few paragraphs to the
story at this point. Arnow's books show how an old, old culture shaped in
Europe British Colonial became American and built a culture and a society
that would in time influence much of the southwest.


Cornelius (3) served 3 years during the Revolution and was not at Ruddle's
Station when it was captured in 1780, as he was on duty at the Falls of the
Ohio. In 1782 when he was 23 and she was 21, he met and married "the
beautiful Jane Mulherrin". Her brother, John, later married his sister,
Elizabeth; they were children of James Mulherrin. The wedding is described
in Guild's Old Times In Tennessee. Four couples were married at the same
time in what is now the city of Nashville and the ceremony was performed by
a trustee of the colony. The description, in part, follows:


"The colony was then in its infancy and the settlers were not supplied with
the means or appliances necessary to make a wedding occasion brilliant,
either in the way of gorgeous dresses, a table laden with rich viands and
luxuries to tempt the fastidious appetite, and a fine band to furnish music
while the guests' tripped the light fantastic toe' as the older settlements
could do, but there was not wanting the disposition on the part of those
more immediately interested to make the affair as grand and imposing as
circumstances would admit, especially as it was among the first weddings in
the new settlement. They were well supplied with game of almost every
description, with which to prepare the most savory and tempting dishes, but
there was neither flour nor meal in the whole colony with which to make
bread, nor had there been for six months. In this emergency two of the
settlers were mounted on horses and hurried off to Danville, Kentucky, for
a small quantity of corn to supply the wedding table with bread. Only a few
days elapsed before the couriers returned, bringing with them each one
bushel of corn, which soon found its way to the mortar and pestle, where it
was speedily converted into excellent meal, and from it was baked the first
'bride's cake' of which this new colony boasted. It was made with pounded
corn meal, with no other ingredients than a little salt and water. Amid the
dangers that environed the settlement, the hearts of this band of pioneers
grew happy while celebrating the wedding with song, dance, and feast,
rendered exquisitely delightful by the introduction of the wedding 'pound
cake' and perhaps no cake on a similar occasion, before or since, was
enjoyed with more zest."


Two little girls were born (Polly, Aug. 1784) and (Nancy, March 1786). In
November of 1786 Cornelius (3) went turkey hunting and was ambushed by
Indians. An inventory of his estate was made January 1787 and is on record
in Davidson County, Tennessee, Will and Inventory Book 1784-1794. From this
inventory Arnow, whose books are a study of the first settlers weaves a
story showing the Ruddles to be an example of a Cumberland pioneer family.


The inventory follows:


A horse about 14 hands or near 4 years old, 5 cows and calves, one two year
old heifer, one bed and furniture, two bedsteads, half dozen pewter plates,
two pewter basons, one pewter dish, 4 tin cups, half a dozen pewter spoons,
half a dozen knives and two forks, one dutch oven, two water pails, two
coolers, one wash tub, a box iron and one heater, one pair of cotton cards,
an iron candlestick, two saddle trees wt ye irons, one briddle, a hand saw,
one ax. Two beaver traps, a table and chest, a frying pan two chairs, a
lead ink stand, a razor, two small horses, looking glass, a chiles bed, a
weeding hoe, a small ball, a saw sett, a pair bullet moles, a common prayer
book, a spur, a pair of knitting needles, a little spinning wheel, a cotton
gin, a lock and key, about 130 lbs. of flax, two 31 lb. of cotton in
yeseed, about 50 bus. of Indian corn.


Arnow wrote that "Ruddle was the only first settler found who had even a
small bed, for his trundle bed was referred to as a 'chile's bed'."


Cornelius' widow, Jane, married his first cousin, James Ruddell (3), on
December 8, 1788. James (3) was the son of Archibald (2), brother of Isaac
(2), Cornelius' father. Jane and James were parents of ten children and the
youngest was named Cornelius. James (3) had been captured at Ruddle's
Station and was a prisoner for 2 years and a half.