West from Shenandoah : a Scotch-Irish family fights for America, 1729-1781 : a journal of discovery / Thomas A. Lewis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewis, Thomas A., 1942-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lewis family.

Scots-Irish--Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--Biography.

Scots-Irish.

Pioneers--Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--Biography.

Pioneers.

Frontier and pioneer life--Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.).

Frontier and pioneer life.

Scots-Irish--Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--History--18th century.

Indians of North America--Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--History.

Indians of North America.

Culture conflict--Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--History--18th century.

Culture conflict.

Land settlement--Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--History--18th century.

Land settlement.

History.

Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--History.

Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.).

Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.)--Race relations.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 262 pages : maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, N.J. : J. Wiley, [2004]

Summary:

The names conjure up a pantheon of American legend and history -- Boone, Crockett, Clark, Poe, Grant, Wilson, even Reagan. But the true history and identity of the fiercely independent Scotch-Irish immigrants who swarmed to the shores of colonial America in the early eighteenth century is long forgotten. Thirsting for land, religious freedom, and economic opportunity, they formed the vanguard in the first wave of the western expansion. In the process, they embraced and then forcefully enacted into history a new paradigm of human entitlement and personal freedom embodied in a new republic that would bestride the world. West from Shenandoah tells the powerful yet little-known story of these hardy settlers, pioneers, warriors, and mountaineers through the eyes and experiences of a single extraordinary family. This unconventional and very personal narrative follows John Lewis, his wife, Margaret Lynn, and their five children from a deadly encounter with their Ulster landlord, through their perilous escape across the Atlantic, and into a new life fraught with danger, opportunity, and startling new challenges.

Author Thomas Lewis looks beyond the legendary exploits and heroic tales of pioneers to ask penetrating questions about who these immigrants were and why they flowed to America in such numbers. He wonders how, unlike earlier colonists, they avoided conflict with Native Americans for nearly two decades; who were the Native Americans in the area; and what sparked the recurring explosions of war as the Scotch-Irish started to move west from the rich and peaceful Shenandoah Valley. A unique feature of this beautifully written narrative is the author's personal journal of discovery. He describes how he was drawn to this long-ignored chapter of American history; the growth of his connection with this sprawling, untidy, and not always uplifting tale; and why it is important to remember that, as William Faulkner said, "the past is not dead ... it isn't even past." Packed with memorable stories of courage and endurance, cruelty and greed, spectacular triumph and ignominious failure, West from Shenandoah combines the bristling action of a swashbuckling adventure with the thoughtful analysis of a first-rate history. It offers compelling reading for anyone interested in American history, the western expansion, the ethnic heritage of the southern mountain states, or true tales of frontier life.

Contents:

Part 1 The Scotch-Irish

Chapter 1 East Wind Rising, 1729 9

Chapter 2 Finding America, 1730-1732 25

Journal Coming to Shenandoah 35

Part 2 The First People

Chapter 3 Finding Jasper, 10,000 B.P. 43

Chapter 4 Leaving Shenandoah, 1400-1732 53

Journal The Thunderbird Site 75

Part 3 The Land

Chapter 5 Building Shenandoah, 1732-1739 91

Chapter 6 The Land Grabbers, 1739-1753 111

Journal Leisure Point 133

Part 4 The Wars

Chapter 7 The French War, 1754-1758 149

Chapter 8 The Indian Wars, 1759-1774 179

Chapter 9 The English War, 1774-1781 209

Journal The Legacy 237.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-249) and index.

ISBN:

0471315788

OCLC:

51942803

Online:

Publisher description