John P. Hale

Trans-allegheny Pioneers: Historical Sketches of the First White Settlements West of the Alleghenies 1748 and After John P. Hale

This book, originally published without index, now contains a New All-Name Index, making it much easier for the reader to locate ancestors or persons of interest. Mr. Hale, in detailing his objective in undertaking this work, writes, "In connection with, and following these histories of the Ingles and Draper settlements and families, I shall endeavor to trace, in chronological order, the progressive frontier explorations and settlements along the entire Virginia border, from the Alleghenies to the Ohio, from the New River-Kanawha and tributaries in the South-west, where settlements first began, to the Monongahela and tributaries, in the North-west, and the intervening country, and along the Ohio, where the frontier line of settlements was last to be advanced, but I shall give more special attention to the early history of the region of the New River-Kanawha and tributaries, with collateral facts and incidents of more or less local or general historical interest." This area of New River-Kanawha is located in present-day Montgomery and Pulaski counties of Virginia. The author manages to not only follow significant historical events of the time, but he also develops and documents the lives and adventures of many of the individuals and families (primarily the Ingles and Drapers) inhabiting the territory. The period covered by this volume is generally between 1740 and 1800. Softcover, (1886), repr. 2005, 2011, Illus., Index, 359 pp.