In reality, the capture of Jenny and the destruction of the Wiley family was in error. Sometime before, in an engagement with a party of Cherokee Indians, a member of the Harman family shot and killed two Indians. It was dark and rainy on October 1, 1789, in Ab's Valley, Virginia, when a group of Indians returned to seek vengeance. Instead of attacking the Harman cabin, they fell upon the Wiley's instead.

Jenny was the daughter of Hezekiah Sellards, born around 1760 in Pennsylvania. Thomas Wiley and Jenny were married in 1779, and lived in the frontier on Walker's Creek in what is now Bland County, Virginia. Jenny, her brother, and her four children were home, but her husband was away. In the surprise attack, Jenny saw her brother and three of her children beaten, tomahawked, and scalped. Jenny, pregnant with her sixth child, and the baby were taken captive.

The march toward the West with the Indians was a hard and continuous strain on Jenny and she had to pack her son. One evening, an Indian informed the band that their pursuers were near. At this, the old Shawnee Chief, BlackWolf ripped her child from her arms and dashed it against an oak tree. This was just above the present day town of Williamson, West Virginia.

This warrior band moved from place to place, finally arriving at Little Mudlick Creek in what is now Johnson County, Kentucky, and set up a permanent camp. It was here that her child was born.

As the weeks passed, the Indians relaxed and forgot about watching Jenny so closely. One dark and rainy afternoon, a band of Cherokee Indians came into camp. They had with them a young white man. Jenny did not know his name nor did she ever for that night, high on the plateau, he was burned at the stake. (see note at the bottom of this page) Jenny did not see this spectacle of horror but heard his tormented screams and the feindish yells of the Indians. The next day, it was decided that her child must undergo a trial of water to see if he would make a great warrior. The child was dropped in the stream just below the cave. When it cried, it was snatched from the water and dashed against a tree. That evening it was decided that Jenny must be burned at the stake also.

Determined not to give her captors the pleasure of seeing her torment, she faced this fate with determination. Death had to be better than her life of captivity. Her bravery in this matter saved her life. The Cherokee Chief intervened and offered to buy her from BlackWolf. After some hours of negotiating, a deal was reached. The old Cherokee Chief led her to a near by tree and tied her.

Now she faced another fate worse than death. She knew that if she did not escape now she would be taken to the Cherokee Lands far to the south with no chance of ever finding her way back even if she did escape. But luck was with her. The next day the Indians went hunting. There came a rain which caused thongs binding her hands to stretch and she made good her escape. Running into the woods, she knew the Indians would be looking for her soon. She wondered aimlessly trying to find the stream that she had over heard the Indians talking of before. Talk about a white settlement. Again, luck was with her. She found the Big Sandy River and followed it til she saw the fort on the other side. Henry Skaggs was cutting wood by the river side on the opposite bank when he heard her cries for help. He immediately crossed the river on a makeshift raft and carried her to the safety of the fort. This fort to her surprise was Harmans Station. Settled by Mathias Harman. As they reached the other side, the Indians appeared on the other side of the river, begging Jenny to come back. Honor Jenny...Honor...Implying that she rightfully belonged to him. Skaggs raised his rifle and fired and the Indians dissappeared into the woods.

Finally, in the spring of 1790, she returned home with a hunting party. Jenny was reunited with her husband and they began to rebuild their family by having five more children. They moved to the Big Sandy Valley in 1800 and settled in Johnson County. Years later Jenny and her husband made a trip to where the Indians had killed her child on the Tug River and to the caves where she was held and eventually escaped from. Thomas died in 1810, and she died in 1831 at the age of seventy-one.

Notes: Mathias Harman was greatly feared by the Shawnee Indians. It was said that he was 5'3 at his prime and had a very huge nose. The Indians called him Little Man With The Big Nose. He established Harmans Station. The fort that Jenny Wiley escaped too.

I have visited the caves on Little Mud Lick Creek and have found several Indian Artifacts here. My father, before his death, had a belt buckle that was found on the plateau. This buckle is very old and was made of iron and there was signs on it that it had been subjected to intense heat sometime in the past. It is known that several white men met their deaths here by being burned at the stake by the Indians.

The Jenny Wiley State Park, near Prestonsburg, Ky, was named in honor of this courageous pioneer woman.