Wife Anne Douglass was appointed administrator of Levi
Douglass' estate during the July 1787 court session. The record states
that "Levi Douglass Dec'd died without a will." [Harrison County,
Virginia, Court Order Book 1, p. 248]
Levi Douglass was born
possibly in Virginia, but more likely on the eastern shore of Maryland
in present-day Wicomico County. His date of birth is generally accepted
as being around 1750, but may have been as late as about 1760. In about
1777, just prior to his 1778 marriage to Nancy Anne Merrick in
Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia), Levi Douglass signed a
petition for the formation of Harrison County, which came about in 1784.
In May 1785, a survey for Levi Douglass was recorded for 400 acres in
Harrison County on the Brushy Fork of Elk Creek, adjoining the land of
Benjamin Coplin.
Excerpts from "History of Harrison County West
Virginia," by Henry Haymond, 1910:
"On the 31st December, 1771 a
party of explorers consisting of John Merrick, Samuel Cottrill, Andrew
Cottrill, Levi Douglass and Sotha Hickman, encamped on Ann Moores run
near the present town of Grasselli in Clark District.
They were
engaged in hunting and looking out for lands upon which to make
permanent settlements. On New Year's day 1772 they turned out to hunt,
and passing south through the low gap where Lemuel D. Holden afterwards
lived for so many years, and near there killed a bear and several
turkeys.
On the little bottom where Brushy Fork empties into Elk
Creek their dogs discovered a herd of buffalo and in a short time the
hunters had killed seven of them. One of the largest of the herd being
fatally wounded in attempting to escape down Elk Creek fell dead into
the bed of the little stream that puts into Elk below the mouth of
Brushy Fork, and lay in such a position that they could not pull him
out, and he was left to lie there with regrets that they could not get
his robe.
The party remained in this camp all winter and were
visited by a friendly Indian who hunted with them for some time.
They discovered the abandoned camp on the "West Fork River of Robert
Lindsay a trapper, and also where he had made one or more canoes to
transport his furs down to Fort Pitt.
In the Spring of 1772 they
selected lands on which to establish permanent homes. Andrew Cottrill
located his claim and built his cabin at the site of their camp, on Ann
Moore's run, where Grasselli is now located. Samuel Cottrill just east
of where Clarksburg now stands, near the Jackson grave yard. Sotha
Hickman on the opposite side of Elk Creek near where the Elk View
Cemetery now is, and Levi Douglas preempted four hundred acres on the
Brushy Fork of Elk. John Merrick did not permanently locate in this
country but probably went further West.
There are still residing
in Harrison County many descendants of the two Cottrills, Hickman and
Douglass, and they have the satisfaction of knowing that their ancestors
were among the very first permanent settlers in the present limits of
Harrison County." [p. 21]
"It appears that at the June Court 1787
appraisers were appointed for the estate of Levi Douglass and that at
the September Court of the same year Mrs. Ann Burrowes was appointed
guardian for Thomas Cottrill orphan of Andrew Cottrill, deceased. This
indicates that both of these men died in that year, which is a
matter
of interest as they were both among the original pioneer settlers of
Harrison County, as is related elsewhere, and had borne the hardships of
frontier life for sixteen years." [p. 208]
"Levi Douglass. In
company with Sotha Hickman he was captured by Indians, an account of
which is given elsewhere. He was a man of sterling worth and for that
day accumulated considerable property.
The census of Monongalia
County taken in 1782 before Harrison County was formed, shows that at
that date his family consisted of four members.
The inventory of
his estate was dated August 4, 1787, the exact date of his death being
unknown.
His descendants still reside in the County." [p. 382]
"Sotha Hickman. ... While trapping on the Liitle Kanawha River in
Company with Levi Douglass they were captured by a party of Indians and
taken to their towns on the Sciota River in Ohio.
One night while
the Indians were holding a grand dance and festival the prisoners were
left in charge of an old man who fell off into a sleep. They each then
quietly seized a gun and equipments and struck out for home and liberty.
Travelling only at night they were four days without food and after
reaching the Virginia side of the Ohio River they were fortunate enough
to kill a bear and ate so much of it that they both became very sick and
were relieved by drinking what was called rock oil, which was found
floating on the surface of Hughes River." [p. 383]
"To show the
household articles in use, and the personal property belonging to a well
to do pioneer, the following is taken from the appraisement of the
estate of Levi Douglass, who died in 1787 :
2 horses, 1 colt, 2
steers, 2 heifers, 1 cow, 1 calf, 17 shoats, 1 plow, 1 negro boy, 1
rifle gun, shot pouch and powder horn, 1 woman's saddle, 2 bridles, 1
man's saddle, drawing knife, stillyards, pot and hooks, hackle-bell,
pans, spinning wheel, wooden ware, knives and forks, pewter ware, beds
and bedding, flax seed, wheat, hemp seed, beehives and hominy block."
Family:
Husband: Levi Douglass Born: ca 1750 in Virginia
Died: 1787 in Harrison Co, West Virginia
Wife: Nancy Anne Merrick
Also known as: Anne Merrick Married: 1778 in Monongalia Co, West
Virginia 6 Born: 1758 in West Augusta Co, West Virginia Died: 1838 in
Jackson Co, West Virginia
F Child 1: Nancy Ann Douglass Also known
as: Anna Douglass Born: 1779 in Harrison Co, West Virginia Died: aft
1840 in Harrison Co, West Virginia
F Child 2: Mary Douglass Born:
1782
F Child 3: Elizabeth Douglass Born: 1782
M Child 4: Levi
Douglas, Jr. Born: Sep-11-1783 in Harrison Co, West Virginia Died: May-
3-1871 in Harrison Co, West Virginia
M Child 5: John S. Douglass
Born: 1786 Died: Jun-26-1847 in Jackson Co, West Virginia
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