Major John James - The years at Blennerhassett Island

A neat 2-minute WVA state park video of the island - just click on the Blennerhassett Island link

Shortly after the outset of the Indian Wars, which began in January 1791 with the slaughter of 12 Ohio Company settlers at Big Bottom in present-day Morgan county, Ohio, the Captain John James family left Farmer's Castle at Belpre and retreated to a nearby remote island in the Ohio River that would later play a significant role in one of the more infamous events in early American history.

Captain James and his wife's son, William James (and a brother to Major John James), had been one of the 12 settlers massacred and the family was obviously concerned about more attacks from the local Indian tribes. The settlers at Marietta and Belpre had witnessed growing agitation amongst the Native Americans, but the Big Bottom Masscre turned a worrisome situation into outright panic for fear of things to come.

On what was to become known as Blennerhassett Island, the James family built another blockhouse, probably similar to the fortified cabin they had lived in at Belpre. While Major James was off scouting for and pursuing Indians in southern Ohio during the Indian War period of 1791-95, the James family remaining at the island likely tried to carry on with as normal a life as possible - considering the events transpiring.

Major James exploits during the war are nearly legendary and are made particular note of by Dr. Samuel Hildreth in his epic history of the Ohio Company entitled Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory, published in 1848. Hildreth is considered the preeminent historian on the Ohio Company of Associates.

After the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which essentially ended the Indian Wars and 'pushed' the Native Americans out of southern Ohio, life for the Ohio Company families in and around Marietta and Belpre likely returned to a more quiet and normal pattern. Major James appears to have returned to be with his family on the island. In February 1798, Major John James was married to Nancy Cook in Parkersburg, and the couple took up residence on the island in or near the cabin occupied by his parents. That November, the first child of Major and Nancy James was born on the island.

Just prior to that, in the fall of 1797, a wealthy Irishman named Harman Blennerhassett, having heard of the rich valleys and beautiful country on the Ohio River, arrived in Marietta from New York. Here he spent the winter, examing the area for a piece of land on which to build a plantation. Being that Blennerhassett desired to own slaves and that practice being forbidden in the Northwest Territory, one piece of land in particular caught his eye. It was a lush island in the Ohio River near Belpre owned at the time by Elijah Backus. The following spring, in March 1798, Blennerhassett purchased the upper portion of the island.

Soon thereafter, Blennerhassett, his wife and one child moved into a large old blockhouse that had been built a few years prior during the Indian Wars by one Captain John James. So began the 'acquaintance' of Harman Blennerhassett with the James family - a relationship that would become even more 'personal' in years to come. It is interesting to note that I was recently told by a West Virginia state park ranger, who helps take care of Blennerhassett Island, that the National Park Service is trying to locate the foundation remains and the old well at the James blockhouse because of its historical significance.

While residing in the blockhouse for the next two years, Blennerhassett began building nearby his luxurious mansion, which upon completion in 1800 was considered to be, at the time, the finest estate west of the Allegheny mountains. It would not be out of line to assume that Major John James, himself a man of great physical stature and surely familiar with building due to the times he had experienced since his arrival at Marietta in 1788, had a hand in some fashion in the construction of the mansion.

Major John James and his wife Nancy became the parents of their second child, Julia, in the spring of 1800. This birth took place on James Island (now called Neal Island), so it is obvious Major James and his family had relocated by that time. James Island is located just a couple of miles upstream in the Ohio River from Blennerhassett Island. Neal (ie. James) island is today a part of the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, thankfully protected from further encroachment by industrial or commercial entities.

During the next few years, Major James and his wife Nancy would become the parents of four more children born on James Island prior to their moving to Jackson county, Ohio, in 1807. But along the way, a couple of events would occur that would impact their lives greatly.

Sometime in 1806, and obviously prior to the height of the Burr/Blennerhassett conspiracy in December 1806, Major John James' home on James Island caught fire and the family was "burned out". Harman Blennerhassett, obviously knowing Major James and hearing of the incident, invited Major James and his wife to the mansion for dinner. Blennerhassett owned a series of dry goods and hardware stores in the area and, as was typical for customers to do, Major James owed a bill for items recently bought in the local store. At that dinner, Blennerhassett offered one of two things to Major James. Either he would forgive the debt owed to him by James, OR he would give him an amount equal to the debt in order to take care of his immediate family needs so Major James could 'get back on his feet'. Which one Major James chose I do not know.

Below is an artist's conception of what the original mansion may have looked like, as well as a picture of the reconstructed Blennerhassett mansion as it exists today

Artist's rendition of how the original mansion may have looked

The second event impacting Major James' life in 1806 actually began in the spring of 1805 when the former Vice-President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson would arrive at Blennerhassett Island seeking 'help' from Blennerhassett himself. The man's name was Aaron Burr and the conspiracy he dreamed up, and implicated Harman Blennerhassett in, is considered the most famous treason trial in American history . By the fall of 1806, Burr's plans had been finalized and the first group of boats that would carry Burr's expedition from Blennerhassett Island down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers had been built.

President Jefferson, having sent a secret government envoy to the area to uncover the plot, got the proof he needed and ordered the governor of Ohio to dispatch a group of 30 militia to the island and mansion in order to seize the boats, find and arrest Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett, and bring them back to Washington for trial. One of those militia members was Major John James according to Dr. Ray Swick, historian of the Blennerhassett Museum in Parkersburg.

The following year, in 1807, Major John James had evidently decided that the Parkersburg/Belpre area was not the place where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. And after all, during the Indian Wars he had explored the area later to become Jackson county. He knew of its precious Salt Licks and the beauty of the area. My hunch is that he also longed for a more tranquil environment in order to raise his ever-growing family. Twenty years of turmoil since his arrival to the Marietta area in 1788 had likely been enough for him.

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